They have to be out there

June 29, 2015

          To describe this week, well, our first appointment of the week was on Saturday.  And it was our only appointment.  We were also unable to visit and share a message with any members.  One sister had us drop by, gave us some groceries, but just told us to go before we could share a message.  I tried calling a couple we have never visited about dropping by sometime, but they said they just don’t know.  But the next day we got a call and they invited a less active couple for dinner and they wanted us to come!!  So we went to this super expensive meat house, and the less active couple didn’t show…and the member who fed us just got up and left before we could share a message.  So our teaching time is super low and we’ll probably get a call from our leaders or president about why it’s so low…yay.

          If success really is obedience and giving invitations, then we are succeeding.  But it is insanely hard when no one accepts and we have nothing to do but talk to people on the street and buses and put up free English ads.

          We did have a cool experience last week though.  We got on a bus and this lady, about 55-60 years old, starts talking to me in English.  She ended up telling me her life story about smoking pot every day in America, getting divorced and coming back to Korea to no family so she had 60 rabbits instead.  They controlled her life and it got so hard and one of her dogs died so she would drink and cry every night to “cleanse” herself.  I explained how that is just a temporary escape (she got rid of the rabbits but life’s still hard), but through this message she can find permanent release from her past.  She gave us her number, but we haven’t been able to contact her yet.  The best part is her name is Jacy Boo!  Such a great name.

          Sister Park doesn’t have keys to her house and also has some trouble with her dad, so we couldn’t meet or contact her at all.  Our one appointment was with the high school aged guy for English.  He had some deep questions inside about “what is man,” so we decided to teach the Plan of Salvation.  He asked questions like, “Were there animals in the pre-mortal life?”  and when we taught the creation, “How do you explain dinosaurs then?”  So he’s kind of difficult and it’s all so new to him so it’s tough. 

          Yeah, that was my week.  All the other time was filled with talking on the streets.  So far we haven’t found anyone willing to accept our message, but they have to be out there.  We’re just trying to find them.

          -Elder Anderson

 

This is Jace's testimony that he shared with us:

The thing that I would like to share with the family is something that I have really felt strongly while serving as a missionary.  It is that we get as much out of the gospel as we put into it.  The more we try to follow it, the more blessings we receive and the sweeter it becomes to us.  As we share our testimonies, we can feel the Holy Ghost reaffirm to us that our words are true.  If we freely share, we will be able to keep what we have.  But if we begin to fall short and stop doing the little things of the gospel that seem tedious, we steadily grow away until we wonder why we ever believed in the first place.  We all find ourselves on that road at some point, but it is important to remember that since we truly are children of our Heavenly Father, He will never give up on us and will always accept us immediately the very second we decide to start our journey back to Him.  This gospel is true and the only way to find true peace and joy in this life.  I am thankful for our Savior and His atonement and for the ability it gives us to overcome all of life's struggles.  This is the way.