Unique Week

April 25, 2016

          This was a very unique week that’s for sure.  Sooo many awkward moments but also some little miracles.  Elder Park had to do military stuff so E. Benefiel was in a threesome with us for a few days which was fun but threesomes are kind of tough.  Let’s see, we were able to meet Park Jongmoon!  He finally came back from Suncheon after a month and a half.  He still wants to come out to church and everything but it’s hard with his work schedule.  If he can come out he’ll get baptized so pray for him!

          We have this investigator named Hwang Seongoon who is going through something I’ve never seen before.  He likes magic so we met with a member who does magic also.  The member told him to think about what happens to people who die without having the chance to learn about God or Christ.  We saw him the next day at English class and he said he hasn’t been able to stop thinking about it since then and couldn’t sleep until 4 a.m.!  I offered to show him the answer, but he is determined to figure it out.  He’s going through a hard time and is looking for something to rely on.  He says he wants the church to be that thing but he’s hearing a lot of negative things.  And he loves coffee and that’s his job so that’s pretty tough.  I’ve never seen anyone try so hard to get an answer or want it so bad.  And he said he wants to rely on the church!  So crazy!  We’re just praying he can recognize his answers.

          In less good news, Lee Yang and his wife moved to American and we dropped Park Jonghoon so now we’re down to just 4 investigators.  It’s ok though, especially because one of the member’s husbands came to church and says he will get baptized in May!  He was our investigator when I first came but we haven’t been able to meet him in a while.  Hopefully it works out well!

          Oh yeah!  So, Hwang Seongoon.  It was a huge miracle that we were able to meet him.  He had this thought one day that he should learn English.  He went outside and felt like he should take a different route and saw our ad!  Pretty awesome!

          Like I said earlier, we saw some nice miracles this week.  For example…a restaurant manager gave us 3 referrals, we got off the bus at the right time to stop some dirt bag who was trying to force some girl in his car, we got off the bus at the right time to find this less active guy, and yeah.  I’m sure there were more but those ones stick out.

          Things have slowed down a bit because of dropped investigators but we will have great people we’re meeting with.  I want to share 2 Nephi 31:20 today.  We may not have all the answers, but if we push forward with just the hope that things will work out we will eventually come to a greater understanding and be worthy to receive those things that God would have us receive.  Thank you all for the support and prayers!

          Love, Elder Jace Anderson

My shoes

Some flowers

The Filipina Sisters

The couple that moved to America

 

Awesome new investigators

April 18, 2016

          First things first, happy birthday Emma!  I hope it was a great day for all of you.  We had a busier week here which was great.  We also have a few awesome new investigators!  First off is this great couple named Lee Young and Moon Yongsoon.  They are in their upper 50’s maybe and are so cool!  They originally met the Filipina sisters on the street and we now teach them English and the gospel.  They used to live in America and all their family is over there so they are preparing to move back soon.  We taught them about the BoM and read the introduction together.  They accepted it better than anyone I have ever seen before.  Sadly, they weren’t able to make it out to church, but if they come and are welcomed well, they have really high potential. 

          Our other new investigator’s name is Hwang Seongoon.  He is 17 and is learning English with us.  He used to go to a Catholic church but hasn’t for a while.  He said it was really great to talk about those religious things ago.  The tough thing is he works on Sunday and has smoked for several years.  But he said that as he was talking with us he got the feeling that he needs to quit smoking.  Hopefully he does!

          We now have 8 investigators!!  Sadly the other people are pretty stagnant and we’re thinking of dropping a few of them.

          We had a crazy experience this last week.  We had a strange night with freaky dreams and E. Groves saw some weird stuff in the apartment.  The next day he couldn’t stand up without swaying and his hands kept shaking.  We had a district meting and decided to give him a blessing which fixed it all!  But he couldn’t remember what happened during district meeting. 

          We had several disappointments this last week and some rainy days but we are seeing a bright future ahead.  I want to share Ether 12:4 today.  We know the gospel and its teachings, but if we really believe them we will receive the hope and strength to overcome what’s ahead of us and will be changed for the better.  Thank you all for your support and prayers!

          Love, Elder Jace Anderson

World cup stadium

Sweet glasses

Korean clothes with Elder Benefiel

He's coming back!

April 11, 2016

          We didn’t have a very exciting week, but it was still good.  Especially because we got to watch conference which was super great.  I loved being able to listen to the prophets, but it made me miss America and my family.  I really enjoyed what Elder Holland talked about, our futures may seem scary (especially after mission stuff) but we can find strength through our past experiences.  I wasn’t able to watch the Priesthood session which super stunk.  The Filipina sisters asked us to go help them with a lesson so we missed it.  We met Walter again with them.  It went well, but he seems to be hiding something. 

          As for our other investigators, well, there aren’t too many anymore.  Jo Youngook (had a bap. date) has dropped off the face of the earth, and we’re considering dropping Park Jonghoon because of lack of progress.  Ji Sumin (the one we thought was a girl) is kind of a sketchy, dangerous guy and says he has no interest at all to even know if God exists so we’re considering dropping him also.
          But in good news, Park Jongmoon comes back next week!!  Remember him?  He said he’d be baptized but had to move to a different city for like a month and a half.  We talked with him on the phone and he’s super excited to meet with us again.  It’s going to be great!
          We had a zone conference last week and Pres said something super awesome for those of us going home in June and July.  He said if we can focus all our thoughts, words and actions on finding more, teaching more, and baptizing more then we will be able to baptize each month.  I’ve been trying to do it and open my mouth better.  It’s tough but going well and I’m excited to see what’s coming out of it. 
          I hope we can all remember what we learned at conference and also the faith building experiences we have had in the past.  Have a great week!  Thank you for all your support.

          Love, Elder Jace Anderson

                                                  This tree has a sweater!

                                                We kinda got lost....haha

Message from President Shin

April 4, 2016

          Decent week, it went by pretty fast.  Wow!  It’s already April!  So crazy.  Update on investigators!  We’ve tried meeting with Jo Youngook and members, but it always fall through and then he didn’t come to church which was disappointing.  He’s supposed to be baptized in 2 weeks, but the members don’t know him and he needs to come to church.  Dang it!  But our rapper guy, Jang Yehoon, who we droopped a month and a half ago randomly showed up to church so that was pretty cool!

          We got a new investigator named Nam Gyo-ooh, who is like 50-60 years old and wants to learn English.  When we did the gospel portion he kind of just got up and left.  Haha so that stunk.  But we’ll meet him again this evening so hopefully it goes better.  Ooh!!  Ji Sumin is a guy!!  But we’re pretty sure he’s bisexual…he has lots of commandment issues, and not really any gospel interest so we might not meet him for much longer. 
          I talked with Pres. Shin on the phone and he said some cool stuff.  First he said, “You go home in July, right?  And your parents are coming to pick you up?”  Then he talked about how I haven’t been able to baptize yet, but when my family comes we should do something special with the people I will baptize.  He suggested going to the temple with them and Dad can baptize them.  Awesome!  He said I have all the skills, hard work, and integrity but just haven’t been able to snatch anyone yet.  But it’ll happen!!  It’s just hard because I feel like I’m doing just about all I can but it’s up to other people. 
          We had an interesting experience on the street with a lady from a different church.  I felt like I was in the BoM talking with Nehor as she tells us we’re missing the secrets of the Bible and even cries for us because we’re not getting it!  It was pretty freaky.  Oh!  She made us pinky promise that we’d talk more if we see her again, and when E. Groves did it she put her other hand on top and said something.  Later, his pinky started to throb and pain moved up his arm and to his chest!  But I have him a blessing and it was all good.  Crazy!  Haha.
          Things are going well here.  I hope you all enjoyed conference.  I’m super excited for it!  I love you all and hope you have a great week.

          Love,

          Elder Anderson

                                                      Flower Festival

What is it?

March 28, 2016

          This was kind of a strange week.  We weren’t able to teach too much and our investigators, well let’s take a look.  First we have Park Jonghoon.  He had a baptismal date coming up, but we met him once last week and it didn’t go too well.  He didn’t like church and we told him not to use his prayer beads.  Well, now we’re not able to contact him.  Second, Jo Youngook.  We met him once last week and it went super well.  We taught about the Book of Mormon and he understood well and did a good job of responding.  He said he’d come to church but when we tried to call to remind him, his phone was off and has been since then and he didn’t come to church.  I don’t know what to do but it breaks my heart that he might be gone.  We did have one investigator at church though, Na Jinju, our old guy who loves his other church too much to switch and can’t fully grasp the meaning of the restoration.  We also met Darius on the street and he said maybe he’ll come to our church “once in a blue moon.”  He’s from Liberia and likes the loud style of worship a lot more than ours.

          The good news is that we have a new investigator!  The bad news is we don’t know what gender they are…haha really though, it’s a problem.  We’re pretty sure it’s a girl that wants to be a guy.  So originally I met her on a bus and started talking because I thought it was a guy, but then they looked at me and I thought girl.  She had English interest so I gave her our card and she contacted us later (her name’s Ji Sumin).  We were pretty sure she was a girl so we met with a guy member and he said girl also, but she used the guys bathroom, is doing the mandatory men’s military service, and has a slight mustache…but talks like a girl, has girl eyes, and a bra in her bag…we have no idea.  Haha.

          That’s pretty much it for this week.  We spent a lot more time on the streets than we used to but it’s still good.  I just found out that yesterday was Easter, so I hope you all had a great one.  He lives!

          Love,

          Elder Anderson

                                           Chicken and juice bottles.  Haha

Pray for my Investigators

March 21, 2016

          Alright, so last Monday we got a random call from a member saying that this former investigator called him saying that he wants to start coming out to church again!  We contacted him and met him once.  His name is Jo Youngook and he’s 29.  He said he wants to come out to church more and learn more about God, so we were able to set a baptismal date for April 17^th.  He also came out to church yesterday.  The only problem is that he has a slight mental problem so he’s a bit awkward and when he came to church no one helped at all or talked with him at all.  So I’m pretty worried.  Please, do more than just ask the names of investigators when they come to church.  He’s such a sweet guy, but no one’s trying to get to know him.

          Same with Park Jonghoon who has the date on the 3^rd.  He came out to church for the first time yesterday and he has a slight issue also but is so great when you talk with him.  But no one tries!!  They know he’s there, and we try to introduce them to people but nothing happens.  It’s super frustrating and disappointing.

          So, when I first came to Gwangju we had this investigator named Park Minjong.  He was super awesome but we lost contact with him.  Well, the other elders were able to start meeting with him after a few months without contact and he progressed like crazy and was baptized yesterday.  It was great to see someone I taught take that step.  He’s even thinking of becoming a missionary!!  A month ago Elder Whiting did a mission tour with us and I had the prompting that some of those whom I had taught would eventually accept the gospel.  It was great to see that come to pass. 

          I want to share the message that I shared at our English class.  It’s Alma 29: 10,13.  We don’t just talk about the Savior and the gospel because we are missionaries.  We are missionaries because we have been changed for the better because of Christ.  Please remember that and please work to find opportunities to help others receive the joy that we have felt because of the changes it has helped us make.  And don’t forget Park Jonghoon and Jo Youngook.  They could use some prayers.

          Ooh!  There’s this member here who was originally from Cashmere and was from a royal family and was Muslim, but had some crazy experiences that helped him convert.  It was awesome visiting him and hearing some of the stuff he went through. 

          Things are going well here, I just hope things work out with our investigators. 

          Love,

          Elder Jace Anderson

 

Went on a random split with Elder Hicken and had a fun time killing roaches.  Haha. 

Most of our district.  The other 2 were sick.

Dang expensive McDonalds

Richard from English class!

Park Minjong!!!

Great lesson with the Filipinos!

This is Park Jonghoon

The baptism

The Khan family

Great Pictures