Half Way There!!

August 28, 2014

Holy cow I have been here for a month! It’s so crazy to look back on premission life and how far we have come in ALL aspects. Language, spiritually, friendships, I love it! One of my favorite things here at the MTC are the opportunities we have to teach our teachers as investigators. The Lord really does use this time as preparation for the field. We have one investigator named Brother Lee(sounds nothing like it but the darn romanization kills korean and I don’t have a korean keyboard on this computer). He is a buddhist, has practically no background on the church, and asks sooooo many questions! The awesome thing is that we can understand and give responses in both korean and scripture. After the first or second lesson we had still only talked about God and the Holy Ghost and touched on Christ because of all his questions. We asked him to pray as homework and when we came back the next time he said he had felt a good feeling. We had a whole lesson planned about Joseph Smith and the restoration but instead were prompted talked all about baptism! At the end we challenged him to be baptized and he said he would pray about it. He hasn’t even heard the name Joseph Smith but we'll see what happens!!

Yesterday we had the chance to teach another companionship. We choose someone we know and take on that character to be taught. It was amazing!! The words seem to just flow now, and I keep amazing myself with how much I can speak when I really try and push myself. We give over 30 minute long lessons with 0 korean help, in full korean. Everything!! And don’t even think that the teachers/investigators will listen if you say english. In those discussions, we are in korea and they do an awesome job of that. I wouldn’t have it any other way!

I am loving my time here and thinking about leaving honestly makes me sad. I am best friends with my district and think that these friendships are going to last a long time. They truly are my best friends. That doesn’t mean we're without struggles. There’s one elder in particular who does not want to work and who has a pretty bad attitude. I can’t even imagine what his companion is going through right now. My mission has already started. The first lines in preach my gospel are "You are surrounded my people." How true is that! And all those people are God's children. Everyone here has accepted God and Jesus Christ once, and they can do it again. In fact, that is our entire purpose of existence! We are here to return to love with our Heavenly Father. My purpose as a missionary is to help people realize this. And our duty as people who know this is to help others know as well. I read Mosiah 2 and 3 yesterday and would invite you all to do so as well. The main points I got were that obedience leads to blessings, and once you have heard the word, you have a great responsibility. You always hear that sin corresponds with immediate gratification, however, there’s a verse in there that says when we obey, god will IMMEDIATELY bless us. We just need to look for these blessings. They are there, I promise. There’s now a big emphasis on leading investigators to enduring to the end. If they hear the word and are baptized, and fall away, it would’ve been better for them to not hear it at all. I love the people of Korea and I want them to go as far as possible. I am determined to teach the importance of enduring to the end and continued obedience past baptism. I love those people too much to let them fall.

That’s a lesson for all of you!! You know the truth, and you have been blessed with the chance to hear it. Don't forget your testimonies and continue to build them. Remember what’s important in this life. Study the scriptures, they have the answers to life's toughest questions. Listen to the prophet. He has been called of God and knows what he's talking about, even if he's an old man.

The church is true! Jesus Christ is the only way to return to our Heavenly Father and find true happiness. Good luck everyone!

 Donut parties