My 22nd month mark!

May 23, 2016

          I just realized that today is my 22^nd month mark.  Wow!  That’s crazy!  Anyways, this last week was good but a little tough.  Originally, Song Gwangjeong was supposed to get baptized next week.  We called him to see if we could meet him and help him get ready.  He was super snappy asking about what there could possibly be to prepare since it’s just your heart that’s important.  He reluctantly agreed to meet during Sunday school and we went over the baptismal interview questions.  Sadly it didn’t go too well.  He really rejected tithing and randomly told us to explain what Mount Zion is.  He said that missionaries are supposed to teach but instead he’s the one that has stuff to teach.  It was super frustrating.

          We met Park Jongmoon and he accepts everything well, but he keeps having to work on Sundays and he’s just super busy.  It’s super hard because there are so many things outside of our control.  Our North Korean guy started working so he got super busy and it seems like he’s just going to go to this other church.  We weren’t able to meet him.  Our other new investigator pretty much dropped us, but it’s ok because he was just English interest. 

          The one bright spot was our 78 year old Lee Yongil!  We did a member lesson with another elderly member and they connected super well.  Our investigator said he wants to be just like our member and come out to church and everything.  It was super great!!  Sadly something came up and he wasn’t able to come out to church and since he works every other day he can’t come out for another 2 weeks.  He still has potential though!  Hopefully we can just keep meeting him.

          I really want to be more effective during my remaining time.  We’re doing our best, we obey, we invite, but it’s really hard to see what’s coming out of it.  We want to spend our time teaching and meeting people and helping them, so we need to find others who are willing to do it!

          There wasn’t really too much that went on this last week…but it was Elder Groves’ birthday!  So that was fun.  We’re looking forward to a good week, and we have a combined district meeting where Pres. will interview us, so hopefully we can find the key to starting up the work some more.

          I recently finished reading the BoM in which I focused on what blessings come from living the gospel.  I think the thing that stands out most to me was found in the very end, Moroni 10:32-33.  “Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him…then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God.”  The gospel really can change us and make us better people as we work towards our goal of returning back to Heavenly Father.  I have been very blessed to feel that and recognize that I am a different but better person than I was before.

          Love,

          Elder Jace Anderson

Elder Groves' bday!

A cool pond

Some hats we found

Park Jongmoon

Super rough but lots of miracles

May 16, 2016

This week started out super rough, one of the harder times of my mission.  But we saw lots of miracles this week and things are much better now.  We started out with just 2 investigators and were only able to meet 1 of them, but we were blessed with some new people!  The first one is Lee Yongil.  He is 78 years old and originally met the sisters on the street.  He has English interest because his family lives in Australia, but he has gospel interest as well.  He used to go to church with his wife but didn't really care about it.  His wife passed away a few years ago and he's been feeling lately that he needs to start believing in something.  He works every other day, so he has committed to coming to church every other week.  He's a super sweet guy.

Get this!  Our next new investigator is from North Korea!  He escaped through China with his wife last year and is now here in the south.  I met him on the subway on the way to church last week and we were able to meet him again.  He wants to learn more about God, who His is, why we need to believe, how to believe, and a bunch of golden stuff like that.  We can feel that there is something special about him.  We found another guy through a cool little miracle.  I think it was Tuesday evening we were just walking around feeling a little down when we stopped at a light with no one around us.  All of a sudden we hear someone yelling and running towards us.  This college aged guy came and asked if we were missionaries, if we teach English and stuff like that.  He's a pretty cool guy, we met him once but we're not sure how much gospel interest he though.  One of our former investigators came back from Seoul and came to church yesterday!  But I don't really know why he came to be honest, and he didn't want to meet and do the lessons. 

I had a good birthday on Friday but Elder Groves was sick so we ended up just going back to the house so he could rest.  It was a good week, and we've had some fun adventures with trying to communicate with all these Cambodians and people from Istamul that the Filipina sisters keep finding.  Three of them even came to church!  They don't speak Korean or English, so I don't really know why they came...probably because of the sisters.  Haha.

It's been great to see all the progression this last week and see His hand in the work so much.  I know if we look for it we will be able to see his guiding hand in our lives.  Thank you so much for the prayers, love and support.  You're all the best!

Love,
Elders Anderson

My birthday and my comp

Our islander sisters haha.  New Zealand, Tonga and the Philippines

I even got surprised with a cake!

 

Happy Mother's Day

May 9, 2016

          First off Happy Mother’s Day all you moms out there.  Especially to my amazing mom, thank you for the many years of love, support, and encouragement.  You have treated me so well and I hope you have had a great day.  This week was pretty good.  Not the best, but it was good.  We’re just down to 2 investigators now so it’s kinda tough.  And Park Jongmoom decided to drop his baptismal date.  He’s still thinking about baptism but doesn’t want to set a date and not be able to be baptized on that day because promises are really important to him.  He’s still accepting everything well but we’re worried about tithing especially because his wife doesn’t really care for church much.  It’ll work out though!  Also, Song Gwangjeong didn’t come out to church and we couldn’t meet him.  We’re just a little bit worried!

          We met a new guy who we originally met on the subway.  He goes to another church and just asked a bunch of tough questions about the priesthood, baptism, Moroni being resurrected, and stuff like that.  People would be a lot better off if they learned the gospel with a desire to accept it rather than find faults in it.  We’re really trying hard to find more people to teach.  We did meet a group of guys from Istamul and 1 of them came to church!  Too bad he hardly knows any Korean or English…his friends are good at Korean though so hopefully we can meet them again.

          Hmm what else happened?  Some crazy drunk guy grabbed E. Groves’ throat and punched him in the chest which was pretty unusual.  We spent a lot of time on the streets and talking with people on buses.  We’re pretty much in desperate finding mode right now and trying to make sure our 2 investigators get baptized.  It’s just hard because there’s so much out of our control.  It’ll be ok though, I’m sure we’ll be able to pick things back up and get it moving.  I just wish we could be a bit more effective.  I’m starting my 2^nd to last transfer right now so hopefully I can finish strong these last few months. 

          I’ve been reminded lately of the answer Alma’s people received during their time of trials.  Because of their patience and faith “the Lord came unto them, saying:  Be of good comfort, for on the morrow I will deliver you out of bondage.”  As long as we are faithful and patient the Lord will always deliver us.  Once again, Happy Mother’s Day!  Thank you for all your prayers and thoughts.  You’re all the best!

          Love,

          Elder Jace Anderson

                                                              My district and Sister Park

The nephew of the people G and G Anderson know

Our investigator who we just dropped because of lack of progress, Na Jinju

Statue

Ancient Korean remedy

 

We Made a lot of Good Memories

May 2, 2016

          It’s already May!  Wow!  Man, it’s crazy to think how much time has gone by.  This week went by especially fast because it was a great one.  Why?  Because we now have 2 baptismal dates!  Woohoo!  The first one is Song Gwangjeong.  I might’ve talked about him last week but he’s the husband of a member.  We used to teach him but couldn’t meet for several months.  He came to church last week and said he’ll get baptized in May, so we were able to meet him and set a date for the 29^th  I don’t really know him too well so we’re hoping to be able to meet him more and help him get ready.

          The second one is our best friend Park Jongmoon!  He really is just the best guy ever and it’s been so much fun meeting with him.  He has decided to be baptized on the 22^nd and also have our families meet when mine comes to Korea.  Yay!  I’m super excited.  We’re just hoping that the ward accepts him well.  We did a member lesson once which went super well so it should work out.

          I talked about Hwang Seongoon last week.  He’s the one who was searching super hard to figure out what happens to good people who died without having the chance to accept the gospel.  Well, it may have overwhelmed him and he got a lot of stress from his work and family so he is taking some time to figure out his life and then we’ll meet again.  Hopefully we can meet him soon.  I think it’ll take some time though.

          We were able to go to a wedding last week, it was pretty different.  First off there were 5 weddings or so going on all at once in the same building just different rooms.  But you could stand in the foyer and watch 4 weddings at once.  It was pretty interesting, a good experience but I don’t want my wedding like that.  Especially because the bride was super not into it and kept rejecting the groom.  Poor guy.

          We made a lot of good memories last week with weddings, investigators, hugs from random guys on the streets, getting yelled at and called handsome by a horde of girls, and more.  It’s been a good week.  We don’t have many investigators but the ones we have are great.

          So, yeah, things are going well.  Hopefully things work out with our investigators and we don’t have to spend so much time on the streets next week.  I hope you’re all enjoying the nice Utah spring (except Elizabeth).  Thank you for all the support.  I found a good verse I’d like to share 3 Nephi 22:4.  We’ve all made mistakes in the past, but there’s no need to dwell on them.  Have a great week!

          Love,

          Elder Jace Anderson

Random guy that wanted a picture and hugged us

Korean wedding

                                                            Our district at the wedding

 

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