Sunday, August 28, 2016
My Last Letter
July 18, 2016
We had a successful week this last week. Our investigator Walter was suuuper close to being baptized yesterday. We had it all planned and everything and he brought extra underwear and we were all ready to go. So to remind you who Walter is, he is a great Filipino man who we met with the Filipina sisters, but after they left he became our investigator. We haven't been able to meet the last 2 weeks because he's crazy busy. He's always been a great investigator but always responded to baptism by saying when he's ready he will knock on our door. Well, he was thinking about it and opened up his Bible and read Acts 22:16 "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." He closed his Bible and opened again to Acts 18:8 "And Crisps, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and may of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized." He finally received his answer and was all set for baptism. Because of his schedule we were not able to do his interview until Sunday morning, and it turns out that he was involved with an abortion like 20 years ago. This means he has to meet with Pres. Madsen because of the seriousness of it. But they are both super busy and Pres. isn't really close to Gwangju. The only chance we have is for Pres. to come next Sunday. Hopefully things work out and Walter can be baptized next Sunday if possible because he really wants to. It's super sad! He really wants to be baptized but can't and he might have to work every Sunday next month. He needs a lot of prayers!
As for Park Jongmoon, he passed his baptism interview last week but we haven't ben able to contact him since...weird. We were meeting our fireman investigator at the park and ended up having a discussion with this random guy there. It stared out ok, but then he went mega Bible bash mode trying to tell us that we will be punished for teaching a different gospel because we have more than just the Bible. We tried to explain that the BoM is just a way to learn more about and understand the same gospel better, but he didn't want it to be true so he won't be able to know.
It is hard to believe that my last week has begun. It still does not feel real at all. I still feel like a newbie and that there is more I need to learn. I am grateful that the end of a mission is not the end of Christ-centered life. I am grateful that missionary opportunities will still come as we seek them. I know the Lord has a plan for us and that we must be humble and willing to accept his timing. These last 2 weeks, the sisters in the district and us have come so close to having 3 baptisms, but for reasons outside our control none have pulled through. It is insanely frustrating seeing us come so close, but I know that He has accepted our efforts and that one day all things will be made right.
I am looking forward to the best week yet of my mission but feel heartbroken that things are coming to an end. I love my mission experience and I am so grateful for the lessons I have learned, people I have met, and the changes I have felt within me. I have been blessed with a difficult mission which has shaped me into someone much better than the kid back home. I have a long way to go still, I am not yet satisfied with who I am ye, but I am grateful for a mission that has set me on the right path.
Love,
Elder Jace Anderson
A formal investigator. Oh yeah, I got toe surgery again......hahahaha it's not really healing well either......
We had a successful week this last week. Our investigator Walter was suuuper close to being baptized yesterday. We had it all planned and everything and he brought extra underwear and we were all ready to go. So to remind you who Walter is, he is a great Filipino man who we met with the Filipina sisters, but after they left he became our investigator. We haven't been able to meet the last 2 weeks because he's crazy busy. He's always been a great investigator but always responded to baptism by saying when he's ready he will knock on our door. Well, he was thinking about it and opened up his Bible and read Acts 22:16 "And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." He closed his Bible and opened again to Acts 18:8 "And Crisps, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and may of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized." He finally received his answer and was all set for baptism. Because of his schedule we were not able to do his interview until Sunday morning, and it turns out that he was involved with an abortion like 20 years ago. This means he has to meet with Pres. Madsen because of the seriousness of it. But they are both super busy and Pres. isn't really close to Gwangju. The only chance we have is for Pres. to come next Sunday. Hopefully things work out and Walter can be baptized next Sunday if possible because he really wants to. It's super sad! He really wants to be baptized but can't and he might have to work every Sunday next month. He needs a lot of prayers!
As for Park Jongmoon, he passed his baptism interview last week but we haven't ben able to contact him since...weird. We were meeting our fireman investigator at the park and ended up having a discussion with this random guy there. It stared out ok, but then he went mega Bible bash mode trying to tell us that we will be punished for teaching a different gospel because we have more than just the Bible. We tried to explain that the BoM is just a way to learn more about and understand the same gospel better, but he didn't want it to be true so he won't be able to know.
It is hard to believe that my last week has begun. It still does not feel real at all. I still feel like a newbie and that there is more I need to learn. I am grateful that the end of a mission is not the end of Christ-centered life. I am grateful that missionary opportunities will still come as we seek them. I know the Lord has a plan for us and that we must be humble and willing to accept his timing. These last 2 weeks, the sisters in the district and us have come so close to having 3 baptisms, but for reasons outside our control none have pulled through. It is insanely frustrating seeing us come so close, but I know that He has accepted our efforts and that one day all things will be made right.
I am looking forward to the best week yet of my mission but feel heartbroken that things are coming to an end. I love my mission experience and I am so grateful for the lessons I have learned, people I have met, and the changes I have felt within me. I have been blessed with a difficult mission which has shaped me into someone much better than the kid back home. I have a long way to go still, I am not yet satisfied with who I am ye, but I am grateful for a mission that has set me on the right path.
Love,
Elder Jace Anderson
A formal investigator. Oh yeah, I got toe surgery again......hahahaha it's not really healing well either......
Sunday, August 7, 2016
Lots of neat pictures!
July 11,
2016
In news with Park Jongmoon he came out to church yesterday! He was a little shy though. But it went well and he also passed his baptismal interview with my good friend Elder Skouson. He said that he will choose between the 17th or 24th for his baptism! He wants to do it before I leave, which makes me a little worried that he’s doing it mainly for us, so we’ll talk with him about it. Hopefully he doesn’t stop moving forward and is serious about making the commitment to follow the Savior. He is a great guy and I want the best for him.
We started
off this week with a super cool hike with some of the other elders. We saw lots of cool Buddhist stuff and had a
great view at the top of all the clouds whirling around us. It was a great start to a fast week. We met Pres. and Sis. Madsen and they are
amazing! They are so strong and
dedicated. I know this mission will
continue to do great things with them. I
had a wonderful interview with him and he talked about how we don’t know the
influence we have had until a long ways down the road. We teared up several times together in our
quick interview. Haha he is a wonderful
man.
In news with Park Jongmoon he came out to church yesterday! He was a little shy though. But it went well and he also passed his baptismal interview with my good friend Elder Skouson. He said that he will choose between the 17th or 24th for his baptism! He wants to do it before I leave, which makes me a little worried that he’s doing it mainly for us, so we’ll talk with him about it. Hopefully he doesn’t stop moving forward and is serious about making the commitment to follow the Savior. He is a great guy and I want the best for him.
We had 1
other lesson this week and you probably can’t guess who it was with. An Iraqi fighter pilot! His name is Faddi and he’s here in Korea
getting military training. He’s a pretty
devout Muslim and we learned a lot about Islam.
It’s definitely not what I thought.
They pretty much believe everything we do except for a few variations
concerning Christ. But they accept Him
as a prophet, believe in the Bible, and believe He will come again. It was kind of hard to teach him because he
like already knew it all plus a little bit more from his Muslim stuff. Pretty interesting.
The
missionaries in our ward (6 of us) had to sing in sacrament meeting which was a
little embarrassing, but ok. We had a
solid week and I am grateful for the time I have to serve the Lord and share this
great message. This work is His work,
and this church is His church. I know it
and I am grateful to have been blessed with this time to strengthen my faith
and relationship with our Father in Heaven.
Love,
Elder Jace
Anderson
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