Last week in Iksan?

November 16, 2015

          Time flew by pretty darn fast this last week.  I started it off well by getting toe surgery again.  I didn’t like being able to understand what they were saying.  They kind of messed up on the shot, and then they were talking about how serious my toe was, and yeah.  I wish my toe had been a bit more numb, I don’t like being able to feel them jabbing stuff under my nail.  My toe wasn’t supposed to get wet, but it’s been really rainy so it got soaked.  Hopefully it’s ok!

          We have a new investigator!  His name is Kim Sheekchul, he’s in his 70’s, and we met him on the street.  He said he wanted to meet us again because we were cute.  Hah he’s attending another church very seriously and seems pretty converted to that church.  But we gave him a BoM, so hopefully he read some and recognized its truth.  I don’t know if I’ve said it before, but Korea has sooo many churches!  It is insane!  People that go seem to be either way into it with a super strong belief, or not belief at all.  A lot of people just go for the social aspect, but don’t believe in God or anything.  So when we share a message about a loving God who still cares, well, not many people accept.  It doesn’t help that there are crazy churches here where people claim to be the resurrected Christ or even Heavenly Mother.  So people just put our church in the same group as these ones.  And don’t even get me started on the pastors!

          Anyways, as for our investigators, we told the Jo family and another lady we meet with that this next week is the last week for English.  Hopefully they still meet for the gospel!  I think the family will.  They love us too much to stop.

          Kim Hyobong is the same.  He never reads because he says it hurts his head, so we told him to listen online.  I think he will since we’ve been telling him so many times to do it. 

          Kim Youngyur (came to church once, English interest) is doing well.  He says that ever since meeting with us his interest has been growing a lot.  He didn’t read last time though, so we could see a pretty big difference in him.  I told him it was probably my last time and he got pretty sad.  Really sad actually.  He’s a great guy and I’ll miss him if I end up leaving.

          We finally met Melinda again!  She’s our Filipina less active.  She’s super great and says her dream is to just serve God and be a missionary.  Hopefully we can help her do it!

          Yup, it was a pretty good week and we usually had things to do which is always nice.  It seems like it was my last full week here in Iksan.  I’m still not completely sure, but I’ll find out in just a bit.  I’ve learned a lot here and it feels like I can never leave, like this is my area.  I’ve seen a lot of progress in myself and this area.  I’ve really been blessed with a great experience. 

          Love, Elder Jace Anderson

English class

Kim Youngyur

 Brother Jang and our member that got dropped on his head as a kid and calls us all the time saying crazy stuff.

Protection from the Lord

November 2, 2015

          Hi, I had a little time to email, but a guy called me and is about to commit suicide, so I need to leave and go help him out.  Please pray for him.  His name is Han Bit.  If you remember he is the gay investigator I had a loooong time ago.  I had a good week, everything is well.  Thank you, I love you all.  Please pray for him.  Don’t worry about me.  I am enjoying my time here and am very happy.  Our investigators aren’t really progressing, but I’m sharing the message I love.  Thank you!!!  Sorry I couldn’t write much.  I’ll try to write a letter about last week and send it next time.

 

November 2, 2015

          We had a lot of appointments and taught a lot this week, but I can’t help but feel a little disappointed at the end of it because no one is really progressing at all.  That pretty much sums up 2 weeks ago.  I didn’t have any time to write, so I’m just going to move one.

 

November 9, 2015

          Last P-day we went to Naejang Mountain with the south half of the mission.  It was pretty cool and had lots of fall colors.  It was really great seeing some old friends, especially Elder Tischner!  At the top there was a cool Buddhist temple which reminded me of the stuff we saw in China.  It was a pretty fun time.

          After the little trip I started my split with Elder Woods, one of our zone leaders.  We had a pretty crazy experience that Monday evening in which we got dragged into a pretty sketchy experience.  We met with this guy who turned out to be pretty suicidal and drunk and did lots of sketchy stuff.  But we got out of the ok!  We met with one of our English interest investigators (Son Insook) which went really well!  She said afterward that we had a very deep, profound discussion and that her interest is growing a bit.  Woohoo!

          Elder Woods wanted to know how Iksan was able to change from having nothing to being what it is now.  Sadly, I don’t really know!  But my time is running up here.  Next week is stake conference and then it’s transfers, so I think yesterday was my last time attending the Iksan ward.  Bishop had me give the 10 minute talk, so I spoke on Christ.  Kim Hyobong came of course, but we also had another investigator at church, Kim Youngyur.  It was his first time in his life (he’s probably 50 years old) that he went to any church, but he said that it was a very good experience for him.  He’s the best!  When we invited him, he got really sad because he had plans to go with his wife to visit some friends in another city.  But he called me later that evening saying he talked with his wife and called his friends, cancelled his plans, and would come out on Sunday!  Yay!

          For an update on our other people, Sis. Moon said she went to Seoul and doesn’t know when she’ll come back and doesn’t respond to texts or anything.  The Jo family isn’t really doing much.  They don’t come out to church even though it was my last week, and only the 11 year old daughter is keeping her reading commitments.  We can’t do the English program forever, so we might have to have a pretty tough conversation with them.  I don’t want to have to drop them!

          We had lots of appointments with new people, but none of them showed up.  So it has been a while since we’ve found any new people.  We’re meeting people and teaching, but people just aren’t really acting so they’re not progressing.  I really want to get some more done before I leave, but time is running out.  So we really need some miracles!

          It was a pretty good week.  I learned a lot about myself, had some good experiences, but also some things that I hope I never experience again.  I know that we received a lot of protection from the Lord and I grew closer to President Shin because of the help he gave us, so I think that I learned a lot and progressed some this week.  Thanks for the love and prayers!

          Love,

          Elder Jace Anderson

My favorite picture

Elder Tischner

9 Months to Go

October 26, 2015

          This last week was a bit slower than they’ve been lately, but it was still a good one. Kim Hyobong (the older guy) came out to church for the 4^th time and we met him twice, once with bishop.  He wants to attend church and even pay funds, but he just doesn’t want to be baptized for some reason.

          We met the family twice this week, once with the aunt.  They said they would come out to church, but the daughter woke up with a cold so they couldn’t make it.  We taught lesson 3, the Gospel of Christ, using some fun teaching aids for the kids which they really liked.  The aunt read from the BofM and actually remembered what she read!  She seems like she could have some interest and potential.  They just need to come out to church again and actually get a warm welcome.  But they’re still a super cute family and they gave us cheese!!!  Just like those American cheese individual slices, but still!

          Oh, I gave a talk in church on Sunday, and bishop asked me on Saturday night.  Haha I prepared a talk on asking questions and receiving answers specifically for the family, but they didn’t come. 

          We were able to meet Bro. Jang, the paralyzed guy, at his house but weren’t able to teach too much.  He might take some time.  We also had the worst lesson of my life this week.  It was with Kim Gihong, the guy that just talks a ton.  I don’t know why, but he was a completely different person.  He refused to read scriptures when we asked, and kept going on rants about other churches.  When we tried to stop him and tell him that we had an important message to share and how we aren’t those other churches, he went insane!  And he even refused to take his BofM when he left.  It was a pretty sad time.

          Update on Sis Moon!  Bishop finally got a hold of her.  She said she’s just super confused about life and everything right now so she doesn’t want to see anyone.  But she said she’d answer our call in a few days.  Hopefully we can get her back!

          We found a fun less active Filipina lady named Melinda this last week.  She is so nice, reads the BoM every day and prays every day but works on Sunday and doesn’t really like the ward.  But she did say that she would like to be pen-pals with Marissa!  So hopefully we can figure it out, it would be pretty fun!

          We had a cool experience this week.  There’s a lady we met maybe 2 weeks ago and gave her a BoM.  She works at a grocery store so we visited her and she said that she has already read half of it!  The down side is she doesn’t seem all that impressed and she doesn’t want to take the lessons with us.  But if she keeps reading and does it sincerely, it has to go well!

          I don’t have too much time left here since it has already been about 6 ½ months, so I’m really hoping to get some more stuff going before I leave, and hopefully help one of these great people come into the waters of baptism.  Also, I hit my 15 month mark this last week.  Only 9 more to go!  That’s so weird.  Things are going well, I’m feeling a bit more stressed lately, but I’m enjoying my time here.  Thank you all for your prayers and for being such great examples to me.

          Elder Jace Anderson

                                 Me and Kim Hyobong and me and spongebob!

 

                                                     Me and the family!! 

 

                                Bad news, the other side of my toe is exploding

 

 

 

Ten Lessons

October 19, 2015

          This last week went pretty well, and we had a whopping 10 lessons!  That’s so much!  But to be honest, I’m coming out of this week feeling a little down because of Sister Moon.  I don’t know what she is doing!  We tried to visit her on Wednesday, but she said it was too late.  She said that we would be able to meet on Saturday, but she didn’t answer any calls or respond to any texts.  And she didn’t come to church either.  I just have no idea.  I think maybe she’s just looking for her auditory hallucination to be healed, and since it’s still there she might have given up.  It makes me soooo sad!!  Bishop is going to try to contact her and set up an appointment.

          On the bright side of this week, we were able to get in contact with and meet our paralyzed guy again!  Bro Jang.  We were able to go to his house and his other friend was there too.  His friend doesn’t believe in God or anything and doesn’t want Him to exist.  It was pretty much me, my comp., and Bro. Jang against this guy in a pretty sweet battle.  The best part was that every time he had a tough question or point that Bro. Jang didn’t know, we answered it with the BofM.  Bro Jang loved it!  Hopefully he starts reading to find his own anwers.

          Kim Hyobong, the old guy, came out to church again!  It was his 3^rd time.  We met with him once and discussed the Plan of Salvation.  We extended a baptismal invitation, but he just wants to learn more first.  We extended another bap. Invitation to Kim Gihong, the guy that talks A TON and doesn’t want to come back out to church because there are so few members.  He didn’t accept it, but also didn’t reject it.  He’s just a funny guy. 

          The family is doing ok.  The first time we met them this week, the kids kept fighting and things didn’t go too well, but we met them again yesterday with the aunt and finished the Plan of Salvation.  It’s almost like they think this stuff is interesting, but they don’t care too much.

          We went to Daejeon on Friday for a combined zone conference.  It was so weird being back in my old area after 6 months!  Man, it sure felt so weird.  The conference was great.  I really love President and Sister Shin.  They are so great and such amazing examples. 

          I got a funny email from President a couple weeks ago.  He told me that he is expecting a lot out of us here, and then last week he said that a baptism in Iksan is the same as many baptisms in another area.  Haha we were able to meet with our bishop and the ward council and talk about missionary work.  Hopefully they start to have a bit more interest and help out some more.  I think Bishop is willing to do some more now.  Things are going to be great!

          Thanks for all you guys do and for your great examples.  I hope you had a super happy B-day Marissa!!  I love you all and hope you have a great week.

          Love,

   Elder Jace Anderson

 

Because I know you guys like food pics, here's me and some Chinese noodles. haha

                 Me and Elder Skouson riding the bus home like we do every night 

Conference Miracles

October 12, 2015

          This week went by crazy fast!  A big reason was conference, but also because we were able to meet people during the week also.  I’ll just skip to the end of the week real quick.  We had 5 people come out to conference!!!  The members seemed pretty shocked, but they kind of excluded them after which was pretty disappointing.  We have sooo few members and they’re all really close, so it’s almost like they don’t want anyone new to come in.  Anyways, the first one to come was Sis. Moon.  I wasn’t able to really talk with her after, so I don’t know how she liked it.  We met with her once during the week and talked about A LOT of stuff.  She doesn’t really have anyone else in her life at all, so it’s good for her to talk with us.  She said ever since she started meeting with us all her loneliness and bad dreams have gone away!  That was super great to hear.  We extended a baptismal invitation and ………she said she wants to read and learn more first.  But she said she’d get baptized when she knows the BofM is true.  She also said she wants to start paying tithing right now, which made me want to cry because she has very little, only government support.  She’s been having questions lately about just not knowing what to do in life, so hopefully we can help her out.

          The second one who came out was Kim Hyobong, the old guy who came out to church last week.  We met him once during the week and taught the restoration.  He’s just a really chill old man who is humble enough to be willing to give things a try.

          The other people came from the Jo family!  They’re the best, I love them so much.  We met them once during the week as well and their aunt just happened to drop by, so she joined us for the gospel portion.  We reviewed the restoration with the help of the kids, and I think the aunt really liked seeing that.  We focused on prophets and talked about conference.  The mom said she’d love to come, but works every day from 9-5.  That hurt to hear!  So we didn’t expect them to come, but they were able to!  I asked her how, and she just said that her work was switched!  So that was a cool miracle.

          We had the less active lady call us because her baby son we sick, so we went over and gave him a blessing, my first in Korean!  It would’ve been better if he wasn’t screaming though.  She said something about how whenever she needs help, she thinks of us.  It made me think that it is easy to think of God and pray when things are hard, but we need to remember Him and especially be grateful when things are going well.

          I’m grateful for the great conference that we were able to enjoy.  One thing I learned is that the Lord is the one doing the work, we just do the little acts.  I was really able to see that as well when He provided a way for the Jo family to come out to conference.  I am grateful for the chance to do my little part in this great work.  Thank you for all your love and support and especially for all your prayers.  I love you all and hope you have a great week, and remember the good experiences you have had in this great gospel.

          Love,

          Elder Jace Anderson

 

                              My district! well, last transfers district. 

 

I'm staying

October 5, 2015

We slowed down a bit this week.  We weren’t able to meet as many people or have as many lesson but it was still a good week, especially the end.  We had 2 people come out to church!  A new old guy we had met on the street came out, but I think he felt a little bit of pressure from the members, well, 1 member.  Haha he got taught all of the Plan of Salvation in like 10 minutes after sacrament.  I was with our other investigator so there was nothing I could do about it.  Sister Moon came out to church!  And she asked bishop if he could give her a ride to church EVERY WEEK!  We weren’t able to meet her this last, but it seems like things will go well. 

We are meeting with this super cute family for English and they’re showing signs of progression (Jo Family).  We were also able to meet their dad who we though would be really tough, but he actually had interest and asked lots of questions.  The kids are 10 and 7 I think, and actually remember the stuff that we teach!  They’re really cute kids.

I went on a split with our ZL Elder Russell here in Iksan which went well.  We met 1 investigator and E. Russell kind of put a lot of pressure on him.  But that’s ok, he probably needed it.  He’s been an investigator for a while (Bro. Beak) without much progression. 

We had a couple funny things this week.  The first one is that we bought suits for $20!  There was a big sale so we went during dinner hour one day.  $20!  Pants and jacket.  Haha.  The second one was bad.  We were walking and started talking to this guy outside and restaurant.  He offered to feed us, so we accepted thinking we would be able to talk with him.  Big mistake.  He sat us down, ordered our food, and left.  Then we ate the worst food I have ever had in my life, stingray soup.  I can’t really explain it, but the smell of it would just attack your nose and get even worse when it got in your mouth.  It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done!  Food is super important here, so we had to keep going.  It sucked!

But we had a good week and it’s nice to see so much progression here.  Thanks everyone!  I love you all!

          Elder Jace Anderson

P.S. I am staying here in Iksan for my 5^th transfer!  That means I’ll be here for like 7 monthsish.  It’s gonna be great and we’re going to have lots of success.  And definitely a baptism!!

elder skouson painfully eating the soup. my $20 suit!!

 

we also ate good food. more chicken!! my favorite food in korea. haha

 

 

stingray soup and silk worm larvae

 

 

Say what??!!??

September 28, 2015

To start off the week I got toe surgery!  And it was no fun at all.  Pretty darn painful!  Especially when the guy stuck a needle directly into the gross hurt part.  Ouch!  After it was numb he just went to town with some scary scissors.  He was just slicing and yanking and I was lay8ing there trying not to imagine what was going on. After a while they wrapped it up and sent me to another room.  The lady nurse comes in and says something I couldn’t understand.  Then she said it in English, but I still didn’t get it.  I look at my comp and he says, “injection.”  I looked at her and she says “injection” as she pats her butt.  Oh no.  Next thing I know I’m laying on this bed thing with my pants down and this lady just starts slapping me on the butt, then rubbing, then said I was done.  I didn’t even feel it!  Haha I had to wear 1 shoe and 1 slipper this week which wasn’t fun and limped a lot, but things are going well now!

We were able to teach several lessons this week, 10 actually!  I think it might’ve been a record for me and we were actually busy some of the time.  Sister Moon is doing ok.  We met her a few times but she’s not doing well with keeping commitments.  I still think she’ll be baptized though.  I might get transferred in like a week and half, so we’ll see what happens with her!  I still don’t really feel like I’m ready to leave and I think there’s a decent chance of doing 5 transfers here in Iksan.  We weren’t able to meet our paralyzed guy and things aren’t looking too great for him.  The other people we met were mainly new people for English.  And they’re like all women!  Good think there are no sisters here or we would have like no investigators!  We met our homeless guy one last time and dropped him after he declined a baptism invitation.  He just has no chance to improve and no desire to do so.  And he’s pretty crazy.

Well, it has now been a year since I have come to Korea.  It’s pretty hard to believe that it’s been that long!  I’ve come a long ways, but I know that I still have a lot to do and still need to improve a whole lot.  I’m grateful for the time that the Lord has given me and for all the chances and opportunities that I have been blessed with.  Thank you all for your love and support.

Love,

Elder Jace Anderson

                                 My wrapped up toe. It looks pretty good now!