Monday, August 4, 2014

Transfer 9, week 7 - Transfer week (August 4, 2014)



안녕하세요~  (Annyeonghaseyo)
 
Things have finally settled down, and I think this week will be very very normal (unless someone transfers! but it doesn't seem super likely (which is what I said when I left 포항... (Pohang, Andrew's previous area))).
 
Things have been going really well with Brother 정대영 (Jeong Daeyeong). We still haven't been able to meet his family yet (Brother 정대영 (Jeong Daeyeonghas been up near Seoul to study or something - it's summer vacation right now, but apparently Koreans study then too...), but we're definately trying to.
 
Last week was a Youth Conference, and Brother 정대영 (Jeong Daeyeongended up going to that - they went to a water park, then camped out/slept at one of our nearby churches. It seems like he has fun, though he said that "it wasn't really [his] style." Anyways, because of the Youth Conference, a lot of the Young Men and Young Women got up this Fast Sunday to bear their testimonies and talk about their experiences (to be honest, most of them just kind of reported what they did, but that's fine too). I think Brother 정대영 (Jeong Daeyeongfelt some pressure from that or something, because he asked if he should go up and bear his testimony too. Of course, us and everyone sitting nearby told him that he should, and so he did.
 
He got up to the stand, and asked "Am I allowed to bear my testimony?" to which the congregation said "Yes!" He went on to talk about prayer, and how he had to take a difficult test in school, so he prayed a lot while studying. He said he felt peace and then he did well on the test. Our members absolutely loved it, and everyone was complimenting him after sacrament meeting. He did better than some of our youth, haha.
 
So that was really exciting - Brother 정대영 (Jeong Daeyeongis progressing well. He said that he prays every day now, and that he's been reading the Book of Mormon regularly as well.
 
Actually, I think he said because he prayed for the test and did well, he prays regularly. It's exciting to see him apply gospel principles - he had enough faith to try and pray, and because he got an answer, he has a testimony of prayer, and now prays better/with more faith/more regularly. That's how we all grow faith - we start small, but by acting, we grow our faith which helps us to act more in the future!
 
He's also been going to seminary with the other youth, and while he says it's still kind of hard, he keeps attending. Brother 정대영 (Jeong Daeyeongresponds really well to anything we invite him to do. Last Saturday, my companion asked him if he wanted to come to seminary before the Mutal activity, and the text went something like this:

"Hey, you want to come to church early so you can attend seminary?"
"Me!?"
"Yes you. Wanna come?"
"Okay."
 
We're still not sure how baptism will pan out however - his father apparently donsn't like Christian churches that much. Brother 정대영 (Jeong Daeyeongsays he has tried to bring up churches several times, but his father just kind of cuts him off and doesn't talk about it. He DID say that if Brother 정대영 (Deyeoung Jeoung, by the way) attends out church diligently for a year, he'll allow baptism, but that's kind of a worst-case scenerio. We're still in the works with trying to figure out if we'll be able to meet with his family, and what they'll say about baptism - hopefully, we can meet them this week. Brother 정대영 (Jeong Daeyeongsaid that Jehovah's witnesses come to their house every week to try and talk, and his father really doesn't like it, so we'll have to be careful about not trying to be annoying or too persistant as we try to meet...
 
That's by far the most exciting news for the week. Our other investigators are doing alright, but nothing too special...
 
Brother 박제희 (Bag [or Pak] Jehwi) is a very, very long time investigator; I think he's on year four right now. We meet them with the senior couple in of the 광안 (Gwangan, Andrew's area) ward, and we've been reading from the Book of Mormon. He's improved a lot; our discussions are a little bit more focused now, and he comes having read all that we assigned him. He's still not progressing all that significantly, but my companion says that's he's a LOT better then when Elder 홍 (Hong) first got here. We usually read from the Book of Mormon for like 40 minutes, and then talk about the contents for another 20. We also play ping-pong for about an hourish, which I don't really like too much, but I think it's one of the reasons he shows up every week.
 
Brother 윤영언 (Yun Yeongeon) is about where we started - I think we need to talk to him and try to help him understand our purpose as missionaries - we're not just here to teach, but to convert. Meeting with him just once a week is kind of hard as well - it's hard to help people progress if you can't meet with them often - preferably 3-4 times a week.
 
Brother 오삼석 (O Samseog) is kind of similar. We're not even sure why he keeps meeting with us - he first showed up because Brother 윤영언 (Yun Yeongeoninvited him to English class, so we need to teach him about our purpose as well. We probably also need to meet him separately from Brother 윤영언 (Yun Yeongeon); it's hard to teach two people at once, since they both have different questions and needs - last time, I didn't know who to focus on, or how much time to spend on what question, etc.
 
The rest of our investigators are kind of dead - there's a few people we keep contacting, but they're all busy, and then we have a couple of people we call but they don't pick up. We called a former investigator this week, one 오두택 (O Dutaeg), and he says he's good to meet, so hopefully we can pick him up as an investigator!
 
Other than that, I'm back with Elder 홍 (Hong) now, so life is mostly normal. He said it was really weird to go back home and see his family, friends, and ward again. He said that if he was a mission president, he wouldn't let people go back, even for a funeral, just because it's really hard to come back to the mission and work. I think he's adjusting back to the missionary schedule fairly well though - I don't think they will be any problems.
 
One thing that I've been trying to work on this week while teaching is testifying - for some reason, it's really easy to slip into a bad routine of teaching only doctrine. Most of our investigators are fairly accepting of what we're saying, so sometimes it doesn't feel like we need to testify because the investigator seems to understand. But by trying to testify more, I've felt that the lessons have gone better, and I've felt that "I did well. I taught what I was supposed to" feeling more. Preach My Gospel says that testifying is one of the most effective ways to invite the Spirit, and the Holy Ghost is one of the most important parts of our teaching.
 
Even if I'm not saying things very well in Korean, and even if the investigator doesn't understand perfectly what I'm talking about, I feel that if I testify and invite the Holy Ghost in such a way that the investigator feels it as well, that's a successful lesson.
 
Actually, that's something I've been thinking a lot about - there's a lot of things that we all know we need to do, but aren't doing. Especially in missionary work, most people do the big things - study, obey rules, teach the lessons - fairly well. If we do the basics well though, we need to improve on polishing what we do. I think that's one purpose of our leaders, regular church meetings, home teachers, scriptures, etc. They help to remind us about the basics, and then how we can polish up what we do.
 
So it's been a good week - though trying to testify more, I think I've strenthened my testimony about testimonies. It's a unique feeling to be able to testify as a missionary, and feel like you've done what you were supposed to in a lesson. I'm really grateful for the Holy Ghost in guiding us as we try our best.
 
With any luck, I'll have good news about Brother 정대영's (Jeong Daeyeongbaptism next week! I'll write to you all then!
 
Love,
- Elder Luke


P.S.

Here's a few pictures - a couple with me and Elder 홍 (Hong) with Brother 정대영 (Jeong Daeyeong), and the other is a picture I took today with the elders in my district at McDonalds.

Love you all!
- Elder Luke




Note: The box on the table says "Choko Pai" = "chocolate pie." They're basically the same thing as a Moon Pie -- two wafers with a (not very sweet) cream between them, all dipped in chocolate.



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