Sunday, March 1, 2015

Transfer 14, week 6 - Transfer week! (March 2, 2015)



안녕하세요 (Annyeonghaseyo)!
 
How are you all doing? Well, I hope!
 
We had a really really awesome week here in 상인 (Sangin)! Time seems to be moving really fast.
 
Elder Boome had, in one of his other areas, visited members on their birthday to sing them "Happy Birthday" and give cookies or brownies, just to do something nice for the members. It's a little bit of work to make treats, and then go all the way to visit them, but we get to spend a little time with our members, and I think they really appreciate it.
 
So this week was Brother 변수화's (Byeon Suhwan) birthday (you might remember me mentioning him; he's really funny, and made us stay at his house for like 3 hours once because he wasn't ready to hear our message because he was "still digesting." He's kind of crazy, but he's a really good guy.), so we decided to visit him. This was our first visit in 상인 (Sangin), so I was a little nervous, especially since we were going to visit him without calling first. We get to his apartment, and he lets us in, and he was really excited when we told him we came to tell him "happy birthday." He has us come in, then called all his family over so they could hear us sing to him (his wife suggested we sit, but he replied with "This is a special occasion, so we have to stand for the song."), then we sang and gave him cookies. Again, he seemed really grateful that we had come over, and we spend the next 45 minutes or so talking and spending time with his family. Brother 변수환 (Byeon Suhwanseems to be the kind of person that likes us visiting and giving him stuff (some of the older members probably wouldn't be so pumped about it), but we're planning on trying and visiting more people in the future. Elder Boome said something to the effect of "being with members is so good for missionary work; you feel energized afterwards" and I think it's really true.
 
Speaking of members, we had our second 음악교실 (eumak gyosil = music education [音楽教育?])/Music class this week, and that turned out really well as well. We didn't have too many people show up, maybe just like 6, but everyone kind of split off into groups, so each missionary was able to spend time with the members (not just Elder Boome teaching 8 people, and everyone else sitting around, you know?). I was on a piano with 병수 (Byong Su) and 병현 (Byeong Hyeon), two of the young men. 병현, the younger of the brothers, actually was trying to learn and practice piano, and 병수 was basically just messing around the entire time while keeping 병현 from learning, so I don't know how much actual learning took place. But the important thing is that we were able to be with the members. I'd be good if 병수 paid a little bit more attention though, haha.
 
Our bishop changed this last week (I might have wrote about it?), so we're kind of adjusting to that. It seems like he's pretty interested in helping us out and things; he sent his 1st counselor into MCM with us, which was a little bit scary, haha.
 
We got to meet with 이예진s (Sis. I Yeojin) and 이진산b (Bro. I Jinsan) twice this week, which ws really great. We also met with 황동옥s (Sis. Hwang Dongok), who is now pretty much their official fellowshipper; 예진s especially likes her, I think.
 
Oh Wednsday, we taught a lot about prayer and scripture study, and how they can gain a testimony through those things. They both commited to read and prayer (plot twist: they both prayed but didn't really read when we met the next time). The lesson was really good - it wasn't awkward, and I think both 예진s and 진산b felt comfortable to talk about their questions, and the things they think. 진산b mentioned that their father doesn't want him to come to church (apparently his opinion is that 예진s is fine to come because she's a girl, and 진산b can't go to church because he needs to study hard to get into a good school so that he can get a good job later in life), but their mother support them. Actually, we once asked whether it was hard to come to church in the morning, and they said that if they slept late on Sundays, their mother was wake them up and send them to church (she's not a member, by the way!). 예진s and 진산b said that they came this week to church without their father knowning, which is not really that great, in my opinion. I'd be best if we could help the father agree to let his children attend church...
 
Their baptismal date is still the 21st (which is next transfer, so if I happen to transfer somewhere...), though that date seems like it'll be a liitttle hard to meet. Our ward mission leader is absolutely dead-set on that date though; I'm not sure why, but he won't even hear about changing it. It's kind of a little probem actually, since we want to make sure to teach 예진s and 진신b at a pace that's appropriate for them, and not have to feel rushed for baptism. I wish he understood a little bit better that the most important person here is the investigator, and our job is to make sure they know enough and are doing what they need to prepare for baptism. We can make it by that date, but we'll have to teach a little bit faster than we had planned. I guess we'll just see.
 
Oh, and the lesson we had on Sunday was really good as well. We briefly covered the Plan of Salvation, and then talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They accepted everything really well, and seemed pretty excited about what we were teaching. 예진s especially was really listening well. She said she really liked the concept of repentance; she had learned before that once someone sinned, that was a permanent mark against them. So learning that we can repent of our sins and be clean was something she was really interested in. 진산b also listened well. 황동옥s (Sis. Hwang Dongoktalked a lot (after the lesson) about how the gospel has blessed especially her and her husband to become closer together, and that's something else 예진s was really interested in. I guess their father is a little bit scary, and there's not a ton of love from him in their house, so Sister 황's testimony of how the gospel teaches husbands and wives to love each other really seemed to mean a lot to her. 진산b, being a 16-year old teenage boy, seemed less enthralled about marriage.
 
Lets see... we also did SPM this week, and managed to get all the information-gathering and typing done waaaaay faster than last time. We just need to double-check on some people that need updating, and then we'll be good to go. I'm pretty happy with how quickly we were able to get everything together; it didn't feel like we were spending/wasting too much time on it. :D
 
So, to sum it up, we had a really good week! We pretty much finished up SPM, and 이예진s and 이진산b are doing really well, and progressing towards baptism. We got to visit 변수환b (Bro. Byeon Suhwanas well, and that was really fun.
 
I miiiiight end up transferring, which would be really too bad. I'd rather not leave 상인 (Sangin) when we've got really good investigators, and when I really love the members here as well. We'll see what happens this week; it's just one of those things that if President Barrow feels that God needs me to be somewhere else, I can't really not go, right?
 
I'll update you on transfer news next week! Thank you for everything!
 
Love,
- Elder Luke 

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