Okay, being completely honest A LOT of things didn't go too well this week. I mean our plans our usually pretty wrecked but this week's plans felt like a freak of nature compared to some warped schedules I've had in the past. But you know what? THAT'S OKAY! I feel kinda stressed out about our time slipping right through our fingers when I have such little left (hence the quote from Pres. Nelson this conference), but I know that that's nothing I can control. One scripture I heard mentioned two or three times this conference was D&C 123:17 which says... "Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." I know I'm coming out swinging with the spiritual nugget for this week but I feel a lot of comfort from this scripture and I thought it might be helpful to reiterate it. Time is ticking but I still have things that lie in my power, I still have things I can do, and I can trust God to keep helping us out. What ever you may be worrying about, just do what you can do and stand in assurance, waiting for His arm to be revealed.
And now for the time you've all been waiting for... THINGS THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK:
- A member very kindly invited us over to his house for Monday evening. This man's name is 류승동 (Bro. Ryu) and he has become on my list of most respected members of the church that I've met in Korea. I won't give you his whole background (that would take too much time), but I will tell you that he served as the Bishop for the Sujeong Ward (the name of our area before it was merged with two others) for 13 years. And this man is as wise and faithful as it gets. I mostly enjoyed this visit because we had a really mature talk about enduring to the end, and he gave me a lot of advice for after I go home. One of which was very simple: learn or develop your talents, and then use it to serve the people around you, without first asking them "Is there anything I can do to help?". Service keeps us engaged in the work of God, gives us joyful experiences, and deepens our conversion. He talked to me about so many other things but that was just one of the things he shared, I liked it because it was different from the typical advice of just "read your scriptures" or "go to the temple" (which are also very good and important, no hate). He's great. Very thankful for the opportunity we had to visit them.
- We met a man who was "very interested in our church". The twist was... he wasn't. It was honestly one of the more frustrating appointments I've had on my mission. For many reasons that I won't bother going into (because that too will take up a lot of time), it was really a test of patience. He dominated the conversation but after managing to get just a few seconds to speak I asked him if he had any sincere interest in learning about the gospel and living according to it. The answer was NOPE. so I told him we won't be meeting with him anymore. Sometimes we need to be straightforward but it's important to be kind we we have to, because who knows, maybe this guy to have interest later on. Off to find more prepared people~
- We had interviews! In our house! For some reason Pres. Jeong wanted to hit two-birds with one stone with house inspections and interviews. It was interesting... And it was my last interview ㅠㅠ I love my mission president and I was really thankful for the love he's shown me and the advice that he gave me in my last interview.
- We got to meet one of the people we teach, Lee, ate some lunch with him, and then we had a lesson at his workplace. He had some questions that were directly related to the Plan of Salvation so we started introducing all of it to him and he was very intrigued. HOWEVER, he had some questions that we just couldn't answer. And I can't even remember it to be honest; I even remember in the moment that I couldn't really understand what he was asking but I felt like that lack of clarity was partly the Spirit telling me to tell him that his question really wasn't important and in the end wouldn't be very helpful for him either. It sounds really harsh but he took it super well actually! He even said he was "greedy" for demanding answers to such a question haha He's really sincere in his interest, which was refreshing after meeting that other guy earlier this week.
- WE WENT TO AN ISLAND. But it wasn't 영도, it was a place called 가덕도 Gadeokdo. Someone who lives there attends the English class that we teach at in our neighboring area and invited us and the other others to come visit him for the first time ever. We originally weren't going to go but we after being asked by him personally we weren't really in a position to refuse his kind invitation ("I'm sorry, visiting you is not an effective use of time"). And it wasn't super effective for us but it was a good experience, and it was helpful for the Elders that served in that area. They had a really nice talk about the gospel with this man and asked him to start taking the lessons with them so it could turn into a really good teaching opportunity for them!
- And we hitchhiked home! It was a miracle because we didn't have enough money on our cards and we weren't going to be able to keep our schedule. Thanks random fisherman.
- We had family home evening with the youth and it wasn't a disaster but everyone showed up late, they didn't really understand the activity we prepared and didn't really listen to us when we were sharing our message with them. I feel so bad for all the times I didn't listen to my teachers or youth leaders haha I know what it feels like now.. But we still have cool points in their books and we doubled our attendance. Success.
- We met with one of our less-active sisters and she introduced her friend to us! He was super friendly and very willing to talk to us. Member missionary work compared to street proselyting is like night and day in terms of effectiveness. And we got to go watch her receive some Traditional Korean Medicine treatment. It was really similar to chiropractic stuff actually. Not what we were expecting to do that day BUT it was a great opportunity to meet our member and her friend~
- We watched all of General Conference (somehow, with all of our time getting stabbed)! And it was amazing. And we had three people we teach come to watch it at church!
I'm running out of time! Thanks for reading and writing! Have a great week!
-Elder Metcalf
AND PICTURES
1) A balanced everyday lunch for the Busan Elders (ramen with eggs, PBJ, coco palm) 2) Our english class coordinator Bro. 유재영 Yoo (he's hilarious) 3-6) Island adventures
MORE
1-4) More from the island visit 5) The food we got fed (I don't know what it is either, we just don't ask questions around here)
AND MORE
1-5) He took us to his house/garden in the middle of nowhere (it was like Tarzan) 6) Hitchhike home with my boy Elder Sperry riding shotgun. I was in the back sitting next to some dead fish.
AAAAAAND MORE
1) Proud dinner we made 2-5) Meeting Sister Gwon and her friend at a traditional Korean medicine place (we got free traditional tea too, and "therapy cats")
MOOORE
1) We had lunch with a less active member here in our ward. He's studying law at a nearby university right now. 2) The most beautifully distracting part of conference: this guy's well-groomed mustache. I know I'm not the only one who saw it...
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