This week was another awesome week in the service of our God!
First off, questions for home.
People have been asking me where my ancestors are from, and the origin of my family name. I'm not really sure, save the Netherlands and England (I think?) and I know nothing about our family name's origin or meaning. If you could find that out, that'd be incredible.
A funny moment from this week: My Racist Companion! There are two Korean brothers who come to English class pretty consistently. Their English names are Michael and Mario, and I think they're 7 and 12? Nobody knows. Anyways, they're pretty distinctive looking, with a unique facial structure, glasses, etc. They live in the apartment building next to ours, and we've been working with their family a lot. They have a lot of potential. :) Anyways, while we were walking down the street the other day, we saw two Koreans, and Elder W shouts out, "Hey, Michael, Mario!" He runs up to them, and shakes their hands.
It wasn't Michael and Mario.
He chats with them about English class, and church stuff, and walks with them for a little while, until he realizes that the house they walked too isn't Michael and Mario's. I knew it wasn't them and when he said hi, it really threw me. I was just following really confused, and when Elder W realized what was going on, I just leaned over and said, "That's not Michael and Mario."
Of course, Elder W isn't actually racist, but it was a fun moment of levity amongst all the embarrassing moments being mine.
We had zone conference, and we climbed a mountain! In Korea, the mountains are much smaller, so it's nothing like the high adventure. But, it was pretty fun, and it was weird for everyone to be in regular clothes all day.
At meals with members, I've been able to really contribute by playing a song on the piano for them. It turns out a lot of the members have pianos, so that's been a cool way for me to help.
Last night, we had my favorite member meal ever! The food was all delicious, and I wasn't struggling to impress them by eating enough for once. It was such a relief when I tasted the food, and just thought, "Yeah, I can eat this." The best part of the meal wasn't the food, however delicious it was. We were eating with a part member family, and the mother and son (the members) were the only ones there. The way they interacted just cracked me up! They'd tease each other, jokingly hit each other, fist bump... it made me think of my relationship with mom and dad, and even Grandma. I can't wait to be with you again, and be true friends like they were. You could just tell they loved each other. They were so comfortable with each other. A funny thing they did was the son (who served in California) had taught his mom a few church words in English, so he said it in Korean, then she translated, and they'd fist bump! They did it several times, and it was the funniest, cutest thing.
Last Thursday, we got to go to the temple! It was a wonderful experience to perform sacred ordinances in the Lord's house again. I'm so grateful we made the effort to go often before I left. And, before you ask, our session was all-English.
The biggest thing this week is last Saturday, Elder Cook visited and spoke to us! He shared a lot of his experience from his mission, especially about loving everybody. At the end, he specifically invoked his priesthood, and gave us an "apostolic blessing." He promised us that every single person we love, family or friend, member or not, will be blessed by our service, and that we would find more joy in the work, among other things. It was incredible. I don't have my notes with me, but he talked a lot about how we need to love everybody sincerely, and shared some of his experiences about commitments, and how to help people progress. He even mentioned some of his and Elder Holland's conversations -- you know, when they were missionaries in the same area! On the way back, I saw something in a market place, hanging off a cash register, that instantly brought me back to the holidays. This person had put up an ornament, printed off of the Internet, cut out, and assembled with thumb tacks. It was the Santa Claus! The exact same one we hang on our tree! It blew my mind to see that, and I thought, "Wow, the Internet. Wow."
I was just thinking about how I often went to the movies with dad, and I wanted to express how thankful I am he made that time for me. I really treasure that time we spent together. It meant, and means, a lot to me.
We met with one of our English/gospel investigators named Bill last week (he's Korean. Bill's his English name.). We've taught him English before, and explained our program: we teach 30 minutes of English, then 30 minutes of the gospel. This is different from our weekly English class in two ways: 1) it's one on one teaching, and 2) at English class, we just teach English to a group for an hour, then play a game. Last Sunday we taught him the first lesson, and we did it with a returned missionary. The lesson went great! We utilized the member really well, and did a good job supporting each other's testimonies. The member really delivered. He busted out classic moves like "Ice-Cream truck pulling you over," "apostasy is like this piece of paper," and "the spaces between my fingers are like apostasy, and my fingertips are like prophets with the priesthood." All classic stuff, and effective teaching that we don't have mastered in Korean. It went pretty well. Bill seems to understand pretty well, but we're not sure how excited he is about it, so that's something we need to gauge better. More questions never hurt, as long as you avoid interrogating them.
I just want everybody back home to know that I love them! They're so important to Heavenly Father. If they're facing trials, it's because God knows they can handle it, and it'll make them stronger. We send out a daily scripture to the ward, with a brief thought about it. Today it was my turn, and I shared Job 23:10.
God knows our paths in life. We'll be like gold when we pass through our refiner's fire. Everything He does is for our own good.
My actual thought was something like: "I know that Heavenly Father is aware of all our trials. He tests us because He loves us. Through trials, we become more like Christ." Apparently, it was pretty well received.
Korean culture: In Korea, people are super open about what they think. They'll tell people if they think they have a lot of zits, or whatever they're thinking. Something they'll do is be really open about their trials and struggles, and sometimes they kind of all have a pity party. A common expression, similar to "work hard!" in America is "Suffer it." It's something polite to say to people who are working, etc. That's just how their culture is. I kind of like that though.
I'm out of time, so this will be the end of another letter. Time just keeps flying. One transfer down!
Love,
Elder Austin Lynn
Elder Austin Lynn
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