I guess people over there can be brutally honest!! Poor guy!! (Brandi)
One of those street lessons was with a group of old men. One of them literally just lies under a tree all the time. It turns out, he's from North Korea. He came over when he was 6. He's the first North Korean I've met so far. Apparently, they're pretty rare (sorry if that's too obvious). We talked about who Jesus Christ was, and about sin. He said he's never made a mistake, never fought with his wife, and never felt guilty. We were kind of befuddled at that. Without any of those things, the definition of sin's a little dry. We did our best, and he ordered lunch for us. It was cold noodles... it was pretty hard to eat, but I suffered it. After, we had a two-hour training at a service center for a service opportunity we're going to start. To be honest, I didn't understand anything, but I wrote down a ton of words.
I learned a fun expression in Korean this week: "Since the tiger smoked." The day I learned it, Elder Lee (part of a senior couple in our mission) was in our house, working on our sink. He's fluent in English (lived in America for 24 years) so we asked him how he'd explain it. He said, "It means a very, very long time ago. We simply don't know when the tiger stopped smoking." I think an equivalent phrase would be "Ever since penguins flew." It's a fun little phrase. I used it in a meeting the other day. I said, "They've been busy since the tiger smoked, but we'll continue to call them." It was neat to learn a traditional phrase like that.
We met with our investigator C I G twice this week (최인국), and the lessons went pretty well. We taught him from the Book of Mormon, in Alma 32. Alma 32 is about the poor Zoramites, who have been humbled by their afflictions. He was able to see the parallels with himself, and learned a lot about faith. We met with him the very next day, with a member who talked to him at church last Sunday. They talked for days, but we were able to follow up on the rest of the chapter -- planting the seed of faith. The member took the three of us to a restaurant after, and a miracle occurred! I said hello to a woman, who immediately said hello back. That's pretty unusual in Korea, and it turns out she's a member! She'd been living in Utah for years, but was originally a Korean, and now she's back in Korea. She doesn't live in Yeonsu, but her daugher does. Her inactive daughter. We were able to get that number and send it to the Sisters, who were able to meet her that night. That was definitely a miracle sent from God, to find one of the lost sheep of His fold.
Anyways, C I G wasn't able to attend church last Sunday, but he had a legitimate excuse. He was visiting his parents down South. His parents are really important to him. He prayed at the end of our first lesson with him this week, and his prayer was basically just asking God to let him live long enough to bury his parents, begging God not to make his parents bury their son. He's really concerned that he's dying. Hopefully the Word of Wisdom will convince him that he can't give up on himself. God never wants us to give up on ourselves.
Our investigator B (간동우) came to church last Sunday, for the first time! We're really excited about that, and hopefully he'll start to progress more. He hasn't had much real intent, but we're hoping he'll feel the Spirit really strongly next time we teach, so he realizes that this is all real. After church we had Ward Council, and the missionaries were in! For the first time in what must've been years, the missionaries were in! Afterwards, Bishop told us that the 6 of us here in Yeonsu (연수) are literally "the best" missionaries he's ever known. That was a glowing compliment, and meant a lot coming from the man who told us to "go do real missionary work" when we asked to attend meetings 11 weeks ago.
I went on exchanges with Elder Thomas this week, and I really love that Elder. I learned a lot about being a more effective companion. He's not as fluent as Elder Westbrook, so we were able to work more together. He's also a bit better at discussing our plans together; probably because this is the first time he's been a senior companion. We visited K B J (김범진) in the hospital, and did service with a member.
The member was R A G (리안갑), and we helped him at his work. He ships out napkins, so we show up to his little warehouse, and help him pull down the boxes he needs, box them up, and stack them in a corner. It's actually pretty fun work. He took us out for lunch, and it was another example of Koreans saying what they think. We're eating our noodles, and he looks over at me, literally grabs my stomach, spews some stuff out in Korean (I'm pretty sure I hear the word for fat, but can't be sure) then he looks up and says, "In English, 'You're fat,' right? Haha, You're fat!" I was laughing, partly out of embarrassment, partly out of surprise, and partly because he's grabbing my stomach. It was really awkward for me, and for Elder Thomas.
Later that day, we taught their investigator Y O (윤옥) and that went really well. We had a member present (윤지운(Y J O)) and we taught what the Book of Mormon is. We did a solid job explaining it and what it's purpose is, and we were all able to bear some solid testimony. At the end, I asked him what it'd mean if the Book of Mormon's true, so he just looks up, and says, (in English) "I guess I'd have to become a member of the Mormon church." It was amazing to hear that from a man who didn't have a lot of real intent; mostly English interest. The gospel is so true, the Spirit can just walk in and knock people's walls down. It's truly marvelous.
As a funny side-note, the ward soccer coordinator was called last week. It's Y J O (윤지운)! Everybody laughed at that, but it is good that we got an official calling for it. We're continuing to play Soccer every Saturday, and it's working out really well. We've actually got an investigator out of it, who's going to get baptized! To be fair, it started out as a less-actives two non-member sons, but now she's coming to church, and they're coming with her! That miracle came as a direct result of playing soccer with them, and that feels so great. It really is a wonderful thing to be an instrument in the Lord's hands. Even when we make mistakes, he knows exactly how we can be best utilized to make beautiful music.
Transfer calls come this Saturday. Who knows where I could be for next weeks email? I'll take whatever happens with a happy heart. I learned recently that prayer isn't to change God's will -- it's to align our will with his.
Love,
Elder Austin Lynn
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