This week we got transfer calls. And... I'm leaving Yeonsu (연수). I don't have any regrets, but I'll miss the wonderful ward and missionaries here. I'll especially miss our investigators, but I'm confident Elder Westbrook will take care of them. I'll be leaving for Gimpo (김포) on Wednesday, to be companions with Elder I S B (이상범). It's a little frightening to be moving on to a Korean companion, but I'm determined that I'll take advantage of that situation and learn how to really express myself well in Korean. Here's the goal: fluency by the end of the next 12 weeks! Isn't it incredible to think I've already gone through 22 of my 104 weeks on a mission? This time really is so precious.
First this week, and update on our progressing investigators:
B (간동우): We met with B this week, and we gave him a baptismal date, and taught him "the Gospel of Jesus Christ." He accepted it pretty well, but he backed out of church this week by saying work. B's a tough cookie -- he keeps his reading commitments, but doesn't have a lot of real intent as of yet. Our focus going forward (at least, Yeonsu 2's focus) will be on the Spirit.
C I G (최인국): I met with him this week, and was devastated to learn he's moving! He moved all the way down to the Taejun (태전) mission, to Guanju (관주). That was rough, but he looked me in the eyes and swore to continue reading the Book of Mormon. He gave Elder Westbrook and I stylish ties, as a thank you. He was so lonely and dejected when we met him, and he feels like his life improved after meeting us. We decided to refer him to the missionaries down south, then a miracle occured! As we were walking through a store, we bumped into a member from Guanju (관주)! We gave him C I G (최인국)'s number, and he as excited to meet with him and the missionaries. God keeps looking out for His children, even when they move.
M G I (민경일): My favorite investigator. We met with him on Saturday and taught him the first lesson, using the cup-pyramid apostasy analogy. He really liked that. He went up to Seoul (서울) with his mother though, so he was unable to make it to church on Sunday. Yeonsu 2 will continue meeting and teaching him. We're really excited about him still.
Y S J (윤상진): The son of a less-active, he's the same age as me! In Korea, that's a huge deal, and it's the only time you can call somebody "friend" (친구). We're pretty close. He's been out to church twice now with his mother, and we're eating with him and Bishop tomorrow night. He's really interested in the church, but we're waiting on the members to invite him to take the lessons. Once he does, he'll be baptized lickity-split. I love him so much.
Lately I've been reading the Book of Mormon in Korean and English side-by-side during language study. I'm starting to get to the point where I can actually understand and piece together bits and pieces. It's pretty tough, especially because the Book of Mormon uses "King-form" and other language forms that just aren't used anymore, but I'm doing my best. There's apparently a promise out there somewhere that any missionary who reads the entire Book of Mormon in their mission language will be fluent. Like Moroni's promise, I'm sure there's a lot of missionaries testing that promise right now. I'm curious to see what my answer will be. I'm continually progressing in my Korean. The ward members must've been surprised when I stood up to give my farewell words, compared to my first ones. When I talked to them, I talked about how we're succesful when we work together, and how the more we work together, the more miracles we'll perform. I bore my testimony, and it ended up resembling the first lesson -- that God loves us, and so we have families, and we have prophets to bless our families and guide us, and how I know we have a prophet today, etc. I had a lot of people tell me they're sad I'm leaving already. I made a lot of friendships in Yeonsu.
This last week we visited the Stake President, and we ended up eating impromptu dinner with him. His youngest daughter is the one who drew the picture of me I sent a couple of weeks ago. I love their family. He noticed a hole in my sock, so he gave us socks! That's actually really common in Korea. I guess since socks are so cheap, they're always just stocked up on them. He said that seeing that made him pleased, because he could tell we're working hard. As a matter of fact, the day before he called President Morrisse to express how pleased he's been with the missionaries in Yeonsu! That was a pretty big deal for us to hear.
Last night, we ate with my favorite family again (picture attached (I'm actually wearing my thank-you tie in that picture)). The Spirit there is always just so wonderful. Both of the children are returned missionaries, and there's just such an open spirit of love between the members of the family. I'm really going to miss them. They're also stinking hilarious! The other picture is of me and the ward mission leader. He's also really, really funny. We became really good friends. Bishop said that the ward mission leader in Gimpo is "the best," so hopefully I'll remain in good hands there.
That's it for this week! There's just not enough time in the day.
Love,
Elder Austin Lynn
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