This week we got our transfer calls...
And I'm leaving Gimpo! I'm headed to Sanbon (산본), to work with Elder Maris. We've never met before, but I haven't heard anything negative about him. Having heard much of anything about him actually, but I'm sure it'll be a good experience. Next week you'll get my first impression! Everybody says Sanbon is a great area, so I'm excited to work there. It ought to be fun.
Since I'm leaving, I had the opportunity to give my "last words" in church last Sunday. They gave me three minutes; not much, but perfect for a brief testimony and scripture. I shared 3 Nephi 9:13-15, which is one of my favorite passages right now. To introduce it, I explained that after Christ's death on the cross in Jerusalem, there was great destruction in America. After the destruction, there was total darkness for three days. In the darkness, the Nephites who lived in America heard Christ's voice, and this is what He said:
13 O All ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?
14 Yea. verily, I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.
15 Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.
I love these verses because they represent the Book of Mormon's purpose: to testify of Christ and bring us to Him, so that He can heal us. How amazing is it that the Creator of heaven and earth wants to heal you and me? His greatest desire is for us to be whole, and He suffered so He could heal us. Because of His Atoning sacrifice, He understands all of our pains and trials. Sometimes we think the pains we're carrying are secret, but He can see them, and He understands them. If we come unto Christ, He will heal us.
I enjoyed sharing that with everybody. We were able to visit one of my favorite families, J (정재중) and his wife and children. I think I like them so much because it's obvious how much they love each other, and their family reminds me of mine because they have several active children.
Speaking of meals, we were able to eat with our Bishop Saturday night. He's a great guy, and his son just got his mission call! He leaves for Busan in January. His oldest son (my age) is on a mission in the states. His wife is Primary President.
I have two more meals with members (tonight and tomorrow night), then I'm out of here! It's pretty common to have lots of meal appointments right before you leave an area.
We met again with JM S (정민수) this week, for my penultimate time. We finished teaching the Plan of Salvation, and resolved a question/misunderstanding he had regarding traditional Christian "heaven and hell." The explanation is that there's a preliminary experience of such in the spirit world, where the deceased go to either prison or paradise to await the resurrection of all mankind, but our final destination is one of the three kingdom's of glory -- God won't condemn His children to eternal misery if He can help it!
Overall, it was a pretty good week. We've been able to do a lot of work with less-active lists, mainly confirming whether or not the people still live there, and have actually met one or two people. I feel that I've succeeded in Gimpo; it's better than how I found it. That's all I want to do in the areas I go to.
No comments:
Post a Comment