11/30/2014

 Transfers have come and gone, and now I'm living in a new city! It's pretty weird to imagine that we literally do live in several different cities over the course of our mission. For those of you counting at home, this is my 3rd home in Korea -- Yeonsu, Gimpo, and now Sanbon. Sanbon's more like Yeonsu than Gimpo, and has a lot more shops and buildings than Gimpo. It's exciting to be here; there's lots more people to talk to, and English is pretty popular, so teaching English is a strong lead in here. 

     My new companion's name is Elder Maris, and we're getting along pretty well. We're low on investigators right now, so we're working hard on friendshipping the people in our pool of potentials, so we can start meeting with them consistently. Hopefully that'll go well. 

    Thanksgiving this year reminded me of Tim Allen's "The Santa Clause:" we ate pizza as a district for dinner, and that was about it! That was really different from back home. Thanksgiving is not celebrated in Korea at all. 

     This Sunday I had the chance to speak in sacrament and introduce myself to the ward. They were surprised at the size of my family (very typical), but surprised by my Korean. I shared a message rooted in 3 Nephi 18:32, which teaches: 

     Nevertheless, ye shall not cast him out of your synagogues, or your places of worship, for unto such shall ye continue to minister; for ye know not but what they will return and repent, and come unto me with full purpose of heart, and I shall heal them; and ye shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them.

     Here, Christ is teaching His disciples not to give up on the lost sheep, those who have wandered from the gospel. We don't know what kind of effect we're having, and even though it can hurt us to constantly reach out and not always be accepted, we have to keep going! We don't know if we'll have an impact on them, and help them return to Christ. This verse is one of my favorites in the Book of Mormon, and strengthened me in a time of question. I coupled this personal experience with a quote from Ezra Taft Benson, a prophet of God, who declared that we "need to show how the Book of Mormon answers the great questions of the soul." God often gives us revelation through the scriptures. I am a firm believer that we can find the answer to our deepest, most intimate questions in the pages of the Book of Mormon, a volume of scripture preserved and brought forth for God's children in our day. 

     That's all I've got for this week; I love all of you! Thank you for your support, in all its forms: prayers, emails, etc! It means the world to me! Merry Christmas!

Love,
Elder Austin Lynn