Weekly Letter 1/4/2015

Happy New Year! I think this first new year as a missionary year (which will be my first full year as a missionary) was one of the funnest yet. We got permission to get up extra early, and hike a local mountain (Korean's use that word lightly) with some of the brethren. We hiked up in the dark, through the ice and dirt, and made it to the top, as the sun rose. It was gorgeous! It was also packed. Apparently, it's a Korean tradition. We all sat down in a clearing, and talked about our hopes for the New Year, and said a prayer. It was a wonderful experience. 

     Afterwards, we went to the church and ate rice cake soup (떡국), which is actually another Korean tradition. In Korea, everybody changes age at western New Year's (so, I'm 21!), but [traditionally] only after they've eaten the soup. It was super good! If the taste is any sign, this year will be awesome. Afterwards, we played yoot (윳), a traditional Korean game. I've played it once before, on Choo Suk (추석?), so this time around I was able to really figure out how the game worked. That was exciting -- I want to play it at home in the future! It's kind of like a mix between Sorry and Parcheesi. All in all, a fantastic start to 2015. ^.^ So, yeah. We hiked a mountain, to watch the very first sunrise of the new year.

     Another fun thing was I tried my hand at songwriting this week, in a really simple way: I wrote another verse to a hymn (Hello, Elder Bruce R. McConkie). Somebody was singing "Lead, Kindly Light," in the morning, and the melody was trapped in my mind as I showered. During personal study, I spent a bit of time writing the words in my head, and this is what came out: 

"A thousand suns cannot compare to thee

Lamp of my feet (Ps. 119:105)

Thy lovingkindness shall forever be (Ps. 119:88, 149, 159)

Darkness, retreat!*

Strengthen my hand, 

And walk with me in night

Bring thou me home

To the Father of Lights!" (James 1:17; D&C 67:9)

*A day or two later, I added a verse before that, taking the 3rd and 4th lines from the first one I wrote (the one right above) and moving them to that verse. The one above would be the last verse, and the following would be a hypothetical fourth verse to "Lead, Kindly Light." 

"My throat is dry, I weary of my tears

Mine eyes do fail (Ps. 69:3)

I am a broken vessel in thy hands (Ps. 31:5) 

With love, shape me (Jer. 28:6)*

Carry thou me, 

Upon thy tender back (Matt. 11:30)

And give thou me

What I didst always lack!" 

     I was really happy with what I wrote, and I think I may try it out more in the future. One thing I thought about this week are the instances of Christ stilling tempests. Those are moments I think about a lot; perhaps because we all faces tempests during our mortal journey, and all of us have cried out in the night, wondering, "Master, carest thou not that we perish?" (Mark 4:38) There is so much to learn from thoseepisode, but this time as I pondered I focused on Christ's first words on the water: "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." (Matthew 14:27) 

     There are two instructive principles embodied in this moment: Christ was out there in the midst of the storm, and, further, He gives us the antidote to all fears. He teaches us how we can face adversity with hope, all in a few words. When I read His words to the apostles, I start to see, "Be not afraid, be of good cheer, Because I am with you." Christ is the center of hope. He can tell us to be of good cheer because He's experienced our battles in life, and He's already won them. 

     If we'll walk with Him, He'll safely carry us through everything we'll ever have to go through. If we're not afraid, we can, like Peter, walk on water. We can walk over the waves of conflict around us, through the whirlwinds of modern disaster. As long as we are centered on Christ, we can come unto Him, regardless of what's around us.

      In terms of other work this week, we met with several members to practice teaching, and as a district discussed how to help members fulfill their missionary obligations. The main concept that came out of that discussion is that members want to do missionary work; they just don't know how. Our goal moving forward into 2015 is to train members on how to be excellent member missonaries. To that end, we're all reading Clayton Christensen's The Power of Every Day Missionaries. It's an excellent book, and I'd freely recommend it to anybody. 

     All in all, a good week. A good start to the new year; a good end to the previous. Here's to missionary work!

Best Wishes, 

Elder Austin Lynn