This week was Choo Suk (추석), a huge holiday in Korea -- some call it Korean Christmas, or Thanksgiving. Truth be told, it's much bigger for them than those holidays, so I think that's pretty fitting. It's always amazing to see how the streets and buses and trains empty themselves, and the packed square a day before is now a ghost-town junction. Not usually a good time for proselyting on the streets, and knocking on doors is laughable.
Which means it's the perfect time for the missionaries to all gather together, and receive some training as a mission! So, from Friday to Saturday, the Korea Seoul South Mission gathered at mission headquarters. Our mission's slimmed down a bit -- it wouldn't have fit in that building last year. But, I'm not complaining -- we're getting the same amount of work done, and I liked the slightly more familiar atmosphere. One thing that blew my mind was President Morrise trained us on teaching repentance. Specifically, he shared something he'd learned recently: pain is a necessary part of repentance, and isn't something we should rush to brush off of ourselves and other people. He explained that sometimes pain stays with us after we've repented, sometimes even for years -- not because we failed to repent properly, but it's part of God's mercy. That pain teaches us, warns us, and, as I've realized, helps us to understand ourselves better. As I've looked for it, I've found several places in the scriptures where this sort of pain is talked about, and always it leads to beneficial results for us. God, in His infinite mercy, sometimes allows us to have pain and scars, so that we can be better than we were before. We also learned a bit more about how confessing sins works, for members and investigators, and what it means. First off, we don't really "confess our sins" to any sort of church leader, for the purpose of receiving forgiveness. They're not authorized to forgive sins; that's God's jurisdiction. But, they do determine whether a person's status of membership in the church requires a change, temporary or permanent. As an organization, that's logical and requisite. Furthermore, investigators aren't members yet, so they don't have membership -- following me? -- so, they don't confess to church leaders. Like us, they confess their sins to God in prayer, and through repenting, receive a remission of their sins. I was very enlightened.
Another point he emphasized was that while repentance is not a "get out of jail free card" that we should plan on using, it is an inevitability that we will fall short again, and need to repent. While we shouldn't plan on repenting and use it as an excuse to sin, we should plan on repenting every time we sin. Does that make sense? Anyways, do your best, and never give up. That's the most important thing!
That evening, we had a mission wide talent show. I sang "Write Thy Name Upon My Heart," this time as a solo. It went well, but unfortunately, my video is with another missionary, so that'll have to wait. The skit our house performed, on the other hand, is on video, and if my parents do their job right, a link should be posted with this. Elder Maughan suggested the idea, and knew all the lines, but the "bonus scene" is all mine. It was a lot of fun; several missionaries asked if I wanted to be an actor, and I think our skit was one of the most popular. We had comments for dayyyyyys. Our mission's really talented; there were physical talents, voices, music of all kinds, and things that just made you laugh.
The next day, we proselyted together in Olympic Park, a massive park near the mission headquarters. I was amazed by it's size -- I assumed the small, 8 man teams of missionaries would constantly bump into each other, but once you entered the park, you split off pretty quickly. We were able to talk to several people, and sang Korea's national anthem at the park's entrance. One thing that really inspired me was just listening to all of the conversations around me on the train ride home. Unlike normal college students, the missionaries did not bunch up in groups with each other and just talk to each other, like I'd feared -- instead, they talked to the people around them, and as a result, the car was filled with missionary conversations. I was impressed and my respect for the mission deepened.
Last Sunday, there were probably less than 30 people at church -- a huge dip. That's because Korean's all travel to their hometowns on this holiday, and gather with family. Bishop temporarily adopted the missionaries, and had us all over for dinner that night. After a wonderful dinner, we sang for him, then he sat down with all of us and talked to us one on one for a bit, trying to get to know each of us on a personal level, even though he has a tough time remembering our names. I am grateful for inspired, righteous men who God places in our lives to guide and help us.
I'm sorry, but it's pretty difficult to report on two days of training without taking a lot longer to email than we're allowed. I realize that letters are getting shorter, and I'll make an effort to curb that.
Next week.
Gotta get home and clean the house!
Which means it's the perfect time for the missionaries to all gather together, and receive some training as a mission! So, from Friday to Saturday, the Korea Seoul South Mission gathered at mission headquarters. Our mission's slimmed down a bit -- it wouldn't have fit in that building last year. But, I'm not complaining -- we're getting the same amount of work done, and I liked the slightly more familiar atmosphere. One thing that blew my mind was President Morrise trained us on teaching repentance. Specifically, he shared something he'd learned recently: pain is a necessary part of repentance, and isn't something we should rush to brush off of ourselves and other people. He explained that sometimes pain stays with us after we've repented, sometimes even for years -- not because we failed to repent properly, but it's part of God's mercy. That pain teaches us, warns us, and, as I've realized, helps us to understand ourselves better. As I've looked for it, I've found several places in the scriptures where this sort of pain is talked about, and always it leads to beneficial results for us. God, in His infinite mercy, sometimes allows us to have pain and scars, so that we can be better than we were before. We also learned a bit more about how confessing sins works, for members and investigators, and what it means. First off, we don't really "confess our sins" to any sort of church leader, for the purpose of receiving forgiveness. They're not authorized to forgive sins; that's God's jurisdiction. But, they do determine whether a person's status of membership in the church requires a change, temporary or permanent. As an organization, that's logical and requisite. Furthermore, investigators aren't members yet, so they don't have membership -- following me? -- so, they don't confess to church leaders. Like us, they confess their sins to God in prayer, and through repenting, receive a remission of their sins. I was very enlightened.
Another point he emphasized was that while repentance is not a "get out of jail free card" that we should plan on using, it is an inevitability that we will fall short again, and need to repent. While we shouldn't plan on repenting and use it as an excuse to sin, we should plan on repenting every time we sin. Does that make sense? Anyways, do your best, and never give up. That's the most important thing!
That evening, we had a mission wide talent show. I sang "Write Thy Name Upon My Heart," this time as a solo. It went well, but unfortunately, my video is with another missionary, so that'll have to wait. The skit our house performed, on the other hand, is on video, and if my parents do their job right, a link should be posted with this. Elder Maughan suggested the idea, and knew all the lines, but the "bonus scene" is all mine. It was a lot of fun; several missionaries asked if I wanted to be an actor, and I think our skit was one of the most popular. We had comments for dayyyyyys. Our mission's really talented; there were physical talents, voices, music of all kinds, and things that just made you laugh.
The next day, we proselyted together in Olympic Park, a massive park near the mission headquarters. I was amazed by it's size -- I assumed the small, 8 man teams of missionaries would constantly bump into each other, but once you entered the park, you split off pretty quickly. We were able to talk to several people, and sang Korea's national anthem at the park's entrance. One thing that really inspired me was just listening to all of the conversations around me on the train ride home. Unlike normal college students, the missionaries did not bunch up in groups with each other and just talk to each other, like I'd feared -- instead, they talked to the people around them, and as a result, the car was filled with missionary conversations. I was impressed and my respect for the mission deepened.
Last Sunday, there were probably less than 30 people at church -- a huge dip. That's because Korean's all travel to their hometowns on this holiday, and gather with family. Bishop temporarily adopted the missionaries, and had us all over for dinner that night. After a wonderful dinner, we sang for him, then he sat down with all of us and talked to us one on one for a bit, trying to get to know each of us on a personal level, even though he has a tough time remembering our names. I am grateful for inspired, righteous men who God places in our lives to guide and help us.
I'm sorry, but it's pretty difficult to report on two days of training without taking a lot longer to email than we're allowed. I realize that letters are getting shorter, and I'll make an effort to curb that.
Next week.
Gotta get home and clean the house!
Love,
Elder Austin Lynn
Elder Austin Lynn
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