I really know this is God's work.

July 14, 2013

I give up on this transfer count thing... 8-1? 7-4?

Hey ya'll!

 

This week has been super good.  First things first, I'm training Elder Pruner.  He's a sweet guy from the Bay Area of California.  He's really nice.  Full of the Spirit and eager to work.  Reminds me of what I would have been like if I were fearless.  We get along super well.  Granted, now that the stress of last week is over, I can focus on this week.  And really focus on building up 평택.  And, if you want a play by play of last week:

 

We have a small pool of 5 investigators, almost 6.  But, each of them have great potential to really progress on the road to conversion.  All of them have potential to come to church next week if we just ask.  And our ward is GREAT at fellowshipping.  That's the summary.  Here's the story, starting on Monday.

 

Monday - we get a call from a person whom I never met before (and whose name was in our phone because she met with missionaries 1 time last year).  She says she wants to learn english, and I call her back.  After the single most awkward conversation, we have an appointment with her on Tuesday.

 

Tuesday - we meet with her (her name is 김정하 , Kim Jeong Ha), and it's the single worst first lesson I have ever taught.  My Korean wasn't working, and we just didn't have a solid lesson plan.  But, we still set a return appointment for Thursday.

 

Wednesday - she cancels Thursdays appointment.  Which was actually a blessing in disguise (it'll make more sense in a bit).  I have to go to Seoul Wednesday night for trainer/trainee orientation on Thursday morning.  I have a good talk with one of my new found friends (he was at the mission home that night too, and he transfered to a new area the next day).

 

Thursday - The trainer meeting goes on way longer than expected, so we wouldn't have been able to keep our appointment anyways.  We come home, grab dinner, and meet with a potential investigator (she lives near our apartment).  We have a good talk, and she opened up a lot to us... she told us about some of her trials.  And, a former calls us wanting to meet on Friday.  We can't because we literally don't have time, but we invite him to church, and he says he will.  In two weeks.  And he wants to too.

 

Friday - We meet with 박기철, Bak Gi Cheol.  He pays me the nicest compliment ever (the thing is, I can't really accept it.  It was along the lines of "my passion to learn about religion again is back because of meeting with Elder Wedam."  I seriously just exist and be genuine - the Spirit does everything for me).  And he's still fired up about the Book of Mormon.  He gives himself a commitment to come to church in two weeks, and invites us to his house this next week to meet his wife.  We confirm our appointment on Saturday with Scott (the husband of our potential we met with on Friday) and Kim Jeong Ha

 

Saturday - Scott cancels because of work up in Seoul... and it's his wife's birthday.  We make her brownies, and she and Scott were super grateful.  We are able to meet with Kim Jeong Ha with a member who just graduated from BYU Hawaii.  He invites her to church, and she timidly accepts.  Afterwards, there's a ward activity Elder Pruner and I attended, and we improved our relationship with the ward.  Then, I try confirming our Sunday appointment with our new investigator, Moon Cheong Yeol, but he isn't able to meet.  But, we have a deeper relationship now - we had a good talk.

 

Sunday - Kim Jeong Ha comes to church!  And our ward members took care of her.  We talked afterwards a little about baptism, and I got a semi-yes to a really soft baptismal commitment.  Which is huge for her - she's really shy.  We set up another appointment on Tuesday, and invited her to come to church the next week.  Both of which were a yes.^^

 

So, yeah, we've been seeing miracles abound.  I really know this is God's work.  He is more than capable of doing it Himself.  I'm just happy to be along for the ride, albeit, I'm sprinting to keep up with it.

 

I want to share some really neat stuff I'm learning... that missionary work is all about building and maintaining relationships.  Its about being a genuine, sincere friend, and really seeking after other people's happiness.  I truly believe that is only possible by trying to become more like Jesus Christ.  If we want to be a good friend, we need to have faith, hope, charity, patience, knowledge, and humility.  We need to seek after knowledge and seek ways to help our friends be happier.  We need to be obedient and loyal to God and to our friends.  I love Alma 5:19 and 2 Nephi 25:23.  My goal has always been to know who my Savior is, and I know that is possible through striving to be like Him.

 

I love you all so much!  I can't wait to hear from you again next week!

 

Elder Elliott Wedam