I must admire Elliott's courage, cooking Korean food for Koreans. See what else is cooking as you read his news from the beginning of the month of June.
June 3, 2013
Family, Friends, Former companions, Fan Club Members, Creepy Stalkers, Closest Allies,
This last week. Well, best put, I am learning a little bit more about Korean Culture and how to be a little more effective. We'll start with the great news first:
The dinner turned out great. I tried my hand at various Korean Dishes (Bulgogi and Cucumber Kimchi... and Kimchi Stew.... Oh, I bought a Cookbook last week, and my reading skills in Korean have improved rather dramatically). I received many a compliment on the food (the food tasted fine to me... I don't think I grossly mistranslated the recipe), and the ingredients were relatively cheap (quantity jacked up the price). I don't know how many elders ever cooked for members or investigators, but I think they enjoyed it. It was a good segway into a lesson. About priesthood.
Then came the lesson. Elder Oman and I put a lot of thought into the lesson plan (we had it down to what we were going to ask and who we were going to ask). The lesson went alright. We answered their questions (what did Joseph Smith do to bless the family? Answer... through Jospeh Smith, God restored the priesthood to earth). We explained that God is our loving Heavenly Father, emphasizing that He wants to help us, that He gave us families to help us, and that He gave us the priesthood to help families, and that the priesthood authority is on earth again today. We then bore testimony, and invited them to come to church. Our members then explained what the typical church experience is like and clarifed a few other questions that my broken Korean couldn't quite explain. But, our investigators felt some 부담 (I'm betting). Long story short, our investigators didn't come to church and have been much less responsive to our texts and phone calls (which is a REALLY bad sign). We may have just been dropped (a recurring theme this last week... which made reporting stats from this last week SUPER depressing). All in all, dinner was fun, and knowing how much love went into planning that lesson is the main reason why I'm not an emotional wreck about this. I did the best I knew how to love people into the gospel. And I hope that it will be enough for 김종윤 and his family to want to keep learning about the gospel and progressing in it.... anyways... heartache is good I guess. Let's me know that my heart is in the right place. I realize this is a bit of a downer of a a story.
On the plus side, my culinary skills have improved dramatically. It's been fun working with Elder Erekson and Elder Lion and helping them bring some of the people they teach unto Christ. They are teaching this really awesome woman named Julie (who is the NICEST person ever... she literally was the driving force behind Elder Lion's recovery from pnemonia). She gives us a ton of food and feeds us a lot. So, to return the favor, I've made her a chicken pot pie from scratch (mom, that hamburger gravy recipe was the inspiration to get it to turn out). It was good. She loves the missionaries, and really is giving the Book of Mormon and Church an honest shot.
Time is running short, but I want to end on this neat little tidbit. I've been studying a lot about charity recently (Mom, sounds like you've been in Moroni 7 a lot too... I've been on verse 47 and 48 a lot this last week). There's a really cool promise in verse 48... if we obtain charity, we shall become like God, and that we shall see Him as He really is. Think about that. The principle is so much deeper than Charity is the pure love of Christ. It's that charity never faileth because as we develop Charity, we become more like God, more like Jesus Christ. And as we develop it, we can see God and Jesus Christ as they really are; we can come to personally know them BECAUSE WE WOULD BE JUST LIKE THEM (capitalization is the only way I can emphasize something via email. Pretend it's italics). So, how can we come to know our Savior the best? By trying to be like Him. By developing His attributes. By taking up our respective crosses and serving our brothers and sisters with all our heart.
The church is true. The work is hard. The statement that I've never been at so much peace with myself is true. It's also true that I've never been so concerned and anxious about other people. I love you all. Stay healthy, stay safe.
Love,
Elder Elliott Wedam
No comments:
Post a Comment