Elder Wedam will be serving in a newly formed mission. How exciting! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to grow and so many more missionaries have been recently called to serve. I have already sent an e-mail to inquire about a new mission address. His e-mail address will remain the same. Send him some love. Let me know if you need his e-mail or physical addresses. Love to you all! M
June 17, 2013
Well everyone, some exciting news.
I'll be opening a new mission with 20 missionaries from Korea Daejeon and 80 missionaries from Korea Seoul. Yes, I'm being moved to the Seoul South Mission. It's no longer just a suspicion, but a hard reality. And, I'll be going with virtually every companion I've had in the field thus far, minus two (Elder Houston and Elder Miller). All in all, I'm super stoked. I've spent most of my mission in the portion of our mission that would become Seoul South. I just happened to have a brief 9 week stint in Gwangju (Best kimchi, by the way). But 수원 zone all the way. I love this stake. I'm secretly hoping that I stay for at least the rest of the year (and Heavenly Father has this great habit of fulfilling our righteous desires. Just saying... but if I get transfered out before the end of the year, I'll be fine).
Anyways, this last week has been one giant miracle. We found a new investigator (and by we, I mean Heavenly Father provided us one), found via a member referral. His name is Rodrigue. He's from Camaroon. And he's learning Korean, studying Chemistry (at a college in my last area), and loves soccer and cooking. He came to church yesterday, and he set up an appointment to meet with us tomorrow. All in all, he's super cool. And nice. And a bright point. I love him so much ^^ I'll keep you posted!
And, Elder Oman and I have been seeing more miracles as we've been setting up and trying to see plans through. We've had more success in street contacting recently, and our ward/branch is starting to have a different feel. They're taking a deeper interest in our missionary efforts, and it's been such a blessing to have such a great ward that wants to support the missionary effort. Our ward mission leader is great; he's proactive in trying to get us to meet our members, and our members are inviting us to participate in ward activities and inviting us over to eat dinner with them (SUPER huge in korean culture). It's been really good. I've never been so exhausted, but Heavenly Father sees it fit to give us more strength every day. It's been refreshing, really!
I'm super sad to hear about Aunt Jerri's arm. I really hope she recovers fast. And while we're at it....
MY REDDEST HARRIEST PRETTIEST AUNTIE JERRI!!! I LOVE YOU
Okay, now that that's out of my system... Mom, thanks for the pictures. I really enjoyed looking at them. Vera has gotten so big (Alisa and Nathan, you have one darling daughter. I expect that my nephew shall be just as cute. And well, yeah - Nathan, work hard at school. What's dentistry to a foreign language? Mad props by the way). And Terry and Whitney, push through the 108 degree weather. And keep being awesome. Study hard, work hard. Enjoy the good weather.
Speaking of which, monsoon season has commenced. It hasn't started raining just yet, but there are clouds coming, and they look rather ominous... umbrellas for the win, right?
OH hey, last thing for the week. I've really been focussing on charity this last week during personal study. I've realized that everything I've ever really wanted as a missionary... to really come to know my Savior, to be an effective in my efforts, to find those who may be sad or lonely.... really hinges on how charitable I am. And we're not talking charity as in learning to love the people I teach, but learning to love everyone. We're talking about developing a Christlike love for all men. To see them as God sees them and to love them as God loves them. To really be able answer yes to Alma's profound question, Can ye look up with the image of God engraven on your countenance? (See Alma 5:19). Really, I just want people to trust me. I want people to know that when I say I'm a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ sent here to serve them, that they believe it because they can feel God's love for them. And it's hard. Charity is so hard to have, because it encompasses every good thing. It requires patience, humilty, faith, hope, knowledge, obedience and diligence. It requires us to be able to love other people; not just peacefully tolerate them, but to love them as I love my own family and friends (and fanclub members, and stalkers, and former companions).
Out here in the mission field, I, like Mason, have never felt so close to God. I don't think I've ever had to trust Hm so much before in my life - to rely on Him so much to make up for all my weakness - whether in the language or in other areas. I've never realized just how unable and incompetent I am, but I've never felt so hopeful. I'm literally running off of what seems to be an endless supply of hope; hope for fulfillment of promised blessing, hope for eternal life, and hope that when all is said and done and the dust settles, that all will work out how it's supposed to be. I've come to appreciate that God is in control, and that nothing can stop His Work from going forth.
God lives. I promise you that. He loves us. He knows us. I know the Book of Mormon is true; it is the Word of God. I've felt it. I've learned it. I testify of these things, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Until next week, my beloved peeps.
Elder Elliott Wedam
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