Hello to all of you lovely people!
Thank you for writing to me this week! I love hearing from you, always. I am still learning so much every single day. Sometimes the lessons are very hard to learn, but I am blessed when I apply what I learn. This week I was reading about Abinadi in The Book of Mormon and he stated that a certain group was not wise because they did not apply their hearts to understanding (Mosiah 12:27). Oh, so that's what I have to do...
Last Tuesday the entire mission went to Busan for a mission P-day to celebrate Chuseok. Each zone had t-shirts made for their zone and we had a bunch of fun activities/food. It is always inspiring and upliftting to be around The Gilberts and the other missionaries en masse. I always walk away mre determined to do my best. President Gilbert told us that we cannot be casual about who we are. That is absolutely true. Whenever I start to feel that way I get really really sad about it. When I try, even though people might not listen to me, I know I am showing Heavenly Father and myself the commitment I have to His work. I also read a quote from Heber J. Grant that has been proplelling me forward:
"That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing is changed, but that our power to do is increased."
We also spent the actual night of Chuseok (Monday) at the house of some members of our ward. They own a restaurant out in the country, but invited us to their house. There are lots of traditional dishes made especially for Chuseok--one of which is shark. I tried it. It tasted exactly like I imagined the dog sharks drenched in formaldehyde we dissected in 6th grade might taste. It wasn't too bad, actually. Most of the food here has been okay. I don't crave it yet, but I eat it with a smile on my face. Chopstick skills are going up.
The members with whom we spent Chuseok are just good, down to earth, humble people. The husband is the first counselor in the bishopric and the wife is the 1st counselor in the Relief Society. In Korea, they play rock, paper, scissors (Kai Bai Bo) for everything. Their 12 year old son lacks some sort of growth hormone so he is really tiny. When he was playing his siblings/dad in Kai Bai Bo to see who would have to do the dishes he just kept winning and winning and laughing hysterically. Some things don't need much of a translation.
We had a really frustrating day a few days ago. We had an "appointment" with the Relief Society and the elders in our area. It was at the Daegu Arboretum, where the RS President lives. It ended up being a tour and a leisurely walk that lasted way too long. It was like P-Day on a non-P-day day. We found out later that one of the elders has to go home tomorrow because he can't serve in the army when he thought he might be able to, so he's headed home a few months early to start school and get his military assignment figured out. So, it was sort of like his last hurrah, but it drove me crazy. Anyway, we had an appointment to meet with a 50 something year old Buddhist man at our church--my first teaching appointment with someone interested in the gospel. We had planned to meet him at the subway station right by our house. We got the church ready and walked to the station to pick him up. We waited...and waited....and waited....nothing. So after about 20 minutes and a phone call that he did not answer, we went back to the church to get ready for English class. We were a little disappointed. We had met a Chinese girl who was planning to come to our English class that day, so we headed back to the subway station to pick her up about a half hour later. We waited, and waited....nothing. As we were a little discouraged, both of us were sort of distracted. Suddenly, a kid in his 20s sat down next to us and in English says: "I want to ask you a question." We were kind of shocked. He must have walked up from the train, through the turnstyle, past us and then circled back around the pillar that we were sitting by to talk to us. He proceeded:
"I want to talk to you about life callings, because you obviously know more about God than I do. As youths, we have to make a lot of decisions and today I had an experience. Just three hours ago I finished a service project where we got to work with people with disabilities. I have been a law/business major at a Catholic university here in Daegu for a while, but I felt really good while I was serving with these people. I just finished talking to a friend of mine who was a social work major and I'm considering switching over. How do I know it's God telling me to do this instead of just my own thoughts?"
Wha?? How in the world was this person just led to us? We explained that every good thing comes from God adn that feelings are often the way he communicates with us---they are real. We told him that through prayer and careful consideration he would be able to know what he is supposed to do. He was so thoughtful and open hearted. He was on his way to talk to his pastor about it. We asked his name (Kim Su Eon...but my Christian name is Paul). We asked if we could meet again. He gave us his information and we are going to set up an appointment this week. It was surreal.
In PMG it says that we will be led to people who are ready to talk about spiritual things or they will be led to us. I hadn't really believed the latter part of that promise until the other day. We had asked him if he had ever seen missionaries before and he said that he's seen them on the train, but he's never had the courage to talk to him. What does that imply? That there are many who want to talk, but we just have to take that step to invite them to talk. What had seemed like a failure of a day evolved into the most miraculous day of my mission thus far.
As we walked back to the church I thought about how carefully that had to have happened. I am convinced more than ever that my life/God's work is kind of like a symphony--a very dissonant theme does not make itself manifest or meaningful often until much later in the piece, but Heavenly Father knows the notes well and the instruments to carry out the work. He knows who will hear Him through specific instruments and He conducst with great confidence and care. More than "one step enough for me," as suggested in Lead Kindly Light, it has become one note enough for me. While I was in the MTC, my friend Nelda shared a May Swenson quote with me about a bird who is perched on a statue of an angel: "We know not upon what mystery we stand." Essentially, so much more can be made of us if we trust both what we've been given (our wings/talents) and the wings of the God we put our trust in (his promises are sure). It's true. We're looking forward to meeting with Kim Su Eon and others this week. I'll let you know how it goes.
Mom and Dad--busy as usual! Sounds like you are doing well and loving to be with the missionaries. I have no doubt that like the missionaries in the Busan mission, the missionaries absolutely love being around you too. Love you both
Nick and Megan-- so fun to have somany little concerts and fall activities lately. Thanks for your love! Oh BMcKnight...would have been dreamy. Love!
Char and Matt-- thank you for your letters, Chucky. I didn't get the DearElder you meant for me to get. I sent home a box with my mission home address in it (it's in the big packet they give you before you go on the mission). Laura can find it for you. I don't have it with me right this second. I miss the boys and you of course. Thank you for keeping me updated on their developing personlaites. Any tips for street contacting in Asia? Everyone is on their phone, everyone is running around, I can't say much. I will try. What was your approach(es)? BRT? Spread the message like crazy? Love.
Laura and Robert-- keep at it. thank you for your pictures of Minnie! Keep them coming. I can't believe she's already nearly a month old. I love you both! Contact approach suggestions welcome. Love to love you.
Till next time. Thank you for your prayers! I love all of you dearly.
Love,
Julia
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