mixing it up

Hello from still pleasant weather Jeju Do.

I am astonished by the nice weather here and will gladly take it. It
sounds like Grandma, Grandpa, Mark and Pat had fun with Mom and Dad in
Guam.  Glad they have traveled safely so far, as have you Mom and Dad.
You sound busy!! That's good, though. I have found that if I'm not
busy I'm a little bored and it's easy to get distracted.

Anyway, this week has been pretty good. A lot of our appointments fell
through so we were left to our back up plan. In many cases that back
up plan has been "finding." We have realized that like PMG says,
focusing on just one or two methods of finding is not that effective,
so we have been trying to be creative and follow the spirit.

I mentioned that we saw a stand with free books at a bus stop recently
and decided we wanted to emulate that model and see what happens. I
know that in the U.S. if you put a bunch of copies of the BOM on a
table and posted a "FREE" sign on it that it would be vandalized in no
time. I wasn't sure how it would go over here, but we gave it a shot.
We wrote about how the BOM answers questions of the soul and is used
in tandem with the bible and provided our contact information. The
first day we set it out at a bus stop 3 of the 5 copies of the BOM
were gone and the other two were intact and safe. We made the mistake
of leaving it out overnight and as we rode the bus by the stop we saw
that the copies we had left out were torn up and tattered. We decided
to take the box to a new location and clean up the wripped copies.
That day the three copies we left out were also gone when we checked
on the box later that evening. On our way home we intended to pick up
the box serving as our stand so it wouldn't get vandalized. Too late.
It seems that as darkness falls here people get brave. It was wripped
and stomped into shreds. It was a little disheartening, and in some
ways hurts more than a verbal rejection, but I was reminded of "The
Standard of Truth." "No unhallowed hand can stop the work from
progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may
assemble, but the work will go forth boldy, nobly and independent,
till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept
every country, and sounded in every ear, 'till the purposes of God
shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say, 'The work is
done.'" It felt good to know that a few more copies of The Book of
Mormon were floating around the city and although we may not continue
to use this finding method, it was kind of fun and worth a shot.

We also ran into a girl that Sister Lee had talked to on the bus a
week or two ago. We talked again and it seems that she is interested
in learning more. It is testing time at school, but as that ends she
seems really intent on meeting with us. She calls or contacts us
several times a week. It is exciting. I think we will meet with her on
Tuesday.

We also were able to share a copy of the Book of Mormon with an older
man on the bus. Sister Lee sat down next to him and it turns out that
he met missionaries about 50 years ago. He learned English from them
and has an English copy of the BOM. He even remembers the Elder's
name--Elder Kimball. As Sister Lee continued to talk to him, with
tears in his eyes, he talked about how lonely he was.  His wife had
died just a month ago unexpectedly. She talked about the Plan of
Salvation and her dad and how important it has been to her and showed
him where that is discussed in the BOM. He accepted it and gave us his
contact information. He doesn't have a lot of free time, but he is
studying the Bible with the Jehovah's Witnesses in his only spare
time. Anyway, even though the result wasn't ideal for us, I know that
God is planting seeds---even if they are 50 years apart. How grateful
I am to Elder Kimball--whomever he is. It has inspired me to keep
talking and have faith that something is happening, hearts are being
prepared, however slow or fast.

General Conference was great. We saw it a week later. I was able to
download it on my Korean dictionary in English so I could listen to it
in English while we watched the rebroadcast in Korean. It is hard to
understand those deeper concepts in just Korean, so I was grateful for
technology. I learned a lot and came away vowing to be more happy and
disciplined. Those two things are not mutual exclusive experiences,
but complementary. I'm grateful for that reconfirmation.

Ah. Time is short. I love you all and am grateful for your examples.

Love,
Julia

A little more time...

 

A few other fun ideas have come to us this past week. We started a member referral program called the "Hen Program." We visit members and talk to them about missionary work and invite them to do a 21 day challenge where every morning and night they read a specific scripture on the sheet and pray about whom they can share the gospel with. At the end of 21 days Pres. Spencer W. Kimball promised that, if done prayerfully and faithfully, they will have the opportunity to share the gospel. We are hopeful about it.

 

We also noticed a little table at a bus stop with Buddhist books that can be purchased for 1,000won. We are thinking of doing something similar with a few copies of the Book of Mormon along with our contact information. Of course, it will be a free gift. It will be interesting to see what happens. I have gained a strong testimony of that book. Early in my mission I realized that I would need a testimony of it not just sometimes, but all the time. So, I took Preach My Gospel's advice and regularly applied the promise at the end of the Book of Mormon. Every day before I read it I pray and ask to have the truthfulness of the book reconfirmed to me. It is not always a big lightning bolt answer, but it comes in ways that are specific to my spirit and in ways that I can recognize it. I am grateful Heavenly Father answers my prayers--even daily. 

 

I love you all and know you can receive answers to your prayers from Heavenly Father in ways He knows you will hear and respond. Try it. If it's been a while, try it and you will be surprised and delighted to find He is still listening and answering to the degree that we are willing. That has been one of the biggest lessons of my mission. I am grateful to have the opportunity to apply it throughout my whole life. With Sister Lee I've been talking about "next transfer" (i.e. even though she will return home) and telling her that her mission isn't over. It really isn't. There is more to do and by seeking Heavenly Father's will in what our specific assignment could or might be at any given time in our life I know that we can find out there is more for us to do in sharing the gospel. She and I, although we will be serving in different capacities, have big plans for next transfer too. 

 

Sounds like you are all busy doing just that.

 

Dad ---woah! broken record! that was not supposed to be a pun, but I am confident that your success in the mission came from the steadiness of faithful mantras impressed upon your soul and the souls of your missionaries and respective investigators. your letters to me have always been very encouraging and specific, but as i look at them I can easily see the same thread that runs through and ties it all together. Over and over you preach faith, repentance and renewed commitment through relying on the Spirit. I know those are the keys you are focusing on and it appears to be working. Congratulations! Keep after them! Thank you for keeping after me, even in the more "wet blanket" stages of my mission and correspondence. Say hello to Grandma and Grandpa, Mark and Pat! 

 

Mom-- I hope you're doing well and getting more sleep. I know you are quite the night owl, but don't let it kill you. Ha. Thank you for writing me so often and so well. I hope you are getting a few moments to rest and relax with the family. Love you and will write soon.

 

Nick-- hope you're well! Sounds like you guys will have fun going to Atlanta in a little bit. How is the Young Men's Presidency? Work?

 

Meg-- no guilt trip intended, but of course I appreciate the update and news. Thank you! The new job sounds like fun and I'm sure you're doing well. I've always envied your ability to jump into a project and make it run more efficiently. I'm sure they are grateful for you too. 

 

Char-- zombie land is no fun, I'm sure. 3 boys....how in the world? I am grateful for your example of member missionary work, in spite of being busy. It gives me hope for both my future and the future of members here. Love you and hope you're sleeping right now.

 

Matt--on site for a few weeks? bummer. you are a champ to drive the family to Utah. I wouldn't expect anything less from you. Hope you're well and get to go home soon. 

 

Ladi-- thanks for the mail. you are quite a faithful writer. I think you've only missed a week or two. Thank you! it's always fun to hear from you. ahhhhh. don't leave UT. that is the selfish part of me that has no idea what the future holds for me either. I'm sure things will work out great, however they work out. Love you. 

 

Bob-- go razzle dazzle them with your skills. I'm excited to hear about how your trip went. Be safe and make sure to eat a lot of delicious food. 

 

Love all of you!!!!