Week 12

I love being a missionary!!!

I am learning everyday how to improve myself for others' sakes. I find it a lot easier to change when it is for someone else. When I want to do something purely for myself there is no pressure. But, when it is for the purpose of helping others, I found out that it is a great source of drive.

한동호 and 전영미 my two investigators with a baptismal date were the hospital this last week, because 한동호 had hip surgery, so we haven't been able to meet with them. They didn't want us to meet them in the hospital at all, but he just got out and we will be visiting their home and bring treats or something warm and welcoming.

I am working to have more appointments this week so that we can pick up another investigator. And, we are doing that by getting others #s first so that we can call them and actually get another visit.
I am ready to help build this ward up!!

As a missionary I always want to improve myself, and I am always noticing things that I could be doing better. This last week I have been saying often to myself that I've got to be better at this or that..(to do the Lord's will).. And, I am surprised when it comes time to do the thing I want to be better at, and I slip up here and there. In having this process of falling short from time to time, I've found, in my reading, 2 Nephi Chapter 4 VERY reassuring and re-invigorating. Here are some highlights...
 
"16 Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.

18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. (A prophet is saying this! Nephi!)

  20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.

21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.

24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him;

25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away...And mine eyes have beheld great things

27 And why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh? Yea, why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peaceand afflict my soul? Why am I angry because of mine enemy?

28 Awake, my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.

30 Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

32 May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!

34 O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever...

35 Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh."

Until next week!
Love,
Elder Alger

#1-2 We found some epic building paintings (Elder Hips with the panda 

A painting of the Chinese New Year animals, Where's yours?

#3 Korean 고기 Buffet (BBQ) It was soooooooooooooooooooooooo good!

#4-7 Study at the park near our apartment while on exchanges with Elder Remington, the park is so beautiful!

# 6 The other elders said that since I came, they have seen a lot more military aircraft.

# 9 When I came to Korea I only brought sport shorts and tees, so I got pants and a sweater. Nice and cozy!!!! BTW Koreans love their socks, you see every where such a variety of different socks and it reminds me of my twin brothers and their love for socks.

#10 It sounds weird but it is totally YUUUUMMMYYY. It is sweet potato pizza with great sauce.

#11 The leaves are changing colors!

#12 Walking around Korea and we stopped to use the restrooms and found these awesome paintings.

#13 I did I tell you that there are 5 different trash cans in our house and you bring it down and sort your trash out, it took a while to get used to, guess that's why Korea is clean

#14- 16 Are you better at it than a foreigner? We did an activity outside with people on the street as a zone and challenged them to multiple activities. Piano playing, basketball, chess, and loads more. It was fun and we got some contacts from it.

# 17 This was one of the best places we have eaten!!!! I love the healthy but mouth watering food here.

# 18 The park had another event going on. It was a bunch of students performing and they were actually pretty talented

#19-22 We had a Halloween Party thrown by us missionaries

#21 Two of the best English class members who we see really growing by being with us.

#22 The sister missionaries and Jamie painting faces

#23 Family member having a baptism, they are so precious!

#24 The members here are so friendly. They are touchy, help us missionaries a lot, and give us food all of the time.

#25 Music activity outside, put together by the sisters

#26 Cranes are soo coool!!! It is the one animal, other than the bugs, that are different than in America.

Week 11

This last week has been loads of fun!

What I have notice in giving out contacts, and from what my companion said, that when we give handouts out with our #, they never end up contacting back. So, I have been doing some PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Adjust). If I am going to to be putting my energy and effort into something, I want to be able to get results. So for this past week we have been trying to get their numbers, so that they can get actually get contacted again and get an appointment later. And, we have actually been getting appointments from our contacting!!!! It is great! I want to leave this area better than it was before. And, I know that I can accomplish this through the Lord!!

My companion, Elder Lowe, said that ever since he has been my companion, so many people have been coming up to us. They give us referrals, buy us food, and just like talking to us! And, I love it!!!! Keep'em coming!

We have also found that drunk people are actually open about their feelings, and most Koreans are sooooo KIND. And, when we talk to them they are open about whether or not they have interest or need of the gospel. And, they are always fun to talk to. They usually stop us because they want to practice their English. It's great!

But, I think the Highlight this last week was this...
This last week we were trying to get our investigator that accepted a soft baptismal invitation, 한동호, to church. So we had called to remind him about church, and he said he was planning on going to church. Awesome!!!

On Sunday, we came to church and saved a seat for him. And, we saw him! But, someone else was with him. He brought his wife!!! Wow!!!

That day we were planning on giving the lesson on the Plan of Salvation, and I could see God's hand in helping the Sacrament speakers and the Gospel Principles teacher in preparing for that day, because they were all things that they needed to hear, and were centered around the Plan of Salvation.

When it came time to give our lesson for the 3rd hour, she asked a lot of questions. Questions are AWESOME! As we gave our answers and explained the doctrine to her she just accepted it as truth! Especially the Book of Mormon! They are both so prepared!!!!!!

Also, we asked them if they would prepare themselves in order to be Baptised, and we decided together that they would be baptized on Nov. 18. And, we will be teaching lessons to them twice a week, after English class!!! WOW wow WOW!

I am pumping through the Language Learning Program. I love the Gospel! I love Missionary work!
And, I see miracles daily!!!

Thank you, all for the love and support you have been giving. Love you all!

Elder Alger


1-3 Korean stores, they are all super nice!

4 - just walking down the street

5-7 Bowling on P-day with a new convert (First time!)

8 - there are many fish markets on the street, everyone here loves selling things on the streets and it is fairly cheap

9 - There is my apartment!!

10-12 At an old missionary apartment taking out their old trash. I found a nice winter coat. And, they had masks! A lot of people in Korea wear masks because apparently a neighboring county gives off A LOT of pollution, and we are actually allowed to wear them as missionaries.

13 - PIZZZZZA! I love how the pizza here has lots of variety in toppings

14 - the Koreans love English so they use it frequently, but they spell things wrong sometimes, lol I love it!

15-16 There are a lot of apartments here and no one owns a home, home is an apartment. And Elder Lowe wants to be in a picture pointing at something again

17 - The way we get around is by subway system and walking. It is very efficient and CLEAN.

18 - The river is the border for our mission and the Seoul South Mission. It is so pretty here!

19 - Some delicious food from a member. The food here is healthy and spicy! They love their meat!!!!!!!!

20 - A little festival at the park, great for meeting people

21 - My usual home meal, Kimchi, Eggs, and Rice, Yum!!!!

22 - My 2nd home. Church!!!!!

Weeks 9 and 10

My last week at the MTC was wonderful and many great things happened to prepare me for the field. God really does watch over and bless the faithful.

For my last week in the MTC, I was itching to get to Korea and start the real work, but I wasn't going to let that ruin the well needed and precious experiences I would have to better prepare me. Both of my teachers were sooo sweet and I could tell that they gave their best to prepare us for the field. I truly am eternally grateful for the love and knowledge they have given me to better serve the people of Korea. I learned a lot from them, and being out in the field and hearing about other missionaries experiences in the MTC has helped me realize how bless I was to have the teachers I had,and my zone and branch, etc.

It wasn't too hard to say goodbye to all of the missionaries who I poured my heart and soul into because, first of all, I knew it was a see you later, whether they are coming to the Seoul Mission in 6 weeks or some other time in the future. As Elder Simon in my zone would always say, "This gospel is not a gospel of goodbyes. I WILL see you later! :)" And, I know that God will be with them. They are all well on the way to the path of success!!

This last Monday, I woke up at 1:15am to get on the bus to the Salt Lake Airport. I was toooo excited to be tired. At the airport, I got to call my family, and it was just nice to hear their voices, and let them talk about life. I love them sooo much!!!! And, I am always praying for them.

That day was my first time ever flying. And, it was FUN!! It was like a movie and it sort of felt like a fantasy. I spent a good amount of the first part of the plane ride looking out the window, because it was sooo COOL and the city lights at night were BEAUTIFUL!! And, for the rest of the plane ride I just studied Korean, and some scriptures. I always love studying. We landed in Texas and we got lots of "Good Lucks!" and "Don't waste a second on the mission" because there were still a good amount of Mormons around.

And, it all felt like a dream, an AMAZING dream. When, we got on the plane to KOREA, almost all of the people were KOREAN and we got KOREAN meals on the way to KOREA!!!

We arrived in Korea and we all were in AWE. We all were so talkative because of the excitement, and, as we were processing through the airport we realized how calm, quiet, and collective everyone was and our voices got quieter and quieter. It was a little nerve racking a first, but once we met our mission president and his wife, Pres. and Sis. Sonksen, out in public, it got louder, which was a welcome sound along with the Sonksen's warm welcomes.

We got started right away with the work and took the extremely clean public subway system to get to the mission home. AND, we started talking to people! Everyone is so kind and always complements our Korean, even if all we say is Hello! It really is a mood lifter! And, it was fun.

Also because we are in Korea, it is humid and I can actually breathe here!!

The first week out in the field has been wonderful!! When I first got here I was so excited and I would talk to everyone! Even though my Korean isn't too hot. And, they are all sooo kind and polite, so it is easy to talk to everyone. As I have been talking with people, I can see progress and have been learning what is most effective in breaking down barriers of fear or distrust to better be able to connect with them. By doing this I am better able make a bridge and connection with things like what they love and are passionate about or the gospel, and add to their faith.

Since the first day here, I have improved on how to draw out their interests and start conversations.
I listen with all of my heart and eyes as I try to understand, because, I really do want to understand what they say, but I can only get the jist and feeling of what they say so far. So recently, as I have been diligent in using everything I can to show I do care and that I am trying, I can feel the Spirit telling me what I need to say. It is an awesome feeling! As Nephi, I am led by the Spirit not fully knowing or understanding. And, I will go and do the things the Lord commands.

On that topic, I restarted reading the Book of Mormon and I read 4 chapters this morning and I love it!! Just before I started reading today, I wanted to be able to better show why I am here in Korea to people on the street by being able to share scriptures, from the Book of Mormon, that I love and that pertain to their needs. So once I remembered the goal of reading as a mission, I got started right away. And, I started writing down scriptures that would make sense to, and touch the hearts of those I teach in order to spark their interests. I want to memorize the verses locations and read them constantly in Korean so that I can have the Spirit with me as I share them. And, with the Language Learning program, I want to be ahead of the game and try to pass a lesson off every six days. So, I will be memorizing all the vocab and grammar forms so that I can better share these topics with others and better support my companion.

My Companion Elder Lowe is a fantastic missionary and has his heart invested in the Lord. Because, we both want to share with the world His truth and we are eager, there haven't been any problems. When we are both coming closer to the Lord daily there is no room for contention to exist.  He is very helpful in making sure that I understand what is expected of me as a missionary and what others are saying in Korean to me. He is helping me push myself and it is great! I love being around 3 leaders in my home. And, they are very accepting and great at keeping my confidence lifted in the work and in my competence in Korean. They are always complementary.

My first lesson was awesome!!! We taught on Friday and I was on a high ever since. It was such a blessing in keeping me going in the work, because the day before I wasn't able to do everything I wanted to do and I felt a little off. But, everything in the lesson went perfectly! We had a member with us, he was very accepting and soft hearted about our message on the Restoration of the Gospel. He was open in his questions about the gospel while giving the lesson (Which I hear from my companion it is rare, and the Korean people don't like to be questioned, because it means that the teacher didn't do well or something along those lines), and he accepted our invitations to read the first chapter of the Book of Mormon, to pray about the truthfulness of our message and the Book of Mormon, to go to church, and he accepted a soft Baptismal Invitation!! The Lord truly has prepared his heart! And, giving this lesson increased my confidence in my ability to teach in Korean, answer questions, and it recentered my focus on what we are here for!

I love Missionary work!!!!!!!! And, KOREA is FLIPPIN AWESOME!!

No time to caption them all. Have fun guessing.  LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!

My last week in the MTC

Our choir director Ryan Eggett

Fall colors on the mountains!

 

ON THE PLANE!!!

KOREA!!!

 

 

​The redhead is my companion. He spoke to a drunk guy on a bench for a while. You can tell that someone is drunk in Korea if their face is red. And there are a lot of them in Korea!