Week 68

I love training! though I feel so imperfect to be his guide.
I feel like God is giving me a glimpse as to what fatherhood is going to be like. And, I know I have a lot more things to work on before accept that type of role in society.

Things don't always go the way that you want them to, but I know that all will turn out well in the end. For I don't need to worry about the results, because they have been prophesied.

Elder Clayton reminded us that we need not worry, but learn to look forward in hope of the prophesies.

"Some day every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ "
We now go to more recent times. The angel Moroni first appeared to Joseph Smith in 1823 and told him “that God had a work for [him] to do; and that [his] name should be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues.” Moroni’s message surely must have astonished Joseph, who was just 17.

In 1831, the Lord told Joseph that the keys of the kingdom of God had again been “committed unto man on the earth.” He said the “gospel [would] roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands …, until it has filled the whole earth,”

“The prophet called on all who held the priesthood to gather into the little log school house they had there. It was a small house, perhaps 14 feet [4.3 m] square. … When we got together the prophet called upon the elders of Israel … to bear testimony of this work. … When they got through the prophet said, ‘Brethren I have been very much edified and instructed in your testimonies here tonight, but I want to say to you before the Lord, that you know no more concerning the destinies of this church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother’s lap. You don’t comprehend it. …It is only a little handful of priesthood you see here tonight, but this church will fill North and South America—it will fill the world.’”

“The Standard of Truth has been erected; no unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; … the truth of God will go forth boldly, 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."

I trust the Lord! I believe each of us can be part of this.

The craziest prophesy to me is that Joseph Smith's name will be had for good and evil among all nations, kindreds, and tongues. Crazy, huh? The day will come when everyone has heard of the restoration of the gospel, through this prophet! I feel honored to be part of this work. I will continue to pray to know the means by which it can be accomplished in its fullest, but for now I have faith in it and in the prophesies from our prophets. For they are His servants!

Next time you hear a prophecy, I want you to ponder it, and think of what hope it brings to you  what and worries it takes off your back.

Love Elder Alger!

My old area Taebaek is being torn apart.... haha

Donghae!

We started our English Connect class, it was a small showing, but that is how it started up with the now famous one in Sin-Dang. No worries. It was loads of fun though! I love serving the people this way.

At one time during the week I was on a hunt for a stand for our sign. All of the big stores said they didn't have them for sale. But, after that, I honestly saw billions of them, and I was so close to stealing this from the "Hi-Mart". I was willing to buy on the spot, but Sma-sung wasn't willing to sell the stand, that they aren't using, sitting in the corner of the store. Hahah!   SO we just did promotions on the street with out it... haha

Wow, Elder Torres takes lots of pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were taking photos to send to the Helping Hands Center in Seoul, to put up online for us.

 

 

Exchanges! 

Silly Goose!

I am sort of hooked on the grain teas here. Barley and corn tea is so refreshing. 

Odd at first, but I love it now!

Old friends cross paths when on exchanges!!!!!! Love this North Korea brother!

Making Cookies for members is always fun!

Week 67

This last week was great!
We are doing well with our finding!!!!!!! All because of Elder Torres!
원주 Is doing really great! I did a Exchange with them! And they are very energetic!~ They are really energetic because of the new English Connect Classes they are going to start up, but because that energy, it is flowing into other parts of the work. I love being the Zone leader of missionaries out in the boonies!

This last week in Dong-Hae I have prayed for a confirmation on whether or not it is possible to hit our Goal for 24 investigators before the end of the year. I was scared that our goals were too high! But, I can say that because Lehi and Nephi or big examples to me, I have learned how to confirm things that I have heard from my leaders. After all that is how Nephi had all his visions, because he prayed about what his leader/father said.
"And it came to pass that I, Nephi, being exceedingly young, nevertheless being large in stature, and also having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father..."
PMG~ "Hope is an abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promises to you. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance. It is believing and expecting that something will occur."

I have complete trust in the Lord that if I try my very best and pray every night for how to achieve these goals, I know that he will help us!

The members here are really on board with us missionaries now. Like never before. They too want to be a part of the big movement of English Connect here in Korea!

Elder Torres is doing great! He is so smart when it comes to the Gospel! I love him! I am inspired by him! I hope that I am teaching him as much as he needs so that he doesn't have to go through the same trails that I had.

I am so very grateful for the leaders in the church. Because, I know that the power in a calling all comes based off of the amount of support and respect that comes from those that are being watched over. Our leaders like Parents, Bishops, Stake Presidents, Mission Presidents, Prophets have the inspiration, wisdom, and revelations that we need to hear, right now. I know that our leaders have been prepared to become the spokesman of the Lord for us where ever we are.
"You are in the right time, in the right place, but now it is up to you to do the right thing."

Lots of love,
Elder Alger

The part of Korea I live in it feels very dystopian like, because there are these really huge, high quality buildings in patches surrounded by farmlands and shacks.

Just around.

We are officially starting our class on Saturday and Sunday! We are excited! I love doing service here by teaching English! But, now it has finally became a more organized force Organized by the Church, but in Korea we take it to the next level!

Promotion activities for English Connect!

Elder Torres just taking random pictures of me while I was checking up 

on how our investigators were doing 

If you want to learn how to make Korean food you need to go to a restaurant and ask them questions about everything they did to make it. Some restaurants aren't willing to tell you everything, like what is in their sauces. haha!

A new person we teach really wanted to treat us with a lunch and I will never say no to a Korean BBQ~! Glad to say we ate it all. Elder Torres got a picture of me eating grilled garlic left overs. haha

Dried persimmon!!! I never knew what persimmon was before I came to Korea, but Koreans love it!

People we teach take us to cafes a lot, because the youth think it is 

weird to have us come into their homes.

Week 66

I would say that all of our big successes are from Elder Torres!!!!!

I feel bad sometimes handing so many responsibilities over to Elder Torres, because I don't want him to ever feel like he is screwing things up. But, quite to the contrary, I would say that all of the successes in finding and setting up appointments for the coming week happened because Elder Torres initiated it and they would not have happened with out him. He is a great missionary. He worries too much about the language. Although he is a little slow he doesn't need to worry, because he is extremely fluent in the language of the Spirit and the Gospel.

He had fun being in Seoul yesterday because we ran into Filipinos and he went off with them.
At one point Elder Ho was talking to a man on the bus and the guy was telling him that he had no proof that God exists. Elder Ho was telling him that he was holding the proof in his hands they are the Scriptures. The guy didn't buy it. Then, I turned over to Elder Torres who had a blank stare, not understanding a word. I asked him, "What proof is there for God?"

Then came a flood of knowledge and wisdom from Elder Torres. He explained to me "Well, you see what this guy's problem is, and anyone's problem, it isn't whether or not God exists, it is 'Why is there an absence of God in my life? Why don't I feel God's presence?'. Just look. Think of Light, or about Heat. There is an opposite to those right? Dark or Cold right??? But, is it really the opposite? Darkness and Cold are not really their own things, but they are simply the absence of Light and Heat. Darkness is the absence of Light and Coldness is the absence of Heat."

"This is the same with God. Spiritual light rarely comes to those who merely sit in darkness, waiting for someone to flip a switch. We have to choose to believe, to open our eyes to the light of Christ. God's light is real! Even if we feel surrounded by darkness in this mortal existence. It is natural, in our existence as mortals, to feel His absence because we are born into a fallen world, where we are out of God's physical presence. And, though we don't remember our premortal life, God has promised to illuminate the way before us no matter how long it takes. We must walk by faith rather than sight."

He said something to that extent. I was completely convinced that God existed because of him. No doubt. And, nothing can stop Elder Torres if he just gets rid of his worries about Korean.

I know that all fear, nervousness, and all of those things, often come from thinking about ourselves. We need to stop worrying about ourselves, and just lose ourselves in service to others.

Love you all!
Elder Alger

Made some good food last week.

FALL COLORS!!!!