Week 77

This last week was full of fun!! Because missionary work is fun!

One of the new investigators we got this week was a cute little kid that comes from a some what broken family, but his Grandma wants him to grow up to be a strong, smart (thus we teach him English), and just a good man with good morals!! They are gold! I can't wait to see what his future is! So receptive to truths!

We got to teach a preacher!!! I love these ones!!!!! He is the friend of one of our investigators, but the whole time he was pretending that he didn't believe in God and that was a math teacher. But, it is sort of hard to hide it when people across the restaurant scream, "Oh~ Hey, it's our Preacher! Hey!" But even after that he tried to pretend to not be who he is. So... we played along with it to our advantage. We told him all the things we love about the Restored Gospel. About God's Words never Cease, and he works through Prophets, and that they reveal a law of Health like back then and reveal the Plan of Salvation anew like the Prophets have before. That is when we led into a discussion of the Plan of Salvation. And, this time Elder Torres and I said it in such a way that it filled in the gaps in other beliefs, testified with our hearts and  with confidence, and we explained it in a way that they both had no words to say. You could see it clicking in their heads, and them thinking "who are these kids? They are coming here teaching things I have never thought of before, but yet they make perfect sense. And, why in the world do they come here without any profit in return?" We ended it by saying that every single word we had said, and more, relies on one thin:. The Book of Mormon---a powerful Testimony of Christ's divinity.

I can't wait to meet up with them again! That's when the Preacher will become our investigator ;) The Spirit was so strong!

We went to 태백 for a zone activity, because there was a Snow Festival there!! There were people from all over 강원도 and even from Seoul. It went really well at the beginning. We used the church building as a resting spot and gave tours. So there was Hot Chocolate, and 떡뽁이---- all prepared---and Ping Pong, and one of the classrooms as a waiting room where we were playing the Church videos on our Basic beliefs. There were maybe 25 people in the extremely tiny church building at one point. Sadly, some went away because it was too crowded. haha

Half the Zone was inside the building hosting and teaching while the other half was out getting people's attention by handing out Hot Chocolate and 떡뽁이 (Spice Rice Cake things) coupons.
All went well until the 관리자 (Manager?)  came and told us that weren't aloud to do this kind of thing at the event. And, from there it got a little quieter.

We tried to revive it a couple times by trying a couple different methods but the 관리자 manager stopped us again, so we just ended the activity by eating the left overs and talking with the members and the investigator who is going to get Baptized this Thursday!

Brianne! She is a rock star and she is the most motivated person I know who studies out the word of God. So diligent!  After a week and a half she has now read all the way up to Alma 10, has read through all the Gospel Topics on things she is not aware of, and more with Come Follow Me!!! And Oliver is so key in supporting her. She understands the Plan of Salvation and she has found answers to the questions of the soul through that discussion and through reading the Book of Mormon on her own. She searches till she finds!

Today we will meet and formally teach her the full restoration with a long-awaited baptismal invitation. Pray for her, please!!!!

Investigators like her really motivate me to search more, especially through members. It brings me new hope! But, it also shows me how the reformers and people like that really were especially helpful in aiding the people to  become more receptive to the Restoration when it first started with Joseph Smith. If they didn't have these courageous men who stood up for what they believed in and even got the Bible publicly printed, there is no way the Restoration would be possible. And I think it is even a prep for people today. Brianne was definitely prepared!

I remember how she was when I first met her, and I would have never guessed how far she has come. That also goes to show that we need to be open about the Gospel to everyone, no matter what!
Dong-Hae's future is getting exciting!
Love you all! And good luck in your own missionary work!



Videos for the week:

Korean snacks! Made by pressure! Fun to watch taste to eat!

https://youtu.be/aWIbjZDb6YA

Meeting with Preacher! They feed us very well, but I burnt my tongue a couple times.

https://youtu.be/sF-J5a55q3E

After the meeting with the cute little kid investigator. They live at the Light House!

https://youtu.be/6khnI53ZgYE

Koreans Moving method are interesting!

https://youtu.be/DrPKCLzj4eM

First Snow!!

https://youtu.be/bW6RBxXPIf0

We ate the left overs quickly and used the remainder time of our dinner singing hymns before we took our buses home!!! I love Korea! And, my zone!

https://youtu.be/xqAah1f7OEI

I buy a lot of groceries, all for our Korean food!! And, it is cheaper than going out! 

Good practice for when I get home

Pretty Sea Side!

The First Snow in Dong-Hae! It has been oddly a really warm winter, but a blessing for the tropical islander and the desert kid! HAHa

Zone Activity in my last area! I love Taebaek! I love our zone!!! Good Missionaries!

Week 76

Sorry, I didn't like leaving you all hanging last week, and I also don't like emailing without telling you something special I learned this week. But anyways...

President wasn't able to sleep well. He said the Lord had been keeping him up. He didn't feel good about the transfers. So he called to do some investigating, to find out why he was having those feeling. Eventually he found out about our member's friend (The Canadian Sister) and how if I left she and our member wouldn't have any means of being able to understand any of what is happening in church, then later he found out that one of the people we previously taught had become the Chief Executive of the Dong-Hae Library and that she came to us asking if we could bring the English Connect Program over to the Library.

So, he and Sister Taylor told us that they feel better with me staying here this transfer. President specifically told me that I better enjoy the countryside while I can. It seems like he wants to bring me over to Seoul next transfer. I was completely fine with the decision mentally, but for some odd reason my body was freaking out. Haha. The whole week I wasn't sure whether I would leave or not, and I just wanted to feel steady. Haha. 

But, honestly I feel good about the situation right now. I could see that the idea of introducing an area to a Korean missionary was sort of racking Elder Torres mentally. He even said, the day president told me I'd stay, that he had really quickly grown to appreciate more of what I have been doing for him that last weekend. That day, and even this last week, he has had a fire and even more eagerness than usual, especially for conquering the beast of learning Korean. He kept telling me this last week. "Elder I am a changed man, don't let me forget that!" I love being with my greeny!!! Such an amazing convert!

That day I learned that our prayers really do get answered, even if it sometimes means keeping  the mission president up at night. haha! I know it got answered because he was worthy and seeking guidance extremely diligently. God works through his servants. I am glad president is in tune with the Spirit. 

And, this last week!!!!!!! It was great

I don't know how the Lord does it, but somehow He does every time! Every time I go to a conference I arrive feeling like I have been studying all the wrong things on my own and that what I have been studying is out of place, but while I am there, I see that really those acts of studying this or that, were actually acts of faith, acting on the tiny promptings that I have been receiving.

I won't go into too many specifics, but I wanted to say that I know that Elder Robert C. Gay is truly a servant of the Lord (part of the presidency of the Seventies) and because of that he had the Spirit. It pierced to my soul when he spoke last weekend. At one moment, it almost felt like God was speaking to me personally. At that moment in time, my heart was pounding harder than I have ever, ever felt before (no exaggeration). It actually hurt, that's how much it was pounding, so I was breathing deeply to be able to slow down my heart rate.

I know that God speaks to us through the Holy Spirit, and a lot of times that Holy Spirit works through other people on our behalf.

And...
Guess what!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The friend of the member, the Canadian lady, is completely amazing!!!!!!!!!! We gave her a book of Mormon this last Thursday, but when she came to church, she said she had read all of 1 Nephi!!!!!!!!!!! She is sooo curious! And, this morning she texted in our group chat that she almost finished all of 2 Nephi yesterday. She struggled with the Isaiah chapters, but she keeps on surprising us with how studious of a believer in Christ she is and also her diligence. She actually might even be more studious than all of our members when it comes to studying the Come Follow Me program!

She said, "the Gospel Library is any eager Christian's dream come true. It is so convenient with all the links and there are even such High Quality videos of the Savoir's Ministry. I like that it quotes directly from the Bible. It makes it authentic, but yet gives me the feel that I a watching a Shakespearean play."

Our member is such a key in the process. He is there to support her when we aren't there and answer her questions. I have never had a member referral like this before, but it really shows me that President Hinkley wasn't lying when he gave the address in Feb.1999 on member missionary work. Members are the Key!!!!!

Make sure that you stay open about the gospel with your friends, you will not only brighten the life of your friends, but also the missionaries there. All they want to do is share what they love so dearly. Work closely with your missionaries. Know what their goals are and if you don't feel like you have any friends that would be willing to give an ear to the missionaries, at least find out about people that the missionaries are working with. Then you can be a friend to those who are trying to learn of the Restored Gospel of Christ!!!

Love you all!
Elder Alger

One of our investigators wanted to take us up with his kids to see North Korea and to do some touring. Right now, for the Koreans, it is what Americans consider their summer break from school, but theirs is in the winter. It was a great bonding experience and very cultural. We went to the DMZ (demilitarized zone) and saw other things, one including Kim Jong-Un's grandfather's villa. It was fun and our investigator was so generous. I won't forget this one!

While visiting the DMZ: https://youtu.be/k9IRpAAQBKE

South Koreans speak slightly different from North Koreans. Most of the words that are different are the Konglish, but it is interesting to me to see the differences.

Do you see the Alger? Yeah, he is an American communist spy, that brought a lot of bad to Korea.  Way to carry on the family legacy! (So sad..)

I was trying to do the Monkees walk with them! Fun stuff!

 He was a shy kid, but of course by the end of the day I was tight with our investigators kid. He even wanted to hold my had at some points of the touring! So CUTE!

On top of one of the church buildings in Seoul.

  

There is an amazing variety of teas here in Korea. I love them! 

Elder Torres is a punk and didn't tell me that it was his birthday last week, and so I bought him his favorite drink the following day! No worries I still love him!

More calls to less actives to check if they moved. I wrote a script for Elder Torres.