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.

Week 75

Hey everyone!!!! Well, this last week.....hahaha....... I guess you could say that it made me feel quite unsteady!!!!!!!!!!!

First off this week, I had to go on exchanges with Wonju Elders. Right after that, we planned on meeting with a member and his friend who has just started attending our church last last week. I was SSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited to meet them, first of all, because I love these guys and I love teaching Korean, and they wanted to learn how they could say a Korean phrase about what they have been studying together in the new and revelatory manual "Come Follow ME" ( If you aren't excited about these materials you should just try it. Even non-members are amazed by the details and the videos and links. The Lord has made things so easily available to us, but I think we can take them for granted some times).

But, anyways, I get a call from Sokcho Elders that they need me over there for a baptismal interview. We had originally planned on Friday, but something popped up for the baptismal candidate and he was only open that day and begged me to come over there. I hesitantly agreed, knowing I would have to cancel our appointment for that night. And, took the 1 hour 15 minutes to ride up there. It went well! The Elders there are doing amazingly!

There is that, but then this Friday the mission president decided to do give the transfer calls early, out of no where. And so we got them. He told me that I was going to go to a place in Seoul to work in a HUGE brand new building and to be the zone leader of a new zone that combined previous two previous zones. We heard that Elder Torres will have a Korean companion here to replace me. I was excited, for the new responsibility and I was excited for Elder Torres, because he's getting a Korean comp. He had said would help him in the language. 

But after that.... I then thought of the Canadian sister who is solid and has started going to church with our members and I thought, "How in the world is she going to get translation to English?"
Then I thought of how almost all of our efforts these last two transfer in Dong-hae were to start up and build up our English Connect Class, and if a Korean elder came then all of what we did would be wasted. Also we had a brand new opportunity given to us from the Executive Chief of the Dong Hae Libary. He said that we can promote in the library and have another base there.

With all these in my head, I worried a little, but me being me, I brushed it over quick, trusting that God had a plan. I am not a worrier.

But, Elder Torres is and he was the one that would get the backlash of it all. And, so for the past 2 days he prayed harder than he has in a long time! And he even was secretly brought to tears some times. I was unaware of this fact until last night.

But the following to morning President Taylor called us saying "I am not sure about this."

And yesterday morning he called and said I have been up all night. And the Lord has kept me up...
And.. 
I can't finish....
No time........

P-day with the zone. We had a Nerf war at the Kang-Neung building and we invited people we are teaching. If you are going to have fun on P-day why not with those you teach??? 

Leaving Elder Torres on an exchange. He was with a Japanese elder. A really good guy and I admire him because he never gets to speak his mother tongue. He has to speak Korean or English. He is a good elder.

I had to go to Sok-Cho which is a place way up in the northern parts of the county side. It has the cutest little church building and the interior is actually really well designed. (I was doing a baptismal interview for those elders' investigator.)

Eating with a guy that likes missionaries and likes feeding us, but he isn't taking lessons. But, hey he was the one who wanted to feed us, so I am not going to deny him. Anyway, I would have just been making dinner at the house and we have more opportunities to help others understand what our beliefs are when we are out, so why not take him up the offer.

Elder Torres found this cute little guy in the house and decided to make it at night.

Week 74

This last week was full of more adventures then usual. It was all related to finding new people.

Experience:
 This last week was New Years!!!!! The Koreans love New Years more than they love Christmas. Our branch planned to go together to see the first sunrise of the new year and they wanted us to tag along. That meant I had to ask for permission from the mission president to break the schedule and get up early. He said yes right away, being the really open minded president that he is.

When we arrived, there were more people gathered together than I have seen in a long while. It reminded me of the busy streets of Seoul. It was a fantastic opportunity for talking with people, which I love doing, but the best part of going was meeting the colleagues of one of our members.

This member is actually from England and is teaching English here in Dong-hae. His colleagues were nice and the members invited them along with us to eat 감자탕, after the sun rose. We talked together and the members liked them. Because we were in suits and had name tags on, of course, we stood out from the rest, and church quickly becomes the topic of discussion with us. We were able to introduce what we do in the church and why we were serving. It was a great first impression.

But, hey, get a load of this. One of his friends grew up going to church and has been wanting to go to church since she got to Korea, but Korea churches and the language are quite intimidating for her, so she just didn't go. When she met us, it sparked that feeling and desire she had and she felt completely comfortable going to church with her colleague, and us.

She came to church yesterday and plans on going to church every week now. She loved the Come Follow Me program. Even though she could only get bits and pieces through my broken translations, she enjoyed it, and later went out of her way to thank me!

We will also be teaching Oliver, and his college friend, Korean every Thursday as well. I love serving people through multiple mediums!! I am excited!!!

That is just one story of three great stories this week. I see the Lord working through us!!! I love this work!!! "Miracles are not a big thing, but rather it is composed of small little things that happen day after day" as my companion Elder Torres says! Alma 37:6

I have gained a strong testimony on the mission of serving people just purely out of love. We missionaries desire to improve peoples quality of life in every way possible, but of course the hugest way to improve life's quality is through following Christ's teachings.  I have also learned the importance of getting involved in your communities. When I get home from my mission I will for sure get involved in my community and offer service. I like having the mind set that I am a member of the Dong-Hae Branch, and that I live here as a service. It has helped me be more involved in the branch, and many other things.

(A parable pressing on my mind recently:)
The thing I am going to share sprang up in my mind recently. It has gotten me in the mind set that this is the way I am to act when I get home. The things that I now do daily aren't habits to be formed for these 2 years only. I feel like the mission is training me for how I should behave as a member missionary the rest of my life. My NAME TAG is my training wheels, and once I get home the training wheels are coming off.

On the mission my training wheels keep me balanced, without me having to do much of anything. I don't even have to mention that I am believer of Christ, or that I am a member of His restored church. My name tag does that for me. My life is naturally and steadily balanced in Him.  Of course I still am expected to sit on the bike and pedal (obey mission rules and guidelines) in order to see any movement and spiritual excitement, but for the most part I don't have to worry too much about how to keep my bike balanced in Him. The more I think about it, the more I can see that this calling is just like learning how to ride a bike. Right now, while I am riding my bike with training wheels, it teaches me what riding a bike really is supposed to be like. Once I get home, I know that the training wheels are coming off. That is the exciting part!!!!!!!! Hey, I love having training wheels while I can, because it feels safe and easy. But, I think that Father's goal for His children is to be able to ride more freely without the training wheels.

I can imagine the day when Father takes off the training wheels, and He says, "Alright let's do this one together! I will hold the rear while you try riding without the training wheels." And, then, I start pedaling and picking up speed. I start to experience the thrill of what riding a bike without training wheels is like. And, as the excitement of it all runs up my spine, I call out "Hey, Dad!!! Look!!! I can do it on my own!!" I found balance without my training wheels! It is almost the same as before, but this time I feel more free in my direction and movements and I am  left to my best judgement. Then I look back, noticing that Father let go of the back of my bike a long time ago, and that He is way down the street cheering me on. Shouting to me, "LOOK AT YOU GO!"

 Though it may have been harder to keep things balanced when I went through the roughs, I was now no longer slowed down by the traction of my safe and sturdy training wheels. Not that the training wheels were bad in any way. They actually quite essential for me to learn what riding a bike felt like.
I knew from my Father, prior to riding the bike,  that I was not to keep the training wheels for the rest of my life. He told me and made it clear that I am to one day learn how to keep my bike balanced without the training wheels. So I am going through this learning process knowing that one day I'll have to take off the training wheels. I still am aware of that future, today.

Haha, sorry for the weird analogy, but I know that it is very applicable to me. That is why I envision myself as member missionary in Dong-Hae. There are things to realize about this process for all. Whether you are preparing for a mission, on a mission, finished your mission, or never got the chance to go on one. Let the Holy Spirit guide! 

I know that I am building a foundation for for the eternities in this life. And that those who are earnestly seeking will have a foundation bedded with timeless truths. Hel. 5:12
I definitely see that foundation being built for me now! But what is a foundation without a well crafted architecture constructed upon it? I believe we are free to draft our own future "building", but it is only successful and will only last through the eternities if we build upon a right foundation.

Christ is the Light, Life, and the way!
Love,
Elder Alger

I eat well here in Korea! The Koreans feed us and it is cheaper for us to at cook home.

Still having fun teaching the Philippino Family!!!! The took my heart!!!

새해!!! One of our members has the tradition of jumping in the sea on the New Year's Sunrise! It was about 2 degrees C out side but the water was 15 degrees.

https://youtu.be/JdvwfxtEMU4

Less active's home looks very traditional! This last week we visited him and his grandkids came in from Australia! They were very kind and we discuss about restored church with them, sort of refreshing to teach the restoration in natural English, everything flows so miraculously well!! Haha I love them! This less active has such a big heart and raised up a GOOD family! Very loving! The funny thing is, when we called him the day before to see if we could visit him he said right away, come to my house at 12pm, without having eaten. And, to our surprise his grandkids were there! And to add to it he also invited 2 women deacons from another church. Haha it was sort of fun at first, but we all got along, and the deacons were very surprised that we could speak Korean and that we aren't payed. Haha, I feel that the less active was trying to imply something to his grandkids!~~~ Love this brother so much!

  

As we go about we are surrounded by such fun scenery!