Josiah's Mission E-Mails (1st 6 Months)

12/24/14
안녕하세요!

I survived the first week at the MTC! I'm learning a lot about our savior and I'm learning how to speak Korean. I can read already and i'm learning more Korean everyday. The language is really hard though and we study a lot, im already getting tired of the view from our classroom where we spend most of our day but i know as i put my faith in Christ and work hard he will help me be able to learn the language and become a  great missionary for him. the first week has been good. Time here at the MTC seems really long and it seems like I have been here for longer than a week. 

    

This week i arrived at the MTC i got my name tag and meet my companion and district, we didn't have any time to unpack and we went straight to our first Korean class. the teacher spoke only Korean to us it was intense! our teacher is sister Wynn she is really nice and she teaches us a lot. the schedule for each day is pretty much the same, we wake up at 6:30 go to the gym and workout unless its a Thursday or a Saturday then we do service which usually consists of cleaning. then we go to breakfast,then we go to class and we have an hour of personal study, an hour of companion study, an hour of language study, then we have additional study then we finally go to lunch. after lunch we go back to class and are either taught by sister Wynn or we teach a lesson to a investigator in only Korean. We teach almost every day and we taught or first lesson in only Korean on the second day. it was pretty hard but it was a great learning experience. after that we go to dinner then we go back to class until 6:20. then we study and work on stuff we need to work on until 9:20 unless there is a devotional. Sunday was really good, we got to rest from learning the language, at least somewhat. we still had to sign in Korean at church and a lot of the talks and all of the prayers including the sacrament prayer where in Korean. we also have a devotional on Sunday evenings and that was really awesome. we also got to watch a talk by Elder David A. Bednar called the Character of Christ and it was a really amazing talk. i felt the spirit really strong on Sunday. i encourage you all to listen to it. tuesday we had another devotional i got to sing in the choir. that was really fun. the speaker was Presiding Bishop Stevenson. he talked about gifts and the devo was broadcast to all of the MTC across the world. So i might have been on TV since i was in the choir. today is P day so we get to email and do laundry so hat was really nice. Man! i cant believe it is Christmas eve it doesn't feel like it. Im excited for Christmas though we get to hear from an apostle on Christmas day and i get to sing in the choir again. that devotional is going to be broadcast to all the MTC's again so i might be on TV again. well anyways i hope everything is going great back home. You are all in my prayers and i miss you all.


1/1/15
Hey!?  

Hows it going? its going great here at the mtc. This week was great. On sunday David Archuletta And Richard Elliott Came and talked to us and they Performed. David Archuletta is singer, he served a mission in chille and recently returned. He sang the last song in the movie meet the mormons and he was asked to record while he was still on his mission. he sang that song for us and lots of other ones. he sang one of them in french and that was really cool. Richard Elliott is the Organist for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He is a phenominal Organ player. he played one song with just his feet. and he played a arangment of "we thank thee o god for a prophet" that he arranged for president hinkley it sounded like bagpipes. it was an awesome devo. on tuesday we had another devotional this time the speaker was Anthony D Perkins from the Seventy. he talked about Change and how we can help converts change. it was a great talk and i learned a lot. Most of this week has been spent studying or in class. We are teaching two investagators now both of them in only korean. its was hard preparing and teaching two lessons in korean, and it was really hard teaching about the plan of salvation in korean. But we were able to do it even though or korean wasnt very good. i know as i study and work hard and as i seek the lords help that i will be able to  learn the language. I hope you all have a happy New Years.


1/8/15
Hey, 

This week has been great! the korean is coming slow but it is coming. I say almopst all of my prayers in korean now. and yesterday i bore my testimony in korean. it seems like ive been here longer then 3 weeks the days are long and almost all the same. im excited for today i get to go to the temple for the first time since iv been here. it was closed on my pday the last two weeks because of christmas and new years. Sunday was fast sunday and that was really good. we had lots of time to relax and i started reading the book of mormon again, my goal is to finish it before i leave for Korea. im already in second nephi. the older elders left monday and we watched the legacy in Korean with them suinday evening as a going away tradition. that was really fun. i think i understood like 4 words. i have a long way to go. and now i want to watch the legacy in english so i can figure out what was going on. Monday our district got the opportunity to Host for incoming senior couples, i got to carry their luggage and show them where there room was. Tuesday sister Bonnie Oscarson the young womens general president came and talked to us that was really cool. and sunday Brother Dubois who is incharge of the church missionary medi department talked to us. he told us about how we can use mormon.org in teaching people and about the messages on there. that was pretty cool. ysterday we had new missionaries arrive. we had three new elders arrive. one of them is going to vancouver Koeran speaking. i didnt even know that was a mission. we also had a white christmas and that was really awesome. there is still snow everywhere. but its starting to melt a little bit. its hard siiting in the class room all day i can see the mountains out our window and i want to go climb to the top of them. but class is fun and i am learning a lot. Thanks for all the support.

1/15/15

안녕하세요,

I hope everything is going great. this week has been really good. Friday we taught a TRC lesson which is where we teach a member. it went okay. I said That "Jesus helps us overcome our stamps" instead of "trials". that was kinda embarrassing. 

I've also been doing a lot of running in the morning. This Tuesday instead of going to gym i went on a run around the campus. it was a nice break from running around the small indoor track. It takes 10 laps to run one mile on the small track. Tuesday we got to hear from Elder Russel M Nelson. and that was really cool. i also got to sing Joseph smiths first prayer in the choir. that was really fun. this week i have been working on memorizing the first vision in Korean. I have about half of it memorized.  i don't understand all of the words though.

Every Sunday we have to prepare a talk in Korean and two of us are called up during sacrament meeting to give it. so i prepared a talk on faith in Jesus Christ. Then after i had already prepared it i found out that the topic was actually The atonement so i ended up having to prepare 2 talks and i didn't have to give either one. it was good practice though. the language is coming, slowly, but it is coming.

Yesterday we taught a lesson and it went really well. i was able to talk without looking up any words during the lesson. It was really awesome we got to help host the incoming missionaries yesterday and our district got to direct traffic. we were given cool neon vests and walkie talkies. it was really fun. I'm learning a lot here at the MTC but i cant wait to go to Korea. i hope you all Have a great week!

love,

Elder Cazier

1/22/15
Hey!

How is it going? Its going great here at the MTC. I am learning so much about the Gospel and about the Korean language. This week has been great, My companion and i are getting a lot better at teaching in Korean. One of our investigators committed to be baptized on the 31st. they are not real investigators, but they are really realistic and i learn a lot by preparing the lessons and teaching them. The MTC is awesome. I Have been reading the Book of Mormon a lot this week. I love reading the Book of Mormon, i learn so much from it. On Sunday i got to say the opening prayer in Korean, i think i did good, we also got a new MTC presidency this week we  got to meet them and hear from them on Sunday. We also got to watch The Joseph smith movie. It is a really great movie and it strengthened my testimony of the Gospel. On Tuesday we had an awesome Devotional, i got to sign in the Choir and we sang lead kindly light. we also got to hear from an apostle, Elder Ballard. it was really awesome, He talked about how we are weak but that through the lord we can be strong. he also talked about the Apostasy and Joseph Smith. He also talked about being positive and about setting goals. it was a great talk. i have had the opportunity to hear from apostles three times now while at the MTC. Yesterday while eating breakfast i saw The Warnicks from our ward back home. they are going to Indiana to do a family history mission. it was cool talking to them and seeing someone from home. I've also seen a friend from wrestling here, a friend i took mission prep with and two other elders that are from the Tri-Cities. Yesterday we got to host again, it was really fun, i got to talk new elders and help them get checked in and take them to their residence and classrooms. there were about 350 missionaries that came in yesterday. this week has been great. im excited and anxious to get out of the MTC and go to Korea though. I hope you all have a fantastic week.


1/29/15
Hey Everyone!

This week has been really good, the oldest elders left this week. Sunday was my last day being the middle group. were the oldest Elders at the MTC now! it fells like I've only been here a few weeks not 6. Sunday we had a really awesome devotional, we got to hear from Elder Stephen B Allen, he talked about being led by the Holy Ghost, he counseled us that we need to make sure the Holy Ghost is one of our companions, and not just a companion he should be the senior Companion.  This week I memorized the First vision in Korean it was really hard. my goal is to memorize all of the scripture masteries in Korean by the end of my mission. I think i can do it. Tuesday we had another really awesome Devotional, that morning I started my personal study with a question, i wanted to know how i could be a better missionary, i want to be the best missionary that i possibly can. And that was exactly what the talk was about, it was amazing. i learned a lot. im learning tons of stuff at the MTC. Yesterday i got to host again, it was really fun. yesterday new Elders going to Korea arrived to and we got an Elder from Korea. I got to host him, that was exciting. He is also staying in the same room as me and my companion and will be our companion for a week. its exciting. it will be a great learning experience to be able to talk to him in Korean and get to know him. I hope you all have a wonderful week, ill talk to you next P day.

Elder Cazier


2/5/15
Hey,

This week has been good, Im almost done with the MTC, only 11 days to go! This week we taught a Korean native over Skype. it was really fun. He was a member ad was really helpful. we taught him about the restoration and i was able to recite the first vision in Korean from memory. Both me and my companion were able to share our testimony's in Korean to. we also asked him to share his testimony with us and he did. it was a really great experience. 

Sunday was really good, it was fast Sunday so we had lots of free time, i was able to read the whole book of Helaman. I'm trying to finish the Book of Mormon before i leave for Korea. iv got 11 days to do it. I was also able to Memorize the Missionary purpose in Korean, and now i am working on memorizing Doctrine and covenants section 4 in Korean. Learning Korean is really hard, I've learned a lot but there is still a lot i don't know. Sunday we also had a mission conference and that was really good. We also got to here from elder Schweitzer from the second quarm of the seventy on Tuesday. His wife talked about Bow hunting and how when your shooting the arrow you only have one shot so you have to make it count. Our life's are like that to, everyday only comes once, so we need to make every day count. i will only have the opportunity to serve this mission once so i need to make it count and do my best. Ive also been able to go to the fitness center in the mornings with Elder Barton and lift weights that has been really fun. Im enjoying my time at the MTC but im also really anxious to get out and serve in Korea. I hope you have a fantastic week. 


1/12/15
Hey everyone!

This week has been awesome! i am so stoked to go to Korea. the MTC has been great and i have learned so much, but i am ready to get to work and serve the Lord. This week has been really good, one of our investigators we have been teaching was baptized Saturday, They aren't real investigators but our teacher takes on the role of a real person the taught on there mission and it is really realistic. it has been fun teaching in Korean, and i have learned a lot through this experience. Sunday i was called to be the new district leader so that was exciting. i know have the responsibility of checking the mail for my district, authorizing splits, and conducting district meetings. it is pretty fun. i also get to go to a leadership meeting on Sundays and Tuesdays with the other district and zone leaders. it is really fun and i learned a lot about leading the way Christ would lead. We had a really good devotional Tuesday, we learned about reading the book of Mormon with our investigator and helping them understand it. then the next day my companion and I, Elder Mortensen applied what we learned and we read a chapter from the Book Of Mormon with one of our Investigator. It was a really good lesson. I also finished the Book of Mormon this week. I started in January and i finished it before i left which was my goal. i learned so much about the gospel from reading it, Its amazing how much spiritual knowledge is contained in those few short books. In one of our other lessons we planned to teach about the life of Jesus Christ, but the spirit directed us to teach about the restoration and so we did, it went really well and i could feel the spirit really strong. that experience strengthened my testimony of the Restoration a lot. I hope you all have a super great week, i will be writing to you from Korea next week.

3/1/15안냥하새요!

hello from Korea! this week has been really good. this week we found 3 new investigators. one of them came to church and that was really exciting and another one came to the last few minutes of church and we taught him the whole first lesson after church he is really interested and asks lots of questions. after our lesson he stayed at the church and talked to members and the bishop for a really long time. we've taught a lot of really awesome lessons this week. my companion does most of the teaching and i mostly bear my testimony, share a scripture, recite the first vision or say a few short sentences in broken Korean. we also had lunch at the ward mission leaders house this Sunday. he is a really awesome guy and is actually my companions great uncle. we ate a lot of really good food. and talked to him. i mostly just listened and smiled. when we were leaving he shinned our shoes for us. i was totally not expecting that and it made me think of Jesus when he washed his disciples feet. The greatest among us truly is a servant. we also went to a recent converts house and gave them the sacrament. it was a really great experience.

the language is really hard, most of the time i can only make out a few words and then try to guess what they are talking about. its hard to even remember Korean names. it also feels like the more i study Korean the more i realize i don't know. but i know that as i keep studying and as i seek for Gods help that i will be able to learn Korean, i have already learned so much in such a short time.

this week my companion and i led the game for FHE. we played a game called do you love your neighbor which is kinda like musical chairs without the music. and we played schareds. it was pretty fun. this morning we woke up early to go play soccer at the church and instead of playing soccer we played soccer volleyball. which is volleyball with your feet. it was really fun.

This week has been great and i am loving Korea. i hope you all have a great week.

3/15/15

안냥하세요!

Hello form Korea!

this week has been fantastic, Speaking and learning Korean is still incredibly challenging it is frustrating at times because i cant understand what people are saying and it is really hard to focus when we are teaching a lesson or in a meeting, i tend to zone out because i don't recognize most of the words. But i am learning Korean, however it is coming really slowly.This week while we were heading back to our apartment we were on a street corner talking to a guy about the Book of Mormon, just as we were about to finish Some old guy falls over on his head behind us. He is really drunk and is trying to get up and almost fell over again. he starts bleeding from his head and finger. and he could barley move he was so drunk. me and my companion tried to keep him from falling over again but he did not want our help. some other guy called the "taxi" (the police to take him home and me and my companion waited with him until the police came to make sure he didn't hurt himself or anyone else. it was crazy. i don't know how anyone could get that drunk or why anyone would want to ever drink alcohol. i felt sorry for him. it did not look like he was having fun. anyways that's my crazy experience  from this week. 

this week i also got to go to the Seoul Temple, it was really awesome. the temple was a lot smaller then i imagined it from the pictures but it was still really beautiful. it was great to be able to go to the temple and it really helped re-energize me and lift my spirits. I love going to the temple. i also got to go on my first companion exchange this week. I Went on an exchange with my district leader, that was really fun and i learned a lot from him like how to better follow the spirit. for example we can kind of do a gut check before we make a decision and kind of ask ourselves what the spirit is telling us to do and we also should constantly pray to have the spirit with us.

we also had a meal with members this week. It took forever to get to there house we had to ride the subway and then the bus for an hour. They were really nice and feed us really well. they feed us some weird noodle soup with like oysters or something really weird in it. i was kinda scared to eat it but it wasn't as bad as i thought and i was able to eat most of it. which is good because its rude to not eat a lot of food at someones house. if you don't finish your food they think you didn't like it. after we left there house i was so full they kept bringing out more food. at the end they brought out some strawberries and apples, those were Delicious. fruit is kind of expensive in Korea but fruit in Korea is really delicious.

this week we have been really busy teaching investigators. we now have 5 investigators and 3 of them have baptismal dates. Yesterday after church we taught a two hour lesson about the plan of salvation. it was intense and i didn't understand most of the lesson. i just said a few things and drew pictures on the board.i really wish i could help out with the teaching more and understand what the investigators said.

Today for lunch i ate some 비빔냉면 (bee beam neang myon) it was basically cold chewy really long noddles that were impossible to chew with a hot spicy sauce on them. they tasted okay but it was a workout trying eat them. every time i would bite them it wouldn't do anything. i wasn't able to finish them.

well anyways this week has been great, im loving it in Korea and staying really busy. Have a great week and thank you for the support.

The first one is me at the temple, the second one is me and my companion, the third one is the weird noodles i ate for lunch today,

Elder Cazier



3/22/15
Hey!

This week has been great in Korea, the weather is finally starting to warm up and Im really excited for that. The first month here was really cold. The food is still really weird and iv eaten a lot of crazy stuff, this week i ate bean sprouts dipped in a mostly raw eggs and sea weed, it was strange. i also drank some like mushroom tea, it was interesting. Im really starting to like Kimchi though and one of the best soups I've eaten was a Kimchi soup.

We have been really busy this week, we found three new investigators. None of our investigators came to church though. People in Korea are really busy. There was also a really big steak activity at the church this saturday and we helped prepare for it by cutting and cleanning cabbage to make Kimchi. we were doing it really slow and not the right way so some random lady from the street saw us washing and cutting the kimchi outside the church and showed us how to do it. it was funny people walking by thought it was weird to see a bunch of foreigners making Kimchi and keept starring at us. 

this week we got to go on an exchange with an assistant to the  president (AP). he came and we were in a tri-panionship together. it was really weird having three companions but it was fun and i learned a lot from him. it was really different proselyting together because there was three of us. This week i was able to talk to alot of people totally by myself and give out some Book of Mormons, that was really exciting, its really fun talking to people. 

today we went to get my foreigner card so i can stay in Korea and i got to see Elder Hansen who was in my MTC district and that was really cool. We had to ride the subway to get there, riding the subway is really fun but it is really crowded sometimes. there are so many people in Korea, its crazy.

the first picture is with My companion from the MTC Elder Mortensen (middle) who is serving in the same area as me, and Elder Hansen (right) who was in the same district as me in the MTC. The second picture is the Bean sprout soup.

3/29/15This week has been really great and also really crazy. My companion got transfered to the mission office Wednesday, which is a week before actual transfers so i have been without a companion for most of this week. I have been in a trio with the Zone Leaders who live in the same Apartment as me for most of the week. I also went on 2 exchanges this week, with one of the Zone Leaders and two other Elders. For one of the exchanges we got to to a different area. it was really exciting getting to see another part of the city. I will get my new Trainer on Wednesday. This week i ate part of an Octopus... i never thought i would do that... it was really chewy and hard to swallow and didn't taste very good. Learning Korean is still incredibly Challenging but this week i was able to make a few phone calls on my own and was able to set up a few appointments. We also got to teach one of the zone leaders investigators in English and that was really nice. Teaching in English is so much easier. He is an amazing Investigator and he has definitely been prepared by the Lord. His faith and testimony is amazing and he is going to get baptized next week. This week has been Great. Have a great week.   


4/5/15
안녕하세요!

This week has been great. last Monday for P-day we biked to the river, played Frisbee and slack lined. it was really fun and the weather has been really nice lately. This week i also got a new Companion, Elder Mattingly. he is from Orem Utah, most of the missionaries from america are from Utah. His grandma is Korean and he has been in Korea for 1 year now. Ill send some pictures next week. This week we mostly just street contacted and talked to people about the Book of Mormon, The Gospel and Easter. We have been giving out cards and inviting people to watch this years Easter video by the Church. It is an awesome video and i would encourage you to watch it if you haven't watched it yet and to watch it again if you have watched it. Lately i have been reading from the new testament and i found a scripture i really liked in Galatians 1:11-12 " 11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which waspreached of me is not after man.

 12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it,but by the revelation of Jesus Christ."

I really like this scripture and it shows the importance of being led by prophets and apostles who receive revelation. I haven't been able to watch General Conference yet because they have to translate it into Korean first but i am really excited for the opportunity to hear from the living Prophet and apostles. 

This week has been great and im having a blast serving the lord in Korea. I hope you are all doing fantastic. Thank you for all the support!

4/12/15Hey!

This week has been really good, we haven't had many appointments lately so we have mostly been proselyting. It is really hard sometimes a lot of people don't want to talk to us and everyone says they are busy. And a couple times this week i saw people throw away our contact cards after we gave them to them. Its really hard to understand what people say and really hard to talk to them. Korean is so hard. But missionary work is really fun when someone excepts our message and lets us talk to them it is really awesome and exciting. This week we were able to teach 2 investigators. its really hard to meet with most of our investigators they are all so busy. one of our investigators 김진완  is super awesome he really wants to do the right thing and he wants his whole family to hear this message. but he still hasn't been able to come to church, he works 2 jobs and works on Sunday. This weekend we got to watch General Conference, it was a really awesome conference. I loved hearing from all of the apostles and other church leaders. I especially enjoyed President Monson's talk. I could really feel the spirit when he was talking and i know he is God's living prophet. i also really loved his stories and the way he tells them. he is a great story teller. i also really enjoyed all of the other talks and i learned so much. this week has been really great. i hope you all have a great week. Love you all.




4/19/15
Hey!

This week we got to take of our suit Jackets for the first time. in the winter we have to wear Suit jackets all the time, now we just have to wear them to church and meetings. This week our ward had a big Family home evening night, we ate dinner and we were going to play a game but we ran out of time so we just had a spiritual message. It was really good and one of our investagators came and had a lot of fun. the food was okay the main meet was Pig feet, and other weird pig parts like Pig tail. it was really gross. but overall it was good. Yesterday we had a really awesome Fireside with the Piano Guys. our whole mission got to go and they played some really awesome music, shared their testimonies and shared some stories. it was really good. and i got to see alot of the people i was in the MTC with and that was fun. we got home really late though because the fireside started and ended late and we had to ride the subway for 30 minutes to get home. we got home at like 10:05. were supposed to be home at 9:00 normally. but since it was a mission event we had permission to get home late. that has pretty much been my week. 



4/26/15
Hey,

This week was really good, first of all i got to go on an exchange With elder Brantley. That was really fun, we meet this really awesome old guy at the park and gave him a Book of Mormon, the have taught him several times now and he seems really cool. we also went and taught a less active, it was really weird because he was born in america so we talked to him in english. the best part of this week was the Mission Tour. a mission tour is where a general authority of the church comes and tours our mission and speaks to the missionaries and trains us. it was really good. The General Authority was President Ringwood the area president over the Northern Asian Missions, He served his mission in Korea and he spoke in General Conference this month. This week we meet one of our investigators, when we got to his house he was really sick and not feeling good, he has a really bad smoking and drinking problem. We felt impressed to offer him a priesthood blessing and so we gave him a blessing then we went with him to the Hospital. Thats mostly been my week, Today we get to go hiking for P-day and i am super excited for that. Have a great week!



5/3/15
Hey,

This week was really good, first of all i got to go on an exchange With elder Brantley. That was really fun, we meet this really awesome old guy at the park and gave him a Book of Mormon, the have taught him several times now and he seems really cool. we also went and taught a less active, it was really weird because he was born in america so we talked to him in english. the best part of this week was the Mission Tour. a mission tour is where a general authority of the church comes and tours our mission and speaks to the missionaries and trains us. it was really good. The General Authority was President Ringwood the area president over the Northern Asian Missions, He served his mission in Korea and he spoke in General Conference this month. This week we meet one of our investigators, when we got to his house he was really sick and not feeling good, he has a really bad smoking and drinking problem. We felt impressed to offer him a priesthood blessing and so we gave him a blessing then we went with him to the Hospital. Thats mostly been my week, Today we get to go hiking for P-day and i am super excited for that. Have a great week!



5/17/15
안녕하세요 제 사랑하는  가족 !

This week has been really great. last P-day we biked to the Han River set up a slack line and played ultimate frisbee. Slack lining is so much fun and this time i was a lot better at it. I want to get a slack line now. Today for P day we are going to go hiking, and this time a bigger mountain, i am super pumped. 

last week was my 12th week in Korea and the end of my 2nd transfer, i am officially not a grennie anymore and i finished the 12 week program. for the first 12 weeks we had an extra hour of companion study and studied PMG and did role plays and other stuff like that. it was good but it is good to be done and its nice to hit the streets earlier in the  day.

last week one of our investigator, 전사무엘, quite his weekend job and has started coming to church. he is super awesome and really enjoys church. He has a baptismal date in a couple weeks. I'm excited for him, he is going to be an awesome member. 

this week we had 2 meals with members. it was super awesome. the first meal was with the second counselor in the bishopric and they gave us avocados, it was super good, avocados are super expensive and my companion was super excited because he hasn't eate
n avocado for a long time, we made guacamole out of it. the second meal was with the ward mission leader. he is super awesome. he made us Kimchi soup and we had to eat a ton of it. and he gave us left overs to take home. We also had a bunch of food given to us from a sister in the ward. she bought three big bags of food, one for each of the missionaries houses. our ward is super awesome!

this week in studies i found a really awesome quote by Elder Jeffery R. Holland in the June Liahona. it said,  " the size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue- it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know". we don't need to understand everything or know everything know but as we exercise the faith we do have  and hold fast to what we know is true our faith and knowledge will grow. if we don't exercise or use our faith our faith will wither and die. because "faith, if it hath not works, is dead" (James 2:17)

I hope you all have a great week

5/25/15
Hey Yall,

this week has been super awesome! First of all last Monday we hiked Pu-can mountain For P-day. it was a blast. The trail was really steep but the hike was really awesome and the vies was great. This week most of our investigators were busy so we didn't have very many lessons, we mostly just walked around and tried to talk to people. its really fun sometimes but other times its really hard. alot of the time people don't want to talk and one time one old guy even yelled at me. it was kinda of scary. But i know this message is true and even if people are scary and if i cant speak very well its my duty to do my best and talk to as many people as i can. 

This Friday we got the opportunity to do some service, we helped a member clean out his basement and yard. it was really fun. and after we were done he feed us Kimchi soup. Today was really cool, we got to go with our ward on a picnic. today is buddahs birthday so all of the kids had school off and our ward went on a picnic. We got to leave our mission and go tothe south mission and ride a ferry to an island near incheon. It was really sweet. We went hiking, found sea shells on the beach and looked for crabs in the mud. i got super dirty! but its not much fun if you dont get dirty. It was really fun and we were able to bring an investigator with us. Thats pretty much been my week. I hope yall's week has been just as great or better.

5/31/15

해,

This week has been great, we saw lots of really cool things this week.

 Tuesday we meet a new investigator and taught the first lesson. That was super great. Thursday was kinda sad but really interesting, a member in our ward's father passed away and we went to support him. We got to see a Korean funeral. when we first got there i was really confused because i didn't know what we were supposed to do. We had to bow to a shrine like thing with his picture, some food and other stuff on it to show respect to his father. I just had to copy the other missionaries. after we bowed twice we light an incense stick and put it in a jar in front of the shrine. it was really interesting. later that night we went back with the members and had a more typical funeral, except we were all sitting cross legged on the floor by the shrine. It was a really cool experience. We also saw a really awesome miracle this week, we have been going to less actives houses and trying to find a less active to teach but we have not been successful. but one day this week as we were looking for several houses ( which is really hard because the addresses in Korea are really confusing and the roads make no sense) we had to go back to the church to do a favor for the bishop. We both felt like we should ride the bus to get there faster and on the way to the church a less active lady came up to us and asked where the church was and wanted to come to church.  This week we also had a combined mission conference with The Seoul South mission. We heard from both mission presidents, Elder Ringwood, and Elder Maynes. it was really good, one thing i learned was the importance of setting goals and that if you don't achieve your goals as long as you put forth your best effort you didn't fail because working for that goal made you improve. And the importance of setting goals. If you don't set goals you will never achieve them. Sunday was also really great, our investigator came to church and he is going to get baptized this upcoming Saturday. I'm super excited, and kinda nervous. This week has been great. one scripture that really helped me this week was Jeremiah 31:3 "

" 3 The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: 

therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee."

I know that God lives, and loves us with an everlasting love. He wants to bless us and he wants us to come to him. I hope you all have a great week, remember that God loves you.



6/7/15
​앙냥하세요

This week has been great. On Thursday we had zone training, it was really good. This months focus is being a disciple of Christ. Our missions scripture is 3 Nephi 5:13 "Behold I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." As a member of Christ's church and especially as a missionary i represent Jesus Christ in everything i do and i have been called to declare his word among his people in Korea. This week we had the opportunity to talk to lots of people. the Harder i work as a missionary the more fun i have. This week was especially great, our investigator 정사무엘 (Jung Samuel) got baptized, and i had the amazing privilege of baptizing him. I was nervous because i had to say the baptism prayer in Korean and was afraid i would mispronounce it and have to do it again, but i did good and only had to do it once. our mission president came to the baptism and gave a testimony about baptism and all the missionaries in our district sang "im trying to be like Jesus". after the Baptism we went to a the steak presidents house and ate lunch with his family. that was really good. Then on Sunday정사무엘 (Jung Samuel) was confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. He is going to be an awesome member. 

Have a Fantastic week!



7/14/15

Hey!
This week has been great. Tuesday we went to the temple and to Dong-de-moon market. It was really great. then on Sunday 정사무엘, who was baptized last week, received the aronic priesthood. Sunday was also ward conference and our wards birthday so we had a big meal after the mettings. other than that nothing special really happened. Im really excited for this week though, we are doing a 100 hour challenge. we are going to do 100 hours of missionary work this week instead of the normal 40. We start our day at 5:30 and are out of the door by 6:30 and then do missionary work untill 9:30




6/21/15
안녕!

This week was really good. We did a lot of proselyting this week. we woke up at 5:30 then left our house at 6:30 and worked until 9:30. We were able to talk to about 600 people this week. normally we talk to about 200 in a week. It was really fun, but sometimes it was hard. our area feels allot smaller now. we walked in almost every part of our area in just one day. We were able to meet lots of cool people. A member of our ward just came back from america, he is going to high school in Iowa. But the coolest thing is that he is friends with one of our investigators Alex. we were able to all meet and we ate dinner together. It was really nice because they both speak perfect English. Saturday we had a Combined zone conference. Our mission president talked about hard work. He is going home this week and our new president will arrive in July. We also got Transfer calls on Saturday. Both me and my companion are staying 녹번 (nok-bun). Im glad i get to stay a little longer, but i do want to see another part of the country. Sunday we had a big stake conference. It was pretty good. It was a broadcast. Elder Ringwood who served a mission in Korea and talked in the last General Conference, gave his address in Korean. Then we also heard from Elder and Sister Maynes, and Elder Christoferson of the Quorum of the 12. there talks where all translated in to Korean. I couldnt really understand anything. I still dont know hardly any Korean. That was pretty much our week. Im excited for p-day today. we didnt have one last week because we were doing the 100 hour work week. today were going to play sports at the church. I hope you have a great week.