Hi! Another week down. I swear they are just flying by. It's crazy how
fast time has gone by. It doesn't seem like I've been a missionary for
almost 8 months. Time is such a weird thing on a mission because it seems
like each day lasts forever but then the weeks just fly by and I can
barely keep track of them. I'm honestly scared for the day when it's all
over and I realize that it was as one of the prophets in the Bible said
(I can't remember...) that our lives are like a vapor that is here for a
brief time then disappears. I've thought lately about what it must feel
like when your mission ends especially as I have heard from Hillary
about her leaving Ecuador after 4 months of service there. I'm pretty
sure I'll be an emotional wreck when I leave Korea. I'm not the most
emotional guy but I am sure that I will be when I leave and my mission
experience is over. Obviously I won't be done doing missionary work but I
will be done doing full-time missionary work. I'm sure it's gonna be a
very bitter sweet moment.
This week was really good. First, 윤상영 got the Aaronic
Priesthood yesterday! It was awesome. So now we are trying to set up a
time where we can go to the temple with him and some of the youth in our
ward and do baptisms for the dead together. I'm really excited. It's
amazing how much he has changed and how truly converted he has become
through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
On Tuesday of this week we met with 이무현. His English name is David. He
was someone I found a few weeks ago while on splits with one of my zone
leaders. We were doing the 30/30 program with him and were speaking
English with him and I asked him what he wanted to do and he just said
that he wanted to learn more about the Book of Mormon. Elder Jung and I
were shocked. So we talked to him about what he already knew about our
church and then explained more about ourselves and stuff. Tomorrow we
will teach him the first lesson. We gave him an English Book of Mormon
too so that he can practice English by reading it. He said he was gonna
come to church yesterday but then he didn't. He said he slept in but I
think he's getting a little pressure from his dad for meeting with us.
We're gonna talk to him about it tomorrow.
This week I went on splits to another area in our zone called 수지
(Suji). I was with an Elder Duke. I have been with him before in a
threesome my first week in Bundang. He's been out almost a year. We had
fun. They had no appointments so we walked around all day and talked to
people. Typically I like to do a couple different finding activities
and things throughout the day but it was his area and his plan so that's
what we did. It was way fun though. I love talking to people so I
didn't mind it. We were definitely exhausted after the day. We ran
out of material to give people at like 8 o'clock
so we had to go home because we didn't have anything. It was a fun
exchange though! I was excited to get back to Bundang though too. I
love my area.
Last Saturday we got to go to the Stake Music Night that was in our
church. Everyone in the stake got together and performed and ate food
together. We had an investigator so we were allowed to go. There were
some people who were seriously amazing! All kinds of instruments. We
brought 황규원 with us; he's the eleven year old boy. Then he came to
church yesterday and we taught him a simple first lesson using cups for
an object lesson. It was fun. He really already knew everything so it
was just a review. We asked him to pray and he gave a really good prayer
for an 11 year old kid. (10 in American age). We are gonna try to set a
date for him to get baptized in the next week or two.
Yesterday we called a potential investigator named 김형남. He said we could
go to his house last night so we went over. He was in an accident a
long time ago where he was paralyzed. He said he heard Jesus's voice
saying "Arise!" And now he isn't paralyzed anymore. From the waist up he
can move but he is missing one leg. So when he answered the door of his
apartment he slid himself over to the door to answer. His apartment was
absolutely tiny. He invited us in and we talked for a while and taught
him the first lesson briefly. He didn't really agree with what we were
teaching but wasn't rude about it. We said a prayer and left his house.
I felt so grateful for the fact that I have legs and can move. He
really doesn't have anyone to help him and is home alone a lot. It makes
me wonder how he eats or goes to the bathroom or anything. I felt so
humbled after I went to his apartment and just felt so bad for him.
Thank goodness for all of the things I have been blessed with!
Well that's about it from BunDang, South Korea. It's been a good week.
We're gonna go hiking today with our zone for P-day! I'll take some pics,
for sure. I love you all. Thanks for all of your prayers. Please
continue to pray for my mom!!!!
-Elder Rife
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