Today is transfer call day! I hope that my birthday present from President Lee is being able to stay in my area for one more transfer, but we'll see. I always get a little nervous before transfer calls because I just want to know what's going to happen.
Last Monday night we met with a referral from the Shindang missionaries. Her name is 안나. She's in her 50's and has had cancer for the past 17 years. She isn't expected to live for very much longer. It was kind of an intense lesson. We were just stopping by since we didn't have a male with us (we have to have a male present to teach women) and she went off for like 30 minutes about her story and her trials and everything. It took some intense focus and help from God to be able to understand what she was saying. For a while she was talking about how she just wanted to die and get it over with. It was really intense and we shared scriptures with her about how God gives us trials because he loves us and so that he can help us progress. But then she looked at me and said, "What do you know about trials? You're so young." It is true. I don't know a lot about trials so I told her that through reading the scriptures and hearing about the prophets and their trials I have learned that if we put our trust in the Lord he will help us to overcome our trials. She said that she wants us to teach her so that she can hopefully find her answer. We're supposed to meet with her tonight but we are having a hard time finding someone who can teach with us. It's the week before stake conference so most of the men in our ward are busy with meetings.
On Monday we also met with a guy named Jefferson Lee. He's in his 70's and was someone that the Assistants to the President met while proselyting and referred to us. We met him at Dunkin Donuts and gave him a Book of Mormon and talked to him about it. He's such a cool guy! We can't wait to meet with him again. He's in Busan right now though and we won't be able to meet with him till next month. He said he's gonna read the Book of Mormon by the time he comes back though.
On Tuesday we met with a new investigator named 김석진. He's 50 and had heard lots of not so good stuff about our church and then met the missionaries on the street. He was curious so he decided to meet with us. He was a referral. He's super interested in reading the Book of Mormon and we set up an appointment for every tuesday night.
On Tuesday we also met with Brother Yoo. He's progressing really well! We love meeting with him each week. He likes reading the Book of Mormon in English then talking about it together when we meet. We clear up the things he couldn't understand then teach him something. He's having a hard time wanting to come to church though because he likes to sleep in on Sundays.
Wednesday we had Mission Tour with President Stevenson. It was so good! I don't have time to write everything that I learned but we really learned so much. When I introduced myself to him he immediately knew that I had lived in Daejeon and that my dad had been mission president there.
After that we had exchanges with other missionaries in our district. I was with Elder Cho again and it was way fun. We picked up a new investigator. His name is 이재윤 and he's in his 30's. He was a former investigator that called us out of the blue. He works for a religious school that doesn't really like our church. When he met with the missionaries before they visited his school one day and then his co-workers got upset with him for meeting with the missionaries. So now we are meeting "secretly." He's a really good guy. He wants to read the Book of Mormon in English because he thinks they lost a lot of the original meaning and feeling when they translated it. We just want him to read it so we gave him both English and Korean.
On Thursday we had district streetboarding! It was really fun. Then we ate dinner at our bishop's house and he and his son played the guitar for us. It was such a fun night! And I ate soooooo much meat.
On Friday we had weekly planning for this week (assuming I stay) and then we went and met with 이강원. He came to church last week but only to hear Elder Dorrough and I speak Korean. He's having a hard time wanting to come to church. He wants to get baptized but he never really wants to come to church. He's 39 and single and so he really wants to get married. We showed him LDSsingles.org and then he wanted to join our church so that he could do that, but we told him that's not why he should be baptized. We shared 2 Nephi 31:19 about how once we enter the strait and narrow gate everything is not done! We have to endure to the end. We'll meet with him again this Friday.
Saturday we went to the church for a primary activity and played games with all the little kids. It was so much fun! I love to play with them because it reminds me of my nephews and nieces. After that we taught Eddie at the church. He's such an amazing guy! We found out that he has been meeting with us and not telling his wife because she doesn't like our church. He said that he would be baptized into our church right away but his wife would never forgive him. So we are trying to find a way to soften her heart. If anyone has any ideas please help us out!
Saturday night we did game night with all the youth again and we had even more people this time. Some of them brought snacks and others brought pizza. It was way fun!
Yesterday no one came to church, sadly, but it was a really good sacrament meeting. Last night we ate with one of my favorite families in the ward. They all lived in America and so we speak English and Korean at their house. We had family night and game night last night after dinner! They are all reading the Book of Mormon and seeing who can finish first. So we read the Book of Mormon with them in English and taught them a lesson and then gave them a quiz.
This last week was awesome! I hope to have 6 more in this area!
Love you all!
-Elder Rife
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