Mom and Dad
Man this week has been fun! Not much actually happened
but it was just a great week in general! I'll give you some of the
highlights!
We met with our most progressing investigator twice this
week! Taught him the Plan of Salvation, and he ate it up! We talked
about how he could live with his family forever and have great blessings poured
out to him in the Celestial kingdom. We asked him where he wants to go
(Celestial, Terrestial, Telesitial) and He pointed to the Terrestial!!!
(Interesting fact: In korean they are actually called the Sun, Moon, and Star
Kingdoms when you translate them) We asked him why and he said something
along the lines of "Its cool to be with your boss, but you dont want to be
with him all the time!" Haha its was funny and we explained that as
perfected beings, we did want to be with him all the time! Anyways the
only downside is that he will not come to our church..... He reads the book of
mormon and all the pamphlets we gave him, prays everyday to know if what we
teach is true, but says he still hasnt received an answer and so because of
that goes to a 장로교회 (Presbyterian church). It
definitely is a big let down because he is progressing so quickly! But
hopefully soon we will be able to get him to come and start progressing even
more!
We also met with 최 this Friday and had
dinner with him. He was doing well and still had the book of mormon, but
because of time and his work is not really interested in learning anymore, only
having some foreigner friends. It was a bit of a let down but we are
hoping to meet with him again soon and hopefully get him to feel the spirit
again and learn more about the church and see the blessings that come from
being a member!
This week at English class I had the opportunity and
privilege to teach the "Basic" class. I was super nervous at
first, I dont know how to speak Korean well enough to teach them how to speak
another language! But the Lord was with me, and I was able to speak,
motion, and write to the point where they would understand me. And we had
a lot of fun! The class was a group of four adults and we had fun talking
about Health. It was fun to be able to act out words like
"Sick" "Medicine" and so forth, acting like an old man!
Anyways, when it was time to go downstairs for the spiritual message I
didnt want to go! But it was fun and they said they wanted me back next
week! Success!!!!
We had one twist this week. Our zone leaders went to
the ward council meeting with our Ward Leaders and we found out that: (a)
The missionaries are putting to much Pressure (부담)
on the ward and its members by asking for food, meals, or training lessons from
them. (b) They will no longer be providing food for us, because of
point (a). Our ward mission leader was sitting with our zone leaders and
said this was a bunch of bologna, that they should be doing these things for us
anyways! Right before the meeting concluded our ward mission leader got
up and said "The missionaries are going to be giving more 부담
from now on!" And then sat down. Members were mad, but the
bishop was on our side and he thinks its a good idea. Anyways, we will
see how this all works out. Our ward mission leader is an RM who served
here in Korea and knows how tough it is and such, so he fights hard for us and
has definitely had a change of spirit these last couple of weeks and has become
more involved in our work!
Misc other things have happened throughout this week that
Ill give the highlights of:
1. Me and Elder Smith met with a man who had a very small
amount of interest.... Turns out he wanted us to come over and help him correct
his thesis for a journal. We agreed for some service and then started
seeing the irony in this when he brought out a thesis on different types of
Green teas and something he called "Mind Control Tea' or "Self
Control Tea". Definitely weird, and then he showed us the Journal and
it was the Korean National Tea Society.... We helped for a half an hour
and then had dinner with him, where he then started drinking green tea, and
some alcohol! We explained the word of wisdom about 4 times and
eventually gave up, he wasnt getting it.
2. For the probably 5th time almost saw someone die by
bus, the crosswalks for bus stops are super thin and people are always on their
phones and not paying attention so I have seen quite a few people step out into
traffic and almost die!
3. The flowers are starting to bloom around town and
its starting to look a lot nicer! Pictures to come!
Hope everyone at home is doing well and having a great time!
Missionary work is definitely fun and we have a blast every day.
Every night we sit down trying to figure out where the time went!
If my mission speeds up any more im going to be praying soon and getting
ready for my return home! Im almost to four months! 1/6 of the way
done! Wow it goes by fast!
Well I hope everyone has an awesome week and is safe and
sees the blessings of the lord in their lives, I know he blesses mine every
single day!
갑자기 외국인 out!!!!!
-Elder Yamagata
Me Street boarding this past week!
My board at the end of the night!
The cupcakes we made to celebrate St Patricks day!
They were a little late...
Me and Elder Smith about to dig in!
The deranged cupcake maniac!
Icing mustache!
The bugs have been starting to come out.... it was much
bigger than the coin while alive!
Us trying to make rice.... those are bugs.....
Language study! So much to get done!
Me and Mr and Mrs Choi! #Bookofmormon
The flowers are starting to bloom!
My book of mormon after three days of language study!!! Only
on verse 12!
Me and elder smith walking down through Main street ilsan in
Jungbalsan at night going home, a little glimpse of the night time here!
Hey Elder Yamagata! It sounds like you're doing some great work out there! I hope that you continue to find successes as you serve the Lord. You are definitely gaining some invaluable experience, not only through your service in the mission, but in your observations of the Church leadership in the field! Keep on working hard and loving the people! Love ya!
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