Week 13

Hey everyone,

 

This week was a very interesting week! I learned a lot about obedience and why it is so important. So... my new companion hasn't been very obedient. I don't just want to go on a rant about him but its been a little frustrating here and there. All I can say is that we have commandments (and missionary rules) for a reason! not just because. Through these commandments and rules, we can be TOTALLY happy if we follow them! That is what I really learned this week. My companion has had a hard time getting up on time lately and it really has affected me. When one of us is disobedient, it really affects the companionship and the spirit is completely gone. That day I just felt super down and it really ruined the whole day, just because of one decision. We talked about it and its been getting better recently. Ah man, the commandments, what a beautiful thing. Its been tough, but also really good for both of us I think! Also, we had a branch dinner on friday because my companion is new in the area. He met a lot of members of the branch but it was not a good night. There is a brother in our branch who has a very "strong personality". My previous companion told me before that he had said some things that drove some people away from the church. When he met my new companion, he said "Wow, our new missionary is super fat!" then he told all the members, "Dont give him any meat, he needs to lose about 10 to 15 kilograms" He was not happy about that... then on Sunday at church, that brother's wife came in and met my companion for the first time. She said "Hey, I heard we were getting a fat missionary and thats exactly right!" she laughed and we just walked away... gosh some people man. My comp really does not like that couple. We met with brother Yi again this week. He is really one of my favorite people Ive ever met, not just on my mission, but in my whole life. Ill have to get a picture with him sometime! When we talked with him this week, he told us that he is actually planning on going to the temple in Seoul in a year!! His health is not the best, but he wants to make an effort in going to the temple and getting sealed to his wife and taking out his endowments! I was so happy when he told us that! AND, he also said that sometime in 2015 he will go on a stake trip to Utah! They will go to Salt lake and visit temple square. If Im home from my mission by then  I really want to see him again! (by that time Ill actually know korean!)

We also met with Vicky, Julie, Mr Yu, and also julie's son and daughter came! We had our english conversation class like always and the daughters english is very good! her pronunciation is amazing, she is about 14 years old. The son on the other hand couldnt speak much of anything, but he is only about 8 i think. We actually talked about standards and why they are important. I asked them about the standards they have set for their children and after talking for a bit Julies daughter (Jenny) got mad at her mom because she thinks that her mom is too hard on her. It was tough to manage haha but eventually it calmed down and we were just able to talk for a bit about it. The class itself did not go all too great but after class was great! So after we went home, Julie texted us and asked if we coud help her daughter through english class. (I guess she is having a hard time with personal stuff right now.) Julie then asked "Can God help out my daughter?" haha Yes! I asked her what she thought, and she replied "I think God can help anyone that believes in Him" So maybe we are making progress with her! I invited her to pray again, but she didnt reply after that... so we will have to wait and see.

I think these next 5 weeks of the transfer will be interesting! We will see how this next week goes!

 

-elder carter2

Week 12

hey everyone,

today was transfer day and so we just got settled in, i am staying in my area and i got a new companion! his name is kim dae yun! haha almost the same as our less active friend kim dae hun. He is very funny and I heard he is a hard worker too! so thats good! Right now its about 5:30 so I really dont have a ton of time. We have been busy today because of transfer meeting and then getting all of his stuff situated. This week was ok, we met on saturday with Vicky, Julie, and her husband mr yu. We did a lot of free talking, they asked me questions about america and we just talked for awhile about whatever they wanted to. For some reason Julie always says that she wants her kids to grow like me, and might bring her kids next week so I can talk to them... kinda weird? haha Her kids are very rowdy and dont obey very well so she wants to try anything to help them i guess. After she said that, Vicky asked me what the turning point in my life was so I told her about how I started to love the gospel when I was about 17 years old. Loving the gospel has helped me to feel God's love and purpose for my life. before that, i always tried to find happiness through other ways, but couldn't. Once I learned to love this gospel, I was much happier and realized what important things in life are. They couldn't meet for very long and we weren't able to give a message so we gave them homework to read an article from the liahona about standards and how they can help us. It was cool to see vicky smiling so much when we gave her homework, because I always remember the first time meeting them and how much she hated when we would talk about gospel related topics. I think she is starting to change very slowly. Julie told us again how she wants to believe in god but doesnt know if she can. We always ask her to pray to find out but she says shes "not ready yet". Gah! haha weve told her before the only way to know is through action (prayer) but she is just scared I think... 

we werent able to meet with Kim dae hun this week, he was very busy and didnt have time. we talked with brother Yi about modern day prophets and shared President Monsons talk from this past general conference. He couldnt really understand because his hearing is very bad but he got most of it. He is so awesome and love that guy! Ill let you all know how my new companion is next week! thank you!

-elder carter #2

Week 11

Hey everyone,

 

This week was sweet as usual! We started off the week by visiting our recent convert brother Yi in hang. We wanted to talk to him about faith. we shared some scriptures from alma 32 and kinda went through them with him. When we asked him questions about what some of the scriptures meant, he answered pretty much all of them perfectly (so my companion said, i had no clue). Everytime we meet with him we have given him homework to read certain passages of scriptures and he always does them so I think he is beginning how to learn from the spirit better. Even as a member, he is progressing very well and I can see the growth hes had.  He is so Awesome! I can always feel the spirit so strongly when we talk with him.

We also were able to meet with brother Kim Dae Hun. We made a message card for him about families and how they can be forever through christ. When we got to his cell phone store, elder Jeong realized he forgot the message card. Disaster! So we thought... We just talked to him for awhile about cell phones and about his business. It got a little bit awkward and quiet because there was nothing else we could really think of to talk to him about. He broke the silence and asked me why I wanted to serve a mission. I shared my testimony about the Book of Mormon and about Jesus Christ. After that, he asked us if we can really know the church is true. He told us that his sisters are very strong members of the church, they cannot deny this church's truth. He is a little bit confused because they both went to a very prestigious university and are smart people. He said they couldn't just be fooled. He wondered how you feel the spirit and what its like. Awesome question! haha my companion talked to him for a little bit and we gave him homework to read from the book of mormon. Maybe he has some interest! We are hoping and praying that he will read from the book of mormon to feel the spirit.

Transfer calls are this week! By next monday, I will have been in Korea for 3 months! dang time flies. If I get transfered I wont be able to see the progression of vicky, julie, and kim dae hun! This week is very important! Hopefully I dont get transferred though! sorry im short on time this week. Oh and conference was inspiring wasnt it?! so great! Probably the best one Ive heard! love yall

 

-elder carter

this place is called ursukdoe, across the water is the edge of our area goejeong

Ready to eat my favorite Pork spine soup!

Week 10

Hi Everyone,

This week was pretty good as always. We were able to meet with Song
Han Myeong again in the hospital. We talked with him for awhile and
shared a message about trials. We shared scriptures about when Joseph
Smith was in jail and called upon God to help him. Brother Song really
connected to this when we taught him. He said in english, "woah, my
situation!" haha (maybe a little different). He asked a lot of
questions about why we have trials and why would God give us such
"big" trials in our lives. He felt very down about himself because he
cannot work and he feels like he is failing his family. He has two
daughters in middle school and elementary and a newborn son. We taught
him that trials are how we can learn and also to test our faith. We
gave him a new Book of Mormon and he said he would read it! He also
said he would pray a lot more, so hopefully he can strengthen his
faith! We testified to him that if he read the Book of Mormon and
prayed, that he would strengthen his faith and his situation with his
family will all work out. He is such a cool guy!
On Saturday, we met again with Vicky and Julie for english class. We
talked about friends and why it is important to have true friends. We
shared a talk by Sister Dalton about True friends. The only way to
have true friends is to BE a true friend. They really liked that. We
talked for about an hour, they asked a lot of questions about America
and about some english grammar so they weren't too focused. Before we
ended we asked them how they felt about their homework we gave them
last week. Last week, we gave them homework about gratitude. they were
supposed to text us 2 things every day about what they were thankful
for that day. Vicky said that she realized that she has been given any
things and feels more appreciative for them. Then Julie said that the
homework was a good assignment and she said that maybe, just maybe,
she felt that God was with her that week. Apparently she had a tough
week but looking for things to be thankful for made her feel something
different (maybe God). So that was great! She seems to be progressing
without her even knowing.

-elder carter