Week 69 & 70

Hi Everyone,

this week was pretty good! we were actually able to get a hold of brother yang jae hong up in seoul and he sounded really good! he said he is excited to come back and meet with us in about 2 weeks. I asked scott how we could better help people realize that special feelings and thoughts came directly from God and he said to love them enough for them to be pierced in the heart. make them feel love from you, and then they will listen. we will do that and see what happens! 

as for other investigators, we were teaching brother lee sung won english and the gospel but we had to drop him because he didnt show any interest in the gospel. and also the presentation didnt really go through either. a lot of them were very curious about what our church believes but they all have their own religion and said that they arent interested... and then also brother lee min gun didnt come to church yesterday and hasnt answered our phone calls for a few days so we are praying for him. his son is in school to become a preacher so we are afraid that he might have talked to him about our church. hopefully we can get a hold of him! time to find new investigators! (again) haha..

Hi Everyone,

news for this week: we had one lesson this week. we have 2 investigators that we were able to meet with occasionally but sometimes its hard for them to meet because they are so busy. so we werent able to meet with either of them this week. we called, made an appointment, and then got a call saying they couldnt meet. dang.. but thats ok! we actually met a new investigator who came to our english class this past week. we talked to him a little before class and it seems like he has a lot of gospel interest. we talked for about 15 min and he talked for about 45 or 50 min about his life basically. he seems really awesome and will meet with us again! also at church this lady randomly showed up and said she wants to come to church next week. she said she wants to meet with us and learn about our church. she said to call us when we have time and we can teach her! so there were lots of miracles  that happened this past week to be thankful for. every week we get an email from president and lately president barrow has been telling me and elder noh that the Lord is preparing people daily. He has been doing this work since the world began and He will continue to do it through the eternities. knowing this really gives us hope to find and help the next person prepared by the lord. so overall, it was a good week :) 

Week 68

hello everyone!

so the big news of this week: our investigator brother yang jae hong went to seoul for the next 3 weeks! ahhh! so we wont be able to meet with him for a little while... so close. haha but he said that he will come back and want to meet with us again and learn more! so we kinda lost an investigator for a little bit but we will contact him today and see how hes doing. This week we had a cool experience going to a college and giving a presentation about our church in front of a group of about 20 old people. it was sweet because a lot of them didnt know too much about our church and they got a basic introduction to it. we showed the restoration video to all of them and talked a little bit about how our church was again established on the earth. ive seen that video a million times but watching it again still brought the same spirit and a confirmation from the holy ghost that this is the true church! what a wonderful blessing. through this presentation we were able to find an investigators for the sister to teach. as far as the others, we will see how they turn out. we werent able to meet with brother lee min gun this week because he was busy, but he came to church again! i guess that shows he still has interest. the members are all still doing great and my companion elder noh is awesome. just a slow week, this week will be better! 

elder carter

Week 67

Hi Everyone

we had a great week this week! our investigator yang jae hong is really starting to progress more and more. we met with him twice last week and when we taught the plan of salvation he said that he really likes our church. he said that he gets a good feeling of peace that he doesnt get in other churches! it was funny because he was wondering why more people dont go to our church and then he said in english "i must spread this church to korean people". haha but he's doing very well. we testified to him that the feeling of peace and comfort was from God. That the feelings he was having were answers to his questions if God really does exist. honestly my companion and i were a little stressed out that week because we had lots of preparation to do for district meeting, but after that lesson we also felt that same peaceful feeling. having an investigator say that and make small steps like yang jae hong is the best feeling!

we also met a new investigator this week. his name is brother Lee min geun. he saw one of our english flyers and called us saying he wants to learn english and also wants to know a little about our church! and the only time he had last week was on sunday before 2! haha so he came to church and attended sacrament meeting with us. after, we had a ward lunch and it was awesome. our members fellow shipped him and sat with him before we even could! we didnt get a chance to talk much after because he had an appointment, but he is a really friendly guy and just wants to learn! 

love you all, sorry again i didnt have too much to write, have a great week!

elder carter

Week 66

not a lot of time today, we went to busan today for transfer meeting and then my companion elder noh young joo had a district leader training meeting. this week was really busy with all the preparation we did for our halloween party! it was really fun and we had a lot of families that werent members come join us. also we talked after to one of our investigators brother hong woo shik just briefly. we were having casual conversation and out of no where said that he is reading the book of mormon every time he gets sad or has a hard time. he said that it helps him to know that god will help him! it was really nice to hear because we havent been able to meet with him for a little while it seems. also yang jae hong is still trying to know for a fact that god exists. when we met with him he actually prayed for the first time out loud. we are praying so hard for him everyday and fasted for him this past week. we just started a new transfer together and are hoping to see lots of miracles this next 6 weeks! really excited! 
have a good week! 

사랑해요!

-카터 장로

Week 65

hi 

yes we were actually able to find a new investigator this week! his name is brother kwack. he runs a free class at the university in our area and said that we can come by to attend his class. so we went and it was some kind of culture class about other countries. this week he talked about japan but i couldnt understand anything he was saying! he used really hard words so i understood maybe 15%?? but after the class there is about 30 minutes of "free talking" where we are able to talk to all the members of the class about our church and the "mormon culture". there actually seems to be a lot of potential investigators that could come from this class but we will see! we were only able to stay for a little bit but next week we will be able to see if this will work out. also our investigator brother yang jae hong and his friend hong woo shik came to church this week! we were able to teach them the rest of the restoration and challenged him to read the book of mormon and pray! he is still uncertain that god exists, but i know if he reads and prays as we have asked him, then he will know! i read this in the liahona the other day from president eyring " The investigator who reads the Book of Mormon before being baptized and confirmed may receive both an assurance that the book is true and a witness that Joseph Smith translated it by the power of God. After being confirmed a member of the Church, we can have the Holy Ghost as our companion to confirm other truths. Then, whenever we pray in faith, we can expect that the Holy Ghost will testify to us that Jesus is the Christ, that God the Father lives, and that They love us and all of Heavenly Father’s children."

Just like president Eyring says, we can expect the holy ghost to testify to us about God, Jesus Christ, and the message that we are sharing if we pray in faith. Once brother yang is able to feel that, he will be able to feel gods love and have the spirit as his constant companion. i hope all of you as well will continue to pray in faith for the gift of the spirit! have a great week! <3

elder carter

Week 64

 not a ton of time today but this week was great! we met with yang jae hong and taught him more about the restoration. he couldnt attend our english class but when we called him, he told us that he will come to church instead! haha so he came and he said he really liked sacrament and the hymns especially. he also talked a little about baptism. he said that he really wants to believe in god before he gets baptized so we are trying to help him come to know. we read the introduction and how he can know. Heavenly father has made it very simple for us to know. read, ponder, and pray. God wants us to know these things and through this method we can know! isnt that a wonderful blessing for everyone? i know god lives and loves each of us! have a great week 

elder carter

Week 63

hello everyone,

this week was really great! so we were actually able to meet the guy that came to english class last week! his name is brother hong woo shik and his friends name is brother yang jae hong. we actually met them twice this week. they have a lot of interest in english and also about the gospel. in our mission we do a 30/30 program. we can meet with them one on one and teach them english for 30 minutes and the gospel for 30 minutes. so when we met with them, it turned out to be talking about the gospel for 1 hour, half in english and half in korean haha pretty nice. apparently brother hong woo shik lives in a different area so we might have to refer him to the other elders soon. but, his friend yang jae hong lives in our area and he has a lot of interest in the gospel. hes had a rough life and he just wants to know how this can help him. he doesnt believe in god  but he wants to. we were able to teach him part of the restoration and commit him to read the book of mormon. he doesnt say much so we asked him what he thought about the book of mormon and he just mumbled some stuff told us to keep teaching him haha once he believes in god i think that itll turn out well for him. then he will really be able to see how the gospel can change his life forever. when we met him the second time we also invited him to pray and he said he would! he will continue to meet with us and wants to learn more! 

also yesterday we were proselyting on the street and met a guy that is in a similar situation. he wants to learn english from us and also is a little curious about church. we will meet him tomorrow but hopefully it goes well! we finally are getting some investigators in daemyeong! 

we were able to watch general conference at the church the past weekend and it was awesome! i really like looking for patterns or a basic message that everyone focuses on. i think this general conference was, very simply, "be a good person". it seemed like a lot of the talks focused on helping others, be kind, be generous, do your part. i loved president uchtdorf's simple phrase "do your part and it will be glorious!" (something like that) i really thought about that as we do missionary work. a lot of people dont want to listen but if we "do our part" then we will eventually find someone and be able to help them. how glorious will that be??! super glorious! just remember that! itll all work out if we do our part! have a good week everyone, love you all! 

elder carter

Week 62

hello everyone,

good week in daemyeong! we had a pretty good experience that could turn out to be a miracle this week. so we have no investigators that are really progressing, just one guy that we teach english and the gospel to. my companion said that there is no specific method they have tried that has worked out in daemyeong to find investigators. before they've tried a lot of different things and they all seem to work out about the same. so we decided to try something new and post flyers everywhere for our english class. so as we walked the streets, we plastered daemyeong with free english flyers. on saturday morning we were a little bummed out because we spent a lot of time on the flyers and really put our faith in them, hoping we could find a new investigator, but no one had called. then, about 2 hours before our english class started, someone called! we told him where to come and he came with one of his friends. we all introduced ourselves and when he introduced himself he said he needed english for his job and liked learning. and then he also said he wanted to learn more about the bible and the "mormon bible", so this situation was perfect for him. we talked with him a little after and he will meet with us during the next couple of weeks to discuss things! a scripture came to my mind when this all happened. alma 37:34

 34 Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls.

:We put our faith and trust in the Lord and continued our good works. through this we found rest in our souls and we were able to be blessed with this opportunity to teach someone new. i know god lives and is in our lives more than we know. he is always willing to bless us in our good deeds and works. if we show our faith and continue to work hard, blessings will come. love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! im excited also to hear general conference this week! cant wait to hear the prophet!

elder carter

Week 61

hello mom and dad!

not a ton of time today but i will tell you a little bit about our area Daemyeong!

its a small area of Daegu city and there are a lot of people here. its kinda like busan, but since its smaller, it seems like there are more people here. our ward here has about 65 people come, pretty similar to Jinhae ward. the members here are awesome too! this ward is very small compared to wards back home but functions just like a normal ward. usually in all of my other areas, the missionaries had a big part of helping sunday meetings. but in daemyeong, the members here are all faithful to their calling and are willing to serve. also there are a ton of cute kids so its really funny watching them. as far as investigators... we dont have any. we meet with one guy 2 or 3 times a week and help him with english. we also teach him every time but my companion said he has no interest. theyve tried to teach him before and it didnt work out, but maybe something will happen! usually we find people on the street and teach them. referrals are a little hard to come by. it seems like everytime we ask, the members say theyve tried to but their friend or someone they know just doesnt have interest. especially the young men say like that haha

but thats awesome nora is back home and healthy! send me a picture of her sometime if you have time! ya i cant wait to hear general conference too. should be amazing! maybe can you send a pack of nike exercise socks? like the black ones that are maybe 15 cm above the ankle?  anyway i gotta go now! thank you mom and dad love you both!

elder carter

Week 60

hey not a ton of time today, but first of all happy birthday dad! the big 5 2 right? i will send you a new robe or something for your birthday... haha i dont have a lot of time because i got transferred! only 3 months in andong and out. dang. but it was a great last week there. brother kim jin hoon's father actually pasted away and he was really broken up about that. as we met with him he continued to say to us that he  was ready to be baptized and knew that was the right thing to do. he actually called us and felt really bad because at his dad's funeral he drank a little alcohol, but he quickly repented and wants to receive baptism! the only thing holding him back is his mom. his mom attends a different church very diligently and is against baptism in another church. we will have to wait and see what happens, but it really was a miracle to see him want to change like that. maybe he wont be baptized soon, but eventually! also our other investigator brother lee joong hui came to church this week! we met him on saturday for english class and had a really good lesson about the book of mormon and prayer. we invited him to church and he came and liked it. hopefully he will turn out good too! lots of miracles this last week!

my new area is daemyeong in daegu city. my new companion is elder Noh Young Joo, he is a few transfers ahead of me and cant speak english very well so i think i will learn a lot of korean this transfer. i need it! but overall it was a good week, thanks for sending pictures of hana, shes getting so big! just like a little boze... love you mom and dad, have a good week!

elder carter

Week 58, 59

Hi Everyone,
It feels like i havent written very much the past couple of weeks but its been a very nice few weeks. last week was the korean holiday chuseok, kinda like korean thanksgiving. and this past week was stake conference! so in the past couple of weeks, its been a little tough with our investigators. brother Lee sang hoon is still not answering our calls and is very hard to reach. so he has been dropped and we will see if he contacts us later. also kim jin hoon hasnt kept commitments and hasnt come to church for the past couple of times he said he would. he will also be dropped and hopefully picked up later by some other missionaries. we met with jason kim again and talked about jesus christ and why he is important. He really wants to believe in God and Jesus Christ but wont act. We invited him to act and be baptized after he knows about God and Jesus Christ but he kindly declined and said he needed more time to study these things. then he actually went back to the U.S. last week without saying good bye. brother Lee Joong Hui was sick and hasnt been able to meet for a few weeks, its been about 3 weeks since we met with him now. It seems like we are starting over in andong, but thats ok! we cant waste time with non progressing investigators, and i still believe that lee joong hui has a lot of potential. At stake conference we learned a lot about "opening your mouth" and loving the savior. it seemed like and almost perfect subject for us because we are now on the grind for new investigators! something i really liked in the talks was asking yourself "how much do I love the savior?" and then showing you love him instead of just saying it. me and my companion are really trying to find new people and are talking to everyone every chance we get. 

Also in the past couple of weeks, there was a referral given by a member to the sisters. this sisters name is pak jong soon. she has been meeting with the sisters and occasionally with us during the past couple of weeks and committed to baptism! she has been taking the lessons and the sister missionaries did a great job in helping her! I was lucky to be able to give the baptism to her yesterday after stake conference! also we had a member turn 8 and he also got baptized yesterday. so lots of good things are happening in andong, we just need to keep it going! hopefully you all can do the same and show the savior you love him by opening your mouth. love you all and thank you!

elder carter

Week 56, 57

Members in Gupo and missionaries

Best dooroochigee in Gupo!

Investigator that got baptized (Kim Min Jae) in Gupo

Hanging out with the locals in Jinhae

Elder Choi and I at the Cherry Blossom Festival

Korean style bacon and side dishes all wrapped in lettuce of course
Made it at our apartment

We found Mexican food in Korea...
But Korean food is better

Hiking on P day in Jinhae

Super awesome Kim Family! our Jinhae members

Top of a mountains in Jinhae, hiking on P day

Eating 2 fried chickens from the outdoor market place in Jinhae

Jinhae's bishop, Bishop Pak Young Seop

Elder Ha and I before the Baptism

Brother Lee Baptism! in Andong

The great Jinhae members, Brother Kim Hak Jae and his family

A lake of some sort in Andong

A huge waterfall at the edge of Andong

Week 55

 not a ton of time today but the first week with my new companion was definitely interesting. we have very different personalities so its actually been a little tough socially. as far as the work, we are doing good, just living normal life  is a little bit hard. maybe i would consider him one of my harder companions but he just wants to work hard so thats one good thing. he also wants to learn and be a better missionary so he asks a lot of questions. as for this week though we were finally able to get a hold of brother kim jin hoon and we will meet with him tomorrow! he seems very excited to meet with us and we are also excited to see him again and help him. we also tried to find some young investigators so we went and played basketball with a bunch of people and got there numbers. by next year there will only be 1 young man about 13 years old, so we need to find some more soon! we also did some less active finding and english class as always, pretty normal week. hope you have a good time with tiff clay and hana! love you! 

Week 54

ahhh... sorry  i didnt email yesterday, my companion got transferred so we had to take the 3 hour bus ride to busan again to have transfer meeting and then come back. so pday is today again. we dont have a ton of pday time today but this week was pretty decent. for some reason our investigators (again) didnt answer our phone calls. we called multiple times a day to kim jin hoon and lee sang hoon but they didnt pick up so we couldnt meet them... we did meet a new investigator who just talked continuously about the bible and had kind of a "smart" look on his face when we talked about the book of mormon. but since it was elder ha's last week in andong we were able to meet with some members. i think ive said this before, but the members here are so humble and faithful members. we always have wonderful time with them! my new companion is elder Seo who is the same transfer as elder Ha, they were in the mtc together. before his mission he loved watching japanese animation, literally spent all his time on that... haha so this transfer should be fun. ill let you know more next week! love you both! 

Week 52, 53

hello everyone,

so first of all sorry i didnt send an email last week, it was a little crazy. so our branch mission leader said he wanted to take us out to tour andong for pday so we did. he just drove all around and we saw a bunch of cool stuff. he said we would be back around 3 but literally got back 5 minutes before p day finished so i couldnt do anything.. sorry! anyway, our investigator Brother Lee chan goo was able to get baptized! my companion baptized him in a river since we dont have a baptismal font, it was really cool to see that. and he was able to get the holy ghost this week and he is continuing to do very well! we were also able to meet with our other investigator brother lee sang hoon and read the book of mormon together. He doesnt have a lot of interest but we are trying to help him know that the book of mormon is true. he still doesnt know why we need the book of mormon if we have the bible. but the thing is, he doesnt read it when we invite him to, he doesnt act. so we decided to read it together. we read about ammon and king lamoni. i always knew the story of ammon but it was nice to review it and show brother lee. this story is really relatable to missionary work. the sons of mosiah were sent by th;e lord to preach the word to the lamanites. ammon trusts in the lord and goes to live among king lamoni and his people. we only shared up until ammon cut off t;he arms of the wicked men in alma chapter 17. I really enjoyed the preparation ammon took and his trust in the lord. verse 3 said that they prayed and fasted and were filled with the spirit of prophecy and revelation, teaching with power and authority. verse 11 is a promise from god. he tells them to go forth with patience and they will be made instruments in the lords hands. and ammon did just that. he was taken prisoner and humbled himself, wanting to be a servant of king lamoni. he worked hard and continued to remember what the lord had told him. when the other servants were afraid of the wicked men trying to scatter the herd, ammon remembered the promise and became an instrument of the lord. just reading this reminded me of how much we need to work hard and remember to trust in the lord in our afflictions. in verse 38 its really cool, 38" Now six of them had fallen by the sling, but he slew none save it were their leader with his sword; and he smote off as many of their arms as were lifted against him, and they were not a few." me and my companion elder ha are really trying hard to trust in the lord and just work hard like ammon. i know as we do, our success will come later. we had a busy week and our other investigators werent able to meet but we will continue to pray for them and their convertion. thank you everyone! love you all!

-elder carter

Week 51

hello everyone!

this was a great week in andong! although we didnt have brother lee
chan goo's baptism, it was still a great week. so in andong we dont
have a baptismal font in our church because we are just on the 5th
floor of a commercial building. in the past people who recieve baptism
got baptized in a river about 30 min away from the church. we went to
go check out the river and there was hardly any water and it was
really dirty so we had to postpone the baptism for next week. we
called brother lee and he seemed a little frustrated that we had to
postpone the baptism, which is good haha but something that i
continued to think about this week was the life and luxuries we have.
sometimes it seems like we dont have a lot of money for good food, or
we cant always do fun things on pday because theres not a ton of time,
but taking a step back and really looking at all the things we have.
this past week we met with an old couple in our branch at their house.
they are farmers and literally live on a farm haha they have cows,
chickens, crops, anything you can name they have it. and its so far
from the city if you look out, all you can see is green. just trees
and more countryside. there daughter was there and we all were able to
eat together. The reason why i thought about being so thankful for all
the things i have is because of her. She has had a really hard life it
seems like. She had some kind of tumor in her head and had it removed,
removing the whole front right part of her head leaving scars. it was
so deep i honestly dont know how she is still living. she had a
husband who took their son and left after the surgery happened,
leaving her with the old couple in our branch. but the thing was, she
was more cheerful than any of us were. this past week was a little bit
hard as far as meeting with people and having time to teach them. this
girl was so thankful for what she had, which was not a lot. her body
is always hurting and she cant do much, but she is still happy and
thankful. after seeing that, it seems like we have everything and
still find a way to somehow not be thankful. ahh... Im so thankful for
Jesus Christ and for the opportunity to repent and change everyday. Im
thankful to even know who he is and be able to follow him. How can we
not be thankful for that??
Thank you everyone for all you do! thanks for your prayers and
support! have a great week everyone! especially treat my little
brother Robby well before he leaves on his mission!! always be
thankful lil bro! love you!

-elder carter

Week 50

hello everybody!

so sorry my emails havent been that great lately but theres a lot
thats been going on here in andong! so our other investigator, the one
that has been meeting with us and preparing for his baptism on the
19th, brother Kim Jin Hoon, hasnt come to church and just recently
started ignoring our phone calls... i dont know whats going on, but we
are having a little trouble with him lately. His mom is very against
church and is holding him back a little. Hes like 35 years old but has
a slight mental problem so it might be a little harder for him to
recieve baptism. on the other hand our other investigator brother Lee
Chan Goo was able to meet with us this past week twice. He is really
excited for baptism and is preparing well. he doesnt say much but is
really working hard. we talked to him about the commandments and why
God gives us commandments for our benefit. Its really nice to see
someone so willing to accept and follow them. Brother Lees faith is
very strong and he just wants to do whats right. I love him! He gave
up smoking before and has some allergy to alchohol or something so I
know hes been prepared by God to recieve this great blessing before
the missionaries even met him. so by next pday i hope to be writing
all about our investigators entering the waters of baptism!
This past week we also had interviews with our new mission president,
president Barrow and his wife and 17 year old son Ben. His style seems
completely different from president Gilberts but at the same time,
just as hard working and faithful. Im looking forward to serving with
him! All mission presidents seem to have some of the same
characteristics, like a loving heart and humility. when i met with
president barrow i thought about president Phillip Stoker from our
stake and how hes pretty much that same exact "mission president" mold
haha so loving and humble. well thats all for this week! this upcoming
week will be a good one, i know this church is true and how much this
gospel can bless everyones lives! love you all, talk to you soon!

elder carter

Week 49

hey sorry no time today, 3 min and pday is over. this week was good our investigator is still getting ready for baptism on the 19th. im doing good and it sounds like you are doing good as well, sorry we were really busy with foreigner cards and visa stuff i had to do today! love you all

Week 48

hello everyone!

ya this week was really good in my new area andong! it really is a countryside place but the people are very humble and nice people. This last week we met with an investigator named brother kim jin hoon and talked about the word of wisdom and coming to church. he has a slight mental problem but is still able to be on his own. we talked and shared the scripture mosiah 2:41 and helped him to see that people who keep the commandments will have never ending happiness. He is working very hard and progressing a lot. he's had problems with smoking but is starting to get over it through prayer and reading the book of mormon. we actually invited him to be baptized and he said yes!  his date is july 13 so we will help him prepare for that as best we can! We also met another investigator named brother Lee sang hoon and his mom. His mom is  a member but he has been investigating the church for awhile now. hes a really humble guy and just wants to be happy. we talked about scripture study and why it is important to read the book of mormon in order to know if this church is true or not. Its a little bit sad to see, but it seems like he doesnt have a lot of hope in his life. he works, watches world cup, and lives with his mom still. not a lot of friends and not a lot going on. when we met with him i really just thought about the blessing it is to a part of this gospel, to enjoy the blessings that come from it. maybe just because im a missionary or something but it seems like there is always something we can be doing that will help us progress! 

our branch in andong has about 40 members that attend and they are all really nice! ive met with a couple of them and all of them just want to help the missionaries. all the youth there are really fun and have strong testimonies too! apparently if members ever take you out to eat, its always something called ChimDak. its chicken, vegetables, and noodles in a brown sauce thats really good! basically andong is sweet and i hope i stay here awhile! hope you all have a good week! love you!\

-elder carter

Week 46, 47

hello everyone,

 

So I got transfered this past week! really hard to leave Jinhae and especially saying good bye to the ward members. im in a place called Andong now in Daegu, a little more north of Jinhae I think. It is really countryside so we had to take a bus from busan to andong that took 2.5 hours! and then another bus for about 30 minutes, so our pday was done yesterday! so im emailing today but not very long we have an appointment soon. My new companion is elder Ha Sung Jun and i will be his follow up trainer! pretty cool... some of the highlights from last week was meeting with our new investigator rohitha. he is from Schrilanka(sp?) and speaks a little english. he just talked and talked but we were able to share a short message about the plan of salvation. He said he was really happy with his life but we just testified about the plan of salvation and how we can be happy for eternity. He will continue to meet with the jinhae elders next week but i think he will be able to progress with them. thank you everyone, sorry i cant really email there is no time. next week!

 

-elder carter

Week 45

hello everyone!

not a ton of time today but this week was really cool and i learned a lot. this past week we had zone conference with president and sister gilbert. this was kind of their final big meeting before they go home in 2 weeks. we talked about our purpose on earth. why are we here? and the answers that were given were : to become like god. and to help others become like god. As I thought about this and as we discussed it, it seems like you couldnt do one with out the other. in our journey to become like god, we would be trying to act as god would. and in the process, helping others on their journey to repent, change, and also become more like Him. i remembered some scriptures in moroni chapter 7 about faith, hope, and charity. it says that without faith you cant have hope, and with out hope you cant have faith. kind of like an all or none situation. so i thought about our purpose "to become like god" and in order to do that, we must help others become like him. Only through this gospel can we become like Him, and we get to share this gospel every day. as missionaries we really can help other people do that. in moroni 7 it says to have faith hope and charity, charity being the pure love of christ. as ive done missionary work i realize that only through charity can we really do this work. so i substituted our purpose in for faith and hope ending up with becoming like god, helping others become, and charity. charity never faileth! last week we were able to meet with brother Hwang and talk with him for about 10 minutes. i really hope he can feel the charity and love that god has for him. we shared a message about the restoration and how much god loves him. he said he would think about it and let us know. We pray that he will come to know the truth of this message! hopefully soon! thank you all for the love and prayers, have a great week everyone!

-elder carter

Week 44

hello everyone!!

yes last week was my year mark! ugh... time really does go by too fast. I remember when i was in my 1st transfer and i went on exchanges with elder campbell. I remember asking him how long he's been on his mission and he said about a year. it seemed like one year would never come but it came faster than i couldve thought... everyone says the second year goes by faster but i sure hope thats a lie.. haha darn. as far as last week goes, our new investigator, dave, dropped us and said that he doesn't really want to learn about god anymore. If he wants to learn about god later, he will call us. that was a really special moment in my mission, honestly. My companion and i started from square one and explained about the nature of god and his love for us. after we talked and he told us he didnt want to learn more, i just kept thinking to myself about how this gospel has helped me and how it could help him. nothing too special happened, just a "testimony builder" kind of feeling came over me and i thought about how this gospel REALLY CAN help every single person who accepts it. It was sad to see, but he used his agency for himself and im sure he'll be back to learn someday! 

our other investigator brother Whang didnt meet with us this week. We tried calling him like he told us too and said that he will call us later. he told us not to call and he will have us over again later. hopefully it all works out with him.

on sunday the sister missionaries had an investigator and her son come to church for the first time. the ward did a great job with fellowshipping them and i think the son really felt welcomed and liked coming to church! our ward members are so awesome. 

well, as ive served my mission for just over a year now, ive never really had much progressing investigators or a ton of people to meet with, but i know my testimony has definitely strengthed and the message i get to share each day is true. through our actions, other people are blessed and i can see that everyday. im so thankful to be in korea for the next year! have a great week everyone, talk to you soon!

-카터 장로

Week 43

hello everyone!

I had a great first week with my new companion elder Judd. He's a great missionary, just wants to work hard and  help people! I think we'll be just fine this transfer. as for this week we were able to meet with 2 new investigators. the first is one of our ward member's uncle. he just moved to Jinhae area and so this member told us to visit him. So this past week we just knocked on his door and he let us in. we talked for awhile and just got to know him a little bit better. His name is brother Whang In Whan, he lives by himself, hes about 70 years old, his wife lives in america with his son. As we continued to talk he opened up a little and said that he wanted to come to church but was really lazy so he wont come this week. We shared a short message about god before we left and he believes a little about god but not too much. He's really awesome, we just need to get him to act and come to church. This next week we have an appointment with him and will try to help him with that! Our other investigator met us at english class. He just showed up and said he found a free english card somewhere and looked us up online so he came. His name is brother Park jeong ho but he goes by his english name: Dave haha. So as we were having english class we were talking with dave and randomly he asked if our church was in australia. We said ya and asked him why he was wondering and in his broken english said that he will go to australia next year and wants to come to our church because hes met good people here! that was sweet! so we talked to him after english class and gave a short introduction about our church but he didnt really know who god was and he had no idea who jesus christ was... so we explained very simply who they were and how we are all god's children. He seemed to accept it all and didnt really have any questions. So the next day at church we were expecting him to come but he never showed up... he didnt answer his phone and even now isnt answering his phone. super frustrating! but im sure he will come to english class and meet with us again! hopefully we didnt just lose another investigator. besides those two investigators we tried to visit members but all of them got cancelled.. this next week will be good if we are able to meet with these investigators! have a good week everyone! thank you for everything!

-elder carter

Week 42

hello everyone!

not a ton of time today, my companion got transfered so we had to go to busan today for transfer meeting. im still in jinhae, this will be my 4th transfer here! so excited! my new companion is named elder Judd from utah, he's actually one transfer below me so now im senior companion! haha this should be interesting... He's a really good elder, ive talked with him before in the mtc and other missionaries have told me a lot of good things about him! this past week we were able to meet with a lot of members since it was my companions last week in jinhae. we also had a fireside this past sunday and a lot of the members came up. the stake president spoke and it was actually really good. we heard talks on faith and trust in the lord. the stake president talked very strongly about the members hes worked with and how sometimes it seems like they have a lack of faith because they dont act. they come to church but they dont do their home teaching or share the gospel with others. i think it was really good for some of the members we have in jinhae, our bishop has been a little worried because sometimes our members seem to be like that. the messages were so powerful and the members all seemed to take it well. as a missionary ive really learned a lot about what faith really is and that is acting. only through our faith can we act. i think if all the members really have true faith they will act! im excited to see what will happen next with our members. act people, trust in the lord! just like in 1 nephi 4:1 keep the commandments and trust in god, he is mightier than all people! out of time... sorry everyone ill see you next week! love you

-elder carter

Week 40, 41

hey mom! talking on the phone was really good! it was nice talking to you and dad, and im glad you are doing good! have a good week i love you!~!!

Week 39

Hey everyone,

this week was great in Jinhae! On tuesday we were able to meet with brother Jun Tuk Chun once again. He kept asking all these different questions about our church and how we are different from the other churches. he just keeps talking and talking so its hard to even say anything. In other churches he went to, he really didnt like the donation plate that got passed around and asked if our church did that. of course not, he was really shocked we didnt do that and he respected that. we also explained about our bishop and how he works very hard, all out of service. Brother Juns countenance seemed to change at that point, I think he really liked that about our church. As we continued to talk, we invited him to pray everyday and he said he would try. Hopefully he keeps our commitment this time or else we will have to drop him. on wednesday, we had interviews with president and sister gilbert. that was awesome! President gilbert only has about 9 weeks left until he goes home and its really sad. he truly is a man called of God, that is reconfirmed to me every time i talk to him. when a missionary is in the interview with president gilbert, sister gilbert teaches the other missionaries. this time we talked about the 9 points of doctrine in our church and how they all stem from the power of God's love. Sister gilbert likened this to a tree with the power of god's love being the trunk and all the doctrines coming off in branches. coming off of the branches are the small twigs and leaves representing principles, applications, and the fruit coming off of the branches being the blessings or "fruit of our labors". it was really cool seeing this analogy! and how every point of doctrine comes back to the power of god's love. Because he loves us so much he's given us all these different things for our benefit. really cool! I always learn so much from president and sister gilbert when we meet! On saturday we met again with brother Don! We helped him with his korean as usual and then talked more about prayer. He forgot how to pray so we retaught him and then invited him to pray with us. My companion said a prayer and then Don actually prayed with us. We challenged him to pray each day and he said he would now because he knows how to! I love Don, he's always got a smile on his face and is very friendly all the time. I pray and hope he progresses each day! i also pray for all of you back at home as well,  thank you for your prayers i can feel them so strongly! have a great week everyone1

-elder carter

Week 38

안녕하세요 여러분!!

(Hello Everyone!) This was a good week last week! most notably our new investigator Don from vietnam. We were able to meet with him once again this past week to help him with his korean. Last time he met he had a hard time pronouncing the letter ㄹ but when we met we continued to practice and he is slowly improving! but, after the lesson we talked to him about prayer. he doesnt know church words very well in korean and since he doesnt speak english we have to explain what words like prayer and missionary are. we asked him if he's prayed before and he said he hasnt so we challenged him to pray each day to know more about God. He said he would and seemed really excited when we gave him a restoration pamphlet so i think itll turn out well! me and my companion are praying very hard for him each day, we are hoping he can come to know about God, Jesus christ and this wonderful gospel we have! also this week brother Kim Ik Su came to church for the first time in probably two or three months! we have been meeting with him every so often and trying to get him back to church and he finally came. weve been working with him every week ever since i came to Jinhae and he finally came back to church. pretty cool to see him there! President gilbert and sister gilbert will come to our district meeting tomorrow for interviews so that should be good. President and sister Gilbert only have about 2 months left until they return home and the new mission president comes! Last interviews with president and sister gilbert should be fun! ill tell you more about it next week!

love you all, have a good week!

-elder carter

Week 37

hello everyone,

first of all, wasnt general conference awesome?? so good to hear from our prophet Thomas S. Monson give us the word of God. except priesthood session... our stake president made us watch it in korean, not english, so ill have to watch that one later! one of my favorite talks from this conference was given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf about being thankful. He talked about being thankful for the trials we are given, and as always, for the blessings we recieve after the trial. It was really interesting how this talked had immediate effect on me. I really enjoyed that talk when i was listening to conference, but i didnt know just how much it would help me a little later. that night, we were invited over to a member's home for dinner. We talked a lot as we ate and it was a really enjoyable time. i cant even remember how it came up, but for some reason, the topic of japan came up. This particular brother seems to have a very strong personality and opinion. he then began to describe his take on japanese people. theyre too short, they have horrid teeth, just an overall ugly people in general. i just smiled, looked down, and ate, tears on the verge of coming out. it was very interesting because we had planned to share a message about being thankful to this family. as we talked, i remembered the words of president Uchtdorf telling us to be thankful even in hard situations. it really turned the situation around once i thought about his talk! so thankful for the great leaders of the church that we have! then later that night we met with a new investigator named Don. he is from vietnam so he cant speak english, but a little korean. he wants help with his korean so we met him and my companion helped him with some of the questions he had. we also were able to share a message about god and he actually seems like he could be a good progressing investigator! we'll get to meet with him again next week. Ill let you know how it goes! have a good week everyone!

-elder carter

Week 36

hey everyone,

We had transfer calls this week and me and my companion are staying another transfer together! this will be our 3rd transfer together! yesssuh! this was a little downer but not too bad. Its just a lot of our appointments cancelled and we actually didnt teach any investigator lessons last week.. Our stats are down but our spirits are still up! we have a lot of faith that we'll have a great week this week. We got to see the beautiful cherry blossoms this week and met with some great members of our ward. One member, about our age, just started a new year of college and had been having a little bit of a rough time. he actually started to drink and hasn't come to church for a little while, but came this past sunday! we have been meeting with him maybe once or twice a week since he told us about his problem and he's making progress! we talked with him this week about prayer, and how important it is to be thankful for what we have. I think he's a little bit special actually but still able to live on his own. We asked him what he was thankful for and the first thing he said was "im thankful Im a boy, not a girl" haha that was pretty funny. and he was dead serious too! haha so we talked about thanks and why its so important. Sometimes, as we teach investigators or members, i feel like the investigator because I learn, or realize, so much about what we are talking about. I just realized what we need to be thankful for: everything! because our heavenly father has given us so much. I guess in a sense we should be thankful to be boys or girls because thats the way heavenly father made us. Im thankful to be a missionary, for a loving family, and for this wonderful gospel centered on Jesus Christ. Think about all things you're all thankful for, it'll surprise you i promise! not a ton of time today, but love you all! have a great week.

-elder carter

Week 35

Hey everyone,

 

This week was awesome! We were able to meet again with those two old guys we met. The first, brother Ban Seong Jool we met with only once, but it went ok. We followed up on the commitment we gave him last time to pray in order to know if God exists and he did! but... he didn't recieve any answer and still doesnt know if God exists but he said he will continue to meet with us! Since he is really old, we want to help him have Hope. He doesnt have much hope for the future since he doesnt believe in god, he is blind, and is very old. We helped him understand our message's purpose, which is a message of hope! And what do we have hope in? Hope in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Atonement. As we explained the importance of the Savior I kept getting this overwhelming feeling and reconfirmation of how much our savior loves us. he suffered and died for all of us. I hope brother ban can understand that someday! we recommitted him to pray again, this time with real intent. the other old guy, brother han was adifferent story. as we met he told us that he read the pamphlet but he hasa big problem with joseph smith. his presbyterian faith is very strong and he doesnt agree with modern day prophets. he said that we have the bible and we dont need to know anything else. he told us that we ccant meet anymore and dropped us after we bore our testimonies of god and joseph smith. shoot... we might try again to visit him in the library once in awhile but not too often. sorry not a ton of time today, there is a huge cherry blossom festival in jinhae that lots of missionaries are coming to. may god bless you! have agreat week everyone! love you all.

 

-elder carter

Week 34

hello everyone!

this week was really great in Jinhae. not a ton of time, but ill try to go fast. so recently our investigators have been slowly falling off a little. their progression is slow and sometimes we arent able to meet with them very often. So recently we have really been praying to find new investigators and expanding our pool of people to teach. so on tuesday we were going back to the church from the service activity we had. We rode the bus and my companion sat next to this very old man. they bagan to talk and it turns out this man has a friend that is a member of our church so he knows who we are. they continued to talk while we rode and we missed our stop because they just kept talking to each other. he is almost 100% blind so we got off the bus with him and took him to his eye doctor appointment. this whole time we are talking with him about God and he really doesnt believe in God. We stopped off at a local library and sat down outside on some benches. It was hard to understand him since he was so old but while we were talking, a different old man came up to me and starting speaking english to me! he continued to talk to me and was honestly a little loud so i went with him to a different bench and talked with him. as we talked i figured out that he has a cousin that is a member of our church so he knew a little bit about us. he actually said to me " what do you believe... Joseph Smith??" i was really surprised! haha we continued to talk more and he shared his beliefs about god and how much he loves Him. he goes to the prodestant church but said that he comes to the library everyday so we can meet whenever we have time. he is retired so he just studies foreign languages all day. so that was pretty cool! after he left i went back to talk with the first old guy and my companion. they were just finishing up talking but they were talking a little bit more about the existence of god and he said he would give prayer a try! he'll try to pray and find out if god exists!

We spent about 2 hours with that whole experience and it was cool to see how it all worked out. sometimes if we have to get off the bus we will jsut give them a card or get their number and go, but we stayed. and because we stayed on the bus and went to the library to talk i met the other old guy! everything seemed to work out perfectly! our prayer was answered, we found new investigators this week! ahh that was a good day. this next week should be good! I know god answers sincere prayers and wants the best for us. trial of faith before the miracle! have a good week everyone! look for the miracles! love yall

-elder carter

Week 33

this week was pretty good. Heard about the earthquakes in japan, prayers going out to all of them and their families. Luckily there were no earthquakes in korea so we are all safe! The Lord blessed us on that one. Because of the earthquakes in japan, elder ringwood wasnt able to come to our stake conference. I also heard an elder might have died in japan because of the earthquakes, so elder ringwood probably went back for a good reason.. so sad. but during stake conference i learned a lot. there was no translation and the speakers talked REALLY really fast so i didnt get a lot of what they were saying. But i can remember one special thing that stood out to me. one of the speakers talked about member missionary work and how they can do a better job of that. He talked about God's love. He used the Book of mormon story of lehi and the tree of life. Lehi goes to the tree and partakes of the fruit, or the love of god. once he eats the fruit, he realizes what it is, understands it, and looks up immediately to find his family. Now on the other hand, some people go to the tree and eat the fruit. instead of looking up to find their families, they look to the great and spacious building (the world) for approval and are ashamed. they fall away to the world. The speaker talked to us about us as members having taken in the fruit and how we need to take the love of god into our hearts like lehi did. If we do that, we will WANT to look up and try to share it with other people. This talk really hit me hard because that's one of the main reasons if not the biggest reason why im on a mission. Just to share a message about gods love. This was the first thing i gained a testimony about, not about the book of mormon, or joseph smith, but how much god loves us. this week i want to share messages about love, and i hope all of you can too! God bless you all. have a great week. <3

-elder carter

Week 32

Hello everyone,

pretty cool week we had in jinhae this week! so elder Ringwood of the north asia presidency came to our mission on wednesday and had mission tour! this was the second mission tour in just a short while! He will also be speaking next weekend in our stake conference so that should be good. ah he is an amazing man, so filled with the spirit and filled with so much love. i forgot to bring my notes with me today but ill try to share some of the things that i learned. We talked a lot about how the scripture stories have the same principles as today and how we can compare our lives to theirs. In 1 nephi chapter one it talks about lehi praying, receiving a vision, seeing christ and the 12 apostles, receiving a book, preaching to the people, and the people wanting to kill him. Elder Ringwood showed us how this first chapter, the chapter that every member reads and rereads over and over, relates almost exactly to Joseph smith and his story. also in alma maybe chapter 17? it talks about missionary work and the sacrifices weve made as missionaries to come here and serve the lord. How great is our calling! When we talked about these patterns in the scriptures and today's situation, i really thought about how the lord is the same yesterday today and forever. how He works and deals with men in general. I know He loves us so much. We didnt teach too many lessons this week, and our investigators seem to be falling off a little bit, we need to work better, but i know he loves all of us as His children. He wants the best for us, so He sent His son Jesus Christ for all of us. With His help we can do all things. elder Ringwood also brought us to a scripture in Moses, i believe, where it talks about making us as strong as might water if we put our trust in Him. If you think about Tsunamis or other natural disasters, you can see how strong might water can be. I know Heavenly Father can make us strong if we remember who we are and put our trust in Him. Talk to you you next week everyone! love you all.

-elder carter

Week 31

hey everyone,

this week was a really good week in the korea busan mission! lets start off with the bad news... so our investigator brother Jun Tuk Chun met with us this past week and we talked about eternal families and why they are so important in our lives. originally we had planned to invite him to be baptized at the end of march but something just wasnt right. we continued to talk and then as he was talking about his progress he's made he said that he doesnt want to come to church or try to pray because he doesnt have that much faith, and then he left after that... dang. that was a tough one. ive been praying very hard for him the past couple of days and i fasted for him this past week. he was really making some progress until recently and then very gently dropped us in my opinion. after that lesson i was pretty sad that had happened and realized how much i love him even though we didnt meet too often. also, this past week as we met with members and recent converts weve been talking about happiness. we always asked the question "when are you most happy?" and we got a variety of answers but when my companion and i really thought about it, the best times are when we can share this gospel with other people and the blessings that come from living this gospel. Recently ive just been thinking about how this gospel has really blessed my life. a scripture that is used a lot Mosiah 2:41 came to mind. very simply it says to consider the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. And it really is that simple! Only through this gospel can we be truly happy, and as a missionary ive really felt that and know that is true. ahhh... i really thought brother Jun would progress more, maybe he will! i dont know, but i pray that he can realize that through jesus christ and this gospel he can be truly happy. please pray for him! thank you! love you all have a great week.

elder carter