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