December 7, 2016
I'M FINALLY OUT OF HERE!!!!!! haha I'm kidding, but in less
than a week I will be in Korea and I am beyond excited. I have felt and
experienced a lot of things that I never thought I would. The biggest and main
thing is my love for the Korean people. I haven't even got to Korea yet and
started to teach and serve them, but I love them. As I learn their language and
their culture I love them more and more. I cannot wait to get to Korea.
Anyways this week had been pretty great! It flew by! The
closer I get to getting to Korean the faster time goes. The really crazy thing
that I never thought I would say is iIwant time to slow down! My mission is
1/12 over in the blink of an eye! at least that what it feels like to me. It is
crazy to think how far I have come in such a short amount of time. It is
unbelievable to me.
So starting of this week we got flight plans!!! I am so
excited and its a sign we finally made it. I will be leaving Monday morning at
9:30 am. I fly to Seattle for about an hour and a half. Then at 12:00 I get on
a flight to Korea and I arrive 5:30 on Tuesday evening. I can't wait!
So this week I have been playing a lot of 4 square. I think I may have mentioned this but who would have thought I would be so good at 4
square? well I'm not going to lie I'm pretty dang good! Anyways Thursday pretty
much only Korean missionaries were in the gym so we played 4 square but teams
of two. So me and Elder Boren were on a team and we totally destroyed! We are
an unstoppable team and we totally killed everyone. My companion tried to get
us out every time and he never could!
At the end of the week we had a bunch of guest teachers come
in and help out our teachers. They were so amazing and very helpful. Brother
Driggs has a major in Korean and is supposedly the most respected missionary
ever to go to Korea. He speaks like a native and when people hear his voice and
pronunciation they think he is a native but then they see he is a white boy! He
gave some super good advice and I will never forget it. First of all he really
helped me understand complex sentences. He broke it down in a really easy simple
way.
But the thing I want to focus on most is what he said about
stress. He said when you get to Korea you are going to be stressed out and it
is going to be hard. He shared his experience when he first got to Korea. His
companion wouldn't work. he wouldn't help him talk to anyone. Their apartment
was so trashed and his chair and desk were broken by the previous elder. They
had no investigators and no food. He was really stressed out. But he said he
tried his best and the Lord helped him. He said even though his companion
wouldn't help him he would try and talk to everyone. He learned that when you
get stressed turn outward and forget yourself. It really helped me!
There was also a native teacher, Brother Jeong, that came
and helped us out. He was so enthusiastic and always complemented us. He said
we are so good at Korean and we have come so far. He told us that he observes
Korean college classes and the day before he came to our class he was in Korean
202. He said they have been taking Korean for over two years and we are way
more advanced than them. That is a real testimony builder. I cannot explain how
we have progressed and come this far. It is truly and only can be by the help
of heaven. The way we learn a language is amazing. Our teacher said that almost
every year the military and colleges presidents come into classes and observe
how our teachers and teaching methods. They pay so much money to try to get the
same results as the MTC. The reason it never works is because they are not
learning languages for the same reason. I am learning Korean so i can help the
people come unto Christ. I am learning for them, not for myself. I am doing
Heavenly Fathers work so he will help me. There is no other way to explain it
than that.
This week the gym was closed for a special event so during
exercise time our district played Uno. I'm not sure if that is allowed but oh
well. It was really fun and it got super competitive and everyone was being so
mean and it reminded me of home. I miss playing games with family and friends.
And also I found out I hate Uno because I cant win. The game is all luck and I
hate it.
So in Korea there are a lot of huge apartment complex
buildings that have security and you need a code to get in. Brother Watts was
telling us there is a grey are in the law about going into these buildings. He
was telling us some things that he did to get into the buildings. He would just
wait outside the door until someone would come out, but more often then not no
one would come out in the middle of the day, and since he didn't want to
waste time he had to do something to get in. He said he would flick pass along
cards between the crack of the door to set of the motion sensor on the other
side and he would get in that way. Brother Jeong told us he would speak in a
really heavy English accent and say in Korean " cant say Korean" and
the security guard would let them in.
They also told us on super cold or super hot days they will
do "subway proselyting" all day. They would just ride the subway in
circles for hours talking to people and trying to get new people to teach.
Since they rode in circles they would get of at the same place they got in to
they would barely be charged any money.
I can't wait to do little creative and fun things like that!
This week a new district came into the MTC. We have been
helping them a lot and they have a lot of stresses that we can relate to. There
is a new Japanese elder that is super funny! He doesn't speak any English, but
is really funny and acts out what he wants to say. He is really funny and me
and him looked through my photo albums. He would just ooo and awww at almost
every photo.
Also a new sister came in and she plays volleyball. She is
pretty good and she, Sister Ah-Fua, and I played 3 vs 3. We played against the
gym instructors and some big Samoans. We DESTROYED them! I hit some super hard
balls at their faces and they almost quit. The other sister didn't hit as hard,
but she got a kill every time because she could place the ball really
well.
A couple very spiritual things that happened to me this
week. I mad a goal to read the Book of Mormon before i get to Korea. This week
i read close to 60 chapters. I am loving it and getting and learning so much
from it. I get the best feeling of peace and comfort when i read the book and i
have been praying about it and studying it. i KNOW that book ids true. There is
power in that book. I'd like to share a story that was shared with me this week
about the Book of Mormon.
A brother who works with interpretation services came to our
class to give elder lam, from Hong Kong, information. He wanted to share this
story with us.
He was on a mission a couple years ago and was in Guatemala
and he knocked on a women's door that hated Mormons. She said someone offended
her so she hates Mormons. He asked if they could serve her in anyway to make up
for who ever offended her. She said if they could teach her husband to read she
would get over it. So they started by teaching him the alphabet. then having
him read one letter words out of the book of Mormon such as I and A. then they
moved onto two letter words and three and four and so on. They taught him for
three months, three days a week, for two hours at a time. After three months he
was able to read a whole page out of the Book of Mormon. After he read the page
he stood up and said "there is a power in this book. I have been paying
thousands of dollars for the past 20 years for reading tutors. I have gone to
doctors and they have diagnosed me as "unable to learn to read". There
is a power in this book and i want to be baptized." The man was baptized
two weeks later. He wanted to go to the temple but his wife was still anti so
his bishop wouldn't let him. So he moved wards and that bishop wouldn't let
him. He called hundreds of bishops. he asked them all, "if I move to your
ward will you let me go to the temple." he finally found a bishop that
said yes. He quit his job and moved his family there just so he could go to the
temple.
I know there is power in the Book of Mormon. It is the
tangible evidence we have that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
is true. It is proof that Joseph smith was a prophet and saw God and Jesus
Christ. If we read this book and sincerely ask God if it is true, he will tell
us. I know that and I have done that. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I
love it.
Another thing that I was challenged to do this week was to
find out why im on a mission. As most of you know i didn't want to come on a
mission and my only reason why i came was because the Lord commanded me to, but that's not really why I'm on a mission. So I have been praying a lot and I got
the most clear answer ever. I just felt like I should turn to preach my gospel
and read the section called "A successful missionary." I have no
clue why but I just started reading some scriptures listed under that section. I turned to this scripture.
5 Behold, blessed are you
for this thing, and for speaking my words which I have given you according to
my commandments.
6 And now, behold, I say unto you, that the
thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare
repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that
you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father.
Amen.
When I read this it was like someone was talking in my head.
It wasn't like I was reading. A clear voice that wasn't mine was reading these
words to me and I knew it was God telling me a mission is going to be the most
important thing you ever do. I have always wondered about the future and
thought about all the important things I will do. like marriage and a family
and job and church callings. But now I know out of all of those things a
mission will be the most important thing I do.
I know God cares about us and answers prayers. God has the
whole universe to watch over and he took the time to answer my prayer. I know
he loves us and cares about us so much. I know that this church is true and I
love my mission!
I hope you all have a great week and the next time you here
from me I will be in Korea!!!!!!
Elder Goon
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