December 21, 2015
Keuriseumaseu!
Annyeonghashimnikka...

Wow. Christmas package! What a wonderful surprise. I picked it up from headquarters on Wednesday during our mission Christmas party. I haven't opened it yet, but I am really looking forward to opening it up on Christmas day (if I can find the time... haha. But really.).

I did open up the two packages that you instructed me to, however, and was more than just a little excited to find a music player and a speaker. How did you already put all of my songs on there?? I ran laps around the house when I saw that you had included the Van Cliburn "My Favorite Chopin" album. You have no idea what a blessing receiving that music player was. It has made a tremendous difference for me over the past few days. Music calms my mind and heart and brings me so much peace. So thank you.

Mom, I received your hand-written letter in the mail on Monday just shortly after I emailed home. Holy cow. Nothing in the world beats hand-written letters. Those were four pages of some of the most powerful testimony I have ever heard. I read it over and over again, and it has been on my mind a lot this week.

Mom, in your letter, you mentioned that you choose faith not because of what philosophy or facts tell you, but because of what you feel. I cannot deny the things I feel, therefore I also choose faith. I don't have all the answers, and there are questions that pervade my soul and occupy my thoughts persistently, as though demanding a factual response from mere feelings. Although my knowledge is limited, my feelings provide the basis for my faith, and at this point in our existence, that needs to be enough. Feelings can't provide the type of cold-hard facts that our minds seek, but they do provide a different kind of knowledge--the kind that is personal and fragile and easy to forget because it cannot be recorded or googled or solidified in any form of earthly media. It's the kind of knowledge that is too often attacked and scrutinized and discarded because, although it can be written down and testified about, it cannot be proved by any 3rd party. It must be felt. I suppose that is why a testimony is such a sacred and personal thing; it is your very unique witness of truth that comes not to your mind, like earthly knowledge, but to your heart.

On Monday night I spent some time in Nampo doing what we call "sticker-boarding" with some other missionaries. As we did this, I paid very close attention to the people around me. I watched the way strangers treated stranger, husbands treated wives, parents treated children. Honestly, I ended the night feeling pretty discouraged. What I see all around me is revelation being fulfilled that "men's hearts shall fail them" (D&C 88:91). People are confused. They don't know what direction they are pointed, They are unhappy. They are afraid.

When I got back to the apartment that night, I thought long and hard about what I had observed. I was flipping through the pages of my miniature hymn book and reading the lyrics of some of my favorite hymns, and I noticed that I had bookmarked hymn 214, "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." In verse 3 it reads:

And in despair I bowed my head:

"There is no peace on earth," I said,

"For hate is strong and mocks the song

Of peace on earth, good will to men."

And I thought yup, that pretty much sums up how I'm feeling. Then I read verse 4:

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

"God is not dead nor doth He sleep;

The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,

With peace on earth, good will to men."

It hit me really hard. To me, the "bells" spoken of are the Spirit of God. I felt peace.

I have worried about a lot of people back home. In a world where every day the sound of those "bells" becomes increasingly harder to hear, there is a lot of heartache. Nobody is exempt from trial and hardships, and it seems that many of you at home have more than your fair share of them.

If there is anything that the last few months have taught me, it is that there is, in fact, peace.

Verse 5:

Till, ringing, singing, on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,

Of peace on earth, good will to men!

I know with all my heart that a Savior was born for us. He lives, and because He lives, we can find peace. I pray that everyone back home can find peace this Christmas, through the Son of God. I encourage everyone to "be still and know that I am God."

You are probably slightly curious as to when our Christmas phone call will be. Because of the major time difference, it has been a little tricky to figure out. I will call from our Branch President's house at noon on Christmas in Korean time. For you guys, that will be 8 pm CHRISTMAS EVE. Our branch president lives on a small island about 45 minutes away from us, so I will try my best to call right at that time. I will call through Google Hangouts, so just make sure you are signed into your google hangouts account (Mom, if you aren't sure what I'm talking about, ask Dana. He knows.). I'll talk to you more then!

All my love,

Elder Sorensen