Monday, August 1, 2016
Tipping the Iceberg

Hello, how are you? (I am fine, how are you?)

It was a hot week. We are right into the middle of Daegu summer now, infamously referred to as Daegufrica. Hot. Hot. Hot. Although, at the moment, it is raining torrential buckets of water outside.

I mentioned some pretty neat miracles we had last week. We were able to follow up with a few of those guys this week. And our miracle man (the guy that the Sisters met, who gave them the wrong number, then we met again the following day--named Seong Weonseo) came to church yesterday! It was super neat. The guy actually lives in Orange County California, but travels back and forth a lot for work. He will return to Cali this week, but said he will be back in October and spend another few months here in Korea. He asked us (HE asked US) if we will give him the phone number of the missionaries in Cali so he can attend church. I gave the man my email, so hopefully I can stay caught up on where he is at.

This week we traveled to Busan for a meeting. After the meeting, I was standing in the corner of the room just kind of observing the other missionaries. President Barrow approached me and asked me about each of our investigators by name. He asked about some ward members. He asked about me and my companion. I have no idea how he remembers all this stuff. Then, as if he could read my thoughts, he said to me: "Elder Sorensen, you are right where the Lord needs you right now." Then he paused, as if searching for the right words to say, and proceeded very slowly, "Keep doing what you are doing. A lot is about to happen, and I need you to be ready."

There is a kind of buzz in the air. All the missionaries can feel it. The miracles I mentioned that have been happening in our area are happening all over the mission. President Barrow told us months ago that right now, we are "tipping the iceberg." I am confident that the Lord is hastening His work like never before.

As you probably know, this week I will be rounding my year mark. Time flies so quickly. It's hard to believe that by this time next year, I will be preparing for school. This morning I was listening to the song "Peace Like a River" by MoTab. It's one of my very favorites. (My companion probably gets sick of hearing it.) I love the imagery of having "peace like a river". Constantly flowing. Sometimes overflowing, sometimes a little more shallow, but constantly flowing. As I look back at some of the things that have changed over the past year, one of the biggest changes I am grateful for is that I truly feel "peace like a river". The peace I feel in my heart is not as spontaneous as it used to be, but rather flows steadily. In 1 Nephi 20:18, Nephi (quoting Isaiah), says that if you keep the commandments, ye shall have peace like a river. I know that when you are anchored on Christ--the "fountain of living water," the source from whence the river flows--there is so much peace in daily living.

I wish I could write more. There were lots of crazy experiences this week (like a group of drunk guys that wanted a blessing, an old man who wrote down my address so he can write me letters, and a guy who sang us a bunch of hymns in the middle of a park before asking us to visit him and teach him about the BoM).

Looking forward to another great week. Love you guys!

Elder Sorensen