Monday, July 25, 2016

Time and time again.

Yoboseyo?

Once again, we had a week full of incredible miracles. I don't know how I got so lucky to be serving here in Jungni.

Well, transfer calls came and went last weekend. As expected, Elder Roper and I will be doing another transfer here together. And holy cow, we have so much to do.

I'll try to be quick with these stories so I can fit a few more in.

Last Monday, while the Sisters were emailing home at city hall, a man approached them, asked if they were missionaries, and told them he visited temple square in Salt Lake City a few years ago and wants to learn more about the Mormon church. The Sisters got his phone number, then passed it along to us.

I tried to call the man on Monday night, but it turned out to be a wrong number (a woman answered and through thick dialect told me not to call again... haha). We were super disappointed, but there wasn't anything we could do about it.

The next afternoon, Tuesday, we were out proselyting right smack in the hottest, most suffocating part of the day. We had been at it for a few hours, and we were both drenched in sweat and exhausted. We were walking through Duryu subway station, about a 40 minute walk from our home, and a man approached us, asked if we were missionaries, told us he has visited temple square, and said that he really wants to learn more about the church. We typed his phone number into the phone... and it popped up as the number we had called the night before. I showed him the phone and asked him, "is your name by chance Song Weonseo?" Yep, same guy. I told him I had tried to call, but it was the wrong number. He typed our phone number into his phone and called us, and a slightly different number came up. He was a little embarrassed. Turns out he got a new phone and didn't quite have his number memorized yet.

So, less than 24 hours after meeting the Sisters, in a city of millions of people, 40 minutes from home, we found the same guy. Coincidence? I don't think so. We will meet him this week.

We have been meeting with a young 17 year old boy for the last few weeks. He has told us multiple times that he wants to be baptized, but his parents make him attend an academy on Sundays, so he can't make it to church. Hopefully that situation will sort itself out in the next few weeks.

Remember our gas station man, Yu Jeongchae? He has made it a good way through Alma. Unfortunately, his boss (whom we actually met once) caught him reading the Book of Mormon at work. His boss is a devout Buddhist, and hates Christianity. He told him that if the missionaries come by again, he will lose his job. Yikes. For whatever reason, Yu Jeongchae he won't give us his phone number and he won't let us visit his house. So we don't really have any way to follow up with him right now. He promised he will come to church when he has a Sunday off from work. Right now, all we can do is pray.

We met a man in an alley right next to the church who told us that he attended our church meeting once a few years ago. After we spoke to him about Joseph Smith, he asked if we have time to meet again this week because he wants to learn more. (He actually volunteered his phone number... we didn't even have to ask.) Very few times do people ask us first if we can meet again.

Yesterday we were out proselyting and we met an African man who spoke fluent English. He asked what denomination we are from, and before we could answer, another African man standing behind us answered, "They are Mormon. The Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day Saints. I'm a member. My uncle was the first person to bring the church to Africa." The first man told us he has heard about our church a lot, and he wants to me again. 

Remember I said that very few times do people ask us first if we can meet again? My whole mission I have only heard a few people ask that. This week, we meet three of those people.

I learned a lot this week about trusting in the Lord. Giving up your will to the Lord is a process, and I'm sure it takes a lifetime to perfect. I regret that when I first entered the MTC, I surrendered very little to the Lord. In my mind, at that time, I felt like I was giving a lot. But now, looking back, I realize that there is always more to give. I'm only now starting to realize what it means to truly "trust in the Lord with all thy heart, might, mind and strength." The words of the hymn come to mind "I loved to choose and see my path, but now, lead thou me on." I still have a long way to go, but I see much clearer now that the happier path is always to trust in the Lord.

Have a great week everybody.

Love,

Elder Sorensen

​The district. Our Jungni sisters are on the far left, and the senior couple in the middle are the Dustins. They are serving on the US military base here. They feed us American food.