Light the World
Sorry, I'm on really early this morning! We are going to catch the train to Busan in a few hours to attend a meeting with a man who was the mission president here a couple of decades ago. He is now the professor of Korean culture at BYU and he's coming to give a presentation on Buddhist and Confucius customs and culture and how we can better teach toward people with those beliefs. It should be really neat.
I mentioned last week that Kim Kyeongdeok was moving to Australia. Honestly, that was the hardest goodbye I've had to say since leaving for the MTC. I was in Jungni on Thursday night to do a couple of baptismal interviews, so he ran over to the church to say goodbye before flying out in the morning. We and the Jungni Elders stood with him in the doorway to the church, and Kim Kyeongdeok asked if he could offer one last prayer for us before leaving. We all huddled in a circle with our arms around each other, bowed our heads, and he offered an incredible prayer. It was full of gratitude for the gospel and for the Savior. At the end, he prayed that God would allow our paths to cross again in the future. Over and over again I replayed in my mind mine and Elder Roper's first meeting with him many months ago, in which he told us he does not believe in Jesus Christ. It's been an amazing experience to watch his testimony grow and his faith in the Savior increase. He will be missed, but I know we'll meet again someday.
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| Kim Kyeongdeok and I and Daegu Tower |
I was reading through Alma chapter 44 the other day. In verse 5, captain Moroni is speaking to Zarahemna and his army and tells them that they are fighting to defend "the sacred word of God, to which we owe all our happiness." I have felt a lot of gratitude for the gospel this week, and I know that it is to the gospel that I owe all my happiness.
I got to do 3 baptismal interviews over the weekend, which was a really neat experience because two of the candidates were old investigators of mine and Elder Roper's. One of those two was a man who has been meeting with the missionaries for almost a year, named B Jaeuk, and trust me, I could write a book about the adventures Elder Roper and I went on with him. Hilarious guy. The other was actually a young boy that we found, named J Seongbin, and he's also quite a character. I don't remember writing much about them ever, but when Elder Roper and I were meeting with them they weren't progressing very quickly. They were kind of our "side-line" investigators. Had I known that a few months down the road I would be sitting across from them listening to them testify about the Savior in a baptismal interview, I don't know if I would have believed it.
When you look through an area book, you can see how each convert in the church is the combined effort of several people. Each person, whether it be the missionaries or the members or whoever, chips away piece by piece at a person's heart until the light of the gospel can penetrate it. And without the love and testimonies of ward members, I don't know if anyone would be baptized into the church. (I'm hinting at member missionary work here...)
The church has released this year's Christmas initiative, and it's powerful. I'll attach the link below, or you can just go to mormon.org to watch it.
As disciples of Jesus Christ we, all of us, have the ability and the responsibility to "light the world" through our actions and our words which mimic those of the Savior.
I hope you all will take this year's Christmas initiative and run with it. Testify of the Savior at all times, "and when neccessary, use words."
Love you all,
Elder Sorensen
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| The joys of Asia |
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