"Little Details"
Hey mom and dad! Thanks for the great letters. Sorry my letters have started to decline so much... I realize that I leave a lot more out than I used to, and they are typically lacking many details. I think I've reached the point now where I'm so used to where I am and so accustomed to the daily routine of missionary work, that the little details don't find their way into my letters. But don't worry, all those "little" details are being recorded in my journal (and my companion's blog... his blog posts are great. He's good at writing long detailed letters.)
Mom, thank you for the questions. I'll try to structure some of this email around those.
Yes, we volunteer each week at a stable and do something called "side-walk." Basically the organization provides a sort of therapy for children with disabilities by having them do games and exercises while riding horses, and we walk next to them and help to hold them in the saddle. The reason that I learned to give horses commands in Korean is because they no longer have me walk next to the horse, but instead give me the leader rope and have me guide the horses. It's one of my favorite parts of the week. Fun fact: horses understand Korean quite well.
And as far as my roles as district leader, yes, there is some paperwork, some travel, and the occasional baptismal interview. I've actually never been so busy in my life, but I've also never been so quietly happy. Not a coincidence, I'm sure. I do call-in reports with the other teams in the district, plan the weekly district meetings, record statistics for each area, conduct companion exchanges, grant various permissions (or call them up to the zone leaders if they are out of my control), and other various little tasks that President Barrow or the zone leaders occasionally send my way. Take away those quiet parts at the end of the day that are typically used for journal writing or snacking and replace them with dozens of phone calls and planning and reporting, and it makes for a pretty full day.
We had some crazy experiences over the past two weeks. These last weeks have been the busiest I've ever seen missionary work here in Sangin. We have multiple new investigators that we are meeting weekly, and it looks like there may be a baptism or two on the horizon.
To sum up some of the crazy events this week:
We basically got kidnapped by an old guy name Lee Y who insisted we teach him to speak English. He commanded us to get in his car. (Now, I know what you're thinking. I'm no fool, and I'm not going to just get in anyone's car... from now on.) He took us to eat ddeokpokki... then chicken... then insisted we go see a movie with him (we didn't, don't worry). We told him we would give him one hour, one day a week, and teach him English if he would let us share a short gospel message with him. Ain't nobody got time for this kind of shinanegans.
A friend of mine took us to eat sundae, which is pig intestines stuffed with noodles and marinated in blood. And in Korea, there are not nearly as many health codes as in America, so we basically just ate pig intestines in a tiny restaurant that was run out of an old woman's never-before-been-washed kitchen. Good times.
Yesterday was a huge miracle. Backing up a little, President Barrow has given each of us the challenge to get one baptism by Christmas. In order for an investigator to be baptized, he must attend church at least 3 times. That means that in order for someone who has never attended church before to be baptized on Christmas, he needed to attend church yesterday, the next week, and again on Christmas day. In all my time here in Sangin, we have never been able to get an investigator to come to church, so it was imperative that someone come yesterday if we want to get a baptism on Christmas. Well, Elder Meyer and I have been working our tails off trying to find someone to be baptized by Christmas. And despite all our efforts--the hours and hours of proselyting in the cold, the cutting meal times short so we can go back out and proselyte more, and really working hard to commit current investigators to prepare for baptism--we haven't had any luck getting someone to come to church.
Saturday night, we went all the way until 10:20 calling and texting investigators and people we have met on the street and trying to get someone to come to church, but all declined. I went to bed Saturday feeling a little discouraged, and wondering to myself "doth no good thing come out of Sangin?" (Excuse the drama.) We both prayed really hard that someone would come to church in the morning.
Church started, and no luck. At this point, it seemed very unlikely that anyone would show up.
Right as the third hour started, we got a text from a 19-year-old boy we met last week named Bak J. He said he had come home from work exhausted last night, went straight to bed, and slept late into the morning. He had just barely woken up and saw our text, and was wondering if it would be alright for him to come even though he was late. Long story short, he showed up not five minutes later (he lives right around the corner), stayed for the meal afterwards, and made some great friends among the ward members. He actually asked us if it would be okay for him to attend next week as well.
The work is picking up, and it's exciting. I know the hand of the Lord is seen in the little details, and that He is guiding this work.
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Sorensen
PS. It turns out we may be calling home on the 26th in Korean time, which would be late in the day on Christmas for you. Not sure yet. I'll get the sure details to you next week.
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| Sharpening up my bowling skills |
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