Monday, March 27, 2017
Family, death of a Legend, Foundation of Christ

Busy, as always! I love the hustle of missionary work. The cherry blossoms are beginning to bloom all over Masan.

For a few weeks now an older man in his 70s named Kim Kyeongmu has been coming to our English class. He is perhaps the first elderly Korean that I have met that can actually speak English quite well. Usually he and I go into one corner of the room and do free-talking, and as a result I have become very close with him. He spent over 32 years as a seaman, and worked for a long time as captain of a large ship. As a result, he has traveled the world and has more stories to tell than just about anyone that I have ever met. He has lived a very adventurous, very sad life. While away at sea many years ago, his wife left him for another man. He now lives alone. He says that his two kids ignore his phone calls, and he has only seen them twice in the last 7 years. He has never met his grand kids. He is a very funny, very positive man, but it is obvious that he is very lonely.

While looking through my photo book the other day, he stopped at a photo of the whole family. Quietly, he whispered "I have been alone my whole life... your family looks very happy." In that moment, it hit me just how blessed I am to have my whole family. I promised this old sailor that God has not forgotten about him. Someday, somehow, all things will work together for our good, and we will find that God has not left one detail undone in our behalf.

One last exchange with The Legend.

Remember Elder Oh Euichan, my trainer? He will be die in about a week (that's missionary vernacular for 'going home'). Since he is serving here in the Changweon zone, I was able to go spend one last day with him on exchange in his area of Dogye. I have never met a more faithful or powerful missionary than Elder Oh. We looked through pictures, laughed about old memories, and had a great time out proselyting in the spring sun. It is obvious that so much has changed in the last year and a half. I got the feeling that Elder Oh is completely at peace with himself and his missionary service. He had given his all to the Lord for 2 years, and is returning home honorably. I will miss his famous "every day good day." He loves to say that. His last line of advice to me was "don't worry about the result, just go out every day and make sure people know you are a disciple of Christ just by the smile on your face." He will be missed.

Elder Lee Yongjae and I went trudging through the dark and the rain the other night to visit an old Masan member in his mid-80s. Korea, for the most part, is a developed country; but it never ceases to surprise me how much of this country is still very 3rd world. I have been to many homes with no electricity and no plumbing and seen some devastating living conditions. This old member we visited, Jang Jeongju, lives in barely a pit of a home. The walls and ceiling have all but fallen down and are covered in holes and mold, and there was so much garbage that there literally was not a speck of the dirt floor showing. And yet, this faithful member is living "after the manner of happiness." His testimony is much more intact than the small home he lives in. We sat on his bed roll and sang together "How Firm a Foundation," and immediately his small one-room home filled with the light of the Spirit. It was a testimony to me that a home built on the "firm foundation" of Christ is a happy home.

The Jehovah's Witnesses discovered where we live recently and have been paying us regular visits. I'm thinking the next time they knock, we'll try to give them the baptismal invitation on the doorstep.

One week left this transfer. Elder Lee Yongjae will probably be transferring away next Monday. We will see what happens. It will be sad to see him go.

Fun fact: today is my 600th day on my mission. I have kept the day number on the top of each journal page. Kind of fun sometimes to see how many days have passed. The number of days left is shrinking quickly. No time to waste!

Thank you for the emails.

Love,

Elder Sorensen

​My English class buddy, Kim Kyeongmu.

​Typical Tuesday night. Found some nice face-cleansing masks.

Rainy day in the city.