Monday, April 10, 2017
Kappjaggi meeting and the good word of God

​Gold Pig Island for p day.

Herro.

It was a fast week. We are hitting the streets every day searching for those who are prepared to hear the gospel. Lots of rejection, but also lots of neat miracles. We have a pile of potential investigators right now... the trick is to turn them all into progressing investigators.

Conference was incredible. The other three Elders and I watched it here at the Masan church over the weekend. So many powerful talks. I wish I could quote each and every one. One of my all time favorites was by L. Whitney Clayton, who shared the story of Christ turning the water into wine and the simple instruction of His mother to the servants, "whatever He sayeth, do it."

While watching Conference on Sunday night, we got a call from the APs. Elder Yoon said, "We'll be there in 30 minutes." Confused, and thinking I misunderstood his Korean, I asked him to repeat himself. He did, and after a pause, I replied... "why?"

A little bit of background. Once a month, President Barrow, the Changweon Stake President, the APs, and my companion and I meet to hold a meeting about the progress of the work and the status of each ward and each missionary serving here in Changweon. We usually spend about 2 weeks before the meeting gathering info and preparing charts and spreadsheets. Unfortunately, this time, the APs forgot to tell us which week we would be doing it...

And so, with President Barrow making the long journey from Busan, and the Stake President's car pulling up outside, and 30 minutes to prepare for the meeting, we hashed out as much info as we could onto a crude chart and hit the print button.

I honestly don't know if I have ever been so panicked in my entire life. As we said the opening prayer, I was silently praying as hard as I could that somehow things would work out okay and that nobody would notice how terrible our charts were.

An hour and a half later, the meeting concluded. As we walked with President Barrow to his car, he slapped me on the back and said "well done. That was a great meeting. You Elders both keep working hard." I caught Elder Long's eye, and we both almost lost ourselves. We laughed so hard once everyone left--mostly just from relief.

That was one of my testimony builders for the week. I know the Lord answers desperate prayers.

Elder Sorensen and Elder Long

I know you talk to Brian a little bit, so you probably already know much of what he has been dealing with lately. To make a long story short, last week he got a job, but when he showed up for his first day of work, the boss tore up his contract and said some terrible things to him because he found out that Brian is a Mormon. Because Brian is here on a work visa, he only had 2 days to find a new job before his visa expired and he would have to go back to the Philippines. He called me that night, frantic. He asked "why would I lose my job just because I am a Mormon? I am trying to do everything right." I answered him that I don't know the reason, but I am sure there is one. I told him that either there is a better job for him, or God needs him back in the Philippines right now.

Brian called me the next day to tell me that the labor center offered him a new job, just one day before he would have been deported, that is FAR better than the other one that he had almost started.

I found this verse in Psalms 37:25

"I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread."

Throughout my mission, I have seen that hold true. I have never once seen the righteous forsaken. I know "all things work together for the good of them that love God."

Love,

Elder Sorensen