May 22, 2017

Group of new missionaries (with trainers)

You may have seen the photos already--if not, I forwarded them all to you. My new trainee is Elder Kwak Jaewoo! I feel so blessed to spend my last 2 transfers with him.

The Geumjeong ward is the biggest ward I've served in. There are over 100 people that come to church each week. Also, the church building is nicer than any church building I've ever seen, even in America. We aren't allowed to wear shoes inside, so everyone puts their shoes in cubbies by the door and wears slippers. It's super comfy :)

We saw so many amazing miracles this week. We were proselyting down by Busan University and felt like we needed to talk with an 18-year-old kid on the other side of the street, so we chased him down and introduced ourselves. We shared a quick message and asked if maybe we could meet later and talk more. He said "sure, do you have time right now?" So we went to a cafe and taught the entire Restoration. He has never attended church before, and said he has never been interested in church, but while we were talking on the street he suddenly became interested. We are going to try to meet him again tonight.

There also was a man who stopped us one night, pointed at me, addressed me as "baekin chingu" (literally meaning "white friend") and said "I'll give you 3 minutes to explain your message to me. Go!" I had no idea what to say, so I just started talking about the Book of Mormon as fast as I could. Afterward he asked, "do you really believe this?" I answered "Yes." He responded, "Well, then I believe it too!" Haha. We will try to meet with him later too.

I have been thinking a lot lately about agency. As part of the Plan of Salvation, it is necessary that we have agency in order to learn the lessons we need to to become like God. In order to exercise agency, there must be opposition so that there are options to choose from. In every moment, and especially in the face of hard times and opposition, we are given the chance to choose our actions. Brigham Young once said that in the face of trials, when it seems we are forsaken, our agency is still being tested, for we must learn "to be righteous in the dark."

Another observation about agency. 2 Nephi 2:25 "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." Many churches here in Korea believe that Adam's transgression was a mistake and that if he had not eaten the forbidden fruit, all of mankind would have remained in paradise with God. However, we know from 2 Nephi 2:25 that it was necessary for Adam to fall in order for us to learn joy-- for if Adam had not fallen, mankind would not be, and if mankind was not, then we would not learn the difference between good and evil, happy and sad, etc. In other words, "Adam fell that men might have joy."

Food for thought. I hope that made sense.

Love you guys! have a good week.

Elder Sorensen

One of my favorite old guys in Masan​