June 4, 2017

Hey mom! Thanks for the email. It sounds like you all are living in paradise, which makes me really happy. Everyone seems to be doing really well.

I'm glad you liked the recording of Michael. I have about seven of those, all fairly similar. Just about every time he calls I record it. It's funny, but that 70 year old man is one of the greatest friends I have made in Korea. He is a very kind, very fun man. I spent nearly seven months with him in Daegu. He has traveled the world quite a bit, and has plans to keep traveling. He tells me all the time that if I ever go to New York City, give him two months notice and he will fly there with his wife and meet me. And I'm pretty sure he's serious.

It was yet another week of very tough rejection. We got punked a solid four times this week. That means that we set up an appointment, agree on a time and place to meet, and then nobody shows up and usually blocks our number. I wish they would just send a text and say "Hey, I don't want to meet you anymore." It would be much kinder instead of making us spend time and money to get to the meeting spot. But hey, what can you do? President Barrow's favorite thing to say is "just keep going." And that's really all we can do.

Anyway, that's what we dealt with this week. It's tough, but it's okay. After getting punked twice on Saturday and spending the rest of the day proselyting, we went to bed very tired and a little discouraged. And then on Sunday morning we woke up to find a text message on our phone from someone the missionaries met many months ago saying he had some free time that afternoon and wanted to meet us. A miracle. I can almost count on one hand the number of times that has happened. And so we met him, and had a great lesson with him. And it looks like he has quite a bit of potential.

We spent many hours on Sunday walking all over Geumjeong, and it was the weirdest thing. Literally everyone we talked to was so kind and so willing to talk. Out of nowhere, one man stopped us and said "Hey you Mormons! I know people don't think very highly of your church in Korea, but I had lots of contact with the Mormon church when I lived in New Zealand, and I know that what you teach is good. Take courage!" Not long later, one kid pulled over on the side of the road, said that his brother had just returned from and LDS mission, and he would like to give us a ride to our destination. And all day it was little encounters like that.

And so, my testimony was reaffirmed several times yesterday that this truly is the Lord's work.

I guess as of today I have been out for 22 months. In some ways, I feel like those last 22 months went by like a dream. In other ways, it feels like I have lived a full lifetime here in Korea. It's fun to see pictures from home; the pictures make it obvious to me that it has been a long time since I was home. A lot has changed, and a lot will continue to change. That's probably one of the truest mottos of life.

You look good! You look different to me. Hair style? Glasses?

I'll be working on some school stuff for a while today, so I should be on and off the computers for the next few hours. Did you happen to find out anything about my major? I'm so jumbled about what to do for the next year. I'll probably go ahead and just register for GE courses.

Have a good week! Love you lots.

Elder Sorensen