Korean Spring

Busan

Korean Spring

Our Apartment

This week was a little nuts. We have been doing a lot of work trying to find less actives in our area. We have been using google earth to find and pin less active's homes. It's super hard because we have to type in Korean to do it. 오렵죠?

Our visits to these houses are usually uneventful and the person has usually moved but it's helping us to clean up the records so It's good work.

​Korean spring is super beautiful. This is our zone P-Day where we went to a beach again. I have been enjoying the nice weather by walking the streets most days in and out. We've had some interesting experiences and met some interesting people. A couple days ago we were walking and ran into these two old ladies. They were talking to us and actually seemed really interested. We gave them our number and kept talking about religion.  They said that they belonged to this one Korean church called the Shin Chun Ji. That was when we realized that giving our card to them was a mistake. Shin Chun Ji are this crazy cult that will convert into other religions and then try to tear them apart from the inside. They do it to get more converts to their church.  Later in the day the two women called asking where our church was. Needless to say we didn't tell them and blocked their number. Hopefully that's the last we see of them.

On a more spiritual note we met with our first investigator here in 괴정. He's a thirty year old man who lived in America for several years so he speaks English super well. We're really hopeful for him. His mother was religious but he is not. When we started teaching him he told us to not be pushy with him. We asked him if he would consider it pushy if we asked him to read a couple of pamphlets, some scriptures and to pray. We also explained that these commitments would eventually lead to larger things like quitting smoking.  He said that would be totally fine with him. I'm not sure what he thinks pushy is but I'm happy with his response :)

Getting used to a bed

Hello everyone, I'm still waiting for my last companion to get my SD card, so no pictures today.

My first week in 괴정 went really well. I am serving in a small branch of about 30. It was nice to meet all of these people on Sunday and plan how to serve them throughout the week. 괴정 area does not currently have any investigators so I have been spending a lot of time on the street talking to people. We have also tried knocking doors. That was exciting! I know that knocking doors is something that is common in other missions but does not seem to be a commonly used finding method here in Korea. 

Last Tuesday we went to give service in a child center. Before we started me and Elder Suttner were talking with the lady who runs the place. On her desk I saw a "Heart of Christ" picture. This is a painting of Jesus Christ that shows a heart on His chest. When I was in Ireland before my mission I saw them a lot so I figured the woman was Catholic. I asked and sure enough she was. We talked a bit about Christianity and she expressed a desire to have a closer connection with Christ. I gave her some materiel that should help with that. I'm excited to see what she has to say when we meet again tomorrow. It goes to show that even in an area where it seems like not a lot is happening people are still being prepared. 

Another cool thing is that for the first time in four months I got to sleep on a bed. In my last area and in most areas in the Busan mission missionaries sleep on padded mats on the floor. 괴정 house has beds. You would think that going from sleeping on the floor to sleeping on a bed would be nice but I've been having a hard time adjusting. A bed is springing and molds to your body and isn't right next to the floor heater. Gross. It' looks like it'll be another three months before I'll have the privilege of sleeping on a mat on the floor again. 

Until next week,

Elder Harkness

Saying goodbye

The call came in from the APs last Thursday night. I have  transferred to my second area. It is still in the city of Busan but exactly opposite from 금정 my old area. I was up in the mountains my last transfer. This transfer I am down by the ocean. 

I unfortunately don't have any pictures because my SD card is back in my old area. My old companion will mail it.

Anyways, interesting things that happened this week:

Saying goodbye to all of the investigators and ward members was really hard. I will miss all of them so much. As I walked away from Van Tu and Chang's house for the last time I realized how teaching them will be something I will remember for my entire life. It was sad to walk away from that. Bittersweet really. The lady who we do the Bible class with was very sad to see me go too. She bought me a really nice leather wallet as a going away gift. She said goodbye and thanked me for "opening her eyes to the gospel and introducing her to the Book of Mormon." I hope I'm still in Busan when she gets baptized. Not if, when.

Not much else. Transfer meeting ended about three hours ago. I literally just arrived in my new area. We're emailing in the church. I haven't even seen our apartment or met any of the members. My new area is a small branch of about thirty. A big difference from my last area. I'm super excited to work and serve here!

Have a nice week,

Elder Harkness

A Story

Sadly, this is the first snow I've seen all year.

For P-Day we hiked a mountain and visited a Buddhist temple and a wall from an old Korean fort.


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I'm sorry that I don't have other pictures. Life has gotten pretty normal lately. As normal as life in Korea as a Mormon missionary can be.

This week we got to teach all of our investigators again like normal. Last week was shut down because of the New Year.

One of those investigators has been having a really hard time progressing. He hasn't been keeping some of the commitments we gave him. I think that he doesn't see why they are important so we decided to share a message about faith.  We shared Ether 12:6 with him but he didn't seem to grasp the concept.  Acting on the spirit I told him, "I have a story that will help you understand." Unfortunately the spirit didn't tell me what story I was supposed to tell. My mind went blank.  Acting in the moment I decided to make up a story on the spot. It went something like this.

     A long time ago there was a man who lived far away in the mountains. Each year the man would travel through the mountains to a village to trade. This man had a son. Every year when the father left the son would stay to watch over the house. One year the time came for the father to make the trip. Before he could leave though he became very sick. The son would have to go. Not wanting his son to become lost the father gave the son a map. He said that the map would guide him through the mountains to his destination.

      The son started out on his way. After a day of walking, the map led him to the top of a very large cliff. The son didn't know what to do. The path and the map had led him this far but now he seemed stuck. He wanted to turn back. Trusting in his father, he walked to the very edge of the cliff and discovered a staircase cut into the stone. He followed the staircase to the valley floor. 

      The son continued traveling until he came to a large raging river. The map seemed to tell him to cross the river but the son knew that that would be impossible. He would be washed away and drown. The son thought about turning back again but remembered his trial at the cliff. His trust in his father had brought him this far. It would take him past the river. The son started into the river. He walked until the water was knee high, then waste high, then up around his chest. Just when he thought that the flow would take him away his foot bumped something under the water. He stepped up on it to find a stone shelf that was hidden by the rapids. Standing on the shelf he was only ankle deep in the water and safe from being swept away.

     Finally the son came to the last leg of his journey. The way to his destination was through a cave in the side of a mountain. The son lit a torch and set off. After going a good distance into the darkness the torch went out. Unable to light it again the son was in darkness. Trusting that his father had prepared a way for him he pushed on. As he moved in the cave his hand came across a rope. The rope was tied to the cave wall and led deeper into the darkness. The son was unsure of this rope but trusted and continued on. He was rewarded when the rope led him out of the cave and back on the path to his destination.

I finished the story and the investigator thanked me for telling it.

"I love stories," he said.  (Fortunately we teach him in English)

I explained to him how we are like the son in the story. In our lives we each have a loving father and a map to follow. That map is the scriptures and the Prophet. Sometimes we come to parts in our journey where we are not sure what to do. The map seems to fail us. This is where faith comes in. In the first trial the son simply had to approach the problem and his faith presented the solution instantly. The next trial he had to go a little farther. The last trial he went the entire time in darkness. It wasn't until the end that he knew he had made the correct choice. The trust of the son made his safe trip possible. The son's trust is faith. In our lives it is through faith that we move. Sometimes things like the commandments can seem like cliffs or rivers or caves. The only way to overcome it is to go through always having faith.

This experience was a super awesome one. I didn't even feel like I was the one telling the story. The story was just what the investigator needed to hear. I hope that it gave him the courage to keep the commitments we gave him and exercise faith.

Hope you all have a great week,

Elder Harkness