A new companion

This week was busy with me showing my new companion around the area. We got out on Tuesday to see an old investigator and visit an older member. Come to find out the member's grandson is serving in my companion's ward.  We spent some time looking at old missionary records and came across an investigator who might have some potential. We ran over to his house. Brother Lee is a middle aged man. He thinks that family is really important and thinks that if people tried to understand God more, we would have less problems in the world. We didn't have a ton of time to talk with him so we'll see if he can progress this week.

The next day we were out on the streets contacting. Unfortunately we saw more jelly fish as we walked along the docks than people. That evening we went out to our weekly service project at the high school.

Thursday we had our studies interrupted by a call from the bishop saying that he found an investigator at the church. We ran over to find a man from another major city in Korea. He took the lessons from the missionaries there then had to come to Tongyeong for six months for work. He said that he would like to be baptized during his stay here.

Friday was district meeting. Our district is super spread out. It's an hour bus to the church where we had the meeting. Plenty of extra study time. 

Saturday we had a massive project painting the church. Before that however we had one hour to contact. It was noon, which is the time of day when no one is on the streets, but I really wanted to get a contact and teach a lesson. We headed out and I felt prompted to take some back streets even though they appeared empty. As we were walking I heard someone playing guitar in a paint shop. We walked into the shop to see an older man rocking out by himself. He noticed us after a minute. Seeing that I was American he asked if I liked pop songs. I said sure and he started jamming out on some Korean pop song. After a minute he stopped and asked if we were Mormons. Turns out he met with missionaries a long time ago. He told us to come back to his shop later and we could talk. 

Super cool, all of the miracles that I get to see as a missionary. I really love serving! I'm having the time of my life!

Elder Harkness

Another transfer in Tongyeong

I really don't remember what happened this week all that well. It was a blur. It was the last week of the transfer so Elder Sorensen and I were running around a lot. Elder Sorensen left Tongyeong. My new companion and probably my last is Elder Song Jisoo. He's really funny and a nice guy. Pretty hard working too. He doesn't speak any English so this transfer will be a good one for me to really push my self with Korean. 

As I type things are coming to mind. We had exchanges with the ZLs. It was a little weird being on the other end of the exchange. Two transfers ago I was the one planning and running the exchanges. Elder Godfrey came to Tongyeong. We went to one of our service projects where we do an English free talking class with high schoolers. It was really fun. The students had gone out and bought four bowls of really spicy ramen. We played a game and the looser had to eat a bowl. Elder Godfrey and I of course lost so the students all videoed us chowing down on it. I fared better than Elder Godfrey who just about died. I also did better than the other students who lost. Two years in Korea has trained me.

We also had zone meeting this last week. The topic was charity. Also this last week we did English class and a family home evening. I signed up for BYU classes Thursday evening. I think that was worse for my health than eating the ramen. 
​This week was pretty awesome. I'll send more next week!

Elder Harkness

Learning ancient Korean chant poetry singing and other missionary stuff

This week has been a very interesting one. I'll start with this last Tuesday. There was this member who called us after we finished our service project (washing dishes at a Korean style soup kitchen). He said that he had some friends that he wanted us to meet. We rushed down to the address where he wanted to meet us. We got there and found ourselves in front of this big Buddhist temple. The member took us inside and there were all of these people gathered for some type of meeting. This member is old and all of the people were pretty old too, but we got right down to talking with them. As we were talking this guy with a suit walked into the room. This woman got up and announced him as a professional singer from Busan. He had come to teach this free class on ancient Korean poetry singing/chanting. All the people we were talking to sat down and the class started up. The member came up to us and with a smile on his face said, "aren't you so glad I brought you here?" After being forced to sit through the forty five minute class in a Buddhist temple I can't say that I was too happy that he took me there. I can, however, say that I am now a pro at ancient Korean chant poetry singing. On an even better note, it looks like we'll be able to meet some of the people at the class.

On Wednesday I took an hour and a half bus out to do an exchange. I'm not a leader anymore but the district leader wanted to exchange with my companion. I was with an Elder Cronin. He and I combed the country side looking for people to talk to. By the end of the day we had a couple good lessons under our belts and went home. 

The next day was zone training meeting. I thought that the meeting was really nice. We talked about Lehi's vision. Lehi experienced the power and joy of the fruit of the tree. Because of this experience he wanted to share the gospel with others. We talked about making our conversion the starting point in inviting others to hear the gospel.

On Friday we visited a bunch of members and LAs. I'm still kind of new in this area so it was nice to meet the saints here in Tongyoung one on one. One of the members tried teaching us Chinese characters. I think I'll stick to Korean. 

On Saturday Elder Sorensen and I took a boat out to an island in our area. The boat ride was really nice but there were not a ton of people on the island. We did meet this one really nice grandma though. She took us to all of here relative's homes. She said that she had no interest in Christianity but that her family might. Unfortunately none of the people were home.

Finishing up in Haeundae

Last week was full of great experiences. Starting off, we had our weekly service project feeding old/needy people. That is a really fun place to serve and meet some interesting people. Last week the Busan international women's organization volunteered and were working there. There were a lot of women from Europe. One Irish lady pinned my down, asking about where my red hair came from. We had a good talk about Ireland and how I went there a couple years ago. We got on the topic of family history work. She really loved the idea of our church.

In the same day we went on a bus out to a far place in our area. We came to the apartment of this man and were able to share the message of the restoration with him. He really liked us and shared some of the trials of his life. We testified how the gospel can help him and he told us to come back another time. 

On the way back I was talking to this man on the subway. A woman overheard the conversation and snatched the Book of Mormon from my companion. She wanted to know what church we were from and what the book was. My companion had a bit of a hard time explaining the book and how it was different from the bible, so I finished up my conversation with the man, (he didn't have much interest) and explained the book to the woman. She thought that the Book of Mormon was wonderful. She is attending the Catholic church but said that she would read the book and pray about it. Here's the catch. She lives in a different area. Darn. You always have to refer the good ones.

Wednesday I got to go on an exchange to Goejeong, my old area. The missionary that I went with has served in the same district as me for most of my mission so it was really fun to be with him. We met one of the investigators in that area. He was really cool and showed us all of the things that he liked that he found on mormon.org. (The missionaries never told him about mormon.org) It looks like he'll get baptized in a month or so. 

The rest of the week was kind of boring. I got a transfer call. I'm not a zone leader any more. I'll be going out to a far corner of the mission called Tongyoung. Tongyoung is a big group of islands about fifty miles to the south west of Busan. I heard that there are about a thousand islands and about three hundred of them are inhabited. Most of the people there are farmers. It is supposed to be absolutely beautiful. I'm super excited! 

More next week,

Elder Harkness

Daily missionary life

This week, Monday was the usual. The activity was pingpong. We only had one less active, Geer Jeen young, show up. 

Tuesday found us at our service project. This guy runs a Korean style soup kitchen out of his flower shop. We help set up tables outside and serve the food to the people who come. The meal is usually rice, a Korean soup, and some ban chan (different types of fermented, salted, candied, marinaded or whatevered vegetables, fruit, beans, nuts or meat. There are thousands of different types of ban chan. Kim chi is usually eaten as a ban chan.) The people at the service project really like us. They say that we work really hard. Through this service project we have been able to meet some investigators. After the service project we made up a flier for our new English class. Unfortunately printing it in color was 70 cents a sheet so we went for black and white. Finishing the night we met with a couple that we found on the streets a couple weeks back. The wife is from Turkey and the husband is Korean so we did the lesson in English. Teaching in English was actually kind of hard. I have all of the lessons organized really well in Korean in my mind. I haven't had much practice teaching in English so it felt really awkward. The investigators were cool though. They are in their late twenties. The wife likes American media so she's heard of our church a couple of times and just wanted to see what we're all about. The interest level right now is just them being curious, but the feeling in the meeting was really good so I think we'll be seeing them a lot more from now on.

Wednesday we went to one of our district meetings. There are two districts in my zone. They both have distinct characteristics. The Sujong district, the one we are in and the meeting that we attended, is really fun. I feel like all of the members in this district were popular in high school. They all played sports and have a lot of excitement and energy for the work. (I've actually really come to love basketball and soccer during my mission. We only get so much time not doing missionary work so I've learned to go hard when we play. Because the members of this district are all athletic we've been doing a lot of sports p days.) The other district is the Youngdo district. These would have been the nerds in high school. They're all great missionaries. They could learn a bit about energy from the Sujong district though.

After district meeting our plans for contacting on the street were crushed by this big storm. We had English class then a coordination meeting with the sisters. We planned out member visits and stuff like that.

On Thursday I went to 광안 Goangan area for an exchange. This past transfer the Goangan elders have been doing really well. They've actually really surprised me. The number of lessons these two elders teach is almost the same as the number of lessons taught in the Youngdo district (four missionary teams). Part of the reason for going was just for me to see how they are doing what they are doing. Elder Miller and I spent the day meeting a couple of the people that they had found on the streets and then out teaching lessons. I got to watch Elder Miller. His secret is just making every moment count. He teaches lessons as he leaves his apartment, rides the elevator, waits at a bus stop, buys a snack at a stand on the side of the road and anywhere else that he is. He was really good at smiling, getting to know people as he talked to them and committing them to meet again or read the pamphlet he had just given. 

Nothing interesting on Friday. Just out on the streets. Got to teach a couple lessons but none of them are coming to mind right now.

Saturday, We played soccer with some other churches in Busan. I saw Van Tu and my last companion Elder Oh who is now living in my first area, studying English. He wants to go to BYUI next year.

I met this really cool guy on Saturday. He is about twenty five. A couple years ago he served a two year mission for his church in Mexico. Since he has come back he has gone less active(in his church). He was really interested in us (we met him at a bus stop). We walked away from the bus stop with him and introduced him to the book of Mormon. He was really interested. We told him how we can become closer to God through this book than through any other book. He told us how he has been feeling distant from God lately and how he would like a relationship with Him in his life again.

Sunday was normal. We got one of our LAs out to church and he stayed off of his phone during the sacrament so that was a success. We also met our family investigators. They didn't keep the commitment to read from the book of Mormon. We took the opportunity to teach them about the importance of the book. They said that they would definitely read it this week. Also we finally got a friend for them in church so getting them out to church should be easy now. 

Anyways, that's it for this week. Good luck on whatever you're up to this week.

Love

James

We are all God's children

On Monday I headed off to Mission HQ for our transferly exchange with the AP. Elder Trentman and I had a good time  out on the streets trying to bring people to Christ, then back at HQ talking about how to help the missionaries in my Zone bring other unto Christ and to go unto Christ themselves. The next day we met one of the AP's investigators who just dropped her baptismal date. We had a good talk with her. She is really concerned because she hasn't felt that she has gotten her answer yet. We tried to explain faith in Christ and true intent. Unfortunately these are things that we can only bring unto people's hearts. They have to take it into their hearts. This investigator is having a hard time right now but I think that she will come around later. 

A thought that has been spinning in my head lately is that missionary work becomes easier, more fun and more productive when we realize who we are as God's children with a special calling from him. This thought was brought more firmly to my mind when a member of my zone called saying that he wants to go home. His companion reported that this missionary had lost the desire to do missionary work and refused to go out that day. I was shocked. Elder Mitchell, my companion, and I immediately decided to drop what we were doing and visit these two Elders. We came to the apartment said a prayer and knocked on the door. The companion opened the door and seemed really glad to see us. We didn't get quite the same response from the other guy. Elder Mitchell and I pulled up chairs in their kitchen and we all sat down and talked. The wayward missionary, I'll call him Elder E, seemed distant and unresponsive. He had truly forgotten who he was and his calling. During the meeting I got the impression to treat Elder E just like an investigator. The missionary purpose is to invite other unto Christ by helping the receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. I realized that though we apply this statement to investigators, it is equally applicable to all of us and those around us. This missionary needed to come unto Christ through a more strong faith, a lot of repentance, listening to the Holy Ghost and honoring his covenants. The atonement needed to play a bigger role in his life. I told Elder E this, plainly. I told him that there were countless people who needed his devotion to the gospel, here in Korea and back at home. I told him that he needed to repent and go out and work. I asked him, "Will you do everything you can to find your desire to serve? Will you really try your hardest?" After a minute of silence he said that he would. The spirit was really strong. Elder Mitchell and I left the apartment satisfied. Elder E's district leader the APs and us, the zone leaders, have really worked hard to bring Elder E back. Now, half a week later, I can say that I see the change happening in him. This experience (though stressful) has shaped my view of the saving of souls.

Sadly, the rest of the week was spent with investigators canceling on us. A pretty big bummer, but we did get to find some new people to meet. We had some members tell us that they're totally game for member missionary work and we're going to hook them up with a couple families that we've been teaching. 

On a happy note, the relief society got together and did a less active hunt. We had 6 LA's at church this week! 

Another week in the life of a missionary

Monday- 

Family home evening was cool because we were able to get two LA's out to it. One of them, Jung Myoungsoo, has been missing for the past month. It was cool to see him come back. Hopefully we can get him out to church.

Tuesday-

We thought that Tuesday would be our first normal day in a while until an elderly member of our ward passed away. We showed up to the funeral at 11:30. They had this ceremony where everyone placed a flower on the casket. Close friends and family members went up and bowed three times paying respect to the deceased. They then turned to the children and bowed to them three times. These bows were special, going from standing to kneeling with the forehead on the ground. Koreans only bow like that on the New Year, Harvest and when asking a parent's permission to marry their daughter. The women wore traditional gowns and the men wore suits. I wanted to take pictures but it was a funeral so I didn't.

I had a cool experience going to the funeral. I've been trying to follow the spirit more in finding people to talk to. Now when I get on a subway I say a little prayer to learn who I need to talk to. I got on the subway and walked towards the middle where there were several college students that I thought I could talk to. The spirit told me to turn around and I saw an old man far in the corner who I had missed on my way in. Instead of talking with the students, who to me seemed more promising, I went and talked to the old man. He enjoyed the discussion and wanted to hear more. We will be meeting him this week hopefully.

Wednesday-

Kind of a bummer day. Our two appointments fell through. We had English class. We divide up the class. I teach the advanced class. Mostly we just talk. My students are two middle aged women, both retired professors. They enjoy talking about weird things like globalization, but sometimes struggle with basic grammar principals. I guess my Korean is comparable. I can talk all day about the Atonement, repentance, the destiny of a human soul and other deep conversations, but can sometimes have problems understanding other things. Like elections. Korea's elections happen this Wednesday.

Thursday-

Exchanged with one of the district leaders. I took him with me to an appointment with an old investigator and one of his coworkers that he referred to us. We had a good time. We spent the first part of the meeting studying English, then taught the first discussion. They must have liked it because we got a return appointment. After that we went to visit a family that the sisters were teaching. The sisters had to pass them off to us because they were doing an English program with them and right now both sisters are Korean.

The lesson went really well. We taught English then the first lesson. The family seems very receptive but like last time declined the invitation to come to church. Fortunately there will be a ward party on this upcoming Friday that they should be able to come to. Well make them friends with the members and then getting them to church should be 쉽다.

Friday-

Zone training Meeting. This one went really well. The topic of finding people seemed to be relevant to the missionaries. All of the talks and activities went really well and there was a good spirit throughout the meeting. I gave a fifteen minute talk in Korean. It actually felt really short. I quoted from Opa's dad's journal. In it Opa puts a note about how missionaries will not know the true effect of their work until the next life.

That night we were on our way back from visiting a LA and met a man who we taught a lesson to. He told us how belief in Christ has changed his life and how he would love to hear what we have to say at another time. We'll probably see him this week.

Saturday-

Watched morning, afternoon, priesthood and women's(by our mission president's wife's request) session of conference. Made Monte Cristo sandwiches. They turned out OK this time.

Sunday-

One funny story. I really love the bishop and his family. He has three boys aged roughly 14 11 and 9. Bishop Kang did his schooling at BYU and BYUI then worked in Boston for a while. The two younger boys were born in the US and they all speak English really well. On Sunday we watched conference as a ward. Juhyoung, the youngest of the sons, was having a hard time paying attention during  the last session of the Sunday session. He and some of the other kids in the primary snuck out and were running around, making a lot of noise. After conference I asked him if he watched all of it. He said that he had. I decided to test him. I asked him if he saw the dinosaur during Elder Holland's talk. He thought that I was joking. He asked his dad who told him that there was a dinosaur. He didn't believe him either. He asked a lot of the other adults in the church. He thinks that I told them all to say that they saw the dinosaur.

Love you 

James