Dear All,
Korea is still great and getting colder. Last Saturday and Sunday it snowed all-day. It is rare, especially in December. The big flakes and white streets were a gorgeous site, but it had all passed by Sunday night. The weather goes through 4 days cycles of frigid and cold. The weather’s been a little colder than the usual. Many days it is in the low teens. A few days it was in the low single digits. The Siberian winds are deadly (we call them the death winds). Going straight through your body to your bones. Dropping the temp another ten degrees. Despite the weather, we are in good spirits. I just have to smile and laugh every time the wind picks up around a corner. People seem to be less willing to listen to our message in these circumstances, but we just work harder and we are always blessed to find someone. My companion says that this is the hardest place he has worked in because so many of our appointments fall through because of their busy schedules, fake numbers, or other reasons, and therefore we do more finding people than is typical. The Korean culture is very good about keeping commitments, but he says in this area, commitments are often broken. All in all, it is great. We are finding people. The other night we taught a college age guy and he promised to live the word of wisdom with no excuses and without additional explanation. He said wanted to be healthy and to be a holy man. I was surprised how easily he accepted God’s health code. Drinking is a huge social pressure and activity for businessman here. They use it as a way to build associations and get promotions. Almost everyday, employees will leave work to go drink for a few hours. Smoking is also more acceptable here. However, when we explain the importance of obedience to god’s commandments, people are very willing to live it. Many small miracles happen throughout our days. As we try to recognize these miracles in our live we see that they are happening everyday. It is so cool to see the happiness that comes into someone’s life as we provide an atmosphere where they can feel the holy ghost and we can teach them about the truths that god has restored to the earth. Our mission president has said the apostles (4 of whom have visited in the last year) have said that the blood of Israel flows strongly in the hearts of these people. The Korean people are great people. I will send some pics by mail to be posted. A few random tidbits. -I saw a Buddhist monk the other day.-I talked to a man from sudan.- we introduced ourselves to a group of Chinese businessmen.- I talked to a Buddhist man at a bus stop, and we compared our beliefs.- We’ve talked to a lot of Koreans who have learned English in Australia. - We’ve spoke to a few soldiers home on a weekend leave, none of them have liked the army. Korean men must serve in the army for 2 years. My roommate served in the army and is now on a mission – which means he will have 4yrs of service by the end. You can see a big difference in the maturity of levels of those who have served in the army and those who have not.Well, my time is up. I love you all. I hope you are enjoying the Christmas season.
Love,
Elder Britsch
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