Hey,
I've come to the end of my 2nd transfer. Sat. is transfer calls. I hope to continue working with my companion. I suspect he will be a leader in korea in the future. He has such strong convictions and a desire live the commandments. I am amazed that anyone, especially the youth, can stay active in korea and at that to be an exemplary member. The inactivity rate is over 70%. We have seen some great things in our area. It takes at least a month to see things really get going. We have set 3 baptismal dates this last week. Our investigators face tremendous obstacles as they prepare but we are happy to see that they have will try. Our first candidate is a business man that faces a drinking obstacle. He drinks 7 days a week because his boss pressures him into it. Korean culture. He is cutting down on the days but needs some time. He loves us and we him. He’s hilarious and keeps us laughing. He is sincere but he’s not sure he can risk losing his job in these economic times.
Our second candidate is a 19yr. old girl who is a referral from her mother (supposedly a member) who lives in pussan. The girl wants to be a celebrity and needs English for singing. She and her sister have been on Korean t.v. before and are minor celebrities. She wants to be Christian because she has seen it bless the lives of her friends. We watched the restoration video on our second visit and when se asked her what she thought, she told us that she felt something good and feels its true. We were shocked. My companion told me ask her to be baptized and set a date. I had never learned the vocab. nor practiced extending this commitment in Korean. So I just winged it and my companion filled in the rest. She accepted. However, afterward he mom showed up at the house and offered to buy us all lunch. As we all ate on the floor the mom pulls out some Korean alcohol and asks us if we want any. So then begins the word of wisdom discussion. The daughter is surprised we don’t drink. It looks like it will be another obstacle. So we’re confused about the mom b’c we thought she was a member and was going to support us. It was strange.
Our third, is a 28yr old women who is needs English to study in America. She soaks in everything we say with no questions. She prayed for the first time and has continued each night. She’s read a little of the book of mormon but said its hard to understand (even the members don’t understand it b/c of the old Korean language used). We gave her a baptismal date and she said she has to think about it b’c her fams Buddhist and may disown her. We are praying for all of them and our grateful for their good hearts and sacrifices. The Korean work schedule makes it very difficult to meet with people, especially b’c we need males to meet with women. Most people work till 8 at nights and on Saturdays. My Korean is gradually progressing. I can have a basic conversation with the Koreans in my house as we try to fall asleep. Its cool. Only a couple of the elders in our mission are fluent. Many can teach and live off what they can say but most can’t speak about other topics for longer than a few minutes. It’s a challenging language. Today I'm visiting a Buddhist temple for preparation day. Its in the middle of downtown. I love you all and wish you a happy v-day. (btw. In korea only the women give gifts to the men on v-day. The day for the men to give gifts is later in the year)
Love,Elder BRitsch
Feb. 4th Letter from Elder Britsch
Thanks for the letter. I don't have enough time to write a long letter but I want to say I love you all and hope you are well. The work is starting to pick up after the holidays last week. Our roommates have a baptism this weekend. We are excited for them and are trying to get our investigators to end. The korean is still hard but it always will be :) I'm progressing one step at a time. Our ward has been asleep on missionary work so we are looking for ways to jumpstart the members. Our ward mission leader is non existent since he got married so we are our own w.m.l. We are still eating lots of rice and kimchi and I love it. I'll send a list of all the strange stuff I've eaten in the future. I love you all. Sorry its so short.
Elder Britsch
No comments:
Post a Comment