Dear Family,
This was a pretty
good week. First of all, as dad mentioned, it hasn't been too hot---or
too cold at all. It was a little windy for a bit, but it went off. And
now it's just good. I don't know why some of you didn't get the e-mail
from last week, but that was a good one, too, ending with going to a
different area with Elder Lee (Ee), from my last district, to his area
in 포항 (Poh-hong), in a different part of Ulsan. We bought a chair for
the house there, and then went to teach their English class, which was
interesting. There are always different people around there, but usually
are all interested in English and less-common phrases and things. One
of the members who attends there came, because she lived in Utah for a
long time, and it turns out she also went on a mission to Taiwan, and so
speaks all languages. It was fun and interesting. Then we went back to
Busan to the mission office, to meet the new people who came. They were
all interesting. After just having a meeting with them we did a
practice-proselyting activity, as usual. We just walked around the city
and rode the subway, and everyone I was with was really excited to meet
and help the people in Korea. It reminded me of how great it is to be
here---to serve all the students, all the older people, everyone with
their phones, cute little kids who wear shoes that sqeak every time they
step. Then we came back the next morning and found out who our
companions were. My awesome, really cool and great new companion is
named Elder Judd, and he's form Syracuse, Utah. We didn't actually do
the activity together, and so we pretty much met each other for the
first time then, but he's really great, smiley, tall, nice, humble.
After we figured out everything, we waited for the office missionaries,
both of whom I know pretty well and are really nice, to finish taking
other people places, and then they drove us through the city and over to
where we could take the bus back here. We rode the bus, and he looked
out the window pretty much the whole time, really excited to see
everything. We just talked about the area and the people here, and then
got off and tried to go back to our house with a bunch of huge bags to
take. We ended up taking a taxi, and talking to the driver, who's been
working here for about six years or so, and said this last summer was
the hottest one he remembers. We got back to our house, and took
everything up there, and just talked about everyone here. We have a book
with pictures of all the members in it, so we just looked at that and
talked about it. It was nice.
The next day we took a long bus ride and went to visit a
less-active member who hasn't been to church for a long time but likes
the missionaries, and really likes the "Liahona." He still gets it
every month, and apparently studies it really deeply and thoroughly. He
says he likes how the things it talks about are easy to understand, and
can really be applied in our lives. He also asked us to help him to buy
something for his work from a website in English. Really the problem was
just a silly computer thing---required fields, and so on. But he was
really excited about it. He showed us all the things he could do with
that computer program---saving things, downloading them and putting them
in a different place. It was interesting, and nice because he was so
excited about it. Then we went and talked about something from the last
General Conference---it was President Uchtdorf's talk to the young women
about journies. It was really good. His daughter and his wife were both
there at the time, which was pretty different. His wife isn't actually a
member, and the past times we've met him she usually stays in a
different room or doesn't really talk. But this time she stayed and
listened, and even asked some questions about the pre-mortal life; it
was pretty great. Elder Judd bore his testimony very sincerely, and
everyone was able to feel how strong and nice of a person and missionary
he is. It was a really great experience. Then we met the next day,
after our English class, with Brother Hahn, the member who was baptized
last week. He's doing really well, and we just talked about Joseph
Smith, the priesthood, and others with him and one of our members who
just came back recently from a mission. It seemed like he was able to
understand some things he was confused about, specifically what the
priesthood is, and why we have it. While we were preparing for it, and
talking about it, I personally thought about and realized how great it
was that Heavenly Father provided a way for us to recieve the blessings
of the gospel and to serve each other. I don't know---it was really
good. Then on Sunday,
we had our first long weekly planning time, which was a little hard at
first---but we were able to finish it, and go and talk with some people
just around our house. They were all nice, especially to Elder Judd,
since he's still learning about things.
I realized this week the importance of being excited
and working hard to do the things we've been asked to. My companion is
really enthusiastic and excited, and I just hope I can show a good
example and help him to have a really great experience. I know you are
all doing that for other people around you, helping them to be good,
being excited and working hard with all the things you do, and making
the world a better place. I don't know---maybe it sounds silly, but I
love you guys. Thanks so much for everything---keep it up.
-Elder Campbell
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