Week of March 17 2014: I'm glad they made it

This was another good time. I hope it is for all of you wherever you
are. I hope that all of the hard things you have to do don't feel too
overwhelming, and that you are always happy and well and fulfilled.
Things are going pretty well here. We were able to meet a few new
people, visit some of the less-active members we have been for a long
time, and have a good meeting on Sunday with all of the members. And
as usual, everyone is paying attention a lot to the weather, which is
getting warmer. Sometimes we see bugs going around, including little
butterflies, which were probably maturing all winter---I'm glad they
made it.

This week we got to meet some new people for the first time. One of
them is an older man, who we originally met on the street late at
night a few months ago, in a pretty unexpected way. His name is 안형제님
(Brother Ahn), he's about 70, and a funny, outgoing businessman. He
was originally really interested in learning English, and so came to
our English class a few times, and was curious about us and the
church. He invited us to go to lunch on Tuesday, so we left our house
a little earlier than usual to go try to talk with people before we
planned to meet him---we got to walk on a little path next to the
small river that runs through part of the city, past the main K.T.X.
(bullet) train tracks, and because it was a little sunnier than usual
there were actually quite a few people out. We were able to talk to
one, and he asked a little about us and seemed curious, but then said
he had to go. 

We walked to our church building, where Brother Ahn was
waiting. We got in his car, and he said he wanted to go to a place I
hadn't heard of before---as he started driving and explaining, I
realized it's in a different big province north of the one our city is
in, and I was pretty sure not in our mission boundaries. So we asked
if we could just go back to somewhere close by, and so we did---it
felt a little close, but it probably wasn't that big of a problem in
the end. But it was still good to talk with him by himself about his
life and his beliefs. He used to live in China for about 3 years for
his job, and learned a lot of Chinese from that experience, and said
he also went to the U.S. a lot for work, and so learned some English.
He also goes to a Presbyterian church nearby where we live. At one
point he went to get coffee, and asked if we also wanted some. My
companion, Elder Laney, started explaining that ew don't drink
alcohol, coffee and the two main kinds of tea that people drink often
(red and green). He was very understanding, but also seemed curious.
We had planned to go somewhere else to talk more about religion
afterward, but one of his friends called him, and he had to go
earlier. Before we left, he started asking more about why we had to
live that way. Elder Laney explained that God gave a commandment about
it. We talked a little about how God always sent prophets to address
the specific problems of people in every time and age, and how he has
sent them to us today, and gave to one of them a commandment about our
health. He seemed to understand, but still seemed a little confused
about why God would restrict our use of something He gave us. We told
him how much it's blessed our own lives, and asked if we could meet
again and talk more about it, and he seemed tentative, but said maybe
sometime. It was still nice to get to talk to him, and teach a little
about Joseph Smith and how through prophets we can know what will help
us to live happily.

On Wednesday, it started raining, and was a lot colder than it had
been, and we visited 노형제님 (Brother Noh), who's still in the hospital.
He seems to be still a little frustrated about his having to stay in
the hospital, but when we talked about the scripture we'd thought of,
he seemed better, and when Elder Laney suggested we bring the
sacrament to him on Sundays, he looked a lot happier. It's something
I'd thought about, but kind of just forgot, and I'm glad Elder Laney
suggested it again. After that, we went to a new neighborhood and
tried talking to people in their apartments. Some of them actually
wanted to talk---mostly just about how missionaries from other
churches came, and they wondered why we felt it was necessary to share
our beliefs with others. We simply shared about how much the Gospel
has blessed our lives. The next day was still pretty cold and rainy,
and it even started snowing at one point. We met 민형제님 (Brother Meen)
again, and talked about how our desire to have faith leads us to act
according to it. His son and family came here all of a sudden to visit
him, and so he had to leave early as well---but it was really good to
talk with him. That night we also got to visit 김형제님 (Brother Kim), a
less-active member who's in the middle of his military service, and is
really quiet and nice. He said he has more time now in the evenings
and on weekends, and he would try to start coming to church. We shared
a short message, and just got to know him better---it felt really
great, and I hope he felt comforted from our visit. 

On Friday, we visited another less-active member, who lives kind of far away and
close to a mountain range. His name is 편형제님 (Brother Pyun), and he's a
little older and farms for his living. When we talked, he mentioned
how the Book of Mormon language is really outdated and different from
how people really speak---we suggested he try to imagine himself in
the situations, and try to understand the stories and their message
more than each word by itself. He said he would try to come to our
Stake Conference, which is this coming weekend---it was really great.
That night we also met with 주형제님 (Brother Joo), a less-active member,
and after helping him with some English study he's doing talked about
the Restoration. He seemed very impressed by it, and I thik it really
helped him. He was impressed by Joseph Smith's determination and
actions, and I was too.

On Saturday, we weren't able to meet a lot of new people, but we did
get to do our English class, where almost all the people who regulary
come attended, about 6 people total---maybe it doesn't sound like it,
but that's a lot. It was really great to talk with all of them, and
share a short message at the end about Christ's mission. They all
listened carefully, and seemed to like it. 김회장님 (President Kim), our
branch president, came to clean the church, and drove us home. He's
really great. At church the next day, we talked about repentance with
the young men, Jacob and Joseph in Gospel Doctrine, and had a really
nice sacrament meeting. I realize every time I get to meet them how
amazing all the members and other people here are. I'm so grateful for
their kindness to me, to each other, and their good examples to all
the people in their lives. I'm so grateful for all of you, as well. I
thought a little bit about agency this week---not for any particular
reason, but just that Heavenly Father loves us so much, and that was
the greatest gift he could give us, to allow us to learn and grow and
become good people by following the greatest example of using agency
to help others in Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful that we're able to
learn through our decisions and become better people by helping each
other. I love my companion, everyone here, and all of you. I'm
grateful for the scriptures, and for the Church God restored through
Joseph Smith and how it's organized to help everyone (Mosiah 18). I
hope you're happy, and I love you---keep it up.

-Elder Campbell

Week of March 2 2014: Buttered on Every Side

Dear Everyone,

This was another pretty great week. It feels like a really long time,
looking back now, maybe because there were some new things and some
regular things all together in one week---but it was really good. Last
week, we came back from the mission home in 부산 (Busan), and after some
extra meetings and other things, it turned out we had to wait take a
little later train than we'd expected. So we just talked a bit about
the people here while we were waiting, with some of the other
missonaries who were going the same direction as us, and got on the
train. We usually ride it a few times a week, just to go to district
meeting and other of those types of things. There were a lot of
people, so we weren't able to get any seats---we went to the car where
there's a little snack bar, tables, and a 노래방 (pretty much a karaoke
room), stood and talked with the other missionaries for a bit more
until they had to get off. We got back a little later, the main reason
we weren't able to do e-mails on Monday. This week we also got back
from another area a little later than we expected, so we won't have as
much time to write---it might be a little shorter, but I'll try to
include the important things.

The next day, we went to try to visit a few people, and also to try to
help my new companion Elder Laney could find out a bit more about our
area. We went to try to visit  이형제님 (Brother Lee (Ee)), who we
originally met in his apartment, and played Bach on the guitar before,
and has also been feeling sick the past few weeks. We went, and he
said he was still feeling a little tired, but better, so he couldn't
meet right then. I kind of thought he might be feeling like that, so
we gave him a little card with a scripture and just saying we hoped he
feels better, and to try to encourage him. He said thanks, and it was
nice. Hopefully we'll be able to meet him again soon and talk more
about how the Gospel can bless his life. 

That day we also went to one
of the members' car repair shop where we usually e-mail, and did that.
We also met with the two people we have been teaching for a while, 이형제님 and
박자매님 (Brother Lee (Ee) and Sister Park (Pock)), and our branch mission
leader 이형제님 (Brother Lee (Ee), who works really hard for his family)
also came and helped. It was interesting---we talked about prophets
and dispensations, and reviewed a lot of the things we had before
then, and then talked about the First Vision and the Restoration. It
was really good, especially since Brother Lee (Ee) had a lot of
questions. After the branch mission leader Brother Lee (Ee) shared his
personal testimony and conversion experience, the other one asked
about how members of most religions seem to have a similar
experience---something that gives them personal conviction about their
religion, and how it seems like that was the problem that Joseph Smith
was worrying about, that everyone believed strongly in only their own
church and contended with others because of it. It's a really good
question, and honestly one that I have wondered a lot about before.
The member Brother Lee (Ee) also seemed a little confused about how to
give a direct, specific answer to it, but just simply testified of how
sincere prayer and wanting to know the truth is the first step to
finding out for one's self, rather than just thinking that everyone's
thoughts and belief are already determined by their background and
kind of giving up because of it. I think he still was wondering, and
we still should try to help him understand better, but it was still
good. Afterward, we talked a bit about English, and about how students
eat meals at school ("lunch bag" or "lunch box"), and how when they
were younger Korean students used to do the same thing, in a box that
moms would make, called 도시락 (Doh shee-rock, a little box with rice,
kimchi, a fried egg and other things), but now mostly students just
eat at school. It was nice.

The rest of the week seemed to go really fast---we met someone we had
on the street a few weeks ago again in our church building on a rainy
day, after walking around the nearby neighborhood, trying to talk to
people and introducing it to Elder Laney. It started to rain a little
bit, and we bought some toast (buttered on every side) and went to the
church to meet him. He came, and after a short but good talk about
English, we asked what he thought about Christ, and his personal
beliefs. He answered very thoughtfully that he thinks Christ is our
Savior, that when we've already done everything we can and our
imperfections still remain, that he does the rest for us. It was
really good---he already knows so much, has great belief and
conviction, and also a desire to serve others (after retiring from the
military, he now volunteers in several places helping foreign students
with various things they need). We talked about Alma the younger's
conversion experience, and he seemed to like it. On Friday, we met
주형제님 (Brother Joo), a less active member, and read 1 Nephi 19
together, and talked about what it means to have faith in Christ. He
still has lots of hard things, but he steadily is getting better and
happier. On Saturday we met someone we had before, and it seemed like
he really wanted to learn and come to church, but for some reason he
wasn't feeling great, and after talking for a bit he asked us to leave
and not to call him back later. But we also met the other Brother Lee
(Ee) who works at a computer store, and talked about the Book of
Mormon, and shared 2 Nephi 33:10 with him.

Our branch had a really nice fast meeting, and the members seem to
really like Elder Laney. We planned for this week, got everything
ready, and met a new person named 강형제님, and he talked abouth how he
collapsed in 2003 and woke up a few months later in a hospital, and by
constantly exercising he was able to overcome his body's weakened
condition. He said he's focusing on making money right now and helping
his family, but we told him about the Book of Mormon and he seemed
interested, and said he would try to read the one we gave him. A lot
of interesting events, but really great to meet lots of people, and
again emphasized to me the power and truth of the words in the Book of
Mormon, that they are really inspired and were given to help us today
in our lives, and that they hold a lot of the answers to things we
wonder about, which we have actually been talking a lot about in our
mission recently. I also have realized how grateful I am for Elder
Laney, for his funny but sure, trusting and wanting-to-work-together
nature. And I'm also always grateful to all of you, for helping me to
learn so many of these things, and to be happy. I hope you're always
happy. I love you---keep it up.

-Elder Campbell

Week of February 24 2014: Simply Sharing

Dear Everyone,

I hope everything you're doing is really great, and you're all happy
and fulfilled. I think everyone here is doing pretty well. This week
the weather started showing some signs of maybe being different. It
was pretty usual (cloudy and rainy) for a while, with a few
interspersed times of slight warmth and sunniness. We also went to a
new place for our district meeting during this week---probably the
furthest area away from ours, called 안동 (Ahn-dohng), for the first
time, which was a little different. And the last time when we sent
e-mails, it was from a little government office at the base of a big
apartment complex in the area called 구미 (Goo-mee), that I'd never been
to before. After finishing, we walked back the way to the train
station, it started raining, and we met someone on the street who said
he'd seen the missionaries before on the street, and is a member of
the Catholic church. We simply shared with him about how we also
believe in Christ and his Atonement. He talked a bit more, and seemed
to like being able to share about his own faith. He had to cross the
street somewhere before us, so we didn't get to talk to him
anymore---but it was really nice to talk to him right after reading
what you had sent and writing back. We took the train back, and
someone we had met on the street a few weeks before was texting us,
and asked if we could meet that night to just talk more about church
and what we're doing. We went to the church to wait for him, because
it had seemed like he said he could meet a little later in the
evening. When we walked in to the buliding where our church is, we saw
someone waiting in a car out in front of it. When we texted him later
to ask about a later time, he said he was already waiting in front,
and we realized we had already seen him. We went back down, invitied
him back up, and talked with him for a while. His name is 민형제님
(Brother Meen), he worked for the military for about 30 years, and
after retiring he wanted to start serving other people more, so he
started working for the government office that deals with immigration,
apparently to help women who emigrate from other Asian countries to
get married get used to the country. Apparently in the past there was
a problem with people coming, getting married and becoming citizens,
and the going back to their home countries but without changing their
citizenship, and so the government has been trying to help them to get
used to the culture when they come so they don't feel as alone and
things like that. He helps them learn about culture, food, and other
things, pretty much just as a volunteer---he's a very kind and
generous person. While we were talking, he suddenly told us to wait
for a minute, went down to his car and came back up with a bunch of
little candy and crackers, and we ate them while we were talking. He
also mentioned that when he was a student, he lived in a building
together with someone who was a less-active member at the time, and so
the missionaries came to visit him pretty often, and often shared what
they were teaching with the other people who lived there, so he had
learned a little about the church. He also says he was raised
Christian, but feels that for a lot of his life he wasn't very good at
applying the things he learned, and so feels a lot of guilt because of
it. We talked about how not matter what, we can always be forgiven
through Christ's mercy and Atonement, and he said he believed it too,
but still isn't sure he's totally ready to be forgiven himself. We
agreed to meet later to talk about the program we're doing of teaching
English and the gospel, and he seems really interested and excited to
meet. I was really grateful we got to meet him.

On Tuesday we went and tried to visit someone named 이형제님 (Brother Lee
(Ee))---there's a lot of them, but he's the one we met in his house,
who invited is in, and who played Bach on an old guitar the last time
we visited him. He said he's feeling sick and not too great, so we
came back and got ready to meet some of the people we have been
regularly for the past few weeks---이형제님 and 박자매님 (Brother Lee (Ee) and
Sister Park (Pock)), who we've been doing our English program with for
a while. Brother Lee (Ee) was preparing for a really big test to
become a lawyer, so he couldn't come, but Sister Park (Pock) came, and
our branch mission leader also came and helped. We talked about
prophets, what they do and teach, and how we can come to know the
truth of the gospel for ourselves. She seemed to have some points that
she wasn't as sure about, but she was able to hear Brother Lee (Ee)'s
testimony, and it really seemed to help her a lot. The next day was
the district meeting in a different place---we had to take a train to
구미 (Goo-mee) and then a bus from there to the other area. It's an
interesting, spread out but at the same time kind of old-feeling city.
We had a really good meeting where we talked and focused a lot on
baptism, and the blessings that come from it. Afterward we started an
exchange with the district leader and his companion. I stayed in the
different area with his companion, 김장로님 (Elder Kim). We visited a
bunch of people, and met a new investigator, watched the Restoration
movie on a fancy box with a d.v.d. player and projector all in one,
and invited him to be baptized---and he said he would prepare. It was
pretty great.

On Saturday, we went to 구미 and helped out with a kind of church
open-house activity---not too many non-members came, but we were able
to talk with the members who were helping out, and to get to know
them. And older member who was there and helping at the same table as
me was really cool and nice, and talked about the temple and how his
children work for the church translating magazines and videos. Kind of
a sadder part of the week was that we got a call that Elder Pickard,
my companion, would be transferred to another area in the same zone.
It was a little sad---we've done a lot here together, met a lot of
people, and gotten used to some of the interesting parts and people
here---but it will be good. We went to the mission headquarters on
Monday, had a good meeting with all the other missionaries, and then I
met Elder Lainey, from Oregon (Portland and Beaverton), and we came
back together. He's really great, likes reading the Old Testament and
study guides, and quoting Disney and other movies---he's really great,
and I'm really excited for all the people we'll be able to help and
things to do together. I really have felt recently how much the Lord
has helped and blessed us and all the people here in very real and
strong ways, and I know that no matter what, whenever we're trying to
follow Christ's example and help others, things work out for the best.
I know that the gospel is true, and am so grateful for the blessings
it's brought in my life, mostly through all of you. I hope you're
always happy, and know how much I miss and love you. Thanks for
everything---keep it up.

-Elder Campbell

Week of February 16 2014: Boo-roke

Dear Group of People,

 

This has been another pretty good week. I'll try to explain the high points without too much detail or being too boring, and I hope it will be helpful to all of you in some way. The weather as usual has been going contrary to what you would expect or what people say. For several days it was pretty cold, but mostly just cloudy---the thick kind of clouds that makes it feel like there's a big ceiling over the ground. It even started snowing lightly a few times, without sticking much. But that didn't really have a big impact on what we did, luckily. This week as well we were able to meet a few newer people and talk more about the Gospel and their thoughts about it. On Tuesday night, we met one of two people from our English class we've been talking with regularly for a while, 이형제님 (Brother Lee (Ee)). I didn't really introduce him in much detail, I guess---he's about fifty, really likes studying English, especially from kid's books he gets at the local library (including "The Giant Turnip", and one about an otter). He also is looking for a job right now and still living with his mom---he's trying to become a lawyer, and so has been studying for a long time for the test that's required. We talked about Alma 12 with him, about how God not just provided the Plan of Salvation but a way for us all to find out about it. We talked about prophets, and what he would think if there were a true prophet of God on the earth. He said he would want to know what he said and taught. When we invited him to pray, he talked about how in Buddhist scriptures from China, there's a teaching that he thinks is similar to prayer. It basically says think about your actions three times a day and whether they were good or not. He was saying that he thinks if it helps us to become better people, whatever the teaching, they're all pretty similar. But he did say he would try praying to Heavenly Father during the week. He's also taking the big test this coming weekend, so hopefully he will be able to relieve his stress by trying it.

 

We also went to visit the man I mentioned we found in his apartment, 이형제님 (Brother Lee (Ee)---a different one). His apartment is pretty removed from where we usually go, is pretty big and has lots of people in it. Whenever we go in to visit him, it reminds me of how many people there are around us all the time that we don't see living different lives---his house is pretty small, probably more than the one we live in. But it's nice, and has all the things he needs. We talked again, he asked what we've been doing, and then when we asked again abot the guitar he has in his house he said it was there when he moved in, and asked if one of us knew how to play it. We said not really, but kept asking if he did, and eventually he started playing something that sounded very familiar that he said was by Bach. It was nice---then we asked about what he thinks of God. We had talked about Christ a bit before---but not just about Heavenly Father. He said he would probably be powerful, kind of general---we talked about who He is in detail, and how we can pray to Him. He joked and laughed at some points, but also seemed to be listening very intently at others. At then end we asked if we could pray together, and just before we did his mom came in, and he had to go somewhere with her. It was still good to talk to him, and get to know him and about his life a little better. The same day we were able to meet with another person I mentioned before, who's originally from China. We texted him and agreed to meet in front of one of the big grocery stores nearby (이마트: E-Mart) and on the way there got a call from him asking why we weren't at the other one (하나로마트 (Hana-ro Mart). We turned back, met him and went to the church. We talked about similar things with him---what he thinks of God, if he's ever felt His influence in his life. He still said he didn't have a lot of big experiences or beliefs to help him believe, but asked us how we came to believe enough to go to a new place and only talk about it. We both shared our experiences and testimionies of the Gospel, and coming to know its truth through prayer. We invited him to pray as well, and he said he would. He still seems to have a lot of questions and is confused about certain points, but when we talked about how through his own actions he would be able to know better than just from us talking about it, he seemed to understand and to agree. It was really good.

 

We also were able to meet another person, who we first met a long time ago and have been visiting periodically at his computer shop for a while, and the week before agreed to try our program of teaching English and the Gospel to families. We went when we had agreed to meet and go to his house, and he sort of embarassedly explained that his son, who would be the one interested most in English, has to sing for a choir in the Presbyterian church they go to, and he had to go practice for it. We sat down and talked with him for a bit more (just a few tables and functioning computers and pieces of computers he's fixing around), and he eventually said that his wife was also a little unsure about us visiting. But we were able to talk with him about the Book of Mormon, which he's pretty curious about. His name is also 이형제님 (Brother Lee(Ee)), and he joined his church about 7 years ago, and teaches the children's class there. He really likes to talk, and gets very animated about different things that are important to him. We talked about the Bible, and how the Book of Mormon supports it and helps us to know it's true (he compared it to a word, 부록 (boo-roke), which he explained is like when you sell something and tape an extra thing on it---an addition). He's very busy helping provide for his family, and had to run out while we were talking to take his little daughter to a 학원 (private after-school learning place). He's a really great person, and hopefully we'll be able to visit him again and talk more about the Gospel in detail and help him to find out if it's true for himself.

 

We also did a few other things that were good, including visiting an area called the "New City"---lots of bigger apartments than anywhere near the main town, and a little more modern-looking. It felt different, mostly because there weren't really any other people there besides the workers constructing the buildings. We also got to go visit a less-active member who lives near the side of a mountain, who's very interesting---he had a new touch-screen phone, and also a computer monitor with nothing else attached to it, but he agreed he would try to read the Book of Mormon for 5 minutes before he went to bed one night---he's always really nice to talk to. On Saturday, before we had our English class, we went and tried to talk to people for a long time, walking around our neighborhood. We met one student who asked where we were from, if we could speak English, and then explained in perfect English that he lived in Pennsylvania for three years when he was younger. As we were walking, we got a phone call from our mission president, and I realized it was Elder Pickard's birthday, which I hadn't known---I felt a little bad, but it turned out to be an okay day. And on Sunday, one member came in during Sunday school and asked us to come help her with something---apparently her son is applying for high-schools, and needed help with introducing himself in English. After church we helped her, and she talked about how her son doesn't think church is fun---but that she knows it's true, and she will wait until she can help him to come and find out for himself. It was funny, but nice.

 

Recently I've been thinking about the nature of the Spirit World and the judgement that will occur after it, according to our desires and our actions. Sometimes that can feel like too much, that we have to make the right choices every day, every minute. I came to think that it's important for us to treat every minute that carefully and importantly, but also to focus on learning and not to get too caught up in things like that. I still feel like there are so many things I need to be better at and to work on---but I know that, like our mission president said before, this is God's work, and he is directing it---we just need to help to the best of our capacity. I know that the Lord loves and is blessing the people here, and I hope we've been able to help Him do it a little bit. I know he loves and is blessing all of you. I'm so grateful always for your examples and encouragement. You guys are really amazing---I know you're helping and blessing all of the people around you, too. Thanks for everything. I love you---keep it up.

 

-Elder Campbell