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Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Week 26 - You Don't Know the Power of the Holy Ghost

Title - In Return of the Jedi, Darth Vader says to Luke, "you don't know the Power of the Dark Side".

6 months TODAY!  CRAZY!!!


Well, I've been out just about six months!  How crazy is that!?  I can't believe how fast it's flown by.  I'm already in the last week of my third transfer which means that I've been in 금촌 (Geumchon) for over a month now and in Korea for almost 4.  I'm sure that as I continue on my mission, the time will begin to move faster as I further forget myself and get lost in this great cause.
 
This week's been pretty slow, but alas, the adventure continues...
 
We didn't really get the chance to meet with any our investigators this week, which is unfortunate, so we had to do a lot of jeondoing which was okay.  The only problem is that we're entering into that time of the year called 장마 (Jangma), or the rainy season.  It's been raining like crazy on and off, but it's still ultra humid!  What the flip?! 

Elder Huckvale's feet after walking around in the rain all day!
 
On Monday,  for P-Day, we had a zone activity in the area next to ours called 일산 (Irsan).  We played a ton of ultimate frisbee and then some soccer.  Then we got chicken delievered to the park.  Missionaries love chicken.


 
On Tuesday, we didn't have any specific appointments, so we had to jeondo for like 7 hours which was rather unfortunate.  It wasn't raining fortunately, but it was still pretty struggily.  The worst part of it was that I was not motivated to work for whatever reason.  It was lame.  I knew that I would be happier if I just started talking to people, but I could not find the motivation to work for whatever reason.  Luckily, after dinner, I was able to start jeondoing again and I had some pretty cool experiences.
 
On Wednesday, the rain started coming, and hard.  Luckily, we were able to take refuge at the office of a guy that Elder Kim and his last companion met a couple of times.  He talks a ton though, so we weren't able to really teach him anything and I had no idea what was going on.  When we were done though the rain had stopped.
 
On Sunday, after church, we met with 김동환 (Daniel).  We talked about his life.  He's 32 and still hasn't gotten married yet or really done anything with his life.  So the topic of discussion became marriage and building families and how that is the way to find true happiness in this life and the life to come.  It was a really cool discussion because I think that Daniel is beginning to more further realize that family is really the key to happiness and the purpose of our lives.  We then committed him to get married.  It's not a baptismal commitment, but I think that we're getting somewhere with him.
 
On Tuesday, I started talking to this one guy who goes to 전주교 (Catholic Church), and was discussing some of the concerns that he had about our Church.  He said that he was concerned because we read from the Book of Mormon so a lot of people call us 이단 (a cult).  I reminded him that when Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, and the Redeemer and Savior of all mankind, came to the earth, many people called Him and His followers a cult.  That got him thinking.  Then I asked him how many churches Jesus established when He came to the earth.  He didn't know.  I told him that Jesus only established one Church; His Church, and that now-a-days, there are many churches that profess to teach the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, but they all differ from each other.  So where's the true Church?  That also got him thinking.  He refused to give me his phone number and refused to accept a copy of the Book of Mormon, but he did accept a pamphlet about the Restoration and a pass-along card and said that if he felt our message is true, he'd give me a call. 
 
On Thursday, I had another experience similar to this when I started talking to man on the street who attends 장로교 (Presbyterian Church).  I started talking to him and as soon as he found out what church I'm from, he just started going off on me (in Korean) on why the Church is wrong and I could hardly understand him at all.  Fortunately, I was able to understand the bottom line of what he was trying by catching words here and there.  You never would've guessed what he was trying to tell me:  The Church is a cult because we read the Book of Mormon.  And that was his main argument.  Classic other churches.  Then I asked him if he had ever read the Book of Mormon and he said no.  Then I asked him how he could know it's true if he had never read it.  He avoided the question and then just kept going off on me.  Everytime I found the opportunity to speak within the tumult of his words and opinions, I took it and was able to ask more questions that further confounded him.  Questions like:  "When Jesus came to earth, didn't people call Him and His followers a cult too?", and the best of all "When Jesus came to the earth, did he establish 장로교 (The Presbyterian Church)?".  Those got him thinking.  He then called the Book of Mormon and the Church a cult again and I said, "I really do not care at all if people call this Church a cult.  I know that this Church is true."  After I said those words, there was nothing else he could say.  He could not turn me away from the things I know to be true.  Then his bus came, he told me to keep working hard, smiled, and then left. 
 
In both of these situations, even though I can't speak or understand Korean very well yet, by the power of the Holy Ghost, I was able to ask these men thought-provoking questions that were able to silence some of their concerns and make them think that our Church might not be wrong just because every one else says it is.  I mean, how often is the right thing the thing "everybody" is doing?
 
Wow, this turned out being way longer than I thought it would be.  Anyways, serving a mission has been really awesome and I am looking forward to the next year and a half of serving the Lord in Korea!
 
Love and Miss Y'all!
 
Called to Serve!
 
Love,
 
Elder Huckvale 
 
 Elder Kim and I Eating Nang Myun

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