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Monday, January 25, 2016

Week 52 (!!!!) - Apology Accepted, Elder Brantley

His year-mark is Thursday!  Can you believe it????

Title - In "The Empire Strikes Back", Darth Vader is trying to find the Millenium Falcon.  They thought they had it, but then it got away.  The Captain was apologizing to Darth Vader for losing the Millenium Falcon and Darth Vader chokes him to death.  After he dies, Darth Vader says, "Apology accepted, Captain Needa."  (We're assuming that Elder Huckvale did not choke his district leader though.)  :) 

Pics - His district (which got switched on Wednesday) - Elder Huckvale ("Yo Soy" he says), Elder Crisp, Elder Kim II, Elder Kim I, Sister You and Sister Allsbrook; Dream Forest Observatory Tower; some random guy that Elder Crisp and Elder Huckvale met on the street who wanted to take a picture with them first; where he was a year ago this week - the MTC!!!!

Date: Mon, 25 Jan 2016 12:58:40 +0900
Hello My Adoring Fans!
 
This week was so awesome!  We went to the Temple on Tuesday, had transfers on Wednesday, and were able to see lots of miracles.
 
Also, this week has also been very cold.  There's no snow, but it's still very cold.
 
On Monday since Elder Kim I and II were leaving, we went around and visited all of the people around the area that Elder Kim had become close with during his stay in 장위 (Jangwee).  At night a member named 박호룡 (Ho Ryong Bak) treated all of the elders in our ward to dinner at the meat buffet! It was so deliciously awesome. 
 
On Tuesday we went to the temple which was awesome (as usual).  Afterwards we went to an American-style buffet in the area called "Ashley" which was also quite delicious.  Then we rushed home so that we could do all of the p-day things that we needed to do and still have time to go to the Dream Forest Obsevatory Tower.  The tower looks really cool from the outside (I've sent pictures before), but the inside was kind of dissappointing to be honest.  The highest floor of the tower wasn't even open.  It's all good though, it was still fun.


The District (which changed on Wednesday) - 
Elder Huckvale (Yo Soy!), Elder Crisp, Elder Kim II, Elder Kim I, Sister You and Sister Allsbrook.


 Dream Forest Observatory Tower


 
On Wednesday Elder Kim I and II woke up really early so that they could do any last-minute packing and then took their bags down to the street and took a taxi to their new areas and thus Elder Crisp and I were left to have the pretty massive 4-man house.  Nice. 
 
On Wednesday, after studies, we met with Elder Crisp and Elder Kim I's investigator, 김상하 (Songha Kim) who is progressing really well.  We gave him a baptismal date for February 6 and he agreed!  He is super humble and has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying daily!  If all goes well, we could have a baptismal service next weekend!
 
On Thursday we went out to visit one of the less-actives in our ward who we visit every Thursday, but he wasn't home so we ended up proselyting for most of the day.  It was okay though because we met a lot of really cool people and taught a lot of really great lessons on the street.  Especially this week, I've been trying to teach the Restoration to as many people on the street as I can.  For a while, whenever I talked to people on the street, I would always try to steer the conversation towards Christ and coming unto Him, but a lot of people already believe in Christ.  The Restoration and the Book of Mormon are the most important thing that we can teach about, because they are what make the Church a church.  They are our special message to the world.  I've noticed that these past few days that as I've strived to teach message of the Restoration, that a lot more people are willing to hear more.  Elder Crisp and I were able to set up several return appointments on the street after teaching the Restoration to people.  It has been really cool.
 
On Thursday night we had dinner with 한석용 (Suk Yong Han) and his wife 홍주희 (Ju Hee Hong) and their family which is always fun. 
 
On Friday we watched the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast and it was so awesome!  I learned a lot that I think will definitely help me to work more effectively and efficiently to  find those who have been prepared to receive the Gospel.  I also saw Elder Bradshaw in the audience!  That was pretty funny.
 
On Saturday we met with Songha Kim again and taught him the third lesson and it went really well.  There was a point in the lesson where I was talking about the Gift of the Holy Ghost and all-of-a-sudden I didn't know what to say.  I had just had the thought that I wanted to say the moment before!  It was at that point that I realized that I had been talking too much and that Elder Crisp needed to say something.  I asked Elder Crisp what his thoughts about the Gift of the Holy Ghost were and he expressed exactly what I wanted to say but had forgotten!  It was so awesome!  Companionship unity!
 
On Sunday evening we went with our ward mission leader, 김영균 (Yung Gyoon Kim), to visit a recent convert that Elder Crisp baptized named 이상호 (Song Ho Ee).  Brother Kim really wanted to talk with Songho Ee's dad (who's not a member) because of some struggles that Songho has been having at Church.  It was really cool though because I really felt prompted to and was able to testify of how the Gospel blesses families and that the best way the dad can help Songho is if he listens to our message.  I told him that if he accepted it and chose to live by it, that it would be the best way to help his son.  We didn't set up a return appointment yet, but when we were leaving the dad told me how much he appreciated what I had said.  We're going to try and work with Brother Yung Gyoon Kim to try and fellowship the dad and hopefully help him to join the Church. 
 
Wow this week was so busy and this next week will be even busier.  We are seeing a lot of miracles in Jangwee and I am so excited for this transfer! 
 
I can't believe that this Thursday I'll have been out a year!  It's so impossibly hard to believe not only how fast the time has gone by, but also how much I've grown as a person.  I can also say now with more conviction than ever before that we have a loving Heavenly Father and He lives!
 
Oh what peace and joy this simple truth brings to my mind and soul!
 
Love and Miss Y'all!
 
Called to Serve!
 
Love,
 
Elder Huckvale
 
P.S.  Elder Brantley (our district leader) called me from the zone leaders' phone (they live in the same house) and then proceeded to apologize.  That was my response.


Some random guy Elder Crisp and Elder Huckvale met on the street who wanted to take a picture with them before he would talk with them.  :)


The North Tower - I think that is what it's called.


Where Elder Huckvale was a year ago - the MTC!  
With Elder Eads, Elder Shilling and Elder Stapp, all serving in the Korea Seoul South Mission.


 In front of the Provo Utah Temple.  
Elder Huckvale, Elder Eads, Sister Phillips (?), Sister Bell, Sister ?, Sister Jones, Sister Cameron, Elder Stapp and Elder Shilling.  His MTC District.  
Elder Huckvale went to the Seoul Mission with all of the Sisters, while the other 3 Elders went to Seoul South. 
 
 

Sunday, January 24, 2016

Week 51 - I Won't Fail You

Title - In "The Empire Strikes Back", Yoda is talking to Luke and giving him reasons why he can't train him to be a Jedi.  And Luke says, I won't fail you".  (And then he continues to say, "I'm not afraid".)

Pics - wearing a Santa beard that he found at the church building; a picture of Elder Wasson that he saw (Elder Wasson is from our old ward, Grass Valley, and is serving in the Korea Busan Mission). From Elder Huckvale - Apparently one of the missionaries from our ward is serving or was serving in his ward in the Busan mission.

Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2016 12:54:08 +0900

Hello My Adoring Fans!
 
This week has been pretty normal.  Proselyting, punked appointments, member visits, and struggling investigators.  Oh, and we got our transfer calls this weekend!
 
Let's look back at this week!
 
On Monday during p-day we played ping pong and ate chicken at the church.  After p-day ended we called our investigator 이동민 (Ee Dongmeen) and talked with him on the phone about the Church and what his concerns are.  He's still having a lot of problems feeling too much pressure and getting frustrated about all sorts of random things.  He's at the point where just meeting with us is too much pressure for him so he doesn't do it.  Also, since Monday he hasn't been receiving our calls or responding to our text messages.  He has a really strong desire to find the truth and follow Christ, he even said that he was seriously thinking about getting baptized until we talked about it with him.  I believe that he will get baptized, if I'm the one who's going to do it I don't know.  I will, however, continue to contact him and invite him to come closer unto Christ. 
 
On Tuesday we had to drop one of the investigators that's been meeting with the missionaries in the area for about 3 or 4 transfers.  He just wasn't progressing and he really was just meeting with the missionaries because they told him to.  This was my first time meeting with someone and actually dropping them as an investigator.  It was pretty awkward, but I think that Elder Kim and I handled it pretty well, outlining our purpose and helping him to understand why we're discontinuing our meetings without getting offended. 
 
On Thursday I went on exchanges with Elder Kim I and we had a pretty good time.  It was a pretty interesting experience, considering that he was my last companion.  We didn't have a ton going on tha day, so we did a lot of proselyting and less-active searching.  Also, the stake president's wife's father passed away this week and so we attended the funeral service and paid our respects.  It was pretty interesting.  There are a lot of different customs that they do in Korea, but not in America.  One of these for example would be the lighting of inscents in front of the casket.  It was a really great experience.  It's so great to see how much peace comes when one knows the truths of the plan of salvation and that death truly is not the end, but just a stumbling block that is overcome through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 
 
On Friday we picked up a new investigator!  I'm not really sure about him though.  According to our ward mission leader, he's been meeting with the missionaries on and off for about 8 years, but has never been baptized.  His name is 공순호 (Gong Soonho).  We met with him at the church and talked about our purposed as missionaries and talked a little about him and the Atonement.  He has an addiction to drinking coffee and smoking which he's tried to kick several times, but has never been able to.  He seems to really want to change this time around though and we set a baptismal date for him for February 27th, so we'll see what happens.  When he came back to the church for English class that night he told us that he went home and threw out all of his cigarettes.  He also came to church on Sunday so those are both good signs.
 
On Saturday we got our transfer calls!  Double Kim (as Elder Kim II calls him and Elder Kim I) are both leaving!  Elder Kim I is going to 의정부 (Uijungbu) and Elder Kim II is going to 속초(Sokcho).  The two elder teams are getting combined which means that my new companion is Elder Crisp!  I'm really excited to be serving with Elder Crisp this transfer and I have come to realize that there are miracles all around us waiting to happen.  Our faith is what determines if the miracles will happen or not.
 
I was feeling pretty discouraged last night and this morning and I was begging my Heavenly Father to not allow me to give up hope and faith that there are prepared people out there and that if I work effectively and diligently enough, excercising my faith, I will be able to find those people.  The thought came to my mind that "I wouldn't have to search diligently to find them if they were not lost".  That thought means so much to me.  So many of God's children are lost, like the lost sheep in the Savior's parable.  Lost meaning that I do not know where they are.  Therefore, I will have to exercise my faith and work as hard as I can to find them.  Also, as I read in the Book of Mormon in 1 Nephi 7, I read about Laman and Lemuel who rebel against Nephi in the wilderness, and Nephi turns to them and asks them how they could have forgotten the many miracles that the Lord had shown unto them. He sent and angel to them and delivered them on several accounts and they had already forgotten.  It caused me to ask myself if I had forgotten my spiritual experiences and the miracles that I've seen and the power of God to do anything if I just exercise enough faith.
 
I know that God lives and that He answers our prayers and comforts us through the Holy Ghost in times of strife and opposition.  I am so grateful to be serving a mission.  I know that there are hard times to come, but with hard times come great things.
 
"How is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him?  Wherefore let us be faithful to him."  -1 Nephi 7:12
 
Love and Miss Y'all!
 
Called to Serve!
 
Love,
 
Elder Huckvale


Wearing a Santa beard that he found at the church building.  :)

A picture of Elder Wasson that he saw (Elder Wasson is from our old ward, Grass Valley, and is serving in the Korea Busan Mission). 
From Elder Huckvale - Apparently one of the missionaries from our ward is serving or was serving in his ward in the Busan mission.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Week 50 - Yes, My Lord

Title - In "The Empire Strikes Back", Darth Vader is a Sith Lord and so a lot of times his "subordinates" will answer him, saying, "Yes, my Lord". 

Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2016 13:28:24 +0900

Hello My Adoring Fans!
 
This week was pretty great!  We're starting to pick up more investigators which is great!
 
On Monday we had P-day and towards the end Elder Kim noticed that his leg was more itchy than usual so after a few hours he looked under his pants and found a centipede attached to his leg!  It was so gross!  So there was only one thing to do:  Put it on Elder Kim I's desk.  When Elder Kim I got home that night he was the maddest I've ever seen. He even said "I am angry!" and kept saying in Korean: "What is that?! What is that?!".  It was really funny.



 
On Monday night we were also able to visit the guy that we helped move on Thanksgiving.  He likes the missionaries, but he said that he doesn't really have any interest in Church right now, but that he didn't mind seeing us every once in a while.  It's kind of sad, but it's okay, he might not be ready now, but maybe he will be the next time the missionaries contact him.
 
On Wednesday we had a zone meeting and it was pretty great.  We talked all about the importance of using Preach My Gospel more in our daily lives as missionaries.  I personally noticed that I had a problem not using PMG enough during studies and so I've been putting an effort forth to use it more and the training that we received helped.  It reminded me that PMG truly is an inspired manual that when studied and applied can make me become an excellent missionary.
 
On Saturday we did a lot of proselyting and it was a great day.  I decided on Saturday that I'm going to start doing something that I haven't done since I was a greenie:  when leaving the house saying a personal prayer to be happy and have the faith the talk to everyone the results were awesome.  I was able to talk with a ton of people and I was able to have the Spirit with me.  Our investigator, Ee Dongmin has been kind of struggling lately and he texted us and he seemed really frustrated.  I felt a really strong promptin to call Ee Dongmin and so I did and had a really good talk with him about repentance.  It seems that Elder Kim and I got overly-excited about baptizing him that we failed to really discuss thurroughly the repentance process with him.  It was a really great phone call and it was awesome because I was able to share the experiences that I've had with repentance and the Atonement and I think that it really helped him. 
 
On Saturday night we had the first-ever Jangwee ward Family Home Evening and it was a huge success.  We had two families come from the ward as well as some of the youth and others. It was really fun and everyone seemed to have had a really great time so I'm really looking forward to continuing to do it.
 
Well, it's pretty cold here.  Every time we do streetboarding I have to wear two pairs of wool socks and after a while of standing in the same spot not even that's enough to keep my toes from just about freezing off.  Also transfers are next week so we'll see what happens there.  I'm probably staying.  As for Elder Kim I don't know.  The transfers changed so now if you're transferring you just go straight to your new area.  So apparently if you're going to your new area alone, you just ride a taxi to get there or a taxi to the subway station to go out east to the less-populated areas. 
 
It's all good though.  All is well.
 
Love and Miss Y'all!
 
Called to Serve!
 
Love,
 
Elder Huckvale


Week 49 - It Is Your Destiny

Title - In "The Empire Strikes Back", Luke and Vader are having a lightsaber battle. After Darth Vader chops Luke's hand off, he's trying to convince Luke to join him in the Dark Side and he tells him that "it is your destiny".

Date: Mon, 4 Jan 2016 13:22:56 +0900

Hello My Adoring Fans!
 
Happy New Year!
 
새해복 많이 반으세요!
 
This week was really awesome!  Got to go hiking (kind of), and had two really awesome exchanges!
 
On Tuesday I went on exchanges with one of our zone leaders, Elder Yetter.  The zone leaders want to get more acquainted with the missionaries in the zone so they've been going on day exchanges with some of the other missionaries.  The exchange was awesome!  We did studies together and then we had two appointments.  One was with someone that him and his companion recently baptized and the other was with one of their progressing investigators.  They were both really awesome.  Afterwards we ended our exchange and Elder Yetter challenged me to set goals that would motivate me to become the missionary that the Lord needs me to be and the person that I want to be by the end of my mission.
 
On Thursday I went on another exchange with Elder Crisp who just finished training in my area.  The exchange was really awesome and we saw a lot of miracles.  The day was filled with visiting less-actives, members and proselyting.  First we went and visited a less-active that we visit every week who served a mission in Busan, but came home early due to issues in his family and has since fallen away from the Church.  We talked with him about the Atonement and how through it all men, women, and children can overcome their sins and mistakes to become perfect, even as our Father in Heaven is perfect.  It was a really great lesson and it was cool because as soon as I couldn't think of what to say next Elder Crisp surprised me and started talking about exactly what he needed to.  He told an awesome experience and a scripture that were about the Atonement and it was just what the less-active needed to hear.  It was so awesome and I was really impressed with Elder Crisp.
 
At night Elder Crisp and I went and visited a part-member family in the ward and had a really good discussion with them.  The wife and their two sons both actively attend Church, but the husband is a non-member.  We told them that we wanted to start doing Family Home Evening with their family and the wife was really excited because it's something that previous missionaries had done before transferring out of the area.  The husband, on the other hand did not seem too excited.  He wasn't outwardly opposed to us being there, he was actually pretty nice to us, but  he did roll his eyes a little bit when we started talking about the Atonement.  I don't know how it's going to work out, but it was actually a miracle that we were able to meet with them then.  Apparently the husband usually comes home late on weekdays, but luckily he came home early and so we were able to meet him.  Tender mercies!
 
Afterwards Elder Crisp and I almost got lost in the massive man-made Dream Forest when we were on our way home.
 
On Friday morning we had interviews with President Sonksen which went pretty well.  Afterwards we rushed back to our ward to go hiking with our investigator, 이동민 (Ee Dongmeen) and our ward mission leader 김영균 (Kim Yung Gyoon).  We went out to a mountain called 수락산 (Sooraksan).  We didn't really hike that far up the mountain at all though due to shortage of time, just far enough up so that we could find a quiet spot and pray together.  It was pretty cool.  After we were finished hiking we went and ate pizza and then took Ee Dongmeen to the baptismal service of another investigator that he had met at our multi-ward English Class Christmas Party.  He really enjoyed the baptism and I think that it was really great for him to see it and see how much the guy who was baptised had changed afterwards.   We met with Ee Dongmeen for a little bit afterwards and talked about baptism and some of the commandments.  Ee Dongmeen still isn't ready to accept a baptismal date, but he seems now like it's something that he is planning on doing. 


수락산 입구






수락산





The picture on Elder Kim's camera
 
On Sunday Ee Dongmeen wasn't able to come to Church, but we invited him to fast with us and he did which was really cool.  At night we had a really cool opportunity come up out-of-the-blue where we were teaching a part-member family at a gathering of families where the stake president, the bishop of our ward, and the stake clerk (who is the former bishop of our ward) were all present.  It sounds like a really good idea in concept, but it turned out kind of weird I felt.  There was a lot of 부담 (pressure) on us as the leaders of the discussion, and I think on 이새윤 (Ee Say Yoon (the non-member husband)) as well.  We'll see what happens there I guess!
 
Anyways, yeah this week was super busy and super awesome.  I freakin can't believe that it's already 2016!  I've almost been out a year!  It is so mind-bogglingly hard to believe how fast time flies and how happy we become when we devote all of our efforts to serving the Lord!
 
Love and Miss Y'all!
 
Called to Serve!
 
Love,
 
Elder Huckvale