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Friday, August 26, 2016

Week 82 - There Is...Another...정

Title - In "The Empire Strikes Back", Luke has left Dagobah to rescue Han and Leia, against Yoda and Obi-Wan's wishes.  As he's taking off, Obi-Wan says, "that boy is our last hope." To which Yoda replies, "no, there is another". 

Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2016 12:25:03 +0900

Hello My Adoring Fans!
 
This week has been super crazy!  We ate dog!  Elder Brantley (and a bunch of other people that I've served with) went home on Wednesday!  I got my greenie!
 
On Monday we all got together as a district and ate dinner with the Bishop since it was Elder Brantley's last Monday as a missionary.  It was really fun to sit down with the Bishop and his family and eat with them and afterwards Elder Brantley played the guitar as we sang hymns.  I don't think there's an easier way to invite the Spirit than through music.



 
On Tuesday, since there were a lot of missionaries going home this transfer from our stake, our stake high councilor, who's also our ward mission leader, 김영기, invited all of the returning missionaries in our stake to eat 보신탕 (Boshintong (Dog Soup)).  Sister Bell and Sister Coates weren't down for it though, so besides Elder Brantley, only our zone leader Elder Houston came. 


 
On Wednesday we had our transfer meeting which was crazy as usual.  We sent Elder Tapan off in a taxi to his new area and then Elder Brantley, Elder Summers, and I took the subway and met up with some other elders who were on the way to the bus station.  Elder Summers went with them and Elder Brantley and I went to the office so I could drop Elder Brantley off and pick up my new greenie.  Let's just say that there might have been a time where there was a mis-communication and Elder Brantley and Elder Summers got off of the subway a stop early after giving me the other phone, leaving me alone with two phones.  Anyways, a phone call from an unrecognized phone later we were able to get everything sorted out and were able to reach our destinations.
 
At the office President Sonksen had all of the trainers group together and he gave us a little bit of a training and then we met our new greenies!  I will be training Elder 정영훈 (Yung hoon Jung)!  He's a native Korean from Daejeon.  His dad is an English academy teacher though, and Elder Jung's studying English literature in college, so he's pretty good at English.  After the trainer's training meeting, Elder Jung and I headed back to 상계 (Sanggye) and after we dropped off his bags at our house, we went straight to the church for a lesson with our new investigator who we teach English to named 이승주 (Lewis) and it went pretty well.  Elder Jung did awesome!  After the lesson we headed out and went streetboarding with the sisters, ate dinner, and then did English class.  The jet lag has been really hard on Elder Jung though, so he ended up sleeping through English class.  Everytime he'd try to stay awake to help me teach, the sister in our class just kept telling him to rest.  It was pretty funny.









Elder Jung suffering from jet lag.  (I'm assuming he went to the MTC in Provo and just got back to Korea.  2 weeks in Utah, and then back... quite the time changes to deal with!)

 
The funniest thing is that MY trainer, Elder 정진섭 (Jin Seob Jeong) who you could call my father, has the same family name as Elder 정영훈 (Yung hoon Jung), who you could call my son.  I just thought that was pretty funny.
 
On Saturday we met with Lewis again after English class with a member from our ward and had a really great lesson with him about prayer and the importance of reading the Book of Mormon.  It went really well and we were able to give him a baptismal date for October 1st!  It was an awesome lesson!
 
Tonight we're going to meet with a brother named 김상수 (Song soo Kim) who Elder Brantley was teaching who has a baptismal date for next Saturday and is progressing really well.  We're meeting him with the Bishop so it's bound to be a great lesson!
 
Serving a mission in Korea is incredibly difficult.  I don't want to discount the difficulty of serving a mission in other places, but it is incredibly difficult serving in Korea.  There have been a lot of times where I've lost faith in people because there have been so many people who hadn't pulled through on commitments, especially the commitment to meet with us.  We'll meet people on the street and they'll tell us they're going to meet with us at a specific date and time without any intention of meeting us at all.  They tell us that because they don't want to see us get upset by saying no.  After all this it's led me to doubt myself a lot and really struggle to keep going and remain positive about talking with people and inviting them to hear about the Restored Gospel.
 
While I was pondering on this thought, this thought came to my mind:  "Whose ability am I doubting; mine or the Lord's?"
 
The Lord can do all things.  If He can part the Red Sea and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, if He can heal the sick, give sight to the blind, and raise the dead to life, then surely He can change someone's heart.  That's what He's doing with me after all.
 
Love and Miss Y'all!
 
Called to Serve!
 
Love,
 
Elder Huckvale


My set-up. (I love seeing all his pictures and stuff displayed.)  :)


 
 

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Week 81 - Let Me Look On You With My Own Eyes

Title - At the end of "Return of the Jedi", Darth Vader has sacrificed himself to save Luke's life from the Emperor and his last dying wish is that Luke takes off his helmet so that he can look at him one time with "his own eyes", knowing that it will kill him.

Pics - Outgoing District.  :( 

Date: Mon, 15 Aug 2016 12:00:51 +0900
Hello My Adoring Fans!
 
This week was pretty interesting!  We did a lot of 전도 (proselyting)! We're starting to find new investigators!  We got transfer calls!
 
On Wednesday we had our zone meeting and it was really awesome!  We focused on finding, which is exactly what Elder Summers and I had been focusing on as a companionship.  It was incredibly helpful!  As a result of the training, Elder Summers and I have been trying even more diligently to talk with everyone and testify of the message of the Restoration.
 
On Thursday we spent the majority of the afternoon proselyting and visiting members.  It was really hot, but it turned out to be really fun and we were able to find some people who have a lot of potential.
 
On Friday we met with a recent convert in the ward named 김종윤 (Jong Yun Kim) and we had a really good lesson with him about receiving personal revelation through prayer and reading the scriptures.  He's in his first year of college and he's kind of trying to figure out what direction he wants to take his life in.  It was a really awesome lesson!  It showed me how much more powerful a lesson can be when we prepare according to their needs rather than teaching them just what we need to teach them.
 
Afterwards we met with a referral from some missionaries in a different area.  He's a Canadian guy named Nathan!  He's super nice and has a really strong Christian background.  He met the missionaries and really wanted to get a copy of the Book of Mormon in English.  We brought him a copy and did some getting to know him and introduced our purpose, etc.  He's really cool, but I think he is mostly interested in the philosophical reasons as to why we believe what we believe.  We'll continue to meet with him though and see what happens!
 
On Sunday we met with a new investigator who we're going to be doing the mission's English program with!  Afterwards we ate dinner with some of the members from the ward as a ditrict before Elder Brantley goes home this Wednesday.  It was all delicious and afterwards we got to sing songs from the childrens' songbook together which was really awesome.
 
Oh, as for transfers, I will be training in 상계 (Sanggye)!  Elder Summers is getting transferred to 동해 (Dong Hae), which is out in the boonies, and Elder Tapan and Elder Brantley's team is getting closed.  We were all really shocked when the call came because Elder Tapan and Elder Brantley have a really solid investigator who's scheduled to get baptized next month. 
 
Anyways, I was able to learn a ton this transfer about the importance of diligence and remaining focused on doing the work of the Lord.  I'm really excited to train this transfer and see even more miracles here in 상계!
 
Love and Miss Y'all!
 
Called to Serve!
 
Love,
 
Elder Huckvale


Outgoing District.  :(


Week 80 - You Want This, Don't You?

Title -  In "Return of the Jedi", Luke has turned himself into Darth Vader who's brought him now to the Emperor.  Darth Vader has given the Emperor Luke's light saber and then proceeds to taunt Luke into fighting.  One of the things Darth Vader says as he touches the light saber is, "You want this, don't you?"

Date: Mon, 8 Aug 2016 12:22:30 +0900

Hello My Adoring Fans!
 
This week has been really great!  Even though there have been many disappointments this week, there have been a lot of miracles and I can truly feel that the Lord is hastening His work in 상계 (Sanggye). 
 
On Monday, we were able to meet with a new investigator!  His name is 류현욱 (Hyun ook Ryu) and we had a pretty good lesson with him.  I met him on exchanges with Elder Tapan a few weeks ago but I couldn't get a hold of him until last week because his phone was broken.  Anyways, we met with him and he's super cool, but I'm kind of worried that he just wants to be friends with us.
 
On Tuesday we got to go the temple!  It was a spiritually renewing and insightful trip.  Afterwards, since Elder Brantley's going home next week, he wanted to go to this place called 인사동 (Insa Dong) which is pretty much a street of souvenir shops.  Elder Summers and I, finding ourselves with no other plans, decided to tag along and it was pretty fun!  It was definitely a tourist trap though.  Afterwards we went back to our area and got some professionally-done pictures taken of us.  That was fun too. 


The District - Sister Shaver, Sister Hale, Elder Tapan, Elder Brantley, Elder Huckvale and Elder Summers





GQ Pictures :)
 
On Wednesday after our district meeting, I got to go on an exchange with Elder Brantley!  We had a really great exchange.  We were able to meet with Hyun Ook again and eat lunch with him and teach him a little bit more.  After that, we were able to meet with some of the less-actives from our ward and teach them which was also really cool. 
 
On Friday we had another appointment with Hyun Ook as well as an appointment with a new investigator interested in learning English who also seemed pretty solid.  Both of them punked and since we haven't been able to get a hold of either of them.  That was the disappointment of the week.  We had planned on teaching with one of the Priests from the ward, but since the appointment cancelled, we had him come anyways and roleplay with him and talk about missionary work.  It was really cool!  He just got back from FSY (EFY) and so he's really pumped to serve a mission and to prepare to do so.  We invited him to pray for missionary opportunities and then be willing to act when they come his way.
 
On Saturday and Sunday we had three appointments where we did our mini-music night.  Two on Saturday with partially-active families and one of Sunday with a sister who's a recent convert and her older sister who's not a member.  They were all really great and I can really feel that our efforts this transfer have been really strengthening the ward and getting them excited for missionary work.  None of the less-actives that we did the music nights for have come out to church yet, but we almost had a full-house at church yesterday and it was awesome! 
 
The Spirit has touched the hearts of the members here and I'm so excited to be a part of it.  I'm so excited to see what will happen next transfer!
 
Transfer calls are coming this week!
 
Love and Miss Y'all!
 
Called To Serve!
 
Love,
 
Elder Huckvale


Surprise text I got during our family reunion.  So AMAZING!!!





Sunday, August 7, 2016

Week 79 - Brakes! Brakes! Where are the Brakes?!

Title - At Disneyland, on the (original) Star Tours ride, there was a character named Rex (we think) who was the pilot and apparently it was his "first time" flying.  Near the beginning of the ride, when he starts to go the wrong way, he yells, "Brakes! Brakes! Where are the Brakes??!!!"

Date: Mon, 1 Aug 2016 13:00:05 +0900

Hello My Adoring Fans!
 
This week was really good!  I can't believe that last week I passed my year-and-a-half mark as a missionary!  It's so incredibly crazy to think that a year and a half ago I started on this journey and that 6 months from now it'll be over.  I got to do my best and work my hardest these last 6 months. 


"My Sisters" (most of whom are going home August 18th - CRAZY!!!)

On Monday night, we did another mini-music night and it was awesome!  Elder Pelina and Elder Bradshaw (who are like our mission music team) came and did some musical numbers and it was amazing!  We went to a sister's house from our ward whose husband is active and has a son on a mission.  She also invited three non-member neighbors so it was a full house! The music night went great and it became a really awesome opportunity for everyone there to feel the Spirit and to ponder the love we all have for our family.
 
On Tuesday I got to go on exchanges with one of our zone leaders, Elder Seely and it was awesome!  He's served in a lot of the same areas as me, so we've had pretty similar missions.  We talked a lot about how to be more effective in finding and getting people from street contact to investigator.  It was a really awesome exchange and I learned a lot.  We even saw a really cool miracle.  On Tuesday night we went streetboarding with Elder Brantley and Elder Tapan and afterwards Elder Seely and I went to a restaraunt that he wanted to show me and one of the kids who Elder Brantley streetboarded to was there eating!  Elder Seely turned to me and said "we can eat with him and teach him a lesson" and so I turned to the kid and asked him if he was eating alone and he said "yes" so we asked him if we could sit down with him and eat together and he let us.  We then taught him a lot about the Atonement.  We haven't been able to meet again with him, but it was still a really cool experience and helped me to recognize even more just how important it is to be bold in missionary work.
 
On Friday we had a mission conference where President Sonksen's mission president came and spoke to us.  It was awesome!  He talked a lot about the importance of working with members and also the importance of doing things in the name of Jesus Christ.  As missionaries, we have the authority to preach the Gospel and to do things in the Lord's name.  It was a really great talk and I learned a ton as I listened to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
 
On Saturday we had another really cool miracle.  At night we went out to visit a member whose husband is less-active and when we got there, there just happened to be two other sisters from the ward there who were just about to eat dinner.  They wanted to invite us in, but there was a male present, so what do they do?  They call a brother from our ward who lives in the same apartment complex, and he came over and we all ate together.  Then, right in the middle of our message, his wife (who is also less-active), his daughter, and another sister all showed up with watermelon.  It was really crazy.  We then shared our message.  It turned out that the reason why they had all met up in the first place was because it was one of the sister's birthday and so it was really cool because we had forgotten, but Heavenly Father remembered.  It was a really cool example to me of what can happen when we are willing and worthy to receive the promptings of the Holy Ghost.  Miracles!
 
This week has been really awesome and it's been so cool to see the the work in 상계 (Sanggye) starting to really pick up.  I'm starting to really see what happens as we all work together and exercise our faith in Jesus Christ.  Miracles happen!
 
Love and Miss Y'all!
 
Called to Serve!
 
Love,
 
Elder Huckvale


Elder Kim II


Elder Weiss

Week 78 - Sometimes I Even Amaze Myself

Title - In Star Wars, the heroes have just rescued Princess Leia from the Death Star and have escaped aboard the Millenium Falcon.  Han tells the Princess, "Not a bad bit of rescuing, huh? You know, sometimes I even amaze myself."  To which she replies, "That doesn't sound too hard."

Date: Mon, 25 Jul 2016 12:30:48 +0900

Hello My Adoring Fans!
 
This week was kind of slow, but still really awesome!  We're working really hard to help the less-actives in our ward and to find new investigators!
 
On Monday after we e-mailed we went to a restaraunt with our ward mission leader and ate 산낙지 (Sanakjee) which is squid tentacles because Elder Brantley really wanted to before he goes home next month.  The tentacles were still moving when we ate them so it was a pretty interesting experience.  It tasted pretty good though!


Elder Brantley and the 산낙지 (Sanakjee) 
 
On Tuesday night we went out to visit some members and after we visited some members and after we tried to visit the first one we didn't really have that much time left until we were supposed to be home, so I was considering turning back, but Elder Summers decided that we should keep going and so we did and we were able to share a really awesome message with one of the members from our ward.  All of the members of his family are members, but he's the only active one besides his daughter who lives in America so it can be kind of hard for him.  We visited him and talked a little bit about repentance and it went really well!  We're trying to focus a lot on less-active, partially active, and part members families as a district right now and it has been going really well! 
 
On Wednesday we met with a less-active that we've been working with named 김종윤 (Jong yun Kim) and ate dinner with him and had a lesson.  We taught him about the repentance process and how to repent.  He talked about how he kind of just joined the church 생각 없이 (without thought) and we explained to him that through repentance, he could see his life being changed through the Gospel.  It went pretty well and he was able to come to church on Sunday and he even gave the lesson for the YSA Sunday school class!
 
On Friday night I called our investigator, 이영민 (Yung meen Ee) who we haven't been able to meet with since Elder Saunders left at the beginning of the month and I talked to him for a while on the phone.  I wanted to invite him to start meeting with the missionaries in his own area so that it would be more convenient for him to meet with them and to attend church, but I think that he got offended and he didn't meet with us on Saturday as we had planned.  He's a really great guy and I hope that he will be open to meeting with the missionaries in the future, I just think it will take some time to soften his heart.
 
On Sunday we had a giant zone activity and it was awesome!  Our zone is comprised of all of the missionaries in the stake so it's pretty huge.  We set up kind of like a festival-sort of thing and had different booths set up on each corner of a busy 4-way intersection.  I was at the bookmark-making booth which was really fun!  We didn't get as many people to do it was we were hoping, but the people who did sit down and do the activity were really cool and we were able to give out a lot of Book of Mormons!  It was a lot easier because we put the bookmarks that we made inside of the Book of Mormons.








 
Anyways, the struggle of finding continues.  We've got a great week ahead of us though with a lot of appointments to do our "mini music night" with some of the less-actives from our ward.  It'll be great!
 
Jesus Christ lives!  This is His true Church and it was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith.  God is our loving Heavenly Father and we are His Children.
 
Love and Miss Y'all!
 
Called to Serve!
 
Love,
 
Elder Huckvale


 Konglish Adventures