Week 43 - Boy Am I Glad to See You!

Title - In Star Wars, Luke is trying to find R2-D2 (because he ran away).  After he finds him, he's attacked by Tusken Raiders and knocked out.  Obi-Wan Kenobi chases the Tusken Raiders away and when Luke comes to, he says, "Ben Kenobi?  Boy, am I glad to see you!"

Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2015 12:41:16 +0900

Hello My Adoring Fans!

This week was awesome!  Plus I had the chance to see a lot of people that I've served without throughout my mission so that was pretty cool (hence the title).  Anyways, yeah, it was a really fun week.

 William, from Elder Huckvale's first ward, Sindang.  

William is currently headed to serve his mission in Federal Way, Washington!!!

On Tuesday we went out and did some 김장 (making kimchi (but this word is only used when it's winter)).  It was really fun.  We headed down near my first house in country to a community center where they had just prepared hundreds of cabbage heads and 양념 (kimchi sauce).  I wasn' actually making the kimchi, but I was one of the people moving the filled boxes across the room to be packed and prepared to be shipped.  We made it for a service project, but there was some left over that we got to eat which was really delicious. 

아니, 내가 너의 아버지이다

"No, I am your Father!".  

Elder Huckvale with his trainer, Elder Jeong.  :)

Hey, it's Elder Fisher!!!

On Friday we had planned to meet with the guy that we met last week who's really awesome, but he punked us and we weren't able to meet him over the weekend.  Dang.  This week was actually filled with a lot of cacellations.  It's alright though.  It happens.

On Saturday I went on exchanges with my district leader, Elder Moore, which was really fun.  He's heading home at the end of the transfer, so he asked me to teach him about setting goals and keeping those goals.  We had a really good talk about the importance of maintaining the level of spirituality that we have come to achive on our missions and also the importance of being accountable for the goals that we've set.  I helped him set some goals for when he gets home and I thought it went pretty well, but I think it made him more trunky.  It was okay though, it didn't seem to distract him the rest of the day.  We went out to the church and met his investigator who has a baptismal date and had a pretty good lesson with him.  Elder Moore and I were able to teach really well together which was cool.  Afterwards we went and did some English flyering with his investigator and at night we went to a music festival in the 동대문 (Dongdaemun) Ward which was really cool.  Sister Jones who came with me to Korea and then went home for a few months just came back to Korea last week and performed in the festival so it was really cool to see her again.

 Hey, it's Sister Jones!  She came back!!!  

(Sister Jones was in Elder Huckvale's District in the MTC and flew to Korea with him.  Unfortunately, she had to go home for a few months to have knee surgery... but got back to Korea last week!)

Recently in our mission we've been trying to focus more on doing member missionary work as opposed to street proselyting (which was what we used to do in every second of our spare time).  Working with the members and taking more time to go out and visit them has been really cool.  As part of our zone commitment from our last zone training, we were all supposed to prayerfully choose three members to visit each week.  So far we've been doing so and it's been really awesome.  This week we went to a guy in our ward's house and he had been planning on calling us because he needed some furniture moved around his apartment.  Looks like we showed up just in time!  Last night we went and were able to visit with the stake president and his wife (who are in our ward) and we had a really good message with them on the importance of family and we committed them and their two sons to hand-write letters to their other son whose serving his mission in Australia.  They really liked the idea of hand-writing a letter and I guess they hadn't really thought about doing it before.  Originally they thought that I meant writing an e-mail until Elder Kim specified.  It was really cool.

Also, since there are no sister missionaries in our ward, we've kind of had to step up a little bit and go out and visit the members more and this week I even made a message card for a less-active family in our ward.  It was more fun than I thought.

Anyways, I'm having an awesome time serving a mission and every day I find myself thinking about how grateful I am for every thing that has happened to me up until this point in my life.  I love the people of Korea and I love being in their service and in the service of my God.

Love and Miss Y'all!

Called to Serve!

Love,

Elder Huckvale

 The Observatory Tower at the Dream Forest.  Unfortunately, it was closed when they tried to go on P-Day. 

(A lot of "attractions" are closed on Mondays in Korea.  It's like their Sunday.)

Week 42 - There's No Such Thing as Luck

Title - In Star Wars, Luke is practicing his lightsaber skills, blind-folded, and he's able to deflect the laser beams from the remote robot.  Obi-Wan compliments Luke on his skills, and Han says, "it seems more like luck".  Obi-Wan responds and says, "In my experience, there's no such thing as luck." 

Date: Mon, 16 Nov 2015 12:55:45 +0900

Hello My Adoring Fans!

 

This week was way awesome.  Like for real.

 

On Tuesday we were out doing sticker-boarding near one of the colleges in our area and I started talking to this kid who was on his way to eat dinner at the school cafeteria.  I asked him if he was going to meet any friends and he said no so I told him that Elder Kim and I could go eat with him.  He got really excited about that and so Elder Kim and I left the other elders streetboarding and went and ate dinner with this kid that we just met.  It was so awesome.  We told him all about Church and what we do there like sing hymns and partake of the Sacrament.  We invited him to be baptized on December 5 and he agreed (He wasn't able to make it to Church on Sunday so he can't be baptized on that date so we're going to push for the 6th)!  Anyways, it was a super awesome experience.  We gave him a Book of Mormon and exchanged phone numbers.  Nice!

 

On Thursday I went on exchanges with the greenie in our area, Elder Crisp.  It was a really fun exchange.  It's always fun to go on exchanges with greenies.  They have so much faith and so many good insights on how to be a more effective missionary.  In the evening, we met up back up with Elder Kim and Elder Crisp's companion, Elder Moore, and we did some more streetboarding.  This time, we met this really awesome guy and ended up talking with him for like half-an-hour.  It turned out that he had been baptized three times into different churches, but is no longer attending any churches.  We taught him the Restoration and invited him to be baptized and he agreed!  We got his phone number, but I forgot his name and also to put the date or any other information about him with his name so his phone number got lost in the other elders' phone.  Elder Crisp is still in the process of recovering it.

 

On Friday we met with a potential investigator named 황병목  (Hwang Byungmok) and had a pretty good lesson with him.  We taught him the Restoration and he seemed accept it all pretty well.  A sister from our ward who just returned from her mission was there too and she shared some really good experiences that helped him to more-fully understand what was being taught.  I've never really realized how much better lessons go when a member is involved.  That's something I tend to forget.

 

On Saturday and Sunday we had stake conference and the Asia area president, President Scott D. Whiting came and gave two really awesome talks.  Apparently in Korea (and maybe just Asia in general), the ward councils have been having difficulties incorporating the sisters into their meetings, so on Saturday evening he chewed them out for that.  On Sunday morning, he talked about making the family and Church our first priority.  Especially in Korea, there's a lot of problems with people sending their kids to like tutoring places so that they can have a better education instead of spending time together as a family or going to Church.  He really got at them for that.  It was awesome.  At the end he bore his testimony and bore a really powerful witness of the reality of Christ's resurrection and the power of the Atonenment.  It was so powerful that the guy translating for him got emotional before he repeated Elder Whiting's words in Korean.  Wow!  It was awesome.

 

Probably the biggest thing that I took away from this week was that if we're nice and we follow the Spirit, the Lord will lead us to those who are prepared to receive the message of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

 

Love and Miss Y'all!

 

Called to Serve!

 

Love,

 

Elder Huckvale

 A Traditional Korean Song Performed by Some College Kids at the Park

Week 41 - There Is No Other Way

Title - Well, neither Derrick or I are sure what this title is for... so just make up something good amongst yourselves!  :)

Well, it's been week 2 in 장위 (Jangwee)!

 

This week wasn't too exciting actually, a lot of proselyting, a few member visits, a lot of rain, and the usual: preaching the gospel to the people of Korea.

 

We have really been struggling to find investigators as of recent.  Before I got here Elder Kim and his last companion found a ton of interested people but it turns out that the majority of them were interested in Elder Kim's companion.  This is something that we find a lot especially with the foreign missionaries. 

 

Anyways, so we've been spending a lot of our spare time proselyting and doing member visits.  It's actually been pretty fun.

 

On Wednesday we had a zone meeting and it was really awesome.  We talked a lot about having the faith to baptize (which is kind of the theme of our mission these days) and also the importance of working with members.  It was really cool because this month one of our zone commitments is to invite someone to be baptized every day whether it's on the street or with an investigator.  It's a really good commitment and I know that if we fulfill it that we will see miracles.  I shared a comment during the meeting about the importance of promising blessings when inviting to be baptized and extending other commitments and it really solidified my testimony of the importance of baptism as well as strengthened my testimony of the blessings that come through being diligent in obeying the principles and standards of the Gospel.  It was great.

 

On Thursday we went and visited a less-active who served an honorable mission but has just fallen off the radar recently.  Anyways, we were able to find him and talk with him a little.  We talked mostly about stories from his mission and he seemed to really enjoy talking with us.  We just with him at the doorway of his apartment, but he said that he wanted to take us out to lunch so we'll see what happens there.

 

Thursday evening through Sunday were filled with a ton of cancelled appointments.  It was kind of lame, but it happens.

 

On Saturday we helped some people in our ward move which was pretty interesting.  There isn't a road that runs directly to their new house so we had to haul all of their stuff from some trucks on the street below to where their new house is.  These stairs were like something that somebody in the neigborhood made and also it was raining.  It was kind of sketchy, but it all worked out fine.  We were able to move all of their stuff up with the help of the mover people and then we got to eat 자짱면 (Jajangmyun) and 탕수육 (Tongsuyook) on the floor of their new house so it was pretty fun.

The Struggily Staircase (That Could be the Name of a Mystery Book or Something)

 

After that we went and visited our ward mission leader's house because we had scheduled to meet him on Saturday, but he wasn't there so we just met with his like 25-year old son (who's about to leave on his mission), his 23-year old daughter (who just came back from her mission) and his 9-year old son.  We talked with them about pride and humility and it was pretty good. 

 

On Sunday after church we did music practice because our ward's performing at stake conference this weekend.  At night we went and had dinner at the house of a former stake president which was really fun.  It was him, his wife, their daughter and her three kids who are super freaking adorable.  So that was really fun.

 

Something that I have struggled with a ton and am pretty sure the majority of foreign missionaries struggle with is working with the members.  These past few weeks though, I am starting to see the critical role that member work plays in missionary work and plus it just makes things more fun.  I am really hoping that while I'm serving in 장위 (Jangwee), I'll be able to learn all I can about working with members and then apply it to the rest of my mission.

 

I am loving serving my mission and I love the members of the 장위 ward!  It's awesome!

 

Love and Miss Y'all!

 

Called to Serve!

 

Love,

 

Elder Huckvale

 

 Elder Huckvale and Elder Kim (2) at the Sushi Buffet.

 Look at all that sushi!  Good thing he likes it!!!

 This English Class brought to you in part by Elder Huckvale.  

Classic Chad!!! (Something he would totally say about me!)

 장위...

 

                                       

 and the Return of the Stormtrooper

김시현 장로님과  헉배일 장로

(Not sure what that says... so I'm going with Elder Kim 2 and Elder Huckvale.  Look how cold he is, and it doesn't even faze Elder Kim!)

Week 40 - I Find The Lack of Halloween Celebrations Disturbing

Title - In Star Wars, while in the Death Star Briefing Room, Admiral Motti starts making fun of The Force.  Darth Vader starts choking him with his Force powers, and then says, "I find your lack of faith disturbing." 

Hello adoring fans!

 

I got transferred this week folks!  To 장위 (Jangwee)!  It's been pretty cool.  I was sad to leave my last area at first, but I ended up feeling that it was for the best and that the time was right for me to go.

 

On Monday I had my last Family Home Evening in 금촌 (Geumchon) which was really awesome as usual.  The kids are all so great and so adorable.  I think of all the things I'm going to miss from serving in Geumchon it's doing Family Home Evening every week. 

 

On Tuesday we went to the temple and it was awesome (as usual)!  Afterwards Elder Peterson, Elder Han, Elder Kim, and I all went to a burger buffet called Burger Mine and it was freakin delicious.  Afterwards we went to a place called E-Mart (Korea's version of a mixture between Target and Walmart) to look for Halloween decorations. 

 Elder Huckvale's previous District

 

After our p-day ended we met with 김동환 (Daniel) one last time before I left.  We didn't really prepare anything to teach him, because I really just wanted to talk with him a little and bare my testimony.  I was really tired so it was kind of hard to think straight, but when I started testifying I became empowered by the Spirit.  It was really cool.  I told him my testimony about the truthfulness of the Church and the Gospel and the power and reality of the Atonement.  After that I invited him to be baptized on December 12 and he said "알게 되면" which translates to "if I find out[it's true]".  Sounds like a yes to me!  It was a really good discussion.  Afterwards I bore testimony to Elder Kim that if he follows the Spirit in teaching Daniel that he can be baptized on that date. 

 

Wednesday was my last day in Geumchon and I didn't spend it the way that I thought that I would that's for sure.  Elder Kim got a call on Tuesday from a guy who's a member who is in charge of cleaning the church buildings in Seoul.  Apparently his nephew named Andrew (who grew up in America) is back in Korea for a few months and he's helping to clean the church buildings.  However, Andrew's not a member and so he has gotten in arguments with his uncle about controversial Church topics.  So the uncle was up in Geumchon cleaning the building so he invited us to eat lunch with him and his nephew and then to teach him.  After we ate lunch we went to the Church building and ended up teaching him for about two hours.  It was a really good discussion.  We ended up teaching him the first two lessons almost entirely.  He seemed to accept everything pretty well and he took a Book of Mormon, but he's going back to America this month so we probably won't be able to meet him again.  It's unfortunate, but it was a really cool experience and I hope that when he goes back he'll call up the missionaries. 

 

After that Elder Kim and I just stayed at the Church and helped decorate for the Halloween party.  At dinner time I went on exchanges with Elder Han so that we could meet with a member family before we leave the area.  Afterwards we took some brownies that we made to the world's greatest ward missionary, 이윤희 (Ee Yunhee).  It was really awesome because she's done so much for the missionaries in Geumchon and we just wanted to give back to her a little.

 

On Thursday morning we woke up early and headed to the mission office for exchanges.  Let me tell you, one of the most struggily things on the planet has to be trying to get a 30-40lb suitcase (I sent my other bags through the mail) across Seoul during rush hour.  Dang it's so struggily.  It's even worse when you become a trainer because then you have to carry around all three of the greenie's bags.  It's not during rush hour though. 

 

Anyways we got to transfers and my new companion is named Elder 김시현 (Kim Shihyun), so Elder Kim 2 I guess.  Elder Han got his trainee and Elder Peterson and Elder Kim 1 became companions.  Pretty fun stuff.  Anyways, we finished up at transfers and then Elder Kim (2) and I headed back to Jangwee.

 

From what I've seen of Jangwee it seems pretty cool.  I'm really excited to be back in Seoul and be started a new adventure. 

 

On Saturday we had a special conference where a guy named PJ Rogers came and spoke to us.  He served in Seoul 1988-90 and he is super good at Korean.  He is the first white person to get his his doctrite from 연세 (Yunsei) University which is one of Korea's top three universities.  Anyways he talked to us about Korean culture and how we can strengthen our relationships with our Korean companions and members int he ward.  It was a really cool conference and I learned a ton that will most definitely help me become a better missionary.

 

After the conference Elder Kim and I met with two potential investigators that we picked up so that was pretty cool. 

 

At night we had the ward Halloween party which was really fun.  It was English-themed in an attempt to increase our English class attendance.  Anyways, yeah it was really fun.  One of the members in our ward who just returned from their mission to Busan made a really awesome Jack Skellington pinata which was destroyed but candy-hungry Korean children.  It was pretty funny.  Our district leader, Elder Moore, and I were in charge of Jeopardy and it was really cool.  All of the questions were super easy, but they were also all American-themed and in English.

 

Sunday was really great also.  I'm really determined this transfer to really strive to strengthen my relationships with the ward members.  I saw some pretty cool things happened in Geumchon when we worked with the members, so I'm really excited to apply what I've learned.  Of all of the things I need to do, working with members has proven to be the hardest.

 

First week of the transfer down and also my first week in Jangwee.  I am so excited to see what happens this transfer as we excersice our faith and go out and find, teach, and baptize.

 

Love and Miss Y'all!

 

Called to Serve!

 

Love,

 

Elder Huckvale

Week 39 - You Must Go to the 장위 Area

Title - In The Empire Strikes Back, after Luke escapes the Wampa cave, he's out in a blizzard and half-dead. Obi-Wan's ghost appears and tells him that he must go to the Dagobah System.

Hello my Adoring Fans!

Well, this week has been really crazy.  There were a lot of really cool miracles, and then the transfer calls came. 

Anyways...

On Tuesday we saw a ton of really cool things happen.  While we were walking out to an apartment to visit a less-active in our area, I started talking to this guy next to me and he just happened to be really good at English!  It was awesome.  It turns out that he's a soldier and that he just happens to live in the same apartment complex that we were heading to.  He told me about how he used to be Christian, but has since switched to Buddhism after seeing corruption in the church he was going to.  He asked me what we were doing and I started talking about how the wife in the family we were going to visit was baptized but has since become in-active.  This conversation opened the way for me to teach him all about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in English!  It was great!

After we got to the apartment and couldn't find the people we were looking for, we were heading back towards the center of town and this guy drove by and started yelling at Elder Kim and I.  It turned out that it was a guy that we had met on the street a few weeks earlier who is a good friend of someone in our ward.  He left, but we called him up and were able to go to his office and teach him a little about the Church and finding happiness through Jesus Christ.  It was pretty cool.

On Wednesday, I started an exchange with Elder Han in my district.  Elder Han is super awesome at working with the members which is something that I really struggle with.  We went and were able to go visit an art gallery for Chinese and Korean calligraphy that a member in our ward was hosting.  It was cool because her friend of twenty years who is a nonmember was there and we were able to have a short discussion with her about the Church and bare our testimonies.  Afterwards, she gave us these really nice books that contain copies of all of the pieces on display in the gallery.  It was so incredible!  Miracles!

 이승지 자매님's Art Gallery

A really cool Buddhist statue

 The Gate to the Temple

 Pretending to ring a giant bell

 A fun picture that Elder Huckvale took

The Tomb of the General

On Thursday Elder Han and I just walked around proselyting all day which was okay.  I've been with Elder Han for three transfers now and I've never been able to go on exchanges with him so we got to talk a little bit more which was really good.  He told me a ton of advice about working with the members that I really hope to apply as I continue to do the Lord's work.  At night, Elder Kim and I were out proselyting and Elder Kim started talking to a guy at a bus stop while I was talking to someone else.  After the person that I was talking to left, I decided to join in on Elder Kim's conversation.  I didn't really know what they were talking about because I had just shown up, but I felt really inspired to share with the guy 2 Nephi 2:11.  After sharing it he was blown away.  He told me that it was just what he needed to hear and that I had read his mind.  It was awesome.  He ended up not having interest in meeting with us again, but it was still a really cool experience.  Power of the Holy Ghost!  Miracles!

On Saturday we did a lot of practice for our art festival that we're putting on next month.  Afterwards we did some streetboarding which was pretty fun and then we went home to receive transfer calls.

I'm getting transferred.

I'm going to a place called 장위(Jangwee).  It's out back in Seoul.  Other than that I don't know anything about it or who my companion's going to be.  Recently, our mission president, President Sonksen, has decided that we don't get to know our companions before the actual transfer meeting, so it looks like I'll find out on Thursday!

Sunday was really awesome.  Elder Han is also getting transferred so we had to say goodbye to all of the members in the ward and give our final testimonies during Sacrament meeting.  It was a really good Sunday to end my stay in 금촌 (Geumchon).  It just happened to be the day that the primary program was on, so that was pretty cool.  Afterwards, since Elder Han and I are both leaving we went on an exchange and a family in the ward took us to like all of the tourist attractions in Paju.  It was really great.  Overall I'm sad to leave 금촌, but I'm really excited to begin a new adventure and to help the Lord's work in a different part of His vineyard. 

"I'll go where you want me to go" -I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go

Love and Miss Y'all!

Called to Serve!

Love,

Elder Huckvale

Week 38 - When I Left You I Was But a Learner, Now I Am Also Still A Learner

Title -  In Star Wars, when Obi-Wan and Darth Vader confront each other with a light saber duel, Darth Vader says, "When I left you I was but a learner, now I am the Master."

Hello My Adoring Fans!

 

This week has been pretty great!  We were able to teach a lot this week on the street and off of the street so that was rad.

 

On Tuesday we met with 김동환 (Daniel) and we had a really good lesson.  At this point I don't remember exactly what we had originally planned to teach, but what we ended up talking about was my realization that Daniel has more faith than he thinks.  I think that we were all able to feel the Spirit strongly and I think that it was a turning point for Daniel.

 

On Wednesday I had an interview with our mission president, Presidnent Sonksen and it was really awesome.  We just talked about my progress as a missionary and I explained to him that sometimes I feel that it's hard to teach by the Spirit, especially when proselyting on the street.  I came to the conclusion on my own after discussing it a little bit with him that it is not a matter of not having the Spirit, but it was a matter of my attitude.  President Sonksen told me about how during conference Elder Bednar talked about President Packer "soldiering on" in the waning years and months of his mortal life and ministry.  He told me that I just need to "soldier on".  It was exactly what I need to hear.  It was an awesome interview.  He also hinted that I may be getting transferred and becoming a senior companion.  I don't know if either of those are true though.  I guess we'll see this Saturday with transfer calls!

 

On Thursday I went on exchanges with Elder Peterson in my district.  He's from North Carolina and is 18 years old (but he seriously looks like he's thirty).  He's a really nice kid and a great missionary with many ideas that will most-surely help the missionaries in our area to work more effectively.

 

On Saturday we met with Daniel again and had a really good lesson with him.  We had originally planned to teach him the Restoration, but ultimately ended up talking about the faith that he has, but doesn't know or believe that he has.  It was a really good conversation and he ended up asking the question "if I have faith, why don't I want to go to Church?"  I answered "Because it's hard".  It was a really good conversation and I think that we're starting to see Daniel progressing faster.  We invited him to come to Church on Sunday and we told him that we could go to his house and pick him up and go to Church with him.  I think that he was legitimately flattered by our offer.  I think that we're actually going to have to try that approach one of these days.  It's just that going to Church is a huge struggle for him because he lives like an hour away so he'd have to wake up at like 8 in the morning (!) to be able to get there at 10 when it starts. 

Plan of Salvation / Some of the Commandments

 

On Sunday we were supposed to meet with 이경철 (Ee Gyungchur), but he was sick so unfortunatley he wasn't able to come to Church.  It's all good though.  We're hoping to give him a baptismal date of December 5 the next time we meet with him.  At night we had a really awesome fireside where Brother Mark A. Peterson came and spoke to us.  He's like an expert on Korean history and culture so he came and talked to us about religions that are native to Korea/embedded in the culture of every Korean person.  It was really insightful and it helped me to better understand A. how the Gospel relates to other religions B. how to better teach people of other faiths about the Gospel.  Afterwards, I met this old guy on the train who just happens to be super good at English and just happened to have several questions that can be answered by the Gospel.  So I got to teach an entire lesson in English!  재미 있다!  There are prepared people out there kids!

 

I've been out on my mission about 8 and a half months now (!) and it's hard to recognize how far I've come just within that short time without stopping for a second to look back at all that's happened since then.  8 and a half months ago I was 18 years old.  I had finished reading the Book of Mormon only one time on my own.  I had no testimony of anything except that God lives, that He answers prayers, and that I was supposed to go on a mission. 

 

I am still no where near perfection, and even though I know that I will never get there within the future that I can see, I continue to try.  It is our ultimate goal after all. 

 

Love and Miss Y'all!

 

Called to Serve!

 

Love,

 

Elder Huckvale 

 금릉역

At the 돈까스 buffet (I didn't get any good pictures)

Week 37 - We Would Would Be Delighted If You Would Join Us

Title - In "The Empire Strikes Back", on Bespin, Lando leads Han and Leia to a dining room.  When the door opens, they realize that Lando has betrayed them.  The room is filled with Darth Vader, Boba Fett and his army of Stormtroopers. Han shoots at Darth Vader who deflects the bolts and then uses the Force to summon his gun and says, "We would be delighted if you would join us". 

Hello My Adoring Fans!

 

This week has been pretty great, just out here teaching, preaching, and learning like missionaries do.

 

So what happened this week?  Let's find out together!

 

On Tuesday, we had a lot of cancellations, but we still ended up being able to meet with 김동환 (Daniel) at the end of the day which was pretty good.  We ended up talking a lot about how there are no people that are better than others on this earth, but that every one was originally good and every one has the potential to still be good.  We talked about the light of Christ and I told him about a slogan that I have been thinking about in my head recently:  "There are no bad people, just confused children of God". 

Elder Huckvale and 김동환 (Daniel).  YEAH!!!!  I've been wanting a picture of him!

 

On Wednesday Thursday I went on an exchange with one of the greenies our zone leaders are training named Elder Beesinger.  He's from Utah, just graduated high school, his family goes back to the root of the Church, and he has a girl waiting for him at home for the time being.  He's a really nice kid though and we had a really good time walking around in my area and talking to people on the street.  It was my first time being with a companion that is younger than me so it was a pretty interesting experience.  I definitely gained a lot of confidence that if I had too, I could be a senior companion even though I still feel very young myself.

 

On Saturday and Sunday, we watched General Conference and it was awesome!  I never really fully-appreciated General Conference before my mission, but now when I watch it and actively participate in taking notes and stuff, it's a much better experience and I am able to learn a ton about the gospel.  I especially liked that the theme for the first session seemed to be entirely focused on remembering that exaltation is our ultimate goal and purpose in this life.  I don't know why, but I thought that was cool.  I also really enjoyed Elder Holland's talk about mothers.  Love you mom!

 

 #LDSConf

Elder Kim and I had to miss the second session on Sunday, but it's cool because we had an awesome lesson with 이경철 (Ee Gyungchur).  We reviewed the Plan of Salvation and taught about a ton of the commandments and it was a really good lesson.  I drew pretty much all of it on the board which he said really helped him to learn and understand the principles better.  He's continuing to read the Book of Mormon and tries to pray every day, but the only problem is that he misheard me when I asked him to be baptized and thinks that I invited him to be baptized in December.  We didn't really know how to respond to that one so I don't know what we're going to do.

 

Anyways, yeah, this week was really good and I'm so excited to continue doing the work of the Lord among His people in Korea.

 

Love and Miss Y'all!

 

Love,

 

Elder Huckvale

 Zone

Aaahhhh.... his voice!!!  If this works, I found it "hidden" in his email!  Woo hoo!!!