Dear
Family,
I
think I forgot what it's like to not have an inversion...Korea always seems to
have a nice thick cloud of smog over it, it's beautiful. Last week it
rained a lot and got really warm, probably in the 50s or so. Today it's
cold again, but I don't think it will stay cold for very long.
We
were able to meet OC twice last week, the first of which we invited him to be
baptized on the 20th of next month, which he accepted! Brother LG was there for
the lesson, and as soon as OC agreed to be baptized, he was like, "You're
going to love it. When I was baptized last week, it made me so happy, and
I'm glad that I did it." It was so cool to have such a recent convert
there who is also his friend. It made all the difference in the world when we
taught him. He also came to church yesterday and was able to watch LG be
confirmed in sacrament meeting. It seems like everything is just working
out perfectly with him. We haven't been able to meet his wife yet,
though. Maybe I told you already, but he lives in a pretty small, run-down
house, and I think he's ashamed to have people visit his house, so we always
meet at a cafe or the church.
Besides
how well things are going with OC, Elder Johnstun and I have been able to see a
ton of miracles this past week. I don't know what happened, it was just
like an explosion or something. On Tuesday, we were outside proselyting,
and we get a random call from a former investigator. According to our records,
it's been over a year since the missionaries last met with him, but he comes to
English class every once in a while, and a few weeks ago he just showed up at
church without us inviting him or anything. He had to leave early, and we have
been trying to contact him since then. He has never answered his phone, so
there wasn't much we could do. But then last week he called us, and said that
he wants to start coming to church more often, and said, word for word,
"I'll be baptized," without us doing or saying anything at all. It
was pretty crazy, neither of us knew what to think. We've been trying to
contact him consistently since then, but he has a busy schedule and said he
can't meet us for a couple more weeks.
Last
Thursday, we were walking down the street, and someone passed us who I felt
like we needed to talk to. So I stopped him, told him that we have a message
we're sharing, and asked if we could meet him later to teach him. He just said
yeah, gave us his phone number, and kept walking. People never give you their
phone number that fast unless it's fake, so I figured he just wanted us to
leave him along and gave a fake number. We tried calling multiple times
after that, but he never answered. But then on Saturday night, he called
back and said he wanted to meet us. So he ended up coming to the church Sunday
afternoon, and we taught him about the Godhead and prayer. The funny thing
is, I asked him why he wanted to meet with us, and he was just like,
"Well, I just finished my military service last month, and now that I have
extra time, I'm kind of bored on the weekends. So I figured I might as
well." Crazy, huh? That's polar opposite from most Koreans, normally
they're so 'busy' that they can never meet. I'm not sure if he's actually
interested or not, but he agreed to meet again, so we'll see.
On
Friday, we had district meeting, and on the bus ride back, I sat down next to
this old guy studying Chinese. I started talking to him, and he just went off
on a lecture about all kinds of stuff about history and science and other
cultures, and all of the other random knowledge he's accumulated throughout his
life. I thought, "well, this is a lost battle, there's no way I'm steering
this conversation back to gospel topics," but that's when Sister Cho
(she's Sister Hall's new companion, a brand-new missionary who started her
mission last week) turned around in the middle of this guy’s lecture, handed
him a Book of Mormon with no explanation or anything, and said that she knows
it's true and he should read it. The sisters got off at the next stop after
that, but I was able to sit with this guy and explain more about it until he
got off the bus. It was amazing how it all worked out. Eventually he gave us
his phone number, and said that he wants to invite us over for dinner
sometime. As he got off the bus, he expressed gratitude for the things we
said to him, and has texted us a few times since then. We haven't been able to
meet yet, but hopefully soon :)
Anyway,
lots of cool things happening this past week. And to top it off, Brother LYH
from my first area (remember him?) came to Gimhae to talk to me for a little
bit after church. It was so weird to talk to him and actually know what
he's saying :) I'll send you a picture.
Have
a great week!
Love,
Elder
Hines
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