Be Someones Miracle Today

hey  hey hey everybody hope things are going well.  things in korea are great as usual i still cat speak korean but that's ok.  the kids got baptized so that was way cool.  it was stressful though. we have a new ward mission leader and he couldn't show up so we were in charge of the baptism by ourselves it was stressful. the women's door was locked so i had to spider man through the font that was already filled p with water to unlock the door.  but they were baptized. the dad postponed last week because he wanted to make sure they were making the decision and realized what it was they were really doing.  i was asked to share my testimony so that day in sacrament i had read the song teach me to walk in the light. i shared that and shared how through baptism we start our walk in the light and how the bom and coming to church can help us stay in light.  it was neat also because a lot of the ppl were kinda being rowdy but as soon as the new missionary who cant speak korean stands up it goes dead silent.  i shared my testimony followed by a congrats on being baptized and sat down way cool. 

 

the girl we taught the first lesson too didn't come yesterday she has her big korean test this week but its ok we aren't worried about her.  our investigator paul who is so awesome told us on friday he is already thinking about changing churches which is amazing. i know he is prepared because we met him once on t street and didn't get his number but then we met again on the street and he ave us his number the lord loves him so much.  we met a man thursday while contacting who immediately gave us his card and said lets meet saturday.  saturday came around and he was so excited to meet. he is 74 years old and told us that he went to church when he was little but not anymore. he realizes its time to go church and knows our church is true because he prayed that day to meet a church and ours is it.  funny thing though when we gave him a bom to read he said no he already believes in it hahahah he said he wont read he already believes so he is so funny i love him so much.  our ward is so great that all the ppl we meet will be great in our ward.  transfers are coming up next week and i am stressed out a lot.  because of the anxiety i had when i got here i am afraid to go to a new area i love my area and my investigators. we have 4 people that could be baptized within the next month. i cant get transferred out. at this point pray more for me to stay in seocho then for me to learn korean. 

 

as far as personal study has been going its great.  as some ppl know i have had a fair amount of trials emotionally with the death of y fathers parents and being away from home while my gpa is sick. he will get through it.  i was reading in 2 nephi 2 i think where lehi is telling jacob in the first 3 verses that he has trials but because of them he has come to know god.  i don't know if i truly know god yet or if i ever will in this life. but because of my trials i have gained stronger testimony.  it is amazing to share spiritual experiences with investigators and see how much the lord does bless me.  i am so thankful for the love he freely gives me.

 

i was listing to elder hollands talk the other night and the part that stood out to me was when he told the men to step up. i am not the most respectful person in the world but i try. it made me think of sister daltons talk of my mother is really my fathers wife my sister is my mothers daughter.  i encourage everyone to try and find was to be that much more kind and respectful to others. 

 

english class was a normal english class on saturday but our gospel time came to close talking about being examples to our children.  i am thankful for the examples i have had in my life by parents. they definitely are some odd ducks but i love them sooo much. english class comes obviously to learn english but are usual english comers love gospel time and refuse to leave without a closing prayer.  they don't want to learn about the gospel in lesson but the love us sharing.  please continue to be someones miracle. 

 

mom dad magen family and friends thank you so much for the support that i have here and thank you for the examples you are to me. thank you for your prayers. thank you for this opportunity. continue to be someones miracle each day.  i love you. peace and blessings and...if you are now a byu cheerleader congrats so proud to see how hard work pays of thanks for your example.

 

love you. all.
-- 
Elder Hunter

What Up?

we went too gyeongbokgung palace it was sweet.  i took lots of pictures so i will try and send anoher chip home at the end of this transfer.  as far as stories from this week go.  the baptism didnt happen yesterday the dad called on saturday and said we would have to change i to next week. we sll dont konw why but thats ok because it is going to happen next week for sure. 

our ward mission leader got released last week so we got a new missions leader who s just as great we are excited to work with him.  his wife is a less active and we got to meet her last week we are blessed to have him on board.

slava our russian investigator who i expressed about last week has made soooo much progress. so 2 weeks ago i expressed how much we really do love and care about him, in tears, {i get it from my father} we committed him to pray outloud.  pretty simple commitment but you would be surprised how much people dont like praying.  anyway we showed up last week and he played the piano for us, he plays the paino as a job, but he doesnt like playing on the spot.he played a beautiful song so that definately was a sign of truth being built.  then he wanted to get right into the lesson.  up to this point he had not prayed for us. he had prepared a prayer that he wrote down and was the most beautiful prayer i have ever heard.  afterwards elder arveseth and i just sat there shocked. that prayer has made the heartache of being away from home and not learning korean so worth it.  he is making so much progress.  so excited to see him again.

yesterday we had to go on splits with members because 2 lessons had to be taught at the same time. i taught lesson 1 with a returned missionary from the korea busan mission who was an amazing missionary!!  i completed the 1st pass off last week so i was excited to really see how i could teach since i could speak korean for that lesson.  i was so worried but when it came time to teach we did awesome! i said the whole first visions by memorization and she said she would read the bom.  we taught it so quickly that she still wanted to learn more. we read 2 nephi 31 and committed her to baptism. she is also attending seminary now with a friend!! It was so amazing!!  afterwards i asked what things i should work on to our member and he said he was so proud of me and glad that i had learned all the teaching principles i was so happy to hear my hard work has payed off. 

you know this week has been hard.  im exhausted.  korean doesnt feel like i am making any progress. but its amazing to see how much not looking side to side but looking up for help really does pay off.  my korean is awful but when people hear i have only been here for 3 months they are shocked. 

i cant express to you all how thankful i am for this opportunity.  thank you so much.  please keep trying everyone the situations we all face are tough but keep  trying. be someones miracle everyday.  just smile. see how far it really goes.  congrats to all the cheerleaders out there, love you!!!

Miracles

hey hey hey. wow wow wow what a week.  unfortunately idk if i will be able to write letters this week and i only wrote 1 last week so im sorry today we are going to a tourist attraction with our 'korean grandma' a 70 year old investigator so we will be busy.  but what an amazing amazing week. mom my feet are doing good i wear crocs in the house (korean custom to wear sandals inside)

 

miracle #1 our investigator oh-yoong- you  got in his motorcycle accident going to a bad church he attends. we hadnt seen him in a month cuz of his new job but he took us to dinner and he wants to meet again soon!

 

miracle #2  paul-a korean man we met on the street my first week here has started to meet with us he is so so so sweet and has accepted a sft baptismal commitment. he is reading the book of mormon and so far knows that it is a good book

 

miracle #3 a russian investigator we haven't met with for a few weeks has been really sick. we saw him out walking the other day and we set up a time to meet. but this time it was at his house which is a miracle because he hasn't let anyone at his house.  fortunately he has met with missionaries before and heard all the discussions. unfortunately the (pardon my language)  STUPID missionaries did not treat him right. elder arveseth got rid of the record we had on him because they weren't nice things so i have no idea hat was wrong. all i know is that he does not trust the missionaries.  so instead of me teaching the gospel i have to mend old wounds.  it is so hard.  but i love this investigator so much and i feel that when we can get the trust back he will be baptized. 

 

on saturday we met a referral of a guy also named paul.  on the phone he sounded like a very sincere man.  we met at a coffee shop and as soon as we sat down everything he told us about him turned out to be a lie.  he is a very high up person in a church here in korea.  soon 2 more of his slightly lower people showed up.  they believed a lot of the things we do dispensations etc but they only believe the bible and their prophet is from korea.  when they realized i didn't speak good korean they taught elder arveseth as i taught one of the jun-do-saws the first lesson and about the book of mormon.  they offered elder arveseth to be one of the 144000 that will be saved if he came and jun-doed for them.  it was tough.  after 1 hour we said we had to go but they were very rude.  i was so close mom and dad to throwing a fist. so so so hard not too. if i had a temper then being on a mission has helped my temper a lot. ok but anyway, we shared a testimony they took a book of mormon and said we would not have the chance for their 'offer' again.  but in good news for them theywill have the opportunity to give the offer again because guess what?  they took elder arveseths bible. we meet them again tomorrow to get it back.  the work here in korea is hard because koreans associate us, kind young happy missionaries with people like them. i love these men that took time to meet with us and am thankful for the experience but ever since then i have been seeing what koreans think i am like.

 

MIRACLE #4 GRANDPA THIS ONE IS FOR YOU!!!!! we were out trying to street contact on thursday. we picked a bad place to do it but we were gonna try it anyway.  the wind was so cold and i had been out there already for 1 1/2 hours with 1 more left to go. i wouldn't say i was sad etc but i was kind of tired of being cold, being rejected etc.  as i was looking for someone to talk to a little 5 foot korean lady walked past me. as she walked past me she said 'chang-no-neem' aka elder 'whiting'  which is like some korean word for'yay' or 'keep going' yunwoo can explain. followed by a little fist pump.  THAT IS THE MIRACLE I AM ASKING EACH ONE TO  BE!!!!! just smile at someone! 2 words, a smile and a fist pump made my day.  we can do it!

 

crazy to think how lucky we really are. the kids are still ready for baptism and we showed them the outside of the temple yesterday.  i am studying in 1 nephi and also studying elder bednar's segment in the liahona this month i encourage everyone to go and read it and read the scriptures it is way amazing to see how the lord gives people the strength to get through challenges he does not change them.  i really am liking that. keep studying everyone. be someone miracle today. WHITING!
--'
Elder Hunter

Elder Hunter would LOVE to hear from you.  Feel free to send him a letter at the address listed on the right.  

Hope

mom dad! everybody! what up! how is the pack family doing?  donnie and amy and morg?  bryce and brad?  kevin and ashley!  sawyer gabe joe kayla! how is the fox family doing?  how is my sister doing?  i hope all is well.  i hope ali pitts had fun at the hunger games release.

this week has had so many ups and downs.  good news - i have completely passed my kidney stones. other good news there is this thing called 'pass off' where you have to pass off a lot of vocabulary words and teach the first lesson completely by yourself and memorize scriptures, for the first 4 lessons that we teach. most people don't completely finish until maybe 7 months in the country. i wish i could tell you i am all done but i am not. i can teach the first lesson all the way but i cant remember all the vocab.  so last week i passed some things off which is good. i also have the first vision memorized which is even better. 

the bad news, one of our investigators dropped us.  pretty tough for me.  the investigator (i think) had feelings for my companion and when she realized we were only about teaching the gospel she didn't want to meet. she said she had read and prayed about the book of mormon but i didn't believe her. i did my best so ts time to move on. the english investigator we met last week was ok.  i was thinking i would get to teach a lot since my english is better than my companions. however i sat there like other lessons.  we taught him the 2nd lesson aka the plan of salvation later in the week and it didn't work out so well.  he is all about theology and wants proof of things.  we can testify all we want but he hasn't read the book of mormon like we asked him too so idk what to do.  one of our investigators that we haven't met with for a few weeks because he is so busy, got in a minor accident yesterday on his motorcycle so we are going to go visit him tonight.  the kids baptism is still scheduled and they have a friend also talking with us so if he comes to church and gets approval from his parents then he can and will be baptized!  

the other day we went and did street contacting which the way we did it i really enjoy doing-just setting up street boards and talking.  i talked to 24 people! i was so happy because 1 the people were nice. 2 i talked to a lot of people were ready to hear the message 3 i worked super super hard. please don't think i am boasting.  i learned that by setting goals is so important.  i first set my goal at 15 people. by the time i reached my goal i had already given out a bom and got 2 numbers. i then said ok... 5 more and got it! finally with 10 minutes left i set a goal for 4 and got that too!  with a number!! if we pray and set goals and work hard Heavenly Father will help! 

conference was amazing!!  enough said.  uchtdorfs talk of stop it was great! each one was great!  hollands words i think hit me hard too' Gods favorite thing about being God is being merciful'  i loved that!  also, they focused a lot on families! kinda stresses me out as a young missionary. my perspective has changed from being a son to a father and ya that's too far ahead, but it was still an amazing conference. yes i did see david archulleta.  also. was the mo tab amazing singing 'count thou fount of every blessing? ' so so good. i hope everyone is doing good. i love you all i cant wait to see you in two years!  just a little side note how did everyone know about gpa pyrahs promise to me?  i love you!

Week 7 here in Seoul

hello family!! how are things?  hope conference was fun. we wont be able to see conference until this coming weekend when we go to the english branch but i sure am excited. the work here in korea is still going.  the 2 kids have accepted a baptismal commitment for april 22 which is so so so so amazing.  im so excited.  we also have picked up an investigator from america we are meeting him tonight so it will be good to see my teaching skills in straight english. pray for me. as far as interesting things that have happened this week for me the one that stands out in my mind is ...

i called a kid cuz it said he spoke a lot of english. when i called he just started laughing and said i was about the 5-6th missionary that had called him.  he said he was rather irritated by it.  i kept apologizing just saying wow im so sorry.  but i decided to keep talking to him. i was able to talk to him about when he met the missionaries  2008 and asked him if he had any feelings while he met with them. he said he remembers when he was praying with the missionaries he felt a 'cleansing dfeeling'  me over him.  i told him in our church that's called the holy ghost but he said he acquainted that with that that he was going through a hard time in his life and he just felt the love by the missionaries. it was crazy to see how he still remembered that feeling. i was shocked.  other then that nothing really miraculous happened but i was able to get to know him. make him think that we are more than just robots.  he took our number down which probably means he is going to block our number now bu its ok.  someone planted a seed 4 years ago. i hope for the next missionary that meets him he will be able to see what we have!

 

other then that family it has been a rough week for me. seeing the 2 kids accept baptismal commitments and how much they love each other really reminds me of my own sister. i also saw a guy throwing a bullpen the other day and i really miss baseball too.  last week i did try octopus though!  it was in a really hot sauce but i liked it.  if anyone is looking for some good food that we have a lot here in korea call up yoonwoo and have her find a don-kas-suh or sam-geep-sar and take you there i think my family could eat it. 

 

as far as things back home i ear a lot about my cousins moving or my amazing grandpa or my friends that maybe are having a hard time being themselves or standing up for whats right.  my advice to you all. be happy!  know that every time you are obedient and stand for what you believe you will be blessed. and if you wont then someone will see your example. remember the story i think last conference president monson told about him saying he was Mormon in his military camp? stand tall. last thing with this and its something that i am having a hard time with being myself.  everyone loved the missionary that was in the ward before me. that's all they talk about.  how do i measure up to be like him?  i have been thinking about that so much. but honestly.  i just need to be myself. why would i change who i am to be a duplicate?> a missionary duplicate.  its hard.  i have had a rough week mentally.  i hope things are going well for everyone. i am doing better with korean and memorizing more words a day but i still am very b at korean. i had higher expectations for myself i thought i would learn it faster but i really do realize that i am not going to be able to do this myself.  friends family anyone who is going through a hard time. pray out loud, be yourself, and serve others. 

damian kolby addi i don't have time i think to write you guys today but keep trying.  this move will be the best thing for you.  don't worry about the bad see the good. and most importantly be thankful.  here in korea you go to school from 8 in the morning to 9 at night.  you live in an apartment both your parents work you ride the subway and the only free time you have is on sunday.  i love my family so much! we all have a work to do! be someone miracle everyday and make sure to be prepared! i love you!

-- 
Elder Hunter