Week 32.. Tony and Sister Erickson!! WOO

Korea has started to warm up and it is finally taking on the really warm summer feel.  Apparently Miryang is supposed to be one of the hottest places in our mission, so I'm excited and man..  How time has flown by... Next week we get transfer calls and that is like.. What!?!  And time just really does go by quickly.  If you don't stop and take a look around once in a while, you might just miss it. (Very close quote to Ferris Buelher's day off) So anyways... It has been a week filled with busyness and so many wonderful miracles and happy times.

So, today I want to bear personal testimony about Prayer. Prayer is so crucial in our daily lives because through praying we are able to speak with our Heavenly Father.  We are able to show our gratitude and ask for His help, but most importantly through prayer, we are able to know with all certainty that he is there, loves us and has prepared a way for us to live the most happy as we can.  So today a scripture that I would love to share is 2 Nephi 4:35.  It reads, "Yea, I know that God will give liberally to him that asketh. Yea, my God will give me, if I ask not amiss; therefore I will lift up my voice unto thee; yea, I will cry unto thee, my God, the rock of my righteousness. Behold, my voice shall forever ascend up unto thee, my rock and mine everlasting God. Amen."   As the prophet, Nephi, testifies, I promise that if we will ask of god, Our Loving Heavenly Father will answer and we may know that he is there and loves us.

So on to the week --- So this week was fantastic!  On Monday, we went bowling, ate with the sisters and then went off to do all the other things that we needed to do.  Then after which, we had a sister missionary who had finished come back to Miryang with her family.  So we played and talked and there were so many people at our Family Home Evening and it was absolutely fantastic!  We had a great time and so many people attended!!  They all seemed to have had a great time and I will send that group picture later. But that was Monday!

Then on Tuesday, we studied on the morning and then ate lunch as the average missionary does and then met up with the sisters at the Church to do our Area meeting.  Then after doing so, we went to go visit the detention center where You Ir lives and he is always just as happy as ever.  He was working out just beforehand so he was a bit tired, but he was happy to see us.  Then after which we went talking to other people and then we went to our branch president's house to go have dinner. After dinner, we came to the church and had English class, and after which we taught a lesson to our friend, Tony, who is 50 and is Korean with our branch president and Tony is just happy to learn the gospel!

Then on Wednesday, we had our district meeting here in Miryang and then went out to eat with all the members of our group and then after which, Elder Quiroz and I went with different companions and I stayed in Miryang and Elder Quiroz went to place called Dogye. So I teamed up with an Elder named Elder Martin and we went out and talked to a whole bunch of people on the street and then went to meet Tony and study the Book of Mormon and help him understand it. Then we went out to eat together and finally went and talked to people going home. Then when we got to our apartment complex, we went and visited Ryoo Jechung who is our Old North Korean friend and he was just very happy to see us! :)

On Thursday, we studied and talked and then we de-exchanged and then we came back to Miryang, and it was raining super hard.  But we talked to some people and then had a special meeting with the sisters and one of their investigators and then we went outside even more and talked to a whole bunch of people, then came back to the church again and then meet Tony.  We studied the scriptures even more and then we went out and ate with him.  Then we went home and planned and that was our Thursday.

On Friday, we studied in the morning and then went outside and went talked to many people and then we did our service activity. We went out to eat with the member and then we served with him and then went home, showered, then went out again and that was our day.

On Saturday we studied in the morning and then we ate and went to the church where we taught English class, then played ping pong and talked to many people and then cleaned the church and then after which we went outside for a little bit and talked to people and that was our very simply laid out day.

Sunday, we had church which was great and I got to teach the young men and they had a whole lot of fun with the lesson and then something kind of insane happened.  So one of the sisters’ investigators came in and was super happy and was just like... “Hey.. I want to get baptized.” But she is having some very insane mood swings lately, so we are not sure as of yet, but she is very happy and willing and we are very excited for that day. After which we went outside and talked to some people and then went home and did planning for today and that was our day!

Also I will add this in the next email, but today, we played tennis and that was so fun!  But anyways it was amazing and I love you all so much!!

Love you and I hope you all have a great week!  I will tell you how transfers go!!  I miss you guys a bunch!

Love Always,

Elder Wilson

Sister Erickson!!

with Sister Erickson and her family

Week 31: Appreantly Week 31!?

Wow time really does fly when you are having fun. Really... Where does the time go? Last year I was still a high school student and now... look where I am... So anyways the Korean missionary life is always fantastic. We got to take our suit coats off because conference ended and it will be interesting to see how hot Miryang gets. According to all the older missionaries, come summer time, Miryang is one of the hottest areas in our mission boundaries, so I am excited to see that! Also, I'm super excited for a huge annual summer festival here in Miryang which will be in May!! So anyways... This week has been nice and sunny except for one day which there were huge gusts and rain... But.. it was amazing!! The food here is absolutely amazing as well and I am extremely happy with being able to serve here in Korea!! And Actually this week is a little sad because I think I may have lost my Camera!! So anyways...

This week, I want to focus on Charity. Charity is the pure love of Christ. The prophet Moroni writes in the Book of Mormon "And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail— But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him". So therefore, if one person holds charity, then they are becoming as Christ is. There is nothing in this world that doesn't lead back to Christ. Christ is the perfect example and because of him, I am able to do all things. So why not become as Christ, or try to become as Christ? In order to become more like Christ, it will be hard. He was ridiculed, rejected, and even crucified by his own people. Yet Christ was always charitable and he always offers grace. His grace is sufficient and as we come closer unto him, we love others as Christ loves us... With all his heart. Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and I know these things to be true. Through him, we can always be happy, and I testify that these things are true.

So on to the week. So last Monday, we had a special breakfast and because of which we had to go to a city that was about one hour away by train, and during it, we played games, helped and serve others and got to talk to other missionaries. Then afterwards we caught a train and came back to Miryang where we hurried and did shopping and wrote all of our emails home and then we prepared for our Family home Evening. So then we had Family home Evening where we played a game called "Bang" which was a blast. (Great pun there). Then we got to talk to the people that came and returned home.

On Tuesday we got to study in the morning, then we were able to eat lunch. Then we got on a train and went over to 도계(Dogye) To go have our quarterly interviews with our Mission President. Unfortunately he was running a little late so it took us a very long time to get home, and then after that, we got ready for English class. Then at English class we had a new member come and join named Tony! Tony was very nice and he likes to study English! He is about 50 years old.  After English class we went home.

On Wednesday we studied for a little bit in the morning and then went and had a meal with a very old grandma who absolutely loves missionaries. So we went to her house and it was absolutely fantastic!! Then we went outside and walked over to the detention center where we were going to meet You Ir, but because it was election day in Korea, the detention center was closed... WHAT!?! So we went outside and talked to other people for a very good bit and then had a meeting with the sisters. So we talked about the area and the needs of the area and then we went over to another one of our members’ house to go have another lesson and dinner. They were very happy that we came and then we went home!!

On Thursday we studied in the morning and then had lunch! After lunch we went outside and talked to some other people and then we went over to Busan University, Miryang campus, to go see if we could put up some English fliers. So we went over there and I got a bloody nose while walking because it was so dry!! So I think that I might have left my camera over there because I have tried asking everyone else in the town and where everything is and have also ripped up my house to see if it was there... So anyways, we go for a little bit and talk to the administration office and then come back to Miryang where we go walk and talk to many people and then get to go meet our friend You ir. So he was very happy and then we went walking home and we were walking home and talking to as many people as we could find, although most of the time on Thursday, there are not a ton of people... So... So anyways, we came home and then started to plan for this week and that is how we spent the rest of our day.

On Friday, we studied in the morning and then tried to go out and see if I could find my camera... But to no avail, it did not work and we did not find it, but we were able to have so many good conversations about the gospel with many people. After which we went and got picked up by our member who we work with to clean his horse stable. So he took us out to eat and then we went and cleaned his horse stable. After which he took us home and then we went outside for a little bit and went talking to many people where they were super kind and then we went home and tried to finish the rest of our weekly planning, but we were not able to completely finish.... But that is okay!!

So on Saturday, we studied in the morning and finally got done with planning and then ate lunch and then went to the church where we got read for English class. So many people came to English class and somehow we got on the topic of birthday's and some people had either just had, or were going to have birthdays soon, so Elder Quiroz and I said that we had to go. So we took some bikes and went to a bakery and bought a couple of cakes and then came back, finished English class and then ate cake together with a little birthday Flare too.. Then we started playing ping pong and at this point, people wanted to talk to us a lot and all of which lead into the gospel! So we talked to many of the people who attend about the gospel and Tony said that he would come to church, so we were very excited. After which we cleaned the church and got the church ready and then we went home because it was late and got to talk to a few people along the way home and that was our day.

Finally on Sunday, we went to the church and got it prepared and then we had church were Tony and many other people attended!! More than have attended the Miryang Church since I've been here. So I talked to Tony the entire day with many other members explaining church and it was super great and he was very happy with church and will be meeting us more and coming to church from now on!! It was super great!! Then afterwards, the sisters had a different appointment, so we went home and dropped our stuff off and then went out to go talk to others. While walking some old grandma was picking flowers and stopped us and was like pluck and eat my flowers.. So we did and they were super good! Like what!?!? So after doing all of this, we went and talked with our North Korean friend and that was really our day!! It was a super busy week!!

And then today, I fixed one of my bags, because it's zipper was broken and p-day was great and I will elaborate more on this next week and then we went bowling and it was super great!! So that was really my week! 

I love being here and I hope you all have a great week and I love you:)

Love Always,

Elder Joshua Wilson

Pictures! --- stealing camera

Bowling

Week 30: General Conference

This week has been amazing, but unfortunately this week I do not have a lot of time because it has been a very busy day and not a lot of time.  But that is okay because I'm going to try to get everything done in the allotted time. 

So this will be a little shorted than normal, but wow. I absolutely love Korean, and I love being here. Today we actually got a great breakfast from the lovely senior missionaries that live here and I also got my haircut, which was great! I love it here so much. 

So I finally got to watch general conference after a long wait, and I absolutely loved Elder D. Todd Christofferson's talk about Dad.  I love my Dad very much, and he really is my best friend.  Also while thinking about that, I thought about my Heavenly Father and how much he loves me. He loves me so much.  He loves all people so much that he would give His only begotten son to die for us, so that we can become perfect like him.  I also loved Elder Gary. E Stevensons talk about the priesthood keys that were restored to this Earth.  The Church of Jesus Christ is about the restoration and really through the restoration, can we fully know who God is and we are able to return back to him.  And finally, I loved, just like everyone, Elder Jeffery R. Holland's talk about how really tomorrow, and now and always is the Lord doing wonders around us.  I absolutely love conference and I am glad that I was able to view it, and to be able to focus on how great it was.

So this week, last Monday we had P-day where we emailed people and we able to do our shopping and all we needed to do for the upcoming week. Also got to take some great pictures with the cherry blossom trees. After which we had family home evening where we played Scum again and it was very fun and all the people, including the missionaries that attend love playing it. It has really turned into a fan favorite. So I loved it and it was great!!!

On Tuesday, we got to study in the morning and then after which we went to the church and had a meeting with the sisters where we discussed what is going on in Miryang and how we can better do missionary work. Then after which we went to the detention center and that was superb. We got to talk with You Ir and that was great! Then we came back to the church and our other investigator, didn't come, but it was okay because we started English class and one of our investigators came and it was amazing because we were able to talk to him and because he is typically busy, we can't meet, but fortunately he was so happy to come and to be able to speak English and learn about the gospel.

Wednesday... We had a meeting for all the missionaries in the area, so we had our zone meeting and after which, Elder Quiroz and I went on Exchanges. So we went and I was able to pair with a Korean elder who came to the MTC in the first 3 weeks I was there and we became such good friends at the MTC. So... It was so fun! So we went out actually and went and played basketball with kids who invited us to and we got to talk about the gospel and that was super fun and then after which, we were able to go talk to some people and then went to the church where we taught another English class in another area and then went home and just had a great time talking and just... We had fun.

On Thursday we de-exchanged and then after which we went outside and went and tried to talk to people, but there weren't many people out.  Then after which we came home and planned for the upcoming week.

then on Friday we were able to go watch one of our investigators arch and it was a great experience as we talked to him and his friends. Then after that we went and served at the horse stable which was great! Then we got to go to the church as we talked to people outside and then returned home and that was really our day.

On Saturday, we watched general conference and we were actually able to get people to come and it was fantastic! I got to see so many great talks and had great notes!! 

Then on Sunday, basically the same deal. We got to watch general conference for the entire day and that was really our day. I love conference for sure!

So that was my week and I will tell you about everything this upcoming week!! I love you guys so much and I hope you guys have a great week! I pray for you all, all the time and love you so much!!

Love Always,

Elder Wilson

 

Dinner Time

Got done destroying in basketball

Haircut!!  

Week 29: The Ultimate Member Lesson and Happiness

This week has been absolutely lovely. The cherry blossoms fully bloomed on Tuesday of this week and everyone is just so happy to see them!  It has been so lovely here and the weather has been so warm!  We don't get to take suit coats off until the end of this week, but either way, I love wearing the white shirt and tie every day!  It is so weird thinking about time and how fast it moves, but... It moves so fast.  It is already spring!!  And... it will almost be summer too!!  I'm so excited for the change and the passage of time and everything is just wonderful! I really do love it!

In Korea, we don't get to watch General Conference until a week after it has happened, because it takes an entire week for all of it to get translated into Korean. Therefore, I can't really talk about General Conference, except for one of the best parts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Because we know that there are prophets leading the Church, just like in times of old, we are able to have General Conference, where we can hear the word of God from their mouths.  I love General Conference each year because we get to be spiritually enriched and really get to listen to the living prophet talk and get to hear many talks that help us with our problems and help us find piece and joy.  I know that as we try our best to always follow the savior and love others, that he will always bless us with more than we can even imagine. In closing, I want to share a quote from General Conference, given by Elder Henry B. Eyring.  It states "When you go to comfort and serve anyone for the Savior, He prepares the way before you".  He will always prepare a way.

So on to the week.  This Monday, we sent emails to our loved ones and played some ping pong, and I played the piano at the church and then went shopping.   Also Elder Quiroz got a hair cute and we ended our P-day at 6 pm.  It was a very fun day!  Then we prepared for family home evening and then we played scum again and one of the sister missionaries had a birthday on Monday, so we bought her a cake and ate it all together with everyone who attended family home evening.  After which we went home and that was our relaxed day.

On Tuesday, we studied in the morning and then ate lunch and then went over to the church where we had a meeting with our sister team to align our schedules and to talk about the area and addressing the Miryang's peoples needs.  Then after which we walked over to the detention center, but while walking over there a man came over and greeted us, and said he wanted to meet although he is always very busy and he wants to learn English and met with the missionaries years back. Then we went on our way after talking with him and went to the detention center where we met our friend and taught him.  It is so interesting that we only get to teach him for 13 minutes. But it is still great regardless.  Then after which we talked to more people on our way back to the church and then waited for one of our other friends who is investigating the church.  But he didn't come or pick up the phone, so we cleaned out spots on the chairs because our branch president asked us to.  So we did that and then prepared for English class.  After which, we had a bit of English class, and then went home.

On Wednesday, we had our district meeting and after which we went out to go eat lunch.  We had Dwejigukbab and that was amazing.   It came with some really spicy peppers so we did rock, paper, scissors to decide who would take a bite.   So we did.  I had to eat 2 bites and another Korean Elder had to take 2 bites --- we were really good friends at the MTC..  The peppers were so hot that our tongues died and we were crying and it was great.  So anyways... After that, Elder Quiroz and I did companion exchanges and so I was with an elder named Elder Stradling. So we went outside with our sister team and went to go talk to people with a sticker board and had people just put stickers on the board and it was very great.  After which we split ways and then talked to more people and then went to a former investigators house.  Where we played with the investigators who are like 10 and 12 and then we taught a little bit and then went to go see our North Korean Friend.  He wasn't very happy because he had to go to the hospital because of his feet getting cut by his shoes because he doesn't wear socks and yea.. But other than that he was really happy to see us and we talked to him and it was great!

On Thursday we studied for a bit in the morning and then went to go to exchange so we caught a train and then came back to our respective area.  Then after which we went to go do our service project at the horse stable, but the owner had no saw dust so we had to go get some, and then afterwards, he really wanted to have guy time and just talk to people, so we went driving with him as he went to other work places to go work and finish up his things.  Also he wanted to talk peoples of us and with us, so we took pictures and helped him with his work!!

So because on Thursday we weren't able to clean his horse stable, we had to do it on Friday.  So we studied in the morning and then we went out to eat with his wife and the sister missionaries and then we all went to go clean his stable.  But the wife had to leave and the owner had a sudden change of plan so it was just us cleaning.  And it worked out well and the member was very happy with the job we did.  But after we got done and had to walk home, his dogs kept following us, so the sister missionaries left and we basically had to break out of the stable so the dogs wouldn't follow us.  So we finally did that after multiple tries because the dogs kept following us, then we went home got showered, changed and then went off to see an investigator, who didn't show up, so we went back home and we planned for our upcoming week.

On Saturday, we studied and got a call from a member saying he wanted to clean the church.  So we went out and it turned out that it was he wanted to go hiking, so we went hiking with the sisters and talked to him and had a good discussion with him. After which came home, got ready and went over to English class to get ready where we did English class.  After English we had a fun time playing ping pong and then we cleaned the church, but as we got ready to clean, a little girl came and wanted to play, so we played and ate --- she used to investigate the church too. So we talked with her and then we went home and planned for the upcoming week and that was really our day.

On Sunday, we went to the church in the morning and rain came pouring down.  Also members in our branch are sick with the flu, so there were not many people at church.  Also missionary work is very difficult when it rains because no one is ever outside.  So after which, we went and knocked doors for 3 hours and no one let us in, but that is okay :)  It was fun seeing people open the door!!  Then after which we went home and then went and talked to our North Korean Friend again and then after which, went home and I had made meatloaf so we ate meatloaf!

That was my week and it was amazing! :) I loved this week and I'm so glad I get to be serving here!!

I miss you all and love you always! :)

Love Always,

Elder Wilson

Selfie at a huge wall

No traction on shoes ;) But still getting up even after 6 months

Before Our Service Project

The Ultimate Service Project Ending

Meatloaf -- Broccoli was being steamed (and not in the picture)

Dinner is served!