8-3-14

Hello!  

So this week was probably one of the best weeks I have had on my mission!  

So last Sunday our member said that he had someone to refer to us! A little background information. Our member was studying to become a pilot and he was like in the last stage of testing which is why he came to this area. Well he failed the test and now has a lot of time. He had a friend that was in the same situation as him and so he asked his friend if he wanted to listen to our message. He told him that we came to Korea to share our beliefs that our important to us but we don't have anyone to teach. So his friend was willing to listen. We met him for the first time on Tuesday and shared our prepared message about the Atonement (we didn't know what to expect going in to the lesson so that was all we prepared). He doesn't have any religious background so it is all new to him, he isn't necessarily looking into going to church or anything but he says he is willing to listen. After listening he was like "Is that it?" expecting something more and longer...So our member was like, "Nope they can teach more if you want, hey Elders teach more." So we taught the whole plan of salvation and it went well without specifically planning for it beforehand. I think we were blessed to have that run as smoothly as it did. We set an appointment for the Thursday but then in the middle of the day Wednesday we got a text saying that they couldn't meet on Thursday and wanted to know if we could meet that night   (Wednesday). So we met that night and taught more. Also he had read the Book of Mormon reading assignment we gave him. During the lessons he would mainly just listen to us when we talked but when the member, his friend, said anything, he listened intently and would respond to and ask him questions/test his words. I could see the importance of member’s words and presence. People will listen to their friends, so find someone to refer! Anyways whenever we gave scriptures to read while talking, he would read it aloud then to himself again so he could understand. He seemed so willing to really try to understand and know for himself if what we taught was true. I really felt that my companion and I were fulfilling our purpose as missionaries. Teaching with power, by the spirit, and inviting people to change and follow Christ. This morning is where the sad news comes in. We got a message from our member saying that his friend was feeling a little pressured by taking the lessons so for now we cannot meet anymore. We hope and have faith that it will change and we can meet him again!

This Saturday we finally experienced a typhoon. Apparently its name was typhoon Sakuro (or something like that). Well it wasn't too big or anything but there was a lot of wind and rain on Saturday and a little less on Sunday. Yea our church somehow had a leak and we had a puddle in the one corner of our room that is the chapel. We had 3 buckets for dripping water right there...pretty sketchy for a nice church. All during sacrament meeting there was just dripping sounds in the back where the water was dripping.

We also met the one guy I mentioned last week. The one that gave us dinner. Yea well we met 2 times but unfortunately he was pretty drunk both times. The first time we tried to teach him but as we started he said his head hurt. At first he said it in Spanish then Korean. Still weird. Well so we couldn't teach him anything else that first time. That time though he was there with his friends and they said that he should go to church (one reason was because he might find a wife.....no possibilities at our branch...) but they were pretty good at supporting him to meet us. They told us to keep trying and working on him. The next time we met him he was too drunk to let us talk much. He couldn't focus on what we would say at first. He offered us some alcohol (usually he doesn't because he knows we don’t drink, but he was drunk enough this time to not remember). We actually taught him about the Word of Wisdom and the principle of obedience and we committed him to trying to not drink or smoke for one week......yea he didn't accept. We never planned to teach that, but that is what came up, and pretty much the lesson didn't really turn out well, except for the fact that he asked for a Book of Mormon and said he would read it. I really felt love for him as we talked and invited him to try and change. I think I saw his potential to become and I have a lot of hope for him in the future.

We met another guy too! He was someone we met once before. Well we just talked and found out a lot about what he believed. He is Buddhist and pretty much he told us a lot about it. How meditation is a big part of it and that it is through meditation that he feels the most happiness. We helped him understand better who our Savior is and why he is important. He is pretty open to what we have to say, and he says he is willing to try this whole learning about Christ and his restored gospel.  

Yea so this week was just super good and I learned a lot. I am super thankful for the many miracles I have seen this week!

Hope you all have a good week!

Love,
Elder Frampton