Week 61 - September 21, 2015

Family!

Hope all is well!  Dad, happy birthday.  Hope you had a great day!  Crazy to think that you have had two birthdays now since I have been gone!  That's crazy!   Next one, we will be celebrating together!  Super Pumped!  I love you and hope you had a great day.  Gramps told me about your party!  Hah Hope it was great!  Sounded like you ate some delicious tacos!

Well, it's officially been one year since I landed here in Korea.  I can now say that I have spent a full year out of my homeland.  It has been a year I will forever be grateful for and It will defiantly be a year that I will never forget.  I am so blessed and look forward to cherishing my experiences to come and the ones of which I have already had, for an eternity. 

  (Elder Skinner comes back to Korea. Fun to see him at church.)

 

 (Elders in Korea)

 (Service in the kitchen.)

This week was great!  It was pretty busy and we have still been able to see so many miracles.  On Wednesday, we had an Elder from the First Quorum of the Seventy come and speak to us.  (Mission Tour).  It was super great!  I was able to receive lots of uplifting inspiration and revelation to help me in my everyday missionary work.  He talked a lot about elevating our thoughts--not to see things how a normal person would, but to stand taller and elevate our thoughts to find the people the Lord would have us find.  He also talked about some things they established when he was a mission president in Seattle, Washington.  His name is Elder Choi.  He and his wife also talked about our thoughts--where they need to be directed and how we can act upon them.  He said our thoughts lead to action, which leads to habits which leads to characteristics and our character leads to destiny.  It was very humbling.  He opened his message with the question, "Who are you?"  It was a question to really take into mind and ponder.  It caused me to think of my calling as a representative of the Savior and to understand a little bit more of Who called me and where my call came from.  He shared a scripture that really hit me too.  I was able to feel the spirit just as if the Lord was speaking to me.  In John 15:16, the Lord is talking to one of His Apostles and it basically says, "Remember it is not you that chose me, but it is I that chose you."  It was very humbling to know that the Savior indeed did call me to His work and is trusting in me to accomplish it by His hand, following His light. 

This week I also fasted with my companion for help on the principle of planning.  We were taught from the spirit and we both have been able to improve our planning abilities.  The base of every good thing and successful work is a solid plan.  A plan that can be changed immediately when a trial or mishap occurs. A plan that is solid and very specific. 

Plans must have plans. 

Ponder upon that statement. 

The day we fasted we had three appointments and at the close of our last appointment, we had such a cool spiritual message with one of our investigators.  He is super awesome.  He is about 50 and has great interest.  The Lord has really prepared him and anyway I felt inspired that I needed to ask Elder Bombasi to pray before we started our lesson.  Well, we had planned on teaching about faith, but in the prayer, our investigator listened intently and asked what one of the words that he said meant.  It was Holy Ghost in Korean.  Our message completely changed and we taught him about the Light of Christ and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.  We were able to talk a little bit about baptism as well.  It was so cool to feel the Spirit guiding the lesson.  We shared some great scriptures that he pondered upon.  He loves the Book of Mormon and is learning so well.  I was grateful the Lord was able to give us an experience like that. 

I also was able to baptize one of the sisters' investigators.  Long story short.  They are two sons about age 12 and 10 of two less-active parents.  Our members got the wife back out to church and she started attending again.  Because of that, she was able to get her two sons out with her and they were baptized yesterday!  The Father was not reconnected with the church quite yet but after the baptism yesterday, the father because he was there and received the priesthood quite a while ago, was able to confirm the Holy Ghost upon his two sons.  It was super spiritual.  After the baptism, he talked for a little bit and committed that he would start coming back out to church.  It was cool to see the Plan that the Lord had for these two boys as well as their parents, in the bigger picture, their FAMILY.

 (Such a great family!)

I am grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  More than that, I am grateful for the ability to share it and to live it with my family and to enjoy it for an eternity.

Love you.  Be safe.  Have a great week!

Elder Cole Thomas Johnson

PACE Trust(ing) in the Source.