Hello from Korea! (March 26, 2017)

 Hello all! You guys look SO GOOD in the pictures, thanks! I LOVE YOU!!

This is my companion and I with Brother S, who is blind. We visited him again this week and talked about temples. He is so good. He just loves the Lord and wants to do what is right.

Brother S is so kind to the missionaries, too. He was able to come to stake conference and he shared a testimony! It was great!

Here is one thing I learned!  This week I learned a lot through something John the Baptist said about the Savior:  "Whose fan is in his hand."  When separating wheat and chaff, you throw it up in the air together using a tool called a fan.  The wind blows the light chaff away while the solid, good wheat falls back to its spot. Thus the wheat is separated from the chaff.

Similarly, when we in this life experience hard times, when we experience winds or are tossed about, it is a very decisive time in our life. Will we be tossed, aimlessly blown as chaff in whatever direction the wind goes? Or will we remember our identity as God's children, and stay true to the good and solid ground we know? We can choose to be steady--protecting ourselves from the winds of life through study of God's word, through serving, and reaching out to others, through loving those around us. Steady yourself through heartfelt prayer. Most of all, the peace-bringing Holy Spirit of God will steady us, that spirit which comes from doing these different things. Choose to be wheat! Protect yourself from the tossing, stormy trials that are part of this mortal existence.

Love you family, Sorry I got to go, but have a great week!  Here are a few more pictures real quick.

Here I am with Brother JH! He came to a young men's activity, a meal after church, family night, and then yesterday a meal at Bishop's house all during the last few weeks! He is a 17 year old (American age) new investigator. Please pray that his heart will be softened toward the gospel.

Here I am with our zone leaders and a district leader. After district meeting, I went on a split and so we grabbed a bit to eat together.

Jjim Dak!  Aka cheese and chicken and deliciousness.  Allie's mouth is watering right about now, haha!! That is what we ate!

My amazing companion, Elder M, before our meal! I made Donkas, it is like a breaded pork thing you can buy frozen, and we ate lots of fruits and veggies. So I took pictures to prove it to you, Mom!

 Have a great week!
Love,

Elder Beckett

Happy Birthday to Andrew!

Hello! (March 19, 2017)

Where's Waldo? I'm in the back row, 4th from the right side... :)

Here I am close up!

I saw my trainer at Zone Conference! The Mission President comes, as well as the assistants and the secretaries. My trainer is a mission secretary right now, so I got to see him! Super fun.

Brother L and his family came from Gyung Ju to visit me. We ate lunch together and shared a spiritual message with them--it was so great.  He showed me the video of Allie and Mindy in the Seattle airport that went viral!

 I LOVE SANGIN! But it has been a little tough lately as far as missionary work goes. We had an awesome baptism a few weeks ago, but we had put all our time, thoughts, etc. into focusing on Brother J, who is awesome by the way! Yesterday we went to Stake Conference together.  As far as other work, we had to drop some investigators who had no interest, and while we found one investigator, we couldn't get permission to meet at the time he could meet in the morning for a long time, and when we did...well now he is living somewhere else until April studying. So we have no investigators. We are doing some good street proselyting, and door knocking! Missionary work is great--you go around and meet great people, testify to them, express your love for God and the gospel. We meet people at random, and exchange contact information and things...but they never seem to want to meet again. So we are working hard to find new investigators! Today we met a man named Brother K.  He was an investigator last year, and it went pretty well! He is a SUPER nice guy, we will see how things turn out.

Here I am at our service project, where we help kids ride horses. Super fun! And we have found some great potential investigators through it.

This is my testimony in Korean that I wrote in a Book of Mormon that I gave out. People are a little hesitant to take Book of Mormons on the street very often, but when you bear your personal testimony verbally, and then show them that you wrote a note in the front of the book, they are way more willing to receive it we learned! And so we do that a lot. Allie can translate it for you.

I made bibimyun--a delicious noodle food.  Allie can make it for you!

Well, that's all for this week, have a great week! Love you all!

Elder B

March 12, 2017

Hey Family! I want to start with my spiritual message today. Sometimes I run out of time a bit and don't get to share what I could or should.

This week I read 2 Nephi 4.  This is sometimes known as "Nephi's Psalm" because of the powerful, emotional way Nephi pours out his heart into the words found in this chapter. Before I talk about what is in it, I think it is important to know a little background information. Leading up to 2nd Nephi 4, Lehi is giving his last words to each of his sons; it is at this portion of the Book of Mormon that we have some of the greatest sermons on agency, Adam and Eve, and the Plan of Salvation. Lehi testifies to his family with all the convincing power he has, "according to the feelings of his heart and the Spirit of the Lord." From the time they left Jerusalem, perhaps before that point in time, Lehi was concerned about the welfare of his two oldest sons, Laman and Lemuel. Time and time again, he testifies, prophecies, teaches, exhorts them, but nothing seems to stick. This is a great source of heartache for Lehi and Sariah, and Lehi even shares, in 2nd Nephi 1, "I desire that ye should remember to observe the statutes and judgments of the Lord; behold, this hath been the anxiety of my soul from the beginning. My heart hath been weighed down with sorrow from time to time, for I have feared...that ye be cut off."

Nephi, on the other hand, was obedient, quick to obey his father's words. In fact, Nephi often testified of the same truths as his father, reteaching, and helping his brother to understand. In the first part of 2nd Nephi 4, Lehi finishes his teachings to his children and grandchildren. After delivering his words, he "waxed old" and he passed away. Although Nephi knew the Plan of Happiness, the wonderful, beautiful truth that families can live together forever, this must have been a very difficult loss for him to lose his father, whom he loved, revered, and followed.  In addition to the emotional effect of losing a father, this death made things difficult between Nephi and his brothers, Laman and Lemuel. For while Laman and Lemuel didn't always obey or follow their father, they did seem to respect his words more than they did Nephi's.  And after Lehi's death, they became quite angry again with Nephi, to the point that they wanted to take his life. Nephi only sought to do what was right, to keep the commandments, and follow the Lord, but he faced so many different trials, and in addition to it all, Nephi's personal weaknesses seem magnified to him to the point that it caused him to despair. He seemed to feel very inadequate before God, as we all are.

During this heartbreaking time of stress, sorrow, frustration, and perhaps fear, Nephi writes these words:

"O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins."

Sometimes we can all feel this way! We want to rejoice, to be happy, but there is something that seems to be the roadblock of our happiness. But we, as Nephi, can overcome. We, as Nephi, can face what we need to face. We, as Nephi, can choose happiness rather than sorrow.

Because we, as Nephi, "know in whom [we] have trusted."

Our God hath been our support; he hath led us through our afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved us upon the waters of the great deep. He hath filled us with his love, even unto the consuming of our flesh! O then, if we have seen so great things, if the Lord in his condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy, why should our hearts weep and our souls linger in the valley of sorrow, and our flesh waste away, and our strength slacken, because of our afflictions?

And why should we yield to sin, or sorrow, or frustration, or depression, or anxiety, because of our flesh? Yea why should we give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in our hearts to destroy our peace and afflict our souls? Why are we angry because of our enemy?

Awake my soul! No longer droop in sin. Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.

Do not anger again because of mine enemies. Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions.  Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee, my God, and the rock of my salvation. (2nd Nephi 4:18-30ish, with some changes).

I pray that we can all rejoice in the Lord. Let us praise Him, and rely upon the rock of our Salvation. As Moses in the Old Testament, taught, when facing the future filled with fear and uncertainty, "Fear ye not...The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." (Exodus 14:13-14)

Love you all so much. I pray for you! I know that we can all rely on Him who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, even our Father in Heaven, and His son, Jesus Christ.

Also, I would encourage you all to watch the new Mormon message about rock climbing. I bawled when I saw it, not going to lie. I LOVE MY BROTHERS!!!

Sorry, got to go.  But I love you all! Have a great week!!

Love,

Elder B

HELLO I LoVE YOU (March 5, 2017)

This is me and a Filipino recent convert from a nearby ward who is friends with us too. He is so humble and good! He came to Korea to work and send money to his parents and family. He was converted while here.

Hey Family! Something I love that I learned from watching Elder Holland's broadcast this week. When I have a thought, and I wonder if it is me, or the Spirit, God answering...how can I know?

Elder Holland's answer:  "If you are living the Gospel, it is the same thing."

WOW! The church leaders then went on to teach about how "God can't steer a parked car!" We need to press forward, move forward. As we keep the commandments, and choose the right, we continually align our thoughts with God's. If you read "prayer" in the Bible dictionary, it talks about the purpose of prayer being to align the child's will with the Father's will.

But in order to take that path, we need to have faith! We don't see the end result right now. We can't understand the end result. In fact, "Eye hath not seen nor hath ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for those who diligently love Him." What great things lie ahead!

I would encourage us all to press forward in faith--faith is absolutely essential, as the first principle of the Gospel.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Elder B

This is a funny advertisement in our town!

Brother K, and my district leader and me. We went to the Buddhist temple last week. Super fun!

Allie sent me a package of delicious food, love, and useful items before she left. As you can see, I felt the love! This was when she was flying home. 

 

This is our bishop! We eat at his restaurant every other week when we go and talk about the ward with him. He is a super great, neat guy!