Happenings in Harbour City 8

Hello family, 

This week has simply been amazing. I have loved working with Elder Ko so far- we get along really well, and have been blessed with mighty miracles even in the short week we've been together. Where do I even begin? 

I will share with you all the course of the incredible Korean miracles this week.

1. On Tuesday we had a P-day activity and walked to Macquarie's Chair, a famous site in the Botanical Gardens. Walking back, Elder Ko and and I ran into a Korean family sightseeing in Sydney. We got chatting to them and had a great conversation, they loved us and got a family photo together with us! Haha. It was a small miracle, but a great opportunity to practice our Korean together and get pumped for the transfer.

2. Wednesday we had a Zone service project helping a member move heaps of boxes from his store up to his flat. He is ABK (Australian Born Korean) but his father is straight from Korea, and Less-Active. Following the move, Elder Ko and I were asked to teach him in Korean. I was so nervous- but it went really well! I understood most of it, a miracle in and of itself, and we were able to continue practicing our language skills together.

3. This is when the miracles really started flowing- arriving back in the Teaching Center from that lesson, we found the sisters and a member, Sandy, waiting for us. Sandy is from China, and when I first came to the city she promised me that she would find a Korean person for me to teach. Well that day Sandy went out finding with the Sisters and met a Korean girl! Even more amazing, Sandy brought the girl back to the Teaching Center and waited for us to come so we could meet her. We ended up having a sit-down lesson with So-Hyun (that's her name), teaching the Godhead and committing her to learn. We saw her the next day, and on Friday she came to Games Night with her friend. Miracles! What's even more amazing, she agreed to be baptized on December 13th. How amazing is that?!

4. But the miracles didn't stop there. On Thursday we went to Book of Mormon Institute Class and met Jay, a potential investigator some other elders brought. Jay is from Korea, and knows very little English- so the elders gave him to us to teach. We met with him and invited him to the Baptismal service on Saturday. He came and loved it- he felt the Spirit so strongly that we committed him right there to be baptized Dec. 13th! Another yes! He came to church and loved it as well. The most amazing thing is that he has been texting one of the members that fellowshipped with us- and told her that he LOVED church, and would go every day if he could!! Truly a man prepared by the Lord.

5. Nuri and Sol, the returning members. We saw them Friday and had another incredibly spiritual lesson- Sol continues to blow us away with her spiritual progression. On Sunday she came up to me and mentioned that at the end of every lesson, she noticed that Elder Ko and I always bear our testimonies on the Book of Mormon, Jesus, and so forth. She said that in the past lesson, we both said the same thing- that we know the Book of Mormon is true- and that for the first time, when we said that she really felt something. She felt the Spirit confirm to her that the Book of Mormon IS true. And she loved it :)

6. Saturday we finally got in contact with a potential Korean I met on the street, Jin-Oong.  He was nice, but only interested in the Korean/English practice, and not so much the religious aspect. We respected that and proceeded to have a great language study with him, but at the end Elder Ko asked some inspired questions about where he thinks we will go after this life. The question puzzled him a little and he said that he really doesn't know, and doesn't know where to look for the answer. We asked if next time we could teach him about those answers, to which he agreed. 

7. The last Korean miracle came on Sunday. Those same Elders that introduced us to Jay brought a girl to church who had seen them holding a pamphlet, came up to them and asked them where that church was. Turns out Yu-Jeong is Korean, born in China then moved to Korea a few years ago for university. She speaks fluent Korean and Chinese, but hardly a lick of English. She loved church and afterwards we sat down in a lesson with her. It was epic, to say the least. We had 2 fellowship, a member from New Zealand and one from China. The next hour consisted of her unfolding her story- how she came to believe in God, how she had learned about the church in China, and her fears about death and seeing her family again. The spirit was amazing- never have Elder Ko nor I seen someone so pure, so sincere in desiring to follow Christ. The lesson was in Korean, but we tried our best to translate into English, and then one of the members would add their thoughts in Chinese, and then the other would speak in English, and we'd have to translate that- and then for the words we didn't know, we'd say them in English, the member from China would say it in Chinese and then Yu-Jeong would tell us the Korean word. Pretty funny. She loved it though, and she set a return appointment for all of us this Tuesday. What an amazing girl. 

So, with this onslaught of miracles this week, I have learned quite a number of things. The first is that we really have nothing to do with this work. Every single Korean encounter and miracle has come about because of someone else's efforts to help us teach- and Elder Ko and I have been deeply grateful and blown away to realize that they were all basically given straight to us from the Lord. It has certainly increased my humility- I am aware more than ever how inadequate I am, that were it not for the Lord we could have had none of these miracles- therefore, we simply need to do our best, trust, and desire to accomplish the Lord's will, not our own. Elder Ko and I feel that this is Heavenly Father's way of showing His trust in us, and that now is the time to be more consecrated and diligent than ever before, to be able to qualify for the blessings of Heaven. 

Secondly, I learned that it's time to cast away all my vain ambitions and unrighteous desires. Elder Ko and I are trying our best to show our desires for this work to roll forward, to not be hindered, but also to be in tune with and influenced by the Lord's desires and will. All we want is to trust and work hard in whatever is given to us. 

So, to recap my week in a shorter way, I'll just say I loved it. It was amazing. It has been a time where we felt the Lord has directed us more clearly than ever as to where our focus and our efforts and our desires need to lay- and now it's time to strap down and get to work!!

Love you all heaps, enjoy your week :)

사랑해요,

Elder Easton

P.S. Aussieism for the week- Australians write the date differently, and it's waaaay more confusing to put into practice than you'd think. Americans write: Month/day/year but Aussies do Day/month/year. Sounds simple, but it's easy to confuse the two. It's now worries for a date like 28/7/14, but when someone writes 5/4/14, for example, my mind does a little spin out. Haha.