Happenings in Harbour City 9

Another great week has flown by.

Some exciting news about today- the whole mission gets a "Special P-Day" because we made it 30 days without a car accident or infringement, so this afternoon we get to watch some movies! We're watching Frozen and How to Train Your Dragon 2, I am super stoked!!

So, I don't have much time to write today. 

But it has been another smash week here in Sydney. I love my companion, Elder Ko, and we've been seeing heaps of blessings from Heavenly Father.

This thursday, Ethan is getting baptized! He passed his interview with flying colors, and seems all ready for his baptism. We're really excited for it!

Jay is doing great. We taught him 3 times last week, and he loved everything he learned. He didn't make it to church on Sunday, but we'll be meeting up with him tomorrow, so that'll be good. We're excited for him!

Yu Jeong has been really fun to teach. She is being antied pretty hard, and has a lot of concerns regarding our church- she kept reiterating that satan is a smart person, and he could very easily be tricking her with this religion. We couldn't do much else besides bear testimony and invite her to take the lessons with us before she makes a decision, to which she agreed. We gave her a Book of Mormon and when she came to church yesterday, she'd already made it halfway through 2 Nephi! She's a living example to me of the efforts the adversary makes to keep us from the gospel, but also the preparation and protection the Lord gives to His children. Clearly, Heavenly Father's got a plan for her, and He's going to make sure it happens! Haha. Truly a miracle.

Nuri and Sol continue to be awesome. We started something called the "Missionary Resource Plan" with them this week, a program designed to help members become involved in missionary work. Nuri and Sol absolutely loved it- and they came with a list of questions for us on Sunday about how they can start working on their goals and what skills they should work on to be prepared to invite their friends. What more could you ask for? 

On Friday we had a ward Halloween party. It was organized by the missionary couple, so of course it felt very American, which I loved. We even got to carve pumpkins and make roasted pumpkin seeds! It was pretty funny though, the Chinese members didn't want to eat the seeds, they wanted to cut up and eat the pumpkins. Haha.

Overall it was a great week. We're teaching more and more in Korean, and so I feel like a new missionary again, having to learn how to teach and ask questions and do all the basic missionary things, only this time in another language. It's a challenge, but I'm enjoying it. Elder Ko and I are getting along really well, and it makes the work so much easier, that's for sure. I'm so grateful to be a missionary here in the Sydney North!!

Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Easton

P.S. Aussieisms: "I'm puffed" or "All puffed out" is what an Aussie'd say when they're out of breath from running too fast, or tired after a game of sport. The opposite? When the little kids are all wild on sugar, they say they've "gone hypo".. pretty close to what they'd say in the states, but a bit different. And there you go!

Happenings in Harbour City 10

What a great week.

First of all, I GOT TO SEE FROZEN AND HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2!! It felt wrong watching them as a missionary, but it also felt good.. haha. The most difficult thing this week has been trying to get "Let it go" out of our heads. It's just so catchy! Haha.

Besides that, Elder Ko and I had some amazing things happen this week. 

We met with Yu Jeong three times this week. She's the one who received heavy anti material and who, we found out this week, used to be a part of the Jehovah's Witnesses back in Korea- which explained a lot about her concerns. We were really struggling with her and what we needed to teach her, how we could help her. On Wednesday we offered to help her study English, but when she came in she put her Book of Mormon on the table and asked that she have a lesson first. We didn't object, and began to share with her some parts in the Book of Mormon. For the first time, the mood in the lesson changed- and in a positive way. She began to be more open, and you could see it in her face. As the lesson progressed, she began to reveal more of her true concerns, and the Spirit was so strong. She expressed how she was dealing with some pretty serious sins, and felt in a very real way the chains of the adversary wrapped around her. We felt inspired to share with her Alma 5- and for the first time, Yu Jeong began to cry. The spirit "cut her to the heart" as the scriptures say, and we could feel it and see it. Since then, Yu Jeong has changed, and it is so amazing to see. She shared with us on Friday that she feels and believes the Book of Mormon to really be the word of God. It's such a blessing to see the gospel truly take its course in someone's life!

On Friday the Assistants (who work in the city as well) came and found us to tell us they had a Korean referral for us- Ji Hyun! He spoke hardly any English, so they thought it'd be better for him to learn from us. Well it was a mighty miracle- Ji Hyun is one of the most humble and prepared people we have ever met, which is even more amazing considering he's Korean! He expressed a desire to be baptized, so in that first lesson we invited him for November 29th, and he accepted! Whoo hoo! Something crazy amazing about Ji Hyun is that his family actually is from North Korea, and they escaped when he was 8. Pretty incredible, when you think about it. 

We also met a new Korean man through English class, Jee Hoon. He didn't seem to keen to learn about Jesus Christ, but yesterday he came to church! So that's a start, for sure. 

The last Korean miracle of the week came through another referral from a set of elders in the zone. They brought Narae to church, and referred her over to us. She's from Korea, and only been in Australia 3 days! The best best best part is that Sol, the recently-returning member, latched on to Narae and sat by her during all three hours of church, talking to her and helping her along the way. How great is that?!

And finally, perhaps the most exciting news of the week- Ethan got baptized!!! Everything went very smoothly, and the service was wonderful. Ethan's testimony was very inspiring, as he explained his conviction that Jesus Christ is real, and is the Savior of the world. 

So, in conclusion, this week has been a very real testimony to me that Heavenly Father is leading this work. So many things that I didn't think would happen, did, and vice versa- all things that, when viewed individually, may seem coincidental, but when compiled together really leave no doubt in my mind that Heavenly Father is real and really does love His children. It really amazes me how lives and experiences of so many people can be so intertwined, so dependant on millions of things, and yet always seem to work out. Truly, doesn't it show that there really is a plan of each of us?? At least I think so :)

Well, I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Easton

P.S. Aussieism- The game "Uno" is very popular here, but for some reason every single Australian calls it "Yuno", not "Uno". Clearly they need some more Spanish influence down here.

Happenings in Harbour City 7

Transfers!

This transfer I have been given a new companion, truly a miracle... President Howes put the other Korean Elder in the ward with me! Elder Ko! I literally am overjoyed... this is only the second time on my mission I've had a Korean companion, and I am so so excited. I didn't think this would happen, because Elder Ko was already in the ward, but we just switched companions- so my old companion, Elder Marshall, is still in the ward. So it'll be good to still see him :) But I am just so happy, because now Elder Ko and I can really focus on building the Korean program and helping each other!! Wahoo!!!

So besides that amazing miracle, it has been a pretty good week.

Our investigator, Ethan, is amazing. We taught him Word of Wisdom and Chastity this week, and he had no qualms. He is just so prepared. His date is for November 6th, there's only one problem- because he's from Iran, he has to get Area Presidency approval before he can be baptized. We are a bit worried that his situation at present may be an issue, so please please keep him in your prayers! Hopefully we'll be able to get it sorted out.

One highlight of this week was meeting with Nuri and Sol, the Korean sisters (funnily enough, I taught them with Elder Ko, even though we weren't companions yet). we read my favorite chapter in the Book of Mormon together- 3 Nephi 17. Isn't it just amazing? Near the end Sol shared a spiritual experience with us. She has been struggling with a trial for quite some time now, and she told us that after the lesson last week, she left the chapel and just felt her burden lifted. She slept well for the first time in weeks, and in the morning she felt good again- and she knew it was because she's begun coming back to church. Isn't that amazing? It's so incredible to get to witness someone regaining their testimony. 

Yesterday we were asked to teach the lesson for Family Home Evening. Elder Ko and I had no idea what to teach... and randomly I remembered watching a funny music video on the youth website of lds.org called "Find My Cousins". It's just some cheesy clip of people doing Family History work. We thought with the recent push of Family History, it'd be a fun way of introducing the topic, so we planned to teach about how to do Family History. I got onto Family Search to print off my Family Tree, and ended up printing off some photos and stories of ancestors to share during the lesson. I was amazed- there were pictures and biographies of some of our really old ancestors, that I didn't even know were there! It was amazing! Just for example, I read about William Wallace Merrill, who was baptized by John Taylor and crossed the plains with the Pioneers, joined the Mormon Battalion, and settled in the west. How awesome is that- and I had no idea that he was in my family!! Literally, I can honestly say that I felt the Spirit of Elijah as I read about these ancestors. I felt like they were more than interesting historical people- they were some how a part of me. Corny, maybe, but definitely true. I couldn't stop- I kept reading about my ancestors and printed off as many stories as I could, so I could read them during dinner. I love it.

So while I'm on my mission, I don't have much time to do the work for the dead- I'm called to do the work for the living. But for those of you at home who can, I would strongly suggest taking time to look at your tree online and make some plans to add more people to it :) 

And that was just a part of my week! I'm definitely looking forward to this next transfer, especially to really dive in and put my whole heart into the Korean program. Keep me in your prayers!

Much love,

Elder Easton

P.S. This week's Aussieism- Medicine in Oz! The Australian version of "Airborne" (The vitamin tablet you put in water and fizzes) is called "Berocca". They don't really sell IBprofun or Advil- instead, it's called "Panadol", and lastly, you buy your meds at the "Chemist", not the "Pharmacy". Pretty interesting, hey?!

Love you all heaps!

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. 

Happenings in Harbour City 6

This week has been one of the busiest of my mission- including Special Training, Temple Day, Zone Leader Exchange, Travelling Elders Exchanges, and General Conference- it's been go, go go! But that's definitely how I like it.

An update on some of our investigators. We unfortunately had to give Rob over to the Summerhill Elders. Thankfully, it went smoothly, and he still seems to be on track for baptism. We'll miss him, for sure- hopefully we'll be able to go to his baptism next month! As for Joyce, we saw her this week and it was pretty disappointing- she seemed pretty disinterested, and spent the whole lesson zone-ing out, yawning and checking her phone. Isn't it just the most frustrating feeling when you want to share something with someone, and they won't listen?! Haha, certainly it's a lesson for me in patience... But she still wants to meet and have lessons, so of course that's a good thing.

Miracles in K-town. On Thursday, Elder Ko and I saw Nuri and her sister, Soul (the less-active Korean). We had a pretty good lesson, and they even brought cake for us to eat. The veeeeery best part, of course, came on Sunday- when Nuri And Soul came to church! Hallelujah! When I saw them walk in it literally made my heart burst. We set General Conference up for them in Korean, and they seemed to really enjoy it. 

On Friday we went finding in Victoria Park. I really do enjoy finding, but I struggle doing it in the park- for some reason I just really hate walking up to people sitting down, when they can see me approaching and can prepare a defense in their mind (I definitely prefer the 'surprise' approach of chatting on the street). Anyhow I was walking around the park and was about to go talk to someone standing nearby when I saw a girl sitting down underneath a tree... and had the prompting to talk to her. Oh no, I thought... now I have to do the thing I hate. Remembering the conditions of being a successful missionary, however, I sucked in my pride, did my best to put my trust in the Lord, and walked up to talk to her. Honestly it couldn't have been a more inspired prompting- the approach led into a 20 minute conversation of developing a closer connection with God, and the message of the Restoration. How grateful I am for the prompting to not only stretch myself but bring someone closer to Christ.

Later that day we were down the road from the chapel doing some street contacting. I was waiting nearby for my companion to finish talking to a lady when a Japanese man walked by. I took the opportunity to ask him for some help, and eventually it spurred into a conversation where we were explaining the reasons why we were in Sydney. I invited him to go up the street with me for a chapel tour, and for seriously the first time in my mission, someone accepted it! I was so surprised, but so happy, and we walked up together and gave him a tour. We found out that Hiro (that's his name) went to a Christian College and really wants to learn more about 'this Jesus Christ'. Certainly the Lord's hand is in every part of this work.

Now of course General Conference was AMAZING, and I feel as missionaries, it becomes a particularly special time to receive guidance and revelation for our areas. Last weekend was certainly no exception, and I just felt so spiritually fed. I loved all the talks, of course, but some that really resonated with me included the talks given by Elder Lynn G. Robbins, Elder Jorg Klebingat, and the Priesthood talk by Elder Uchtdorf. I'll definitely be reviewing them in the future. One positive I'd just like to mention about Conference in Australia- we got to print off all the talks beforehand, so it made note-taking and impression-taking a breeze!

But probably the most spiritual experience for me this week came from a conversation I had with the Travelling Elder. A quick background- President Howes has assigned two elders to go around and try to go on tradeoffs with just about every companionship in the mission. One of them is the old Assistant, and these are his last two transfers in the mission. Anyhow Elder Marshall and I were with him, Elder Richardson. While we were waiting for a lesson I asked Elder Richardson how he's been able to increase and purify his desires for missionary work. Essentially, he shared that pure desire to do missionary work comes from loving God- i.e. we want to help the old lady cross the street because we love God and we know that He loves her, and that helping her will make Him happy (Mosiah 2:17). But how do we develop that love? Quite simply, it comes from understanding, applying, and appreciating the Atonement. Like Elder Bednar's talk in Conference, when we experience something that helps us, it instills in us a desire to share that with others- just as Elder Bednar's son wanted to put the ointment on all of his friends. It reminds me of Alma and the sons of Mosiah, who, once repentant, would cringe at the thought of anyone suffering from not receiving the blessings of the Atonement. They desired to share because they first felt. Missionary work is an outward expression of our inner conversion- putting faith and trust to application. It really doesn't have a thing to do with numbers or success, but everything to do with having an "eye single to the Glory of God", which glory is the Atonement. I realized that if I want to show God that I am grateful for the Atonement, that I love my Savior- then I need to refocus my efforts, my actions, on desiring to make Him happy, to accomplish His will. Having a personal agenda is vain ambition, and that disqualifies us from the power and authority of our calling (D&C 121). 

Basically, to become a better missionary- and, I suppose, to become a better person- we need to grow our understanding of and gratitude for the Atonement of Christ. This come through becoming "really really good at repenting" (Elder Klebingat's talk) and having joy, happiness, excitement, in the opportunity to change. This has changed my outlook, as now I feel like I am finally understanding what I can do to improve myself, that is far more effective than any other technique or skill I could perfect. How grateful I am.

Love you all and have a great week. 

Elder Easton

P.S. I can't forget an Aussieism... at General Conference, everyone brought heaps of snacks and treats- my favorite. A classic Aussie lolly that everyone brought was "Jaffas", or small round chocolate balls, covered in a bright orange coating. They taste a lot like m&m's, and boy are they delicious! Haha.

Happenings in Harbour City 5

Happy Conference Weekend!

Unfortunately, since I'm in Australia, we didn't see Conference last weekend- we will watch all the sessions this upcoming sat/sun. Also, the reason why I'm emailing a day late- we had a special P-day today and got to go to the temple! Ah I love that place, it's the perfect place to receive revelation and feel of God's love. It's been way to long since I got to go!

Last week had a lot of awesome things happen. The first I have been aching to share is, of course, the highlight of my week- Dinner with Nuri and Soul. So some background- Elder Ko (the other Korean Elder) and I have been meeting weekly with a Korean member, Nuri. She is a returning member, and our main focus is helping to strengthen her testimony. She comes from a once faithful family, but now has sunken pretty far into inactivity. Anyways she has an older sister who used to be really strong in the church, but hasn't come in years. After weeks and weeks of trying, we finally convinced Nuri's sister (Soul) to come to a lesson with all of us by bribing her with food. Never underestimate the power of food. We cooked up some "American-Korean Fusion" food, aka sloppy joes, rice, kimchi, and seaweed. Delicious! Haha. We had a great little dinner in the teaching center, and then proceeded to talk about the priesthood. Honestly, it was one of the most powerful and spiritual lessons I've had on my mission. We began by talking to them about how the priesthood is given to us to feel of God's love- then shared some experiences of how the priesthood has blessed our lives. Surprising all of us, Soul shared an experience that when she was 12, she was deathly ill in the hospital, received a blessing, and immediately became better. She began to cry, and the Spirit flooded the room. She gushed out to us, telling us how she believes in God but stopped living some commandments and felt too guilty to come back to church, but that it was time and she needed the invitation from us. We were blown away by her honesty, and her humility.We committed her and Nuri to read the scriptures together, to come to church, and to prepare themselves for a priesthood blessing. They happily accepted. Unfortunately on Sunday only Nuri was at church, we asked her what happened and she told us Soul had been planning on coming the night before, but when the alarm rang in the morning she was just too tired. On a good note, though, Soul made her and Nuri read from the Book of Mormon together- which was awesome! Still a success. We are meeting again with Nuri and Soul this week, and we are excited to see what we can do to get Soul back into the gospel. 

I just feel like Korean miracles continue to flow. We were walking through Belmore park and I see a Korean sitting on a bench. I pointed to him and began walking determinedly towards him. He looked confused and a little bit frightened, but I mustered all my courage and just started talking to him. Turns out he had come to Belmore Park to think; his last friend in Sydney had left that morning back to Korea. He felt all alone, and didn't know what God was leaving for him in Sydney, as he still has three months to go before he returns to Korea. I told him that I believed God had put our paths together, and wanted us to meet, to which he agreed. We are seeing him tomorrow- hope all goes well! Truly there are no coincidences, especially in the Lord's work.

Yesterday we had FHE and an English Class student brought someone who he had just met that day to the activity. Yes, this new friend of his just so happened to be Korean, and as I talked to him he told me he's been looking for a church since he left Korea- and he asked if he could come to our church!! Isn't it just the best when people commit themselves?

One thing I've been learning since coming to the city is the importance of following up. Everyday I see miracles in the people whom we meet and talk to, and I am filled continually with a testimony that this work is so true. What I'm coming to discover, however, is that even as we find these people, if I don't follow up with immediate contact, and strive with every effort to keep in touch with them, it is so easy for them to fall by the side and be lost. In the fast pace of this area, it's easy to forget and lose track of where everyone is at, but it really is so crucial if we want to be effective missionaries. It's an eternal principle, I think- the Lord sets the example in His accounting to Heavenly Father, in the consistent efforts He set forward with His disciples, and in the direction He gives us. Forgetfulness; Laziness; "Can't be Bothered" mentalities; those are the things that set us back from progression, that stall the work. On the flip side, I love that as we include the Lord, do our best to stay on top that He really does provide, guide, and help. I'm grateful for that help; without it I would be 100% lost.

Aaaaaand lastly an Aussieism: "Like Chalk and Cheese", referring to two things that are complete opposites, that do not go together at all. "We get along like chalk and cheese" aka they hate each other; "Sydney and Beijing are chalk and cheese" meaning they are two completely different cities, so much that you can't compare them. Now I don't know if this is a phrase in America too, but I'd never heard it til I came here- and they say it all the time!

Well I love you all heaps! Enjoy your week and talk to you soon.

Cheers,

Elder Easton

Happenings in Harbour City 4

Another week flies by!

First things I'd just like to mention what a small world this is- this week I went on a trade-off with Elder Fowler, a Chinese speaking missionary in my district. And it just so happens that Elder Fowler and I went to middle and high school together! He lives by Butler elementary. It was so fun to catch up with him and talk about things and people we both knew! Too fun.

The most prominent miracle for me this week was probably meeting Olivia. I have been reading a lot on what it means to be mighty in prayer, and to have total faith, doubting nothing that the Lord will fulfill His promises. Well on Wednesday I decided to pray with all the energy of my heart to not only meet a Korean- but to set a return appointment, and to be able to meet them again. I had a lot of doubts, but I did my best to push them all out and just trust that I could do that. Well near the end of the day we were walking through Belmore Park and I saw a Korean girl sitting on a bench, so I went up and chatted to her, and although we had a nice conversation she was pretty disinterested in meeting again. I was grateful I could talk to her, but as I walked away I wondered in my head if that girl was the one Heavenly Father had provided me, and if only I had tried a little harder I could've accomplished my goal. I felt pretty disappointed in myself. About 5 minutes later, as we were walking back to the flat, I struck up a conversation with another Asian girl- and turns out she was Korean! As soon as she said she was from Korea, I knew that I hadn't let down the Lord- and that He hadn't let me down either. I just felt so assuredly that this was the Korean Heavenly Father had prepared for me, and as I talked to her I felt confident in extending the commitment to learn more and meet again. And she accepted! It was just such a confirmation to me that Heavenly Father wants to help me and bless me, and can use me even with my massive imperfections. 

Actually, looking back this week has been full of meeting and progressing with Koreans. I feel like a pot on the stove when it's just about to start boiling- when the water at the tops just begins to swirl around. I know that accomplishing my purpose here, especially called to learn Korean, depends entirely on my hard work, diligence and faith. I am beginning to understand more and more that out of those three, the very most important is the faith- I could be the best speaker, but without the faith and confidence, the trust in the Lord- I could do nothing. Comparatively, when I trust totally, doubting nothing, even my broken and limited Korean skills can be an influential part in bringing the Lord's children to Christ.

As for our investigators, Ethan came to church- and still awesome as! Ricky couldn't make it because the train lines were down yesterday, but he still seems to be doing great. We just have to be patient, and faithful, in helping them! 

And for an Aussieism, I've been thinking about it a lot about it and think I found an interesting one. Here they call Cotton Candy "Fairy Floss". Keep that in mind when I tell you the next part. I think this might be specifically a "Sydneyism", but there are Asian bread shops EVERYWHERE. Like bread shops are the "in thing right now". Anyhow Elder Marshall and I stopped in at one last week and I bought a pastry called "Pork Floss"- yep, it was a bread bun with pork-cotton-candy on top. It was actually very delicious, except it felt like I was eating hairy bread. Yum. 

And that's a wrap for this week! 

Sending my love,

Elder Easton