Hello my dear family!! It was SO GREAT talking with you this morning!! I love you all and it was so fun to see you move and talk! It made me realize how great it is going to be when we will all be back together in the fall. (Not in a trunky way, because I have also realized that everything at home seems pretty close to the same haha)
Anyway. Because Mom kept asking what happened this week-
Tuesday was our big activity that we have been planning forever!! The YM and their friends, and the elders played basketball, and we had other games with water balloons and such with our investigators and their kids which was SUPER fun!!!!!! About 20 missionaries came up from Daegu and they helped a lot, and it was great to see them. At night we had a talent show that turned out great as well. It was super hilarious. I will attempt sending a video, but I don't know if it will load or not!! I have a bajillion pictures (ok maybe only like 300) from the day and will send some of my favorites. Including the Young Men wearing my harmony pants.
Wednesday, we had district meeting. Great as always. Our district leader, Elder ***, talked about how Heavenly Father sees us not as an acorn, but the oak tree that we can become. I like the analogy and thinking of the potential we have. We just do what we can to follow the commandments, be obedient, serve others, etc, and when we look back, we can truly see what and who we have become. So neat!!
Thursday, we had to go renew my foreigner card because I have been here for almost a year (yeah I know. I can't believe it either!) and then went and visited one of our members. I have probably talked a lot about her because I love her. She and her husband were baptized last summer, and she has so much faith and trust in the Lord. I love talking with her.
Friday, we went and visited ***, which is always a highlight. We decided we would talk with them about a few of the commandments before fast sunday this week (because we had the dedication last week) and it was really neat. We taught about Tithing, and he already had a testimony of it and shared how it helped him when he was attending a different church. Then I asked him what he remembered learning about Fasting and Fast Offerings from the lessons, and he basically recited exactly what it says in PMG. Then we taught about studying the scriptures and he said, "so if we study for a little bit separately, then share what we learn and study some more together, is that what we're supposed to do? Haha yep that's basically it! They are studying the gospel principles book together along with the scriptures, and he is half way through Jesus the Christ. Awesome! We gave them a whole list of scriptures to study about what we taught so I can't wait to ask about it this week!!!!!
After we got back, we jundoed in the downtown part of Andong with the elders and only had about an hour. We had a sticker board we made and on the top says "What is your question of the soul"and there were 4 questions- does God exist? How can He help my family? Does He know me? And one other I can't remember (oops) that they could put a sticker on, then we had a survey where they could fill out about what they put, and write their number and a friend's who would be interested. In 1 hour, we gave out 40 copies of the Book of Mormon and received 53 contacts!!! We have only had time to call about 20 so far, and 2 already said they wanted to meet again!!! That has to be some sort of record.
Saturday, we had lunch with the youth/young single adults to celebrate our activity being over and all the work we did for it, and then visited one of the harmonys that we visit every so often who is 92 years old and has cancer. She has gone to another church in Andong forever, but she said she would come to our church this week and so
(drumroll please. this is where it gets good)
SUNDAY!! I love Sundays. We always see miracles. Especially on fast sundays. There were 41 people at church, and there wasn't even any special event going on!!!! Also we went and picked up our harmony and she came (get excited for the picture). Also *** fasted with ***!!!!! Ah I was so happy!!!! And there were 4 less actives at church!!! It was obviously a great day!!!
And then this morning, I talked with all of you!!!
So that's my week!!! I love serving. I have thought a lot about missionary work this week, and studied about basically what missionary work is. I found a quote by President Monson saying "The missionary opportunity of a lifetime is yours. The blessings of eternity await you. Yours is the privilege to be not spectators but participants on the stage of Priesthood service." How true that is. We are not here to be spectators of the world around us, but to make a difference, especially in our lives, and the lives of those around us. We have been called, and now we must follow through with that calling!!! I know that this mission has and will continue to forever change me, which I am eternally grateful for. One last quote from President Monson: "Dedicated missionary service returns a dividend of eternal joy which extends throughout mortality and into eternity." I encourage you to think about this too and how you in each of your lives can feel of this eternal joy. What a blessing it is!!!
I love you all so much!!! I hope you have a week full of miracles!!
Em
Sister Burgoyne,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Jeff Johnson and I served in the Andong 20 years ago.
I just stumbled on you blog and was so excited to see that you had been in Andong. When I was there, my companion was the branch president. We had 4-5 members coming to church at that time. Sometimes I had to bless the bread and the water followed by giving a talk. Fast Sundays were short because once everyone bore their testimony, we just ended the meeting. I love Andong. Thanks for the update.