Ready to Serve

Now that we have a list for Single and Unaccompanied we can start contacting each person to find out their needs, and invite them to activities. We have about 15 from each branch. We were able to contact the personal from the Humphrey's Branch, to invite them to FHE. Our numbers doubled for FHE last Monday. OK, we had one, and now we got two. It sounds a little discouraging. Then I remind myself, it’s not the numbers that count. It’s the people. One brother said, I’m sorry you didn’t get more out. I told him, “as long as you are here, we’ll be here too!” He has realized he wants the church in his life. So we move onward and upward!  

Today we had a district meeting. We got really good news and really sad news. One of the families in the Air Force here, just lost a child. Their little blonde curly haired 3-year-old son was sitting on a bench without a back, eating a breakfast bar. They were on a hike and decided to take a break. He choked and fell backward, hitting his head on a rock. This lodged the bar so deep down his throat that he couldn’t breathe. They removed as much of the bar as he could. He started breathing very shallow. The father ran down the trail with his son in his arms. As he got to the bottom, he saw a man with a BYU shirt on. The other LDS family from the Osan branch, just happen to come back to the park looking for a lost bag. They raced the father and son to the hospital, but it was too late. Their precious son had quietly slipped back to Heavenly Fathers home.  The family was going to the Korean Branch, so we didn't know them. We will be there for the funeral to show support! So hard to lose a child, but to have it happen so far from family.

In one of the last blogs I talked about a young lady in the Air Force that I met at the RS opening social. I’m going to call her Ann. Ann is 21, and has been in Korea for four months. When we met I asked her where she met her husband. When she told me she wasn’t married, I explained to her that I was there for her. She told me that she was baptized when she was eight years old, but never really went to church. She shared how she was raised in a very difficult family situation. She said she knew the three degrees of heaven, but that was all she knew. She grew up in a small town in Wyoming. She told me that the Mormon women in her town, were really good people. She said they didn’t drink or smoke. They always dressed modest, and didn’t use bad language. It was clear she didn’t feel she was as good as them. I explained that none of us are perfect, and we all have faults. I said "look around this room, every one of us have made mistakes." I told her that most likely several of them had made mistakes as she had. One sister that had overheard our conversation, said, “look at me. I was inactive for years." I explained that Heavenly Father knows we will all make mistakes. He is far more interested with what we do after the mistakes, than he is the mistake. She has a sweet wholesome spirit, and very cute. She had gone to a doctor on the Air Force base and they started talking. He told her that there was an LDS branch that met close to the base. She told me she wanted to babysit if anyone needed a babysitter. I took her over to the RS President, and introduced her.  I asked her if she would like to have the sister missionaries teach her.

. I told Ann we could pick up the Sister missionaries and get them on base. I told her we would also come with the missionaries. She was very excited. I told her I would have them give her a call. The sister missionaries had an appointment to meet Ann, and watch conference on Sunday. They were going to go over to a member’s house, and watch conference there. She called them that morning to confirm the appointment. Her voice was raspy, as she explained she was getting sick. When she opened the door for the sister missionaries, she was wearing a skirt. Ann was holding the scriptures in her hand that she got when she was baptized. Even though she had never really gone to church, she brought her scriptures when she came to Korea. She told the Sister missionaries she was now living the word of wisdom. She asked if she needed to be baptized again. The sister missionaries felt the same thing I felt, her sweet spirit! As she watched conference she took notes. After she told Sister Capener that her favorite talks were ones about joy as well as the one about repentance. WOW! I feel so humble right now.

Tonight was English class. We love English class! It is our day that we can meet and get to know Korean people. I love them! They are sweet, trusting, and loving spirits.

 I have to stop and ask myself, “Am I here to teach, or to be taught? Will I be God’s servant, or will he send his servants to me?”

I received the promise, “If you will take care of my children, I will take care of yours." Now, he is taking care of me too! Was this mission really for me to serve, or for me to be served? 

Like I said before when you’re on a mission you have a lot to think about. Like does a loving father give us challenges to direct us, to where we need to go? What if it is to direct us, then are they challenges or are they blessings? 

Things to think about like; when we serve because we are grateful, and we want to give back. What happens when you serve others to only discover the more you give, the more you receive. So how do you give back? Life is about learning, but the more you learn, the more you know you need to learn.