Monday, July 23, 2012

Elder Rice Mail for 23 July 2012



Hey, family,
How is it going. I’m good. We found 3 new nvestigators this week. Super awesome. One was a newspaper reporter and he interviewed us and I turned his questions into lessons haha (all in English). So hopefully the newspaper he puts out helps a lot of people get interest! Also the family we teach (the wife is Philippine) we have been trying to get them to have interest in baptism again. So everyday we texted them scriptures about baptism, and we met them and we went over the baptismal interview questions, and were about to set a date with them when the husband said. "I want you to make me a schedule to be baptized." He said, “Before I wasn’t sure if I wanted baptism but now I know I want it and need it.” And he said he wants it because he knows it will help his family. And the wife was talking about their son someday serving a mission! Sooo awesome.  Missionaries have been meeting them for like a year, but all of a sudden they want to be baptized. It’s so exciting. 

I didn’t teach much in Korean this week. I couldn’t speak hardly. I wasn’t very focused on it. My mind was elsewhere, but I’m really trying to focus better now. I am understanding Korean better now though. My companion was talking to the bishop’s son in law, and I said, “Oh he served in your hometown when you were younger,” and the bishop’s son in law said “Oh you understood.” I was like, “Hey I did!” So cool. We had a ward party at the bishop’s house last night, and most of the ward showed up. Well that is easy to say because there are only 20 people, but ya pretty cool. We ate meat, ha-ha like the picture I sent with the leaf, so good. ha-ha. Remember at home how I hated watermelon, still don’t like it but Koreans love it. I have eaten more here in the 3 months in Korea than I have in my whole life. ha-ha :l  
hmm.
It stopped raining this week and the rain took away a lot of the pollution and I saw the sun, very interesting. I thought the sun didn’t exist. ha-ha. But now it’s so hot. I am always drenched in sweat, ha-ha. I’m so happy we have 2 fans each in our apartment because we don’t have a/c. So I spray my head with water at night and lay in front of the fan ha-ha.

We did service at a place that feeds elderly people that don’t have food otherwise. So I helped set up and served the people while they ate. They all loved saying hi to me and stuff in English . Love Americans ha-ha. And other people that were serving asked about what we are and do, so this is awesome; we are serving others and finding people to
teach! (so killing 3 birds with 2 stones right.)

So the missionary program for the first 12 weeks for a greenie (new missionary) we have an extra hour of companion study and we work out of a book they gave us and we have assignments. This week’s assignment was I am supposed to take the lead in all planning and teaching.  So much work! Before I just did what Elder Lee told me to do, but  now I had to plan and teach. So tiring, like really I wanted to lay in the back of a truck in the road and sleep. ha-ha.

So we decided to go to Papa Johns here to try it. because they have a  free salad bar. So we ordered pizza, 17$ and ya, ate salad bar and they gave us the pizza: it was smaller than a dinner plate - like so little, haha so I ate lots of salad bar, (if you go to Korea, never go to Papa Johns) go to Pizza School, that’s the best. You can get a 5 dollar pizza that tastes really good. I sent Jessica a flyer from Pizza School… Did she show you? Pizza School is where we go on p-day. They have super cool pizza, and its cheap. My
favorite it the potato pizza, but ya they have super good pizza toppings I never though of before, like potato ya.

Tell mom thank-you for the stuff about the spider, now I’m more scared.The funnel web spider can bite through fingernails and shoes. What! When I was young you promised me if I wore shoes outside nothing bad could hurt me! Um not true. ( I remember when I got a sticker in my foot you would say “Wow it went through your shoes and socks and  everything.”)

Spiritual thought for the week
I studied hope this week. I came upon a scripture I have seen a 100 times before but never really studied it like I did last week.

Moroni 7: 45-48
 45 And acharity suffereth long, and is bkind, and cenvieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily dprovoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
 46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
 47 But acharity is the pure blove of Christ, and it endurethcforever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

This is about charity because charity and hope are connected. But ya,  so this scripture, if you look at every quality in it:
suffereth long
kind
envieth not
not puffed up (humble)
seeketh not her own (selfless)
not easily provoked (temperate)
THINKETH NO EVIL
rejoice not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in truth,
beareth ALL things
believeth all thing
hopeth all things (hope)
endureth all things.
You could base your life off of this and be amazing. I look at this and thought about my thoughts and actions and said “Do i do all these?” and the ones I don’t I am working on changing. I think  we all need to look at this, because it says  in verse 46 "If ye have not
charity ye are nothing" and 47 "and whoso is found to possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him" So in verse 48, it says how to get it. "Pray with ALL THE ENERGY OF HEART, that we may be filled with this love which he hath bestowed
upon all who are true followers of his son Jesus Christ that ye may become the sons of God, that when ye shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is that we may have this hope that we may be purified as he is pure.”

So we need to pray and really try to better ourselves to develop charity, and the blessings of it are so amazing. And this is related to hope, because hope is when you believe something will happen and expect it to happen. And hope in Christ is that through Him, we can return to our Heavenly Father someday. And so, when we develop this Christ like love and all these things in it, we believe and expect to go to live with our Heavenly Father again someday. So hope. Super amazing thing to have in that you have no fear you have only faith and happiness.

So family, I’m glad all is well with you. Tell Ethan that I’m pretty sure I wrote him on his mission 하지만 (but) I don’t think he has  written me ha-ha jk jk Take care of Jessica please, She loves you all so much.

So Morgan is gonna work on an oil rig right. That cool. ha-ha we need to trade places. He is awesome at talking to people and I can do work. But we’re in the opposite place: I’m talking to people(sort of) and he is working ha-ha. Oh, I wish I was better at talking to people. When I talk to people, my mind goes blank and I can’t think of things to say. If I could talk to people better, this would be so much easier, but that’s my challenge I
need to overcome right, so I will work on it.

So I found for the ward party I made stove top (no bake) cookies. As we were cooking, we ran out of white sugar and used brown sugar (because the recipe just said 2 cups sugar. It didn’t specify white brown etc.) so the cookies didn’t set up. So me, being a genius, I froze them. ha-ha and we went to church and I put them in the freezer. Then at the bishop’s, I froze them more and there were edible as long at you at them before
they melted ha-ha. So don’t try brown sugar. They were good though.

I really hope I don’t get transferred next week. I like this area and its like starting to explode, like our numbers last week were the best they have been in a long time.  But its all up to the Lord. He puts us where we need to be right.

This email needs to end ha-ha . Sorry I am random in my emailing, So is there anything ya’ll need from me (there is actually a word in Korean that means ya’ll) 요로분 yo ro boon.

I love you all be safe,
Love Elder Rice

 P.S.
I found a scripture but I forgot its reference, but the Lord revealed it to me when I was struggling and I keep it in my wallet now.  "Be thou humble and the Lord thy God shall lead the by the hand and give thee answers to thy prayers" (Doctrine and Covenants 112:10) So awesome. He will lead us by the hand! What better guidance can we get than that! I love it

Sometimes he is writing and can answer back if we reply right away.

We commented on his purple tie…
Oh my 2 dollar tie? ha-ha Ya Korean ties are cheapo and awesome!

Another…
oh btw Doran sent me an awesome email that helped a lot. He is so good. I love him, tell him I really appreciate it! I love all my brothers and sisters
ha-ha, more now than ever before!


Photo Explanation

So Jessica wanted me to send a silly picture. I’ll try to get a better one, but this is the silliest I have currently, but I’ll get a better one. It was raining and Elder Rice left his umbrella on the bus(the Walmart one, not the good one). So we were walking and it was raining and there was a field with plants with huge leaves, so Elder Lee picks two. I freaked out, but the leaf made a great umbrella! I guess ancient Koreans used them as umbrellas.


We went to Baskin Robbins here: super good stuff. 


The bowl of stuff that you probably think looks gross is my favorite simple  cheap thing to eat. It’s kimchii ramen. You cook ramen and put kimchii in it. Its healthy and sooo good.  




The picture of the city is taken from the 22  floor of an apartment.  Super cool 


and the other is the ward party. 



Love you bye.

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