Elder Rice Letter July 16,2012

Hey family,
Another good week in 익산,  ya lots of struggles but after every struggle there was a blessing. hmm “After the tribulation cometh the blessings.”

“For verily I say unto you, blessed is he that keepeth my commandments, whether in life or in death; and he that is faithful in tribulation, the reward of the same is greater in the kingdom of heaven.

“Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall … follow after much tribulation.

“For after much tribulation come the blessings” (D&C 58:2–4).

The scriptures don’t lie. Anyways...  So last week we had INTERVIEWS WITH THE PRESIDENT dun dun dun. No, it was cool. He is awesome. He gave me lots of inspiring words and advice. I love him! He is So awesome! And Sister Furniss gave us cake. It was funny, I was late to my interview because I was on the phone with a person that has an apartment in our area, but goes to the Seoul English Branch. She is Australian. Anyways, her apartment flooded in Iksan and her phone got
destroyed, and her phone had all the info to get to church, so she was like lost haha. Well I had to call the Daejeon Mission Office and have them call the Seoul Mission Office to call the missionary that teaches her to call her. So many rules. hahah. But President Furniss thinks I’m a stud now! haha jk.  

So, this week. hmm what happened. Oh the professor..we went to go teach and he said, “Hey lets fix your jaw.” I was like “ok”. He found the

perfect place for my jaw to be and made me this mouthpiece to hold it there. It takes the pain away. He said that your jaw alignment affects your brain, the blood circulation to it, and this mouthpiece can prevent cancer,Alzheimer's and other brain things wow.So cool.

So, this week we had a great plan to set a baptismal date with this couple we teach and right before we were gonna meet, they cancelled. Ugh. But we got a referral from them; a newspaper reporter and he wants to interview us. Sweet. Get our names out there hopefully. Ya

I had a horrible headache this week and was dizzy and couldn’t think or teach. It was horrible. Then I had other trials come up and it was really bad. I found myself on my knees a lot yesterday praying for help
cause I felt alone and super miserable, and just wanted it all to be over. Then, I felt this warmth around me and it was almost like being
hugged, and all the fear and doubt and horrible feelings went away,and the Lord told me to do something, and when I did it, everything became good, actually better then it was before. And I really didn’t think what I was told to do would work, but as soon as I did it, everything became better. Wow when we listen to the answers we get, we receive so many blessings. The bishop fed us last nigh: Fish (from his fish farm ) and docarrbi (like sweet meat; similar to hamburger with sweet sauce on it, and egg soup and all sorts of good things. So good.
Love him . Then I went in his yard and oh my gosh - ill send pics - therewere huge spiders everywhere.

The one pic the spider is like the size of my palm, maybe not as big but he was huge like ya. He laughed
because I was freaking out. Language is ya coming. I understand when the bishop asks me stuff sometimes, which is good. haha. So the Zone Leader showed me a great way to “street contact” with teenagers. I go up and say "movie star" or "i think i saw you in a movie" haha They love it. the Zone Leader says "if

You’re not flirting with the people when you “street contact”, you’re not doing it right. When he said it, I was like “uh that’s weird,” but he was right it totally works. (don’t get  jealous Jessica) jkjk  

So I’m glad to hear the family is all doing good. We got rain like everyday this week, Its the rainy season… go figure, oh ya Elder Lee’s aunt

(she lives in Iksan) - really weird - but ya. She gave us meat and tuna and Spam, so we made Kimchi Sigae 김치시개 its kimchi soup, easy to make! You 

take kimchi, put in a pan with water and boil, then throw in meat. Its so good. I love it.

Well…
Spiritual thought this week about faith.  When you look in scriptures,every miracle or good thing that Heavenly Fahter did was because the people had faith. When Christ healed, he would always ask “Do you have
faith to be healed?” Thus we see that God can do no miracle in or through us if we don’t have faith.  Faith is an actual thing and it is power. The scriptures promise us if we have faith we can do anything that God wants us to. If we have enough faith we can command the elements. Everything in the earth has to obey us if we have faith. Just like when Christ walked on water and his apostle did too. That
was his faith overcoming the elements. If we realize how awesome faith is, why do we lack it? I struggle with it. Like, I don’t have faith that God can speak through me. Instead I fill my mind with fear that I can’t teach and that makes God unable to work through me. But if we just exercise a particle of faith and give the Lord something do work with, he can do
so much through us. Faith is so awesome. I am working so hard to try to develop it and it comes difficulty, But it’s so worth it. A very important part of faith is the trial we get. "You receive no witness till after the trial of your faith”. So, when we have trials, it’s the Lord helping us. So I think I’m working on is not complaining in a trial and instead turning to good things and learning from it. Then we can grow.

Well I love you all! You have to tell me how Jessica is, and take care of her.
Be safe. Remember to pray always. I love you all so much.

Love Elder Rice

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