October 18, 2021 - SuWan (Transfers)

 Winter is Coming


Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing well. This week was crazy! I have to keep it brief though because I am short on time, but I'll try to cover the main points.

The weather got cold fast! Thursday was warm enough to make me uncomfortable,  and then on Friday it was suddenly 4 degrees Celsius! I still don't have a winter coat, but I can tell the winters here are gonna be freeeezing!

This was my companion's last week. I couldn't have asked for a better trainer. Elder Young is literally a missionary legend! He was part of the first group of foreigners to return to Korea, and has worked hard to earn the respect that came along with being in the senior English speaking group. His Korean is amazing, and he is sharp and confident about inviting people to come to the gospel. I only knew him for 3 weeks, but I am going to miss him!

Also, we had transfer calls last night! Rather than finish my training with Elder Ralphs like was planned originally, I'm going to be reopening 증읍 (Jeungeup) with 이현호 장로님 (Elder Lee Hyonho)! I'm going from 수원 (Suwon), which is one of the biggest cities in Korea, to one of the most countryside places in the whole mission. It's gonna be crazy, and to be honest I don't feel qualified. Here in 수원 there are many opportunities for me to use English, and my whole apartment was native english speakers. It's not like I wasn't forced to use Korean, and it's not like I wasn't learning the language; far from it! However I will have none of those backup crutches in 증읍. I am so excited that I get to fully immerse myself in the language, and I was praying for an opportunity like this because I know this is the fastest path to improvement. This is actually the exact scenario I told myself I wanted (minus the reopening part), and I feel so blessed. But now that it's actually here there is a lingering sense of anxiety. 

Sometimes I wish I could just learn and know everything at once, because I feel that if I can't be a perfect missionary, I could be ruining someone's opportunity to receive salvation through the gospel. I want the spirit to tell me what to say and what to do at all times! But as I thought about all the things I still need to do to be a better missionary, I was reminded of a passage in Doctrine and Covenants 93, where it describes how the Savior himself "received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace; ... [He] continued from grace to grace, until he received a fullness;" If the Savior Himself did not need to come into His own role instantaneously and without effort, then neither do we. That does not undermine the fact that we need to put in the work to see success, but it does mean that as we strive to utilize the Savior's grace, we will be able to be what the Lord needs us to be at all times. 

Right now, I can feel the pressure of a mission. But I can also feel the Holy Spirit more consistently and more powerfully than I ever have before, and that power is comforting and even liberating! I'm sure I'll have fun stories to share next week,  but I am going to take this one step at a time. I hope you all can have a fabulous week, and never forget that your Father in Heaven loves you!

화이팅!
월들 장로 
Elder Wardle












Location: Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

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