October 3, 2022 - Namwon

양복 사망 (Yangbog Samang) + Lost in the Woods

It's miracle time this season of the year! I spent two days in Daejeon this past week getting spiritually sustained from missionary meetings, but even though my in-Namwon-time was shortened we got the work done of two weeks! Our finding efforts have not directly resulted in success, but the Lord has been rewarding us with miracles in the gaps between our plans, and it is so cool to see. 

Church had record attendance! None of the attendees were our teaching friends, and it was mostly due to visitors, but we had to pull out chairs from the closet to fit everyone. Fast Sunday sometimes puts me to sleep but not this time! The spirit was felt by all, and it was wonderful.

On the fun side of things, we got completely lost in the mountains this week. On the top of the mountain next to our apartment there is a Korean gazebo structure, and we decided we wanted to go study there after church on sunday. We didn't know the route so we just followed the maps, which took us into the most countryside countryside corner of the city, which was just mountain fields with some dogs and goats. We get pretty close to where we wanted to go and found that that is where the trail ends. We weren't turning back, so we just took the direct route. We walked straight through the mountain, up a cliff, with no trail, in full suits carrying the Book of Mormon. Almost died. Then we walked onto the top of the cliff to see a well maintained boardwalk trail on the OTHER side of the mountain. At least nobody saw the two foreigners walking out of the bushes covered in spiderwebs, and we had an absolutely fantastic study session. On the way down we did accidently find ourselves at an archery range, but that's a story for another day. 

We received our new misson theme, (though he didn't name it as such, it was implied to be so), which is "As disciples of Christ, we CHANGE". I love this unconventional theme and I take two grand messages from it. As missionaries we get to change those around us a ton. It's quite literally our calling, and we make full time work out of it. Asking "what is the change I need to make?" is essential in our work, and will continue to be a cornerstone of my focus after the mission as well. But change can also be an internal matter. I have already come to feel the change in me, and increasingly feel the weight of the change I still need to make. Change feels good! It is a reward unto itself. Remember to keep changing!

I haven't been able to see Conference yet as it is officially an activity for next week in Korea, but they can't keep the news that Korea is getting a new temple away from us for that long. I cannot properly express how much this changes. This is an answer to years of prayers of the entirety of Korea. Praise the Lord!

I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Elder Wardle

Pictures: Me and Elder Idiart, the recent Namwon Festival, the view after our "hike", an actual phone booth, another festival pic, several pictures of our "hike" up to the gazebo, Zone Conference













Location: Namwon-si, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea

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