The Gireum Legion Grows

For a lot of Christians, the debate about salvation is whether grace saves us or we are saved through our efforts. Clearly, the answer is grace, but it is grace that we have to use. Christ has provided his gospel for us for a reason. It isn't so that we can ignore it and be saved anyway, it is so that we can follow it. We are drowning. We are little kids washed out to sea, stuck in a current of our own inadequacies. We are sucked down into our despair, our fear, our weakness, unable to swim out despite our best efforts. We are drowning. And yet, even though we are the ones who drove the nails through his hands, he reaches them out to us. The only choice that we have to make is whether we will grasp what he has offered us.

Take hold. No matter what is happening in your life, grasp them. The hands of our Savior can pull you from whatever pit you are in, save you from whatever fate, no matter how inevitable it may seem, and in doing so shape you and mold you into more than you can imagine. So take hold, and hold on tight.

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Hello all. Another great week in the Land of the Hangook has come and past, with some changes.

Transfers came and was eventful in that nothing really happened. Our zone split, but the districts remained exactly the same, plus an additional pair of Korean sister missionaries in our district. I did, however hear that the Arch district represented again. Last transfer, me and Elder S were two of the four missionaries to go co-senior in their second transfer with an equally inexperienced greenie. This transfer, Elder Sc and Sister B became the only members of our group to train. My MTC district was the best. Things in the Legion are going well too. I'm still working with Elder LJC and life goes on.

Me and my Comp at some Members' home.

And boy does it go. This week was marked by the chain dropping of about 8 of our potential investigators, an exchange with Elder R (from my younger group) in which we jundoed for literally the whole day and I misrecorded phone numbers in such a way that we got almost no new potentials out of it, and meeting with H___.

H___ is a Korean who only likes to speak English when he can help it. For example, I don't know his Korean name, he is just H___ to me. I met him on the street near our apartment and he gave me his number and things went well. When I called him (as I may have talked about a little last time) I talked to him for like ten minutes in a conversation that included me teaching the Word of Wisdom, him inviting me on a trip to Jeju (Korea's Hawaii), and successfully setting up the appointment for last Thursday. We met him in a cafe and I taught him about the  Restoration and learned about his needs (which I finally was able to understand). The moral of the story, is that since I could communicate, I learned about what real missionary work should be like. The lesson went great and he's got genuine church interest and I'm going to invite him to get baptized just as soon as I can.

Really, really happy about the whole situation. Throw him into your prayers if you have room. I think I found a real investigator.

I also had a freak run in with someone from back in the Jungnang days. I don't know if ya'll remember J___, but he was an English class member that me and Elder C had a really good conversation with after class. I assumed that we had picked him up, but he sort of disappeared. The miracle is that he showed up at my Gireum English class out of nowhere. He said he had just been too busy to attend, but that he remembered our conversation, and still wanted to learn more when he had the chance. Elder C went home today, but before he left I checked up with him about J___, and he hasn't been back to Jungnang since I left. What are the odds that he picked my class of all classes to show up to? Now if I can just get him to show up again...

That is about it. I'm doing well. Happy, hardworking, and focused. My Korean ability to speak keeps improving, but I understand next to nothing still.

My spiritual thought for the day echoes something that I thought about a lot during college. For a lot of Christians, the debate about salvation is whether grace saves us or we are saved through our efforts. Clearly, the answer is grace, but it is grace that we have to use. Christ has provided his gospel for us for a reason. It isn't so that we can ignore it and be saved anyway, it is so that we can follow it. We are drowning. We are little kids washed out to sea, stuck in a current of our own inadequacies. We are sucked down into our despair, our fear, our weakness, unable to swim out despite our best efforts. We are drowning. And yet, even though we are the ones who drove the nails through his hands, he reaches them out to us. The only choice that we have to make is whether we will grasp what he has offered us.

Take hold. No matter what is happening in your life, grasp them. The hands of our Savior can pull you from whatever pit you are in, save you from whatever fate, no matter how inevitable it may seem, and in doing so shape you and mold you into more than you can imagine. So take hold, and hold on tight.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Whitlock out.