Hello!!!
This
has been a pretty crazy week. We got transfer calls on Monday (as I
mentioned) and then spent the next few days saying goodbye to people in
Mokpo. Mokpo will definitely miss Elder Allen. He has been here for 6
transfer, which is 8 or 9 months, and he has done a lot for Mokpo. I am
just hoping and praying the Elder Barney and I can keep it up and take
advantage of the great potential that Elder Allen worked so hard to
prepare.
This
transfer will be a lot of fun, but also a "growing experience." Elder
Barney is in his 5th transfer, so he is less experienced than Elder
Allen in a lot of ways which means we will learn a lot together. For the
first couple weeks, if not most the transfer, we will be working more
like co-seniors as I lead the area and help him get everything figured
out. It's a lot of responsibility, but I know it will all work out. (see
spiritual thought at end of letter).
I
had a couple fun/crazy experiences this week. The first was that we
went to a meat buffet wednesday night with a member and his referral. It
was a ton of fun and the food was so good. Similar to a lot of Korean
meat restaurants, you have your own like grill at the table to cook the
meat yourself and we just could choose from a ton of different meats at
the buffet. It was almost the perfect meal because I had had tons of
great food and even an ice cream cone to top it off, and then the member
went for one more serving and brought back some octopus to cook. I was
hoping that the fact that I had just eaten ice cream would signify that I
was done eating and didn't need anymore, but, as expected, I was
eventually pressured into trying it. It didn't taste bad, but the
texture was pretty tough to handle. I eventually just shoved some kimchi
in my mouth and swallowed it all together to get it down. That was fun.
The
other crazy experience was our only member lesson this week. It was
with an investigator who is really religious and researching lots of
churches, but is going about it the wrong way by trying to prove with
facts which one is true. So she agreed to meet, but she brought a
preacher or something from another church and the lesson ended up just
being a bible bash debate between the preacher and our member. Neither
my companion nor I are too good at Korean yet, so we could really do a
ton about it. It was crazy. After a couple hours, the investigator and
her friend just stormed out. Not a good lesson. Hopefully she will
eventually realized the real way to know truth - through the Holy Ghost.
It
was also so nice to call home this morning. I am so lucky to have such
an incredible family! I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!
My
favorite thought of the week relates somewhat to transfers and how I
have a new less experienced senior to help carry the momentum here in
Mokpo. I was reading in 1 Nephi and when I read the part about how the
Lord commands Nephi and his brothers to return to Jerusalem a second
time, I couldn't help but think how crazy that is! When I read that,
it's easy to think that there could have been a better way... Why didn't
God just line it all up and have them snag the plates, get the family,
and take off all in one night, never to return? Couldn't God have
provided a more effective way? As I thought about it, the thought
occured to me that my question was all wrong because I was defining
"effective" by the world's standard. We often measure effectiveness by
how much time is spent, how much resources we use, or what amount of
effort we have to put into something. But God measures effectiveness
with eternity in mind. He is the only one who really knows how to
determing "eternal efficiency." So really, returning to Jerusalem twice
was maybe perfectly effective, but based on God's standard of eternity.
In our own lives, I think we often get caught in the need for worldy
effeciency and we forget to consider God's view of eternal efficiency. I
know that whether or not we can always see it, God is aware of our
position, our potential, and the perfect path that will lead us back to
Him. So we just need to trust in Him - to "be still and know that [He]
is God." (D&C 101:16)
Thanks for your love, your examples, and your support. You are amazing! Have a wonderful week!
Love, Elder Tolman
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