A week of miracles

This has been another great week! Our two main investigators right now, 신효면 and 구병철 are both doing great! They both are pretty excited to be baptized and now we're just working on helping them use that desire to keep the commandments and overcome any challenges. They are so amazing!!

 

We didn't have a lot of appointments this weekend, so we spent some time in the Subway because there's lots of people waiting around and it's warm enough for people to actually want to have a conversation. We ended up having pretty miraculous success within in the last couple days as we prayed to find people willing to listen and God seems to be answering those prayers. There was a pastor who walked up to us, said he was really interesting in learning about our church, and we set up an appointment for tomorrow. We also met a man yesterday that said he wants to find religion and to stop smoking and drinking. There was another man who used to have religion, but never really felt like he understood it or felt sufficient and we might be able to meet with him this week. I know that God really is aware of us and helps us to accomplish His will according to our faith!

 

We are reading the Book of Momon from start to finish this transfer as a Zone and one of the scriptures that stood out to me recently was 1 Ne. 21:15-16. It talks about how Christ will never forget us because we are engraven upon the palms of His hands. He cannot forget and He never will forget. He knows us perfectly and knows How to succor us in every need and every trial (Alma 7:11-13). Let's not forget Him, especially this season. A big part of that is not denying the fact that He not only suffered for us, but also for all those around us! Let's have faith that the atonement applies to them too and that there is nobody that is not worth inviting to come unto Christ through the restored Gospel. I know that as we have faith in the Atonement and seek opportunities to invite others, we will be blessed with the ability to do so!

 

Have a wonderful week!

 

Love, Elder Tolman

A wonderful new transfer

It has been an interesting week with transfer and the change of responsibilities, but I feel that I am adjusting well. I definitely have so much to learn and I have a lot of imperfections, but I know that God is perfectly aware of my strengths and weaknesses and He will qualify me to accomplish His will, whatever that may be. I am so excited to strive to live up to the higher expectations and learn a lot along the way.

My new companion's name is Elder Dursteler (pronounced Dur-Stell-Er). He is absolutely amazing! I have been so blessed to have so many absolutely incredible companions. He is fresh out of high school (graduated this last may) and he is a 6' 4" football star from Logan, Utah who is so enthusiastic to serve God and just ready to work. Right from the first day, he was so eager to just talk to everyone in his limited, broken Korean. He's a great example to me. I am really excited to spend the next 6 weeks, and very possible more, with him. 

The work went well this week. We had a hard time meeting our investigators this weekend, but 구병철 (Gu Byung-Cheol) came to church for the first time and we met a really cool new investigator named 박지상 (Park Jee-Sang). He's willing to meet 3 times a week and seems to really be open to listening and trying. In our first meeting, he said "Please invite me a lot!" I'm excited! For 신효면 (Shin Hyo-Myun), we've had to keep pushing back his baptismal date because he hasn't made it to church yet. We'll be focusing on that this week.

I had an interesting though this week as I read in 1 Ne. 8 about Lehi's dream. I thought it was interesting that in verses 11 and 12, as Lehi partakes of the fruit, experiences the blessings, and desires others to join him, the thing that he desires to share is not his own. The tree was already there and the fruit was already provided for Lehi to partake and for others to come and join him to do the same. Neither the tree nor the fruit was Lehi's. He just wanted to share the fruit so others could experience the same joy. As I thought about it that way, I realized that sometimes I go about sharing the gospel the wrong way. I sometimes let fears of whether or not my ability to give is good enough, if others will like "my church," or if "my message" will really be what other people want to hear. The problem is that there is too much of "me" in all of those concerns. This is God's work, Christ's Church, and His perfect message. The fruit is already prepared! We are just inviting people to partake of the love of their Father in Heaven and He will provide us with the opportunities, strength, and ability to do so according to our faith and desires. I am so grateful to a part of the work of God!

I love you all! Have a fantastic week! 

Love, Elder Tolman

Today is transfer calls!! Elder Strahl is leaving and I will stay. He has been such an amazing companion! I have progressed so much with him and I feel so blessed to have spent the last 6 weeks learning from his diligent, loving example. I will be training again next transfer and will also be the new district leader over the 8 missionaries in 충장 와드 (Chungjang Ward). Our ward is doing really well right now and is one of the areas leading the mission, so it will be a pretty big, fun responsibility doing my best to help us all keep up the good work and be worthy for God's blessings. It's slightly intimidating to train and go district leader, but I'm not worried. I know it's God will, so I know He can provide the way. It will definitely be a learning experience.

This week we met a new investigator on the street. His name is 신효면 (Shin Hyo-Myeon) and he is 61 years old. He's pretty poor and doesn't really have a regular job, so he met us every single day from Tuesday to Saturday last week. He learns really well and is beginning to understand what we teach and he said he wants to be baptized! He's been a pretty big miracle this week and I am so excited to keep teaching him this week and help him come unto Christ through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ! 

We also have done a lot to improve the way we teach by finally making our lessons more interactive. Why didn't I do this earlier?! It has been really helpful to both make it easy and simple to understand and to help us teach more simply and directly. It has been a lot of fun figuring out those changes.

I have thought a lot this week again about opening my mouth. We have the promise in the scriptures that if we open our mouths, they will be filled. I have come to the realization again that I think in my efforts to talk to everybody and teach everybody, sometimes I find my self talking and never really opening my mouth that it may be filled. I have felt the difference between when I open my mouth with words already there that I hope to say, and when I open my mouth with trust in the promise that God has something He wants to say and it will be given to me that which His children need to hear. I had a really cool experience with this yesterday as we visited a less active. We ended up changing the scripture we were planning to share mid-lesson and just focused on testifying about our Savior and she began to cry because the Spirit was so strong. I know that God had something He wanted her to know and that we were willing to really open our mouths that God could fill them with His words, not just our own. This really is God's work and I know it! We really do have a Savior and He lives! Through Him, according to God's perfect plan, we can gain peace in this life and eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God. So amazing!

I love you all! Have a wonderful week and don't forget to open your mouth that it may be filled!

Love, Elder Tolman