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