Happy New Year

This week is 설날 (pronounced Sullar) which is the Chinese/Lunar new year! It's pretty much their biggest holiday of the year, so the whole nation will pretty much just shut down from Thursday to Saturday. Kind of crazy, but fun. 

We had a great week this week! One of our highlights was that we called up a former investigator and met last weekend and he is so amazing! His English name is Jason, and his Korean name is 이지훈 (Lee Jee-Hu) He just wants to help and serve people in his life and he's just a good person. He stopped meeting missionaries just because he was busy and one of the missionaries left, so we picked him back up and he seems to be pretty prepared to listen to our message. I'm so excited to meet and work with him!

We also have been meeting with a man name 이신건 (Lee Shin-gun) who calls himself Mr. Lee. Right now he mostly has English interest, but we are working on helping him apply the gospel to himself. But he is probably one of the most interesting men I have met in Korea. He is 73 years old, but is probably as healthy as most 40 year old men in America. He is currently teaching as a professor of Business Management, but he speaks at least some of 5 languages, has been the official Tae-kwon-do instructor for generals and stuff in the Korean army, he served as part of the Korean special forces, he has done infiltration and reconnaissance in the army and was also a tactical instructor. He has traveled to 54 nations and also wants to work as part of the United Nations some day. When it was rainy the other day he said his back aches when the weather changes because of the time he was skydiving and his parachute didn't open! He survived and is ridiculously healthy (at 73 years old!) And yet he is just a funny cute old Korean man who loves the missionaries and wants to learn English. He's a mystery to me.

I absolutely know that God lives, that we are His children, and that He loves us. That really is the foundation of everything we believe and everything that God does for us. I feel like so often I get tied up in the details and forget the foundation of it all. We are children of God. He loves us. Because He loves us, He sent His Son who made it possible for us to return to Him!! When we understand the significance of those truths, there is no need to fear, no need to worry, no need to feel insufficient, and no need to despair. We truly are the children of God and I know that is true. We are entitled to power and peace through the atonement and faithfulness to our covenants! Wow!!! I love this gospel and I know it is true!

I love you all! 새해의 복 많이 받으새요! (Literally "receive many new year blessings", but essentially means Happy New Year!!)

Love, Elder Tolman