Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The people you meet March 2nd

This has been a great week number 18 here in 충장! I love this area, I love my district, and I love my companion, so I am thrilled to be staying here.

School started again here in Korea, so we have a lot of people who 갑자기 got pretty busy, but we are doing are best to work with those we have already found who will keep listening and also to continually find other people who will accept the gospel!

As we have sought to do so, we have ran into some pretty interesting people. It is so much fun! This week we met 유홍연 who is a member of what you could pretty much call the Korean mafia. He and his friends are all super rich, they all love golf, and they hang out at this little fashion shop near our house. The other set of elders have met him before and said that he actually has some gospel interest, so we actually have an appointment with him tonight! I will keep you updated there. 

We also met this group of 7 people who make up the Royal Priesthood Church who are investigating the church. They pretty much spend all of their time together and they only have two commandments: Love God and love your neighbors. They are really focused on just loving each other and making the most of life. They are really interesting people, but they are so nice and just good, so we are meeting with the founder to help them find the restored 충만한 truth! 

Then there is 전행오, who is this super deep, profound, somewhat philosophical man who apparently was a rebel in the past in Korea and was taken captive and forced to tell information about the people he was working with. He is also over-the-top dramatic whenever he speaks, so he's just a funny, wonderful man. 

이근표 is a really rich businessman who originally lives in Seoul, but probably has another home here in Gwangju because he works here often. He spends his weekends hiking with the governor of one of the biggest cities in Korea and he just happens to know someone who not just live in our apartment complex, but just happened to build it. He had a bad experience with church in the past but wants to try believing again and we are so humbled to have the opportunity to share the gospel with him.

There are others, but I am out of time. But what amazes me even more than the incredible opportunity to meet all these people is the fact that they are all individually loved, understood, and created by our Father in Heaven. We truly are the children of God and more than ever before, as I serve among these people, I know that is true. This week I read a talk from last year's April Conference titled "Being Accepted of the Lord." It reminded me where are true value comes from and how easy, but also how wrong it is to define our worth or acceptance by other means. I really recommend the talk, but I just want to testify that even when it seems as though "all other sources cease to make [us] whole," that God has promised to accept us as often as we come unto Him. It requires our broken hearts, our contrite spirits, and our sacrifice, but I know that it is always worth it. God loves us! He know us! I am so grateful to be His son and to share His message to the world! What an exciting time to be a part of the Kingdom of God!!!

I love you all! Have a wonderful day!

Love, Elder Tolman

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