Seoul Chaser: Sokcho Week 22

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been really hectic. I guess I'll start off with the sad news. Brother Jeon didn't come to church yesterday and didn't pick up any of our calls. This morning he sent us an e-mail basically telling us he has decided to leave our church and not come back. Unfortunately, he didn't tell us what the problem is and doesn't want to visit with us or talk about it. Luckily, he has been in contact with our branch members about the entire situation and it seems that he has gotten quite a bit of pressure from his family to not attend. All of us are really heartbroken, of course.

In happier news, this week we had the opportunity to go to Seoul! It was amazing to have the chance to go to the temple again and feel the peace that resides there. The next day we had the opportunity to hear from Elder Ringwood and his wife. They spoke to us a lot about Moroni 10 and gave us the opportunity to ask questions. The whole thing just went really well.

We also had a super great picnic as a branch on Saturday. Brother Park and his whole family all showed up and we had a super great time. We had this huge soccer game and I am currently sore from it. I'm pretty sure everyone enjoyed it and it brought our branch just a lot closer together.

As for a cool spiritual experience, last Friday during weekly planning, I had the impression during the opening prayer to pray for the opportunity to give someone a baptismal date. And on Saturday, Brother Jin accepted one! It was a cool experience and a witness that God continually answers our prayers that are said in Christ's name.

Thanks for all the support and everyone who continues to pray for this small branch here in Sokcho!

Some of the people we are teaching right now are:

Doyeong: The 9th grader who's parents oppose baptism and who's kind of just hanging in there.

Brother Lim: 28, he works for a less active member of our branch who came to the picnic; he's super nice and has come to church quite a lot

Brother Jin: 62, he lives/works in a parking garage. His life has been super hard. An old friend took him in and gave him food and a place to sleep. While he works at the garage, he attends a gym to get his health back up. This week we set a baptismal date for the 24th of May.

Mr. Gwon: In his 70's, We've met him twice and he seems really interested. Missionaries have been trying to meet with him for awhile. He seems really interested in the Plan of Salvation, but he is not very good at answering his phone, so meeting is difficult.

Your favorite missionary,

Elder Wheeler