Nokbeon Week 8 - High Five!

Dear Family and Friends,

So basically this week was again very interesting.  I would say probably that Saturday was the most interesting, starting with exercise in the morning.  We headed out with the other Elders in our district to play soccer in the morning at the church, when randomly this guy walks through the door really drunk.  He had met Elder Song about 3 months ago on the street.  Well anyways, he comes through the door and begs to hear our message and already wants to become a missionary.  He was about 45 years old.  He was honestly super nice and we spent an hour just talking with him about Christ right there in basketball shorts, dripping in sweat.  It was a super cool miracle, especially since our mission President on Wednesday set a Standard of Excellence of 3 New Investigators per week.  So we set an appointment for 3 o'clock that same day, but unfortunately he didn't show up.  Talk about ups and downs in one day!

Another thing that happened this week was that I had the privilege to go on an exchange with Elder Yetter, my district leader.  It was such a great opportunity to do missionary work with him, and I learned so much from his boldness, honesty, and hard work ethic.  We also got a training on Wednesday from President about the new vision for our mission.  The whole thing was about faith, hard work, and raising our expectations.  He set some really lofty goals for all of us that were at first pretty shocking, and then a big opportunity to improve.  His phrase was "The Faith to Baptize."  What was worse was walking home after the conference.  I gave a kid a high-five on his bike as he rode past, but he accidentally went down pretty hard. I never knew high-fives could be so dangerous.  Fortunately, he was all right and I had the opportunity to share the gospel with him. God works in mysterious ways.

On Saturday, we got a call from the AP's (Assistants to the Mission President) saying that Elder Song would have to go to a military base down in Ursan on the other side of Korea.  Each Korean male has to serve in the army for two years, and after they serve for two years they have to do regular check-ups.  So Elder Song left today for that check-up, resulting in me joining Elder Yetter and Elder Lee's companionship.  Elder Song should return sometime tomorrow. After we left the station, we had another drunk guy chase us down the street yelling at us that we were fools...Some people might be offended, but I thought it was pretty funny. 

On Sunday, we visited a super awesome member family, who's son recently received the Aaronic Priesthood.  We had the chance to share a message with them and learn of their marriage story.  Apparently, he proposed to her after two dates in front of their entire ward at the Seoul Temple.  She couldn't say no!  I gave him a high-five for that one haha.  Jee-Hoon came to sacrament meeting this week, but left early because he was feeling pretty sick.  Unfortunately, we didn't have anyone at church this week, but we are hoping to get one of our investigators to come out next week.

Thanks for all the love and support, especially the prayers!

Your Favorite Missionary,

Elder Wheeler

 

Bowling on P-day 8-10-15

Elder Song

Elder Song

Elder Jeong, Elder Cazier, Elder Yetter, Elder Wheeler, Elder Song and Elder Lee

Elder Wheeler holding a member's old Bible



Elder Yetter with a cat

Come here, Kitty!

Elder Song, the very large cat and a member

Chase with an "awesome family" from the ward

Saying goodbye to Elder Song who was temporarily leaving for his military obligation

 

Nokbeon Week 7

Dear Family and Friends,

So first I will start off with an update of what happened this week for Transfers.  One area in our district closed, so now we're down to 6 Elders and 2 Sisters.  Elder Yetter is the district leader and Elder Jeong is one of our Zone Leaders.  We also had the surprise of a Korean missionary moving in to be Elder Yetter's companion, so now we are split 50/50 Koreans and Americans in our apartment.  Oh and Sister Lee's new companion is a new missionary, which brings back tons of memories of when I first came to Korea.  I was so scared, especially since I couldn't understand anything.

I just want to start off by saying that we ate really well this week.  One member family had us over for dinner this week and we got to go to the High Priest's grill party with our investigator.  They were planning on having lots more people come, so we were just left to eat lots of meat.   Well, besides eating a lot, we also talked to tons of people this week.  I'll share just one short experience.  

On Thursday, before MCM (Missionary Correlation Meeting), we were walking by a nearby station when we approached this guy who was smoking a cigarette and didn't seem to want to talk at first, We tried to keep the conversation going and he ended up having some amazing questions.  We talked about repentance, and explained basically the whole restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ to him right there on the street.  He was super excited to hear and he kept mentioning how he felt in his heart.  He said that he hadn't heard one wrong thing come out of our mouths from the time we started talking to him.  It's so amazing to have that connection with an investigator.  As it says in D&C, "Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together."

Jee-hoon is progressing well, although he didn't come to church this week, because he wasn't feeling well.  The members have given him shirts and are planning on giving him pants to wear.  Jang-Hyeon, the guy who randomly showed up this past week to church, is doing well.  We met him this morning and we set a baptismal date.  He said he wants to meet so he can go to Heaven! Really nice guy!

I continue to find so much joy in this wonderful gospel.  I honestly have come to love studying the scriptures and recently the Old Testament.  I never thought I would find myself loving the stories of Moses and Joseph.  I have come to learn so much about God's love for us as I feel it so strongly when I read.  I have also realized how many blessings the Lord truly has in store for those who are faithful.  All the Lord requires is a willing heart and he can make us each great.  I love the story of Joseph, who continually turns his terrible situations into learning experiences and never once blames God.  How easy would it of been to be angry about being thrown in prison for keeping the Lord's commandments?  He just set an amazing example.

Thanks for all the wonderful support!

Your Favorite Missionary,

Elder Wheeler

 

Meat Buffet!  Elder Song and Elder Hansen with a Korean friend

View from a building Elder Wheeler and Elder Song tracted

Elder Song

Back row:  Elder Hansen and Elder Song
Middle Row:  Elder Wheeler, Elder Mattingly, Elder Pons, Elder Yetter, Sister Lee and Sister Gu
Front Row:  Elder Jeong and Elder Cazier

Elder Wheeler on Elder Jeong's shoulders

Chase with his ward mission leader who is one of his "favorite members of all time!"

Elder Lee and Elder Yetter

Playing games at Family Night

Elder Lee at the pulpit

 

Nokbeon Week 6

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was really fun and interesting again.  We ended up eating a lot with members this past week.  It started on Monday when we brought Jee-Hoon to eat with the Second Counselor's family.  We had an amazing time that included grapefruit flavored watermelon. Delicious! The best part of it was when Jee-Hoon said that he had only seen a dinner like this on television.  He came out saying how he wanted to have a family like that in the future.  It's amazing to see how much he is changing little by little.  To make things better, when we took him to the temple this past week, he mentioned how great he felt, and how he is looking forward to coming back.

This week we talked to lots of people with not a lot of apparent fruits from our efforts.  It was pretty discouraging until randomly, a former investigator from like a year back showed up to church! While we were waiting for Jee-Hoon during his Aaronic Priesthood interview, a 26 year-old walked through the front door with a Book of Mormon.  He really enjoyed church and said he wanted to get baptized!  It was such a huge miracle, especially considering the fact that we were waiting at the door when he came in.

We had fun street boarding this week and met some new people at our English class.  Surprisingly, people hear about our English class online, and then come and learn!  In other news, the heat is continually beating down, causing people to have no attitude to talk to us.  Finding new investigators is always a constant quest here in Korea.  We talk to people in taxis, on buses, on subways, on bikes, in stores, and the list continues.  Our week is usually filled with those activities because all the apartments are locked, so we can't really knock on doors.

For transfers this week, Elder Hansen in our house is leaving and they might close an area here in Nokbeon.  I'm really not 100% sure what will happen, because we will find out on Wednesday.  I will be staying with Elder Song for another transfer which should be a lot of fun.  He has lots of unique skills that make him really effective when he does missionary work. This week was just so much fun, especially our Family Home Evening, and when Jee-Hoon got the Priesthood! Thanks for all the love and support!

Your Favorite Missionary,

Elder Wheeler
 

 

Jee-Hoon and Elder Song in front
of the Seoul Temple

Jee-Hoon and Elder Song

Jee-Hoon and Elder Wheeler
in front of the Seoul Temple

Jee-Hoon and Elder Wheeler

Elder Pons, Elder Yetter and a sister missionary at a service project

Elder Song and Elder Wheeler at a member's house for dinner

Elder Song, Elder Hansen and Elder Yetter crossing the street