Lost and Found

{April 15, 2012}

Hey everyone,

Thanks for the emails. It was nice to hear from everyone. I want to
see the Hunger Games so bad. I see little advertisements for it and it
kills me. Everyone says it's way good. I'll have to check it out when
I get home. Sounds like jury duty was fun. Haha. I'm still laughing
about that. Elder Clark Anderson's letter was fun to read. Gotta love
those South American miracles. I can't believe how that worked out.
Way cool. The twins are running for student council again? Sweet. Good
luck to them. Those are some good times.

Those are some good questions from Dad. Good things to think about.
Here's my answers.
1. Things that have changed from since I was a greenie: planning is
meaningful, not painful. I can speak and understand Korean (on a good
day). I think quoting PMG and church videos is funny. I learned that I
wasn't as humble as I thought I was. My work ethic has probably
increased too.
2. During the next 7-8 months I want to think more positively and then
work efficiently to make my mission more productive. That's one thing
I've learned and still learning this transfer especially. I also don't
want to fear the day I go home, but look at it as a deadline of when I
need to do the things I want to do and be the person that I want to
be.
3. I haven't really had an experience that made me think "oh this is
why I came to Korea" but in one of Pres. Uchtdorf's talks he begins by
talking about our callings and sometimes we're called to certain
callings or positions to learn that God lives and that this is the
restored church. I can't remember exactly how he said it but I think
that's one reason why I was called to Korea. And there are some things
that I think I have learned faster or in more depth because of
missionary work in Korea than I would have learned anywhere else.
4. After that letter about goals, I've thought a little bit more about
what I want to do. I probably could have and should have thought about
it more (luckily there's still time for that) but I try to make my
goals meaningful. I've kind of realized that I'm just going to turn
into a bump on a log if I don't make goals. And then go at it and work
for those goals. Easier said than done. But isn't that life?
5. I haven't heard much about North Korea. Just what you said. They
fired a missile and it failed. That's about all I know. Our president
hasn't said anything about it. We'll see what happens.
6. I hadn't heard about Mitt Romney. That's cool. I think it will have
an impact on the church in Korea, and probably the whole world. My
last Korean companion was saying if he becomes president more people
will probably join the church becuase one of the most powerful men in
the world is a member and they respect America. I don't know for sure.
Once again, we'll see.

Hopefully that was sufficient. That was a good follow up. Well my week
was pretty good. It was eventful. The most exciting part of our week
was probably losing our phone. I don't suggest it. It's not a good
situation. We were out contacting and my companion had the phone and
put it in the pocket of his overcoat, which had a hole in it. When we
got home and started planning we realized that a hole in a pocket plus
a phone in a pocket equals zero phones in a pocket. With a remainder
of one hole. So we rushed over to the train station by our house and
used a pay phone to call our leaders. Long story short, we were out
pretty late looking for our phone and ended up not finding it. So we
tried calling it again in the morning and someone had found it and
took it to a phone store. So another long story short, we got our
phone and all was well. That was fun. But amongst all that losing we
found two new investigators. They're sweet. And pretty golden.
Hopefully some good things come out of that. However, amongst all that
finding, we lost both of our baptismal dates. Yeah. Rough stuff. But
we found out some more concerns about our college student Sis. Park,
which was good. She doesn't open up much so it was good to see what
she was thinking. So we're taking a step back, having her really read
and pray about the Book of Mormon and we'll set up another date when
she feels ready. We definately learned that you can't drag people to
baptism and that some people just need some time. So stay tuned for
that.

Sorry this email is super long. Like I said, kind of a lot of things
happened. But it was a good week. Every week is good. Korea is getting
way pretty right now. It's looking like spring and the cherry blossoms
are coming out. I'm excited. Hopefully you guys aren't having too much
fun out in the sunshine and beautiful weather. Even in the Promised
Land, you have to have trials every once in a while. Have a good day.
Talk to you next week.

Love, Elder Dorius