A Solid, Unmovable Foundation in a Time of Shifting Values and Trials

This week was an adventure. With all of the rain, it makes street contacting very hard. But we were still able to meet quite a few new people that seem interested in meeting. Our struggle right now is actually getting them to meet. We set up a lot of street appointments, but they often don't show up.  

 

Mr CHO came to church, and we have taught him most of the 4th lesson (the commandments). This week when we went to his house, we noticed something different about him. Usually he just rambles on about this or that, but now whenever he talks, he has this smile on his face, and he only talks about the gospel. He talks about who he was before, and how he understands things now, and it's obvious that there's a change that happened in him. He also mentioned that he and his mom really like it when we come over, it makes the house have a good atmosphere. We're really happy to see his conversion take place, and he is still progressing to be baptized this next Sunday.

Our friend, GYO, is doing really well, we have moved from reading scripture stories to watching conference talks and Mormon messages with general authorities. When he saw 'discerning light' by Elder Bednar, he said, 'When I heard his voice, I knew that whatever he said would be true. I can tell he is sent by God.' He has such great faith, and studies and understands very well. He has a great future ahead of him in the church. He wants to introduce his girlfriend to the gospel when he finishes his military service in October.

I'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, that it provides a solid, unmovable foundation in a time of shifting values and trials.

 

Take some time to reflect on how this gospel has helped you, and think about how it can help you in the future. It's an empowering feeling, knowing that everything will work out in the end, no matter what happens in the middle. 

Elder Franchina 

Umbrellas Are A Great 'Missionary Shield'

Dear Family,

This week's email will be a little short, sorry for the lack of time, but we had a great week. It's hard when it rains, umbrellas are a great 'missionary shield'. People don't usually talk when it rains, but this week we still saw miracles. Thank you for your prayers for Mr. CHO, he came to church, (along with 3 less actives), and we taught with a member. He's progressing towards baptism, and the scheduled date is for the 31 of this month.

We are still meeting with GYO to get him excited to go on a mission. He has a great relationship with God, and he feels like a mission would be good. We met with YWO, who is still on the lazy side, so he's not really prone to progression, but he still has those fears of death and the afterlife, so we hope that propels him into progression in the gospel.

Our zone is doing really well on the focus for the month, 속초 (Sokcho) had 2 investigators to church yesterday, and we are seeing a huge increase in member lessons. It's a blessing to see these faithful goals become miracles from the point of view of a zone leader. This zone is fantastic, and are truly disciples out here.

Elder Franchina

Pahoran Is A Great Role Model

This week we worked really hard, I think this will be one of the most productive transfers of my mission. We were not able to meet with Mr PRK, despite going to his shop twice this week. Our investigator pool, once again, has become a bit stagnant, so we decided to go through old investigator records and old progress records. We set up two new appointments, and they both went really well.

CHU is interesting, about 40 years old, and interested in talking. He's originally Buddhist, but interested in learning about our message.

We receive texts from a guy with random, sometimes crazy things, and he suddenly asked if we can meet, so we decided to try it once. Both of those lessons went very well. We went over HTBT(How to Begin Teaching) and role-played, and we also set a goal to make 10 baptismal invitations this month for our companionship, and if there are more opportunities, go for 100% for every first lesson with investigators. We invited both to be baptized, and they accepted! Both agreed to come to church, but other circumstances, including rain, kept them from coming this week, but we're already 3/10 for our goal, so we'll probably have to adjust it later next week.

On Sunday we had a big miracle (just as expected, it was fast Sunday).  A member around the age of 16, KIM, brought his friend LEE to church the week before, and we heard that they both went to the youth conference this past week. He came back and loved it. He talked about the activities and exercise, but the best part was to come. During sacrament all of the youth got up to bare their testimonies, and LEE asked if he could get up! It was great, he bore his testimony like a member did, and he's only been to church two or three times. It was amazing, but quite obvious to me, that the promise is still extended, that if we seek the Spirit, we shall find. If we knock on the door of the house of the Lord, we can prepare and enter. He's searching, and he's finding his answers already. Then we taught a lesson after church, it was so natural. He's so curious, and very desirous to have a religion. Everything we said was testified of by the Holy Ghost, and he agreed to prepare for baptism. We picked him up as a new investigator, and we're pretty confident he'll be baptized by the end of this month or the next.

KJY  is doing well, we studied Alma 17 and 18, and he decided he wants to go on a mission, so now he needs to discuss it with his girlfriend. We're so happy for him, that he is so in-tune with the Spirit and the scriptures. There's only one small speed bump.  He mentioned that he doesn't remember ever having people lay their hands on his head and getting the Holy Ghost. He was baptized and then went straight to military service, so it's possible. We're trying to find his record, but if he didn't receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, he may have to be re-baptized or have that given soon. Either way, I'm really excited that he's planning for a mission, and his back-up plan is going to BYU Provo. Maybe both! I love him, he's such a cool guy.

I'm so grateful to be serving with Elder Gardner again. He's a great Elder, and we just feed off of each other. He wants to work hard, and that makes me want to work harder. We talk to every one and are really working on improving our skills as missionaries. It's not only as fun as I imagined it would be, but we're still working on being humble and improving our weaknesses. I think we've had some really good companion inventories, making goals and following through, and I really hope to serve with him for the remainder of my mission. He's a great Elder and a blessing to my mission, to the 강릉 branch, and to the zone out here.

One thing I really liked from something I read this last week was in the later chapters of Alma, Moroni writes Pahoran and really rips him a new one with how he has been holding back. He calls him to repentance, and places the blood of all those who died on his head. What a condemnation. How would we respond? I know when I've been accused of things, I act defensively, and even offended. How did Pahoran respond?

"Behold,I say unto you, Moroni, that I do not joy in your great afflictions,yea, it grieves my soul.
And now, in your epistle you have censured me, but it mattereth not; I
am not angry, but do rejoice in the greatness of your heart. I,
Pahoran, do not seek for power, save only to retain my judgment-seat
that I may preserve the rights and the liberty of my people. My soul
standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free.
And now, Moroni, I do joy in receiving your epistle.."

If only we could respond with the same meekness and self control as Pahoran. He first let Moroni know that he was not mad. He then informed him of the current situation (of which he didn't know about at the time he condemned Pahoran), then rejoiced in his righteousness, and then went on to strengthen his brother in the Lord. "Therefore, my beloved brother, Moroni, let us resist evil, and whatsoever evil we cannot resist with our words, yea, such as rebellions and dissensions, let us resist them with our swords, that we may retain our freedom, that we may rejoice in the great privilege of our church, and in the cause of our Redeemer and our God." What a great example of humility and receiving and giving correction.
I'm so grateful for the Book of Mormon and the Bible, providing countless witnesses of the Son of God. I have experienced recently in my mission the truthfulness of these words,

"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in
heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Christ requires that we give all, but in the process of giving all, we qualify for his grace, bringing rest unto our souls. He is the perfect example, and he is our friend.

Elder Franchina

Love, Meekness, and Spicy Chicken Feet

This week has been great. Elder Gardner and I have been working really hard. He got a little sick this weekend (we had some REALLY spicy chicken feet, and I think we were all a little queasy) but we're all doing good now. Elder Farr came to church with his parents, sister, and brother in law, and now they're heading back to Seoul to do some more travel, then they'll go home on Thursday.

I'm so happy to be serving out here, and I wouldn't trade this for serving in Italy, Mexico, or anywhere else.  I know I'm supposed to be here, serving with President Christensen. They've said that sometimes they assign missions based on where they feel like we should go, but it's usually based on which mission president they feel like you should be paired up with. I LOVE president Christensen. He has such a great love for Korea and the missionaries here.

We had a pretty hectic week, but our first few days together were great. We haven't met with many of our old investigators, but we were able to meet with 률건박, and the lesson went really well. We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and prayer.  Elder Gardner bore a really great testimony, and we could tell it affected him. After Elder Gardner's prayer, he had tears in his eyes. We think he'll really start progressing from now on. 

When we contact people, it's changed from just introducing what we're doing (just a sales pitch) and giving a card to actually having a conversation, getting to know and love the person we talk to, and then the commitment to meet again or get their phone number is easy!

In my studies I studied more about the Sermon on the Mount, and today I thought a lot about Meekness. It's a quality I am really searching for, because the meek qualify for the grace of Christ and receive forgiveness for their sins, becoming the Sons of God. To me, meekness is a lot about humility, and not because it is forced, but because it's desired. It's a choice, because the individual understands the benefits of humility. Meekness also includes aspects of obedience, submission, and love, and so I am still seeking to obtain these qualities as I progress as a servant of the Lord. I can start to clean the inner vessel, so that my whole body can be full of light. I love the light. I enjoy dwelling in the light, and I love serving the light.

This week we saw a great miracle when we visited a less active sister.  She wasn't able to come out to church, but in front of her door we talked for about 15 minutes and shared a message about God being her father, and how she's always worthy to receive his help. We shared D&C 112:10, and talked about how Christ is beside her, holding her hand.  It's a more comforting notion, than a savior that exists above us, doing his own work or working with us from a distance. Christ is beside us, with his angels, lifting us up, and we helped her realize that. It was a very good message for her.

Some friends and scenery pictures! We had some crazy cool clouds, pure white, then blue sky, then a typhoon storm cloud just over the mountains.

Thank you for your prayers and for all that you do, I love you all!
Elder Franchina

The Elder Franchina-Elder Gardner Team Returns

Our investigators are doing alright, but progressing slower than we think they can. But it's good, they know we love them, and we go at the pace they can.  No baptisms planned for the next few weeks in our area, but we have a lot of hope.
'Why?', you might ask
The reason is, there's a great missionary coming to our area to be my new companion.
'How do you know he's a great missionary?' you might ask.
It may or may not be because I served with him a year ago.
That's right boys and girls, The Elder Gardner-Elder Franchina team was so great last year, they decided to put us together again, ready to take down all of Kangneung.

Old investigator in Sokcho!

It might not sound so cool to you folks at home, but serving with this Elder is a privilege. Elder Gardner is so nice and a really great guy. He was a great missionary when he was just a wee greenie, and now he's a Zone Leader! It's going to be so much fun.

The weather is getting hot, but we're trying some creative ways of staying cool (those refrigerator pants work better than you think!). Don't judge me, y'all, I'll be rocking these grandma pants at home.

It's really sad to see Elder Farr go, but it's good to see his example of sprinting to the end. Literally, we run everywhere. This morning for exercise we ran to the beach, and whenever we're going from place to place we sprint there. It's a lot of fun. You realize on your mission that when things get harder, they get more enjoyable and fun.

We did some service at an old folk's home. They're adorable.

 Missions are great.

Elder Franchina

Fun Hike Today

We went on a fun hike this week, so we don't have much time to email, but here's a few pictures from the hike.  무릉계곡, in a city called 동해, literally meaning the east sea. We might come back later to
go to the famous caves here.

We had Zone training meeting, which was good. We did some fun demos, regarding teaching and building relationships with investigators.

We met with MAT, a Korean, just two days after he got out of jail, and he's really looking for a way to relieve those burdens and sins. It's nice to meet someone who's genuine and sincere about coming unto Christ. Some of the time we meet people that end up only having interest in practicing English.

일이우 is doing well, we were on exchanges, so I didn't meet him this week, but Elder Farr says that he's doing well, showing a great desire to come unto Christ.

We also have 김태, who almost came to church this Sunday, but wasn't able to due to a bad headache. But he's really excited to come, and when he drives by us on the street in his dump truck he always honks.

I need to go take a bus to SOKCHO! We're going there for exchanges^^

Love you all,
Elder Franchina

PS Make sure to give someone a compliment today! You really can make a
difference!

Some fisherman taught me how to cast their nets

Hello!

Not much time today, but I'll update you on the news here.

We went to pick up trash at the beach and these

fisherman taught me how to cast their nets.

It's getting hot here, but we're staying cool with 30 cent ice creams sold next to our church. (God certainly does watch over his missionaries!)

LOO is busy, but is still planning on getting baptized at the end of this month.

We met a new guy, KST, and he's absolutely ready to accept the gospel. In our first meeting he accepted the invitation to be baptized, and he's excited to meet with us later. He got busy with work (construction), but one day we're walking down the street, and this BIG 18 wheeler truck carrying building debris started honking and stopped in the middle of the street (that's only okay here because it's the country side). It was him, and he rolled down his window - (HEY!!! HEY GUYS!!!). I like him.

Elder Farr's mission is winding down (Only 2 more weeks), but we're working harder than ever, and we're getting pretty close as companions. I love Gangneung, it's a great area.

We had Mission Leadership Council, and so we get to train our zone on what president taught us this past week. Although it took 2 days out of our week to travel to Seoul and back, it's great to spend more time with President and Sister Christensen. As I was on the bus, I read 2 Nephi 26, like you asked. I loved it. I continued on and read Jacob 5. Something I really liked this time was the insight we get to the attitude, personality, and character of the Lord. Multiple times he says, "내가 이 나무를 잃게 됨은 내게 슬픈 일이라." (verse 11) Which I love in Korean. It shows us how much he cares about the individual trees, not just the welfare of his general vineyard.

Naturally, you can't care for the entire vineyard without individually caring for each tree. He also states that the Lord of the vineyard worked WITH the laborers, promising to those that share the gospel, that the lord will be with them, working side by side, not just supervising.

I love this gospel. It's the safest and happiest path for individuals and for families.

Elder Franchina