Hello Family and friends! (as well as acquaintances,
or..whoever else this goes to...the internet is a big place)
Wow, what a wonderful world we live in! I really love Korea.
I love being a missionary. And I love my God who is so good to me and to us
all. This week has been good and I'd love to share with you some of my comings
and goings as well as some of the things I've been privileged to learn and to
relearn.
First, some Korean observations that I failed to communicate
thus far:
Rice. Those little white thingies--I never realized how much
I loved it or how much our meals revolve around it until we ran out early in
the week. It was crazy, I forgot that I eat it three times a day and even Ramen
(which is way more delicious in Korean (where it came from) than anywhere else,
I've come to learn) wasn't the same without a little rice to eat the ramen
dregs with. Sad, but then we got 20 kilos from some members so now we're
sitting pretty.
Ok, the hardest thing about Korea (besides the whole talking
to people in Korean) has to be sitting cross legged. I never thought of myself
as a flexible person, but I didn't think I was that bad. . . I was that bad. We
eat all of our meals cross legged and my knees are either way up in the air or I'm
fighting them down and then I walk away from the table all cramped and
jello-legged. Note to self (or anyone heading to Asia): stretch. But I figure
if that's the hardest part then I'm doing ai'ight.
The food really is delicious here. Sometimes it's a
different kind of delicious--the kind I don't appreciate--but it all is good.
Spicy is a big thing here. I went on an exchange on Tuesday to the neighboring
city and while there my "new" companion had me try "fire"
ramen. I can't ever remember the Korean name but it nearly did me in. I was
crying and my nose was running off my face and I was crying some more and I
drank two cups of milk. Surprisingly, what cooled the fire after about ten
minutes of purgatory--I mean pain, was a potato salad sandwich. It was good. I
think I'll eat the fire ramen again this week. It kills, but it actually has a
delicious flavor that makes up for the pain and suffering---it's like hard core
crossfit of ramen! Pain and suffering--so much so that you cry, but a sense of
satisfaction and the insanity you just put yourself through. Yeah, ...it kinda
is.
New look alike this week. The most common comparison
recently has been between me and Arnold the Terminator Schwartz...I'm not even
going to try spelling that.
I also had Korean tacos! The best of tacos plus kim chi and
sweet chili sauce. They were so good! And everyone always feeds us fruit when we
visit. The fruit here is so tasty. It comes in seasons so I've eaten a lot of
watermelon and grapes. They're great and grown super close to 천 안 (Cheonan) too.
This week God answered my prayers. We have a pool of eight or
nine regular investigators now. I love all of them and hope for the best. We
have two set baptismal dates (one this week!) and the rest we usually see
throughout the week. But Thursday and Friday and Saturday were hard. Everyone
was canceling on us or going out of town. We did a lot of finding activities,
there was lots of street contacting and good practice for me, but I want to be
teaching the gospel and be helping people really come closer to Christ, so we
need more people to teach. I got down on my knees and pleaded for those we are
teaching and prayed for God to place his prepared children in our path. I would
do all I could to follow the Spirit and would open my mouth to talk to everyone
and be 100% obedient. I promised God my all and knew that he'd follow through.
Helaman 3:27 says "thus we see that the Lord is merciful unto all who
will, in the sincerity of their hearts, call upon his holy name." I did
this and He followed through. The next day, Sunday, one of our investigators
came to church, and we received a referral from a member and one from the Elders
in the city over. Then a person we met in the store a few days before responded
to our text and we met with him that night. I think he is totally prepared and
ready for the gospel! The Lord is so good. Have faith. Pray and do everything
to help your prayer happen, and He will provide a way.
2.0
A quick thought because time is short. A thought from Moroni 9:25-26. To all of those whose hands may hang helplessly down. Look
Up! Look to Christ! if ye do, "may Christ lift thee up, and may his
suffering and death, and the showing of his body unto our fathers (so...that
he suffered, bled, and died, but more importantly that he LIVES! He is living
now. And he loves us infinitely.), and may his mercy and long
suffering (which He shows to us because sometimes it takes a few
times--or several--for us to learn a lesson) and the hope of His glory and
eternal life, rest in your mind forever." Let this thought, the joy of
Jesus our Savior, the good news of the gospel, the happiness in His Hope, sweep
away the cobwebs of depression, discouragement, or doubt. "May Christ lift
thee up" and may His grace, or the enabling power of the atonement - as Elder
Bednar would say - carry you through. Carry you onward and upward until we are
with him, with God, again!
I love this gospel. I testify that it is true!
Elder Tucker
 |
| Look at this huge Korean cereral! It is just as delicious in Korea! |
 |
| This is our kid getting baptized! |
 |
| and....another selfie. Korea is the best! |