하나님 아버

Hello Everyone!

How's life? Mine is good. 

Well, this week I saw/heard the cutest thing in the world. Have you ever heard a 5 year old Korean girl pray? I almost died from the cuteness. Especially because her prayer went like this...

Heavenly Father

Please bless the Elders 

Baby jibberish

Umm

ummm

In the name ummmm Jesus Christ Amen.

The Cutest thing in the world!!!!!

But on a completely different note. Me and my companion may have accidentally walked down an alley of prostitutes. We thought it was part of the market! But anyways. We made it out fine. Don't worry. 

This last week, we went to one of the prettiest places in Korea! It is a little valley thing with a waterfall. I took pictures. I'll probably have to send them later. But it is fall in Korea and the leaves are absolutely beautiful! Reds and yellows and even maroons! This country is so beautiful!

Guess what! I found a less-active on the street that hasn't been to church in like 20 years. And he has started coming back now. He was baptized in another city, so no one knows him, but now he is coming back! His wife is Japanese and doesn't speak much Korean, but we will see what we can do... haha. She is very sweet and very Japanese. So, we at least have one more member of our little branch here in 동해 Donghae.

We are meeting a lot of people that want to meet! I don't know how we will fit it all. But it is a good problem to have. Haha. They just can't resist my perfectly shaped eyebrows. Haha. 

We go into Seoul this week and stuff. And it is midterms, so a lot of the students don't want to meet right now. But next week, hopefully we will have a lot going on! 

I think I might be lactose intolerant. I don't know! Maybe the lack of milk here has caused it. President told me to keep a meal diary. Haha. And see how I feel each day. Then try to connect them. 

So this week. I was reading in Mosiah. Abinadi. He has a line that I think is so striking. "Have you applied your hearts to understanding?" It pierces me when I read it. Have I? Is my heart soft enough for the Truths I know to freely flow into it? Understanding is great, but the larger beast is application. Sometimes it feels so easy to know, but applying is such a different task. Do I live? Do I feel? That is the task. It is the true test of our faith. It isn't about how much we know, but it is about how much we become. It is about how much of our understanding has become a part of our hearts. 

I love you all! Send me your Prayers! 

Week of Missing White People

Helllo!!!!! 

This week was pretty good. Expect I had a few days where I just really missed America. Korea is so different! There are a lot of foreign English teachers here and I don't know how they do it. I guess they can Skype and stuff. And they can't even speak Korean. At least I can speak Korean now somewhat. Haha. 

Anyways. I had KFC again this week. So that helped with the nostalgia some. Haha. 

I will have you know that I made some extremely delicious fried rice this week. Are you ready for me to make it when I get back? Haha. I am learning the ways of Korea. And I barbecued some Korean meats the other day. I am a pro. 

I have funny stories this week. Mainly because I have a new missionary. Haha. Ready?? 

Number One.... We were knocking doors and I made my companion do it all. Haha. Not really, but I made him do everything that he can do. So, basically when we knock doors, people say, "No, Sorry!" Or something like that. But usually we keep talking. Haha. And so when no one responds back, we say. "Anyone there?" And they don't respond. Haha. But my companion got "Anyone there?" and "Who is it?" Mixed up. Because that is what the Koreans say to us. Anyway. He stood outside of someone's door and said, "Who's there?" as if they were knocking on his door. Haha. I don't know if the humor translates. But I liked it. 

This next one is sure to be funny. 

So, the other day, my companion was reading the evacuation plan that the mission has. All missions have one. And he got all freaked out about it. Then a few days later, we heard a bunch of weird noises and weren't sure what was happening. Jokingly, I said, "I think we are being bombed."

The next thing I know, my companion is out of his pajamas and into black clothes, ready to evacuate. Hahaha. But it wasn't a bomb. It was fireworks right next to our apartment. Haha. It was great. 

Also, I got closed in a bus door. That was uncomfortable. Haha. It is funny now because if I get angry, I really could tell these people a piece of my mind now. I couldn't do that before. Haha. But I don't. Because I am nice. 

I am a little more sassy when I talk to people now though. Haha. Because I can be? Haha. But in a good way. Sorta like, why you ignoring me/ closing your door? Do you even know who I am? Haha. It works sometimes. Why you like that? 

Also, I miss black people. I believe I said this in one of my previous emails. But I need to say it again. We watched a really old church film and it had a really sassy black lady in it. Haha. Nostalgia happened. Haha. Sorry. 

I want all of you to be grateful for a blessing this week. That blessing is... being able to understand everything that is going on around you. Understanding every word. Haha. It is a blessing! 

I feel like I tell you all the same spiritual thoughts every week. But I will keep trying. Haha. 

I really like the idea of remembering. Of feeling. How do we stop forgetting? How can we just always know? How does the Lord truly feel about each of us? And how do we make those feelings and those thoughts our thoughts and feelings? One of the keys is the spirit. We are to rely on His spirit. We become what we are meant to become through His spirit and enabling power. That is the only way we can have His thoughts and be who He wants us to be. It is as simple as that, I think. We simply have to live in such a way as to have our own true personal relationship with Heavenly Father. We just have to feel it ourselves. This is why anything we do that prevents us from feeling the spirit is so serious. By choosing to not feel the spirit, we are choosing to step anyway from him. To become less Christ-like.  That is why we have to obey! 

Anyways! I love you all! Keep the love coming. 

Have a great week!

Love, 

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13 October 2013

Hi!

How is life? Life is good here. The weather is great. And suit season has started. Sorry if I spend all of your money, Mom. Haha.

I don't know what to write. Haha. Hi!!!!!! 

This week was good. Did any weird Korean stuff happen? I don't know. Maybe. But I think I am just used to it by now. But it is funny to watch my new companion think stuff is weird because he just got here. I think it is safe to say that I am no longer a picky eater. Aren't you glad I got over that? Haha. 

This week we got to teach an old man a few lessons. But he talked to his preacher in between our lessons and is convinced the Book of Mormon is the Apocrypha and so he doesn't need it. Yes, I now know the word for Apocrypha in Korean. I am gonna know some weird stuff. It is actually pretty simple if you break it down into its Chinese characters. Anyways. Yeah. But is was nice to teach him I guess? We were able to bear a lot of powerful testimony and stuff. And we may go visit him again. 

We also have been meeting a lot of college students. It is nice because they will listen to us and a lot of them meet again. So, Hooray! Haha. 

Conference! I got to watch it this week! It was great! I learned a lot. A lot about missionary work and other things. I really enjoyed these talks specifically: Jefferey R. Holland, Richard G Scott, David R. McConkie, Timothy J. Dyches, and of course Gifford Neilsen, and M. Russel Ballard. 

Go read them and tell me how you like them! I'll tell you why I liked them next week! Haha. Expect maybe I will say a little now. 

M favorite idea from conference: Christ helps the Impenitent. Those that are helpless. Sometimes it is easy to feel beyond the help of our Savior, but that feeling means we are exactly the person Christ wishes to help. Satan would have us feel that somehow we are beyond the Savior's help, or that we are broken. But this is contrary to how Christ works. He works with broken things. We are in His hands. He fixes that which needs fixing. And has the training to fix even the most broken. The skills. In those potter's hands, He turns our dust into art. Into His glory. 

Anyways. I have to go! I love you all! Keep praying for me! I am praying for you!

Love, Elder Renfroe

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6 October 2013

Hi. 

안녕하세요!

So I just started training and I got my new missionary. It is the best! Haha. He is great and wants to work. So that is really all I can ask for. We are going to get some work done out here. And we already have been. His name is Elder McFarland from Pleasant Grove, Utah. He is 19 and fresh out of High School. He speaks Sign Language, so maybe I will learn some. Who knows!?

We also got 2 sister missionaries out here. One is American and has been in Korea one transfer longer than me (6 weeks) and the other is Korean! It is great to have Koreans around. Your Korean always gets better. Haha. 

I feel really happy now as a missionary. I feel like the work can really happen now. Or that I can really give all of myself. Really because I have to do most of everything. Haha. Anyways. I would say that my Korean is pretty good now. I can function in this society pretty well now. And I can have real conversations with people. It is great!

We actually have a few lessons set up for this next week and a few more that could be set up. That may not sound like a big deal to some people. But it is pretty big deal for out here in Korea. Woo! 

Anyways. I like missionary work now. Haha. I love it actually! This next week will be my first full week with the new missionary and I am excited to see how it goes. 

I just have been thinking a lot about the beauty of the Gospel. Of truth lately. Specifically of who we are. It is such a wonderful thing. If we understand who we are it will change us through and through. And as we remember it. It really isn't about knowing it all the time, but actively knowing it, or remembering it. Anyways. We are children of our Heavenly Father. We literally are little kids. Infants. Nothing more than a toddler, if even that, when compared to who He is. One of the missionaries said some really nice words here. I don't really remember if I told all of you already. But. When we look at other people, it seems impossible to be like them. When we compare ourselves to other men. But when we compare ourselves to Jesus Christ, the path is made, the invitation is open. When we compare ourselves to Him, there is hope. There is power. We may stumble and we may fall. Just as a toddler. But he doesn't scorn. He only wishes for us to continue. He loves every step we take in His direction. It is wonderful. It is beautiful. It is hard to explain. But it is true. 

I don't have lots of time! I have to write my mission president now! I love you all! Thank you for the prayers and packages and love. 

Love, 

Elder Renfroe

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30 September 2013

Hi!

 

So we had transfer calls. I am going to Bulgaria. And I will learn Finnish.

 

Ha. Just kidding. I am so funny. Don't you miss me and my clever wit? I know you do. Anyways. I am staying right where I am. My companion is leaving. And I will be training a new missionary and District leading 10 missionaries out here on the coast of eastern Korea. Yay! Haha. It will be funny. I am going to be a daddy. In missionary terms. That means I am currently pregnant. And it is going to be a boy.

 

Anyways. This week. Was kind of lame. We have to move again for the last an final time. So the beginning of this next week will be boring as well. But then I get a new missionary and get to start a new transfer with a nice clean slate. It will be really good for this area. I think so. We are also getting sisters in my area. And one of them will be a greenie as well. So in my district, there are 10 missionaries and half of them will be greenies. Everyone is either training or being trained. That is how many new missionaries we have now! It is crazy. This is the last big group of them now, though. Because summer is over and stuff. Right now, we are a super young mission, but in a year, we will have so many experienced missionaries. It will really change how things are going here in Korea. I can't wait. I am really glad to be a part of this giant wave of missionary work all over the world.

 

Anyways. I like clean slates. I like that we get them. Ha. Today I am going to a meat buffet. And I will eat everything. It is the best in the whole world. The best thing ever. I love it so much. We need them in America. I'll start one. I feel like I could just type about it for a long time. But I will spare you that.

 

So, you want to know what my favorite k-pop song is, do you? Well If you must ask, I guess I will tell you. It is called u&i. The singer is Aellie... I don't know how to spell it. In English or Korean for that matter. But go listen to it. Just type in u & i k pop in google. It should come up. And a lot of it is in English. Haha. Also, If someone wants to find the lyrics of the top k-pop song in Korea and print them out and send them to me. (in Korean) then... I would be grateful? Haha. I hear it all the time, And I might as well learn what they are saying all the time. I get some of it but yeah. Anyways.

 

I got hugged in a very uncomfortable way by a very drunk man. I never want to be hugged like that again.

 

The US Navy was here in my town. Haha. There were foreigners everywhere! It made me miss America a little bit. It also made me miss black people. Hahaha. They are great! I love how they speak! Ha. The whole word needs people like African Americans. Haha. I miss their sasssssss.

 

Anyways. I gotta go......

 

I love you all !!!!!!

 

Love,

Elder Renfroe

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