July 12, 2015

안녕,

Hola 친구들, It was a pretty regular week so my email will be pretty short this week. Everything is in full summer mode, so it is very hot, and very humid, and very rainy. Elder Smith thought it was a good idea to not take an umbrella this past week so he got pretty soaked. Fortunately I was prepared and I was not too wet. 

About Korean culture... this week I was told that it is super important to address people by their titles instead of just by “him or her” even if you talk about them for a long time. So it’s kinda silly when I am telling a story about my dad and I constantly have to say "my father" instead of “him.”

 I had a long spiritual thought last week so I won't say much this week at all, but I am still doing super well and by reading the scriptures and by praying, and by doing the basic things, we can overcome our struggles even in difficult or just ordinary times.

Elder Coleman

July 5, 2015

Hey!

Hello everyone! This week was pretty fun; we had a lot of success with finding new people this week and we have been studying the language really hard to try to get better and to show our faith that we are prepared to find people for the Lord. 

Anyway so today I want to talk about the Christlike attribute of charity. Charity is often described as perfect love or Christlike love. It is the willingness to sacrifice for others and have a concern for their eternal well-being. Paul says this about the importance of charity: 

"And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness."

Charity is the path to perfection. When we are willing to sacrifice all to help others and to serve God, not because of fear, but because of true love for them, we have started the pathway to perfection. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ commanded all of his followers to be perfect, even as he is perfect. In 2 Peter, Peter gives a laundry list of attributes that we must develop if we are to be fruitful unto God. The last attribute, or the highest, was the gift of Charity. Charity is the end goal of perfection. John also writes this of charity: 

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him."

God is love. Christ is love. If we desire to seek to be like them and to follow them, we must develop this attribute. Christ commanded his disciple in John 13 to love others, he commanded the multitude to love your enemies (Matt 5:43), and he warned the scribes to remember the two great commandments of the law; to love god and your neighbor (Matt 22: 37-40). Anyone who seeks to distort the fundamental necessity of love greatly misunderstands the commandments of God. Although we are not perfect and we will never be in this life, we must do our best to love and serve God and those around us. 

In the Book of Mormon, a prophet gives a promise to those who have charity.

If a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing;   wherefore he must needs have charity. And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail but charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

I testify that the quest to develop perfect charity will not be finished in this life. We will never be perfect at loving those around us or loving our Father. But it is a commandment and it is our privilege to come unto Christ and be perfected in him. Through his grace, we can find strength we could never imagine, and patience that we could never dream of. The quest of charity is the quest to be as Christ is, and no joy will be greater than the joy we can have when we see him again, and feel his love again.

I love you all,

Elder Coleman

Side note: the peace sign is used to cover up the fat on people's face. It’s pretty funny.

June 28, 2015

Hey!

So this week was a great one! We got two new missionaries into our area, Elder Smith and my Boy, Elder Perks. It was a pretty fun week because we got some chances to teach our investigators, who are all doing well enough, and we also had an opportunity to.... Clean! We organized a lot of the stuff about the area. Anyway, I learned this week that planning for the long run is super important, even if it means sacrificing some time in the short run. 

My spiritual thought for the week is something that I found in Hebrews 4. 

15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need.

Just like us, our Master Jesus Christ faced trials and temptations, but fortunately for all of us, he never yielded to those temptations. Because of that, he can feel our infirmities and he understands what we are going through and how we suffer; but he also knows how to overcome those infirmities. Because of the Savior’s atonement, we can do as Paul says, "obtain mercy" through His death and suffering, but we can also "find grace" or divine help when we need it. I testify that Christ is the Savior of the World. I know that He walked the roads of Galilee, that He ministered to the humble, healed the sick, and taught His gospel to those with a contrite heart. I know that His arm is outstretched to reach all of us, no matter our situation and no matter what mistakes we have made. I hope that the people I teach, those who are impacted by my mission or by any missionary, and those who follow Christ's words can learn for themselves through diligent prayer and study, that Christ is indeed the Risen Son of God. 

I love you all, 

Elder Coleman

June 14, 2015

To my friends and family,

This week has been a pretty ordinary week of finding, learning, and teaching people about the gospel of Christ. But one thing that has not been ordinary and that thing is... Ping pong. Before I left on my mission I never played ping pong aside from the occasional time at someone's house, but I never really enjoyed it. Now that I have been forbidden to play basketball, I play ping pong instead and get lessons from Korean teachers. Super fun, they are so good. But apparently I have been improving!  In the past, Korea used to have a lot of places to play ping pong, but now they mostly have been replaced by PC places and video games. So a lot of people love to come to our church to play ping pong. 

Anyway my spiritual thought for this week is on the Book of Mormon and specifically its witness of Jesus Christ. For the past 2 months I have read through the book every day and I just finished it this past Saturday. Also, throughout this week, I have had an unusually large number of opportunities to teach about it and to study about it. As I testify and as I read, my testimony of the Book of Mormon, specifically of its important testimony of Christ, has grown so much. It simply, powerfully, and unconditionally testifies of the Savior, His divine role, and our responsibility if we want to follow him. The Bible wonderfully accomplishes this same task, but in the Book of Mormon we find clarity for certain passages in the Bible. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know that it testifies of Christ. I know that by following the precepts in it, we can become closer to God and find our purpose in this life.

I love you all,

Elder Coleman