부활 (resurrection) – March 27, 2016

To my friends and family,

What a great week! Even though it is weird to have Easter in March, it is still amazing to be able to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. We had a lot of really cool things happen this week, but I don't have a ton of time and there are a lot of more important things to talk about, so sorry for all those who want to hear about Korea and stuff. 

This week I want to talk briefly about having a good attitude. In all of our lives, there are a great many things that cause frustration: our jobs, school, friends, family, world events, and whatever else. My pattern when I get stressed out has typically been to be super irritated for a day or so, but then after a little bit of time, I am able to regain perspective on life. But how much better would it be if all of us just took the waves of life with some patience and a little bit of joy. Yea, it’s not fun when you fail a test, or have to work overtime or things like that. But these waves of life are inevitable; the only thing that we can control is our reaction to these waves. How much happier would we be and how much happier would those around us be, if we react with a smile instead of frustration or harsh words? 

To conclude, I just want to leave you with my testimony of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I could say a lot of things about him and quote a lot of scriptures or talk about how meaningful Jesus Christ is to me individually, but this time I will be simple. 

I know that He lives. I know that he knows all of us individually and loves us more than we can ever understand. I know that all of those who follow Him and live his gospel will find peace in this life and in the next. 

I love you all,

Elder Coleman 

March 21, 2016: Bad News

To my friends and family,

I hope that title makes a couple more of you open up the email; I don't actually have any bad news but if I hypothetically did then I hope this would help all of you deal with that news. So this week was super sick [this means good]. We are meeting a ton of people on the road, in buses, at their homes, and from various activities like basketball and even playing guitar. There are so many good people in this world, so whenever I hear some story about North Korea or elsewhere around the world, I just go talk to a nice guy on the street and it kinda takes away my worries.

So some culture for this week… I think this is probably similar in many parts of the world, but it is dying because people are lazy. One thing that older Korean men love for us to do is to stand up when they walk into the room and shake their hand with both hands. It shows a ton of respect and it makes them feel really valued and respected.

Anyway so the letter for this week: I talked to a lot of people about bad news recently. Whatever the story, it was always the same reaction: what do I do? How can me and my family be safe? Why would God let this happen? Of course we don't usually have the answer to the last question, but to the previous two we do. In the second to last chapter of the book of Mormon (Mormon 8), a father writes a letter to his son (both are fighting in a large war) and tells of the terrible things that are happening on both sides. However, even though they faced terrible things, they found faith in Christ and the love of God.

25 My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.

 26 And may the grace of God the Father, whose throne is high in the heavens, and our Lord Jesus Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of his power, until all things shall become subject unto him, be, and abide with you forever.

My letter was very long last time so I will be brief this time. I know that as we align our will with God’s and as we trust in His plan for us and His promises to us, we can find peace and joy in the hardest times. I love you all.

Elder Coleman

March 13, 2016

To my friends and family,

This week has been a lot of things: busy, stressful, rewarding, scary, crazy, wonderful, cold. But most of all this week was happy. I will talk about that interesting word a little later, but to start just a quick summary of the week first. We basically ran around the whole week and talked to everyone we possibly could, and by doing that, we got a ton of peoples’ phone numbers and addresses and appointments. After that, we called a ton of people and met with a lot of people to teach them and that went well too. So basically that is what every week is like so if anyone is wondering there it is!

The culture for this week is the 배웅 which is basically the Korean word for like a goodbye walk out. When you leave someone’s house, they typically put on their shoes and walk out with you. Sometimes they even walk you all the way to the bus stop. It’s actually super cool because it shows how much they value you and want to make sure you get to your next appointment safely.

So today I want to talk about a topic that I have been trying to study every day and one that I have been curious about my whole life. That topic is, “How can we have happiness in spite of challenges and in spite of heartbreak or setback?” This past week I have been reading in the Book of Mormon in the book called second Nephi. In chapter 5 of that book, Nephi and his family have just arrived in the promised land, but shortly after they arrived, Nephi’s father died and the family split because of a disagreement. Because of this, wars and conflicts began to break out. Being split from my family, at least physically, is a feeling I am pretty well familiar with. Even though Nephi was in a new place, split from his family, and had the terrible responsibility of leading his people against his brothers, he described that "And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness." When I read this I asked myself "What does that even mean? what is the manner of happiness and how did he find it?"

Of course there are many ways to find this happiness but in this chapter I found 3 things that really stood out. First is being industrious. Work hard at whatever you are doing. College, a job, mission, whatever you are currently doing find a way to do your best. Happiness is found in doing something well regardless of what it is. If you aren't really doing anything now, change that. It is hard to be truly happy if you are not busy and doing something that you find meaningful.

Another is following the prophet and Gods commandments. I always thought this was an obvious one; do what God says and you will be blessed. This of course is true, but there is another reason we should keep the commandments. When we break the commandments or ignore the scriptures or the prophets, we will always eventually become unhappy. God does not usually punish the children that he loves when they break the commandments by raining down fire and ruining their lives, but he does not stop the natural consequences of doing things that are against his commandments.

Finally, Nephi and his family found joy in working together and helping each other. By serving and loving people around us we find joy. Instead of focusing on those things that hurt or the things that are painful, find someone who is worse off than you. It’s generally pretty easy. Then go help them. Forget yourself for just a short amount of time and strengthen the people around you. That is where you will find true happiness.

I love you all,

Elder Coleman