Don't be like King Noah

February 12, 2017

Hey everyone!

I hope you all had a great week! This week has been full of adventures and firsts, which is unusual because I thought I was just about out of firsts in Korea. But I was wrong! So, we went to a funeral this past week and for the first time in my life I saw the Korean ceremonial bow for past ancestors, so that was very interesting, but at the same time, of course, very sad. We also had a chance to talk with someone who will probably pass away soon. The atmosphere talking with him was so different than that at the funeral. He was full of hope and believed completely that he has lived a great life and that he would get to live with his family again after he passed. The last fun thing this week that we did was I had a chance to teach (yea this part is funny) the violin! So as many of you probably know, I am not good at the violin. But one of our members really wants to learn how to play so I am teaching her the super basics. It’s pretty fun, but I am not sure if I am teaching her wrong.

If you all read the subject line, today I want to talk about a bad king that is in the Book of Mormon. I will leave a description of him.

 2 For behold, he did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the desires of his own heart. 5 For he put down all the priests that had been consecrated by his father, and consecrated new ones in their stead, such as were lifted up in the pride of their hearts. 6 Yea, and thus they were supported in their laziness, and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms, by the taxes which King Noah had put upon his people; thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity. 7 Yea, and they also became idolatrous, because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king and priests; for they did speak flattering things unto them.

In our church when we learn about King Noah, we learn about a super fat guy who didn't do anything and always seemed to get everyone else into trouble. Sometimes when I read this story I am reminded of those times when I was younger when I learned about him. But this time when I read this story, I had a question pop into my mind. Are you being like King Noah? The first thing I did of course was go weigh myself and I haven't gained a lot of weight so that was good, but the second thing I did was look a little deeper. How many times are we like him? How many times do we walk after our own desires, rely too much on other people, become lazy, and not keep the commandments of God? When we are too proud to change, or when we know the right thing to do but we don't do it for any reason, we are being like King Noah. So my advice for all of you is to not be like King Noah. When something is hard just do it. When God gives a commandment and you don't like it, like it. This is never easy of course, but the more we put aside our own desires, we will truly be more happy. I have come to know that is true, even though I am not even close to perfect at it.

I hope you all have a good week!

Elder Coleman

Serving Others

February 5, 2017

Hey everyone!

I hope everyone's week went well! This past week was probably the last time I will get a new companion on my mission. So, that was a fun last experience, but the highlight of the week was definitely when we had a chance to help a refugee from Egypt. So, I will summarize the story. The other Elders are meeting with this man who moved to Korea on a temporary visa not too long ago, but he is out of money and also he doesn't really have a ton of friends who can help him. So anyway, after transfers I started working with him because he doesn't speak Korean and the other two elders are both Korean. So, we had to take him to a place that is pretty far away from where we live to see if he could get some financial aid, but it turns out because of some random rules we can't really do much to help him. So, we kept trying to pull strings and stuff but nothing ended up working and at the end we basically had to just tell him there is nothing we can really do to help you. After we said that instead of being disappointed he was incredibly happy that we had done so much to try to help him. In the end, he was able to find the help he needed for at least a while. But what I learned from this experience is that even if we can do nothing but try to help people, they will be grateful for the effort.

 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:  35 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

I know that as we do our best to help the people around us, the person who we are really helping is God. And I know that we will be rewarded for the service that we do with peace and joy in this life and eternal life in the next. I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week!

Elder Coleman

Sanctify Yourselves

January 29, 2017

Hey everyone!

I will have to be quick on this email because as always, I got distracted on my email and forgot to send this one... Sorry. This past week was actually the Korean New Year so we were busy with a lot of conferences and other things, so it was kind of a hard week to do the work. But we had a ton of fun and actually had a chance to eat some traditional foods and see a traditional folk village (pictures of that to come I promise, our camera battery died haha).

This past Saturday evening was a pretty eye opening experience for me. As a very old missionary, you must be very careful not to let yourself get distracted, even a little bit because if you do then it kind of just snowballs really fast into just a bad attitude and you get really tired and all of that. And, of course, since I don't want that, I have been thinking about ways that I can be more sanctified and diligent. In the book of Joshua before the Israelites enter the promise land, the Lord says this.

 5 And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

I want this promise in my life, for my mission and for my life afterwards. One thing that I have learned on my mission is that even if we are very intelligent, funny, diligent, and all of those good things, without God backing us, we are going to have a lot of problems accomplishing the things that we need to accomplish. When we are sanctified, or when we are doing those things that are pleasing to God such as living his commandments, studying his word, and helping others, we are promised the help of God. That is so important on a mission when I am trying to teach people about Jesus Christ and about how He can bless their lives. I need that additional power, strength and wisdom that come from God. But even after my mission, I hope that I can live a sanctified life. Of course, we can have fun and enjoy ourselves, but my greatest wish is to always be living in a way that if I was called to be judged at any moment, I would be ready. Of course, I don't think I will ever reach that mark in this life, but it is something to aim for. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He lives still and can help us in our daily trials and help us become far better than we can ever be alone.

I love you all,

Elder Coleman