Taebaek in Full Bloom

I got to see Taebaek again this week! When I was there, nothing was living yet. Last transfer when I went, trees were just starting to bud. This time, it was in full bloom! It was cool to finally see that. 

Me and Elder Paulsen both stayed in Taebaek, and I worked with Elder Mann over there. He is a convert of a few years, and he is awesome! We had a really cool experience together where we visited a less active that I had heard about when I served there. He was an old branch president who has some serious health problems that contributed to him not coming church. Elder Mann has been looking for him for a long time, and even had knocked on all the doors in several apartment building looking for him. Finally, when I was there, we found him! It was kind of a difficult visit, because he is in constant pain and is dealing with some other things, we aren't sure what. But beyond all that, we can see when someone has faith deep inside of them. Though he didn't want to meet missionaries yet (he had planned to contact us next year), he let us in and talked with us. We talked about prayer and the Book of Mormon, and shared a passage. He didn't have a heard ready to change at that moment, but it was clear to see from the way he spoke, acted, and responded that he knew and even missed the things that we were talking about. I just pray he will have the faith to get started again. 

Besides that, Elder Paulsen and I are doing great. Unfortunatly, four of our investigators, college students, have left for vacation (vacation is the worst). But we have a great person up in a town north of here that is started to progress really well! I really am very grateful to have so many people to be working with.

Happy Father's Day Dad! Love you so much! Thank you for working so hard and doing everything you do!

Tano Festival

June 4, 2017

So, we are a little disappointed this week that we haven't been able to meet with our investigators. Brother Lee's phone is broken, so we visited him last week, but he didn't come to church or anything. Our other investigators have otherwise just not had time. Students right now are taking their tests, and in a couple weeks will be on vacation and back to their homes.

But, what did happen this week...the Tano Festival! I did not realize how big this thing was, but apparently it is unique to Gangnung. Last P-day we did a little looking around. Here is what the Tano Market looks like (one side of it): 

Closer up​

​ 

It stretches farther down the river, on both sides. Can't get it all it a picture. But we've done some finding activities here and met some cool people. It opened with a parade on Sunday and was full of a week of selling stuff and performances. One cool person we met was on the bridge during an English class street boarding activity. I was on exchanges, so the other elders here will be in contact with him, but he stopped and listened and even asked questions as I explained the Book of Mormon. He took one and gave us his phone number. Not sure where the interest comes from, but it is always special to find someone who just has a different atmosphere about them. 

This week has been really interesting. With all the different people coming from around the world (Ecuador, Kenya, Indonesia, Pakistan, Belgium, Italy, Canada), we've met people of all different faiths. We've been able to introduce the gospel to Muslims, Hindus, and to all sorts of different kinds of Christians. As they have also shared to us the things that they believe, it is amazing how many similarities there are, even in ones that seem superficially very different. All of them have truth in them, especially regarding how we ought to treat one another. Consider how precious it is to have the Holy Ghost, who bears record of truth, as our compass and companion admits a world a varying beliefs.

Hope you all have a great week! 

A hand-made fan from the festival. I had him write on it "Sanctify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will work wonders among you."​

​From our house - heart firework at the Tano Festival

2017/05/28-Another week of miracles

This week we've seen more miracles. Seeing Sister Huang get baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost was really awesome. Elder Song came back for the day to interpret, and his parents came the next day to interpret in Sacrament meeting (into sign language).  Also, a return missionary from about twenty years ago came to church yesterday with someone he baptized, who has been less active for a long time. He brought his whole non-member family, and when he introduced himself and got emotional and said he always had the desire to come to church, but just never did. He also lamented that he wished he had been attending church more diligently when Brother Palmer found him again. Brother Palmer, the return missionary, was just what he needed to come back again. I'm really grateful for the opportunity to work with them now!

We weren't able to meet Brother Lee this week for a couple reasons - we had to go to Taebaek for exchanges, which, though finally seeing my old area up in the mountains is really cool, hurts because of a two and a half hour bus ride; Brother Lee's phone is broken, and his parents couldn't answer because they were off on vacation. But, the branch president took us out in a car to visit him yesterday, and he is still doing well. We'll see him tonight for family home evening at the church. 

In other news: Tano festival! Our district activity for the children's day festival here was super effective, so we decided to go see what we could do at the Tano festival. I didn't realize how big it was till I got there. Tents all up and down both sides of the river, games and booths set up all over the streets, and a huge parade right down the main street of town. We also have seen fireworks the past couple days from the window of our house, so it's been pretty fun. We have lots of good conversations and meet people we wouldn't otherwise meet. 

Things are going great here right now, and we just keep seeing these tender mercies of the Lord each day. Hope you all are too!

​Exchanges with Elder Horne!

​Our area. A little part of it, anyway. 

​Hiking last week

​Its cool to go to all the areas in Gangwondo, but we spend lots of time in this place...

​Gangnung Branch and Sister Huang, the newest member!

More miracles

So we had a mission conference the other day, and President Sonksen went over the "righteous routine," which is to leave the house at 10 (after planning and personal study), do just 30 minutes of companion and 30 minutes of language study (it got cut down), and to find and teach until 9 p.m. Following this has been really great. We have found so many cool people this week. We've actually met so many I'm having trouble keeping them all sorted out in my head. That's why we use potential investigator records!

Anyway, Sister Huang came to church yesterday again! Her baptism is this Saturday, and we are learning the song from the children's songbook, "Baptism," in Korean sign language for her. I'm so happy for her! She and the members have grown really tight. There is so much love in this branch that it just pours over any kind of language barrier. 

We met Brother Lee's family! They had us come over for dinner last Saturday. The parents themselves don't have a lot of gospel interest yet, but they are very supportive of him. He is still reading the Book of Mormon and studying hard. He has a great desire to learn and grow. 

We also are meeting a really great English teacher at the college here. He is from South Africa, and he is also very sincere in his desire to learn. It has occurred to me recently that the best investigators are those who we don't need to have so many great rewards promised to them for following Christ. They are those who have desires themselves for righteousness and to become better people. 

Love you & have a great week!

Mother's Day

This has been one of the, if not the most, miraculous weeks on my mission. Using a plan called "operation goldmine" that we learned about from President Sonksen, we have been using the phone to contact all of the contacts in the phone. We have five new investigators this week with lots of potential. One of them came to district conference yesterday. His name is Brother Lee, and he is just amazing. When we first sat down last week, I was on exchanges with Elder Hipps from Donghae. He talked about how he had received strength in his life from reading the Bible, and how he had also decided to quit smoking and drinking on his own a while back. He just has desires for righteousness. In two days, he read over 100 pages of the Book of Mormon and is still going. He accepted a baptismal date and said he would study and pray diligently to know and be ready for it. There isn't any question in my mind that it was not me that was able to do this. A mere phone call and a couple meetings couldn't have prepared his heart and mind to accept the Gospel. But the Lord has been inspiring him to make changes in his life, and I am so glad that I get to meet him now. 

There's been a lot happening this week, and we have lots of great people to work with. As a zone, we are writing down a miracle per day in our planners to have more gratitude, but there have been so many more. From that gratitude, I want to increase my effort to give all each day to help them progress a little more and find more people constantly!

Elder Crisp

So glad I was able to see you! Wish I could see Nichole's graduation. I think I need to take more pictures...I try to do that with people I meet!

Love you too!

Operation Goldmine

So, President Sonksen has introduced something new called "Operation Goldmine." Basically, every phone that missionaries use has over 1000, 2000, or even 3000 numbers in it that have built up over the years. We were trained on a way to organize them into groups, and then start texting them! We can only send 20 messages at a time, but the effect has been enourmous! Just this week, by texting people in the phone something like, "Hello! My name is Elder Crisp and I'm a missionary serving near you. A while ago you may have met missionaries or learned English from us. Although those missionaries have moved, if you have interest in meeting with us again or in learning English, please let us know," we've found several people who have agreed to meet again, including a less active. It's a little funny, because inevitably other missionaries, members, and even President Sonksen ends up getting these texts, but its been super effective! It also cleans up the phone.

Sister Huang came to church yesterday! Her baptismal should be coming up in a couple weeks, so we are excited for her. Brother Ho, our investigator with a baptismal date, also came, though he had to leave early because of work. He said his work schedule is to busy this month to meet for lessons, but fortunately the time he has available allows him to come to church. So, we'll keep teaching him then. 

This week I've been impressed by The Living Christ, which president also gave a training on. It was a really spiritual experience, and I felt powerfully how important is to really see Christ as a person, not as a principle or doctrine. Knowing that He lives means that we have someone to rely on. It means we can trust him, and that he will respond when we reach out to him. It means that there is one who understands and loves us perfectly, and that by Him we find strength and direction. The document The Living Christ declare boldly who He is, and I've felt a lot of strength, which has come by the Holy Ghost, as I've kept him in my thoughts. Words far beyond my own come with the power to change hearts when they come from Him. I've seen this this week, and it is something I'll never forget! 

Elder Crisp

​p-day on the beach. Me, Elder McKinnon, Elder Paulsen (my companion), Elder Summers

Miracles

This week with Elder Paulsen has been great! He is super hardworking and loves to just go out and get things done. We've found some really great people together. Among them were two men from Nepal. We met them on the street sometime last week, and yesterday they called and wanted to meet. We were both stunned by the sincerity and purity they had. Basically, they said they just wanted to learn a little about Christ. They said they had tried praying before. They are such a great example of honest desire to know a little more about what this life is about. We gave them a Plan of Salvation pamphlet in Nepali and have a Book of Mormon coming. 

Sister Huang is meeting with the sisters and is doing well! If all goes according to plan she will be baptized and confirmed in the coming weeks. 

So, this is a cool story that taught me a little bit about judging. We have an English-interest investigator that we have met a couple times who came to church yesterday. When he showed up, it was clear that he had been drinking quite a bit, so we were a little worried about that. After Sacrament Meeting, we were planning to just tell him he could go home, but the branch mission leader basically said, "No, its okay. Have him come to Gospel Principles class." So, we did, and Brother Ryu, the branch mission leader, taught the Plan of Salvation to him. During that meeting, we learned so much more about him than we did before. He said the reason he came to church was because he had felt something when we showed him the Easter Video a couple weeks back. He also said he remembered a parable we had shared when teaching about why God allows suffering to occur. When all was said and done, we saw so much much humility and potential that before had just been, "Uh-oh, he's been drinking." We've got a ways to go with him, but our hopes are high!

I hope you are all happy and having a great Spring!

I love you so much! Hope you are having a great spring in Montana.

Do I need a specific Ecclesiastical Endorsement for BYU?

Elder Paulson is great! He is extremely hard working and has a get-it-done attitude. He is very good and talking with others and thinking outside of the box. He is from Utah and also came out right out of high school. We were actually in the MTC together for a little while, so he is only one transfer behind me. He is lots of fun and likes to do things outside. He likes golf and Frisbee and whatever else. I'm excited to be working with him! 

Uh...I haven't taken any pictures this week. I'll try to send on with him next week!

Love you!

Mission Leadership Council and District Leader Training. We have outstanding leaders in our mission!!