Leanne's Mission Blog

So. Humid!

Leanne Noelle Chun leanne.chun@myldsmail.net

Jul 9 at 5:59 PM

Holy. Cow. Last week of the transfer. Isn't it interesting that when you look back, time goes by so fast, and when you look forward, it seems to crawl along?

My companion and I were talking about this phenomenon the other day, and it occurred to us that I'm halfway done with my mission (right?) and she's a little over a year done. O.o Weird, right? Believe me, I haven't not felt like a greenie since I was one, which really wasn't that long ago, actually, when you think about it.

This week has been really wet. Definitely buying rain boots today.

I just want to share an experience that highlights how wonderful my companion, Sister Choi, is. A few weeks ago, we met this guy on the street. He ployed us to do this survey thing, and we started to decline, when he saw our name tags. We stood there with him for a while, and at first Sister Choi tried to explain a little bit about what we do and teach about as missionaries, tried to answer his questions (I admit I wasn't totally sure what was going on, but you don't have to speak good Korean to tell that someone is trying to Bible-bash, or at least do something like it), but it just ended up being kind of a one-sided conversation. I found out later that a lot of what he had been saying was pointed directly at Sister Choi, how because she's a Korean, she's the kind of person to think only she's right, but that her beliefs are actually wrong. Basically, he roasted my companion for a good 10-12 minutes. There were definitely tears after that encounter. Looking back on it, there were certainly opportunities for me to be a better companion in that I could have just told the guy that we had an appointment and we had to go, and pulled my companion away (she's pretty Korean in that when people are talking to her, especially older people, she feels like it's rude to just leave when they're talking. I, as a foreigner, do not have that problem. Please note that both attitudes can be a strength at one time, and a weakness at another), but I didn't do that thing. I did, however, resolve to do so if we were ever in a similar situation.

Well, guess what? We met the same guy while we were walking to the Church from CheungRangRi. And guess what? He did the exact same thing, except this time I made sure that he engaged me in conversation, hoping to spare my sweet companion's feelings. Well, I understood some of the things he said (he talked about the Bible and revelation, and Joseph Smith, and, yep, you guessed it, Korean people and how they're the worst when it comes to spiritual truth), and yeah, he was talking to me, but he was really directing it all at Sister Choi. We were able to leave the encounter pretty quickly, but he still talked enough to make my companion sad and me a little bit angry. And this is where we learn from our experience, Brothers and Sisters.

1) I believe that Jesus Christ helped me remain cheerful and upbeat during that encounter. The fact that I am officially representing Him and His Church is pretty strong motivation for me to not just Book of Mormon high-five people in the face. (No worries, I promise I will not do that on my mission.)

2) I understand a little bit what Christ experienced when He was talking to and about hypocrites. Fortunately for the world, He's a good deal more patient with them than I am. All I want to do is Book of Mormon high-five them in the face. (Please see above. I promise I really won't do that.)

3) I learned a little bit more about Jesus Christ from my companion. We were sitting in the church, waiting for Sister Ham and just sort of recovering from our run-in with that guy; we were talking about how he might be a member of this church here in Korea that we missionaries have been instructed not to teach (because they're kind of scary, and all they want to do is Bible-bash). I said something like this, "Yeah, but that church is a cult, right?" And Sister Choi responded something like this, "I don't want to talk about other churches like that because it would make me like them." Unfortunately, I am not as good a person as my companion. But then, that might be one of the reasons that we were made companions.

Fast forward to the next day, when I read this in D&C 105 (emphasis added):

38 And again I say unto you, sue for peace, not only to the people that have smitten you, but also to all people;

39 And lift up an ensign of peace, and make a proclamation of peace unto the ends of the earth;

Yup, I learned something this week. Interesting how Heavenly Father teaches His children when He can't talk to them directly, huh?

Brothers and Sisters, I'm so grateful for this gospel and the kind of people it can help us become when we live it faithfully. I'm really grateful that I have such a great companion. She teaches me about Jesus Christ not only when we proselyte and teach together, but also by the way she lives. (And she also makes me delicious Korean food, so we get along pretty well.) I love being on a mission!

Love,

Sister Chun