Last Email as a Missionary in Korea

Well folks, this is it. This will be the last letter you ever get from an Elder Stagg serving in Korea again! (Unless Jet gets called to Korea) I just wanted to thank you all for all of you support and for reading my weekly letters! 

This week we were able to confirm the 2 individuals who were recently baptized --in the same sacrament meeting. It was kinda scary because it was my first time confirming someone in Korean! haha But it was a neat experience that both me and my companion had! :) Also one of our investigators with a baptismal date was able to come to church for all 3 hours and seemed to really enjoy it! :) That was a little miracle that we were able to see! Hopefully he can stick to his baptismal date in September! :) 

I have  been serving here in the Haeundae Ward for the past 7 months, and I have come to love this ward so much! The people here are so nice and generous, they take awesome care of our investigators and they are just so fun! I have grown so close to them and it will be hard leaving them! Luckily they are throwing me a farewell party, Hawaiian BBQ style, because like 5 of them have lived in Hawaii while they attended BYU. So that should be a lot of fun! 
On Wednesday one of our investigators, David, is taking me out to an all you can eat Brazilian meat buffet for my last meal, and its... a little pricey... so I am excited for that! Also on Saturday I was able to go to the city Masan for my companions Choir performance with the mission Choir, and had the opportunity to spend time with my convert that I baptized a year and 3 months ago! I haven't been able to see him since then, so it was nice  to see him again before I return home :) I also was able to meet up with an investigator family from that area, and had a chance to say  good bye! It really meant a lot to them that I called them after I left the area and I was able to meet up with them again before I left!

Well now that its coming up to my last week, I am feeling lots of different emotions. I am excited to go home and see my family and start the next period of my life, I am excited to be in the glorious land of America again, but I am going to miss this country for many reasons. I am going to miss the people, food, music, and everything about it! I have grown so used and accustomed to this country that its going to be hard leaving it after 2 years! I am especially going to miss being able to talk about people right in front of their face and have them not know what I say because its in English! haha ...   I am going to miss all the friends I met here, all the amazing lives I helped change, all the people that changed my life, the members, investigators, converts, people that yell at me, just everything! I have been shown so much love here that it feels like my 2nd home! :) 

But the thing that I am most grateful for-- more than the people, more than the food, the awesome culture experiences I have had, the new language, my ward family, or any of that, is my Savior!  Some of you might be thinking that I  had Christ in my life before I left, and that is true, however I didn't understand then what I understand now! I didn't appreciate then what I appreciate now. I knew it was true but didn't understand the depth of what that meant for me. I have come to know not just "about" Jesus Christ, but I have come to KNOW Christ, I now can understand and feel why he is my Savior, my Redeemer, and Lord. It is only through Him and through His help that we can even start to TRY to live with our Heavenly Father again. He can help us in ANY problem that we have in our life. It doesn't have to be sin based, it can be any struggle and pain, any affliction, anything that we want help with, we have the creator of the Universe and his only Begotten son willing to help us in anything that we want, and all we need to do is ask in faith and humility. That knowledge and that gift is priceless, that is something I will treasure for the rest of my life! I am afraid that if I didn't come on this mission I might of never learned that, at least not on this kind of level.

I beg anyone who is considering to go on a mission, to just DO IT!! You will not regret it. No matter what your doubts or fears are just throw them away and TRUST GOD.  If you compared the reason why I left on a mission to the reason why I STAYED on a mission, it is night and day difference. Like Alma Chapter 32 explains about faith, we don't need a perfect knowledge, cause THAT IS NOT FAITH, faith is a hope for better things, faith is trust, faith is a believe with actions tied to that belief.  I promise if you just trust in God and then walk in that direction, if you have the intention of progressing, and exercise faith and hope in Christ, that you will come to know that He is there, guiding you! Let the Lord change you into who He wants you to become, be optimistic and look for opportunities to serve others.  
I love you all and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve here in the Korea Busan Mission! 

Love you tons!

-Elder Stagg

Farewell Korea

Almost there...

Hello everyone!  I just want to start of saying THIS IS WEIRD!! Time flies by way to fast, it doesn't feel real that I am going home already, this is my second to last email as a missionary.

Anyways this transfer has been so weird, missionary work has been to easy. Usually I work really hard and see no results, this past transfer we've been so busy we can't proselyte, but we still find new investigators weekly always have them coming to church and have had 2 baptisms. Just by the way, at least here in the Korea Busan Mission that's unheard of. It's even more strange because last transfer we had nothing whatsoever, and the beginning of this transfer everything just fell into place. God's hand has been involved so much. Ive come to realize that how successful we are as missionaries is not at all dependent on how hard we work, how obedient we are, or how good of a missionary we are. There is only one factor involved, that's God's will. All the success we get as missionaries is only cause God let's it happen. Now the harder we work and the more obedient we are, are important because the missions our "Zions Camp" and it helps God see who is willing to listen and follow him. On my mission I've been on the more successful side of missionaries, and it's always been weird to me cause I see other missionaries who are super amazing super hard working super obedient missionaries who are a ton better then me, but then they get like no baptism or anything. Its helped me recognize how dependent on our Heavenly Father that we really are and all the success we have in life is only cause God allows it!  I am so grateful for everything God has given me! 

Love you all

Elder Stagg 

July 2018

Hello family and friends--- it is me your favorite Elder!  I officially have 3 weeks left until I go home! So this is my 3rd to last email to y'all. This past transfer I have been so busy! It's weird but missionary work has come easy recently. As some of you might know, I posted some baptism pictures on Facebook this week. The lady I baptized is Sister 이세현 --- her English name is Sarah.  I first met Sarah about 5 months ago with Elder Kim. She came to our English class for about 3 weeks and then just randomly one day attended Sacrament meeting. Ever since then she has come to church almost weekly . We started meeting with her outside of church and talking to her about the gospel. We found out that she had been taught 10 years ago by Sister missionaries. 

 

Anyhow, when we started teaching her, her behaviors seemed kind of strange and a bit weird. She had lots of problems in her life but as she continued to attend Sacrament Meeting every week, it looked like she had genuine interest.  Her family was very against her coming to our church and her sister even texted me and told us not to meet with her again! (Yes, Sarah is a grown woman! haha!) 

However, over the past month-and-a-half we have been teaching her lessons and have been helping her overcome her problems through the Gospel. She loves coming to church and the members have done a very good job at fellowshipping her every time she comes. She has lots of new friends and she feels very happy and loved in our ward. She was a little nervous and scared to get baptized because she has issues with being under water, but I reassured her and told her that I would be holding on to her and promised that  she would not drowned! She is a very nice lady and very cute and innocent.

Next week we have another baptismal date planned for Sunday. Her  name is 정겨운 Jeong Gyo Oon  and she was taught by the sister missionaries about 1 year ago and had a baptism date set but when the day came, she got scared and never went to the church. Well she came back about a month later and said she wanted to get baptized and she was sorry for not getting baptized before. She ended up doing the same thing the second time and left the day of the baptism AGAIN! A 3rd time she said she wanted to get baptized, we told her that she had to wait about 5 weeks and if she attends church every week that she could get baptized. We have been meeting with her every  week and she's progressing very well. This Wednesday she will have a baptism interview with our Mission President and if he thinks she is ready,  she will be baptized this Sunday. Will you all please pray that she'll be able to overcome her concerns and fears and go through with the baptism on Sunday? She was able to see Sarah get baptized last week so hopefully that helped ease her  worries. 

This has been a great week! I love this gospel and it can bless and CHANGE everyone's life if they allow it!

Love you all

Elder Stagg