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
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| Farewell Korea |
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