Elder Daniel Jackson Picard : Week 31 February 9, 2015 "Life is not meant to be a cake walk"

I would first off like to wish the best little sister in the world an early Happy Birthday so yeah Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!! This week I have in a way been reflected back on my mission and all that I have gone through. It is crazy how many hard times I have had and how many more fun times I have had. Describing a mission is honestly probably one of the hardest things. I have learned so much during these first 7 months of my mission and can't wait to keep learning. Don't even think twice about whether or not you want to serve a mission. If you are ready and worthy, DO IT! You for sure won't regret it. We get transfer calls this Sunday so I guess we will see what happens. Who knows maybe I will stay in Gangnam for yet another transfer? The weather this week decided to get a little chilly a few days and way windy. You cannot predict the weather here that is for sure.

This week we got to meet our investigator 박신준b. He sure loves to talk but that's okay because I do too. We met with him for like 3 hours. We were able to get to know him a little better and find out that he was quite the trouble maker in his words growing up. He then decided he needed to move on and go to college. His parents got a divorce in his late teen years and he had to choose either his mom or his dad because that is how it works in Korea. He chose his mom and his mom was a good example to him of one who loved God and who prayed continually. His mom had his back every step of the way and made him wonder about religion. In college he developed the desire to become a minister. He although never made it there. He said prayers off and on but really didn't know. He then got involved in the business world and didn't have much time to go to church or think about religion from what he told us. He wanted to live and provide for himself and not live off his parents for his whole life even when he could of because both of his parents were well known and wealthy. After getting to know him a little better I was impressed to show him David A. Bednar's talk "Come and See" so I did and we watched it in Korean together. He speaks pretty good English but when he doesn't know how to say what he wants to in English he will say it in Korean. I could feel the spirit during the talk and even understand a little bit with the help of subtitles in English haha. After watching, he told us that he knew that man (Elder Bednar) was a really good man and that the things he said could of been from God. We then taught the first part of lesson 2 and committed him to pray so I guess we will see if he did or not tomorrow when we meet him.

We did lots of walking this week and walked clear down to the bottom of our area, it took like 3 hours! We talked to a lot of people on the way and even got strawberry smoothies. We were out looking for LA's and we found out that they all moved... One of these days we will find one I know it! I got to go to the temple this week and had a really good time as always. Temples are the best! I got to see my trainer so that was really cool too because I will only get to see him one more time probably. He goes home in 11 days!! It honestly feels like just yesterdayrhe was training me. I bought the Miracle of Forgiveness at the temple and started reading it this week. Man does that book throw it down. It really gets you thinking and is kind of hard to understand but I am slowly managing to work my way through. We are so lucky to be blessed with the Atonement and the ability to repent. In all reality even though sometimes we don't like to get it through our heads, we ALL sin and we all need to repent on the daily. God really does love us and knows that we aren't perfect and that we all would sin so that is why He sent His Son, Jesus Christ. Through Christ we can all be forgiven of our sins and live a life of happiness instead of a life of sorrow and pain. Although we will still experience sorrow and pain we can get through those hard times with the help of our Beloved Brother, Jesus Christ!

Last thing I want to share is what I learned at Zone training from a missionary that is going home very soon. He explained how at the beginning of his mission he said that he would die for Christ if it ever came down to it. Now, he explained that instead of wanting to die for Christ he wants to LIVE for Christ. That really hit me when I heard it and made me think. I believe that missionary is 100% correct! We need this life to learn and progress to become perfect as Christ is. Life is not meant to be a "cake walk," it will be hard. I also know that Christ will help each and every one of us throughout our entire lives. I will forever be thankful to my Lord and Savior for all he has done for me and continue to live for Him best I can.

사랑으로,

Elder Picard

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