Zone Conference

Happy Late Thanksgiving!!!!!!

Today we went with the Pohang and Ulsan/Hogae Elders way up north into the rural areas (6 of us in all). We went to go see a pagoda for Elder Mann's last PDay. The pagoda turned out to be 15 feet tall, kind of a let down, but it was an adventure getting there! Then we walked to a random temple up in the hills that was WAYYY cool!!! It wasn't a tourist attraction (the signs made sure to tell us that) but we still went in and got some great pics. We also got the chance to light some candles and do some bows to the Buddha statues...great stuff! Great view of the valley, too! Awesome. The 6 of us hitchhiked back to the small town and then bussed down to Gyeongju. Way fun!

Last week we had Zone Conference. Elder Choi of the Seventy came. We talked a lot about the mission of the Church: Bringing All Souls unto Christ. This mission requires us to strengthen members, help our recent converts get to the temple, and find new members. This work isn't just about forgetting members and going on the streets, and it's also not about teaching English. It's about doing what we can to serve others, strengthen the church, and bring souls closer to Christ. Great stuff, fit really well with our mission's focus on working with members. With our missionary numbers decreasing so much, we need the members to help out as much as possible (according to Pres. Hinckley, members should find people to teach about the church and the missionaries should teach them...).

On Saturday night, we went to a Thanksgiving Party in Ulsan. Some potential investigators were supposed to come, but couldn't because of horrible traffic. It was fun! I got to eat a piece or two of turkey! lol. Not much food, but pretty fun. The missionaries in Ulsan acted out the First Thanksgiving for the Koreans...pretty funny.

On Sunday, we had two investigators and a less active member come to church. One lady investigator (her son is at BYU) wanted to learn about the Holy Ghost, so we had a great Gospel Principles class! That night, we went to her house and met with her and her husband. She'll be in Seoul having surgery until February, so this might be the last time I see her. The husband will be staying at their apartment in Ulsan during that time, so we won't see him much either. Great people. They knew my trainer and did a lot of cool things for him and his family before he went home to America. They want to stay in touch. Nice people! The husband set up that shipyard tour for us.

We're trying to get more university students to our English class (especially with North Asia's new focus on college students). We'll see!

The Gospel is true! Time is flying! In 25 days I'll call home! Elder Bocchino