Seeking Spiritual Confirmation

An inebriated Buddhist stopped us on the street yesterday and told me I should study English. I told him he should study Christianity. That's kind of how we left it..... ^^ )

We had President interviews this week...looks like I'm staying, probably with Elder Seal...we're not sure though. This week we had a sit down with our Catholic investigator (Bro. Kim jay hong) and the Zone Leaders. Elder Asay (ZL) originally found Bro. Kim and is heading back to the US soon. Kim is @ 30 years old. He loves the Church and the Book of Mormon but still has some questions. He's so close to getting baptized, but is still seeking the answer and confirmation to do so. Can't argue with that. Meanwhile he's pounding through the Book of Mormon and coming to Church. He's great.

Really really hot here. Some members took us out to a really nice shabu shabu soup restaraunt the other night. Really nice. The man was a Colonel in the Korean Army, and they're very nice people. Their son is on a mission right now in the California Sacramento mission. He told me of how his family came into the Church. His father was a newspaper editor in Taegu back in the 60s. He wrote an article on the Church and interviewed the Korea Mission President back then, and gave the Church good reviews. Later, when missionaries knocked on his door, he invited them to teach his family. They were all baptized about a month later. What an amazing story! I told him it was a miracle. He assured me that I can find prepared people. He said that I shouldn't focus on baptizing lots of people or worry about stats, but that I should work hard and follow my mission president's counsel. I agree!

This member used to be a "house boy" for the elders back then. They had someone to clean for them, do laundry, and shine shoes...needless to say, we don't have that anymore.

Taegu is great! I'm on the downhill slope of the mission...time is flying. I love you guys!!!!!!!!!Elder Bocchino

Choir Concert in Taegu

So, it's still hot and still really really wet. Last Monday we had a dinner appointment with a member family in the ward. Great people. We enjoyed participating in Family Home Evening with them. It was very organized, then we busted out the cards and got the kids riled up. :)

Last Saturday we had a really cool concert at the church stake center. A church choir from Seoul came down, plus the Taegu Stake choir and a young single adult mini orchestra group performed. It was way cool! It was cute to hear them sing some Disney songs in English.

We've continued meeting with our investigator who is Catholic. He says he knows the Church is true and wants to bear testimony to the Ward this coming Fast Sunday, but he has a few concerns. He is a great person and it is so awesome to be able to meet with him and feel the Spirit as we discuss Gospel topics. Great! He's been reading the Book of Mormon and is in Alma. He's finding all the teachings that support the Bible and he is amazed by it!

I gave a talk in District Meeting last week about "desire". Missionaries talk about "desire" a lot. My studies led me to the conclusion that "desire" is closely linked to, and actually comes from our love for God and fellow men. I gave a cruddy talk, but the studying I had to do was great!

There was a crazy lady who stopped us on the street and wanted us to get some "letters" on to the US military base through our foreign branch (yeah right). She wasn't happy when we said no. So yeah, times are great. Elder Kemmerer's Korean companion had to go for military reserves training, so he is with us for a few days. Last night we went to the downtown in Taegu - it was a party. Crazy stuff! We hung out with some dudes who sell cell phones.

Love you guys! Thank you for the love!!!! Elder Bocchino

Progress Despite Political Distractions

Another hot, humid, muggy, rainy week here in Taegu. We had Zone Conference. We also met with an investigator who is close to joining the Church. He is Catholic and has been meeting missionaries for a while. His name is Kim Jay Hohng. We met him with a member (who is a Korean Air Force Officer) and talked. They ended up just disputing about politics forever and my comp and I had to go home. Our investigator has some anti-American political leanings (the member does not). It was interesting, but the spiritual message we wanted to share ended up being pretty weak due to the distraction. It happens. He came to church yesterday, though. He came last Sunday on Fast Sunday and was really impressed with our willingness to let anyone get up in our meetings and bear testimony and express their feelings. He wanted to do that this week, but we told him to wait until next Fast Sunday. Really great guy.

I learned about some Korean politics this week. Apparently Taegu is the most conservative city in Korea. Gwangju is the most liberal, and the two cities don't really get along (Gwangju is kind of far away in Taejon mission and in the SW corner of Korea). Interesting.

On Saturday, we had another stressful English class for kids, and then we had a baptismal service for a little girl in the ward. We helped set up for it, couldn't get the hot water to work, and sang some hymns during the service. Disaster! lol

It's soooo muggy here. I'm sweating as I write this. Oh!!! I heard that Bro. Gwak (the college student investigator back in Sacheon) was supposed to get baptized yesterday! I assume it went down but I'll check tonight. He stopped smoking and has maintained! It's great!

We're doing great here! I technically have less than a year left on the mish, but July 30th will be my "I've been a missionary for a year" mark. Time is flying. I'm loving it! Taegu is filled with tree-lined roads and tall apartment buildings. I still really really really miss Sacheon, but Taegu is a nice city.

Oh, we heard this week that David Archuleta (American Idol runner up) thinks he's "already on a mission" as he tours the country selling his cds. We were pretty disappointed.

The Church is true and everyone needs the Gospel! Let's offer it to them! Elder Bocchino

Happy 4th of July!

I just wrote a long email and lost it, so I will try to sum up:

We went to the Camp Walker Army Base and got rained out. We ate at Taco Bell - it was great!

Talked to an inebriated American named "Ken". Talked about crazy stuff...got his contact info...will contact him again and see if he remembers us.

Restarted English class this week. It's rough.

Talked to some missionaries in the Seoul West Mission over the phone. I'm glad I'm in Pusan...Seoul West sounds like a fun-free zone.

I love you guys! I love America!

God Bless, Elder Bocchino

Monsoon Season

Whew! A hot week in Taegu! It's monsoon season now, so the rain is pouring and it's hot/humid.

Yesterday I was at church all day. We went to the Korean Ward meetings, then we went to the US military Branch sacrament meeting, then we had other missionary meetings. It was a day of meetings! The Foreign Branch was cool...it was weird to be around so many foreigners. They were really nice, especially to two American boys who miss home! :)

After church we were invited to a foreign member's house for dinner. They are a Cuban family and yes, we ate Cuban food! We hung out with the two boys who are preparing to send in their mission papers. They're pretty tight. The food was great. The whole experience reminded me of Dad and his family, very East coast and ethnic. It was fun.

Other than that we're just exploring the area. Last week we went up to Costco. It was weird walking around a Costco in Korea. Oh yeah, it's hot here. Four guys sleeping together in one room, mosquitoes, ghetto fans, cockroaches....it's the life! We kill the cockroaches when we see them, and sprinkle boric acid around the areas under the sinks. I have a mosquito net but am not using it yet. It's weird being back in the big city again. I'm getting kind of used to it, but it will take some time. This weekend we're hoping to go to Camp Walker for July 4th....we'll see what happens. I love you guys! Elder Bocchino

Sacheon Branch Photos

The Andersen family graciously shared some recent photos of a Sacheon Branch activity. Their daughter, Suzi, commented as follows:

1) Elder Bocchino, Elder McKenna and everyone chillin' on the back porch. The young guy talking to my dad is getting baptized on July 10th. And that's Hans (Suzi's brother) on the far left.



2) These are a few of the branch members and Bro. Andersen (my father, cooking on the grill) eating at the music night get-together. This is on the back porch of the church building.



3) Hans was sharing, in detail, about the new Star Trek movie. Elder Bocchino REALLY wanted to know. We gave him a movie poster (and, thanks to Hans, the first 10 minutes, too!).



4) Branch members munching on the goodies. Elder McKenna is right in front of the camera, and that's Elder Bocchino's leg on the far left. Haha.


5) This is the branch president's son and one of the MANY adorable Korean children!! We call him Cookie since his Korean name sounds like cookie and we keep forgetting his real name.


Thanks to the Andersen family for sharing these photos!

TAEGU

I've been transferred to Taegu! It's the third largest city in South Korea and the second largest city in our mission. It's also very hot. I'm now a "senior" missionary, with Elder Seal from Ogden, Utah as my junior companion. He's a nice guy. My area in Taegu is huge and is called Su-sung, or Seusung. It serves as the Stake Center, with a large Korean Ward and the US military foreign branch. I'm pretty excited.

It's hot here (did I mention that?).

It was sooooooooo hard to leave Sacheon. I felt like the Branch was my home away from home, family away from family. I love them and will do whatever it takes to get back there to visit before I end the mission! I'm really going to miss the beautiful, dirty, crazy south-western corner of our mission.

A large group of missionaries went home this week. I'm pretty sad. I had a number of really good friends in that group.

I'm really excited to serve here. It should be fun. Please pray for me to survive the heat!!!!!! Taegu is known as one of the hottest places in Korea in the summer. :) Love, Elder Bocchino