Thursday, May 13, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Hey, it's getting hot and humid here.
We had a great baptism a few weeks ago. The young man (Joon-yung) is the son of a member. He's still 8 years old, so he's not considered an investigator but we were still able to help him and teach him. It felt good. I was happy to see the baptism.
Now we've got another young man who is nine years old and is the son of some other members. His Dad wants us to teach him and have him baptized soon, which will be great!
Kyong Jin (coffee shop owner) is still great and is reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning...nice guy. We're really hoping to get him out to church soon.
Kyung Hwahn (the college student we used to hang out with) has gone to Vancouver, Canada to study for 9 months. We made a deal that we'll meet up in Seattle when I get back. I'm excited!
Min Gyu (the son of a part member family) is leaving for military service today. We had our final appointment with him and his family on tuesday night. It was kind of sad.
Yesterday was "Children's Day" in Korea. It is a national holiday and the focus is on the kids. We met up at a carnival event with some members, and then we went and made kim bap with some other members and washed their dog - it was fun!
At Zone Meeting on Monday, I gave a talk about helping our Part Member families in the Church (where just one spouse is a member of the church). The focus in our Church is now on "rescuing" people under the new "To the Rescue" program. We talked about the importance of rescuing these part member families. The most important thing is to help them understand the blessings promised to families who make and keep eternal covenants together . When they realize this and gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel, then you can baptize the non member family members and assist them in finding the path to eternal life together.......it works so much better. Like two oars pulling the rowboat instead of one. Good times.
The Gospel is true!
Love,
Elder Bocchino
We had a great baptism a few weeks ago. The young man (Joon-yung) is the son of a member. He's still 8 years old, so he's not considered an investigator but we were still able to help him and teach him. It felt good. I was happy to see the baptism.
Now we've got another young man who is nine years old and is the son of some other members. His Dad wants us to teach him and have him baptized soon, which will be great!
Kyong Jin (coffee shop owner) is still great and is reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning...nice guy. We're really hoping to get him out to church soon.
Kyung Hwahn (the college student we used to hang out with) has gone to Vancouver, Canada to study for 9 months. We made a deal that we'll meet up in Seattle when I get back. I'm excited!
Min Gyu (the son of a part member family) is leaving for military service today. We had our final appointment with him and his family on tuesday night. It was kind of sad.
Yesterday was "Children's Day" in Korea. It is a national holiday and the focus is on the kids. We met up at a carnival event with some members, and then we went and made kim bap with some other members and washed their dog - it was fun!
At Zone Meeting on Monday, I gave a talk about helping our Part Member families in the Church (where just one spouse is a member of the church). The focus in our Church is now on "rescuing" people under the new "To the Rescue" program. We talked about the importance of rescuing these part member families. The most important thing is to help them understand the blessings promised to families who make and keep eternal covenants together . When they realize this and gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel, then you can baptize the non member family members and assist them in finding the path to eternal life together.......it works so much better. Like two oars pulling the rowboat instead of one. Good times.
The Gospel is true!
Love,
Elder Bocchino
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Baptism
Sorry for the lack of emails lately.
Things are good! The Branch seems to be shrinking a little, as members are moving away. We're hoping to get some less active members back to church though. A team of sister missionaries is now working with us in Bangojin, so we're working together to help some of the members here. Some exciting things are happening.
We've started teaching the son of a member as he is preparing to get baptized this Saturday. He's still eight years old, so he's not our investigator, but his mom still wants us to help him prepare. His Dad is not a member of the Church, but his mom was baptized a few years ago and has taught him a lot. He's a good kid and we're excited for his baptism on Saturday.
General Conference was great! Love, Elder Bocchino
Things are good! The Branch seems to be shrinking a little, as members are moving away. We're hoping to get some less active members back to church though. A team of sister missionaries is now working with us in Bangojin, so we're working together to help some of the members here. Some exciting things are happening.
We've started teaching the son of a member as he is preparing to get baptized this Saturday. He's still eight years old, so he's not our investigator, but his mom still wants us to help him prepare. His Dad is not a member of the Church, but his mom was baptized a few years ago and has taught him a lot. He's a good kid and we're excited for his baptism on Saturday.
General Conference was great! Love, Elder Bocchino
Living By Faith
Spring has arrived in Korea! The cherry blossoms are out, the birds are singing...and the weather is turning hotter. :(
Yesterday we went to Gyeongju (my old stomping grounds) and met with about 10 other missionaries to see the beautiful flowers and trees. It was really fun and we came together as a Zone. Everyone had a great time! I was able to see a few friends I had made in Gyeongju and remember the good times.
This past week, we met with KyungJin (the coffee shop guy). He's doing good! He's really skeptical of organized religion, but has a lot of sincere questions about our beliefs. He was talking about the difference between reading good words in the scriptures and actually having those teachings penetrate your heart. (the difference is the Spirit - we must study in faith and invite the Spirit to testify of the truthfulness of what we're studying). We invited him to read in the Book of Mormon: Alma 32. It's about the test of faith, and how we exercise faith in things which are believed but not seen or known. When we exercise this faith, the Lord blesses us. It is after the trial of our faith that we see the miracles and can receive the witness of the Holy Ghost. That is the pattern established by God. I hope that he can read about that and feel the power of the Spirit. I think we can all exercise more faith and be more believing. We should all live by faith rather than fear. I learned that this past week and will try to apply it! Hooray for learning by the Spirit! :)
Church members and missionaries in Korea will gather this weekend to watch General Conference. It's a week late due to needed translation. I'm excited to hear the teachings and learn from them!
Transfer calls are tonight, so I could get a surprise call to leave Bangojin. That would be sad. We'll see!
13 weeks left! The Gospel is true! Love, Elder Bocchino
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Mormons Made Simple
Sorry for not writing last week....it's been a little slow but also kind of busy at the same time.
Two weeks ago, I went on splits for a day with Elder Wells (he's my dongee and is now a ZL here in Ulsan). It was really fun and we shared lots of memories from the MTC. We tried to visit some less active church members and bring them banana bread that Elder Moore and I had made, but they weren't home. Then we visited a man who had randomly approached Elder Murray and I several months ago.
His name is Gyung-Jin and he came up to us one morning and asked if we were "Mormon missionaries". He spoke very good English. He said that he'd read the Book of Mormon and learned a lot about our church from an LDS friend 6 years ago while serving in the Korean military. He remembered a lot of stories from the Book of Mormon and expressed an interest in learning about it again. We kind of put him on the back burner for a few weeks while we got busy with transfers and other things...but luckily, Elder Wells and I were able to visit him. He runs a coffee shop in a busy part of our area. He was very happy to see us and gladly received the Book of Mormon that we gave him. His family was originally Baptist but has become disappointed with the Christian churches in Korea and currently doesn't attend church. He currently is kind of cynical about religion and is not sure what to believe. We shared some scriptures from the Book of Mormon with him, and he invited us to return and talk more. Elder Moore and I returned the other day, and had a great time! I guess that a famous Korean singer committed suicide the other day, so he asked questions about the afterlife. He was asking very in depth questions.....very interesting guy. It's interesting because for every question he asked, I could think of an answer in the Book of Mormon (of course there are similar answers in the Bible as well). That experience strengthened my testimony of the truth that the Book of Mormon answers the questions of our souls.
He told us how he's been pretty skeptical of religion these days, due to some troubling issues in his family over the past year or so. "Then, you guys showed up and started teaching about God" he said. "I think it might be a sign" he added.
Wow, no matter how he accepts the message we teach in the coming weeks, this experience has already strengthened my faith and assured me that the Lord loves us. He loves Gyung-Jin - the coffee shop owner, and He loves me. I know that there are people who are seeking for truth but know not where to find it. He's found it. I just hope he can realize it.
Gyung Jin spent some time studying in China and the U.S., and even spent some time in Portland, OR! (cool huh? we talked about Mt. Hood)
Final note, this site is pretty interesting: "http://mormonsmadesimple.com/". Good, simple explanations. The missionary video gives a good overview of what kind of program I'm in.
The Gospel is true! Love, Elder Bocchino
Two weeks ago, I went on splits for a day with Elder Wells (he's my dongee and is now a ZL here in Ulsan). It was really fun and we shared lots of memories from the MTC. We tried to visit some less active church members and bring them banana bread that Elder Moore and I had made, but they weren't home. Then we visited a man who had randomly approached Elder Murray and I several months ago.
His name is Gyung-Jin and he came up to us one morning and asked if we were "Mormon missionaries". He spoke very good English. He said that he'd read the Book of Mormon and learned a lot about our church from an LDS friend 6 years ago while serving in the Korean military. He remembered a lot of stories from the Book of Mormon and expressed an interest in learning about it again. We kind of put him on the back burner for a few weeks while we got busy with transfers and other things...but luckily, Elder Wells and I were able to visit him. He runs a coffee shop in a busy part of our area. He was very happy to see us and gladly received the Book of Mormon that we gave him. His family was originally Baptist but has become disappointed with the Christian churches in Korea and currently doesn't attend church. He currently is kind of cynical about religion and is not sure what to believe. We shared some scriptures from the Book of Mormon with him, and he invited us to return and talk more. Elder Moore and I returned the other day, and had a great time! I guess that a famous Korean singer committed suicide the other day, so he asked questions about the afterlife. He was asking very in depth questions.....very interesting guy. It's interesting because for every question he asked, I could think of an answer in the Book of Mormon (of course there are similar answers in the Bible as well). That experience strengthened my testimony of the truth that the Book of Mormon answers the questions of our souls.
He told us how he's been pretty skeptical of religion these days, due to some troubling issues in his family over the past year or so. "Then, you guys showed up and started teaching about God" he said. "I think it might be a sign" he added.
Wow, no matter how he accepts the message we teach in the coming weeks, this experience has already strengthened my faith and assured me that the Lord loves us. He loves Gyung-Jin - the coffee shop owner, and He loves me. I know that there are people who are seeking for truth but know not where to find it. He's found it. I just hope he can realize it.
Gyung Jin spent some time studying in China and the U.S., and even spent some time in Portland, OR! (cool huh? we talked about Mt. Hood)
Final note, this site is pretty interesting: "http://mormonsmadesimple.com/". Good, simple explanations. The missionary video gives a good overview of what kind of program I'm in.
The Gospel is true! Love, Elder Bocchino
Friday, March 19, 2010
Be Strong and of Good Courage
The weather can't seem to make up its mind....cold one day warm the next. It has been beautiful though, and it is usually great weather to walk around in.
We had a day of EPIC basketball with some college students. One of them was MinGyu (the nonmember son of Sister Hoh). Elder Moore and I schooled them all (even though I'm not very good) and we all had a great time. We were pretty tired the next day! haha It was a good release and bball is actually a great way to visit with students. I just hope they have at least some interest in learning about Christ.
We had some new attendees at our English Class this past week. Two new women came...they're math teachers. Also, an interesting young man met us last weekend. He's two years younger than us (so he calls us "big brother"...age is everything here) and is studying Military Science at an ROTC type college. He's very focused on his goals and doesn't even really want to get married. This also means that he doesn't have too much room for God in his busy life either....I'm hoping that's a phase. :) Interesting kid.
On PDay we went to a whale museum at this place that used to be a whaling town near Ulsan. It's called Jangsaengpo. It was interesting. One museum focused on whale life and ecology, and even had live dolphins in a tank! We saw them fight and butt heads underwater! The museum next to it was all about hunting, killing and processing whales for various products. Strange juxtaposition.
I guess this whaling town was active up until 1986ish when whaling was banned by the international community. Interesting, because the streets of Ulsan are still lined with "whale meat" restaurants. (I hear that the Japanese still do some whaling...somehow). Yep, I've eaten whale (that's right hippies!) The soup it was in wasn't very good but the meat, when cooked, tastes like beef. I hear that it is gross when raw (I believe it). Koreans also eat raw beef sometimes....I avoid it.
So the other night we had our weekly appointment with Sister Hoh and her family (including MinGyu bball kid). We ate dinner, played cards, and had a great time. They're a great family. :) Before we left, my companion shared Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 about turning to the Lord. This reminded me of another scripture, which I shared - Joshua 1:9:
"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."
Before I left on the mission, Dad wrote this in the front of my scriptures. It's one of my favorite scriptures and I love the message of trusting in the Lord and not being afraid. Fear is the opposite of Faith.
This message motivates me to stop being fearful and just go to share the gospel with my brothers and sisters here in Korea. God was with the children of Israel then, and He is with us today!
Korea's a great place, God bless it!
Love,
Elder Bocchino
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