[ HELLO AGAIN! ]

Hey guys! Wow already email time again. This one came up quick since there was a longer gap last week. Not sure how much I can really update you on since I sent such a long one last week, but I'll try. ^^

Our investigators, well we have so many! The most I have ever had for sure! It's tough to keep track of everything. I don't know how Ryan and Thane do it in Argentina!! But in all seriousness they really are doing great. One in particular is Lee-Ju-Yun (이주연). She is the one that we met on the subway and went to school at SLC community college for one year. Well, she loves coming to church! She hasn't missed a week since we met. We had a lesson with her after church yesterday with a guy in our ward named Matt, he's an American married to a Korean, fluent...). Anyways, the lesson went really good! We talked about the plan of salvation. Before going to Utah, she had no religious background. She had never really thought of life after death and it really sparked her interest. It really got her thinking. It was so cool to watch it just click. Anyways, have committed her to be baptized on Feb. 18th. One thing she really understands well is the purpose of baptism. Its NOT just for the numbers. It's not just to baptize a less-active. She knows, if she gets baptized, she is committing to be on the team and to stay on the team. I am so happy for her and I pray that she may continue to work towards baptism on that date. Keep her in your prayers please.

Another awesome investigator that is doing well is (Go-Hoon) or 고훈. He is the kid who I met last week at the bus stop. Well we met again and he brought his girlfriend. We introduced The Book of Mormon to him, shared our favorite verses and testified of it's truthfulness. He told us that he wants to meet together 3 times a week. We will do the '30/30' program with him (30 minutes of English teaching, 30 min of Gospel). We will meet tonight and teach all about God and Jesus Christ. Hope it goes well.

Our investigator Lee Say Won's baptismal date has been pushed back to the 18th also. She just isn't quite ready. She says our church is really good, but doesn't know if it's true yet. Well out of time for this week. I got some pictures to send though. Hope you like em :)
I love you guys so much. I love this work soooo much. This work is so amazing. Not only is it fun, but it is helping bring souls unto salvation. I hope you guys are able to have a good safe week. I am always praying for you guys :)

Love,
Elder Messick

[ HAPPY 설날! ]

Hey everyone! Happy 설날!!! Sorry it is now Wednesday and I have kept you waiting on this email now for quite some time. Actually who am I kidding, I bet you never even noticed haha.

Anyways, this was quite the week here in (Sohng-Pa). Right now we have about 3 investigators who are really progressing. I have some sad news to share about Brian. We have been meeting regularly and he was progressing so well. In fact, he had a baptismal date for 2/4 however, this last Saturday he called us and said he needed to meet for just 5 minutes. Immediately, Elder Mersmann and I just got so worried and began to pray. However, when we met he told us the news that his parents have opposed his baptism. In fact they don't even want him meeting with us right now or coming to church or anything. It just about broke my heart when he told us this. He has been so prepared, yet his parents are taking away his agency. I couldn't understand why. I now understand though that it just might not be the time yet. I can tell that he has a testimony. He knows that The Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know that when he can be baptized, he will. There is no doubt in my mind about that.

Another investigator that we have (Lee-Ju-Yun), the one we met on the subway and lived in Utah, well she is doing great! She loves to come to church. We were able to meet with here after church on Sunday with a member from our ward, Matt (He is American who is fluent in Korean, his wife is Korean). Anyways, the lesson was awesome. She understood perfectly the need for a restoration and the role The Book of Mormon has in knowing that this church is true. She has committed to begin to read it and pray to know it's true. She has also accepted to be baptized when she comes to know it's true. So awesome!!

Our investigator (Lee-Say-Won), the referral from Canada, is doing well also. She came to church yesterday with her friend. They both admitted they were a little bored and tired, but it was good none the less. She is progressing a little slower than we had thought. Her baptismal date from the 4th will most likely have to be moved back, but she still enjoys meeting.

There was a big miracle that happened to me this week. Earlier in the day, I was walking down the street and I thought to myself, I haven't really felt like I have been prompted to talk to too many people my whole mission like all the stories I hear. Why is that? Anyways, later in the day I was waiting at the bus stop and there were two people for me to talk to and I had to choose which one. I felt a distinct prompting to talk to the kid (age 24) rather than the grandpa. So I did it. I started talking to him and he was REALLY nice, which is unusual for his age. We got on the bus together and just kept talking. Found out that we live really close to each other. when we got off, he invited us to his house. We met his parents and then he grabbed some pot stickers and said he wanted to eat them together. We headed to the church, ate together, gave a tour of the church, and showed the video "do you know our church?" It went super well. He had tons of questions. He committed to come to church on Sunday and he did! He was very quiet and shy, he didn't want people to talk to him, but he came none the less. Such an awesome story to me of prompting. When they come, ACT ON THEM!

Lastly, we are meeting a man named (yoon-jung-hwa). He is from our English class. He is doing very well and has a lot of interest in Joseph Smith. Nothing too extreme to update on...YET! Haha. Maybe next week :)

For our holidays, we spent Sunday and Monday inside just working on records and resting on our p-day. We went to the church and played ping pong for a little, but nothing special happened. On Tuesday we had a special conference for it and it was AMAZING! wow, it was just everything I needed to hear. It got me soo fired up on this work and just made me want to try that much harder. Also, our returning AP gave a very good last talk. He spoke of how the Korean missionaries are the future of Korea. It really touched me and realize how much I love this country and how much it means to me. I love the people here. I can't even express it. He spoke of how if they don't become good leaders then the church here will not progress. It just really hit me hard of how badly I want the people of Korea to hear our message.

I have set a goal this last week of reading the entire Book of Mormon in Korean by the end of my mission. It shouldn't be hard, but a goal I really want to accomplish.

I think one of my favorite parts as a missionary is being able to testify. I feel so lucky to be able to testify as a special representative of our Savior Jesus Christ. I do know that he lives and that this is the only way to true happiness. Commandments are not to restrict us, but to make us free. There is such truth in that. I am grateful for my knowledge of this Gospel. I know it to be true with everything in me.

I love you so much. I hope you are safe and have a great week! Make it epic.

Love,
Elder Messick

P.S. GRANDPA!!!! 89!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Han River

The huge Lotte Department store in our area.

New Suit!

President Lee and I!

The AP going home to Australia. Such an awesome guy.

PASS OFF TIE!

[ BIG WEEK OF MIRACLES! ]

Hey!!!

Wow! What a week we had here in 송파! In fact, this week for our whole zone was just incredible, over 20 new investigators were found this week alone! That's a TON for Korea. Haha.

Before I get going on my week, I just wanted to say how stoked I am for my boy Elder Scott Jordan and his mission call to Australia!!! Congrats man. I will definitely want to go visit your mission with you after! Haha.

Also, this next week is one of the biggest holidays in Korea SOOO i will not be emailing next Monday. Everything will be closed down so i will be emailing you on my Wednesday morning at about 8:30-9:30 am. Hope that works for you guys.

This week we had 2 investigators come to church. One of their names is 권한솔 guown-han-sol (Brian) and the other is 이주연 lee-ju-yun(Ju). They are super cool. So Brian lived in Idaho for a year to study English. His is 19 years old. He lived with an LDS family their but never was baptized. Now, living in Korea, he went on his own to see the Seoul temple. Because of this, he was referred to us. We are now teaching him and it is going great. He has a baptismal date set for 2/4! He seems to be REALLY ready.

As for Ju, she is a girl (29) who we found last week on the Subway. I wrote about her in your letter Mom and Dad last week. Anyways, she went to school for 1 year at SLC community college for English. She also went to church there but never understood too much. She is one who God definitely led us to. There is not a question in my mind about that. God cares about each and every one of His children.

Our investigator 이세원, Lee Say Wuon, the referral from Canada, is still doing great also. She now has a baptismal date for the 4th of February also.

The miracles are just flowing. We have so many prepared people right now. I am so grateful for all the blessings God is giving to us.

For p-day this last week we went to the War Museum. It was a pretty cool place. It just was all about the war with North Korea. It had old planes, tanks, and what not. I will send some pics too.

I forgot to mention. When I went to the war museum, we met up with my recent convert, Lee Dong Sun from when i served in Nok-Bun. He is doing SOOO well. He is even singing in the stake choir. That card he is holding up is the contact card we gave him the first day we met. He still carries in his wallet to this day!!!

Sorry everything was so jumbled this week and kind of over the place. I just can't really get my thoughts straight. All I can really say is that the Lord has His hand in this work. He is right here with us. He is guiding us to the prepared. His work is moving forward, boldly and nobly. Miracles happen every day. Whether they be small or big (like this week) they are always there. I know this is the work of the Lord. This is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I love you guys sooo much. If you have questions on things I explained terribly just let me know :) Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Messick

P.S. Happy Birthday Grandma Messick! I LOVE YOU!!!!

[ NEW AREA! - SONG-PA 2 (송파 2) ]

Hey everyone!

Well guess what!? I have been transferred to the other side of Seoul, called Song-Pa. I was on the south west side of Seoul and now I have moved to the South East side. This area is would have been part of the old Seoul West Mission, and in fact our Church is where their headquaters were, so this is an old AP area. It is a great area with a very strong ward of about 55 members.

[ Map of our HUGE area ]

[ Church ]

My companion's name is Elder Mersmann, does that name sound familiar?! I was living in the same house as him my first transfer in Geum Cheon. It definitely caught me off guard when President Lee told me that on the phone, but not in a bad way. It is going to be a great transfer and we will be able to get a lot of work done :)

[ House and companion ]

A few days before I came here, Song Pa received a "golden" referral. She was a referral from the church headquaters. She lived in Canada for a year studying English. while living there, she found out about the church and met with the missionaries there. She told them that she preferred to be baptized in Korea so she wanted to wait. We have met with her once and she is so awesome. She is 26 years old a really just a cool girl. She really thinks the word of wisdom is awesome, but isn't sure about the coffee and tea, right now. This problem isn't to serious though. We just have to show her that if she has a testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith, then he really did receive revelation for the word of wisdom.

My house is another 4 man area. We live with the zone leaders which is pretty cool. I really like that because i can ask lots of questions and advice. The only problem is...the house is pretty stinking small for 4 people. We have one dresser for 4 of us and a tiny closet so we hang most of our stuff in like this little sunroom thing. kind of weird.

Something cool about this area is... we have a COSTCO!!! American food, in bulk!! I am so stoked on it! haha. We went this week and i was able to stock up on some chicken, cereal, oatmeal, and a few other goodies :)

[ New house ]

[ My room ]

[ My desk ]

[ Zone Leaders room with Elder Frei ]

[ Bedroom, I know they need to make their beds! ]

Some more good news. I PASSED OFF!! I am officially a certified teacher now and can become a Trainer whenever President calls. It is truly a huge burden of relief off of my shoulders.

[ Pass off book ]

[ AP I passed off with, Elder Summers ]

I am excited to be in my new area and to witness more miracles. I love being involved in the work of the Lord. He truly is our Savior, Brother, and Redeemer. He lives and leads and guides His church today. I know this is true with all my heart.

Lastly, congrats to my big sister Aubrey for having her first baby! Blair Frances Laidlaw. She is so beautiful. I am so excited to watch her and Sydney Rose grow up together. Such a blessing.

Ok one more, I just wanted to mention a story of one of the biggest acts of faith i have heard, Kenzie's friend and roommate Kelly has decided to get baptized. He parents are in disagreement and have decided to cut all of he funds. However, she is deciding to go forward in faith and be baptized. Kelly, you are amazing and I am so happy that you have made this decision. You are still in my prayers.

I love you all!

Love,
Elder Messick

P.S. Happy birthday this week to Taylor Messick, Elissa Newby, and my Aunt Debi! :)

[ Seoul Temple groundbreaking shovel in our church ]

[ Family in our ward we ate dinner with ]

[ Junk yard, with Spidy!!! ]

[ Last day in Geum Cheon, SNOW at a park by our church ]

[ Saying goodbye to Elder Yoo ]

[ HAPPY NEW YEAR 2012! :) ]

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday Kellie!! It is officially 2012. Wow how time is flying. I am nearing my 5th transfer as the transfer calls come tonight. (I hope SUPER badly to stay in 금천).



This week has been really good, as every other week is. We are still struggling to find investigators as right now we still have none, but we are giving it our all to find.

The miracle that I wrote about last week with the lady for English class, well she ended up coming on Wednesday! She was 30 minutes late, but I was so happy to hear when she called us asking for directions. Because she was there, for gospel time we decided to teach the plan of salvation. She was listening very intently and seemed to understand well. We plan to refer her to the sister missionaries though since it would be better if they taught.

On Saturday I had my "final." I had pass-off with the AP's. I was a bit nervous, but was pretty confident that I could do all of the requirements. Well, I was able to really well and passed off, but i didn't have time to finish everything. :( So i will be going back probably next week to finish it off. It will definitely be a big burden lifted off of my shoulders.

Our recent convert, Lee Dong Gu, is doing so well still. He is continuing to read The Book of Mormon. I have been helping him with his application to BYU-H. He is so excited. As for a mission, he says he wants to go, but his parents, especially his mom, won't let him. His mom is a less-active of our church and actively attends another christian church so I am guessing that is why. Maybe they will change their minds and going to BYU-H will help him in going out to serve the Lord.

A cool little experience happened this week that helped me learn the principle of humility. My companion and I were out streetboarding and it was pretty cold outside. We opened our little hand warmers so our hands wouldn't be so cold when we shook the hands of those we were contacting. Anyways, Elder Yoo was contacting someone and then before the person left, Elder Yoo gave his hand warmer to him. It really was pure love because he had no jacket on that day or anything. He truly loves everyone and just is so humble. Truly was an example of Christ.

The language continues to come. Having a native as a companion is such a blessing. It is weird because I will be talking to him then use a grammar form i have never read in a book, but have just learned it from hearing it. God really does bless us missionaries with the Gift of Tongues as we show our diligence in serving Him. I am so grateful for this.

I am so grateful for The Book of Mormon. Before my mission I took this book for granted. I didn't read it every day. I didn't understand how special of a book it truly is. It is one of God's greatest blessings He has ever given to us. THrough the book of mormon we can learn of the FULLNESS of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Joseph Smith gave his life for this book. As we read it we can find and receive personal revelation. I testify of this. I know this to be true as i have seen it for myself. I love The Book of Mormon and I love this Gospel.

Happy new year to all of you. I love you guys sooo much. Have an EPIC week :)

Love,
Elder Messick

Did you see my trainer in this months Liahona!?

The way koreans move is just awesome isn't it  & getting my shoes fixed in the tiniest little box ever, only 2 bucks though and a free shine. :)

Korean traditional dresses. Like for new years and when they get married and stuff.

Face masks, a christmas present from Kim Me Ryang. Haha!

Crazy guy feeding me candy. Haha!