6-15-14

Hello Everyone,

This past week has been a very interesting one. This was my last week with my previous companion, Elder Heo Jeong Hang. He got emergency transferred to being an office assistant and my new companion now, Elder Lee Seogoo, was the previous office assistant. 

So last Wednesday all 6 of the missionaries on Jeju got flown out to Busan for Zone Conference. I was able to meet up with my trainer, Elder Brown, and some other friends. Zone Conference was good and I actually stayed the night in Busan in the Mission Headquarters while the other Jeju elders and sisters flew back after Zone Conference. I got to spend basically a day and a half being a temporary office assistant while Elder Heo trained. 

So Thursday me and my new companion flew back out to Jeju and he got settled in. Unfortunately he got super sick the second day he got here and is still feeling a little under the weather even now. But he's holding out strong and is working hard. This is his 11 transfer and before the mission he actually lived in New Zealand so he speaks fluent english. And, go figure, he was actually in the same ward in New Zealand as my MTC companion, Elder Tira. Small world. 

This is the first time i'll be holding down an area so i was a little worried about that. Especially since we have an investigator with a baptismal date for next Sunday and we still have stuff we need to do so it was just a little worrying. But my comp is really wise and he has already been a big help to me in the relatively short time we've been together. 

My biggest problem on the mission is having trust in my abilities. I have a hard time with it. Its hard for me to understand when others speak, and honestly i still don't know what people are saying to me half of the time. So its hard for me to talk to someone when i don't know what they are talking about. And that's not exactly the best way to feel as a missionary whose job it is to talk to people. But what i have learned is that in those moments of fear and not knowing what to say, that if I just open my mouth words just come out. I honestly don't know how else to explain it. There are times when i say something and i don't even know what i said. Korean is a very hard language. Talking to some of my teachers in the MTC i remember some of them saying how they didn't even feel 100% comfortable with the language there last day serving as a missionary. I don't imagine it'll get any easier, and on the other hand in a way i hope it doesn't. 

Trials are not supposed to be easy. There is a reason that opposition exists. Its not just some thing Heavenly Father made to make our lives hard. They are supposed to helps us. I'm thankful that i have to speak the Korean language because it forces me to be completely reliant on the Lord and it shows me every moment of every day how insignificant I am without him. I'm thankful for my mission and for everything that i have. Ill talk to you all again next week. I love you all!

Elder Maccarthy