04232017 James, 5 K mission run, and great lessons

This week we were pretty busy! Which is great!

I think the coolest thing that happened, is the guy we met that visited the temple in Seoul, (we call him James) We met him again. We started teaching the restoration. He was super accepting of everything. And when we got to the Book of Mormon, he said, "I have been wanting to buy one so I can read it!" In my head I was like "WHAT???" So I naturally said to him, "Well we sell this for 20 dollars if you want one?" So we ate well that night! hahaha Jokes. So we gave him the Book of Mormon and talked about getting a testimony. He was excited and wanted to get a testimony himself. So then we invited him to church. He responded all excited "I can go to church with you?!" We said "of course" and he came on Sunday! He thought it was a little different and strange but good! So pray for him! 

Then another great lesson was with the couple we are teaching. They are currently more intellectually interested and say once they are done learning the doctrine they will come to church and stuff. So we felt we should go through the lessons fast. They also asked what a real Mormon lifestyle looks like. So we combined all of the forth and fifth lesson and wrote all the commandments and stuff on the board and talked about how these things define a Mormon life style. So now we have covered almost all of the material and can just focus on getting them to test it out and come to know of the truthfulness themselves!

Plus fun thing... today we have a mission 5k (I may or may not die...) and the kickball so that is exciting!

Anyway spiritual thought for the day. God blesses us to meet people who we can help, love, or learn from. So our job is to not judge, talk to people, and love them! Then you come to meet a lot of cool people and love them whether or not they accept the gospel! And I think this isn't  just a thing for missionaries. It is a life long principle!

Hurrah for Israel!

--

Elder Sabey

04162017 Coolest few hours on my mission

Well, this week we had exchanges! I went with Elder Lee from Hawaii. It was probably one of the coolest few hours of my mission. First I was on a bus going to the exchange.  A lady sat next to me. I talked with her and she was going to America in a few months, so I told her about our English program and set an appointment. I think that was the first time I set an appointment while first meeting with somebody. And then we were walking a saw a guy smoking. We said hi, and he stopped and talked to us. He asked us about our 3 levels of heaven and actually seemed to know a fair amount. So we gave him a Book of Mormon and a plan of salvation pamphlet. He saw our phone number and confirmed that he could call it. I said it was ours, but  I figured he wouldn't call so I asked for his phone number... and he gave it to me. (That never happens. If they have your phone number that won't give theirs.) Then we went like 20 feet forward. There was a tennis court with a couple guys playing. We stopped for a second and watched. I said wow you're good! And one of them called us down. So we went down and talked with him. We gave him a Book of Mormon. He said he wanted to read some at home, so he can see how he feels. Because more than the contents, the feeling is important. I was like, "yes! you are right!"  And then he asked for our phone number. We gave him it. But again we figured we should ask for his phone number and surprise surprise, he gave it to me! At this time we had to go to meet a guy I met on the street who didn't seem super interested but agreed to meet again. We met with him and he asked about the word of wisdom, temples, etc. He had even gone to the temple in Seoul to check it out, but wasn't able to go it. I was just kind of shocked that he knew a lot about our church and was interesting in understanding a lot more. So it was just a crazy few hours. 

On Sunday, a guy my companion met on the bus, came to church. And not only stayed for the full 3 hours, he also stayed for choir practice after church, even though he didn't sing! 

Investigators-- there isn't anything super exciting to share. I think people are progressing slowly but surely! The family, who father is a little more skeptical- the father felt bad for asking a bunch of questions and showing his doubts, and then he got mad at his son in English class, so he apologized and promised he would have a more open mind. I think he is opening up!

English classes are fun. I normally teach kids. So I just made stories with them in English. We make up characters and go around in a circle making stories. It is fun! P-day, we normally go with other missionaries and do something athletic or a tourist thing, or just rest at the house. Today we are going to do a combination of the first two! My comp is awesome! He isn't amazing at Korean but is faithful and obedient, so that is way more important.  My zone is great. I think we have an amazing set of missionaries, but we don't have many baptismal dates and investigators it seems... So we will see how it goes. My sense of purpose... I haven't really thought about it. I think I stay pretty focused on the work which seems to say I have a sense of purpose haha What did you feel your sense of purpose was on your mission?

However maybe the best moment this week was a phone call I got last night. There is one sisters team that is struggling with talking to people a little bit. I set up an activity where they can go on exchanges with other sisters and try different styles of proselyting. Anyway, they called me yesterday. And the trainer said the greenie "caught fire". And the greenie told me she got 15 pamphlets out in an hour. And the trainer asked to do the activity again! It was just a great call :)

So spiritual thought for the week, God does help and is involved in this work. He will not force people to accept the gospel or anything, but he cares about how we feel and wants to bless us in any way he can! 

I love you all!

Hurrah for Israel!

--

Elder  Sabey

04092017 BYU Professor taught about Korean religions

Well we had zone conference this week! It was good. Definitely my favorite part was the AP's did a role play thing of different proselyting situations, once with Americans in English and then with Koreans in Korean. So the Koreans just had to copy everything the Americans did. So they would always pause in awkward positions with funny faces and the Koreans had to copy them! It was pretty funny, but at the same time showed how talking to people should be more natural and fun! We talked about problem solving. How in talking with people, teaching, learning Korean, we need to be involved in the process of problem solving. thinking about how we can improve. Why things do work or don't work, and just solve our problems.

We also had a BYU professor talk to us about religions in Korea. It felt like I was back at BYU again. His lecture was super interesting, talking mainly about Confucianism and Shamanism and how 100% of Koreans still practice those in some way. His whole point in the end was how all of these different beliefs do things that we can connect with and build on, like prayer, honoring and doing things for ancestors, caring about family, having order by seniority (like high counsels) etc. Super interesting. I don't know how much it will really improve missionary work, but I do think that it helps me understand Korea a little better! And was fascinating!

Sad news is that 2 of the people who had baptismal dates aren't really responding to our texts and stuff right now :( So we will see how that goes. But the family we are teaching seems to be doing awesome. They came on Saturday morning for conference... but sadly the electricity in the church wasn't working completely, so there was no internet. So all the members went home and watched at their house, so our investigators had to go home as well. But they came! We taught them with the relief society president this week. It was good. They have so many thoughts and questions about priesthood, women, sexism, etc. but are very willing to listen to our thoughts and are accepting. 

Conference was amazing. Maybe it is just that I am a missionary, but I really felt like every talk was amazing. My favorites were Elder Uchtdorfs "perfect love casteth out all fear" and Elder Christofferson's "the voice of warning." Any other favorites?

I love you all!

Hurrah for Israel!

Hey mom, random questions! Are Brian and Dia pregnant again? How is David and Danielle's pregnancy going? Josh and Sarah are not right?

Also I got the package! Thank you!!!!

--

Elder Sabey

04022017 Bishop's daugher's boyfriend

This week was another great week!

Highlight of the week was definitely meeting with our bishop's daughters and her boyfriend. So just some background, our bishop is a little scary and intimidating... and his wife is kind of similar... The daughter is less active, and I think pretty much what happened is the parents said, "if you want to date our daughter, you have to take the lessons and come to church." So we met with him once a little while ago and just got to know him. Figured out why he was meeting/if there was any real interest, but we didn't teach a lesson, so we started the lessons this week. The lesson went for like an hour and a half or so, with the daughter talking for 20 or 30 minutes about why she is less active and she was awesome at helping explain our beliefs. I felt like we connected a little which is awesome. Ultimately we explained the goal of baptism and gave him a baptismal goal in two months. It was just an awesome lesson, but on top of that the next day they came to gospel principles class (another first) and he found a picture of baptism in the book and in the middle of the class showed it to me across the table. It was super cute and awesome!

And a small miracle we originally had a lesson right after that one planned so we planned to teach relatively quickly, but work came up so he cancelled. At first I was of course a little disappointed but after the lesson with the bishop's daughter and her boyfriend, I felt like God's hand was involved, and gave us the time we needed for the lesson!

So a sister in our district took too much medicine and had a reaction and was throwing up a ton. She had to go to the hospital to get her blood tested and I helped a little. She called the next day and said the results came back and that she was going home... Long story short, on Saturday, she gave us a note... "April Fools" It was pretty funny. She was trying to get me back for a time when we played "Bang" and I convinced her to kill another sister missionary instead of me.

I am meeting with a guy from China, but yesterday we were supposed to meet and he didn't come or answer our calls... lame. He has a baptismal date... so hopefully things will work out! Yeah we got a new investigator. We just found him in our phone. Mainly English interest. But as we talked we found that he was willing to talk about the gospel and stuff! It was a great meeting!

My companion is just is willing to listen well, obedient, and hard working. So that is awesome! My zone is good! I think we have some amazing missionaries! The mission I think is the best is has been! I think we are more focused on what really matters. On finding people and talking to everybody despite the success or rejection. So I think it is headed in the right direction!

Well Spiritual thought for the week... I like how the Nephites take week cities and build those cities up to become strongholds, to the extent that people can not enter besides through the gate. I think that is super cool idea for individuals. If we can build our defenses to our weaknesses so high that it can only come in through our conscious mind, we will win the battle so much more easily! 

I love you all!

Hurrah for Israel!

--

Elder Sabey

03262017 The week of Mom's birthday

Well, Mom's birthday is in like 2 days right? I am so thankful for all that she has done for me! So a few memories. I remember one time when I kind of was a little mean to mom and she just stopped and said "what's going on, this doesn't seem like you." or something like that. I just appreciated that she assumed the best of me and was calm and helped me learn! I remember coming home everyday to mom asking me how my day was, and although my response was normally "fine." She was always there wanting me to talk! (sorry mom) I remember eye contact, meditation, workouts, first things first, etc. The great lessons mom taught us!

I don't know what I can do or say to thank mom for all that she has done for me. I know one of the best ways is to be working hard here in Korea. So I guess I will just tell a few of the awesome things that happened this week! But know Mom that my belief, my desire to serve a mission, and all the blessings in my life are because of you and Dad. I am truly eternally grateful and eternally indebted!

We are all doing well! My companion is awesome! Language is okay, but he works super hard and is so faithful I love it! My zone is great. We have a bunch of amazing missionaries! I feel like I have no worries! How was missionary work in India? Spring...There are a lot of Cherry blossoms, but it will still be little bit till they start coming out!

So this week we met Brother Daniel again. We talked about giving time to both sides. I talked about a movie I watched in French and Italian Cinema and about a scene I wrote a paper one, about this girl who rejects the modern boy and culture for the old. My companion told about another less active he worked with. Brother Daniel opened up a little and talked about how maybe it was coming to Korea that started the whole thing, because there is no connection to a community. He feels isolated. So we asked him what he would be willing to do and he committed to start praying every day again. So that was just awesome!

Then we met with MoonSungHo and his family. They had a lot of questions but when we talked about Joseph Smith and how our goal is to help people get answers to their prayers. She was kind of excited by the idea that she could get an answer as well! So that was exciting.

Then we met with our Chinese investigator and he doesn't have much religious background. So he is pretty open to everything. Anyway, we gave him a baptismal date and he is pretty open to it! So this week was just full of miracles! :)

So my spiritual thought is simple. Like Dad emailed me this week, God is leading this work. Yesterday I had a meeting with the stake presidency and our mission presidency, and I thought it was in a different building. We ended up leaving early, and I randomly checked the text about the meeting and realized I was going to the wrong place. Had to rush to turn around and go back to the subway and get going to where I needed to. The timing was perfect on everything with buses and everything. So I was only 8 minutes late! It really was a blessing! And we met 2 cool people on the subway while we were going to the wrong place! God is involved and leading this work!! Even when I am stupid and don't read a text completely! haha

Hurrah for Israel!

--

Elder Sabey

03192017 Elder Taylor and lots of Elders who speak some Chinese

My new companion is Elder Taylor from Tricities Washington area. His mom is Taiwanese. Also we have two new new elders in our house. Elder Lam from Hong Kong and Elder Carter from Layton Utah. Plus two of the missionaries near here lived in China for several years, so we have a bunch of people that speak Chinese a little bit. I think God wants us to baptize a lot of Chinese people in this zone! There are a lot of chinese people in Korea and I do think they are more willing to talk!  haha 

Our zone changed a fair amount! But as I looked at all the people in our zone now, I feel like there is nobody we need to worry about. I think they are all super solid! I am excited for this transfer! My companion works hard and is obedient!

Well funny story for this week. On the bus I met these two guys that were about my age. Before they got off I got one of their phone numbers. I texted him just a little and he said his friend wanted to get to know me. So of course I assumed it was the other guy on the bus... So he sent me the phone number. Ultimately I figured out it might be a girl, but I was never sure and I felt awkward asking either one. So I just scheduled an appointment and it was indeed a girl. So we just met at a coffee shop. I made sure we just paid for ourselves and we just introduce our English program and got to know her. I think she mainly wanted foreign friends/maybe a boyfriend... but I think she realized that was not happening! Awkward but fun experience! I think when people realize what you believe and what type of person you are, they normally will respect and mold their behavior to match yours! 

Other than that, we had a lot of goodbyes for Elder Olson at the beginning of the week, and a fair amount of cancelled appointments at the end! I am trying to make studies more effective for me and my companion, so I am making a study plan for Korean/teaching. All that I am doing is trying to connect all the studies for my companion by learning words that he can use in a lot of roleplays that we do in companion study and teach in ways he planned in Personal study. So hopefully things will all start to connect a little! We are starting over with our teaching improvement program for our mission and just doing it the way it should be done! I really do enjoy teaching and educational ideas/theories of learning. I don't know a lot, but like it! I have been teaching little kids in English class, and I really enjoy it. It is exhausting, but fun. I do think I want to do something with education in my life!

Anyway, as I have been studying the Book of moron lately, there is one thought  I have seen a lot. In order to repent people have to be willing to do a lot! Whether it is giving up their kingdom, changing their entire life's beliefs, dying instead of fighting, etc. they have to get to the point of saying I will do whatever it takes. Then God will help them repent/change/gain a testimony, in normally a much easier way than they imagined! I love that. 

Hurrah for Israel!

-- 

Elder Sabey

03132017 Happy Birthday Rachel

Happy Birthday Rachel!!

DS

Daniel James Sabey

|

Sun 3/12, 6:23 PM

You;

Danielle Sabey (danielle9124@gmail.com);

David Sabey (dbsabey@gmail.com);

Happy Birthday!!! 

Memories of Rachel... One- when I broke her pinky and we thought it wasn't broken... hahaha

two- I remember one of my first days in high school eating chipotle with her! She just made me feel special! :)

three- I remember going hiking and Rachel and I not loving it like everybody else! So one time when we went to Snow mass, we made our camp site into different rooms to a house!

four- I remember her great singing voice and violin skills!

five- Army champion and star!

Anyway, Rachel I love you!

This week was a good week! There were no break through's with investigators. But we just keep going and staying busy! We met with several super cool people this week. One is a less active from Guatemala. He is a scientist. And  just has had a lot of doubts. He questions the feelings he felt in the temple and on a mission because he has experienced the same things elsewhere, and are explainable in science. But the thing I really loved about him, is that he isn't annoying! He is very honest and protective of our faith and very aware of speaking correctly. So he would always correct himself like " what you believe.... I mean what we believe..." or when they met before he didn't talk about his doubts in front of a recent convert, or he would say, I can't prove there isn't a god just as much as I can't prove that there is, so I am just stuck in the middle. So he is just a guy who is honestly searching and doubting. We are going to meet with him every other week or so and he is planning in the near future to come back, mainly for his parents, so it is just a super interesting situation!

Then there is a lady the sisters asked us to meet with, and she is also a very logical person. She used to not believe in God, but in a fire and near death experience (she was in a coma for a long time) a voice told her to keep her eyes open, or else she would die. Nobody at the hospital said that and so she came to believe in God, searched for churches, and studied the bible and figured out what she believes. She read the bible and feels like after the apostles and Christ died, there is no need for prophets because we all have the holy ghost. Anyway, my companion asked her, "what if there was a prophet on the earth?" and she thought, and said she had never thought about that! So it seems to just change something and so hopefully the sisters will have more luck with her in the future! It was a cool experience!

Anyway two highlights of the week! Meeting cool people is probably one of my favorite things as a missionary!

Spiritual thought for the week- I love the stripling warriors who obey with exactness so not one soul is lost. I think the same would be true in missionary work. If we obey with exactness not one soul would be lost (missionaries or those who are prepared to accept the gospel!) So that is great motivation! :)

Hurrah for Israel!

-- 

Elder Sabey

PS- Tansfers- I am getting a new companion this week. Elder Taylor. And a new elders companionship is coming to our ward! And both sisters and transferring out. So five new missionaries will be coming and I am the only one that knows the area and the ward, which is scary since I still don't know it super well!