I haven't really looked at the soles of my shoes, even when polishing them. I looked down at them the other day and I couldn't believe how much rubber I've left on the streets of Korea. It's nothing compared to Elders who have been out here almost two years, where their socks are sticking out of the bottom, but it's just something that reminds how long I've really been out here. An Elder went home last transfer (Elder Prue, who lived with Conor in Iraq), and he said in his farewell testimony, "I have prayed for one slow day, and I haven't gotten one in two years." There are no slow days on the mission. There are busy days, busier days, and days where you fall on your face at the end of the night and know that you did everything you could have done that day, and the Lord helped you do the rest.
Yesterday was definitely one of those days. This last week, felt like that almost everyday. But my companion and I had a pretty amazing thing happen to us yesterday. We met a kid 2 weeks ago, who used to live in Australia, so his English is stellar. He has a strong belief, and really wants his Dad to come to church. We've been so excited to meet him, and he's always willing to meet us, but he's had to cancel on us the day of both times because of tutoring (high school kids get home past ten most nights because of tutoring.) So he canceled on us yesterday, and so we moved some stuff around, and ended up meeting with a man of another faith, who we met earlier this week. He's pretty old, and really had no interest in hearing our message. We were nearing the end of this "going nowhere" lesson, which we were having in a Bakery of all places, and all of a sudden a kid starts knocking on the window. It's the Australian. He's super excited to see us, and explains that his school is a block away, and it let out earlier than he thought. We had no idea where he attended tutoring, and we moved around our schedule drastically, and just met where the other man asked us to meet him.
We finish up our other lesson, and then get to teach this amazing young man. He asks some great questions. We explain more about our purpose here in Korea, the Book of Mormon, and get to talk about prayer. He already has a strong testimony about sincere daily prayer. He said "I stopped praying for a long time, and onl;y prayed when things got bad." I asked, "Do you feel a difference when you pray everyday, as opposed to the time when you only did during hard times?" Of course the answer was YES! But it was just great to hear him explain the difference it makes.
So even though we had that lesson that went nowhere, it gave us the opportunity to meet someone truly prepared. We were definitely being guided by the Spirit in changing plans. Sometimes the bad things are just preparing us to receive the good.
There's a Korean saying that translates to "The ground gets harder after it rains." Sometimes the trials we receive are just strengthening us, and are a test of our faith, that make us worthy of receiving the blessing God wants to give us.
-Elder Reyes
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