2016年7月25日

I guess I'll start with 이장석, since everybody reminded me to tell about him. I hope I didn't get y'all's hopes up with that, because it's really not a good story. He was baptized the 19th and of course attended church that Sunday and again the Sundayafter that. Then the following week he informed us that he would soon need to be admitted to a hospital in Seoul for a few months due to a mental disorder and wouldn't be able to attend church or meet with us or even have access to his phone. A few days following that, our zone leaders texted us saying they believed they had just seen him on the street and tried to say hello but he ignored them. That was obviously weird, so we assumed they had mistaken some stranger for him. Then maybe a week or two later they tell us they saw him again in the subway, at which point we're trying to still believe it was some mistake. Well then last Sunday (7/17), we went to his house to ask his parents about which hospital he's staying at and whether it'd be possible for the missionaries in that area to visit him. His mom answered the door and seemed to have no clue about any hospital or even who the missionaries were. She didn't have the door open very wide, but we caught a glimpse of 이장석 bolting in the opposite direction. She told us to wait a minute and closed the door, which was reopened after a moment by the man himself. He only spoke for maybe 30 seconds, telling us he was in the middle of a meal and he'd call later. Later he texted saying he'd have no time to meet with us the following week and he'd be going on vacation soon. No mention of a hospital. We've got no clue what prompted all this.

So that was a bummer, but the past week wasn't too bad. Highlights: Monday-To celebrate our one year anniversary, my 동기 (group with which I entered the MTC and came to Korea) had a reunion party for P-day, which was pretty nice. I hadn't even seen good ol' Elder Sabey since getting back in country. Tuesday-Had our first interviews with President Turner. He's pretty solid. Friday-Had our last lesson with 조세종, an investigator we've met with three times now who's about to move to the Seoul mission. He's progressing really well, completely contrary to what our expectations were after first meeting him. Then that night we met with a potential investigator who turned out to be a very fiery Bible-basher from another church. During said discussion (which was taking place on some benches at a small park), the totally certifiable less-active mentioned in last week's email saw us while passing by and came and sat down to teach with us. But unfortunately, the other guy asked him to leave. Elder Eddy and I both feel like it would've been good for him (the less-active) to help us out.

And there were lots of meetings with members and investigators, but nothing too noteworthy. Today for P-day, since Elder Eddy and I both served in Gimpo, we're gonna go visit 장순창, the member whom I kept emailing while in America. Should be fun.

Love you guys,

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