True Story: "Life is like a chox 'uh boxolates."‏

So this week.. was.. of course, exciting! I swear the mission never gets old!

On Monday, after we emailed, we went to go learn Tai-Chi from this ancient Korean Legend. Like... what??! Hahaha! It was the hardest thing I think I've ever done, and want to start doing it every day! It is so insane! This old man was stronger than any of us, it was crazy! And he was SO flexible!! He taught us Tiger Style, the Eight Forms, and Chicken Style. Seriously the coolest thing ever. We pushed the ball.. and pulled the ball.. all that super awesome stuff. So rad!

Tai Chi Stretches

Next, on Tuesday, we really just went around and talked to a billion people because we had nothing else to do. ..But hey, missionary work is missionary work!

On Wednesday, we had ..wayyy too much fun. We had a District Meeting, and afterwards I got to do a split with Elder Empey, in my area. He's been out the exact same time as I have, and so ... well, we adventured! We went to the far corners of my area, and ended up buying a ton of Pokemon cards.. (Who wouldn't?? They're Korean! :P) Also, as we were talking to people on the street, I got really enveloped in our conversation and his interest in the Gospel.. and.. well, I pulled a classic missionary-worthy move and ran straight into a tree. ..Hahah can you believe that?? I ran full on into a tree mid sentence, and then the Korean man just turned to me and said in broken English, "Oh. Please watch your step.". ..Hahah too silly. Empey and I adventured all night, and stayed up a little late talking about spooky stories, but then the next morning things were pretty much back to normal.

We got up on Thursday and made pancakes and homemade syrup, which was super delicious, and unsplit around 3 or 4 o’clock. Chow and I got back together and that was that! Haha. Mission accomplished.

Friday we woke up and played football in the morning for exercise, and it was super nice to be able to kick again and throw the football. I learned I've got some pretty good hands, and that Chow is really good at throwing! Another highlight was that that night, during our English class that we teach for an hour (7-8pm every Friday) we taught about body parts, and for our role-play I got to come into emergency situations (me being an EMT) and treat everyone while they explained to me which body part was hurting! Hahaha! It was SO funny! One of our members was drowning, so I had to literally pick him up and carry him out of the water, and make sure he was okay! Another had fallen, and another was giving birth.. haha! Seriously too funny. Don't worry, I only took her to the hospital, nothing crazy.

On Saturday, the Relief Society brought us another million pounds of food, and we couldn't be more thankful!! I'm seriously beginning to understand why the Relief Society is called what they are! They are so fantastic!! We had so much food we had to tape our fridge shut!! Haha!! Saturday night we got transfer calls, as this transfer is over (Wahoo! One down!) and Elder Chow and I will be staying, but the new members of our Zone will be Elder Ellsworth, Elder Clawson, and Sister Telford. It'll be fun to get to know them! Also, our boy Elder Schofield went AP!! I love that guy!!!

On a few side notes, Olympus High School is taking over the world; the calls are amazing to hear about, and I've also found a couple of our alum in Liahonas from last year! Haha! Who’d’a thunk? Ah! And also, on Sunday, I had a member of our ward come up to me and start quoting Forrest Gump! It was absolutely HILARIOUS. He pointed to one of the members of our ward who has crutches and said, "Forrest Gump." I didn't even think I heard right! Then he said, "Life is like a chox 'uh boxolates" and started laughing, hahaha. I was dying! He said, "My name is Forrest Gump" just like Forrest would, and it was seriously the funniest thing ever. Forrest Gump, of all people, in Korea?! Ha!

I've learned this week that there are times when you feel like you are not progressing, and that's okay. Everyone has so many things going on in life, and sometimes you just need some time to recoup. This week, Elder Holland really kept me up, and reminded me to be on my toes all the time, no matter my level of exhaustion. He said to me through a talk,

"Brethren, the Spirit of the work is URGENCY, and we must imbue our missionaries and members with the Spirit now. N-O-W. We are not just waiting for natural regrowth. We must move more rapidly. We must take things up a notch. If we are to call down miracles or angels, then call them down. The drama is unfolding and we must do whatever it takes to ratchet up the work. ..I feel an incredible burden of urgency in my chest. I can hardly breathe.

Every dispensation begins with a vision. We must have a vision. We are the church that dreams dreams. We are the church that has visions. We must believe in miracles. We must believe and build on what our forefathers have done. Are we just going to putter along, be average -- until we wind up on the level when our heart is up in our throat and if we open our eyes, we would expect to see angels? If this is God's work and He still lives, then miracles and angels are still there. We must live up to our potential. God will bless us with whatever we need. God wants us to see what He sees and know what He knows. He wants us to ratchet up the vision. God is easy to please and hard to satisfy…

This is NOT convenient, easy work. We have got to take things to the edge. We have to move into the realm of miraculous. We have to live in such a way that we cannot do it alone anymore - Where we will resort to the Lord. Where we will cry, "Without thy help, I will fail. HELP ME FLY." Go the edge where miracles will happen. Move into the realm of miraculous. Have full faith. Believe in angels. With the power of the Priesthood, Push the envelope!"

I can't stress enough how hard and stressful this work is, but how incredibly empowering it is at the same time. If you feel at times that you've been missing something in your life, or things aren't quite working out for you, take a step back -breathe- and then get that Book of Mormon off the shelf and into your heart. The power of this Gospel and the message it contains is something that is incomparable to anything else. ..You know that. You've felt the power of it before, and felt that limitless love in your heart at some time or another in your life. ..Hunger and thirst to feel it again. Understand why you are here, where you are going, and why you do the things you do every day. Shine with the light of the blessings you have and spread that joy to other people! Help others fly. You are all so amazing, and I love you all so much! Congrats to all of the missionaries receiving their calls right now. You will change the world.

Love you all!

Elder DeMille