You Know Who You Chose To Be

Nothing too crazy this week, other than our investigator getting closer and closer to his baptismal date! We're hoping he can feel ready by it - if not, we'll push it back and keep working hard to grow his faith and help him understand that Baptism in and of itself is an act of faith.

But! I've got to keep today short since, well, all of you wonderful people decided to email me this week! Haha! Thank you so much! And a special thank you to all of those wonderful people out there who keep my mother happy. She's the most important!

I used to make it a point to always tell people (when trying to arouse the motivational and inspirationsal feelings inside of them to become greater, or "level up" or things like that), that "You are who you choose to be". It's a quote from one of my all-time favorite movies, the Iron Giant. I'm sure you've seen the movie, and if you haven't - go grab it and a bowl of Sister Morisse's brown sugar popcorn right now. You won't be disappointed.

Anyway, I reflected a lot this week through my journal as I studied, and came across the thought that.. well, rather than thinking, "You are who you choose to be", it should be "You know who you chose to be."

..We chose to be like Him since before the beginning. God loved us so much He gave us a chance to become like him. To return to live with him, to have help along the way, and to find real happiness which will last us for the rest of eternity. ..That's why you're here - because you know who you chose to be.

Now, I'm still growing, and I have so many doubts, fears, worries, and questions that I can hardly even think about counting them, but - the Lord has blessed me SO much. Sure, I might be sick right now, sure, I may have a really difficult time sleeping, but man, I haven't experienced a single real night-terror in almost a year. I'm healthy enough to walk, run, jump, play basketball, soccer, and any other activity that I wouldn't have been able to do just a short while ago. He's helped me beat the odds, and has blessed me in countless ways. My younger sister, and best friend have joined the church, and are reaping the blessings of the Spirit, and my younger brothers are just becoming more and more like incredible champions every day. Taking the time to realize what has happened while I've been away, makes things so much brighter. As people compliment the things I do, and the random walls I paint, I've come to understand that there's a much more appreciable skill. ..To carve and paint the very atmosphere from which we look.. ..To affect the quality of the day - that is the highest of arts.

So, change your day. Forget about what has happened, and what might happen, and live in right now. Radiate that light you chose to have, and take advantage of this incredible opportunity to become like the person you already know you want to be. 
You all rule- and I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Remember,
You know who you chose to be!

All the love,

Elder DeMille

"Happiness leads to free soda from the lady at the chicken place."‏

This week was a lot better (not that any week is necessarily "bad" as a missionary) because it was absolutely packed with silly, exciting, and partially terrorizing events. ..Check it. 

First - I'd like to let you know that I'm the kid who never sleeps. You know.. the one you always wake up to in the middle of the night at a sleepover who's just staring you in the face because he's got nothing better to do than try to figure out why your face is so oddly shaped..? ..Yes, that's me. Nice to meet you.  Haha~ But this week, I had the greatest night's sleep since I've been on my mission. ..You hear me?? The GREATEST night's sleep!! - I know what you're thinking... "Why is this guy telling me about how well he slept.. ?..." Haha I truly just wanted to take a moment and thank those back home for their prayers -- You have no idea how big of a difference that night made.

The next night a friendly Korean elder came to our house on exchanges and spent the night with us. ..He warned us he snores super loud- and everyone was thinking, "Aw, yeah, sure sure, no big deal bro.." ..But you have no idea. When 10:30pm hit, it was like our whole apartment underwent an extreme renovation. Construction, wallpapering, furniture rearranging, hardwood replacement.. you name it! The amount of noise coming out from this sweet Elder's mouth was unbelievable! Haha! I mean, I've heard some loud snoring before, but this.. this was unreal! Elder Song and I (insomnia buddies) took turns hitting his yo (what people sleep on.. kind of like a super thick camping pad? --I prefer the floor) to make us feel better.. haha. Maybe I need to work a little bit more on my patience - But.. then again, I did also receive a little revelation as to why I slept so well the night before :P

Outside of that, we had a great spiritual district meeting on Wednesday, I cut Elder Whitney's hair that night (though I really need to cut my own sometime soon..), did a small painting for my man Uncle Bryan (Elder Bryan- now adopted into the family), and with Elder Ellsworth's help, named my first human being. ...Haha yes. You read that right. And yes, it is a weird thing to say.

We named our investigator! (a.k.a- gave him an American name -- he's been dying for one) It was intense. He gave us Korean names, and in turn we gave him an English name. My Korean name 도진리 (Said like Doe Chilly) stayed the same because he loved it, and Ellsworth took on my family name "도" (Doe) And took on the Korean name 건호 (Gun Ho) Because it sounds kinda like his first name (Connor) and is a super sweet Korean name. Next, was the big moment. Haha. For our investigator OJH We talked about various names and came to the conclusion that he would hereby be known to the world as Sean Oliver O!! (remember, O is his last name). Haha and - fun fact - his middle name came to be because of one of my very best childhood friends. Yes, Elder Oliver Hulme, there is a man living in Korea named after you! Hahaha. And, Sean loves when we say his name in Korean order - O Sean Oliver - because it makes his first name sound like "Ocean". Thus, giving him his first nickname. Haha- things moved pretty quickly this week. :P

Thursday we hit the beautiful temple, and wrote letters all day, finishing with some ball, and while we were at the temple Elder Whitney and I both got sweet Halloween packages from our adorable mothers. Score. So, we (naturally) decided we were just gonna pound some candy for lunch. But! Upon returning home.. feet weary with exhaustion.. arms numbing from the cumbersomeness of said glorious packages.. we smelled a smell. ..But, it wasn't just any smell. We discovered a savory scent.. subtly sneaking through the air.. tenaciously teasing us with it's playful perfume of perfection (check out those alliterations Mrs. Bliss!)  ..It was.. GAMARO Chicken. ..This chicken, like all Korean chicken - Is indescribable. We couldn't resist. We pooled money, and entered the 'dungeon'. Elder Ellsworth and I fought off at least three minotaurs and a couple dragons, but in the end the princess (a.k.a - store owner) was so pleased with us so happily saving her life, she decided to give us free soda! Thus - "Happiness leads to free soda from the lady at the chicken place." Bam. In the end we had Oreo's, Utah truffles, and chicken for lunch. ...We're still figuring things out.. okay?

Friday was normal - Saturday was packed. With a Halloween party, we had a crazy haunted house. (think Korea.. Asian ladies.. the Grudge... crawling at you on all fours.. haha you get the idea. Terrorizing right? Check.) On the second floor, and split up into teams and did all sorts of crazy activities like apple bobbing and finding candy in mounds of flour with our face, and other good stuff. I even sacrificed myself to participate in chugging a hazardous-waste like mix of soy sauce, ketchup, mayo, mustard, onions, and whipped cream...hahaha. Let's just say this week has been better.

Oh! And I learned some Tagalog (Philippine language) since Elder Song and I decided to join the English branch choir for a huge Filipino event! Who’d-a thunk I'd be called to Korea to speak Korean, Korean Sign Language, Tagalog, and English? Hahaha too cool.

And to make things even better, we caught the sunrise at the river this morning. 
Life is good. ..Really good.

Enjoy the pictures mom, and to the rest of you - Have a great week!! 

All the love,

Elder DeMille!

Well, folks! It's going to be short!

I wish I had more time (or a more eventful week), but to be honest there isn't a lot to say!

..Other than..This week, our ridiculously perfect human being of an investigator accepted a baptismal date! It doesn't mean he'll be baptized, but it at least means he accepted to become a part of what he believes to be true if he can receive an answer! I love you all, and want you to know that sometimes, life comes at you in a ton of different directions, and no matter which one you decide to take, if you feel it's right, odds are it is. The Lord loves you, and so do I!!

I've also been able to find a few people I'm related to so far, from the same great great great times about a billion great descendants of "Kim" that I'm from. ..Turns out two of them are missionaries! Hahaha Elder Kim Tae Ho, and Elder Kim Do Hyun, the AP! What are the odds? What's up cousins??

Love you all tons, and another apology for the short, uneventful mass - there were some important people to attend to :)

All the love,

Elder DeMille!

...Check out what I found in Korea!

Be Patient

Elder DeMille will write home this evening on schedule, however there will not be a new post to the blog until tomorrow evening as I am out of town. Please check back to hear about his latest experiences. Thank you so much for being loyal readers!

Lisa aka 'Mom'

Questions of the Soul

This week, we had a sweet experience with one of our investigators. He totally spaced about our appointment on Tuesday, and we waited at the church for like 45 minutes for him to show up (because he always does), and called him at least 10 times.. hahah. *cough cough* desperate missionaries? *cough cough* ..No. We just want him to find happiness! Haha.

Anyway, he texted us later, apologizing, and as we forgave him (70 times 7, right?) he started to text us about how he isn't living life how he wants to, and wants to make some serious changes. ..So naturally, we were thinking, "(insert angelic chorus of angels)" And wanted to find out how we could help! He said he'd talk to us when we met on Thursday though. Too long over text.

So, we met on Thursday, and talked. ..For a while. It was really cool, and as he sincerely poured out his heart about things he wanted to change in his life, and how he just felt like he was slowly slipping out of reality and just simply "living", we were able to provide him with some comfort - but only after listening well for a long time. ..Listening is important, people.

We committed him to trying church out - at our Korean branch- to start to be around the right kind of people with the right kind of influences and he got really stoked about it. After that, Elder Ellsworth shared a phenomenal scripture in Helaman (5:12) about building on the right kind of foundation so that you can withstand anything. I shared a quote that always keeps me going, and it's like he was hit so hard with the Spirit he finally understood what he should be doing.

The quote I shared is from the movie Rocky, and goes something like this:
"It's not about how hard you can hit. ..It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. It's about how much you can take and keep moving forward! That's how winning is done!!”

He understood that he's been taking so much.. but moving nowhere. So hopefully, with a little spiritual direction, we can help this guy get back on track in the game of life. 

This week though, with that experience, I thought a lot about how the Book of Mormon answers the questions of our soul (and sometimes Rocky Balboa), and decided to study those questions in depth. I'll leave the studying to you, but I wanted to share the questions that come up most often in people's lives, souls, and situations. If you ever need an answer. Turn to the Book of Mormon. I know you will find an answer if you search with the real intent to change your life. I love you all!!

Why does God allow evil and suffering? - 2 Nephj 2:11,13 // Alma 14: 9-11

What does the Lord expect of me? - 2 Nephi 9: 21-23

Does God answer prayers? (YES) - Enos 1:1-8

How can our family be happier and more united? Mosiah 2:17,22,23-24, 41

How can I find peace and joy? Mosiah 2:41 (38 as well?) // Mosiah 4:9, 10,12,13

Does God know me? Alma 5:37-38

Is there a God? Alma 22:1-24

What is the purpose of Life? Alma 34:32, 41

How can a belief in the Lord help me? Alma 36:3 // Alma 36: 3-23 (story), 24-27, 30

How can I avoid the evils that threaten my family? Alma 39:8-14

Is there life after death? Alma 40:4-10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 21, 23

How can I avoid sin? Helaman 5:12

How can I balance my family and career? 3 Nephi 13:19-21, 24, 26-28, 33-34

How can I strengthen my marriage? 3 Nephi 14: 1-5, 7-8, 9-11, 12, 24-27

Does my infant require baptism? Moroni 8:8-11, 12-19, 22-23 

Search the word, and you'll find it! Ask and ye shall receive, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. ...If you don't ask, you'll never know. 

Love you all!!

All the love,

Elder DeMille!

Pray With Faith

So, this week has been awesome. A few cool things for you before I enlighten your souls... heheh..

- Monday we taught the best lesson I've ever been a part of at a Family Home Evening at a member's house.. they want us to make a sign up sheet for the whole ward to participate in our object lesson! Haha! So rad! (We taught the Plan of Salvation using fun little cut-outs)
- Tuesday I lost in a game of chess. ..(Just to reassure you I'm definitely not good at everything..)
- And... General Conference was amazing. Seriously insane. 27 pages of notes (13 sheets) would confirm that for you, right? 
- As well as... Transfer calls! They came! And.. I'm staying with Elder Ellsworth! Haha. But, alas, Elder Bryan is leaving (toward the Military Bases like Humphrey's), and Elder Light has been assigned to strictly work with deaf members in our ward. TOO cool. Elder Whitney will be coming to Elder Song (My trainer's third son) and Elder Lund will be Zone Leader with Elder Lion. 
...Should be rad. 
- Other than that, we've had a good week, and got a referral from the SLC Temple which should be super rad!

(1 Nephi 13:37 ... read it HERE)

Now, time for the important part. 
Who would like to receive some light?

"You are a child of God. Your Heavenly Father loves you and knows your needs, and He wants you to communicate with Him through prayer. ...As you make a habit of approaching God in prayer, you will come to know Him and draw even nearer to Him. Your desires will become more like His. you will be able to secure for yourself and for others blessings that He is ready to give if you will but ask in faith." (True to the Faith, pg. 119)

We have been asked to pray powerfully, often, vocally as well as silently, with real intent and "all the energy of heart". Prayer is something that has always been a staple, a building block, and more or less the foundation of my testimony. I'm someone who always wants to know whether I'm making the right decisions or not, working hard enough, or walking in the right direction, and prayer has always been something that has been able to let me know. ..Lately, life has been a little harder - more stress, anxiety, homesickness, nightmares, insomnia.. ..Don't get me wrong, I'm not about to give up - it's just that life is a little harder right now - and so, I've found myself most comfortable on my knees lately. In the middle of this week, I was especially uneasy and just couldn't feel any sort of peace or direction, so instead of praying the routine.. what.. 6 times a day (Missionaries pray very often), I included an extra 3 or 4 vocal prayers throughout the day. ..Kneeling by myself with my Father in Heaven really helped me to understand why prayer is so important, and what it should really be like. Prayer is a form of communication. We're just kids, all of us, and our Father in Heaven wants to hear from His children! If you were away from your parents for a very long time, or maybe just didn't feel like you'd want to drive 300 hours, miles, or months to see them, what would you do? Call them, right? You'd want to talk to them! I know I sure do! But, would you pick up the phone, call your dad or mom, and tell them very quickly and abruptly all the things you would really really love to have in the form of a bunch of run-on sentences and then hang up the phone? ...Haha I sure hope not!

Prayer is like a telephone call to our Father in Heaven and it needs everything a phone call has. Telling, listening, acknowledging, responding, explaining, expounding.. rather than just requesting. I like this quote by Howard W. Hunter, it says:

"If prayer is only a spasmodic cry at the time of crisis, then it is utterly selfish, and we come to think of God as a repairman or a service agency to help us only in our emergencies. We should remember the Most High day and night- always- not only at times when all other assistance has failed and we desperately need help."

..With my imperfections, inadequacies, doubts and weaknesses, prayer keeps me going. It's that one thing that just simply doesn't change or disappear. It's always an opportunity for me to speak with my loving, encouraging Father in Heaven and walk away with an attitude of , "Yeah.. I get it. With you, I can." rather than succumbing to walking forward in the valleys and trenches of my trials alone. 

My friend Gordon B. Hinckley once said, "Recognize that there is a power greater than ours, that no mater how good a man is, he is not good enough, that no matter how wise he is, he is not wise enough, that no matter how strong he is, he is not strong enough for the things which he will face in life, and that there is a source of power to which he can go with the assurance that he will be listened to and that there will be a response."

I am confident that as you sincerely take the time to speak with your Father in Heaven about anything and everything you will will feel blessed, loved, encouraged, and comforted. Whether tears come, or you feel the peace of the Spirit inside of you, I promise you will feel His presence in your life and know of a surety that He loves and cares for you. So stand tall, on your knees, and you'll never have to walk alone. 

All the love,
The one and only (..neh, I'm sure there are others.. haha)

- Elder DeMille!

Listen For The Light

This week was great! Another week as a missionary has already flown by, and with transfers and General Conference at the end of this week, I can't see how time is ever going to slow down! Seriously too crazy! Almost a year in, about a year to go, and way too much to do! ..That being said, Elder Ellsworth and I have been able to check a couple things off our list this week, including:

-Crafting the most delicious banana chocolate chip pancakes 
-Becoming the masters of making delicious shakes and smoothies (Just call us the shake bros)
-Seeing the most densely populated area in my entire life..
-Catching some fireworks in Korea (Sweet festival at the Han river)
-Being kissed on the hand by a drunk man (Elder Ellsworth just about died, he was so surprised, hahaha)
-Being told I would be a future President by said drunk man, and playing patty-cake with him as we waited for the cops to come.. hahha (Korea adventures) 
-..and.. making it through another week! 

I know, I know, we're amazing - thank you, thank you! Hahaha. Now, here's a little something I wanted to share this week:

..I've often wondered, especially as a missionary, How do I recognize and understand the Spirit? You consistently wonder out here, what to say, what to do, and whether the promptings you think you're feeling are from the Holy Ghost, or just the rational 'wanting to do the right thing' side of you.

..But, how can you really tell? What is the Holy Ghost? And why do people without it still do so much good? Do you have to be baptized, and receive it to feel it, or feel spiritual promptings at all?

In Preach My Gospel, Chapter 4, it tells us all about it.
"God loves you, and all His children. He is anxious to support you in your practical and specific challenges. You have been promised inspiration to know what to do and have been given the power to do it (D&C 43:15-16)." 

"A person is capable of receiving spiritual guidance before being baptized and confirmed. This spiritual influence begins with the Light of Christ, which is "given to every man, that he may know good from evil" (Moroni 7:16). "The Light of Christ is just what the words imply: enlightenment, knowledge, and an uplifting, ennobling, persevering influence that comes upon mankind because of Jesus Christ."

So, you've got this light inside of you. Or, at least, that's what you're listening to me tell you right now, haha. But take an instance where someone is in need. You pass someone on the freeway, whose car has died and is desperately trying to push their car into the shoulder of the freeway to avoid danger, and is doing so in vain. You want to help, right? Isn't that the right thing to do?

Some might say, "ah, that's just human nature. Anyone who's got a conscience would help them!" But that's not it - it's the Light of Christ inside of you, that encourages you to do good, and as you do more and more good that light continually grows brighter and brighter inside of you. It isn't just a conscience. It's something more.

As we take the time to be genuine people, and to shine a little brighter, we feel better. Right? You feel good when you do something right, don't you? Other people can tell that we are feeling 'better' too. It's this ... this emanating glow we have about ourselves when the Light of Christ grows within us. You all know someone who just seems to glow all the time, don't you? I know I do! You may wonder if they just aced a test, or somehow just happened to come across all the secrets to the universe, but, the simple part about it is - that they've just experienced a small taste of real, true, lasting happiness. And they felt it! So, how do they do it? How do you follow that Light of Christ, in turn following the Holy Ghost, and finding your way to real, true, lasting happiness? You all have challenges. Adversity? Life isn't easy on the simplest of days! Weaknesses, pains, struggles, memories, appointments.. ..and sometimes just the overwhelming feeling of "I can't do it”.

Well, God loves you and all that He asks is that you ask Him when you need help. Doesn't that seem kind of silly though? The only being we believe to be Omnipotent.. Omniscient..  Omnipresent.. needs to be told what you need? Shouldn't He already know? Shouldn't he just help us out?? I mean, come on, we're dying here! It's because He loves us that He needs us to tell Him. He wants us to grow in our humility, and to show our love for Him by actually talking to Him, and spending time with Him in our prayers. And I'm just like everyone else, I definitely don't always pray as long or as well as I should, and I often feel like no matter how hard I plead, I just can't seem to get the answer I'm looking for. But, you just can't lose hope.

My good friend Elder Miller, who is now home,  once said, " If you don't receive an answer right away, it may be because you're doing something right." Your Heavenly Father trusts you, and knows that maybe sometimes you're just asking to ask. Sometimes you don't need to know necessarily "what" to do, but "how" to do it. And He's always there to help you figure it out through what you're feeling.

So, try to pay a little bit more attention to that still, small voice that is supposed to touch your heart. When the Spirit touches the heart, hearts are changed. ..And as so many different voices are competing for your attention in this world, ask yourself.. are you listening for the right ones?

I love you all and wish you the best week ever! Enjoy some sweet firework photos and cool pics! You're the greatest! Go rule the world!

Love,

Elder DeMille!