July 28, 2025
We visited a man in the hospital last night, who neither of us knew, who's entire left side of his body is paralyzed. He was hilarious and actually really enjoyed talking about Jesus. You would think that being 50% paralyzed would stop a korean from feeding you, but you'd be dang wrong. Bro did some calisthenics to get onto a wheelchair and then used one arm and one leg to wheel over to a fridge where he grabbed us yogurts and ice cream to dine on while we talked. Once we were done with those though he wheeled right back over to fridge and grabbed a korean melon. He handed it to me but then immediately took it back because he apparently wanted to give it a good wash in the hospital bathroom, to where he once again one-leggedly wheeled his chair over to. Now I'm not an over the top germaphobe, but I'm also not stupid (sometimes) don't want to put stuff in my mouth that was washed in a hospital bathroom. We couldn't see him in there but I could hear him washing the fruit, so I turned to my comp and mouthed, "if I eat the fruit I will surely die," and in one of the most comedically timed moments of my life I heard a loud *crash* and watched the fruit roll on the floor past the door, at an impressive rate of speed, followed suit by the wheelchair. Aint no way I was eating that bad boy now, even though he did wash it again. He also kindly delivered it to me packaged in the massive wad of toilet paper that he used to dry it with, and yeah there were little wet pieces of toilet paper all of it haha.
You would also think that a half-paralized old guy would be an easy guy to get away from, but he followed us out to the elevator where we said a goodbye, and then right before the doors closed got in with us. At the 1st floor we said another goodbye and then once again, last second, exited the elevator. A third and sincere, hug included, goodbye was then given in the hallway, but when we started walking he followed in pursuit to give us another heart-felt goodbye outside of the hospital. It was worse than my mother with a random friend in a grocery store, and that is a comparison I wouldn't throw around lightly. We finally were walking for our subway station when we heard the sound of a wheelchair accelerating down the ramp outside the hospital. When I looked back he had given Jesus the wheel and had full on X-gamed the ramp outside the hospital. I heard a loud, "I love you!" Which was eminating from an in-hot pursuit wheelchair chasing us down. Anyways, needless to say the love of Christ was administered to a man in need. I love you too wheelchair man.
I ate some serious food this week. Had 불고기정식 for the first time with our bishop and it's probably one of my new favorite foods.
Yesterday, we had three of our friends come to church. There's honestly not many better feelings than seeing someone show up for the first time, but seeing them show up a second time is, in fact, better. Our friend 민지안 has attended for a whole month now. Dang I'm proud of him, he's making great efforts to learn.
I'm gonna be real honest with you, one of the things I miss the most about home is Riverside 1st ward (the undisputed goat), largely because I just miss worshiping God in English. The korean lyrics in the hymns usually carry like half the meaning of the english ones, and I can't really understand what the talks are about. Yesterday though, since we had a young teaching friend come, we went to the priests quorum, and wow... that's a vibe not even a weird language can take away. I felt home. They spent the first 20 minutes planning their camping trip and making jokes. It was pretty fire. They invited our friend camping, of which I was thinking, "It is bros 2nd time here," until he responded that he would love to go lol. Love, share, invite babyyy. I will be better next time.
Lots of sports again on Saturday. We've been able to meet a lot of people through sports and one of the kids we met on Saturday came to church on Sunday morning, very awesome.
Spiritual Thought: I got the terrible knews this week during my P-study that my Uncle Eric had passed away unexpectedly. He was such an amazing man who concecrated his life to the fullest through challenging callings and endless service to his family and friends. I wonder if he could have had a single regret, his conduct was always that of integrity and love.
It makes me think about how ready I am to go at any moment. What kind of image would I leave? Not gonna lie, I'm not very fond of what I think it would be. I studied one of my favorite talks again after I heard about my uncle, "Let us be Men" by Elder D. Todd Christofferson. I love this talk and noted that my Uncle Eric followed nearly every letter of counsel you could find in it.
"Though he will make some sacrifices and deny himself some pleasures in the course of honoring his commitments, the true man leads a rewarding life. He gives much, but he receives more, and he lives content in the approval of his Heavenly Father. The life of true manhood is the good life."
He sacrificed a lot for family and the Gospel in his life, but nobody doubts that he lived in the approval of his Heaven
ly Father. The gospel of Jesus Christ is such a blessing. I'm so blessed to be sharing this message with people. We will all live again!
Please pray for my wonderful Aunt and her children!
No comments:
Post a Comment