Diligence and hope... And pics!

Hey everyone! it has been another amazing week here in korea and things are working just as great as ever! We have been so blessed and are seeing so many miracles that there is no other explanation, this is the lord's work!!!!:) And i am so grateful to be a part of it! Sorry i don't have a lot of time today but i just wanted to share a little insight for the week. Some thing I have been looking at and focusing on this week is the relationship between two of Christ's marvelous attributes. The first being diligence, and the second being hope. This week I have been really thinking about both of these and instead of working to apply them separately in my life i decided to pair them and gain experience through how they work together. Wow have I learned a ton this week :) With diligence i thiink of the work persistance. And i feel like this goes along super well with hope. For without hope, how can we continue through the struggles as we fight with all our might to over come our weaknesses. And second with a greater understanding of hope and desire ( as i feel that these two are directly related as well) comes a greater aptitude, a great source of power, in our ability to grow and become more than we already are. This relationship of diligence and hope have brought a lot of strength into my life this past week. But one thing i would like to mention also, as we proceed with persistance and diligence our mind, and spirit become more focused to the hope and desire we are seeking to reach. We become like a snowball going down a steep snowy hill. As we work hard, with faith and hope we become a growing force that moves foward building on itself with increasing speed. I guess what i am getting at, never let something that comes into your life, a struggle or difficulty come in to put a shadow on your light of hope. Hold dear to your faith and let your light shine and when the darkness comes to try to over take your light, burn bright, with hope, and diligence to overcome it and the blessings that will come thereafter will yeild strength, confidence, brighter hope, and a stronger faith. Friends and Family i know our savior lives, he loves us, and he knows we make mistakes. We need not be down when we make mistakes, but instead push on with faith, for you too can know with an assurity that through Christ you can be made perfect. You can be made clean, and you can return to live with your father in heaven. My testimony is that he loves us, he is with us and as we exercise diligence and hope and faith in him we can accomplish amazing things even amongst the darkest of nights. I love you all so much and am so grateful for all you have done for me! I hope you have an amazing week!

Love

Elder Bigler

He Lives!

A note: you should know that prior to this letter Tyler was notified of his Grandfather Martin's passing.

안녕하십니까? ^,^ Wow another week has come and gone so fast! This week was crazy busy. We were running around all over the place saying bye to people, and introducing ourselves to people :) haha Elder Williams is now down in 목포 and it sounds like he is doing great. It is definitely weird not having him around now after being together for so long. haha but my new companion is great! His name is Elder Hill, fresh out of the MTC :) He is from Sandy, Utah, a football player and already a great missionary. It has been super fun getting to know him and already seeing the changes in him! First picking him up reminded me of when I first got to Korea, haha a fun little flash back. Weird thing is that it feels like that was just last week. But really the weird thing is realizing that in 3 days I already have hit my year mark! Holy cow the mission is a total time warp it feels like. haha. But every moment has been amazing. I have learned so much and grown so much. And I am so grateful to have this experience. It is so amazing to feel the true joy and happiness and comfort that can only be found in the gospel. I have certainly come to feel the power of God's plan this week and am so grateful to have such a wonderful heavenly father who knows us all individually and truly wants us all to return to his presence. :) Everyone I know for a fact that God is aware of our every needs. Often we feel like we are alone, pinned against a wall, in a hopless situation, or weighed by doubt and disbelief. I know from my own experiences through my life that there are times that one may think things are too much to handle, or wondering if we really are all on our own. But i add my testimony to that of the prophet Joseph Smith and so many more before him. Christ lives, I know he does. I have felt his love, his mercy, his grace, and his light in my life in such a way that just could never be described. He will not leave us alone. He walks the rock filled path of life with every one of us, there reaching out to us when we slip and fall. His love, his atonement, his grace brothers and sisters truly is sufficient, and infinite. He loves us so much and he will always be there for us. I know for many back at home there have been struggles, tears shed, and achy hearts. But our father in heaven and his son Jesus Christ are with you. They love you so much and they will never let you be alone. I love the oh so comforting words, he lives, he truly lives. Through Christ I know all things are possible. He morns with us in our struggles, takes upon himself our infirmaties, and is the source of strength when within us there is none. I love you all so much and am so grateful to know that the lord is with you! With all my love i wish you a good week and look forward to hearing from you again :)

 

Love

Elder Bigler

Ward pics

                Bet ya can't find Elder Bigler... ;)

God is in it

Ok this week is going to have to be really short cuz I am almost out of time :) anyways things are going absolutely amazing over here in Korea! The lord has been blessing us so much it is absolutely amazing! :) Poor Elder Williams, I am just making him run around like crazy! But it is super fun and we get to see so many miracles :) Often we find ourselves having to cut out meals or parts of studies because we are so busy bouncing between apointments! The work is moving, God is at the front and I am just doing everything I possibly can to keep up!Oh so the other day we had an appointment with one of our investigators, 강대영. He is absolutely amazing! So as we were on our way to meet him I just had the feeling that we needed to change the plan for what we were going to teach him. I had been reading in 1Peter 5 the night before and felt that I needed to share and focus our lesson around it. As we shared the excerpt, Peter 5:8-11, the spirit was so strong. 강대영 looked up at us with wet eyes and just said how could you have known? He said that the past couple of days he had been getting a lot of pressure from several really close friends. The had told him to get far away from us and to not get baptized or listen to anything we said. He had come to the lesson prepared to tell us he was going to have to cancel his baptism. But after he heard the scripture and me and elder Williams each bore our testimonies he exclaimed, GOD LIVES, THIS IS HIS CHURCH, AND SATAN WILL NOT KEEP ME FROM JOINING IT. It was so powerful and so amazing to be apart of it! It strengthened my testimony even more! Missionaries speak with authority and guidance from heaven, this work is lead by Almighty God, and through him we can know all things. Satan is powerful, but with God we can overcome all things, I know we can overcome Satan, his temptaions, and we can come off conqueror! With God we can do all things! I boast in my God! For without him I am nothing, but with him all mankind can bring to pass such remarkable miracles amidst a fallen world, surrounded in darkness, turmoil, and strife. I am so grateful to be apart of the work and to be able to learn so much! I love you all so much and encourage you all to seek opportunities to build your testimony and bring the same feeling and spirit you have felt before. Think of the time you felt the spirit the strongest, and strive to relive it! :) I hope you have an amazing week!

Love- Elder Bigler

Miracles in every-day life

Enjoy!...

Hey everyone! :) wow this week has flown by! Things are super busy just as always but things are just as awesome as ever! :) I am super excited to get to serve with Elder Williams again. We are quite the dynamic duo! :) This last week we have been super busy running around helping members, teaching investigators, doing trainings, and helping ward activities! :) I am exaughsted but I was very grateful the Lord blessed me to always have the strength I needed to keep going! :) This week something I have definitley gained a greater understanding and appreciation is the power of prayer and fasting. As a mission right now we are doing a 40day fast and through it I have already seen several miracles! Investigators that weren't making big steps before have started progressing and it is just so exciting to see it all happening! :) Recently I have noticed that if we will do everything that we need to do and then rely 100% on the lord and realize that despite what happens it was His will we can see so many miracles. I feel like since having come out on my mission my eyes have been opened so much more to just how many miracles are around us every single day. Often times it is easy to see the big miracles, such as an investigator excepting a baptismal commitment, or someone being healed from a horrible disease. But often it is the little day to day miracles that we just don't really notice that make a big difference in our life. I really liked the talk at conference about how sometimes the blessings that come from tithing aren't always seen in big ways, but are giving through health and otherways that we just don't realize as much. As I have recently tried to make it a point to recognize more miracles in my day to day life I have realized just how much the Lord gives me everyday. I am truly humbled by his greatness, mercy, and love! I am so glad to be able to be his servant and to be able to work in constant companionship with his Holy Ghost. I learn so much every day and I am so grateful for that wonderful knowledge and blessings he has given me! I hope this letter finds you all happy and well and I hope you will all be able to find the joy and happiness I have felt from our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ. And remember that when someone converts their life and receives baptism. They aren't converting to our church, they are converting to Christ. I challenge you to make Christ the center of your testimony. Build your foundation on the rock, our Redeemer, a foundation whereon if man build they cannot fall. I know this is Christ's Gospel, his Church, and that he is the way, the path and the light. This knowledge has brought so much strength to my life and I am so grateful for it! I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love

Elder Bigler

Where did I come from?... Transfers....

Here it is... Unedited!

Ok I am super sorry but this week is going to have to be really short :) haha I don't have a lot of time but I just wanted to give a short update! Today transfer calls came. Me and Elder Williams are going to stay together :) but now our house is going 5man and president has asked me to help the other companionship. They are all new and don't know the language, and don't really know what to do so President wants me to help them along :) it is going to be super fun I am looking forward to learning a ton through it all! Anyways Thanks so much for all the prayers! :) things here in 전주 are getting super busy! :) And I love it. I love having to run from appointment to appointment. Being a missionary is just amazing. There are so many trials, but you get to learn so much from them all. Every moment you are being lifted by angels. And Everyday you get to see the joy that comes from showing others the blessings that come from the restored gospel! :) This week I have been studying and learning a lot! :) I have so much I want to share and so much that I have learned! But sadly I just don't have enough time to cover it all :) The one thing I want to mention is the understanding that has come to my mind as I have dilligently studied where we came from. The premortal life was a special time. And I have to admit I don't think I really ever understood it all, and I know I still have a lot more to learn about it. But as I have studied more about where I have come from I have been able to understand a lot more about just about everything in the gospel. However the thing that is most important I think that we all must learn about it is the nature of our Heavenly Father. He wants us all to become like him. Before we lived with him but at that time we were not able to become like him. He knew, just like a loving parent knows, that in order for his children to grow and be sucessful he had to send us down to earth, just like loving parents send a child off to college. Parents know that it will be hard for their child, their child will have to learn how to take care of themselves, develope their own study habits and living habits, but as they are off they learn how to become successful in their future. Parents still want to communicate with their children and so does our father in heaven. He wants us to communicate with him in deep prayer, and he wants us to wait after for his answers. President Kimball advised we take two or three minutes after every prayer to sit and ponder in silence and allow our father in heaven to fill our heart and minds with thoughts and impressions. As i have done this I have been able to feel much more guidance and a much closer relationship with my father in heaven! I am so grateful for all he gives me, the challenges he gives me so that I can grow and learn so much from them, as well as the miracles he shows me!  He is truly amazing! :) I love you all so much! and pray for you often! I hope you all remember who you are, and where you came from. Remember the love God has for you, and find peace and solace in his comforting arms!:) I hope you have an amazing week!

Love 
Elder Bigler

Wonderful insights- enjoy!

Wonderful insights - enjoy!

Sorry this week is going to be a little shorter :) We don't have a ton of time to email but this week has been absolutely amazing and I just wanted to share! :) I seriously feel as though everyday I wake up it is another adventure about to start. Everyday I learn so much and grow so much. and it just helps me realize how much more I still have to learn and grow :) But i am definitley ok with that because I definitley love every moment! The struggles bring growth and a whole new outlook :) i have grown to realize that the mountains of struggles we have to climb in life are merely opportunities for us to look back later and see the way the Lord carried us up all of the rockiest cliffs. Looking back I see moments of struggle, that always transformed into moments of growth. Looking forward I see these mountains as opportunites to become more like my father in heaven. Often we have to realize that as we are trying to get back to our lord we are going up the mountian and not down. The path we have been given is straight and narrow, leading back to our father in heaven. Our lives are not like the rivers that go down the mountain moving this way and that as it goes around and avoids rocks, trees, and other obstacles. No we are going up. A constant journey taken to return to our father in heaven. when obstacles such as cliffs arise we depend on our father to help us, to guide us through them, and not around them. As we overcome these obstacles we look back and realize we have made a huge feat and become much closer to our father in heaven than we were before. We must continue up, with faith so that we can someday reach the top of the mountain and in that day be able to look back down over the valley of the Kingdom of God, to realize all of his great mercies, love, and glory! :) Our father in heaven is magnificent. His love is uncomprehendable. This week I have had many opportunities to watch people grow and come closer to our father in heaven! :) We were also blessed this week to find a sweet new family who have already found much peace through our message. I wish I could talk about all of my amazing investigators right now. They are truly amazing! Everyday they are doing their best to come closer to Christ and I am so grateful to be a small part of it. I can feel the presence of angels as the help give strength in times of need. And the Holy Ghost as he testifies of truth. So much peace and happiness comes from the blessings of this gospel. We truly do have a plan for us. Where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going. I was finally able to watch conference yesterday. In Korea we always get conference a week later as we wait for the translation to come. The messages and inspiration that were shared were so powerful! I loved and learned so much from it all! I definitley recommend if anyone wasn't able to see, or hear a part of it to go back and read it or watch it. President Monson was right when he said this entire conference was inspired. I personal found all the answers I had gone into conference wondering. It has helped me so much and helped me to understand so much more! :) Well I am sorry I can't type much more but i was hoping to mention two of my investigators. 이준선 형제님은 (Lee Jon Seun) right now he as well as his wife are in the hospital. They do not know how much longer they have but they do have faith in their Lord Heavenly Father and know this message is true. Please pray for them to have peace and comfort as they go through this struggle in this life. The other is a younger boy 이관지 (Lee Gwan Ji). His mother is currently battling cancer in a hospital in seoul. He has so much faith in his savior and is such a pure boy. He is growing so much everyday and he too could just use the spirit of peace in his life. It is so touching to see the spirit in each one of these investigators lives. The spirit that is always with us when we meet is amazing. I am so grateful to know such wonderful people. Anyways thank you all so much for all you have done for me! :) I love hearing from you and hope to hear more from you all soon! :)

Love

Elder Bigler

10/6/13 it's a good one - sorry it's late

Sorry everyone, it was brought to my attention I had failed to post this one... It's a good one too, enjoy!

It is crazy to think I am emailing already! i feel like I just emailed yesterday! haha the time is flying by so fast it is crazy! things have been super busy over here! Seems like we barely have time to sit down! haha but i absolutely love it! I feel so blessed. Since coming out on my mission i have definitely come to a realization of my inadequacy. There is no way I would be able to do this with out the lord's help. Everyday I feel as though I have learned so so so much more. I know that God will help us in our weeknesses if we will but humble ourselves before him. This has become very clear to me recently. Everyday I see so many miracles around me! I see people taking leaps and bounds over seemingly insurmountable obstacles as they move their lives closer to God. Every man or woman has their own obstacles in this life but something that has become very clear to me as of recently is that these obstacles are merely miracles in disguise. Our Father in heaven sent us to this earth to learn, to grow, to experience joy, and to become like him; not to fail, make mistakes, feel worthless, or distraught. Often times when we encounter a difficulty in life we wonder how, and why me? While this is understandable something i have realized is that this is not God's purpose or plan for us. God gives us difficulties so that we can learn to overcome them. So that we can feel the sense of accomplishment that comes from obtaining a difficult gift from our father in heaven. This difficult times are merely meant to give us learning, growth and more joy. Like lifting weights, as our muscles become able to bear more and more heavy burdens, they grow, mature, and develope; however if in the process of lifting these heavy weights we give up, we do not think we can accomplish it then comes the damage to our bodies. The muscles give-out often causing damage to the body. So it is with the spirit. We all have different challenges in life. Some people are asked to "lift a heavier weight" however we all learn and grow from these miracles in our lives. Our spirits grow and are strengthened. We can look back with joy in our hearts and realize the miracle God gave us to be able to experience such a challenge. I guess the point I am trying to make; when you are faced with a challenge realize the miracle you have been given, rely on God to give you support to help you lift that heavy weight; and most importantly don't give up. You will accomplish the task and you will grow. I know that all of us are capable of doing all things that the lord gives us. He does not give man challenges they cannot overcome. So I ask you, don't give up. Remember whom you have trusted. depened on the rock of your salvation, Jesus Christ, the sure foundation. The foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. And then will all purpose of heart push forward and enjoy the miracle of growth. I know I have much to still learn but I am so grateful to be here and to have already been able to learn so much. I look forward to the many things I can yet learn. Our investigators are taking big steps and truly coming closer to their savior! I am so grateful to be able to be a part of such a precious experience! :) I love you all so much and hope all is well! You are in my prayers and I know God is with you!

Much love

Elder Bigler

Families are forever!

Here you go as we recived it :)

 

안녕하십니까!!!!  Wow it has been another crazy awesome week! :) Filled with learning moments, miracles, and all sorts of crazy experiences :) but hey whats new, thats just something that comes from being on a mission! Anyways this week was absolutely awesome! Im not really sure where to start but the other day we had the opportunity to go to a Korean style wedding for one of our investigators. It was definitley a cool experience! :) It was our investigators daughter and she was getting married to a guy from canada that she met at school! Anyways turns out he doesn't know any Korean, but lucky for him she knows english. Anyways I ended up having to translate some of the wedding for him, mostly just the instructions of what everyone was telling him he needed to do before the actual wedding started :) haha I can only imagine how he felt.....im sure a wedding day has a lot of stress, i can only imagine not being able to understand what is going on at my own wedding! He was definitley grateful for the help and it turns out he actually has been looking for a church! We got to have a super awesome chat and he is going to meet with us and his wife and his new father in law! :) Their whole family is super awesome and it was such a cool experience. But it definitley made me grateful for our promise of being able to be married for time and ETERNITY. Life is short and I can't imagine not living with my family for all eternity. We develope such close relationships with those we love and care about, it wouldn't make sense for God to take those relationships from us after we die. In fact he hasn't. He intends for marraige to last much longer than 'til death do we part'. I look back to yesterday sitting in the baptismal service and feeling the spirit bare witness to me of the power of the sacred ordinances to bind things both on earth and in heaven. I know God truly loves us, he has given us a family to learn, grow, and help one another. And He wants us to be together forever. I am so grateful for the sacred privilege of eternal marriage and eternal families. Power comes from a family bound together in righteousness. Here in Korea there are definitley lots of struggles that come from being a member of the church; however I have seen the families and the wards here come together to provide strength, support, and happiness to one another. Let us all look for opportunities to strengthen our relationships with those we love, for our families truly are the greatest gift our father in heaven has given us. This week I have had many opportunities to look back on my missionary time and see the growth and change that has happened in me. It has been truly tremendous. A journey, that is just beginning, but a journey that as I look back on I am so grateful for! I have learned and grown so much and I intend to learn and grow so much more! I love you all so much and am so grateful for the support you all have given me! Keep working hard and remember that if we put our trust in God we can not fail! :)

Love
Elder Bigler

Korean Thanks Giving - Blessings, Living by the Spirit

Here it is as we received it, Enjoy! 

 

 "Well this was an exciting week! It was the Korean thanksgiving this week so the whole country basically shut down for 3 days! Haha it was crazy! But the miracles definitley didn't stop coming! Something crazy cool that happened......Elder WIlliams got a referral from someone he knew in america that knew someone here. We got in contact with her and it turns out she is from 전주! The city we are in right now! Anyways we called her and she said she would be down here for thanksgiving so we should meet up then and talk. Then on wednesday she called us and said that her family actually really wanted to meet us because Elder Williams knew the guy that she had lived with in America for a month or so. They said they were really grateful for her having such a wonderful experience with our church in america so they wanted to meet with us and get to know us! So we went over to their house for dinner on wednesday night! When we walked in it was so crazy! It turns out that the girls dad was a potential investigator of ours that we had been trying to meet but he had always been to busy! It was soooooo cool! Definitley organized by the hand of God. We came in and the Book of Mormon was right there in the room by the tv! Turns out he has been reading it and likes it a lot! Anyways it turned out to be an absolutely amazing night! Their family is awesome and we got to meet all the cousins and aunts and uncles and they were all intrested in our message! :) This is definitely God's work! Anyways aside from that since the country was like shut down President asked all the zone and district leaders to do a three day training with all the missionaries! It went so good! Everyone learned so much and while we were doing that a guy walked into the church and said he used to meet with the missionaries and he saw all of us inside so he wanted to come in and continue learning. He had some amazing questions and wants to start coming to church and keep learning more! :) Anyways there were a ton of other amazing miracles this week but Ill have to share them all some other time! But something I have been focusing on learning and applying this week is learning by the spirit! I think a lot of times I find myself studying doctrine, reading the scriptures, and learning how to be better....however this week as I was reading a book called 을 위한 선교사 (i think in english is is called member missionary work?) anyways out of that book there is a story told about teaching an investigator how to learn for himself through the spirit and it displayed an awesome 7 step process of learning by the spirit. This week I decided instead of having my investigators do the process, that I was going to do the step by step process. It has truly helped me a ton! After a few little personal tweeks and adjustments I feel as though I have finally figured out how to learn 100% from the spirit and really understand the frequency, power, and clarity of personal revelation! This week I have learned so much and have understood it all so much more than I have before! I like the idea of how when we go to school we can study the text books to learn all the class material, or we can study the text books and listen to what the teacher teaches and then clearly understand all the material! This is exactly how life works! We can study books, scripture and other material to learn about life, how to become better people, and how to return to God; but when we learn to take our studies and then listen to the teaching of the teacher personal chosen by God, The Holy Ghost, then we can really understand anything. The Ghost has a mission to help each of us through life, he is our personal teacher to life, and he has power that if we learn to understand and utelize will open our understanding to all the misteries and questions of this life! Heavenly Father loves us, he wants us to learn and to grow. He has given us the material, he has given us his best teacher. Let us not take it for granted, but instead use it to its fullest! I love you all and am so grateful for this amazing opportunity to learn, to serve, and to grow! I hope you have an amazing week!"

 

Love

Elder Bigler

Sept. 15th Pics, letter at end (Sorry I "published" this late)

                                             Youth Activity

                                          Pic with Comp

                                          Try knocking on this door!

Hey everyone!!!! Wow this week flew by so fast! We were so busy but it was so awesome! So On monday Elder Lyons (the other senior comp in our house) got called to go to the Mission Home to be the new paperwork Elder which meant I got to take on both my schedule and his schedule and train his greenie and mine this week. It was so awesome!!!!! We saw so many miracles it was amazing. But I wanna share just one in particular! So we found a phone number off of a old english survey that had been done and contacted the guy. Turns out he was really excited to meet with us and wanted to meet that night! We were excited and I decided it would be best for the two Greenies to take the lead as the missionaries in teaching the lesson and I would be there more to just offer support if they were having a hard time explaining or understanding what was going on. The lesson went amazing! I definitely have been blessed to have two of the greatest Greenies ever! They worked super hard preparing and were definitely nervous. I told them that I wasn't going to do any teaching of any doctrine and that they would have to get it all taught so the investigator could understand. It was definitley a growing time for them, but they definitely rose to the task! They guy was not interested at the beginning but by the end was definitley engaged and prayed for us and committed to reading the scriptures and everything! It was awesome....but that is just the start...After we walked the guy out the door and said bye we return back into the church....maybe 4 minutes later some random guy off the street walked in and said he had met with the missionaries about two years ago and some how had lost contact but lived close by the church. He said he often came by the church but didn't realize that it was the same church that the missionaries he had met two years ago came from. Apparently when we walked the investigator out he saw us in our white shirts and ran over! He has read the whole book of mormon and believes it and is just amazing! We met with him again a few days later and he is just awesome! He is super busy cuz he owns his own shop but he wants to continue learning more! :) So that was a big miracle and definitley a cool experience! IT was a true testimony builder that there are many people out there that are merely kept from the truth because they know not where they can find it! Anyways aside from that things have been going absolutely great. The ward here is awesome and they have been helping us a ton! I definitely feel like I am learning a ton every day. I don't have a ton of time today. This week is kinda a weird week because there is a huge holdiay this week were like the whole country basically shuts down and takes a break for 3 days so it is going to be an interesting week but I am definitley looking forward to it! :) Anyways I love you all and hope you all have an amazing week!

Love

Elder Bigler

Wow!

thought I would just send the update I sent to President so I didn't have to type as much! :) Here ya go:

 

아이고! 회장님 지난주 저회가 많이 기적을 봤어요! 특별히는 제가 모든 경험 중에 한개 이야기하고 싶는 데요. 그래서 저회가 지난주 많이 광주에 여행했어 돈 많이 없고 음식 많이 먹을 수도 없어요. 또한 제가 금요일에 일어났을 때 하늘에서 계시를 받았어요. 이 계시무었냐 하면 저회가 그 때 우리 구도자이랑 약석을 위해 금식해야하는 계시였어요. 저회가 노무 배고프지만 성신한테서 확실히 왔어 저회가 같이 금식했어요.  저회가 우리 구도자 만았을 때 침례 날짜 정했어요!!!! 이분은 한년 동안 선교사와 만나고 있었고 그 침례 날짜 권유를 만히 받았어요. 하지만 그 때 가르칠 때 성신 아주 강하게 느꼈어요! 정말 기적!!!! 그것 밖에 또 기적 보았어요! 하지만 시간 앖어서 나중에 알려 드리겠어요 ^^ 그래서 회장님 이주 제가 Lyons장로님을 위해 구역지도자 책임나 시작하면 괜잖으세요?  아니면 제가 금요일 후에 그러게 하겠어요. 회장님 감사합니다! 항상 회장님을 위해 기도합니다! 열심히 보아사하겠어요!!! ^^ 대전 선교부 화이팅!!!!! ^^

 

haha just kidding Ill write it in English....well most of it!:) anyways this week has been absolutely amazing! And if you read above you can tell it was absolutely full of miracles! Well to start of the week we went to a really famous buddist temple in our area! it was a really cool experience! :) I took lots of pics but sadly I will have to send them next time cuz in all the craziness this morning I left my camera at home. Anyways the next day we had some super awesome lessons! :) And I was asked to translate a 45 minute presentation on Essential Oils from English to Korean for a recent convert of ours! Luckily thanks to Hannah I already knew a little about Essential Oils so that helped. But holy cow thanks for the gift of tongues! there is no way I could have done that on my own! Anyways the next day we got to go to a special mission tour and listen to Elder Whitting from the Quorum of the Seventy. It was awesome! I learned a ton and have already seen how applying words of our Church leaders bless us every day! So we went back and taught English Class and it was absolutely amazing. Pretty much the whole thing turned into a gospel discussion and we had two investigators explaining to another person in attendence how the Book of Mormon had to be the word of God! :) And how they new that we were sent to share this message! I felt truly blessed to be teaching such wonderful people who already had begun developing strong testimonies! :) Then on thursday I went back to 광주 for a special meeting with all the trainers and there greenies! It was awesome! I definitely learned a ton! And Elder Williams was so awesome! He has learned so much. When he got asked all of a sudden with out any prep he was able to get up and teach a 15min lesson about the Restoration in amazing Korean eveeryone was way impressed! He has come so far and is working so hard! He is awesome! Anyway because of all of the traveling and business, needless to say we were broke! And didn't have much food, but we made it home and were finally able to eat a little bit. However the next morning we felt prompted we needed to fast for our lesson that night. Eventhough we hadn't eaten much for a while we went forward with faith. Knowing that it was what God wanted us to do. We worked hard and taught our lesson around 3. By far, the best lesson I have ever been a part of! The spirit was so strong. I literally felt completely guided the whole time. And the investigator expressed that he felt the spirit and knew it was from God. Prior to this he was aethiest. Following, he believes in God, believes this is true, and set a baptismal date to prepare towards! He has been taking the lesson for over a year and said that he finally feels the faith growing inside him that other missionaries had talked about before! We are so excited for him! Anyways today transfer calls came...well actually yesterday for Elder Lyons in our house. He got moved to the mission home and had to leave this morning! He is going to be the new office elder. President then called me and asked me to train both Elder Williams and Elder Kidmann for the next week until transfer day when he will be sending another missionary down to finish training Elder Kidmann! So this week I am in a awesome trio with two awesome greenies who are just burning with the spirit! I can't wait! President also called me to be the District Leader here So looks like Ill be a little more busy from here on out. But I am definitley looking forward to getting to know everyone in the district better! Anyways I have so much more I want to tell you about! Like getting to go fishing in korea with some investigators, and some crazy experiences but I guess Ill just have to wait till I get home! :) One thing I also wanted to share that I have been studying this week....Satan has power, and as I have been out here on a mission I have realized that. He has power, a lot of it, and he is not afraid to use it. But there is something much more important. God has power and control! While satan has power he has no control over the plan or the future. God has absolute power and he is the creator of the plan. He knows all things and can do all things. I know Satan has power; but I know without a doubt that we need not fear. If we live worthily, with faith in Jesus Christ, and call upon the powers of heaven we can work by the Power of God. And though Satan may have the power to bruise our heel, we have the power to overcome all, to return to live forever in immortality with our heavenly father. In his glory we can do all things. By his power we forever have dominion over satan. I do not fear, for I know in whom I have trusted. The Lord is my light, he is my strength and I will forever glorify in him! My Savior! My Redeemer! My Lord!  Remember him, and always put your trust in him and you will quickly come to a knowledge of the divine power he holds. And the divine power we can excercise in him!

I love you all so much! Hope to hear from you all soon!

Love

Elder Bigler

Crazy busy and awesome ... Pics!!!

So this week is going to be a little shorter, I have so much i want to say but just not enough time to say it. haha I have so many stories I want to tell but ill have to just summarize the week. Basically things are going amazing over here! We are so crazy busy and it is awesome! We have been running around from appointment to appointment, on a couple days we literally were running in order to get to appointments on time! It was so great and the spirit was so strong in every single one of them! I wish I could say I had a favorite I could talk about but they were all so amazing I just dont even know how to begin to describe them. The peace and the love that filled every room was just amazing. One really touching moment came when a kid who is suffering from some mental handicapps came in quitely and respectfully sat down on his moms lap and quietly and intently listened as we talked about the savior and the importance of families. This was a huge witness to me of the Prince of Peace. I actually have been studying all week about the Prince of Peace and how  amidst our busy lives we are constantly in search for peace. The true source of all peace, The Savior, Jesus Christ. Only through him can one find true peace amidst a world of constant movement and change. The Savior is the same today, yesterday, and forever. And just as it says in Moroni Chapter 10 the power and gifts of the holy ghost shall never be done away with, unless we fail to excercise faith in the savior. One of the greatest gifts of the holy ghost we learn of in direct relation to one of his names, the comforter, is the comfort and peace the holy ghost brings to our lives. Through faith and more specifically excercising faith in Jesus Christ we allow for the comforter to come into our lives. Then we find true peace. This week I have been studying and trying to apply this as best as I can and i have grown so much! This week has been probably one of the busiest weeks of my missionary life, however I also feel as though it has been the most peaceful. I definitley have grown a ton and am looking forward to growing and learning more about my savior and the peace he brings into our lives.

I love you all so much and I hope everything is going well! Hope to hear from you soon!

Love

Elder Bigler

      Elder Bigler and Williams

Amazing! Plan, pray, act!

Wow the time keeps going by faster and faster! :) This week has been absolutely amazing! Im not even sure where to start! haha I feel like every week I have so much i want to tell about everything that has happened and i never quite am able to get it all out! Well that is probably going to happen again this week! :) haha Anyways this week me and Elder Williams have been super busy bouncing between our investigators and helping the members! :) we also came up with this new program to help get all the members in our ward active again! When i got to this ward there were about 85 people who showed up to sacrament, which is on the large side as far as ward sizes go here in our mission. However this last week as I was talking with our ward clerk I was able to get a ward list. I have to admit I was astonished. So me and Elder Williams sat down and decided that the thing this ward needs to become stronger is to strengthen all the less actives. I thought about how Jesus Christ would go out and rescue the one lamb who had gotten lost from the herd. I cant help but admit that I felt like instead the one lamb needed to go out and strengthen the whole herd. We sat down and prayerfully considered how we could strengthen this ward and get the less actives active again. We made a plan and acted. From this experience I definitley learned that by first gathering your resources, taking a plan to the lord, listening for inspiration and then acting upon the inspiration you receive the Lord will then be a part of every step along the way, and you WILL see miracles. Yesterday at  church we were blessed to see 5 less active  families come out who hadn't been to church in quite a while! I definitely pray and hope we can strengthen them and through them continue to go out and strengthen the rest of the herd. This last week we had an amazing zone conference that really tuned my focus, and what can i say....pumped me up! I was basically a dynamite heading out of there and nothing was going to stop me from preaching the gospel! :) Elder Williams leaned over to me on our way back home and said, i feel inspired that if we talk to everyone we see then the lord will lead us to a new investigator tonight. That night we literally talked to EVERYONE we saw, whether they were across the street, on the other side of a house, on a motorcycle whatever the circumstance we talked to them and did our best to share a message. We were yelled at, spit on, called a cult, liars, and demons; but in the end we saw so many miracles I have to admit I have never had such an amazing night before! :) that night we taught 18 other lessons on the street and we found our new investigator! :) She was on the other side of a fence, jogging, with her headphones plugged in, going the opposite direction. We literally waved our arms to flag her down. She came over to the fence, took out her headphones and asked if we needed help. Elder williams began trying to tell her who we were, she was confused and turned to me. I explained how my companion had just arrived to korea 4 weeks ago and that we were here in korea serving for two years because we had found a special message that had changed our lives and we wanted to share it with everyone. She became very interested, gave us her number and set up another appointment! She doesn't believe in god and has no religion right now but is very interested to here more! Truly a miracle! :) I feel as though every day here is a day in paradise! This gospel has brought me so much joy every day i can't even begin to describe it! :) I wish so bad I could just share it with everyone and that everyone would take a second to hear it. It truly breaks my heart when they ignore us or turn away from our message, because they truly dont understand the eternal joy and happiness they are missing out on. Anyways this week has been truly amazing! I have so many more stories I wish I could share but sadly just don't have the time! :) I hope everyone is doing super well! Look for every opportunity you have to share this gospel with others! Think about how happy it has made you; don't be greedy, share this joy with everyone! :) I know sometimes it is hard and sometimes it may not feel comfortable to share it but honestly you know how happy this gospel has made you, so go help someone else enjoy the same joy and happiness you have found! :)  I love you all and hope to hear from you soon!

Love

Elder Bigler

Faith and hope!

Ok so I am going to try to keep my weekly update a little shorter :) haha I keep writing super long ones sorry! I wish I could share everything that happens everyday but it just is never possible :) haha anyways this week has been absolutely amazing! We found another 6 new investigators and out of our new investigators from last week we have two of them progressing! :) They are so fantastic and we are doing everything we can to help them! The holy ghost has been so instrumental this last week. I completely feel as though all week me and Elder Williams have been led by the spirit and it has really helped us grow and learn a ton! We definitely had some interesting experiences but we also had some truly faith building experiences as well! I came to know in three particular experiences how powerful our calling is as missionaries and how powerful the priesthood is! It was absolutely amazing! I wish I could share all of them but I sadly just dont have enough time but I do want to share one. Yesterday we had the blessing to go with the bishop and a ward member to go visit this lady who was the ward members younger sister. She is sick and dying of cancer. It was a truly humbling experience to walk into that home. The sister is not a member but her brother asked her as we were there if she would be interested in a blessing. She didn't really understand so we sat down and explained the power of the priesthood. The brother then asked if she had faith that the lord could bless her through a priesthood blessing and she replied yes. we gathered around and gave the blessing. I have to admit I have never heard such beautiful korean coming out of someones house. It was so powerful and afterwards the sister rose right out of her bed with more strength then she felt she had ever had. She is now a new investigator and is so amazing! The power that i felt at that time could never be described. It was definitley God's Power. He loves his children, and he will always bless us according to our faith. He wants to bless us every day, I know it. But unless we excercise faith in him and go to him he cannot. I would urge everyone this week to look for an opportunity to excercise faith, trust in your father in heaven and ask for a blessing you really need. Then show you have faith by doing everything you can to accomplish it. And I promise you God will hear your prayer and he will bless you! I love you all so much and I hope you have an amazing week!

Love

Elder Bigler

New area, Greenie soup, and Pics!!!!

Wow another week has already flown by!!!!! I feel like the time just keeps going faster and faster! :) Well this has been a short, busy, and filled with miracles week! :) I have definitely enjoyed every moment! THe lord is definitely aware of each one of us and is helping us every day! :) So quick update! Me and Elder Williams {I am sure this was an oops and he means his new current companion Elder Andrews} have seen so many miracles this week! We made 7 new investigators this week, had some amazing lessons and met some amazing people! :) We have two investigators we are working with preparing for baptism and a family we are working with as well! :) I feel so blessed! This week I have definitely learned that if we wake up every morning with a determination to have a great day, to prepare through the spirit, pray often, and work with all our might the Lord will guide us and we can bring light into the lives of so many people we come in contact with! :) Anyways the bishop here is awesome and me and him have gotten super close! :) We have some awesome new plans for the area and I can't wait to put them all into action! The members are great and I absolutely love this opportunity to serve with them! There is a new convert name 강길규 {Kang Gil Gyew} who is about 65 and he is just amazing! He has been in several member lessons and yesterday he wrote me an essay about how the church came around and how it can be related to Korean history and how the church when it came in brought miracles to the whole world! It was so cool! He is awesome and he took us out to 순대 which elder williams wasn't prepared for :) haha it was an awesome experience :) For those who dont know 순대 (soondae) is pig intestine stuffed with pig blood and chopped up pig liver and noodles, and pig ear and foot soup! :) haha definitely an eye opener for a first week greenie but Elder WIlliams did awesome! :) he is the best! We have been working so hard and growing so much! :) I feel so blessed! :) Anyways I love you all :) I hope you all are doing amazing! 

Love

ELder Bigler

        Elder Bigler and Elder Williams

          Elder Bigler with a member before leaving his first area

      New Comp. Elder Andrews

          Welcome to Joong-ang!

New Comp, New area, new blessings!

Here it is, I tried to {phonetically, or fo-net-ic-al-ee} spell the Korean names for everyone... anyway, other than that here it is, unedited, enjoy! --Dad

Sorry it has been a crazy day so it has taken me a while to be able to sit down and write an email :) haha Anyways.......wow this week has been absolutely amazing! I feel like I have just been witnessing miracle after miracle! :) So I made it to my new area, 중앙 {Cheon-on} ward in 전주{Jeon-ju}. And I got my new companion, his name is Elder Williams and he is awesome! :) he is from Cedar City Utah and a burning ball of energy and spirit! :) So me and him got here to our new area on Thursday evening and the adventures began. Since arriving we have gotten lost about 3 times, found 3 new investigators, set one baptismal date, met an amazing ward and enjoyed every moment along the way!!! We have been working like crazy and the lord has led us to some amazing experiences! :) Not to mention apparently the rainy season hasn't stopped so basically almost all of my clothes and shoes are drenched and we dont have a dryer, and seeing how it is so humid here, leaving it out to dry takes a while :) But it is super fun and we are enjoying every moment of it! Our baptismal date is an old 71 year old guy, he has received all the lessons from previous elders and is basically all ready to get baptized  but he is concerned about the baptism itself because he is so old and doesn't know if he would be able to handle it. We promised him he would have the strength he needed and that one of the ward members, who is a recent convert, would be the one to do the service and everything would be ok. He seemed comfortable with it but we still have to wait a little while before everything is ready for him. Our goal is for him to get baptized before the end of the transfer! :) He is so sweet and it was so fun getting to know him! Anyways me and Elder Williams have been working like crazy, calling every number we can find and getting to know the members! It is fantastic....oh and on our first night we went and visited these members (장진규 형제님) {brother Jong-jin-guew} and had a wonderful time getting to know them. The next morning we got a call from the bishop and found out that the member whom we had visited the night before; her father passed away that morning. Because we had visited her the night before and gotten to know the family, they asked if we would come down to the funeral home and participate in the Korean funeral service. It was an amazing opportunity and quite different from that of an american style funeral. It was super cool and the members were super excited to see us! We got fed a huge meal and got to meet a lot of amazing people! Including one of the first people who was baptized in Korea! :) Anyways me and the bishop became like best friends right from the start! I am so excited! He is so pumped about missionary work and so are we. We are meeting in a seprate meeting with him on wednesday night to set up a new ward vision and ward plan to get the whole ward working on missionary work! It is going to be awesome! Anyways miracles are happening like crazy and I feel so blessed to be a part of it all! I am just trying to soak it all in! I feel like ever since getting here the lord has just been lighting the way to go and me and Elder Williams are just charging down it doing everything we can to grab everyone on the way! :) Anyways I don't have much time, hopefully I will have more time next week! I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! Oh by the way.....I got a call from Elder Paskett, another elder in the mission....he just got transfered to Gwangju and while he was proselyting on the street he ran into someone who was baptized by Elder Bigler 20 years ago!!!!!:) Yup it was Elder John Bigler and his companion Elder Johnson! :) I got to give him a call and introduce myself as the son of Elder Bigler :) It was so cool! He is such an awesome guy! Way to go Dad! He appreciates it so much! Right now he has been having a hard time coming out to Church cuz of his work but is still a strong believer! :) And we are taking good care of him! :) Anyways I love you all! Thanks for everything!!!:)

Love 
Elder Bigler

Transfers???.... Transfer!!!

When he initially wrote he left us all hanging... him included!  He finally sent the news at about 10:30 last night!  Enjoy!  Oh, by the way... "White Washing" means to open an area!!!!

Recieved 8:30 PM
So I am still waiting on my transfer call.....i am super nervous!!! :) haha i should be getting it any minute....everyone else in the district has gotten calls or figured out what they are doing except me....:( haha so I am a bit nervous. But I know I am leaving Cheonan. I said by to all the members yesterday and most of our investigators. ANd President gave me permission to come back for 김일환s baptism!!! Which is next sunday!!!!:) I am so excited for him!!!!!He has such a strong testimony and has changed so much it is going to be awesome!!!!:) Oh and it seems like 청마 still hasn't ended (the rainy season) haha it has been raining like crazy all week! I just hope it isn't raining on transfer day...:) haha anyways things here are going super well. the zone is getting split and elder hansen's new companion is going to be Elder Smith who was in the same room as me at the MTC! So he now has had 3 people from my 동이(MTC Group? im not sure how to translate that exactly it is more of a feeling :)haha) Anyways it has definitely been a week full of miracles and a great chance to be able to look back and see how much the lord has blessed me these last few months while i have been serving here. It has been super difficult to say good bye but I know I am on to share this wonderful gospel with more people and I cant wait! :) Anyways I hope all is going well! Ill let you all know more as soon as I find out...Im kinda having a hard time focusing cuz I just am nervous waiting for transfer calls :) hahaha


Received 10:30 PM:
Hey just got transfer calls!!!! HOLY CRAZINESS!!!!! I am going senior, trainer, and white washing an area! Holy cow!!! I am definitely gonna need all the prayers i can get!!! so i will have one of the new missionaries from the MTC and I find out who it is on thursday when I meet him!!! and my new area is called 정앙 in 전주 (Cheongang in Junju)!!!!:) Love ya all!!!
Love Elder Bigler

July 21- how I study

Here's his last update, enjoy!

holy cow another week has flown by!!!!:) crazy! Anyways it has been another amaazing week out here in korea! But now that 창마 (monsoon season) is coming to an end it is SUPER hummid! :) haha and I here it just gets worse! It is definitley making me lose weight like crazy....but hey I am not complaining! :) haha anyways in the next few weeks typhoon season starts and then I hear it just gets hotter and more hummid! :) But life here is fantastic! :) I am learning so much every day and growing like crazy! I have definitely been blessed to be getting so much out of my studies and honestly that has grown to be one of my favorite times of the day! :) Grammy was wondering how it is that I do my studies now since I learned from that old brilliantly wise man :) The answer is well kinda complicated to explain merely over email or letter but basically I have this big book that I got(all blank) and use it as my study journal. I started off by going through PMG and all the Christlike Attributes and designating one page to each attribute. Then I would take notes I had from previous lessons of devotionals and add to them. Then I started going through the book of mormon and looking at all the different prophets and making a page for each starting with Lehi, Nephi and so on....then as I was doing this I would think about Christlike attributes they exemplifed and how and would go back and add to the notes I had on the Christlike attributes. Then I would think of ways I could apply the attributes or try to act in such a ways as Lehi or Nephi to improve those attributes in my life and then go back and add more thoughts and feelings I had from the experiences I gained. The idea is to keep looking for ways to pull from all our resources, link everything to Christ and then apply it into our lives. Living in the world we live in is often times dark, confusing, and overwhelming. But one thing I have come to notice is that despite how dismal things may be there is always a deep rooted light that we can find! I admit it gets to be very hard at times but the times we go the deepest to find those roots, the deeper we find ourselves rooted into the joy and light of this gospel. I think the best process which I have seen work even before coming on my mission is study, learn, apply, review.....and always going back and seeking to find ways to pull everything we have learned all together. And i have no doubt that the center of all joy and happiness is our Savior Jesus Christ! :) So that is kinda how I have been doing my studies and it has been amazing. I try to pull from as many resources as I can and when ever I find something new I go back and add it :) It has been great! :)

Anyways details about the area :) Things are going super well! :) 김일환 (Kim, Il Whan) is still preparing for baptism! :) He is doing so great! :) He gets to meet with president this week sometime to finalize everything and then he will be right there getting baptized with his kids! :) He is so full of the love of Christ and so eager to get baptized! He has been expressing his love and testimony so strongly and has been a great support to the members! :) he is awesome! As for the boys I had to say my goodbyes to  이효빈 (Ei, yong Bin) he is going to soul for the next two weeks for vacation and I will almost certainly be transfered next week because I have been here so long. But he promised to read the book of mormon every night while he is gone and to pray 2 times every day! :) He is loving the gospel and the happines it is bring him every day! :) I am so happy for him and can't wait to stay in contact and see how he is doing! :) I am already starting to realize how hard it is going to be to say goodbye to everyone. I have made so many eternal friendships and it is hard to have to say by! I have truly givin my all for this ward and have grown so closely with all of them ! They have been such a huge blessing to me and have helped me so much! :) I can't wait to see them and be with them again! Anyways I hope you all have an amazing week! :) You are all in my prayers and I hope you all do well! :) Thanks for everything!!!!
LOVE

Elder Bigler

Week of miracles - eye update!

Here is Tyler's email... I've left it unedited :) (i did underline a particular point of interest. :) I want to thank all those who have been praying for his eye, and for success in his labors, they have definitely been heard and answered! Enjoy!!!

Holy Week of miracles!!!!!!!!!!:):):):) Oh goodness I don't even know where to start! :) Well Ill start at the beginning. So sadly 김일환 smoked monday morning so he wasn't able to get baptized this past sunday but he is right on track to get baptized this sunday!!!!:) Keep praying! He is working so hard and is looking so hard but he is really suffering from the withdrawls so he needs all the help he can get. We fasted with him yesterday and it went so well! He said how he knows he wants this and it is worth everything. He even said he has been trying to quit smoking for a long time but every time he tried he just couldn't do it. But for some reason this time he has a new strength he couldn't explain that has been helping!! He has such a strong testimony! It is so powerful! He has worked so hard, given so much and is doing the best he can. Things have been super rough for him since his wife left him but the change that can be seen from the time we started meeting with him is tremendous! The gospel really does change lives! :) So this week will be his baptism with his two kids! :) 이효빈 성상욱과 박재현 are doing great(the three boys)! They are starting to build there testimonies and are just studs! :) haha they weren't able to come to church this week because of church but are planning on adjusting their work schedule, which is EXTREMELY difficult and risky in Korea, so that they can come out to church!:) They still don't have a solid baptismal date but we have talked to them about it and they all say that it seems like the right thing to do :) haha anyways they are doing great! :) I also had a super fun split with Elder Fund from my 동이( im not quite sure how to translate that word....basically he came to korea in my group:)) and we had a ton of fun on tuesday and wednesday! :) Then came the wednesday miracle. I went into the eye doctor :) Heavenly Father is definitely watching over and blessing his missionaries! My eye is completely healed! In fact some how or another my stigmatism was healed and I no longer need glasses!!! Holy miracle!!!!:) So I didn't end up going to seoul for a second opinion :) definitely a huge blessing from the lord! The only thing that is left is a small little scar above my eye to remember the miracle God has given me! :) Anyways Korea is going awesome! :) our zone is doing crazy good! :) We are doing the best in the mission as of right now! :) 11 baptisms to happen in the next month! :) That is more than this zone had all year!!!!:) There are definitely prepared people and God is definitely hastening his work! We will get presidents goal and it will be amazing! :) Since coming to 천안 i have seen so many miracles! :) the ward has grown from 108 active members to 146 active members! :) we have been blessed to help reactivate 5 families and baptize a few families as welll! They are all doing great! I love them all so much! It definitely wont be easy to have to say bye...but I know i will get to see them all again! :) They already all added me as friends on facebook I just have to add them when I get home ;) haha. anyways life is going great! :) Korea is beautiful! It has been raining like crazy and it is super super humid! No matter what you do you are always sweating here :) haha oh well its still a blast! :) and everything is so green and goregeous! :) Sad thing is no AC as the appartment so it is crazy hot! :) haha Anyways I hope all is going well! Keep working hard and look for opportunities to share the tremendous blessings you have in your life with those around you! :) I love you all!

Love

Elder Bigler

Miracles and eye update!

Alright about a weekly update :) haha oh my goodness time just never slows down that is for sure! Anyways it was so great to hear from everyone! :) You are all amazing! Thanks so much for the prayers and everything! I can definitely feel them! So this week has been a big huge crazy busy super fun exciting adventure!!!!:) Where to start.....well we got a new mission president! That in and of itself definitely brought about a ton of change! On wednesday I had the blessing of being able to be a part of the leadership council meeting with him. As he met with all of the zone leaders and sister coordinators it was amazing to see his excitiment and thrill for missionary work! :) It was so amazing. He is like a greenie in mission president form and he is defnitley being led by the spirit of the Lord! I am so excited to serve under him and to help him however I can! Anyways as he met with us he shared with us the experience he had as he prayed and fasted prior to becoming the mission president out here. After he recieved his call people began asking him what his vision was for our mission and he wasn't sure. So he fasted and prayed intently for several weeks. And when he shared this vision with us that he received in answer to his prayers the spirit overwhelmed me and told me this had come as direct revelation from our heavenly father! It was one of the coolest feelings ever! Anyways as he started sharing his vision we were all taken in awh....It is absolutely amazing! And will only be possible with the help of the Lord. However I have no doubt that it will happen! :) His vision is to, after 3 years, have 2,000 active members in each of the stakes in the Daejeon mission! there are 5 stakes right now so that totals 10,000 active members in the Daejeon mission! As of right now there are a total of 2,082 active members in the entire mission. Anyways after showing the major vision he broke it all down into how the Lord intends for us to find these other 8,000 members and how we can strengthen the stakes here in Korea! I know we can do it and I am going to do everything I can to make sure it happens! Anyways we returned home and I decided to get right to work with Elder Hansen. We looked at eachother and read through the vision again and said we are going to show the zone that this is God's plan! We didn't waste anytime! We made 5 appointments and got right to work! And the spirit was driving and guiding us in every step! It was amazing! This next week 김일환 is getting baptized with his 2 kids! :) His testimony is so strong and he is working so hard to be prepared and worthy to be baptized! Please pray earnestly for him to have strength to keep abstaining from smoking, he is working hard and needs all the support he can get! :) Also we met with the boys! Oh they are awesome! They are coming to church this next sunday and we talked to them about baptism and are setting dates with them this week! :) Crazy awesome experience with them! :) ( i figure i better account for the experience cuz grammy wants details and sadly I have been holding out to share when I get home :) anyways here is one miracle I have exprienced! :) ) So we were meeting with the boys and they are just golden investigators! I love them so much! :) Anyways we sat down and asked them if they had read the book of mormon introduction like we had asked them to...they had, in fact they read it separately and then read it again together right before meeting with us! :) They said they felt something special when reading it and wanted to make sure they all felt the same thing :) haha anyways so we met with them and talked to them about the 1st lesson! It went awesome and we finished it off talking about the holy ghost and also how we can communicate with God through prayer...side note.....정마 has started (cheong ma is the rainy season in Korea....it has been pouring all week!!!:) haha anyways) and it had been raining hard all day both prior to and through the lesson. Anyways at the end of the lesson we closed with a prayer and 이효빈 (EE Hyo Been), one of the boys, said he would like to say the closing prayer! We were like, yes of course by all means please say the prayer ;) haha anyways his prayer was very simple and sweet talking about how he was glad to have met us and to have been able to come to our church and a couple little things like that but then he specifically prayed that the rain would stop so that we(the missionaries) since he knew we had to walk home, could walk home dry and not get wet. It was so sweet of him. Well the rain was pouring like crazy and by no means did it stop when he said those words. He was like well maybe youre supposed to get wet :) haha anyways we started making our way out of the church with the boys turning of the lights and everything else. No sooner did we open the door to walk out side, the rain completely stopped! Well you can guess.....the boys went crazy! :) haha they were so excited and it was a huge testimony builder for them! And me and elder Hansen were blessed to walk the forty minutes home completely dry....and as soon as we walked into the apartment.....yup the rain came down and the floods came up ;) haha anyways just thought I would share that little story.....There have been tons more this week that I would love to share but I sadly don't have time... Anyways I just wanted to let you know that God really is aware of all of our prayers. He listens to each of us and loves us so much! I know for a fact that if we will go to him in daily prayer seeking for answers we will find them...he will make our weekness strengths if we humble ourselves before him. He loves us, more than we could ever under stand! I am so grateful to be out here, to be able to see so many of his mighty miracles being placed in the lives of those who are searching for truth and striving to live according to his will! God is definitely a god of miracles today just as he was in days of old! :)  Anyways I love you all so much! Thanks for everything! I can't wait to be able to share more stories and hear from you all and all the amazing things happening in your lives!

 

Love Elder Bigler

 

PS I thought I would type in a little update on my eye... Thanks so much for the prayers and concern I have definitely felt them and have felt the miracles that have come from them. From the outside my eye looks completely healed! :) You can hardly even tell I had stitches! The doctor did an amazing job and Heavenly father definitley helped speed the healing so I wouldn't scare away investigators :) haha anyways as far as internally I went into the doctor and everything seems to be just fine. The bleeding has not grown any and has not gotten any worse, sadly however it hasn't improved. He wants to keep a watch on it for a while. President Shin wants me to get a second opinion so we are planning on going to the hospital in Seoul. Since everything is going well and we are super busy getting 김일환 and his family ready for the baptism we are planning on going to the hospital next week. If anything changes or appears to get worse though I will be right in to the hospital here in my area:) So everything is definitely looking good and improving! I feel so blessed! :) The doctor isnt worried about my eye at all and thinks that over the next two months the bleeding should go completely away :) Thank you all for your prayers they are definitely working! :)

Eye injury

Hey everyone!!!!:) Well it has been an interesting week!!:) Haha well if you haven't heard I was a bit of an idiot and kinda got myself into a sticky situation. SOOOO the story goes :) haha..... SO we were helping these less active members move apartments. They were super nice and it was going super well! :) They are awesome and I am so glad I got to meet them before they left. Anyways in the process of moving them out they gave us a bunch of stuff for our apartment since they were moving to the otherside of the country and therefore could not use it. ONe of these things being a super sweet weight bench! I was excited cuz we dont have a weight bench at our house and I was looking forward to being able to finally lift weight. Anyways we got back to the apartment and while everyone was showering, because we were super gross after having moving the people, i decided to try out the new weight bench! :) It was awesome I was so excited! It had these awesome big elastic bands for resistance that you could use for leg lifts and another set that you could do curls with! It was so great I was using the curl ones and I was loving it and was like ah i could probably curl the same weight as the leg lifts....SO I started doing curls with the leg lift part of the bench. Well it turns out the member had slightly jimmy rigged the leg lifts so the tension would be tighter. He had taken the pin that locks the bench and took the elastic band and etached it to the pin so the leg resitance would be more. ANyways it work just fine when you do leg extensions because your legs only pull the device up to 180 degrees. Anywas I was curling it and becuase when you curl the bar comes up a lot further I some how managed to pull the tension just to the right spot were the pin was straight up with the elastic band directly below my head. This caused all the tension that had been pulled in the band to slingshot the pin straight out of the hole straight up into, what happened to be directly in line.....my eye :) haha not exactly the best.... anyways it took me out and continued on and hit Elder Hansen in the back giving him a nice welt. Luckily that has pretty much healed but it must have hurt like crazy! Anyways so the pin had shot up into my eye knocking me back off the bench and onto the ground. It didn't hurt to bad at first. Anyways the Elders all rushed in and no body would let me look at my eye. THey told me to keep it covered and get to the Hospital. I was like seriously? it really doesnt feel that bad im sure its fine I don't want to go....well i didn't win that argument the quickly got me into a taxi and took me off to the hospital. By this time I was just trying to keep the blood from dripping off my hand and getting everywhere. Anyways we made it into the hospital and I went straight to an eye specialist. 2 and a half hours and 4 stitches later I was released. turns out I have the four stiches which have already healed super nicely! :) Truly a blessing! :) But the thing they are worried about right now is when the pin hit my eye it scratched my cornea to a degree 5...whatever that means :) haha anyways apparently scratched it pretty good but they say that that will heal within a month and a half or so, so that is super good! :) The thing they are worried about now though is that I have some internal bleeding inside my eye...right now causing me to have a nice little blind spot...the thing that was worrying them was when I went back in a few days later the bleeding had actually increased instead of decreasing....they gave me some medicine to help the blood hopefully slow down and keep from filling up more of my eye and keep from having a hemmorage. I will be on this medicineuntil saturday and then if things havent been improved they are going to send me up to Seoul to have some form of lazer eye treatment to help it. Anyways it has really stunk cuz I haven't been able to leave the house much so it really stinks but I have been working super hard on my korean so that is improving a ton! :) And i have still been able to do several appointments with investigators via phone calls! :) So hey it works! :) Anyways it looks like everything should heal perfectly, it just may take some time. As of right now my vision out of my right eye is very limited but hopefully it will start to improve! Anyways I have definitley felt all your prayers and have definitely been  truly blessed ! It turns out if the pin had been about 2 cm lower I would have completely shattered my eye. God is definitely watching over me and I feel so blessed! :) Anyways the investigators are doing awesome! Our three knew boy investigators are super sweet! They are becoming more and more interested in the gospel and are just super cool! We are planning on talking to them a little more about baptism this week to hopefully open the door! :) And 김일환  and his kids are doing super great! :) We are still working on his smoking...he is getting way better! :) And he is right on track to get baptized! :) Anyways life here is going great! I am learning a ton every day and growing so much! The blessings of being a missionary are enormous! :) And definitley life changing! I definitley encourage everyone to be super strong member missionaries and promise you that if you will dedicate a part of your day every day to missionary worrk you will see tremendous blessings in all aspects of your life! :) I love you all and can't wait to hear from you!

Love

Elder Bigler

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