President Turner was invited to speak at a conference in the mission by the leaders. The brief text was taken from the Old Testament in Judges 7. The Lord wants to prove to the Israelites that he is the one in charge and the one who is saving Israel, not the strength of the armies. He reduces the army from 32,000 to 300 men and with those few men and miracles of God, he saves Israel in war.
We have 108 missionaries in our mission serving what we estimate to be between 15 and 20 Million people. We can tell you that the marvelous work being done by these 108 18-21 year old missionaries is way above their talents and gifts! A few of our missionaries are in the mid-20s and one in her mid 30's. Still, given all they are accomplishing we are amazed. Just think that not very long ago they were doing everything high school kids do. Most here have not yet attended any college. They are truly amazing, but they too know that the power is divine, not personal.
We had another great week of interviews visiting 17 more missionary homes and interviewing 43 more missionaries. You can see in the pictures below the wonderful mix of personalities. It's not possible to be with them and to be sad or discouraged. They carry so much joy in them. You moms would be proud of the well kept homes!
These guys are showing off their huge couch. They shared a wonderful meal with us they cooked themselves. We were quite happy with their talents and generosity. Two elders from Korea, two from Utah and Georgia/Connecticut.
The Hawks are our Military Relations couple serving Camp Humphreys. They too fed us a delightful lunch. We were pretty well fed this day!
These elders had to show off their dishwasher. I'm not sure any other home in the mission has one except our house. But we're feeding 20-30 missionaries some times! One elder from Korea, the other from Utah. Both are well over six feet tall.
These sisters saw this mirror with nice 'Mother of Pearl' accent in the trash outside their apartment. They are making great use of it. One is from Utah, the other from Texas.
It's hard to tell in this picture, but we are on the floor to show off their little cosmetic table that sits about two feet at its tallest. They too saw it being tossed so they grabbed it. The one sister is from the Philippines and being only about 4'8" tall, it is perfect for her. The other sister is from the Idaho (though her mother is from Korea).
These two elders are from Colorado, both outdoor junkies. They live in a place that used to be two levels until the landlord boarded up the floor above this circular staircase. First one of these I've seen in Korea.
Some missionaries just can't give up Christmas. Right now the watermelon flavored suckers are the biggest hit among the missionaries. One sister is from Korea, the other from Michigan.
These same two sisters had some fun slippers that Terri wanted to show off. The kids could probably pick out the characters better than I could...
These two elders have the nicest wardrobe we've seen. Many homes don't have closets so wardrobes are used. The one elder is from the Philippines, the other from California. He had a funny alligator hat someone sent him.
These four elders have a nice large place for four. None knew the origin, but there is a nice mask in the house. Terri and I are big mask collectors back home. This one may come up missing. These elders are from California and Utah.
Terri is always asking me to check if her eyes are open after taking a picture. Still can't tell...
Just to keep the relationship good, these elders have nun chucks instead of rock, paper, scissors... One is from Korea and the other from Texas.
These sisters live in a small town that we love to visit because of the old fortress in old Suwon. They really like the stairs at their house so we went out into the light rain. The steps are made from very large railroad ties. One sister is from Canada, the other from Korea.
These two elders found a small portable foosball table to keep them busy on preparation day. Can't tear too many muscles playing soccer like this. These two are both from Utah.
These two sisters, both from Korea, are two of the happiest in the mission. They have personal animals as mascots. The family name of the one sister with the little sheep on her shoulder is Yang which also can mean sheep. The other sister's given name is Da Jeong which also means friendly or sweet. Her nickname as a little girl was pig. Her little mug says Friendly Pig. They gave us muffins we could have for breakfast the next day.
These two elders are half of the office elders in the mission office. One is from Korea and loves doing puzzles. He can do 1000 piece puzzles faster than anyone. He loves to put them together on preparation day. The lower bunk is his bed. He gets cold easy so he makes a fort and lets the heater at the head of his bed warm it up on cold nights. Other than that he sleeps on a foam mat on the floor. The other elder is from Utah and is a great guitar player.
These two elders found a key board which they have cleaned up a bit and brought into the house. Neither play well, but they are trying.. One elder is from Korea, the other from Utah.
As I said about Christmas earlier, these sisters still have their lights out. We found the plumbing under their bathroom sink had come apart one day this week. Sometimes the landlord is a little slow in responding to the needs...One sister is from California, the other from North Carolina.
Probably one of our favorite pictures, these four really entertain each other. They also provided a wonderful lunch. Having two Koreans in the same house who know how to and like to cook helps these guys out! There is one extra elder here because he is with us for six weeks before leaving to go to California for his mission. One of the other elders is from Nevada and the other two from Utah. Interestingly, the two from Utah played hockey against each other in high school
Elder and Sister Black are our office couple and they are from Roger's home town of Orem, Utah. We know many of the same people. They are a great resource and help to us in the logistics of this mission. It is so nice to know when we are away interviewing or training or attending to any of a number of things, these two keep the engine running smoothly. The missionaries love them!
These elders had some nice notes for us on their door welcoming us. We always get such warm welcomes.
From the side of interesting observations. You can see Terri's little shoes against some of the elder's shoes. This elder is three to four inches shorter than me, but his shoes are much larger.
Again, doing what they do so well, these elders were busy helping two men prepare for baptism. One is a 26 year old young man who had about 20 young adults sing at his baptism. The other is an 87 year old man whose daughter has long been a member of the church. This was one of the most sweet and touching events in our mission thus far.
From the sights of interest this week, we found this lady driving her little yogurts and other healthy drinks cart with a rain cover on it. It reminds us of the golfers who will even play in the rain, but would rather not ride through it.
We captured two of our great missionaries on the streets doing their thing. Always a happy smile for us!
Finally, for our date night, we had an evening with President Jeong and Sister Kim (In Korea, the women maintain their family names when they marry.) President Jeong is one of the counselors in the mission presidency and they will become the president and wife of the Busan Mission, one of the other missions in Korea starting July 1. We offered to answer any questions they had about being the mission president and wife. They treated us to a wonderful dinner while we chatted for more than two hours. We did the same thing just 12 months ago as we talked to anyone with experience who could help brace us for the new adventure. This time we were able to share with great energy and excitement our experiences where a year ago we were overwhelmed with the thoughts of what was coming. We are excited for his family and their new opportunity. They are going to be awesome!
Another week went by so quickly. Another half week of interviews and we do transfers again! Every six weeks passes so quickly. We brace ourselves for the departure of missionaries we love like parents sending their children far away to school or other pursuits and wait in like expectant parents for the new group soon to join us. We're having so much fun! We hope you enjoy it with us!
