Thank you for your patience awaiting our most recent blog submission. We like to try to update the blog on Sunday evening. Unfortunately, the last two Sundays have been our busiest days. We like to call it a day of "rest of the things that have to be done"! We visit lots of other church buildings, meet with members, attend special firesides, etc. We get home late on Sunday and we're done.
Monthly we have a great meeting with the 12 Zone Leaders and 12 Sister Training Leaders who basically guide the efforts of the various missionaries in their areas. This is the monthly Missionary Leadership Council or MLC. There are typically about 16-18 missionaries in each of our six zones. They are bright lights.
As we travel about we see many different areas of the city. During a recent Yahoo search of the top technologically advanced countries in the world, Korea came out as number three. I've heard of another study that shows Korea as number two. Despite all they do here (their internet speed is said to be three times the US), there are occasionally peeks into area less advanced...
These past two weeks have been full of exciting opportunities to lead and be taught. We had a visit from our Area President, Elder Scott Whiting of the 70 for three days. He and his wonderful wife, Jeri were in our home for a few nights. He taught our MLC one day and then spent another day with half the mission and a final day with the other half. He's a great leader with a tremendous sense of humor, but is a powerful teacher as he uses his humor to make meaningful points.
For all the families, here are the pictures from the two mission tour meetings. Hopefully, you can find your son or daughter. We hope you know how much we love them.
These meetings last most of the day so lunch is always provided. We wish there was room for all the pictures of the wonderful missionaries in action. Some were especially good at helping clean up in the kitchen. We tried to help on the serving end as well. Boy do they like Sister Turner's cooking.
We have one elder that has a creative way of getting into every picture taken at the various meetings. He is so funny to watch work his way into the pictures. If you let him have your camera for anything you'll find all kinds of interesting things later. I got back at him on one of his own pictures...
Once again we had departures. We had Sister Fuller and Sister Park leave us. Sister Park was with us for two months while she awaited her visa to serve in the US. She will be going to the California Los Angeles Mission, but will spend a few weeks at the MTC first. We will miss these two fine sisters. They were a delight to us while spending the night before their departure.
Food needs to be a part of every one of our posts. One of the meals that is a result of the Korean War is called BudaeCheegae. I don't know the best way to spell it, but it is basically a result of many Korean people being without food at the end of the war. The US bases (Budae) had lots of leftover food scraps that were thrown out. This included things like hotdogs, other meats, noodles, etc. The Koreans then threw it into a pot and cooked it up in a stew (Cheegae). They added what they could find and made a tasty meal. Today it is a well-loved meal to missionaries and Korean people. While living here 20 years ago I came to love it. It is still an acquired taste for Terri. I finally found a good restaurant near a place we had a meeting and we settled in. It can be a little messy so they provide cute little aprons. It didn't matter, I grabbed a partially full bowl and dumped in on my leg.
This past week was one of the two prominent holidays in Korea. It is called ChuSeok. It is basically a thanksgiving holiday that goes over several days. Unfortunately, because this holiday also fell during the dates of our mission tour meetings with Elder Whiting we didn't get to see as much of the cultural and historical things of the country. The Korean families travel to the homes of their ancestors and especially their living grandparents or parents. Most are further south so much of the city is quiet. Traffic was much nicer for these days. The Koreans have special clothing call Hanboks that are so colorful. We caught a young toddler in his traditional Hanbok on Sunday. He was such a treat. He was a happy little soul!
Along with four other couple missionaries we attended a special cultural music performance at the National Art Center. Unfortunately, they didn't let us take pictures so we can't show you the instruments or the dancing or the clothing. However, outside the hall was a large Korean drum. This drum was on the back of a carved and painted turtle. It was the same drum used in the opening ceremonies of the 1988 Olympics held here in Seoul.
To give you an idea what it was like, here's a picture of Terri at the subway station one Friday evening as we headed off to dinner at where else but TGIFridays!
We had one more trip to the temple with a third of our missionaries. The thing Terri likes to do most is pose the elders and sisters. Here are a few of her favorites. The young men are less excited about this, but the young women love it.
Finally, we want to leave you with a special note. Many of you think this place is yet a place you need to die before witnessing. Truly we expected to see many lines of people awaiting their opportunity. Alas, we saw few, and maybe its because it's going through the grand opening the lines are still a little short. We also looked but didn't see Peter... We don't yet qualify so we didn't try to stop in. We have many things we want yet to do before visiting this site!
We love you all and want you to know how much we enjoy being here. The weather has finally cooled and is mainly in the 70s now. We are awaiting the changing of the leaves. We will share that as we experience it. Please know that we love you!
