Well, it's two days past Christmas and I am way behind on updating everyone. These have been the busiest two weeks of our mission lives. It was fun, stressful, rewarding, heart-wrenching, and did I say fun? Terri and I are definitely getting accustomed to being around each other 24/7!
We started this period with checking the status of those missionaries who arrived six weeks earlier. It's a big group and they are again an amazing bunch that seem to pick things up quickly!
As soon as that training was over we raced to the airport to pick up a group of seven new missionaries. It was meant to be eight, but due to a case of tonsillitis, we have to wait a few weeks for her to recover from that surgery. We look forward to having her. Of course, along the way Terri took the opportunity for a photo shoot with the elders and sisters going with us to escort the missionaries back to the mission home!
I missed out since I was parking the car :(
We did pick up some great new missionaries, possibly the most ethnically diverse group yet.
Two sisters who are half Korean, an elder from Hong Kong, two elders who are half Taiwanese and two blonde Americans. We are excited they have joined us.
We spent the next day orienting them to the mission and introduced their trainers. What an exciting time that is for everyone.
We then had to turn around and say farewell to some well loved missionaries that have met the tenure of their service. Lots of tears shed as we hugged each one. We had a great dinner and farewell meeting before some interviews in the morning and taking them to the bus stop. All but one left on Friday. The remaining missionary stayed until Saturday. Terri was her companion for the extra 24 hours. She was a great help in assisting us prepare for the upcoming evening.
Of course, it does require some special posing! We love you Sisters Tolley, Killpack, Shumway, Capener, Robinson, Zippro, Whipple, and Workman for doing the tree pose with Terri! The elders were not into it...
Sister Zippro, she was a trooper, happy to have our Ginseng tea and rice bag to keep her warm in the chill.
Elder Gardner, as he said, "I am the Gardner here!"
Sister Workman - here name described her work ethic. Her smile and warmth to all is contagious, and she makes and shares the best pumpkin cookies!
Sister Killpack - always a bright light. we have a connection back home as her sister had our son Nathan as a seminary teacher in her Draper high school
Elder Arredondo - I expect to see his name in the lights with Salt Lake Real soccer team.
Elder Anderson - a stoic journeyman who served for about nine months in one tiny branch.
Sister Shumway - a tender heart who saw a miracle when she left a backpack on a subway but was able to recover it when a church member called the subway to find it in Daejeon way outside our mission boundaries.
Sister Whipple - so much fun sass that she and Terri really hit it off. We had fun teasing each other. Another connection as she played softball with friends of ours who once lived in our town and ward in Plainfield, Indiana.
Sister Capener - our fellow mid-west girl from Chicago. She was a help on so many occasions here at the house and we loved her staying the extra 24 hours with us.
Sister Robinson - quiet strength that many thought she was Korean when she spoke on the phone.
Sister Tolley - a wonderful spirit that played the cello for our conferences and for her Korean wards.
It was tough saying goodbye as we left them at the bus station. They have about two hours on the bus to reflect and reminisce with their friends.
Saturday evening we had the opportunity to host a dinner for all the stake presidents and area authority and spouses and counselors in the mission presidency. They are wonderful leaders, the power of the church in the boundaries of our mission and their wives are truly the strength of their families. Terri made some wonderful entrees, cheesecake, and other goodies that certainly gave them a lot of opportunities to ooh' and ahh'. We were so happy to sit and sing Christmas carols with them and enjoy the evening.
We were worn out Saturday night, but Sunday required all day with various meetings followed by zone conferences Monday through Friday. There was so much food and Terri's home made cinnamon rolls, hot chocolate with candy canes and whipped cream, some of the missionaries said they wanted to cry it was so close to the real thing! We truly tried to make it a Christmas they would remember. We sent them home with a tree decoration and refrigerator magnets of a Korean couple. A woman in another mission sent long john bottoms for all the elders and winter tights for all the sisters as a special anonymous gift because of her love for the gospel and the work of the missionaries. Elder and Sister Black also made a loaf of bread for each missionary: nearly 120 loaves! Terri made about 130 cinnamon rolls big enough to fill a big man.
No one went home hungry!
I tried to get pictures of everyone eating, but I'm sorry if I missed a few!
We also tried to include some of the live music, but the files were too big for the blog and we'll have to try to load them on Facebook separately.
I can confirm we have two entire zones who met together the last evening that are not represented here. I will include those pictures in the next update. The pictures were taken by a missionary and we haven't received those from him yet.
For the uninitiated, the above meal is called 짬봉 CChampong (don't trust the spelling) is a noodle soup with tons of sea food in it. It is a bit spicy, but one of the best meals. The cuddle fish, oysters, clams, crab, etc. truly are delectable.
By Saturday we were ready for a preparation day, a day to relax, but we had to catch up on work. The week had been like 'Groundhog Day' where every day we were up, making cinnamon rolls, preparing all the boxes and gifts, having training, eating, enjoying the missionaries in a celebration of Christmas, booting them out, cleaning the house and dishes, going to bed, and starting over again in similar fashion five days in a row. We participated in the local ward's Christmas party and came home and crashed.
Sunday we were able to attend church in a ward with good music celebrating the birth of the Savior and enjoying some peace. That evening we attended a special musical performance including many of our musically talented missionaries. It was Christmas, but we had little time to ourselves. This work we are doing is about others.
Terri enjoying a little one she just wanted to wrap her arms around.
Sister Hawkins is magical with the violin. Her foot attire really made a statement! It's cold!
Korea's future missionary group.
These young men all serve in the same ward together. Five have mission calls: three to Busan, one to Daejeon and one to Australia. The others are not far behind. They are amazing with their voices.
This was a choir totally made up of our missionaries including the conductor and the pianist. Sorry, Sister Eversole, I couldn't get you in the pictures while you were on the piano.
All week Terri and I wanted to see the Christmas lights but there were too many things competing for our time. Finally, on Monday night, after Christmas, we went out to get a few lights for us!
We were at the second highest building in all of Asia, the Lotte Tower. The mall has lots of lights and decorations to enjoy.
Of course We had to find a few unusual things to put on the blog....
Sorry this one is so long. We had so much fun these two weeks. It truly cemented our love for our 110 or so children we try to care for in Korea. I like to think we're doing well, but some of these teenagers don't express their feelings openly. I think the look in their eyes as they left us gave us some hope they were happy with their Christmas in advance of calling their families. For all you parents, know that we truly love them and try to keep them safe and happy and yet push them to grow in their language, teaching and other skills. They truly are a delight to us!
