It was another crazy fast week. I have a little time this evening, so we thought we'd share a few highlights and lots of pictures. With special permission from our Area Presidency, we conducted a conference for the sisters in the mission. We have identified an issue and felt it was important for us to pull them all together and for President and Sister Turner to give them a bit of a Scotch Blessing. It's less important for the world to know what the issue was, but they know what it is and have committed to do better. We had a quiet lunch, ice breaker for them to get to know each other better, skits that highlighted issues, special musical numbers and then messages from leaders addressing the concerns specifically. Our love for them only grew! They have so much talent which they love to share.
We had another day at the temple with one-third of the mission with the obligatory pictures artistically and "strategically" posed by their mission mother...
We are requesting lots of pictures from all the missionaries to put into our Christmas zone conference slide show. That should be loads of fun. They are certainly sending a bunch of pictures.
On Saturday, Terri and I actually took a full preparation day to see a cultural site. Many of the missionaries had been to this site and it has been a place of zone conferences in the past so we thought we would check it out. It is called Nam Han San Seong. In English it is South Han Mountain Fortress.
It is only about 20 minutes by car from the mission home and is near the top of a mountain. You can learn more about it at this site:
Fortress
It has many miles of walls near the mountain top. It was a protective location for the king, but also a place for common citizens to live. At one time, it was said, the population within the area was about 4,000 people. They have rebuilt many of the buildings based on old pictures.
Obviously, these few pictures won't give you much perspective. We took a view of Seoul, but the haze was bad enough there isn't much to see. On a clear day, this would be magnificent. In the fall, the colors on the trees are amazing.
There is always the pictures just for the fun of it...
There was a Buddhist temple within the complex which we visited. There is so much color and the smell of incense is wonderful.
It's beginning to look more and more like Christmas. The Lotte Tower has many magical displays. I wish I could get better pictures. Here's a distant a close up of the Christmas Tree made out of lights.
We said farewell to another fine elder this weekend due to some severe health issues. We will miss Elder Brewer and expect to see him back as soon as possible. We had a little dinner for him and his companions (it was a threesome) joined us for one of Terri's and my favorite foods at the place we've found that makes it best.
Yesterday, we were invited to attend another baptism. What a delightful experience that was. This story is wonderful. Five years ago a man was baptized, but after a period was not so active or involved. However, recently as he has felt the need to be closer to the gospel he chatted with a friend who he brought to church and introduced to our missionaries. The man who baptized the original member five years ago also baptized this man. Lots of love was involved in this day!
Finally, there has to be a less serious picture. While thinking of our trainer and yoga lover, Rachel, Terri was found practicing with a mannequin, a perfect tree pose...
Along with the busy schedule and stress of all around us, we do have time to pause and enjoy each other and the culture around us. We love it here and love the missionaries and the many people we serve and serve with. We wish everyone had such an opportunity. If you have an opportunity to invite a missionary over and share an hour, you'll be amazed at the personalities and strength of the young men and women. Until next time...
