We were excited to start the week with a new missionary. Sister Jordan Forest had been in the MTC learning the language for the nine weeks but then needed to address a health issue before she came to Korea. She patiently waited in her home town of Las Vegas for six plus weeks awaiting the doctor's clearance. We received her on Tuesday and put her with her new trainer, Sister Risenmay from Utah. They are a great match. We are so happy to have her here. We've been excited for weeks.
We got to spend three full days with our missionaries. We had three zone conferences with two zones at each conference. The Assistants to the President taught the doctrinal importance of repentance, then the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders taught on why each missionary should know the importance of why and how they need to repent in their personal lives so they can better help others in their desire to come closer to Christ. Terri visited with them about the topic of humility, then after a delicious lunch of Subway sandwiches she chatted with them about exercise and diet. For the record rameun noodles and Ney Ney Chicken are not food groups. I then talked about the daily schedule and some adjustments we have made. At one time we had Sacred Hours where they prepared for the day between 6:30 AM and 11:00 AM with a very strict schedule of what they were to do each hour.
With the recent changes, they have been given more freedom on when to do various activities like personal study, daily and weekly planning, companion study, language study, etc. through the day. Now they have 'Sacred Activities' they need to make sure get into every day. We then spent some time focusing on how to work better with the local church leaders. It was three full days.
The highlight of their day was Subway sandwiches. Subway's franchise in Korea is possibly the fastest growing in the world right now. One of the Bishops was able to get us set up with delivery. They got a nice sandwich and cookies and we provided chips and drinks. To say the least they were happy. They only wanted a few more sandwiches to go around...
In one case there was a senior mission couple that was unable to attend. With the two extra sandwiches available, those interested in more were able to 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' to get another treat. Of course, Roger had to referee!
You will probably see a lot of yellow. We send a coded message in an email. Anyone that wore yellow got a treat. Because the focus was on repentance, Terri made sure those that didn't read the email were able to get a treat! Sister Yang and Sister Kim were great examples.
Here's Terri teaching the 'Plank' to strengthen abs which strengthens the back. They 'oohed' and 'awed' over her skills.
Of course, the president had to have a moment with them as well. Elder Lee is always near our side. He's our third translator since we arrived. He's the Korean assistant.
We wore a few of them out.
Our office elder, Elder Kim was showing his dexterity with yoga and carrying his responsibilities.
The first group had to be posed first with funny arm signs. You can guess whose the post artist...
Then we got them to pose in a normal fashion...
The second group also had to have some posing done. They were caught in the act...
But of course, we got them in a normal setting as well. I was safe, I was the camera man.
The last group we did a little bit different, we let the sisters stand behind a line of sitting elders.
On Saturday, we attended a baptism of a young medical resident in the famous area of Gangnam. Everyone has heard of 'Gangnam Style'. This is the area. He's a humble young man. He's with the three missionaries who spent time with him in his preparations.
Elder Morgan is a great cellist and he played a beautiful hymn on the cello while accompanied by a pianist. The room was so full and yet so small, they had to put the piano in the hall. I wanted to upload his performance, but the file was too big. The picture will have to suffice.
The next day we attended another baptism this young lady is 15. She had heard the message from friends and the missionaries and went home and began singing hymns by herself and reading the scriptures. Her mother was not supportive at first, but when she read the young ladies journal and of her joy and happiness in the gospel message, she agreed. Her mother even attended the ceremony. The picture shows about half or less of those who attended. What a great morning.
During our travels this week, we saw a few unusual items we wanted to share. There is lots of unique architecture in this country. We really enjoy pointing out the unique buildings. Here is one:
Of course, there is always the fun US movie translated into Korean being advertised on the side of the buses. You may recognize the Trolls.
There is a very strong recycling movement here. Because of the number of people and the relatively small amount of space on the peninsula, there are a number of individuals who go from place to place and pick up various items and then sell them. Most of these individuals are older and have not enjoyed the significant economic boom of the country and pull these carts full of plastic or cardboard or metal, etc. They are very hard working people. They are allowed lots of leeway on major roads and cars are forced to go around them. This woman was working very hard.
Finally, we spent the evening playing a game that is very ancient to the Korean Culture. It is called Yut Nori (윷노리). It's played with four sticks with markings on them. Here's a link to the site that explains a little about it:
Yut Nori Terri's team won. It was fun just to watch the local church members play. They got really into it, yelling and making everyone laugh. It was a fun evening.
This week we will have a busy week with the opportunity for many more pictures. We will interview about 1/3 of the mission over three days and then spend three days with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. We doubt there will be many pictures with him, but we hope for a few. The missionaries are very excited and we are excited to be with them. Until next time, we hope you have fun reading the latest from our home here in Korea.
