Zone Conference on the Mountain - Namhan Mountain Fortress

This week was primarily spent with the missionaries in three zone conferences on what is known as Namhansanseong.  CNN did a report on many of the UNESCO monuments around the world of which this is one: CNN Report - Namhansanseong

We reviewed Enos's experience as captured in Enos 1 of the Book of Mormon.
Here are the pictures from the first day:

This is a great view of the east side of Seoul from the fortress wall.

 Buddhist Temple inside the large complex.

 This is a steep walk up along the north side of the fortress.

Here are pictures from the second day:
These are silk work larva eaten like candy.  The smell is enough to keep you away!

 These are our three assistants, all dressed alike!

 All missionaries carried a large rock to the top and we created a monument to the weaknesses they were willing to give up. The rocks represented that weakness they left on the mountain.

 There were lots of training sessions taught by Sister Turner, the zone and sister training leaders.

 They had lots of reflection time to consider what they had learned and felt.

There are always the opportunities to have some fun as well!

The final day was much the same:

 Entrance to the military compound

 The final afternoon after all zone conferences complete.

A little 'plank time' afterwards with Sister Turner.

Push ups with President Turner

 When they paint the outside of buildings they drop a guy off like a window cleaner and he paints with a roller.  This is just a block from our roof top.

We had a wonderful baptism with an older lady on Friday.  We had another on Saturday of a 24 year old young lady, but due to traffic, we arrived late and missed the pictures.  The missionaries are doing so great in all they do.

 Two missionaries singing at a baptism.  They have amazing voices!

Some we work so hard they crash when they hit the car.  We spend so much time in the car, it's easy to get really tired!
The best news for us recently is our second son, Nathan and his wonderful bride Kelcie gave birth to their third child, Isaac William Turner.  We are so blessed.  It's hard to believe Isaac will be two years old when we get to hold him for the first time!

We are amazed at the intellect and the warm social skills of our missionaries.  We are so amazed each time we meet with them.  This week is a week of  interviews.  We expect we'll have lots of close up pictures for you this next weekend. It will be a great week.

Week of Planning and Preparing - Why not throw in the zoo?

As the next week will be spent in zone conferences and the weeks after that full of interviews, this week is usually the week to plan and to prepare for those things.  Next week's blog will be full of pictures from our mountain top experience.  However, for this week, we really had two events: Mission Leadership Council (MLC, and preparation day at the zoo.

In looking at some of these pictures, we're not sure which was which!  We have group pictures after lunch. Not all are completely in control... However, there is always a good smile to go around.

 We do actually do some training with our zone and sister training leaders.  We discussed their roles for the training this next week at zone conference.  They will be the ones who do the majority of the teaching. Pres. Turner did most of the training for the MLC, but Sister Turner and the zone leaders and sister training leaders will take that to the mountain.

 There are some skits to bring to the attention of the missionaries good and not so good ways to do things.  These guys were great in their skits.  You can't help but laugh.  I need to get better about getting them on video.

Sister Turner and I took a rare full preparation day this week.  Most preparation days are a few hours or as we call them p- hours.  This week we blocked off the time and went to the Seoul Grand Park.  It is made up of a horse race track, a large amusement park, a museum of art, and a very large zoo.  We went specifically for the zoo.  The weather was warm, but not as humid as last summer, and the sun was bright.
At the park entrance is a mural of the entire area. I wish it didn't have a TV in the middle of it, but you can get a sense for the magnitude of the park.  The far upper right is the end of the zoo.  The race track is in the upper left.  The parking lot is massive, but it's to the far left and is larger than the reservoir.

We started with a lift ride across a lake and then another across the park.  It had to be a mile long!

We then wandered through the park enjoying the animals and the displays.

 This flower plaza was quite beautiful.

 We were excited about the dolphin amphitheater, but got this sign.  We were a bit bummed out.  We did get some seals and sea lions, but not the stars of the show.

 We got up close and personal with these guys.  It was pretty amazing to walk in right as they laid out the supper plates and opened the doors for the lemurs to come out.  As you can see, we were right there.

We will throw in some video as well of the experience!

Of course, when in the zoo, sometimes you have to play the part.

 Who did it better?

Sometimes, it's just good to be together.

In ten days we will have been here one year.  We are grateful for the time we have to serve side by side.  Two weeks later we will celebrate  37 years of marital bliss.  We're in a happy place!  We hope you are as well.  Next week will be a big one with the three conferences.  At that time we hope you will see a picture of every one of your sons and daughters.