The busy calm before the storm

This is known as our planning week where we prepare for four very intense weeks of zone conferences and interviews. This time we will have six individual zone conferences.  It will feel like Ground Hog Day as we do the same thing every day except in different locations.

For this week, even though it is supposed to be a quiet week of preparation, we had plenty to keep us busy.  Though it wasn't at the first of the week, the highlight of the week was Terri's birthday.  The office staff provided a cake and sang to her.  Later in the week, on her actual birthday, the four elders and sisters serving here in our area brought her a cake and balloons.  You can't tell in the pictures, but the balloons had a little lights in then that were really delightful in the dark.

We had the opportunity to be with our twelve zone leaders and sister training leaders from each zone.  We reviewed the important activities of the mission and how to be better servant leaders.  They are full of young adult energy, enthusiasm and humor.

 

 They definitely like to be the ones to taste Sister Turner's tasty treats.  This week was fruit pizza which most had never tasted.  Nice sweet dough with cream cheese frosting topped with different fruits.  There's always a volunteer to help...

They were very focused on learning how to build better relationships with their companions and the church wards they serve.  It was a great discussion of which they will now train their zones during the upcoming zone conferences.



 This week we welcomed a new military relations couple to handle the U.S. Army and Air Force bases in the south of our mission.  Elder and Sister Gentry come from Illinois and have served faithfully at the Nauvoo temple for many years. He's retired Navy.  They are a warm, welcoming couple to will do great.  They will be replacing Elder and Sister Hawk who have been with us for  a year. How we love them, and recognize again how quickly the time goes.  They have touched so many lives, and we are a better mission for having had the opportunity to serve with them.    We look forward to seeing them in Utah.

 I had the opportunity to run through and around Olympic Park again his week.  The air was clear and colors were great.  As you can see, there are so many wonderful flowers, trees, shrubs, lakes, etc. in the middle of a large city that are really worth the time to wander through.

It was a Saturday morning and even at 7 AM there is a league for older men soccer players.

Here is a fun sign that basically says Songpa, the city that represents happiness in Korea.  The little bubble next to the man says I could live 100 happy years in Songpa.  It's a sign on the walking, running, biking path near us.  It is very well kept.

During a drive we got a good picture on a fairly clear day of the Lotte World Tower and two of the Olympic stadiums.  Terri is great with the phone camera!

 

We expect there will be lots of pictures next week as we are with about half our missionaries this week.  It will be another great adventure for us.  We are having so much fun with all we are doing. 
We want to share one experience a missionary shared with us in a recent email.  As you can guess, as difficult as the Korean language is for foreigners to learn, the stress felt by all the missionaries (us included) about their abilities never goes away.  Newer missionaries especially have concerns.  However, experiences like this remind them the ability is less important than the desire to try, to open the mouth and just talk:

One miracle happened the day before transfers. I was feeling disappointed after my T.I.P(teaching improvement program) assessment didn't go as well as I thought it would. In my mind I kept thinking, "My Korean is so bad. How will I be able to communicate with people?"

As I was sitting on the bus, an older lady sat next to me. I just said to her something like, "It's hot today isn't it?" this lead to a long conversation about her life (her work, hobbies, family, travel etc.) My Korean wasn't perfect, but the spirit was powerful. By the time she had to hop off the bus, I had made a new friend. She gave me her number and some bread too. This experience helped me to understand that it isn't about the language, it's about the Spirit. The Spirit testifies and the Spirit softens hearts.

On that note, we leave you with our love and appreciation for your support.  Until next week...

Transfers, Arrivals, Departures, a Wedding, Baptisms and more...

We have gone through another one of those crazy weeks with all sorts of marvelous things happening.  We shed many tears saying goodbye to these missionaries.  Several had families pick them up which was great fun!

 Elder returning to Hickory, North Carolina

 Elder headed home to southern South Korea

 You have to be careful who you give the phone to when you want them to take pictures...

 Elder headed home to Manti, Utah (where Terri and I were married so long ago!)

 Elder headed home to Littleton, Colorado

 Elder returning to Vernal, Utah, he had classes in school from our eldest son.

 This poor elder had to travel alone because others' families came or had flights very much earlier in the day.  He's headed over the hill to catch the final bus ride.

This sister is headed home to Clayton, North Carolina.  Her sister on the left served a mission in Daejeon, South Korea three-four years ago.  What a great family vacation.

I always get comments from the departing missionaries about things they learned while serving their missions.  I thought I'd share these thoughts:
Well what did I learn on a mission? Well there is a lot. perhaps the most important thing is that I am prideful. I judge people on the streets, judge Korean and American culture, and so often I judge other missionaries for the mistakes they make. For struggling with talking to people, or whatever it is, yet I have different problems, and in many ways much more serious problems. It truly is a greater sin to not forgive... When working with others, love, positivity, kindness is almost always the better answer. Correction is sometimes needed but if it is not preceded with and followed up with love, it almost always fails. This does not mean we should accept imperfections, but it does mean that we should not get frustrated or resentful. And we certainly cannot judge the worth of that person. That leads me to maybe the second point, rationalizing sin dams our progress. It is, I think, one of the greatest sins. There is no situation in which disobedience is condone-able. Of course we all make mistakes and that does not mean we lose points in heaven, but rationalizing is at least minus 10 points. hahaha.
Well then what can we imperfect people do? Humbly submit. Make God's will what we desire. That is the example that Christ gave us. 100% submission to God's will. That is the goal of my mission, but more importantly the goal of my life (a goal, like most of my goals that I totally failed... hahaha) So as I go home I want to remember life without a smartphone, computer, etc. A life focused on obedience and sharing the gospel. I am excited for that. Excited to try to able what I have learned, to fail, to change, etc. Never rationalize, and always striving.

This reflects a very mature perspective and is not significantly different from what others have shared.  You can get a sense for the great caliber of young men and young women we serve with.

It's always fun to take missionaries with us to the airport to pick up the new missionaries.  They then ride the subway home and have a great experience talking to people.  We had one elder and one sister with us this trip.  This is in front of the 2018 Winter Olympic mascots.

We gained two new missionaries who are natives of South Korea.  The sister attended LDS Business College in Salt Lake City for a year, the elder worked for a year to earn money to serve.

You will notice in many of these pictures the native Koreans do not typically smile in pictures.  It's an unusual thing to see broad smiles that foreigners have.  Please understand, they have great smiles and they are quite a happy culture and society.  They just tend to be more sober in photographs.

Departures and new arrivals always mean transfers are in progress.  We give new companions to those who departing missionaries leave behind and new companions or trainers for the incoming missionaries.  We need new zone leaders, new district leaders, new sister training leaders, office staff, and assistants.  It's quite a brain teaser for the mission president. Think of it as Tetris with people!

This week Terri and I enjoyed a very rare opportunity.  One of the sweet young missionaries who returned home from our mission last fall was married.  We were invited to attend the temple with her and her wonderful husband.   It was wonderful to participate in some of the pictures. 

 The other young ladies in the picture are also all former missionaries in our mission.  They are truly wonderful.  It was fun to spend a few minutes catching up with them.

Terri got to create her own little pose on the rocks in front of the temple.  We adore these sisters.  The one in the back with the badge has been picked up by her family and is traveling before going home.

 

On our way home we stopped at a little place to get some Ho-dduk.  They deep fry the dough with the brown sugar and nuts in it.  One is a vegetable ho-dduk that has sweet potato noodles and other vegetables in it.  We shared it in the car on the drive home.  We were stopped at this point, I promise.

 The next day we attended the reception along with a number of other elders and sisters from our mission.  Some are still serving, but many are now at home.  They love to be together.  I don't think it's a good idea for the missionaries to attend these.  I think we might need to change that rule.

We attended another wonderful baptism this week.  He is an interesting story.  He has met four or more sets of missionaries in random places around Seoul over the past several years.  Usually he runs into them at different subway entrances or on busses.  He has a wonderful little family that will likely join him in the next little while.  These are some of the missionaries that have taught him.

I am still trying to get periodic exercise.  It is very difficult to run at 6 AM when it is 80 degrees and 90% humidity.  The heat index is already near 90 degrees at that time of the day.  Our diligent missionaries are faithfully working in it all day.  We can't say enough positive things about their work ethic and faithful desire to talk to people and to fulfill their missionary purpose. 
This is my view this morning during my run.  The humidity haze is pretty amazing.  You can see the exercise equipment lined up along the right side.  The older generation uses the equipment faithfully.  The number of people in the park this early in the morning is impressive.

We've had another wonderful week with our missionaries.  We love being here.  We are ready for summer to be over, but as soon as we say that, we'll be wishing it were warmer.  We are just happy to be here sharing experiences with so many marvelous young people.  They keep us smiling and laughing.  We love their hugs!

Fun week of training, interviews and fulfilling the missionary purpose

We truly have fun each week.  We awake each morning wondering what amazing things we will see or do.  Each day is full of surprises.  It is also true with our missionaries.  Here's something a sister missionary shared in a recent email to her president:
And this week [my companion] has been doing really well. She has tried super hard to overcome the little things that bug her and show love. It has been amazing. She really is trying! There are still some difficult things, but we're at a point where we can talk it out together with understanding. I had an incredible experience with her this week actually. So we were having a bit of an argument, and it's in Korean, so it was pretty difficult for me. I had ideas of what I wanted to say in my head forming, but my tongue would just choke in my mouth and I couldn't say what I wanted to. I wanted to say something just logical like "I'm right, you're wrong" kind of thing and prove my point, but no it just was not happening. I was really frustrated, but I felt like I should just slow down and think about what I was saying. And all that came out was "I love you, I understand, I'm sorry" kind of thing. And then literally president, like a light switch came the gift of tongues. I could explain myself, I could understand her, and our relationship progressed, we solved whatever problem we were having. It was an incredible, undeniable witness of God's power. Literally like day and night. When I tried to speak with the spirit of contention, I could not. Words choked in my mouth. But when I wanted to speak with charity and understanding, the words came so easily. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has given me the opportunity to speak Korean to my companion so I can think more before I speak! That is something I definitely need to improve on, so I'm grateful that we have this language barrier. If I would have been able to argue what I wanted to, nothing would've improved. Amazing.

They go through amazing growing experiences.  We tell them this is a safe place to learn.  Mistakes can be overcome quickly.  If they were married or had children, some of the mistakes could be more catastrophic.  In the mission field, they may make a major mistake, but they can try to overcome it and then learn from another companion.

We completed interviews with the last zone this week.  Amazing people!

We then had a little follow up training to see how the new missionaries that came in five weeks ago are doing.  We reviewed rules, goals, the mission vision, companionship relations, etc.  It was a great time with them.  Some are still a little shell shocked by the experience, but growing and maturing.

We finally interviewed the three young elders closest to us.  For this transfer we've had three Assistants.  I was unsure why we had three assistants, but it became clear later it was a good idea as we had other issues where three was the right number.  A way is always made clear.

Sunday we were able to witness the baptism of two young women of bright countenance.  We had fun watching the event.  I wish we could share the personal miracles that brought these young ladies to the church.  Let's just say the Lord leads his children to the right place at the right time.

The missionary purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his Atonement, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  These four sisters and a few others who had transferred to other areas did the inviting and these ladies truly responded.  What a day.

We had a sad day Sunday as well as we had to allow a sweet sister return home to get some attention on her health.  We hope it will be only for a few weeks at most and she can return to us.  She has been a miracle worker and a joy to everyone she has served with and served.  We hope we get her back soon.  She is a bright light in any room she enters.

We created as well as saw some interesting things this week.  Many know how much I like to grill.  We have a new grill, but it doesn't have the space to cook one of my favorites, Beer Can Chicken.  As you would guess I don't use Beer.  However, I did use a RootBeer can and filled it with Apple Juice and cooked it in the over.  It almost looks like he is standing there happy to be our meal!

One day Terri had me hurry over to the window with the camera to capture the truck below.  This guy certainly uses every inch of space on his truck to market his goods.  You can see him in the cab with one of his own hats on.  I wish the phone/electrical lines were not in the way.  It's the best I could do.

We're in the midst of the rainy season.  We're sure the missionaries have been sending messages home about their experiences in the rain.  It can put down five to ten inches of rain in not time.  It comes in at all angles and the missionaries get pretty soaked. By the next day, there is little sign of any rain because their drainage systems are pretty remarkable.  While taking a morning jog along the creek, it was possible to see how the water had been up four to six feet the night before by the way the grass had been pushed down.  However, the view is always amazing.

Running at the Olympic Park is always amazing as well. Just can't get enough of the roses!

We periodically get emails from you or comments on Facebook about what you see here.  Please feel free to share as broadly as you like.  We hope you are seeing someone important to you and can enjoy a little of what they are seeing while serving here.  We occasionally get comments from them about things they see or hear and only wish we were there with a camera.  We ask them not to look like tourists except on preparation day.  They capture a few that they like to share with you.
Thank you for your love and support.

More Interviews, almost done... Three Baptisms

This was another full week of interviews and addressing missionary concerns.  However, we ended the week by attending three baptisms.  A very young woman, a very old woman and a man entered the waters of baptism this weekend.  It was a fun way to end the week.

We can't get enough time with the missionaries and feel of their spirits.  Next week we only have 16 interviews remaining and then the weekend of transfer calls.  The missionaries are always anxious to hear what will happen next in the mission, whether it affects them or not!

We are including these two sisters first because we forgot to take a picture with them during interviews.  We asked them to forward one to us.  We didn't get much time to celebrate the 4th of July, the big holiday of Independence in the US, but they had the red, white and blue going on!

You can tell there are different buildings we visited for each set of interviews.  Some interviews we go to the main building for the zone and all 20 or so come to us.  This time we went to each building where they served.  We try to find something in the background that is fitting for what we do.

 These two and their matching ties were pretty cool.  It was the 5th in Korea, but still the 4th of July in the US...

 These three are together because (as you'll see later) an elder broke his toe and had to come to the mission office for lighter duty.

 These three have been together because of the odd number of elders in the mission.

 Which one do you like the best?  You can tell when Sister Turner is having fun...

 The man with the broken toe.  We've had fun teasing him.  He's continued to want to work hard.

 Some times he gets a little quick with his tongue, but Sister Turner always gets the upper hand.

 Only eight of more pictures from interviews next week.  We hope you have been able to see your son or daughter or loved one.  If not, hopefully next week will get what you need for your special moment.
Here are pictures from the three baptisms.  These were truly joyous moments.

 The man with the flowers above is very close with many members and was very happy to be with them this day.  The watermelon here is delicious!

 The little girl in the middle with all the gifts from her friends is 15.  She has been waiting for two years to get permission from her parents to be baptized.  She has wanted this for so long.  She has so many friends.  There were approximately 20 youth there to celebrate with her.

 This little grandmother was a true joy.  As you can see below, she is now part of a three-generation family in the church.  In one year, they will go to the temple to be sealed to her husband who has passed and then be sealed as a family.  We are connected to the family because the young lady on the right side of the picture below was one of our missionaries and will marry into the family next month.

 

The missionaries always prepare a special musical number for the baptisms.  I wish I could include the number here, but the file size was way too large.

 

While doing my morning run I discovered a few tents like this.  I don't believe they are homeless, but I do believe they may have homes without AC so they come down by the river and sleep out.  It's monsoon season right now, so they put their tent under an overpass and spend the night a little cooler.

 While driving about this week, Terri notice the IV bags around some of the trees.  If you look carefully you can see the tube running to the base of the tree.  With all the rain right now, it may not be necessary, or perhaps it is some type of fertilizer.

 On the picture below you'll notice the super-sized police officer in pursuit.  If you enlarge the picture you can see that it's as though his shoe is the phone to the man's ear.  I haven't taken the time to translate everything, but I believe it's an effort to show how quickly the police try to respond.  This is right at the police station. (More importantly to Terri it is at a bus terminal with underground shopping.  Stalls and stalls.  A delightful afternoon (40 minutes) spent wandering aimlessly in search of hidden treasures. :). (This would also be Terri typing.) :-) You can never have enough smiley faces!

Finally, some times it's necessary to catch a few minutes between meetings or interviews.  I will set my alarm for 20 minutes and be gone in a moment.  It drives Terri nuts that I can drop off in seconds, awake in 20 minutes and be fully invigorated, not groggy or grouchy, just ready to focus on the next task.  Some times the floor is the bed and the briefcase is the pillow. (He was sound asleep when I took this picture.  If you enlarge it you will see that the timer reads 18:36.  Who can fall asleep in less than 2 minutes?)

 We couldn't be happier.  Thank you all for your prayers and your kind comments, many through your sons and daughters.  We are blessed.  We love these wonderful missionaries!