Zoo, Buddha's Birthday, Temple, and a day of service - was this really all in one week?

 we want to show the picture the missionaries all want to see with Elder Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve and with Elder Choi of the Asia North Area Presidency.  Boy do they look good (the missionaries)!

This week started out with a day at the Seoul Grand Park Zoo.  Tuesday was Buddha's birthday which is a holiday here and we knew the missionaries would have lots of competition for attention so we changed their preparation day to Tuesday.  On Monday and Wednesday we split the mission in half and had an activity at the zoo.  We wanted them to relax a little after a very productive, very hard-driving month of April.  We  had loads of fun.  Here are a host of pictures.  We hope we got something of everyone for your viewing pleasure:

We even caught a few of the animals behaving like young missionaries before they have been well trained and learn their role:

We finished the day with some training and then a slide show.  Two great days.

On Thursday, the final two zones finally had the opportunity to attend the temple.  We had a beautiful day.  Normally, they have their preparation day on temple day, but due to the week we had, they attended the temple and immediately went back to work.

We had them say hello while standing around waiting for pictures.

We got a moment alone for a picture.

Friday was the planning day for upcoming zone conference.  We have some special training we like to do on the mountain of Namhansanseong.  It's been a practice for several years in this mission.  We had to make sure how we wanted to walk the trails and where to do the training.  What a great day!  We always appreciate having the Assistants with us.
Here's a nice view, though a bit hazy from the wall of the mountain fortress.

 You can more clearly make out the Lotte World Tower in the background.

 This is an original structure from several hundred years ago, the military command post.

We are so excited for this week.  We expect to have lots of pictures for the next blog from this mountain conference.

Buddha's birthday is a big deal in Korea.  Everyone of the Buddhist temples becomes a beautiful place.  A few turn into huge commercial ventures.  Terri and I took a few minutes to visit a nearby temple, next to the World Trade Center in the infamous Gangnam.  We hope to visit again when there are fewer people.  There were literally thousands of people on this site.  We caught a few good pictures.


At another Buddhist temple near our Korea Temple we found these:

Saturday was the Korea Day of Service.  Every stake in Korea organized a service project in the community.  We participated with about 350 volunteers in the Suwon area new Hwaseong Fortress.  It is the walled city in central Suwon.  Imagine 350 Helping Hands vests walking around this landmark doing things to help beautify the city.  Here are a few of the pictures.  We were in various groups and were unable to get pictures of everyone.

 Afterwards we were able to get just the missionaries together.  They worked hard.

The missionaries then performed various musical numbers at the park square under the hot sun.  They did so amazingly.  We hope to get you a link to see more.  The performances were put on Facebook for all to see.

 This guy didn't perform, but did say a few words.

Magic at it's finest!

At the location they performed were two amazing sculptures made of steel and used tires.  These are  amazing works of art.

We hope to get more pictures from the other two stakes in which the missionaries did service projects so we can add their pictures to the next blog.  Stay tuned.


As busy and good a week as it was, it ended like it should, a baptism of a very humble man.  He had long attended another religion, but came to our English class.  He started talking with the missionaries and then read the Book of Mormon and knew something powerful was happening to him.  Today, about 30 members joined with him on his special day.

I got to run with the office elders one morning.  They are trying to be more healthy.  They have great attitudes and push me to be better and more healthy.

We had some fun at the zoo as well.  We were able to go both days and be with all the missionaries.  However, we took a moment to see some of our own sights.

We are preparing for three days of zone conferences on the mountain.  There should be lots of pictures to choose from.  We are so happy with how our missionaries are maturing and growing as individuals, how they are learning to live with others, and how they can better serve others.  We feel like happy parents watching them grow and develop.  Thank you for sharing them with us!