A Mission Tour

It was an amazing, but busy week.  We were able to be with everyone of our missionaries.  We had a visitor from the Asia North Area Presidency, Elder Yamashita and his wonderful wife.  The missionaries were well fed physically and spiritually.
We started with a special Mission Leadership Council meeting where the leaders shared with Elder Yamashita their feelings about expectations within the mission.  These are good leaders for a reason! 

The Gyeonggi and Suwon zones met with Elder and Sister Yamashita on Thursday.  They all looked terrific and participated actively in the discussions and training throughout the day.  They learned much more about their role and our expectations for them throughout the day.

 The local leaders arranged a massive feast for them.  Even with their big appetites they couldn't finish it all!

Before they left, we were able to get one picture with some of the local stake leaders who attended the meeting with us to learn more how we can work together.It's a wonderful stake Relief Society presidency with Sister Yamashita and Sister Turner

The Seoul West and Seoul South Zones met with Elder and Sister Yamashita on Friday.  The training was roughly the same with a few changes.  The food was terrific and as plentiful as the day prior.

 Two large tables of wonderful local and western foods.  Again, more than they could all eat!

Earlier in the week we had a great opportunity to interview two districts.  We got everyone except our Assistants to the President, but you got to see them last week in their special hats!

On the weekend we had a special visit from two of our former missionaries.  One plays football now, having just finished his first year at Stanford.  He brought a young lady friend to tour his former areas.  She actually has a cousin serving in our mission.  The other former elder was his companion who lives in Korea.  We love these guys.  Of course the two Assistants had to get involved as well.
We can't get enough of these guys!

We finished the weekend with a wonderful stake conference in the Seoul West Stake.  Elder Choi, Yoonhwan, the Area President presided over the conference.  Between meetings Saturday he convened a dinner for the bishops and their wives, the stake presidency and invited us.  We are so blessed to serve with and among such wonderful individuals and leaders.

Another full week has passed!  The upcoming week promises to equally busy and exciting.  We're very excited to welcome next weekend our oldest son and his family to Korea!  Much more to come.  The missionaries are doing so wonderfully and they are such a blessing to us and all those with whom they interact.  You can be so proud of them!  Until we have more.

Spring is in the Air!

We are going more and more without winter coats, though we still need them occasionally.  You can see in some of the pictures things are changing. You can't go by the color of the grass as it is always yellow except in the prime of the year.

Last Sunday we held a "True to the Faith" fireside which is a fireside where recent converts speak to those who are learning about the church, the missionaries perform musical numbers and one missionary shares a personal testimony.  It is always a great thing followed by about an hour of socializing over cookies, strawberries, nuts, chocolate, etc. 

We could only fit so many in the picture.

Here are the three actual performances.  I have learned how to get the long ones into a smaller format.  They have so little time to practice given their schedules, but they do amazing things!  We try to include everyone in the pictures.  This is only one stake and some missionaries were unable to attend.  We try to do one of these each month in a different stake.

We had two more districts of interviews this week.  We could only have one district council as the Korean missionaries in one district was participating in a special English aptitude test to be considered for enrollment into BYU-Hawaii.  It was still great being with them.

We think the picture in the background is especially meaningful to these missionaries as they do so much service for others!  This group is in the Yeongdeunpo and Bucheon District.

This group is in Icheon and Bundang District.  No pictures, we weren't smart or alert enough, but as we arrived, we were in a freak snow storm with huge flakes and cold wind.  Gratefully it blew over in only a short period and we were able to walk outside to lunch together.  Spending time with them is always an amazing experience, especially over food!

The highlight of the week was definitely another day at the temple with our wonderful missionaries!  We truly enjoy spending time with them.  Have we said that before?
Sister Turner enjoys getting them to pose.  They really have fun with it.

 See if you can find anything unusual about this one below.  You may need to enlarge it to really appreciate it.

 They do love Sister Turner and her big heart and tasty treats!

 All with a common title and role...

 Pretty awesome group of young ladies!

 What's one more pose?

 Posing takes a lot of energy... Needed an energy lift.

 Of course, we don't mind being together either...We are together so much now, we are really uncomfortable when we are not together.  Ah, blessed companionship!

Well, that's all for today.  We have lots of pictures planned for this week as we have a Mission Tour with our visiting General Authority and counselor in the Area Presidency, Elder and Sister Yamashita will be coming.  We'll have pictures with everyone.  We are excited for Spring.  We're sure those of you in the US are probably most ready for spring after the brutal winter that never seems to end.  We hope you find someone in these you know and love!  We sure appreciate all of you and your support and prayers for us and our missionaries.  Until there's more...

They Love Visiting the Temple

Another great week with interviews in three districts plus a visit to the temple.

There is something incredibly special about greeting missionaries as they come into the Celestial Room.  They are awash in a special glow and ready to embrace us or shake our hands.  We have another trip scheduled for this week and a final one the last Thursday of the month.  It's a special experience for us.  Here are a few of the pictures taken.  They took many on their own which we hope they send to you, their favorite people!

 They are a very exuberant group!  So much personality!

 They still like Sister Turner the best, she knows the fastest way to their hearts!

 They look forward to posing.

 Somehow they put up with the stern one...

 

 Posing on the rocks is always a favorite. 

 They are looking at Moroni and helping him with his trumpet.  They are joining that angel who came to proclaim the restoration of the everlasting gospel.

Some missionaries like to take their own special picture and end up with more than expected...

We did interviews over three days accompanied by district council and lunch.  We learn much about them during interviews, but the real learning and discovery happens during lunch and district council.

This district covers Gimpo and Cheongna:

 Because we have fewer sisters right now, most districts only have one and several have no sisters.  We see a large influx coming over the summer months starting in mid-May.

These groups are in Gimpo,

 We have an odd number of elders (odd number, not odd elders...) so we have a threesome here, they are the only team serving in their ward right now. We hope to remedy that soon. They are in Cheongna.

This district covers both Incheon Wards

Incheon 1st Ward

Incheon 2nd Ward

 

President was off on a special interview and missed out on this picture...

The final area to visit was in Pyeongtaek with that area and the Anseong area.  It also includes two military relations couples.  We feel bad in that we forgot to take pictures when we were all together and missed one of the couples.

These missionaries are in Pyeongtaek.

These two elders are in Anseong which is a tiny branch that geographically is huge, but exceptionally rural. 

 These are one of the Military Relations couples serving at Camp Humphreys helping with all the single and unaccompanied service men and women at that base.

After these interviews we joined the missionaries across the zone for an activity where we did stickerboarding about Family History and also invited individuals to come learn English through or EnglishConnect program which is doing so well.  It was a bit cold, but the missionaries had huge smiles and were active in talking to anyone who would give them some time.  If you see yellow vests, it's out missionaries talking about English Connect.

 

 This is an ad inviting others to serve together with us through the Helping Hands program.  The blonde woman on the poster is our dear friend and former mission president wife.

It was an interesting week with hospital visits.  The best hospital in the country is near our mission home and we recommend missionaries visit this hospital.  In some cases it is a long ride for them and they get worn out in the work...  Waiting is a hard thing.  Some study every waking hour, primarily the newest missionaries.

We had a young lady develop terrible back problems and determined she should get some treatment at home.  She lives near Busan so she was home that evening and being treated pretty quickly.  We expect to have her back with us very soon.  She lives in a house with three other sisters and they are anxious to have her back, especially the one who was in the midst of training her.

It really does break our hearts when our missionaries struggle in any way.  However, we have learned that the journey through a challenging situation provides great learning and perspective which they sorely need in their youth.  They all rally around each other and support each other.  It is a great thing for us to observe.

We have another very busy week ahead of us and hope to have new pictures and commentary (occasionally witty) available of your favorite missionary or their president or his wife.
Once again, we appreciate your prayers and support.  Until we have another opportunity...