Incredible Two Weeks!

We have just completed by far the most intense two weeks of our mission.  The first week of November was all about preparing for the upcoming transfer and six weeks.  We started with our Missionary Leadership Council (MLC).  We had three of the five missionaries leaving this week in the meeting and we asked them to share their final words.  They were pretty incredible.

Here's the final words to me from one of our sisters.  I hope you can understand the depth of this message and the intensity of the love she has for this work:

Sometimes, being a missionary in Korea was just plain hard. I have thought a lot about what I have done over the past year and a half. It was so hard. I never thought that the time right before church, standing at the front doors of a church building, waiting for an investigator to come to church would be so stressful-more stressful than probably any other test than I have taken-but it was and it is. Our purpose as missionaries is to "invite people to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel..." However, there were definitely times where I felt like I was dragging my investigators to the gates of the celestial kingdom instead of just merely "inviting" them (it never worked by the way haha). It was hard watching the people that I love so much so often reject something that I hold so close to my heart. I wanted so bad for them to just taste of the happiness that the gospel has brought me. Some of the people that I taught were just not ready and that is okay. I know that someday, their hears will be softened and they will receive the gospel with joy and gladness! With the help of the Lord I have tracted, contacted, proselyted, knocked on doors and walked the streets of Korea for hours on end. But if this, all that I have done, all that I have gone through, was the price of discipleship that I had to pay, I would pay it again and again. Seventy times seven. Surely, the price that Christ paid was higher. Surely the pain he suffered was deeper. He saved me, and you, and everyone and He did it because He loves us more that anything else. More than the riches more than the I-Phones, more than the promotion at work or any other wordy thing that we sometimes let block our view of Him. Being a missionary is hard, but the price of discipleship was never cheap, nor was it ever meant to be. Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price so that all of our "hard things" wouldn't have to be nearly as hard. Isn't that a miracle? Isn't that the greatest blessing? "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.(Matthew 11:30)"

These are the hearts of the young men and young women we work with every day!  Can you understand why we love them so much and enjoy spending so much time with them?!

The very next day we had the follow up training meeting with the missionaries who came in five weeks ago.  They are amazing! They learn so much in such a short period.  They work from 6:30 AM until 10:30 PM striving to learn the language and learn the life of the missionary.  They have great attitudes.

On Thursday, we welcomed the departing missionaries for their last few hours in the country.  What a wonderful evening!

It's a night of signing President Turner's flag, writing in Sister Turner's and the missionaries' memory books and dinner made with love.  There's no store bought or ordered dinner here!  We have a quite testimony meeting before getting the group photo and heading off for the final night in country.

Sister Sutton from Wyoming,

Sister Blom from Long Island, NY

 Elder Steadman from the Ogden, UT area

 Elder Perkes from Hooper, UT

 and Elder Craven from Tremonton/Logan, UT.

It's only been 10 days since this evening, but it seems like forever ago.  We sent them on their way the next day to the bus stop.  They have two hours to contemplate their mission time and laugh and cry together.

Each area of our mission has an English program offered to help any who are interested.  They get a free opportunity to have some conversation with a foreigner.   We have a the same in our building.  We had several of the individuals leaving this time who were together at one time. It was fun to have this picture before they left. It's hard to see from the picture, but these five plus one other are on the banner above them at the entrance to our church/office/mission home.

Well, shortly after this group left we were off to the airport to pick up another group.  We didn't take the outgoing group to the airport because we may have delayed them in their departure.  It took us just over an hour to get to the airport, but over two hours coming home.

We truly love greeting these wide-eyed, high expectation filled new missionaries at the airport.  Unfortunately, it's been a very long day for them and they are worn out when we get to them.  We hug them all and then wisk them away to the vans to load up their luggage.  They then take the subway back to the mission home.  They have the chance to practice their language skills with the folks on the subway.  It's a very big eye-opening experience for all of them!

Imagine 18 new missionaries with two checked bags each, one or two carry-on bags!  We have two good vans to help us carry the bags!  I should say we 'had' two good vans.  On the way home, while waiting in traffic, two office elders were hit from behind by a mini bus, probably too busy on a phone to pay attention.  Gratefully, they were fine, but the van had to be drug away.  They unloaded all the bags so we could pick them up later.  Some of the new missionaries had to sleep in their travel clothes since their goods were in the van and we got back too late.

The next day we have the pleasure of providing them their new orientation and assign their trainers.  There is no better experience than going through that process; interviewing each of them and assigning someone who will be best to help them.  I can confirm it was divine guidance, the Holy Ghost's kind promptings are much appreciated here.  Any parents reading this should check with their son or daughter to see if they feel they have the right companion.  I'm amazed how they are doing!

When we finished on Saturday evening we were exhausted, but we had to get up Sunday and speak in a stake conference.  We are so grateful for good translators.  We got to see about one-third of our missionaries at the conference and got to hug them.  Some we had just sent off the day before to be with their new companions.  They still have jet lag, but they have bright smiles and happy attitudes.

  We have been doing weekly and sometimes daily training for nearly four months.  It was time to have our cylinders recharged!  We attended a Asia North Area Mission Presidents Seminar with eleven other mission presidents and wives from Korea, Japan, and Guam/Micronesia.  What a thrill it was to be with these wonderful individuals.  The area presidency taught, guided, inspired and lifted us for five days. 

We finally had the opportunity to be together in one place with all four of the Korea mission presidents and their wives.  We also had with us the member of the Area Presidency from Korea, Elder Choi and his wife.

Of course, the sisters were able to have a wonderful moment together and got a special photo-bomb from a bride to be!

 No matter where we go, there is always something to take a picture of. This one is outside a sushi restaurant, the cuddle fish were awaiting their opportunity...

Terri had a close up moment with a ray.  No photo shop here.  That truly looks like a smiley face!

I haven't said yet, but we attended the seminar in Fukuoka, Japan. Seven of the mission presidents are in Japan.  This was the place this time. Twice each year we attend these conferences.

We had a 'cultural' day where we visited Japan's famous pottery area.  Much of the origin of the pottery was from Korean artisans some 400 years ago 'invited' to Japan to ply their skills.  I had twenty minutes to try to create a master piece. Here are the two I came up with.  Imagine what I could have accomplished with a full hour...

Terri met a friend near the hotel and had a Kodak moment with him.  He was actually napping, but she had to wake him!

 

We found some other works of art.  This is a huge float carried in a parade by large men. There's a 1.5 KM race where this has to be carried. This is actually an 80% scale model of the original.  It was absolutely stunning. Here you get the perspective from both sides.

We came home exhausted on Friday, but thoroughly strengthened.  We used Saturday to catch up and prepare for Sunday where we had the opportunity to speak in church again.

We then had the opportunity to attend a Young Single Adult (YSA) branch which was amazing.  They also had two young men be baptized while we were there.  One was actually half Chinese and spent most of his life in China.  His English teacher had joined the church only a few months ago and shared the joy of the gospel with him.  He wanted to know more and was introduced to some of our missionaries.  There was so much joy and excitement at the meeting, it was incredible.

We had a number of random photo moments with our missionaries.  As you can see, they truly adore Sister Turner!  We can't tell you how much we enjoy being with them and them being a part of our lives!  I have never been with so many happy people in my life!

On the way home one of the elders pulled out Terri's selfie stick and pulled this photo in the car.   I promise, we were not moving at this moment! These are our two assistants, Elder Stapp and Elder Kim Injoong.

Finally for today, we have been driving by this guy for months and wanted to get his photo.  Normally we are moving too quickly.  Terri took this in the car.  It looks like a construction zone employee waving his light stick, but it's actually a dummy.  I guess if there's going to be an accident, this guy is not likely to bring a suit and won't be facing severe hospital challenges.

We are having fun still and love the people we meet.  We cry like sad parents when we see them go home, but we exclaim with joy when the new ones come.  We know we are losing so many great missionaries, how we love and appreciate them.   Then we see the new missionaries develop and perform miracles and mature and grow into the young men and young women we see depart.  Thank you to any parents who are reading this.  You have truly sent wonderful, well prepared, angels of truth to us.  Until next week!

Opposition in All Things....

The week before transfers is always a full and challenging week.  There are so many positive things that happen and then there comes the adversity and challenges that test the time.  We had a couple of companionships that were struggling.  After prayerful consideration over several days it was very clear the adversary was creating contention and friction that could not be corrected by talking or asking for personal change.  I felt impressed to trade companions within two companionships and suddenly there was so much more light in all four that it was apparent the Lord had put the pieces where they need to go. There is opposition to this work by the adversary.  We bring light, joy, and happiness to people's lives and that makes the adversary work harder in opposition.

Yesterday, we attended the baptism of a sweet young lady.  She was attending a convention in Shanghai when she met a young man from Korea.  His parents are actually serving in our mission as a senior couple companionship.  He saw on her wrist a tattoo in Latin that said something to the effect of "I will do God's will".  He asked her some questions about her experience with religion.  She said she was struggling to find truth in the various religions. She believed in Christ, but couldn't settle.  He shared the story of the Prophet Joseph Smith, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and then gave her name to two lovely young missionaries in our mission.  She returned from China and met with the missionaries.  Two weeks later she was baptized and we got to be a part of it. What a joy!

While visiting two of our missionaries Terri had the opportunity to get more pictures with the local flora... We get more pleasure in being with and chatting with these missionaries than you can realize.  They are so strong.  Those who have been out for a long time are a great strength to those just starting.

In another situation, a man in one of the wards here had talked to his sister about the joy he found in the gospel and invited her to visit with the missionaries.  She was resistant for quite a while, but after discussions with some of our sister missionaries she found great peace and happiness and light in their message.  In her prayers she found answers she was seeking.  Here she is with the brother and with many loved ones.

Of course in all our travels we continue to see new and interesting things we love to share.  For our granddaughters, we found a traveling advertisement of one their favorite things:

We found this past Saturday morning an adventuresome physically challenged octogenarian who had places to go and places to see.  You can see him at the stop light, the starting line and then a flash after when the light changed.  Traffic certainly doesn't frighten him!

Occasionally, we see people walking around an area in what look like hospital pajamas and look to see if there is a nearby hospital.  They don't all have the large "H" on them like back home.  On one nice afternoon drive we found someone that decided their hospital room wasn't comfortable and decided a walk in the busy streets was more what she wanted to do.  Nothing slows some people!

During a quiet walk in the local park on Saturday morning, our typical preparation day, we found a large number of local bird houses which we were taking pictures of.  A very kind man asked if we wanted to have our picture, we agreed and stood to take the picture.  Immediately his young son, who we've never met, jumped into the picture.  He'll likely never see the picture since I wasn't quick enough to give the blog link to the father where he could see his son forever enshrined in fame.

In our area we found a street that brought a lift to me.  I am a cowboy at heart having been born in Wyoming.  We had to get this one. Unfortunately, traffic was moving too quickly to get a better angle.

More flora... Terri loves the angel trumpets.  She wants one to go with the Lantana tree on the roof.

Finally, we always have to capture our mission assistants, those missionaries we work the closest with to keep track of everything going on, in compromising situations.  They had found some ingredients and wanted some guidance on making cookies.  Terri needed to provide some loving assistance to make things work out correctly.  They have to dress the part...

Once again, it's been a quick week.  Thank you for your support and love.  Transfers happen this week, we have 18 new missionaries coming in and 12 leaving, we'll be pretty busy and hopefully we'll have lots of photo opportunities.  Stay tuned.........