Short Week - they all seem to be short!

The days fly by, the nights seem much shorter than ever.  However, the experiences we have are greater, the food spicier, the feelings for each other deeper.  The weather has tempered a bit so the missionaries are happier and busier.  There are a few more bugs in the air, both flying type (mosquitoes) and the viral type.  We have an increase in sniffles, and coughs, but we think the weather was so extreme, that as they have settled back down, their bodies are reacting.  They are troopers.

The day after the last post we attended the temple with another group of 35 or so.  We can never catch them all at once as they come and go.  However, we do get to interact and take pictures with most of them.  It's fun to watch them all interact for a few minutes before they head off to enjoy their preparation day.  They especially love to visit with Terri.  She has them posing in trees, on rocks, and wherever she can get them together.  They flock to Terri and wander over to me when they've felt the true source of love in our home!

We took our preparation day that day as well.  We had a full weekend planned.  Missionaries normally take their p-day on Monday, but on days like this, they take it on the day of the temple trip, in this case Thursday.  We normally take ours on Saturday so we can be available to them on Monday.  We knew this weekend would be pretty crowded with meetings and other events.  We stopped at the Lotte Mall at the great 123 floor Lotte tower for lunch and some wandering.  We love to people watch.  There are so many interesting little pieces to keep us entertained and to keep our cameras clicking.  We'd have a good time with the grandkids here.

Terri had the opportunity to release her inner angers today as well.  This one is for our two grandsons Vili and Tai!          Hulk Smash has nothing on this grandma!

Of course, I also found a place with my name on it.... It sells all kinds of candies.  We bought a few chocolate covered pretzels and chocolate covered gummi bears.  They have interesting names here for various stores.

We had a quiet date night as well.  Terri found a large field of flowers that are illuminated at night.  We believe they are solar powered.  It was a beautiful evening after a sunny day so the lights were amazing.  It was a fun work of art.

Of course, I finally had reached a level sufficient to acquire my wings.  They were  a little heavy so my legs had a hard time straightening.  I hope I can live up to the expectations now.

Over the weekend we attended several conferences.  Each time there was a meal involved.  While attended one meeting Terri was able to talk the ladies into allowing her to help.  In the Korean culture we are considered guests and typically not allowed to help.  However, she showed them she had a true interest in learning, grabbed a knife and cutting board and said, "Teach me!".  They had a wonderful evening in the kitchen with these new friends making a great meal.  The next day they worked together again for a few minutes.  She is hugged every time she walks into a building now!

We always like to photograph things that are a little unusual from our perspective.  In this case, we found a building with a tremendous number of signs on it.  They don't have large bill boards in most areas, but the buildings certainly are loaded with signs noting what's on that specific floor or at least nearby!  It's certainly colorful.

The biggest discovery that got my attention this week was a flash from home. My favorite vehicle was across the street from a bus stop we were standing at.  I was anxious to cross and ask for a test drive, but decided that is not why I came here.  I know I'll find my ride when I return...

Finally, we said goodbye to another missionary as Elder Schilling returned to the US this weekend.  We will miss him and wish him the very best upon his return.  We've had some experiences leaving fond memories of his time here.  This will likely be the last picture of us in a very small group with the flag.  We feel we lose focus on the individual. If the group is large enough, we will keep the flag, otherwise we will not have it.

We get up in the morning at the start of the week and it seems like we go to bed at the end of the week they are passing so quickly.  In the middle of the 'day' we have experiences with numerous missionaries, local church members, the local community, and the sites and sights of Korea.  For nearly 20 years Terri and I didn't get to sit by each other much in church and many days of the week we didn't see each other much.  Now we sit next to each other literally all day long, whether in the car, at meetings, at trainings, or on the couch.  I'm glad we have this opportunity to catch up!

One amazing things this weekend, the leaders of the church approved for some geographical shifts to the church organization in our mission.  Four stakes were combined into just two stakes.  During conferences held this past Sunday, the Anyang and Seoul South Stakes were combined into the Seoul South Stake and the Young Dong and Suwon Stakes were combined and renamed the Gyongi Stake.  Four wards in Anyang were consolidated to be called the Anyang Ward.  It will have a huge impact on the youth as they have the opportunity to interact with more youth of their own age at church.  We had beautiful choirs and speakers.  We also had Sister Joy Jones, the Primary General President and Carol McConkie, the 1st Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency with us this weekend.  It was a rich weekend.  Since pictures are not typically taken in the chapel, you'll have to wait for the Church News to see pictures.

Until next week, we hope all are happy and well. 

Lots of interesting happenings, it's all monumental!

As I thought about the last ten days (I'm sorry if I let any of you down not posting on Sunday!), I thought of all that happened and thought, well nothing monumental, but in reality it's all monumental to us or to someone reading something special or for a family that sees their son or daughter here!  Our capacity to love the country, the culture, the people, and especially our missionaries is unbelievable.  It seems to grow every day.
It seems like every week we say goodbye to one or two or twenty who have completed their mission.  This week we said good by to Sister Kwak.  She is actually flying to Utah to see her sister who is preparing to enter the MTC and serve a mission in Hawaii.

We had our first temple excursion with two of the zones, about 35 of our missionaries.  Unfortunately, we didn't get pictures of all of them before they left for their areas.  Some had to travel two hours to get there while others it was only about 30 minutes.  I think you can see by the smiles on their faces that they enjoy their missions, the temple, and of course the mission president and his wife!  I received on email this week after Terri spoke in church all in Korean that she was now a celebrity among the missionaries.  They do love her.  She got one compliment this week when a young elder said, "You know who you remind me of?  My MOM!"  We hope in some way these young men and young women can come to us as their surrogate parents so they can talk about concerns, problems, etc.  This comment was a treat!
We get to go to the temple over the next two Thursdays with the rest of the missionaries.  We truly look forward to every opportunity we have to be with them!

 Of course, we want them to know that as well as being their parents, we still love each other!

The reason we are here is to help these missionaries in their desire to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Every opportunity we have we attend a baptism and celebrate with the missionaries and the families and individuals who accept the gospel and commit to live by its principles.  These two young missionaries had the opportunity to teach a teen-age girl whose mother had been baptized many years ago but had not been actively involved until recently.  Together they are enjoying the blessings of the gospel.  During the ceremony, nine young men, five of who are preparing to serve missions in January sang to her in beautiful harmony.  They sang "Army of Helaman" which was truly amazing.  Afterwards there was a great feast for all in attendance.  This is the last baptism in this building as it is being sold and this ward is moving to another larger building with several other wards.  They have outgrown the building!

We do have the opportunity to eat out often because of all the travel we do.  Some with friends and some alone.  This week we had McDonalds and On the Border.  We've now had those plus KFC in the two months we've been here.

Of course there are some things we miss that just can't be duplicated, good old home made pizza!  And alas, there's no corn, cherries, sweet potatoes, or other interesting things added like you find in the local shops.  This was good old-fashioned Canadian Bacon!   Food is pretty important here!

 

We had a special conference this week with Elder Garrit W. Gong of he Presidency of the Seventy of the Church.  He and his wife came from Salt Lake to train and to teach in his role as a leader overseeing Asia.  After the meeting we had a wonderful Korean meal with the various leaders of the local stake and spouses.  To interact with these great leaders is a truly wonderful experience!

As we travel we see all kinds of interesting things.  Occasionally on the walls of the subway or underground shopping malls we'll find something interesting and fun to mimic.

I have no idea what to say about this one....

 We also see interesting signs on busses which serve so well as billboards.  They advertise everything from movies to TV shows to things I can't really explain.

 We also find neat advertisements like this giant crab on a building.  We haven't yet figured out what it's for as we only pass by at a fairly high speed on this main road.

We do actually work once in a while as well.  This week we went to the area farthest south in the mission to work with four great missionaries.  We truly enjoy spending time with them and they say they enjoy having us around.  Of course, it always ends with an ice cream treat of some sort! The young man in the glasses knows our son, Jacob very well as he was his teacher in Vernal, Utah. Jacob sees Elder Young's grandfather at the store periodically and loves to give him updates.  I'm sure this one will bring him great joy!

I know I mentioned this sight before, but someone said these were the national birds of Korea, the crane! It was such a beautiful evening, we had to take a pictures.

Finally, we had the special opportunity to meet our Korean tutor from last winter.  Hanna Choi was working at the Missionary Training Center until December when due to travel and other reasons had to discontinue teaching us.  She was such a fine young lady that when we learned we would be in an area near her family home in Seoul we were anxious to reach out to her.  She joined us for a quick chat. She left a few days to return to BYU to continue her education.  What a joy and help she has been to us!

This one is pretty long, but we had so many things happening.  This next week is pretty crazy too.  We are very happy here and hope you can sense that in our messages.  We wish we could share in a meaningful way the experiences with interviews, blessings, special counsel sessions, etc.  These are not our children and the people we meet every day are not our family, but while being this far from our own, they have quickly become ours and they are blessing our lives!  We are so grateful to be surrounded by such good people who lead by example in all they do.  We are indeed blessed!