Quick Week - Interviews, Baptisms, and a Luau!

This was a crazy week as we prepared for the calls the missionaries look forward to: Transfer Calls!

We finished interviews with the last zone plus the Assistants to the President:

 These pictures are all in front of the world map in one of the wards where the youth often contemplate where they would like to serve.  It reminds us of how large the world is and how many places the Lord can send these young people.  We were fortunate enough to have them called to serve with us!

 This picture with the Assistants was in our home where we complete interviews.  They like chatting with President, but it's Sister Turner's wit, wisdom, and tasty treats they most look forward to!

The weekend had three baptisms of which we could only attend two due to crazy schedules.  We love to see the missionaries perform musical numbers and interact with the church members with whom they serve.
In this picture, the young in the black shirt in the very center, in front of the tallest Elder is the one who was baptized.  The youth and the ward members came out in great numbers.

The elders sang a very nice song for him, we love the talent.

Another elder played a musical number on the cello, but I didn't get a still photo and the video clip was too large to put here.  We are so amazed with what these young people can do!

This ward is in a smaller city in the country-side.  The church is the rented third story of a business.  The first floor is a giant phone store, the second floor is a computer and gaming area, and we rent the third floor.  Because it is business building, the ward has a baptismal font that is easily constructed with a plastic liner and filled with water.  It's an amazing experience.

The second baptism was a young lady who fell in love with the message and with the young ladies teaching her.  These are amazing missionaries.

The third baptism was a woman who had been attending the Church for quite some time and had met with many missionaries.  Two elders started working with her about six weeks ago and helped her feel such a wonderful spirit that she too wanted to be baptized and make the covenants to follow the Savior, Jesus Christ.

We were invited to attend a Luau with one of the wards where three Hawaiian missionaries are currently serving.  They did such an amazing job to help the members prepare a nice Hawaiian meal.  They wanted to cook a pig, but finding a place in Seoul to dig a hole to cook a pig is nearly impossible without violating the rules of local parks!

They did some hula and some haka and even taught the members to dance as well.  It was a fun evening.  We love it when they share all of their talents!

As for interesting sights this week, this first one reminds me of my first visit here 40 years ago.  How much can you get on one bike or motorcycle?

Many have probably seen this picture before, but I love the clear morning air when I run early in the day.  The tower is about three miles away.

Finally, as we prepare for transfers we host a dinner in our home for the missionaries serving closest to us.  Due to a decreasing number of missionaries in our area, we will be closing one area.  The two sisters serving here will be gone. One will actually go home after a wonderful 18 months of service.  The other is reassigned to another area in the mission.  Additionally, one elder who has been serving in the area has been transferred to a new area.  In a show of solidarity, they didn't shave for the day, even the sisters.  We love them.  We wish everyone of our more than 100 missionaries could serve right here at the mission home!

Well, enough for this week.  We'll say farewell to 13 and welcome four this week.  We are sad and excited for the week ahead.  We hope you find this informative and enjoyable for a peek into the Korea Seoul South Mission!  Until next week, know of our love and appreciation for your support for us and especially for our missionaries.

Interview Week and Fortress Visit

This week we met in formal interviews about half of the missionaries in our mission.  Next week we will get the rest.  What a delight to sit for only about 20 minutes each with 50 outstanding young men and young women of great faith and desire to share the joyful message of the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The stories of miracles and personal blessings have been amazing.  I was able to shed tears with a few.  Meanwhile Terri was providing her home made peanut butter bars and getting to know them more intimately.  They are a joy to be around!

There are no pictures to go with the interviews.   However, our hearts are full of the experiences with this fine young adults and the love they have for  what they do.  It seemed like when we were not in interviews we were in the car! Not a great picture, but every where we go we have to go through tunnels.  It's so much better to go through than move the mountain!

We found a tower somewhat similar to something in a recent trilogy.  It's now called the Lotte Tower and we drive by it almost every day.  The area has been somewhat built up since Frodo was there.  It's pretty awe inspiring.

Each weekend we attempt to attend a baptismal event celebrating with the missionaries the love they share with others accepting the gospel and making sacred covenants.  Here's a young man, aged 27 who recently joined the Church with the young man who taught him, Elder Evans.

In planning for a major zone conference during one of the two biggest holidays in Korea, Chu Seok, or Thanksgiving in September, Terri and I took our two mission assistants, Elder Craven and Elder Kim to Hwa Seong Fortress in Suwon.  It was completed in about 1796.  There is an interesting story surrounding it's history.  Unfortunately, it was almost entirely destroyed in the Korean War.  However, the records for it's construction were found and it was almost completely rebuilt.  Here's a site to learn more about the special historical site: Hawseong Fortress - Suwon

We had the amazing opportunity to see some martial arts demonstrations which I really wanted to link here, but all you get is a picture with us and a few of the warriors.

There is an artist's street which we walked down looking for a quiet lunch.  I was grabbed by a dragon.  By the ball in it's mouth you can see it is good luck and he let me go quickly:

We found the local Buddhist temple and took a few pictures for posterity.  They really keep their sacred places clean and the landscaping well cared for.  It was a hot day, but we were glad to be out.

We decided to take a bike ride, but had difficulty getting on it.  We settled for a Kodak moment.

Terri loves flowers and when she saw this giant hibiscus she was quite taken.  This is one of our church buildings kept up by the members and not professional landscapers.  They had a wonderful flower garden all around the building.

We may amend this posting as we find more pictures that seem to be lost in cyber space.  Until next week....