Quality Time with Our Missionaries!

Clearly, the most fun we have each week is the time being with the missionaries. Most of the time it is truly focused on training, learning, being better at we do.  Each one works very hard.  Some are so focused they don't want to take a preparation day and we have to remind them that preparation day is for more than just doing laundry, shopping and emailing mom and dad.  It's about relaxing and reloading for the upcoming week. 
We had more training this week with the leadership council.  We spent time talking about our culture within the mission and how we can be better in 2017.  They gave such good input! Here's the current team:

We try to let them relax a little even in our meetings.  We wind them pretty tight.  Try being a teenager in an adult world with real leadership responsibilities.  They take it pretty serious and we encourage them to lighten up just a little.

This was the temple week for this period.  We had two more zones at the temple.  What a rich experience.  A little sister from Thailand had family names for sealings in the temple.  Terri and I were proxy which was truly rich.  She wept as she saw her grand parents sealed and some deceased uncles sealed as well. We love being with them.  These are for the parents!

 That splash of color (both personality and jacket) adds so much to this group.

As you can see it's getting colder, but they still love to have fun posing with Sister Turner.  I am learning a new level of patience...

This week there were lots more of the elders posing for Sister Turner.

On the way to the temple, in the early morning drive on the freeway, Sister Turner caught this picture out the window.  If you click on it and let the size grow you'll see more of the beauty of the photo. The eye of Mordor is a little off center, but the tower is very visible beyond the bridge over the Han River.

Terri started our morning at the temple with our own selfie.

The true purpose of our work here is about inviting others to come unto Christ.  We had seven different baptisms this weekend.  We could only make it to one due to my schedule, but it was a rich experience.  At one of the baptisms, a 12 year old boy was preparing to be baptized and said to the missionary, "Is it unusual to feel this much joy at a time like this?"  You can bet that missionary had some happy moments!  There is so much joy when we attend these special events.

I was busy conducting final interviews for some of our missionaries leaving this next week so Terri took some sisters for a walk near the church and enjoyed a few moments outside.

While driving, she caught this picture on a hill.  These pop up in random places, a spot for contemplation and relaxation.  In the cooler weather it doesn't get that much use.

I am working on getting my local driver's license.  I have an international license that is only good for so long.  When we were here 20 years ago it was a few signatures and an eye test.  This time it's a written test, a small course driving test followed by a road coarse test.  As another missionary and I passed the small course test we had to sign up for the road course.  We had to pull a number. I thought it was a funny number...

With the recent transfers, we released two of our office elders.  Elder Hays from Tennessee has been serving as the supply manager for the last 4 1/2 months and is going back to being a full-time missionary.  He has a burning desire to teach.  He is pretty happy fully dedicating his time to teaching and not the administrivia of the office.  We will miss him!  He has a great smile.

Elder Kim Injoong has been serving as my assistant for the last 4 1/2 months.  He is such a good missionary I wanted him to be able to spend his last three months doing what he is so good at, teaching others.  He has been our translator, advisor, and friend.  We will miss him!

This week brings new missionaries to the country and many will go home having completed their service.  There will be some joy and some tears this week.  You'll hear about it next week.
We continue to have fun and love being with these great young people.  We learn so much from them.  We only hope we send them home to their parents stronger and more dedicated than when we first met them.  We certainly are better people for knowing them.  They bless our lives in so many great ways.  Christmas cookies are calling, so until next week stay happy, healthy and warm!

Sisters , the Temple and a Mountain Fortress

It was another crazy fast week.  I have a little time this evening, so we thought we'd share a few highlights and lots of pictures.  With special permission from our Area Presidency, we conducted a conference for the sisters in the mission.  We have identified an issue and felt it was important for us to pull them all together and for President and Sister Turner to give them a bit of a Scotch Blessing.  It's less important for the world to know what the issue was, but they know what it is and have committed to do better.  We had a quiet lunch, ice breaker for them to get to know each other better, skits that highlighted issues, special musical numbers and then messages from leaders addressing the concerns specifically.   Our love for them only grew! They have so much talent which they love to share.

We had another day at the temple with one-third of the mission with the obligatory pictures artistically and "strategically" posed by their mission mother...

We are requesting lots of pictures from all the missionaries to put into our Christmas zone conference slide show.  That should be loads of fun.  They are certainly sending a bunch of pictures.
On Saturday, Terri and I actually took a full preparation day to see a cultural site.  Many of the missionaries had been to this site and it has been a place of zone conferences in the past so we thought we would check it out.  It is called Nam Han San Seong. In English it is South Han Mountain Fortress.
It is only about 20 minutes by car from the mission home and is near the top of a mountain.  You can learn more about it at this site: Fortress
It has many miles of walls near the mountain top.  It was a protective location for the king, but also a place for common citizens to live.  At one time, it was said, the population within the area was about 4,000 people.  They have rebuilt many of the buildings based on old pictures.

Obviously, these few pictures won't give you much perspective.  We took a view of Seoul, but the haze was bad enough there isn't much to see.  On a clear day, this would be magnificent.  In the fall, the colors on the trees are amazing.

There is always the pictures just for the fun of it...

There was a Buddhist temple within the complex which we visited.  There is so much color and the smell of incense is wonderful.

It's beginning to look more and more like Christmas.  The Lotte Tower has many magical displays.  I wish I could get  better pictures.  Here's a distant a close up of the Christmas Tree made out of lights.

We said farewell to another fine elder this weekend due to some severe health issues.  We will miss Elder Brewer and expect to see him back as soon as possible.  We had a little dinner for him and his companions (it was a threesome) joined us for one of Terri's and my favorite foods at the place we've found that makes it best.

Yesterday, we were invited to attend another baptism.  What a delightful experience that was. This story is wonderful.  Five years ago a man was baptized, but after a period was not so active or involved.  However, recently as he has felt the need to be closer to the gospel he chatted with a friend who he brought to church and introduced to our missionaries.  The man who baptized the original member five years ago also baptized this man.  Lots of love was involved in this day!

Finally, there has to be a less serious picture.  While thinking of our trainer and yoga lover, Rachel, Terri was found practicing with a mannequin, a perfect tree pose...

Along with the busy schedule and stress of all around us, we do have time to pause and enjoy each other and the culture around us.  We love it here and love the missionaries and the many people we serve and serve with.  We wish everyone had such an opportunity.  If you have an opportunity to invite a missionary over and share an hour, you'll be amazed at the personalities and strength of the young men and women.  Until next time...