Quiet week of planning

Terri and I have new opportunities to be with the missionaries every transfers and so we hold one week each transfer (a transfer cycle is six weeks in length) for planning.  We have the opportunity to interview every one of our 113 missionaries each transfer cycle and to have zone conferences with them.  Those two events take four to five weeks depending on whether we do each of the six zones in separate conferences or combine a few zones to decrease the number of conferences.  This week was a planning week and we were glad for that. 
We attended a wedding reception on a Saturday that was pretty interesting.  There were so many people we couldn't get into the ring ceremony and the celebration.  They have a huge buffet at the wedding hall where you eat and then the bride/groom and parents come through and greet.  It's kind of a reverse wedding line.                  
These flower arrangements are given at weddings, funerals, business openings, etc.  They are pretty amazing.  There were a dozen of these around the entrance.

Last Sunday we attended a baptismal service.  The first was a roughly 80 year old woman whose daughter had been baptized some years before.  She shared with her mother her love and joy in her new faith.  The mother wanted to know more.  Her husband had passed away a few years earlier and was lonely.  Her daughter introduced her to a number of old ladies in the local ward and they instantly became friends.  We spent some time with the mother, her daughter, and her son (the tallest one in the background, and really felt a tremendous amount of love.

 This father had not been very active for a number of years, but the missionaries and the local members reached out to them and they excitedly came to church.  His ten year old son had not been baptized so this same day the father baptized the son.  It was a fun afternoon.

As part of the baptismal ceremony a small 'symphony' of ladies from age ten to 70 or so played a hymn on their violins.  It was pretty amazing with only a few moments of practice.

Each week I get emails from every one of our missionaries. They are wonderful messages sharing their deep feelings.  Occasionally, they share a fun story.  Some are less reverent, but they definitely cover the full variety of experiences they have had!  Here are a few:

One funny thing that did happen was we were so worried about filling up the font with cold water that we just turned on the hot water the whole time and thought that by the time of the baptism it would have cooled down. To put it concisely, we thought wrong. The water was boiling hot. We could not even step in it without our feet boiling to death. So for the first 10 minutes of the baptism, we were dumping cold water and snow from outside into the font haha. It actually was really funny and while in the moment I was mortified, I can look back and laugh at it now.

 

This week wasn't the best for missionary work but I'll share a funny story that we had this week. It was actually while we were on our way to the hospital while riding a subway. There were actually a lot of people on this train because it was about 9 or so in the morning so still rush hour amounts of people. I was reviewing some of my Korean words that I was working on memorizing for the day and my companion offered to quiz me on them and so of course I accepted the help. We start going through these words and I am saying the English word as he is giving me the Korean word. Then we get to one of the words on the card and I couldn't quite hear him say the word. Then he said the word louder and then said the word again. By the time I realized what he had said I was dying laughing. My companion asked me what in the world was happening and then I asked him if he had been looking at the English definitions as we were going through and he answered no. I told him to look and then he started laughing as well. Turns out the word was constipation. So here we are, two white guys on this train, saying really loudly constipation over and over again as we are surrounded by all these people. Talk about a missionary moment to remember.

  

This one by a young sister is very funny!

I just want to tell you about Friday. We met with this girl who talked to the Elders because she loves foreigners. After we met, [my Korean companion] gave her a handshake. So I went in for a handshake too, but she hugged me. Really hard and said I love you. So that. But it gets better, that night we went sticker boarding. And this other girl sees us and just starts screaming. She comes up to me and I don't understand her but her arms are opened up. So ooh, she wants to hug. She hugged me three times, patted my cheeks and then tried to kiss/smell me. She doesn't want to learn English, she just loves foreigners. Sometimes it's a good thing being a foreigner.

This week we met with our leadership council to plan for the upcoming month and conferences.  They are pretty amazing.

Each week we try to go out and work and study with our missionaries.  Again, this week we had a great time.  We have to capture a picture from the evening. Almost always there is food involved...

 We attended a conference this weekend in one of our three stakes in the mission.  As we were preparing to start, a choir of youth ages 14-18 were warming up.  They sang two amazing numbers during the conference.  Terri and I are constantly amazed by the musical talent of the youth here!

Sunday was a wonderful conference where about 50 of our missionaries were in attendance.  We took some pictures with them randomly before the meeting started and then a big one after.  We can't get enough of them. A few elders and sisters came late or left early and we couldn't get them all in.  Someone else took a better picture with the group, but it won't be available before publishing...

Finally, while traveling we saw the statue of one of the great Korean scientists of the past.  We didn't stop to catch his name.  The statue was outside the Korean institute of science and technology.

We've had another amazing week in the Land of the Morning Calm.  This next week will be busy with zone conferences. There should be lots of pictures of the missionaries.  We hope you get to see one you recognize. They are always happy and a true joy to be around.  Until next week!

Special conferences, a major holiday and another week of coming and going!

Last week we were so busy with special conferences, training meetings and probably the most popular holiday, Lunar New Year, we didn't get to publish our blog.  I can promise we wanted to, but we couldn't spare the time.  We started with a meeting with all the new missionaries from December and checking with them on how they were doing on their language learning and experiences. Along with the normal, we have to have some goofy ones! 

We then received special training from the Executive Committee of the Missionary Department.  We had half the mission together for one day and half for the other day.  Our schedule is changing allowing the missionaries to be more responsible for their daily schedule.  We are excited about this.  It will provide more agency, more focus on rest and health, and more productivity.  Of course, we had lots of pictures.  You'll notice the special dresses the women are wearing.  These are the traditional Korean clothes.  This weekend was Lunar New Year.  We invited them for the holiday to wear the special clothes.
The first conference were for the Anyang, Suwon, and Young Dong zones.

 There were four burritos (not very Korean, but on a holiday hard to find anything else...) left over and the old rock-paper-scissors game settled who the winners were of the extra food.

Elder and Sister Black are our office couple.  We couldn't survive without their organization skills and their love for the missionaries!
The second conference was for the Incheon, Gangsoe, and Seoul Nam Zones. We hope you find your son or daughter in these pictures or at least someone you love...

 Sister Turner up to her antics again.  The missionaries love it!

 Need to work on this pose a bit more I think.

We took a trip to the Korea Folk Village on the Friday of the Lunar New Year holiday.  We ended up having a number of missionaries there as it was their preparation day and a day to get immersed again into the culture.  The Folk Village is a place where period clothes are worn, old farming, pottery, cooking, metal work, etc. skills are shown.  There were a few interesting shows as well.  It was pretty cold so we were all bundled up pretty tight.  We look forward to going back in warmer days.

 These are the guards at the local Buddhist Temple.

 A family invited us to join in their family photo shoot. Beautiful dresses.

 These are the local jesters.  They were loads of fun.

 Traditional whirling dance.

 This fellow was on the equestrian martial arts team.  Very interesting.

 The closest thing to driving Terri would do in Korea. 1000 won and she rode for 60 seconds.  The thrill of being behind the wheel. 

 It was freezing.  The earmuffs were a big hit!!! :)

The front of the Buddhist temple.
We had some shows as well.  They were very entertaining.  I hope you can get a feel for it. First we have the equestrian martial arts team.  This piece is still entertaining.

The musical pieces were especially neat.

Finally, this week has been full of meeting with missionaries coming and going.  We had three new missionaries come in this week from the Missionary Training Center.  A Korean Elder and a Korean Sister came and an American Sister who actually lived in Korea with her family during some of her early school years.  She remembers no Korean from that time, but has show great ability and desire to learn.  We also had a missionary join us for seven weeks as he awaits his visa to serve in Anaheim, California.  We're excited to have him join us.  They met their new companions this week.

Elder Kim Jihyeon and his companion, Elder Chu Jiwoong (the tall one)

Sister Kim Sujin with companion (Sister Soung (the taller sister)

 Elder Lee Daewon (will serve in California) with Elder Young

Sister Oldroyd (coming back to Korea as a young adult) with Sister Cordova (red, white, and blue)

We had a great day with them preparing for their journey.  It's easy to fall in love with them.  Sort of like seeing your new born baby for the first time.
We also sent home some veterans this week.  There were truly many tears during a great departure meeting.  What a powerful impact they've had on Terri and I.  It's worse than sending kids away to college for the first time.  We look forward to the day when we will see them again.

 A wonderful meal prepared by Sister Turner.

 L to R: (seated) Sister O'Loughlin from Missouri, Sister Holste from Utah, Sister Turner, Sister An Jimin and Sister Gil Hwanhui from Korea. (standing) Elder Kim Geunsu from Korea, Elder Eads from Maryland, Pres. Turner, Elder Stapp from California.

 Have to bring in the flag...

Now the flag and the antics!
What a wonderful couple of weeks.  We laugh, we cry with the missionaries.  The more of them we can be with the better. Terri loves it when the walls of the house ring with the laughter of these great sons and daughters of God.  The hugs, the handshakes, the smiles, laughter, the tears really have a great impact on our morale and we believe on theirs.  Until next time, we're doing our best.