COLD WEATHER, MISSIONARIES, AND MORE RUSSIANS

Sister R saw a woman in this motorcycle shop getting things "ready for Christmas" sales. Can you tell what made Sister R think that?

The man in the shiny pink tie is a member of the Church who provided a bus to take any senior missionaries who wanted to go down to Suwon where he gave them a tour of his factory buildings, laboratory, ressearch and development area, and other facilities. He was explaining the use of the ring he invented. There's a box of the rings in front of him. Can you see the sparkles on his pink tie? Many men in Korea wear that kind of tie -- pastel colored with sparkles.

As Sister R walked between buildings on an upper floor of the factory, she saw this small (about 12" to 18" high) statue along the walkway.

Our District Leader is leading the group of go-cart drivers heading out to the track. Other brethren took turns in the carts, including the factory owner, who developed the go-cart frame design and owns the track. Before leaving the track the two sisters in the back of this picture and the District Leader's wife also drove go-carts.

Elder and Sister R saw this beautifully sparkly Christmas tree outside the large Hyundai Department store a few blocks from their apartment.

This building in Seoul has something Sister R has seen a lot -- a picture painted on the wall. There are many pictures painted on walls of buildings and on free-standing walls, including retaining walls. She hasn't seen as many buildings with large screens she assumes are LED displays on their outside walls like this one has, but there are some.

This is a newly erected statue on the Central plaza in Seoul. The Hangul characters below it say "Sejong the Great". It is a statue of King Sejong, the Korean king of the Chosun Dynasty who reigned from 1418 to 1450. He developed the Korean alphabet that is used almost exclusively in Korea today.

Monday at 10:30 Elder and Sister R joined most of the Temple Missionaries for a bus excursion at the expense of a wealthy Church member. They found out the information that they were going to visit the historic site, the Hwaseong Fort, in Suwhon, was wrong. Sister R thought it seemed puzzling or “too good to be true”. They actually visited the member’s factories, laboratory, and another business. The man has invented/made many things and won many awards and is very enthusiastic about his business. Besides walking around his factories and laboratory, they visited his go-cart track where some of the missionaries had fun driving the go-carts, and ended up at his hobby place – where they do skeet shooting. Elder and Sister R were observers of others driving go-carts and shooting shotguns. The bus arrived back at the Temple at 6 P.M. After a quick dinner there was plenty of time for Elder R to do an errand. For F.H.E. he presented the lesson about some scriptures he’d been thinking about recently. The first of the Christmas Tabernacle Choir programs was enjoyed as their favorite activity.

Tuesday morning Elder and Sister R went over to attend a Temple session with the Shinchon Ward couple. After lunch, Elder R went out to do an errand. When he returned, Elder and Sister R went down to the Insadong area of Seoul to buy some gifts. Elder R chose a Christmas gift Sister R will give him and Sister R chose one Elder R will give her. Elder and Sister R went over to English Class early in response to a request from one of the young sister missionaries for Sister R to help her with the wording of something she’s submitting to get into school. The evening English classes were different. Elder R had 2 men and 2 women in the higher class, including two women who are members of the Church (one from China and the other visiting from Japan). Sister R’s class included 4 students, including the young missionary sister.

Wednesday was a special day for Elder and Sister R because they were able to be the Main Ordinance workers in the 9:40 session for the missionaries for the Puk (North) and Dong (East) Zones of our Mission. The reactions on the faces of the missionaries as they came into the room and saw Elder and Sister R standing in the front of the room will be a wonderful memory. Elder and Sister R got to be “candy missionaries” after the session, the last time t do this for missionaries in the Korea Seoul Mission before they return to the States. Russian Saints were at the Temple and Elder and Sister R were blessed to do some things with them. Wednesday night Elder R went over to Institute class and Sister R worked on her talk some more, changing it because of the feelings she had during Companion Study on Monday morning.

Elder R began his Thursday a little earlier than Sister R to be at the Recommend Desk from 9 to 12. Sister R did some e-mail and Internet checking and found a VERY CUTE “Santa Baby” picture of a grandson that she immediately put into her Pictures Folder. Elder and Sister R did a number of things during their Temple service with the three Russian Saints. Elder R found out they are from Sakhalin Island. Elder and Sister R also attended a sealing session where these Saints were sealed to their family members/ancestors. Sister R continued to have thoughts about what she should say in her talk for the 7th, and she made additional changes in the evening and hopes a few more efforts will get the talk to the “giveable” state.

Friday Elder R left before Sister R again, this time because there was a special 8:30 Baptism session for the three Russian members. It was a fairly routine Temple Friday for Elder and Sister R after the unusual beginning. But one unusual thing was that Sister R had the same assignment for two sessions. Elder R continues to do well with anything he’s assigned and Sister R has been able to finish Korean language sessions as a patron without forgetting or making mistakes a few times now. While Sister R was looking at the Mormon Times “It’s a Small Mormon World #3” articles, she read one by someone from Sakhalin Island that mentioned the name of the Russian couple! She printed it out and had Elder R take it to the security guard who said he’d make sure the brother and sister got it. Elder R went out to do a little shopping and Sister R stayed in and worked some more on her talk.

Saturday was a pretty cold and windy day – so windy it felt colder than the low-30s temperature. One website said it felt like 21⁰ at 3 PM when the temperature was 30. When Elder and Sister R went out to do shopping, they saw a few snowflakes falling for a short time. It was announced at the beginning of English Class that next Saturday will be Elder and Sister R’s last time there. There ended up being four women plus the two sister missionaries in the Middle class with Sister R. One woman mentioned that it is easier for her to understand when Sister R speaks. Sister R said that is because she was blessed to be able to learn to speak clearly and pronounce words well, and that the Spirit helps them understand her. Elder R had 2 women and 3 men in the higher, free-talking class. Transfer calls were made that morning and two missionaries will be transferred from the Shinchon Ward next Wednesday. After dinner Sister R mixed up Snickerdoodle dough so she won’t have to worry about doing that before she bakes some cookies for next Saturday’s English class.

Sunday morning Sister R checked a weather website and found the temp at 9AM was 22⁰ even though the predicted low was 24⁰. They survived the 2 minute walk through the cold to the meetinghouse back door, but Sister R pitied anyone who shook her hands. Sister R was THRILLED to learn the Bishop was there and was VERY happy to see him moving quite easily during Sacrament Meeting. She enjoyed singing Christmas songs in RS and in Sacrament Meeting. It was surprising to find that Elder and Sister Reeve’s departure date was announced in RS and Sacrament Meeting and also printed among the announcements on the Sunday bulletin. The other surprise was seeing their names in the bulletin as the speakers for next week. After meetings, Elder and Sister R received some invitations to have dinner with members during the coming week. In the late afternoon Elder and Sister R walked down in the COLD (27⁰, feels like 21⁰) to have dinner at the restaurant of the Ward Mission Leader and his wife.

THANKSGIVING AND BAPTISMS

This sister from one of the Branches in the Russia Vladivostok Mission surprised Sister R by sending a letter and DVD with one of the missionaries from that mission for Sister R. These two sisters connected with each other when they met in June despite not being able to speak any of the other sister's language.

Missionaries and a member are enjoying an American Thanksgiving Dinner in Korea. The "hosts" for the meal were main providers of the "American" things because the husband is a retired military officer with BX privileges on a nearby base.

A choir of Young Single Adults in the Shinchon Ward and the young missionaries added a special spirit to the Baptismal service for two women Sunday afternoon. The gifted accompanist is also a YSA brother. They sang in English and Korean.

This young woman with one of the sister missionaries is doing the typical thing MANY people in Korea do when their picture is taken. Sister R isn't sure if they mean the "victory" this signal has historically meant, or something else.

Sister R put two pictures of this YSA sister who was baptized so both of the sisters who taught her the lessons could be shown.

The two sister missionaries flank a young woman and her older sister in this picture taken just before the woman was baptized. The older sister is wearing one style of Hanbok in celebration of this important event.

Elder Reeve realized Monday morning why he changed his mind Sunday night and decided Elder and Sister R shouldn’t join other senior missionaries from the Seoul and Seoul West Missions at the monthly couples’ dinner tonight when he developed head pain. So, the morning was spent “hunkered down”, doing computer things, including enjoying a fun grandson e-mail. By the afternoon he was feeling better and went out to do some errands for Sister R. Sister R cooked a beef stew over 2½ hours to give the Korean beef one more chance to be tender. It worked and the stew was tasty. Sister R prepared the FHE lesson from Sis. Ann M. Dibb’s General Conference address: “Hold On”. Root Beer floats were refreshments and the main activity getting one more box ready to send. The Tab Choir Thanksgiving program was a lovely post-activity activity with various e-mails and computer things taking up the evening.

Tuesday morning was a little emotional because Sister R told the Shinchon ward couple they were in the Temple with that they will leave Korea on December 15th and the word spread to a few other Shinchon Ward sisters in the session, including the RS President. It is a shock because all expected Elder and Sister R to stay here longer than 6½ months. It is amazing and a testimony of the power of the Spirit to Sister R that such special bonds can be built even without good communication abilities. After a welcome afternoon rest time, Elder R went out to do some Christmas shopping at the Namdaemun Market area. After dinner, Elder and Sister R went to English class. Sister R spends quite a bit of time in the Middle class writing sentences using different words on the board in the correct way. The homework Sis. R assigned was to think of things you are thankful for. There were 2 women and 2 men in the higher class and they had a great time talking about China and other topics.

It was another early Wednesday with the 6 AM session. After the other assignments, Elder R and Sister R were the main helpers at the 10 AM session. Sister R is still having difficulty with the ending part, but did better with the first and last patrons. When Sister R returned to the Temple after the long nap/lunch time she saw one of the Shinchon Ward sisters as she was getting ready to leave the Temple. She had heard about our departure date; there was a sister hug and expressions of love expressed. A LOVELY surprise was receiving the Philippine typhoons/storms delayed embroidered Temple packet envelopes. Elder R went over to the Institute class in the evening.

Thursday was definitely a “Thanksgiving” time that began when Elder and Sister R were able to be in a special 9:40 A M session for 5 missionaries here from the Russia Vladivostok Mission. When Elder R returned from the Temple, he brought a surprise for Sister R one of the Russian missionaries gave him – a letter and DVD from the Russian sister who came to the Temple shortly after Elder and Sister R arrived in Seoul in June. Then the celebration preparations began. Pres. Jun gave permission for any Americans who needed the time to prepare for a traditional dinner to take the afternoon off. Another Temple Missionary was the cooker of most of the things, but Sister R was her helper by making the caramel yams and a fruit salad. Elder R did some shopping and then went to the Temple to help there. The dinner began at 5:30 and was a sumptuous feast for some of the Temple Missionaries, a sister from another ward, and the young Shinchon Ward Missionary sisters and elders. Several requested the recipe for the yams. Elder and Sister R returned home to wind up the day.

Elder R left to go to the Temple earlier Friday than usual to help fulfill a special service for the ‘Russian’ missionaries. He and Sister R were among the 4 couples asked to be in the special 9:40 English language session for the same missionaries before they left to return to their Vladivostok Mission. Elder and Sister R were surprised when they returned to the apartment at lunch time to find the fumigation they had been told would happen in the afternoon had already taken place. Thankfully, they’d prepared for it before leaving in the morning instead of at lunch as had been suggested. During the afternoon, Elder and Sister R did their usual three things with Elder R being asked to help at the endings of a number of sessions. Friday is “English Sealing Session Day” for them so they were one of four couples in the English session. Elder and Sister R enjoyed a pizza Friday before spending the evening on various tasks, including Sister R trying to work on her talk for the combined District Meeting on Dec. 7th for all missionaries in the Korea Seoul Mission except those serving in the Gangneung Zone.

Saturday morning Elder and Sister R continued their “Thanksgiving celebration” by having Skype calls with some families for FUN grandparent stuff. Elder R went down to buy a few things after the calls and then there was a fun telephone call with another family. There weren’t as many people at the English classes this week. Sister R asked each in the middle class to tell something they are thankful for. Two of the students said their lives are hard and they don’t have anything to be thankful for. Sister R feels Heavenly Father helped her to tell them they ALL have something to be thankful for – that Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ love them, that they can see, hear, walk, feel the sunlight, etc. She also said there is one being who NEVER wants them to be happy or be thankful – Satan. One of Sister R’s English students brought packages of Kiwi fruit and persimmons for each set of the missionaries, so they went home “laden”. In the evening Elder and Sister R did the various things necessary so they could have a picture and information for name cards to give to people they’ve worked with or known during their missionary service.

This 5th Sunday was the combined Relief Society/Priesthood Meeting so Elder and Sister R were able to sit together for all of the meetings today – Missionary Correlation, RS/Priesthood, Sunday School, Sacrament Meeting. The young sister missionaries have had considerable success in the past few months. The sister baptized on the 15th came to Sunday School and Sacrament Meeting. The woman who postponed her baptism from the 15th and another woman were baptized after the meetings today. It is always wonderful to see how these sisters are accepted and befriended by the sisters in the Shinchon Ward. After the baptism, Elder R took Sister R and some things back to the apartment and then went with ward members to visit a beloved brother in the hospital. Sister R stayed in the rest of the evening.

INTERVIEWS AND STAKE CONFERENCE

This Temple Missionary couple have completed their mission and returned home on Monday. You can get an idea of the sense of humor, pluck, and dedication enjoyed by all who know them.

Elder and Sister R enjoyed speaking with this man who teaches English, speaks it very well, and is always anxious to learn more. He has REALLY ENJOYED talking to Elder R and the others in the "Free Talking" class.

Half of the missionaries in the Puk Zone are enjoying this training given by the APs. As you can see, they asked for people to demonstrate various things they taught about. This was not their District, but Elder and Sister R were given the choice of having morning or afternoon interviews. Elder and Sister R chose morning interviews.

This luscious lunch (bulkogi, purple rice, salad, sweet potatoes, and a mandarin orange) was provided by the Relief Society sisters of the Nokbon Ward and was enjoyed by all. The sister in the front with the lovely scarf is the sweet wife of our Mission President.

Elder R says this banner across the entrance to the Nokbon building, which is the Seoul North Stake Center, says "Seoul Puk Stake Big Meeting". Sister R translates that as "Seoul North Stake Conference".

Monday was the first of our REALLY cold days – high at 3 PM was 33⁰ and it was in the 20’s at night! All the Temple Missionaries and Elder and Sister R went out to say “Good-bye” to one of the Temple Missionary couples who were able to complete their mission despite serious health problems many thought would end it. The Temple Missionary District Leader accompanied Elder and Sister Reeve back to the Itaewon District of Seoul and showed them where there was a shop selling wood carvings made in the traditional way. Elder and Sister R came home with a Nativity Set with the figures dressed in traditional Korean dress. There was a special missionary experience when Elder R talked to the taxi driver about the blessing America has been to Korea. The taxi driver told Elder R Christianity has been a great blessing to Korea. Elder R told about our missionary service and that the other couple had served in China as English teachers. The District Leader handed Elder R a pass-along card which Elder R gave to the taxi driver. Elder R kindly went out in that COLD weather to do some errands at various times of the day, including mailing some packages. Elder and Sister R enjoyed Skype visits with two of their children. After a quick dinner, Elder R and Sister R went down to the meetinghouse at the request of one of the young elders to talk about changes for the English classes. After returning, Elder R presented the FHE lesson about the Joseph Smith lesson #44 and the wonderful times ahead for the faithful.

Sister R put the clothes in to wash early on Tuesday and was able to put them into the dryer before leaving for the Temple to be with the Shinchon ward couple. Elder and Sister R met with one of the English class students who teaches English and speaks very well and who has repeatedly tried to take Elder and Sister R to eat with him. He really wanted to take Elder and Sister R to lunch, but he finally agreed to Sister R’s suggestion that he and Elder R walk down to buy some kimbap and bring it back to the meetinghouse to eat. Elder and Sister R went over for preparation meeting before English class. There were 7 students including the young native Korean sister missionary in the Middle class. The students seemed to enjoy finding out the meanings of the emotions and feelings on the sheet Sister R handed out. There were 5 students in the free-talking class. There were also quite a few in the beginning class.

Wednesday’s early going out in the COLD certainly gave Sister R gratitude that the walk to the Temple was a short one minute one instead of a 30 minute one. Elder and Sister R were pleased to see some of the Korea Seoul Mission missionaries before and during the special 9:40 session for them. Among them were several Elder and Sister R have served with in the same ward or district or zone. Sister R went home after the BUSY morning and took a nap and Elder R was the “candy missionary” this time. On these Wednesdays a good thing is that the schedule is “upside down” so instead of having one thing to do in the morning and several things in the afternoon, everything but one thing is done in the morning and we can have a short nap before having to return for that one afternoon thing. Elder R went out to do errands and while he was gone, Sister R got another free haircut from the Temple Missionary sister across the hall. After dinner, Elder R went over to Institute class and Sister R was glad to stay home.

Thursday was unusual because Elder and Sister R went to what was called President’s Interviews for the Puk (North) Zone in the Korea Seoul Mission. There was also training by the APs (Assistants to the President) while different missionaries were waiting for their turn to be interviewed. During the interview Elder and Sister R were able to get answers to some questions about their return home and the talks they have been asked to give at a meeting on December 7th for all missionaries except those serving in the Gangneung Zone. The Nokbon Ward RS provided the lunch meal for all the missionaries in the Zone. Later in the afternoon Elder R felt prompted to go over to the Temple to see if they could use another qualified brother to help at the end of sessions. He was welcomed with OPEN ARMS because one of the Temple Missionaries had to be gone. Then, he stayed and did other helpful things. After dinner, Elder R printed out some smaller Mission Call Sheets for Sister R. Sister R tried to start work on the talk for Dec. 7th.

Elder and Sister R started Friday off as the main helpers in the 10 AM session of 17 sisters and 11 brothers. Elder R continues to do his parts very well. Sister R still struggles and stumbles with helping at the end of the session, but hasn’t completely fallen down and even thinks she got everything correct for the last two patrons. Elder and Sister R were in the English speaking group where sealings are performed for their last assignment of the day. According to a schedule given to Elder R they will be there each Friday. Friday night’s dinner was one of the tastiest Chinese meals they’ve had since coming to Seoul. The rest of the evening was spent doing various computer tasks and errands.

Saturday morning the Temple Missionary district leader came over to get Elder Reeve’s help in finding out what to tell the taxi driver when they go to their Stake Conference. Elder R was also asked to go and help with baptisms at the Temple. While he was gone, Sister R did some English class planning for that afternoon’s class. Elder and Sister R went to the 6 o’clock Saturday evening session of Stake Conference at the Nokbon meetinghouse where the special music was provided by the Shinchon Ward Choir made up of 8 brothers and 15 sisters who sang “The Lord Is My Shepherd” and “Abide With Me, ‘Tis Eventide”. After the meeting Elder Reeve was told they could ride in the Temple van back to the Temple. After getting to the van Elder and Sister R found it would be a LOADED van with 5 missionary couples packed into it. There was another surprise when they didn’t go directly to the Temple, but went out to a Shaba-shaba restaurant for dinner. It was a floor-sitting place, but a plastic stool was found for Sister R to put the floor pad on so it could be her chair.

Sunday morning was a Stake Conference broadcast from Salt Lake City to all of the units in Korea with simultaneous English and Korean broadcasts. The speakers were Elder David F. Evans, formerly President of the Asia North Area of the Church, Bro. Ochoa of the General YM Presidency, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, and Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Elder and Sister R enjoyed hearing special counsel specifically for the Saints in Korea from these Church leaders. Two main themes were: stay and build up/strengthen the church in Korea and follow the Priesthood leaders who follow the Prophet. An American couple living in Korea (he works for the U.S. government and she is a substitute at the Foreign School) kindly drove us back to our apartment. The afternoon couples’ meal was bibimbap (rice with various things on top) and other delicious things the other couples brought. A LOT of visiting was enjoyed after the meal. The rest of the afternoon and evening was spent with computer tasks, including Sister R getting this blog posted. Elder and Sister R took a break and enjoyed a typical Sister R Sunday night meal – pancakes and bacon.