15 Mar - 26 Mar

We ended our quarantine on the 21st.  We both feel good and are trying to make the best of living in a trailer.  It actually has not been that bad.
 We have not been to any stores or away from the home till Sunday, the 22nd.  We went to dinner at our daughter Tracy’s home.  It was good to see the grandkids, too.  And great-grandkids.
On Friday our grandson Alex was married to Maddie.  The bishop married them because of the temples being overwhelmed. They will get sealed after this virus is gone.
Our grandson Derek, who is serving in California has now been put on quarantine in his apartment.  What a sad time.  We learned today that all temples are closing for a short period. And that the US has over 1,000 deaths now.
So here are some pictures from the weddin

Alex, Wayne and me.

Bishop Siufanua, Maddie and Alex

We had to get a picture of the kiss!

Our son’s family - Garrison, Heather, Jeremy, Megan, Alex, Maddie, and Kameron.

So we were released officially yesterday, March 26.  Another mission served.  Only for 14 1/2 months, but we met some wonderful people and missionaries.  Good times we will not forget.  We look forward to hopefully fulfilling another one before we’re too old to move.

We love you all.

05 Mar - 14 Mar

So this is what it has come down to waiting in our apartment to go home.  We will be flying out on the 7th at 7:00 am.  Going to fly to Seoul and then to Detroit and then SLC.  We also learned today that all foreign missionaries will be leaving Korea on Saturday and Sunday.  Between the 3 missions in Korea, that will probably be about 150+ missionaries.

We said goodbye to our apartment.  We will certainly miss being here.

They took our temperature at Gimhae airport when we arrived.  If it was 99.5 or above, you were kicked off the flight.  The plane was full and everyone was wearing a mask.

When we arrived in Inchon Airport (Seoul), they asked us a lot of questions as to where we were coming from,  if we had been to see a doctor in the past couple of days, or feeling sick.  They also took our temperature.  This flight wasn’t as full.  Wayne and I had a whole row to ourselves.  It was a long flight tho.

Incheon Airport.  Waiting to get on the long flight to Detroit.

This is inside the plane.  Lots of empty seats.

Almost to Detroit.  Watched a couple of movies and tried to sleep.

Here we are in Detroit, waiting for our last leg to home.

We tried to stay away from people as much as possible.  Wore our masks the whole 24 hours.

Our son Jeremy picked us up at the airport.  No joyous reunion this mission.  So we are in a camper trailer in our son’s backyard for two weeks.

We take our temperature everyday. And stay away from our family as much as possible.

And this is what it has come down to here.

Day 4 

Day 6

Another week to go!  

We love you and miss you all.

Be good and stay healthy.

It’s really crazy out there.

24 Feb - 1 Mar

Well this has been an interesting week.  On Friday (21st) we were told to stay in our apartments because of the Coronavirus in Daegu.  We have 18 missionaries in that Zone and it was getting scary when the amount of people infected went from 30+ to over 800 in less than a week.  On Tuesday, President Jeong contacted the Area Authorities and asked if he could move all of those missionaries to the Busan area.  The approval was given, and they began to drive back and forth and move missionaries around.  We moved some missionaries out their apartments so that the missionaries from Daegu could be in that apartment.  We wanted to have the missionaries from Daegu be kind of isolated for the two weeks.  We still don't know what will happen in regard to all the missionaries here.  But whatever the Missionary Department decides, we will obey.  No meetings are being held.

So we were notified on Wednesday that all missionaries that would have gone home by May 31st are to be sent home.  And all Senior Missionaries. And all missionaries that are taking medications for asthma and depression will go home immediately.  We were also told that we would need to be isolated for two weeks after we get home.  So we planned on being sent home on Friday 28, February.  We had to come to the office on Thursday so that we could start training the elders with what I do and the finances.  One day training was not going to work very well.

When we arrived at the office the President told us that we may be extended for a week.  So we are just waiting right now.  We did take a picture:

Elder Aiwohi, Us and Elder Scow.

Elder Scow is from Las Vegas.  Somehow we were talking about Poland and what we did there.  Elder Scow asked us if we knew President Nielsen that was the mission president in Poland.  Of course, we said yes.  So he sent this picture to President Nielsen to let them know that he (Elder Scow) knows us too.  Elder Scow knows President Nielsen very well.  Small world!

So we will be coming home on the 7th of March.  We will be staying with our son Sean.  They have a big house and only him and his wife live there.  We can stay upstairs and not bother them at all.  2 weeks is going to drag by.  Better safe than sorry.  

So when we arrived last January, the city had just started digging the ground for a new apartment complex.  We just ahd to take a picture to show the progression.  These apartment buildings will be 30 stories high.  And there are a total of 8 buildings.

They are working on the 15th floor right now.

Well that's it for this mission!  I am thinking we will be released when we get home.  But we will have 3 months left, so who knows. 

I will write again when we get home.

Love and miss you all.😍😍😍 

17 Feb - 23 Feb

Monday was exciting.  We had lots of missionaries in the office - meeting new companions and going to their new areas.  Elder Oh left as the AP and Elder Jung who was the Office Eldis now the new AP.  And Elder Gatherum left also.  So our new Office Elders are Elders Aiwohi and Ahn.

Tuesday morning bright and early, the APs took Elders Clark and Moody to the airport.  Then we got word that the new group of missionaries coming in from the MTC on Tuesday, will now be arriving on Wednesday.  Evidently there was an accident on the freeway and they couldn't get to the airport.

All arrived safe and sound Wednesday night.  Wayne and I decided to make lunch again for the DL  and the ZL/STL meetings. But things changed because now we were having to cram meetings together.  So we fed the incoming missionaries and trainers instead.  We had chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, noodle salad, chips , orange slices and apple slices.  Hers’s the new
missionaries.

Sisters Eo and Kwak 

                                                            Sisters Torio  and Pongyan

Elders Wirthlin, Thompson and Dowe

And Elders Lee and Jang

Sister Seoul was playing the piano for the group.

And here they are with their new trainers getting to know each other.

It really is fun to see their excitement and feel the electricity in the room. 

So Friday we were planning on feeding 30 more missionaries when President Jeong called and told us that the Area Presidency decided to keep all missionaries in their apartments until further word.  They were 19 cases of Coronavirus in Daegu. (Part of our mission).  We were all told to go shopping and get at least two weeks of food.  So Wayne and I went over to the office, with the Presidents permission to see what we should do with all that food.  He told us to divide it into 10 different boxes and he would take it around to the missionaries in the Busan Zone.  So the APs and Office Elders and Wayne and I went to work.

This was really fun and we hope the missionaries enjoy.  We won’t be having church either.  🤪 I know we will be going stark crazy before this is over!

I guess we will be playing lots of UNO!

On Saturday, we got to talk to our new mission president coming on June 30th.  We also got word that a new Senior Couple will be coming in June to replace us.  We will have about two weeks to train them.

Here is a photo of Wayne and me in our masks.

President Jeong gave us permission to do the sacrament at home.  What a comfort and blessing to be able to remember our Savior during a time like this.  Also he is going to get all the missionaries on a conference call and have a testimony meeting.  Hopefully it will lift spirits and strengthen each other.

An exciting and scary week!

So love you and miss you all.

10 Feb - 16 Feb

I requested the flights for the missionaries going home in June this week.  Also, I prepared all the packets for the missionaries coming in next Tuesday.  We were notified that we will be receiving a  sister for a temporary time period because she has not gotten her Visa yet from the US.  Hopefully, she will be able to get it.

On Tuesday, we received 8 big boxes of Face Masks from the church.  We have about 800 face masks. And they are super nice.  Not like the ones the Koreans wear.  But they are also kind of scary looking.

Anyway, we sent out enough masks for everyone in each zone would have 2 of them for right now.

We gave them out at our District meetng on Wednesday and everyone was laughing and joking around with them.  The church is trying every effort to keep the missionaries healthy.

It will be interesting to see if the missionaries wear them all the time.  We will when we go to the store and crowded palces like that.

So they wanted me and Wayne to pretend we were coughing.  I just started laughing.

Sisters Ababon and Ibera, me.  Elders Wayne, Isorena, Kua, Jung, Scow, Oh, Taylor, Ahn and Gatherum.

We also learned Wednesday, that Elder Moody would be going home.  So sad to see them go home early.

Elder Scow, Oh, Moody, Skousen (can't see his face) and President Jeong.

On Friday, the To'o couple came down to Busan to visit.  The President took us all out for lunch.

President, sister Kim, Elders Oh, Gatherum, Jung and Scow.

We were on the other table with the To'os.

So this was my plate.  On the left was a bowl of rice and up in the corner is Kimche.  Main plate is a breaded pork chop and string cabbage.  Then in the upper right hand corner is some seeds that you crushed and then poured sauce over.  And the soup was just water with onions and seeweed and no taste whatsoever.

It was good to meet our military couple.  They will be very good for the military branch.

On Saturday it was 62 degress outside.  We were out and about with no coats on.  It was nice.  And then Sunday came and the wind started to blow and it was cold.  We are preparing again for transfers next week.  

Be good

We love you and miss you all.

3 Feb - 9 Feb

Here's the picture of Elder and Sister To'o with President Jeong.

So the president asked the office crew to clean everything up and organize the cupboards and shelves.

It was a busy day Monday.

I'm sure they threw a lot of stuff away that shouldn't have been.  But there was also a lot of stuff that was years and years old.

The President had to wrap up a few more interviews in Ulsan and Changwon, so he was gone Tuesday and Wednesday.  

Wednesday afternoon we went to our English class after a six week break.  We were just getting started when the secretary of the Community center came in and told us that they didn’t want us to hold class until they told us we could because of the Coronavirus.  The government decided that being in large groups of people, in enclosed places was a making of a disaster.  So I’m thinking we won’t be holding class until April or so.  They have had about 10 cases of the virus reported in Korea.  But, it’s mainly up north by Seoul. Anyway, we are doing fine and intend to stay that way.  I wish I felt comfortable in taking a picture walking down the street because I would like you to see everyone wearing masks.  Except for us.

Saturday, the Elders wanted to take us out to celebrate both of our birthdays.  So, we went to a Korean barbecue place.  It was really nice.

The meat they cook has a really good flavor, but it has so much fat.  The Elders just scarfed it down, but Wayne and I were very picky.  But we did get very full.

The little boy that joined us was baptized a little while ago and was hanging out with the Elders.

Elders Jung, Scow, Oh and Gatherum.  It was a very enjoyable afternoon.

President Jeong and his wife would have joined us, but they were with Elder Wada for Ulsan’s District Conference.

So we also heard that afternoon that the Area Presidency has asked that only Sacrament Meeting blocks be held until further notice.  They do not want any other meetings held.

We got notification this week that a Single Senior Sister will be joining us in April.  She has been called a an Office Specialist.  It will be interesting to see what President Jeong asks her to do.  If she speaks Korean, that would be very helpful.

That’s it for this week.

We love you and miss you all.😍

27 Jan - 3 Feb

We got a Senior Military Couple this week.  We weren't able to meet them, because they flew into Daegu City.  That is where they will be serving.  The President and the Assistants drove up to meet them.  They are Samoan but live in Las Vegas.  I will send a picture next week.  President took one, but he hasn't sent it to me yet.

Other than that, not too much happened this week.  We have two weeks left in this transfer.  We are getting an Autralian on Feb. 18th.  It will be interesting to hear him speak Korean with that Aussie accent. 

Everyone is wearing masks because of the coronavirus.  We hope that somewhere the doctors will be able to find a cure.  We don't want to find it difficult to enter the US when we return in July.

Anyway, happy Superbowl Sunday.  May the best team win.

We love you and miss you all.

20 Jan - 26 Jan

On Monday, the Assistants were going to go to the largest Mall in Korea.  They asked us to go with them and so we did.  It was a beautiful place.  And huge!  We entered in the basement and there were 9 other floors.  Tried to get a picture so you could see.  In the Lotte grocery store they had there, we found some Tomato Soup.  I bought two cans and had a toasted cheese sandwich and soup that night.  It tasted wonderful!  The building below holds the Guinness Book of Records for the longest Cantilever Roof.  It is a sports arena right next to the mall. It was pretty neat to see.

Outside of the mall

Outside of the mall

This is looking up from the 2nd floor.  There were 5 floors above us and 3 below.

Entrance to one part of the mall.

This is by the grocery store

First time for Wayne and me - we took a taxi from the mall back to the office instead of the subway.  The taxi smelled inside, but it was faster than the subway.

Tuesday, the Daegu and Changwon Zones came for their Zone Conference.  President took them hiking up to the place where we watched the sunrise on the 1st of January.  There were over 500 steps they had to climb to get to the top.  Everyone had fun.

Everyone just waiting to go.  Sisters!

Elders!

Everyone is always on their phones.  But they are probably studying the scriptures!

Elder Seung and Elder Lowe

Elder Skousen (in shorts???) and his companion Elder Moody

On Wednesday, they did the same thing with the Busan and Ulsan Zones.  It started to sprinkle about 1:00 pm so they had to cut their hike short.  But everyone still enjoyed.  I was the only one in the office that day.  Wayne wasn't feeling well.  He had a terrible cough and with this Coronavirus going around, it kind of scared me.  So I made him stay home and stay in bed.

Gathering outside to start walking.

Leaving from our office and walking up the road.  

Through the trees

On the road

Finally, up the stairs.

Good thing they are young.

Everyone made it to the top!

And this was the view

So Wayne came to the office on Thursday.  He had a whole bunch of missionary refunds to put into the system and had to go to the bank.  Still coughing bad!

On Saturday, we were invited to the Stake President's home for lunch.  It is probably the biggest holiday in the Asian countries.  It's their New Year celebration.  So here's our plates of food.

Lettuce,rice, apple and orange slices, spicy chicken bits and spicy beef bits.

Wayne had the same, except he tried some fish.

They always let President Jeong go first and then us.  Everyone else follows behind.

Elder Oh and Scow enjoying their meal.

Wayne was still kind of sick on Sunday, so we didn't go to church.  It made it a very long day.

We love you and miss you all.