Mar 25 - Mar 31

On Monday we were invited to the Stake President's house for dinner and FHE.  He can speak a little English so it was a fun evening.  He has nine children and a not so big apartment.  So the food they had was actually very good.  They had dumplings filled with pork and of course rice.  Some very small sweet potatoes.  And an array of other foods.  Very good.

This was Wayne's plate.

We all just served ourselves.

Our sisters were invited also.  They sat at a little table with the SP's daughters.

The lesson was on King Benjamin and how he stood on a tower to speak to the people.  The SP called it his tower of strength.  So they brought out pieces of wood and we had to build our own towers of strength.  It was the men against the women.

This is what the sister's built.

This is what the brethren built.

Everyone had a lot of fun and learned what we need to do to be strong and to be able to overcome the evils of the day.  

After that, President Jeong drove us up to the top of a mountain, that the Koreans call "the Observatory"

This is the site we saw.

It was beautiful!

And the president took a picture of us.

Here is a picture of the pathway we take when we walk in the morning.  There are cherry blossoms all over the place.

This is at 6:00 in the morning.

This is a picture from our apartment looking down over the trees.

Wednesday at English class, we had quite the experience.  We were done with class and everyone got up to leave.  One of the gentleman, Roger, got up and walked right over to another, Tom, and stared yelling at him.  We didn't know what to do.  They were in a very heated argument when they left the room we were in.  We thought that we heard them pushing each other, but didn't venture out into the hallway.  One of the ladies that come to class, Rosa, told us to not worry.  It wasn't something that was said in class, but was from a text that one of them sent to the other that week.  It was scary, especially because we had just got done talking how each one of us can make a difference in the world and that we need to be forgiving and kind to each other.  Well, that lesson went over well!!!

On Saturday, we took a different route for a long walk.  This building was very interesting to us.  We don't know what it was, because the sign was in Korean.  But it was a very busy place.

We walked for about 5 miles on Saturday.  We both just collapse when we get home.

On Sunday, it was the 5th Sunday, so both the Priesthood and RS met together.  We know that the bishop started talking about the access we all have to the Internet and smart phones, and how we can use these things for our benefit.  But I think it got way out of hand.  The missionaries that were translating for us said that they didn't understand what was going on, so they just read us a couple of conference talks.  It was quite interesting.  Some very loud voices at times.  Anyway, we survived.

The young man that just got baptized about a month ago came into church and he looked sad.  I went over and said hi and asked if he was okay.  After Sacrament meeting, before the class portion, he came over and sat by me to talk.  He said he didn't like himself very much and that he really didn't know if the church was true.  I bore my testimony to him and told him that he needed to pray and find some answers from Heavenly Father, and that Heavenly Father would send him those answers.  He such a fine young man.  The missionaries met with him after church and had a good meeting.  They gave him the conference talk by Elder Groberg entitled "Come Home, Felila"  It is a wonderful talk.  

Hopefully, we don't lose him!

That has been our week.

We love you and miss you all.

Mar 18 - Mar 24

We had another wonderful week.  All 15 missionaries made it alive and well.  They were kind of sleepy when the training was going on, but they made it through. 

On Monday, the 4 missionaries that were leaving to go home came to the office and spent most of the day with us.  President and Sister Kim took them for dinner and then they got on a train to Seoul.

We also got a new AP and Office Elder.  Elder Kim and Elder Seung.

Wayne and I did our first training.  Wayne told them about their card and I needed them to sign 3 different papers and return to me. 

Sister Kim talked about clothing and health.

This is all of them with their trainers getting ready for their first proselyting experience.

On Wednesday, we went with the District Leaders out to lunch. 

This is the pan that you cook with at your table.  The meat is underneath all of those vegetables.  It is very good, though.

Ok, from left to right (in front) seaweed, carrots, beans (spicy)

and in back, kimshi, vegetable pizza, and fish patties.

On Thursday was MLC with Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders. We also got to stay for lunch.  They ordered TGIF.  It was a hamburger patty and some vegetables and of course, kimshi!

Great bunch of Elders and Sisters!

On Saturday, Wayne and I decided to do some more exploring.  This is a walkway along a spillway that lots of people use everyday.  We walked about 6 miles.

You can cross over on these stones.

Flowers are just now coming out.  It was a beautiful day.

Cherry blossoms.

Don't know what kind of flower, but they were along the path.

On Sunday, Wayne had to talk in church.Elder Soffe translated for him.  Since it's close to Easter, the bishop had him talk about Jesus Christ.  He did a great job!

Sunday afternoon, I decided to make some sugar cookies.  I found a cookie cutter in the apartment of a ginger bread boy.  Anyway, I used it and called them Holy Ghost cookies.  Brought some back to the office for our 8:00 pm meeting and the Elders thought they were cute.  President Jeong choked on how sweet they were.  Koreans don't eat sweet, except for ice cream.

Cute, huh?

That was our week.  We also got notified that Wayne will be going to Tokyo next week to get his new Visa.  He will probably be gone for 3-4 days.  Hopefully it works.

Love you and miss you all.

Mar 11 - Mar 17

So Monday we decided to take walks at lunch time and there is a small mountain behind our office.  We started walking up the hill and had to stop to catch our breath halfway up the hill.
Probably can't see the real impact and steepness of the hill, but here are pictures.  Up at the top is a statue of some saint, but couldn't understand the Korean.

On Wednesday when we went for English class and passed through the tunnel, we decided to take some pictures of the artwork down there.  Here is one of the pieces.  So does it look like I'm riding on a bus with other passengers?  Cannot tell what the water is for unless the bus is under water!

The rest of the week, we were getting ready for transfers.  We have 15 missionaries coming in.

Friday night on our way home from the office, I decided I needed to get my hair cut.  So I walked into a beauty salon and that was quite interesting.  Hand signals come in very handy when you can't speak the language.  But she did a good job.  Kind of short, but it will grow.

On Saturday we decided to do some more venturing around Busan.  We went down this one road that has a tunnel for cars and one thin walkway for pedestrians.

On the other side we noticed a huge wooded area and decided to find out what it was.  So it was the Geumgang Park.  And it was beautiful.

Here's the entrance.

These are Sottai and Jang Seung (totem pole).  These were set up at the entrance of the village as guardians and religious symbols of their ancestors to protect the village.

This is what most of the park looked like.

Don't know what this means.  The explanation was all in Korean.

There were symbols carved in rocks along the path.

Saint of Peace

Next we went to this area.  Hope you can read the inscription.

This was in the area of the burial plot.

Beautiful buildings and artwork.

Gong that signalled the burial.

Wayne by one of the dragons and snakes that protect the warriors

And here is the actual tomb of the of the Dongnae patriots of the Imjin War.

Entrance way to the actual tomb

They also had a museum there of all types of animals.  Wayne and I didn't go in because of time.

Sorry, but I had to take a picture.  This is the women's bathroom in the park.  That is on the floor.  And yes, I had to squat over it.  I thought I got away from that when I left Ghana.

It was a wonderful day.  We walked about six miles.  Went to bed early and slept all night!

On Sunday, we had another baptism.  Cute girl and very excited to be baptized.  Can't remember her name.  But I will get it.

Good week.  Now the fun begins for transfers.

We love you and miss you all.