Christmas far from home

We took advantage of the one clear day to explore the mountains across the river. We ended up at the top of this hill with a nice view into the valley below. You can tell a couple of things from the picture: Even on a clear day the humidity and pollution give you a hazy view; and, there are lots of people living in a small space. I think you can see the high rises and population density. You are also able to see the river I keep referring to as it meanders to the north before it empties into the sea to the west. All the hiking here is pretty straight up and then straight down. We did figure out the hours of our fitness center for the apartments so we have been doing some of our exercise there this week due to rain and snow and cold.

We have had a house guest(s) most of the week. One of the young soldiers’ wives, Amanda, was able to get a buddy pass to Seoul so she has stayed in our extra bedroom. The soldier, Kenny Peterson, was given a five-day pass so he has been here, too, since Friday. The have been able to go to Seoul a couple of times, do some tourist things, go to the temple, and make some memories together. They have only been married a few months and most of those Kenny has been here.  They did their best to begin to create some family traditions.

I made enchiladas for Christmas Eve and invited our elders. Our Fillipino elder is used to eating mostly rice so he was okay with the Spanish rice. You don’t see Mexican food here in Korea so I figured our American elder would be happy for a little Mexican.

The elders were here early Christmas morning to talk with their families. The broad smiles on their faces witness that this was their best Christmas present. 

We met with our little branch for a Christmas program with the story and music of Christmas. This picture gives you a pretty good feel for the mix of soldiers, Koreans, and Africans who attend with us each week.  What a blessing to be able to partake of the sacrament and remember the incredible gift of God’s Son to the world.

Most of the afternoon we spent with our family via Skype. Mary and Connie’s families were together having a Christmas Eve party so we sang carols together, were entertained by the grandchildren, watch the enactment of the Christmas Story, and then watched as they sang Karaoke with Christmas songs. It was not quite as good as being there but pretty close considering the miles. Then we were able to connect with Debbie’s family an hour later in the time zones. They had finished their activities for the evening and took time to visit and share with us. We hope to be able to connect with our other children tomorrow which will be Christmas Day for them. We are thankful for technology to allow us to both see and hear our family while we are so far away.

We pulled together some gifts and stockings for the elders to open because the packages from America arrived mostly empty and the one from the Philippines didn’t arrive until Christmas. When the missionaries came over to open their gifts they stayed to play Bang with the Petersons. While they were playing, Wayne and I attended a Christmas dinner hosted by the director of the BOSS program here at Camp Casey. Mr. Fred. He is the man in the white shirt and red apron on the left. You can tell by the spread in front of Wayne that there was a wide variety of food to choose from. Two of the soldiers from our group were there because they volunteer with Mr. Fred. They said that they are regulars at his parties and this one was a small party. We visited with the other people who volunteer around the base and work with the soldiers.

It seems like Christmas started here early in the month with a series of activities for our soldiers; now it has come and gone. We are thankful for the military community and our church group to help bring the spirit of Christmas to Korea. We were not able to observe any changes in our neighborhood in anticipation of this important celebration. Everyone doesn’t celebrate Christ’s birth.

How thankful I am to know the importance of the birth of this child born in a stable in Bethlehem so long ago. How thankful I am to know that he is God’s Son who broke the bonds of death and offered himself as a sacrifice that we can repent of our sins and have hope. We hope to be forgiven; we hope to live again. We hope to return to our Father in Heaven; we hope to be together forever with our families. How thankful I am for faith and hope as I pray for the gift of charity; to be like Him, to know Him, to be with Him.

The Joy of Serving

We were busy missionaries this week. Suk Harper cooked a whole hog to feed our Camp Casey soldiers as an early Christmas celebration. I peeled 50 pounds of potatoes and diced five pounds of onions plus cutting carrots, shredding four huge cabbages, and peeling five dozen eggs as the cook’s helper. The potato salad and coleslaw were wonderful, made in the true southern style. We served over 200 soldiers on Wednesday.

On Friday we went back to the JSA to do an early Christmas for the soldiers there. We put up more decorations and dressed up a Santa. We set up a table to print photos of the soldiers with Santa and then put them in a small frame they could take to their rooms. There were stockings stuffed with fun things and small canvas bags with more goodies for every soldier. The car dealership gave some kind of swag to every soldier and then there were a host of other gifts that went to almost every soldier. The four largest gifts were 40” and 50” televisions, a laptop computer, and an iPad. The soldiers had a great time as the gifts were raffled. It was just fun to be with them.

Wayne has a soldier who has meet three times with him this week to see if he can improve his score on the math section of the promotion exam. He started foggy on basic multiplication and division and is ready to tackle the tougher story problems. You can tell that it is the teacher having the most fun, but the soldier works for over an hour each time which demonstrates his determination to tackle this barrier to his career.

We now have a schedule for teaching the soldiers as a class. We will have 20 soldiers for three weeks here at Camp Casey in January and again in March and will spend two weeks at the JSA in February working with 15 soldiers there. We’re really looking forward to being back in a classroom again and helping these soldiers move forward in their careers.

We finally turned on our heat to warm our apartment. Our neighbors have kept their units warm enough to keep us warm until now. We have the wife of one of our soldiers coming to stay through the holiday so she can afford to visit her husband. We may not see much of her, but it will give me the incentive to decorate our apartment.

It is wonderful this time of year to not only serve, but watch the joy others feel as they serve. Christ lived his life for us and then he gave up his life for us. It seems only fitting that we find a little time to give to others, too. Our hope to all our friends and family is a very Merry Christmas as we all remember the joy of our Savior’s birth.

Visit to North Korea

           We had a wide variety in opportunities for service this week. On Wednesday we attended the District Meeting with our junior missionaries. They are so well prepared in their training that it is a joy to meet with them. Afterwards I held a sister missionary who needed to cry. She got an ear infection and subsequently lost hearing in one ear. She is going home early to see if the doctors can restore her hearing. She was very emotional and needed reassurance. She speaks as much English as I speak Korean so we had to use the Spirit to help us communicate. This is her smile as we left. She will be fine. The Lord has a plan for her.

                               

We helped serve hot chocolate at the tree lighting at Camp Red Cloud on Wednesday and then again at Camp Casey on Thursday. Santa is a special friend from our branch group so we made sure to have a photo with him this year.

               

We sat down with the director of the Education Office on Friday and scheduled our first two sets of classes for the soldiers. We will have them for about 40 hours in the classroom over three weeks beginning January 9^th. Then Wayne had a single student he worked with in the evening just before our dinner appointment. We were invited to the house of Korean members for authentic Korean food. If you don’t eat their kimchi it’s like poking them in the eye and telling them they have an ugly mother so we ate kimchi.

                Our BIG event of the week was our visit to North Korea via the DMZ. Wayne and I were like a couple of kids waiting to go to Disneyland we were so excited. First, we served the soldiers at the outpost by decorating their mess hall for the holidays. They fed us a nice lunch and then we were given a VIP tour.

Wayne and I are posed in front of the flags of all the nations participating in enforcing the cease fire between North and South Korea.

                This is a picture into North Korea of the North Korean soldier watching us watch him. They call him Bob because he starts to bob if you take enough pictures of him.

                They next had us enter a building that straddles the line between North and South Korea. They had this door on the north securely locked and this armed Korean soldier there to protect us if needed. While we were standing next to him, we were technically standing in North Korea. The North Koreans give the same tour from their side and lock the door on the south end of the building for their guests.

The bridge beyond the blue guard house is called “The Bridge of No Return” because it is where the prisoners were exchanged after the ceasefire. Anyone who crossed the bridge in either direction was then unable to return. Many families were separated at this time and many from the south have tried to negotiate family reunions to unite these families for a few hours. A few family reunions have been held.

            

       The small village around the flag pole is a facade. It is actually a military outpost built to look as though it were a village. From there the North Koreans blare music and propaganda messages to the South Koreans trying to entice them to defect. The noise is especially loud at night.

There are two authorized villages in the DMZ, this one on the North and one on the south with about 200 citizens. To live in the southern village you must have lived there before the conflict with North Korea or be able to trace your ancestry to that village.

                This picture is of the mountains in North Korea in the distance. They have some very interesting granite peaks. The whole DMZ is a nature preserve since people are not allowed to hunt. They have a type of deer that grow tusks rather than horns so they are called vampire deer and lots of birds. They have wild pigs that can reach a weight of 400 lbs. Wayne and I saw three deer in a rice field, several cranes, and flocks of geese flying south.

           

         We had our second baptism on Sunday. Ellis, in the yellow shirt, was baptized by Elder Carmen, the tall elder beside him. Elder Carmen leaves to return to Michigan on Thursday. This was his first baptism. He is such an obedient and faithful missionary that we know the Lord blessed him to share this milestone with Ellis.

Bro. Oto is the African on the right. He is the brother-in-law of Ellis. They are from Liberia, a country with difficult political and economic circumstances right now. They have come here to find work. Bro. Oto had three fingers crushed in machinery at work last month and has not yet been able to return to work. There is lots of manufacturing in this area and they hire the Africans as cheap labor. They are considered temporary workers and not treated well. We see deep faith in Jesus Christ among these African members as they express gratitude for what they have, work hard, and hold onto hope for a better future.

The Lord is always watching.

With the holiday behind us we did our best to find other ways to serve. Expanding our service requires permission from the education office on the post so we tried several times to contact its director. He finally called us to let us know that things were moving more slowly than he had hoped so it would probably be January before we began teaching soldiers through his office. In the meantime, we have been writing lesson plans trying to anticipate how they will flow with the soldiers.

The weather has been crisp but sunny so we’ve ventured across the river to explore the mountains beyond. This week I was brave enough to make the river crossing on the stones all by myself and I did it three times the same day. We made a U-turn at the first bridge to the south to explore a bicycle path on the other side of the river. We wondered where it ended and found it ends where we began. Now we have another path. In walking on the other side of the river we were able to see a Buddhist shrine immediately across the river so we decided to explore it.

While the shrine itself would look like something I’ve already posted, when we ventured to the top of the mountain/hill we discovered this war memorial. It was as large as a Utah cemetery with multiple mounds, statues and markers. Just over the crest we found these cool rocks. We thought this one looked like an elephant on its stomach, leg behind and trunk to the side. It’s like looking at clouds.

Our most unusual outing this week was the USO volunteer appreciation dinner. We were surprised to be treated to an evening at the most expensive restaurant in Dongducheon. The main course was steak and more than we could eat…more than I should have eaten. It tasted so delicious along with the salad. We still tasted the kimchi and other Korean dishes. We had the opportunity to get a little better acquainted with one of the new volunteers from the new rotation battalion. He is a good man who chooses to volunteer rather than get in trouble. I wanted to share a gospel message with him, but he didn’t ask any leading questions. We are not to proselyte on the post so I had to respect his choice. The gospel is so delicious to me that I just want to share it with everyone.

Suk gave us all fleece jackets with the USO insignia and Camp Casey. They are toasty warm and will be super fun to wear. This is a selfie with one of our favorite Korean volunteers. She helps me with my Korean and I help her with her English. She has adopted us as extra grandparents.

We took advantage of the opportunity to attend the temple with our district and enjoyed the wonderful blessing of worshiping in the Lord’s Holy House. Wayne met a gentleman who has been his brother’s neighbor for thirty years. The gentleman is teaching through the Kennedy Center at a university on the eastern edge of China so he had taken an hour flight into Seoul to attend the temple. It really is a small world. We came home before the protests began although the number of people on the train reflected a gathering soon to happen.

The most excitement of the week came today at our meeting at the Camp Casey Chapel. The gentleman Wayne and I met as we came out of the chapel at Camp Red Cloud in October brought his family to church. It was fast and testimony meeting so he took the opportunity to bear his testimony to his wife, small daughter, and teenage step-daughter. We were all so excited we could bust! One of our young families was at that meeting because the soldier, husband had pulled a night shift and awakened late today. It was good to have another family there. The woman is already friends with the branch president’s wife and the husband has worked with the branch president. They live in the same apartment complex. The teenager agreed to be a pen pal with Ashlyn who is the same age. Miracles really do happen. None of us are lost to the Lord. When he was ready to return, the Lord flung open the doors for him.

Thanksgiving

   

       

               This has been a week of feasting! We started on Sunday at the home of Pres. and Sister Rix because she wanted to fix a Thanksgiving dinner for the elders. She is Korean so the food was Korean. I learned last week that Koreans LOVE to feed people and for them to enjoy the food so that’s what I did. I told our hostess that the food was beyond super delicious and she said that she would keep me. Her Korean food really is delicious so I can still hold a temple recommend.

                Monday we had a military escort to the Joint Military Base on the DMZ so we could serve a turkey dinner to the American soldiers serving there. They were very appreciative and gracious in their thanks. As we sat and ate the commanders sat with us and visited. The First Sergeant expressed a desire for us to teach his soldiers the ASVAB review course to help them become promotable. He offered to send a driver for us every day or find us housing there for the two weeks. Anything we asked for, he was willing to provide. We told him that we would be happy to teach his soldiers if he can arrange it. We’ll see if that happens. The Lt. Col. gave us our first military Commander’s Coin. 

                On Wednesday we helped serve a Thanksgiving meal to the soldiers at the Camp Casey USO. This was a much larger group and more commanders and personnel from the area USO office. We were given our second Commander’s Coin from the Regional Director of the USO.  Ms. Harper saved the turkey carcasses for me so I made a big pot of turkey soup. The elders came over to help us eat it since I didn’t have family to share it with.

                Thursday was the Thanksgiving celebration at the military base so we ate with the soldiers at the dining hall. We had the full spread and more. It is the tradition for the officers to serve the Thanksgiving meal so one of our elders was in awe to have been served by a general. It was a general who took this picture of me with one of the decorations in the hall. After the meal we met at the chapel annex with a few of our members and ate a full variety of pie and played games.

                Sunday was the Thanksgiving meal with the branch after our regular meetings. Koreans like to eat together after church. The soldiers and Africans are happy to join in the feasting. A district council member visiting from Seoul said he had to leave his car at work last night because the streets were packed with protestors. He couldn’t even walk through the crowd so he had to take a taxi around the perimeter. The Koreans are determined Park step down as president.

                Elder Anderson and I have been very thankful for many opportunities to serve the people here in Korea. We are thankful for our families and friends who seem so very far away. We are thankful for the Plan of Happiness that includes being sealed to our families forever.

Jeong

This week we learned about Jeong. It is a Korean word that doesn’t have a one-word translation into English. If I have Jeong with you, you respect me. You recognize that I understand your culture and that my behaviors follow the social norms in a way that communicates that I respect your culture and I respect you. So a big part of Jeong is respect, but it is more than that.

If we have Jeong, then we also have a very close bond that English speakers may describe as love. We share a relationship that would include our being willing to serve and sacrifice for one another. The closest I can describe it is the bond I feel with someone who shares my consecration to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We share no blood; we may have only just met; but we are sisters/siblings and we share the same heart.

In Korea, Jeong is defined and an important part of their culture. I learned that my bowing low and greeting the old people in their own language has created instant Jeong. Giving my seat on the train to someone older than I, creates instant Jeong. On the other hand, telling a Korean that I don’t like kimchi is like poking my finger in their eye and telling them their mother is ugly! The appropriate way to approach my feelings about the food is to praise those foods that I DO like and say nothing of the foods that make me sick. I’ve learned two new phrases this week and plan to repent.

We had a mix of activities this week including providing free haircuts for our two handsome missionaries. The tall Elder Carmen hadn’t had a haircut for three months so the hair in my kitchen was almost ankle-deep. I didn’t even recognize him the next time we met because I was used to his long mane. They are such faithful young men and so kind to us. I definitely have Jeong with them.

We were in Seoul twice this week. We visited the hospital at Yongsan AFB for a screening and then returned the next day for the mission conference with P.J. Rogers. Bro. Rogers is THE member of our church who is known and has Jeong with ALL Koreans. He spent two hours with the missionaries helping us understand Korean culture and how to learn the language. He had lots of stories that were VERY funny, because all the missionaries laughed loudly. Unfortunately, he told all his jokes in Korean. He split his presentation between the languages but was such an animated speaker that we understood what he was saying even if we couldn’t translate the words. It was easy to see how easily he develops Jeong with others.

I stopped on the street to take a picture of the quilted items being sold by the grandmothers. I told them, in Korean, that their quilts were beautiful; but I think they hoped I would also purchase something.

We explored our neighborhood in another direction and found a lovely playground for children and adults. Even one train stop south the equipment and facilities were about ten years newer than those in our little park. There was a picture of the landscape in 1950 to compare with today. In those 65 years this area has gone from farmland with a few simple structures for dwellings to multiple high rise buildings and many factories that seem to have no limit to the pollution they can pump into the air. Korea is changing and has hopes to continue to change in the direction of true democracy as evidenced by the continued street protests in Seoul as they hope to force their president to resign. We passed protestors on our way to the mission home, but they protest very peacefully here with singing, signs, and speeches.

               

We did another explore up into the hills (53 flights on the Fitbit) and found the houses just one draw north were much larger and more beautiful. There was no sewage smell in this valley! We wondered if we would be able to see North Korean from the top, but this is our little dong (city).

         

       I thought it was interesting how they placed straw around the trunks of the trees and tied it with a rope woven from the same straw. This must provide protection from the cold winter winds.

                The climb to the ridge was steep and difficult because of the thick layer of leaves. Coming down the slope was slippery and slick as snow so I just sat down and pretended I was sledding.

       

Closer to home, we saw two old people carrying recyclables. She was carrying some metal pieces and he had a cart full of cardboard. This is the house they came home to, in contrast with the home in the picture above. They did have a nice big garden plot. They just looked too old to be supporting themselves with a garden and gathering garbage.

How thankful we are for the Jeong we feel with so many friends and the opportunity to develop Jeong with many more in this beautiful land. On our way home today we met a Korean woman who had lived in Massachusetts for a number of years and she was excited to see an American. She was so frightened about the political landscape in America and South Korea. I took the opportunity to share with her the comfort I receive because of my faith in Jesus Christ. Faith casts out fear. In the end, it will be all right (Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley). We have a prophet’s word on it.

Contrasts

One of our major focuses this week was doing missionary apartment checks. The missionaries are good about meeting us at a train station and walking us to their apartment. There are two apartments in each area—one for elders and one for sisters. That means that we need to find our way between apartments and this week it was in Seoul. These are two of the sisters we visited. One is from the
Philippines so she had a little more English than the one from Korea. The other two sisters were both from Korea so communication is just part of the adventure.

This is a picture of the mountains beyond the busy streets at the end of the Seoul subway line to the northeast. The haze is pollution and humidity. This section of the city was nestled between these granite mountains.

The most beautiful sight in the city was the autumn leaves. We do lots of walking and most of the time we only have an approximate idea where we are, but we trust the GPS on our Google Maps, ask a Korean where to go or call with an SOS for someone to come find us. Being lost in Seoul is no longer a novelty. The good news is that we feel pretty comfortable once we find a train station. We only went the wrong direction once this week, but we figured it out before the next stop. Once we were on a train
so packed that it could qualify as a New York elevator and then more people pushed themselves into the train car. BUT, we were on a train and headed home. The train is almost always mostly empty when it reaches our station so we just wait for a seat to open.

I am usually successful in finding someone to talk with on a train. Sometimes it’s just practicing my memorized Korean phrases and sometimes they speak some English. I am learning a few more phrases to extend the conversation. One fun exchange was with an infant about 9 months old. Her
mother put her on the seat beside me and I taught her some English.

We decided to walk west today to see what lies nestled in the low mountains there. We found it a complete contrast from the busy streets of Seoul. First of all, we discovered these mound burial plots nestled right up against the trees and not very far from the summit. They are well kept with beautiful granite stones.

This one had a stone structure that could be a tomb. It probably contains the remains of a more prominent citizen because there were other stone statues (carved monoliths) on the same site. One of the monoliths had a dragon with a ball (probably the world) in its mouth and another had a cat of some kind climbing its side.

There were small plots of farmland all cultivated and harvested by hand. The road was just one lane and the dwellings and their people looked like they stepped out of another century. Huge machinery is right next to the road building a new elevated road or railway line. There is already a tunnel cut into the mountain for it to pass through. A very large middle school sits next to the river and just behind in these mountain dwellings everything is done by hand. It’s no wonder food is so expensive here.

We did encounter our very first local wildlife besides the birds. This lovely bull snake was trying to warm itself in the roadway. It was lethargic enough that it didn’t move when we passed but it was gone when we returned.

In every hidden pocket we seem to find a Buddhist temple and sanctuary. These two very large stone statues are twice the size of a man with so many smaller statues near them that I didn’t begin to count them. There was a bronze laughing Buddha at the entrance of the area and two very noisy dogs that were chained. We didn’t ever see a person.

We had a wonderful Family Home Evening this week taught by a recent member. He is determined to use this time without children hanging on him to learn as much as he can about the history of the church and its doctrine. We had our largest attendance ever, but two of the soldiers leave for gunnery field practice so we won’t see them for a month. This battalion will rotate out to the field over the next few months which will give is a variation in the soldiers we see.

I think one of my favorite times of the day is the language and scripture study with Wayne. This week we finished reading Mormon. It’s amazing how Moroni can have hope when he has just witnessed the
destruction of his whole civilization. He is all alone; his life is in peril every moment; yet he has hope in Jesus Christ and shares it with those who will come after.

The U.S. election doesn’t quite count as the end of our civilization although it seems like it to many people. We can follow the example of Moroni and put our faith in Jesus Christ. He has power to save and stands with his arms outstretched. In Christ we can find peace and hope and joy. What a blessing it is to be a missionary and share that wonderful message.

If I listen with my heart

Elder Carmen, Elder Anderson, Sister Anderson, Elder Anderson, Sister Rix

We fasted last Sunday and I bore my testimony that when we listen with our heart we really do hear the Savior’s voice whether it is in reading the scriptures or listening for answers to prayers. I shared some of our answered prayers this week.

This is what a typical Korean table looks like. There is a main dish cooking in front of me, rice, lettuce to wrap the rice and meat and condiments in at the very end of the table, and dozens of other side dishes. There were four kinds of kimchi, bean soup, tiny sardines, a brine of shrimp and dozens of different types of green vegetables fermented, cooked, and spiced plus regular boiled.

We went with Sister Rix to take the elders to lunch. She took us to a restaurant tucked away in the hills across the river not too far from our apartment. I wouldn’t have known to look for it, but everyone in Korea seems to know it’s there by the number of people there at lunch time on a Monday. It was traditional Korean food and she had a good time introducing us to a variety of tastes and textures. I admit that I didn’t try all of them.  We ate more kimchi and hot stuff than we usually do and I ate lots of tofu that was made fresh today. I usually avoid tofu. Sister Rix was careful not to let us waste any rice. Her mother taught her never to waste rice. She is a woman full of charity and kindness. The elders were very appreciative of the food and a chance to celebrate Elder Anderson’s birthday and transfer.

An answered prayer for guidance in our missionary assignment came with an exchange with a young high school student. The story really began last week when we went south for our District Meeting. On our way home, we had just missed the train giving us 30 minutes so we walked along the station platform. We were greeted by a cheerful old gentleman who was a safety guard. He spoke someEnglish and we talked with him until the train arrived. We had a special connection and knew we hadn't missed the train by accident.

Then this week we went back to the same city because a sister missionary there was ill. Our charge was to go cheer her up. The sisters were both Koreans and speak about as much English as we speak Korean so we had them help us with our Korean language which made them giggle.

When we to the train station (You guessed it!), our train had just left. Our friend the safety guard was delighted to see us again. A high school boy came by and the gentleman then told us that he was a boy he talks to at the station and tries to encourage. The love the older gentleman had for the boy was very apparent and the boy reciprocated his love with respect.

The older gentleman goaded the boy into practicing his English with us. At first, the boy was very shy and didn't want to open his mouth. The old man wouldn't accept excuses. Soon we were having a fine conversation with a mix of English and Korean. The train came and the boy stood by me for the 30 minutes to his station. He continued to talk with me about anything we could figure out to say that either I could say in Korean or he could say in English.

The older woman sitting next to me spoke a bit of English, too, so she joined in trying to help us understand one another. The Spirit was there telling that boy that I truly cared about him. He was so happy. When he left the train, I tried to explain to the woman how much I loved that boy and that is why I wanted to help him with his English to make him feel good about himself. I told her that is why I had come to Korea. She could read my name badge. She knew I was a missionary and she felt the Spirit. 

I don't know why the Lord wanted me to talk to those people this week, but I do know that He gave me the opportunity. The boy never would have talked to us if the old man hadn’t introduced us. The old man wouldn’t have trusted us to speak to the boy if he hadn’t already checked us out. We wouldn’t have met either of them if we had caught our trains. We wouldn’t have been on the train at all if the sisters hadn’t needed cheering.

Our other big adventure this week was a visit to the temple and attendance at the adult session of our district conference. We went to lunch with Pres. And Sister Rix and April Harward between the temple and district meeting. Sister Rix ordered for us what we thought was some of the same food we ate on Monday, but it looked quite different and had different side dishes. We are learning.

There was a conference at the Buddhist meeting house just down the street from the temple so they had strung paper lanterns between the light poles all along the street.

                We learned that the stroke Elder Bastian (another senior missionary) had at the DMZ was a very serious one. As the helicopter headed for the hospital in Seoul the medical crew reported him as unresponsive and said they were ventilating him. The Seoul hospital waved them on and had the helicopter take him on to another hospital where he could receive the care he needed. At that hospital they went in through a vein in his leg and removed a blood clot a full centimeter in length from his brain. That is an operation considered experimental in the United States but one that saved his life. The Lord knew he needed to be in Korea and at the DMZ so he could be at the hospital that could do the procedure he would need to extend his life. He is now able to walk, but his speech has yet to return. They will transport him back to the United States as soon as he is stable enough to travel.