Cherry
blossoms are the signal of spring here. The trees are planted along roadsides
and the rivers. Almost every dong (town) has some type of festival to celebrate
the blooming of the cherry trees. Wayne and I hiked to Soyosan on Saturday to
see what we could find. We were not disappointed.
The
third most common blossom in spring is the light purple azalea that grows wild
on the mountainsides. There are a few in the parks and they add color to the
season.
We have seen some little
purple violets and even some white ones. There are tiny white and yellow
flowers that look like weeds blooming. There is a yellow flower that looks
similar to the parrot’s beak blooming next to the trail.
We
found that the Koreans have a different definition of weed than we do. As we
walked today there were men and women cutting the leaves of low-growing plants
and then we saw them for sale at the vendors along the trail at Soyosan. Men
were snipping off the leaves just emerging from the buds from a particular bush
along the trail and we wondered whether they were going to eat them as a side
dish or boil them for a tea.
Korea seems to hold a new adventure around every corner.
On Wednesday, my friend Victoria took me by the hand and off I went to
wherever she led. It reminded me of the Faith Walks the Young Women do at Girl’s
Camp. She speaks only a little English; I speak only a little Korean; and
everyone in the countryside speaks Korean.
She took me to a bus stop and we rode a “little” bus
to Jeonguk about 15 minutes north. Our first stop was at a market to buy “baby
plants.” Sister Kong met us there and helped Victoria choose which plants to
buy. She kept asking me what I wanted to buy, but the only plant I recognized
was Romaine lettuce and she had already selected several of those.
Bro. Bae (husband of Sis. Kong) picked us up and we
rode another fifteen minutess into the countryside until we were near the top
of a little valley. There was a wonderful property owned by a Protestant Church
where the Bae’s live as caretakers. There were two greenhouses and at least an
acre of cultivated fields. We helped Bro. Bae put our baby plants into the soil
that he had already prepared. Then we harvested lettuce and then green onions.
Victoria dug up two large garbage sacks full of green onions and Bro. Bae sent
them all home with us. Victoria sheered off the leaves of several of the
miscellaneous plants growing near the onions. They all looked like weeds to me.
We ate a simple meal of Korean dumplings, rice cakes, and a white melon before
Bro. Bae brought us home.
Those
were the adventures but most of our week was spent in service at the USO
mentoring soldiers so far away from their families. On Thursday, we provided
support for a campaign to encourage the soldiers to drink “responsibly.” The
rest of our time was spent with our missionaries and members.
Sunday brought the Easter
celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The elders brought two
soldiers they met last night at their finding activity. We’re looking forward
to fellowshipping them as they begin to study with the missionaries. Our female
officer was back after almost a month being drawn away by her role to oversee
her soldiers who broke rules and were in trouble. I taught her another temple
preparation class. She is so excited to look forward to being sealed to her
husband. One of our African elders who has been away since Christmas was back
so I did my best to encourage him to join us on Monday evenings for our
Institute class so he can begin studying while he waits for an opportunity to
take college courses. He kills chickens twelve hours a day and has hopes to one
day work with his mind rather than his hands. We’re trying to generate a large
enough group to begin the Pathways program here in Dongducheon. Easter with the
Koreans was a wonderful celebration complete with two kinds of Easter rice
cakes.
Our
meeting at the Camp Casey Chapel had a record attendance of soldiers who are
actually stationed here. Each soldier enjoys one-on-one attention to share their
week. We learned that a Korean soldier died when he turned his tank on its top
and all about the shiny new tanks the South Korean soldiers have as equipment.
Our soldiers are on 10-minutes to fight alert and expect to be the first
deployed if conflict occurs. Protecting us is their job and they are confident
in their equipment and skills. Vice Pres. Pence was at the JSA today so they
were on extra high alert.
One of
the chaplain assistants who has been working at the Camp Casey Chapel since
January asked if she could meet me for coffee this week. She is Italian from
the Bronx, complete with the accent. The topic of coffee led to a discussion of
the Word of Wisdom which led to her interest in studying different religions.
She accepted a Book of Mormon to
begin reading this week so we can talk about it when we meet for lunch on Friday. The sister missionaries
joined our conversation because they couldn’t leave my sight while on the post
and directed her to use mormon.org to find more information on our church.
Heavenly Father loves and watches over all His children. What a wonderful
blessing to be called as a missionary to share the message of Jesus Christ to
those seeking more light and peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment