Marathon Days

 This week seemed like a marathon as the days began early and were filled to the brim until late each night. We are thankful for the health to serve.

Monday opened with a Skype call with three of my daughters and their families. What fun to see them all piled on top of one another. I just wanted to touch them. The day ended with our Family Home Evening with the soldiers. We had a Korean young adult join us and then were surprised when one of the female gate guards came into the room. The sisters had invited her but didn’t understand she planned to accept the invitation. She knew both sets of senior missionaries who preceded us so this wasn’t her first Family Home Evening. Wayne and I gave an institute lesson on the topic that God is no respecter of persons. The investigator seemed to have a wonderful time.

 We walked to the post most every day this week and enjoyed the walk home past the wetland and the yellow iris that are blooming now.

Twice this week we met with two soldiers to review reading comprehension, vocabulary, and math skills. Gabriel came first on Tuesday and as he was sharing the book he was reading he shared his love for learning about science. He talked about the creation and the disconnect between some preachers who claim the earth was created in only 2000 years and the geological evidence we have that it took millions of years for the earth to form. He expressed the concern about the changes people have made in the text of the Bible and how to know what is what God is really like. I used the opening to share that the church I belong to believes in modern prophets and that God the Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith so we know what they are like. It was just a brief exchange and Gabriel was as respectful of my statement of belief as I was of his. He didn’t have any questions.

               Teel-Owen came from her review board on Friday. She passed whatever they were reviewing with shining colors. She was happy. She was also happy because she scored 114 on the GT predictor test she took on Thursday. She had two more weeks to study and is determined to capture a score over 110.

 Thursday was the main adventure. Dr. Mark Peterson from BYU was here to share information with us about the religious beliefs of the people in Korea. He spent the most time telling us about Shamanism and detailing why you go to a Shaman, what the Shaman can do for you and exactly how they do it. He said that no one in Korea admits that they practice the Shaman religion, but 100% of Koreans have some cultural practice that is based in Shamanism. It was interesting that most of the Shaman’s are women who have themselves been helped with a serious trouble by another Shaman. They mentor and teach one another and assist one another in important or large, three-day, ceremonies. They discover which dead relative who died unexpectedly and prematurely is giving the person trouble and then performs the ceremony to contact that relative and convince them to move on and stop causing their poor relative so much grief. These ceremonies include drums and chanting, ribbons on a stick that are waved and pulled, and are expensive. Shaman’s do other smaller rituals that cost less money and take less time. Mostly, Dr. Peterson said, what they do is listen to the worry, give solace and support, pray and the person receives comfort. He said that we share a belief in prayer, an afterlife, and comforting those whose hands hang down.

Then President Sonksen gave the directive that we would all go to the Seoul South Mission home and meet there at 2 p.m. The goal was to practice gathering in case of an emergency evacuation. He told the missionaries to take the drill seriously. We followed instructions, rode the underground train to the designated station, saw nothing but tunnel until we walked above ground to the corner where we were to walk to the mission home. We ate as we traveled and were one of the first missionaries to arrive. We watched as they straggled in, one trainload at a time. The sisters were all there early while some of the elders were twenty minutes late.

We were on the first train out of Seoul and took a different route home than we have taken before. Again, all the new territory was in a train tunnel. We changed trains twice and were near Bosan about 5:30 p.m. We decided to split. Wayne took the elders to the food court getting off at the Bosan Station. I rode to Dongducheon and picked up the car so we had transportation home.

When I went to the restroom to wash my hands before eating, a soldier stopped me to talk. I must have met her at the USO at least once and she recognized me. We talked, mostly I listened. She asked what I was doing and I told her about the Korean class at the CAC; she decided she would join us.

There were five soldiers waiting to be taught Korean and only one was a repeat. Elder Gish did a great job teaching the alphabet and the soldiers seemed to feel they were learning a bunch and having a good time in the process.

On Friday, we worked the USO desk until 2 p.m., did our food shopping, grabbed a bite to eat and went back to the USO where we met with Broady and Teel-Owen again. Shin also came so we had students from 4-8 p.m.  We worked at the front desk because there was no one else to cover the desk. The whole week seemed filled with overlap.

 I remembered to bake a birthday cake for Elder Gish. Shin wanted to help me cook so she did the stirring. I pulled the cake out of the oven as we closed the USO. We came home dead tired again, but called the elders and sisters to join us for a piece of birthday cake and some ice cream. They were here in a jiffy, sang to Elder Gish, ate most of the cake, shared experiences from their week and then were off so they didn’t miss their 9 p.m. curfew. I was thankful for the curfew but it was good to see the happy young people celebrating a milestone together.

Sunday Wayne gave the main talk in sacrament meeting then he helped me teach Chika his last Temple Preparation lesson as he prepares to enter the temple for the first time. He fled the economic chaos in Nigeria hoping to find a way to provide support for his children. He works six days a week, usually twelve hour days at a repetitious factory job. He sleeps on a cot at the factory and eats in the canteen there. Sunday is his day to step outside. Knowing he is a Son of God gives him perspective and hope. He always has a smile even when he’s just come off the night shift and is a wonderful example of gratitude for life, health, family, and priesthood covenants.