One of a kind

               

                The big adventure of our week was a visit to Camp Humphreys near Pyeongtaek close to the western coast about ninety minutes south of Seoul. We were there to meet with Lt. Col. Thomas Helms who is the deputy to the chaplain of the 8^th Army. Col. Helms is a chaplain and called all the Military Relations Missionaries in South Korea to his home for lunch and a conversation. At the meeting we realized that our mission area is very unique, one of a kind. Nothing the other missionaries shared fit our scenario of unaccompanied soldiers with varying lengths of deployment. One challenge we asked him to take to church headquarters was the option for our branch president to designate a rotating group leader to have authority to administer the sacrament to LDS soldiers during extended field operations. Our soldiers are often in the field for three to five weeks at a time. Sometimes they are joined by other units who have LDS members among them. Currently, there is no way for them to enjoy the blessings of the sacrament at these training outposts.

                Our soldiers are frequently rotated in and out of South Korea and always come without their families. All of the other posts have families with the soldiers and they serve here for two years at a time providing some continuity. We hold our meetings with Koreans and Africans and in two languages. Our branch has sacrament meeting in two different buildings every week to accommodate soldiers restricted to post. We have one set of sister missionaries that work with us and with the Korean group here. Every week, and sometimes every day, something new is happening in Area 1. We love the variety and opportunity our mission provides.

                As soon as we crossed the Han River and emerged from the southern suburbs of Seoul we encountered the rice fields that feed this country. The monsoon rains have flushed the fields and the rice will soon be ready for harvesting. Our good friend, Sister Rix, is now living near Camp Humphreys where her husband is working so she picked us up after our three-hour bus ride and gave us a brief tour of the post and the area immediately around it. Only about 15% of the land in South Korea is arable because of the many mountains and rivers. This area is flat and without mountains so they turn the swamps into rice fields.

                The second big highlight of our week was the results of the scores of our students on their predictor test and for some the actual promotion exam. We had one soldier raise her score almost 25 points from a number under 110 to just under 130 which is the cut score for becoming an officer. Others raised their scores by equally large increments. The soldiers who did not do homework, who slept, played on their phones, or just talked in class showed little change in their scores. Because of the number of students who scored above 100, the education office will schedule our next class for three weeks again. There is evidence to convince commanders that the extra week makes a difference in the success of their soldiers.

                Gabriel Broady who has been spending two or three evenings with us every week for several months also took the predictor test this week and scored 109. He is so close to that cut score that he can taste it! His plan is to take the actual exam at the end of August and he should be armed with the skills to reach a hard worked for goal.

                We continue to have nonmembers regularly at our meetings. This sister prayed that she would be able to have children and she asked for two. Only a few weeks later she learned she was pregnant with twins. Now she has two of a kind. These boys love their Primary class, especially singing the songs in Korean and English. They are very reverent in our sacrament meeting enabling their mother to listen to the messages. Our favorite chaplain’s assistant, Ann-Marie, sat with the sister missionaries the full hour at our meeting on post, a first for her.

I was the anchor speaker today with the topic of the sacrament. There are so many things to remember about Jesus Christ from his premortal role in volunteering to come as our Messiah, to his creation of our world, his role as the Great Jehovah of the Old Testament with his hands stretched out to invite us to come unto Him; his birth, atonement, resurrection and appearances to Joseph Smith as His gospel was restored to the earth in preparation for His promised coming as King of Kings. We can reflect on our need for forgiveness and focus our loving obedience as we seek to become like Him. We can think about taking His name upon us that we might enjoy the fruits of having his Spirit to always be with us—love, joy, and peace. The sacrament is such a sacred covenant and gift that we are invited to partake weekly to enjoy a sacred moment in a quiet place. We love being missionaries and wearing His name on our heart every day.

Transitions

                The first transition was the news that there will not be elders in our area for a while. Elder Shepherd went home to Georgia and his companion was transferred. Several of our soldiers were in the field training with their tanks this week so we had a pretty quiet Family Home Evening.

Elder Shepherd, Elder Gish, Sister Rhodes, Sister Hale, Elder and Sister Anderson

                The second transition was completing our three weeks teaching this group of soldiers their math, vocabulary, and reading comprehension. They represent a wide variety of skill levels, but most of them came determined to learn. One soldier who is hoping to qualify for an elite female criminal investigation unit said to her seatmate, “I’ve never felt so prepared to take this exam.” Her score is only one point away from the number she needs to move forward with her dream.

   We have spent several evenings at the USO doing extra tutoring. They will take an exam to “predict” their score if they were to take the actual exam now. We have high hopes that many of them will actually take the promotion exam and do well on it. Three weeks has given us more time to cover additional materials and give the soldiers a wider range of practice questions.

Sister Rhodes eating a dream dessert.

                Our pay for teaching the class came from the Russian part-time employee who helps in the office at the education center. She made us our own dish of a secret family recipe for a dessert. All I can tell you is it is difficult to make, there is chocolate on top in gelatin and that the bottom is light, not too sweet, and similar to cream cheese, but it’s not cream cheese. She wouldn’t share the ingredients or the recipe, only the dessert. She has been very, very kind to us. We invited the sister missionaries to enjoy our treat with us. Since they are the only set of missionaries here, they have been doing double-duty this week and working very hard.

Pres. Brent Soelberg and Bro. Bae, Korean Group Leader

                The third transition was a change in the leadership in our Korean Northern Military Branch. Pres. Soelberg is returning to his family in the U.S. this week. The district presidency came for our ward conference and sustained Chaplain Omer as our new branch president. The Lord’s hand in this work was clear. Until two weeks ago there was no one here to fill the position of branch president. Chaplain Omer arrived humble but prepared to assist in building the Lord’s kingdom in our little corner of South Korea.

Pres. Loren Omer, Pres. Craig Sonksen, Pres. Lee, of the District Presidency

Pres. and Sister Sonksen came, too, so they could look at the apartment where the elders had been living to decide what to do with it. His biggest concern was prevention of the growth of mold while it is vacant. I thought that eradicating the roaches the elders were feeding needed to be near the top of the priorities, too. We have all the food out of the apartment so the hope is that without a food supply the population will die. We did add some roach hotels we hope they visit as a last resort. (It’s okay if you’re not laughing.)

We have lots of varied opportunities and experiences every week, even if the variety is simply in the people in our path. It’s exciting being “…called of God to declare His word among His people.”  (3 Nephi 5:13)This is the Lord’s work but he finds ways to use us. How thankful we are for His trust and for all those who take care of things in Utah and watch over our families so we have this opportunity.

Big Guns

                As we headed to the Education Center on Wednesday to teach we were greeted by these big guns on either side of the roadway. It looked like a grand greeting until we noticed these other big guns parked across every road that led to our destination. We wondered if someone knew something they didn’t tell us so we talked to a soldier near one of the guns. He said there would be a change of command ceremony later in the day and we were free to pass the guns and teach our class. Sometimes we feel as though there are really big guns trying to keep us from our goal of serving the soldiers and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are thankful that the Lord always provides a way to do whatever He asks of us.

                  We taught every morning this week to a full room of soldiers. Wayne has them moving quickly and confidently through the basic math, algebra, and geometry. He started giving them word problems and testing their ability to use the tools he has given them. I have become a little more brave and have been able to keep them focused on finding the main idea in the passage they are reading or verifying the answer they chose is based on the words they read. They are becoming very accurate and quick with their vocabulary tests and the errors are coming down in their comprehension.

                We met with our soldiers on Monday night in a very leaky building for Family Home Evening. We thought the rain that had the rivers swollen to near capacity might deter our soldiers. We had a full house with soldiers and missionaries so excited to be together that Elder Anderson had to push them out the door. I love the laughter of children. These children are a wee bit bigger than the Primary children in Utah, but just as precious to Heavenly Father.

               We met with soldiers for one-on-one tutoring at the USO three evenings and with our district of missionaries twice. The second time they came to our apartment to wish Elder Anderson a happy birthday. They brought him a sack of fresh peaches. The big celebration for the birthday came on Sunday after our church meetings.

The Koreans hosted the soldiers for a barbecue in the mountains about twenty miles north. We had six soldiers join the group and they had an incredible time as they enjoyed the beautiful countryside of Korea and the wonderful hospitality and food of the Korean members. It was a rare opportunity for those who were able to get permission to come.

We had a record sixteen soldiers at church today and five Africans. One of our new soldiers is an LDS chaplain, Captain Omer (dishing up food with Wayne and Eric Anderson), so we are looking forward to working with him. He will have resources and opportunities to serve the LDS soldiers to complement our work. 

             There were five nonmembers who joined us in our sacrament services and news that we will no longer have two sets of younger missionaries in our area. The number of missionaries leaving far exceeds the number arriving so several areas with elders were merged with other areas. Our sisters will stay and do their best to keep teaching and fellowshipping. We will roll with the new changes and trust that this is the Lord’s work. We are just his helpers. What a wonderful time to be missionaries in Dongducheon.        

The Fourth with us

                The Family Home Evening activity turned out even more awesome than any of us could have imagined. We had four nonmembers join us, one Korean and three soldiers. We had five of our member soldiers which gave us the largest attendance at a Monday night activity to date. The missionaries gave a short lesson about how the American Revolution began to pave the way for the restoration of the gospel. We played Apples to Apples, ate Chex peanut butter bars, and laughed and laughed. The only sad part was the fireworks were cancelled. The Fourth of July without fireworks just isn’t quite the same. The sister missionaries brought a watermelon and that was almost as good.

                Wayne wanted to celebrate the Fourth of July with a race so he joined the soldiers for a 5K. Two of our soldiers who are members were running, too. They were glad to finish a little before him. 25 other soldiers weren't as lucky. I went to take pictures and walk him home.

                We started teaching another BSEP Review class and have every chair filled. This is a dedicated group of students which includes our chaplain’s assistant front and center! Our preparation seems to have paid off because the students are staying engaged, awake (even after working all night) and completing their nightly homework. We’re almost in a routine and excited for the next two weeks with these soldiers. On Friday, one of the soldiers asked Wayne when our church services were held on post which was exciting. She didn’t join us this week but many of the soldiers are on a 10-to-fight alert this weekend so they can’t be more than ten minutes from their battle station.

                My Korean student brought me a copy of her thank you letter and a few gifts so I would remember her. I admit that I cried right in the commissary where she tracked me down. I have grown to love her. The picture was taken in front of the section with Korean ramen.

                Friday evening we went with the USO to the Korean meat buffet for a volunteer appreciation dinner. We had an opportunity to share a bit about our mission with the other civilian volunteers. The soldiers were unable to come with us because of the alert level.

                The next two weeks will go quickly as we teach from 8:30 am to 12:30 pm every day and do lesson preparation in the afternoons. We already have an evening tutoring appointment for two soldiers on Tuesday and expect there will be more. There seems to be no slow lane in our missionary service, but every morning we awaken we are so thankful to have one more day as the Lord’s missionaries.

Today I will obey; tomorrow I will understand

                We had reason to go to Seoul twice this week. On Thursday our Area Authority Elder Choi and his wife met with our missionaries at the same chapel where they grew up as children. Sister Choi quoted Sister Hinckley as saying, “Today I will obey; tomorrow I will understand.” That was a different way of looking at President Hinckley’s frequent reminder, “In the end it will be all right.”

                As missionaries we pray each morning that the Spirit will guide us in our service. When we first arrived in Donducheon we had no idea why we were here or what we might do to strengthen the Lord’s Kingdom in this corner of his vineyard. We knew a little Korean, the phrase they use to greet one another and the one they use to thank one another. As we walk the streets, I stop in front of every grandmother I pass, bow, and say the greeting. They almost always smile, bow, and return my greeting. I also greet the grandfathers and any younger person who will acknowledge me. The charge we were given was to open our mouth. Each day I obey and it may be many tomorrows before I understand why. I do know that the Korean’s in our dong (neighborhood) expect the greeting and always smile.

                I have been teaching English to Shin Youn Jung since February. This week she wrote a letter to me to thank me for my tutoring so I could use it to correct her English. Next week she will leave for her new assignment in El Paso, Texas, and I will miss her. I have been underlining passages in an English Book of Mormon to share with her because we often talk of her love for reading the Bible. I wanted her to have a second witness of Jesus Christ to complement her study of the Bible so my gift to her was two Books of Mormon, the one in English and the other in Korean. She had some concerns because she has been told that we are not Christians. I did my best to answer her questions. I did my best today to obey my purpose to invite others to come unto Christ. I hope there will be a tomorrow when I understand and know if she accepts that invitation. She will always be close to my heart.

                Another soldier we have been tutoring since May, Gabe Broady has started attending our sacrament meetings on post in the Casey Chapel and joining us for Family Home Evening that is also being held on post. He is doing well with his math and making good progress with the number of vocabulary words he can recognize quickly. He is still working to improve his ability to read quickly with a high level of comprehension. He is an artist with a wonderful portfolio and an MFA from a university in North Dakota. His goal is to retake his promotion exam before he leaves the country in August so our clock is ticking in helping him achieve his goal to be able to shift to a position that uses his mind and skills and not just his body. Today we do our best to help him learn, and we will trust that his tomorrows will be as bright as his dreams.

                We attend the temple each month when they conduct sessions in the English language. It is a joy to feel the peace inside the Lord’s House, to learn, and to pray. This week we met several senior missionaries who are also serving here in Korea, the District President who was seeking some advice and guidance from us concerning our little branch, and Sister Rix and her beautiful daughter. After our visit with the District President we joined with Sister Rix, her daughter and other Korean sisters in eating some lunch in a snack room we didn’t know existed in the lower level of the temple. They were very kind in sharing their Korean food. Often, when I leave the temple I am aware of a new insight about the atonement of Jesus Christ or have an idea to answer a question I had been pondering. I have some understanding of my service in the temple, but I believe there is another level of understanding that will come in another tomorrow.

                This week our missionaries asked for some help in building a relationship of teamwork in our district. It was an especially busy day, but I stopped to share a few things I know work and gave them an opportunity to talk through some bad feelings and set goals to improve their effectiveness as missionaries. Last night that same district of missionaries came together to plan a super fun Family Home Evening that would share a gospel and patriotic message and be appropriate for our member and our nonmember soldiers. While I am excited to be part of the activity myself, the most important outcome for me was to see these young adults use basic counsel, humbly set goals and make changes. They were willing to obey and then enjoy the synergy.

“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God…” (John 7:17) Our missionary service is a witness to this truth.