Smiling Faces

                We worked our soldiers pretty hard this week with two hours of math and two hours of language every day and we did it with a smile. We really love working with these soldiers as they reciprocate with a smile of hope. We had soldiers at the USO every night plus Saturday for extra tutoring anywhere from one to five.

                We had a high number attend FHE with a mix of members, nonmembers, soldiers and African.

Patrick Thielen is an officer and will be the liaison between the officers in his unit teaching the BSEP review to their soldiers while they are in the field over the next few weeks. Eric Anderson is always smiling and the one soldier who almost misses any church meeting.

Colton Mercer and Tyler Lavea are also officers and bring a smile whenever they are free to join us.

Kemekia Hopwood has spent every evening with us since she started our BESEP review class last week. She from Jamaica and is determined to hit the 110 GT score. She is always so bright and happy that we would give her that score if it were ours to bestow.

Shawn Pitcher is a counselor in the branch presidency and Alfred is from Liberia and hoping to go on a mission before he is too old to serve. He works fifteen hour days killing chickens six days a week and he’s been saving the money he doesn’t sent back to his family in Africa. 

Gabe Broady meets with us whenever he is free. His smile lights up the room.

Our Korean neighbors set up a little fair in the courtyard of our apartment complex. It reminded me of a mini county fair complete with games of chance, food, a ride and entertainment. The loud Korean music playing was my clue to look for something unusual.

The food on skewers is an apple cut in a continuous incline plane, deep fried and sprinkled in cinnamon. The most interesting food was octopi with the head on a skewer and the tentacles wound around the stick. It was only 10000 won ($10) for one deep fried.

There was this one swing ride in a pirate’s ship.  

           I hosted the women of the area who speak English to listen to a rebroadcast of the General Women’s Conference in our apartment. We invited all the African sisters and their husbands promised they would be here. None of them came, but one of the nonmember soldiers who came to our Fourth of July activity came with the sister missionaries. It was an intimate group and such wonderful messages of hope and joy as sisters.

Kimchi Tutorial Part 2

                Dinner over, we left Sister Song to clean up the kitchen and we moved the second table next to the other table and went to work on Part 2 of the kimchi preparation.

                Sister Park decided that the cabbages and radishes were ready to be washed and she did that repeatedly. We tasted the cabbage after each rinse to test for its saltiness. Sister Kong assured me that the taste of the salt level was very important and needed to be precise.

                In the meantime, Sister Song and I started cutting the long grass that smells like chives into five centimeter strips. Then we cut the green onion into similar size pieces and yellow onions.

Sister Park made a base of rice flour and water that she cooked to the desired consistency, about that of a meat gravy we eat in the US.  Into the flour gravy went the grass strips, a generous dipper of garlic and sliced yellow onion. Sister Park grated the remainder of the white radish and then had Wayne grate a carrot to add to this base for the kimchi.

                Next came the “magic” ingredients. Sister Park added four overflowing cups of the ground red pepper…

…and Wayne and I began to stir with our gloved hands. Sister Kong corrected our stirring technique indicating that it needed to be done gently like you would handle a baby. We repented and began to mix the kimchi base more delicately.

                Again taste was very important. Tiny shrimp in a brine sauce were added, about half to three-fourths of a cup. There seemed to be a difference of opinion on the amount of small shrimp that was needed because Sister Song added about two tablespoons more after Sister Park called it good. They also added anchovy oil, about the same amount but in more than one application after a taste test. The last magic ingredient was some sort of fruit preserve that looked a little like small plums with seeds removed made into a jam. This was to add sweetness although I have no idea how sweet this was. About one-fourth to one-half cup was added, again in more than one time after a taste test. Each time they did a taste test, we were given some to taste so we can know just how the ingredients are blended together. I’m not sure my tongue will remember the lessons.

                The final step was to add some of this “red sauce” to each of our base vegetables, cabbage, radish, green onion, and sesame leaves. The cabbage we were told to mix more vigorously than the red sauce.

                As each type of kimchi was finished it was divided into five containers: one for us, Sister Park, Sister, Kong, Sister Song, and the sister missionaries. Included in our stack of kimchi was a mixture of tiny fish that were mixed with oil, walnuts, and sesame seeds. We are now armed with five different side dishes for our meals.

                We are so thankful to these Korean women, sisters, who took so much time and expense to share a very important part of their culture with us.

Kimchi Tutorial

                Making kimchi is a community or family activity because it requires lots of hands to do all the work that is required. Wayne thought he would be out-of-place in a room full of “harmonies” (Korean for grandmothers) but the Koreans insisted he participate from the cutting of the first cabbage. Sister Park hosted the event and had many of the ingredients already to use such as trimming the green onions, mincing the garlic and grinding the red peppers into a coarse powder. She had the special fruit preserves that looked a bit like plum jam to be used as sweetener.

Sister Park took me to the market to purchase cabbage, radish, long grass herb, carrot, and yellow onion but she also had tiny shrimp in a salty brine, anchovy oil and rice flour.

                One of the basic ingredients of Korean kimchi is cabbage. They plant these cabbages in late August and harvest them before the first hard freeze in November. Sister Kong is explaining how you cut the base of the cabbage about five inches into the head and then use your hands to separate the remainder of the leaves. The same cut is made into each half and then they are separated by hand. When traditional kimchi is made, the cabbage leaves are salted in these quarters, one leaf at a time and left to leach the water from the leaves for about ten hours. The finished kimchi is then left to ferment for one to three years before it is ready to eat.

                 We made the short kimchi which only required salting the cabbage for three hours so Wayne and I cut the cabbage leaves into five inch strips before they were salted. Our kimchi should be ready to eat in one to three months so I think they call it fresh kimchi. We only cut three cabbages for our kimchi. Sister Kong said that her mother often used as many as 100 cabbages to make the kimchi for the family.

                The living room and kitchen were transformed into an extended kitchen with two tables to accommodate all the different ingredients. The bowl of cabbage is overflowing when we filled it with fresh cabbage.

              The one type of kimchi I enjoy the most is made from a very large white radish. I asked if we could make radish kimchi so as Wayne finished cutting the cabbages I peeled the radish and then we cut it into three-quarter inch cubes. The size of the cube needs to equal one bite. The first cubes were too large and that was demonstrated by Sister Song by showing that it didn’t fit into her mouth. She has a way of making everyone laugh.

                After the cutting the next step is to wash the cut cabbage and radish. This is when I learned that the anteroom on the front of every apartment is not there to dry clothes on drying racks. It’s the preparation room for washing the ingredients for kimchi. There is a faucet with access to water and the floor is angled to drain into a drain in the floor near the faucet. The cabbage was washed three times. The large blue colander on my right was used to drain off the extra water between washes.

                 Contemporary harmonies use a little squat stool to support their bottom as they squat and work. The stool I used initially was a little higher and more comfortable. When it was my turn on the squat stool, I wasn’t sure I would ever stand upright again.  

Next came the salting. One layer of cabbage was returned to the pan and covered in salt, ten a second, third and final layer. Another bowl was placed on top as a cover and the cabbage was left for two hours while the water drained from the leaves.

                Sister Park salted the radish cubes and they were left for the water to drain from them as well.

Now it was time to wash the catnip leaves, green onions, and long grass you can see in the red bowl that are similar to chives in that they have a smell of onion. Sister Kong insisted I do this washing myself with her help. I am sitting in front of the floor drain so my socks were totally soaked when I was finished and my body felt permanently curled.

This done, it was time for dinner. We had a two-hour wait for the cabbages and radishes so Sister Park brought out fresh apples which I helped cut. Sister Kong peeled her apple slices but assured me that both peeled and unpeeled were delicious. We had Korean tangerines grown on Jeju Island that are the sweetest in the world. I did not argue this claim; they were very delicious. We also had the cherry tomatoes and bottled water with flavoring. I love the fresh fruit and produce grown in Korea. We ate and giggled and ate some more.

Then Sister Song decided would have kimchi (jeon) pancakes. I did my best to convey that I could not eat wheat flour. I did such a good job that they used rice flour to make the pancake. Sister Song giggled as she explained the name of the pancake begins with a word that means little bug, then she slapped her hand to indicate flat. So I’m not sure whether the little bug is flat when it is alive or that the little bug becomes flat when you see it and smash it. She did her share of smashing the pancake in the pan to make it thin and flat. First she cut “old” kimchi (Considering it isn’t ready to eat for two to three years, I didn’t want to know the definition of the “old” kimchi.) into small pieces, about half of a large cabbage.

Then she cut about a quarter of a yellow onion in thin slices and added it to the flour and water mixture. This, she said, was poor man’s pancake. She pulled out two eggs to add and indicated that the rich man has eggs in his pancake, too. Then she wanted a can of tuna fish but Sister Park didn’t have one. We had a small can of wahoo fish from the discount shelf at the commissary so Wayne was sent to our apartment to retrieve it. He didn’t know that he needed to also bring his can opener because most Korean cans have the ring and pull top opening. Sister Park had to demonstrate to him how to use her can opener. It was a new device for him, but he was successful in freeing the fish from the can.

                There was a generous portion of oil in the bottom of the pan, a dipper of batter, and then smashing to fill the pan. The end product tasted too good. I think Wayne and I probably ate a whole pancake each plus several of the little vegetable pancakes.               

  Next came the vegetable pancakes that started with a mass of very thin, white mushrooms with tiny tops. Sister Park and Sister Kong worked at separating the stems of the mushrooms from one another. They added grated carrot, sliced green onion cut into five inch segments and cut lengthwise. They added eggs and a little bit of rice flour dissolved in water. It was a much thicker batter.

                Sister Song shaped this batter into pancakes about five inches in diameter and fried them in sesame oil as well. These are a milder pancake, a bit chewy, but very delicious.

Dreams

                 

              We began to teach a class of 25 soldiers on Monday and have enjoyed learning of their hopes and dreams one at a time. Last week we shared the dream of our soldier from Cameroon to raise the capital to be an independent businessman in his beautiful country. He is the soldier on the left.

                The female soldier in the middle has met with us three of the four evenings this week hoping to realize her dream to become a pharmacist assistant. Her Sergeant Major also met with us hoping to obtain materials his lieutenants can use to teach the course to his soldiers. He isn’t able to send his soldiers to our classes because they are in the field training ten weeks out of every fifteen. He needs them to be able to use their field time for education and using his lieutenants as teachers helps him facilitate that. He said that he taught his soldiers the review course while they were deployed in Afghanistan. He was a leader anyone would be proud and blessed to serve under.

                When I asked our only where his family lived originally he shared their story. His people lived in China bordering Vietnam and Laos and worked with the US military during the Vietnam War. When the United States withdrew from South Vietnam, they helped this village of people escape into Laos and then come to the United States as refugees. Our soldier was born in the United States, but he has a rich heritage of freedom-loving ancestors who risked everything.

                Most of our soldiers work in or on the tanks. One is a cook but he has a dream of being in broadcasting, media, or film one day. He was able to pull parts as an extra in several productions at his last duty station and he dreams of a career that uses the talents he loves. We make ourselves available to them for extra tutoring as often as they have time, but most of them are released to be in the class in the morning and then go to work and put in a full work day. They give up sleep to do homework. We are usually in the Education Center from 0815 to 1245 and then at the USO from 1830 to 2000. They are long days for us, but the joy in serving keeps us going.

                Our friend, John, and his assistant Natalia are our pit crew. They set up the classes, help us make copies of materials, make sure the building is clean, and run the office at the Education Center. Without their support, our teaching would be impossible. There is a third employee, also named John, who does the testing for the soldiers. We work very closely with him as well.

                On Saturday Victoria hosted what turned out to be a Relief Society Enrichment activity to teach Wayne and me how to make kimchi. When we asked Victoria if she would teach us, I imagined a process that would take about two hours and that we could use a few ingredients and end up with a little kimchi. I had no clue what was involved. The long kimchi takes fifteen hours to prepare and one to three years to ferment. Thankfully, we made the quick kimchi which took five hours to prepare and will take one to three months to ferment into good kimchi. Two of the sisters from the Korean church group joined in the activity and we were very thankful for their hands and help. Our appreciation for kimchi has changed dramatically. We had so much fun with these women who were always smiling and laughing. They each spoke some English and were very patient in helping us learn the Korean words for our process. Our kimchi lesson will stand out as one of our most fun memories from our time here in Korea.

‘Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words’ (Saint Francis of Assisi)

                The responsibility of a Military Relations Missionary is to “Preach the gospel at all times” through our example and service, but we are under strict mandate not to proselyte those we serve. When there are words inside it is very hard to keep them there and trust that the example we set will be sufficient.

                One of our opportunities to use words is with our young missionaries. In our district meeting we were each asked to respond to the question, “Why did I come on a mission?” After all the junior missionaries answered, I told them I came to keep my temple covenant to consecrate all that I have and all my talents to the Lord. This is His work and we are here to do our little part in sharing the Plan of Happiness for God’s children. Wayne had a very spiritual insight into the question one set of sisters was trying to answer for an investigator. Sometimes the perspective of added years is useful. We feel honored to serve with these faithful sons and daughters.

                As we left the meeting there was a little bit of rain so Wayne and I shared a little umbrella by walking with an arm behind the back of the other and matching our stride. The closeness was worth the little bit of wet. We like to hold hands on the train. We have no way of knowing if anyone notices that we are happy together, but we greet everyone we pass or who makes eye contact on the train with a smile and their traditional greeting. Our neighbors have learned to wave to us and their faces brighten with broad smiles.

                We watched as the sister missionaries sat on opposite sides of the train and each tried to visit with the woman sitting beside her. One of the two women not only accepted the book, but wanted the sister’s name and telephone number so she could contact her to know more. Our sister missionary gladly complied and obtained the phone number for the woman in exchange. I think it’s amazing that our new missionary can use this language fluently enough to carry on that conversation after only three months in the country. Both of the sisters are fearless in sharing the message. They are called to use words.

                Two different days one of the soldiers who will be in our class came into the USO.  I recognized his name tag from our roll. He is from Africa so the name is unique. He said he joined the US Army to raise money to create a business in his home country. His wife and children are there and she invests his money in real estate and other capital goods. He hopes to have enough money to purchase the diagnostic equipment to do repairs on vehicles and other machinery when he returns to Cameroon. He has lots of positive dreams and seems to be working hard to make them a reality. He has already downloaded the phone app to begin studying vocabulary. We look forward to assisting soldiers like him to achieve their dreams.

                The student we have been tutoring for several months met us at the USO and had been working on Family Tree trying to build his pedigree. He had the phone app of FamilySearch so I worked with him for more than four hours helping him search for the parents of a great-grandfather who looks to be half white. I found his helper number and signed in using my account so we could search Ancestry as well as FamilySearch. We learned lots of fun information, but we didn’t ever find the father. Working on family history is as close as I’ve been to real missionary work for a long time and I love to do the detective work and tuck the sources neatly into each person’s page. He can see the records I found on Ancestry now because he has the source URL for them. He had the light that comes with the Spirit of Elijah with him as he learned to appreciate this grandfather who was given only a first-grade education and went to work in the fields at the age of eight. He was living with his uncle and aunt when he was married and listed them as his parents even though he is listed as their nephew in the US Census the same year. He gives his grandmother as his next of kin on his draft registration the year before. She was also living with this uncle. 

                 It was such a quiet week that I only took one picture and it was of a 3” spider spinning a web. My camera focused on the background so the picture was too blurred for you to see the beautiful spider. I decided to share pictures of the birds we see in our wetland almost every day: The great egret, the blue heron, the little wagtail, our resident species of spotted-billed duck, and the snowy egret. Nature has a way of soothing the soul and whispering of God’s love for each of us.

Celebrations

                We had lots of things to celebrate this week. On Tuesday the sister missionaries from Uijeonbu celebrated their first baptism the day before Sister Morillo completed her mission. We have watched the diligent service of Sister Morillo as she loved and served the people in her area. I have so much admiration for the Filipino missionaries who learn English and Korean and work with all their hearts.

                At the baptism Jessica, from our English class, came to see Sister Hale one more time. She was pretty sad with lots of tears. I held her and told her in Korean that I loved her. I told her that she hurt because she loved and that loving was good. We could cry together because Sister Hale has become another granddaughter to us.

                Sister Hale returned to her family and then to BYU-Provo to return to school and Sister Engebretsen came to be Sister Rhoade’s new companion. To celebrate, I took them to meet one of my favorite people at Camp Casey, Amanda, at MWR to complete the registration as a volunteer. We could have registered online, but then we would have missed Amanda’s smile. Some people just make you feel happy when you are with them and Amanda does that for me. It made a positive introduction for Sister Engebretsen to Camp Casey.

                The month of training exercises ended on Friday and we celebrated by taking a birthday cake to a soldier and his unit. Families can contact the USO and request a cake delivery and the soldiers are always surprised and smiling from ear to ear. Their buddies are smiling, too, because they get to share in the cake. This soldier wasn’t as happy about the silly hat and glasses for the pictures.

 Everyone looked forward to a four-day weekend even those who still had duties that kept them on or near the post. Gabe came to the USO to study with us and the soldiers filled (ten soldiers up from four) the Casey Chapel on Sunday.

The one event we didn’t want to celebrate was the departure of our good friend, Trixie Delacruz, who has been the director at the education center where we have been teaching the soldiers. She has worked so hard to provide educational opportunities for the soldiers and to make our experience as teachers as pleasant as possible. We will miss her, but the soldiers whose lives she has changed will miss her most.
Wayne and I were able to attend the Seoul Temple on Saturday and then district meetings in the afternoon. Going to the temple always gives us an opportunity to fill our spiritual buckets with an eternal perspective of God’s plan of happiness. We also see other senior missionaries and share our stories. Although we see one another infrequently, we feel very close because we do similar tasks in the same country in the Lord’s service.

Wayne joined the soldiers in their 10K Labor Day Race. This soldier finished third overall. Wayne finished in the top 40 with more than twenty soldiers behind him. I don’t think any of the other soldiers were older than thirty. He ran fast and recovered quickly. He’s a bit of a celebrity here. He said that many of the soldiers who were ahead of him and looped back first encouraged the “professor” as he ran. This time they gave him a shirt as a prize for the “special category” since he does not fit any of the other categories where prices are given. He’s just thankful he can still run among the hills and with the soldiers.