Full Circle

                This week brought us full circle back to our home in Orem, Utah. We started the week at the office of the garrison commander. We were scheduled to receive the “Volunteer Service” medal next week from the Col. Newton when he returned to his office but we couldn’t arrange a change in travel so Wayne Johnson and his boss read the formal citation and made the presentation on our last day on post. We stopped by the Education Office to see how our soldiers did on their posttests. Even the soldier with TBI jumped four grade levels. A soldier from a former class had just completed his formal test and was waiting for the results. When he was told it was 105 we were a little disappointed. He said that he was very happy. It was ten points higher than he had before and was high enough to qualify for the new position (MOS) he was hoping to achieve. He wanted us to know that we had made a difference for him.

   

             We had our final Family Home Evening with the soldiers and our African who just submitted his missionary papers came, too. Wayne gave his presentation on creation in the universe and one of our officers was true to his word to free up our Jamaican soldier who has become as close as a granddaughter to us so she could bid us farewell. I didn’t think she would let us go. One other officer was able to stop by and he brought a nonmember soldier with him. That made the number even with two LDS and two non-LDS soldiers. We had good success in having the soldiers from all faiths join us as we studied the New Testament this year.

    

                            Tuesday, we packed our bags, gave the Bowman’s a tour of the apartment, and rode to Seoul with Pres. and Sister Sonksen to finish up final tasks before leaving.

                One of those was a final dinner of black chicken soup. That chicken with black skin was small enough to fit inside a normal soup bowl, was stuffed with rice and flavored with ginseng root. It was quite tasty but a little hard to bone and eat with chopsticks. We were joined by the office couple, Andersons, and the medical couple, Whitings. We enjoyed a quiet evening at the mission home and then had our last sleep in South Korea.

                Wednesday morning was a totally free day because we experienced it twice. The first time, we walked to the National Palace to tour the museum. We learned so much about the palace and history of the empire that we wished we had started our touring here rather than ending. We then walked to one of the most beautiful Buddhist Temples in Korea and looked around. There were three huge gold Buddhas with many people there worshiping. A small processional emerged from one building and gathered near an altar. When they filed out they placed papers in a fire that disintegrated into wisps of white paper blowing in the air. The day was relatively warm and the sky was clear, a lovely day for being a tourist in Seoul. We changed our won into dollars and rode the tour bus one more loop around the main tour district before returning to the mission home for our ride to the airport.

                Sister Sonksen was our chauffer and we enjoyed one last look at Seoul and its beautiful bridges before joining Pres. Sonksen and the Robinsons to begin our check in at the airport to return to Utah.

       

         Now here we are emptying the same suitcases we packed eighteen months ago. Everything is the same and yet everything is different. We are so thankful for this incredible opportunity to serve as representative of Jesus Christ to share the joy of being a member of His restored gospel. We have loved feeling his guiding hand each day and know that it will continue as we begin a new chapter in our lives. God lives and He loves you. He is always near inviting us to return home.