WHERE DO I START?????

I guess every day gives us a first of some kind of a first.  I traveled up to Daejeon with the young Sister Missionaries for Sisters Conference.  Elder Lowe drove us to the train station where we boarded a Korean train.  This was such a memorable experience for me, because as a child there were passenger trains and my dad worked for the Railroad and this was how we would often travel.  I was so sad when the Union Pacific took away the passenger trains.  This train was so very similar to the ones I rode as a child - a little tender mercy for me!  After riding the train for about an hour we got off and made our way to the subway to go the rest of the way.  It was about a three hour journey total. It was fun to go to a full size chapel with a large parking lot. 😍

Up the road from the church was the world soccer cup stadium and across the street was one of the largest food markets I have seen.  The picture above was taken from the train - it was in what little bit of country I have been able to see here and just one long row of cherry blossoms.  The picture does not do it justice!

                                Another picture from the train window - it was a sweet view!

With the darling sisters in the train station! When we came home we had six sisters get on the subway with us - it was such a fun experience because one of the sisters struck up a conversation with the lady sitting next to me - I'm not sure what all they talked about but she had the lady laughing and sharing her pictures with us of her grandbabies.  She told us that it was her birthday the day before and then she helped me learn how to say Happy Birthday - but  I had to record it so I wouldn't forget.  She wanted to know how old I was - age is a treasure in this country - the older you are the more respect they tend to give you.  Anyway, I told her I was 67 in America, but that I'm 68 by Korean standards - she was 66 and I told her I wished that I looked as good as she did - and she told me "Don't worry, you'll get there! And then of course I had to show her one of my cute grandbabies! Which I've included for your chuckles as well! This was all taking place with the help of Sister Chang who translated - it was so inspiring to see her interact and leave this lady with a bit of the Savior's Love! This was impressive to me, because the Koreans aren't likely to approach you as they don't want to invade in your space and it's hard sometimes to get them to look at you, but when they see you make the effort to communicate or try to speak their language - they seem so very happy that you tried.

The picture below is of the lovely ladies I get to serve with at the zone conferences.  We work making sure they are fed well and the mission President likes us to make them American food for zone conferences as it is difficult for them to get it . It's here in Korea - but more expensive than the Korean Food. I've made sandwiches for the junior missionaries that we work for and you would think they had died and gone to heaven.  I have commissary privileges, so most things are available to me.

It was a Sister's conference, so I left Elder Lowe back helping the younger Elders - but when I got there all of the couples were there together.  It was okay - Elder Lowe was able to help the Elders get a leaky faucett fixed and work a little bit with them.  The picture below shows it takes a village to feed the missionaries - glad we have such a great crew.  In this mission, there are only three people in the office and they are amazing trying to keep up with the needs of the missionaries!  We don't know what will happen when the Bodine's leave - but we also know the Lord provides! When we worked in the office in Pocatello - there were at least ten of us   - so this helps you see why the leadership of the church is begging for Senior couples and this is just one example of where the needs lie!

After feeding the Sisters, we went to work getting food prepped for the Elder's conference the next day! These ladies have it down! They did a great job!

President Hong and Sister Park - In Korea - the sisters keep their maiden name when they marry - probably a great idea for geneology!  We love these two so very much!  They just radiate the pure love of Christ and their leadership is amazing! They will be released in June - and a new mission president will move in!  We have learned that there is no such thing as a mission president we don't love - but we will truly miss these people!

These missionaries mean so much to Sister Park - look at her genuine love and she sits on the floor in order to get the very best view and picture of the sweet sisters

The sisters had some fun doing a little Zumba - we "Older" sisters joined in- it was fun, but my coordination isn't what it used to be!

On to day Two - Elder's Conference - The  Elders had a most amazing testimony meeting which they invited all the Senior couples to - but my favorite part of the day was watching them learn some Tae Kwon Do - this is something I understand President Hong did in his two year military assignment - I loved watching them learn this.  The first law of heaven is obedient - and for this to work they had to be obedient to the directions.

Here's  a wonderful group of young and not so young missionaries! We feel blessed to work with them at this time in or lives!  They are so loving and helpful - and Obedient!

One of the sisters we serve with wanted to visit the bread store up the street - (they call these awesome bakery's - bread stores) - and we ran out of time the day of the Sisters conference, so after the Elders conference I walked up the road to ger her some Salt Bread (The first picture) but I couldn't leave the store without purchasing the following items - I don't know their names but they were incredible!  Very light and fluffy and divine! I wish I had taken the picture of them out of the plastic - but you get the idea.  The Last picture if a Mango Cream Cake I purchased for our anniversary, since I knew we really wouldn't have time to celebrate - hence, the 10 pounds I have gained my first month here - 

We drove up to the Suwan Immigration  Office last Thursday to get our Foreign cards, which allows us to be here in the country.  After our appointment, we gave these elders a ride back to their area so they would have time to eat lunch before their teaching appointment.  We love taking the missionaries to lunch because they have found the best food and we generally just let them order for us.  One of these missionaries actually served with our friends, the Reeders, so we needed to get their picture to pass it on.

Since we were in Suwon, we took a minute to be tourists! We keep very busy with the mission office assignments and the military assignments - so we thought while we were right there, we should take a minute to learn about some of Korea's history. It's a very ancient city with a fortress around the city - we visited a restored or a replica of the palace that was there hundreds of years ago. We hope maybe as we get into a little bit more of a routine that we will be able to see a little more of Korea - but for now we are just enjoying the work! The Korean people are very careful not to be intrusive, so it's not common for them to wave or instigate conversation - but when we try to speak a Korean phrase or bow to them - they are such kind people - I haven't decided one word that best describes them, but they seem very hardworking and educated and very kind in our interactions. I really love these people and wish I could communicate better!  When we get a few free minutes - we try to concentrate on the alphabet and a few phrases.  I have learned to say with confidence a greeting, thank you and have a good day.  Now on to more important phrases like - Where is the bathroom? It's a longer phrase and a little harder to say!

We found these sweet flowers on our doorstep the day of our anniversary!  The two sisters who work in Osan with us dropped them off to wish us a Happy Anniversary - we hit the 45 year mark! Wow! Where did all the years fly away to!

The gym doesn't open until 9 am here and we are usually up and off on responsibilities by that time of day.  It's open until 11, but when we get back to the apartment we are usually ready to just fall into bed.  So I try to get up and walk around the complex. There are a few pieces of exercise equipment around the grounds - but the other day while I was out and about I couldn't help but take a picture of this darling little Korean boy (Can I just say there is nothing cuter than these little Korean Children in our Complex) He was thoroughly enjoying the morning in his own little sedan!

WELL! I DEBATED ABOUT GIVING THIS IT"S OWN POST BUT I MIGHT AS WELL SHARE IT HERE WHILE I AM ON A ROLL...One of the families in our branch have been very kind to us and we have become good friends.  She knew how much I missed my piano.  Well, on my anniversary I got a message from her with a picture of this piano.  The caption was "Guess what is in the dump in front of my house" Well in Korea, if it's in the dump you can take it - I was so ecstatic and I knew it was a gift from God! - I ran out to Elder Lowe and he dashed my hopes and said, there's no way we can get that up to the thirteenth floor!  I was soooooo SAD!  I knew it was for me and I couldn't quit thinking about it, so the next morning, I went for a walk before the branch Easter party and I walked across the street to see if it was still there. IT WAS!  I played it - and it sounded great!  So I set out on a mission to make it happen!  I went to branch party and told people about it and that I knew it was just for me - so Long story short, I had five strong men load it up on these two small little furniture dollies and roll it down the big hill, across a very busy street, through a large apartment complex, up an elevator through a mud room with a step up to the hallway, down the hallway and into my living room!  Happy Anniversary to me and how sweet it was that it was found Good Friday - the symbolism is not lost on me!  The Lord knew how hard it has been for me not to have a piano and gave me a gift - now it's not near as valuable as the gift He gave me nearly 2000 years ago as He suffered in Gethsamane and hung on the cross, so that I can be perfected in Him and return to live with my family - but it was a sweet reminder to me that He Is in the Details!  
I would like to close with a scripture that has always been a favorite of mine but it is taking on a fresh new meaning to me - it's actually several scriptures out of Doctrine and Covenants Section 19 but I will just share 16-17, 23-24

16: "For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent: 

17: but if they would not repent they must suffer even as I"

23: Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me.

24: I am Jesus Christ; I came by the will of the Father and I do his will

Did Jesus really live again". Yes and so shall I ! I testify to the truthfulness of this! Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him and through Him!

We love you all - but we especailly Love Jesus - which is why we had the strength to leave our family and those we love and Invite others to Come unto Christ! Happy Belated Easter - Every day can be a remembrance of the Empty Tomb!

 

LIVING IN A FORIEGN COUNTRY CAN BE STRESSFUL - BUT ALSO A LITTLE HUMOROUS!

My daughter asked me today if I was keeping a good journal!  I said not really, only my blog.  So I guess if I'm going to count this as my journal - I better get busy and catch up on some of the funny things that have happened to us in this beautiful country!

This picture is of our escape room - this is where you go in an emergency. This first one is the picture of the door on the floor and the next picture is of the door on the ceiling.  Inside these doors there is a ladder so in the case of a fire - you escape through the escape room. Now you need to know that everything in our apartment is written in Korean or is some kind of high tech buttons that you push to turn on the lights, let someone in from the downstairs, or garage - regulate your heat - turn on the fan- you get the picture.  There is a speaker in our apartment that regularly gives updates or notices reguarding what is going on in the area or warnings of bad weather etc.  We have no idea what they are saying!  We try to keep our phones close by to turn on the translator and catch whatever they are trying to tell us.  Well, the first week we were here, I got my phone out a little late, and the last couple of sentences the translator said something to the effect that the chickens were on the roof.  Well, seeing as we live in a massive complex of 14 story apartment buildings - about 20 in ours and at least that many in the ones across the street - in other words - I don't think the chickens are on the roof was the correct translation!😂

Well, that sets the stage for what happened to me today.  I held google translate or papago (the app they use in Korea) over the paragraph on the front door of our escape room to see what it said and it told me that there shouldn't be anything blocking these doors as it was our way to escape in case of a fire.  We had our suitcases iin there and the previous people had left a Christmas tree and it's box in there - so clearly there was no access to the escape hatch.  I carefully found a new home for these items and then I was curious what was under the door - because I didn't want to have to find out in an emergency.  Anyway, I opened the door and saw the ladder and how to get to the other apartment and immediately I set off an alarm to the whole building!  15 FLOORS!!!  I didn't know what to do.  Our panel that controls everything that I was telling you about above was flashing orange and kept saying the same thing over and over - I had no idea what it was saying and I took out my phone and it kept telling me it couldn't detect a voice.  Elder Lowe went down to the management office and no one was there

I was playing around trying to see if there was something I could do with the panel and it asked for my password - of course, we didn't know anything about a password - while I was playing around with it, the lady who lives in the apartment by us let herself into our apartment ( Yes they are very trusting in this country - so I think everyone knows the code to everyone else's apartments.) (I think it's because everyone knows there are cameras everywhere and we are all being watched - so they feel safe!)  (We call it a free country with a nanny - not a bad way of doing things) ( There aren't many police on the streets - just cameras you may or may not see - it's not a question of if you will get a traffic ticket but when will you get a traffic ticket.)

Anyway, back to my story - this sweet little Korean lady who knew a little English, helped me shut down the alarm!  Crazy day! I'm glad most of the apartment complex was at work or out and about! The next picture is of the ceiling in the escape room!  Anyway, there's a chuckle for you today!

This country is really high tech - and they place a high priority on education and work!  They have really brought this country to a high standard after the Korean Way decimated it! They should be very proud.  Anyway, the next two pictures are of lights on the edge of the sidewalk - letting you know when you can walk and.....
 When you

                                                                should not walk!

These pictures are of the massive store called E-Mart.  It makes WalMart look like a 7/11 store. The picture below is the drive through the tunnel to the five story parking lot - the store is also about five stories!  Pretty amazing!  They have a bit more of a free market here than I think we have in the states - their selection is massive - but I'm pretty tall and large for the Asian clothes market

This is a wall of just grains and such - there's a very large area with rice, beans, millet, etc just to give you an idea!

Here's a picture of the Costco being built about ten minutes from us!  The parking lot alone is bigger than any other Costco I've seen.  I've been told that this will be the largest Costco in the World and I believe it! It's scheduled to open in June.  So excited!  

One more little funny story - we were brave last week because we had to be! We were given the assignment to inspect five missionary apartments.  Two were by us and two were up in the north end of the mission and one was about 45 minustes south of us.  Luckily, they put an app on our phone with directions to all of the churches and apartments in our mission.  This is necessary because when you are looking for something - you can't necessarily just put in the English name - you have to have the actual Korean address. Google maps really doesn't work here in Korea - you need to use Naver or Kakao.  Naver appears to be the preferred. Anyway, we were very successful with this app.  It was hard for Elder Lowe, because if any of you know him, he doesn't trust the navigation apps.  He was a maps guy in the army and if he doesn't see it on a map - he doesn't trust - well, Heavenly Father has put him in a situation where he has to trust the app - even the locals don't go anywhere without it!  It's a small country but a massive road system.  We made it to the apartments and had very sweet experiences with the younger missionaries.  They had worked very hard to clean their apartments and take care of them - they also have worked hard to be obedient!  We know we are military relations missionaries - but we love working with these young missionaries!  They are the cream of the crop! Well, I guess that wasn't really a funny story ... but, our adventure on the way home was a little bit funny now in retrospect - we were driving along and traffic was a nightmare!  We hadn't seen bad traffic yet but this was bad and we were about to enter a tunnel that was anywhere between two and five miles long. The picture is when we drove there in the morning without much traffic - while coming home there had been an accident in the tunnel.  Emergency vehicles were squeezing by and by the time we got in the tunnel - there was a LOUD speaker with a woman's voice saying the same thing over and over - we tried to pull out our phones and again they told us there was no voice detected - not sure why because when I say loud - it was very loud!  We could see all the traffice pulling over into the right lane - so we decided she must be saying stay in your vehicles and move to the right.  We eventually got out of the tunnel and made our way home! What a crazy time!

I have more stories to tell - but not enough time at the moment - so I will update more later!  If you are reading this, know that we LOVE you but more importantly, we KNOW that our Savior, the only begotten Son of the Father, loves you! That's why we are here - to invite others to Come unto Christ and to help others remember how much He loves them!

Pray for Miracles - They come in many different ways!

 The very first week we were here I told you about the gentleman we ran into in the BX (Base Exchange) that wanted to take his picture with us.  The next day I prayed that we would be able to find him again and instead it was when we met our friend Darren Lunt. WELL.....not for the rest of the story. I believe I mentioned before that Bro Lunt was able to come to our activity and came over for dinner that next Sunday.  While he was here I sent him the picture of the young Airman Wehri and told him it was his turn to make my miracle come true and go and find him and let him know how he could join us in our activities. The very next morning I woke up to a text from Brother Lunt saying "Guess who I found, first thing this morning!"

Miracles happen!

SOME OF THE FIRSTS WE HAVE EXPERIENCED IN KOREA

There are many firsts when you serve a mission and also many firsts in a foreign country!  Luckily, we have a little bit of the United States to give us a reprieve from the cultural shock - Don't get me wrong - we LOVE Korea - we just haven't learned the best way to communicate yet! It will come - there have been many sweet moments and celestial collisions!

One of the best parts of our mission is being able to work with two sets of missionaries assigned to the base and working with the single or unaccompanied airmen.  The missionaries are also assigned to a Korean speaking ward so we have had some interactions with their friends - or as we used to call them - investigators. Also, there are a couple of fairly new converts who also join in with us when we aren't doing the activities on the base. We have worked with people from Sri Lanka, Libya, Korea, Australia, the Phillipines,  etc - what a delight to be in the middle of an area that proves the church is a worldwide organization! We have met brand new members and long time members!

On to the firsts... sorry ... it may not be in Chronological order

Last friday night we were able to take the young missionaries and meet the airmen on the base and have an activity at the bowling alley! It was great fun - I think it was the FIRST TIME Elder Lowe has gone bowling in a shirt and tie!

Yesterday we were invited to join in the new missionary training with our Mission President, his wife, and the young elders who assist the president.  It was sweet to welcome these four new missionaries to the mission as we met them while we were in training at the MTC. 

It was our FIRST TIME having a home cooked Korean Meal - completed with funeral potatoes and green salad for those who might miss their American Food!  It was the best meal I've had in months! Sister Park prepared it all and I'm hoping she will share her recipes with us before they are released.  It was such a joy to watch her interact with the missionaries!  She was laughing and crying with them and had such an amazing amount of energy!  We are sorry that we only get to serve with them until July. They are such amazing people - it's hard to express the love you feel for the people you associate with while wearing the badge! We were able to be taught a few of the cultural awareness we need to have while living in Korea - one thing I think I'm going to struggle with is not crossing my legs when sitting down.  It is considered rude to show the bottoms of your shoes. Also, I need to be very aware of pointing at things  - I will try hard to honor and respect this beautiful country and its people.

The sweet sisters have helped us so much with learning where to be and how to get there.  Last Wednesday they accompanied us on our FIRST TIME on the bus!  They took us to a nice little Korean restaurant that I would have had no Idea what to order - so they ordered for us!  So Good!  And it only costs us $27 to feed all five of us!  We will definitely go back - but I had them get a menu and circle the item I wanted next time because I'm fairly certain I wouldn't know what to order!

Our FIRST TIME sending an Elder home from Korea back to the Phillipines!  This was a very bittersweet moment!  We only met him ten days before but we already loved him like a grandson!  He had such an amazing Spirit!

Our FIRST TIME eating at a Korean restaurant by ourselves!  Wow, what an experience!  It was a Korean BBQ and very good - but we didn't speak Korean and they didn't speak English!  However, We were able to see the menu in English!   This wasn't the case our second time going to a Korean restaurant.  We pulled out our  phone to read the first menu item and the waitress came over, pushed the button and said - card please! It was funny. It was ok - known as the Korean Spam Stew - it evidently became famous after the Korean War when the American GIs and the Korean Soldiers would put together whatever they had and make a stew.

This is the crosswalk.. The green on the ground is a light just like a traffic light.  Green means go and Red means wait - FIRST TIME we've ever seen something that high tech on the streets

Our tender mercy our third day here - I've already  blogged about this experience - but there's more to the story - stay tuned for the rest of the story in another blog post.  This was the FIRST TIME we were approached by a member asking for help - giving us a sense of purpose for why we are serving here.

Being on a mission is very hard on Grandmas!  Missing those sweet kiddos and the joy they bring to our lives is hard to leave!  However, thanks to the Signal app we are able to have face to face videos - I had to take a picture of this cutie - One of our FIRST TIME having a video call while living halfway around the world!  Carson asked me the other day - where are you grandma? When I told him halfway around the world, I think it was hard for him to wrap his little mind around it.  BUT! IT's such a tender mercy to be able to talk to my family while we're so far away!  Today we were able to visit with Grandma Dorothy and show her our apartment.  I think it helped her feel better about being so far away from her.  She says "I'll try to be here when you get back!" She just turned 91 - Oh how we love her!

This was the fruit we ate our very FIRST night in Korea - I'm not sure what it was - but it was a little bit like a date. Tasty!

This was the Sunday spread we had for our FIRST TIME having dinner on Sunday! It was a very special day. We had three airmen and the missionaries and had such an amazing spiritual feast as well as physical feast!  One of the airman is not a member but his wife is.  She has been praying for nearly 17 years that he would join the church.  He plans to be baptized in July when he returns to the States.  He is so inspiring!  He has studied and studied the anti and the good.  He says all the anti he has read just doesn't go along with the experiences he is having while studying the gospel. In some ways, I think he is better prepared than I or Elder Lowe.

Our FIRST TIME driving ourselves to the Mission office.  We left at 5:30 yesterday morning to make it to the training on time - It went well.  This is a picture of the tunnel we drove through - it was an amazing structure.  This country is very high tech!

Well, there will be many more firsts! But this is just a taste of them!

Today we were told to stay in our apartments by the Area Authorities because of the impeachment of the President.  We had planned to take a prep day anyway because we really hadn't done it yet! We both took time to meet with DAN (Daily afternoon Nap) It has been a nice day!  Now back to work tomorrow!  We will do apartment inspections this week and we have some orientations on the base with the Red Cross and the USO.  Also, we will observe the library, where we will serve on Thursday mornings. We are blessed to have this opportunity! It can be very hard - but I don't think anything worth having in this life doesn't have a price to be paid!  
We love the Savior and feel so blessed to wear His name on our shirts every day as representatives and disciples of Christ!

We love you all!!!!