Where did the week go!.....

 We have done a little extra driving this week - such a fun tunnel to drive through! I think they want to make sure you are awake while traveling on the roads!                                                                                         

 It seems like I just updated my blog - and I realized it has already been a week!  It feels like the longest week of the mission and the shortest week of the mission.  I have discovered some interesting things this week - please bear with me through my musings and thoughts - but this is the best journal I have kept, so here goes - This past week was full of challenges with the adversary - it seems at every corner we were battling with him.  As a general rule, if one of us gets down and out the other one generally stays very positive, but this week we both hit bottom a couple of times together - but we realized as we evaluated the week that the very low points seem to happen just before we were going to have a very high or spiritual moment. ( And we have been blessed with many this week.). Because I have made this a fairly public post, I won't go into detail with all the sweet moments - I'll just say, the Lord has given us many reasons as to what our purpose in this mission is this week.  When we decided to serve, we felt like our purpose would be mainly to bring souls to Christ through the Gospel of Jesus Christ - that purpose isn't wrong - but the way we are to do it is a much different way than I envisioned and a way that I think we all should live, whether we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or members of another faith. 

I am learning that we are here to minister and serve our fellow man - particularly those who are serving in the military.  There are all kinds of situations where we have felt useful - maybe it's a child who is missing a grandma and just needs to feel a little extra love from a grandma or grandpa figure.  Maybe it's a mom who just needs someone to visit with about frustrations they are having, or just needs a mom figure around to visit with.  Maybe it's a young airman who's never really been anywhere and is a bit of culture shock and needs a friendly face to let him know God is in the details. There are the dads who are halfway around the world from their wives and children who just need some companionship and uplifting experiences. Maybe it's a teenager who craves some spiritual experiences  or maybe it's a missionary who just needs a pick me up or a treat now and then. We have enjoyed all of these scenarios and can't explain how this type of service has blessed our lives.

We have a few things that are scheduled into our regular routine - but each week, we see that we need to be prepared at any moment for a needed experience. We have Family night, we have spiritual come follow conference nights, we have game nights, we hike, we cook and we cook some more - we "troll" a lot looking for people who may be lonely!  We attend our mission district meetings and zone conferences. We try to help where we are asked in the mission - which means, some weeks we spend a lot of time in the car. We volunteer wherever we get an opportunity - and there are a lot of those on this base! Tomorrow,  Elder Lowe is using his ten years 4-H experience to teach a STEM portion of the fair for youth at the Youth Center. I think he's pretty excited to do this. 

Elder Lowe has done a great job of navigating around Korea - he has learned to be a little more dependent on the Satellite programs that help us find our way around. Considering there are around 51 million people in a country the size of Utah - you can imagine that the road system can get a little complicated if you don't know where you are going.  Last week, we were needed to help down in Daejoen.  In Korea they don't have very large ovens - so we take our counter top oven in order to cook the food for the missionaries lunch.  Last week because it was the last zone conference with our Mission Leaders before new ones come in, we wanted it to be extra special. The mission has been split into five zones but we only have two zone conferences.  We needed to feed close to 80 people.  Their were two other senior couples helping us. The sister in charge had very carefully figured out how much we each needed to provide. So in our car, we had one of the two larger ovens, one third of the lasagne, and all the dessert.  We were asked to be there by 8:30 so the drive is about an hour and fifteen minutes - we left at 7 in order to allow a few minutes delay.  Well, we arrived at the church at 9:45 in a panic - it was really a comedy of errors - we went to the wrong building with only one small detour, but this building was on the complete opposite side of the area where the church was we needed to be at. We ended up missing our turns, several times. I think we went through the same toll booth about three times. They have pink, green and blue lanes helping you to know which turn you need to take.  The car talks to you about every little thing you can imagine and many times it will say to you, "Be careful not to take the wrong turn" - well we have been here three months and done very well until last Thursday. Needless to say, we were both pretty stressed by the time we got to the chapel. Randy had been so good at navigating that I wondered if maybe we were detoured to avoid an accident or something, because I think God is in every detail.  But what we both realized was that evening we had a very spiritual time at our study of conference class.  We had one of our less active airman there for the first time.  Whoever wants to comes and shares a conference talk and sometimes just spiritual experiences they have had that week.  We did not want him to feel pressured to participate and just as Elder Lowe was asking for a volunteer for a closing prayer - he asked if he could say something.  He said he didn't know why, but he liked how he felt around us and shared some sweet stories about his life - we all could see that God is trying to let him know of His love for  this young man. It was definitely a highlight of our mission so far.  The interesting thing was we almost cancelled the class because we were afraid we would be late and we were so exhausted from the day and of course, Satan would have loved it if we had cancelled - but we didn't!  Writing this down is hard to explain to you what a great experience it was for us and how it helped our testimony of why we should be here. - but I am feeling so privileged that Heavenly Father is giving me these experiences because it's when we serve and love that we are blessed with a greater understanding of the love the Savior has for us. We are so grateful for the people who have allowed us into their lives!

.       This is a picture of some of the training Pres. Hong gave for our zone conference - a great thought to focus on as we try to meet our missionary purpose                                                     

Elder Lowe enjoying time at the youth center helping out with the 4H Fair.  Teaching them about Lava Lamps - it was fun to watch the kids enjoy this projet!

This is one of my favorite views in Korea - the children are so well behaved and they held hands and walked all the way up the path singing and listening to their teachers - I don't think they were much older than two or three - respect for the elders is clearly taught at a very young age and it shows in their culture all the way through their adult years - We love these Korean People!                                                                             

This was a bird in the rice field while we were out on our walk yesterday - so peaceful!  We loved it!                                                      

Elder Lowe at one of our new favorite places - it's a restaurant at the end of the Buraksan Mountain trail.  You can google Buraksan Mountain and learn all about it - it's a pretty cool place

One of the hard parts of our mission is Transfers - this is the third one we have participated in - these are pictures of our district. The tradition is on the last district meeting before the transfer we go to lunch together.  We have loved working with these missionaries so much - it's a great blessing to watch them as they lead and train each other! We are losing many of them to other districts and zones!  We will miss them so much - but the best part is new ones come and we come to love them just as much!  One of the departing missionaries asked me last night if I was ready for when I go home and I have another 150 or so grandchildren! YES! I love them all! So not only am I Sister Lowe - but I have adopted the new name of Grandma Osan!

Another fun family home evening!

So in our branch we have a missionary member coordinating group! This is the group we have worked with the last five weeks  - Our Member leader is an unaccompanied airman.  His family is back in the states - he has done a great job of coordinating and  helping the missionaries in their finding efforts on the base!  We are losing three of these missionaries to other locations - they will brighten the rest of Korea as they have such a love of missionary work!

All the missionaries signed this flag as a departing memento for the Mission President and his wife

This is the luncheon crew we worked with to feed the missionaries at the last zone conference.  The Meyets - are serving in Kunsan as Missionary Relations Missionaries, The Edens - are serving in Daejean as Member leadership support and we are serving at Osan as Military relations.  The senior missionaries are greatly needed in so many aspects of the missionary work.  We are losing our office couple and we just sent home one of our MLS couples - we haven't heard of any replacements - I have heard most missions in the church are struggling to get senior missionaries - it may be hard at times - but there is also no greater blessing than consecrating some of your time to helping bringing souls to our Savior Jesus Christ!  If you are retired - don't wait until your health doesn't allow you to serve the time you are needed is now!

Our dear sweet and faithful Leaders at our last zone conference!  WE LOVE THEM!

One of the beautiful chapels in Daejeon

• Beautiful flowers lined the street I was walking home on the other day!  So beautiful!
• This was a statue on the side of the road for the International Lions Club! Sweet!

AND.... it's hard to leave your family - but modern technology makes it so you can visit with them every day and see them grow - We love our family and are so proud of the decisions they have made - we came on this mission because we love them and want them to know of our love for our Savior Jesus Christ1 

Love you all!  Until next time....

Coin Ceremony - Korean News - Graduations - Goodbyes - Hikes - Food and More Food! - THREE MONTHS

So I mentioned in my last post about the Ruck Run we helped with at the base.  We were invited to participate in a coin ceremony where they gave each of us a coin for volunteering.  Coins are a big dieal in the military - so we felt honored.  Afterwards we were visiting with one of the Chaplains who had been in charge of the event - we had not had much positive interaction before the event - but he seemed to realize that we are here to help whether you are a member of our faith or not!  We are here to support the military however we can.  It was a very positive development.  As we visited we found out that he had joined our faith when he was 16 and living in Ogden, Utah but at the age of 18, his life journey took him in a different direction. I told him we ended up staying until 8 a.. and he said, "I know, you were on the Korean News." He then shared with us a video of the run on the news,  It showed me how important it is to just be there for people and help them feel the love of the Savior through your service.  I'm glad that I don't have to do all nighters very often, but it was a special event and we will definitely participate next year as well.

If you are interested, I will post the you tube link to the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYJZm6vf5AI&feature=youtu.be

One of the hard things about being on a mission is the family events you miss! Our third grandchild graduated from high school in May and it was a tough time to not be there - but she made us feel so proud of her as she told us she knew we were right where we should be - serving the Lord! She has decided to receive her endowment in the temple this month and I wish we could be with her but my heart is so happy that she wants to take this step in her life!

One of our first airman that we have grown to love so much left us in May! I asked him what he wanted for FHE treats his last family night with us and he asked for Strawberry pie - luckily there were still a few strawberries around so we accommodated his request. Hard to keep the weight off when I'm cooking every second! But - we did discover a mountain trail right here by our house thats a pretty good work out - just need to find time to make it happen more than once a week!

Korean BBQ is real and all over in Korea - this place was pretty fun! We had a dinner with some of the sisters in the branch before a couple of families left. The summer is going to be hard because there are many great families leaving us and many of our missionaries!  We lose about a third of the missionaries and our mission president and his lovely wife!  We have really grown to love them in such a short time!  They have been such great examples of magnifying your calling.  They have taught these young missionaries so much! We look forward to meeting the new leader and missionaries - so many people to love!

However, just a plug here for senior missionaries - one of our senior couples is leaving this next week and our office couple is leaving the end of August.  At this point we don't know of any replacements for them!  There is such a need for senior missionaries all over the world!  I'd be lying to tell you it is easy - but the work is so rewarding and the people you add to your life are so awesome! Don't wait until it's to late to consecrate your life to the Lord's service.  Yes! It's hard to leave your family - sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking we're the only ones who can be there for them - but I just want to testify to you that The Lord is the best person to take care of your family and I know your family will be blessed if you give whatever time you can to His service! Also, you can visit with them everyday thanks to modern technology!

This month we say goodbye to our sweet mission leaders!  It's amazing how fast. you connect with people you are serving the Lord with.  These two are incredible leaders of missionaries - they lead by example and instill  a desire for obedience in our young missionaries - the future of the church is in some pretty valiant souls! I will neer forget the first thing Sister Park said to me was "Wow! You're Tall! 😊 She has been so kind and loving! I was so excited, this last weekend they spoke at our district conference and she brought me a cookbook she had put together of her recipes!  Some fun Korean foods!  So kind of her to do this while I know she has been super busy keeping the mission running.  Their son just received his call to serve in England.  Pretty exciting for them!

There is a fun city about an hour from us called Suwon.  It has an old fortress around the city and a lot of Korean History.  We went up there for a final interview with the President and this cute building was by the church. Just a fun place. We haven't taken time to be tourists as we are busy serving our mission, but I hope we are able to do a little site seeing while we are here.  Our son and his wife are coming to visit over the 4th of July and we are hoping to see a little bit of Korea with them over the extended weekend.  We are loving all the people here - they are very non intrusive and it's been hard to adjust to them just walking by and not really greeting you but when we make an effort to say something to them in Korean - their faces generally light up. We are all children of God and I know we have an inner desire to connect with others. but we all do it in different ways.

So we discovered a very fun hiking trail close to us ! About a five minute walk to the trail head. It's called Buraksun Mountain.  There is this sweet restaurant at one end of the trail with all kinds of goodies. You feel like you're out and away from the city. It's a two story restaurant and the above pictures are all taken while we visited there after a long arduous hike! One of our new favorite spots.

The following seven pictures are pictures we took on the hike.  There are many different trails and we are trying to discover them all.  It's nice to get away from the high rises and see the forest and hear the birds.  I especially love this rose trellis we walk under to get there and then we walk up a trail with a lot of Korean gardens - the locals are out working hard in their gardens every day.  Their isn't much idleness over here.  No Social Security and no welfare programs and the people have learned to take care of each other and work hard.  Education is a big deal! There are schools and universities all over!

We're pretty red in the face here because we finally made it to the top of the mountain - there are several staircases up the mountain on the one side similar to the picture below. We haven't  made it to the gym very often, but my heart gets beating faster up these stairs and trails than any gym!

This is a look out at the top of the mountain - it's pretty cool!

We found this trail entrance on one of our days that is even closer to our apartments. It's a pretty steep trail to the top but a good workout!

This is a picture of some of the littles that come to our storytime at the library.  It is pretty fun most days.  Some times though the parents get out of control so the little kiddies follow their example.  But it's okay!  Because for some of these mommies it's their time to have some interaction with other adults! I do look forward to it most weeks! We won't be able to go tomorrow because we have to drive about an hour and a half away to attend our zone conference.  The senior couples cook for the young missionaries.  The mission president likes us to cook American cuisine for the young missioaries .  Tomorrow is his last zone conference, so we have made twelve pans of lasagne (Between three senior couples) I made around a 100 Scotch a Roos (They have been a real hit hear with the missionaries, the base and the Koreans - so I have made a lot of them!)

There's a dollar type store here called Daiso - I think I may have talked about it before but it's like family dollar on Steroids - it's super fun and most of the things I have bought there are pretty good quality.  I got my favorite spatula ever for $1.50.  Anyway, they have these really cute bags for your baked goods.  Usually around thirty to a bag for less than a $. So I bag most of the goodies I make up because it helps with portion control and also less mess. I will definitely be sending some of these fun things home in the mail! 

I haven't made lasagne in a long time, but I think it will be delicious!  Except, some things are hard to come by over here.  The commissary gets most of the stuff we like, but cottage cheese is hard to come by, when it's there it's gone pretty much the same day, so I had to use Ricotta cheese and it's not my favorite - but that's ok. 

We have a darling single airman(woman) here in our branch!  It was her birthday last Saturday so we took her to Chilis!  We haven't had success getting her to come to our activities, but we still want her to feel loved! She serves in the Young Women and they love her!

These cute kids have been so good to me!  They don't miss giving me a greeting when we see them.  Their parents  went to Utah State with my son Nathan and they worked together at Beaver Mountain,  That was a fun connection.  Also, my neighbor in Pocatello  told me about them before we came because they were good friends.  We are sad they are leaving us July 1 to go to Guam but they have been so helpful to us and very kind!  We love them! It turns out Chelsea's father did a couple of surgeries on me over the years - small world!  Lots of "Celestial Collisions". we look for them every day!

We'e been working on finding members who may have gotten lost in the shuffle and with the help of our junior missionaries we found a young man from Wyoming.  He is less active in church, but we just want him to feel the love of the Savior through us.  He has been coming to our activities and we had him over for dinner last Sunday. Turns out he's from Lyman Wyoming where my niece Carlina and her husband Pat lived when Pat joined the church. This young man's grandma was one of the ward missionaries at the time. - Celestial Collision! Watch for them in your life - I bet you'll find a bunch!

We like to take our young missionaries out to lunch after our district meetings on Tuesday.  They are very helpful to us and it's our way of showing them we love them.  These are the four we are working with right now and we're afraid we may lose some of them this next week - but that's the story of missionary work! However, I have found they come into your life and there they stay right in the middle of your heart!  I feel like I have a whole new crew of mission grandkids! This is Elder McBride from Alpine, Utah, Elder Willis from Colorado, Sister Morrison from St George, Utah/Billings Montana and Sister Rivera from the Philippines.  Of course, it helps that they know how to speak a little Korean and can tell us the good places to go! (And what to order) We are spoiled!

This is the school we walk by on our way to church - I love that all the schools have the primary colors either painted around them or on the gates!

 

On the first Saturday of the month we have permission to leave our mission and attend the Seoul Temple. It is such a treasure to these people!  We ride the Subway up to Seoul.  It takes us about an hour and 45 minutes even though we are only about 48 miles from the temple,  Driving early in the morning isn't bad, but trying to get back on a Saturday can sometimes take three hours! So rather than drive and worry about parking we just enjoy our subway ride!

So I must close with a little miracle - when we first moved here we were told we could just get our Korean Drivers License with our Foreign Card.  Well a couple of weeks agot they told us they found out we had to take the test so the mission office sent us a list of 900 multiple choice questions to study.  The answers were right by the question - so I knew I was in trouble because I looked straight at the answer and I wasn't really learning and there was no explanation to the logic.  The questions were in English, but they are still in Korean Logic.  I felt like we would probably be walking - which would not be good! The next day the office called us and told us that the landlord has sold our apartment and we will have to move in July - so we said " Hmm homeless and on foot - maybe it's time to go home" (jk) 

Anyway, between the business of our military assignment and cooking for the mission and just keeping up on mundane life chores, I was feeling pretty desperate - so last weekend I had a heart to heart with my Heavenly Father and I told Him I want to be a successful missionary but I needed Him to intervene - right afterward I was able to find an app on my phone that had the exact questions in a format that made it so much easier to study.  AND... at the end of each question,, after you answered it would tell you the explanation.  I don't believe it was by coincidence that I found this app - I believe I was helped by Heaven - now we ask for your prayers that as least one of us passes the test so that we can still drive here in Korea!  Moving I'm sure will work out - it just feels a little stressful as we are finally feeling comfortable with our surrounding area. Constant growth and challenges in this world - so I guess mine are really minor - but prayers are always appreciated ! 

We have met and come to love so many wonderful people that we will always treasure - I sometimes feel like my heart is just going to overflow and how can I possibly find enough time to show them all how much they mean to us - but we are taking it one step at a time and feeling very blessed along the way.  For those of you who know Sister Calene Peck - she told me before we left that we would get so much more than we would give and she was absolutely right! 
If you're waiting to go on a mission because you can't leave your family - ask yourself if you can afford to deprive your family of the blessings that come from missionary service!

We love you all and appreciate the footsteps you have left in our hearts!  Keep the faith! Know that you are a child of God who loves you and treasures you!