New/Old Missionaries - Baptisms - Game Night - Baseball Games

On May 18th we were preparing for some of our family to come for a visit.  Since there were going to be six of us, we rented a large van.  As we were on our way to pick it up, I received a text from one of the sister missionaries who served in our district and went home a couple of transfers ago.  She and her parents were back in Korea and she was showing them her mission.  She just happened to be right by Osan Air Base so we were able to meet them and have lucnch together!  It's always such a blessing to meet the missionaries parents!  We love Sister Jacobs.  She will be attending BYU - so hopefully we will be able to visit with her again! (TENDER MERCY- CELESTIAL COLLISION)

Every three months we help with apartment inspections. We try to take them to lunch or for a treat because they spend a lot of time making them sparkling clean.  Last April there was one apartment that got missed so they had us go down to a zone south of us to do the inspection. It turned out it was Elder Webster, who served in our district nearly a year ago and lived across the street from him. We worked with him with our FHE and other events.  He went home the end of May so this was also a tender mercy that we were able to see him again. He is from California and we don't know when our life's paths will cross again. Fun fact about Eder Webster - his sister Sister Webster was in our mission when we served in Pocatello, Idaho. Another tender mercy - Celestial Collision! We enjoyed a  wonderful Indian Restaurant with them.

The hard part of being a missionary is also the wonderful part of being a missionary - the good byes and the hellos.  The first picture is with Elder McBride and Elder Limberg.  Elder McBride served with us last summer and brought a lot of enthusiasm to the base!  He was reassigned to the Korean ward in our building this Spring and we were able to see and work a little bit with him before he went home.  He also left the end of May but he is from Alpine, Utah so pretty sure we will connect again. The next picture was a meal with our Osan Elders and Elder Limberg the week of transfers.  Elder Rocque from American Fork was transferred after three transfers with us.  Elder Koo stayed and Elder Limberg is the new district leader. He is working in the Korean ward here in our building.  He is from Washington and Elder Koo is from the southern part of Korea.  All of them are wonderful young men - but I'm watching Elder Limberg closely - he's got amazing leadership qualities and such a pleasant personality.

Sister Clark from Georgia was also transferrred.  She broke my heart - she was in tears for a couple of days before transfers.  She has worked so well with Sister Christensen from Pleasant Grove.  They both have Korean ancestery.  Sister Clarks grandma is Korean, and Sister Christensen's mother is Korean but was adopted by a family in Pleasant Grove Utah when she was a baby.  They have been such a joy to work with.  Sister Clark is very shy and Sister Christensen helped her to grow and gain confidence.  It was sweet to see.  She served in the Korean Ward and then we lost sisters so they double covered the Korean Ward and the military branch.  Sister Christensen served with us back in October/November and then came back and is now working on her third transfer here.  She had an amazing history and is also going to be a wonderful leader in the church.

BAPTISMS

Prince William George from Pakistan.  It's my understanding he took the lessons for several years and finally something clicked.  He has been faithful in his church attendance every since his baptism.  In fact he moved north of Seoul, which is about a three hour public transit ride to our branch and he makes it every Sunday.  We have tried to tell him there is an English speaking branch in Seoul but he doesn't want to leave us yet.  He asks me quite frequently to help him find a wife.  He's a kind man and we have loved getting to know him. The missionaries in the pictures are Sister Bowen, from California.  Sister Togia from Laie Hawaii, Elder Rocque from American Fork, Utah and Elder Squires (a gentle spiritual giant)  from Arizona.

Shin is from the Congo and his wife Kiki is from Zambia.  They had an arranged marriage and didn't even speak the same language. They have been married for 7 years but just been together here in Korea for the last three years. They are both very successful and intelligent.  Also they have been very active in their faith and have a great understanding of Jesus Christ and the plan of happiness (Salvation) After four years of investigating, Shin made the decision to be baptized! HE IS AMAZING. he will help many from his country in the understanding of God's plan for us. His wife is still learning but is also very close to baptism.  She comes with him when her work allows it and she loves to attend primary,

The Pham family is such a highlight of our mission and such truths in divine coordination and celestial collisions.  When they moved to Korea, they were in the process of looking for another church - a faith crisis of sorts.  Well, the first day here they were on the SED having a treat (A shopping/restaurant district outside of the main gate of Osan Air Base_) when they saw the elders walk by,  This prompted Sister Pham to give the church a little more thought, so she reached out to the Relief Society President, who told me about them.  We had them come to dinner, not knowing they were in a faith crisis and we had a wonderful time with them.  Another family reached out to have them over to dinner and they confessed they were lookng for another church to attend.  Well, the branch stepped up and helped them get moved in.  They came to church with the intent they were only going to stay for sacrament meeting but the ward quickly swept their children off to primary, so they stayed.  Long story short, after several months of working with the members and the missionaries - they had their two oldest boys baptized the last Saturday of May.  We are working with them to have them be sealed in the temple and praying that will happen before we leave in August.  Caveat to this story is, she is now serving in the Primary Presidency and he is serving in the Elders Quorum Presidency.  You never know who's life may be touched by just being you and preaching the gospel with your actions.

Enzo is also a special story - we worked with his mother in the Thrift shop when we first got to Korea.  Then we didn't see her again until our bowling night in January.  We just happened to have one of our ladies from the branch who is a school teacher join us that night,  Sister Dadivas.  She is from the Philippines and she was also Enzo's school teacher last year.  His mother Esmeralda was planning a trip to the Philippines and spent the evening visiting with Sister Dadivas.  As a result the missionaries were able to go to Sister Dadivas home and teach Esmeralda and Enzo.  They have been coming to our activities and to church for several weeks now.  Esmeralda loved how it was helping Enzo deal with his anger at his father who had an affair and abandoned them.  They attended Shin's baptism and Enzo went to his mother and said "Mom, I'm 8, I can be baptized."  She wanted to let him.  She is not quite ready but I believe she will be baptized as well.  This was such a sweet experience to be part of.  They are moving to West Virginia this Friday and our prayers are very fervant that the ward will fellowship and help Esmeralda on the covenant path.  

So amazing for us to have been part of these conversion stories and have these people in our lives.  If you are at all considering a Senior mission - just know it will change your life in so many wonderful ways!

Just throwing in a pictue of one of our fun game nights!  We love these people!

While in Korea, you. must experience a baseball game.  Last week I traveled alone on the subway for my first time up to Suwon to meet the sisters who work in the mission office and we all went to a baseball game.  It was a hoot!  Sister Lackley, sitting by me is from Georgia, Sister Gooding leaves in July and is from California.  She is the biggest kpop and kdrama fan in my age bracket that I know - so fun!  Sister Stafford is from somewhere in the midwest, Nebraska I think?  The top picture has Sister Sunmi Lee in the front.  She is a senior service missionary from Korea.  She is also in our Tuesday Zoom English class.  She is so kind and helpful. She bought the baseball tickets for us because as foreigners, it's sometimes hard to obtain them.  The second picture has a Mr. Kim in it - he stopped to help us learn how to order our snacks. The Koreans are such kind and helpful people!

 This last picture is such a fun thing for me.  When we first served here, I was able to ride the subway with Sister Chang from Hawaii. I watched her in action as she spread her light around the train, not afraid to talk to anyone.  She went home shortly thereafter. Sister Tanner who is standing by her in this picture worked with us in our district a couple of transfers before she went home. The other two also served here in our mission but we didn't have a lot of interactions with them.  The tall one in the back on the right is my grandson Conner.  Turns out, Sister Chang is in his ward and he was at a gathering with these missionaries!  Small world - celestial collisions!

God is in the details of your lives!  Just take a minute to look for him and you will find him on a daily basis.  I know this to be true!  We love you all!

GOODBYE CHAOI! OFF TO SUWAN WITH THE LADIES FOR AUTHENTIC CHINESE FOOD

 

This was such a fun day!  We have two ladies in our branch who are from Taiwan.  They are the best!  So they are both leaving us this summer.  Chaoyi Fisher left yesterday and Kohan Jensen will leave in July.  One is going to Ohio and the other in Nevada.  So I am hoping we will see them again. Chaoyi wanted us to experience "Real Chinese" food so we went up to Suwon and had lunch at a restaurant that has a chef from Northern China.  It was the most amazing Chinese food I have ever had.  SO GOOD! and I don't think it had MSG!  We had nearly everything on the menu and there were 8 ladies and five littles. It only cost us $85!!!  Suwon is a fun city in Korea, so after eating the kids had been really good so we rewarded them at the Claw Store.

  

We rode the subway up together and it was about 25 minutes away~ Such a memorable day with friends who have all stolen bits and pieces of my heart!

GOODBYES AND HELLOS AND THE USO! - Zone Conference

So we have shared many experiences about our unaccompianied friends "the Darrens" they have been such a big part of our mission. Darren righty (Right handed) left in January to go to England and appears to be loving every second. Could it be because he has been reunited with his sweet wife and his four sons? Well May came along and we had to say goodbye to our Darren lefty (left handed - one of the few differences in these two-) it was a little bit hard for me.  He is my son Jordan's age and was very good to me while here - he truly did become very much like a son to us. A couple of weeks before he left a young man who served a mission at their last base and Darren was the ward mission leader with him, was sent to a two week training here at Osan - he happened to have a birthday on our FHE night - so we celebrated with him.  Below are some of the pictures from that last FHE with Darren and his friend.

The above pictures are a bit bittersweet because shortly after this FHE, our young missionaries have been given a new assignment for Monday nights.  It kind of switched up our plans on how to serve on Mondays.  So at the present, we are welcoming in the new families and saying goodbye to the ones leaving. It's PCS (Permanent Change of Station) Season - so we are losing about five families and getting about that many in.  They are making most of the assignments here at Osan command sponsored which means they can now bring their families with them. This has caused us to reflect on what we have been doing and what we need to adjust.  This mission has been special but one of the hard things about it has been always asking ourselves if we are meeting our missionary purpose. Our lives have been very blessed, we can only hope that we have been a blessing  those we have served.

The below pictures are from zone conference.  The first one is the missionaries who are new to the mission.

We had zone conference around Cinco de Mayo and Sister Gooding, the office missionary who is about to go home wanted to have a Mexican theme,   She went to a lot of work with decorations, food planning and then she ended up in the hospital with pneumonia.  We all felt very sad for her - but we carried on with her theme.

Pictured are our office missionaries, Sister Lackley, Sister Sunmi Lee, Sister Stafford and Sister Kim (one of our new Korean couples. The second picture is the Kims (Our branch presidents in laws and the Lowes)

Below are a few of the missionaries who have served with us in our district.  Elder Will McBride, who just went home this last week, Elder Lucas Squires.  Sister Tongia from Laie Hawaii, and Sister Clegg, Lehi, Utah

Above the sisters who lived below us the last couple of transfers, Sister Clark from Georgia and Sister Christensen, from Pleasant Grove, Utah.  Below is a part of the Mitchell family.  They are amazing!  7 boys and one girl and soon to be 8 boys and one girl.

Our Friday night game nights are always a surprise at who will actually show up!  In May was had quite a few so we had to take a picture of the crew!

It is tradition to take a picture with our district on the last district council before Transfers and then we go out to lunch together.  Quite a few of our missionaries transferred out of our district and the Neuffers (the couple who served at Humphreys) went home.  So we are glad we got this picture.

So I don't forget names 

Front Row Elder and Sister Neuffer, Sister Clark, The Lowes, Elder Rocque, Elder Limberg

Back Row: Sister Christensen, Elder McBride, Elder Nivera, Elder Coder, Elder Moser, Elder Osmond

Since we have been here in Osan, we help with the Red Cross Briefing at the Newcomers Briefing.  We have also started to do a USO table.  It's a fun time for us because we are able to meet many of the people who are new to the base.  And we have also been able to help some of the members who move in and don't know where the church is.  We have a Veteran friend who runs the veteran table names Ernie.  He has become a very dear friend to us. He is married to a Korean lady and has no desire to move back to the United States.  

This is a picture of Earnie with our adopted granddaughte, Rachel Morrison.  They had a sweet connection while she served here. 

Well - trying to keep these a little shorter - so I will go work on getting caught up with my other posts!