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!!!!
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