April 23, 2017

Apparently it will soon be Buddah's birthday.  We're seeing the Chinese lanterns around the city, especially at the Buddhist temples.

My mobility has improved enough to be able to get around more easily these days.

The lanterns all have lights inside.  It is probably very beautiful at night.

Not so beautiful, but an interesting sight at an apartment that is being remodeled out by an apartment for sisters. 

All the trash is put into bags waiting to be hauled off.

In case you can't read it, it says "Warning: Steps ahead!"  No kidding!  Thanks for the warning!  We're already halfway down anyway.

The day before Easter, the stake young adults had an activity at the mission office.  Just as we were getting ready to start, a group of tourists came up the hill to visit the area.  Part of this property is church owned and part is city owned.

A name is carved into the rocks here of a man who was a resistance fighter during the Japanese occupation.

It didn't bother the egg hunt very much.  Some of the tourists helped the kids find the eggs.

The "golden" eggs had clues for Easter symbols inside.

Then a little jumping and a meal to share.

On the way home from church, we saw this group of drummers.

We went out with the Cannons to deliver some things to some elders one day.  We've had some rainy days with some beautiful ones in between.  Luckily, Alan got a garden planted before it rained the other day.   This has to be one of the most narrow roads ever.

We couldn't go forward, so we had to back out!

This town (Chuncheon) is famous for its dakgalbi, a Korean stir fry dish.  The elders said to look for the big golden chicken.

There's a burner underneath, so it cooks at the table.  Then they come by and scrape the burned stuff off the pan after the main course, then they fry some rice for you.

There will be a presidential election here in a couple of weeks.  (Nice that it's shorter here.)  These people stand by the subway entrances to encourage you to choose their candidate.  The Red team has #2 on their sashes and hats.  The Green team is bowing and behind a guy, so it's harder to see them. Each person running has a color and a number.

There are 15 candidates!  We normally see people representing #1 through #5, but there are banners for all of them.  Our Korean elder asked how many colors we have in America.  Um, two I guess, red and blue!  Oh, and a Green party.

The Cannons were invited to a dinner and church service with VP and Mrs. Pence when they were in Seoul on Easter.  Our branch president's children were in a photo of the Pences with children of embassy families.  Our embassy friends in Indonesia had photos of their children with the Pences too.

It was our district conference this weekend.  Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita of our area presidency came.  Our district president has been transferred back to the US, so a new presidency was called.  One of the speakers said that many people are sent on "missions" compliments of the US Government.  We have military and embassy people here besides employees of Korean companies.

Elder Yamashita talked about his favorite candy, M & M's.  (Member and Missionaries working together.)  He took time before and after the meetings to meet and chat with the members, especially the children.  Part of his talk was directed to the children, about the lion that was raised with the sheep.  He asked the children to think about if they are children of sheep or of a lion to remind them of their divine nature.

Seoul Wall and other Random Things

This is our elevator in the apartment building.  They used an "F" instead of "4".  Asians often skip "4" because it is considered unlucky.  In Sendai, our apartment numbers skipped #4.  And the subway stations here go from #3 to #5.

This is a little noodle factory near our apartment.  The man is catching the pasta as it comes out of the machine.

Sorry it blurred!  The sisters were enjoying watching Elder A replace their bathroom door knob!

Not sure why they need a "Guitar Room" at the subway station??

Alan noticed that the street behind our building has cherry trees!

The chicken restaurant was having a very busy day!

Elder A went to one of the apartments to have air conditioning installed before it gets hot.



The installer had to drill holes in the wall for the outside part of the a/c unit.

This is his drill.

This was removed from the wall.

This is his "king size" hammer.  6 inches long

Alan went with some of the members and military men on a hike that follows the original city wall of Seoul.  He took a few photos with his (not so smart) phone.

It's going to be a long walk to Seoul Tower.

This part of the wall has a place to build a signal fire.

Some nice flowers by the base of the tower.

Elder and Sister Nielson were feeling the love!  Since the temple is closed, they were able to go too.  Sister Cannon has hurt her knee, so she and I missed this outing!

There are some places that people put padlocks as a sign that their love is locked and will never be broken.

Conference Memories

We were in Utah in April 2014.  Our sister in law had some tickets, so Seth and I were able to go to the Saturday morning session.  The first speaker after President Monson was Elder Holland.  His talk was titled "The Cost - and Blessings of Discipleship." 

At the end of the session, we made our way to the exit.  It had begun to rain lightly, so people were bundling up and walking quickly.  As we crossed the street, we heard some protesters yelling at us.  It was such a contrast to the happiness we were feeling after the conference.  I said to Seth, "Look at his eyes!"  It was the strangest thing.  There was no light there.  It felt like there was no color there.  Like the beginning of The Wizard of Oz.

When I looked back to the crowd that was coming from the Conference Center, everything seemed to be in light and color!

Like this except there was a light rain.

There has been so much protesting the past year.  Millions of people have been in the streets in Seoul.  We have heard them every weekend for several months.  And back in the US, there have been lots of protests too.

Protests in Seoul, South Korea



Protesters in USA

After watching conference, it is so reassuring that as long as we follow the teachings of the Savior, we can be in the light.

Here's some of my favorites from conferences.



There is safety in holding on to the iron rod



Stay by the tree




Stay in the good ship Zion



We are that we might have Joy!

Look up!



I am going to look for more sunshine and avoid the contention, complaining and bickering.  We will no doubt have to see and hear it, but we can "Let it Go" and turn towards the light.

Here are some connections to our missions from this conference.



This is Elder Alexandr Drachyov with our mission president from the Russia Novosibirsk Mission, President Daniel Gibbons.  Elder Drachyov was sustained on Saturday as an Area Seventy.

Elder Stevenson spoke about the missionaries in the Japan Sendai Mission when the earthquake and tsunami hit the Fukushima area in 2011.

Another Sendai connection:  The Rasmussens were presiding in Sendai when we first arrived in Japan.  The Sekiguchis will be the new president and wife starting in July when the Smiths are released.

Elder Choi spoke Sunday Morning.  He is in the Asia North Area presidency and spoke about his family's conversion to the gospel in Korea.  When we had our mission conference in February, Elder Holland teased Elder Choi about having to speak in conference on Sunday morning after the prophet.  We thought he was kidding!