Mission President Seminar

Seoul in the early morning from our hotel window

Seoul South Korea Temple

Golly, were we ever blessed! This past weekend found us at the annual Mission President's Seminar in South Korea. It was amazing! We had a lovely hotel, great meals and most importantly we had the privilege of receiving counsel from FIVE General Authorities!

Elder & Sister Choi, Sister & Elder Stevenson, Elder & Sister Evans, Elder & Sister Oaks,
Sister and Elder Clayton

The training was spectacular and the Spirit was tangible in every meeting. We spent all morning Friday in meetings, with an afternoon for sightseeing and the evening for shopping at the local night markets. These night markets are amazing. Many of them open at 10:00 at night to supply the retail businesses throughout Seoul.

Thousands of roses and other flowers waiting for the florists to arrive

Overhead view of one of the many night markets

Elder Oaks and Clayton and their wives arrived Friday at lunch so we were able to travel to the Secret Garden Palace (Kyoungbok Palace) and get acquainted with them. Such lovely and gracious people!

Elder Dallin and Sister Kristen Oaks are a joy!

Our purpose in being at the conference was to give us some "face time" with the Mission Presidents. Now that they have seen and visited with us they will hopefully be less reluctant to invite us to their zone conferences! We must have done well as we have two visits scheduled and one pending!
Elders Evans, Stevenson and Choi of the Area Presidency were just wonderful hosts and it was a joy to be able to participate.

Saturday was a full day of excellent direction and then a session at the Seoul Temple. For some of the Mission Presidents this was their first visit since called. The Dowdle's from Guam were especially excited to be able to "recharge their batteries" by doing a session.

Our entire group at the Seoul Temple
(we are on the far left)

Korean choir with the Sisters in traditional dress

Both Friday and Saturday nights we were pleased to have superb talent for entertainment.

Sunday we enjoyed the Sacrament, more profound answers to many earnest questions, a testimony meeting and more inspired counsel. In the afternoon we said our goodbyes and headed home...delighted with our unparalleled experience!

Hiroshima

Famous Torii Gate at the Itsukushima Shrine on Miyajima Island

This week found us in the Hiroshima Mission. We met President and Sister Isa and their wonderful missionaries. After three days of zone conferences and a day at the end for a little sightseeing, we were tired but so glad for the great spirit that we enjoyed among all those good people!

President and Sister Isa

Hiroshima Missionaries

Of course Hiroshima has great historical significance because of the atomic bomb that ended World War II. The museum and Peace Park that we visited reflected good unbiased information. The theme running through all of the exhibits, of course, was peace and the hope that this terrible incident will never be repeated anywhere in the world.

Monument to the more than 66,000 people who died on August 5, 1945

The Genbaku Dome
This exhibition hall was 450 feet from the epicenter and all 30 occupants of the building were killed. It remains as a memorial to the destruction. Only a few buildings were left standing in the city.

Sister Brown makes friends with a little deer.

The park that surrounds the Itsukushima Shrine is very beautiful and filled with friendly deer. The autumn colors were lovely. In contrast to the horrors of the Peace Park, this park reminded us that there is much that is good and beautiful in the world.

Elder Brown poses on a Japanese style bridge

The outlying areas of the city are hilly and green and because the city sits on a sandy delta, there are many rivers running through the area that add to its beauty. One of our stops on the zone conference round took us to the island of Shikoku. It is the smallest of the 4 islands that make up Japan. It is only 225 km long and about 100 km wide and is in the far southeast area of the country. It has more of the flavor of old Japan with small shops and houses that actually have room for a small yard where flowers and vegetables can be seen growing. There are several small islands and old volcanic cinder cones between Honshu (the main island) and Shikoku. Across this area has been laid an 11 km bridge, complete with a deck for cars and one beneath for trains. The weight borne is reflected in the huge pilings, cables and structure that supports this bridge. Since we were in conferences all day and it gets dark here by 5:00PM our bridge pictures had to be taken at night.

The 11 km bridge from Honshu to Shikoku

Sister Isa, being Japanese, was eager to introduce us to many Japanese "delicacies". Some of these were super while others ended up in a tissue in my carrying case! Our horizons were broadened and faith buoyed up by our great week in Hiroshima!

Crispy octopus skins...tempting, but...NO!