Kenneth & Diane Barrow: Restaurants near Lotte Mart building

Thursday evening Dad, Ben, and I took a bus going over near Sajik Stadium where we met the Bowcutt’s (mission office couple/finances) to eat dinner and then attend a Lotte Giants home baseball game. We ate ate this place that Elder Flint and Elder Kim had talked about before. We ate the "house Specialty" fried rice with chicken type dish (I don’t remember what it is called). We each wore the aprons they provided. It was pretty spicy?--had a kick to it. Afterwards we walked around the corner to a Baskin Robbins for some ice cream, before walking across the street to the stadium to attend the baseball game. There were people trying to sell box chicken dinners and other foods that could be carried inside the stadium from outside. We saw people inside with pizza boxes and take out fried chicken (given plastic gloves to wear in order to eat the fried chicken!). A different mentality than back at home attending a baseball game where you can’t take any food or drink/even water in from outside. I like going to the baseball games for the food (nachos, hot dogs, peanuts, ice cream, etc). Fun times! We ended up leaving early as Ben needed to finish studying for finals.

Friday night Dad, Ben, and I went out to dinner in the Lotte Mart building. We walked around the floor looking at the choices: an Italian restaurant, two Korean restaurants, a coffee shoppe, some other Korean somethings, TGIFridays (which we decided to eat at), and this Chinese restaurant땧ith the funny spelling. We have eaten at this Fridays restaurant before, so this time we were recognized by a previous waiter, by the nickname of Tigger, who had served us. Tigger came by and chatted for a bit and then brought us a free lemonade and Sprite땛ucker up!! Both taste different than in America. But it was fun to visit with Tigger for a few minutes. Dad had given him a pass along card with the link to watch the Easter video, Because He Lives, but he hadn't realized there was something to click on and watch. Hopefully he watches it and we see him another time to chat again.

Today we visited the Shinjeong Branch for their branch conference. The flowers outside were so bright and beautiful, though there were not the numbers of them like at the Goijeong Branch. Ben makes the flowers look so much better! Elder Willis translated for me before the meeting started as this Œ"harmony"/grandma/older sister in the branch came over to me to have a conversation. I think she was pleasantly surprised when Ben translated something she said for me to understand. Then when she saw that he understood she started talking real fast and Elder Willis noticed so he came to help. But she would go on and on, after which he would say a little of what she was talking about but he couldn¹t understand it all. She was so animated (I didn’t capture her arms moving up above her head or off to the side or running in place). I think she liked to shock him with some of her conversation. Dad had me share my testimony at the beginning of the Sunday school portion of the branch conference. I shared/read from my notecard where I had written down a few lines of a testimony in Korean. I read over that again and again, but it just didn’t sink in. It was hard! But interestingly, when I read the line about the Book of Mormon my pronunciation was more fluent and clear‹--I could feel a difference. That’s because of the truthfulness of that statement/book. After I spoke Chris Wasden, who came Saturday evening on a side trip from Seoul on a business trip, spoke briefly. Then during the rest of Sunday School time today Dad offered some time at the end for Questions and Answers. Dad had the branch president, district president, the district RS president and counselors, and his mission presidency counselors all sitting up front with him available to answer whatever questions were asked. This same “harmony” didn't just stand and ask her question. She walked up to the front of the class to tell her baptism story plus, etc. Dad stood and asked if she had a question to which she answered “No". A character!

These elders arrive early to the church building each week in order to make sure the inside of the building is clean as well as the parking lot is swept and clean. Church starts at 10:00am but they arrive about an hour early. We were at the church already because Dad had early meetings before the actual branch conference began. We left our house about 7:45am in order to drive to the meeting on time. The meetings go from 10-1. The branch eats lunch all together after the meetings. But then Dad has follow-up/wrap-up meetings starting at 1:30pm. Then Dad set apart some people with new callings or at other conferences he has set apart missionaries or done temple recommend interviews or any number of meetings. Most of the branch members hang around talking, socializing, someone usually plays the piano, children run and play?--it seems so different from back home where everybody just goes home or another ward starts their meeting block schedule. Dad finished his meetings and we left to start the drive back home around 3:00pm or so? with our missionaries still there waiting for the people to leave so they can vacuum the rooms and clean up before locking up. Those are long days for our missionaries.