Book of Remembrance Retrospectives by missionaries of the pioneer era in Korea, 1956 to 1962 To commemorate 60 years of LDS missionary work in Korea, 1956 to 2016
To All of Our Missionaries Who Served With Us in Korea The Lord personally decided how to get LDS missionaries into Korea and how to get the church established in Korea. The Lord did this by arranging Oliver Wayman and Kim Ho Jik to share the same graduate study room at Cornell University in 1949. Oliver Wayman then converted Kim Ho Jik and introduced him to Don Wood and family who fellowshipped him and arranged his baptism. Kim Ho Jik returned to Korea and made it possible for LDS missionaries to enter Korea. Kim Ho Jik also made it possible for the church to be recognized by the Korean government and to become established in Korea. Without Kim Ho Jik no LDS missionaries would have been able to enter Korea and the church would never have been recognized by the government and would never have become established in Korea. Excellent accounts of these events are in the English version of the book Feed My Sheep published by then General Authority Ko Won Yong. We recommend that every missionary who has ever served or will ever serve in Korea obtain a copy of Feed My Sheep and become familiar with how the Lord personally arranged for LDS missionaries to enter Korea and how the Lord personally arranged for the church to become established in Korea. With much aloha to all, Paul and Frances Andrus. Note from the Pioneer Subcommittee Each of us is a pioneer and many of us pioneer daily in trying to establish a gospel foothold in distant parts of the world. -- Gordon B Hinckley A reunion commemorating 60 years of missionaries to Korea was held on September 30, 2016 in Orem, Utah. Prior to this, all pioneer era missionaries who served from 1955 1962 were invited to attend as well as submit articles about their experiences in Korea. Many hours were spent in searching for missionaries from the Andrus era. These submissions are published on our website which is www.paulandrus-korea.weebly.com. A special thanks to all those who submitted articles and pictures. This booklet was provided for those who wanted a hard copy of the articles. Please be aware that those articles that were submitted with pictures are only available online. The pictures are not included in this booklet. On the cover of this booklet as well as at our pioneer era table at the reunion the hanja ahn is used. The Chinese character is pronounced ahn and means peace. Anciently, peace was a stylized drawing of a woman at work in her home, undisturbed: 安 is the first syllable in Korea s universal greeting, An-nyong hashimnikka, Are you peaceful? 安 is the first syllable in President Andrus s East Asian name, An-drus. President and Sister 安 and the 53 missionaries they sent to Korea from 1956 to 1962 pray for peace. D&C 88:125 teaches, And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace. Some material submitted by original authors was included by permission of the Korean Mission Journal Publication Committee, the publisher of Korean Mission Journals, Testimonies and Experiences of LDS Missionaries in Korea, Lindon, Utah 2004. This booklet is not an official publication of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the position of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Prepared by the Pioneer Subcommittee to Commemorate the 60th Anniversary of LDS Missionary Work in Korea. Bruce Grant K. Barry Ellis Morris James LaVerna Andrus Stapler
Table of Contents PAUL and FRANCES ANDRUS... 1 BOB ADAMS... 3 DEAN M. ANDERSEN... 5 JAMES R. BRADSHAW... 6 LOWELL EDWARD BROWN... 8 DAVID C. BUTLER... 10 JOHN CHADWICK... 12 DALLAS BRENT CLEMENT... 14 RICHARD LEE DETTON... 15 BARRY ELLIS... 16 LEE FRY... 17 STERLING GEORGE... 19 BRUCE GRANT... 20 DARRYL W. HARRIS... 22 F. RAY HAWKINS... 24 MORRIS JAMES... 25 JACK JENKINS... 25 NEWEL KIMBALL... 26 G. GLAYDE MAW... 36 MICHAEL E. NICHOLES... 37 RONALD KALMAR NIELSEN... 39 LARRY ORME... 44 DON G. POWELL... 46 DALE W. RASMUSSEN... 49 BRIAN SELLERS... 50 DAVID STREBE... 51 EUGENE P. TILL... 52 LYNN WADDELL... 53 HEPATITIS MIRACLE... 56 Paul C. Andrus... 57 Dean Andersen... 59 L. Edward Brown... 59 F. Ray Hawkins... 60 Newel Kimball... 62 Larry Orme... 63 David Strebe... 63
PAUL and FRANCES ANDRUS 1955 1962 President Joseph Fielding Smith, in Tokyo, organized the Northern Far East Mission, including Japan, Korea, and Okinawa, on July 28, 1955. On October 21, 1955, while we were living in Kahaluu, Hawaii, I was called as the President of the Northern Far East Mission and my wife, Frances, was called to serve as a missionary with me. In these capacities it was our privilege to serve as missionaries to Korea from the time of our arrival in the mission field on December 9, 1955, until the Korean Mission was organized on July 8, 1962. Elder Delbert L. Stapley set us apart in Honolulu on November 1, 1955. At that time there were no missionaries laboring for the church in Korea and there never had been. The church was not officially organized under Korean law and never had been. The church owned no property in Korea and never had. The LDS Servicemen had baptized several hundred Koreans into the church but the church had no branches in Korea and never had, although the Koreans had begun to hold their own meetings in Seoul under the direction of President Ho Jik Kim. At the time he set us apart Elder Stapley instructed me to move ahead in Korea as soon as I felt that I should, and from that very moment a great desire filled my entire being to send in the missionaries and build up the church in Korea just as fast as possible. This feeling of urgency never left me but rather burned like an unquenchable fire in my bosom from the time of my arrival right up to the time of the organization of the Korean Mission. In this way the Lord revealed to me that the time to move ahead in Korea was right then with no delay. This I proceeded to do in all haste. In a marvelous way the Lord had put in place the team necessary to move ahead in Korea. President Ho Jik Kim had been miraculously led into the church while at Cornell University, and he had been miraculously reunited with his family in Korea after the Korean War. He had been set apart by President Joseph Fielding Smith as President of the Korean District and he had been appointed Vice-Minister of Education by President Synghman Rhee. He was on hand in Seoul all prepared to play his key role in establishing the church in Korea. US Army Colonel Robert Slover was stationed in Tokyo and was the LDS Servicemen's Coordinator for the Northern Far East Mission. US Army Colonel Willice Groves was stationed in Seoul and was the President of the LDS Servicemen's District. Elder Don Powell and Elder Richard Detton, who had already served two years as missionaries in Japan, had accepted my call and were in Tokyo eager to go to Korea and open up missionary work there. It required the close cooperation of all of us on this team to overcome all the problems and make all the arrangements for Elder Powell and Elder Detton to fly from Tokyo to Seoul on April 20, 1956. Our first missionaries were in Korea! The Northern Far East Mission Korea Missionaries were a great spiritual inspiration to us. In those days the missionaries were not called by The First Presidency to go to Korea. The missionaries were called by the First Presidency to the Northern Far East Mission and then were assigned by me to go to Korea. By the time the Korean Mission was organized. In 1962 I had assigned a total of 53 missionaries to labor in Korea and I know that I was inspired to choose the missionaries the Lord wanted to labor there. All 53 performed magnificently under very harsh living conditions and brought the blessings of the gospel to many wonderful Korean brothers and sisters. How well they laid the foundation! As of this writing, ten of these fifty-three have subsequently been called back to Korea as Mission Presidents and one of them was called as a General Authority. 1
The most serious threat to the health of the missionaries in Korea proved to be hepatitis. By the summer of 1958 five out of the ten missionaries in Korea were suffering from this disease. The first responsibility of every mission president is the well-being of his missionaries, so I was very concerned, especially since I was the one who had sent these missionaries to Korea in the first place. The full weight of the responsibility for the lives of these missionaries rested heavily on me and me alone and I felt this burden keenly. Nevertheless, I knew that the Lord had inspired me to send the missionaries to Korea when I did. I knew that even though the living conditions in Korea were austere, the time was right for the missionaries to be in Korea and I knew that it was the will of the Lord that the missionaries remain in Korea. I further knew that whatever obstacles might arise, these obstacles could be overcome and that the work in Korea would go ahead. Accordingly I knew that this problem with hepatitis could be overcome and that it would be overcome. In August of 1958, I made a special trip to Korea to meet with the missionaries to discuss this hepatitis problem with them. I never had any intention whatsoever of taking the missionaries out of Korea and I never had any intention whatsoever of closing the Korean District. On the contrary my full intent was to overcome all problems and build up the church in Korea as rapidly as possible. Nevertheless, I did not feel I had the right to ask any missionary to stay in Korea at the risk of his life if he did not want to do so of his own free will. My purpose in going to Korea was to meet with those who had hepatitis and those who were running the risk of getting hepatitis to find out how they themselves felt, to discuss ways of overcoming this hepatitis problem, and to give each missionary the opportunity to leave Korea if he wanted to leave. I met in Seoul with all ten of the missionaries then laboring in Korea. Unfortunately I did not record in my journal the names of the missionaries who were in attendance, but I believe those in attendance were Elder Dean Andersen, Elder Newell Kimball, Elder Claude Newman, Elder David Strebe, Elder Vearl Taylor, Elder Lowell Brown, Elder Gene Till, Elder Ray Hawkins, Elder Rulon Porter, and Elder Cline Campbell. At the beginning of the meeting I spoke of the love their own parents had for each of them. I spoke of the love and concern for their wellbeing the First Presidency had for them. I spoke of the love and concern for their well-being, which I personally felt. I spoke of the serious, life-threatening nature of hepatitis and of the possibility that even more of them would come down with this disease. Even though I was fully resolved to keep the missionaries in Korea unless they themselves decided to leave, I did say that one option in dealing with this problem was to take them out of Korea. The other option was to leave them in Korea with the faith that the Lord would help them overcome this disease. And then I asked each one of them to tell me how they felt about this serious problem and what they felt we should do about this problem. Each and every missionary responded and frankly and openly expressed the feelings of their hearts. Each and every one of them spoke of their great joy in bringing the gospel to their Korean brothers and sisters. Each and every one of them spoke of their conviction that they had been called by the Lord to serve in Korea at this time. Each and every one of them spoke of their great desire to remain in Korea and complete their missions there. Each and every one of them spoke of their faith in the Lord and their trust in the Lord to take care of them. Each and every one of them declared they were willing to die in Korea and, if it was the will of the Lord that they die in his service in Korea, there was no better place to die. And as each and every one so spoke he wept openly and freely. As each and every missionary so spoke and so wept, each of us in the room also wept openly and freely. These were not tears of pain or of sorrow. These were tears of unspeakable joy. These were not a few tears shed at the end of the meeting. 2
These were tears profusely shed throughout this sacred meeting from beginning to end. And as we felt this unspeakable joy our hearts were knit together in holy love for each other and for our Lord and Master. No one who was in that meeting will ever forget the feelings we all felt there. The outcome of this meeting came as no surprise to me. Under the inspiration of the Lord I had handpicked each of these missionaries to labor in Korea and I had full confidence in their devotion and their faithfulness. In anticipation of the outcome of this meeting and prior to this meeting, I had turned to D&C 103:27-28 and read again those inspiring words of the Lord. After each missionary had spoken I spoke, and as I spoke I continued to weep and all of us continued to weep together. I said I felt the same as they felt. I said that I knew they had all been called by the Lord to serve in Korea. I said I knew that the Lord wanted them in Korea and that he wanted them to stay in Korea, even at the peril of their lives. And then I read D&C 103:27-28."Let no man be afraid to lay down his life for my sake; for whoso layeth down his life for my sake shall find it again. And whoso is not willing to lay down his life for my sake is not my disciple." As this meeting, made sacred by the presence of the spirit of the Lord and by the holy feelings of unspeakable joy we all felt, drew to a close, our hearts were all united as one. Every one of us rejoiced in the knowledge that all of the missionaries would remain in Korea, and the holy work of bringing the gospel to our Korean brothers and sisters would go on without interruption. By 1962 the church in Korea had grown and matured to the point that the First Presidency decided to divide the Northern Far East Mission and organize the Korean Mission. This was made possible through the devoted hard work of the missionaries and members in Korea, and through the devoted hard work of the mission headquarters staff in Tokyo. There were now over 1600 Korean members organized into four branches in Seoul and one branch in Pusan, and each branch was meeting in its own respectable church-owned property. The church was officially recognized and organized according to Korean law. The First Presidency called Gail Carr, who had served in Japan and Korea as one of our missionaries, to be the first President of the Korean Mission. The First Presidency also authorized me to organize the Korean Mission and install President Carr as President. Thus it was that at a special conference in Seoul on Sunday July 8, 1962, the Korean Mission came into existence. Sister Andrus and I treasure our experiences in Korea with the missionaries and with the members. These experiences have forged a bond of everlasting love in our hearts that binds us together forever as friends and as brothers and sisters. We count the missionaries and the members with whom we worked as our friends forever and we look forward to continuing our love and friendship forever. BOB ADAMS After a week s training at the old mission home in Salt Lake City I spent time in Tokyo, Japan, trying to learn, speak and teach in Japanese. Just when I was beginning to make progress with Japanese I was asked by President Andrus to transfer to the Korean District of the Northern Far East Mission. For the next 2 ½ years I worked in Seoul Central Branch, Seoul West Branch, and in Pusan. (I guess most now spell it Busan.) I also twice witnessed major upheaval in the Korean government. 3
In April 1960, Syngman Rhee, President of South Korea, was forced out of office and into exile following a student-led uprising. A little over a year later, 16 May 1961, there was a military coup. President Hinckley was in Korea during the coup and described it in his journal, quoted by Sister Sheri L. Dew in her Biography of President Gordon B. Hinckley, Go Forward With Faith p. 229-230. Although worrisome, neither of these major government crises slowed the missionary work, except for a few weeks when we were not allowed to have church meetings and our teaching was restricted, etc. In Addition to great experiences teaching the Korean brothers and sisters, I remember some wonderful testimony meetings with the visiting authorities, mission leaders, and fellow missionaries. During one of those testimony meetings while explaining why I had hesitated going on a mission, I repeated what my father had once said about missions: The only thing bad about going on a mission is you have to be a returned missionary when you get home. Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, who presided at that testimony meeting, commented on my dad s remark, saying my father was wise and that missionaries must be careful about pride while serving missions, and when returning home. Just over a year after the Coup (June 1962), while I was serving as the Korean District President, an Army brother visited our branch with a US Army Stars and Stripes newspaper article announcing the establishment of an LDS Church Mission in Korea. I believed the Stars and Stripes article to be in error because nothing had been sent to us from either Tokyo or Salt Lake, but as it turned out the newspaper announcement was correct. The Stars and Stripes published the story before President Andrus had a chance to call and tell us. I had been serving without companion or counselors and I felt I was very busy with Church work. But I was to find out I hadn t seen anything yet! My mission was extended by President David O. McKay to assist President Carr in organizing the mission. As a lone counselor to President Carr, I was extremely busy helping him buy property, organize new areas, reorganize branches, establish a mission staff, start a printing department, write mission procedures, keep mission records, etc. How we purchased property was interesting to me: President Carr, a Korean attorney, and I met with Korean property owners. First President Carr would thrash out the transaction with the attorney and owners in Japanese. Step two: The attorney and I would discuss the transaction with the owners in Korean. Step three: President Carr and I would go over it with each other in English to make sure everyone was in agreement. While I was there, all properties were acquired this way. Even with these safeguards, there were still mistakes made, and much effort expended in correcting them. There are also some interesting stories about those efforts. It was an exciting time for the Church in Korea, but, I guess, nothing to compare with what was to come after my time, including a complete transformation of the South Korean economy, publishing the Book of Mormon, unbelievable growth and even a new translation for the name of the Church. But back in our time a devastated people were slowly introduced to the Gospel, there were beginnings, great companions, wonderful friends, and even a little progress! 4
DEAN M. ANDERSEN 1956 to 1959 I left Korea on April 6, 1959 and was released from my mission on April 8, 1959. In July of 1999 my wife Elizabeth and I returned to Korea and served in the Seoul Korea mission for 21 months. After teaching at BYU-Hawaii for 31 years, I retired and we are currently living in South Jordan, Utah. We have 5 children and 7 grandchildren (plus one on the way as of 2004). My first trip to Korea was in March 1953 courtesy of the U.S. Army. At the time of my mission call to the Northern Far East Mission, I was living in Salt Lake City, Utah. I arrived in Japan, March 31, 1956 after a 15-day voyage on the U.S.S. President Cleveland. On May 18, 1956 President Andrus asked me to go to Korea and on June 4, 1956, Elder Newell Kimball and I left Japan for Seoul. We were the second missionary companionship to be sent to Korea. Elder Kimball and Elder Don Powell were assigned to Seoul and Elder Richard Detton and I were assigned to Pusan. Elder Kimball was assigned to work with Don Powell and I with Richard Detton. When Elder Detton and I arrived in Pusan, July 13, 1956, we were met by a group of members who conducted us to our home. The building we rented had a large hall downstairs for our Church meetings and rooms upstairs for missionary quarters and classrooms. On July 16th I woke up with bites all over my body. We were infested with bed bugs. We bought a gallon can of DDT powder and spread it all over the floor and in the cracks of the walls of our apartment. The bed bugs boiled out of the crevices and we were kept busy sweeping them up with a broom and dustpan. It took several treatments to make our quarters livable. The rats running across our ceiling at night made so much noise that we had trouble sleeping. We bought a trap and caught a rat almost every night but we still heard them. I think that as soon as we got rid of one, another one moved in in its place. When one rat was caught, the others must have hung out a "vacancy" sign. We were having a contest with the Seoul Elders to see who could catch the most rats. We were about even until we bought two traps and then we pulled ahead of them. In September of 1956, Lee Young Bum was called as a missionary and became my companion. Elder Lee was the first Korean to be called as a missionary and the second Korean to receive the Melchizedik Priesthood. (Kim Ho Jik was the first Korean to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood). With Elder Lee as a companion we were able to begin tracting and to hold street meetings. It was a great experience to serve with Elder Lee and to be able to go out looking for investigators instead of just waiting for them to come to us. When we first arrived in Pusan, through the help of one of the servicemen, we were able to obtain P.X. and A.P.O. privileges. This enabled our parents to send our money directly to us in the form of a check that we could cash at the P.X. When we lost our P.X. privileges, we had to cash our checks at a Korean bank, but this involved a waiting period of 30 to 45 days for the check to clear. Because of this, I went for a period of 2 months without receiving any money. The other missionaries were having similar problems and we were in desperate financial straits. About this time we started getting our drinking water from the nearby German Red Cross Hospital. We asked them if we could buy bread from them thinking that it would be cheaper than bread on the local market. The mess sergeant loaded us up with fresh bread and canned milk, eggs, potatoes, cornmeal, jam, butter, peanut butter, tomatoes and cereal. He would not take money for it, so, in spite of a lack of money, we ate very well, thanks to the generosity of the Germans. This supply of food continued for about two months and then ceased, but by that time our money situation was straightened out. 5
My three extended trips to Korea, army and two missions, and three shorter trips were all great experiences, - even the army and the war. They have made me keenly aware of the importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and the lives of people everywhere. Through these experiences I more fully understand that we are all God's children, that He loves and cares about each of us, and that He is waiting to bless the lives of those who accept and live His teachings, regardless of where they live or the color of their skin. My prayer is that people throughout the world will be able to abandon their "gods" of war, hate, greed and lust for power and to accept the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. JAMES R. BRADSHAW 1958 1961 I arrived in Tokyo, was interviewed by President Andrus, and called to go into Korea with the knowledge that the language was different, and once there I would not transfer out until the end of the mission. Actually, I was called for three years and the term of service was reduced to two and a half years partway through my mission. Because of visa problems with Japan and Korea I waited for four months in Tokyo to go into Korea. So I didn t get to Korea until March of 1959. The elders in Seoul had been notified that I might be coming so often that on the day I finally arrived no one was there to meet me. I made it from Kimpo Airport to the Bando Hotel and called the District HQ in Sam Chung Dong. Fortunately, Brother Lee In Soon was there and came to the Bando to meet and take me to Sam Chung Dong. It was a Monday and the elders were out on Preparation Day and didn t come back until evening. Elder Dean Andersen was District President. I was transferred to Pusan with Elder Eugene P. Till in a few weeks. Meeting Dr. Kim Ho Jik on what I believe was my first Sunday in Seoul was a memorable experience. He made me feel so welcome and he appreciated me being there as a missionary. He was like my own grandfather, and when, years later, I had the chance to meet President Spencer W. Kimball, it reminded me so much of my earlier meeting with Dr. Kim. Both were loving men. They would shake your hand and man times give you a warm hug. President Kim had a farewell dinner at a Chinese restaurant down by the Hwa Shin Department Store for Brother Lee Young Burn, who had served a mission and was leaving for the United States. We missionaries were invited. In Pusan, I began to be involved in the missionary work, and to learn the language from Elders Till, Newell Kimball, and Cline Campbell. That first summer, we heard that Dr. Kim had suddenly passed away, and we were to go up to Seoul for the funeral. It was something I had never before beheld as government, Church, and family turned out in great numbers to honor President Kim Ho Jik. Elder Brown conducted the services, and we all went out to the gravesite with family and friends. It left a lasting impression on me. Sister Kim was not yet a member, although her daughters were members. She was baptized in May of 1960. During my first year, I met some of the early pioneers of the Church in Korea: Rhee Ho Nam, Han In Sang, Hong Byung Sik, Seu Won, Hwang Jong Seup, and Chung Tai Pan. In early fall of 1959, I was transferred from Pusan to Sam Chung Dong. The reason was I was feeling quite tired and weak. It was discovered that I had hepatitis, or Yellow Jaundice. I was confined to the missionary quarters. 6
On my first Thanksgiving in Korea, all the elders from Sam Chung and other branches were invited to the Yong San Military Base to an LDS brother s place for dinner. I still remember that I thought for sure they would bring me something back to eat; but they didn t! I was so homesick that I couldn t stand it and was wondering why I was sick and not able to do the work that I was called to do. While feeling sorry for myself, I had turned on the small radio the elders had, and it was tuned to the American Forces Korea Network radio station. The announcer was saying that the number one tune in the USA for a few weeks was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir rendition of The Battle Hymn of the Republic. It was a direct answer to my prayers, and I wept for some time knowing that I was on a true mission of our Lord and Savior. My homesickness and sadness left me. Soon, Elder Ross Tyler, Elder Bert Hoffmann, and Elder David Strebe were down with the same disease with which I had been stricken. So, we had four of the six of us at the Sam Chung Dong Branch ill at the same time; what a sorry-looking lot we were. During the time all of us were ill, President Andrus raised the question if we felt like we should be transferred back to Japan, sent home, and or to even close the District. Each one of us without hesitation indicated that, even if our lives were required, we had been called to Korea, and the work was so important that we didn t want to be transferred. We were not. Little did any of us realize at that time that, within a few years, we would see stakes, a mission; yes, even missions and a temple in the Land of the Morning Calm. In early 1960, I was working with Elder Brown as he was going home in May 1960; and I was shocked beyond belief to be called to take his place as Korea District President. An extremely important experience, which will affect my life eternally, occurred in the spring of 1960. Brother Shin Chae Won, a member, helped me to teach a sister investigator, Sister Chung Young J. She was baptized in August 1960. This story is too long to include here, but she became Jeanie Bok Dong Chung Bradshaw, my wife, whom I married in St. George, Utah September 4, 1964. Her contact with the Church and subsequent conversion appears to have been through divine direction. During this time Elder Gordon B. Hinckley was assigned to oversee the Asian areas that included Korea. What a privilege it was to have him come to Korea! In April of 1960, President Rhee Syngman was forced from the presidency of Korea. And again on May 16, 1961, about the time I was to be released and Elder Lynn Waddell was to take my place as District President, there was more political turmoil. A military revolution occurred with Park Chung Hee taking over the presidency. At that time, President Hinckley was in the country and confined to his hotel in downtown Seoul for a couple of days. The airport was closed, money was frozen, and banks were closed. He called and told us to stay in our areas and to not go out on the streets. As I departed Kimpo Airport in May 1961, I could see the land below us. My heart was nearly breaking as I thought I was leaving this land that I might never see again. I had grown to love the people so very much. I didn t realize at the time that world events would turn in my favor and bring me back to Korea in a very different position, this time in the military. About eight months later, in March of 1962, I returned as a Special Agent in the US Military Intelligence Corps to serve for two years right in Seoul, my home town. Obviously our lives will never be the same after having been touched forever by the missionary experience, the time spent in Korea, and the people we came in contact with. I shall forever be grateful to President and Sister Andrus for their love and kindness since the mission years. 7
I truly love and appreciate ever so much all of the fine Korean brothers and sisters. There are so many and I would like to acknowledge each one by name, but I hesitate for fear that I might leave someone out. Time is drawing near when we are closer to the time that we shall meet them all again in the next world for a very joyful reunion! LOWELL EDWARD BROWN October 1957 to May 1960 It was my privilege to serve under the direction of Paul Andrus and his wife Frances who presided over the Northern Far East Mission. This mission included Japan, Okinawa and Korea in its borders. Elder F. Ray Hawkins and myself arrived in Japan on October 21, 1957 with seven other Elders. President Andrus asked Ray and me, in separate interviews, if we would be willing to die for the gospel. After our shaky positive responses, he informed us that we would be sent to Korea to serve as soon as we could obtain visas. Oh, how grateful I am that President Andrus felt impressed to give us that sacred assignment. As I recall, at the time that we entered Korea on November 11, 1957, there were one hundred ninety two members of the Church belonging to three branches in Korea. Those branches included the Seoul Central Branch at Sam Chung Dong, the Seoul East Branch at Yurak Dong, and the Pusan Branch. The membership was made up primarily of middle school, high school and college students with three notable exceptions, Brother Kum Ba Ul in Pusan, Sister Kim Do Pil in Seoul, and the venerable Dr. Kim Ho Jik. What marvelous pioneer disciples of the Savior they were. They treated us very young missionaries with such respect and dignity in a culture that did not ordinarily command the same. Elder Hawkins was assigned to serve in Pusan and Ito Sam Chung Dong. My senior companion was Elder Dean Andersen, a hardworking missionary and wonderful mentor. At the first Sunday school meeting I attended at Sam Chung Dong, there were 49 people in attendance, 28 members and 21 nonmembers. Such small and humble beginnings have now mushroomed into numerous stakes, wards, missions and a temple. It is truly a miracle. Most of our proselyting consisted of door-to-door and street contacting. We were allowed entry into most homes and people on the street were warm and hospitable. The citizens of South Korea had fresh in their minds the terrible conflict they had just experienced and the 55,000 American soldiers who had been killed or wounded in their behalf. There were signs of the recent war everywhere, devastated buildings, walls pocked-marked with bullets, and poverty-- stricken ex-soldiers with amputated arms and legs, orphans on the street begging for food or money, and people living in homes made of cardboard, pop cans or whatever other materials they could find. These were humbling times out of which came searching and teachable souls. It was such a privilege to declare to them a gospel of hope, a way out of the horrible circumstances in which they had found themselves. From time to time, we had the opportunity to teach people who had fled North Korea during the war and were separated from their families. We prayed for the day that that awful and arbitrary line dividing North and South would be obliterated. We are praying even more so today that unification under freedom's flag may come to those dear folks on the Korea Peninsula. 8
Sister Kim Do Pil, in her 50's, had solid, bedrock faith. She had been a widow for nearly 25 years when we met her. She was amazing, attending a Church full of haksaengs (school kids). She was a mother to us all, members and missionaries alike. She fed us sumptuous Korean meals, in a way only Koreans can do. What a dear, dear soul. Brother Kum Ba Ul in Pusan was equally a spiritual pillar, a saintly man of dignity, who had totally embraced the gospel, providing maturity in an otherwise very young group of saints. There will be a special place in heaven for them, and my dearest wish is to meet them again and be worthy to be where they are. And then there was the revered Dr. Kim Ho Jik and his family. I quote from a book on the life of Dr. Kim, in which I wrote, Dr. Kim Ho Jik is one of the most remarkable men I had ever met in my young missionary life. In his fearless love for and defense of his religious faith, in a society where positions are everything, Dr. Kim nobly shared his convictions with those of every station. He moved among students and scholars with ease, doing so with concern and love for both.... He loved the Savior and exemplified that indeed he had heard and understood the Master's invitation to, "Come follow me." (Feed My Sheep, Dr. Kim, Ho Jik's Lifetime and Achievements, Hankook Translation and Publication Co., 2002, p. IV. I had the opportunity to attend his most impressive funeral service, where over 1000 people attended, most of whom were not Latter-day Saints. Following the passing of Dr. Kim, President Andrus and I visited at the home of his wife, Sister Pak Pil Gun. She was not, as yet, a member of the Church in spite of the powerful presence and example of her husband. President Andrus spoke lovingly but frankly with her. He told her that the Lord had blessed her financially because of the goodness and faithfulness of her husband, whom He, the Lord, had used to lay a foundation for His Church in Korea. He then gently called on her to repent and warned her that, if she did not, she would lose all her wealth. He counseled her to study the gospel with Elder Brown. She said that she would. However, she would not consistently study. She missed many appointments and showed little sincere inclination to join the Church. Within a few months, all her wealth was gone even as President Andrus had prophesied. Elder Lynn Waddell and I were then able to teach her the gospel and she was baptized on May 7, 1960, two days before Elder Hawkins and I departed Korea for Japan and subsequently to the United States. Of this experience, Sister Pak wrote in a letter to Don and Geneal Wood, dated May 14, 1960. Since I lost my beloved husband I decided to attend church meeting regularly and made up my mind to receive baptism. By the way, missionaries who are in Seoul taught Gospel and God's words. Last week I received baptism from Elder Brown. I want to live righteously like my dearest husband. And I try to keep God's commandments, which he has given to us. I'm sure my husband is teaching the Gospel to the Korean people who have died and did not have an opportunity to hear about it while on the earth. (Ibid., p. 236.) Sister Pak never did regain the wealth that she had formerly enjoyed when her husband was alive, but she remained faithful to the day that she passed away to then be reunited with her loving and faithful husband. I reverence the names of these wonderful members and many more of that era. I am grateful, too, for my beloved missionary associates of that time whom I hold to this day to be among my closest and dearest friends. Through and with them, I found that the Lord Jesus Christ indeed loves one nation like unto another and that through baptism we become his children. Of this I bear fervent testimony. 9
DAVID C. BUTLER 1960 1963 I was living in my hometown of Ogden, Utah at the time I received my call to serve the Lord in the Northern Far East Mission with headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. I arrived in Tokyo on Thanksgiving Day, 24 November 1960. I did not know that Korea was part of this mission until after my arrival. It was only after I was interviewed by President Paul Andrus in the mission home that I found out that I would have the blessing of serving my mission in Korea. I served briefly in Tokyo while waiting for a visa to Korea. I remember the first member I met in Korea as quoted from the account I wrote in The Korean Saints, Palmer and Palmer, p. 281: When I arrived in Korea as a new missionary in early December 1960, Brother Hong Soon Mo was the first Korean Latter-day Saint I had the privilege to meet. After the missionaries took me from Kimp o International Airport to the missionary house at Samch ong-dong in Seoul, Brother Hong helped me get settled, fixed a tasty meal, and made me feel at home in a land which initially seemed so strange and different. As the cook for the missionaries, Brother Hong would often fix big pancakes for our breakfast. I still remember vividly that one pancake filled the entire place and seemed to be almost an inch think and was able to absorb nearly a cup of sirup. Each of us received only one of these giant pancakes, but it filled us and tasted wonderful. After serving three weeks with Elder Jack R. Jenkins, at the Seoul Central Branch, I was assigned to Seoul West Branch to serve with Elder D. Lynn Waddell, from Driggs, Idaho. Elder Waddell, who later served as a mission president in Korea, was a hard-working missionary who helped me greatly in developing good missionary habits and a faithful attitude. I knew not one word of Korean when I arrived, but Elder Waddell patiently taught me a little here and a little there, and then gave me opportunities to use the things I learned. At first, it was very difficult to sit through meetings with investigators and long meetings at Church while comprehending so very little of the meaning. Yet it motivated me to study the language. I certainly felt the spirit of the Korean Saints and gained an early appreciation of their love for music. I was impressed with the extraordinary musical talents of so many Korean people. A frequent activity on the night of MIA, Mutual, or on branch picnics, was to play various games with the members sitting in a circle. Then when a person lost, the punishment was to have the individual sing a song to the group. The young women of middle school or high school age who were so punished, often in shyness, faced away from the group to sing their song. After eight months in Seoul as a junior companion to Elder Waddell, Elder Paul D. Scown, and Elder Donald B. Hill, I was assigned to serve in the large southern port city of Pusan as a junior companion to Elder Robert M. Adams. Elder Adams set a great example of diligence and love for the people. While working together from August through November 1961, we were blessed to develop some wonderful investigators. Then as December began, a year after my arrival in Korea, Elder Adams was transferred away. I was made the senior companion working with Elder Sterling George from Kanosh, Utah. We had the full responsibility of teaching and nurturing several investigators that were already past the early lessons where I had some experience and comfort level for teaching in the Korean language. I felt so very inadequate and my tongue felt like leather. I labored in prayer with an earnest petition that the Lord would compensate for my weakness, bring needed language to my remembrance, and give 10
Elder George and me the linguistic and spiritual power to help our investigators. I am so grateful that our prayers were answered and we were blessed with ability beyond anything we had been able to muster up to that point. During the months that Elder George and I labored together, we began to teach Kim So- Yeom, the mother of Brother Chang Byung Hun, a strong member of the Pusan Branch. His mother had a difficult time understanding the Korean I spoke. So Brother Chang attended every lesson and translated the teachings from my missionary Korean to Korean language that his mother could understand. It was such a joy when she accepted the gospel and agreed to be baptized on 14 January 1962. Since there was no baptismal font in Pusan, we traveled to nearby Songdo beach and dressed in white clothing for the baptismal service in the ocean. On this cold winter day, just participating in the act of baptism required considerable faith on her part. Despite the cold, Elder George and I were thrilled to walk out into the ocean with Sister Kim So Yeom and her son and witness Brother Chang baptize his mother. I loved the members in Pusan and deeply respected our elderly branch president, Kim Ba-Ul. Since the branch members were mainly young adults and teenagers, it was wonderful to have the steady influence of a senior leader. After six months in Pusan, I was reassigned to Seoul in May 1962, just a few weeks before the organization of the Korean Mission. On 1 July 1962, I wrote in my journal, The first day of the Korean Mission! What I have awaited so long, and never expected to come to pass, is really here. The new mission president, President Gail Carr, will arrive with his wife next Friday. The Samch ong-dong building served as the temporary mission office for President Carr. I wrote, President Carr is really a friendly man, loves the elders...willing to listen to your advice when needed. In November 1962, I was assigned to serve in the new mission office on property the Church had recently purchased in Chung-un Dong. I was blessed to work on a revised edition of the Joseph Smith tract and participated in a small way with a preliminary effort to start the translation of the Book of Mormon that involved Brother Lee Min Tae, a former Baptist Minister, Elder Bruce K. Grant, and Sister Choi Jang Soon. My entire mission I had dreamed of the day when we would have a Book of Mormon in the Korean language. We had to make do with the Japanese and English editions for those who could read one of those languages. Of course, Elder Han In Sang was later called to be the Book of Mormon translator and was blessed to complete this sacred and important work. In the final months of my mission, March-May 19643, I was asked to serve in the Seoul East Branch, where I served for a time as branch president. We enjoyed finding the homes of inactive members, encouraging them, and inviting them to Church. On 8 May 1963 I made the following entry in my journal: We spent the better part of the day visiting our branch priesthood members, drawing maps of their houses so they could be found again in the future. Finding houses in Korea is akin to hunting the solution to a maze or playing Sherlock Holmes. It took us two hours to find two houses, both within a fen- or fifteen-minute walk from the branch. Tonight we had a good MIA [Mutual] with a good attendance of members and our investigators, all of whom seemed to enjoy the program. It was speech night with such topics as Why I want to marry an LDS boy. One girl, Sister Pak Youn Soon, spoke quite appropriately on the subject. She announced to me privately her engagement to yes an LDS boy. She is going to marry Rhee Ho Nam, the branch president of Seoul East Gate Branch, this fall. Serving the Korean people and declaring my testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and of his restored gospel and the Church has been a great privilege, honor, and enduring blessing in my life. 11
It has now been forty years from the time I returned from my first mission in Korea. In December 2002, I retired from the Missionary Department after 26 years of Church employment. During the last few years, I was serving as the Director of Planning and Information Services. It was a tremendous blessing to return to Korea in 1982 with my wife as missionary companion and our seven children to serve as mission president of the Korea Seoul Mission. Our eighth and last child, Philip, was born in Seoul in the middle of our three years of service. I am presently serving as a research consultant doing projects for the Weber School District and the Ogden School District. JOHN CHADWICK 1959 1962 I was called on a three-year mission to the Northern Far East Mission, headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. I thought the Northern Far East Mission was all Japanese-speaking islands. But when I was set apart for my mission by Elder George Q. Morris, his blessing was all about working with people on the Asian Continent, and I wondered why, until I arrived at the mission home in Tokyo. When Elder E. Ross Tyler and I arrived at the mission home, President Paul Andrus said he wanted to interview us, and that one of us would probably be serving in Korea. That night at dinner, he told us that we would both be going to Korea. The next day we were taken to the Korean Embassy to apply for our visas. We arrived in Korea July 10, 1959. We were told when we were leaving Tokyo that there would probably be someone to meet us at Kimpo Airport. But if there was no one at Kimpo, we were to take the shuttle bus to the Bando Hotel in Seoul, where someone would be waiting for us. There was nobody waiting for us at Kimpo, and there was no one waiting at the Bando Hotel in Seoul, when we arrived. We were told in Tokyo not to exchange our US money into Korean money until after we met with the missionaries in Korea, because they could get a better exchange rate. After we had been waiting about an hour at the Bando Hotel, the shuttle-bus man was getting upset because we hadn t paid him. So Elder Tyler and I each gave him a one-dollar bill. That made him very happy and he left with a big smile. When Elders Ray Hawkins and Rulon Porter arrived a short time later, they told us we had probably broken the law by giving him US currency. They said he would probably sell it on the black market for two to three times the current exchange rate. Elder Hawkins and Elder Porter took us to the US Embassy and a Korean government office to register. Then we went to Sam Chung Dong, where we met with Elder Ed Brown and I was assigned to Elder Rulon Porter as a companion. The Central Branch, and Korea District Headquarters, were located behind the old bombed-out, Japanese-built, Korean Capitol building and a large park. At that time I thought that it was one of the most beautiful places that I had ever been. I was able to meet and talk a little bit with Kim Ho Jik shortly after I arrived at District Headquarters, but about a month and one-half after I arrived in Korea, he died. They had a large state funeral and Elder Porter and I attended it with the other missionaries. Even though I was not able to understand very much, it was something I will always remember. The first two months I was in Korea I worked in the Central Branch. Then Elder Vearl Taylor, Elder Dale Rasmussen, Elder Rulon Porter and I were sent to start the Seoul West Branch. We 12
had to clean out and move into an old school building near the Seoul West Gate. We cleaned out an area for cooking, eating and sleeping in one corner of the bottom floor, and a meeting room on the second floor. The first few days we were there, we slept on the floor. And we had a slight flea problem. We had to get new beds and furniture. And a few days after getting the new beds, we discovered there was a lice nest in one of the beds. Back in those days DDT power was plentiful and we used a lot of it. Shortly after we got settled in the West Branch, President Andrus came to Korea to tell us all Far East missions had been reduced by six months. Some of the elders would be going home immediately. I remember how upset Elder Taylor was at that time, even though he still had about three months or more before he had to go home. While working in the Seoul West Branch I remember taking up in the middle of the night and seeing someone going through our dresser drawers in the dark. I yelled, Hey! and whoever it was went running and jumped out the window. Everyone got out of bed and tried to discover what was missing. If I remember right, one elder lost a camera and one elder lost a radio. But I am not sure who lost what. Also while I was working in Seoul West, the students began to protest against the Korean government, and the police started shooting the students. Some of the elders talked about being downtown when the shooting started, but I do not remember who they were. We had to stay at the branch until things settled down. When it was over, a new government was in power, but it did not last long. There was a District Conference shortly before Elder Vearl Taylor went home. The morning of the conference, several of us missionaries had breakfast at a restaurant near the school where the conference was being held. While we were in conference, we heard gunfire. After the conference we heard that a military coup was in progress. That afternoon or evening Vearl Taylor became ill. No one seems to know what was wrong with him, but I think he ate bad food at the restaurant. From the West Branch I was sent to serve in the Pusan Branch. While in Pusan I had the privilege of performing many baptisms in the Pacific Ocean. N At the time I was serving in Korea, all baptisms in Seoul were performed in the font at Sam Chung Dong. And all baptisms in Pusan were performed in the ocean. While serving in Pusan I received an assignment with Elder Robert Adams to go to Taegu and talk to some Korean people that were coming to the military branch meetings there. We talked about Joseph Smith and the first vision and a little bit about the plan of salvation in Korean, and gave our testimonies. As far as I know that was the first time in the Taegu area that the gospel had been taught in Korean by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints missionaries. After Pusan, I served in the Seoul East Branch or the Seoul East Gate Branch. I can t remember which, because they were both in the same building. And the missionaries serving both branches lived together and studied together. Everything I have written about my mission is from my memory. I have no notes or pictures of my own to look at. All my notes, journals and pictures were destroyed about twenty-five years ago. When I left Korea in January 1962, there were four branches in Seoul and one branch in Pusan. I loved working with the Korean people. My Korean was never very good, but they would always listen and come to an understanding of what I was saying. I will always be grateful to my Father in Heaven for my mission in Korea. I was born in American Fork, Utah. I was the sixth of six children. My nearest brother was seven years older than me. My oldest brother was sixteen years old, and my sisters were fourteen, twelve, and nine years old when I was born. My father passed away shortly after my 13