Memories of Gimcheon

I just found this post that I never published 2 1/2 years ago. I thought I still should because it is such a special memory.

Well, I am running pretty late on the update but here it goes.  At the beginning of November, we planned a trip to the Seoul Temple and to visit one of my old areas, Gimcheon.  This is the first area we have been able to visit but I always told myself that if I was going to visit any of my old areas, this would be it.  It was the area that Whitney and I were whitewashed into with no prospects of anything, the only area where I spent three whole transfers straight with no changes, the area where we saw huge miracles, the hardest area, and my favorite area.

But first things first, we got on the first plane out Saturday morning which got us to Seoul about 15 minutes too late to catch a morning session at the temple.  This meant that we had time to go to Itaewon and enjoy some good old taco bell, walk around in the pouring rain while enjoying the fall colors, and then decide our shoes and socks were wet enough and we should get some hot chocolate.

We then got on the subway and headed to the temple.  It was an amazing experience as usual.  I think it is even more peaceful and special now that we only get to go every once in a while because we have to make the experience last a few months as opposed to a week or two.  Don't get me wrong, I so wish we could still go that often and so look forward to living closer to a temple again.  I love being able to reflect on my life, how I am living the gospel, and feel so close to my Father in Heaven.
Then, on the way out, I saw a Korean sister who I was in the MTC with and served in Busan with.  It was so nice to see her and catch up.

After the temple, we were headed to Gimcheon.  We arrived at Seoul Station to find out that all the seats were sold and we had to buy standing spots.  That was lovely news since we had a three hour ride ahead of us.  Luckily, we were able to shuffle around to different empty spots and sit for a good portion of the ride.  We arrived in Gimcheon around 8 pm to Brother ETayGun (our old ward mission leader) and his middle school daughter ShinBee waiting for us.  It was so great to see them.  They were like our family while we were serving in Gimcheon so it really felt like coming home to my second family.  Sister KimJongHee had cooked an amazing meal for us which included every Korean recipe that she had heard foreigners enjoy (special consideration for Cliff, not that he needs it).  It was so great to eat dinner together with the four of them and just feel like Cliff and I were so welcome there and that we fit right in.  Then we chatted for awhile and KimJongHee and ETayGun went out to get Baskin Robbins for us all to share (I guess they remembered how much I love ice cream).  Then we went to bed in the bedroom that ShinBee so graciously sacrificed for us.

My Korean family

In the morning, we woke up and headed to church.  I felt like I was back on my mission walking to church through the streets of Gimcheon.  Everything looked so familiar and it felt like I had just been there yesterday walking up and down those streets talking to students, workers, and grandmothers along the way.  It felt surreal walking up the steps of the building that housed our little chapel on the second floor above the S-line exercise studio.  It was so great to attend the branch.  It was one of those areas where you could have a close relationship with every member because there were less than twenty and it was so much just as I remember it.  I remembered every member there and was so happy to see them.  They remembered me too (hard not too since we were the only sisters to serve there in twenty years but hey).  Even Jawoon, who got baptized as a high school senior while I was there, came to church in his military uniform after I texted him and told him I was there.

Love everyone in this branch.

After church, we went with the missionaries to visit NoByeongHo (the elderly man who started his travels at 4 am to get to church by 10 each Sunday) who had a fall recently and was in the hospital.  Then we went to have dinner with another family, KimChangHe and KimChangHo.  We talked to the elders while the Kims were getting dinner ready and found that they are still visiting many of the same less actives that we visited and have tried to call some of the investigators we found and things like that.  We had a great dinner there and it was great to talk to the members and hear about them and the branch.

Then ETayGun picked us up again and we headed towards the mountain to look at some really vivid fall colors together.  It was wonderful.  Our time in Gimcheon went by way too fast and we headed back to the train station for another three hour standing ride back to Seoul.

We hadn't made plans for Seoul since we would only be there Sunday night after 9 pm but we saw some posters that a lantern festival was going on at the river.  We decided that would be a perfect Sunday night activity so we dropped out things off at the guesthouse and headed to the river.