Military Relations Mission

A Military Relations Mission is totally different from other senior missions. It so different, that every mission location is different. It so different, that we were told we would most likely being doing different things than the missionaries that we replaced. We have been told the most important thing we can do is to be Grandparents. I think our job is to love and serve Gods children. We have a lot of people we work under and have to follow. (This is a nondenominational church on the Osan Base.)

First the Mission President, two different Branch Presidents, several Chaplins, our district leader, and our zone leader. The two branch presidents are very different. One is from the Camp Humphrey’s Branch, where we have about 18 military personal. Well that's how many we know about. The Branch President said we have know idea how many LDS members we have on base. If they don't want to be found, you most likely will not find them. (Chilis, OsanBase)

Until Tuesday, they were all men. On Tuesday, there was a "get to know you" social, and I met a darling young lady that was baptized when she was eight, however never really went to church. She has been in Korea for four months, so she’ll be here another eight months. I am so excited to get to know her and work with her. We are getting new Sister Missionaries this weekend. Once they get here, she has agreed to have them teach her. We will get the Sisters on base, and go with them when they teach her. She is so cute, and has a beautiful spirit. 

The families in the Osan Branch, take turns having the single and unaccompanied over every week for Sunday dinner. So every Sunday we have dinner at a members house with the people we work with. Osan's Elders Quorum President is here without his family (unaccompanied), so he is in charge of FHE. He’s a great guy, with a strong testimony. We will be working a lot with him. The families here are extremely willing to help these people that have no family here. 

One sister told me she asked for a list of single and unaccompanied with their birthdate so she could do something for them. She feels sorry for them because they are here alone. However because of privacy, she can't get a list. The branches have to be closer. They become each other's family.  We finally got a list of the members in the Osan Branch. They would say there were so many changes, just go on LDS Tools. The problem is, our records stay in our home ward.

The Branch Presidents have talked about trying to set up a dummy membership for us at both branches, so we can get current membership information about each branch. These poor branch presidents have so much ground to cover, helping us become dummy members hasn't happened yet. That sure doesn't sound good. We’ll be dummy members in two branches!

We are hoping to get a branch list Sunday for the Camp Humphrey’s branch. I got a list Monday night, of the single 19 members. I'm not sure how many unaccompanied members we have, but I believe there are more than 25. Our most important job is to get a FHE group started. Someone said, “You need to go out and find them.” I said, “We would love to, however the only list we have is from May 16”.

Most of these people are here for one year, so there is constant turn over. We came when a lot people are leaving Korea, and a lot have just come to Korea. I compared my list of 19 to my old list, and only 3 of them were on the list. The Branch President has invited us to attend a branch counsel meeting every third Sunday. The first one we went to was very insightful. It is interesting to hear the different challenges, relating to military life.

One father told me how difficult it was coming as his children were becoming teenagers. One little girl told me, “My mom drove in Italy, and now in Korea. When we go back to the states, she going to be a crazy driver." Military families deal with separation from loved ones. Frequent moves and adjusting to new locations. These moves can be in different countries. Some experience the impact of multiple, high-risk deployments to war zones. They can face many battles, some against discouragement, distress, and anger. Some experience injuries. Some deal with spiritual struggles, with good and evil. So many different challenges that we never think about.

When we were having our first FHE, we were giving a man a ride there. I just knew he would be the only one that came. In my mind I heard 1+. At our last zone meeting we had a speaker that talked to us about 1+.  After many years he met the missionaries that converted him. He told them that they converted more than just him. He told them how many people he had converted, and his family members  that had joined the church. He told them how many people he had done Temple work for. He explained that he had no way to know how many people that he had touched because of the gospel, had influenced others. How many generations would be affected?

At our first FHE we had our 1+. As we sat visiting with him, he said, “I’m sorry I’m the only one that showed up." We explained that it was well worth our time to be there for him. We didn't give a lesson. He felt he had little value to Heavenly Father. We were able to explain to him, that he had great value. As we talked, he opened up. He shared his fears, his concerns, his desires. He was our 1+. He is Heavenly Father's child. The next week our 1+ showed up again. This time the Branch President, his wife, and his daughter (she had just returned from her mission) showed up. Again the situation was just what he needed. It gave the Branch President time to get to know our 1+, our new friend. Heavenly Fathers son. We have been learning everything happens for a reason. In our hearts we are so grateful for what we have done here. It hasn't happened as fast as we would've liked, however we are learning to turn it over to Heavenly Father. We are learning not to pay attention to numbers, instead to care for the special person that is there.