Seoul Korea and DMZ

We only had rain on our first day (Thanksgiving). We found our way to the Seoul Temple and met Elder Bullough there! We went through a session, we had to wear the English translator headphones.
Then we picked up Grandpa and ate Korean food for lunch. Grammy was appalled at how stinky and spicy it was.
That night we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at the mission home prepared by Sister Burton, the mission president's wife.



On day two we went and visited a very impressive palace called Changdeokgung. It was built in 1405 during the Joseon dynasty. This palace tour took a few hours to walk through to see all of the buildings and grounds.

We brought a male model with us to pose by the palaces.



At the palace we found our name. Bullough means "eternal youth" in Korean.

Walking through the secret garden meant a lot of stairs. Grandpa Paul needed some help to make it to the top.

This is one of the gates that was an entrance to Seoul it is called Dongdaemun. There is a huge wholesale shopping area there. It is blocks and blocks of stores, markets and vendors. Everything from textiles to pigheads.

On day three we went to the demilitarized zone (DMZ). This area is very well guarded. We had to have our passport checked before our bus could drive into this zone. It is the closest you can get to North Korea. They wouldn't let us take pictures at most of the places in this area. We climbed through a tunnel that the North Koreans made during the Korean war trying to invade South Korea. The U.S. stepped in just in time to save South Korea from an invasion.

This is a fence at Freedom Bridge. It has a rolled barbed wire fence several feet wide at the border. Peace ribbons and messages are tied on the fence.

On day four we went to church at a ward where Mitch had served. They were so happy to see us that they wanted their picture taken with us (just kidding, they were taking a ward photo for their Christmas card and they wanted us in it). During Sacrament meeting, the bishop called Elder Bullough up from the audience and asked him to speak to the ward. After the meeting, several people complimented Mitch on his perfect Korean. Then we had a ward potluck dinner. It is a tradition in their ward to eat together after the meetings every Sunday. Notice how I stand out in my gold outfit. Most people in Korea wear black. If they wear color it is usually pink or tan.

After church we went back to the hotel and picked up Grandpa (who was resting his weary legs) we decided to add some contrast to our sabbath so we went to visit a Buddhist temple.

I will include those pics the next time I blog!

We're so happy to have Mitch home. We love his "freshly home" missionary spirit. He served an honorable mission. He was a great translator for us as we toured Korea. Most of the places that we visited were out of his area, so it was his first time to see them too!