Christmas in Taegu
December 25, 1989 (Monday)
I woke to the sound of Christmas music. Elder Shumway, our district leader came into our room yelling, “Ho! Ho! Ho! Get out of your yo!! Elder Elder! Elder Benjamin! Time for Christmas again!” (A yo is the personal portable roll-up Korean flat bed we slept in on the floor.)
My watch said 5:30AM, a half-hour earlier than usual. But you know how Christmas works — it’s hard to be tired Christmas morning.
We got up, and Elder Benjamin asked, “Who’s got dibs on the shower?”
Elder Shumway answered, “Oh no. We’re opening presents first. Wakey wakey! Let’s go.”
We gathered into the living area … and well, I take back what I wrote before. Elder Hansen looked tired. Maybe it was because his Christmas package from home had been confiscated by the Korean authorities, and he didn’t think that he had any presents, but he also didn’t know we secretly got him a few presents. We missionaries can be sneaky when we need to be.
We had a small fake Christmas tree set up on a table with a few lights and cheap ornaments — like something out of Charlie Brown. And under the table were my two big packages. I would have opened them a couple of weeks ago when they had arrived, but our families had been instructed not to individually wrap each present inside — as Korean officials preferred to be able to see the contents when they did their package inspections. Perhaps Elder Hansen’s parents didn’t get the memo.
Elder Shumway and Elder Benjamin each had one package next to mine waiting to be opened. And around the Christmas tree on the table were smaller wrapped gifts. Those would be the gifts we got for Elder Hansen.
“Hey,” said Elder Hansen. “These all have my name on them. When did y’all buy these? You didn’t have to.” We all stood around him smiling.
And then Elder Shumway said, “That’s not all we got for you. FLARMP!!” He tackled Elder Hansen, and then we all followed suit. Instant dog pile with Elder Hansen on the bottom.
“No!” said Elder Hansen. “Help!”
“Merry Christmas!” said Elder Shumway, and we echoed it.
“Okay,” Elder Hansen said. “I give! Can we open presents now?”
The dogpile dispersed, and we commenced with the grand opening.
We all received the usual gifts: ties, shirts, a couple of ornaments. Elder Hansen was thankful for his gifts even though we missionaries didn’t have much money to give him anything fancy.
And then there was my mom, who just didn’t know how to do small Christmases. She tended to follow the see-food diet model, except for with gifts. Her goal was to give each of her kids a magical experience even though it usually meant taking all year to pay off all the debt it caused.
My box was filled: jello, pudding, kool-aid, pizza mix, pizza pan, muffin mix, muffin cups, muffin cooking pan, mashed potatoes mix, hot chocolate mix, marshmallows, Tang mix, soup mixes, pound cake, bread pan, peanuts, peanut butter, Dream Whip, gravy, a cassette recording of Schumann, some sheet music: “Especially for Mormons,” some weird-looking Cleon Skousen books, and get this … SPAM, which for some reason tastes really good in Korea.
My Grandma’s box was a little more subdued: candy, soap, shirt, socks, and handkerchiefs.
Elder Shumway then said, “I know what we’re eating this week!” And everyone cheered.
Elder Benjamin then gave an uber-spiritual history of Christmas, including an explanation of the traditional symbols of Christmas — red was the blood of Christ, and all that. Elder Hansen rolled his eyes a couple of times.
We sang a Christmas hymn, offered a prayer, and then Elder Benjamin got his dibs on the first shower.
As for what happened the rest of the day, you must first understand that Koreans don’t celebrate Christmas. Well, some do, but it’s nowhere near as big as what we do in the states. There were very little family reunions, no big dinners, and every business remained open. You can think of the Chinese restaurant in A Christmas Story, except it’s every store everywhere.
So, we missionaries didn’t get much of a break. After our quick morning celebration, we were expected to go out there and get back to work. The worth of souls was too great.
This was also the one time each year we could call home — but that would have to wait till the next morning because of the time difference.
But luckily this year, Christmas fell on a Monday, which was our Preparation Day, or P-Day for short. This was our day of rest. I usually used these days to catch up on letter writing, but we could also use the day to prepare, relax, or even do some sight-seeing.
Today, our plan was to travel half an hour to the north to the city of Gumi (구미), and hike the Kumosan mountain to see the YakSa Buddhist temple near the top, almost embedded in the rock.
It was Kim Bo-yeon’s idea. Remember him from the last story? Oh yeah — that first meeting with him in his apartment went very well. He was more than ready to hear our message. It had brought him answers and great joy. But he wasn’t ready to commit to baptism. He did commit to reading the Mormon Gyeong to increase his knowledge, and also to continue meeting with us on a more regular schedule. He thought a trip to see the YakSa temple would be great for a Christmas excursion.
Our first stop was outside of his apartment building. We got off, and he was already there at the bus stop. Elder Shumway shook his hand and said in Korean, “It’s very good to meet you. Are you ready to have some fun?”
Then we all got on another bus and went to Gumi. At the foot of the mountain, we walked through a kind of park or garden. There weren’t too many people there because it was winter. We walked up a concrete ramp, which took us to the trailhead, and off we went.
Have I mentioned already the beautiful landscapes of Korea? Rolling hills everywhere, greenery practically everywhere, a rich variety of trees and plants. As such, it was difficult to get bored traveling, because you could simply look out the window and watch the world go by, seeing something different every minute.
And Korea has excellent hiking practically everywhere. It was easy to hop on a bus, get away from the big cities, travel a short distance, and just enjoy nature.
On this particular hike, we were surrounded by moderately large evergreens and other trees that had lost their leaves. As we looked up the slope, perpendicular to our path, there more and more trees above us. I suppose that’s another thing about Korean mountains — they tended to be not rocky.
Bo-yeon happily led us along the trail. Elder Benjamin asked him as we hiked, “What did you do this morning to celebrate Christmas?”
He answered, “Oh yeah. I should have told you I’m Buddhist.”
“What?” I said. “I would have never guessed from our last meeting.”
Elder Hansen chuckled. “You’re just like almost every other Korean.” Most Koreans told us they were Buddhist even if it weren’t true.
“I could have sworn you were already a Christian,” said Elder Benjamin. “You sure sounded like one.”
“Oh, that’s because I was studying. I’ve been reading up on Christianity and also Islam and even some Hinduism. Just trying to find order in the universe.”
Elder Shumway asked, “And you go to Kimyung? Don’t you have to be be Christian to go there?”
“Oh no. I go to Taegu Tech. I’m studying to be an electrical engineer. Our apartment building is about the same distance to both schools.”
“Cool,” said Elder Benjamin.
We continued our hike, and commented on the snow we saw on the ground above us. Bo-yeon said, “Based on what I’ve read, it doesn’t seem right to have snow on Christmas. That’s when you celebrate the birth of Jesus, right?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Well,” he said, “there’s no snow mentioned at all in his birth story. The whole thing sounds like it happened in the spring or summer. Do you know why you celebrate it today?”
Elder Benjamin said, “You’re right. He wasn’t born in the winter. But I don’t know why today was picked. That’s when the whole world does it.”
“I know why,” said Bo-yeon. “The Romans chose a pagan holiday to repurpose for Christmas — so more people would convert. But December 25 is more about the winter solstice — when the days start getting longer. It’s about celebrating joy in the darkest times, and praying for the sun to return with longer days.”
“That sounds interesting,” said Elder Benjamin. I noticed how Bo-yeon’s account had differed from the one Elder Benjamin had presented to us earlier.
Elder Shumway squirted his water bottle at us and said, “Alright you guys, let’s speed this up.”
The hike continued until more than halfway up, we hit the snow. On the first unavoidable patch, Elder Benjamin slipped. “Whoa.”
“Careful,” said Elder Shumway.
The next patch was larger, and Elder Benjamin struggled again. “What’s going on?” asked Elder Shumway.
“My shoes are slippery,” said Elder Benjamin.
“Are those dress shoes?”
“Yeah. I don’t own any tennis shoes. I thought these would have enough traction.” He pointed to the rubbery ridges on his soles.
Bo-yeon got in front of Elder Benjamin and said, “You need to plant your feet into the ground with each step. Walk with determination. Like this.” He thrust his foot into the snow deliberately.
Then Elder Benjamin tried it, and it seemed to help.
But then the next patch was much larger. After ten minutes of trying to pass it, Elder Shumway said, “Okay. I’m calling it. This is going to take too long and we have to be back before our P-Day ends.” This usually happened at 6PM so we could end the day with some proselytizing. “Let’s head back down.”
Elder Hansen said, “Oh man. We’re so close.”
Looking up, we still couldn’t see the Yaksa. It could have been just around the corner, but to me it did look like there was still plenty of mountain left above us. We were not really that close.
“We can come back after winter and try again. And we can flarmp Elder Benjamin when we get home.”
“Sorry, guys,” said Elder Benjamin.
And we went back down. In some ways, it was like a walk of shame from our failure, but it was still a pretty hike. We got in some good views, and we were having a good time with Bo-yeon.
Once we left the mountain, we found a shikdang (식당) and ate a quick dinner. I ordered kimchi stew. What an awesome Christmas dinner! We certainly missed the big turkey or ham dinners our families would be having in the states, but when you’re there in Korea in the moment, it’s easy not to get depressed. We knew there would be dozens of dozens of big family dinners in our future.
We then got on a bus back to Taegu, and then came our after-P-Day activities. As part of our deal with Bo-yeon, in exchange for him showing us the Kumosan Mountain, we would show him our church in the evening.
So, the five of us transferred to a bus that took us directly to our church building. We got there at around 7PM.
Depending on the area, our meeting places could be standalone buildings that our church owned, or they could be tiny spaces in some office building above a gym with access to only one uni-sex bathroom, or some other arrangement in between. Here, in the Chung-ri Ward, we were lucky to have our own building. The church may have even gotten to design it from the ground up. It had a main floor and a basement where they kept a ping-pong table for activities.
As soon as we entered the building, Elder Shumway said, “Elder Hansen and I are going down to brush up on our ping pong while you all have your discussion.” And down they went.
Then Elder Benjamin and I showed Bo-yeon the chapel, off to the right from the front door. It was similar to most chapels in the states: pews, a pulpit, choirs seats, and a piano. My entire mission, I don’t remember seeing any organs — just pianos.
After the quick tour, we went into a classroom and began our discussion. This time it was the second discussion on Repentance and the Atonement, inarguably the most important discussion in practically all Christian denominations. And the perfect lesson for a Christmas day.
Without Christ, it would be impossible for any of us to make it into heaven.
As usual, Elder Benjamin brought in the Spirit in droves, relating everything to Christmas, and connected with Bo-yeon. This was the discussion that called for a baptismal commitment at the very end — set a date, and then work toward that goal. So, Elder Benjamin finished with, “Will you commit to be baptized?”
And let me tell you: it was rare that an investigator said “yes” at that moment. It all sounds good on paper, but when it comes down to real life, we almost always got: “I need to think about it.”
This time, Bo-yeon said, “I think, yes. Eventually I want to get baptized, but I want to be sure first. I have so many things going on right now. School is tough, and I’m going to do a semester in the United States in a another month. I just don’t have time right now.”
Just our luck! If ever I’d seen a golden investigator, this was one, and now he wasn’t committing. If he was too busy, would we be able to get in the last four discussions. Would he lose interest while he went to America? When he got back, would we still be here to baptize him? Often, we missionaries would get transferred before the big baptismal date, meaning someone else would get to do the baptism without having done all the work.
Later that night, Elder Benjamin would tell me, “Don’t worry. He’ll get baptized. I can feel it.” He would also always remind me that it didn’t matter when the baptism happened, or who performed it. Rather, it only mattered that the baptism happened. He always had the proper perspective.
But back to the present, I ended our meeting with a closing prayer, slightly disappointed with the lack of a baptismal commitment. But at least he had already committed to a third discussion the next week.
When we went out into the hall, we heard a commotion coming from the basement. The others were still playing ping-pong. “Let’s go check it out,” said Elder Benjamin.
The three of us went downstairs, and when Elder Shumway saw us, he and Elder Hansen dropped their ping pong paddles and ran toward us.
Elder Shumway said, “Remember what I said, Elder Benjamin? FLARMP!!!”
Keep in mind that the ping-pong table took up most of the basement. But that didn’t stop Elder Shumway from tackling Elder Benjamin. And then we all piled on. Even Bo-yeon jumped up on top.
When we all stood up, Elder Shumway said, “Who’s up for some more Christmas ping pong?” We then played for the next hour until it was time for us to return home.
It was a Christmas I’ll never forget.
