The Fancy Dinner (The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin)

 

The Fancy Dinner

February 23, 1990 (Friday)

Ho-sung had good news for us, and he wanted to celebrate.

“Let’s do something Friday night — just you and Elder Benjamin,” he had said excitedly on the phone a couple of days ago. “I’ll meet you downtown at 6PM where bus 5A drops you off at the center stop.” We knew the spot — a favorite location for demonstrations and tear gas, which seldom happened in the evening hours.

When I had asked, “Where are we going?” he answered, “It’s a surprise.”

So at around 5:30PM, we got on bus 5A.

Elder Benjamin asked me on the way, “You have no idea what the great news is and where we’re going?”

“Nope,” I said. “But I hope it’s something exciting to do on this gloomy day.” Outside, overcast clouds slowly darkened while the sun set behind them.

“I’m sure it’ll be exciting,” said Elder Benjamin. “He’s never let us down.”

“I hope it isn’t sut pul kalbi again. It’s always that with him. Trying to show off how rich he is.”

“Chin up. This will be fun.”

When we got to the city center stop, Ho-sung was already waiting for us, wearing a suit like us. He gave us both a hug as we let off the bus.

Elder Benjamin said, “You’re quite happy today. What’s going on?”

“See that building over there?” he said, pointing at the tallest one. “That’s where we’re going.”

“Whoa,” I couldn’t help saying. “What are we doing in there?”

“You’ll see.”

We followed him into the building. He talked with a security guard, and then another guard showed us into the elevator, pushed a code into a keypad, hit the top floor button for us, and directed us to enter. And then he left us to rise up alone.

“You know these guys?” I asked. “What’s up at the top?”

“You’ll see,” he said again. “Are you hungry?”

“You betcha,” said Elder Benjamin.

The elevator door opened to a large circular restaurant with windows along the full length overlooking the city below.

“No way!” we said. The room was decked out with chandeliers, nice carpet, fancy tables and place settings. And everything smelled clean. We did not feel underdressed in our suits.

“Yes,” said Ho-sung. “Welcome to one of the most expensive restaurants in Taegu. The Sky Cafe. And look — the whole restaurant rotates.”

“Wow!” said Elder Benjamin. “What are we celebrating?”

“Let’s sit down,” said Ho-sung. A host led us to a seat by the window. And Ho-sung let us both take the two seats at the end. As I looked out, the city rotated below us slowly, city lights sparkling. The whole space and scene were peaceful.

“Check out the menus,” said Ho-sung.

I opened mine. It was quite fancy with pictures and professional typesetting, showing no prices, and it had an American section.

“American food?” asked Elder Benjamin.

“Yes,” said Ho-sung. “Tonight, we are eating American. I think they do a remarkable job, and you can tell me how it tastes.”

One thing to understand: actual bonafide American food was rare in Korea. Several places offered imitations, but in most cases it was quite terrible. The main issue: cheese was rare and expensive. Also, bread was just different. For example, several places on the street would sell something called “pizza,” but it was just terrible. I have no idea what they used to imitate the cheese, and it was common to put seafood toppings on it. Yuck! Koreans seemed to like it, but not me — it was too close and yet too far from food I had loved from home.

Times that we ate real American food were rare and cherished. Once in Seoul, someone took us to an actual American chain pizza place for some deep dish, and yes — that was real. In Pusan, I saw an actual Dairy Queen and grabbed some quite expensive, yet real ice cream. Every Thanksgiving, we missionaries would be invited to the local American military bases for actual American cooking with much thanks to their commissary. 

It was always fun to eat American, but for the most part, we had to stay focused on our missionary duties and stay within budget, which meant we had to learn how to also love the local cuisine: kimchee, rice, ramyon, and other wonderful Korean staples.

I did see pizza on the menu in this rotating restaurant, but I couldn’t bring myself to order it. Instead, I went with steak and mashed potatoes. And Elder Benjamin went with chicken.

It was indeed impressive. I told Ho-sung that my food tasted very American, though the mashed potatoes had a certain spice I couldn’t place that made it taste different. Elder Benjamin loved his chicken, too. He went on and on about how great the restaurant was — the food was great and so was the view.

And then Elder Benjamin asked, “So what are we celebrating here?”

“Oh yes,” said Ho-sung. “Soo-jung said yes today. We’re engaged!” He held up a hand and showed us a ring. “She has one that looks just like this. She wants to get married and move to America with me. This is so exciting! She said yes!”

“Great news,” said Elder Benjamin.

“Cool,” I said.

“So, eat up,” said Ho-sung. “Enjoy it. Wait till you see dessert!”

Yes — that was also great. I went with cheesecake, and Elder Benjamin ordered apple pie topped with ice cream. These memories of home cooking were indeed quite enjoyable.

Toward the end of the fun, Elder Benjamin asked, “So how is Soo-jung doing with the missionaries?”

Ho-sung answered, “Oh, she loves Sister Anderson and Sister King. She’s met with them once, and she’s looking forward to seeing them again.”

“Wonderful!” said Elder Benjamin. “Now that you’re engaged, what do you think about inviting her to come to church with you?”

After a night of smiles, Ho-sung’s disappeared slowly. “Oh, I don’t think we’re ready for that, yet. She still thinks the Church is weird, and I don’t want to scare her away.”

“That’s why you should invite her to church. Then she’ll see how normal we all are. It’ll speed up her discussions, and then you can baptize her yourself.”

“Maybe. But I’m still so busy with work. We’re not in a hurry, and it would just be weird. She’s not attending another church right now — not even Buddhist. She’s basically agnostic, and I’ll know when the time comes. I’m working toward it. We’re just not ready yet.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “That’s great news about you being engaged. Life is great, and it’s going to get better.”

The night finished off with some more small talk, enjoying the rest of our desserts, and taking in the night city views as we rotated. When the time came, it was difficult to get up and leave. It was a magical space and it was time to return to the real world, and time for this place to become nothing but a pleasant memory.

Next Adventure: Lost in Taegu

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

What's in a name? Today, I will talk to those who are not of my faith and explain the name of our church. At first it seems to be long -- quite a mouthful. But under analysis, one may find it isn't that long at all, and a perfect name for this church.

We are a "Church"

That is, we are an organization of gathering and worshipping. This is similar to all other churches, which all have different structures and different worshipping styles. The purpose is to provide places of meeting together to worship, to teach and preach, and to provide a community where members can help each other, and also provide services to the surrounding community as well. A church is a construct -- something we can join and unify with.

"Jesus Christ" is the center of our Church 

That is, He is the one we worship, praise, and follow. Consider the following commentary from 3 Nephi 27:8-10.

And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel.

Verily I say unto you, that ye are built upon my gospel; therefore ye shall call whatsoever things ye do call, in my name; therefore if ye call upon the Father, for the church, if it be in my name the Father will hear you;

And if it so be that the church is built upon my gospel then will the Father show forth his own works in it.

In contrast, you may notice that many other denominations rather go by the name of a man (Lutherans) or a doctrine in which they may stand out (Seventh-day Adventists), a convenient monicker describing the history of the church (Baptists or Methodists), or even some other ominous name (Catholic meaning "Universal"). 

Likewise, you can compare with other Restoration movement denominations who also take on the name of Christ: Disciples of Christ, Church of Christ, Community of Christ, and so on. Thus capturing the idea of: yes, it's important to have Christ central in the name of our church, so we can all remember our main purpose in worshipping.

There are also the Jehovah's Witnesses, a similar naming convention, as Jehovah does indeed seem to be the center of their church, but it's worth pointing out that as per their doctrine, Jesus is separate from Jehovah, and it is the latter they worship. The name of their church successfully captures what their center is.

With this in mind, it is technically incorrect to call my church the "Mormon Church" or call the members "Mormons," because the ancient prophet named Mormon is not the center of our church doctrine and it never has been. Mormon was simply an abridger of the extra set of scripture that we've received called the Book of Mormon, which is meant to be a companion of the Holy Bible, which I'll save for a later discussion.

We are the "Latter-day Saints"

The last bit of the name clarifies the people the Church was created for. Our current epoch is referred to as the "Last Days" or "Latter Days" (think Revelations), and the "Saints" are the members of this church. In other words, I am a Latter-day Saint because I am a member and I live in the Last Days.

This is a subtle, yet important distinction. In reality, there is only ONE Church of Christ. However, this particular manifestation is unique to this current time. While this Church is the same church that Christ created in his time, it is somewhat different in some aspects of its organization. And this is dealing mostly with temporal or mortal concerns. The Early Church had its own mission and goals, and the Latter-day version has different temporal needs and goals, such as reaching a much larger audience. The doctrines may be the same, but there are slight differences in the organization, built to withstand a church of millions (or perhaps billions) of members.

Also, note that it would be incorrect to call us the "Latter-day Saint Church" (or "LDS Church" for short), because that would be like saying it's the "Member Church." On the other hand, it would be correct to call me a "Latter-day Saint," because I am indeed a member.

Bringing it together

And thus we can see that our name is a conglomeration of three parts: 

Church (organization) + Jesus Christ (the center) + Latter-day Saints (the members and timing)

The official name comes from modern-day revelation back in 1838 in D&C 115:4-6 ...

For thus shall my church be called in the last days, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Verily I say unto you all: Arise and shine forth, that thy light may be a standard for the nations; And that the gathering together upon the land of Zion, and upon her stakes, may be for a defense, and for a refuge from the storm, and from wrath when it shall be poured out without mixture upon the whole earth.

But tell me again: why do you still call yourself the "Mormon" Mel?

A good question. I have my reasons, including the results of a very successful PR campaign on the part of Presidents Hinckley and Monson. 

President Nelson (who had died this past month) did an excellent job of reminding us what our Church has always been about: Jesus Christ. But I was already there -- always. I try to do my job in helping people understand the name of our Church, but I'm also maximizing the chances of being heard by outsiders. You can read more about this particular discussion here.

Thanks for reading and let me know -- what do you think about this discussion?

The Goodbye (The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin)

The Goodbye

February 18, 1990 (Sunday)

Once a week — every Sunday before church, Elder Benjamin and I did the required companion inventory. This is when we went over our investigators and planned discussions, discussed our own issues, and planned out the week. Part of this included Elder Benjamin telling me repeatedly how much of a great companion I was.

As for investigators, we had three at the top of our list. In-jae was our newest one. Just the day before, he had told us he wanted to get baptized as soon as he left the hospital. Of all our investigators, he was our golden one. All we would have to do would be to continue meeting him once a week, go through the discussions, and then he’d be ready. Since he had nowhere to go, we could go in at any time.

Ho-sung, the rich inactive member, was still meeting us and feeding us, but always impromptu, and always on his schedule. He still wasn’t coming to church, so how could we move him along? He had said he wanted to take us somewhere nice this next week, but when — we had no idea. Hopefully our schedule would be open at the time. His girlfriend had met with the sisters once, so it was worth keeping Ho-sung in our sights.

Bo-yeon, the college student, still met with us about once a week, but still no commitment. He enjoyed talking with us, but he was still too busy to worry about baptism. Concentrating on his studies was much more important. Today was his last day before leaving to America to attend a study-abroad opportunity. So, we would have one last-ditch effort today to try to get a baptismal commitment. Plant the seed, so that he would continue to see missionaries over there.

Somewhere in there, I said, “No matter what happens, we know he’s not going to be baptized today. The zone leaders aren’t going to be happy that we missed this opportunity before he left.”

And then Elder Benjamin reminded me, “What the zone leaders want isn’t important. Today we concentrate on saving Bo-yeon’s soul. It’s up to him as to when he’ll get baptized, so it doesn’t matter who gets the credit. All that matters is Bo-yeon’s own future.”

After making our weekly plans, we joined the other two elders and we went to 10AM church. First came Sunday School, and Bo-yeon wasn’t there. It was a shame, as they were covering the Plan of Salvation, which fit perfectly with the 4^th Discussion we were planning to give later that day — if he showed up.

At around 11AM, our priesthood meeting began, and Bo-yeon arrived at 11:15. He found us and sat next to us. “Hey, Elders. Sorry I’m late. Had a lot of packing to finish up. What did I miss?”

“Nothing much,” said Elder Benjamin. “Let’s enjoy our last day together.”

Sacrament meeting started a little before noon, and at 1PM, church was all over. While Elders Johnston and Riley went home for lunch, we stayed at the church to socialize with Bo-yeon. We went down to the ping-pong room one last time, and he taught us a couple more moves, and yes, as usual, he schooled us two different ways.

“I’m going to miss you,” I said after playing.

And Bo-yeon replied, “Yes. We’re friends for life. I’ll always remember you guys.”

At 2PM, the other elders came back switched with us. While Elder Benjamin and I went home for lunch, Elders Johnston and Riley had wanted one last chance to interview him and perhaps get a baptismal commitment. I wished them luck, already knowing what the outcome was going to be. Though, Elder Benjamin reminded me, “You need to have more faith. Maybe the others will say something just the right way and get him to commit. It doesn’t matter who gets the credit.”

When we got back to the church at 3PM, Elder Johnston reported quickly that it was a good discussion, but no commitment. I flashed a smile at Elder Benjamin as if to say, “I told you so,” and he responded with a more optimistic smile.

The other two elders left to do missionary activities elsewhere, and then it was our turn with Bo-yeon. The 4^th Discussion, which would also be our last discussion. We found a room, closed the door and sat at a table.

Elder Benjamin said, “Bo-yeon, it looks like this is it. Are you ready for America?”

“You know it,” he said, his face full of excitement. “Tomorrow, I’ll be on my way.”

“You’ll enjoy San Francisco. It’s a beautiful place, but very busy and different.”

“I can’t wait!”

We proceeded to teach the 4^th Discussion covering the spiritual world, our mortal existence, the three degrees of exaltation, chastity, and the Word of Wisdom. For many, this was a favorite of all our discussions, as it covered the fact that we are the angels in heaven, and how we will all be resurrected at the end. Though, most investigators expressed surprise toward the end of the discussion about what they wouldn’t be allowed to consume anymore.

When we got to that part, Bo-yeon said, “I understand not smoking. I hate the stuff. But no tea and coffee? Really? Coffee keeps me going for school. And everyone drinks tea here.”

“Yes,” I said. “But it’s only black tea that’s forbidden. We can still drink all the other teas.” Elder Benjamin pulled out a graphic showing black tea in the forbidden column, and several other teas: lemon, peanut, and other selected herbal teas in the OK column. I said, “And yes, many drink black tea. It’s also that way in the South, where I come from. But the promises of health and energy are sure. I think you’ll find that you will end up having an advantage over those who don’t follow the Word of Wisdom. It could help you concentrate more in school.”

“And don’t forget all these other foods you’re encouraged to eat,” said Elder Benjamin as he showed his graphic on good foods, including several fruits, vegetables, and meats. “This is the source of our health, and what keeps us going.”

“Okay. I’m willing to try it out. It’s a little strange, but I think I can cut off the black tea and coffee.”

“And one more thing,” said Elder Benjamin. “You’re going to be busy in the US, and we’re not going to be there for you. It’s going to be very hard to remember what we’ve taught you, and you’ll be tempted to believe that none of this important.”

“But it is important,” said Bo-yeon. “I’ve enjoyed our weekly meetings and your friendship. I’ll never forget any of this.”

Elder Benjamin replied, “There is one way to ensure that you can finish what you started. There are two more discussions left, and then comes baptism. If you would simply set a date for baptism now, then you’ll have the resolve that you’ll need to see it all through. Find the missionaries in America, and finish things up.”

“We’ll have to see. It’s going to be tough enough speaking and listening to English the whole time. And I have a full schedule. I’ll do what I can.”

“Oh,” said Elder Benjamin. “I feel impressed to tell you … did we ever tell the story about how we found you?”

“You said the Spirit led you to me.”

“That’s correct. We had an appointment with someone in your apartment. It was a trap, and we were surrounded by all these religious scholars from your school. And we fought with them until the Spirit told us it was time to leave. Someone else needed our help. We were already tired when we had left that apartment, and we wanted to go home, but the Spirit told us that you needed our help. So, we pushed on until we found you.”

“Wow. Is that so?”

“Yes,” said Elder Benjamin. “That’s why I believe it’s important for you to finish what you started. It’s a journey, but it’s worth it. We weren’t just helping you in the short term, but showing a whole new life where you can enjoy eternal happiness. Teaching a man to fish, and changing their life for good. So, what do you think? Four weeks? Do you think you could get baptized in March?”

Bo-yeon paused and said, “I just can’t do that right now. Too much going on. I can’t commit to anything until I have more information. Don’t worry about me. You’ve already saved my life and have given me purpose. I’ll be okay. And when I’m ready, I’ll get baptized.”

We wrapped up the discussion and then it was time to part ways. We stood outside of the church building as the orange sun hang low in the sky. Bo-yeon said to us, “Thank you for everything. I will always remember you and the fun times we had together. Hiking on Christmas, our English lessons, the ping pong, and our fun discussions. It was all worth it.”

“Do well,” I said. “Show those Americans what you’re made of.”

“And stay strong,” said Elder Benjamin. “You’ll have a great time.”

“I know,” said Bo-yeon. “Someday we’ll meet again.” And then he walked off. 

We waved as we walked the other way back to our apartment.

“The zone leaders will give us heck,” said Elder Benjamin, “but I feel that things are going to work out for him. We’ve done our part. You heard what he said. We saved his life, and now the Spirit resides with him. Eventually he’ll get there. He’ll make the right decisions.”

Next Adventure: The Fancy Dinner

The Qualities of a Good Leader

Throughout my many years of Sunday School, I was often taught the qualities of a good leader, and in nearly ALL cases, the answer was: follow Christ. What are his attributes? They just so happen to be the qualities of a great leader. And I think we would all agree that Jesus was indeed a great leader.

Compassion and Sympathy: Jesus always considered the needs of his followers. When they were hungry while attending his sermons, he would give them loaves and fishes. When a person died, he would weep. He healed many of the sick and afflicted. These actions understandably gained him followers.

Humility: He didn't wear fancy clothing, nor did he order people to bow down and worship them. Rather, he carried himself with humility as an example for us all. This also helped him to gain followers, as they saw that he cared more for them than himself.

Honesty and Integrity: He never lied. He always told the truth. And he always did what was right. People would follow him because the truth would resonate, and because Jesus would always keep his word.

Competence and Strength: Jesus seldom backed down. He did what needed to be done despite his unpopularity among the Jewish leaders. And he was never afraid to tell the people what sins they were committing and what needed to be worked on. This demonstrates the ability to push forward and accomplish his mission, which many of his followers appreciated.

Conviction and Faith: Jesus was always faithful to his religion, family, and values. This was also an example to us -- as followers see Jesus holding true to who he was, and what he believed, they too would do the same.

I could go on and on, but I'm trying to keep this short. For more, here's a good longer list and discussion. I think you get the gist, though. If you wish to be a leader, study Christ and his attributes, and emulate those. I have tried to do so, myself, and it has helped me to gain great results -- to gain respect among my peers, and others have joined with me to achieve great things in my day job.

But I'll admit. I'm not perfect. There are some attributes I don't do so well with, and they have served as weaknesses working against me. But I do my best. Nobody's perfect.

And that brings me to the other aspect of this discussion. Not only should we strive to BE such great leaders, but we should also strive to CHOOSE such great leaders to lead over us. As I've written before, D&C 98:10 states:

Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil.

And likewise, Proverbs 29:2 states:

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

But lately, I've been hearing opposite words of wisdom floating around on social media:

Don't look at the person, but look at his policies.

And let's explore this briefly. The idea here is that no one is perfect, like I mentioned above. A person, feasibly, could have some of those leadership traits and still be a great leader even though they lack other important traits. Both the Book of Mormon and the Old Testament are filled with examples of good and bad leaders. When the good ruled, the people prospered. And when the bad ruled, bad things happened.

Check out this particular leader in the Book of Mormon. In Omni 1:2, he writes of himself and his achievements:

Wherefore, in my days, I would that ye should know that I fought much with the sword to preserve my people, the Nephites, from falling into the hands of their enemies, the Lamanites. But behold, I of myself am a wicked man, and I have not kept the statutes and the commandments of the Lord as I ought to have done.

This sounds like a man who had not kept to his religion, but nevertheless sounds like he did a good job protecting his people. Though he lacked the conviction and faith, he still had other qualities that compensated for it. And I seem to remember the Old Testament has a couple of these examples as well -- I'll let you look these up.

And there's that idea again: an imperfect man can indeed still be a great leader. Jonah wasn't a perfect prophet, but he succeeded in his mission. I could go on here, but you get the picture.

However, in all these scriptural examples, there are other traits these leaders have that seem to compensate for their lack in other traits. Or in other words -- they're good at what they do.

But what if a leader has very little of these compensating traits? What if he lacked compassion and sympathy: sending visitors to violent countries, separating families, or sending armies against his own people? What if he lacked humility: always boasting of himself, requiring subordinates to praise him every minute, surrounding himself with gold and adornments, mocking others? What if he lacked honesty and integrity: always promoting falsehoods, and always doing what's good for himself rather than what is right? What if he lacked competence and strength: doing everything on a whim, contradicting himself, removing all who oppose him, and surrounding himself with inexperienced people? What if he lacked conviction and faith: unable to follow to teachings of his own church, and engaging in awful acts?

When there are no compensating traits, then I'll be honest: I don't want such a person in charge, because bad things will happen -- the people will mourn. And as for that above advice I've heard on social media: in my recent experience, I've learned that a bad leader tends to also have abhorrent policies, anyway.

So, I'll reiterate what I've said before, when it comes to choosing leaders, it really is the person we're electing, first and foremost, and only after that come the policies. D&C 98:10 not only is a suggestion, but it is also a warning to what will happen if we ignore that advice.

In conclusion, if we want to be good leaders, ourselves, look to the traits of Christ. And when we choose good leaders over us, look to the traits of Christ.

Back to the Hospital (The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin)

Back to The Hospital

February 17, 1990 (Saturday)

You’ll never guess what happened next. Yeah — Elder Benjamin started hurting in his abdomen. At first we thought it was sympathetic pains or side-effects of sleeping in a chair for three nights. It started around Wednesday, two days after we had left the hospital, and got slightly worse until today — Saturday, it was a sharp pain, just as had happened with me.

Elder Johnston said, “Well, what are you waiting for? You know what the President would say.”

Elder Benjamin said, “Yeah — time for us to go back to the hospital! Well, tongbanja, we have to go anyway for your checkup. What do you say? Two birds with one stone?”

“Sure,” I said.

“Isn’t it great how the Lord works out these things to happen at the same time? It’ll give us more time to do his work later. How great and marvelous are His works!”

“Yes,” I said, “Only you can be excited about hurting.”

“We’ll be okay, tongbanja.”

And off we went. As we sat near the back of the bus, I couldn’t help but remember how a week ago, I was moaning in pain, and now here was Elder Benjamin going on and on about how smart and infinite God was.

We didn’t stay in the ER for very long. It wasn’t as busy as last time. And yeah — Elder Benjamin said, “See? God wants us to be in and out. We’ve got a lot of work to do.” And thoughts of being admitted and switching places filled my head. Would I last three days sleeping in a chair like Elder Benjamin had? Or would I take up the other Elders’ offers to rotate? What kind of patient would Elder Benjamin be? While I had stayed mostly in bed complaining about the IV in my arm, would he instead be all over the place sharing the Gospel — even visiting other rooms?

We went straight to the same doctor’s office, Dr. Cho.

“Hello,” he said as we entered. “Mr. Benjamin, please sit down over here and tell me about your symptoms.” 

Elder Benjamin sat in the observation chair and talked about how he had the same symptoms that I had.

“Interesting,” said Doctor Cho. “You know what this means. This pain appears to be viral. I’d like to get a blood sample from both of you.” He then pushed on Elder Benjamin’s abdomen and performed other tests I recognized from before.

And then Doctor Cho said, “Okay Mr. Elder. It’s your turn. Let’s see how you’ve been doing.” He pushed on my abdomen and asked about my symptoms. There was still some pain, but ever since I left the hospital the past Monday, I had not had any further sharp pains.

He then said, “I’ll be right back. Stay here,” as he left the room. And then we were alone for a few minutes.

Elder Benjamin pointed at the board and said, “Look what it says for room 249.” Among the Korean writing, there was one word in English: “appendicitis.”

“Hmmm,” I said. “Was that me?”

“It says he’s in there now.”

“Dang. Well, I’m glad someone could get it to work, where I certainly failed.”

Elder Benjamin laughed. “You’re so funny, tongbanja!” 

He then pulled out a Mormon Gyeong from his briefcase and said, “Got to get this ready for the good doctor.”

“What are you doing?” I asked. “He’s working.”

“We’re behind in our counts.”

“But we can’t give these to just anyone. He’s going to kick us out!”

“The Spirit requires it,” said Elder Benjamin. “Watch.”

He said as the doctor entered the room, “Hey Doctor Cho. Someone in our room has appendicitis?”

He laughed. “Room 249? I suppose it does. You wouldn’t know the guy because everyone checked out this past week except for one. Weirdest thing ever. They all just finished healing, and now they’re gone.” And he looked at us sideways. “Wait — it couldn’t be … no, that doesn’t make sense.”

I asked, “Who’s still in there?”

“I’m not allowed to say.” There were no names on the board. “Anyway, I’ve decided to change up your meds for both of you. This should help fight the virus. We’ll have more details when the labs are completed, but whatever it is, this medicine should help. And Mr. Benjamin, you can go home, too. We do not need to admit you.”

“That’s great!” said Elder Benjamin. “We’d like to thank you for all your help. Here’s a gift for all your hard work.” He handed over the book.

“Mormon Gyeong? This really isn’t necessary. I’m not supposed to accept gifts. I just take your money.”

“It’s okay,” said Elder Benjamin. “This is the same book we gave to some of the patients last week, and I think you would enjoy it.”

“You gave these to the patients?” He held the book for a few seconds, staring at it, and then he said. “Okay. Sure. I’ll try it out. Now you can both leave. Go get healthy, and live a good life.”

We got up to leave, and when we got to the door, Elder Benjamin asked, “Oh yeah. Could we go up to our old room to check it out?”

“I don’t see why not,” said the doctor. “It’s visiting hours.” And we left.

“See?” I said. “He kicked us out.”

Elder Benjamin laughed. “He’s going to read the book. The Spirit is satisfied.”

“Okay, then.”

We went up to Room 249, and the beds were packed. Just as the doctor had described, all of our friends were gone except for Cho In-jae in Bed #2. Even the Presbyterian elder who had replaced me was gone.

In-jae had been lying in bed, and as he saw us, his eyes lightened up. “Elders. How’s it going?”

“You’re particularly quiet today,” said Elder Benjamin.

“Yes, I’m tired these days. And these new guys are quiet. Things got really quiet after you left, and then the others left. They all got better and escaped this place.”

“Why are you still here?” I asked.

He laughed. “I’m working on it. My hand is getting better, but now I have an infection — wiping me out. I’ll get out in a couple of weeks. At least now I know what not to do in the factory when I go back to work.”

We laughed. Elder Benjamin said, “Well, we’ll pray for you. Get out of here soon.”

“Hey!” said In-jae. “I love this book you gave me. It’s a page turner. No wonder you guys are so happy all the time.”

And then we proceeded to teach him the First Discussion. He had a lot of questions about Joseph Smith. He had gathered beforehand that Joseph was the translator of the golden plates, and had seen some angels. At one point he asked, “Why can’t we see angels?”

Elder Benjamin said, “Oh, they still exist. They only appear on special occasions, but you can still feel them. We’ll teach you how. We always have angels surrounding us and helping us.”

“Really?” said In-Jae. “Where are they?”

“Everywhere.” Elder Benjamin motioned to all the space around us.

“Right here in this room?”

“Yes. They are protecting us, and you, too. And when we leave, they will continue to watch over you.”

“What about all the other patients?”

Elder Benjamin said, “If you wish it, they will watch over them, too. All you have to do is pray and ask for them to come, and they will be there.”

“Who are these angels? Will I become one when I die?”

“Yes. Angels are just us in spirit form. We were angels before we came here, and we’ll be angels in the next life.”

“Wow!” said In-jae. “I think I’m ready.”

Elder Benjamin paused. “Ready for what?”

“To join your church.”

“You want to get baptized?”

“Yes,” he said. “It feels like the right thing to do.”

“Okay, then,” said Elder Benjamin. “I suppose the first thing to do is to get out of this place.” At this point, we missionaries were supposed to get a date committed, but my companion improvised. “In the meantime, we can continue teaching you about our church. Can we come back next week?”

“Most certainly,” In-jae said with a big, though tired, smile.

“Great.”

We then wrapped up our discussion, gave him a blessing, and left.

Right after we left the room, I said to Elder Benjamin, “Good job, tongbanja. Good job.”

“It wasn’t me,” he said. “It was the Spirit, and In-jae. He’s ready.”

After a couple of months, we were finally going to have a baptism. Our upcoming report to our leaders was going to be received well. I was happy.

Next Adventure: The Goodbye