The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin: The Threesome

The Threesome

January 3, 1990 (Wednesday)

I know. The title may sound a little exciting to some of you, but it’s not what you may think. Keep in mind that we were all young, in the 18 to 21 year-old range. Most of us had led sheltered lives, and we were innocent. As such, we used several terms often, not realizing there may be other not-so-virtuous meanings attached. I mean — here in the 2020s, we now have an app called “Member Tools,” and no one’s the wiser. But don’t we all deserve a chuckle every now and then?

In these stories, I stick with the original terms we wrote in our journals. I also use the old Korean romanizations: that is, our city was Taegu and not Daegu as it’s officially spelled after 2000. Just know: when you read these stories, you’re going to experience the early 90’s in Korea as they were in their full glory.

So, you’re probably thinking, “Then what is a threesome?” And I bet you’ve already guessed the true definition. Following Christ’s example in Mark 6, missionaries in our church are usually sent two by two. Most of the time, we each had one other “companion,” and we went everywhere together — never alone. This way we helped each other, watched over each other, coordinated together, and so on.

But every now and then, an odd number of missionaries popped up. Instead of having one missionary without a companion, a threesome would form. These were always somewhat difficult, as it meant coordinating three people’s plans. And man — it was much easier to annoy each other.

Also remember that in our mission, we elders tended to live four in a house. That’s two companionships of two each. And today was Transfer Day, which happened once a month on average, and always on a Wednesday.

Elders Benjamin, Shumway, and I were all staying, but Elder Hansen was assigned to Miryang. And Elder Shumway was going to get a greenie — fresh from the states.

So, there we were at the bus station. Elder Hansen had all his bags, and his bus was getting ready to leave.

Elder Shumway said, “We’re going to miss you. Though, it’ll be great to have the bathroom back again.” That got a laugh.

Elder Benjamin said, “I’m praying for God to protect you in your journey. Do well, and continue sharing the gospel.”

I said, “Maybe they’ll find your Christmas presents. Don’t you ever forget Elder Elder Elder Elder Elder …”

“Elder Elder!” said Elder Shumway. “Stop that!”

Elder Hansen laughed again. “I’m going to miss you guys. Good luck with the greenie!”

And before we knew it, he was gone. The threesome had officially begun. We would be stuck together for 48 hours while Elder Shumway’s greenie first received orientation at the mission office at the same time as getting over half a day of jet lag.

In preparation for our threesome, we had two sets of calendars to consolidate, which meant we were going to be so busy, we wouldn’t have time for door knocking, street boarding, or any other general proselytizing. And of course, as district leader, Elder Shumway would be in charge.

That afternoon, our first appointment was someone new who had called us in the morning. His name was Choi Shin-bom (최신봄) and he asked for an Elder Harold, someone who served in Taegu two years prior. Though that elder was long gone back to the states, Elder Shumway successfully talked with him into meeting us that afternoon.

So we went to his apartment and knocked on his door.

And he answered. “Who is it?”

Elder Shumway said, “Foreign missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Are you Choi Shin-bom?”

“Yes.” He opened the door wider, but then when he saw all three of us, he shied back. That was one unfortunate drawback of being in a threesome. We Americans tended to be taller than Koreans, and Elder Shumway was tall, even for an American. Two people didn’t intimidate much, but add in a third person and we were suddenly a menace to be dealt with.

Sensing the hesitation, Elder Shumway said, “Oh, don’t mind Elder Elder. He’s not that mean. I’m Elder Shumway. I talked with you on the phone this morning.”

“Oh, yes, yes. Come on in. We’ll have to sit on the floor.”

Yeah — we were used to that — we were experts in floor sitting. And we had a nice discussion. Shin-bom told us he was investigating a couple of years ago, and was ready to give it another go. We took turns reviewing the first discussion. And at the end he even committed to getting baptized in a month.

As we left the appointment, Elder Shumway said, “Y’all know the rules, right? Since I answered the phone, I get this one.”

Yeah — he made up that rule. As district leader, he also usually answered the phone — that was another of his rules. But then again, not very many cold calls turned into baptisms. Elder Shumway got lucky.

January 4, 1990 (Thursday)

The next day, we got to try a new Church initiative. When most Christians hear “mission trip,” the first thing that comes to mind are all the service opportunities: planting, building, teaching, with a little bit of proselytizing thrown in there, like in the classic movie “Hawaii.”

But in our church, up to right before 1990, our missions were all about the finding of souls and helping people find Christ with very little physical labor — more in line with the original missions of the apostles first sent out by Christ.

However, someone in high position decided it was time for missionaries to do more actual service projects, spending at least a couple of hours a week. And we were one of the first groups to try it out before it went worldwide.

And get this — we had to do this outside of our Preparation Day.  So, it was kind of like getting two breaks this week from proselytizing. It also meant another fraction of a day not wearing our suits.

Our project: cleaning up a local park. And yeah. Elder Shumway picked this activity. Of course we complained because it was freezing outside, and he said, “It’ll grow hair on your chests. Buck up, Elders!”

So we put on our long johns, jeans, and relatively heavy coats. And gloves, too. Have you ever tried picking up garbage with your gloves? Well — we got to use poking sticks, but still. I’d much rather be doing these things in the summer time.

And well — I suppose I was the main one complaining. Elder Benjamin was doing his usual thing. There we were, picking up trash, and he’s saying, “You know, Elders. What we’re doing now is like our souls. How many times have we passed this park, and never noticed this trash before? Now that we’re looking for it, we see it everywhere. Sure, it isn’t that much, but the tiniest bit corrupts. And if we see it, we can remove it. He who hath clean hands, and a pure heart … Psalm 24.”

Elder Shumway looked at me as if to ask, “Is he like this all the time?”

And I looked back. “Yes.”

“Does he ever turn this off?”

“No.”

And as usual, Elder Benjamin was entirely clueless as to what we may or may not have been saying to each other with our faces.

The park was moderately large with a standard-sized running track and an outdoor auditorium. Despite what Elder Benjamin had said, there wasn’t really that much trash to pick up, so we finished early.

Just when I thought Elder Shumway would wrap up, turn in our poking sticks, and go back home, he instead said, “Well, we have another 45 minutes to fill up. How about we start cleaning the surrounding residential areas?”

Did we have a choice? Elder Benjamin thought it was an excellent idea, but I was still freezing and ready to go home and drink some of that hot chocolate I had gotten for Christmas.

As we scoured the surrounding streets for trash, we found plenty. Undoubtedly more than what we had found at the park.

And I learned in hindsight that one must be careful when navigating around random houses on rolling Korean hills with low-lying roofs. I guess I wasn’t quite looking where I was going, and the shingles on the edge of one of those roofs dug into my forehead.

The force of the collision knocked me back unexpectedly, and then I had blood trickling toward my eyes and glasses.

“Dang,” said Elder Shumway. “Are you okay?”

Elder Benjamin said, “I have my oil ready. Do you need a blessing?”

“Let’s put some pressure on the wound, first.” Elder Shumway pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at my forehead, and I wondered if it was clean.

It stung really bad, but other than that, nothing else hurt.

“It’s just a scratch,” said Elder Shumway. “Well, that pretty much ends our service for today. I guess our bags are almost full anyway.”

It was thirty minutes early, but I was mostly okay with that, but what an embarrassing way to end the service project early! And that’s not the worst part. That was the only service project I remember doing that year. Well — except for one other one at a children’s home, but in hindsight, I wonder if my little accident had killed the pilot program for the whole mission. “One day of service, and this guy bleeds all over the place — maybe we shouldn’t do this.” 

Part of me still wonders how things would have ended if we weren’t in a threesome. Maybe Elder Benjamin and I would have picked some other service project indoors — at a nursing home, maybe? And perhaps the pilot program wouldn’t have been scrapped? We’ll never know. All I know is I still have this scar on my forehead to remember.

Coming back to Thursday, we went home and I got my hot chocolate. And then we went to go teach not one, but two sets of Elder Shumway’s investigators. I suppose part of this was because my former tongbanja (companion), Elder Lee, and I had not accumulated very many investigators from our sign language effort, while Elders Shumway and Hansen had worked up a full schedule. To this, Elder Shumway told us, “Don’t worry. Keep working hard, and you two will have your own busy schedule. But right now, I just have more investigators than you do, so we’re going to see mine.” I think he just enjoyed being in charge.

Our first pair of investigators was an old lady and granddaughter who lived together. As we taught them the first discussion, the old lady kept telling us, “No, we don’t need this special book. You can give it to someone else who needs it.” 

To which the granddaughter kept mostly silent — until she wasn’t. She ultimately said meekly, “I could use that book. Maybe give it to me?”

And then the grandmother answered, “Well, it looks like we could use that book after all.”

Then we went to give the second discussion to Elder Shumway’s other investigator, and I’ll just skip to the end … the guy committed to getting baptized! Yeah, our own guys won’t commit, and Elder Shumway gets two commitments in two days? Such a show-off!

Then again, looking back, I think Elder Benjamin played a major role in helping them to commit., which makes me wonder again: had we not been in the threesome, would these guys have committed to baptism, having missed out on Elder Benjamin’s spirit? We’ll never know. Either way, Elder Shumway was going to get the credit.

January 5, 1990 (Friday)

The next morning, we finally got to teach one of our own investigators. Remember Kim Bo-yeon (김보연)? Yeah — the guy who hiked with us on Christmas — so he already knew Elder Shumway.

We met at the church, and we taught him the third discussion on the Restoration. That lesson is all about the great apostasy and how God restored His true gospel. Bo-yeon loved the lesson, especially Elder Benjamin’s testimony. And he committed to … coming to church the upcoming Sunday.

Yeah — still no commitments on baptism., though Elder Shumway pushed it pretty hard. Perhaps a bit too much — making me a little nervous that he might scare him away.

When the discussion was over, Elder Shumway said, “So — we got a little time before we have to get lunch and pick up our new greenie. How about some quick ping pong?”

Bo-yeon said yes. He had time. And down to the basement we went. Had we not been in the threesome, we would have probably skipped ping pong, but not Elder Shumway.

Well, at least there was one good thing about the threesome. Bo-yeon meant four, which meant we could play doubles without having to rotate players.

We played for about half an hour, and just like as with Christmas, Bo-yeon performed ten times better than the rest of us. He was on Elder Shumway’s team, so they won every game.

At the end, Elder Shumway said, “You know what happens to the winner — right?”

Bo-yeon said, “Oh no. Not again.”

“That’s right. FLARMP!!!” Elder Shumway jumped on Bo-yeon, and the rest of us did, too.

“Wait,” said Bo-yeon from the bottom. “Didn’t you win, too, Elder Shumway?”

“I can’t flarmp myself.”

He had a point. Bo-yeon laughed.

We got back up, and Bo-yeon took us all out to eat at the nearest shikdang. I got some chap-chae pap, or transparent noodles with vegetables and rice — one of my favorites.

After lunch, Bo-yeon went back to school to catch up on study and research. And we went to the bus stop. Time to pick up the greenie!!

As the new guy got off the bus, he waved at us and said, “Hi, y’all!”

Wait — “Did you say, ‘y’all’?” I asked.

“Sure did.”

“You’re from the South, like me?”

“North Carolina. Yep. Someone told me you’re from Georgia. You must be Elder Elder.”

He was tall and somewhat skinny. Pug nose, dark hair, and an irresistible smile. He also appeared to be very tired.

Elder Shumway approached him and shook hands. “Hey. I’m the district leader, Elder Shumway, your new companion.”

“Hi, I’m Elder Riley.”

“Good to meet you.”

The greetings continued on as we helped to grab his bags.

Elder Shumway then pointed to the sky and said to his new greenie, “You see that plane up there?”

Elder Riley looked behind him and said, “Yep.”

“Which of us is closer to it?”

Elder Riley answered, “It appears I’m standing closer, so it would be me.”

“No, I’m closer.”

“Why, because you’re taller?”

“No. Because for me it’s 8 months away, and for you — 2 years.”

Ouch — yeah — that was his favorite joke.

As we got ready to get on board the bus back to our apartment, Elder Benjamin said, “Wasn’t that fun, guys? Our threesome has officially come to an end.”

Elder Riley gasped and chuckled. “Excuse me. What’s coming to an end?”

“Our threesome,” said Elder Benjamin.

“Heh. You know what that means?”

“Yeah,” said Elder Benjamin. “There were three of us. Three is the magic number!”

Elder Riley suppressed more chuckling and said, “Never mind. I think I’m going to love living with you guys.”

I do have to admit, though … of all the threesomes I was in those two years of my mission, this one was my favorite.

Next Adventure: The Rich Member

The Adventures of Elder Elder and Elder Benjamin: Christmas in Taegu

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.

Next Adventure: The Threesome