revised article for the GN newspaper

Here's the updated draft of the article for the GN newspaper.

When encountering a fellow waygook on the streets in Gwangju, it’s typical to assume that they’re another English teacher. Either working in the schools during the day or working hard in the infamous Korean Hagwons in the evenings. It becomes easy to forget that there are foreigners in Korea whose jobs and lives have nothing to do with the instruction of the English language. One such foreigner never travels anywhere without their companion and actively speaks with all the locals they can. These are the Elders and Sisters of Gwangju. The missionaries of the Mormon church, sharing their message with anyone who wants to hear it.

Tucked behind NC Wave downtown is one of the Mormon churches in Gwangju. The Elders and Sisters inside are extremely gracious and warmly greet any visitors. Elder is the title given to male missionaries and Sister to female missionaries. The Elders and Sisters are extremely accommodating and the church kindly granted interviews with Mission President Shin, and Elders Kwan and Tolman.

The Mormon Church allows young men and women to volunteer to become missionaries at the age of 18 and 19 respectively. Once they’ve begun their mission, Elders and Sisters are assigned a mission companion and spend the first two months at a missionary boot camp where they learn the rules, requirements, and most importantly the language of their mission locations. All foreign Elders and Sisters have an incredible proficiency in Korean. Which is a result of their extremely diligent practice and use of the language every day.

Upon arrival to Korea, Elders and Sisters change companions and are typically assigned a companion that is a local missionary. This isn’t a permanent assignment however, as companions change throughout an Elders or Sisters mission. Though it is possible for a pair to stay together through more than one transfer period. The longest time Elder Tolman spent with a companion was three transfer periods, or 18 weeks. Elders and Sisters are required to be with their companions at all times. This means that every six weeks a missionary faces a potential move where they must pack up their belongings and move to a different area, apartment, and companion.

Elders and Sisters have an extremely strict schedule. They rise at 6:30am have until 8:00am to prepare for the day; eating breakfast, exercising and, grooming. After this, missionaries spend an hour studying scripture. First alone and then with their companion for an additional hour. The also take this opportunity to review their planned activities for the day. Finally, language study occurs until 11:00am. After this and until 9:00pm, Elders and Sisters are expected to proselytize with 1 hour breaks for lunch and dinner. Activities include talking to strangers on the street, visiting current members of the church in their homes, visiting prospective members from appointments made in the street, and possibly collaborating with other missionaries for more elaborate displays to attract more attention on the street.

Mondays are reserved as a preparation day for the Elders and Sisters. It’s during this time that missionaries do any chores to prepare for the next week. They also email family and the Mission President. During the rest of the week, Elders and Sisters don’t use the Internet and besides this weekly email, they can Skype video call home twice a year. For waygook missionaries, Mothers’ Day and Christmas. For Korean missionaries, Lunar New Year and Chuseok.

When asked about the difficulties that missionaries typically face in their time in Korea, both President Shin and Elders Tolman and Kwan agreed that the language barrier is of course incredibly hard to overcome initially. But once again, it is a true testament to the hard work and diligence of the missionaries that they all speak incredible Korean and English. Even when faced with unfortunate circumstances such as an unlucky kimbap roll causing stomach problems, “It’s always a great day serving the Lord”.

As mentioned earlier, Elders and Sisters avoid the use of the Internet. They also don’t consume media such as radio, movies, or books beyond what is approved by the church. During their time here, Elders and Sisters are completely devoted to their mission. Seven days a week, 365 days a year.

- Relja Kojic