In Brandon's Words: Stuff since gunnery (July, August, and September)

I'm a little bit behind on posting excerpts from the e-mails that Brandon sends me every day.  Here are the highlights from the past few months.


July 16

W_____ and I decided that we would take the Train to the last stop on the line north of here only two stops from Camp Casey. We have both never been there, and thought it would be fun to go exploring. We got off the train and we went walking down the road. just to see what we could find.

We found a pretty cool Arts and Craft store and it was fun to go in and check it out. I bought a pencil for real cheap it was really cool. I love stores like that.

We kept on going and we found a road that eventually turned into a canyon, kind of like City Creek Canyon in Utah, a road but one where no cars go down. We walked up it and there was a ton of Korean people just chilling in This canyon, down by the little creek that ran out of it, and just walking down the road. a lot of then had these really weird little music systems that they would play music out of and W____ would dance really silly to the music, the Koreans Loved it a lot they would all laugh when we would go by.

The canyon eventually turned into stairs.

and The stairs of all things turned into a Buddhist temple. it was really cool, W_____ and I stayed for about a half an hour to 45 minutes.

We stayed up there and then took off down the canyon to the bottom. On the way we ran into the Sister Missionaries - we always run into them its kind of funny just how often it happens. But we talked to them for a minute they were on their way to the temple and we told them they were close.

At the bottom of the Canyon we had some Ice cream it was yummy and then we walked back to the train. I successfully was able to talk W_____ into going to Family Home Evening at the Pihls so we went there. We had fun he chatted with some of the other members on the couch in the living room I had the opportunity to Help Elder Pihl Try to get his computer Fixed, It wasn't connecting to the internet. I checked it, cleaned it, and deleted some programs (games) that he didn't need. By the time I was done the internet still wasn't working but I knew it wasn't any their equipment it was their
service.

We had a good dinner, and a good Spiritual thought about personal revelation. It was nice to be back there with everyone. well eventually it was time to go So we rode the train to Uijeongbu and met up
with some of the guys from __ Company that W_____ knew and we came back home with them. I was exhausted So I went to bed. But I had a very fun day.

Tuesday evening was our Family Home Evening for Camp Stanley. I saw Bro Pihl on his way to the gate to pick up the missionaries, and talked to him for a bit then I went to the PX where Sister Pihl and S_______ (a guy from Camp Red Cloud just down the road from here were waiting). I talked to them until Brother Pihl came back and then I took everyone up To brother L_____'s house. We knocked on the wrong door at first but luckily I figured it out before anyone came to the door. Finally we got to brother L_____'s house and we had a good time.

At Bro L_____'s house We had a really good meeting. We talked about leadership in the lord's way and leadership in the worlds way, and D&C 121 it was a good meeting, we had a really good meeting and W_____ told us about when he was truck driving how he went to church and he would
pull up a big rig truck next to a random church house and go to church there for the day while he was on the road. he said it was funny to come to church dressed like a bum of a truck driver and everyone was curious who he was, once he even had an elder's quorum president come out and talk to him about why he was there. We were all laughing pretty good.

After the meeting Brother L_____ and I walked all of the missionaries to the gate, and then we walked back.

July 20 (This is the day Brandon found out he'd been selected for flight school.)

On my way back to my room I ran into H_____ and G_____, they told me that I made it. My name was on the list for Warrant officer Candidates. That wasn't supposed to happen until tonight so I really didn't believe them. I did to a point, I was excited at the prospect but I wouldn't believe them until I saw it for myself. I went inside to eat and I got my computer out to see and sure enough when I found the website it still said that they were no longer notifying people instantly. I thought that H_____ maybe used a different website so I ate breakfast and went and found out what the website was he used. I came back and logged onto it.

I had to use my CAC card. I scrolled down and saw my name on the list. I was so freaking excited, it was way cool I had a hard time containing my excitement. It had to settle in a little bit before it would actually seem real. I quickly got on e-mail and told you about it. I didn't know how to do it so I just did what I did on the spur of the moment. Sorry it was so anti-climactic for you. That is how this whole process for me has seemed so far, so welcome to my world. It was awesome and I was really excited.

After Lunch I found W____ washing his tank and told him the news he was really excited for me. I told him we were going to celebrate tonight.

At formation I had so many people come up to me and tell me congratulations. It was cool. I had a few guys ask me what was going on so I told them they were all excited. We had formation same as usual, lots of awards and rank ups it was good. then we were excused to our Companies.

In our company formation, along with the weekend safety brief and normal stuff, Captain M____ called H_____ and I up to the front and told everyone that we had both been selected to Go to Warrant Officer School, we got a lot of applause and were congratulated again. It was fun to have all that attention paid to us. As we got back in formation I was told by one of the guys "congats Chief". I think it is way cool. we were then excused to our Platoon formation and it was just normal, along with a few handshakes too.

Finally, when we were done, we went back to our barracks building, and as I was letting a lot of people go through the door (I was holding it open) Someone yelled "Hey make room for the chief" I don't want to get cocky, and I am going to try my hardest not to, but I can really understand how people can get so prideful when they have rank like that. I yelled something back to the effect of "Don't start that yet". It was pretty funny. I was on cloud nine. it was way cool I got dressed in civilian clothes and and then went to find W____.

July 20
Brother P____took us on a trip. We asked him if he knew anywhere cool to visit in Seoul. He said he did, and we decided that we should go and check it out. So he took us to the highest tower in South Korea Known as Seoul Tower. it is Located on a mountain in the middle of the city and is very high above the landscape.

 First we were hungry so we went and had dinner at an okay restaurant on the military base in Seoul known as Yongsan. It was pretty alright. we then had to go to the PX so Brother P____could buy his son some slacks to send him while he is in Columbia on his mission.

Then we walked off base to a bus stop just down the road, and caught a tour bus that went all the way up the mountain. We finally got up there and everyone was there. Like the entire city of Seoul. it was way crowded. We looked around a bit and then were able to take an elevator to the top of the tower and look out. they had some candy and other stuff on the observation tower. it was slightly expensive so I, of course, didn't buy any of it. there were glass panes all around the tower and there were names of cities and countries and kilometers to those cities written on the panes. it was kind of cool, but of course it was kind of misty so we couldn't see very far but we could see Seoul and it was way interesting.

We finally went down, they had this movie on the ceiling of the elevator you could watch it was kind of cool. it slightly reminded me of the star show we watched in California. because it Started in Seoul at Seoul Tower then zoomed up into the sky out of the atmosphere past all the planets and into another galaxy and to another planet. This was on the way up the elevator, and did it backwards on the way down, slightly dumb but what do you expect. It was a fun day.

July 24 
On Tuesday Family Home evening went well I went to the gate and signed the missionaries on. It was good, even though it was just the missionaries, Brother L_____ and W____ and myself. Brother L_____ had chips and salsa for us. He also had bought some root beer for us too. Brother L_____ had us sing a song then we read an article out of the Ensign online. We then had a good discussion about it like always happens at the Pihl's. I then had to walk the missionaries back to the gate so we left, luckily it had started to rain a whole lot that night by the time I got back to my room I was soaked.

Because of the rain the internet didn't work so B________ and I spent a few minutes talking to each other about lots of stuff including airplanes and travelling, after which I went to bed. It was a good night.

For PT on Wednesday we ran for five miles in the Rain it was pouring the entire time we ran. at our turn around point we had to do fireman carries (where we have to lift one of our buddies on our shoulders and carry them) we had to run to the top of a hill. The guy I was with and I were (surprisingly) the first ones up the hill. I think it is funny because there is always someone who has to cut you down. another Sgt told me that He could have done it with my battle buddy because he was lightweight, he didn't even say good job or anything, not that I care I just think it is funny that he has to make me weaker so he is stronger, its dumb.

During the day we did a photo shoot. It was actually one of the funnest days I have had, because I got to do something I am good at, I got to take pictures and work a little with Photoshop for work. We had to do this layout, and take a picture of it for a guide for everyone in the battalion. I used my equipment so my name is plastered all over everything. it was fun. The Tank and Brad crew worked on it we all meticulously folded everything "Military standard" and then we laid it out and took pictures of about four different groups of equipment.

I then e-mailed the pictures to Sgt G_____ so he could doctor them up on the computers at The company, you know label everything. I think it looked pretty good when I was done.

July 26

B________ moved out of this room So I am all by myself. It has been nice.  I do not have the internet, because it moved along with B________, but I am getting that hooked up on Monday. I am glad we already talked about it so it was pretty easy of a decision to make

Lets see though. Today, being Saturday, was a very interesting Day. I was able to go and do a lot of the stuff that was on my list of places to visit. W____ and Bro L_____ thought it would be fun so We took off this morning at 8:00 and didn't get back until about 20 minutes ago at about 9:40 pm.
We took the bus into Seoul, we went to The Military Museum again, because Bro L hasn't seen it yet, then we took a walk through the streets of Seoul. That was kind of an adventure it started raining a little bit and a random Lady gave us leaves to cover our heads with as we walked. It was funny.

we walked to Seoul Train station and took the subway up to the Dongdaemun history and culture park. That was very interesting. Basically it is not a park but a giant building. It is, however, a very interesting building because there are no square surfaces on it anywhere. it really doesn't have a describable shape other than a gastropod (like a slug or worm) and it was a very interesting place to visit. on the inside all of the rooms had odd shapes and different things in them, mostly it was museum displays and cultural information on South Korea. and there were a few stores to look at too. it was interesting. The weirdest part was the doors and staircases. They were like optical illusions the doors and tile on the floor was a rhombus shape and the stairs on the inside looked like an M C Escher optical illusion design. I thought it was really cool to look at even though it actually did give me a small headache. I have some very interesting pictures to show you.

After that we hopped the train to the ancient royal palaces. We stayed there for pretty much the whole rest of the afternoon. It was a museum visiting day, but it was fun. W____ and Bro L and I had lots of fun going around and checking all of the stuff out.

Bro L had never been to Seoul before so it was fun to have a newbie with us. It was also fun just travelling on the train all day long, just to random places and trying to figure everything out.

This morning I had three bowls of cereal for breakfast before I left then we bought lunch in Seoul at a small restaurant, and later this evening Bro L bought W____ and I dinner at a Peruvian restaurant in Camp Casey, yeah we went back up there, W____ didn't want to go home, and really neither did I.
We finally made it home by about 9:40 and I came home to a nice quiet Dark Room. It is so nice to not have someone here being loud or watching dumb stuff on TV. I could get used to this. But i am still planning that someone is going to be moved in with me just so I don't get my hopes dashed if it happens.

July 27

After Church usually W____ and I do something at church, or go home. Today, however was different. W____ decided that he wanted to go on another adventure today so I gave him my train route map and he looked it over during Sunday school. He decided that we should go on an adventure to a place called Seoul Grand park. I agreed we should try it and see what happens. We had a few new people at church today, and more in particular a new guy, an older gentleman probably 50 or so, I met him at church and later he started talking to W____ and I on the train platform. He was really nice. I asked him what he does in the Army and he told me that he was a person at the garrison building, or something like that. I said wow that means you are probably pretty high ranking and he said yes he was, he then told me he was a lieutenant colonel (same rank as Colonel S_____). I kept talking to him like I would have talked to any other person at church, we had a really good conversation just about church and army life. I think it is funny I wouldn't really be able to even talk to him at work but on the ride home from church we are best friends. Oh well "army life" for you I guess. He said he knew Colonel S_____ and Brother P____from before he came to Korea, so that makes it even funnier I think.

We got on the Train and we took off to Seoul. When we got off we found ourselves in a huge park! it had an amusement park in it a giant Zoo several Museums, and lots and lots of other things to do. we walked around the main looped road that runs around the center of it and just looked at everything. it was more of just recon anyway. We found out that the zoo was only 3,000 wan to get in about $3.00 give or take, and most of the other stuff to do was relatively cheap as well. only a couple of bucks to get in. we are going to see if we can get down there again, and check it out further.

Then as we came back we decided to take another train home besides the 1, because we always take that home so we took the 2 and the 7. along the way we stopped at a little part of the city of Seoul and just walked around the city a bit. it was fun we then got on the train and came back home, it was a long ride, but fun. We finally got back home at about 9:20 pm yet again another long day out. I like them, W____ seems to not, even though he is the one that hates to be at home all day. He makes me laugh.

July 29
FHE was good. We read the Living Christ for the spiritual thought and the missionaries told us their testimonies of Christ, and asked us to share our testimonies of Christ if we felt like it. Either out of feeling peer pressure or whatever everyone bore a testimony about Christ. it was really good there was only 7 of us including the missionaries so it didn't last for too long. We had refreshments, Sister Pihl made some caramel Corn which was really good and S______ (from Camp red cloud) brought some cookies. Then we all walked to the gate and dropped off the missionaries. it was a good night I talked with the elders and S______ and Elder and sister Pihl talked to Brother L on the way down to the gate. I love just being able to talk to people that kind of have the same belief system I do. and have had some of the same experiences I have had. My favorite part is just the idle chit chat every one has. I did learn a few good things during FHE though it was fun.

On the way Back I talked to S_______ (he was taking the bus back to cam Red cloud and it left from on post. So I stayed with him for a while, and talked to him just about a few different things, college, the Army, family, but the topic somehow got on to the Idea of "doing Hard things" like that talk that the guy in my Mom and Dad's old ward gave. I mentioned a few things to him about how hard things stretch you and make you a better person, and as I was leaving him he told me I had answered a few questions he had had going on in his mind. I didn't mean to but I think It was just what he needed to hear. I felt pretty good about it.

July 31 (After gunnery ended Brandon spent a lot of time getting every thing cleaned up.  Then it was inspection time.)
I went back to work and just continued polishing things up for the inspection. It was not too bad though. finally it was time.  One of the inspectors asked who the Brad belonged to and H_____ told him it was __'s he said that it was probably going to be f&^%&# up because everything in __ was that way. After looking over it for a minute or two he said that it was the cleanest Brad he has ever seen. But, of course, he wasn't impressed. he found a tiny bit of rust on our gun and told us to clean it off otherwise we would have to work on Saturday to get it in Order. We worked to get it really clean really quickly so he could come over and check it again. He approved. Then after we were done H______ went back to his room so he could finish laying out his stuff for the layout in his room he didn't have enough time yesterday. I cleaned up the Brad with the help of Sergeant J______, he was also there for the inspection he is the Bradley master gunner, and he is about a million times cooler than, well, a lot of other people. We put everything back together in the brad even the floor that we had to take out for the inspection. we got everything squared away in there except for the floor in the turret which you have to literally screw down with bolts.

I had to get back to my room and do my inspection. I got it all taken care of and got back to my room just in time to wait like an hour and a half. finally my room was inspected and of all the people who could do it it was the same inspector from the Brad.  I don't think he even knew I was the same person who he had just checked. he doesn't even care. all he wanted to know was if my sergeant was there, luckily SGT G_____ was there. some of the other guys in my building didn't have their sergeants there and had to call them or do their inspections, or they would have to do them on
Saturday like everyone else who didn't pass.

When he came into my room He looked at my fridge, my microwave and my helmet, luckily all of them were cleaned, he asked me about my pro mask and when I showed it to him he asked why I had an older one. I told him that it was from the company and that they didn't have enough large ones that were new for everyone so I got stuck with that. I also cracked a small joke and told him it was okay because I was old school, and I liked that kind of stuff. I am not sure but I think I got a tiny minuscule smile out of him. but that was it. he checked my shower and then told me I was good. I was relieved because I really didn't want to work on Saturday.

Aug 1
Well today was our mandatory fun day. and it was nice to not have to clean the brad or worry about the office, and other details.

It started off with a battalion run. we ran basically in a figure eight around the entire perimeter of Camp Stanley, something we have actually done a lot, but we did it with everyone in the battalion that resides on Camp Stanley. it was very slow and easy, which I did not mind at all. and at the end we had somewhat of a safety brief and a description of what was going on the rest of the day.
A side note: I don't think that the battalion is run by people who don't know what is going on nor how to plan, I think that lower people just do not now how to effectively communicate that to everyone else. Because the higher leadership here all seems to be on their game.

I found W_____ and chilled with him the whole day while I was there. we went and checked out all of the booths they had going on.

I also got to talk to some of the guys from ___ Company. I think it is funny to talk to them because they all seem miserable, I am so glad I got out of there and am now on my way to warrant officer school. They all seem so depressed.

We had another HHC formation before 11:30 where Specialist H_____ and Specialist T____ were both Promoted to Sergeants, I thought that was cool I am very Happy for both of them, H______ doesn't smile a lot but I know when he is happy because he has an underlying smile on his face that is almost undetectable, unless you hang out with him a lot. I saw it whenever we went shooting on the range, and when he found out that he was going to Warrant officer school, and today it was there too. I told him today that now I can say he was the best NCO I have ever had. I think he liked the (true) compliment.

This afternoon They actually had free lunch I was glad for that, they had just hamburgers and hot dogs and other stuff from the Chow hall, I ate my fill and also got some free water too, it was okay. I chilled out with a lot more of the guys from _ co just to see how they were and still be buddies with them. At about 3:00 L______ and I both went with J____ to the PX so he could get a Gatorade, and we just all were talking about whatever, it was actually kind of fun. We were told we had a formation at four so we made sure that we were back down by then. We had our final Formation where we talked about Alcohol and safety and the weekend and everything, and were released by 4:30. I was asked to help put some of the food away so I helped load the Van up with empty dishes and I got a free Pumpkin Pie out of the deal.

Aug 6
We went for a four and a half mile run like we always do now for PT. while running I was keeping up with the group but the guy in front of me, A_____, was having a rough time staying with everyone I lagged behind a little with him to you know kind of boost his morale a little see if I could get him to run faster, it worked a little. I hope he wasn't too irritated with me.

it was funny though we ran about three fifths of the way through where we were going to go and I was still kind of in back slightly not keeping up with everyone. and I could hear the sergeants in Back giving all of the stragglers a hard time. Then they started giving me a hard time. I am about at the pint where I will not have it when people give me a hard time. When they yelled come on Illguth you're not even in Warrant officer school yet and you can't keep up? That did it. I took off as fast as I could go and passed everyone I ran like the wind and then I turned around and jogged back to where I was next to A______ and before I turned around I told them in a serious tone "I am not slow" and then got right next to him and jogged with him the rest of the way until we were pretty close to home,

One of the guys back there said Illguth where did you go? and another one said I don't think he ever left he ran so fast it was like he never left. and unlike most of the guys I didn't stop as we arrived at the bottom of the hill we were going to run up. Yeah I didn't hear anything about it again. I was slightly proud of myself. I thought I did a very good job of putting those guys in their place

In the evening I got to leave early and sign off from the Base and go to Camp Casey to do my routine that I haven't done for a while that is to Eat chow and run quickly to scouts. while on My way I ran into R______. one of the new guys in our Branch. we kind of just hung around and chatted until the train showed up. It was nice to get to know him a little more. he is way into scouting to as a leader and he has lots of experience as a leader. He came to scouts tonight to help Brother P____do Boards of review. for the guys advancing up in rank. Him I and a mom and a dad that were there (both not members) were the board and we talked to and passed the scouts off on moving up in Rank. it was fun because we kind of got to make up questions and ask them about their ranks and stuff that they had done. I had never been to anything like that before as an adult leader. it was so cool I can't wait for derrick to get involved with that kind of stuff. I had fun and the Boys were great.

Aug 9

I asked W_____ if he wanted to go run some errands with me. he agreed. he made the comment that it was probably way hot outside. and I told him it was actually quite nice. when he found out that it was relatively cool outside with a somewhat low humidity and a breeze blowing with the sun shining partially obscured by clouds he said that we needed to get of the base to enjoy the beautiful day. I kind of agreed, I didn't want to go anywhere, but I knew he needed to get away from his co. so I went.

He said we needed to go to the zoo. SO we did and a couple of short hours later we were there. It was huge! like two or three of the Waco zoos put together, there were a ton of animals, okay there was just like a lot of monkeys, and deer and you know multiples of the same kind of animals but there were a lot of new ones too. It was pretty fun. I got a few pictures especially of the animals you don't see most anywhere else. We had a lot of fun. W____'s friend H____ went with us.

When we were close to being done these two Korean women, with a little kid cameup to us and asked if we could take a picture. I was like yeah that is just fine where is your camera? They then explained that they wanted a picture with us. I thought it was odd but I was like okay so one of the women held hands with the little girl, and Hayes and I stood next to them. I guess Americans are part of the cool things you can see at the zoo to. I thought it was funny. I wish I had some kids to tote around with me It would have been fun to have Charlotte and Lydia and derrick and Veronica, not to mention you with me there too. We got on the train and made it back here by 9:45 so it took all afternoon and most of the evening.

Aug 12

At 6:00 I got a text from the missionaries saying they were at the gate. so I texted them back saying I was on my way. I quickly got dressed and went out of my room just in time to see W____ coming down the hall, I was glad, and took him with me to get the missionaries.

We picked up The Elders I brought them to my room so I could finish getting ready for FHE, and they happened to be coming back from the store and need a place to put some perishable groceries. My fridge is your fridge is basically what I told them.

Last night I made some Brownie batter, and put it in the fridge. Today I took the batter and some other necessary equipment up to Brother L_____'s. We went to The PX so we could track down a guy that The elder's had found that was a member that had just got here to Korea. we met him, he was from Taiwan, and spoke English, and Mandarin Chinese. He was pretty cool he was an american citizen and in the army, he was really nice. I got to know him a bit and learned his e-mail address, So I could get a hold of him, I think he is going to come to church with us on Sunday. we got him and he, the missionaries and I and The Pihls walked to Brother L_____'s where I put the batter in the oven and then W____ showed up.

W____ had also brought a person who was a member, and was trying to find the church, he is going to the field this weekend so he will be out of touch for a little bit. But it was nice to have new faces at our little meeting. We had a great little spiritual thought and lesson by Brother L_____, he likes to read an article from The ensign and we read a pretty good one by a General authority who is from Korea of all places. It was good, then we had brownies, they were still hot. and hung out and chatted for a while It is fun to just talk and have a good time with everyone. Then it was time to go home.

I took the missionaries back to my place To get there stuff, And Elder and Sister Pihl, H____, them and I all walked to the gate and just chatted, it was nice I think it s fun to see the people I know from the base watching all of us walk around. They give me a funny look and I like it, I feel like it  is (on a very small scale some kind of missionary work). I had a good day today, and I am really enjoying being in __. Even though it can be somewhat annoying at times, it is a whole lot better than _ co.

Aug 13 (Sgt H______ went to a leadership training course for about 4 weeks and so Brandon was left in charge of the Bradley.)

Again, H_____, Sorry, Sgt H_____ made us look like superstars. He showed me the order that everything went in the last time we did the layout, so I did it again today. All we had to do was go down each row of equipment and check everything off. H_____ had made sure we had everything, and I now knew where everything was, well except for something that I had never seen, used or heard of before. What took Sgt G_____ and G____about 1 1/2 hours took me 30 minutes or so, Granted I had a lot less equipment then they did, but I Thought that it went superb.

After that it was about 4:35 and I had 25 minutes to clean up and make it to the bus on time, and despite my best efforts I was only done within 19 minutes. and I missed the bus but I went and got my stuff ready for scouts and took the train instead. While I was on the train a funny thing happened, I was just standing there minding my own business when I noticed a older Korean Lady talking to a little boy and obviously referring to me while she spoke to him. He braved it out and said hi to me. I said hi back. That kind of broke the ice a little, so he eventually came up to me and started talking to me he asked me about who I was and where I was from I asked him the same things I found out that the lady was his Mom's aunt, and that his dad was from South Carolina, and his Mom was from Korea. they were living in The same apartments as Elder and Sister Pihl, and that he liked recess at school. It was a fun little conversation, and his great aunt enjoyed watching him talk to me. I gave him the picture of all you guys in my wallet so he could show it to her after he asked about my family, she thought Our family was cute, I could tell. It was so funny. It was really interesting to have such a grown up -well you know- conversation with a seven year old. oh yea and his name is Ezra, he also has a little brother who is five who's name is Michael. He was a funny little kid. before I left he told me that it was nice to meet me and that he hoped he could talk to me again one day. I thought it was really fun to talk to him, but eventually I had to get off. He talked to me though for the whole time I rode from Uijeongbu to Bosan (camp Casey). It was definitely another train ride first for me here.

Taking the train made me kind of early, because I didn't have chow, so I decided to go and put some minutes on my phone because it needed some pretty bad. on my way there brother P____called me and asked if I had left yet. I was walking down the sidewalk in front of Camp Casey. I told him I had and he said that all of the scouts were busy doing other things tonight so we were cancelling it. I thought oh well no problem while I am here I need to go to the commissary before it closes anyway because they are saying we wont get to use our meal cards soon.  (I don't care, I like eating my own food better anyway.)

So I went to Camp Casey and I bought some groceries. I barely made it before seven, the closing time, and the total came to $16.26 and I had exactly sixteen dollars in my wallet. and a quarter in my pocket (they round up and down cents here it is kind of nice) the cashier was impressed that I had the exact amount. he seemed to be even more impressed with my M&Ms coin container. That made me laugh.

I decided that instead of waiting an hour or longer to take the bus back I would just ride the train back because who knew if I would be able to talk to another little kid or something else crazy.

I ran into the Elders and I had a pretty fun conversation with them about missionary work and a guy they had just talked to on the street who didn't speak Korean, nor very good English. They said it was hard to talk to him. It was another good impromptu conversation. Anyway that was the last crazy thing that happened today.

Aug 17
Well W____ needed to go to Camp Casey for some clothes to wear to the demilitarized zone (the North Korean / South Korean border) apparently you need some Kacki pants and a Golf Tee to go there. whatever. I asked if I could borrow it if I go there later. He was cool with that. We had a real quick lunch and we set off home. I can't remember Exactly how we got on the subject but I told him about Utah State and their Wonderful flight program and my experience with that and with the Utah Jet Center. I told him about my secret fantasy to be the Blackhawk pilot that goes up to the school to give all of the ROTC students rides. and how I want to land at the airport, get gas, and flip everyone off who doesn't recognize me but are still there, as I leave. He told me that he hopes I get to do that too. It was funny. So I reminisced about that today.

Aug 18 (Brandon was assigned to the night shift in the TOC for about two weeks)
Well last night was not bad for the first little while. we sat there and monitored the computer and the radios for the night. there was no real radio stuff going on just the chatter of other companies using the same frequency to do radio checks. It was very uneventful. Same with the computer, nothing was going on on that.

I decided that I would make my time useful so I decided to just work on Some math study. (working the other day with Sgt G_____ kind of put me in the mood). so I was just making up problems and solving the and graphing stuff on my graphing calculator. I talked to some of the guys also last night about Just dumb stuff. I worked with a guy named C____. he is pretty cool. He gave me a three Musketeers candy bar he had. I thought it was nice.

Another Sgt that is in our company Named Sgt W__was asking me about the Math and I told him it wasn't homework, but just for fun and he wanted in on some of it, so I wrote him a few equations and we solved them just to get him back in the math mind set, he hadn't done math for a long time and kind of wanted a refresher. it was fun I really believe I could tutor math I think I helped him understand it again. long about 5 in the morning though I couldn't even solve problems with my calculator. it was all I could do the keep my eyes open. I hadn't had a whole lot of sleep since Friday night. well I suffered through the rest of the morning. and finally went up to get some breakfast (I had an MRE for a midnight snack). I got some breakfast for myself and C____. He stayed down there a little bit longer to finish up what was going on. I got a to go plate for him and had it in my fridge until he showed up to get it a few minutes later.

Pretty much the rest of the day I slept.  I slept until about 5 or so. I got up went to chow had to come back.  The night shift  does PT at night so I went to the company to do PT That was fun we had a nice slow run. it was good now I i am here it is 8:30 pm and I am showered and ready to go to work.

Aug 19
Well my day was interesting as usual. We had PT last night we (all of the night shift people) formed up at 6:45 and did our PT. Apparently a few of the people in the company have not had the opportunity to do PT for a while. So we took it easy. We ran. we did two loops around Base. it is only like four or five miles so that was okay. we also did a slow pace so that was nice too. ( I think that running is what makes my ankle hurt because it hasn't hurt at all last week, all the way until last night when it hurt a lot afterward. I think I am going to get it checked. We had two girls running with us which is very uncommon for me. It was a bit harder for them to make it to the top of the steep hills, so we waited for them as we ran. it  was okay I didn't mind. at the end we did a release run back to Base but I stayed with the girls, you know just to stay with them. It is kind of a rule that some sort of person Usually an NCO falls out with them and stays there along side them. I don't mind. I know just how fast I am. Wouldn't you know it the sergeant in charge of me was in our run the other day as one of the hecklers behind me, I didn't hear a thing about it. Ha....Ha.....Ha......!

Then I had to go change and get ready for the day or night rather.

Another project I had during the night was tutoring Sgt W___ with Math. I had found online a bunch of Math Problems, and I copied them to a text document I was going to print out but I ran out of time so I just wrote them down for him. and both he and I worked through them separately. Then I went through and corrected them. I had one mistake. I later realized. and he had about 13 or so. So we did some learning. I thought it was fun and I know now that I could be a math tutor. Most of the rest of the night I spent doing some other Harder math problems, and just trying to figure out how my graphing calculator works again. It has been too long.

Well as usual the later in the morning it got the harder it was to stay up. I was finally able to get off, C____ liked it when I went and got him breakfast yesterday, So I did it again it is worth getting off a little early.

I got home and I was able to skype you. I still enjoy doing that. I finally went to bed at around 9:30 if I recall correctly.  I woke up finally at about 4:00 pm. and I am just getting geared up for my night again tonight. it is Weird I feel like I have very little free time (or time where I am not confined to my radio table, and have to do PT), and this week is taking forever so far. I hope I can get through this.

Aug 21
Well the past couple of days seem like a blur really most of the time I was awake I was inside the TOC and sometimes in there I was struggling to Stay awake. Lets see I f I can give you some highlights though, If I can remember them.

Yesterday C____ and I spent most of the night thinking up dumb survival scenarios, and drawing plans for Zombie bunkers and Battle houses. (anything to keep myself awake) It was interesting. I have never done that before. I kind of felt like I was 13 again when that stuff was somewhat more cooler to me. I thought it was funny. I guess that sometimes you never grow up.

In the morning I stumbled slowly back up to my room to go to bed, but surprisingly still had energy. I spent the rest of the morning sewing The badges and stuff to my scout uniform, and talking to all of you guys. I slept the rest of the afternoon and was able to go to scouts Yay!

We had Fun there just planning and finishing up the details of our Camp out this weekend. I still do not know if I am going to go yet. Hopefully I will find out soon.

Today, or last night I was at the TOC and it was pretty crowded in there for a couple of hours before everything finally calmed down. it is crazy there during the day, I am glad I have nothing to do with the day. We are notionally (pretending to be) in a war right now with the north Koreans They are "strategically bombing" South Korea and we are helping coordinate the fighting. I guess. It is weird, after everyone left last night the computers went down, so we literally had nothing to do, except be guards all night for the TOC. The people were going to come in the morning to fix everything. all we had was a computer set up through a different network that we could communicate by text message with everyone. and some people do not understand that nothing is working without the other computer system. It was funny we really had to explain things to get the other guys to realize that. I was part of it I was the guy writing everything down.and sending it. it was kind of fun.

C____, my buddy, left at around midnight because he had to go home and get ready for an appointment he had later in the morning. it was pretty, boring after that. He tried to get me to draw another bunker house, but left before I started, I drew it for him anyway and I will show it to him probably tonight.

at around nine everyone Came back and the TOC got crazy again. we got in trouble for not making the coffee. I actually got in trouble for it. I told them, look I didn't know, I was supposed to, not do I know really how to, I mean its easy, but It would take me forever to do it. anyway I was glad to get out of there when I did.

It started Raining hard Last night and didn't let up at all. We had to push up on the tent Ceilings to get the water to drain out. that is fun to listen to it splash all over the ground on the other side. So even though I was dry in the TOC as soon as I left it this morning I got soaked. I had to get the stuff done I didn't get done yesterday at S1 so I went there and got it done quickly. Then I came home and got ready for Bed.

Aug 23 (Brandon got to go on a Scout Camp with the Boy Scouts of America Troop that he works with through the church.)

Yesterday I did not go to sleep at all after I talked to you I did Laundry, Packed up everything, cleaned my room a bit, and otherwise prepared for the trip. I was hoping to leave early so I could be at the church ready to go when the time came. I went to get my pass to leave 3 times. The first time they said they weren't going to be ready until just before final formation. The second time they said they were still not ready yet because formation was still taking place. The third time I went there They were in the process of getting them logged onto the computer. I waited for them to be done that time. Finally I had the pass at about 5:10. I high tailed it to my room and got my stuff and signed out.

I was going to take the Free Camp Stanley to Casey Bus and Then take the short train trip to The church but that was now not an option because I would be about an hour and and a half late I missed the one that would have gotten me there early. and taking a regular bus would probably take quite a long time to get to Uijeongbu. Turns out there was a lot of traffic That definitely would have delayed me. I opted to take a taxi, for a few reasons, one of them being I didn't want anyone seeing me walk out the gate by myself with a huge bag, too many question marks. and another reason was that I wouldn't be late.

My Taxi Driver was crazy The was no light too red and almost no traffic to heavy to slow him down. I think I made record time to the station. at one point there were two Crazy Korean older ladies That walked across the street right in front of our "too fast for safety" taxi and My driver slowed fast enough to let them happily pass along their way. I looked at him and said in English this place is crazy, he laughed and agreed with me that there were a lot of crazy people in Korea.  In my head I thought "You are one of them" but I was glad that he was hurrying, I didn't want to be too late.
The train was pretty normal and uneventful. I made it to the church at about 6:20 and Brother P____said That he had gotten there about 5 seconds earlier. So we were on the same schedule. I was glad I hurried.

We got in the cars and we were off. The drive was pretty uneventful, except for one of the scouts left his stuff in the church parking lot. and his mom had to bring it to us. It was funny. Brother P____and I sat in the front and just made good normal conversation about random stuff. Nothing too exciting. The drive was pretty and Misty. We got there a little bit after the sun went down.

 Our Camp Site was a dirt parking lot Next to the Building that you rented canoes out of. We got there and set everything up and made our camp site rain proof.

There is a cute little twelve year old scout named J___ who wanted to bring dessert so he made some Rollo and pecan covered Pretzels. As usual they were good. It was funny to hear him talking about how amazing they were, very enthusiastic that one is. Well we kind of winded down we all had dinner in the car and we Had a brief scoutmaster minute before we all went to bed.

Brother P____talked about Parables and how lots of things in life can be made into educational parables. It was actually really good. I, was extremely tired (I would have had a hard time listening to President Uchdorf talk about airplanes) So I dozed for a little bit of his speech even though I thought it was really good. I told him about my day, so I think He knew why I fell asleep. I hope there are no hard feelings.

I slept in a leader tent with Bro P____and except for when it started raining during the night I was asleep for everything. The forescast called for very wet weather this weekend, and we were very prepared for it. (The only rain we had was while we were sleeping and it lasted ten minutes.) It was great.

I got to sleep in until seven, that was nice. I eventually made my way out to breakfast after everyone started putting stuff away. I helped the scouts finish cooking the pancakes. They were very uncomfortable cooking them They were not confident in there skills at all. I showed them what to do, but the grill was way too hot. The pancakes turned out "scout perfect" Burned on the outside and doughy on the inside. I still think it is funny. It was Mom's recipe so they were still good. Oh and boiled eggs (even pre-boiled ones) I found out are not a good breakfast item, no one wanted to eat them.

After Breakfast was cleaned up, we went to the canoe shop, which was still closed. we hung around for about 15 minutes until they opened up about 45 minutes after they were supposed to. It is really funny to see guys in Korea in charge of Outdoor equipment. You know how guys in the US would be slightly larger in Stature, and have beards and look like outdoors men, Not in Korea. (I know this is a horrible generalization but) they looked like nerds Just like every other Korean short, skinny, glasses, and Nice shirts and slacks. It makes me laugh so much to think about. No flannel here. I do trust Koreans though, I forgot to take out my Wallet and phone and all of the other things I had that I didn't want to get wet, and a Korean Guy ran all of it up to their office and put it just set the stuff on a desk there. No one touched it until I got back. I like this country that way.

We finally made it into the water. and I had lots of fun I have only ever been canoeing once before with Dad, and I was a little nervous about it, especially since we were in a huge river, ( The Han river, in case you were curious [that is the big one that runs right through Seoul] [I think I am doing too much Math I am using Brackets inside of Parenthesis now] ).

We learned all of the necessary skills for canoeing, Including what to do when you tip over your Canoe. You cannot get back into it at all without someone else's help. we learned how to do that and all of the scouts got very wet while doing it. My canoe and the "safety Canoe" (the one with Brother P____and Mr. L__ [another dad] in it) were the only ones That didn't get tipped over, At first. Michael P____(brother P____'s Oldest Son living at home) and I stole a couple of the other scouts' canoe while helping them get it out of the water. We litterally had it on top of our canoe and rowed away. The were yelling "Bring us back our canoe" it was fun. They came back and when we finally gave them their canoe back they tipped ours over. it was a ton of fun I was not prepared for it and it got me by surprise I had to get myself acclimated to the coldish water for a minute but then was okay. We had a lot of fun.

There was a bike trail that ran along the shoreline and was elevated in the mountains a bit. It must have offered great views because there were all sorts of People taking pictures of us "crazy Americans" (Americans are loud) as we were playing in the water. At one point there was some Nuns walking on the trail and They cheered at J___ and E____ when they both finally climbed back into the canoes. It was loads of fun.

Well it was too short, but it was fun and we had a good time but eventually we had to go back. We still had lunch before we were going to leave.

Lunch was good we talked about just having ham sandwiches and I was assigned to bring the ham. I took the liberty of buying a few extra fixings like cheese and lettuce and an onion (I forgot the tomato), and some chips. It was a good lunch. We also had Soda Pop that the P___'s brought, and some Boiled eggs. It was fun then we set off for home.

Brother P____took me Back to Camp Casey with them, I told him it would be easier that to make a huge trip to go out of his way to drop me off at Camp Stanley. I rode the free bus back to Camp Stanley from Camp Casey. and I slept most of the way back.  I needed to go shopping. I went to the commissary here and picked up about $26 worth of stuff and I think it should last me for a little while, at least.

Aug 24

Well I had a huge afternoon......planned. Instead, fell asleep. I think the week finally caught up with me. I was going to look up the Sunday school lesson and start reading over it, and I was going to write you an email this afternoon. I was going to make a really good dinner, and a bunch of other stuff, but when I sat down at my computer after talking to you, I got sleepy and put my head down on my arms to, you know, get a cat nap. About 45 minutes later I woke up still tired so I got onto my bed. and that was the last I saw of the afternoon. Luckily I am on a screwed up schedule anyway, so I don't think it will matter too much if I am awake all night long tonight. I did find out what time I needed to be at work in the morning, (six) and then I get off at nine. and the whole thing starts over again this week. I am very excited for that. Maybe instead of it being a very long week like I was planning for last week it will be a short one.

Aug 25 (Brandon's foot had been bothering him so he went to the medic.)
I had to go to the Medics place to Talk to Sargent E., a Medic. She was going to help me with all of my Med pro Stuff. and I hurried there so I could be there close to nine which was when I told her I would be coming. I think it is so funny to get medical exams. she took my blood pressure and it was high like normal and she told me I would have to come back and check it for the next five days to see if I could get a low blood pressure reading so they could be sure that there was no problems. I assured her that every time I get my blood pressure taken that it is usually high right when I get there but after a few minutes it goes back down and that it always has every time I get a medical check up. Sure enough when she was through asking me all of the questions such as if I smoked drank or anything like that, and like other health issues I might have, she took it again and it was just great. Something like 117 over 75.

I noticed a board with all of the names on it of the medics throughout the company, and I noticed J____'s was up there still.  (He was the guy who went to church with me back when we first came to Korea.  He was diagnosed with Cancer and I've been wondering how he's been.)  I asked her if she knew him and knew anything about what was going on with him. She gave me a blog that his Mom has been writing, and keeping a pretty good description of his progress throughout it. I perused most of the posts on it, They were short and yet descriptive so it was pretty easy to catch up just about everything.  He has done rounds of Chemo and other things that have put him in ICU and made him sick but have made him better feeling too and he seems to be doing okay. He just had a stem cell transplant from, I assume, a brother. It seems to be looking pretty good and that was the last post from a few weeks ago. He seems like a very positive person too. Its almost inspirational.

Aug 27
I walked up there about a half an hour early, they must not have been busy because I got right in. The medic chic took my blood pressure (high at first, of course) and then she had me come into one of the exam rooms and describe how my ankle was feeling. They must not have been very busy at all because there was a medic dude who was hanging out with us too. I felt like a first class passenger,

They both helped me get everything done. After all of the preliminary stuff, Dr. L_____ decided to give me an x-ray, which is really what I wanted. After the x-ray Dr. L_____ came in and talked to me. It was kind of funny keeping our relationship professional around everyone else. I called him sir, and had to act like I was not too acquainted with him, he did the same. I was professional with him but even then I was still more friendly with him than I would be normally with a military doctor, I was more comfortable asking him questions and talking to him. Anyone else that high ranking I would have not been so comfortable to be in contact with.

Well he examined my foot, looked at the x-ray, and then showed me the x-ray. He found that there was a knob of some sort protruding out on my heel bone that could have been the problem, he also told me it looked like I had broken my ankle before. I told him I hadn't. I don't know if he believed me or not, but he showed me what looked like evidence of a broken ankle. He said that the knob was more of what the problem could have been, and he wasn't going to decide a course of action until he had some results from the x-ray tech in Seoul. I was cool with that.

At the end of the visit They asked for a phone number I could be contacted with, I told them, and then I was going to say that Bro L_____ could e-mail me if he wanted, but then I decided to change what I was saying to "I am very easy to get a hold of." I looked at him, and he smiled. The medic chick didn't even know what we were talking about. I thought it was funny.

Bro/Dr L_____ knew however, because when he tried to call me I think that my number wasn't written right, so he then e-mailed me, which is the best way to get a hold of me anyway. He said that the radiologist figured out what was up, and he had a treatment plan for me, the only problem is that I wasn't able to get a hold of him at all before I had to go to work. I was at scouts all night long. So I will call him tomorrow or something.

Scouts was interesting, I took the Bus there like normal, and because I do not have a meal card anymore, I had lots of time to go to the PX and look around. I didn't buy anything, but just looked.

After Scouts, I hurried back To camp Stanley. I got on post at about 9:00. I ran to my Room and got changed and ran to the TOC. I have been here since 9:30 and have been working on the computer answering e-mails about the Simulation we are doing, and all the insanity that goes along with it. (lets just say that in the next few days this thing is going to be taken down ad there are few people around here that are going to miss it). I think this is the last time we are going to set it up, well, I hope it is. We only have about a month and a half left, so I don't know what else we can get involved with while we are here. I just hope it goes by quickly what ever happens.

Aug 28
When  I got home I noticed that Brother/Doctor L_____ had called me and I returned his call. Well I am still a medical mystery, but I do have a weird ailment that usually only Ballerinas get. it is called os trigonum syndrome. There is a tiny bone on my ankle that is protruding out into my foot and when I climb on stuff, or put pressure on the back of my heel it is causing the tendon's to be inflamed.

I told him that it probably is sore because I have a tendency to walk on my toes, he agreed with me that it was probably the cause. and that I probably did something in Gunnery to start it. He said that any major treatment to make it better would probably add more trauma to it then I am having right now, so it probably wasn't worth it. So I guess I am just going to have to learn to deal with it and walk flatter, in the meantime.  He also told me I needed to hang up my tutu. I love that I can take a joke.

September 1
Well I had CQ all night long so by the time 9:00 rolled around I was off, but I wouldn't be able make it to church which starts at 9:30. I had already talked to W____ about going to the Uijeongbu Ward and he was excited for it. So I got ready and went up to get him. he was not quite ready when I got there. but we eventually left. we knew where we needed to go, but we had no idea how to get there. so we took the one bus all the way downtown where we usually go for the train, but we went a few stops further almost to ganeung Station which is pretty close to where the Church is. Eventually we wound our way through the streets but we were very late. The meeting started at 10 but we didn't get there until about 10:40.

As we were standing outside of the Door one of the brothers in the ward saw us and came right up to us, he was asking us where we were from and if we knew about the military branch in Dongducheon, and other stuff. we told him we were just visiting, he understood and we went in to the meeting and sat down. we made it for the last speaker. and he spoke until 11:18. Then Sacrament quickly wrapped up. then all sort of people came up to us and talked to us. This included the missionaries. we had a good time talking to a lot of people after church, I thought it was funny there was a lot of Bowing because that is the custom here, of course I bowed back, So did W____. I was tired and didn't even make it through the one talk without falling asleep, so W____ and I decided we should just go home. we did and we made our way back home to Camp Stanley pretty easily.

When we talked to the missionaries we realized their P-day was Monday, and that we had Monday off for Labor day, so we decided that we all, the missionaries, W____, and I, should go to the tie store in Seoul on Monday. I was excited about that. We would coordinate everything later.

So on Monday the missionaries said that if we wanted to catch the 1:56 bus they would be on it so I e-mailed W____ and told him to be ready to go at one so we could get there on time. Well I got ready to go. I went to W____'s room. turns out his computer wasn't working so he had totally forgotten we were going. So he quickly got ready.

We got to the Station as quickly as we could I didn't think we would make it but as soon as we ran to the platform and got on it my pocket vibrated it was the missionaries telling me that we needed to get on the train that was a pulling up to the platform right then The door that we were at happened to be the car they were on.It was impeccable timing and placement. Perfect. we got on and had a fun afternoon with them. on the way down there  we talked about just missionary stuff cars and funny eating too much stories. It was Elders F______, B___, M_____and XXXXXX. They are all pretty cool to hang out with. They also Had two sister Missionaries with them. They were both Korean and they Kind of just Proselyted on the train, neither of them spoke great English, they eventually ditched us which was okay because I am sure a tie store it not that interesting for girls.

 The tie store was crazy they had thousands of ties they were everywhere. It was a part of a clothing store. There was a lot of cheap clothes and other things. it was a good find I found some ties for me and Derrick. it was pretty cool. I spent less than 20 dollars and bought 7 ties. I thought it was a great deal. We were going to have dinner too while we were out, but the missionaries had run out of time and they needed to get back so we all took the train back.

September 3 (This is when I was visiting my sisters.  She doesn't have internet so Brandon just used his g-mail account to call my cell phone for free.)

Lunch was excellent because I called and talked to you, I almost forgot to eat lunch today, I was so excited to hear from you. It was nice to talk to you guys and Charlotte and Lydia are getting really good at talking on the phone. derrick is getting good at talking too and I am also Glad I could hear Veronica on the phone They are all way awesome kids. I cannot wait to see you all again.

It was really funny at the end of My call when Lydia was talking to me I couldn't hear what she was saying really well. I was listening, but I was concentrating so much on trying to figure out what she was saying that I didn't respond much to her, not to mention the fact that I didn't know what she was talking about. Eventually The conversation went like this:

Okay Daddy, I am going to have to let you go.
Okay sweetie it was nice to talk to you I love you
I love you to daddy have a nice night
You too
Bye
Bye
Then I waited to see what she would do, There was a pause on the phone and I heard her ask Bill
How do you turn it off?
and I faintly heard him say
You have to close it.
and then she hung up.

It was so cute. I love that my children are like that that they can have a way awesome conversation with me. I loved that Charlotte was talking to me about the farm and telling me about the Cows pooing and peeing and how she got to ride the golf cart. it was such a good conversation. I miss you all a whole ton and cannot wait to see you all again in person and play with you all again. Thank you for making sure our children love each other. it is so nice to know there is really no drama waiting for me when I get home, just love.

Sept 16
Well for me I had a very unusual day today. we will call it a day off of sorts.
It all started at 4:00 am when I got up. I got ready in my uniform for the day, a Polo tee shirt and a pair of jeans and my regular shoes. About 15 or so of us guys from _ co and from HHC met at __ this morning at 5 and we took a van ride to Camp Hovey. we got there at around 6. and then we piled into some buses that were going to the South Korea/ North Korea border.

We went on a DMZ tour today. it was interesting to be in a place that was so tense military wise especially in a country that looks so chill just a few miles down the road.

We actually Drove into the DMZ, past a village that is inside the DMZ where people actually live and farm rice in the surrounding areas. We got to stop at a few strategic places where military and government leaders meet and talk, and where they do guarding and lookout over North Korea. It is really weird. There is a huge city just over the border into North Korea that has like 200 people that live in it and Most of the buildings are fake, it is just meant to be threatening looking.

It was really an odd place. The scenery was beautiful. I thought it would look like an ugly hole in the ground with Barbed wire on both sides and guard towers every few hundred feet. but It was really lush with trees and greenery and mountains everywhere.

We got to see a bridge where the last of the POWS walked to their respective sides of the country like 60 years ago. and where there was an ambush over a tree about 30 years ago. and there were signs everywhere that said Danger: Mines, in Both English and Korean.

 I spent a few minutes actually standing in what was considered to be part of North Korea on the other side of a meeting Table in a building where dignitaries from both North and South meet to talk. There were North Korean Guards there that were poised to attack anyone that went awry. it was pretty cool. They were tensed up and standing completely still in the room and we couldn't touch them but we did get some cool pictures of them and the room. We were only allowed to Get pictures of North Korea so all of the pictures I have there are of "the enemy" but whatever it was just kind of cool to be there.

we looked at The DMZ gift shop, and yes I did buy a couple of cool toys for the kids. I didn't spend too much though. and No they did not have a penny pressing machine sorry.

We then Stopped at a place where there was a giant tunnel in the ground I am guessing was used during the war for aiding the armies fighting in the North. and you could go in it, but apparently it was just a really boring hike down a long steep dark tunnel, and I was told I there was really nothing to see in there, so I didn't go. but I got a picture of the diagram. There was also a train that went down another part of that tunnel, but it took too long and I couldn't have even gotten to go on that, but I would have done that. We didn't have that much time.

We then went down to a place were there was an amusement park but more importantly, food, by this time everyone was hungry, I wasn't about to spend that much on food though so I opted to wait for Burger King later. but Sgt H_____ and I went and Checked out an F-4 Phantom they had on display after that we finally went back to Camp Casey. Sgt H_____, G____and I were the ones from our Platoon on the trip, so we all hung out together most of the time.

It was a fun day, after Burger King Sgt H_____ and G____didn't want to wait for the bus or take the train back to Camp Stanley, so they got a Taxi. it cost us 40000 wan ($40.00 give or take) to get back I got some money out of the ATM so I could help pay for it, but they paid for it, I asked them how much I owed them, but they literally ignored my question to my face, I take that as don't worry about it, I am cool with that).

Well the rest of the night W____ came over to my room and used my computer for a bit and borrowed my cookie sheet for some unknown reason. and I reminded him about FHE tonight, he had almost forgotten. and then he took off. a few minutes Later the missionaries texted so I went down to meet them. they came on post and we went to FHE. We usually have a really good time there and there was actually 6 people there as opposed to the five that are usually there. H_____ came and he has only come once before. I thought that was really cool. It worked out pretty well. We had a spiritual Thought on adversity and why we have adversity in our lives. The missionaries shared a Mormon message with us about that and then told us how God gives us adversity for our good. We had a really good meeting.

We had some snacks and then we hung out for a bit. then I asked the missionaries if they wanted to see the Brad. They totally agreed. So on the way off the post we walked by it and the gate was still open. so we went in and got to look at the tank and Brad it was really cool They really Liked it. H___ did too, he never gets to see that kind of stuff where he works at the dental office. They thought it was fun and then we walked them to the gate. it was a good day.

In Brandon's Words: May in Korea

I know I always say this, but reading Brandon's daily e-mail is the highlight of my morning.  He's had a busy month.  Work has kept him busy, his church calling as Second Counselor in the Young Men organisation has kept him busy, and most of all his Warrant Officer Packet kept him busy.  All the work on the packet paid off when he finally turned it in on May 10.  

The days leading up to that were full of proof reading and more proof reading.  He sent me several copies of his packet to make sure everything was perfect.  All that perfection took its toll on his e-mails home.  You'll notice that they are full of punctuation errors.  Brandon didn't want to worry about being perfect in his e-mails.  I don't mind because even if they aren't worded and punctuated correctly they are still very interesting.    

So here are some of the most interesting things from this month.  As always, the dates are the dates that I received the e-mails not necessarily the date that they happened.  And I've taken out the last names of other soldiers to keep things as confidential as possible.  

April 29

We got up way early this morning to go down and host a training event. At first I was not doing anything, Then I was assigned to count people as they did exercises. Then after the exercising portion of the event was underway (that is what we were in charge of) I got to be a grader. I help count people who were doing squats while they held large jugs of water. I did that all morning until about 12:30 one group would come in and then as they were finishing another group would come in. we did all of A C and J companies. Plus some of the Staff. it was a very long morning we didn't get to sit down once. and we didn't get breakfast either. I am not complaining but it was a very long day.

After it was over I was told to go to lunch and that was the last I heard for the rest of the afternoon so, when I was done with lunch I went back to my room. I really wanted to get my packet finished up. I have it about 98% the way finished. I just need a few more things and I will have it. Yay! Slowly but surly it will get done. I am not sure I am going to make it on May 1st. I really hope I do, but I will have it by May 17 unless I am dead!

I found out that tomorrow we get to go to Camp Hovey and do the whole thing again for B and D companies. I am actually looking forward to it, just not the getting up super early part. We have to be gone by 0300.

April 30

I am going to make this shortish I am really tired I haven't slept too much this week - not due to lack of trying. We got up last night at 3:00ish am and this morning at 2:00ish am to get all of the things set up for the battalion competition we had yesterday and today.

We woke up way early and took the truck to Camp Hovey so we could do the competition with B co and D co. I got to see all of my battle buddies from there. I was so excited. I really did like the guys I worked with, all of them liked seeing me too. Apparently there was a conversation about me the other night there and a lot of people participated in it, because more than two guys told me about it, and apparently it was nothing but good things said. I hope I have left a positive impression with all of them. I always feel like people talk crap about me behind my back so it was nice to hear from all of them in a good way. L______ loves me by the way. I felt bad that I wasn't seeing them in a more positive way though, I ended up being part of the biggest smoke session I am sure since we have been here. it wore everyone out in the battalion.

I do have to tell you the quote of the day. This morning everyone was upset at how early we had to get up G____ more so than most. I was relaxing laying in the grass a little ways from a group of guys that were talking and G____ said this: (keep in mind it is about 4:30 in the morning and we all hadn't had too much sleep)

"I am about 500% done with today and about 25% done with tomorrow."

I thought it was hilarious, probably because I was sleep deprived too. I couldn't stop laughing.

This afternoon I just did stuff around Camp Stanley when I got back. We put away all of the stuff we used. Finally it was time for me to go. I had to go home and get ready for scouts. so back up to Casey I went. we had a service project. we cleaned the church because no one will be able to clean it on Saturday due to stake conference. I am actually looking forward to it. W_____ and I are going to Seoul to attend it. did I tell you that he and I are now Home teaching companions? now we have to find time to do that I am not worried.

Oh Yeah. Duh. I almost forgot to tell you. I have the letter of recommendation from Mr. J_____!!!!! final draft. I am so excited! he e-mailed it to me about three hours ago and I am way excited to get this over with.

May 2

After the run I had a shower and got dressed in my ASUs for our inspection today. I Then ate breakfast in my Room I ate the last of my cereal. I didn't want to spill anything on my uniform in the chow hall. right before we left I taught B_________ how to tie a double Windsor knot in a tie I think it is funny how people do not know how to do that. when I went out to meet H_____ I went back with him to his room to get SGT G_______ he basically gave his tie to me so I could tie it for him. He really liked it. and bragged about me and my tie tying skills the rest of the morning. it was funny (okay so it was probably just one or two comments but I thought it was nice someone was bragging about me).


The inspection didn't last as long as I thought it would, I was perfect, no one had anything to say about me, except for the a sergeant who looked at my uniform commented on two of my pins were not straight. When I told H_____ he said don't fix them they look perfect, he just needed to say something about your uniform. After that we had room inspections.

The sergeant that came in my room told me that I needed to organize my drawers, which I knew already, I just haven't had time or energy to do it this week. Everything seemed to be good.

We went down to the office and printed off 4 documents a piece for our counselling packets and then we were released for lunch on the way back up to our barracks some guy was complaining about wearing a tie. I thought it was funny, I told him that he had clearly never been a missionary on a foreign tropical island in the middle of the summer when you have to wear a suit and tie everyday, that kind of shut him up and some one else chimed in that I must me a Mormon, I replied with a definite yes.

During the afternoon we I just fixed my ERB I got it pretty much all corrected. After that, I got permission to fix my warrant officer packet the rest of the way. So I did that until 1530 when we had afternoon weekend safety brief. At the safety brief we found out that we can leave post with one other person now, not two. Yeah!! That was nice to find out. We can drink alcohol again. That is cool for some, funny thing is that virtually no one I work with drinks, so it didn't affect my life too much.

I spent the rest of the night getting my packet ready to turn in. I don't have too much more to do so I am pretty excited to finish it, maybe this weekend.

May 3

I came to my room and hopped on the computer. I had scarcely done so when (I always wanted to have a reason to say this line) there was a knock at the door. It happened to be W_____. Who was sick of getting ready for his trip, and sewing his uniform, and other menial chores he had been doing all day. he asked me it I wanted to go to the PX with him, I agreed.

On our way we got to talking and he found out that we didn't need two other battle buddies to go off post, that made his day. (he wasn't there for the formation yesterday) He was so happy he said that we had to go and do something. So after the PX and the commissary (I needed some cereal), we got some water, and a flashlight and we took off. we went on a trail that starts out just adjacent to the perimeter wall of the post ( I tell you it is like we do live in a prison, it is just on the honor system :) ).

We went hiking through one of the greenest forests ever, not the greenest one I have ever seen but pretty close. It was gorgeous. I wish I could have taken you.

 We went to go see some bunkers that the Koreans have had set up probably since the fifties. they were cool to walk through with the flashlight. and just checkout. It reminded me of the church camp we went on when we hiked to the mine afterward. it was pretty cool. we came back after the sun had gone down I was glad that we had the flashlight, because it was a slippery slope. Very fun, but slippery.

Looking at the lights in the city

May 4

Well I had an interesting Sunday today. I woke up thinking I was going to go to Stake conference today, but W_____ wasn't  able to go due to an unknown Field departure time.  That threw a wrench in my Stake Conference idea. I decided that today would be the day I would go and check out the Protestant church here on Camp Stanley. I made it to church pretty much right at 11 and I walked in and sat down next to a sergeant that is in our company.

It started out with a prayer and we had announcements. They have a bible study at the "Hang out" every Wednesday. That is the only one I remember. we went into the worship by music part of the meeting where we stood and sang songs and listened to music, there was a drum a piano and a guitar. I couldn't tell you the name of the songs either. There was an powerpoint presentation that had the whole meeting on slides, along with all of the song lyrics so we could sing along. we sang about 5 songs and then were invited to sit back down.

The next part was worship by donation where there were two little girls that went down the aisle to get money from the congregation for the church. they were cute little girls. I think one was named Greta and the other had a name that started with "G" too but I can't remember it either. their names were on the powerpoint too. The sergeant I was with put money on the plate. It was cool.

We then had a little scripture on the sacrament 1 Corinthians 11:28-about 32. and then we had communion. It was where everyone in the congregation was invited up to the front to have a cracker and a tiny Sacrament-sized cup of wine. I wasn't sure if I should go up or not but after I saw it was wine I knew it was probably a bad idea for me. I thought it was cool how everyone was so excited about it.

After the communion The kids were able to go away to another part of the building where they had their own kid class. we then had our adult version of Sunday school. Our lesson was on the parable of the ten virgins and the parable of the talents in Mathew 25. about how we should be willing to make ourselves ready for when the lord comes again. and how we need to fill our lamps with that oil, and work hard to increase what the lord has given us. it was a good lesson. After the lesson we sang another song, the powerpoints became screwed up by this point so we didn't know what the words were anymore. I was just humming the whole time anyway. I enjoyed it I rarely get to experience a protestant church and I appreciate that there are people in the world trying to live what they believe. I commend anyone that does that.

I had a good time there.  It was good and informative. I was also able to talk to the chaplain about getting a night during the week to do a scripture study / FHE. he said he could probably give me a night for the "hang out" it is a building just down the street from the church roughly halfway between the church and my barracks bldg. and that is not far at all. I was pretty excited about it. If I had some time tomorrow I was going to call him. I am excited about doing this as soon as I get my packet done this week I will focus on a lot of other things.

After church I got in to hanging out with W_____. He said he finally found out that they are not leaving until tonight. So he had the afternoon free. We hung out and had a good time talking together. I got everything done that I wanted to and then we had chow.

May 6

Monday was a weird day, it started out early again we had to wake up at 3:30 so we could go down and set up the TOC. (Don't ask what that stands for I don't know or care) basically it is a giant tent room connected to vehicles covered with camo netting and has a generator running lights and computers in it. I guess it is a battlefield command center. it is very annoying but I am not in charge of it neither do I have to deal with it much so I don't care too much.

While setting that up there were a lot of people interested when I used real knots to tie the poles and stuff together. one guy started tying the rope when I interrupted him . I told him that I could fix his problem of having a rope too long to tie to a stake someone pounded into the ground, he didn't believe me, especially when I started making the rope longer. he and everyone around thought it was way cool when I tied a sheep shank in it and shortened it way up. and then tightened the rope down. He ran off asking why there wasn't any other people there that knew how to do that. I laughed. H_____ told me that I needed to teach them all how to tie knots and SGT G______ agreed. It was pretty funny.

The coolest thing today was that I got to drive a car for the first time since you dropped me off in January. It felt so good to be able to get behind the wheel and drive. And it was fun to drive through Korea.

H_____, Major R_______, Sargeant J______ and I went to camp Casey so that we could use the BATS trainer (Bradley advanced training simulator) or something like that.

We woke up way early I am kind of getting sick of this way early thing I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow until 5:50 or so. (I never thought I would literally say and mean that). we got to camp Hovey before 0630 (we beat PT) and then we went in this trailer type building that had the simulator in it. H_____ and Maj R_______ got into the Gunner seats, and I got the control console computer. my job was to drive forward and back up the pretend Bradley while they shot at targets. The room was cold and I was glad when we got out finally at about 9:00. we went to breakfast and the MAJ R and SGT J had a meeting to go to in Casey so H_____ and I hung out for an hour or so. we kind of talked about Helicopters, and the Bradley.

After the meeting we drove back and we got to go to lunch for an hour, we then went to the office, printed out some stuff, and then went to the Brad to do our weekly PMCS. H_____ got me in the turret so I could see how it works. it was pretty cool I used the targeting system to zero in and line the barrel up to just some stuff around the Motor pool and camp Stanley. it was way fun, he told me how to operate it and press a few of the buttons it was very interesting. I figured out what the turret feels like, Or more realistically I have been somewhere that I think the Apollo command modules would feel like to work in. they are crampt. and they have two seats right next to the controls. it was fun. We got done at about 4:30. We went back to the company and we were told what we needed for tomorrow. To make a real long story really short that was about it for today. I am tired still I haven't had a good long nights sleep for a long time. I can't wait until Saturday.

May 7

Tonight I got to go to scouts again. it is so much fun we just had a boring planning meeting and we talked about the court of honor coming up, but it was so fun. everyone was in to it including the boys and they all planned it and volunteered for the food and assignments and stuff. it was way cool. I sometimes wish that my scouts when I was growing up was run so much like this. we also talked about the scout camp we are going on to none other than camp Stanley. go fig huh? we are going to be working on the swimming merit badge at the pool in Camp Stanley. I think it will be really fun. I can't wait. I even got a hold of some regulations that state that I can get off the base and have a letter signed stating that I can leave for a scout camp out and it does not come of my personal leave it is considered a temporary change of duty station. I am pretty excited to go I think we are going to camp right outside the wall in the woods next to camp Stanley.

May 8

well the rest of the day was pretty normal around here this morning I had some computer training to do. I decided I do not like any computers the army owns because they are never updated, scanned, or defragmented so no matter how new they are they just run like dinosaurs. so I went to the library, their computers can run the same systems I need and they might be owned by the army but they are kept up by Koreans and as we all know Asians are just generally more tech savvy Than the rest of the world (I know that is a very stereotypical thing to say, but hey the computers are fast, I have to come up with some excuse.) I worked on some things that were talking about keeping information on computers safe. it was like listening to that really boring professor that had really interesting things to say, so even though you wanted to kill yourself being in the class you were still very intrigued. That was the morning.

May 10  [This the pretty much the whole e-mail from the day he turned in his Warrant Officer Packet.]

What a pizza eating, cookie making, suit measuring, bus riding, buddy hanging out with, WARRANT OFFICER PACKET TURNING IN day!!!!!!!

Valerie,

I feel relaxed!! I feel like how you felt that Saturday after you graduated from College. I feel how Inigo Montoyo felt when he finally killed that six-fingered man, I feel like I have had a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.

This morning when I woke up I wasn't sure I knew exactly if I was going to get my packet turned in because I wanted to just keep going through it. I was really nervous. I finally compiled it and let you look at it, I felt good after that, I then asked Dad what he thought about its quality, and he made me feel better. I knew I wanted to get on the website and look through it one more time to make sure I had everything, but something inside of me just kept telling me to turn it in.

This morning all I could think of was "turn it in, turn it in." I knew I wanted to go through the website and go through my packet again, but for some reason I knew I shouldn't that I should just turn it in. It reminded me of that scripture if it be not right I will cause a stupor of thought that you will not remember the thing which you had a question about. I really couldn't remember why I needed to go to the website I knew I had everything in it. So I just mustered up the courage and sent it.

W_____ was with me and he was laughing that I was so nervous to hit send. Finally I did, and he was like "good now we can go to Camp Casey and get measured for suits. So after talking to you and dad about the packet and turning it in. We went and found some battle buddies to go to Camp Casey with.

today was a celebratory day. I got a three piece suit with a charcoal grey cloth. That will be the nicest suit I will have ever owned. Let aside is the fact that it is going to be tailor made to fit me perfectly. I had to leave a $40.00 deposit, and I have to bring $100.00 next week to pick it up but that is it. That was a cool part of the day. The guy that was doing it was telling us stories of his life he was old he said that he was only 17 when the first saw the 1st Cav come to Korea. we were worried about the suits. He looked at us, like really looked at us, and said that he would make the suits that would be the best for us. I really believe him I cant wait to see them.

I came home and decided to celebrate with a pizza. So W_____ and I shared a pizza and we had cranberry juice to go along with it. I saw my sergeant while we were eating, and told him that we were celebrating having my packet turned in he smiled and told me he would tell me to be careful celebrating, but we were drinking juice. it made me laugh. We then went to his place to make some no bake cookies. for dessert. Boy do I really know how to paint the town red huh?

I have been so relieved all day today, I have been thinking about my packet all day too, wondering what the next few months are going to bring, and wondering what the school is going to be like when I go (note my confidence). I have been watching the helicopters fly in and out of Stanley, and can clearly picture myself in them. I just feel good. I am now thankfully be able to concentrate on other things.

If you feel so inclined, shout this out over the rooftops I am very excited about it.

May 15

This morning we had combat preparation PT where we carried stretchers (litters, as we call them) we had three five gallon water jugs resting on each of them. We ran with four guys on each corner of them we ran up a really steep hill (I will take a picture of it one day for you). We ran all the way around the post and then we stopped and did some relays. Like fireman carries, the wheel barrow, water jug runs, high crawl, and a few others. I got my third best ACUs very muddy and dirty they are probably torn up too. So I will probably go and buy another pair during lunch. We were all so hot and sweaty we were basically pouring the jugs on us as we got drinks out of them I would lift the jug on my shoulder and people were walking up and I would pour water in their mouth, most of it was going down the front of their clothes. That didn't matter because it was raining this morning. We were soaked when we were done. We got back up and ran back to our company. We did a few more relays and then called it quits for the day. After a quick shower and a small breakfast I was ready to go for the day.

I worked on My SSD stuff. and I pretty much did that the rest of the day. I figured out why I do not like SSD stuff. It is lots and lots of information that you have to memorize and then instantly take the quiz and if you miss the question you have to go back and review the whole thing again. it takes forever. I wish I could just crack it out, but I can't. I have to go slowly through it. The other reason is that I have to do it all, it is 4 units, with about 6 sections in each, and about 8 chapters in each section. It takes about anywhere from about a half hour to an hour to do each, chapter, and a lot of it is just going back and forth. Not to mention there are so many grammatical errors and spelling errors in it too. you think it would be proofread better. It drives me crazy, and by the time I am done working on one I want to throw the computer on the ground and stomp on it, Oh yeah you can only use a three year old version of internet explorer to use it too, otherwise it doesn't work and to top it all off you have to use the Army's un-updated or cleaned off computers. Sorry I feel better now I just had to justify myself and why I hate it.

After that I wen't to eat chow, and then I cleaned up my room, my closet is a nightmare, correction, was a nightmare, now it looks good. I went with W_____ and used his oven to make some brownies. they look amazing! thank you for the recipe today

May 16

This morning and this afternoon was all about SSD1 again, I am getting used to it, but I still don't like it. So there isn't too much to tell you about that.

but this evening was great, it started out with the shortest final formation ever. We were released at about 4:40 and I took off changed my clothes and then when I was about to leave and go get W_____ to battle buddy me to the Scout meeting tonight, he knocked on the door. So I grabbed my back pack which was filled with my computer and brownies, and we took off. we took the train to the church. While we were on the train W_____ and I started talking to this american girl who we found out was form Tennessee. We had a pretty good conversation with her, he and I usually start up random conversations with Americans on the train it is pretty fun. she was married to some lieutenant and had just been shopping down in Seoul.

Then we went to the scout meeting, It was pretty alright lots of merit badges and ranks were given out just like a normal scout meeting, They just all earned the Aviation merit badge so I missed teaching that one, however I am sure there are a lot of others I could do with them while I am here.

after the meeting we had dessert, and we had lots of good treats including cup cakes, cookies, crackers and cheese, vegetables, and brownies (which were a huge hit by the way, so thank you for getting the recipe to me). There was a little kid who kept asking me for the recipe. it was funny.

I promised W_____ to take him to dinner for coming with me to the meeting. So we went with one of the guys in our branch who showed us a Korean barbecue place where there was an all you could eat smorgasbord of meat, and other stuff. I had lots to eat, so did W_____, he didn't like the squid too much, but I thought it was good. it is kind of cool in Korea you grill the meat at your table.

Well we kind of lost track of the time so we left to catch the train at 10:00 pm, I hadn't realized that it was as late as it was. we ended up getting the 10:47 train, and too that to Uijeongbu, and the bus back to Stanley. I didn't get home until 11:45, that was late for him and me.

May 17 [Our 7 year wedding anniversary]

Today I slept in way late until about 7:00 am, after I got up I got to talk to a wonderful person for a few minutes on the computer, I am glad she took some time to be with me, thank you. I was trying to get some projects done, but I think I was at half my normal speed, and the morning went by really fast. before I knew it W_____ was knocking on my door, he had found a third person to take with us to Camp Casey to get our suits. This person had a limited window of opportunity to go, and there was really no one else to take with, so I had to leave

We got to the suit shop and we got our suits together. they looked really good. mine is a double breasted dark grey suit, with these really cool looking lapels, not like the average suit.

Everyone knew I was planning to talk to you all evening long.  So I was free to do that.  Thanks for talking to me and thanks for marrying me.

May 18

Today I wore my new suit to church, it was very good looking. It is a really nice suit. I like the way it is cut and everything. It is fun to run around in a suit. I haven't done it since I was a missionary. Here it is really funny, I could hear a lot of people commenting around W_____ as we walked around. my favorite comment of the day was "Its the CIA". That happened after I put my sunglasses on in the afternoon.

well this morning I grabbed two quick bowls of cereal, took a shower and got dressed and ran up to W_____'s room. Every time I go up there the guys that are in charge of CQ tell me that he is probably not awake yet. I always tell them that he is probably in his room, you don't have to go out of the room to get ready, I don't think they understand that for some reason. He was there and ready. he had some trash to throw out and we walked to the back of his building. it looked like it snowed, the ground was completely white with cotton from the cottonwood trees around here. it was kind of cool. yesterday we had a "snowball fight" and today I thought it would be bad to get cotton all over our new suits before church. So I left it alone.

[Brandon and I have a friend named Melissa who Brandon has known longer than he's known me.  We were all in the same singles ward at USU.  Melissa lives in Korea with her husband who is in the Army.  She happens to be in the same LDS branch as Brandon.]
This afternoon I was talking to Melissa and I mentioned the picture that I have of her on my Facebook account. W_____ saw it the other day and commented to me about it. She thought it was funny, and it sparked a interesting conversation about how the army world is small, and just how small the LDS world is in the Army. Also just how funny it was to meet up with her again in Korea. She went home and found it on Facebook and commented on it.

This is the picture. They had no idea that 8 years later they'd be hanging out in Korea.

I asked one of the Missionaries to write the address of the church and other stuff in a Korean Book of Mormon for me, after that we went back to our suit man so I could give him a book of Mormon, I don't know why but I felt like I needed to give one to him. whatever err on the side of caution I guess. He liked seeing us wearing our suits. it was cool he is like the coolest guy. today while I was wearing my suit I was thinking about that guy, he seemed to me like the Korean version of the guy from the Men's Wearhouse, "I pictured him saying "you're gonna like the way you look I guarantee it" all day long today, because I did.

May 20

This morning I went with T_____ and G____ to their Tank. They needed a ground guide and SGT G_____ was busy so I was elected. It was just like ground guiding the Brad except for the fact that I was able to ride in a tank. Pretty cool, definitely an experience to add to the many new things I have done since joining the Army. After we moved the tank we went back to the company. G____ and I were told to go help another SGT get some serial numbers from sensitive equipment. We went there and he had finished what we needed to do so we helped him put some stuff away and then were told to go to the Company. so we again walked to the other side of post (the motor pools where we work are on the opposite side of the post from where our company is, it is not that far, the Post is about as big I would say as the neighborhood that you and I live in is, but to keep walking back and forth takes the energy out of you as the day gets hotter.)

May 21

After chow I got dressed in my bathing suit and jeans and a tee-shirt. Grabbed a towel, a change of clothes, and my other stuff. and went down to the pool. when everyone finally showed up we started.

One of the younger scouts couldn't make it all the way across the pool, he wore himself out. Brother W____ jumped in and coached him on how to swim, I watched from a distance, and I thought it was cool he was showing him some strokes and telling him things to help him at the right time like take in a breath and just relax. there is no time limit for the merit badge so They went slowly and the scout ( I can't remember his name, sorry) swam twice back and forth across the pool by himself. I was very impressed. it was cool.

The two funniest parts of the night were when Brother W___ said about himself "wow I feel good I am a Leader, I just taught a kid to swim man that was cool I feel good about that" I laughed and told him to put his thumb and his finger in the shape of an "L" on his forehead, just teasing him, he did and teasing back said "This is for Leader, right? Man I feel so good". That was funny. The other funny part of the night was when we had a life guard flotation devise that the boys threw to Our drowning victim, W_____. When W_____ grabbed it the strap ripped off of it. we all had a laugh and told the Pool employee who saw it we were not sure how it happened, he was Korean, and in his Korean English accent he said, "I do, it is made in America." We all laughed pretty good at that one.

May 23

I woke up at about 6:30ish I think and talked with you on skype for a bit and then I went to Breakfast chow, I started packing my camping stuff, I ran to the store to buy a one last thing I needed. I then came home had my wonderful date with you.

Just for posterity: I had fun playing chess with you through that Google App. I had lots of fun watching those Watch Mojo top ten movie videos with you too. I will be thinking of other ideas we can do together on some Saturday sometime. Be sure to think of something we can do if the thought crosses your mind.

May 24

Well lets start from last night.

After I finished packing my things yesterday, and went to have a bit of chow, I met everyone at the pool here in Stanley. As usual I was the first one there. It seems as though being 15 minutes early to everything in the military world makes everyone want to be fifteen minutes late for everything else. Or it could be that traffic was bad. I will let you decide the truer theory.

Brother W____ was the first one there and told me he was going to drop off some stuff for the camp and he would drop off my equipment too if I wanted. I was cool with that I stayed so I could tell everyone else what was going on when they arrived. It didn't take too long before a few of the fathers showed up, I think one was a platoon SGT which is really funny because I was talking to him like he was just a regular person, I think that is the weirdest part about the Army is that when you are in uniform you really seems as though you can't even talk to a person like that without permission, but while dressed in Civilian clothes you can become quick friends. It is cool I like the fact that I can talk to other people without being overwhelmed like I used to be a long time ago. It comes in handy.

Brother P____showed up a little later but had to take off again to go get someone else. We all went with Brother W____ when he came back to where we were camping. it is less than a mile from my barracks room. the first thing we did was drop off all of the equipment then we got some ground rules and a brief on how to behave and be safe. it was really funny this was definitely a scout camp but it had a hint of military flavor in it.

I was able to start the campfire with all of the guys. I asked them where the best place was to put the fire. I gave them a few hints then we decided to put it in a small opening a few feet from the road. we then moved some rocks around to make the pit. we collected some sticks and started. We tried to do it their way and it took about five matches to not light it, then after I let them try it I showed them how to do it with one match. I became distracted by someone else when we had it going and they didn't stoke it so it died, then I had them try the log cabin fire, then a lean-to fire. we got them lighted but I let them mostly handle it. we eventually got it lit.

It was fun. we started some charcoal briquettes so we could cook the hamburgers on a grill. We cooked corn over the fire. the boys cooked Hamburgers.  Brother W____ told them how, and I helped them perfect it. I love camping it is so fun.

We went camping next to this ginormous tunnel for Army tanks. I guess it was super long I never really found time to go all of the way to the back. but before, during and a little bit after dinner the boys found time to go exploring in it. It was pretty cool.

During dinner we had this guy come and talk to us, I figured out who he was during the course of the conversation. He was a former military person, who was now in Korea teaching Elementary school (to the boys none the less) and he came to share some really cool stories with the boys and talk to them about the importance of scouting and the things you learn it was really interesting to see the boys really respect him and ask him questions about his life. it helped a ot that he was really intelligent, he was older, and had lots of stories behind him. He also was very dynamic and not boring. we should get people like him to teach military classes. it was a really cool experience.

Brother P____ talked to us for about ten minutes before bed, he told us that we were a special scout group because we were the closest scout troop to communist North Korea. I thought that was kind of cool. We took our Troop number 38 from the 38th parallel, where the original line of demarcation was drawn. I thought that was very unique to a scout troop I have never heard of anything like that in scouts before. I thought it was cool. He also told us of one of the scouts that is moving out earned some merit badges but he would not be there on the next court of honor to receive them so he gave them to him.

After the meeting, we had to get ready for bed because we were supposed to be in bed by 10. everyone got ready but Brother P____ son Steven didn't want to sleep in the cave, neither did I so we stayed by the campfire. (I wanted to just be there to keep an eye on everything.) most of the guys went to bed, Steven and I and Collin stayed up at ate a few marshmallows and some candy bars. (Brother W___ told me to call him Collin. I was like cool I can do that.) Some other scouts came out of the cave to stay warm by the fire, brother P____ yelled at them to get back in bed or they were going to have to do some sort of chores They scattered, I was snickering on the inside, glad that I was a leader, and could do what I wanted. Even so I didn't stay up too much later. I went to bed ad dealt with mosquitoes all night. I need to invest in some repellent, big time.

In the morning some scouts got up and tried to make a campfire .they were freezing from sleeping in the tunnel all night long. I let them try for a few minutes until they couldn't get it, then I helped them again. it was really funny eventually everyone woke up. and we started breakfast, we pretty much had pancakes and cinnamon rolls. Moms recipe was a hit. everyone liked them Ayden had told me that the last time they had pancakes outdoors they had fallen apart and didn't work at all. I told him it was because he wasn't using the right batter. (he had used dry pancake mix.) I gave him Mom's recipe. and showed him how to mix and pour the pancakes. They were really good, as usual. I got a lot of compliments.

After breakfast was cleaned up, and camp got packed up Collin, brought some bomb detecting equipment for us to look at. and play with. We had a bomb robot, just like the one I learned to use at NTC. The guys got a kick out of that, even the dads.

Collin showed me how to put the Bomb Suit on So I was able to help anyone put it on who wanted to try it. It Was heavy. I had fun with them I had the see if they could run with the suit on and one of the young men, Ayden, I asked to do push ups, he did it was really cool. he had fun too I wasn't making him do anything don't worry.

It was a good time. after all of the equipment was all put away, the young men played Frisbee football in the tunnel, and the leaders talked.

We then got in the cars and loaded up to go to the pool. At the Pool the scouts finished up doing the requirements for their swimming merit badge. They all floated on their backs for five minutes did some more strokes to the end of the pool and back. They also did some Improvised flotation devises. it was fun I even got in the pool. I am not sure what my problem is, it may be that I tense up, but, even if I try to stay calm, I still sink like a rock.

Everyone got their requirement complete and we finished up the camp. it was a fun day. I walked with everyone back to the cars and grabbed my backpack and sleeping bag, and came back home.

May 27

This afternoon we just did checks and services on The Brad, for most of the afternoon I was sitting in The brad letting it use gas. H_____ was working on stuff in the turret. He needed the engine on for that. I did set up some antennas and do some other stuff too. while I was in the Brad I read a really good article in the flight magazine you sent me it was about if it was easier to transition from a glass cockpit airplane to a steam gauge one, or vice verse. the writer said that as he flew a glass cockpit and tried an old fashioned one it was really hard. he wrote really well. I wish I could read a book about a pilot flying the way he wrote the article. It drew me into it I felt like I was flying in the Jump seat with him as he took off. You know when authors are so descriptive about their feelings and surroundings that you feel like you are watching the book rather than reading it, that was what it was like. and you could feel his enthusiasm for flying. It was cool. I realized that that is what this is all about. I am not a soldier in the Army I am a civilian pilot that happens to have an Army job. Hopefully, with a lot of faith, in July I will find out when my school date is to go and get at least one of those things rectified: to be an Army pilot.

May 30

Okay this afternoon.. well It started out slow but then got cool really fast. SGT M____ assigned C____ and S_____ (two other guys in S3) and me to find some lawn mowers which we were successful at. then we spent the rest of the afternoon making them run. I liked that part. I was basically in charge, no one thought I was doing a good job. until both of our lawn mowers were running. One of them had the weirdest substance in the gas tank, I think it was odor free apple juice. instead of gas. I dipped my finger in it and I couldn't even smell gas on my finger. I actually just think it was rusty water. after that was replaced we finally got it to start. I had lots of fun doing that. Then we had final formation. It was a very normal formation. After we were released I went to my room Got dressed in civilian clothes.

 I took off with C_____ and L____. It was fun to go with them. They do not get out much, so I was the tour guide of the city, it was kind of fun. After only getting slightly lost once we found the theater, and bought the tickets for X-Men, bought drinks and went in.  Yes you are right the movie was really good and I am going to talk to you about it I hope tomorrow. Also my take on watching Korean Movies.

We hopped a taxi home and got to experience some great drunkenness outside of the Gate. After a brief explanation of why I don't drink Alcohol we parted ways. I tried to use the experience as a missionary tool, I hope it worked, at least a little.

The last thing though I heard from W_____.  He e-mailed me and asked if I could be a battle buddy with him tomorrow at 9. I am slightly worried about what this is going to be about, but I will be there for him.

May 31

Lets see, the last we left off W_____ had asked me to be a battle buddy for him for Saturday morning on Friday night. That is not a confusing sentence at all. So there I was at 8:30 in the morning waking up and trying to get ready to run up there at 9:00. W_____ showed up about a minute before I was planning on leaving. and he was dressed in his uniform. I thought oh crap was I supposed to dress in that too? He assured me it was okay.

We went up to his company and Went inside of the conference room on the bottom floor everyone except me was dressed in ACUs but for whatever reason I didn't feel awkward as I found out later neither him nor I were required to be dressed up, he did it so He could show his platoon that he was a team member. I was kind of just stuck so I just went with it.

[This doesn't exactly involve Brandon so I wont go into specifics, but basically there were some misunderstandings and problems with how people in W____ company were treating him regarding his religion.]

 Long story short, they scheduled a class for W_____'s company to talk about and straighten out some things before it got too out of hand. The were going to have it Saturday morning at nine.

W_____ asked me to be his Battle buddy, and come up and help him explain what some sacred things without divulging too much information. and help answer any questions that anyone might have for him, I agreed wholeheartedly. However I was really worried about being unprepared to talk on that subject. And I wanted to be sure to keep the spirit with me if I said anything. Turns out I didn't need to say much, I was just there more or less for moral support. W_____ had found a really good talk on the subject on the Church website. which he read parts of.

He also found a good talk on Leadership in the Army which he related to his predicament. It was really good. everyone was very intrigued with his comments and pretty much they were all interested. I don't think too many of them have ever heard Mormons give speeches about their church before. Well I didn't add much but one of his platoon members asked how he could know to not offend him in the future with offering him like Alcohol and stuff like that. and I piped up in that question to say that it was okay to be friendly to Mormons, just don't get mad if they don't accept it. Other than that W_____ did perfectly, he got and answered about five or six questions afterward, and he got a written apology from the guy who did it, and he got a thank you from his sergeant, and captain saying that the platoon grew closer together from this experience. I thought it was really cool. I was as proud as could be of him. He handled the situation very well, no one got in trouble, and everyone grew from the experience.

Okay so That was before 11 on Saturday, and it continues:

At home W_____ and I got ready for the meeting we were going to have on Saturday night with Elder Cook from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. we got ready and I met with him at his place and we high tailed it to the meeting, I didn't want to be late, we left at about 4:15 pm to get there by six. two trains later, and some good pictures too. we made it to The last train stop by Where the church was. Sometimes I feel like Nephi, no matter how much research online I do I can never find out everything I need to know about where I want to go, especially when the church's meeting house locator website doesn't have a working map. (that is not why I feel like Nephi) I felt like Nephi because I decided I would go there not knowing beforehand what I should do nor where I should go, when I got there. we got to the subway stop and walked up to the street, I started to get my computer out with some written directions on it that made no sense to me and I would try to decipher them as we walked. Just then a Korean lady walked up to us, she looked nice, was in a dress, and she knew exactly what we were there for because she was going to the meeting to. She knew enough English for W_____ and I to know that we could follow her to the church, turns out it wasn't that hard. It looked like general conference weekend in Salt Lake City. white shirts and dresses everywhere. We just followed the crowds and we found the church in no time.

When we got to the chapel I ran Into President CW5 J_____ and said hi, he was way cool he asked me if I had heard back yet about my packet. I told him not until July, and we chatted for a bit.

We sat down and even though it was supposed to start at six, from what I understood, we were about ten minutes late; Luckily so was everyone else.

It was a very good meeting, it was in Korean with the English talks translated to Korean. It was cool to listen to the Conducting of the meeting. the guy said everything first in Korean then translated everything into English himself. The prayers were in Korean and The talks were both in Korean and English. They had translators.

President Christensen (the mission president) spoke first on the scripture Joshua 3:5 where Joshua is told to sanctify himself because tomorrow God will do wonders. he told us about how to sanctify ourselves and why it was important it was a really good talk.

Sister Cook spoke on 5 ways in which we could lay up treasures for ourselves in heaven namely: 1- saying prayers, 2- reading scriptures, 3- going to church meetings, 4- being of service: missionary; family; and serving one another,and 5- focusing on the temple and being temple worthy.

Elder Cook then spoke on temple work as well. He said that we need to have our families knit closer together, and that can happen through temple work.. He talked about ways in which we could strengthen our families, and gave a few examples of this and then followed it up with needing to increase our faith, and ways to do that. it was a really good meeting.

After the meeting I ran into president J_____ again, and his wife she was a sweet lady who invited W_____ and I over to dinner but I declined saying it was entirely too far to possibly go all the way to Camp Humphreys to dinner. I think as soon as she found out she felt bad for inviting us down there and not being able to deliver, But she was a really nice person just like her husband.

W_____ and I decided that we wanted to walk to the river and look at it while we were still there and could. It was a nice walk and the river was really cool to see. It has a little park on the shore that goes along the length of it at least in Seoul. We walked along the path goofing off, talking and dodging lots of bicycles. We ended up a short way down the river at a yacht club. Took a few pictures and walked back to the train. a few short hours later we were home.

It was a really long day we got home at 11:15 or so, and we had to be up and going at 5:30 the next morning to make it to the single soldier meeting by 8:00 am.