Temple moments: Timeless ideals
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Song, Pyung Jong was a child on Korea's Kohung Peninsula where he "grew up full of the joy that comes from wandering among the plains, the mountains and the seashore.
"While I watched the beautiful fields ripen with rice plants and other grains in the fall, and the ebb of the tide in the evening, I lived dreaming of and pursuing timeless ideals," he wrote in his history.
His idyllic wandering, however, melted away as he grew older and moved to Seoul for schooling; in the midst of the harsh realities of studies, timeless ideals seemed far away. But in this new setting he was introduced to the missionaries by a friend and was baptized in 1961. Following his graduation from university, he married Yang Gu Young, and they eventually became parents of three sons, of whom he was justifiably pleased. As his life in the Church continued, Brother Song served as bishop's counselor, bishop, stake president's counselor and stake president.
In 1980, while serving as bishop, he was invited to attend general conference in Salt Lake City. "My heart leapt as I saw the Salt Lake Temple off at a distance as the airplane was arriving in Salt Lake City," he recalled. That same year he received his endowments, was called to the stake presidency, and attended the dedication of the Tokyo Japan Temple.
While attending the dedication of the Tokyo temple, "our leaders gave sincere prayers asking the Lord to provide the way for a temple to be built in Korea," he said.
That prayer was answered, and in 1986, he and his wife, and their sons Won-Sang, Won-ju, and Won Chol were sealed in the new Seoul Korea Temple. Later, Brother Song was called as an ordinance worker, his childhood dream of pursuing timeless ideals crystallized in a way he never expected.
"I am exceedingly thankful for my membership in the kingdom of God, the restored gospel, and joy that I've received from doing temple ordinances," he said. "I testify that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true Church of God." — from The Korean Saints, Personal Stories of Trial and Triumph, compiled and edited by Spencer J. Palmer and Shirley H. Palmer.
