Mormon volunteers' kimchee adds fire to 'Land of the morning calm'
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SEOUL, KOREA
"Kimchee" is a word that stirs up all kinds of emotions among those who have experienced it — an "experience" people seldom forget. For native Koreans, kimchee and rice are traditional mainstays of their diet. For others, the first taste of this hot peppery vegetable may be followed immediately by a rapid inhaling and exhaling of air interspersed by gulps of cool water in an effort to get rid of the "fire."
For Mormon missionaries called to serve in Korea, kimchee is usually an acquired taste — small bites with lots of rice in the beginning, and two years later they can't do without it. Some say kimchee is one of the reasons returned missionaries' hearts never quite leave Korea.
On a beautiful fall day common to this "Land of the Morning Calm," 52 of these missionaries from the Korea Seoul Mission, supported by a cadre of expert kimchee-maker-sisters from the Seoul Korea Stake, gathered with over 2000 other citizens on Wednesday, Nov. 11, for "kim-jang" — a seasonal preparation of kimchee for the winter. But this three-day event was done in a spirit of community service, with truckloads of prepared kimchee destined to feed children and others living in difficult conditions.
This activity, made possible by the local government, corporate sponsors, and the combined efforts of the citizens of Seoul, surely exemplifies the dictum of King Benjamin: "… when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God." (See Mosiah 2:17.) Truly, service is kindness in action.
