Kimchi on my Mind 내 마음에 김치

Brother Stephen Lett of the Governing Body was visiting for a Zone Visit, and there was a Special Meeting today! First we considered the Watchtower lesson, then the talk: Serve Jehovah with a Complete Heart

Some highlights:
Jehovah examines, estimates, and searches our figurative heart. (Prov 17:3, 21:2, 1 Chron 28:9)
Our figurative heart being what we are on the inside, our total personality, our motivations, affection, desires, and emotions.


Our outside appearance is deceptive. Just like a beautiful piece of fruit that we bite into and find it rotten, we throw it away and don't keep it in the bowl just to look pretty. We know the value, inside its rotten. Jehovah examines us in the same way.

So have a COMPLETE HEART, not a double-heart or a half-heart.

This is the Four-Part Complete Heart
Maintenance Program - spiritual heart tonic:
1. Earnest Prayer
2. Read God's Word daily and regular personal study
3. Zealously share in the ministry
4. Associate regularly with those of like faith

Under the 3rd point, he encouraged young ones to consider keeping the full-time ministry as a goal. A secular career can get you so far in life, but how far? How far would Jesus have gone with a secular education? He was perfect, would have been the best in his class. Could have created and invented amazing things. Could have been an excellent businessman, very rich. How about as an athlete, which was extremely popular then? With specific training he would out-perform anyone. Or even a physician -- he could raise the dead! But what do we know about Jesus and his choice of education and career? He saw the difference between the temporary benefits of the world, and put his real focus on his ministry. Why should we think any different?

Sarah, Amber, Jane, Keri

And so much more I will have to tell you more about from my notes when I see you later!
But we all agreed the overwhelming feeling we had at the end was just so happy to be there, and so happy to be a part of our unified, worldwide brotherhood. If you're not a part, you can't understand. I showed up this week from the other side of the world, not speaking any Korean, and here I am in a crowd of nearly 7,000. We all sang the same song, reviewed the same Watchtower lesson, and then had a wonderful discourse that made sense and applied to all of us.

I was able to meet some of the sisters sitting behind us too, Rebecca and Sarah, they are part of the Russian-language congregation in Seoul.

After that spiritual feast, we met with some friends for coffee, and then headed to the mall and the Kimchi museum!

The mall is huge! Lots of fancy little shops. And touch screen mall directories. And pretty lights and decorations. And a Samsung tablet station where they were drawing caricatures  And I bought something!!! Alright, it was shoes. But they're so Korean, and Keri!
I can't wait to wear them.

called pomagrante kimchi, due to
the shape of the cabbage that surrounds the radish

So this Kimchi museum was actually quite informative. I learned that original recipes for kimchi did not involve cabbage. And that the term can really be applied to a number of different fermented vegetables. And that the kimchi changes with the season, and the region of Korea. Some kimchi is made to be softer to chew, and this is respectful to serve for elderly ones.








I also learned how its made now:
1. salt the cabbage
2. prepare the seasonings: garlic, ginger, and red pepper
3. prepare the other vegetables: shred radish, green onion, watercress, and mustard leaves, with salt & minced fermented small shrimp.
4. mix items from steps 2 & 3 well.
5. stuff this seasoning mix into the layers of the rinsed cabbage, keeping it in tact.
6. wrap the cabbage with some outer leaves, put in the clay pot and cover.

old-man style

let's make some tonight!

Kimchi is an excellent source of vitamins A and C, calcium, phosphorus, and iron. It is a low calorie, high fiber food. Lots of antioxidants and lactobacilli (4x more than yogurt) so its good for your intestinal tract, and lowers cholesterol. Basically, its a perfect food.

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

more kimchi!

It didn't take us too long to see everything, but I feel much more confident when I eat my kimchi. Actually I was hungry for it when we left.

But we got some bubble tea instead.

is this the tasting room?

we found the hats

And for dinner we had a similar style mean, this time it was marinated beef! I had some white radish kimchi, and regular kimchi, and even ate the bean curd soup with little mushrooms!! So delicious, we were all so full.

that's a scoop of mashed potatoes, its mixed
with things like green peas and apples

yep, sweatpants