In those days the missionaries were not called by The First
Presidency to go to Korea. The missionaries were called by the First Presidency
to the Northern Far East Mission and then were assigned by me to go to Korea. By
the time the Korean Mission was organized in 1962 I had assigned a total of 53
missionaries to labor in Korea and I know that I was inspired to choose the
missionaries the Lord wanted to labor there. All 53 performed magnificently
under very harsh living conditions and brought the blessings of the gospel to
many wonderful Korean brothers and sisters. How well they laid the foundation!
Ten of these fifty-three were subsequently called back to Korea as Mission
Presidents and one of them was called as a General Authority.



The most serious threat to the health of the missionaries in
Korea proved to be hepatitis. By the summer of 1958 five out of the ten
missionaries in Korea were suffering from this disease. The first responsibility
of every mission president is the well being of his missionaries so I was very
concerned, especially since I was the one who had sent these missionaries to
Korea in the first place. The full weight of the responsibility for the lives of
these missionaries rested heavily on me and me alone and I felt this burden
keenly. Nevertheless, I knew that the Lord had inspired me to send the
missionaries to Korea when I did. I knew that even though the living conditions
in Korea were austere, the time was right for the missionaries to be in Korea
and I knew that it was the will of the Lord that the missionaries remain in
Korea. I further knew that whatever obstacles might arise, these obstacles could
be overcome and that the work in Korea would go ahead. Accordingly I knew that
this problem with hepatitis could be overcome and that it would be overcome.



In August of 1958, I made a special trip to Korea to meet with the missionaries
to discuss this hepatitis problem with them.  I never had any intention
whatsoever of taking the missionaries out of Korea and I never had any intention
whatsoever of closing the Korean District. On the contrary my full intent was to
overcome all problems and build up the church in Korea as rapidly as possible.
Nevertheless, I did not feel I had the right to ask any missionary to stay in
Korea at the risk of his life if he did not want to do so of his own free will.
My purpose in going to Korea was to meet with those who had hepatitis and those
who were running the risk of getting hepatitis to find out how they themselves
felt, to discuss ways of overcoming this hepatitis problem, and to give each
missionary the opportunity to leave Korea if he wanted to leave.



I met in Seoul with all ten of the missionaries then laboring in Korea.
Unfortunately I did not record in my journal the names of the missionaries who
were in attendance, but I believe those in attendance were Elder Dean Andersen,
Elder Newell Kimball, Elder Claude Newman, Elder David Strebe, Elder Vearl
Taylor, Elder Lowell Brown, Elder Gene Till, Elder Ray Hawkins, Elder Rulon
Porter, and Elder Cline Campbell. At the beginning of the meeting I spoke of the
love their own parents had for each of them. I spoke of the love and concern for
their well being The First Presidency had for them. I spoke of the love and
concern for their well being which I personally felt. I spoke of the serious,
life-threatening nature of hepatitis and of the possibility that even more of
them would come down with this disease. Even though I was fully resolved to keep
the missionaries in Korea unless they themselves decided to leave, I did say
that one option in dealing with this problem was to take them out of Korea. The
other option was to leave them in Korea with the faith that The Lord would help
them overcome this disease. And then I asked each one of them to tell me how
they felt about this serious problem and what they felt we should do about this
problem.



Each and every missionary responded and frankly and openly expressed the
feelings of their hearts. Each and every one of them spoke of their great joy in
bringing the gospel to their Korean brothers and sisters. Each and every one of
them spoke of their conviction that they had been called by the Lord to serve in
Korea at this time. Each and every one of them spoke of their great desire to
remain in Korea and complete their missions there. Each and every one of them
spoke of their faith in the Lord and their trust in the Lord to take care of
them. Each and every one of them declared they were willing to die in Korea and,
if it was the will of the Lord that they die in his service in Korea, there was
no better place to die. And as each and every one so spoke he wept openly and
freely. As each and every missionary so spoke and so wept, each of us in the
room also wept openly and freely. These were not tears of pain or of sorrow.
These were tears of unspeakable joy. These were not a few tears shed at the end
of the meeting. These were tears profusely shed throughout this sacred meeting
from beginning to end. And as we felt this unspeakable joy our hearts were knit
together in holy love for each other and for our Lord and Master. No one who was
in that meeting will ever forget the feelings we all felt there.



The outcome of this meeting came as no surprise to me. Under the inspiration of
the Lord I had handpicked each of these missionaries to labor in Korea and I had
full confidence in their devotion and their faithfulness. In anticipation of the
outcome of this meeting and prior to this meeting, I had turned to D&C
103:27-28 and read again those inspiring words of the Lord. After each
missionary had spoken I spoke, and as I spoke I continued to weep and all of us
continued to weep together. I said I felt the same as they felt. I said that I
knew they had all been called by the Lord to serve in Korea. I said I knew that
the Lord wanted them in Korea and that he wanted them to stay in Korea, even at
the peril of their lives. And then I read D&C 103:27-28."Let no man be
afraid to lay down his life for my sake; for whoso layeth down his life for my
sake shall find it again. And whoso is not willing to lay down his life for my
sake is not my disciple."



As this meeting, made sacred by the presence of the spirit of
the Lord and by the holy feelings of unspeakable joy we all felt, drew to a
close, our hearts were all united as one. Every one of us rejoiced in the
knowledge that all of the missionaries would remain in Korea and the holy work
of bringing the gospel to our Korean brothers and sisters would go on without
interruption.



By 1962 the church in Korea had grown and matured to the point that The First
Presidency decided to divide the Northern Far East Mission and organize the
Korean Mission. This was made possible through the devoted hard work of the
missionaries and members in Korea, and through the devoted hard work of the
mission headquarters staff in Tokyo. There were now over 1600 Korean members
organized into four branches in Seoul and one branch in Pusan and each branch
was meeting in its own respectable church-owned property. The church was
officially recognized and organized according to Korean law. The First
Presidency called Gail Carr, who had served in Japan and Korea as one of our
missionaries, to be the first President of the Korean Mission. The First
Presidency also authorized me to organize the Korean Mission and install
President Carr as President. Thus it was that at a special conference in Seoul
on Sunday July 8, 1962, the Korean Mission came into existence. 



Sister Andrus and I treasure our experiences in Korea with the missionaries and
with the members. These experiences have forged a bond of everlasting love in
our hearts which binds us together forever as friends and as brothers and
sisters. We count the missionaries and the members with whom we worked as our
friends forever and we look forward to continuing our love and friendship
forever.


With aloha to all from Paul and Frances Andrus.




The first property purchased by the church in Korea was in an area of Seoul by the name of Yurak Dong.

President & Sister Andrus at the property in May 1957