By Dean M. Andersen
My first trip to Korea was in March 1953 courtesy of the U.S. Army. At the time of my mission call to the Northern Far East Mission, I was living in Salt Lake City Utah. I arrived in Japan March 31, 1956 after a 15-day voyage on the U.S.S. President Cleveland. On May 18, 1956 President Andrus asked me to go to Korea and on June 4, 1956, Elder Newell Kimball and I left Japan for Seoul. We were the second missionary companionship to be sent to Korea. Elder Kimball and Elder Don Powell were assigned to Seoul and Elder Richard Detton and I were assigned to Pusan. I left Korea on April 6, 1959 and was released from my mission on April 8, 1959. In July of 1999 my wife Elizabeth and I returned to Korea and served in the Seoul Korea mission for 21 months. After teaching at BYU-Hawaii for 31 years, I retired and we are currently living at 9616 Swallowtail Circle, South Jordan, Utah 84095. We have 5 children and 7 grandchildren (plus one on the way).
Elder Newell Kimball and I arrived in Seoul Korea on June 4, 1956. Elder Kimball was assigned to work with Don Powell and I with Richard Detton. When Detton and I arrived in Pusan July 13, 1956, we were met by a group of members who conducted us to our home. The building we rented had a large hall downstairs for our Church meetings and rooms upstairs for missionary quarters and classrooms.
On July 16th I woke up with bites all over my body. We were infested with bed bugs. We bought a gallon can of DDT powder and spread it all over the floor and in the cracks of the walls of our apartment. The bed bugs boiled out of the crevices and we were kept busy sweeping them up with a broom and dustpan. It took several treatments to make our quarters livable.
The rats running across our ceiling at night made so much noise that we had trouble sleeping. We bought a trap and caught a rat almost every night but we still heard them. I think that as soon as we got rid of one, another one moved in in its place. When one rat was caught, the others must have hung out a "vacancy" sign. We were having a contest with the Seoul Elders to see who could catch the most rats. We were about even until we bought two traps and then we pulled ahead of them.
In September of 1956, Lee Young Bum was called as a missionary and became my companion. Elder Lee was the first Korean to be called as a missionary and the second Korean to receive the Melchizedik Priesthood. (Kim Ho Jik was the first Korean to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood). With Elder Lee as a companion we were able to begin tracting and to hold street meetings. It was a great experience to serve with Elder Lee and to be able to go out looking for investigators instead of just waiting for them to come to us.
When we first arrived in Pusan, through the help of one of the servicemen, we were able to obtain P.X. and A.P.O. privileges. This enabled our parents to send our money directly to us in the form of a check that we could cash at the P.X. When we lost our P.X. privileges we had to cash our checks at a Korean bank but this involved a waiting period of 30 to 45 days for the check to clear. Because of this I went for a period of 2 months without receiving any money. The other missionaries were having similar problems and we were in desperate financial straits. About this time we started getting our drinking water from the nearby German Red Cross Hospital. We asked them if we could buy bread from them thinking that it would be cheaper than bread on the local market. The mess sergeant loaded us up with fresh bread and canned milk, eggs, potatoes, cornmeal, jam, butter, peanut butter, tomatoes and cereal. He would not take money for it so in spite of a lack of money, we ate very well thanks to the generosity of the Germans. This supply of food continued for about two months and then ceased but by that time our money situation was straightened out.
My three extended trips to Korea, army and two missions, and three shorter trips were all great experiences-even the army and the war. They have made me keenly aware of the importance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and the lives of people everywhere. Through these experiences I more fully understand that we are all God's children, that He loves and cares about each of us and that He is waiting to bless the lives of those who accept and live His teachings regardless of where they live or the color of their skin. My prayer is that people throughout the world will be able to abandon their "gods" of war, hate, greed and lust for power and to accept the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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