Zone Training / Tokyo Temple!

First of all, we were surprised to see this display at the supermarket the other day!

Looks like there's going to be some Halloween celebrations!

There's been a little demo going on in the neighborhood.  Now they're beginning to pour footings.  They poured an 8 inch thick cement footer for the foundation of the house to rest on.  It had no rebar in it.  Then they installed clips on the footer to help hold the rebar for the floor which will be poured soon.  You can't tell from the photo, but the rebar spacing is about 1 foot square for the whole foundation.  Rebar everywhere.  So it looks like the footer is there to allow for movement in the house in case of earthquakes, but the floor of the house is going to be very strong.

We had a visit this week from one of our Area Presidency.  Elder Scott Whiting of the 70 and his wife came to visit the mission.  On Thursday they had a meeting in the northern part of the mission and on Friday, we met in Sendai.  We had a very good meeting.  We were taught what it means to be "Highly Favored" and how to become so.

Elder L. and K. Choro were good at taking notes for us as we discussed Nephi's qualities.  We talked about how different things would have been if Laman and Lemuel had been more like Hyrum Smith and supported their younger brother instead of being jealous of him.

It was also great to see our missionaries!  We love them.

Saturday was our stake temple day.  A couple from our ward invited us to ride with them.  We had to get permission from our Area President in order to leave the mission.  They are temple workers and they go to the temple once a month.

They picked us up at 11:30 pm on Friday, handed us each a blanket and we got as comfortable as we could and started driving to Tokyo.  We made a couple of pit stops to switch drivers, then kept going.  We started to come into the city around 4 am.  They have some crazy express ways and interchanges there.  Good thing they knew where they were going!  

We got to the temple around 5 am and slept for a while.  When it began to get light, we walked around the neighborhood for a while.  It had been many years since Alan had been there, but he kind of knew where he was.  There's a lovely park across the street.  There are several embassies in the neighborhood, so there's lots of foreigners in the area too.  There is a story with a lot of imported food.  We got a can of A & W Root Beer to bring home.

It's hard to get a good view because of all the trees and electrical wires!

This house was in the neighborhood behind the temple.

The parking lot has an elevator to get cars up to the next two levels.

Our stake session was at 8:00.  It was nice to see many familiar faces that we knew from Sendai.  We enjoyed being at the temple.  It was larger inside than I expected.  I did have trouble with a door for the bathroom in the waiting room.  Until Alan realized that "duh, we're in Japan.  It's a sliding door!"

After the session, we began the trip back to Sendai.  It was around 1 pm when we left.  We passed by the Tokyo Tower and the new Sky Tower.  We had seen them in the dark, but it was nice to see them in the daylight too.

It's kind of a good trick to get a photo while driving by!

Alan talked Brother Satou into driving home a little different way so we could go to Costco.  They could not imagine what would be so great about a big American store, but I think they liked it!  It was kind of tricky to find.  It looked like lots of people had found it.  Very crowded!

There are many familiar standard items at the Costco.  Muffins, bagels, corn chips, chocolate chips.  Throw in a few local specialties like sushi and who knows what kind of fish & sea weed and rice cakes and you have some happy customers.  We even saw a sumo wrestler looking guy walking through the store.  (Didn't dare take his photo!)

One thing very interesting is how the people got in line to get their samples!  No pushing and shoving here!

Lots of cash registers open and someone had to direct traffic to get everyone checked out.

The food court was a big hit.  All the tables inside were full and the outside tables were full as well.  It looks like Costco is going to do very well in Japan!

We continued on our way and made it back to Sendai just before 9 pm.  There was an accident somewhere along the highway and that slowed us down quite a bit.

We really admire the Satous for their dedication to make this trip every month.  And we thought it was hard to get to Mesa once a month!  The gas is expensive and there are tolls on the expressways that run about $100 each way.

We brought a few goodies back for our missionaries.  Let's just say that we have some Happy Happy Missionaries in Tagajo this week!

Our sisters did a great job on their musical number today.

Tako Party; Sea Shore

After church last week, the Tagajo Ward held a "Tako Yaki" Party.  This is not the Mexican tacos that we all know and love, but tako (as in octopus) cooked inside a little round ball with onions, cheese, who knows what.  It could have shrimp, squid, hot dog pieces?  Anyway it's a pretty fun party dish (as long as you're not the one cooking).  Reminded me of abelskivers, which I have never had either, but it's like a round ball of pancake type batter with something inside.

And of course, Alan had to give it a try!

While they were cooking, the missionaries did some practice lessons and some sisters did their Visiting Teaching.

On Tuesday afternoon, we went out shopping for some supplies for the emergency packs, and also getting some things for a new couple that's coming soon.  The shop was close by the ocean, so we decided to see if we could get close enough to walk by the shore for a while.

They have built a huge wall all along the shore line here.  It is right behind the Sendai Airport.

This photo shows that this area was once covered with houses and farms.

Almost everything was washed away by the tsunami.  It's hard to imagine the force of that wave.  From up on this little hill you can see the ocean over the barricade.  You can hear the waves.  It would have been a lovely time to stroll along the beach, but you can't get to it.

There are a few raised hills that you can go up to look out.  They are building an area behind the wall with barricades and planing trees among them.

One lonely building remains.

As you get nearer, you can see that it suffered much damage.

Lots of work still to do.

It is a beautiful place with a somber mood.  One of the members in our ward lost his son in the flood.  One of the men at the factory in Kakuda lost his family and home.  It's hard to imagine.

Wednesday was another dentist appointment.  It is my final appointment.  One more puppet show!

Sunday afternoon, we took a ride to Yamagata to deliver a bike to a sister missionary.  It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the scenery.  We came across a few more unusual warning signs.  I'm afraid this is too blury to see, but it was for a chimpanzee??  Anyway, some kind of monkey.

You may have to just take my word for it, but it's interesting here!

August 30

The weather here is beginning to change a bit.  I'm hoping the worst of the summer is behind us.  The sisters tell me that September can still be hot, but we did have to break out a blanket this week.  So, we'll see.

We had a more "normal" week this time.  No delivery trips to the far reaches of the mission.  It was nice to have some at home time.  There was a stake priesthood meeting Saturday afternoon.

On Monday, we had Family Night at the Mission Home.  They hold it every last Monday of the month.  We had a good turn out of visitors and members and missionaries.

President Smith is leading the opening song "This is the Night We've Waited For"

Alan told Elder Uchtdorf's story about being off by "A few Degrees"  One of the members translated and did a great job.

Elder Taylor whipped out his harmonica for a couple of songs.

And the elders taught everyone how to play "Ninja".  Well, almost everyone.  We went in to help get the ice cream ready.  It was a great night.

Some good news from home last week is that our Jacob had his Eagle Court of Honor.  Way to go Jacob!  

His brother Michael will be next!

This week at the office, I was able to get the newsletter ready to send out.  We put it out every six weeks after transfers.  Learning some new computer tricks!  But we got it done.  A former missionary has volunteered to do the Japanese translation for us.  When he sent in the translation, he mentioned that he had met someone down near the Tokyo area that had met two of our elders a while back.  They made such a good impression on him, that he decided to find the church near Tokyo.  It's another interesting connection that pops up in missionary work!

In Brother Dowdy's words: 

Also, I wanted to share an inspiring story with you. I visited some friends in Tokyo this past week and when I showed up to church (about an hour and a half early), there was a man waiting at the door. His name was Usami-san and he said he had met the missionaries who had invited him to come to church. Through the course of the conversation, he showed me a meishi that the missionaries had given him. I looked at it, not thinking much as I assumed it was the missionaries there in Tokyo. But as I glanced at the bottom left corner where the address is written, I noticed that it was to your office: the Japan Sendai Mission Office! Upon further prodding, Mr. Usami told me that two missionaries (Elders Cox and Tsushima) had stopped him while he was on vacation somewhere in Fukushima prefecture and talked to him a bit about the purpose of life. Mr. Usami had recently lost his job and is trying to take care of his parents, and since he had accepted the elders' invitation to go to church, he figured it was time for a fresh start and wanted to try and find out more about the bible and God. It had been nearly four months since he had met Elders Cox and Tsushima, but they left a lasting impression on Mr. Usami and he had nothing but good things to say about them. In fact, if it wasn't for them, he never would have come to church. I'm assuming they don't know that he visited church. They may never know. But that day my testimony was strengthened. There are undoubtably so many small and simple things that the Lord helps bring to pass each day that we don't ever recognize or even have the chance to see. We will never know the effect our actions and faith have on everyone that we meet. While we can't know the far-reaching effects of our righteous endeavors, we can rest assured that, as it says in PMG, "no effort is wasted." This is the Lord's work! No matter how small we feel our contributions may be, the Lord will make sure that miracles happen!

Anyways, just thought I'd share that story with you (and feel free to pass it on to those Elders...let them know the missionaries in Sagamihara, Machida Stake, are working with Mr. Usami). 

The Smiths, Elder Taylor, Alan and our new assistant to the president all need to get Japanese driver's licenses.  They have spent a couple of afternoons filling out paperwork and preparing for the written test.  They have appointments in a couple of weeks to take the test, then an eye test and a driving test.  Apparently it's highly unusual for anyone to pass the first time.  And we thought the driving test at the DMV was a pain.

And, we went to Tagajo on Wednesday for English.  I was all prepared for the children's class, but no children came.  (It was a rainy night.)  So, now I'm all prepared for next time.

We also went to Kakuda again on Thursday.  One of the men in my group asked about licorice.  So, I brought some to share.  They were not as thrilled as they should have been, but polite as always.

Sister Shitami moved into a new apartment this week.  The apartment she's been staying in has been used by the senior missionaries here for 17 years (!)  We will not be using it any longer.  Plenty of stuff has accumulated there over the years.

I took these photos a few weeks ago after church.  It was almost the only sunny Sunday we've had!  These are harbor tour boats that they use out by Tagajo.

These dolfins are used to hold rods to block traffic.  We've also seen pandas, pigs and other creatures.