BLOG #77. Hi Ho Hi Ho Hokkaido here we go (went)

Well we have one week to go.  So this past week was very busy with many different last things along with our anticipated trek to Hokkaido/Sapporo.  Now its down for the count with intense cleaning, packing and prepping to depart Zama, then Japan.  So this past week we enjoyed a few more last times along with a special Zone Conference and our short jaunt outside the mission.

Monday Elder Nelson was asked to teach one last photography session with some Japanese ladies who work on Camp Zama and have to take pictures of training and visitors for their organization. They are always very kind and attentive.  Meanwhile Sister Nelson had one last flurry of baking to do on behalf of the Red Cross for a Coffee Cart event on Tuesday.  Afterwards, we began working off our cleaning checklist that Sister Nelson put together.  Working off this daunting checklist will take well into next week to accomplish.

Tuesday we resumed cleaning after doing a little morning exercise.  Sister Nelson saw a very pretty butterfly on her walk that morning.  She manages to log about 12 to 14,000 steps every day before day's end. Elder Nelson's feet won't handle that much walking at present.  Later on Tuesday we tuned into a Mission Wide Zoom conference that began an official "Mission Tour" by one of new members of the Asia North Area presidency, Elder Teh,  We spent the rest of Tuesday delivering "introduction cards" that told the people we have been working with that we are really leaving and what our replacements look like so they can welcome them in.  We also got ourselves packed up for our trip which would start Wednesday afternoon.

Wednesday we traveled to (bus/train/walk) Fujisawa for a special Zone Conference as a part of the aforementioned Mission Tour for Elder Teh (and Sister Teh). We enjoyed the conference, seeing all of the missionaries, most for the last time, and being taught by our mission leaders and our visiting General Authority.  Elder Nelson took the Zone Picture (for the last time) and then we were on our way.  Our Senior Missionary friends, the Allens offered to give us a ride to downtown Tokyo (New Sanno Hotel) so we didn't have to walk/bus/train it there. We spent some time visiting with them on the way and once we got to the hotel. We have made some dear friends in the Senior Missionary couples we have served with.  A real blessing to meet and get to know these great folks.  Later we went to dinner and enjoyed a nice, if not pricey, meal...very Japanese style...Okonomiyaki and Yakisoba.  And we got the "Japanese Suite" room at the New Sanno Hotel just for fun. 

Thursday our adventure to Hokkaido began after a nice hotel breakfast. We walk/trained it to the Tokyo Station and found our way to the Shinkansen (BulletTrain) terminal. Our total travel by train experience to Sapporo would take about 8 hours.  Half of that was on the "Shinkansen" and the other half on a "Express" train in Hokkaido (that stopped everywhere...grueling) It was fun to see the different countryside of northern Honshu and then Hokkaido. Hokkaido is where Elder Nelson served his mission as a "young missionary" some 49ish years ago. We made it to our destination about 9pm. We stayed at the Sapporo Grand Hotel until we left to return on Sunday.. It was an older but very nice hotel. 

Friday was our greatly anticipated trip to visit and attend a session at the Sapporo Japan Temple.  Wow, what a beautiful Temple. The temple grounds are very large and beautifully landscaped.  Angels must have attended the real estate acquisition for that kind of land in Japan. Much larger than most temple grounds we have seen. The Temple itself includes many aspects of Japanese history and culture built into the architecture and furnishings. What a tremendous blessing for the saints from the Hokkaido area.  After attending a temple session we took some time and found a nice couple we knew from Tokyo that were serving as Senior Missionaries. The Mission office for the Sapporo Mission is on the same grounds as the Temple.  We were able to briefly visit with Elder and Sister Mori and they introduced us to one of the Service missionaries who had been a Bishop and was also the crane operator that topped the Sapporo Temple with the Angel Moroni statue.  The Mori's gave a ride to the train station and we retuned to our hotel and then ventured out for a nice dinner -- Yakiniku, featuring a lot of "Wagyu" beef.   Pricey, but delicious.

Saturday we got an early start to join a tour to an area in the middle of Hokkaido famous for farming and flowers.  After about a 2 hour ride to "there," we visited three distinct places along with a stop for lunch. We stopped at the Biei Blue Pond, then lunch --buffet, featuring Yubari Melons (which looked and tasted like Cantaloupe) and typical tourist trap gift store. We then visited the Tomita Farms which is noted for its growing and production of Lavender based items.  Supposedly Furano Lavender gives any Lavender grown in France a good run for the money.  The Lavender had already been harvested this year, but there were fields of beautiful flowers to enjoy, See pictures.  Lastly, we stopped briefly at place adjacent to a fancy hotel and Ski Resort.  The area is called the Ningle Terrace.  Ningle is a small dwarf like person who according to the Author, lived in the forest in little houses and made crafts.  The setting was stunning and serene as well.  See pictures.   Afterwards, we made the 2 hour return drive and got back to our hotel about dinner time.  We ventured out for a "Sapporo Ramen," but it wasn't that great.  

Sunday we traveled home.  We opted to fly home from Sapporo instead of doing the Shinkansen again. We flew into Haneda Tokyo airport and then trained it home the rest of the way. We got back, tired but satisfied with our journey about 5pm.  

It was a unique and special week for us,  This week will be also unique as we have pretty much unplugged ourselves from all of our normal activities and will focus on getting ready to leave. By this time next week we will be back home in West Jordan, feeling blessed for what we have been able to experience and blessed for being back home. 

Elder and Sister Nelson

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BLOG #76 Some more “Last times”

Week 76  Some more “Last Times”

This was clearly a week of many lasts. Every day was a reminder that we were nearing the end of this wonderful experience. We are grateful that each time we say goodbye, we know we have enjoyed each moment along the way. So many good people have touched our lives, and we will always be grateful for this time. 

For those of you who aren’t aware, I married a man who loves to keep an updated and current calendar. I have used a calendar at certain times, especially when I was keeping track of all the family comings and goings, but Elder Nelson has always been a calendar guy. He has been so great at keeping everything straight on our many mission activities. This past week, the “calendar” indicated we would be cleaning and packing, foregoing most other regular activities. Well…sometimes adjustments have to be made. 

We did a little around the apartment on Monday, but nothing too serious. We headed to the train station about 2 pm for our last time with the Senior Missionaries FHE group at the temple annex. They only get together quarterly because many couples have to travel so far. We all gathered for a potluck with our Area Presidency and their wives. It’s always nice to see all the hard-working couples that serve so faithfully here in Tokyo. We were glad to be able to say goodbye to so many. 

After that, we RON (Army language for Remain OverNight) at the New Sanno hotel so we wouldn’t be traveling back too late on the trains. We found out the hard way that when you get back after 10 pm, the busses stop running and you have to walk a mile to get home. Anyway, we had a nice stay and joined another MRM couple, Rod and Michelle Allen, for breakfast in the morning.

The Allen’s are serving at the Yokouska Naval Base, about an hour from Zama. We have enjoyed getting to know them. They are from the  Reno area and tell us that after the mission, they are thinking of moving to Utah to be by their grandkids. So hopefully we will see them again. 

After breakfast, we headed to the train station, and Elder Nelson made a brief stop in Roppongi to get a t-shirt at the Hard Rock Café. He has a collection from just about everywhere he/we have ever visited. If they have a Hard Rock, he can find it. It was pretty hot that day, so by the time we got back to the apartment, we were not in the mood for cleaning and packing. 

On Wednesday, we managed to pack some boxes to take to the Post Office. We have received so many nice gifts from friends here that we won’t have enough room in our two suitcases each. We did a dry run, packing up what we plan on taking, just to see if it would fit, and I think we will be okay. 

That night, our two YSA guys invited us to a farewell dinner at a very nice Yakiniku restaurant. The kind where you cook the meat at the table with lots of side dishes and rice. The Meltons also joined us, and we had a great time. We will miss Hosea and Eric. They have been great in supporting our efforts with the YSA. We have several others, but most of them are “underway” with the Navy on a ship somewhere. They will return in November. 

Thursday was not going to be a cleaning/packing day either because we were helping for the last time with the Camp Zama Newcomers’ Orientation. We start at 7 am until about 1 pm. Many people from the community come to give a briefing on their organization and it was nice to be able to say goodbye to them as well. This volunteer opportunity is sponsored by ACS (Army Community Service) and they surprised us with a certificate of appreciation and a Sayonara Doll. (see pictures) The doll is actually a scroll that people can sign and leave short messages on. We have been so grateful to serve with these wonderful people. 

After the Orientation, we scurried over to the Commissary to stock up on food for the missionaries at our last District Council meeting the next day. 

We chose to take tacos for the district lunch, and so on Friday, we packed all the things up in our bags and backpacks and headed off on the train one last time to the church building. We have thoroughly enjoyed the district meetings and the chance to witness the hard work all the young elders and sisters do every day. They are truly an inspiration to both of us. 

Since we had done very little on our plan to clean the apartment this week, we came home from the district council, took a brief nap, and deep-cleaned the bedroom. Both of our backs are kind of wonky, so moving the bed around was not the best, but we managed to find all the dust bunnies hiding underneath and felt good that we had accomplished that particular job. We also cleaned out the entryway, known as a genkan. A traditional entryway area to remove your shoes and put them in a cabinet or line them up nicely on the floor. In Japan, wearing shoes inside a house is unclean and considered disrespectful. (This causes one to make sure one's socks don’t have holes.)

On Saturday, we had arranged a short sightseeing trip with the Meltons, but Sister Melton wasn’t feeling well, so we dedicated the whole day to cleaning. We washed all the curtains and rugs and even shaved the couch. It had a lot of pilling, and I have a handy shaver that took care of that. And since we haven’t done our last baking yet, I made four loaves of banana bread for activities coming up next week. 

Sunday was our last one in the branch. It was especially nice that they chose to also have a potluck that day, and we were able to say goodbye to all of the great members who have supported and loved us. I took pictures of most of the tables of members. (see pictures) We hope we will see some of them again sometime. The branch also signed a Sayonara doll for us. We will miss those associations as well. 

We did have one last Zoom meeting with all the MRM couples in the stake. It was kind of strange to be hearing about upcoming events and things and know that we will be far away in another country doing are everyday things. Many people ask us what is next for us, and we don’t really have a concrete plan. Coming home, putting our house back together, spoiling grandkids, seeing other family members, and taking a breath is our usual response. 

We still have a few more things to do in the apartment, and this week we are heading up to Hokkaido for a short trip to the place that Elder Nelson served as a missionary almost 50 years ago. We don’t have a lot of time, but it will be nice to see some more of Japan. Last time we were here, we went up to the Snow Festival there in January. Very cold and tons of snow. It will definitely look different this time. We are taking the Shinkansen (bullet train) there. It is an 8-hour trip. So, things to see along the way, a really good book, and maybe a nap will be a nice finish to this amazing experience of serving in Japan. 

So the week was busy and some things took priority over the apartment but we still have a few more days to get it ready for the Singleton’s.  We have enjoyed our little space here in Japan and are looking forward to our trip to Hokkaido. More on that next week.  

Love to all, 
Elder and Sister Nelson