Blog #78. The Last One.

The Last Mission Blog.  Wow.  This week started as "Elder and Sister Nelson" working hard to get things ready to go, other things finished, a few more good-byes, and more.  The week ended early Sunday morning when we were released, and instantly become just Brother and Sister Nelson...back home and onto whatever "next" will be.  

Monday we were in our final "clean the apartment" mode. And on Thursday when we walked away, this apartment had probably not been this sparkling clean in a while!  Cleaning and packing ensued for the rest of Monday and Tuesday.  Monday evening we participated in the weekly Mission-Wide Zoom meeting. All of the departing missionaries, including us shared our testimonies. It was very special.

Tuesday evening we had a farewell dinner.  Chaplain Chris Wallace and his wife Kelli invited us over for dinner.  Chaplain Damon Saxton and his wife Christine joined us as well. Both of these fine Chaplains have been very kind to us and we consider them good friends.  We are hoping that we will cross paths again sometime. 

Tuesday, after our nice dinner, we had to pack!  Why, because on Wednesday morning a shipping service was scheduled to pick up 2 of our 4 suitcases to take the airport.   So, we had to make sure that the suitcases that were to be picked up had stuff we wouldn't need the rest of the week and were maxed out for weight.  Through that process we identified a few more things to mail and the rest would have to go in our remaining suitcase, carry-on, and "personal item" allowed by Delta.  We also continued the final cleaning, washing, and such for our apartment. 

Wednesday, the "BlackCat" service picked up our two bags and we would see them again at the airport on Saturday. We then went over to Camp Zama and attended a farewell of sorts at the Red Cross.  One of the Red Cross big wigs had come to visit, so it was an open-house for him and a "thank you" event for us and one other volunteer who was also leaving. We also picked up prescription refills to carry us over until we can get plugged in back home with our Health Care providers. We made one final trip to the Atsugi Post Office and terminated our Japanese phone service.  All was on track (or so we thought).

Thursday morning we got an early morning notice that two of the young Sister missionaries were going to move into our apartment because of mold problems in their apartment. The move in would be TODAY, but only until our replacements came (later in the month). Sister Nelson was none too happy that someone was going to move into our recently clean apartment, with new sheets, towels, etc.  Sometimes you just have to smile and drive on.  We were ready to go, but we now needed to wait for the Sisters to arrive - they didn't get much notice either.  We had to show them the ins and outs of our apartment and give them the key as we left.  So we left later than we had planned... We had made reservations to travel into Tokyo and stay at the New Sanno hotel Thursday and Friday night.  THE NEW SANNO is about 5 minutes (by car) to the Mission office and Temple.  Thursday was also the last drive (without a license) we would make in our mission car.  By the time we got there on Thursday we were DONE.

Friday, we thought might be more relaxing...but NO, the mission office had other plans. :) Of course. It was "Transfer Day" for everyone else in the mission.  Actually for us too. It was our First and Last transfer; however, we did get to see the craziness of Transfer Day as all the missionaries transferring, going home, getting new companions, etc. all converged on the Mission office...and did we mention that we were doing a Typhoon" of sorts that day?  Oh yes,  Torrential rain.  Later on Friday we had a final interview with our Mission Leader President Tueller.  We pretty much hung out at the Mission HQ area the rest of the day.  That evening the Tueller's had all of the departing missionaries over to their home for dinner and a testimony meeting.  We got back to our hotel late in the evening and had to do one final packing check before crashing for the night.

Saturday was the day.  Travel day, but not quite.  We had a Temple reservation for the morning. It was a great way to conclude things.  We also got to see a few more of our Japanese friends from our time serving at the Tokyo Temple.  Afterwards, we turned in our car keys and met up with our ride for the airport. Two vans loaded with missionaries and suitcases headed to Haneda International Airport just before noon.  Our flight wasn't until 4pm; however, we had to get our bag that we had taken to the airport earlier, then check in with the airline, then do Japanese "emigration" out, then security, then on to the gate. By that time we weren't really too early...it was after 3pm.

Wheels up (as we say) was around 4pm on a Delta jet bound for Seattle. We had upgraded to Comfort Plus" (which was still pretty cramped) Airline seats and graham crackers get smaller every year I think. Both of made a goal to finish reading the Book of Mormon while we were taking in the 9 hour flight.  Along with reading, cat napping, and watching a movie, we endured the flight.  Seattle was a 2 hour layover over, but we got to do the bag drag through US immigration/customs then recheck our bags and on to the gate. Our final flight was on a smaller Delta plane and it was a bumpy ride, so no snacks or drinks...blah. We did get a cool view of Mt Rainier while flying by.

We landed in Salt Lake City, on time :), about 2:30pm. We were greeted by a wonderful contingent of family and friends holding banners and more.  We enjoyed lots of hugs and it couldn't have been a more wonderful welcome home.  After grabbing our luggage we hauled it out to waiting cars in the parking lot. After we figured out who was riding where, we made our way to The Spaghetti Factory for a nice dinner. 

We had a few overnight guests our first night home.  Kristin came up from Arizona so we could meet, hold, and play with our newest granddaughter Holly who we hadn't met yet.  Also, our two newest college granddaughters Emily and Corrinne came up from SUU to welcome us home too. Busy day and late night visiting...meanwhile we were starting to feel the jet lag.

We had a 0630 meeting with our Stake President to formally release us as full-time missionaries. He asked us a lot of questions about what we did. Our Mission President sent a letter with us that he read as well.  After our very nice visit with him, he asked us to share our thoughts briefly at the Stake High Council meeting that started at 7am.  After that, we went home as Brother and Sister Nelson to start our next chapter.  

Thanks for staying tuned in all these many weeks.  We had a wonderful mission experience. It was hard, but it was amazing as well.  We made many great friends in Japan and our lives will be forever touched and changed from all that we experienced. 

Love

Brad and Kim Nelson

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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