Week 10
And we set off like a herd of turtles this week for a little of this and a little of that (iroiro)
First stop is always at Camp Fuji and since it was a holiday weekend, we had no Marines to serve so we gave our cookies to the gate guard and headed into the town of Gotenba for some delicious Katsudon. Sadly we forgot to take pictures but it was very yummy. Katsudon has always been one of my favorite Japanese dishes. We also stayed the night at Camp Fuji in the lodging they have so we could be there to clean the USO lounge on Monday morning. More on that next week. We gave some cookies to the night clerk at the lodge as well. Brad took a sunset picture of Mt. Fuji mostly hiding behind the clouds. Such an amazing sight.
We are now officially USO volunteers. So far it has been paperwork and waiting to hear from the USO representative who lives near Yokota AFB about an hour away. There will be BBQ here at Camp Zama and also at Camp Fuji soon for the active duty military that we will help with.
And every Tuesday we serve at the Tokyo Temple. This week it was our zone of elders and sisters who attended. One of my jobs that day was to stand near the top of the stairs to direct them toward the dressing room so I got to see them all. What a joy to serve in such a special place, especially when the missionaries are there too.
We volunteered on the Atsugi base this week with the Red Cross. We helped with their Mental Health Fair. It's important to help keep soldiers/sailors and their families aware of the programs available to them while on active duty. Lots of stressors to manage at times. It was great supporting the efforts of the military to address mental health programs. We also volunteered a couple times at the Red Cross office here in Zama. The Red Cross person who is a full-time employee is leaving so they try to have someone in the office every day, if possible.
We attended the Zama High School end-of-year choir and orchestra concert on Thursday. Many of the youth from our branch participated. It was fun to go back to the auditorium where the concert was held. Kourtney attended high school here 15 years ago and there were several events held there. It has not changed at all. Zama High School is very small. Only 60 graduating seniors this year. We will be attending the graduation this week.
District Council Meeting with the young elders and sisters was fun this week. We have 7 Elders and 7 sisters. (Yes two of the companionships are a trio). This week we provided good old tacos and all the fixins for them. They were thrilled. Hispanic food is definitely not something you find here. They loaded up their taco shells and enjoyed the chips and 7-layer dip. I really enjoy associating with the young missionaries. They have so much energy and positivity. They inspire me.
Saturday was P-day and we spent about half the day doing apartment pickup and laundry. It's a small apartment and things tend to stack up easily. Small space, too much stuph. We also started a new Daruma. (see picture) It is considered a Japanese doll made of paper mache. It is a symbol of perseverance and goal setting. When you purchase it, it has two big white eyes. You color in one eye with black when you begin a goal. When your goal is complete, you color in the other eye. This dates back to 5th or 6th century folklore. It is also painted red because in Japan red is believed to ward off evil spirits and poor health. Our daruma will be for our goal to serve our mission faithfully and well until the end.
And to finish off our week, we ordered pizza delivery for the first time. We ordered from Dominos and it was okay for home delivery. It was a step up from pizza delivery in Abu Dhabi but not quite as nice as the U.S. (Is pizza delivery ever really that good anyway?) Dominos of Japan is trying to do their best. They even had one of the pizzas called "the American". It was just pepperoni and cheese. That sounds American to me.
We continue to work hard and help out wherever we can. I was thinking this week that if we were at home trying to do all this volunteering, it would be really challenging with a normal schedule. But because that is one of the big reasons we are here, it really is a joy. We are pretty tired at the end of the day but it's a "good tired". Hope you are all doing well. We miss home and events like graduations, piano recitals, and concerts but we are also enjoying our time here serving. I also missed decorating the family graves today. Pretty sure my mother understands.
Love to all
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