Week 7 Rain and Trains

We slowed down a bit this week with a few less activities. That was ok because we had a minute to catch up on a few things. And this next week is going to be a crazy one.  Here is how week 7 turned out. Kim's turn to write the blog. 

As a senior couple on a mission, our primary focus is to serve our branch wherever there is a need. After that, we try and find ways to serve the community here at Camp Zama as well as at Atsugi Naval Air Facility. There are a lot of service organizations and we just do our best to find out which ones need our help. That being said, we generally stay pretty busy. 

This week the Young Women in our branch wanted to have a Cupcake War so I was asked to bake 48 cupcakes and make the icing. After that, I just stayed out of the way. The girls were very creative and had fun with sprinkles. We don't have a lot of girls but they all seem to get along. The Young Women leader is someone that I met about 20 years ago in Boise Idaho when she was a newlywed. She now has 4 children and a busy soldier husband. She got older but I did not. 

Brad was also able to help the Young Men in the branch come up with a calendar of activities. Always a challenge to find something they all like to do. Our branch president asked us to try and stir up some interest in the Young Adults. Almost all of them are in the Navy and have gone out to sea for the next 6 months. We are working with a few of them and teaching them the temple preparation lessons. That has been really enjoyable. 

We had a couple of fun community events we supported as well. May is Mental Health Awareness month and the army community sponsored a Pinwheel Planting in front of the children's library. Children from the community came for fun and games and each got to "plant" a pinwheel. We were manning the Red Cross table helping kiddos make small, personal first aid kits. There were a lot of fun things to help kids enjoy just being kids. 

The other fun thing we joined in on, was an opportunity to meet in the community with some Japanese teens who will be going to the US this summer for an exchange program. Their teacher asked a group of volunteers to come and talk English with them and listen to their English to help them prepare for their summer trip. We interviewed each other and watched as they danced for us and taught us about some fun things there are to do in the area. We also played a silly Japanese game similar to Pin-the-Tail on the donkey but we used parts of the face on a head. You can see Brad's attempt in the picture below. We had a great time mixing with them. Some are very shy and others are bold. They will be going to Smyrna, Tennessee, a sister city of Zama City, Japan. I admire their determination to learn English. I think it would be a hard language to learn. And on a side note, Japanese is hard too. 

On Friday and Saturday, there was a Women's Conference at the Temple Annex in Tokyo. Brad and I jumped on the train and rode 2 hours to the temple and did a session before the conference. Then Brad rode the train back home and I stayed in the Temple Annex in a room with 8 other ladies in bunk beds. The beds were fine but the snoring was not. I enjoyed the conference but was happy to come home to my bed with my hubby. He snores sometimes, but nothing like these women. I wore my snoring device so I know it wasn't me...this time. 

We had a lot of cold rain this week but we did venture out one afternoon to try and find an old favorite restaurant here. It's called CoCo Curry. We enjoyed the warm, delicious curry with our choice of ingredients. Curry has been a favorite of our whole family for a long time. Then a train trip back to Zama as we squished along in our very wet shoes. Whenever you take the train here, there is a lot of walking involved getting to the train and back. 

Serving here in Zama has been amazing. All the people we meet are so kind and we love helping out wherever we can. We have served with the Red Cross, and the base chapels and will start soon with the USO and the hospital. Also will be working in the Tokyo Temple one day a week. We recognize what a blessing it is to have this time in our lives when we can be here. Thanks to all of our friends and family who are supporting us. We love you all.