Mid October and here comes Blog #30, then November!

Here we sit in beautiful Japan and time keeps flying by. We stay so busy that most of our days run together; before you know it, another month has started. And so goes the work of two old missionaries just south of Tokyo. 

Sadly, we did not make it to Camp Fuji last week. We always put it into our Apple maps and let Siri tell us how long it will take to get there. Last week, she said 2.5 hours. This meant that somewhere in the 35 miles of expressway, there must have been a bad accident backing up traffic for miles. Generally, it takes us a little over an hour to get there. So we stayed home instead of sitting in a traffic jam for hours. It was nice to have a Sunday evening to just chill. We finished listening to the rest of the General Conference sessions and geared up for another week. 

Our Monday FHE with the young adults was a nice break for the lady who cooks for them. 😉😁One of them asked if he could bring pizza so I didn't have to cook.  I put together a "salad bar" to go with our pizza. The young adults all love pizza, so it was win/win and a great evening for everyone. We played some Uno Attack and sent them all out the door with the leftovers. We are so grateful to be able to give them a place to gather. As soon as the Navy ship returns next month, we may have to find a larger place. 

We were able to help with a 5k Color Run this week. It was supposed to be last week, but the rain postponed it. This week was perfect, with coolish weather and about 75 people participated. Lots of families and little kids who like getting "colors" thrown on them. I helped at the registration table (far away from the colors). Brad took pictures for the event. We love helping with community events where there are families. 

Thursday dawned bright and early as we were asked to teach early morning seminary. It started at 6:30; by 6:45, about 8 of them were there, and we could start. We taught about tithing from the scriptures and what the windows of heaven might be for them as teenagers. It was not a lively group at that hour, but I love teaching the youth. We finished off with banana bread, and they went off to high school. 

We quickly changed into our Red Cross t-shirts and sat at the community information table on Zama. After which, we changed our shirts again, headed to the orphanage, and taught them about jungle animals. We topped off our time with them by helping them make animal masks. The 4-6 year olds loved them and ran around like the little animals they can be. We were able to take a few pictures because you couldn't tell who they were. The other pictures are of the two elders and two sister missionaries who were helping us. Elder Aspacio's companion chose a monkey mask for his companion because he believes he might actually be part monkey. And the treat we shared was, what else? Animal Crackers. 

We got home at about 5:30 and had another event at 6:00 to go and support and bring some food. Afterward, we came home and made 75 Halloween treat bags for the elders and sister's Zone Conference the next day.  By the time we rolled into bed, we hoped Friday would be a little less crazy. 

Friday was Zone Conference with our mission president and his wife. They are starting to make a few changes in the mission and shared some of their ideas and goals with us. The young elders and sisters have many challenges here in Japan, but they always impress me with their good attitudes and hard work. They loved the treat bags, and it was nice to see them smile. 

Saturday, we headed to Tokyo for Stake Conference and the adult's meeting. We opted to stay overnight at the New Sanno Hotel to be back for the general meeting on Sunday morning. It's always nice to take a little break from the day to day routines. We relaxed a little and headed to Camp Fuji from Tokyo. A little longer drive, but the traffic was light, gratefully. 

We are also helping set up and prepare for the new missionary couple that is coming next month. Taking an entirely empty apartment and furnishing it with all the things needed is quite a big job. Mostly they have asked us to measure rooms and give our opinion on what we think is needed. We decided that we were happy to help, just not have to buy it all. The mission takes care of that. 

And the work goes on. Each week I am amazed at how we are able to do all the many activites each week.  We have our good health and enough strength to do what we need to. I know that we are being blessed with extra energy to do that. We love what we can do here and pray for our family and loved ones to be safe, happy, and healthy.