Week 29 Its raining and parading and beautiful too.

Rain, Rain Go Away...please :)  

We are amazed at how fast the week goes by...incredible to think that we are midway through October already.  While we were not extraordinarily busy, we had a full week...interrupted a little by the rain. While it was not a typhoon, it was pretty soggy here for a few days.  And with the autumn weather, a couple of times, it was a little on the chilly side.  We love the fall weather, especially when it's dry and clear -- beautiful.  The leaves have not started turning in our area yet, but from everything we have heard, it will be amazing and beautiful when that time comes... so stay tuned. 

We continue to bounce between Camp Zama and NAF Astugi.  Monday started at NAF Atsgui, helping the Red Cross and the Chapel at the weekly newcomer's orientation.  One of the Atsugi Chaplain's assistants is taking my photography class, so we had a little impromptu lesson while manning the chapel information table.  Sister Nelson had to hold down the office part of the Red Cross. Later, I actually did the Red Cross briefing -- 3 minutes of fame and glory...next slide.   

I took advantage of my time at the NAF Atsugi HQ building by going up to the library and pitching my photography class at Zama.  The librarian signed me up for 3 classes in November. It will be fun to maybe reach a few more people that way.  We finished off our Monday effort by going to the commissary and then home to make some food for our YSA FHE dinner we do each Monday.  We mixed up a big "American Style Curry Rice batch." It was a hit, as it always is...Curry Rice (Kare Raisu) dates back to the beginning of our family, which was imported from my "young missionary" experience.  We really enjoy our time with our YSAs and with the young missionaries. We hope and pray that we can make a difference in their life's journey.

On Tuesday, we made the trek to Tokyo to work in the Temple.  We always enjoy the opportunity to work in the Lord's House and participate with all that come to attend or to serve; Sister Nelson and I have done just about all the possible Temple duties, so we will be well-trained for future Temple service opportunities.  It was rainy, so we also enjoyed being inside!  We saw a very strange site on the way there. I think it was a first-ever sighting.  See the picture.  It was clearly labeled as a "Restroom Vehicle." It made us laugh.  We have no idea how or when it is used. "Excuse me, could you please send the Restroom Vehicle?!?"

Wednesday was our turn to help out in the Camp Zama Red Cross office. We spent most of our morning there and wondered if our afternoon activity would get canceled because of the persistent rain.  It did.  We were supposed to go back to Atsugi and help with the Color Run 5K.  A fun run that involves throwing colored chalk powder all over each other...all in celebration of "Navy Week."  Well, it sounded fun; however, the rain prevailed, and it was rescheduled to the following week. So, we ended our service day early.

Thursday, Sister Nelson was making stuff for our District Lunch on Friday while I took our car in for a service...and got a haircut while waiting for the car.  The car was happy with a new oil change, tire rotation, and more.  We put a lot of mileage on this little Toyota, so we were glad to get permission to have it serviced.  In the afternoon, we signed up to help the Zama High School put on its Homecoming Parade. We ended up helping the principal line up all the participants...more than I expected.  It was a nice little hometown-style parade around Camp Zama.  It featured a color guard, marching Soldiers, a firetruck with VIPs, the football team and cheerleaders riding on flatbed trailers, a marching band, and more! I took a bunch of pictures and shared them with folks.  After the parade, we made a quick trip back home and packed up for one more event, our weekly support to Celebrate Recovery.

Can you believe it's Friday already?  Sister Nelson made a baked Ziti-casserole with garlic bread, Caesar salad, and popsicles.  The young Elders and Sisters made short work of it, and we had ZERO leftovers, which is just the way we like it.  Our Friday trip to the District Council with lunch starts early with final preparations, packing up, and leaving by 0930. It is almost an hour's trip in the car.  By the time we are through with it all and we are packed back up with empty dishes (and a big bag of trash), it is nearly 1:30 or so and we don't get back home to our apartment until close to 3pm.  Quite a full day for two senior missionaries.  We stopped by the post office, then retired to our apartment and later ordered Domino's pizza for dinner.

Saturday and Sunday this week were set aside for watching General Conference.  And we did. We were uplifted and inspired, and we look forward to reading the talks again and again.  In addition to General Conference, we had a few additional interesting events.  Saturday, we met a gentleman that the missionaries had run into earlier for breakfast.  His name is Kiichi (first name). He is about 60, and he has been associating with Church members for quite a long time, but mostly for the friendship and English-speaking opportunity; he told us about all the people he has met and associated with from living in the DC area and back in Japan. He even knew Elder Wada (who spoke in Gen Conf on Sunday afternoon).  We are unsure where this new relationship will go, but we will see.  Part of me wants to say he is what we used to call an "English Bandit" (someone who just wants to hang out with Americans and practice English),..in my missionary days, we would generally avoid those kinds of people because they took away a lot of time with absolutely Zero interest in learning about the Gospel.  Part of me, though, says, "People change..." and this gentleman has been attracted to church members for almost 40 years...its the light of the Gospel in us, but he doesn't know that...yet.  We shall see.  Anyway, we got a bunch of groceries for a big Sunday breakfast we planned and then watched Saturday's general conference

On Sunday, we invited the Goodson family, who is investigating the church and has accepted a baptismal challenge for early November.  The Sister missionaries joined us as did our friend Hosea Schroeder.  Sister Goodson is from American Samoa, and so is Brother Schroeder.  Brother Goodson is Hawaiian. Sister Nelson (with a bit of help from me) whipped up an amazing breakfast that featured her breakfast casserole and homemade cinnamon rolls...we also had a big fresh fruit plate.  Oh boy!  YUM YUM.  Everyone was filled with food and with the Spirit. A great event.   

We elected not to drive up to Camp Fuji to watch the rest of the conference. It turns out to be a holiday weekend, and so the projected drive to Camp Fuji was over two hours! That just meant trouble, being late, and stuck in endless traffic, so we chose to stay home—a good decision.

Look out! Another week is just around the corner.