We have begun another week and heading directly into the New Year. New Year's is a big deal here in Japan, and we will see what that means in next week's blog. This week was Christmas, and we had plenty of reasons to find joy in the season.
Typical of this mission, the week started off with a little volunteering at Army Community Service, and then we proceeded to purchase all the ingredients for Christmas dinner and start the baking. Zama Red Cross asked for cookies for their Christmas Eve Coffee cart at the hospital. I guess homemade goods go well with coffee. The rest of the day was spent making traditional cheese, Danish bread, sugar cookies, and other treats. The baker and her helper went to be pretty tired.
Christmas Eve was still spent preparing food for Christmas Day and we had a very special experience that evening. Our military chaplain, who is also in our branch, asked us to try and support and attend the Zama Chapel Candlelight services. (Non-denominational) I/We volunteered to make cookies, so with 100 bagged cookies, we headed to the services. There were many friends and acquaintances from the post there, and we enjoyed a very special message shared by Chaplain Olson. We both felt the spirit of the season and were so happy to be able to share it with the community members we serve with.
Christmas morning dawned early as we volunteered to prepare the Christmas dinner for the district missionaries. Ham, cheese potatoes, jello, rolls, and desserts. We are getting good at cooking things at our apartment and transporting them to the chapel ( a 45-minute drive away). It's a BIG adjustment to prepare things in a tiny kitchen with an oven the size of a microwave, but we did it. All the missionaries loved the "American" food and they are always so appreciative. Our one Australian elder even went and bought us some flowers as a thank you.
After dinner, we walked over to a nearby rest home that the local sisters serve at, and we sang Christmas carols with them. We entered the building, removed our shoes, and put on the slippers they set out for us. So Japanese. As we sang, it was so fun to see how happy they were. My favorite was helping them sing along as they could all sing the words "Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la,la. Thank you, Sis. Sumpsion for helping us find a place to serve on Christmas Day. We have such a great district.
We returned to the chapel and played some silly games, including the Saran Wrap Ball Unwrap, Merry Christmas candle blowing, Protect your Assets, and Uno Attack. After the cleanup, we all headed home to a well-deserved night: "All is calm; all is bright." We did squeeze in the traditional pudding game that our family has played for 46 years. With only two old people to play, the odds were pretty good that one of us would find the almond in the pudding. Elder Nelson mistakenly purchased the pudding gift by sending himself an Amazon gift card meant for his mom. (We ordered another one for her) I was the lucky winner of that card. I can't ever remember winning so that was fun.
The day after Christmas is usually spent with a lot of clean up but since our presents were few, I told Elder Nelson we would do little more than relax and a puzzle. He relaxed, I did the puzzle, and it was a nice break from the crazies. Friday, we did do some basic cleaning and laundry, but not a whole lot more than that. and Elder Nelson tried to fight off a head cold. After a lot of ZiCam he may have scared it away. At least for now.
Saturday night, we were supposed to join a friend, Rob, for a Hannukah dinner at the New Sanno Hotel in downtown Tokyo. Unfortunately, Rob got sick and couldn't attend. We stayed the night anyway and had BBQ at a restaurant there instead. Sunday, we attended the English-speaking ward,Tokyo 2nd, at the temple annex for services. There are quite a few old folk missionary couples that attend there. It was nice to see them, and we were invited to dinner at the Burnett's. They are the mission office missionaries. We have enjoyed getting to know them. There are so many awesome people we have met and served with. Definitely adding to all the wonderful friends we have all over the world.
We hope you all had a nice Christmas. We missed being with family but that will happen next Christmas. We also wish you a very Happy New Year and pray that your life will be filled with good things in the days, weeks and months ahead.
Love to all.
Elder and Sister Nelson
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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