Week 48 Japan Sites - Sounds - and Service

This last week started out on holiday.  It was Presidents Day at Camp Zama so almost everything we would normally do was closed. In fact, it was a "long weekend" for many.  Anyone who could, went out of town somewhere.  We spent Sunday evening at Camp Fuji after meeting with our young Marine.  Monday, we took a short drive over to the closest of the five lakes that surround the Mt Fuji area - Lake Yamanaka. It was cold and windy but a beautiful area to see and experience.  We enjoy the time we can briefly take a break from our regular missionary activities to see some of this beautiful Island nation.

On Tuesday we ventured back to Tokyo for our last Temple day for a few weeks as the Tokyo Temple is closed for maintenance until early in March.  We enjoy our time there for many reasons, this time we got a good group picture afterwards with some of our fellow Military Relations Missionary friends. 

Wednesday was a service day as we first held down the fort at the Red Cross office in the morning. Sister Nelson oriented a new volunteer while we were doing that.  After lunch, Elder Nelson helped at Army Community Service and Sister Nelson helped at the Camp Zama Occupational Health clinic.  Both places kept both of us quite busy. We made a quick dash to NAF Atsug to get our mail and found some dinner over at the Navy installation.

Thursday we supported the bi-weekly "Newcomers Orientation," which is our opportunity to help and also to greet and meet many of the new incoming Soldiers and families.  We don't visit with them per se, but they all get to see us and our badge and know that we are here.  Being seen is sometimes that important first step.  We also stayed, as Red Cross volunteers, to support an Information Expo for all the new people during their lunch break.  Then (busy day) we manned the Red Cross office for a few hours.  Still, later, we made a quick trip to the grocery store, back home to throw a lasagna together, and then off to support the Celebrate Recovery group as we do each week

Friday was an exceptionally busy day that started out with an hour-long trip on the train to the Yokohama area for our Zone Conference with the young missionaries and our Mission Leaders.  We have a Zone Conference once each "transfer" or every six weeks.  We enjoy listening to the guidance and inspirational messages and interacting with all of the missionaries each time we meet. This time was special because we finally met our grandson, Elder Jace Nelson's friend, Elder Tullis who got to our mission a number of weeks ago.

Later on Friday we returned back to Camp Zama, caught our breath, and supported a Camp Zama chapel Chili-Cookoff event. We had volunteered to help as part of the Red Cross contingent. So we associated with our Red Cross friends and many from the Zama Chapel community that we also knew from many previous engagements. Elder Nelson even got to be one of the judges.  We have some good friends in the Camp Zama chaplain population. The USARJ senior chaplain introduced to the group as "Missionaries from the LDS Church!"  That was a surprise, but then again, they are not embarrassed that they know us and that we serve their congregation too.  Good people. 

Saturday was a special day.  Sister Nelson bought tickets to a show for my birthday and Saturday was the day.  We boarded an MWR bus in the morning and it dropped us off in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. We had not yet been to Shinjuku this time.  We had about five hours to kill -- see whatever sights we wished to and then return for the show about 5:45pm-ish.  We had a list of a few things, but the shear size of Shinjuku was overwhelming and some of our "we should go see" places were a bit further than our old feet could carry us. We did manage a nice Korean lunch in nearby "Korea-town," and we found the "Godzilla head" peering out from top of one of the hotels and then we marched off to find the Tokyo Metropolitan Building, which boasted a great observation deck on its 45th floor.  We found it, but by the time we did, our feet were done and it was getting colder and windy.  We did enjoy the amazing view, but we opted for a Taxi ride back. We got out of the Taxi cab in the area famous for a 3D Cat billboard. Pretty amazing technology. 

After viewing the cat (and all the other people viewing the cat), we made the short walk back to where our show was.  We were early, too early, so we killed some more time in Starbucks with some hot chocolate.  Eventually we were able to go into the theater for our show.  

The performing group we saw is called "Drum Tao."  The are an amazing troupe that performs with all the varieties of Japanese drums, flutes, the Koto, and Shamisen instruments. Their choreography, strength and stamina, and musical prowess was quite spectacular.  We loved it and will try and catch them one more time this summer.  They were heading out for a world-tour and are coming back to Tokyo in July!  

The show ended close to 9pm and we had to board the bus and make the long ride back to our Camp Zama.  All in all, it was a very long day and most of it was very memorable.  Everything, but all the walking. 

Sunday we did Church and did not have to make the trip to Camp Fuji this week.  And on to another week. Hope your week is a good one too.

Love,

Elder and Sister Nelson

Week 47 "Super Bowl...Super Week!"

Week 47 Super Week

Hello all,

Our busy week started off with the Super Bowl. Not that either one of us knew it was even Super Bowl Sunday, but it was played here on Monday because of the time difference. It's a big deal here at Camp Zama. Everything is closed, including the schools, for the day. Kim was volunteering at the Army Community Service building, and they had it on the T.V. As much as I disliked all the ball games that were always on at our house when I was growing up, I did learn the rules of the games and did find myself watching this game. I may have had a favorite because of our kids who live in Kansas, but the Eagles played a great game, Ok...enough of that.  We also went out to dinner with the Meltons at the Red Lobster nearby. We have driven by many times and noticed very few cars in the parking lot. Maybe that's because the food was ok but kind of pricey. I think we will stick to sushi-go-rounds for our fish experiences for now.

Tuesday was a special day for the old guy who lives here. He finally turned 68. He's been waiting his whole life to be that old. His sweet wife gave him a Tokyo experience in Shinjuku for a Taiko Drum concert. He was surprised, so that's always a plus. He received "Happy Birthdays" from his children and family and a "Snack Box" from Kourtney. Because she said, "Dad really likes snacks". And yes, he does. We also took cookies to the temple that day to share with all our temple workers. Most are Japanese and really enjoy chocolate chip cookies. Brad likes them too. Our Taiko Drum concert is this Saturday. More on that next week. 

Nothing too exciting for Wednesday. We are both still volunteering in the afternoon and enjoying our associations at the clinic and ACS.  We also spent a lot of time preparing a fun Valentine's activity for the orphanage on Thursday. 

We have been volunteering at the Sagamihara-Minami Orphanage since last July. We teach them a few English words, then read stories and play games with them. We generally have two groups. The younger kids are 4-6, and the older ones are 8-12. Each group has about 8 kiddos. We take four of the young missionaries with us to help; it has been a lot of fun and planning. This month, we shared with them the Valentine's holiday words and traditions. And we played some games and made Valentines. This is likely our last time going there since our driving will be curtailed in March, but we have been so grateful to be able to serve those sweet children. 

District lunch on Friday had to be pretty simple because the church kitchen is being remodeled. We enjoyed sandwiches and chips, and Sis Melton made Valentine's heart sugar cookies. And, of course, there was Valentine's candy, and the Meltons gave each sister a red rose. We love all of our missionaries. 

That evening, Sis Nelson taught a quick cooking class to a sister from the branch and two sister missionaries. They wanted to learn how to make lasagna. My lasagna is pretty simple and basic, but we all had fun together and then had dinner. 

We planned a Pancake breakfast and planning time for the Single Adults in our branch on Saturday morning. After Elder Nelson's yummy banana pancakes, we joined together and talked about the next 3 months of activities they want to do. It will include everything from a Dog Cafe to a Sumo Wrestling Match in Tokyo. And a few things in between. We have a small group, but they enjoy getting together. 

Sunday had us returning to Camp Fuji with services for our one Marine. We enjoyed the sacrament together and a pleasant viewing of Elder Kearon's "Welcome to the Church of Joy." It has been so nice to meet with him. He has a wife and a little boy living in Utah. He hopes to be home by summertime. 

We also stayed overnight at the Camp Fuji Lodge and took our Pday on Monday. More about that next week. 

Time marches on, and we are still enjoying the blessing of serving others. We are closing in on Cherry Blossom time over here in March. Hope you are all staying happy and healthy. We are trying to do the same. 

Love to all,

Elder and Sister Nelson

Week #46. COLD, but full of heart warming opportunities

It is hard to believe that we have now marched into February already. 11 months. Wow.  And, we have made ZERO progress on solving our Japan Drivers License issue.  So, speaking of counting down, we have about 6 weeks before we park our mission car and put on our best walking shoes.  We are still hoping for a miracle of some kind to break through the unreasonable bureaucracy of the Kanagawa Prefectural government folks.

Anyway, we had some really cold weather this week...down into the lower 30s. Fortunately, we have a nice warm apartment and we came prepared with good cold-weather clothes.  Supposedly we are in the coldest month now.  Come March we warm up, see lots of rain, and toward the end of the month we are blessed with the Cherry Blossoms again...and for the last time. :(

Elder Nelson has been working on a class/presentation on Family History and Genealogy.  He presented the class on Monday to a group of women from the Zama community spouses organization.  Sister Nelson provided some "Family History" cookies -- her Grandma Hope's Oatmeal Cookies... The class went very well and it was a good opportunity to "show the badge" and showcase Family Search (along with Ancestry.com and a few others). He will do one more class for this group in March.  With the success of this class, he set up with the Zama Library to teach it again, this time open to anyone, and will do so in April.

Later on Monday, we also got to help back over at NAF Atsugi with the "Rice Ball ministry," an outreach program providing food to one of the local shelters for women and children. It is always inspiring and touching to see our fellow Christians be truly charitable; so many good people out there trying to do the right thing.  The best thing we can do is help them and be good examples.  Sadly, it reminds us that the need for charity is also great, and not enough people, time, or resources to meet all the needs.  So, we do what we can.

On Tuesday we made our weekly trek (by car) to the Tokyo Temple.  It is always an uplifting experience for us.  It is inspiring to see the strong faithful Japanese Saints serving in their Temple.  It is our privilege to be able to serve alongside them once a week. We also love seeing the missionaries come (some from each of the two Tokyo missions) on alternating Tuesdays.  We always enjoy the big city sites and the sunsets on our way home... 

Wednesday we ventured to City (Zama) Hall to declare "Zero Income" so our Japanese National Health Insurance premiums stay relatively low this coming year.  To round out our midweek, Elder Nelson did some volunteer work at Army Community Service and Sister Nelson drove to Atsugi and retrieved some of our mail.  Ramen was on the menu this cold night for our dinner.  Yum Yum

Thursday we helped in the morning setting up and signing people in for the Camp Zama "Newcomer's Orientation."  We had to leave early this time because we also signed up to help at a Zama City Community service project that the Public Affairs office set up.  We met up with about twenty others, a few of whom we knew, and walked to a nearby train station and helped pick up trash around the area. Another opportunity to get the badge out in public and when we do, we always get questions about who we are and what we are doing.  Good stuff.  

Afterward, we ventured to the commissary and stocked up on a few items for us and to later make something to take to our weekly engagement with Celebrate Recovery.  Another example of good people trying to provide a needed "out-reach" program to help others.  The least we can do is lend them a hand and even sing "Jesus songs" alongside them during the initial part of the meeting,  

Friday we did not do our usual District Lunch because it was "Transfer Day" for the young missionaries. We didn't lose anyone this round and we picked up a new sister that we haven't met yet.  When we get a break in our regular, mostly busy, routine, we take time to restock and reset a bit...groceries, vacuum, dejunk, whatever.  There is always something to do and if there isn't, we have been known to sneak in an afternoon nap!  Friday night we did a Recon by Dinner and went back to Mikes TexMex. We ate and then made a big reservation for Saturday.

A Japanese sister in our Branch in her fifties, who is an absolute sweetheart, but actually not a member, asked us to take her to Mike's.  She saw it on our Facebook from before and immediately called us to set up a time...and she was so excited.  She called or texted Sister Nelson probably 3 or 4 times during the week and on Saturday to "clarify" or remind us or something,  Clearly, she was super excited about it,  We invited our MRM partners, the Meltons, and one of our YSAs sisters to join us.  And, good TexMex was had by all! 

Sunday was a special day at Church.  Our young Sister Missionaries had a baptism of a single sister who is living in our branch area. She is not part of anything military and lives in town. She is an expat from Africa trying to work and make enough money to get by and send something home for her family.  (This sounds like the story we told when living in Abu Dhabi). Earlier this year, the Elders baptized a brother who is also from Africa and is trying to stay employed in Japan.  These expats find us because we are an English-speaking church unit and most of them do not speak Japanese.  Anyway, it was a nice baptism. 

Sister Nelson made a lasagna dinner for the four young missionaries who serve in our branch, after the baptismal service and we ended up feeding twice, loaves and fishes style, that many for various reasons and for non-missionary people who stayed too long after the baptismal service was over.  After all, it is hard to avoid the smell of cooking lasagna wafting through the hallways at the church building.   Sister Nelson, being the saint that she is, had made plenty, helped Elder Nelson "adjust" to the new plan B,  and we figured out a way to make it all happen on the fly while smiling,  When we finally got home, we were pretty much "done."  

And thus endeth another week.  Tired, blessed, and ready to start again on Monday,