Hello, all our fellow readers. The Nelsons successfully completed another week on the mission just south of Tokyo. All is well if you don't count the pollen messing with Elder Nelson's sinuses. And we are still driving to and from all of our events. Countdown to March 24th, when we walk, take buses, ride trains, or take a taxi. Doesn't that sound fun?
Our week had some changes here and there, but we adjusted and did our best to navigate them all. On Monday, we made our way over to the Sagmaihara housing, where the elementary school is, and put our names down to help with the Read Across America event. It's all about Dr. Suess's books, and they need volunteers to read books to different grade levels. The teacher there is super organized and sent us home with our book choices and Dr. Suess hats for next week. We figured we've had quite a few opportunities to read those books, so we are excited to read to them. More on that next week.
The Temple is closed for cleaning, so we found some ways to fill up the following two Tuesdays. This week, we helped at the Red Cross by packaging up food and snacks for remote bases in Djibouti, Kuwait, Iraq, and Jordan. The food items were donated by the community. We just got them ready to ship. We also had the great privilege of presenting some beautiful prints that were donated by the McDermott Foundation to three of the chaplains here at Camp Zama that we work with. The prints are given to MRM (Missionary Relations Missionaries) to present to the chaplains as a gift. We framed them and presented them to the USArmy Japan Chaplain, his deputy chaplain, and the US Army Garrison's deputy. That's probably way more info for most people, and Elder Nelson had to tell me all of their titles. Anyway, three really fine men who were very grateful for their gifts.
On Wednesday, we had the privilege of going to Tokyo to the Temple Annex to attend an Interfaith Panel discussion. It was organized by our church and included five leaders of different faiths. The presenter then asked them all questions regarding some of their beliefs and practices. The youth from our church generated the questions, and it was very interesting to hear the different answers to the same question. The overall feeling from the leaders that shared was that we are all loved by God and should serve Him. And of course, there were cookies afterwards, and I DID NOT make any of them.
This week's District Council meeting with the young missionaries was changed to Thursday. It was one of the sister's birthday, and she requested an Olive Garden lunch. Chicken Gnocchi Soup, Minestrone Soup, Olive Garden salad, and bread sticks. There were many things to take to the chapel, and we loaded them up in our wagon to get them to the car. (We are on the 3rd floor) We always love meeting with the elders and sisters. Some of them were struggling a little this week, and we talked to them and encouraged them to hang in there. We are all ready for springtime. Elder Nelson took a picture of the whole district. (see below)
So when Friday came, it felt like Saturday because we did District Council on Thurs. Knowing that our Saturday would be busy, we chose to have our Pday on Friday. We cleaned up the apartment a bit and decided to go to a nearby mall to see if we could find HOKA walking shoes for the near future. We found the brand but not the size. No surprise. We have never been able to find our shoe sizes here in Japan. They look at our feet and just wince a little and say, "So sorry". We then went home and ordered some on Amazon. Hopefully, they get here before the walking begins.
Saturday, Elder Nelson wasn't feeling too great and was trying to manage his allergies, so Sister Nelson went and helped with an AER (Army Emergency Relief) event. And they had a cake that I DID NOT have to make. In the afternoon, Sis Melton and I walked to a nearby shrine to see the Girl's Day display of a thousand Japanese dolls. They were all lined up on the stairs going up to the shrine. I took some pictures, and they are definitely not like Elder Nelson would have taken them, but you get the idea.
That evening, we joined the Young Single Adults for an activity at a Dog Cafe. And no, there is no eating involved. They let you hold and pet the dogs for an hour or so. Big and little dogs, and they also had some meerkats. Afterward, we visited a nearby Japanese restaurant called Rock n Roll Burrito. It was fun to join with them. Our next event will be at the Cherry Blossom Festival coming up at the end of this month.
Sunday afternoon, we had one more meeting with our young marine at Camp Fuji. He is always so sweet and appreciative that we come there to have services with him. We have been trading off with the Meltons every other week. He may be leaving soon, so that may have been our last time going up there. Going there has been a lovely experience; of course, Elder Nelson likes to capture Mt. Fuji with his camera. No luck this week, as it was hiding in the clouds.
We stay busy and mostly healthy. We hope we are ready for all the walking while waiting to take the Japanese driver's test. Our International license expires on March 24, so we are waiting to hear when we can take the driving test. We have been praying for a miracle that will be sooner rather than later so we won't have to walk in the heat of the summer. It's really hot and humid starting around June.
We appreciate all your prayers and concerns on our behalf. We are doing our best to fulfill our missionary purpose here in Japan.
Love to all,
Elder and Sister Nelson
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