Week 51 "Please sir, may I have some more?"

Hello out there. Let's just say we saw Oliver more than enough times this week. And poor Oliver never got enough gruel. (More on that later)

Each week brings new and different experiences. Never a dull moment around here. A couple of weeks ago the mission SMS (Social Media Specialist) asked if we would make a short video for Facebook. He provided the message we should share and said we could do it however we liked. So, we tromped up the hill to a local area with one blooming cherry tree and filmed ourselves presenting the hopeful message that God is always there for us. It has been submitted to the church SM department, and maybe someday you will see two old people in front of a Sakura tree in Japan presenting the hopeful message. Glad to have that assignment over. 

We enjoyed our first week back at the Tokyo temple. The session we helped with was entirely made up of missionaries this time. It was inspiring to see them all sitting and learning in the House of the Lord together. Elder Nelson took a picture of the three mission cars the Military Relations Couples drive. All three couples attended the temple that day and parked right next to each other. The 3 Amigos. We love our missionaries. Two of the sisters from our district needed a ride home from Tokyo, so we headed home. Their dinner appointment fell through, so we treated them to an awesome ramen. Needless to say, we got home kind of late that night. Bedtime felt great.

Did you know it's Red Cross Month? Well, neither did we, but we did help sit at the Red Cross table at the PX promoting the things the Red Cross does here at Zama. Some lucky people were able to spin the wheel for some Red Cross swag, and if they did a mini version of CPR on Charles, then they got their name put in for a free CPR class. Elder Nelson and I took that class last summer, and it is a very good course. We learned a lot. Call us CPR-certified missionaries. Woo hoo. 

Now comes the Oliver part. We had been asked to help with ticket sales and ushering for the local production of Oliver by Zama community folks. Elder Nelson was asked to video it and take pictures so we attended the dress rehearsal and watched it 3 more times before we finished volunteering on Sunday afternoon.  I think I can sing most of the songs now. The Zama community is relatively small, so a good portion of them came out to support those participating. We love Camp Zama and the folks who live here. 

District Council found us celebrating two missionary's birthdays. One of them wanted chocolate cake, and the other wanted Razzleberry Pie. Fortunately, we can get the pie at the commissary, and Sis Melton made the cake, and they all love mint ice cream. It may be a while before we can make full lunches for them because we are losing our driver's licenses next week. We will resume when we get our full Japanese driver's license....whenever that is. 

We took the two elders and two sisters from our branch out for sushi on Saturday. It is a place that has what we call a sushi-go-round. You order what you want, and it comes to your table with a little song on a conveyor belt. Before we were all finished, we had 41 small plates and several dessert bowls. One elder had 6 different desserts. It was fun to sit and talk to them about their mission and share time with them. I've said it before, young elders and sisters are the best. 

We have finished our trips up to Camp Fuji for now. The one marine who was there has been redeployed back to Okinawa. We do enjoy our trips up there. Meeting with our marine was the real highlight of that whole experience. I hope he can continue to attend services at his next duty station. 

Moving forward into this next week, it looks busy as usual. We are looking forward to the Sakura Festival on Saturday, but it's been quite chilly lately, and the blossoms are holding out. We shall see if they spring forth by Saturday afternoon. You know Elder Nelson will have his camera ready. 

Thanks again for all the love and support we receive from so many. We are staying happy and healthy and hope you are too. 

Love,

Elder and Sister Nelson