Week 62 A few more days of walking...hopefully

Hello out there. Another pretty typical week here in Japan. We have some regular places we volunteer and sometimes we fill in with other things. That is pretty much how we rolled this week. 

We both enjoy volunteering at ACS ( Army Community Service). This week, Sis Nelson was chatting with one of the employees, Mary, and she told her about her niece who lives in Nairobi, Kenya. Mary helps her financially and says she wishes she could help her more. Her niece is all alone there, a single mother with 2 girls. Sis Nelson mentioned that we had worked in Abu Dhabi with some young people in the Pathway program. Mary said that was precisely what she hoped she could find for her niece. Sis Nelson told her that it was through our church and that we have missionaries there who could contact her and maybe get her some help. At that point, Mary said that she loved that there might be someone in Kenya to help her niece and that she "trusted" us to help.  Elder Nelson then looked up how to contact missionaries with a referral, and within a very few minutes, Sis Nelson was on the phone with a young sister missionary who said she could see the referral and would be happy to find her. They later texted us and said they have an appointment to meet with her. Tokyo to Kenya, the work goes forth. 

We are still traveling on our feet and walking to the bus stop for a ride to the train station and our temple assignment on Tuesday morning. We are getting pretty good at melding the bus schedule with the train schedule for the most effective use of our time. We really have found that walking has been very good for us and we are confident we should continue walking even after the driver's license is procured....this Thursday. The hardest part is walking on the hot, humid days, so we will need to walk early in the morning for sure. 

Sis Nelson helped out the Red Cross and presented a table at a USO event this week. We had hoped to volunteer with the USO when we first got here, but it hasn't worked out with our schedule. It's just nice to associate with so many people who also volunteer. It is an excellent network of people. 

We also volunteered at the Thrift Store this week. Always work to do there with all the donations. Proceeds go to the High School on post. We work with the chaplain's wives who also volunteer there. More awesome people to associate with. 

We toted hot dogs, chips, and Twinkie Cake on the bus/train to the district meeting with the young elders and sisters this week. They are always so appreciative and love the American food. Twinkie cake was a hit, and we went home with NO leftovers. We haven't been able to go for a couple of weeks, so it was fun to be with all of them. 

Saturday dawned early as we volunteered to help with the Tour of Japan bike race. They wanted us to be at the bus for a ride at 6:30 am. We enjoyed "helping" but it wasn't really all that much help. This was an event outside the gate, and plenty of Japanese people were also helping. Mostly, we just put on the yellow t-shirt, set up a few orange cones, and smiled.  It was pretty cool when the riders came through. It was a 112.k relay race. We really only saw the beginning, but we enjoyed being there. 

We later rode with the Meltons to the New Sanno hotel for a night's stay. We introduced them to a popular restaurant called Burger Mania. "Best Burgers in Tokyo". They really are pretty yummy. Have you ever tried a Cherry Burger? We also tried riding the train to see Rainbow Bridge, which goes over Tokyo Bay. We didn't plan on it raining, so it wasn't as wonderful as we had hoped, and we got pretty wet. There was a big fireworks show going on, but there wasn't any place where we could see it clearly. So we trained it back to the New Sanno and had about 15,000 steps on our walking app. 

Sunday was special as we had Stake Conference at the temple annex with Elder Dale  G. Renlund. He and his wife, Ruth,  spoke; their talks were inspiring. They are very good storytellers, and some of the adventures they have been on were fun to hear about. There were lots of folks there to listen to them. We are so grateful that we could be there.  The rest of Sunday was pretty quiet as we traveled back with the Meltons (in their car) to our little apartment and were grateful to ride in a car. 

Speaking of riding in a car, this next Thursday is the day for Elder Nelson to take the practical driving exam. We have been waiting and walking since March 23. He has taken private driving instruction and is studying hard to pass the first time. Many people have taken it multiple times. We hope to be driving our little Toyota by Friday. Prayers and positivity are welcome. 

It's getting late, so we will say sayonara to this week and send our love to all.