We have moved from Tsuyu (Rainy) Season full on into Summer (Natsu) which here means HOT and HUMID. There is no escape other than staying indoors which one can only do for so long. After all there are buses to ride, trains to board, and places to go! Sometime during the NATSU or Summer we will be treated to Typhoon Season! One bright spot during this hot time of year is that flowers keep blooming!
This week Elder Nelson started teaching a Photography class on Monday morning. And Sister Nelson volunteered at the Army Community Service office - At ACS, we get to see everyone who is coming to Zama or leaving. So it's a good way to meet and greet people. Later we had a YSA FHE activity by going out to a "hamasushi" restaurant. Similar to the older style "sushi-go-round," you order from but then your stuff comes on a little race-track kind of thing. It was OK, but not our favorite. This one was noted for being inexpensive...it was. We then went over to Elder and Sister Melton's apartment for a a spiritual lesson/video and some brownies! Anytime we can do something with our YSAs is worth it.
Once per transfer, the Mission conducts an emergency drill. Tuesday was the day. It involves walking out to your designated evacuation site (in our case a nearby school building) and then making a phone call on the Japanese payphone system which as a set up for calling and getting recorded emergency messages from your ? employer or organization... you then get to report in and demonstrate that you got to your site and made the call and got the message. It is good for the missionaries that often transfer...we never transfer, so our drill is always the same...not exciting, just compliant. We then made our way --bus/train/walk to the Tokyo Temple for our weekly privilege of serving there.
Wednesday, Elder Nelson was lined up to teach a Family History class (3rd time), but sadly nobody showed up. (sad face :( ). When you offer to teach a class for free at the library, you never know what you are going to get. This time, the timing must have been bad...and it is summertime...school is out and lots of folks are on vacation. (a good thing to do when it is SO HOT here). He teaches it again next week (as well as the photography class), so we shall see. Sister Nelson got a haircut and helped out at Red Cross. Later, Elder Nelson took his turn at Army Community Service and then we went to the commissary for a grocery run.
Thursday was our bimonthly Newcomers Orientation for new Soldiers and families. We really like supporting this because we get to see and greet every new, incoming person...and they get to meet us too! As we were taught at the MTC, seek for opportunities to "Show the Badge." We also help with the Red Cross briefing part of the orientation and yet another opportunity meet and greet and help. Later that day we went to a Vacation Bible School meeting for volunteers. VBS is coming up the first part of August and is a major summertime effort offered by the Camp Zama chapel and we will be 100 percent involved again. Finally, after a somewhat longish day, we came home in time for Elder Nelson to jump on a video meeting with the young Elders and one of their "friends." Meanwhile, Sister Nelson is always baking something for some upcoming thing. She is famous at Camp Zama now for her baking prowess.
Friday was our day to walk/bus/train our way to our church meeting house for weekly District council and District Lunch. Friday was also the 4th of July and our young missionaries (9 of them) wanted something "American" for the occasion. Sister Nelson orchestrated Sloppy Joes with her potato salad, pickles, chips, corn on the cob, and the Meltons kicked in a couple of delicious apple pies. Our young missionaries were all smiles. We have been doing a district lunch for whoever is in our district pretty much since the beginning of our mission and while it is a lot of work, our young missionaries are always very appreciative and thankful. Later on Friday evening, we were treated to a very intense thunderstorm through our little part of Japan! Rainy season is over, but with a sky always full of HOT HUMID air, it rains whenever it feels like it.
Saturday, since we are mostly still in the walking mode, we declared as too hot to go outside much. Sister Nelson wanted to go walking though and so she did...she walked and walked and came back very hot, sweaty and red...9,999 steps later. Elder Nelson has had to pull back on the walking a bit because of an emergent foot problem. So he is not going out for any walks longer than is "mission essential." He got a blessing for it on Tuesday, so we are trying to be hopeful for an improvement soon.
On Sunday, it was our monthly Fast Sunday. We enjoyed hearing testimonies and fellowshipping with our Branch members and missionaries. We trained our way home and enjoyed a relatively quiet and cool sabbath day inside our apartment. Each Sunday our mission hosts what is called the "Miracle Call" where all of the missionaries join. For 30 minutes any of them that wish to can share any special spiritual experiences they had during the week. We look forward to joining that call each week.
Each week we can never really say what or where, but always we enjoy special little experiences that remind us that we are doing His work in some small way. Our mission experience will come to an end in a matter of weeks now and we hope to stay engaged and do what we can until the end.
Love
Elder and Sister Nelson
