Blog #72 Transfer Thursday...but not for us

 Hello all,

The Tokyo South Mission and all of its missionaries are plugging away, one day at a time. Trying our best not to have to change our clothes more than twice a day and hoping it will cool down soon. Not looking good for a while though. Under a heat advisory for the next 10 days. It's strange to get up in the morning and think that, at least by 5am, it will be a little cooler. Not so. Anyway, we knew when we came here that we would have to do two Tokyo summers, and that is what we are doing. The humidity is good for the skin, right?

We started our week with some pretty standard activities, including volunteering at Army Community Service. Afterward, Elder Nelson and I had a one-on-one session with a gal to teach her how to use Family Search. We got her signed up, and she will now be able to enter the information she knows about her family and see where it leads from there. Because she is Japanese, the standard search processes used in the US don't apply. Records here are significantly different. She knows she has some challenges, but we hooked her up with a Japanese sister from our stake who knows all the ways to search for records here. I hope she has some success. She seems very determined to learn about her ancestors.  

There was no YSA Monday night because we had one who was sick and another who was in Hawaii. Hopefully next week. We have a couple of young men who just graduated from high school as well, but they are not sure they are ready to make the jump to be a YSA. We are letting them know we would love to have them join with the others, but they have not come yet. 

Temple Tuesday dawned bright, sunny, and humid. We were able to secure a seat on all of our train transfers, which was nice. Always a plus for these two old people. Elder Nelson and I helped out in the baptistry, and we had some groups who were visitors to Japan. One of the groups was a wrestling team from Vernal, UT. There were about 7 guys and one girl with 3 adults. It's always fun to see where people are from. Only two more Temple Tuesdays for us, and then we will be mailing our temple clothes home and hopefully be able to serve in one of the temples near our home.

Wednesday was pretty quiet with just a couple of volunteer opportunities in the afternoon and a Zoom discussion with a friend in the evening. Sometimes it's nice to have a day that is a little less busy. We did go shopping for "picnic" food for our District Council meeting on Thursday. Usually, it's on Friday, but it was transfer week, so they did it a day earlier. We have a favorite produce shop nearby the train station that we like, so we went and picked up a whole watermelon. Sounded like a good idea until it came time to carry it home on the bus in a bag. Let's just say it had its own seat on the bus. Most Japanese folks don't have large refrigerators and so they buy small watermelons or in slices. One of the ladies on the bus was amazed at the size of the one we bought. 

 The District Council meeting on Thursday was also Pioneer Day (a Utah holiday on July 24th), so we had a picnic-style lunch and reminded the elders and sisters of the day we were celebrating. We only had one sister who knew what it was because the rest were either from the Philippines or not from Utah. Hot dogs, potato salad, watermelon, and Sis Melton's homemade chocolate chip cookies made them happy, though. We didn't take many pictures, but we did take one last district picture before some of them transferred the next day. Hard to see them go, but we do get to see them in the temple on Tuesdays. 

Friday, we helped with the ACS (Army Community Service) 60th birthday celebration. They planned a party with a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new classroom facility, which would also host FRG (Family Readiness Group) meetings, as well as swimming at the community swimming pool, complete with food, entertainment, cake cutting, and popcorn. Elder and Sister Nelson were tasked to make the popcorn. We did our best and tried to keep the bags of popcorn from blowing away. There was someone taking pictures, but we didn't get one of the popcorn makers. 

Also, that evening, we had the pleasure of going out to dinner with our friends from Celebrate Recovery, John and Stacy Villanueva. They were the leaders of the group and are moving back to California. They have 3 children, and one of them is a sweet, new baby named Madeline. She got to come too, so we got some snuggle time. She's starting to coo and had a lot to tell Elder Nelson when he was holding her. We enjoyed supporting the Celebrate Recovery program and enjoyed the friendship we made with John and Stacy. We hope we will see them again sometime. 

Saturday was a very busy day and one we have been planning for a while. Camp Fuji is a Marine Corps training base located about an hour from here, which we support with services as needed. We had been given some "outreach funds" to use with activities we support. We chose to host a BBQ in conjunction with the Red Cross for the Marines at Camp Fuji. The chaplain there is getting ready to PCS, and the new chaplain had already arrived, so we thought it would also be a great opportunity to say goodbye to Chaplain Walton and meet the new chaplain. We had a good turnout of hungry Marines and a lot of Red Cross volunteers to visit with them. It was a very nice event. One of our biggest challenges was knowing how many to buy for. And as it turned out, we bought too much, but the food will still be used for 3 other activities, so that worked out well. The Meltons helped us with the activity, and we were happy to join together with them. They are always very supportive and helpful. 

Suffice it to say, we were pretty tired when we finally made it home that evening. Mt. Fuji did cooperate and show us her grandeur. We will miss that view, but Elder Nelson has many pictures to help us remember. 

On Sunday, we were able to attend part of our church service, and then we had to hop on the train back to Zama for a mandatory Vacation Bible School training (VBS) meeting. It lasted about 3 hours, and we needed a nap by the time we got home. Sunday naps are nice, but unfortunately, we forgot about a Stake meeting we were supposed to attend. Sometimes old people forget things. It was on our calendar, but we forgot to look at it. 

Sunday evening ended with the Mission-wide Miracle Call. This is when everyone joins a joint voice call-in, and anyone who wants to can share any miracles that happened that week. It only lasts about 30 minutes and sometimes there are so many miracles, it's hard to let everyone have a turn. We love hearing how the "work" goes forward, and sometimes it goes forward with miracles. The faith and dedication of the young elders and sisters are always inspiring to us. They just give you the feeling that you want to do better and be better. We love them so much. 

And so we finish week 72 somewhat tired but so happy. We pray each day that we can do our best as disciples of the Lord. We have been so blessed and are grateful for this opportunity. We would like to thank all of our friends and family who continue to support and love us from afar. 

Love, 

Elder and Sister Nelson

Blog #71 - a very strange place in time...and very hot too!

We are amazingly 71 weeks in...and have only 7 weeks to go. The young missionaries have a transfer this coming week, so one more change up in our district, then next transfer will be our last.  It's officially HOT season here in Japan.  The heat and the humidity perpetually create conditions for rain, but sometimes it is clear, humid and just plain HOT.  We are managing to trudge through the heat and sometimes we just cave and find a cool spot to hang out.  We still walk a lot, but our exercise efforts have to be early in the morning. Looking at our schedule, we still have a lot going on and a lot of things yet to come, but we also see events being advertised that we will now miss and many of our routine volunteer gigs now have a "last time" marked and coming over the next four or five weeks.  After that, we will transition to cleaning, packing, mailing and such. So, thinking about all of this puts us in a strange place mentally and emotionally; however, we will endure to the very end with a smile and no regrets.  

Sister Nelson is up every morning now at the crack of dawn (5:30ish) and out walking.  Elder Nelson's feet won't let him join her, but she is determined to get in those steps!  Monday Elder Nelson finished up his final photography class.  Three of his students asked if he would come to their work location and give them some hands-on help with the camera they had to use as part of their job - pictures of visitors and training, etc. Sister Nelson had her usual weekly gig at Army Community Service. And as we recall, it was a rainy stormy, but still hot and humid day.

Tuesday we made our weekly trek to the Tokyo Temple. It rained on us a bit, as well as being hot and humid.  The nice things is that once you are on the train, its mostly cooler and it isn't raining inside the train! All bets are off once we left the train station for the final walking part to the Temple. Our Zone missionaries were attending that day, so it was extra special.  We hurried home, meaning we left as soon as we could to catch an earlier train, so we could meet up with our YSA (both of them) for a "yakitori" dinner at a place close to our apartment. The Melton's also joined us. Yakitori is basically variations on chicken grilled on a stick (mini kabob style). A favorite in Japan. 

Wednesday was looking to be a very full day. Elder Nelson had his last Family History class scheduled for the morning; however, his one student was unable to come and scheduled a make up session on Monday of next week.  Sister Nelson helped at the Occupational Health clinic and Elder Nelson went to help a few of his photography students with using their work camera. Once we got their camera settings right, they were very happy with the improvement. Success.  He then reported in for a few hours of helping out at Army Community Service. After some dinner, we had one more event, an on-line lesson helping the young elders teach one of their friends and that ended another hot summer day.

Normally on this Thursday, we would have been helping with the Newcomers orientation; however, we attended another "Change of Command." A member of our branch, and also the 2C in the Stake Presidency, had his change of command of Camp Zama Garrison. They will still remain at Zama in some TBD job while one of their daughters finishes high school. Sister Nelson left the ceremony early to make her way over to the other Camp Zama housing area (SHA) and meet up with the young missionaries and volunteer at the Thrift Shop. Elder Nelson stayed until the ceremony was over and then made his way to the same location. Eventually we all made it to the Thrift store for a couple of hours of service in a very hot and cramped building. We gave the young missionaries enough Yen for a McDonald's lunch and we went to the commissary. We have a big event coming up a week from Saturday and we have been accumulating groceries for it,  Also, we had to get stuff to make our District Lunch on Friday.  The Melton's helped us by taking all the stuff for district lunch over to the church so we wouldn't have to pack it on the train. Another pretty busy and hot day done.

Friday was the big day! Sister Nelson's birthday and Elder Nelson had planned a special weekend; however, special also meant a little busy.  First we bussed and train-ed to our chapel for District Council and Lunch. We were going to have to "eat and run;" however, the young missionaries first had a surprise for Sister Nelson and a rendition of the Happy Birthday song.  We then had to leave the missionaries to eat and cleanup on their own. Sister Nelson made them lasagna! yum. 

To start our birthday get-away, we had to leave early to catch the bus to the train station, with our overnight bags in tow. Elder Nelson got "Romance Car" tickets for our ride into Tokyo. Romance Car is a nicer train, with reserved seats, that only stopped once on the way. Nice and only an extra $6. We had just never tried it before. We made it to the madness of Shinjuku station and opted for a taxi to our hotel (the Tokyo Hilton).  It is a very nice, even "swanky" as Sister Nelson described it. We got an upgrade to a nicer room and ended up on the 35th (of 38) floor. Amazing view!  

But wait! the main event is still to come. We had tickets to go see "DrumTao!" which to almost all of you will be a, SO??? thing.  This group put on a high energy, highly choreographed performance, playing Taiko drums and all the other Japanese instruments. Absolutely incredible. We saw them perform in February and had to see them again. They also tour in the U.S., so maybe we can see them again somewhere. After the show, we made it back to the Hilton and indulged in the dinner buffet at one of their "swanky" restaurants.  Fun day, but we were pretty tired by nightfall.

The object for Saturday (still in Happy Birthday mode) was to find Sister Nelson some Akoya pearls she could take home from Japan. That involved some train riding and walking in the hot weather.  We found one place that had nice pearls, but not the right size (bracelet), so we continued our search. We ended up going back, grabbing our bags from the hotel and then train riding/walking to where the New Sanno Hotel is at.  They have a pearl shop too. And as it turned out, they had very nice pearls and a shop owner who fit it for her while we waited AND they were on sale too.  So while we waited we had a nice American style BBQ dinner.  We were so hot and tired by then that we actually checked to see if the hotel had any rooms available...unfortunately they did not, so we rested a bit and made our way home. That would be another 90 minutes of walk/train/bus.  BUT we did it, and accomplished the finding pearls goal.  The awesome sale at the pearl shop, convinced Elder Nelson, with Sister Nelson strongly encouraging him, to grab a manly pearl bracelet too. 

Sunday was, and needed to be, a day of little walking and some needed rest (in an air-conditioned place), so that is what we did.  We enjoyed a nice church service in our Branch and a missionary coordination meeting.  We even got a ride home!  We almost had to make a trip to Camp Fuji, but that turned out to be unnecessary because the individual who wanted us to come up for a service was delayed.  Anyway, we did enjoy a nice ZOOM session with our fellow MRM Senior Missionary couples across our Stake. We don't see most of them very often in person, but all of them are special to us and we have a special bond that we really enjoy.  Thus ended another week.  

We are blessed to be here in Japan.  We are blessed to enjoy relatively good health. And we are blessed to have the support and prayers of family and friends.  And we are blessed to be able to serve Him and represent Him and His love to those we meet, serve, and associate with every day.

Love

Elder and Sister Nelson

BLOG #70 "You Can Learn Alot of Things From the Flowers"

 Hello all, 

Another week of summer weather in beautiful Japan. Plenty of things to see and do with lots of steps in between. The collage of flowers in the photos below is a collection of the flowers Sis Nelson photographed while taking her steps. She has always enjoyed taking pictures of flowers, and Japan definitely has some unique ones. The app on her phone identifies them for her, and so we share them with all of you. She is learning a lot about flowers here. They grow everywhere. Suffice it to say the Japanese people must like them too. 

Speaking of taking pictures, on Monday, Elder Nelson taught his photography class to some Japanese ladies who are part of the Japan MLC (Master Labor Contractors). They are coming to learn how to take pictures with the camera that their office issued them to take pictures of visitors and the training that goes on in their office.  But they don't know how to use it so they have been learning from Elder Nelson. On Wednedsday he will be going to their office to do "hands on" training for them. Just one of the many opportunities to share our talents and serve the community. 

We also wandered over to the softball field to see one of our YSA's play a game. That was what we did for Family Home Evening. We have another game to attend tonight. 

Temple Tuesday was a bus and then train ride. (Elder Nelson's picture is what it looks like to be in the back of the bus). The temple was wonderful as we were able to see many of the awesome missionaries that we have worked with over the past 16 months. The picture is of three of the sisters who will be going home on the next transfer, and Elder Baquirin who is not going home yet. We love them all. 

We had dinner at the train station, which was not terribly exciting. But we did have our dinner served to us by a cute, yellow robot. Quite a few restaurants use these robots here in Japan. No need for a waitress because you also place your order on a tablet. And that's how it's done here in lots of places. 

We got home a little later, and Sis Nelson finished up some baking and bagging of cookies and banana bread for the next day's Red Cross Coffee Cart. 

Bright and early on Wednesday, we delivered the baked goods to the JED (Japan Engineer District) building, and we hung out with the engineers and served them coffee and cookies for the Red Cross. Bella the dog was also there as part of the Red Cross' Animal Visitation Program ( AVP). Many people enjoy petting dogs, so Bella is part of the certified AVP program, allowing people to pet and love on her. Somehow, that goes well with coffee and cookies. A nice diversion for the engineers. 

Elder Nelson also taught a family history class to one person. She is married to a retired Navy guy who works on the post at the dental clinic. Anyway, Sis. Nelson also attended and "helped". This gal wants to start doing family history work, but has many challenges finding Japanese records. Definitely not as easy as we have it with all the resources available to us. I commend her for being willing to try. 

Later that day, Sis Nelson joined the Pubic Affairs folks and put on her garden gloves to go to one of the city parks to help pull weeds. She managed to find a shady spot and helped others pull the weeds that were growing in the bricks. Something a large bottle of Round Up would have handled nicely, but they don't do that here. Everyone worked hard, and the Japanese workers appreciated the help. (Elder Nelson was not able to attend; he was missed)

Thursday was another very hot day, and we had almost nothing on our calendar, so we stayed inside in the cool apartment doing other stuff. At least until we were needed at the PX (Post Exchange). We set up a table and smiled at people to encourage sign-ups for VBS (Vacation Bible School). We will be helping with that in August. Sis. Nelson with the crafts, and you can probably guess what Elder Nelson will be doing. Once again using our talents. 

After over a week of very hot weather, Friday dawned with a much cooler day. Temperatures are in the 75-85 range instead of 95-105. It was a much-needed break for our sanity. Sometimes, too much heat can be overwhelming. We were able to attend a Change of Command for some friends from the branch. We met the Hansen family when we lived in Boise, ID, in 2005. At that time, Eric and Megan were newlyweds, and they came over to our house to visit with us about what it was like to be on active duty in the military. They were trying to decide whether to do that or just the ID National Guard. We must have been convincing enough for them to choose to go active duty. Twenty years and 4.5 kids later, we met them again here in Japan. Eric has been the commander of a battalion here that just changed over. We love the small world of the military and the church. 

Saturday was another day of cooler temperatures, and we ventured out for a shopping trip to the Shinjuku area. Several train stops and transfers later, we arrived at the Shinjuku station. One of the busiest places here in Japan. We made one more train transfer to find a Japanese Folk Art store called Bingoya. The store had traditional, handmade crafts, textiles, and pottery. We were looking for Tamari balls. They come in many sizes and are handmade balls made with rice husks and yarn. Very pretty. We found what we were looking for and also found a lunch stop. Elder Nelson took a picture of his yakisoba. And then we headed back to the train station for a reverse trip. 

We joined the Meltons at the Navy base to see the latest Jurassic Park movie. That included popcorn and Diet Coke, and we called that dinner.  The movie was more of what all the JP movies have in them. People looking for dinosaurs in heavily forested islands. When they find them, the people get eaten if they are the "bad guys," or they make it out alive if they are a nice guy after lots of hiding and chasing. It was entertaining. We headed back home on the train, and usually take the bus back to our apartment. But alas, the last bus was at 10pm, and it was 10:20pm. We therefore walked home, adding to our many steps that day. Sis Nelson's final count was a little over 20,000. Tired feet, tired old people, but it was a fun day. 

Sunday is our day of rest....and we were delighted to do just that. We fellowshipped with the members and missionaries. One of the Elders gave Elder Nelson a drawing that another Elder had given him. He drew a picture of Elder Nelson taking pictures. Pretty nice rendering. 

One of the Japanese members that served with Elder Nelson in Hokkaido, almost 50 years ago is always giving us sweet, handmade presents. He and his wife are downsizing and moving in with their son, and they have given us some of their lovely, Japanese treasures. The lastest have been some very beautiful Tamari balls. The Japanese love to give gifts. We are very grateful to Elder Akasaka and his wife. 

Thanks for making it to the end of this long blog. Neither one of us is very good at journal keeping, so we hope these blogs will help us remember our experience here in Japan. It has been a wonderful time here. We can't believe how fast the time has gone. We are doing our best to finish strong and serve with all our hearts. Thanks to all for your love and support. 

Love to all,

Elder Nelson and Sister Nelson

                                                                    

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