NEW BAPTISMS IN NAGAMACHI WARD

 We attended the baptism for Bro So who is a graduate student from China.  He is very converted and loves the gospel.  We believe he will have great influence on the church in China when he returns home.

 Sister Sato was baptised in June.  She was taught the gospel by the missionaries often in our home.  She is a single mom of this boy who is studying to get into college.  Hopefully, he will join the church like his Mom in the future.  We invited them both to our house for dinner.  I made American Pizza and the son loved it.  I've never seen anyone eat as much as he did that night.

The AP's came at the end of the evening to build a stronger relationship with the son.

FIRST VISIT TO MISAWA BRANCH

 A candid shot on the platform of the tiny Misawa Eki.   The Eki is directly across the street from the big beautiful Misawa chapel.  A large military Ward also uses the building which justifies such a large chapel.  We also attended the Ward this day.  It was wonderful to hear the Sacrament Prayers and speakers speaking English for the first time in a year. 

Gary with the Branch Presidency in Misawa.

Beautiful Honbu Flowers and Plants

Every Summer after the plants have all bloomed, the yard around our home is beautiful.  I had to take pictures of the yard to remember.  I wish these pictures did justice to the yard but they don't.

 This picture was taken outside the Dining Room window.

 Outside the Living Room Window looking towards the office

More of the area shown in previous picture.

 The patio between the house and the office.

 The front porch and door.  There is always an umbrella holder by a front door. 

 Everyone uses one rain or shine.

 Off the porch ~ the planter next to the house inside the patio area.

The continuation of the planter area (above) but outside the gate near the street.

Wedding Reception of President Nagase's daughter

The Nagamachi Ward had two of their young adults marry in the Temple.  The bride is the daughter of Pres Nagase who serves in the Mission Presidency with Gary.  They are on their way to BYU-H to go to school.  This wedding reception is not like one we would attend in America where we would come and go in the evening.  Rather, it was a come and sit and stay the whole time as their "story" was told and gifts of gratitude were exchanged between the couple and their parents.  We didn't realize this was the tradition and came late (I know, classy, huh)  We took pictures of what we saw.

 The Bride and Groom each expressed love and gratitude to their parents.  They were emotional in this picture--not sad!

The special gift they presented each set of parents was a cute white Teddy Bear.  Each bear weighed exactly the birth weight of the their child (the Bride or Groom) Cute idea!

 As they left the room they walked to each table and bowed to each of their guests.

 Lovely, but simple decorations. 

Those attending the reception--mostly Nagamachi Ward members.

SHOPPING AT THE HONBU

In the spirit of the law of conseration, we have asked the missionaries to give any clothing to the Honbu they don't want or can't take with them when they transfer or go home from their missions. The apartments were full of old clothing that no one knew who it belonged to.  I asked them to box it all up and we would pick it up the next time we were in their area.  The closets in the extra bedrooms in the Mission Home has become the storage for all of this clothing that looked good enough to keep.  If Elders need a white shirt, a suit, a tie, baptismal clothing, socks or coats, we have quite a selection.  The Shimai can get a blouse,  skirt, dress, nylons, socks, shoes, boots, coats, sweaters--just about anything they need in many different sizes. 

This day, the Sakomoto couple brought Maria and the two Tagajo sisters to the Honbu to do some "shopping",  Maria just received her mission call and is from the Ishinomaki Branch where the Sakamotos live.  She needed clothing to take on her mission and I was happy to provide a few articles of clothing to help her. 

They brought their own lunch to eat before the shopping spree.

We took out all the drawers of clothing and opened the closet doors and let her "go to town".

Sister Bohnet and Sister Takatska were having too much fun!

They each found bags of treasures.(Sis Bohnet and Maria)

The girls with Sis. Sakamoto.

Talking the the President before they left.  I think they all did OK for themselves.

SUNDAY IN IWAKI

We were anxious to visit Iwaki Branch.  They still don't have Missionaries serving there because of the radiation problem so they are always happy to have us come.  A companionship from Aisu go to the Branch often on Sundays only.  Sister Mauriyama from Iwaki send me a box containing many nice things she wanted me to have.  Among the items was a red skirt that was hers.  I wore it this Sunday to show her how much I appreciated her thoughtfulness. 

Visiting the Branch this day were 2 couples from south of Iwaki who brought a box of framed pictures drawn by Primary children from a ward in Idaho Falls telling the families in Tohoku that they have not been forgotten.  Everyone was thrilled to get them.

 Sister Igari and her two daughters posing with a picture.

 The Branch picture of the day.

 This is Sister Mariyama who sent me her skirt.

I wish I could remember their names, but the mom in the middle is a friend with the Primary President in Idaho Falls who sent the pictures.  This lady also baked Brownies to hand out to everyone.  The recipe was from her friend in Idaho. 

Trip to Zao

Sister Konoko, a single adult of the Izumi Ward and a good friend works at her family restaurant in Zao, a rural area about 30 Kilometers from our house.  She invited us to come out to eat and see her family farm.  We took a day and drove there and loved the quiet beauty of that little community.  It reminded us of Idaho where we grew up.

We sat outside to eat.

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 Inside the small restaurant, her grandma displayed these quilts she made by hand.  They were spectacular works of art.

 Konoko Shimai and Gary by the cheese factory next door to her restaurant. 

 On our walk to the cheese factory we passed this beautiful rose garden.  Pictures don't show how beautiful it was.  Every kind and color imaginable was represented in this garden.

 Gary and I have commented many times that we never have seen a cow on our mission even though we  live in a rural part of Japan.  Behind the cheese factory, we saw these cows and got kind of excited about it. 

A typical drive through Zao.  Beautiful place!