April is for Leadership Training and 39th Anniversary Celebrating

We started the training in Niigata.  Gary taught them first how to turn a PI (Potential Investigator) into an actual investigator by asking for their phone number so they can be contacted.  All of the missionaries were asked to do a mogi with another missionary practice asking for a phone number and the proper way to give a meishi to a Japanese person. (person "business" card)  Most Japanese people have meishi that they have in their pocket all the time.  If a missionary offers his/her meishi, one is almost always given back in return.  That is a great way to get a phone number.

Gary watching and listening to the mogis

                                      Elders Kurita and Nishida

Elder Takeshita & Everett

Sisters Tanaka and Kimura

These companionships are doing their actual planning for the next day practicing skills they learned from the Assistants to the President.

Elders Oikawa & Kano

Elders Ogita & Saunders

Elder Sanders and Page

These clever AP's taught the steps necessary to plan effectively to get eventually have an investigator ready for baptism by assembling a piece of a train track for each step. 

Sendai Zone Training.  Elders Carter, Mead, Lay, Okada,Takei and Ruefenacht.

Sisters Kitade, Sato, Mukitani and Asato

Elders Christensen and Mizuochi

Planning!  Sisters Mukaitani and Asato

Sisters Bohnet and Furukawa

Elder Carter and Mead

Elders Preston and Yoneda

Elder Lay receives the Almo O Taylor Award for reading the Book of Mormon in Japanese.

To wake up aftere lunch, we sang Put Your Shoulder To The Wheel with actions.

Morioka Zone Training

We decided to do something very different and take our bento lunch across the street to the lake and eat it watching the swans and ducks. 

This statue is next to the lake of a family who represents PEACE.

We all climbed maybe 200 shallow stairs up a hill nearby that over looked the city of Morioka. 

Climbing back down the mountain.

Ready to be taught by a master teacher, Gary!

Aomori Zone Training

For lunch in Aomori, we went to a local fish market where you can buy a bowl of rice and pick the raw fish you want on the rice.  Everyone loved it and it was a nice change of events.

Elders Ohira, Squire, Kendall, Ikeda, Chipman and Juchau.

Gary, Sister Maki and Takatsu,Elder Watanabe and Taylor

Elders Ishida and Merkley

 Our 39th Anniversary fell on the Leadership Training day in Aomori.  At the beginning of the afternoon session of the training, all the missionaries stopped the meeting and began giving us cards and pictures and from all the Districts to celebrate with us.  We were shocked because we hadn't said anything to anyone about our special day.  Our cute Assistants, Elder Juchau and Ikeda, saw Gary's calendar and noticed he had written our Anniversary on April 20 and let the Zone know about it so they could do something for us while we were with them that day.  These are some pictures of us opening and reading cards and letters from all the missionaries.  2 Elders and 2 Sisters sang, Love AT Home to us. (I tried to upload the video of that song here but my videos won't upload on this blog)

Sisters Maki and Takatsu from Hirosaki

Elders Merkley and Ishida from Odate

 (F) Sister Takatsu and Maki, Elders Watanabe, Ishida, me, two sisters  from the Aomori Branch.
(B) ? Elders Merkley, Squire, Ohira, Chipman, Taylor, Ikeda, Kendall, Gary, Juchau.

When we arrived home Sunday night, we found our front door all decorated with hearts as well as a decorated picture frame with a hand drawn picture of everyone in the Nagamachi District to celebrate our Anniversary.    Sister Inoue is our artist!!  So cute!!

The Nagamachi District made this frame for us.  Each little face looks just like the missionaries in the district.  Clever!!