Service Again in Ishinomaki in April

 

The mission learned of another need for service in some of the fishing villages along the coast near Ishinomaki.  This is the season for harvesting wakame (seaweed) out of the ocean and preparing it for distribution.  We didn't have the entire mission come in for the service but we did ask the missionaries close by to come and help. (about 1/2 of the mission)  We rented a bus and spent two consecutive days working with the fishermen.  Some of the members of the Sendai Stake also joined us.

 

 

President & Sister Sugawara (Stake President) came with us.

 



Sisters in the back of the bus!

 



Sister Saito and Shuto

 



Gary posing with one of the fishermen we worked with.

 



The seaweed is put into this large vat of salt water as one of the processes.

This was the seaweed after it came out of the vat.  We spent hours "untangling" it and cutting off the end tip of a stran of seaweed.  (Honestly, I couldn't see nor understand "why" we did that)

 

We were provided with and Obento lunch of fish and rice.

 

Each of the blue and yellow baskets were filled with this seaweed.  After working many hours with several of the women, we hardly made a dent in the work to be done.  We did go through lots and lots of baskets, tho.

Group picture before we left for home.  Several of our missionaries here are new enough that they had never had the opportunity to do service with the mission.

 



A bus load of people  came up from Tokyo to help, too.

The first day of the service, the Zone Leader Council and the office missionaries went to the service. This picture was taken in front of the Honbu when we returned at the end of the day.

We were thrilled that 3 of our former missionaries came up with the Tokyo bus and we were able to see them.  (Sister Murase, Tanaka and Maki)

 



Gary and me with Sister Maki who was serving in Ishinomaki when the tsunami hit 2 years ago.

 



These three Shimai are doing very well and loved to return to see some of the

 missionaries they knew while on their mission.

 



Sister Maki and Tanaka came to stay at the Honbu on Sunday evening.

 



Sister Maki telling her Mission President more detail about what happened to her right after the tsunami hit Ishinomaki.  She and her companion were missing for several days when Pres. Tateoka was trying to contact every missionary and bring them into Sendai.  Sis Maki was at the evacuation center cleaning dirty, smelly bathrooms so the people would have clean facilities.  She saw a need and did her part!

 



 

What a sweetheart.  (She told us she was dating a wonderful young man she taught the gospel to in Hirosaki (Shirasaka Kyodai) while she served there.  He was baptized and is the Ward Mission Leader now.  We are hoping a marriage is in the future for them.