9 Arrive From The MTC in April

 Waiting for the plane to arrive at the Sendai Airport.  Elder Juchau makes friends with everyone.

 They arrived, tired and happy.  We tried something new.  We loaded their luggage in our van and sent the new missionaries with the AP's on the train back into Sendai.  There they would catch a bus up to the Mission Home.  We gave each of them some Pass-Along Cards & Book of Mormon and asked them to spread out on the train and find someone to talk to and try to give away the Book of Mormon and some cards.  We hope this will set the tone in the mission that in the Sendai Mission "we talk to EVERYONE we meet".   They all had some stories to tell when they arrived at the Honbu.

 The AP's had the difficult task to load up the van with the luggage.  It is a miracle they were able to do it.  The last bag, I held on my lap.  (The van ride home was pretty smelly!!)

                            The next morning with the new Shimai and their Mission President.

 They have just met their first companions/trainer and are receiving training on their first 12 weeks program.

 Lunch is always Curry rice.

 Elder Wixom from LaVerkin, Utah

 Elder Wixom will be trained by Elder Squire.

 Sister Tanabe from Hawaii.

 Sister Tanabe will be trained by Sister Maki

 Elder Fitzpatrick from Sunnyvale, California.

 Elder Fitzpatrick will be trained by Elder Ohori.

 Elder Nation from Humble, Texas.

 Elder Nation will be trained by Elder Page.

 Elder Akiyama from Tokyo.

 Elder Akiyama will be trained by Elder Holbrook.

 Sister Tada from Kobe, Japan

 Sister Tada will be trained by Sister Kitade.

 Sister Oman from Altamont, Utah.

 Sister Oman will be trained by Sister Yoshida.

Elder Elkins from Fallon, Nevada.

 Elder Elkins will be trained by Elder Oikawa.

 Sister Saito from Hiroshima, Japan.

 Sister Saito will be trained by Sister Fukuda.

The whole group as they left for their first area of service.  They will be fabulous missionaries.

Church in Hochinohe

We were surprized how many deaf members attend this branch.  This couple is totally deaf but come to church every Sunday with several others.  Members of the Branch have learned sign language and take turn interpreting talks for them throughout the Sunday meetings.  In Relief Society, one of the deaf ladies teaches the others one verse of a hymn using sign language each week.  They work on one hymn per month.  Inspiring!!

After church, this table was set up in no time at all and filled with pot luck food from everyone.  I happened to have with me this trip some loaves of banana bread that I shared.  Several of the ladies asked for my recipe so I emailed it to them. 

These ladies are so nice and we learned to love each other even though we couldn't speak.  The two Elders in the back row are Elder Chipman and Kendall.

 

The Branch President and his family, President Yamanaka.

A Few Hours Visiting In Odate

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 We stopped in Odate for a few hours on Saturday for several reasons.  The Elder's apartment is in bad shape and they are in need of a new apartment that will be closer to the Eki and the new church building.  We picked them up in the morning and they took us to see two apartments they had picked out to choose from.  On our way to see the new apartments, we saw these ladies in costume selling food in front of the combini (convenience store like 7-11 in America) and Gary stopped to see what they were selling.  He can't help but buy something--mostly so the Elders had this fun experience and could learn to "open you mouth and talk to everyone".

Elder Ishida and Merkley (from Mesa!) with Gary picking out the soup they wanted.

Couldn't resist taking a picture with these ladies.  Gary makes a friend out of everyone.
 

Elder Ishida loves trains and could tell you any detail about any train ever created.  He has all the train schedules memorized in the entire mission.  He is very smart and a quiet, wonderful missionary.

Then we stopped to see the location of the new church in Odate.  This large room is on the second floor of an office building.   Some partitions will be installed to make several classrooms and a chapel out of this huge room.  It will be such a nice place to go to church.  Their current church is in pretty rough shape and is very small.  We are thrilled PBO has approved a new building for them.

Elder Ishida and Merkley are excited to move into a new apartment and a new church.
 

Odate is the birthplace of Hachi the dog who was so loyal to his owner.  It is a heartwarming story that is known all over Japan.  A museum is dedicated to Hachi and his breed of dogs.  This statue is outside the museum.

The missionaries and President Domon, Odate Branch President.

Elder Merkley is pretty confident this little puppy will only lick his fingers.

We love Odate.  Outside the museum is this bridge that goes over the roadway to a beautiful city park.
                                      
Notice what a great idea this is and it is something you see all over Japan because everyone rides a bike.  You can walk up the steps while your bike goes on the ramp at the side.  Brilliant!

Two faithful missionaries.  We sure love them.