A Special Visitor in our Little Branch

This sweet little girl  came to Japan from America to stay with her aunt who lives here.  Her name is Nicole.  Her mother is Japanese and her father is Greek.  Her aunt and uncle are not members of our church, but she and her parents are.  So her aunt and uncle would faithfully bring her to church each Sunday for the month or so that she was here,  and then pick her up at the end.  On her last Sunday here, we all gathered in the chapel after church to have a branch photo taken (this will be a treasure!) and then she gave a sweet little thank you speech.  Then she played the piano for us.  She is amazing.  She played two numbers and then we encored her for a third.  Then she bade a tearful goodbye.  Then, in the precious Japanese way, every branch member went out to the parking lot and waved and bowed while she drove away with her aunt.  It was a sweet and unifying experience.  Here are some videos and pictures from that day:

This is the picture of the branch- or who was in attendance that day.  The branch president is taking the picture.

This is Nicole giving her sweet thank you speech.

She then sat down at the piano and blew us all away with her talent.

Vegetables in the Genkan

This sweet sister holds the distinction as the one who has been in this branch the longest of anyone who is still active.  She is so cute and funny.  She has the cutest sense of humor.  She teases us.  She asked Elder Hinton if President Monson and he were best friends.  She asked me if I used to sing in the Tabernacle choir.  When I said no, she said it's not good to lie.

Anyway, she is a humble, cute little lady.  Her husband usually brings her to church each week.  She lives quite a distance from the church- about a 20 minute drive from the church.  But recently he wasn't able to bring her, so she rode her bike.  She's not young and it is HOT!!!!  When Elder Hinton expressed  his amazement, she said "I didn't ride over the Rocky mountains.  It's not that bad."  She is just so cute.  Anyway, she grows a huge garden.  Each week, she fills the genkan at church with produce from her garden for people to take whatever they want.  She brings boxes of delicious, fresh-picked vegetables- all washed and scrubbed. 

These are daikon from her garden.

Each week at Family Home Evening, we eat vegetables from her garden.

Roasted and pickled eggplant from her garden.

Edamame are abundant right now and they are delicious!

Cucumbers!

Lettuce, daikon, and tomato salad- all from this dear sister.

We love this dear sister and appreciate so much a way she has found to serve her fellow saints. 

My Prayer

                                                                                                                          W.H. Auden

For other mantras, click here.

Branch BBQ

Our little branch recently held a summer BBQ.  Inside, we prepared vegetables and meats to be grilled.

Outside, they got the barbecues going and . . .

Set up the nagashi soumen.  Nagashi soumen is where they have a water slide for noodles.  People grab noodles out of the slide with their chopsticks or ohashi and put them in a delicious broth and eat them. 

Here's some pictures from the Internet of this cultural tradition:

I was busy barbecuing when the slide was running at our party, so I didn't get pictures.

Ken and Brother Nomura were the chief barbecue chefs, though many of us helped.

We were excited when our friend from the volunteer center- Kadawaki san and her daughter came.  They are very fun.  This is me with Shiho, the daughter.

They brought melon, juice, and pitched right in helping me barbecue the vegetables.

There were snow cones for dessert.

We taught them the water balloon toss game.  They thought we were crazy at first, but everyone who tried it had fun.  The problem in Japan is that when the balloon bursts on you, you never dry out.  It's too humid.

We had many people come that weren't members of our church.  Here are some guys from Rwanda that are here learning about agriculture- rice growing.  We are helping the elders teach one of them the gospel.

I was busy cooking during the main part of the party, so didn't get many pictures, but it was a fun party and was well attended. 

Origami Flowers

Origami is an ancient Japanese art.  I was excited when they announced that the Relief Society activity in July would be learning to fold origami flowers. 

This one was made by the teacher.  I never did make one with which I was satisfied.  It was very difficult.  Isn't it beautiful?

This was our teacher- Miki.  I asked her (through interpretation) where she learned to make origami.  I expected her to say she learned it from her mother who learned it from her mother - that the art had passed down through the generations.  Nope.  She learned it on youtube!  She really did have a gift for it, though.  She was really good. 

I realized early on that making origami was not going to be my "gift."  So I just relaxed and looked around and soaked up the joy of being with my Japanese sisters and watching them learn an ancient art of their culture.  It was a sweet afternoon. 

The Sea of Japan

When we found out where we would be serving our mission, we were excited because Tsuruoka is near the Sea of Japan.  We are ocean lovers.  The sea is only about 3-5 miles away as the crow flies.  But we rarely even get a glimpse of the sea.  We feel the sea in the air and especially in the breezes in the summer that help a little to keep things bearable.  But we've only gone out to see the sea a few times.

A couple of weeks ago we decided to visit a branch member who lives in a little village on the sea.  So we took her some treats and walked down to the sea and got a few pictures.

Behind us you can see a little island.  There is a bridge over to the island.  We plan to go back and walk across the bridge and explore the little island.  I'm sure I'll be posting about it.

Hopefully there will be more sea visits in the near future!

Hoshi No Matsuri (Festival of Stars)

I think we just experienced the equivalent of Christmas in Japan.  Well, except there was no caroling or Jesus Christ or gifts.  Well, that's not true; we are ALWAYS being given gifts.  So really the only similarity is the decorated "tree."  It actually is a cut bamboo stick with the greenery still on.  Then you decorate it with "wishes"  Everyone writes a wish on a rectangular piece of paper and hangs it on the tree.  Other paper ornaments are also made and hung.  It is called a tanabata.

Honestly, we wouldn't have known a thing about it, but we made paper decorations for weeks at the volunteer center. 

This lady at the volunteer center follows my family's cooking blog.  I was just taking pictures of the preparations, but after realized she was showing the others my cooking blog. 

Here is a blurry picture of our "tree"

Elder Price's height came in handy.

Volunteers under the "tree" 

Kadawaki san (our leader and friend at the Volunteer Center) and I under our tanabata.

Special colorful treats are made to celebrate the holiday.  I think they are an offering for the dead.  I don't know, but they are pretty.  We noticed them in many of the stores.

One of our eikiawa students owns a  bakery.  We visited one day and I took pictures of the beautiful treats.

You're probably gathering that I have no idea what this holiday is about.  That's pretty much how life is here in Japan.  We rarely know what's going on.  We don't have a clue.  We just go with the flow.  But Happy Hoshi No Matsuri anyway!