The Last Few Days in Japan

We were scheduled to leave Tsuruoka on Thursday, May 25th.  Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were spent cleaning, packing, sorting, crying, doing laundry, and preparing to leave.  There was so much to do to be ready to go.  On Tuesday evening,  we went to our last Family Home Evening at the branch.  Family Home Evening was the highlight of the week for us while we were in Japan.  It is one of the things we are missing most now we are home.  We love, love, love all of the people who attend FHE and miss our close association with the people there.

Our Last Family Home Evening

We donated a bag of rice we had left over to FHE.  Remi hugged and hugged it because it was from us.  She said she would never eat it- only hug it. 

Sachiko and Imi made katsu don for our "last supper."  It truly is one of our favorite Japanese meals.  They knew that and prepared it for us.  They even carefully taught me how to make it so I could make it at home.   It was delicious.  It is rice with pork, onions, and eggs in a special sweet sauce.  Our experience was that no one makes it better than Sachiko and Imi.

And soup.  Soup is nearly always served at FHE.

And Sachiko made her special black sesame pudding for dessert.

Us with Elders Weatherred, Terry, Matthews, and Jensen

Rizumi and Remi (they feel like our own daughters)  They are often in our prayers as we have such high hopes for them.

President and Ayaka Endo and Amane kun.  How we love this little family!

We were touched that Satoshi came to FHE that evening to see us off.  He doesn't like to be in crowds, but came for us.

I took a bunch of things to give away that evening- things we didn't want to bring home and lots of  groceries- pantry items.  We set it all out and let everyone take what they wanted.  There was a lot of nice stuff, but this silly flower was among the stuff.  Remi had some fun with it.

Sister Hirayama usually didn't come to FHE, but she came that evening to see us off.

Special Goodbye Visits at Our Apartment
On Wednesday evening- the night before we left, we had special visits from people we grew to love.

Kadawakis- Kazuko and her daughter, Shiho were dear friends.  You've seen them often on this blog as we did a lot with them.  They came on Wednesday evening bearing beautiful, amazing, thoughtful gifts.  Shiho had made a whole bagful of jewelry and charms to give to our family.  She had beautifully packaged each one.  Kazuko had purchased the beautiful scarf I am wearing to give me as a gift.  It is made from Tsuruoka silk- produced right there in Tsuruoka.  I'm sure it cost her a fortune.  As Shiho said goodbye she just sobbed on my shoulder, saying she would miss her American mother. 

We are missing these dear friends.  I communicate occasionally with Shiho by email.  She always addresses me as her American mother and signs it, Your Japanese Daughter.  Neither of them spoke English, but Shiho has a great translator app, so we can communicate pretty well.  We won't be at all surprised if they come to America to see us. 

After Kadowakis left, our neighbors, the Honmas came over and gave us nice gifts. 

The Morning We Left
We got up early on Thursday and washed the bedding, showered, got ready and finished packing.  At 9am, we picked up these sisters at the bus station.  The mission president decided to replace us with sisters.  We brought them back to the apartment, then oriented them on who we have been working with, in hopes that they will continue our work. 

Here, Ken is bequeathing his precious maps to the sisters.  He is amazing at finding Japanese addresses.  As he found each person, he wrote on the map where they lived.  Honestly, it's better than any GPS.  These maps were well-worn and became kind of a symbol of our mission.  You can see a few holes in this one.

Sister Shoenburger and Sister Poff were our replacement.

We had told the members we would be leaving at about 10:30, so those who could make it came to see us off at the church.  One more final goodbye: Ryohei, Hisako, Hiroyuki, and the Elders.

Sister Nomura also came just as we were leaving.  This picture makes me cry.

And we're off:  Happy!   Sad!  We stopped around the corner to pray before taking off for Sendai.

A Touching Escort

We stopped around the corner to say a prayer.  Hiroyuki followed us and waited, then escorted us out of town.  It makes me cry to think of the royal send-off.  He led us clear out to where you enter the freeway, then waved as we went on our way.  What a good friend!

One Last Beautiful Drive over the Mountain

Goodbye, Beautiful Japan!

We Arrive at the Mission Home

We went to visit some friends to give them a gift in Sendai, then went to the mission home.  We had our final interview with President Smith.

Sukiyaki Farewell Dinner

Traditionally, they serve a meal of sukiyaki on missionaries final night.  It was absolutely delicious.

This dear sister has been cooking for the mission home for many, many years.

This chocolate cake was delicious- and very American tasting.

Elder Murai also was leaving with us the next morning.  He is in the middle, with the assistants to the president on the right.

The mission presidency: Sezas, Smiths, and Brother Yamada.  How we love, love, love these dear people.  The Sezas came to say goodbye to us.

The Youngs also joined us.  They are the office couple. 

This sister came to give us thank you gifts of charms she had made.  We didn't know her, but she wanted to come and thank us for our service.

Goodbye at the Airport on Friday Morning

We had to leave at 6:00am the next morning to get to the Sendai airport for our flight to Tokyo.

Here you can see the beautiful brooch Kozue Seza made for me as a thank you/ goodbye gift.  I love it!

A Special Visit at the Narita Airport in Tokyo

We had an eight-hour layover in Tokyo.  This dear sister, Megumi Furutani came to see us there and meet with us.  Ken knew her from his first mission.  She was one of his English students.  After he left, she joined the church, but has since become less active.  Ken reconnected with her on facebook a few years ago, and she wanted to come and see us.  We had a nice visit with her.  She suffers with Parkinson's disease, so it was a tremendous effort for her to ride the train for three hours to come and see us.  We so appreciated the sacrifice.

We enjoyed lunch with her before we separated.

The United States of America!

Our first glimpse of our homeland.  I think this is Mount Olympia.

It was good to be back on American soil when we landed in Portland, Oregon.  We had a short layover there, then to SLC, then to St. George.  Home.  Mixed emotions is the only term to describe how we feel.  It is so good to be home.  But, we left part of our hearts in Tsuruoka, Japan.  Parts that we won't get back until we see those people again.  And we know we will see them again.  We went to Japan to testify of those and other truths.  May God bless and keep each and every one of them until we meet again!