Life is Joyful

Missionary work can be difficult. Elder Holland has said that as missionaries we deal with a person's salvation and it was meant to be hard. Our mission president referred to the parable of the sower of seeds found in Mathew 13:3-9, 18-23. The bottom line is that we sow seeds and it is up to the person how it is received. When the seed grows, there is joy.

On a recent community street cleaning there were two different missionaries on exchange in our district. As we were walking down the street and picking up debris, one of the persons from Atsugi that was helping, started talking to a visiting Elder saying he was wanting to find the local church and attend. That was really cool. Brian has been responding by email to the Atsugi Public Affairs Officer to get us signed up for these clean ups and it is great to get the exposure. 

On American holidays like Memorial Day, the military facilities have the day off and people go out and explore Japan. That gives us Military Relations missionaries some free time from volunteering. The missionaries of our branch thought it would be fun to celebrate with a traditional BBQ. There was a grill at the church that Elder Melton used to grill hamburgers and we set up tables there in the covered parking area. We also played "Dos", a newer game like Uno with variations. It was a great time to enjoy companionships. 

Over a month ago we reserved a room at the New Sanno hotel so we could be at the temple annex for the Tokyo stake conference early Sunday morning. Saturday evening we went to a place called Burger Mania. It has the best burgers in Tokyo. Brian and I had "cherry" burgers and they were delicious. We were hanging with the Nelsons who wanted to see the Rainbow Bridge after dinner. We went by train and did a lot of walking. With all the rain it was difficult to get good pictures. There was also some special fireworks events so the area was crowded and blocked off for those who had tickets.  

The highlight this past two weeks was stake conference. It was very crowded and the visiting speakers were Elder and Sister Renlund. As Sister Nelson wanted to get to the chapel two hours early, she saved us seats. All of the speakers were wonderful and the Renlunds spoke for more than half of the two hour meeting. The first thing Elder Renlund said was that he absolutely knows that Jesus lives. He interacted with the primary children in the audience by having them call out the names, as he asks, of characters he described from the Lion King. The part I liked most that related to the Lion King was "know who you are and choose to do what's right". We also were given apostolic blessings that were mostly related to families. Overall a spiritually uplifting and edifying meeting.

Between Storytime at the library, the Red Cross activities at Fleet and Family and the elementary school  and other meetings, Donna finds time to work on sewing projects. She has made silk pillowcases to give Sisters as they leave our district. On a different cleaning project we were paired up with local high school students and had short conversations as we walked. Donna was fortunate to have a girl who knew enough English to communicate. Brian had to rely on Google Translate but it worked out very well. 

One evening we had a date by going out to dinner at a favorite Tex Mex placed. We were disappointed that it was not open. However we saw another restaurant across the train tracks. It was a pizza place called Hickory Farm. The service in Japan is impressive. They are very attentive.

Another time we were able to attend a professional violin performance of a mother and daughter that was free to all. It was wonderful and we really enjoyed it. They played a lot of recognizable music. On one of our walks Donna took pictures of various flowers to see what they were. We live around very busy streets and businesses. It is nice to see the way the Japanese like to beautify their areas.

It is graduation time and the Zama military high school held their baccalaureate service at the Zama chapel. Chaplain Grady invited us to see the event and blessing of the students. The music was impressive. There were two numbers by a grandfather on piano and one of a family of three with guitar. We met Chaplain Wallace and mentioned that the Nelsons speak well of him. It was a joyful time. There is joy everywhere you look. Joy is found in nature and music and especially in a double rainbow. It is not always easy to live by faith, but it can still be full of joy.


Bride's FeathersSheep Laurel
Missionary exchanges near Ayase City Center

Elder Tandog is ready for American BBQ
                       Celebrating Memorial Day

   
Special lighting effects by Rainbow Bridge. 



After Stake Conference outside the Tokyo annex.


                                     
High School students in the community

Best burgers in Tokyo!


Date night at Hickory Farm


   Violin duo



              Chaplain Grady at the pulpit                                     Double rainbow on a drive home


Comments

  1. AnonymousJune 2, 2025 at 6:58 AM

    Thank You for sharing this awesome experience. You know you are never going to want to to come home! Love you guys! John & Delia

    ReplyDelete

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