The Blessing of Being Busy

                                                              

At the start of this last two week period we reviewed our schedule and thought it looked overwhelming. Sometimes you just take one day at a time. Other times, you just take it one hour at a time. Yet when we find ourselves feeling overwhelmed, we find blessings abound as we step forward in faith. One example is bidding farewell to a couple of sister missionaries where the mission president decided to pull them out due to concerns about their apartment and an ongoing problem of the members accepting sisters in their ward. They were very dedicated and we had helped them earlier to move in and out of their apartment as repairs had to be made. We had hoped they would have been able to stay, but the Lord, through the mission president had other plans. We're confident we will see them again at the temple or elsewhere in the mission.

             A Farewell to the Atsugi Sisters John and Call (formerly from Idaho and Texas)

Monday, 22 September was Donna's birthday. The day started with calls from the daughters, followed by working at the base orientation supporting the Red Cross and Chaplin's office. One highlight of the day was again making rice balls for the nearby children's home, also with the Red Cross and Chaplain's office. Several of the volunteers who work with the Catholics and Protestant groups surprised Donna with some brownies for her birthday. Immediately afterwards was soccer practice coaching the 9-10 year boys, where they also wished her a happy birthday. Upon returning home, we had our own short celebration with apple pie per Sister Melton's request. Thus started a busy two weeks.

                                                           Rice Balls with Birthday Brownies

                                                Happy Birthday from the District Missionaries

Happy Birthday Sister Melton

On Tuesday and Thursday we were busy teaching early morning seminary. We also provided Costco beignets and Krispy Kreme donuts for the students. Our material was on D&C 107 which talks about the organization and offices of the Priesthood. It now seems such a timely lesson as the following week we would see how the priesthood functions with the passing of President Nelson and the organization of the church under the direction of the apostles.

Sister Melton using red cups to teach D&C 107

Our Stake President attended our Ward the following Sunday, and our monthly MRM meeting which included the Military Representative Missionaries from the six couples assigned to the bases within our mission. President Cook said the most overwhelming feeling he had for President Nelson's passing was one of gratitude. He expressed thanks for all that President Nelson did for the Saints. Knowing that our prophet is home with his heavenly family eases our loss. We felt the same way.

We attended a "Bells Across America" ceremony at the base chapel. The ceremony entails reading the names of the Navy service members who died over the last year. Several Navy personnel took turns reading off the names and a bell was rung once after each reader, then four times at the end of the ceremony. Afterwards we joined the attendants for some cake, where one young sailor asked us about our role at the base. He said he sees us all the time at various activities and offices, but didn't know much about us. We were able to tell him a little about the church and gave him our card. Small thing, but one that tells us we are reaching people for good.

                                                          Bells of Remembrance Ceremony

Again, at another base orientation meeting we were looking for a young woman who was moving here from Pensacola. Elder Melton finally met her while standing at the Chaplin's table. She came up to the table and immediately pick-up a Book of Mormon. We then noticed her name tag and started to talk to her. We are now helping her to get involved with the Young Single Adults and the Branch.

The soccer season is finally winding down. In the last two weeks we traveled to Yokosuka and Yokota for games. This also entails two evenings a week for practices. We had several players with very limited experience so the win-loss record hasn't been good, but they have improved a lot. Being at other bases have given some interesting experiences. At Yokosuka we learned that if you have a donut in your hand, be prepared for a sea hawk to swoop down and snatch it; fortunately there were no injuries. Stopping by the food court there we were approached by a woman who recognized our name tags. She was visiting her daughter and her family that were stationed there. It was interesting to hear her tell about her and her husband working in the area office in South America a few years earlier. 

Riding the bus for Soccer Games

Although we enjoy coaching and the boys themselves, we sometimes need a break. Perhaps one of the best ways to take a break from the many activities is attending the Tokyo Temple. We did this one evening along with staying the night at the New Sanno Hotel which is operated by the Navy. Our evening at the hotel was September 25th, so we bought a small cake in honor of our daughter Jackie's 37th birthday. 

                             Fall at the New Sanno Hotel

                                                                        

                                                                                  Happy Birthday Jackie from Japan

Helping the Young Single Adults (YSA) is another major part of our responsibility. The two main active YSAs had been out of town so we have just been getting the group back together. The first activity was going to dinner at a pizzeria for FHE. There was another YSA who arrived earlier in the summer who has not been attending regularly but did meet us of dinner at Camp Zama per Sister Melton's invitation on a separate evening. Another new YSA attended a ward picnic that we held at Camp Zama. So there has been a number of outreach efforts to the YSAs. It is sometimes difficult to meet with them because of their varied work schedules and levels of church activities, but we still believe and hope we will find a way to connect with each one.

One fun activity was Brother Sakuma from the Japanese Ward invited several of us to have lunch at a Japanese Buffet. He was out translator when we all took the driving exam over the past few months. Out of all five of us, we found that four of us all had September Birthdays. Sister Allen was close with her birthday in August. It is wonderful to see the relationships you build on your missions.

A Japanese Buffet, Multi-Birthday Celebration

Again, there were several other activities and we don't want our readers to get too bored. But we would like to share one last photo of a Sewing Machine store we found near Tokyo. Donna has been able to do some quilting and needed to find a part for her Brother sewing machine. She enjoyed the store and with the help of her Google Translate and props, discuss what she needed with the store owner.

Sewing Machine Store in Tokyo 

So we close this one with our testimony that God lives, Jesus atoned for all our sins, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored on the earth. We have been watching the General Conference and have felt the Spirit testify of the things which have been spoken. Because of the time difference, the church held Fast Meeting on the first Sunday and will not meet on the second Sunday so members can watch the conference. We are taking one session at a time throughout the coming week. We have seen the Saturday morning and afternoon sessions,  and will watch the other sessions over the next couple of days. 

Wishing you all the best from the Japan Tokyo South Mission!

Elder Brian and Sister Donna Melton