Clements and Oobayashi Choro preparing to pop the balloon. Clements Choro got a face full of flour.
Sunset off our balcony.
New house wrapped around the house on the corner.
Monday we did not leave the apartment as we were both exhausted. The missionaries spent most of the day here emailing and hanging out.
Tuesday we enjoyed District Meeting where we were challenged to improve our prayers. Here is the activity from Preach My Gospel that we studied: pgs. 94 & 95
Ponder the following statements concerning sincere prayer:
“The trouble with most of our prayers is that we give them as if we were picking up the
telephone and ordering groceries—we place our order and hang up. We need to meditate,
contemplate, think of what we are praying about and for and then speak to the Lord as one man
speaketh to another” (Gordon B. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley, 469).
“If prayer is only a spasmodic cry at the time of crisis, then it is utterly selfish, and we come to
think of God as a repairman or a service agency to help us only in our emergencies. We should
remember the Most High day and night—always—not only at times when all other assistance
has failed and we desperately need help” (Howard W. Hunter, The Teachings of Howard W.
Hunter, ed. Clyde J. Williams [1997], 39).
Using the following scale, privately evaluate your prayers. In your study journal, write answers
to questions like these: Where would you place yourself on this scale? Where would you like to
be on this scale? How are you going to change?
Poor Fair Good
Weak faith in Christ Strong faith in Christ
Not thankful Full of thanks
Mind not focused on the work Mind focused on the work
No relation to actions Actions fulfill prayers
Repetitious Focus on today’s needs
Dull feelings Edifying, refreshing
Focus on impure thoughts Focus on pure thoughts
Self-centered Mindful of other people
General, not specific Specific, not general
The Spirit is absent The Spirit guides the prayer
Do not recognize answers Confident that God answers prayers
This is quite eye opening to do.
We restarted our Japanese lessons Tuesday evening with Maesawa Kyodai. We think we may be improving a wee bit. Lots more study needed.
Wednesday Bess went to the dentist. The Dentist speaks good English and she was very pleased with the results. The rest of the day was spend decorating for the Eikaiwa Halloween Party. The party was a success, with more than 60 people attending. The pinata was too strong. It took about 20 minutes to break it open. We needed a harder stick!!
Itohara and Tagawa Shimai.
Harry Potter and the Unibrow Policeman.
Oobayashi, Christensen and Clements Choro, Christensen, Ito, Blau, Tagawa and Itohara Shimai.
Doorway to the Church. Halloween Party!
Nakagawa Shimai and daughter Hanna, (Hanchan)
Bishop Koide and Li Gang. Papa and son?
Ito Shimai and little spooks.
Clements Choro and the start of a Pinata making career hanging over his head. Like that Harry Potter broom? That is a normal broom over here, really!
Mummy Wrap. Fukuhara and Koide Bishops plus Mark-san (Eikaiwa student)and didn't pick the other mummy so don't know who.
Started off with the little spooks swinging then brought in the big guns! Pinata still held up.
We checked the Tsuboi/Shimizu apartment on Thursday. They wanted to have a clean apartment. When we showed them the mold behind the screen under the tub, they jumped in and took the tub out and cleaned the under side of the tub. Smelled so much better.
Hill, Ichikawa, Iino and Takaku Choro of Shimizu/Tsuboi.
Thursday evening we, Clements and Oobayashi Choro and Li watched the DVD "The Joseph Smith Story."
Friday was catch up day. Bookwork and expense reports. We visited Handsman, a big home improvement store, to look for material to repair rice paper screen doors. At Sports Night we talked to the Oyamas, they have been remodeling their home. They will meet us Tuesday morning at the Shimizu/Tsuboi apartment to advise us about the doors. We are in way over our heads without the knowledge of where to and how much to buy in materials, let alone actually fix the doors. Maybe after next week we will be expert.
Saturday we put bubble wrap on the windows to prepare for the cold weather.
Bubble wrapping.
Young Toshiro Kyodai and Momoko I.
Momoko asked Bess to help her find the missionaries that had baptized her parents about 20 years ago. All she had were their names and hometowns. Lots of prayers and searching of the internet we found them and called them to make sure, before giving her the information, that we had the right people. We did! Gave her the information at the Talent Show that we thought of not attending but were prompted to attend. It was well worth the effort.
Stake President and counsilor.
Sunday was a wonderful fast Sunday. Li came to church and stayed for Roast Beef dinner with four of missionaries!
Blau and Ito Shimai and Bess.
Clements Choro, Li and Oobayashi Choro.
Finally some Fall color in Kumamoto.
We enjoyed so much hearing from some of our kids and old friends we have not heard from for some time. We love emails and calls. Thank You!!! Now we know what it means to look forward to mail.
Love:
Grandma & Grandpa
Mom & Dad
The Christensens, Bess and Tom
nooo~ roast beef!! >_<
ReplyDeletei know itohara shimai! we got to talk every now and then in yamaguchi! she never spoke english to me though.. -_-;;
Just found your blog & enjoying it. Very nice to get perspective of a senior couple.
ReplyDeleteThanx for posting pix. Your blog is educational & fun!
It's interesting to see our family name spelled various ways--no problem. We're used to it. Must be tricky keeping track of all the 'kids.'
The only non-pic mention of our son in your blog was somewhat negative so we'll ask him for details when he returns. BTW, after a year, he's never written anything negative about anyone during his mission. Aah, the beauty of blogging!
Gambarimasu!