Feb 27 - Mar 4, 2012, We love Spring

Spring continues this week. We visited Kumamoto Castle with the young missionaries on Monday. The first plum blossoms are out. Tom thinks that some of them are cherry blossoms. We love to go to the Castle and see all the beauty during the different seasons.

Tom, Junichi, Clements and Watanabe Choro, Uchida and Tokuzawa Shimai posing with a very old tree at the Castle.

Nagano-san, a PI, and Tokuzawa Shimai. Nagano-san speaks very good English!

Uchida, Tokuzawa Shimai, fierce warrior, Clements and Watanabe Choro, Bess, Tom and Nagano-san.

Blossoms and Uchida Shimai. Both beautiful!!!

Our stone at the Castle. Corny!!

We made more cookies and made the rounds again this week. Zouza Shimai said she actually shared some with her husband this time. It is so much fun to visit with them!

On Thursday and Friday we had special two Zones training conference.

AP Triffitt Choro training us! He goes home to Australia next week. He promises he is coming to Annabella next October during a break in his playing season. We are seriously considering a trip to Australia to watch him play.

Thank Heaven for sweet talented Shimai. Uchida and Kobayashi Shimai.

The Sakamoto couple stayed with us Thursday night. It was really fun! They do not speak English and we do not speak Japanese. Tom was late getting home since he was transporting missionaries. After a chicken salad and muffins supper we played UNO. It is a fun game that we all knew. We ate dinner and played UNO until bed time. We laughed a lot and had a very enjoyable time! Sakamoto Choro fixed the lock on our toilet room door. No more uneasy missionaries.

Sakamoto Shimai and Bess fixing muffins. Pamela's Baking Mix.

Sakamoto Choro and Tom, no language barrier with UNO!

Koyama, P. Stratford (Kagoshima ZLs) and Burton Choro. Second day of training.

Saturday we drove to Fukuoka and took the train to Dazaifu. We went with President and Sister Margetts and Elder and Sister Rogers, Stratford and Usui Choro.

Usui and Stratford Choro, Tom, Bess, Sister Margetts, Sister and Elder Rogers. President is taking the picture.

The "older" missionaries including President.

Bonsai plants. Enjoy Rob!!

Dazaifu has all sorts of fun things to watch.

Sisters Rogers, Okumura, Margetts and Christensen.

Dazaifu Shrine and blossoms.

Yep, those are dogs with pants, not strange children.

Usui Choro guarding our loot after a long day of shopping.

Grandson and Grandpa Tashiro Choro.

Uchida and Tokuzawa Shimai and Watanabe Choro saying goodbye to Clements Choro. He is Honbu bound. New AP!

Oaks Kyodai giving Clements Choro a goodbye.

We will miss Clements Choro....he has been here in Kumamoto since the end of May. Almost all of our mission. Watch out Honbu, he doesn't need too much sleep.

D&C88:34-35 Gives five degrees of disobedience. See if you can identify them.
34 And again, verily I say unto you, that which is ^agoverned by law is also preserved by law and perfected and ^bsanctified by the same.

35 That which ^abreaketh a law, and ^babideth not by ^claw, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, ^djustice, nor ^ejudgment. Therefore, they must remain ^ffilthy still.

Love;

Grandma and Grandpa

Mom and Dad

Bess and Tom

February 20 - 26, 2012, Spring is just around the corner

We hope Mother Nature is not fooling with us, this has been a nice week.

We love it when it is clear enough to see the sunset.

Monday evening Tobias and Make and twins boys, Davis and Hennison came for supper and chocolate birthday cake for Make's 30th birthday. It was fun to get to know them better.

Sopu "Tech Twins"

Do you like the hashi "match" stick?

Make said that three candles were enough.

Takuzawa and Uchida Shimai with new Eikaiwa poster. Designed by Shohei.

Kids amusement center. Yes, Launa those are pigs waiting for someone to pick them up.

We were able to visit more members this week and hopefully help them in their lives. Thank you Brandon for helping with this.

Teaching Eikaiwa Wednesday night. We visited with Brother Oaks afterwards for an hour. It is so much fun to talk English with someone closer to our own age!

It was warm enough that we were able to go on a couple of walks this week.

It is spring, the ducks have returned.

Friday, Li taught us to cook five dishes: Chinese Dumplings, Fried Garlic and Pork, Cucumbers and Chicken, Deep Fried Bananas, and Black Mushrooms that grow wild on trees in Mongolia.

Li teaching us how to cook real good Chinese food!

Saturday we traveled to work at the Fukuoka Temple again. We love the spirit there and all the kind people that attend!

We talked to President and Sister Margetts after the Temple, Elder Dallin H. Oaks really liked the 15 minute Chocolate gluten free cake that she made him last week. It is the same one that the Cub Scouts love!! We gave them the flour mix and recipe two weeks ago. yatta! Thank you Ruth R. for sharing that recipe years ago.

Naoko and Bess. Youth versus old. Good friends!

Gluten free Queen, Kiyohara Shimai doing her magic again!

Dinner for the Oyamas. Tom's favorite pudding in left foreground. Annin dofu.

Brother and Sister Oyama are leaving to serve in the Kobe Japan Mission next Sunday.

They are the first couple missionaries from the Kumamoto Stake to serve a mission other than a Temple mission.

We love the Oyamas and wish them the best! We will miss them sooooo much!
We love to see the change that the Gospel makes in peoples lives. We love Missionary Work, which is just loving and serving people.

Elder Quentin L. Cook said:

"First, be a missionary all your life. President David O. McKay (1873–1970) taught that “every member is a missionary.” ⁴ That is as true today as when it was first declared.

President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) said it this way: “Great is our work, tremendous is our responsibility in helping to find those to teach. The Lord has laid upon us a mandate to teach the gospel to every creature.” ⁵

The Prophet Joseph Smith declared, “After all that has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel.""

Love you,

Mom and Dad,
Grandma and Grandpa,
Tom and Bess

Febuary 12 - 19, 2012 Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Another tired missionary on P-Day, Watanabe Choro taking advantage of our "recliners"

The is the week we have been waiting for! We have all been so excited waiting to hear from Elder Dallin H. Oaks. Monday and Wednesday we had English lessons with Elder Tashiro in his preparation to be able to visit with Elder Oaks. We also visited members and a part member family this week delivering cookies and rice crispy treats and inviting them to come to the special Stake Conference this Sunday to hear Elder Oaks speak.

Tuesday afternoon we delivered the goodies that we brought home from Iwakuni last weekend for the Shimizu/Tsuboi Choro. Poptarts and Cocoa Puffs!

Eikaiwa Wednesday night was based on Yellowstone Park, the weather and nature. We all had a good time learning new words and working a word search.

When Saturday finally arrived, we left for Fukuoka at 6:30 am to be at the meeting where Elder Oaks was going to talk to all the missionaries in the Fukuoka Mission. The missionaries in Okinawa would have a video hook up to watch and the rest of us traveled to the Fukuoka Ward building. We had the missionaries from Nobeoka, Burton and Hayase Choro, travel with us. We arrived at 8:00 and visited with old friends and new while we waited for the meeting to start.

Elder and Sister Oaks, Elder and Sister Hallstrom, Elder and Sister Ringwood, Elder Tashiro, and President and Sister Margetts arrived at 9:00. They first formed a line and we each got to shake their hands. This took about 35 minutes. We were seated at the end of the line where Elder Oaks was standing. It was so much fun to watch the interactions and expressions of the young missionaries! We also got to shake their hands. Wish we could have seen our own expressions. Both the Hallstroms and Elder and Sister Oaks remembered, as we told them we were from Annabella, a young man named Magleby that they had met in an airport just recently also from Annabella!!

President and Sister Margetts talked to us first. Sister Margetts read Doctrine and Convents 84:88. Talked about angels being round to help us with the work and the importance of reading the scriptures daily. President Margetts read the Dedicatory prayer from the Fukuoka Temple: "We pray for the missionaries, both those from Japan and those from other nations, that they may be magnified, that they may be rewarded in their labors, that their faith may be strong and their testimonies of Thy work sure and certain. Lead them to those who will accept the truth."
He then talked about Doctrine and Covenants section 1.

Elder Tashiro told of the change in his live when he joined the Church 40 years ago. Said we need more members helping with the missionary work.

Sister Hallstrom instructed us about standing upright be for God and read from: Job 1:1, Amos 7:7-8, and 2 Chronicles 20:12. We need to stand upright before God and keep our eye on Christ so we can do what we should.

Elder Hallstrom asked us what we expected from this meeting and read from D&C 43:8-9 about why we hold meetings, to instruct and edify and have a desire to do better, If we are edified, we stop something we are doing or start something we should be doing.

Sister Oaks told us how there is a very fine line between happiness and misery. Used D&C 35:24-27 and Ephesians 4: 4-11 & 15 as references.

Elder Oaks instructed us on desire. What we desire will come to pass if we want it enough. To truly be happy we should all desire Eternal life. Desire comes from within each of us. We cannot give desire away to anyone else. We can only do all we can to awaken desire in others only if it is within them.
Then he talked about the importance of commitment. If we repent and come unto Christ with a full purpose of heart (commitment) we will be forgiven of our sins. He talked about timing. The most important thing is to do the right thing at the right time. D&C 64: 32 "But all things must come to pass in their time." Do all you can and then wait on the Lord.

Dendo Power!!

More power!

Bagley, Jeffrey and Mitton Choro.

Missionaries headed back to their areas.

We traveled in a snow storm! We did not know that the storm would effect our Sunday activities. It snowed for three days in Fukuoka. The old timers cannot remember the last time it did that. Sunday morning there were three inches on the ground and Elder Oaks and Elder Ringwood needed to travel to Kumamoto for Conference. The Expressway was closed, so they had to take side roads for 30 minutes before they could enter the Expressway. Their driver, Elder Triffit from Australia had driven in snow only once before, Saturday! While we waited in Kumamoto, Elder Triffit was white knuckling the slick roads, and loving every minute of it. They arrived safely, only about a half hour late!

At conference today, Elder Ringwood talked about singing a hymn in your mind to control thoughts. He taught about Nephi and how he did what the Lord commanded, see I Nephi 3:7. Nephi had a desire to learn from the Lord and followed through on that desire. He then received many blessings. Nephi also prayed for his brothers when they made fun of him. Have we ever thought of doing that or just of fighting back? He also reviewed the story in Luke 19. Zacchæus wanted to see Jesus so he climbed a tree. Jesus came to the tree and called him by name and wanted to eat with him. We learn from this story that Jesus knows us each by name.

Sister Ringwood (Elder Nelson's daughter) spoke on the importance of reading the scriptures everyday.

Sister Oaks reinforced her love for the Nehonjin people. She switched from Nehongo to English so quickly that her translator had a hard time keeping up with her. She taught us that all of our afflictions in life will be turned for our own good if we endure them well. See D&C 98:3.

Elder Oaks taught us how to be happy in this life. Acknowledge that God exists. Be faithful to Him and His teachings. We must have a correct understanding of Gods nature and attributes. We each need to know the path we are pursuing is in accordance to His will.

We left Conference so filled with good thoughts and a desire to share what we have learned with others so there you go!

Bishop Koide and family.

Watanabe and Clements Choro attacking the Chinese dumplings. See the steam?

Wang and Watanabe Choro.

Li and Wang, the cooks, holding the deep fried bananas.

Tonight was an excellent finish to a wonderful day. Li and Wang invited us to supper. The most delicious Chinese food ever!!!

Love,
Grandpa and Grandma
Dad and Mom
Tom and Bess

A taste of America. Feb 6 - 12, 2012

We had several highlights this week! Monday we had a movie day here at the apartment. Big screen showing of "17 Miracles." Very good movie!!

Tuesday we posted Eikaiwa posters at different businesses with Uchida and Tokuzawa Shimai. Later we met with Tashiro Choro for 3 and a half hours and worked on his English conversation. He is learning so fast! Had a late supper and Maesawa Kyodai stopped by late and worked with us on Japanese. What a wonderful day!

Tokuzawa Shimai, Bess, and Uchida Shimai after posting at a Lawson convenience store.

Uchida Shimai, Tokuzawa Shimai and Bess, after not being able to post at a store.

Wednesday we met with our new district members at District meeting. The district is made up of the best missionaries in the mission again! Shimada Choro is our new District leader and is serving for the second time in Omuta. He gave the best lesson on obtaining Christlike attributes. We then went to visit Zouza Shimai and her 6 month old son. Bess could not get enough of playing with him. For Eikaiwa that night, we took the class to Washington state and then played Jeopardy with special host Elder Clements.

Clements and Watanabe Choro hosting Jeopardy. Like the Moustache?

Thursday and Friday we went back on the road checking apartments. The apartments were very good this time and the Choro and Shimai were the best.

Thomas "new bean"and Lyon Choro at Shimonseki. Elder Lyon is going home after this transfer.

Ube Shimai, Ito Shimai gave us a spiritual thought all in English! Tingey Shimai is a great teacher!

In Yamaguchi, Shima and Peterson Choro cleaned up on some new supplies and we had dinner with them that night.

This is how we stopped a running faucet in Hofu until the plumber could arrive.

Hofu Choro, Murakami and Kusakabe. Kusakabe Choro guided us through the Tokyo Airport when we first came to Japan. We could not have made it without him!

Tokuyama Choro, Kwon and Beckstrand. Two wonderful, positive Elders of the Lord.

Yanai Choro, Unice and Tanaka with their selection from the Little Mermaid bakery for a clean apartment.

When we finished Yanai apartment we went to Iwakuni Marine Air Base for the night. It was so fun to get back in an American setting for a few minutes. We enjoyed the people and the warm room and soft bed at the Base Hotel! Bess enjoys shopping where she can read the labels. We were checked into our room by the nicest young Japanese man named Tomo. He saw our name tags and asked the right questions. We, of course were willing to help him understand a little about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Bess gave him a Book of Mormon which he was glad to receive. He has been thinking about contacting the missionaries but has been nervous about doing so.

Saturday started with a American breakfast of bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast, and orange juice with Sister Wilson. She is the wife of the Branch President who was in Tokyo at a high school basketball game. It was fun to get to know her. She said she would check on the young man we met last night. We then bought some groceries and traveled home dropping some food off at the mission home.

When we got home we found out that we were the proud grandparents of a beautiful new granddaughter!


Little boys area in the woman's rest room. Good idea! The washbasin comes up to Bess' knees.
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Each time we share the Gospel with someone we feel so happy. We know and have seen the joy that comes into the lives of those who accept and live the Gospel. We feel it such a privilege to serve the Lord by sharing the Gospel with those who are seeking the truth.

We love you all!!

Grandpa and Grandma
Dad and Mom
Tom and Bess