It seems like every day there is a new first. The first medical call, the first missionary that wants to go home, the first time driving in Tokyo, the first time meeting the missionaries, etc. We love the “firsts” even though some of them can be down right intimidating. We had our “first” transfers – ten days into the mission. We had met the new missionaries in the MTC and one had even contacted us when his family was visiting in Hawaii and so we had met him there. They truly feel like “our” missionaries!

The flight is long and we could really relate with them as we had been in their position just ten days earlier. On the way back to the Mission Office they were giddy! They loved everything about Japan and made several comments about getting out and getting to work. After bringing them back to the Mission Office to get their phones, they walked over to our apartment for dinner. We welcomed them with a Hawaiian Luau. They ate heartily and after the meal their energy started to wane. We learned on our first transfers that you can’t do anything else after the dinner because by then, they have already been up for over 24 hours.

The next morning when they newly arrived missionaries are more alert we do training and introduce them to their first companion. The mission has a fun tradition of putting a photo of the mission area on the screen with a darkened silhouette of their companion’s photo in the foreground. After a drum roll where they announce which of the new arriving Elders will be going to that area, their companion comes running in, they greet one another, and the trainer says a few words about what the area is like. They always get so excited as their new companion comes running into the room. It has a bit of a game show feel, but the missionaries love it so we will likely not tamper with it. They leave around lunch time to go to their new areas and then we get ready for the departing missionaries to arrive.

That afternoon our departing Elders and Sister come in for interviews with Steve. We received some great missionaries but we also lost some of Tokyo’s finest missionaries. Our mission has grown dramatically over the last few months. Over 50% of our missionaries have been called in the last six months so the ones that left this weekend were experienced, veteran leaders. After interviews are over they walked to the apartment where we had prepared Sukiyaki for them. Suki means “like” and Yaki means “to cook” so it literally means cooking the things that you like. It’s like a hot pot, a broth made of shoyu, mirin, water and brown sugar, and you put in thin slices of beef, tofu, all kinds of vegetables and let it cook. While it cooks you beat up a raw egg in a small bowl. You remove a bit from the pot, dip it in the raw egg, and eat it with rice.

As I watched the missionaries over the last few days I can only describe this work in one word – LOVE. They love the people, they love each other, they love Japan. That love shows in their countenance and in all they do. I’ve seen so many hugs in the last few days! Good hugs! Not rule breaking hugs! They are just full of love and I’m sure the relationship they made here will not end just because they have returned home.

Each Sunday we visit a new ward. At Kichijoji they asked us to speak in Sacrament Meeting – another first. We were both nervous! We wrote out our talks in English, translated to Japanese and then ran it by the Lows, a mission couple that is taking Tokyo YSA by storm. They do so much for our mission and missionaries! We practiced and practiced so we could deliver the message properly. As we were sitting on the stand right before the Sacrament, Steve leaned over and asked the 1st Counselor when we should end. It was then he informed us they had two speakers and we should just share our testimonies. Oh no! I just used the testimony part of my talk but Steve was so much braver and he spoke from his heart using his best Japanese. I think he was successful. You could see everyone in the audience pulling for him. Church meetings are one place where we are fully immersed in the language. It is also one of the places where we feel so much love and excitement to be around the good members of the Church in Japan.

We did have the opportunity this week to give our first talks as we visited the Fujisawa Ward. We love visiting wards. It gives us the opportunity to see where our missionaries are serving and also we get to meet new people. The Church makes the world so small and we find in every place we have visited that we have a connection. In Fujisawa Ward we met Nakaima Kyodai and his brother in law. Their father/father-in-law served with us in Osaka over 43 years ago. We also ran into a sister that we met when attended our Laie ward a few times while she visited her daughter at BYUH. Another sister introduced herself and asked if we knew Mark and Amanda Amakasu, members Casey met while serving in San Diego, but have since moved to Utah. We had lunch with them just before going into the MTC.

We also experienced our “first” Follow Up Training which is done with the missionaries that have been out for two transfers. This time we had the last two groups come together so there were 24 of them. We love having them in our home and hope it gives them a small feeling of being home and knowing someone loves them.

Since receiving our call we have read and heard about MLC, Mission Leadership Council, where all the Zone Leaders and Sister Training Leaders come together to counsel and plan the direction of the mission. We have heard it will determine the culture of our mission and we wanted our first one to be a good one. This was another of our “firsts” and we weren’t disappointed in our great missionaries and their enthusiasm for the work. We truly feel blessed to have the missionaries we have in this mission. They are loaded with talent and most have a strong desire to teach and love the friends they are finding. The mission is no longer like it was in the 1980s when we served here. Our missionaries are teaching people from all over the world.

We had been here over two weeks before we finally became brave enough to pull our van into our parking spot. We have been parking it over at the Temple Annex, a four minute walk from the apartment. Last week, for the “first” time Steve pulled it into the spot. In Japan, land is a rare commodity so they use every little space possible. We have only four parking spots for our large apartment building. We get the top spot in this parking elevator. You have just a few inches on each side to back into it. There are two other parking spots below us, one for Elder McCune and on the bottom is Elder Kim, a new Seventy that will be joining the Area Presidency here in Japan. When they want to retrieve their vehicle our car goes up into the air, they drive their vehicle out and our car lowers back to street level.

Not only is there no room for cars, so they park three to four deep, but there is no room for bikes either. They purchase elevator parking for their bikes. We currently have a threesome of Shimai (Sisters) in Kichijoji and they are only allowed two bikes at their apartment. Since they cannot park three bikes there they have had to walk everywhere in the sweltering heat.

Each morning, around six a.m., we pick a new route so we can explore the city around us as we walk. It has been about 83 degrees in the morning when we are out walking and we come home pretty soaked. Steve uses the swing sets in the nearby park to do pull ups until we can find something to work in the house. We got a pull up bar from Amazon, put it between two walls but we noticed from cracks in the corners that the walls were moving so we decided to take it down. On our walks we see a variety of things we find curious. Here is an interesting combination:

Other signs we see would work very well in the United States. In fact, I bet people there wished they could purchase this sign to post in their own private yards.

While serving in Japan many years ago Laurie loved the ice cream varieties they had and she was able to get her “first” bite of one this week. The whole ice cream is surrounded by a cone with a sliver of chocolate in the middle. It’s almost dangerous that 7-11 is just down the street about two minutes from our apartment building. It’s right next to the Lamborghini store where literally Lamborghini’s are sitting inside a show room. We have no idea how they get them in or out. We decided with the price of a Lamborghini you could easily pay to replace the front window after you drove it out of the show room.

We experienced our first Zone Conferences this week. If you include the travel they almost take the full day. We learned a lot – especially Laurie. Laurie is basically in charge or finding and securing the lunch meal for each zone. She loves to cook for the missionaries but these are a little bit larger groups, about 50 missionaries, and because they are scheduled one right after the other there is not time to cook for all of them. Some stake members love cooking for the missionaries and reach out to help and other times the mission just orders lunches (obento) or get catering. Laurie had ordered sandwiches to be catered and then made a large fruit salad and we bought some chips at Costco to go with the sandwiches. We waited and waited for the sandwiches to be delivered. Finally, Laurie called to find out if there was a problem. They thought it was to be delivered the following day. In Japan there are Conbinis (Convenience Stores) on every corner. Usually it is either 7-11 or Family Mart. Laurie ran to one, Elder and Sister Low ran to another and Elder Burnett still another one. Everyone bought sandwiches and onigiri (combinations of rice and a variety of other things in the shape of a ball or triangle) and raced back before the missionaries had finished their training. They didn’t seem to be bothered that the lunch menu had changed. They all ate until they were content.

While the pace of mission life is quite brisk, it is also intensely rewarding. We hope we can keep our energy levels up for three whole years!