Things are changing here in Tokyo – but it’s mostly the weather. Other than the humidity, it is similar the western United States. One day it will be so gorgeous you think summer has arrived, and the next day it will snow. In fact, it didn’t snow all winter here in downtown Tokyo. Only after a few days in the 70s did it snow.

In an earlier post we described that our car is parked in a Parking Elevator. For the first time we saw our car elevated (there is another car still under the ground). The Area Presidency parks below us and we thought they might have been in a hurry and accidently left us up. Steve checked to find the key in the box. We didn’t have plans so we waited for three days and then Steve texted to ask if any of them had left their key in the elevator box. They said they would check “when they got home from General Conference ” so we went ahead and lowered our car back down.

We sincerely love our missionaries. Sometimes we forget they are only six years out of Primary. This is just a small demonstration of that. As they were leaving our apartment they decided to try to fit everyone in the elevator. We are shocked the alarm in the elevator didn’t go off.

Blossoms are everywhere. We had anticipated this time of year since we arrived and we were eager to see all the Cherry Blossoms (Sakura). Earlier, we had planned a P-day to check them out but the snow slowed the bloom down a bit. There are several variety of Cherry Blossom Trees so they should bloom for the rest of April and into the first of May. This past P-day we traveled just outside of our mission to Asakusa to walk the Sumida River which is lined with Sakura trees. We have only a few hours of down time each week so even though the temperature was 48 degrees and it was overcast, we knew this might be our last chance for a while so we took it. We didn’t have to fight large crowds because of conditions. This is one of the biggest times for tourists to visit Japan. We attended the English ward last Sunday and they asked the visitors to stand. The visitors almost equaled the number of regular members of the ward that day.

This tower in the back is the famous Tokyo Sky Tree. It’s difficult to get an appointment to visit the top because it is a star attraction but if you want a good picture of the vastness of Tokyo, this is a great place to take it from.

Because Tokyo has been the destination of choice for sometime now, we regularly get visitors stopping in. We were excited that our friends, the Lees, from Hawaii stopped in to say hello. Starting in July this year they will become the new Mission Leaders for the Toronto Canada Mission. After living in Hawaii for years, Cherisse will also have to buy a winter wardrobe.

In earlier post we shared how Laurie has two of her former companions living in our mission. She has been able to meet with both of them. Sister Ota is from Hokkaido and she was in Tokyo visiting her two sons so Laurie was able to get together with her and Nobuaki Irie from the ward Laurie served in for 11 months back in 1982. Ota Shimai was short then too. She had to buy a kid bike and she always had to pedal twice as fast as Laurie to keep up.

Not only is Sakura on, but everything is coming to life in Tokyo. Each morning on our walk we see all kinds of beautiful tree and flowers that Laurie insists we stop and take pictures of.

Laurie finally decided to use her Japan driver’s license. It is difficult to get an appointment to get a Japanese driver’s license. It takes several months and a lot of worry. Fortunately for us, Japan has an agreement with Hawaii. Possession of a Hawaii license allows one to forgo taking the written and driving tests! We showed our licenses, paid a fee, and walked out with a Japanese driver’s license all in one day. That sounds pretty simple but it takes between four to five hours to execute this transaction. Others not from Hawaii (and a small handful of other states) have to schedule both tests independently. It takes months. We had been leaning on the driving skill of one of our APs (from Australia) who had a license but since he is not an AP anymore there are fewer available options. This past transfer we had enough missionaries arriving that it required two vans. Laurie bravely drove to the airport and back.

That weekend we had missionaries leaving at all times of the day. Laurie drove to the airport on her own for the 2nd time with the Brazilian Elders. She didn’t want to worry them so she didn’t tell them that this was new for her. Steve was about 30 minutes behind, dropping off all the returning Japanese missionaries to another terminal. Then together we made the third trip to the airport that day to take the Filipino and U. S. missionaries. Transfers are such a mixture of emotions for us. We are so excited to get new missionaries but we feel like we lose a bit of our hearts as we drop off those missionaries who are done.

Someone brought us these delicate cookies. They are so beautiful to look at that you hate to eat them. That is the way with many edible things in Japan. Asthetics are so important in Japanese culture.

While at Asukasa we visited the Sensoji Shrine. It is the oldest shrine in Tokyo dating back centuries. It receives over 30 million visitors every year. We hesitate to take too many pictures there because the people come to worship and we don’t want to disturb them. We walked the streets, got something to eat (our best gyoza yet) and had an enjoyable and relaxing morning.

As we stood in front of these large stone tablets, we wondered what story do they tell? Even looking at the kanji, you can tell it is old. How sad it is to see some of the stone breaking away and the message being lost.

The photo below is of a smaller shrine that we pass by several mornings a week while walking. It’s located smack in the middle of apartment buildings and stores in Roppongi.

We were talking the other day about how we think we are finally getting into the cadence of the mission. We don’t stress as often as we used to. We don’t get lost as often as we used to. Everyday we thank Heavenly Father for the opportunity to serve here in Tokyo! We love this land and the people. We love our missionaries. We feel God guiding us in the daily decisions we make. Many times we don’t know why we make the decision we did but hindsight shows us that God is in every detail of the Tokyo South Mission. One small example is transfers. Steve spends a lot of time thinking and praying to know where to place each missionary. Then together we sit down and look at it, run it past our APs so see if they see something we don’t. This last transfer, we received our first Elder from Tahiti (who also happens to be the nephew of Dave and Herenui Bybee, friends from Laie). His first language is French. Steve assigned him to an area. A week after he arrived, the Sisters in that area found a woman who was from Haiti. She can hardly speak English or Japanese but she speaks French. What are the chances that the only French speaking missionary happened to be in that area? This is one of many times we have seen the hand of the Lord in the work here.