I wish we could say that this blog is our top priority but you would know by how often we post that we wouldn’t be telling the truth. Truth is, we get to it when we have the time and that seems to be rare lately. We question ourselves everyday about how we can be more efficient and use our time more wisely but it seems our days fill up too fast.

Here our lives consists of a lot of Hellos and Goodbyes. New missionaries are arriving in greater numbers now. We will surpass our compliment by about dozen. In fact, by November 42% of our mission will have been in the field less than four and a half months. that is a challenge when learning Japanese is involved. It seems a bit overwhelming but we also know that our missionaries can rise to replace the seasoned missionaries who are returning home in that time.

The longer we are here the more difficult those goodbyes become. We feel more and more attached to our missionaries and letting them go is bittersweet. On the one hand, we are so incredibly proud of them and happy they have finished a demanding and stretching season of their lives. On the other hand, we wish we could keep them here forever. This last week we said goodbye to 16 missionaries. Many of those were our leaders, both formal and informal, and their positive influence will be missed. But missionaries have stepped up to fill their roles and they will grow and bless our mission just as all of the leaders have in the past.

It is so much like parenting. You see the strengths and weaknesses of your missionaries. You feel their joy and also their sorrow and pain as they work through the struggles of trying to find out how to be the missionary God has called them to be. We see such potential in them and sometimes it is difficult when they don’t see it in themselves. We love them in spite of it, and continue to try to encourage and help them.

This is a picture of a group of our District Leaders that we brought in for training. If the group isn’t too large, we love to have them in our home, feed them lunch and just have a more casual atmosphere as we train. If it is too large, we have the meeting at the church and then all walk the four minutes to our apartment for eating. It’s too difficult to carry all the food down eight floors, then up a flight of stairs, walk to the Annex, and down another flight of stairs. Many of the missionaries have commented on how they feel more at home in the apartment.

One of the things we love about Japan is that each little neighborhood is fully set up to support our needs. There is a flower shop, a small grocery store, a konbini (convenience store like Family Mart or 7-11), a vegetable stand, a doctor’s office, and a drug store. The interesting thing is, there isn’t price gouging here in these little neighborhoods. There seems to just be a civil mentality, not ‘how can I squeeze the most out of everyone else’ mentality. The prices are the same at the convenience store as they are in the neighborhood grocery. (When we say ‘neighborhood grocery’ we are talking about a store that has less square feet than our apartment.)

The people are honest and respectful of others. Every morning as we take our 6:00 a.m. walk, we see all the deliveries being made to the shops and restaurants. They make these deliveries early in the morning when the traffic is at a minimum because there is no place to park. They just pull over in front of the shop and put their orders by the front doors. Food is in the white styrofoam cooler looking boxes. Bunches of flowers are set outside the floral shop in buckets of water for when the shop opens three or so hours later. No one touches it! It is safe to do that here in this city of millions of people. We often look at each other and remark how that would never happen anywhere else but here. We can’t wait for the millennium. It will be a lot like Tokyo! 🙂

Another thing great about being here is that when you order anything on line and before you check out there is always a box asking if you would like to have ads or information from that business sent to you. IF you want your email to be full of ads you check the box. If you don’t check it you are not flooded with all the electronic mail you don’t want. In the USA you have to find the hidden box if you DON’T want all the trashy email. Think of all the soliciting emails you get! It doesn’t happen here. The service here is also “next level” but they don’t accept tips. No tipping in Japan and the service is high quality. It’s amazing!

Land is scarce so this is not uncommon to see a shop or a house built to fit into a small piece of land. It’s also why we have our car elevator to make more room for cars to park at our apartment. In spite of the scarcity of land, Tokyo makes sure that each place has ‘green’ around it. It’s been difficult for Laurie to see all the weeds in flower beds. They love them because they are green.

Our morning walk, which we very rarely miss, continues to be our source of sanity. It is where we talk about our plans for the week, which missionaries we need to focus on, transfers, etc. It is also the only exercise we get, other than Steve playing basketball once a week on P-day with the missionaries. It is how Laurie stays sane. We walk early in the mornings when the streets are not as crowded. Below is an interesting thing we came upon outside of a home. Maybe it has something to do with the cemetery across the street.

Laurie has always been a farm girl at heart. Where ever we have lived she has planted a garden – and many times it is a very large garden. Not having a garden right now is a difficult thing for her. She loves to have her hands in the dirt. She was delighted when a Mayumi Matsuoka, a girl who had been in Steve’s YSA ward back in 2008, invited us to her home to work in her garden one morning for our P-day. It was sweltering hot but that didn’t stop Laurie from getting her hands back in the dirt. She lives about an hour away, just out of our mission, but the drive was so beautiful. Mayumi worked for the Area Office here when we were first called. She reached out to tell us how excited she was that we were coming. Right after that, she changed jobs so we don’t get to see her often. She is now one of the photographers for the Prime Minister and she travels the world with him taking photos. She was able to go to Rome when the new Pope was installed. She said it isn’t as glamorous as it sounds because they usually fly and are there for only one day and then they fly back to Japan.

As we were warned, time seems to fly by fast. We continue to love our growing and stretching experience of serving here in Japan. Our love for the gospel increases daily as we watch it change the lives of people. We give thanks daily for this wonderful opportunity we have. The pace is unrelenting but the rewards are plentiful.