Serving in Sapporo: August 2017

Monday, August 28, 2017

Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

All of our pictures this week seemed to be of food, so that will be our theme.

I LOVE to eat!! I love that our bodies need constant nourishment and I enjoy every bite.

Lunch together after District Training Meeting in Kotoni

The Assistants and Office Elders have been telling us about this place that serves sushi for $1 (100 Yen) a plate and we finally got to try it.

The best part is that the food is delivered to the table by Shinkansen (bullet train)!

This shows the sushi and how you pay by how many plates you have stacked up in front of you.

Russ traveled 6 hours with his counselor to be at the Branch Conference for a sweet group of saints in far away Nemuro. After their church service, and before heading back home, they enjoyed a curry- rice lunch together.

Just like our bodies, our spirits need constant nourishment. Jesus Christ is “The Bread of Life”. We put Him into our life when we pray, read the scriptures, go to church and keep His commandments. So let's dig in and give ourselves a spiritual feast!!

Friday, August 18, 2017

Baptisms are the Best!

Last Saturday we were able to attend a father/daughter baptism. Oh, how sweet it was! There is nothing better than becoming part of the Savior’s family and making covenants to keep His commandments.

On Tuesday we had a youth activity at our house.

Kacie started school this week. She takes the subway. It takes her close to an hour to walk to the subway, wait for the blue line, transfer to the orange line and then walk to the school. She is a trooper!

This week was transfers. We received 5 new missionaries and sent 9 Elders home. It was BIG! It included a lot of training, interviews and meals.

The lady on the left comes to help me with meals during transfer week. Being the first time, I wasn’t sure how it worked. I thought that maybe I was just supposed to stay out of her way, but that was not the case. I am the apprentice in Japanese cuisine. Language is a little bit of an issue, but she shows me what to do and I do it.

There is a tradition for the departing missionaries to have a fancy Sukiyaki dinner and testimony meeting the night before they leave.

As of this writing, these 9 elders are on their way home. Wow, what a week!!

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Exceedingly Amazed!

Family Outing on the subway to Odori Park. This is where the Snow Festival takes place in February.

Things have been so busy. I’m behind!

On Tuesday, July 25^th we began a 1,000 mile journey--a triangle--up to the northernmost part of the Island, then down and across to the most eastern tip and back to Sapporo. We interviewed 38 missionaries along the way and got back home on Saturday evening. We saw lots of beautiful country—miles upon miles of fields, but even better than that was getting to know 38 of our missionaries better. “Exceedingly Amazed” is a phrase used a lot in the Book of Mormon. The more I get to know these young Elders and Sisters, the more amazed I am. It is astonishing how willing they are to totally consecrate this time in their life to the Lord. They are beautiful inside and out!

Aren't they cute!

We went to see this apartment of 4 elders late one evening. They were on splits, so there were 6 staying the night. There was a sweet, powerful feeling that we felt here. The Spirit was strong! How blessed we are to work with such faithful servants and witnesses of Christ.

There were 3 quick sightseeing stops that we dashed out of the car to take pictures of. Here they are:

Yes, you really could see Russia from here.

Yes, this really is Japan. We were in cow country.

The picture doesn't do justice to the beauty of this spot.

Kacie became a missionary with a badge for 3 days. One of our Sisters needed a companion for a few days and Kacie was able to fill the role. She slept on a futon, rode a bike and thoroughly enjoyed her wonderful companion.