DANCING AROUND THE TOWN

So we were able to do a new service yesterday--participating in a Japanese dance (obon)!  It seems that we get to help do things that are actually the service projects of others most of the time.  This time we were invited to participate in what I would call the half-time activities of a track meet. 

We went to Kitakami about a half hour away to a junior high school where they were having an undo kai (exercise meet).  This is some of what we saw. The opening ceremonies going around the track:

May I just say that at times such as these, I realize how much I love our country:  the USA.  I am grateful to see these people with their flags and posting of their colors but I long to see those stars and stripes.  The Japanese are not as passionate about their country as we are.  Some did not even stand as their flag was raised, let alone revere it with hand over heart.  When we return, I will be much more thankful for the opportunity to stand and pause.

After the opening ceremonies, the "games" began.  There was a baton-passing relay and an obstacle course race among other things:

And there were plenty of fans to cheer them on:

I guess these things are serious business because they began promptly at 9:00 a.m. and were still going strong when we left after our performance.  At noon, they stopped for lunch (everyone brought their own). 

In the meantime, we were getting ready for our part:

Some people from fairly far away brought 40-50 yukatas (lighter weight kimonos worn in the summer and as robes at home) to give to people who lived in the temporary housing units.  So first they organized them into piles of yukatas for men and women. 

And then we donned our yukatas as well:

Voila!  This is how we looked:

And like I said, we get more out of these things than what we give, we were given these yukatas to keep for ourselves:

At this point we went down to the track, the yukatas were put on tables, and the announcers made the announcement that the yukatas were to be given away to those living in the temporary housing units if they would come up and dance with us.  With not much trouble, 50 people came forward and we began to dance in a large circle.

Unfortunately, the camera person was dancing so we don't have pictues of the actual dance but I will try to paint the picture:  we were in a circle and doing a short dance.  It went something like one arm forward one arm back, other arm forward other arm back, repeat, both arms to the side, repeat on other side, form mountain with hands, clap twice one side, clap once the other side.  Repeat from the beginning.  All the while we were moving around in a circle and supposedly doing some dance steps.  It was a pretty long song so we probably did this a hundred times!

It is kind of the Japanese version of line dancing . . . .

Afterward, the people got to choose their yukatas:

And I think most people went away happy with the event:

Miracles and Blessings

Our friends, the Franks, are on a mission in Germany.  They recently posted on their blog something that I LOVED.  They told about daily miracles that they were seeing.  So today I am stealing that idea from them and talking about miracles and blessings in our lives.  I pretty much decided that all miracles are blessings, although some blessings may not be considered miracles so that is why I have lumped the two together.

Daily, we are also blessed.  Just being on a mission is a HUGE blessing.  I think we are all blessed with miracles daily but sometimes we fail to see them.  Here, I think they are more noticeable because most of the time we are not distracted by the worldly side of life.  Some of the miracles and blessings we have seen lately are:

*  We have been telling you about the young sister missionaries coming to Ishinomaki.  Finding their apartment was truly a miracle.  We had been looking for a few weeks (going through apartment realtors) but there are just not many apartments available here because they are all taken by tsunami victims.  Finally, a couple of weeks ago our mission president called and said if we could not find an apartment right away he would send the sisters someplace else.  That night Elder Sakamoto and Brother Watanabe from our branch went out searching.  No success.  But then they both said a silent prayer and decided to go to the house of the landlord of our Church building.  The landlord was just pulling up to his house and they explained the situation to him.  The landlord was elated!  They were just going to list an apartment and they would be glad to rent the apartment to the Church because they knew they would be good renters.  Upon seeing the apartment, they knew this was a miracle.  It was everything they wanted:  close to the Church, post office, grocery store, convenience store, and  really a nice place in their price range.

*The next blessing always comes after I complain that I can't speak Japanese:  I am reminded that things are okay and I am doing allright.  Last week I went out to eat with Takie while Elder Sakamoto was at the baseball game.  We talked and had a good time.  All of a sudden, Takie said, "You can speak Japanese and understand too!"  I was pretty amazed. 

*We feel it a miracle and a blessing to be living in the land of our ancestors.

*This may not seem like a miracle or blessing but it is:  Last week we were at the store and I wanted to buy some pants for when Laura comes to visit us soon.  I looked at all the sale racks and found two pairs of pants for only about $10 each.  And because I am living in Japan, they don't need to be hemmed!

*One blessing we had lately is that we found a spaghetti squash at a store!  This may not seem like much but it was the best spaghetti squash I have ever eaten--because it was a taste of home.

*Another miracle that I may or may not have mentioned earlier is that I have met three people who have lived in the area we are from on three different occasions.  This may not seem like much but we were able to reminisce of people we knew and it was like God was telling me that he knows us personally and made sure we were able to connect with each other.

*The weather has been quite hot and humid lately.  These are two of the blessings I count as paramount in our lives:

Above is our air conditioner!  It actually works pretty well although we try not to run it 24/7.  Not that many people have these here--pretty much like not having anything in Utah only with 90 percent humidity!

*And lastly, our greatest miracle and blessing are all of you.  Can we just say that without the miracle of the internet and our family and friends back home, this would be a much harder thing to do.  We hear news, updates, and encouragement from you all.  Thank you so much.

THIS AND THAT

I kind of like it when I can just tell about random things that happen to us during the week so again here are some random adventures (and plenty of photos!)

Calvin's B-day

Last Monday was Calvin's birthday.  On Sunday during the "shokujikai" which is the meal we have after Church on one Sunday of the month, everyone sang Happy Birthday to him.  Unfortunately, I didn't know about it so I did not capture it on film.  However, on Monday we went out with Takie and Marie for some goodies:

The girls had an ice cream dish that had hard ice cream on the bottom and soft ice cream on the top.  Calvin had a couple of things--a sorbet and a fruit cup.  If you look at Calvin's chair, that thing that looks like a piece of fabric is actually a piece of fabric that bulges out and it is where the ladies can put their purses.  Nifty idea!  This little bakery/ice cream shop has so many cute ideas.  I took a picture of one of the cakes that I thought was cute, and not so hard to make:

On Tuesday we had district meeting complete with cake and ice cream for Calvin and one of the sisters in our district.  This is our last time before transfers so we always have to have "one last picture":

Walking

Most mornings we go walking at 6:00 a.m.  We have a route that we follow pretty much all the time.  So one morning I took my camera to show you what we see:

First, you rarely see dogs or cats in Japan, but in the morning you see people walking their dogs.  The interesting thing is that the dogs are NEVER large.  This is the average size (sorry the photo is not so great but I was having a hard time nonchalantly taking photos of people without them wondering what I was doing!):

Many people in Japan have nice yards (you know--the beautiful Japanese garden-type yards) but you see almost everything--except lawns:

This place has TONS of petunias:

And almost all the yards have sunflowers!  Yes some are the large (sunflower seed-type) and others are basically the ones you see grow wild in the states, although they are meticulously planted:

Another thing that is EVERY neighborhood is a barber or hair salon business.  Most have the typical barber pole:

But this one is a little over the top for me (notice the TEN poles):

One of the most common things in all of Japan are the drink machines everywhere.  They are even in the middle of the country, with nothing else in sight.  And right next to them are often cigarette machines.  There are not tons of people using them, but they are fairly reasonably priced:  drinks range from $1 to $1.50 American dollars:

Becoming an Eagles' Fan

Calvin went to his second Eagles' baseball game.  This time he went with a member in our branch and the husband of a member in our branch.  They came home very excited because the Eagles were losing 0-1 until the bottom of the 9th inning and then they pulled ahead 2-1 and won.  It was quite the game:

Seventh inning stretch balloon launching:

And the grounds crew picking up the balloons afterwards!:

Lost and Found!!

While the guys were at the ball game, Takie and I went out shopping and out to eat (Chinese!).  When we got back to the apartment she let me off and we were getting my groceries out of her trunk.  I took my keys out of my purse but dropped them--right into the hole where the gutter is!!!!

Yes, my keys went into one of those slits in the cement!  Takie freaked out but luckily a man from a nearby apartment helped us move the concrete blocks and we rescued the keys.  And luckily there wasn't really any water there (I wondered if we would be looking into the sewer or something!)


AND FINALLY

These past two weeks have been rather wild and crazy.  Almost two weeks ago our soon-to-be missionary, Marie,  was proposed to!  It began with her deciding not to get her endowments (even though we were in Tokyo at the temple) because she didn't think she was going on a mission.  Then she started getting advice from ALMOST EVERYONE.    She has known this guy for a year when they were both EFY counselors in Tokyo and they have been interested in each other since then but then he had gone to BYU Idaho so their contact was limited.  Unfortunately, he does not live close so all of their contact was by phone or skype.  When Marie put her papers in she told us that what she really wanted was to marry him but things didn't seem to be working out between them so she was excited to be a missionary.  Well, as time got closer for him to go back to Idaho and for her to be a missionary, things began to really heat up.  They were talking and skyping daily.

When she announced that she was getting married it did not set well with many people, including her parents.  It was quite a shock to everyone.  We knew more than most.  Anyway, there seems to be a happy ending because Kazuya (the fiance) was able to visit here this week, meet the family, and then they are off to visit his family this week before he leaves for BYU-Idaho and they plan on being married next April:

We were able to spend quite a bit of time with them both this week and got to know Kazuya well. He is a great young man and they seem well suited for each other.  The parents like him a lot and so life for her seems to be heading in another direction.  I may have to keep you updated on this soap opera next week when she returns to Ishinomaki!

Post Script

Hopefully we will get new sister missionaries here in Ishinomaki this week.  This is transfer week and we think we found an apartment for them.  Stay tuned for that as well!

OBON WEEK

Well, this was obon week.  Basically that meant that everyone was gone visiting relatives' gravesites and so you stay off the roads because they are really crazy.  Also it means that everyone is on vacation someplace.  And if you are lucky, like we were, you find a festival and have some fun!

Matsushima Festival

On our way home from district meeting last week (we had nachos with fresh salsa--and I had actually FORGOTTEN that I LOVE fresh salsa) oops, I digress, we were on our way home from district meeting and tried the road through Matsushima (remember the beautiful islands?).  Anyway, they were having a festival and it looked REALLY fun so we decided to make a day of it the next day to check it out.

The next day we left around 9:15 to try to avoid the busy roads and the festival crowds.  We picked up Brittney Phelps and Tatiana Taylor who teach English nearby.  They are both from the states.  Brittney is going home this week and Tatiana is taking her place.  Anyway, they were off for the week because of Obon.  We were excited that the long bridge to Fukuura Island is now open and so we headed there first.  The entrance fee is only 200 yen ($2.25) and well worth it!

Here are the three of us:

After exploring the island (it was a hot, humid day but cloudy so that helped), we stopped at a food stand and bought caramel tapioca drinks (at least Brittney and I did), an ice cream cone for Tatiana, and a whole pickled cucumber on a stick for Calvin.  Sorry didn't get a picture of that!

Then we headed off for shopping and more sightseeing.  We visited Entsuin Gardens again (we have to see it in every season!) and it didn't disappoint us.  It's always fun to see the plants and what is growing.

Tatiana is a real camera bug so she found plenty of photo ops for us.  There is actually a cemetary inside the gardens (we keep saying the people must be rich to afford to be buried there) and with it being obon week, the gravesites were all decorated with fresh flowers and the favorite food and drinks of the dead:

Then it was off to our favorite restaurant with the menus written on the wall and your choice of "raw" or "fried."

By the time we finish our mission, you will be so familiar with this food, that you will want to come just to have it!

One of the most interesting things we saw this time around was at a couple of local doll shops.  The kokeshi dolls are wooden dolls and here in our area there is a certain type that has a round head and is painted.  Well, the day we were there, there was an old man carving these dolls.  He had been doing this for the past 60 years:

There was also an area in the store that you could paint your own dolls:

And in another store, we saw a man painting the dolls to sell:

And finally, the finished products on the shelves:

These dolls are beautiful and they are actually made by these people!  And they are not really that expensive ($10 on up).  For sure, I'll be going back to get some before we leave!


Indoor BBQ and Hand Massages

Saturday we were invited to a BBQ that was first going to be at a park a ways away but the weather didn't cooperate so it was moved to the Church--inside the Church:

If you added up all the meat I have eaten in the past 8 months it might not add up to how much I ate last Saturday!  We had every kind of meat and lots of it!

And at the same time as the BBQ in the Church, another group of Church members were having a hand massage activity that we were also invited to join:

.
It is called a "hand" massage but it is really a "hand and arm" massage.  And the Japanese love these.  I learned how to do it quite a while ago.  You use an oil and give a good massage to the arm and hands!


What Comes Around Goes Around

So when we were at Matsushima, my hair was driving me crazy.  I basically just pulled it back over my ears and it was so long in the back I was thinking of putting it in little ponytails!  Plus the dye job I had a while back had faded so much that my hair was quite brown, not at all black.

I kept wondering how I was going to get Takie to notice but I didn't have to wait for long.  The day after we went to Matsushima she called and asked if I could go with her to run some errands.  She took one look at my hair and said maybe she should cut it that afternoon!

So after a perm (yes a SOFT perm--only on the sides and in the back--NOT on the top!), a cut, a dye job, and then more cutting this is what it looked like:

Yes, I love it!  And why not?!  It is basically the same cut I have had for the past 20 years!  A little longer and with more body but really close.  And she made my hair black again (she REALLY wanted me to go brown/red but I said NO).  And I am getting used to not having salt and pepper too.  It was such a change that Brittney (who always notices how people look) didn't recognize me at first when she saw me at Church!

The really funny thing is that I did NOT tell Takie to cut it that way, she just decided I looked better with my hair short!


Sunday Concert

After Church we had "linger longer" which means we had great food to eat.  I am always amazed what I learn at these things.  Who knew you could have pickled flowers?  Then after the luncheon, we had a two-hour concert!

These are three of the singers doing their Peter, Paul, and Mary imitation of Puff the Magic Dragon:

And another photo of the singers during their last number:

It was all good and everyone loved it.  We had about 40 people in attendance and many non-members which was really good. Our neighbor downstairs came and had a great time.

Winner

A couple of weeks ago I posted a picture of a flower and asked for identification.  Many people actually answered, most saying it was a lily.  But the real winner was Stephen Howells.  His reply was that it was a mountain lily called yamayuri with the scientific name of Lilium auratum and related to the tiger lily!

Brother Howells, I definitely owe you a plate of cookies--but believe me you will want to wait until we get back home because I have no oven here and my attempts at cookies have been pretty bad at best!

HERE AND THERE AND EVERYWHERE!

It's true, we have traveled much this week--or so it seems!  August is the month of festivals and vacations and we seem to be in the middle of it all.

Sendai and Tanabata

On Monday we went to District Meeting in Sendai and afterwards we had a good time going to the "Tanabata Festival."  Originally I have heard that this is the Japanese equivalent of Romeo and Juliet, a couple who could only see each other once a year.  But I guess now it is a festival of these huge hanging decorations lined up one after another in this indoor mall, which goes on for three blocks and then extends down the street further!  Some of these decorations are amazingly intricate.  There are many with a lot of origami on them or other tedious ornaments.   Here are a couple of pictures of the decorations:

We were with the young missionaries and they NEVER pass up an opportunity to do a little missionary work so as we worked our way through the mall we met some Americans and Japanese who were doing some volunteer work in the area (helping with the tsunami aftermath).  They saw our missionary tags and were impressed because they were also Christians.



The guy in the wheelchair had hurt his leg the day before so was only temporarily disabled.  Then a little further down the mall, we were singled out by the NHK radio station wanting our opinion on the festival.  They were especially excited to see that some of the missionaries were Americans.  So we were on the airwaves:

The funny thing was that the one person they singled out to ask a lot of questions to was an elder who has been here only three weeks (shown on the left of this photo) and his Japanese is not very good. So as the lady was interviewing him and asking him questions, the others were whispering to him the translation and hoping he could answer in Japanese!

But it was fun and a good time was had by all:

Back in Ishinomaki

So Tuesday and Wednesday found us back home in Ishinomaki.  Tuesday was English class and I have been wanting to post something about the shirts that people wear around here that have English words written on them but don't make much sense.  I just haven't figured out how to go up to people and ask them if I can take a picture of their shirt!  But one of our students was wearing a shirt to our English class that I thought was a classic of that genre:

Enough said.  On Wednesday we had our lesson with Abe san, our investigator, and it was exciting to hear that he is going to talk to his daughters about being baptized soon.  They live away from here and he wants to talk to them before he gets baptized.  At first we think this was a convenient excuse but now he really does want to be baptized and thinks that the Church and the gospel are wonderful.  He wants to let them know his feelings especially since they have been Buddhists all their lives and now he is changing.

Miyato

Our English class in Miyato (about 45 minutes away) was on Thursday.  We were happy to see their latest wall hanging:

It is one of our Helping Hands vests.  These are the vests  that our members wear when they are doing volunteer work.  Several (as in around 200 members) had been there recently and done a lot of volunteer work.  The people in this area have become very receptive to our Church's help and also to our teaching English there.  We are excited to help and also to have our Church's name have a positive image.

Tokyo

Friday and Saturday we were in Tokyo.  First we stopped at Costco (of course) and then went to the Tokyo Temple.  We decided we needed this picture of Marie:

This is a photo of the Usui family at the temple:

It is always good to be at the temple.  But we learned that you never drive to Tokyo in August.  All the people are out vacationing, going to festivals, and also visiting family gravesites.  Our usual 5 hour drive home took 9 hours!

We continue to meet many people with connections to our home in Utah.  One sister is the wife of the area psychologist and grew up in Bennion (where we are from).   Although we didn't know each other in the past, we know almost all of the same people who lived there years ago.  Her father was Calvin Smith, the man that the elementary school in Taylorsville is named after and 4 of our grandchildren are going or have been to.  Another temple worker lived in Bennion and knew my parents.  Another temple worker lives in Walden Glen just below our Church on 13th West and she knows many people we know from Murray.  We seem to run into these people regularly and always feel a sense of connection and peace with them.

Today in Church we were reminded of the importance of the temple and I realized that any sacrifice is pretty much worth it when it comes to going to the temple.  Since work for the dead cannot be done in the temples for at least a year after a death, I hadn't realized that many Church members' thoughts are turned to those who died in the tsunami a little over a year ago.  Temple work has a new meaning for them--a very personal meaning.