Saturday, March 14, 2009
Lunch at the Park
Sister Hill and Sister Hartzell buying shishkabobs for lunch
Let's see--will it all fit?
Cute kids and their ice cream cones--plum flavored--only $3.00 a cone!!!
February 2009
Yes, it does snow in Tokyo. If you can't see the flakes falling, look at the flakes on Jim's hat!!
Can you tell which of these three buildings is the Oriental Bazaar?!
Jim turned 15 1/4, got 4 cards, 3 candles, and 2 small cakes!!
The Mission Office decided to help Elder Hartzell celebrate his birthday. We ate at an Indian Curry place that was sooooo delicious. Starting from front left: Elder Zitting, Elder Palmer, Sister Yazzie, Sister Hartzell, Elder Hartzell, Sister Jones, Sister Hill, President Hill, Elder Dufuss (Ferguson), Elder Sasaki.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
March 8, 2009
Dear Family & Friends,
So sorry that this is late—we were gone most of the weekend and have been trying to catch up with office stuff.
Well, we are in March! On Monday, March 2nd, we had our monthly Family Home Evening potluck with lots of great food. And this time, for the activity, we made origami Emporers and Empresses because Tuesday, the 3rd, is National Doll Day. Now they gave us instructions on how to do this, but if they hadn’t helped us every step of the way, we could never have done it. Even after they would show us the next step, we would look at the instructions and still not see what they were telling us. So, we do have the finished origami dolls, but I don’t think we could ever make them again without someone helping us!!!!!!!
And Tuesday, March 3rd , was an anniversary date for us—one year ago we entered the Provo Utah Missionary Training Center to start our mission!! Sure brought back lots of great memories of one year ago, the wonderful experience we had, and the great friends we made.
Our word for the week is: Kairaku-en which means “the garden for sharing pleasures with people.”
Saturday, the whole office went on a dai bo-oken and rode the trains way up north to Mito (it took 2.5 hours) where we enjoyed the Kairaku-en or Kairaku Park. It is one of the three most beautiful parks in all of Japan. It has several areas, the most important of which is the over 3,000 plum trees of all varieties which are blooming now. WOW—so many different shades of white, pink, and dark pink (almost purple). We had a beautiful sunny day to enjoy it. We will try to download some of those photos to our blog this next weekend. Also at the park was a bamboo forest and a cedar tree forest, plus lots of open areas where people were picnicking and playing. There were tons of people enjoying the park because this month and next are favorites because of all the blossoms.
To quote the brochure: “Nariaki Tokugawa, the ninth Lord of Mito, constructed a garden, planted ume (plum) trees, and built two houses in the most beautiful place of Mito district to provide a facility of education, intellectual amusement and entertainment to all people of his vassalage.” They had a tour that we took through a house that is a replica (built in 1958) of the original (built in 1850). Though the house was not furnished, the silk screens in each room were restored paintings and were very beautiful.
One of the unique things about the house was that there were screens all around each room that could be opened or closed so that you could have good ventilation throughout the house. Also, it had 3 floors with wonderful views from the top one. Here the Lord Tokugawa would sit in meditation and contemplation upon the world.
After walking all over the park, we took the trains home for another 2.5 hours. When we got back to Higashi-Nagasaki eki, we found a new little restaurant of Mexican food!!! And it tasted authentic!!!! One big difference—small portions, no rice, no beans. But other than that—great!!
The next day, Sunday, after church, we went to the International House of Japan in Azabu-Joban. We were invited to speak to a Unitarian Universalist group that we had visited back in December. There were 9 people there in addition to the two of us. We told them all about our church, giving them the basic First Discussion, then told them about the 13 Articles of Faith, after which Jim told his conversion story and I told mine. All this took about an hour. Then we answered many different questions for another hour and a half. We had a wonderful time and were treated with interest and respect. It was fun to do and we hope we made some friends for the church.
Our quote for the week is: “And now I say unto you that the time shall come that the salvation of the Lord shall be declared to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.” Mosiah 15:28. “The restored gospel of Jesus Christ has within it the power to bring deep and abiding happiness to the human soul—something that will be valued and cherished for the rest of time and for all eternity. We are not just trying to get people to join our Church; we are sharing with them the fullness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.” Elder M. Russell Ballard, April 2003 General Conference.
Well, that’s our report and I’m sticking to it!!!
Love you all—
Jim & Pat
So sorry that this is late—we were gone most of the weekend and have been trying to catch up with office stuff.
Well, we are in March! On Monday, March 2nd, we had our monthly Family Home Evening potluck with lots of great food. And this time, for the activity, we made origami Emporers and Empresses because Tuesday, the 3rd, is National Doll Day. Now they gave us instructions on how to do this, but if they hadn’t helped us every step of the way, we could never have done it. Even after they would show us the next step, we would look at the instructions and still not see what they were telling us. So, we do have the finished origami dolls, but I don’t think we could ever make them again without someone helping us!!!!!!!
And Tuesday, March 3rd , was an anniversary date for us—one year ago we entered the Provo Utah Missionary Training Center to start our mission!! Sure brought back lots of great memories of one year ago, the wonderful experience we had, and the great friends we made.
Our word for the week is: Kairaku-en which means “the garden for sharing pleasures with people.”
Saturday, the whole office went on a dai bo-oken and rode the trains way up north to Mito (it took 2.5 hours) where we enjoyed the Kairaku-en or Kairaku Park. It is one of the three most beautiful parks in all of Japan. It has several areas, the most important of which is the over 3,000 plum trees of all varieties which are blooming now. WOW—so many different shades of white, pink, and dark pink (almost purple). We had a beautiful sunny day to enjoy it. We will try to download some of those photos to our blog this next weekend. Also at the park was a bamboo forest and a cedar tree forest, plus lots of open areas where people were picnicking and playing. There were tons of people enjoying the park because this month and next are favorites because of all the blossoms.
To quote the brochure: “Nariaki Tokugawa, the ninth Lord of Mito, constructed a garden, planted ume (plum) trees, and built two houses in the most beautiful place of Mito district to provide a facility of education, intellectual amusement and entertainment to all people of his vassalage.” They had a tour that we took through a house that is a replica (built in 1958) of the original (built in 1850). Though the house was not furnished, the silk screens in each room were restored paintings and were very beautiful.
One of the unique things about the house was that there were screens all around each room that could be opened or closed so that you could have good ventilation throughout the house. Also, it had 3 floors with wonderful views from the top one. Here the Lord Tokugawa would sit in meditation and contemplation upon the world.
After walking all over the park, we took the trains home for another 2.5 hours. When we got back to Higashi-Nagasaki eki, we found a new little restaurant of Mexican food!!! And it tasted authentic!!!! One big difference—small portions, no rice, no beans. But other than that—great!!
The next day, Sunday, after church, we went to the International House of Japan in Azabu-Joban. We were invited to speak to a Unitarian Universalist group that we had visited back in December. There were 9 people there in addition to the two of us. We told them all about our church, giving them the basic First Discussion, then told them about the 13 Articles of Faith, after which Jim told his conversion story and I told mine. All this took about an hour. Then we answered many different questions for another hour and a half. We had a wonderful time and were treated with interest and respect. It was fun to do and we hope we made some friends for the church.
Our quote for the week is: “And now I say unto you that the time shall come that the salvation of the Lord shall be declared to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.” Mosiah 15:28. “The restored gospel of Jesus Christ has within it the power to bring deep and abiding happiness to the human soul—something that will be valued and cherished for the rest of time and for all eternity. We are not just trying to get people to join our Church; we are sharing with them the fullness of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.” Elder M. Russell Ballard, April 2003 General Conference.
Well, that’s our report and I’m sticking to it!!!
Love you all—
Jim & Pat
Sunday, March 1, 2009
March 1, 2009
Dear Family & Friends,
Ohaio gozaimas!! Good morning!!
We have sunshine today, so even though the wind is blowing, it’s a beautiful day!! Too much clouds, rain, and snow!!! Yup, we had snow last week on Thursday—it came down for about 4 hours and was actually sticking to the ground. We were tempted to go out and play, but there wasn’t enough to make snowballs so we didn’t.
Our big news was Jim had a birthday on Saturday, Feb. 28th (actually an “un-birthday” as his real one is Feb. 29th. So he is now 15 1/4th! He got 3 birthday cakes this week—On Wednesday at Eikaiwa they all sang Happy Birthday to him and our Ward Mission leader, who is a street performer, put on a magic show just for him. It was lots of fun! And our Eikaiwa leader, Sister Onishi, gave him a small box with two little pieces of cake to enjoy—small pieces but very rich tasting. Then on Thursday, we had one of our faithful Eikaiwa students, Yuichi, and his wife Mitsuko (pronounced Mitzko), over for dinner. They are in their late 60’s or early 70’s and have traveled the world and are wonderful people. They brought a little cake for us to enjoy (it cut into just 4 pieces), but again was very rich tasting. And we found out that Friday, Feb. 27th, was Mitsuko’s birthday, so we sang to both of them. It was fun.
Then, on Saturday, we celebrated Jim’s birthday by sleeping in until 7:00, having a nice breakfast (cooked partially by Jim as he makes the best egg omelets!!). Then he had to go to the office for some financial stuff, while I cleaned the apartment and did some laundry. When he got back, we went for a nice walk, came back and had lunch, cleaned up, and went to a store in Harajuku called the Oriental Bazaar. It has 3 floors and is mostly furniture and china with assorted other stuff, too. But we didn’t buy anything there because we like the Asakusa Bazaar better and plan to go back there and do more shopping for souvenirs. Harajuku was crazy—tons of shoppers, mostly teenagers and young adults—and the sidewalks were packed!! We went there last June and told you about it. It is the “Champs Elysee” of Tokyo. It has lots of European and American and Italian stores that cost a bunch of money, so we don’t even go inside! When we got home, we took naps, then had a nice dinner of salmon for Jim and hamburger for me. Watched TV and went to bed.
Yesterday, Sunday, we enjoyed Church and then went to dinner at the Josen’s, where they served a Japanese beef stew, miso soup, hash browns, salad, and cake!! (small but delicious!!!). So Jim ended up with 3 cakes, none of which I baked.
Our word for the week is: Happy Birthday!! Not only to Jim but to our friend, Sheila, in Israel, another Leap Year baby.
Our thought for the week is: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33. Jim is such a good example of this scripture—he is one of the best men ever!!! (And no, I’m not prejudiced!)
We love you all—
Jim & Pat
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Feb 22, 2009
Dear Family & Friends,
Konichiwa!!
How is everyone doing? Surviving the winter blahs?! We hope so—
We are doing great because this has been a great week. We had Elder David F. Evans, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, and President of the Northeast Asia Area, speak at our Mission Conference this past week. Because of how big our mission is, we did it over two days. Sis. Hill asked Jim and I to help with the luncheon on the first day. So Tuesday, Feb. 17th, we went to the church in Kichijoji and put together nice salads for everyone. The Zone Leaders in the area had ordered bentos (box lunches), and with the salads and a great dessert, Oatmeal Cake, that Sis. Hill had made, everyone ate well. We stayed and cleaned up after and then headed back to the honbu to do our regular work. Then on Wednesday, Feb. 18th, we got to attend the Conference. Pres. Evans spoke for 2 ½ hours in the morning session, and again for 1 ½ hours in the afternoon. Plus we had Elder and Sister Aoyagi speak (he is an Area Authority Seventy), and President and Sister Hill. We were well taught and felt such a wonderful spirit there.
Elder Evans taught about the doctrine of desire, quoting from scriptures in the Doctrine and Covenants and Book of Mormon primarily. These are some of the notes that Jim took: “If we have desire we are called to the work. Those who put their whole heart, might, mind and strength into the work are sanctified for their efforts and are greatly blessed. This sanctification process cleanses us, even though we know we are not perfect. Work all the day long and then when you lie down at night you will know you have done your best. Some of us have lingered too long, we need to linger less and get back to work. After much labor then they begin to have success. We need to pray for success, get to work, and have a greater sense of urgency for the work. He quoted President Kimball who stated a number of years ago that we have paused on some plateaus long enough and need to rise up. We need to begin to increase our desire by having prayer, we are not stuck, we can move forward. We need to awaken and focus on the goal. He quoted Elder Oaks who said we need to start with our feelings and pray about our feelings and our desire. You have to change, the promises we have is after we have made the change into someone new and better than we are now. Ultimately it is the love of the Savior that will cause us to change or desire. It is up to us. No one can do it for us. God will facilitate but not force. The Lord works when we step forward in faith.” We were so uplifted and strengthened by all he said, and also enjoyed what the others had to say, too.
Our luncheon was Okinawan Tacos which were DELICIOUS!! It’s like taco salad with all the taco fixings but served on rice instead of tortilla chips. Plus we had the Oatmeal Cake, so we were fed well physically, too!!
Jim has had several experiences this past week in dealing with the new iMOS financial program, and is able to give the people in SLC feedback to help them improve the program and reports that it has to generate. I am so proud of all his hard work. I have been frustrated with my iMOS stuff and keep going back to the old MOS program to do things. But each week I will try again—improvements have been made and I have also given the people in SLC input on how to improve things. We will see how long it will take them to make the changes and how long it will take for me to learn to do things a new way!!! (you know—old dogs, new tricks!!!)
Our word for the week is an old one—otsukare sama des (oat-scar-eh sama des) which means “you look like you work hard”! We use it for a lot of the delivery people who come here and have to carry heavy boxes and stuff in and out, and also for our regular mail and package people. We appreciate so much all they do for us and this is how we compliment them.
Our thought for the week is: “For you shall live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.” Doctrine and Covenants 84:44. As we live by God’s words and commandments, we are truly blessed!!
We love you all—
Jim & Pat
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Feb 15, 2009
Dear Family & Friends,
It was a good week for the most part. Poor Jim had some frustrations with iMOS, the internet Mission Operating System, that we are piloting. Thank heavens, it turned out what he had done that he thought was not processed, it was processed so he felt better about that. I tried to do a mail-merge and it didn’t work so I went back to the old way. It’s always hard (frustrating!!) trying something new and helping them work the bugs out. We are getting tired of being the beta test site for all of the Japan missions. It’s a dirty job and WE get to do it!!!
Thursday morning we came over and did some yard work to make everything look nice for Elder Evans to come visit us next week for a multi-Zone Conference. I cleaned up the office while Jim and the missionaries and Sister Hill worked on the yard.
Then, that afternoon, Sister Hill invited me on a quick trip to a place called China Pete’s where they have lots of different things made out of china. When I say quick, it took two hours to get there, we looked around for an hour, bought a some dishes, then went to Costco for a few things (compared to the major shopping we usually do), and two hours to drive home. We had fun visiting over and back so it was well-worth the time. Nothing is close here!!
Friday night we double-dated with the Hills to a good Valentine’s dinner at Kennedy Steak House, which was delicious!! Then we watched a DVD that I had picked up at Costco called, “Prince Caspian,” part of the Narnia series. We loved it and thought it was such a good story and so well done!!! (Jim & I liked it so much we watched it again last night).
Saturday we attended a wonderful wedding in the Temple. Our own Elder Iida, who left the mission just 10 days ago, was sealed to his sweetheart who waited for him. They looked so happy and we were happy for them. We were not able to stay for the photo session, so when we get any photos from the Hills, we will put them on our blog.
Our thought for the week is: “And if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.” Doctrine and Covenants 14:7.
Our new word for the week is: haru ichiban (har-oo itchee ban) which means #1 spring or first of spring. This has reference to the interesting change of weather we had. On Thursday it was quite cold. On Friday a wind blew all day, but it was a warm wind. When we went out on Saturday, it was positively balmy!! The temp was about 78 degrees!!! We couldn’t believe it!!! In Colorado we would call this wind a “Chinook.” So we had our first taste of spring and we are all excited!!!
Hope you are all doing well and having “haru ichiban”!!
Love, Jim & Pat
It was a good week for the most part. Poor Jim had some frustrations with iMOS, the internet Mission Operating System, that we are piloting. Thank heavens, it turned out what he had done that he thought was not processed, it was processed so he felt better about that. I tried to do a mail-merge and it didn’t work so I went back to the old way. It’s always hard (frustrating!!) trying something new and helping them work the bugs out. We are getting tired of being the beta test site for all of the Japan missions. It’s a dirty job and WE get to do it!!!
Thursday morning we came over and did some yard work to make everything look nice for Elder Evans to come visit us next week for a multi-Zone Conference. I cleaned up the office while Jim and the missionaries and Sister Hill worked on the yard.
Then, that afternoon, Sister Hill invited me on a quick trip to a place called China Pete’s where they have lots of different things made out of china. When I say quick, it took two hours to get there, we looked around for an hour, bought a some dishes, then went to Costco for a few things (compared to the major shopping we usually do), and two hours to drive home. We had fun visiting over and back so it was well-worth the time. Nothing is close here!!
Friday night we double-dated with the Hills to a good Valentine’s dinner at Kennedy Steak House, which was delicious!! Then we watched a DVD that I had picked up at Costco called, “Prince Caspian,” part of the Narnia series. We loved it and thought it was such a good story and so well done!!! (Jim & I liked it so much we watched it again last night).
Saturday we attended a wonderful wedding in the Temple. Our own Elder Iida, who left the mission just 10 days ago, was sealed to his sweetheart who waited for him. They looked so happy and we were happy for them. We were not able to stay for the photo session, so when we get any photos from the Hills, we will put them on our blog.
Our thought for the week is: “And if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.” Doctrine and Covenants 14:7.
Our new word for the week is: haru ichiban (har-oo itchee ban) which means #1 spring or first of spring. This has reference to the interesting change of weather we had. On Thursday it was quite cold. On Friday a wind blew all day, but it was a warm wind. When we went out on Saturday, it was positively balmy!! The temp was about 78 degrees!!! We couldn’t believe it!!! In Colorado we would call this wind a “Chinook.” So we had our first taste of spring and we are all excited!!!
Hope you are all doing well and having “haru ichiban”!!
Love, Jim & Pat
Shinjuku Park
A lovely flower garden--mostly ornamental cabbages.
Jim on a bridge overlooking a peaceful pond.
Pat in front of a building built for the Japanese by the Chinese to honor an upcoming wedding of Japanese royalty.
The back of the same building with a lovely pond for a beautiful reflection. Pat is standing on the balcony.
Flowers at Shinjuku Park
First signs of spring at Shinjuku Park
Pat in front of one of the few flowering gardens in the park.
One of the colorful orchids in a special display. The huge greenhouse was closed for a major renovation and a few plants were shown in a small building nearby.
This was an interesting-looking orchid.
Japanese Parchment Bush
This bush is what the Japanese use to make their special parchment, like rice paper, that they use for calligraphy.
Closeup of the blossoms on the bush.
Sign explaining the uniqueness of the bush.
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