This was taken out in Natori. That is a little community just south of our Nagamachi church. I went out to walk with him at 6:00 a.m. last Tuesday.
This is a Shinto Shrine that we passed as we walked up over a hill and out into a farming area.
It was a rainy day so the farmers were not in their fields, especially at 6:00 a.m.
Sheaves of rice are hanging on poles to dry, then will be put in the thresher.
You can see the piles of chaff and the bags of rice in the background.
Shun is 76 and comes to our Eikaiwa class. Before he retired he was a high school teacher and taught American history, geography, and political science. He has accompanied students on trips to most of the English speaking countries, including the US (Grand Canyon twice), to New Zealand, Australia and England. We met his wife for the first time and they insisted that we have a rice ball and fish breakfast with them. Fortunately, they also served fruit and juice so we did fine. They have a beautiful home on the very top of a hill overlooking the valley and his wife is a good painter. She had pictures everywhere and was on her way to a painting session after we left. I talked with Shun about the church during our walk, but couldn't get them to commit to a discussion with the young elders yet.
We watched conference on the church web site during the early part of the week, but went this week end to the ward to support the local members and interact with them. I couldn't get the priesthood session on the internet so it was great to see that. It was an impressive meeting and I will try to lift where I stand and stand where I lift, but I think that we should learn Spanish.
This coming week we're going with Pres. and Sister Tateoka to 2 zone conferences in the southern part of the mission. While he does interviews, we'll check the missionary apartments in that part of the mission. We won't get home until Sunday evening so we won't make a posting next week end.
