Southern & Western Areas of the Sendai Mission

We didn't post last week because we went with Pres. & Sis. Tateoka to attend zone conferences and inspect missionary apartments in the southern and western areas of the Sendai Mission. We had some wonderful meetings and became much better acquainted with the missionaries in that part of the mission. Our mission stretches almost half way to Tokyo and takes in all of the northern part of Honshu Island.





We started in Koriyama on the Pacific side of the mission and then crossed through the mountains via about 18 miles of tunnels to the city of Niigata, pop. 800,000. The first two pictures were taken from Niigata--one a night picture from the 12 floor of our hotel, and the next one an early morning view taken along the river.







We have some wonderful young missionaries serving here and could easily fill up our blog with stories and pictures of them. The last stop was a visit to the missionaries and the small branch on Sado Island, a small island about a 2.5 hour ferry ride westward into the Sea of Japan.








We put the car onto this large ferry and watched the sea gulls as they followed us out of the harbor. President Tateoka is a very effective missionary and as we arrived in Sado for a late dinner he struck up a conversation with a school teacher and had a good gospel conversation. After our meal was finished, he had the waitress show us the decorations of the restraurant and was soon deep in a gospel discussion with her.






There are only a few members on Sado Island, but they have a very nice small chapel and the members were excited to have visitors. They had prepared a meal and stayed to talk with us for as long as we could stay. On the way home, President Tateoka told us that we needed to get bold and start speaking to people in Japanese. The ferry did not have seats and instead, people sat on the floor. While we were sitting among them, we began to use our shaky and rudimentary Japanese on them. We tried to ask them simple things like how many people in their family, where they lived and worked, and what they did on Sado Island. They were all polite and tried to help us. Sister Tateoka found on lady who spoke some English and she agreed to start attending our English classes in Niigata. This experience was helpful for us and made the time pass quickly, but we realize that we will need more than 18 months to get so that we can communicate in Japanese.

Fall in Sendai

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.

(This is Mom.) Our ward has another baptism coming up the last Sunday of the month. The sisters have another baptism! The sister (Akiko Yuhara) getting baptized has asked that I give the closing prayer and there is a rumor that she wants Dad to talk. I told Elder Porter (our District Leader) that I'd do my prayer in Japanese, but that I wasn't sure if Dad would do his talk in English or Spanish! (Just kidding!) It definitely won't be in Japanese! We are happy to see the work progressing--even if it seems slow at times. We love the Japanese people! They are so kind and gracious. Hamamoto Kyodai, our Japanese convert of less than a year who has been helping to teach us Japanese, sat in with the English speaking missionaries today to watch the conference sessions. He's a sweet young man and is trying so hard to do what is right. He's the only member in his family and is not one who fits in well with the people his age in the ward. Therefore, he spends as much time as he can with missionaries. He speaks English very well, having lived in Hawaii 10 years. Life is GREAT and we LOVE what we are doing. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to happiness. May we live as the prophet and apostles have counseled us. This conference was truly inspiring. WE LOVE YOU ALL!

We didn't post last week because of pressing issues. Elder Evans, the area president over our mission came to meet the missionaries and see how we were doing. President and Sister Tateoka invited us to have dinner with Pres and Sis. Evans the evening before the conference. He had asked the APs to come for a mission meeting at 8:30 after our dinner was finished. They had been at a Primary activity and he asked them how much missionary work was accomplished. One of them made the mistake of saying, "this was a support the ward activity, not a missionary activity." Well, they didn't get finished with that meeting until 11 p.m., long after missionaries are supposed to be retired. President Evans stayed up longer than that and the next day at mission conference he attempted to change the thinking about missionary work. I've never seen anyone talk for 5 or 6 hours with only a lunch break in the middle, but Elder Evans did. He told the missionaries that until they change their attitudes and approaches, the mission will scrape along as the lowest producing mission in his area. He taught how to follow Preach My Gospel, how to tactfully obtain referrals, how to get members to assist, and how to be more bold about asking people to commit to baptism. Well, we'll see what happens. We believe we are seeing some changes occur.

We're attempting to be better missionaries also, working harder on the language, talking to our English students about discussions, and going out one evening a week with the young missionaries.

I had a commitment from another one of our students to let the missionaries talk with him and his wife. He walks 3 km every morning at 5:30 a.m. and I'm going to walk with him on Tuesday morning to work out the details. So far we don't have any rejections, but we don't have any baptisms either.

I decided to put in a picture of one of the colorful spiders that live in our neighborhood. They build huge web networks and then wait for something to get caught in them. By clicking on the picture you can blow it up to get a better look. This one was above the bushes out in front of the mission office.

This past week 7 new Elders arrived, one from Japan and 6 from the U.S. We now have them started on their way and go back to a regular schedule for another six weeks. New missionaries create a domino effect that results in many of the missionaries moving on transfer day, either to pick up one of the new elders or to make a shift so that everyone has the proper companion. We lost one of our office elders, Elder Shurilla. He went to the north of the mission as a zone leader. Elder Porter is our newest office missionary. We will enjoy working with him. He's a great young man. We also had 4 missionaries leave to go home. Transfers are getting easier for us since this is the 4th one that we have done.

It's hard to believe that we've been here for 4 months or that we've been full-time missionaries for 5 months. Despite the work load and stresses accompanying our work, we're really enjoying our experiences. It's great to see people embrace the gospel and follow the Savior. The Nagamachi Sisters had another baptism last Sunday and had another lady commit to baptism this past week. If that baptism goes through, they will have had 7 baptisms since we came in May. I wonder if the elders are getting a complex. They haven't had one in that time.

As we've told you earlier, when we discovered the kerosine leak from the tank sitting on the carpet in our living room, we took the tank out, removed the carpet as well as the plywood underneath, and replaced everything. We're now finished except for re-connecting the tank. It looks nice even though I'm not much of a carpet layer.

We discovered that we could watch general conference on our laptop, so Ruth watched the woman's conference and then this morning we got up early and watched the Saturday sessions before we went to church. We'll be able to get up early and see the Sunday sessions in the morning. Isn't that exciting about the new temples--especially the one in Rome! Who'd have thought? The majority of members here don't get to see it until next weekend when the Japanese DVDs arrive.

We would appreciate your comments about Conference. Could each family share with us something they learned that will make an impact in their lives? I hope we will all rededicate ourselves to living the gospel a little better than we ever have before. I also hope we will remember that the Savior is there to help us when the going gets rough. We love you all and share our testimonies to the truthfulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is only through obedience to all the commandments and enduring to the end that we can experience true joy in this life and in the life to come.

Love,

Dad andMom (aka Dale & Ruth and Elder & Sister Hansen)

Taihakusan Mountain

About 2 to 3 miles from us is a very pointed hill call Taihakusan that we hiked on p-day with Pres. and Sis Tateoka. They've been needing a break from an extremely demanding schedule and called us to say that they'd found the trail that went up the mountain. So we went with them to check it out. It took about 2 hours from the time we left the car to make the round trip. It was great to get out and use the hiking muscles.

We started out from the parking lot through a stately grove of evergreens that looked like Pacific yew, but we don't really know what they are, maybe some kind of cedar. About two-thirds of the way to the top, the trail got very steep, but a log chain had been attached to the trees making the climb quite easy. When we got to the top, there was a little building with a carved bear, Japanese dolls and a gong. There was so much humidity in the air that the view from the top was not very interesting. We could only see about a mile through the watery haze. Coming down we stopped at a small building where they perform plays during the summer time and people had left 1 yen coins in a little shrine, so I took a picture. It was not apparent whether it was a Buddhist or a Shinto Shrine.

Once we got home, we began to think about stopping the kerosine smell in our house and making plans for cold weather that will soon be here. At present, we have the carpet removed from our living room and have been running the fan trying to get the kerosine to evaporate. We found a leak in the line that leads from the tank to the heater. We have bought a new carpet but it will be several more days before we can put it down.

This week Brother Richard Heaton from the MTC in Provo has been here trying to help make the Sendai Mission more productive. He spent 2 days taking mission leaders out making contacts on the street and in talking to them about becoming better missionaries. We met him on Friday evening after they were finished and got some insights from him on missionary work. He complemented us for being willing to go streeting with the young missionaries, and told us to love our Eikaiwa students into the church until we can do more with our Japanese. He said that sometimes we offend people who have known about the church for a lengthy time because we don't boldly ask them to become members. He indicated that few office couples go streeting and few try to learn Japanese. He didn't say as much, but implied that most senior couples won't try to learn the language and that's why they don't spend more effort on it at the MTC. He did tell us that they have had a film crew following missionaries in real life situations and have made some interesting DVDs about how to be effective. He said that when they were picking missionaries to film, the only real requirements were that they be humble and diligent. The Tateokas will get a copy and then we can watch it.

We appreciate your postings and e-mails. Kristi took 2 pictures of our front yard and sent them. At least some of the plants have grown, and we appreciate all that our family has done trying to take care of things until we return.

Today in priesthood meeting we covered the chapter containing the letters that Joseph wrote to his family. The teacher asked us to write something similar to you, so here it is. On April 4, 1839 while in Liberty Jail he wrote, "I would gladly walk from here to you barefoot ... to see you and think it great pleasure..." Well, I'm glad there is too much water between us and am thankful for modern conveniences -- like voice-over phone, Skype, e-mail and the blog. When we're finished here, a jet ride sounds better than walking barefoot. Now, don't get your dander up! We love you immensely and miss you, but are just beginning here. You'll have to endure more strange blog messages while we work on perfecting our assignment here.

Dad insists that I add to his blog. I think he has covered things nicely. We are loving being here. We love the people, the surroundings, the missionaries, but most of all--the Lord. We want so much to be able to share the gospel. As we pass them on the street, I look at them and think how much the gospel would bless their lives. They need it and just don't know it.

We had an investigator come to church today. The sister missionaries just met her and she asked them if she could come to church. They haven't even given her a discussion yet. I assume they have given her some pamphlets. Anyway, in Dad's Gospel Principles class today, she answered most of the questions. The lesson was on tithing and she said she wanted to give more than 10%. She was the same way in Relief Society. She had just looked at the pamphlet on the Prophet Joseph Smith and she answered questions about him. I think you could truly call her "golden." I think it is subarashii! Matsujitsu Seito Iesu Kirisuto Kyokai no senkyoshi desu. Watashi wa Iesu Kirisuto ga ikiteiru to shitteimasu. Kantan wa chirashi wo mite kudasai. There, that's my Japanese for today. (translation: I'm a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Please look at this flyer.) That's what I say when we go streeting. Love you all and hope your lives will be blessed by your goodness and our service.

Adventures with Daniel

I told Mom and Dad I would post pictures of Daniel's lip, so here they are. Hailey had Daniel laughing in no time after he got home from the Dr. He has healed so fast-now, 1 week later, you wouldn't even notice it.

I had to add this picture, because everyday (several times a day) Daniel goes to the cereal cupboard and pulls out random boxes of cereal. A couple of weeks ago, this is how we found him.

Sendai in the Evening

I've been thinking of Kristi this week since she has been taking a photo class. To keep my lungs as open as possible, we try to walk for about a half hour at least 3 times each week. Because we've been busy, sometimes it's late when we go and I took one picture of Sendai and another of the tower on the hill as it got darker. Our camera only has auto focus and I wish I could do a manual focus. Also to take these shots, the shutter speed had to be nearly a second. That meant that I needed a post or rail to set the camera on since we didn't bring the tripod that Stacey and Evan gave me. Well, they didn't turn out but it gives you some blurry views of some of the things that we see.

We've been inspecting missionary apartments this past week and still have more to do as soon as we can get out. The GPS in our car seems to keep us from getting too lost and when we get within about 1 block of each missionary apartment it turns off. This is because it is programmed to their telephone number and most of them live in an apartment complex. To find them, we call them and tell them to walk around the neighborhood until we can spot them, or if a church is close we meet them there. We enjoy visiting the missionaries and they are doing a good job of taking care of their living quarters. However, each place we go seems to have things that need repair - a hole in the wall, a stove burner that won't work, broken chairs, etc. I almost feel that I need to wear my old clothes, get some tools and see what can be done.

This past week we spent much of p-day having a mold war. We have found mold growing all over the apartment and even the underside of our table was covered with it. So - we diluted the chlorine bleach enough that it won't discolor things, but still be strong enough to kill mold and away we went. Things are starting to smell and look better, but we didn't get completely finished. The rainy season seems to be ending so now we're just having showers instead of continuous rain like we've had for the past 3 weeks. The humidity has also dropped which should help us get control of our apartment.

Our Japanese language skills are progressing slowly, but at least they're coming. For example: Watashi no tomodachi wa anata no tomodachi desu (my friend is your friend). Hon wo yomi masho (lets read a book). Yoru gohan wo tabemashita. (I ate dinner). Watashi no mago wa odori masu (my grandaughter dances).

We wish that our gospel teaching was progressing faster. President Tateoka wants us to talk to people on the street one evening each week and we can't do that yet. We can go with the missionaries and say "sumimasen," which is excuse me, and can introduce ourselves but then the young missionaries need to take over. Japanese speakers still talk too fast for us to understand more than an occasional word. Sister McArthur sent us some materials to help us learn Japanese faster.

Our English class (Eikaiwa) has been cut back to one day per week. Ours will only be on Wednesday. That means our Japanese lesson will also be cut back to one day per week. This will free us up to spend more time working on missionary activities that are more productive. We hope things work out well. We only know of a couple of students that won't be able to come on Wednesday. They can go to Kamisugi, if they will and attend their class, as it will be on Saturday. The husband of the couple we had over for dinner, is one of them. The wife can come on Wednesday but the husband can't. They actually live in the Kamisugi area, so I hope we can get them to attend there and not quit coming altogether.

We love you all and hope you are keeping in close contact with each other and enjoying the opportunities you have to be together. Life is short, so make the most of the time that you have.

Love,

Dad and Mom, Gma & Gpa, Elder & Sister

An Accounting Week

Wow, what a huge machine! Notice the porch in the background that might be all of two feet tall. This backhoe is not as big as a riding lawn mower but they used it for making a trench in the front yard of the house that is being built next to the mission home. It's the only picture for this week, since it was a week of intense office activity with no P-day.

President and Sister Tateoka were gone all week and we were left to take care of things here. The Church representative in Tokyo who is in charge of missionary visas came to help Mom learn how to help the missionaries. The head accountant from Tokyo spent three days here trying to teach me to be an accountant. I'm not sure the lesson took. We'll see if it is possible to reconcile the bank statement this week. So far, I have not been able to balance the bank statement, even with Ruth's help. They have a convoluted spread sheet that makes no sense at all. When I couldn't do it with Brother Osako looking over my shoulder, he just took over and did it, then told me to practice closing the books each week during the next month and try again to balance the bank statement. Maybe one day I'll know the difference between what they call a debit and credit and also be able to switch things between internal accounting codes without causing heart attacks in Tokyo.

Today we had an interesting experience at Church. We had a chance to spend about half an hour with President and Sister McArthur, who run the JMTC in Tokyo. Since the Japanese missionaries only spend 3 weeks in the MTC, that leaves the McArthurs 3 weeks before the next group of missionaries arrives (because transfers are on a 6 week schedule coming from Provo).
They use their extra time to strengthen the rest of the Church throughout Japan, since Pres. McArthur served as a mission president in the Fukuoka Mission and is fluent in Japanese. They are from St. George and she doesn't speak much more Japanese than we do. It was interesting to get their take on the Japanese culture and how the Church is doing here.

This week we need to put money in the missionaries' post office accounts for their travel to Sendai to meet with Brother Heaton, who is over the Provo MTC. When that is complete, we leave (probably Tuesday morning) to inspect missionary apartments in the central part of our mission. That should be fun!

We pray for all of you and know that you are in good hands while we are away. The gospel is true and we are very blessed to have it in our lives. Let's never take it for granted!

Love,
Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Grandma, etc., etc., etc.