Japan, Fukuoka Mission

The Rest of February...a few of March!

2010-03-20T01:07:00.000-07:00

Our new 'beans' who arrived Feb. 16th.

Excited about their new helmets...safety first!

The next group of pictures are the missionaries who were leaving us for home.

Sister Yashima

Sister Inoue, Sister Yashima, and Sister Yamagata.

The returning elders got up early to say goodbye to Sister Yashima.

Elder Fujiwata.

Sister Yamagata.

Sister Inoue.

Elder Tokuzawa.

Elder Yamaguchi.

Elder Chandler.

Elder Inoba.

Elder Reyes.

Elder MacFarland.

The Healey fufu.

Elder Yamaguchi with his father.

Sister Okumura's birthday cake.

The coat President and I bought for her birthday present.

The lantern festival in Nagasaki.

The view from our hotel room in Nagasaki.

Elder and Sister Mead & Elder and Sister Brown

Mental Health and Medical doctors who visited our mission.

Zone conference...Fukuoka & Nagasaki.

Kumamoto Zone conference.

Sister Bunya.

Kagoshima Zone conference.

Okinawa Zone conference.

Elder Inoba came back to visit with his brother and father.

Janice Kapp Perry and her sweet husband are touring Japan. Made a stop in Fukuoka for a musical fireside. And spent the night in our home. They are the sweetest couple.

Brother Irie (a Japanese singer and composer), who was traveling with the Perry's.

President and Sister Miyashita (the temple president) and the rest of us.

Another month down...28 to go!

We love it here!

Update...

2010-03-17T21:46:00.000-07:00

March 17, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

First of all we love and appreciate all of you. Thank you for your support and love and letters and emails and cards and packages and prayers. We truly feel so blessed to have such wonderful support back home. Please know of our gratitude, even though we don’t always respond to each of you, we thank you for being there for us. Every day we thank our Heavenly Father for wonderful family and friends.
We have had another unbelievable six week ride in the “land of the rising sun”. We sometimes like to think that we are doing better at getting things down. Then we have experiences that remind us that we still have so much to learn and challenges to overcome. At times it can be pretty difficult and lonely and depressing. Other times we are so full of joy and happiness and so thankful for this wonderful experience and opportunity. It has truly been an experience of a lifetime. There have been so many spiritual highs and then on occasion some low valleys to walk through. Sometimes it seems like we have been gone for a long time and then other times it seems like the time has flown by.
My Japanese is getting a little better, and my English is getting a little worse. I’m at a point that I don’t speak either language very well. The Japanese don’t understand my Japanese and the Americans don’t understand my English. So I’ve resorted to a lot of grunts and hand signs and pointing. I am so excited to play “Pictionary” when we get home! There have been times when I will ask one of the very best Elders what someone just said, and they will say to me, “President, I’m not sure.” It makes me feel so good when the very talented Elders and Sisters don’t always understand either. Somehow, we all seem to communicate and help one another understand what the other is saying. To be able to communicate is one of the many “tender mercies” of a loving Heavenly Father.
We completed our Zone Conferences this past month, with the help of Elder and Sister Mead and Elder and Sister Brown. They live in Tokyo and are the Area Mental Health and Medical Health doctors. It is comforting to have them available to help us with any serious problems that might come up. We were on the road for 8 days and were ready to get back to our home. It is always so wonderful to be with the missionaries and feel their enthusiasm and youthfulness. They seem to buoy us up more than anything that we can do for them. They have strong testimonies and I feel so confident in the future of the church being led by these wonderful young men and women.
I probably say this every letter, but it seems like each six week cycle gets busier and busier. This past Zone Conference schedule was a long time to be on the road at once, however we had to do it this way so we could accomplish everything else we had going on. We had two District Conferences in February that took up two weekends. Then we had the privilege of having Elder and Sister Oaks come on February 9th and 10th. And then we had Janice Kapp Perry and her husband and a Japanese singer, Nobuaki Irie on March 10th and 11th. We also had our biggest group of missionaries so far going home and a similar size group of new missionaries coming in.
Elder Oaks and his wife were so great to be with. We shuttled them from the airport to their hotel and then later that evening we picked them up and had a member meeting with them in Fukuoka. We had 20 missionaries sleep in our home that night after the member meeting because they live so far away. The next day we had a missionary meeting with them. We televised the meeting to the missionaries in Okinawa, Ishigaki and Miyako islands. Prior to the meeting they greeted and shook each of the missionary’s hand, and we took pictures with them. Elder and Sister Oaks taught us many wonderful things. I have three pages of typed notes that I took from this wonderful meeting. After the meeting we drove them to the mission home where we had lunch with them and Elder and Sister Yamashita (Area Seventy), President and Sister Miyashita (Temple President), and Sherry and I. Sherry cooked a great meal. (Sherry has cooked more meals for guests and missionaries in the last eight months, than the previous 34 years of our married life). After lunch we toured the Fukuoka Temple with them and the mission offices and then took them to the airport. I asked my assistants Elder Stevenson and Elder Richardson if they would like to drive us all to the airport. They thought that I had given them a million dollars! They were able to ask Sister Oaks what it was like to date an apostle. They also asked Elder Oaks how he decided what he wanted to do as a profession when he was their age. They were so warm and “down to earth” to be with. We had a delightful time with them.
At the missionary meeting I was able to announce that the Hiroshima Mission that is north of us on a separate island of Japan will be consolidated into the Fukuoka and Kobe Missions. As you are probably aware the church announced the consolidation of several missions throughout the world. It just so happens that one of the consolidations is happening here in Japan. I was made aware of this in November. It was good to finally be able to share this with the missionaries. They were very surprised. This means that we will be getting 32 more missionaries around the end of June. It will include another District and another Stake. I’m not sure how we will handle this addition, but the Lord has blessed us thus far and I know he will help us with this added responsibility. We pray we can bring these wonderful missionaries from the Hiroshima Mission into the Fukuoka Mission family and that they will feel our love and excitement to have them be with us.
While down in Okinawa we experienced an earthquake on February the 27th. We were on the sixth floor of the hotel when it occurred at 5:30 in the morning. We were very nervous, even though it lasted only about 30 seconds, you are not sure when it will end. You pray that it ends before the building falls. It shook us pretty good; however there was very little damage to any buildings, and no people hurt. We made sure all the missionaries were OK and then we continued with the day’s schedule. Sunday afternoon we heard alarms for a tsunami warning, because of the Chili earthquake. Again we called the missionaries and had the missionaries stay away from any coastal areas. Again everyone was fine.
This past Wednesday evening we attended a concert put on by a Japanese singer Nobuaki Irie and Janice Kapp Perry and her husband. It was amazing to hear so many of the songs that she wrote that are such a big part of our music in the church. She is an extremely talented composer and writer of church songs. As I mentioned earlier, they stayed with us in the mission home and it was a delight to be able to visit with them and hear of their many experiences in life. They are in their seventies and have served a senior mission in Chili. They were there at the time Elder Holland was presiding as the Area President.
We picked up Kristin our daughter at the airport on March 12th and are so excited to be with her and show her a little of the Japanese sights, sounds, people and food. It was so good to see her again after almost nine months. After being with her for just a few hours it seemed like we had never been apart. We have enjoyed taking her on some excursions. We have been to some sights we have not taken the time to see. Her being here has given us an excuse to get out and truly see Japan. It has charged are batteries. I’m so glad that we can have visits from our family. It gives us something to look forward to. We are hopeful that all of our family can come out in the next couple of years.
The missionary work continues to move forward hear in the Japan Fukuoka Mission. We enjoy the opportunity to serve and to help where we can. Once again thank you for all you prayers and thoughts in our behalf. We miss you all and look forward to seeing you all in a couple more years and a few months.
Love,
Sherm and Sherry

Some of December, All of January, a Bit of February...

2010-02-15T15:20:00.000-08:00

Celebrated Elder Nye's birthday at Hard Rock...American food NEVER tasted so good! They could have turned the music up even louder, we wouldn't have cared...that food was the best!!

The office Elders.

Kumamoto Zone Conference.

Kagoshima Zone Conference.

The members always feed us after Stake Conference.

Sister Savage and I

Elder Sugihara taking pictures of himself.

Okinawa Zone Conference.

Went bowling with the office Elders. Notice my awesome shoes...and knee hi's!

Elder Richardson & Elder Stevenson

The 4 office Elders.

Bowling Mascots!

Is a mission President supposed to do this??

Office Elders on Christmas Day.

Christmas Day Baptism's.

These little origami Santa's led me to my Christmas present in Sherm's office. The AP's are so good to us.

The Elders made this Christmas card for us.

Christmas dinner at the mission home.

Party with Stake leaders.

Christmas cards.

Working away...

New Missionaries

Sister Ohmori and her mother.

Heading home.

Sister Ohmori, me, Sherm, Elder Nishimura, Elder Yamashita, Elder VanDam

Elder Yamashita.

Elder Yamashita and his family, who came to get him.

Elder VanDam

Being missionaries, and passing out fliers for English classes....at our favorite Friday night date spot, McDonald's.

Every gas station is 'full service', they even stop traffic for you as you leave the station.

Zone counsel meeting

Fukuoka Zone Conference.

Sherm's barber.

Okinawa Zone Conference.

Kagoshima volcano.

The Japanese hang everything to dry...most do not have dryers.

Mission Conference with Elder and Sister Oaks & Elder and Sister Yamashita.

Nagasaki Zone.

Fukuoka Zone

Kumamoto Zone

Kagoshima Zone

Elder & Sister Oaks with us.

with the AP's

with the Miyashita's (the Fukuoka Temple President)

with the Area Authority, the Yamashita's

Valentine's Day. The Elder's filled my car with balloons that they had written on. They left in the car a movie for me, and a tie and cuff links for Sherm, with Valentine cards. They also bought me a 'Fukuoka Hawks' jersey, and wrote with a sharpe on the back.

The office Elder's.

Pulling faces at them so we could get them in the picture with the back of my jersey.

Hope all is well with everyone at home, we love and miss you all. The time is starting to fly by...I can't believe we've been here 7 1/2 months.

Dear Family and Friends!!

2010-02-02T14:24:00.000-08:00

January 31, 2010

Dear Family and Friends,

I have no idea when the last time I wrote, however I know it was some time ago. So here I go again trying to recall things that happened a few months ago. As of today we have been on our mission for seven months. In some ways it seems like we have been here for a long time and at the same time it seems like time has gone by so fast. I will say that we have had so many wonderful experiences that have made the slow times seem so very worth it. (I’m not sure about the grammar on that sentence. I hope you catch my drift). The Lord has been very kind to us and we thank Him daily for His tender mercies to us.

Each day I have things that I deal with that I had no idea I would be dealing with. From opening and closing apartments, to many trips to the airport, train station and bus station. We have spoken or taught more times in the last seven months than we did in the previous 30 years. Each month I have the privilege of interviewing each missionary. I try to be as efficient as possible without having them feel rushed. No matter how hard I try, I can’t get past an average of a half hour per missionary. It is a lot of hours for 104 missionaries. I do enjoy being with them and being able to share in their experiences and challenges. I have been asked if it was OK for one of our missionaries to cut up a deer for one of the members. I gave permission. I have been asked if the missionaries could teach a man that was just released from prison for murder. I gave permission. I have had several calls from family of the missionaries that have experienced deaths in the family. That is the toughest part to make that phone call to the missionaries. I have to encourage them when the language seems so difficult. I do this when inside I’m about on the verge of tears trying to learn it myself. Almost all of my Japanese missionaries write their letters to me each week in English or in a simple form of Japanese called (romaji) that I am able to read. I know this takes them so much longer than to write in the traditional Japanese characters. I appreciate their kindness toward me. I love each of these missionaries so much.

Sherry and I continue to adjust to the food, the Japanese way of life, the traffic and customs. I enjoy going and getting a hair cut every few weeks. Japanese style is the cut, shampoo, rinse, shave if you want it. Then the eyebrows trimmed, ear hairs shaved; a shoulder, neck and head massage. All in all a good experience. We did find a “Hard Rock Café”. It isn’t the most spiritual place to eat, however it is real American food and we treat ourselves once a month. We haven’t been lost for a few months, thanks to an English speaking “GPS” system in our van. (A wonderful $300 investment) We just got the van fixed for $3,000. That was due to a pole that jumped out in front of me going down a parking garage, back in August. The PBO (Presiding Bishopric Office) in Tokyo had me wait for a few months to get it fixed to make sure I didn’t have any more accidents. I think they lack Faith!

In November they closed the Japan Missionary Training Center in Tokyo. Now all missionaries called from Japan that will serve in Japan go to the MTC in Provo for three weeks. We had a sister (Takahama) who was our first missionary to experience going to Utah first come on January 5th. She said she didn’t particularly like the food; however she said she had a wonderful experience. Because she was in the first group to come from Japan, she was featured in the Liahona magazine. There were probably 20 pictures of her experiencing all the things that go on in the Provo MTC. One of the daughters of the mission president (President and Sister McIntyre) in Kobe, Japan will be serving in our mission starting in February.

I wanted to share a wonderful experience that I had recently. When I served as a young missionary back in 1972-1974 in Tokyo I kept a journal of some of my experiences. I also wrote a report and letter to my mission president each week. When we left our mission the missionaries received each of those letters back as a keepsake for our remembrance. In those weekly reports to the mission president we recorded the hours that we worked each week doing the various missionary activities. We also gave an accounting of the money we spent. Also we listed the people we were teaching. In my letters I included the people that I had the privilege of being involved in their decision to join the church. What I didn’t think about as a young missionary was that one day I would and should correspond with these people. So when I wrote the name of these wonderful people I just wrote brother or sister (Tanaka) for example. I just wrote their last name. No first name or address or anything else. So over the past 37 years I have had no contact with any of these wonderful people. For some reason, I’m not sure why, I brought my missionary letters to the president book with me to Japan. It had been in a box in the basement for all these years. I think only once or twice I thumbed through it over the years. (Sorry this is a long story) In November the President of the Japan Mission Training Center (It closed down on November 24th), President McArthur and his wife came to Fukuoka to give a talk to a missionary preparation seminar being held in the Fukuoka Stake. We had them stay at our home because we were out of town at a District Conference. We arrived home on a Sunday evening and they were leaving the next day to go back to Tokyo. We were able to spend a few hours with them that Sunday evening. President and Sister McArthur served as the Mission President in Fukuoka in 1997-2000. They shared many wonderful stories and experiences with us and buoyed us up. I happen to mention to him that as a young missionary I hadn’t kept track of the people I worked with. He told me that if I made a list of those people with all the information I had, that perhaps the records department in Tokyo might research those names. A few days later I went through my book and recorded the last names and the date of baptism of the people that I had taught in 1972-1974. I also listed the place that they were baptized. On December 1st I flew to Tokyo for a meeting with the Area Presidency. I took my list with me and gave it to a Sister Yamashita who is the secretary of the Area Presidency whom Sherry and I met in Korea at the Mission Presidents Seminar in August. Her brother happens to be a missionary in our mission. She translated my English list into Japanese and when I left later that day gave me the list back with 5 addresses out of the 10 that I had given her. At some point in the next few months I plan on writing a letter and reestablishing contact with these wonderful people that 30 plus years ago were very close to me. The very first name on the list was a sister by the name of Chigira. That was one of the names on my list that I did not have an address. She was probably in her 20’s when she was baptized so I assume that she had married and moved and there would never be anyway to find her. All I had was her maiden name. Well, on January the 5th I received a post card in the mission office address to the mission president. It was all in Kanji (Japanese writing), so I couldn’t read it. I had one of the office Japanese Elders read it to me. As you might have guessed it was from sister Chigira (now sister Takatsu). She was wondering if I was the Elder Margetts that baptized her on December 30, 1972. She had seen our picture in the Liahona (International Ensign) serving in the Japan Fukuoka Mission. Her post card said that she had moved to a city near where she was baptized and had married in the Tokyo Temple and was the mom of seven children. (Almost unheard of in Japan). You can’t imagine what a wonderful treasured gift that was for me. By the way, she left her phone number and I waited for a couple of weeks to get up the courage to call and speak to her in Japanese. We were able to talk and now I have her email address and we hope to someday meet before we come home. Truly a tender mercy for me.

I’m sorry for the long personal story. Sherry and I love all of you and appreciate all of our dear friends and loved ones wherever you might be. Thank you for your support and prayers. We will keep doing our best and we pray for each of you. Have a wonderful new year.

Love,
Sherm and Sherry

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-18T21:42:00.001-08:00

December 16, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

As we celebrate our first Christmas in Japan, our thoughts turn to those back home that we love so very much. We miss being home to enjoy in the many traditions and joy the holiday season brings. However, we feel blessed to have the experience we now enjoy. Although Christmas is not the same here in Japan, when we think about all of you and the wonderful memories we have of you, it makes our hearts warm and full of love.

We are so thankful this time of year to celebrate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. He means so very much to us. We appreciate Him more now than we ever have. We are thankful to have Him in our lives. We feel His love and kindness constantly in our behalf. We feel it a privilege to represent Him in Japan. We know He lives and loves each one of us. We will do our best to honor His name.

We don't understand all the words when we sing or hear the Christmas songs and hymns in Japanese, but the music is the same and touches our hearts. Knowing we are all brothers and sisters of a loving Heavenly Father, makes you feel close wherever you live.
We hope and pray that each of you will have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We will be enjoying it a day ahead of you. Japan has its privileges. We appreciate each of you and the love and support that you give to us. We miss you all. Have a wonderful holiday season!

Love,
Sherm and Sherry

Thanksgiving and Christmas decor...

2009-12-04T21:04:00.000-08:00

Right before we were to sit down for our Thanksgiving dinner, the missionaries had me come sit on the couch, and one by one they came in through the front door, handed me a rose, and told me what they were thankful for. The last missionary to come in, gave me the vase, with a card that said 'Thank you for all you do, we love you.'

This was such a wonderful thing for them to do for me. I cried and cried. I love my family so much, and am so thankful for them. I realized tonight how much I love these missionaries, and how I am so thankful for them too.

Thanksgiving dinner pictures...

Elder Stevenson and Richardson

Sweet Sister Ohara on her way home

The AP's, with my camera, taking pictures of themselves.

Elder Kim

Elder Ure

Elder Davidson, Ure, and Kim heading home.

Sister Morishita going home

Elder Davidson

Elder Davidson w/the AP's

All of the shoes in the genkan (entryway)

Zone leaders...again

Zone leaders with their 'fearless leader'

The Beginning of our December Zone Conference's

Elder Harrington...I have on heels and am standing on the stairs...he still towers me.

My Christmas Decorations.

We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas...

We love you all!!

October & November!

2009-11-25T21:25:00.000-08:00

Fukuoka Temple...our home!

My sweet husband in the temple courtyard.

An afternoon walk...

We had a picnic in the dark, on the temple parking lot, to celebrate the full moon.

Elders practicing their dance for the ward talent show.

The drum festival..to celebrate fall.

Sister Nakamoto and her mom.

New Missionaries (beans)...arrived in October.

The AP's had a minor accident in our mission van.

President Margetts giving Elder Stevenson a scolding...

The Shimada's leaving for home.

Sherm found these awesome slippers in the mission office.

Elder and Sister Savage, our newest couple called to the Okinawa area.

Zone counsel meeting. My handsome boys!

Sister Okumura

Pictures from Sasebo, where we were able to go grocery shopping on their military base.

The Poulton's

My new bed-spread.

Pictures from our mission tour with Elder and Sister Stevenson...

Look what I got...my very own Japanese car!!

Look how tiny it is compared to the mission van.

Saying goodbye to the Poulton's

Elder Stevenson striking a pose for GQ!

Dropping the Poulton's off at the train station.

Dear Family and Friends!!

2009-11-03T09:00:00.000-08:00

We are in our 17th week and this is our second email. We will try to be better in the future. We first of all want to thank everyone for your love and support. We appreciate so much your emails and mail and prayers in our behalf. We continue to do our best to be and do all that we should be and do. Most of the time we seem to fall short, however we work with some very loving and supportive missionaries and people here in Japan.

As with our first email, we'll probably just write at random as they come to mind. Not necessarily chronologically. We continue to make small improvements each day as we adjust to missionary life and a new country and culture. My Japanese seems to be getting a little better, however I still struggle to understand everything, and I am a long ways away from being able to say the things that I want and need to be able to say. The difficult part is finding the time to study as I should. The missionaries and members are very patient with me and are so kind. I will say that I have been a blessing to them in that they are learning to speak English. I'm afraid that after 3 years their English will be better than my Japanese! I am committed to continue to learn and study to the point where I can have an intelligent conversation before our mission is over.

It is a special blessing to be so close (underneath) to the Temple. At least once every six weeks we can go to the temple. The night before the returning missionaries go home, we attend the temple together. We just walk outside and up some stairs. Not very many members can say that! Speaking of the temple, we have a new temple presidency that has been called and will start serving on November 1st. My second counselor in the mission presidency has been called as the first counselor in the temple presidency. So I will have to call a new counselor in the mission presidency. He has been such a blessing. He has helped me so much and could speak a little English. Heavenly Father always seems to help me, so I know that he will bless me with someone that I need.

The missionary work continues to go on. We have some wonderful missionaries, and the new missionaries coming in seem to be just as excellent as the previous groups. We now have 104 missionaries with about one third being native Japanese. Several of the last few missionaries from Japan have spent some time going to school in America prior to their mission. I think this has been a blessing as they understand the way their American companions have lived and speak some English. The Japan MTC in Tokyo will be closing at the end of November. All the Japanese missionaries that are called will now go to the Provo MTC. I feel that this will be a blessing as well.

Sherry and I attended two baptismal services in September. One was a mother of six children whose husband was already a member. The other was a young man from China who is here in Japan going to school. They are in our home ward and are such good people. We enjoyed a small dinner in the parking lot with the Elders and the young man from China the night before his baptism. We sat on the cement eating and watching the full moon. I can't believe some of the things that we have done since coming to Japan. The Elders talk us into things we normally would not do. It is hard to turn them down.

I've learned how to say that I am allergic to some of the food that I just don't think I want to eat. I don't think that I am not telling the truth, I just really think that I am or could be allergic to that particular food! I think I am being honest! I have shed a few pounds since coming. My kids are sending me some new belts. I'm holding out on having my pants altered until I know for sure that I will keep the weight off. Our date nights are spent at McDonald's. We each eat a $1 cheeseburger (really 100 yen) and a small french fry. We are being blessed in areas we never thought we would. We are getting healthy and not spending much money.

The fall weather has been beautiful. It is delightful during the day and the evenings are cool and pleasant. We just recently have had two typhoons that missed our mission area. One of the typhoons did hit Tokyo and Nagoya, however everyone was OK. Sherry and I just returned tonight from a branch conference on the island of Amami Oshima or sometimes called Naze. We landed on Saturday night and when we left this afternoon (Sunday) it was cloudy. It is a beautiful island and many of the Japanese say it reminds them of Hawaii. We hope to go back someday and see it on a clear day. Every time we go to a branch or district conference they treat us like royalty. They pick us up at the airport and then feed us after church with a big meal. We had 26 people at the branch conference. The church is about 8 years old and it is about 1/10th the size of our churches in Utah. It looks like a miniature church. But it is beautiful. After church, which in the small branches is two hours long, I did a Patriarchal Blessing interview and three Temple Recommend interviews. The mission president or a counselor has to do these interviews. We flew home from the island in a prop airplane in some rough weather and were so happy when we landed. The assistants were waiting for us at the airport and had made a sign that had "Margetts" written on it. They were holding it up like they do at the airport when some businessman is coming in from out of town. You have to love the missionaries. I have to swear at them quite a bit! It keeps them on their toes.

We will be having a mission tour on November 11th-13th with President Stevenson and his wife. He is the Area President and served as a mission president in Nagoya Japan in 2004-2007. His son is currently in our mission and serving as one of my assistants. We are excited and nervous at the same time. We had the opportunity to meet them when we first came to Japan and had a 4 hour orientation. We were with them again in Korea at the Mission Presidents Seminar. (Sherry is becoming more refined around the church leaders, so i don't have to worry as much as I used to.) We appreciate the opportunity to be led by some wonderful people.

We continue to have wonderful experiences that humble us and bless us. We feel so fortunate to be able to serve and bless people's lives. We are able to see personally or hear of little miracles that happen each day. We are thankful for the gospel in our lives. Thank you for all your love and support.

Love,

Sherm and Sherry

Bring on September!

2009-10-02T13:52:00.001-07:00

Family Home Evening

District Meeting

The new batch of missionaries (beans)...arrived September 1st

Missionaries returning home

Sister Endo, she may be small, but she's a 'powerhouse'!

Elder K

Saying goodbye

Sometimes he can't keep his eyes open, falls asleep wherever he's at!

Nagasaki Zone Conference

The Poulton's (our office missionaries)...we snuck away for a picnic lunch at the beach!

Sherm even has a 'not white' shirt on...can you believe it?

This beautiful beach is just a bit south of Fukuoka!

Kagoshima Zone Conference

Decorations at the airport

Okinawa Zone Conference

The Elders taking pictures of each other.

Okinawa Shimai's

Okinawa Choro's

We took this picture because Sherm told the missionaries this is what I look like when I'm angry!

August Adventures!

2009-09-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone....love and miss you, life is crazy here, but I've taken the time to snap a few good pictures. Kristin asked me to take some pictures of our home, so you can see where and how we live.

Our master bathroom.

This is our toilet, please notice the boudoir. We are putting one in every bathroom in our house when we get home! We love it! Also in the bathroom the lights are motion censored, no switches on the wall. This is very nice, except when you are on the toilet for a 'short while', and reading a magazine...the lights turn off, and we have to wave our arms in the air to get them on again. It's quite a site!!

Master closet.

Master Bedroom.

Our wrap-around hallway. All the lights in this hall and the bathrooms are motion censored.

We have 3 bedrooms on one side of the house, all for the missionaries who are coming and going.

My pantry! What the heck should I do with all this food?

My washing machine.

General Authorities Bedroom.

The missionaries are always wanting to use this bathroom....who can blame them?

Where the missionaries park their bikes...the hallway on the left is to the mission office. I am standing at our front door taking the picture.

Entryway to our parking garage.

A cool butterfly on the door.

Entryway.

Our home office. The door you see is to our bedroom, and there is a door behind where I am standing to take the picture, that leads to the living room/entryway.

Another missionary room....4 sets of bunk beds.

Their bathroom....with 2 showers and 2 toilets.

Zone conference at Kumamoto.

This is why the Japanese are so skinny. These are donuts I bought at 7-11 (which by the way, are everywhere). Notice how small....I placed a quarter to show the size.

Zone conference at Kagoshima. (Also Sherm and I celebrated our 34th wedding anniversary this day)

Zone conference in Okinawa.

Sherm and I riding the monorail in Okinawa. I closed my eyes and dreamed of being on the Disneyland monorail....but I wasn't!

On August 15th - 18th we attended a Mission President's Seminar for the Asian countries in Seoul, Korea.

The Imperial Palace.

The Korea Temple.

President Stevenson and his wife (He is the Area President)

President and Sister Traveller

The Ouyagi's.

President and Sister Tadeoka. Sherm and I went to high school with him.

Sherm, President Burton, and Reid. Sherm and I also went to school with President Burton. Can you believe 3 Bingham High graduates all reunited in Korea.

This sweet sister's brother is serving in Fukuoka, Elder Yamashita.

Our new mission couple arrival. Elder and Sister Lowe, from Washington.

We just finished a temple session with Elder Farnsworth and his family and friends. He then left for home.

These 2 girls, the Peterson's, stayed with us at the mission home.

Ying and Yang Vases I bought in Korea. And of course you'll notice the most beautiful things on the table....my grandchildren!

Sherm preparing to ride a bike to the Fukuoka church. The van was being used by missionaries, and he had interviews to get to. He made it to the church fine (downhill), but on the way home he had to walk the bike (uphill).

We were asked to judge an English speaking contest that BYU Hawaii sponsered in Isahaya.

The squatter toilets. These are toilets at rest-stops for women, I refuse to use them! I will hold it before I will hold my skirt and squat!

Thank you again for your love, support, prayers, and emails. We love and miss you all!

Adventures of July!

2009-08-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

July 1, 2009

Farewell lunch for President and sister Iwassa

Sister Okumura...My assistant in cooking & cleaning twice a week, or as needed.

Dropping the Iwassa's off at the train station. The mission is now ours, we're scared to death!

July 3, 2009

Sister Inque & Sister Nakamoto welcoming us with a 'heart attack' on our front door.

July 4, 2009

Our Home....Living/Dining

Kitchen....notice 2 refrigerators & 2 dishwashers, they are putting me to work. I now cook for large groups, with no take out from Cafe Rio (boy I miss that place)!

Kitchen/Family Room

July 7, 2009

Lunch with missionaries from different districts.

Touring the mission...standing in front of a ward house.

Elder Anderson singing us an Opera song as we left....beautiful voice!

On our way to several different zones, stopped for a picture by the beach.

Our 2 AP's...Elder Nielsen & Elder Inoba.

Still touring the mission...

July 9, 2009

July 10, 2009

Elder and Sister Prisbrey, a couple missionary in Kumamoto.

July 12, 2009

Still touring and meeting everyone...

July 13, 2009

July 17, 2009

July 18, 2009

Nagasaki District Conference....we spoke and they had a big dinner after.

July 21, 2009

Fixing breakfast for the Elders....I've gone domestic!

July 23, 2009

More meals that I prepared!

Testimony meeting after doing a temple session upstairs.

Sister Osterloh and her family, coming to get their daughter.

Two Elders going home, pretending they're sad!

July 25, 2009

Miyasaki Branch Conference, we again spoke, and were then fed!

July 27, 2009

FHE at our home, we host it once a month. I have to prepare refreshments for 50-60 people! Wow!

July 28, 2009

Fukuoka & Fujisaki Zone Conference

More to come...

Greetings From Japan!

2009-08-14T07:25:00.000-07:00

Dad sent this email this morning, I thought I would also post it here for those who's email he does not have! Enjoy....

Dear family and friends,

I thought I better get some sort of email out or you might forget who we are. It has been almost seven weeks since we left the USA. These past seven weeks have been seven weeks we will never forget. I’m not sure where to start or end. I might just ramble so hang on!

In the past 44 days we have traveled our mission area twice. The first time to meet all the missionaries and expose them to my sweet wife whom they all adore, and then this last time to hold our first round of Zone Conferences. We have been on a plane 10 times and stayed in hotel rooms for fifteen days. We love it when we can sleep in our own bed. Our days start sometimes as early as 5:45 and we have been to bed twice before 10:30. We have broken the mission rules a few times not getting to bed until around midnight. We already love every single missionary! It seems that they lift our spirits, when we should be lifting theirs. They are absolutely incredible and we feel it an honor to serve with them. They love the Lord, as do we and they work so hard to do their very best. We have 105 missionaries; five senior couples, 21 sister missionaries, 78 elders, with 33 Japanese missionaries. We are no longer the “beans” (new missionaries) of the mission, as we had 6 new missionaries come this last transfer.

We have spoken twelve times in church since we arrived. (You know how much we enjoy this experience) We have been to two District Conferences and then we have also spoken in several branch conferences. Other than our first Sunday here, we have spoken every weekend. In the District Conferences that is twice on Saturday and then Sunday as well. We have had to have translation for our talks, however the Lord has blessed us with wonderful help with this and we have felt the Spirit each meeting we have been in. The Japanese members are truly amazing. They have to travel long distances in most cases. They sacrifice to be members of the church in ways that we have never had to. They are so kind and loving to us. It is almost embarrassing how well they treat us and would do anything to help us. We feel honored to be among them and love them as our friends. We have commented how we want to be with people like this in the Celestial Kingdom.

The missionary work here continues to go on. For the past 10 years on average the baptisms for Japan have been around 800. It hasn’t changed much in all these years. There are seven missions in Japan, so we average about 115-120 baptisms per mission per year. We have 4 stakes and 3 Districts in our mission. One of the Districts is a military district in Okinawa. When I was a missionary I think there were only a couple of Stakes in all of Japan. Now there are well over 50. So, the work continues to move forward, however not on the scale of some of the other places throughout the world. President Eyring prophesied in October of 1998 in a talk given to the missionaries at the Tokyo Temple that in the future “….the Lord will establish the church here in Japan in a dramatic way. For many years it has looked like the progress in Japan had completely halted. Actually, the Lord was preparing a foundation. From that foundation miracles will spring forth. The church will become prominent and distinguished; people will want to know more about the church. People who are interested in the church will come to us.” He said many other wonderful things and so we will work hard to lay the foundation of what lies ahead for these wonderful people. Only about 1% of the Japanese are Christian. And only a small percent of the 1% are Latter-Day Saints.

On a lighter side we have had some unique experiences. As to driving: The steering wheel is on the right side of the car and they drive on the opposite side of the road. I have been on the wrong side of the road twice. I avoided an accident because I noticed early enough to get in the correct lane. I was coming home from the church and decided to try to find my way home by myself versus using the GPS. I ended up going down a one way street the wrong way. I realized it about half way down the road. At the end of the street was a policeman that waved me over. He started talking to me in Japanese and I had no clue what he was saying. I told him I was American and couldn’t speak much Japanese. He asked for my license and told me to come in the office. I apologized, why he checked out my license. He asked me where I lived. I told him I didn’t know. I hadn’t memorized our address yet. I told him that we lived by the Mormon Temple. He said OK I know where that is. He told me to be careful and let me go. I’m sure that he and his fellow officers had a good laugh about the dumb American and his driving. We had another experience just last week at a District Conference in Kagoshima. It is four hours away from the Mission Home. So we took the assistants with us Thursday night and stayed in a hotel and had Zone Conference with the missionaries on Friday. I finished interviews at about 9:30pm and headed back to the hotel, dropped the assistants off to stay with the Zone Leaders in their apartment and made it to the hotel OK. I told them I could find the church the next day Saturday. I had a 2:00 meeting with the District Presidency and then Priesthood meeting at 4:00 and Adult Conference Session at 7:00. The church was about 20 minutes away from our hotel. We left at 1:00 so we would be sure to get there on time. Well we had the assistants program the GPS because it is in Japanese. That morning when we left it wouldn’t work. To make a long story short we finally had to call for help. Someone met us at a store and we followed them to the church and arrived at 4:00 just as the meeting was starting. 3 hours to get what should have taken us 20 minutes. It is difficult to be in a foreign country and not know how to read the “Kanji” Japanese characters. The streets are small and we don’t know where we are going yet.

We have done pretty well as to the food. We are careful and stay with the safe stuff. I did have some sushi (raw fish) the other day and survived. I think my Japanese improved that day! It is hard to know for sure what you are buying at the store because it is all in Japanese. Sometimes we don’t have much of an appetite. I have lost about 12 pounds in the last 44 days. (As you know I can’t afford to lose much more weight!) We have had help shopping; however we need to get to the point where we are more independent. It is hard to find the time to get around and just get comfortable with our surroundings, because we have been on the road so much. When we get home we get caught up on paper work and such and then we are on the road again. We have a Mission Presidents Seminar in Seoul Korea August 15^th through August 18^th. Then a Stake Conference when we get back. We have 9 new missionaries coming in on September 1^st and then we start Zone Conference again. The end of September looks like it might slow down a little bit.

We have had are hard days when we weren’t sure if we would make it. All we could do is get on our knees and ask for help. The Lord has always been there to help us. We have had to rely on the Lord so much for help in communicating, answering questions, counseling missionaries and just dealing with things that we have never experienced before. He has always been there for us. We know the work is true and we are doing our very best to do our part. We appreciate this special opportunity, even though we feel inadequate and overwhelmed at times.

We haven’t watched TV since we have been here. It is interesting to think of the hours we would spend back home watching TV and now we don’t even think about it. We can’t read a newspaper, so we rely on the internet for our news. We understand that there were some earthquakes in Tokyo a few days ago. We did not feel them down in Fukuoka. The weather is very hot and humid this time of year. I don’t think I have worn a short sleeve white shirt since my mission. I am a big fan of them now. I understand that the winters can be fairly cold. I’m actually looking forward to that day. Of course I will complain that it is too cold then and will be wishing summer were here.

We appreciate so much all of you back home. We miss you all so very much and look forward to being there again in 3 years. We are grateful for your love and support and concern for us. We thank you for your prayers. We have needed every one of them some days. We are trying to be the best missionaries we can possibly be. We realize we represent the Lord and the church and also our family and friends back home. We are doing are best not to “muff it” here. We are very humble right now and have had to rely on the Lord and each other more than at any time in our life. We have felt His help and assurance many times. We have had experiences that we will remember all our lives. We know God lives. We know we have a Savior. The church is true. We love all of you.

Sherm and Sherry

Crazy, Busy, Non-Stop!

2009-07-19T17:15:00.000-07:00

The out-going mission Pres, President Iwassa tagged me in this picture on facebook so I would know my parents arrived safely! How thoughtful of him....I was so excited to see them in Japan!

It will be 3 weeks tomorrow that they have been in Japan, has it gone by fast for me....not really! I asked mom if it had for her....her answer was the same! I have only talked with them 3 times, but hopefully it will become more frequent as we now have skype set up, and a video phone...both worked great! Also they have been traveling the entire Fukuoka mission since the day they arrived, meeting and interviewing all the missionaries. They have also flown to 2 different islands that are part of their mission (Okinawa & Ishigaki), so it has been crazy, busy, non-stop! And next week starts transfers, so missionaries will be staying with them, having dinner, doing a temple session, and then off to the airport. Also new missionaries will arrive, spend the night, have breakfast, and be off to their area.

They have had wonderful experiences, and of course down times too when they miss home, grand kids, friends, and mostly me!

Hopefully mom can update soon and describe better than me their experiences. But the one that sticks out the most to me is their arrival to Fukuoka. They said as they made their way down to the luggage area at the airport....they could see the Mission President and his wife, and with them were office missionaries, members of their ward & stake, & some of the missionaries too. They had welcome signs and were singing to them. Both mom & dad said it was very emotional....and a wonderful welcome!

Every time I talk with them, they say to me at least 2-3 times 'the church is true' and 'we know that Japan is where we are supposed to be right now'. The language barrier has been the hardest....they can't read street signs and have no clue what to buy at the grocery store. Also driving is crazy, narrow streets, driving on the right side of the car, and left side of the road. So they take missionaries or staff with them everywhere, and mom says they are all angels! I hope to have pictures of them soon, and will update. Thanks for caring about and loving my parents!

Mom has a new email it is sherryssm@gmail.com

I know she would love to hear from all!

Official Missionaries!

2009-07-02T21:31:00.001-07:00

It's official.....they are missionaries! Flew out Monday morning, and have arrived in Fukuoka, Japan safely. All is well, and according to mom....it has been a whirlwind! They will travel next week for 7 days straight, and I've come to the conclusion that mom probably won't spend much time updating this blog, with her lack of time and computer skills. Therefore I will do my best to keep all you 'followers' updated.

Getting Ready....

2009-06-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

Don't give up on me and my blogging skills just yet. Life has been a little crazy. Sherm and I are headed to the MTC on June 24th and fly to Japan on the 29th. I promise once we get settled I will keep you up to date on the mission life.

Thank you Kristin

2009-04-03T17:07:00.000-07:00

Thank you Kristin for helping me set up this blog. I had a wonderful time with you and the kids. I will cherish these memories forever. I love you.

Celebration Dinner

2009-02-21T20:47:00.000-08:00

After receiving our mission call.....we decided to celebrate with our kids, Japanese style! We enjoyed a Tepanyaki meal, hope they have places like this in Fukuoka!