Fred and Paula’s Most Excellent Adventure

You may be wondering..."Hmm, is that all they do is tour famous sights and eat Japanese food?" Not at all. We serve 40+ hours in the mission in many ways. This week we have been opening apartments for new missionaries arriving from the United States. These missionaries have served many months waiting to come to Japan, just like us. We opened our first two apartments last week and three more to go this week. We are using furnishings that have been stored over the past two years. Fred is assembling funiture and shelving that have been taken apart to save space. He is repairing old bicycles so that some of the missionaries won't have to pay for a bike. I have been purchasing small items that are needed for the apartments, organizing and packing essentials for the kitchen. I wash dirty dishes that have been stored for two years. I am washing and preparing curtains for the moves.  It is so fun to be part of this work. This is not all our service. We have many office tasks

We went to Kyoto on our day off to the Kinkakuji (Golden Temple). The temple is surrounded by Japanese gardens which are absolutely beautiful. There was even a heron on a rock in the water which made the scene perfect. There were workers sweeping the moss to remove all leaves and plant debree. Fred said, "I want my back yard to look like this." The only way to have that is to work at it every day to achieve perfection. It was breathtaking. Then we walked along an outdoor shopping area. There were a variety of shops including seafood and other delicious options. Which one do you think I chose? We are preparing to start opening apartments this week. We expect to double, then triple, our missionaries in a short few months. There is a lot of work ahead. Japan is talking about relaxing the border restrictions even more in June. This is great for many people who have been waiting for a long time. The days zoom by with more things to do than we have time to do it. We love this o

Look closely at this picture and you will see two small bridges in this Japanese garden near Himeji castle. We went to Himeji to deliver a bicycle and some supplies to a new missionary. We had to go see the castle because it was a block away. We stopped at some food stalls and tried some Japanese delicacies. I loved the mochi (pounded rice) and actually the tacoyaki (octopus dumplings). We are seeing a lot of Japan while we serve. Our lives are getting busy as we are preparing to open apartments for the new missionaries arriving. We expect to double our mission size in just a few months. We are organizing supplies using items that were stored and replacing others that are needed. We are also teaching English to the Japanese missionaries and Fred will be teaching a Japanese refresher course to the reassigned missionaries that are arriving from other countries. We write letters/emails for the Mission President for both the arriving and returning missionaries. We assist with the pa