Yatsushiro, bus rides and other delights

We were asked to go to a little branch located 90 minutes away (by toll road) to speak about the Outreach Center and Family History work. We had several ideas about what to say, most of them hingeing on getting cell phone wireless to our computers (a possibility here in Japan,where technology seems to be pretty well taken for granted.) As a result of our latest try for wireless, our main computer had to be left at the shop over the week-end and cannot be picked up until Tuesday. So--no presentation. Slight panic--actually more than slight panic. As I prayed about the trip (just the two of us, no one to translate; no GPS unit to guide us, ours doesn't work in Japan; written instructions from the missionary couple that invited us, but couldn't be there themselves; toll way travel, when we still carefully map out every trip that takes more than a block so that it includes mostly left turns--we drive on the left here), I felt complete peace. Again when I prayed--complete peace. So when Dad said that we shouldn't go, because all of the things we wanted to do were in the other computer and couldn't be accessed (yes, we did download everything onto a USB thumbdrive, but of course the file we wanted didn't download). I was able to say, "No, we must go. Everything will be alright." And again, "We really must go. Whenever I feel really stressed and as if I should go home and go to bed, I know that a great spiritual experience is just around the corner."

So we went. We found the right entrance to the toll road. The entry ticket actually came out of the machine as it should. Instead of the trial run on Friday when we had to call for the attendant to help us get the ticket. (On Friday, we decided to drive on the toll road just to the next exit to see what we might encounter on the REAL trip. On the trial run, we had no trouble finding the toll road, getting on--except for the toll ticket problem--and getting off, but we had the hardest time finding where to turn around in order to  get back onto the toll road to come home. As a result, we enjoyed some beautiful mountain scenery, but not a real positive feeling about toll roads.) We found Yatsushiro. Japan has been adding Romaji to all of its signs and that really helps. We could actually read 'Yatsushiro' on the road sign, instead of just the kanji. We found the chapel. We did have to stop at a grocery store to ask for final directions, because we were a couple of blocks off. 

And of course the meeting was wonderful. The branch meets upstairs above some shops. The branch is delightfully small and reminded us so much of Potlatch branch that we felt right at home. In fact we were pleased to tell them that we had come from a small branch, which really surprised them that such a thing could be in America. My carefully rehearsed very simple talk, with some additions about ancestors and their love for us, went really well. They said they were amazed to have me speak in Japanese. So even if they could not understand my accent (which is most likely true), they were still so pleased that I tried. Dad's talk was calm and friendly and short. Together we took about 10 minutes, but the branch president was prepared with another speaker and himself. Again, it reminded me of the care that Pres Russell always took to have something prepared in case there was time left over after the speaker had finished.

We stayed for Sunday School and relief society/priesthood meeting and even afterward where we presented some power point slides about family history work and about the Outreach Center. There were so few of us, that we sat around a table and looked at the computer together--no need for the fancy stuff we didn't have due to the other computer being not available. We also met a newly married couple, married in November, he from Japan and she from Chewellah (just outside of Spokane). She came to Japan to teach English and he decided that he wanted to learn English also. He investigated the church and joined in September. They are a delightful couple and she was so pleased that we had heard of Chewallah and had been to Spokane. She claimed that she didn't speak Japanese, but she translated the relief society lesson for me. I supplied the religious vocabulary, but she had all of the conversation skills! Our class consisted of the Japanese teacher and us two Americans, so it was a delightful exchange of ideas and thoughts. The lesson really is a lot better when you have to rely on the spirit to help you understand:)

Tonight we hosted our stake YSA leadership council. We sat on the floor, around our short table, on cushions. We ate the cake that the Yatsushiro branch gave us just as we were leaving and drank cold mugi-cha (a barley/wheat drink). Then we all watched the beautiful sky just after the sun set. It has been a great day.

Bus rides--we took our first ride on the bus on Wednesday and are already planning our next. Saves a lot on parking and getting lost and other trials with driving a car. Sister Rimi went with us, so now we know where the bus stop is and how to pay and where to get off and other essentials. We are so blessed with all of this help.

Hope all of you have also had a good week,

Love, 

Mom, Grandma, Kandie