Week 38: October 21-27, 2013, Serving in Kumamoto Japan

Monday was another wonderful preparation day.  What do we prepare for, the rest of the week.
This time we enjoyed talking with family members in the morning while missionaries used our two computers and one tablet to email.  This is their only day to communicate with family and friends and we are happy to help them.  With so many missionaries in our area the church computer would never accommodate them in any reasonable time.  Internet cafes our off limits in our mission.  The afternoon was spent in preparation for and having a birthday party for one of our Japanese missionaries.  It was a fun birthday party, and we trust showed our love and support for these hard working missionaries.

We are enjoying the persimmons here in Japan:

Here is the cake Luetta made for the birthday party.  They only have small microwave size ovens in Japan (unless you special order them for the United States) so you can only make small cakes.

 

 

The construction outside our balcony continues.  This week they put in the utility piping under the road. 

 

 

 

 

Our big trip these week was to inspect the apartments in Oita and Beppu.  Beppu is an example of the growth of missionary work her in the Kumamoto Zone.  This area how rents a meeting building and there are now eight missionaries where there we only two in Oita when we came here.

 

We had to travel during a typhoon, but it was mild in these areas.  We traveled in moderate rain.  Here is a field of another way they use to dry the rice in the field.

 



 

 

We passed a small lumber yard.  You see these small mills spotted throughout the mountainous regions of Japan.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is video of our travel.  Notice how narrow this road is and it is two way.

 

 

As Typhoon Francisco was leaving us, an opening in the cloud cover to the south of us opened and this fantastic sunset displayed. As we get ready to move to Fukuoka, we know we will miss this.