Momoishi Beach

We had a day off school, so we decided to hit the beach. We got together with some great friends and had a picnic and we went on the hunt for shells. What a great day to enjoy a beautiful place.

The water was beautiful and it made us feel a little closer to the United states. We are sitting on one side of the ocean and they are sitting on the other.

 Marissa and Courtney enjoying the day.

Landon laid in a wave. Pretty cold for a day like today. He still was happy though.

Running from the waves with friends.

Me with a new friend Jenny Beham. Hanging out.

 Melanie and Marissa made a beautiful sandcastle. What a wonderful day to spend playing with sisters.

Even I enjoyed the sand. It was refreshing to put my toes in the sand and enjoy the relaxing sounds of the waves. It is so therapeutic and what a huge stress relief.

 Some of our friends eating lunch with us at the beach. We are loving getting know new friends.
Such amazing people live here in Misawa.

I get to get in a few photos for everyone to know, I really was there.

My kids are such posers. I don't know where they get it?  :)

 Maybe my husband Dave.

It was a wonderful day at the beach. As we were leaving we were stopped by two Japanese men. They were so kind and told us of a festival that would be coming to a city near us in a few weeks. We are excited to go and see it. They also loved taking pictures of the American kids. They took mounds of photos of them playing and enjoying the beach. It was a great day with great friends.

Spiritual highs

Many of you know that I am pretty religious. I believe in my Savior Jesus Christ and I am an active member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I want to share with you, my friends and Family a few spiritual experiences I have had lately.

Moving far away from many friends and family, people,  I know and love is sometimes difficult. It has helped me evaluate my life and how I live it. It has helped me evaluate who I live it for. Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decisions that have brought us here.

Little by little, as I have prayed I have found answers coming from God. Here are a few experiences that have brought me peace.

Dave and I had the opportunity to speak when we first arrived here. We spoke on marriage and families and how we can strengthen them. We  both felt good about our preparation and felt that the spirit was guiding us through our talks/sermons.  What we didn't know is what kind of an impact it would have. Many people were touched by our talks and have asked us questions and bore testimony that it had helped them in their lives. We were so grateful to be able to be a tool for the Lord to use to help them.
      One person in particular wrote Dave and I a sweet note. That let us know how much they needed to hear it and how much they felt our spirit. This was a Japanese person. A person who we didn't know very well, but they felt impressed to tell us that our spirits were strong and that they felt goodness coming from us. (this strengthened our testimony that we are right where we need to be, serving where we need to serve the Lord, at this time. ) 

I learned something this past week.....

Japan means RISING SUN, The son of God, Jesus Christ. As we are coming near to Easter Sunday this has new meaning to me. As I contemplate on Jesus Christ and how he suffered for all our sins, I am grateful to him. He felt what we have felt, all our loneliness, all our sadness, our fears, our darkest hours when we felt no hope. He understands, he hears our prayers and he will comfort  us during those times. He Rose on the 3 day so we may live again.

We had a Japanese Elder end his mission here in our ward. As he bore his testimony to us, there was a clear feeling of peace and love as he spoke. My testimony of the Love our Father has for the Japanese was strengthened. The Japanese have different traditions and a different language they speak, but everyone of them is loved by Heavenly Father. We are all children of God and we are the same. We have learned so much from them and we are honored to be apart of their world at this time.

Another little thing that God blessed me with was my family.  Sometimes being away is hard, not being able to talk whenever you feel the need. Being far away for their struggles and heartache.  Being away brings you to your knees a lot, praying for those you love and care for. One Sunday I was feeling a little homesick wanting to be near my family when a small blessing and miracle happened. I was at church cleaning through our primary closet, looking for something a teacher needed and I came across my miracle. I opened a plastic tote and found an envelope that looked familiar. As I looked at the name it said NAAGTAG. Someone, somewhere in that past ordered Future missionary tags from my parents company. That little blessing came when I was missing home, my father in heaven let me know that even though I am far away physically they are always with me even if an ocean separates us.

I had another spiritual experience that is too strong for me to share right now, too special and too private to write to the world. I will say this about it. Heavenly Father hears you. He answers your prayers. He will give you what you ask and what you need. I prayed for something, something very important to me, and I prayed with all my heart and soul and there was a timetable on it. Within 5 min of my prayer, he answered, he gave me what we needed.  He is there for you, waiting for you to come to him and pour out your soul to him. He will answer, he loves you.

Wow, I have had so many experiences and as I sit here writing more come to mind. Our stake president bore his testimony to us. We have gotten to hear Elder Ballard and Elder Nelson in the last month speak to the people in Japan. What amazing spiritual experiences that have strengthened my testimony in my savior, in the living prophets and apostles. They pray for us. They pray for the service members and for there safety. They pray for me and my family.

Just last night, I was praying for some answers to help my son with some struggles and the Lord blessed me with answers. He blessed me with inspiration to help him. Our Father in Heaven will not leave us comfortless in our trials.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to support my husband as he serves our country. I am grateful that the Lord is mindful or our needs and our concerns. I feel so blessed to be able to follow the Lords plan for me and my family. We will serve him wherever we are called and through whatever trials we will go through.  I am so grateful for my calling of being a mother. It is my most important job and I am honored that the Lord has entrusted me 4 beautiful and strong spirits. I hope and pray I can help guide them to Love the Lord and serve him in all they do.

My Friends and Family, know that we love you. You are constantly in our prayers.

Mataauhimade
(till we meet again)

Roads

Driving here is crazy.......It is amazing how fast you can adjust. Just a few weeks and we are feeling good, but it is still fun to post about the caios.

First things first, they drive very slow here. Which can be a little annoying since you have to continually check your speed and slow down. The good thing is adjusting to the roads and driving on the left side isn't as hard because you are taking your time. On base the roads are a little wider, but off base.....Good luck :)  

Roads off base are much more narrow, you have just enough room for 2 cars  and that is all. You can't go off onto the shoulder because there is no shoulder. The big brown electric poles in the states are made to break away if hit. Here, you hit them, you die....... They are made of cement and will kill your car if you hit them. There are also ditches off the sides of the roads for drainage so you can't pull off the road if you need to stop or your tire will be stuck.

Steering wheel is on the wrong side of the car. I have gotten in on the wrong side too many times to count. Dave just looks at me and says "I guess your driving today!" Oops.... It is a conscious effort to get in on the side you should. The worst is when it is your friends car and you go to get in. Then you just laugh and say you wanted to be kind and open the door for them. LOL

 

Another hard thing is the turn signal......it is on the opposite side of the steering wheel too. So if your not paying attention you flick on your windshield wipers instead. They call this the Newbie wave. You can always tell who just got here a few weeks ago, because every time you come to a corner their windshield wipers go off.

 

 This gives you an idea of how narrow the roads are here in japan. It really only allows for 2 cars. The hardest part is when someone has to stop to drop something off or pull over for a phone call. They pull off the road which isn't really off the road. It makes passing very difficult.

This is one of the roads. See the big cement poles. Please do not hit them. It does not make your car happy.

 

 

 

They put poles up all over the base during the winter so they can see where to plow. This one had something like a broom sticking out of it. It made me think that a witch must of Crashed landed.

 

 

 

These are the ditches placed just off the road for drainage. It is the perfect size to get your tire stuck, so please never pull off completely especially in winter when you can't see them.

 

 

Even with all the crazy little things with driving. Like forgetting which way is right and left because we yield opposite here. We get the most beautiful sunsets right off the road, near our house. This was a bright red one. So grateful for the beauties that surround us on these crazy roads.

 

We are getting better and it is pretty easy to drive now. Just remember to keep your hiney on the liney  and all will be ok.