Kouchi Branch Conference March 27, 2011

Sunday we attended the Kouchi Branch Conference on Shikoku. Kouchi is a wonderful branch in the Matsuyama Member District.

Here is a picture of the church. It has been remodeled inside (converted into a church) and is very clean and functional. Seating capacity in the chapel is 80 people. We had 57 in attendance branch conference.Kouchi is on the Pacific Coast of Shikoku Island. It takes about 3.5 hours by car to get there by car from Kobe. At one point you drive straight across from the Inland Sea to the Pacific Coast. This takes you across some rugged mountainous country and the expressway literally takes you more through the mountains than over them. There are 22 tunnels on the way and most are several kilometers long. Kouchi is the 4th largest city on Shikoku. It is a castle town and boasts a proud history. This is a view of part of the city from the castle park. After conference on our way home we took a walk through the castle park which is only a few minutes by car from the church.

The cherry blossoms were just barely starting to bloom, but this one tree was already looking like spring had sprung.

Near the entrance to the park below the castle.

Elders Escalante and Tsushima serving in Kouchi. Kouchi Sisters preparing for lunch after conference.

Some of the food. There was a lot more.

The Takemura Family minus Brother Takemura who is in Tokyo. The Takemura's live in Tokyo and Brother Takemura worked with me for many years at Franklin Covey. Sister Takemura is originally from Kouchi and she is in town with the kids visiting her family.

We also met the Yamamoto family. Brother Yamamoto served with me in Tokyo as a young missionary. He now has this wonderful family. Unfortunately he was away in Tokyo on business and not in this picture with us.

It was a wonderful day in Kouchi. After arriving home we enjoyed dinner with James who stayed back in Kobe with the missionaries.

Marugame Branch Conference - Takamatsu District Shikoku

Sunday March 20th we attended the Marugame Branch conference. After the conference the branch had a pot luck lunch. Sister McIntyre with President Iwaki's daughter (Emi) and grandchildren who also attended the conference.

After the conference I set apart Elder Fukuta of the Tokushima Branch as a missionary. He enters the MTC in Utah this week.

Some More Recent Shots of Our Adventures!

Fukuchiyama Branch Conference 2010

The best smelling tree on the mission home and church property! Blooms every fall and the whole yard smells great! Little orange flowers. Sits right on our patio. Another tree is located down by the chapel as well.
Stain Glass image of the Tokyo Temple in the old Osaka Mission Home. We currently use the home as missionary quarters in Hirakata Osaka.
Recent road trip to Shikoku with the Assistants. We stopped to visit the Sisters in Imabari. We were on our way to Priesthood Leadership Meeting in Matsuyama.

Branch Conference in Niihama, Matsuyama District - Shikoku

The end of July we travelled back to Shikoku for two Branch Conferences and a District Priesthood Meeting. The first conference was in Niihama.
This is the Niihama Branch building. We attended a great branch conference there.

Brother Aoba was called as the new Branch President. He is a skilled artist and potter. His son, a recently returned missionary was called as one of his counselors.Sister McIntyre with Fox Shimai and Iwaki ShimaiAs is the tradition, we enjoyed a meal together as a branch after conference. The conference was attended by the District Presidency whom we will be working with going forward in the Matsuyama District. President Nakajima and his counselors, Presidents Kawasaki and Kariya.We were invited to visit President Aoba's home on our way home to Kobe. He lives in a beautiful little valley surrounded by bamboo and rice fields.Here is a shot of his house from across the field on our drive in.He fires all his pottery right here on his property. Much of it is done in these old fashion ovens. His art work and pottery pieces are all around the home and yard.This plate depicting of the Tree of Life is similar to the one in the Tokyo Temple Celestial Room which he also made. Here is picture with his wife and three daughters and President and Sister Iwaki.
It was a great trip and we met so many wonderful members. As mission president we preside over the districts on Shikoku so we will be visiting these wonderful places and people often!

Maizuru Branch Conference

This past Sunday we held Branch Conference in Maizuru. Here is a picture of some of the members and the Fukuchiyama District leadership.After the meetings we had a potluck meal with everyone. This is smaller branch working very hard to grow. They have a wonderful plan and are working closely with the elders to find, teach, baptize and reactivate people.

One of the members (Brother Amano) made this cake for the potluck!

The name "Maizuru" means dancing crane. There are many cranes and other wild birds and animals in this part of Japan in the mountains and along the coast of the Japan Sea.

Shingu Branch Conference 2010

Sunday the 21st we held the annual branch conference for the Shingu Branch. This is one of the, if not the smallest, branches in Japan. It is administered over by the mission.We had 12 in attendance but a couple had to leave after sacrament meeting. One couple, the Wada's could not make it this week or we would have had about all active members there.In sacrament meeting, Elder West spoke, who is the branch president, on the importance of temples. President Iwaki, my counselor, spoke about why we have conferences. I spoke about the joy of the gospel and the fruits of living the gospel. Brother Tsuboi gave the Sunday School lesson on the Holy Ghost. After the meetings we had some refreshments prepared by Sister Iwaki.It was a beautiful day so we took the coastal route home and stopped at Kushimoto. Last trip to Shingu, in Kushimoto we met a man by the name of Hotta, who was a fruit vendor. We referred him to the Shingu elders and they have taught him a few lessons and he is reading the Book of Mormon and even came to church once. It is a pretty good distance from Kushimoto to Shingu and the elders cannot make it on bike so working with Hotta san is kind of hard. But we were able to stop and say hello to him as we drove through. He gave us some fish cakes and oranges and was very friendly and glad to see us. We also took some pictures at Hashiguiiwa which is right next to his fruit stand.

This is a very pretty part of Japan and the elders loved seeing the countryside and ocean. The scenery was better than the traffic as it took seven hours to get back to Kobe.

Toyooka Branch Conference - 2009

Sunday we had a nice trip to Toyooka for their Branch Conference. This is a wonderful little branch and we always enjoy visiting them. The conference was uplifting and the Spirit was felt. The Primary sang several songs and the theme of the conference was Eternal Families. Sister McIntyre and I both had the chance to speak. After the meetings we had a lunch and spent some time writing testimonies in copies of the Book of Mormon to be given to friends. We also had the chance to visit some families in their homes. The week before we held the Fukuchiyama District Conference in Fukuchiyama and Nishiwaki. Next Sunday I am visiting Nishiwaki Branch with Elder Ishii of the Seventy. We are spending a lot of time in the mountains of the Fukuchiyama District this month!