April Wrap Up - Various Pictures from April 2011

Inori Tada with us in Kobe during General Conference. She is a college student and like one of our own daughters. She is from Toyooka.
Sunday Session General conference pot luck at the church and mission home.
More pot luck.
The Ebisu family at general conference in Kobe. The whole family was baptized the next week in Sumoto, Awaji Island.
The Gokokuji Temple next to the Mission Home with Sakura in full bloom.
Elder Moffatt with a birthday face cookie.
Kyoto - crouching tiger or sleeping dragon? Or maybe just a crazy mission president!
Byodoin Temple in Kyoto, Joyo area during Sakura.
River near Byodoin TempleThe Byodoin Temple is the image on the Japanese 10 yen coin.
President's transfer board April 2011 transfers. A lot of missionaries. 21 new missionaries arrived.
2 Assistants and 2 Travelling Assistants/Trainers this transfer, including Elder Guy from Tokyo. Sister McIntyre made them Fantastic 4 aprons.
This is what it looks like when you have 21 missionaries over for dinner.
With Elder Starks in Kyoto at the Hachimangu Shrine
Some of the Kobe Elders enjoying a trip to a Kyoto flea market on preparation day.
Found a great deal on used kimono!

October Pictures from Kobe

Halloween Party in Kobe. A Japanese Cat O Lantern

Some of the party attendees

The Sisters with Pippy.

The president's new mission vehicle.

The biggest head of cabbage I have ever seen.

Preparation day in Kyoto with the Pypers.

James and friends attack the food left over from a missionary meal.

Elder Oshiro earned an apron for his service in the office.

The Fab 4 and their aprons from last transfer!

Preparation Day in Kyoto with the Sakura!

A wonderful spring preparation day in Kyoto with some of the missionaries and sakura in bloom.

The Kiyomizudera Temple was the most crowded but beautiful as always.

The top of the pagoda with some cherry blossoms.
This is the entrance to the temple. Elders Hobson and Burton are standing up by the orange gate.Elder Hobson could not resist the chance to preach to the people.

A shot from the Kiyomizudera looking down on overcast Kyoto.

Sisters Kobayashi, Patrick and Kaneko at Kiyomizudera.
Here we are on one deck of the temple looking back at the other side. Pretty crowded.
We also stopped at the Fushimi Inari Shrine which is famous for all its torii gates. I think there are over 5000 at the shrine. As you see the pictures you will know what I am talking about. Above the Elders wash before entering the shrine, a Shinto custom or ritual.

We met up with some more missionaries at this shrine and took a cool picture in this torii gate tunnel.

Here we are in a smaller tunnel of hundreds of torii gates.A fork in the road. At the shrine they say if you can pick up the rock and it is not heavy your wish will come true. Elder Oshiro thought it was heavy, but Sister McIntyre said it was not very heavy.
I didn't think it was heavy either. Looking forward to our wishes coming true!

Elder Burton talks to a young man at the entrance of the shrine.

We stopped by the Fushimi Momoyama Castle as well. It was a great little castle surrounded by cherry trees in bloom. Here are the missionaries posing at the back side of the castle. If there is wall, Sister McIntyre will climb it. Don't know what I am going to do with her!
Here she is doing her crouching tiger hidden dragon move on the bamboo trees.

Great day in Kyoto, but I think I have seen enough Sakura for a while. Back to work!

March 2010 Zone Conferences

At our recent zone conferences we asked members to join us and let the missionaries practice teaching them lessons. We practiced committing people to come to church, accept baptism and read and pray about the Book of Mormon.

Missionaries also worked in their zones and practiced with each other as well.

Teaching members in Higashi Osaka

Teaching each other.

Working within the zone. Osaka North Zone.

Teaching members in Kyoto.

Member practice in Kyoto, Shimogamo.

We also celebrated Elder and Sister Pyper's 54th Wedding Anniversary at the Kobe Zone Conference. 54 years of Joy! We love the Pypers!

Relief Society Sisters prepare meals for our conferences. This was the meal from Higashi Osaka.

Higashi Osaka Members that prepared lunch for everyone. Thank You!

Some of the cooks from Kobe Stake at the Kobe Conference.

They made us Taco Rice and it was really good!

More Kobe members preparing Taco Rice.

In Kyoto we had a buffet style selection of various Japanese dishes. The missionaries really enjoyed it.

A shot of some of the food at the Kyoto Conference.

Thanks to everyone! They were well fed and well trained!