Transfer Week August 2010!

August had a large departing group with 10 elders and 1 sister returning home. Elders Drake, West, Burton, Jones, Shepley, Andrews, Kanno, Matsuoka, Campbell, Ritchie and Sister Ho.

Elder Matsuoka's mother and brother came from Tokyo to pick him up. His sister is still serving in the mission!Elder Shepley's family came to pick him up as well. His parents and sister with us here.Sister Ho's parents came from Australia to pick her up and we enjoyed meeting them and all the other parents.Elders Matsuoka and Andrews earned their aprons from Sister McIntyre for their service in the office during their missions. Many of the departing group started their missions in the MTC with Erika. Erika has been home for a while since sisters do not serve as long as elders. Erika is visiting us from BYU and here job as a teacher at the MTC. It was a great experience for her to reunite with her group of elders as they complete their missions here in Kobe.

A new couple arrived this week, Elder and Sister Priddis. We took them to lunch with the Pypers.

Here are the new Kobe missionaries. We received 7 new elders and our new couple. The Priddis couple and Elders Meyer, Hale, Wilcox, Gardner, Horton, Nichols and Niven. Meal time with the new missionaries
It was a great transfer week.

More eating together.

Recent Baptisms

Sister Nozaki in Fushimi was baptized by Elders Nakamura and Escalante

Brother Hayashi in Amagasaki was baptized by Elders Campbell and Hoffman.

Brother Ii in Uwajima was baptized by Elders Spohr, Camacho and Coburn. Elder Budge and Spohr travelled with us to this baptism and the Branch Conference in Yahatahama the same day.

Brother Kelvin from Maizuru was baptized by Elders Kimura and McKellar.

A Few Hours on a Summer Day in Nara with the Deer

After Interviews in Nara the end of July we stopped at the park to see the deer. Sister McIntyre tried to color coordinate her clothes to look like a dear but the antlers were what made the difference. They didn't even notice us! That little buck there was pretty nervous after seeing my antlers.

It was a hot day and the deer found water at the little shrine in the park.

We have always loved Nara Koen!

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!

Happy Belated Birthday Ricky and More!

Ricky was in the US on his birthday so we welcomed him back to Japan with a cake and face cookie.

The first version of the cookie did not have whiskers, but since he had not shaved for several days, mom added the final touch after he got home.We had a fun get together at the office and celebrated birthdays for Elders Oshiro and Masui as well.

The three birthday boys. Elder Oshiro and cookie.

Elder Masui and cookie.

Earlier in the month we also celebrated Elder Burton's birthday in the office. We love excuses to make and eat cake and other goodies!We also recently had a visit from the former Elder Harris and he was lucky enough to be here to get a birthday cookie too!

Some Recent Baptisms June-July 2010

Here are some updates from the field. Brother Tokunaga in Kobe was baptized. Here he is with several of the Elders who taught him.

Sisters Shou and Ohigashi were baptized and taught by Sisters Patrick and Kaneko in the Kobe Ward. Brother Tanaka in Wakayama was taught and baptized by Elders Starks and Imai.

Kaori Shimai in the Iwade Branch was taught and baptized by Sisters Shields and Yamada.

Imai Atsushi in the Sekime Ward was taught and baptized by Elders Tibbs and Childs.

They also taught and baptized Sister Hashizume in Sekime Ward.

No More McDonalds for President - Just for Fun!

Unless they get rid of that clown, President said he will never eat at McDonalds again! And for a good reason. Sister McIntyre looks a little too happy with that guy! Needless to say the missionaries love this shot. Thanks Sister Kina for sending it to us. This was taken earlier this year.

All Mission Conference July 8, 2010

This month had a wonderful mission conference to bring the new Kobe Mission together. We met at the Kobe stake center. It was not easy getting all 150 of us in one picture! One unique blessing of the mission change was the addition of Sister Matsuoka to the Japan Kobe Mission. Her younger brother, Elder Matsuoka, has already been serving in Kobe and now they are in the same mission! Elder Matsuoka returns home in August, but they will be able to say they both served together in the Japan Kobe Mission.

We have increased in our number of sister missionaries. Here is a picture of the Kobe Sisters at the conference! The all mission conference was a special event to remembered by all in attendance. We were happy to have a couple of our stake presidents attend with us as well.