Missionary Marin

I know it's been forever since I last posted anything. So many wonderful and amazing things have happened that I wanted to post, but never got around to it. Life is busy. I keep thinking it will slow down, but then it gets busier. I hope to catch up on some big things soon (cross your fingers), but for now I have to write about one of the most awesome thing that has happened. This one I definitely can't miss.

This afternoon I was sitting in the dining room and overheard Marin in the front room talking to her friend who is not a member of our church and doesn't go to any church right now. I wish I could have recorded what she said. It was so precious. She said to her friend in her sweet little voice, looking at a picture of Jesus that she had cut out of the Friend Magazine and mounted on colored paper, "Do you know who this is? This is Jesus! He died for us. He died on the cross for our sins. Do you know what sins are? It's when we make wrong choices. He died for you, and for your family!"
I couldn't believe my ears! I couldn't have said it better myself. What an awesome little missionary!!!

A couple months ago, we were having dinner at a restaurant and Marin leaned over to tell me a secret. She whispered in my ear, "Do you know what I want to do when I grow up? I want to teach people about Heavenly Father and Jesus." I had no idea she would say that. It was really hard to hold back the tears. I was so touched, and proud! Tonight I told her that she doesn't have to be grown up to teach people about the Gospel because she is already a missionary, a 6 year old missionary. She got a big grin on her face, realizing what she had done. It obviously came easy to her. I am soooo proud!
There is nothing more uplifting and fulfilling to me than sharing the "good news" and watching it change lives like nothing else can.

Autn:reference - http://scriptures.lds.org/3_jn/1/4#4

3 John 1:4

I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

Halloween in Japan

Halloween this year was pretty cool. Marin dressed up in the same beautiful Afghani dress that Jeff sent home last year. Is it bad that I like to reuse our super cute costumes if they still fit?

Marin loved the whole evening. We went around our little military housing neighborhood and found some pretty cute Halloween displays and lots of candy. Even the fire station down the street handed out candy. Marin had fun with all that, and then when her Halloween bag was full, she was excited to go home and hand out candy to Trick-or-Treaters. She enjoyed that even more!
We were surprised to find that most of the Trick-or-Treaters that came by were Japanese! They were brought on post by their American friends. Below is Marin with a large group of kids that came to the door. One mom wanted some pictures of her kids with Marin, so they all jumped in the picture. It was a lot of fun.
One of Marin's classmates, from her Japanese Kindergarten, came by too, and was excited to see her. When she saw her, she excitedly ran up to Marin saying her Japanese name that basically sounds like Maylin-chan! It was fun to meet Shiun and her family, but the language barrier kept us from communicating much.
Costume contest photo, taken at the commissary.


Sponge Bob!


Marin, handing out candy on our porch.


Spur of the moment photo of a mob of Trick-or-Treaters. What a treat for everyone! The Japanese kids love Halloween. Since Japan doesn't celebrate Halloween, I wonder where they got such great costumes.

Marin was in heaven!


The girl in the white dress is Shiun, from Marin's class. I'm guessing the other girl is her younger sister.

The best part about Halloween was that Jeff was with us. He travels a lot. Halloween happened to fall right between two back to back trips Jeff had to make to Virginia and Hawaii. The military wanted to send him straight from one to the other, but he pushed to come home in the middle of them for one day--Halloween. And then he was able to get home a day earlier, so we got him for nearly 48 hours. He's almost home from the second trip now, and then we get him for 3 weeks before he's off the Northern Japan for two weeks. Our time together is very precious. Halloween would not have been the same without him!

Crazy Busy

Yes, I know it's been forever since I posted anything on my blog. I haven't forgotten about it. We're just busy. We've had a lot going on since then end of August. All at the same time we moved into the house, I started school at the Education center on post, and Marin started school at the Japanese school (which took a lot to prepare for and get used to). Also, Marin has taken swimming lessons, violin lessons, plays on a soccer team, and is in Girl Scouts. Jeff, has played softball and flag football, and I have been busy with school and several church callings and Relief Society activities. We really jumped in with both feet, and then found ourselves busier than we realized we would be! Jeff doesn't mind being busy, busy, busy, going from one activity to another with no down time, but that doesn't work for me. I need flex time and breathing room.
Here are some pictures from recently, in no particular order.
violin!girlscouts!soccer!thenmyJapaneseclass!andHalloweenparty
toputonatthechurch! Yeah, pretty much just like that, all in a couple hours time. Phew!
Marin playing soccer. She's in blue, with her hair braided. Can you find her?

Marin in her summer uniform, going to catch the little yellow school bus. The car is our Honda CRV.

This is the picture I took at Marin's school of the things I had to go find at a Japanese supermarket. A picture says a thousand words--in any language!!

Marin with Girl Scout friends.

There is Marin hanging on to the fence, watching Dad, #77.

These are all Marin's school supplies that I had to label with her name on every individual piece.

Marin loves swimming! Here she is floating with the help of her teacher, Mei.

Music Playlist Removed

I have just removed my music gadget from Playlist.com due to sicking ads found on their site. I will no longer promote their site on my blog. I apologize to anyone who may have gone to Playlist.com from my blog and found inappropriate material. I encourage anyone else who has an account with them to submit a complaint, as I have, about the inappropriate content of their ads. I know this stuff is common all over the internet, but that doesn't make it okay to be complacent and just live with it!!

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Edmund Burke

Stand firm for truth and righteousness!

Into a house now

We finally moved into a house yesterday. It's really...something. This house is so old that it's a bigger adjustment moving into this house than it was to move to Japan. It was built in 1952. It has all wood floors, solid wood doors, really old elecrical boxes and external wiring on the walls, and there is a glossy shine from ceiling to floor. The walls and door frames have been painted so many times in nearly 60 years that they are rounded and gloppy. On our wood floors you can see marks and repairs where the radiators were. Marin has described this place as "creepy" and "spooky". I'm not sure yet how to make it feel like home, but we'll get there. Right now I'm just glad to have a whole kitchen again, and the smaller of two shipments of our stuff. The rest will come later next month. We can't wait.

Check back soon. I'll add more to this post later. I just wanted to get at least this much up for now. We're really busy right now.

'Lil TAC Officer

We have carefully considered all schools to send Marin to, and have placed her in a very strict military school. She has done so well that they have already promoted her to head *TAC Officer of her class, and possibly soon, the head of the whole school. Here is evidence of her hard nosed, strict leadership skills that will take her far in her military career.
*TAC Officer; a drill sergeant for aspiring Officers

Joy, in the Truest Sense of the Word

Tokyo, Japan Temple
On Friday night Jeff and I had the opportunity to go to the LDS Temple in Tokyo. It was wonderful to be there to feel the power of the Spirit and peaceful solitude, like a comforter. There is no equal in all the world to the Temple of the Lord. It truly is His house. It is very much set apart from the cares world. In no other place do I feel so close to my Father in Heaven. What a blessing and a privilege.

Salt Lake Temple, Utah