More of Japan Culture, Rajio Taiso, Liahona, and this and that....

Here we are inside a typical Japanese household. When we first arrived the man was sitting there at the table reading his newspaper.  The people are very agile and can sit easily on the floor.  One of the secretaries at our office will often be sitting on her knees on her chair.  You don't even realize that she is doing it because she is completely sitting down on her legs.  I wish that I could take a picture but I wouldn't want to offend her that I thought she was so amazing that she could do that.

Here is the picture of the man in his house.  They were a very nice family and they were very kind.  The lady of the house had a whole bunch of cats that were mechanical and meowed and moved that she used to entertain us.


Here we are with Brad Wilcox and his wife.  They came and spoke for a lot of youth firesides in Japan.  He is a very entertaining and inspiring speaker.  The teenagers just loved to hear him.  I was especially impressed because he went around and shook hands with everybody and you would have thought he was your best friend.  They stayed at the apartments that are next to the Area Office so we got to talk to them again on the day they were leaving.  They even bought a lot of rolls for us and the secretaries in the office a lot of rolls from the bakery down the street.




Rajio Taiso
The following are some of the web sites that show how we exercise here in Japan.  The one showing the park is pretty much exactly what our group does when we do rajio taiso exercises in the park.  We don't go every day but many people do.  If you can't click on the links, you could probably copy them and paste into your browser.

http://japangasm.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/ichi-ni-san-shi-go-roku-shichi-hachi/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lSxredOH6w

http://www.google.co.jp/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CDkQtwIwAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D3lSxredOH6w&ei=EYscUp-BF4ewkgXPj4GYBg&usg=AFQjCNGSDWuCx8j1nmwFc7LFXmtKZoAYSQ&sig2=B3V_azcjvsi7dLFCOEU89A

This might is part of a the song they sing with the music:
RAJIO no koe ni  sukoyaka na mune wo
Kono kaoru kaze ni hirake yo
Sore ichi ni san

Atarashii sora no moto  kagayaku midori
Sawayaka ni teashi nobase  tsuchi fumishime yo
RAJIO to tomo ni  sukoyaka na teashi
Kono hiroi tsuchi ni nobase yo
Sore ichi ni san



                  This is a picture of the front of the Liahona magazine.

 They translate the Liahona Magazine into Japanese here at the Asia North Area Office and they add a Japanese section.   Inside they placed a picture to be sent to the people in Japan of the Area Presidency along with Elder Chandler the executive secretary, and Adam Aalders, the director for temporal affairs.  They are listed in the picture left to right: Elder Chandler, Elder Koichi Aoyagi, Elder Michael T. Ringwood, Elder Scott D. Whiting, Adam Aalders.

Baseball in Japan

We have been working hard everyday in the office but we still take a few hours once in a while to go out and enjoy the culture  of Japan. Here we are on our way to our first Japanese baseball game. We are standing by Hiroaki Mizuno, the travel coordinator at our office and possible the biggest baseball fan ever. He arranges the missionary travel.  Hiroaki went on a mission to the Ukraine, and he also got his Masters degree when he studied in England so he speaks English with a sort of English accent.  He arranged tickets for our group, and so after a few different train rides we made it to the stadium. Hiroaki's favorite team is the Cheba lotte Marines, so that is the team we went to see.

Here are some of our friends, Brother and Sister Maetani 

They are dressed in the Marine shirts of Hiroaki's

favorite team.  Brother Maetani is a retired District Court

Judge from Provo.  He and Sister Maetani are the Associate

Public Affairs people here in Japan for the Church.

Here was some of the entertainment at the game.

A Japanese baseball game is something everyone should witness

at least once in his or her life.  At the game, everyone is very orderly and very quiet when the opposing team is up to bat.  The other team's fans have organized cheers and they beat a drum and sing songs and make lots of noise when their team is up to bat.  Both teams also have cheerleaders just like at a football or baseball game. When our team, the Marines, were up to bat then the opposing team sat very quietly while we did our cheers and drum playing and singing and hand actions and anything else you can imagine.  They even have a set time for everyone to  blow up balloons and then let them go into the stadium, after which, they have a huge group of people gather the balloons in about 20 seconds.  After the 4th or 5th inning, they then have a fireworks display outside of the stadium which you can watch from the stadium. The cheers at the game are all written down so Hiroaki printed themup for us to practice before we went to the game. People can read them and sing them with the other fans when they're at the game. I thought the vendors were interesting.  They walk quietly without saying anything in front of the fans.  If someone wants to buy a drink or something, they raise their hand and then the person, usually a cute young girl comes up quietly and sells it to them.  Everything is very quiet and orderly.

All in all, going to the game was a very interesting experience!

The mascot and cheerleaders on the field.  Unfortunately,we lost.  The last time the Marines lost, Hiroaki almost had to be carried out of the stadium.  He is that much of a fan.

We got to see a little of Tokyo Disneyland on the train to the game.

If you look way back in the background, you can see

the Disneyland castle.

Now we're back home again. My brother, John, said things are probably seeming normal now, and they are, but he said that I should still try to notice how things do look a little different.

Here are some store fronts from our daily walks. I'm thinking Tokyo really does look a little different than South Jordan.

Here's what a typical bus looks like, but we like to take the trains.

Last night we took several trains to go teach English lessons.

We had a wonderful time and met many great people who want

to be able to speak English well.  I think they are very ambitious

to spend nights studying when they spend long, long hours

at work every day.

Here's a typical; telephone booth

Here's a typical telephone in the typical telephone booth.  We have one that is bright pink in the lobby of the temple annex where we go to church.  It sits on a desk looking very normal to me now.  I'll get a picture of it some time.

Mickey mouse?  Chinese men in front of a store.

One of my favorite things to watch for are stores with funny signs.
Here's one where I have no idea what it is or what they sell.  Perhaps
this is where
missionaries could go
to get a new face?

(Have a great week everybody!  We're off to do missionary work!)

By the way, we are very happy that Rosa, a sweet sister who Gary has helped to teach missionary lessons to in Spanish, will be baptized on Sunday.  Elder Chandler (Gary) has been asked to confirm her to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. He will do that in Spanish so that she will be able to understand well.

August 12, 2013

We have been here in Tokyo now for five weeks.  It just seems like normal to live here except when we go to the store to buy things.  It is a wonderful opportunity to work here in the office supporting the Area Presidency.  They have so much work to do and do a lot of travelling and do a lot of training of Area Authorities, mission presidents, and stake presidents.  There are 12 missions in our area, 46 stakes and 23 districts.  The Asia North Area includes Japan, Korea, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam and the Federated States of Micronesia.  The Church is growing quite a lot in the islands but slowly here in Japan and in Korea.  

People here are very polite and courteous but not interested in religion.  Japan is only about .7% Christian.  Almost all the rest are a combination of Shinto and Buddhist but few people practice anything.  It is very safe and orderly here but also very expensive to live here.  We attend an English speaking ward in an English speaking stake.  Many of the people in the English speaking wards are from other countries and work in the embassies and for foreign companies.  There seems to be a lot of great leaders here in Japan, both among the Japanese members and the foreign members.  Many of the Americans are very senior people in big American corporations with offices here in Tokyo. 

We enjoy the opportunity to work a little with the missionaries serving here in our ward.  Because it is an English speaking ward, most of the baptisms are people from countries other than the US and Japan.  There are several members from African nations and Latin American nations.  We have had the opportunity to help with the teaching of a young woman from Cuba who will be baptized in a week or two and also a young man from the Dominican Republic.  When I say young, I mean people in their thirties.  Spanish is the native language for these people so that’s where I come in to help them understand the teachings and concepts in their own tongue.  The sister from Cuba speaks Japanese, Spanish and very little English.  The brother from the Dominican Republic speaks Spanish, pretty good English and very little Japanese.  So the discussions are really interesting—a combination of Spanish, Japanese and English.  I never would have thought that I would come to Japan to speak Spanish. 

There are around 70 people who work here in the offices and they are wonderful people.  The office is a mini church headquarters as everything (membership, mission applications, callings, etc.) come through our office for approval before going to Salt Lake for final approval.  Regarding mission calls, we review everything and enter them into the system here but the calls come from Salt Lake.  There are five missionary couples who serve here—area medical specialist, area mental health advisor, public relations, legal support, and us.  They are all very nice people and a couple of them have served multiple missions.  It’s time to get back to our office jobs.  Sister Chandler and I chuckled the other day when we thought about the opportunity we were having to come here and work in an office all day in Tokyo and we get to pay to do it.  We are just happy to be in the full-time service of the Lord and do whatever we are asked to do.     

Elder Gary R. Chandler

Executive Secretary

Asia North Area

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Tel. 81-3-3440-2355 (Office), 81-80-6849-1110 (Mobile)

President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “We are commanded by God to take this gospel to all the world. That is the cause that must unite us today. Only the gospel will save the world from the calamity of its own self-destruction. Only the gospel will unite men of all races and nationalities in peace. Only the gospel will bring joy, happiness, and salvation to the human family” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 167).

Some of our neighborhood

We thought you might enjoy seeing where we sometimes go on a typical
half hour walk here in our neighborhood. 
Here's the Netherlands embassy.



We walk past the Prince Arisugawa Park where we do Rajio Taiso
exercises every other day with many of the locals.

Algerian Embassy and ambassador residence 

Finland Embassy

Finland seal

Islamic Republic of Pakistan embassy

Argentina Embassy

View of a residential complex

Austrian Embassy

A residence on a million dollar lot. 
Notice the two cars and how they are parked

The Chinese Embassy has guards everywhere around their embassy.

We love to walk by the our LDS temple which is
only a couple of minutes walk from our apartment.
We go to an English session on Friday evenings.
The Tokyo temple is closer to where we live
than the Jordan River Temple is to our house
in South Jordan!

Sign for the embassy

Bosnia and Herzegovina Embassy

Switzerland embassy sign

Switzerland Embassy

To the right is the back of the Asia North Area

Church office building, to the left are the senior

missionary apartments.

Back again to our 'home sweet home.'
We live in the bottom of this apartment and
another senior couple lives upstairs.
(No, the van doesn't belong to us.)
We hope you enjoyed our walk, these were just a few
of the embassies that are in our area.

Japanese Class

Hello Everybody,

We've started taking a Japanese class every week from one of the Sisters in the Area Office.  This is one of the song that we are working on.  When Elder Aoyagi heard us singing it, he said it reminded him of when he was a child and sang this song.  You pronounce most sounds like you would in Spanish.  The "r's" in this song sound more like "l's" though.  The "n's" that I underlined sound more like 'm's'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yo8ldEh2Y0Q

The following is a song we are learning in our Japanese Class.  It’s a children’s song that the people often sing when they are children.  It grows on you as the more you sing it the more you like it. You might want to try to sing it with the following words:

Kara –--su  naze naku no?  Karasu wa    y a-ma-ni

Crow, why do you cry?  Because Crow has a pretty 7 years child in the mountain

Ka-wa i  I   na-na – - tsu  no  ko ga  arukara  yo

Ka-wai-,  ka-wai to  karasu  wa nakuno

Crow caws, “Pretty, pretty”

Ka-wai-,  ka-wai  to nakunda yo

Ya-ma—no  fu---rusu  e  itte mite  goran

Go and see the old nest

Ma—rui  me wo—shita  i—i—ko dayo

You can find good girl/boy with round eyes

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Also, since I mentioned Elder Aoyagi, he is in the Area Presidency, and if you might want to see who the Area Office Presidency members are, you can watch their talks by clicking on these following links:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/an-easiness-and-willingness-to-believe?lang=eng  Elder Michael J. Ringwood - President

 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2010/04/helping-hands-saving-hands?lang=eng&cid=email-shared              Elder Aoyagi- 1^st counselor

  https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/temple-standard?lang=eng&cid=email-shared      Elder Whiting- 2^nd counselor