Best News, also, snow and a wedding in Tokyo

Hi Everyone,

Our very best news is that our granddaughter, Cassie, has begun her mission and is now at the Peru MTC practicing her Spanish and preparing for some of her best times to come as a missionary there!  Her brother, Taylor has received his great mission call to Raleigh North Carolina- Spanish speaking!  He will be working on his Spanish at the Mexico MTC! (This is their great family and I hope they don't mind that we use this photo as it was on Facebook.)
                              CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!

                 

Now for less dramatic news: we just knew that you wanted to see that it really does snow here in Tokyo

Fortunately, it is warming up now and we hope that winter is over.

Is this a new Chandler couple?
Actually, we are having fun at a wedding reception for
our dear friend, Yayoi and her husband, Masaki.  Yayoi is a secretary
in our office.

Brother Aalders is rather entertaining, don't you think?

Here is sister Aalders and her sweet daughter, Scarlett.

This was the the wedding party.  The Mothers kimonos were so beautiful, too!
We were very impressed as the parents came around to each table
to greet all of us personally.  Fortunately, we had someone that could
interpret for us.

I didn't take pictures of the wonderful dinner that was served to us but we did get a picture of the dessert.
The numbers on the cupcake are kind of a special Japanese way of writing their surname, Iwanami.  
Each  number represents one of the sounds of the different syllables. 

For some of the program, the groom and his friends
demonstrated some of their old Scout cheers, or something like that.
Later, it was great to see many of the men get up and join them, Elder Chandler
included.  I was amazed at how well he could chant in Japanese.

Here's more of the great "chant-dance" on the program.

Here is the happy couple with some of us.

I think the flower girls are so darling, too.

Masaki and Yayoi had a wonderful marriage ceremony in the Tokyo temple in the morning
and a delightful wedding reception in the afternoon.
We are so happy for them.
 It is a wonderful beginning for their eternal family.
Congratulations!

Japanese Culture

Elder Aaoyagi's wife was so kind to invite a few of us to her home to experience some wonderful Japanese culture.  She is a very refined and artistic lady and she was so gracious to help us to understand and learn more about Japanese people, flower arranging, Koto playing, tea ceremony, etc.  Dressing in a kimono is not easy.  You need someone to help put it on and and take it off and it take a very long time.  I think it took about a half an hour.  There is stuffing and many, many ropes underneath and outside and it must be done properly.  You are required to exhale and hold your breath while the ropes are being pulled very tightly!  Japanese women have very good posture and are very thin because of the kimonos, I think.  The kimonos are beautiful and Sister Aoyagi allowed us to choose from her very many of what we would like to wear.

Here we are with Emi from the office to interpret and three of Sister Aaoyagi's dear friends who came to entertain us with the koto music and they helped to prepare her delicious lunch.

Here they are teaching me to play.  It is really a beautiful instrument and I enjoyed playing it very, very much..  I found some music on youtube that you can listen to if you would like: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=totT2-eHLNQ

Here are the sweet friends playing.  The one in the front is 88 years old.  She was a nurse until she was 76 years old.  She got cancer and was recuperating at her daughter's home when she was able to hear about the church and the gospel.  She kept saying over and over that she was grateful that she got cancer so that she could find out about the church.  She was so happy to be a baptized member of the church and that she is able to have an eternal family.

Here I am going in to the (herbal) tea ceremony.  This must be done properly.  You must bow while on your knees, slide the door open, bow again, slide into the room.  In the old times the room had a very short small door.  One of the reasons for this was so that any long swords or weapons could not be brought into the tea room.  After you slide into the room, you must then gracefully stand up, taking small steps, and not stepping on any of the edges of the mat, and you then sit down very carefully on your knees.

Here we are in the room, waiting for our herbal drink. 

Here is Sister Aaoyagi's friend preparing the hot water and mixing the herbs in a very particular way that must be done properly in every respect.

Another picture in the room.  This is a rice mat that we are kneeling on.

Sister Aaoyagi was so kind to instruct us on how to properly make our flower arrangement.  She allowed us to take them home.  Mine is on display in our office and it is very beautiful.

Sister Ringwood and Sister Aaoyagi with Sister Ringwood's flower arrangement.

Here I am beginning my arrangement.  It is actually more beautiful than the picture depicts.

The one on the left is the finished product.

The tempura she made was soooooo good!  Everyone loved the shrimp tempura the most!

Here is the beautiful lunch that comes in a beautiful lacquered obento type box that has a beautiful lid on it.  There is fish and rice and sweet beans and chil type and sushi and salad and strawberries and bulgogi beef and so much more!  It was delicious but so much food (especially with a kimono on!  No room for food.)

Here is Sister Aaoyagi's granddaughter just coming home from school so it must almost be time to go home.  This was an all day event!

But before that, we must eat some of Sister Ringwood's beautiful cake with fresh strawberries on top.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Mt. Takao

The top of Mt. Takao at 2000 ft.  This is the only mountain in the Tokyo urban area and a very popular hiking spot.  It was a beautiful day.  There are many trails to the top.  We took trail 6 up which was about 3 miles.  It was another two miles coming down on the main trail.

Trail sign showing the way to the mountain top and the train station.

Standing on the top of Mt. Takao--Chandlers, Westerbys, and Eliasons--I gave our photographer a pass-a-long card about the church

Lots of forest along the trails--even many redwood trees

There were lots of ferns but not fiddle head ferns like we ate in Takeetna, Alaska

Small cave-like shrine

Beautiful painted carvings on temple near the top of Mt. Takao

S

Devil or angel?

We didn't see him hitting anyone but people were careful not to get too close just in case

Small shrine among the many shrines and temples on Mt. Takao

Stone statues around the shrines

Entrance to the temple

Lion guardian--looks a bit stoned to me

A Japanese Pinocchio with a red face

Somebody's very large Halloween mask?

I think he's kept behind the wire to protect the visitors

More peaceful statue in gold leaf

Elder Chandler in front of some kind of marker

Somebody said this was the first CT scannner but I'm not sure

Cemetery

Sister Westerby and Sister Chandler posing with the angels

Graveyard on the mountainside

Nice for a picture but I can't say what it is

Still at the top of Mt. Takao--a long fence of wooden names or prayers of wishes

Roasted mochi--with a little sauce it wasn't too bad. Mochi is smashed cooked rice made into little balls.

Elder Westerby eating some mochi supplied by Elder Chandler--could be mistaken for a dead rat on a skewer.

These are not missionaries--there is monkey playground near the top of the mountain

Little shop of THINGS

View of Tokyo urban area but the center of Tokyo is many miles in the distance.  This area is still part of the Tokyo urban area but is about 1 1/2 hours from central Tokyo by train.

A different view of Tokyo urban area.

This could be the obelisk from 2001: A Space Odyssey with Japanese writing on it or it could say "Eat at McDonalds"--we'll never know

This is either a replica of Elder Chandler reading scriptures or a short monk.

Chef making very thin Japanese noodles at a restaurant on Mt. Takao.  The might be fake noodles but I guess they would then be called impastas.

I thought we were in Japan but this looks like a giant pharaoh behind a waterfall in Egypt.  Or maybe it's just someone taking a rest at the bottom of Mt. Takao after a long hike.