INTERESTING MISSION FACTS

The missionary force exploded after President Monson announced in General Conference (October 2012) the age change for missionaries. 

As of March 31, 2014, there are:
Missionaries Serving        85,039
Missionaries Called          14,375
In Process                           6,306

64%     Elders
28%     Sisters
08%     Seniors  (that's us)

Fifty-eight new missions were created in 2013.  Our Tokyo South Mission was one of them. It is the smallest mission in Japan with one half of our missionaries under three transfers old. Our mission started with 76 missionaries and by the end of the year will be over 200 strong.

Sixteen million people reside within our mission boundaries and more than 5,000 contacts are made each week.  Our missionaries are outstanding and we all love, support and sustain our Mission President, President Wada. 

*Some missions have doubled and even tripled the number of sisters serving this past year.  We have 53 dedicated, hard working sister missionaries and were blessed to recently receive the first set of sister 

missionaries here in Yokosuka.  They have been a great asset.

*Gone are the days of flip charts, and flannel boards.  In select North America and international missions, the Missionary Department is distributing iPads and iPhones.  Our Tokyo South Missionaries received iPads in February which are downloaded with the electronic versions of the teaching pamphlets, Gospel Library and other audio-visual features in teaching lessons and progress of performance, goals and need.

In his concluding address at the June 2013 new mission presidents seminar, Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, "I can see the future unfold before us to where we will have a greater opportunity to teach the gospel with the new methods, with new opportunities that we have never had."

He summarized his feelings of "hastening the work" this way:

"This is the most remarkable era in the history of the Church.  This is something that ranks with the great events that have happened in the past history, like the First Vision, like the gift of the Book of Mormon, like the Restoration of the gospel, like all the things that build the foundation for us to go forward and teach in our Heavenly Father's Kingdom."

May we remember the words of Elder Neil L. Anderson, "If you're not a full-time missionary with a missionary badge pinned on your coat, now is the time to paint one on your heart-painted, as Paul said,"not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God".  (April 2013 General Conference) 

FUN MISSION PHOTOS

Some days we walk and we walk and we walk and we walk....

And we practice and practice and practice (dendo) in our meetings how to introduce ourselves and the gospel to others!

Yokosuka District Meeting
Birthday Celebration for Elder Blanchard, Elder Squire and Sister Imano.  The Elders surprised Sister Imano with a BIG BEAR!

Good-bye Elder Blanchard-we will miss you! Best of luck in your new area.  

Zone Meeting in Hakuraku with 

President Wada

District Meeting in our apartment

We love these young elders!

Yokosuka Sister Missionaries-Sister Imano and Sister Malloy

ENGLISH CLASSES

Saura is the adorable little girl of one of my Japanese students.  

This couple (Chie and Takehito Abe) were our neighbors, until they recently moved.  Chie attended my English classes and we became great friends.  I cried and cried when they left.  I miss her, but we are still keeping in contact through email.

Chie would often bring me treats. This is the gift she gave me when she left. Everything was made by hand-except the chocolate bars.

Other gifts from some of my students

February class

A tearful goodbye with my dear friend Chie!

Cooking Class

Class on Weather, 

the letters M and N and Easter!

Pot luck!  I always love it when my students want to bring food for lunch.  YUM!

Good bye gift from Shizu

SENIOR MOMENTS!

One of our YSA's took us on a tour of the USS George Washington.  It was a fascinating, fun-filled day.  After the tour, we had lunch at Chili's on base then returned to our apartment for dessert.  The couples who joined us for the day were:  Elder and Sister Yamashita (Office Couple) Elder and Sister  Graham (Mental Health Advisor-covers 18 missions in Asia) and Elder and Sister Wood (Public Relations)

We have thoroughly enjoyed our association with all of the other Senior Missionary Couples serving in Japan.  Once a month we get together in Tokyo for a FHE Potluck dinner!

Thanks to Jordan, for taking time from his busy schedule to take us on a tour!

Fun Day in Yokohama with Elder and Sister Yamashita (Office Couple-Tokyo South Mission) Elder and Sister Evans (Office Couple-Tokyo North Mission) and Elder and Sister Cooper (Military Relations-Yokokota AFB)

Yokohoma Landmark Tower-Fastest Elevator in Japan!

FAMILY

We are so grateful for our children and their families.  What a great support they have been to us while on our mission.
Senior missionaries are allowed to have short visits from children-depending on responsibilities and living conditions.
Having children visit can really boost your spirits and give you a boost of renewed energy.  
Recently our two sons, their wives and two of our granddaughters, were able to visit us.  What a fun time we had while they were here!

OSHOGATSU or HAPPY NEW YEAR!

     New Year's Eve or oshogatsu is one of Japan's most important and longest holiday.  Although oshogatsu originally referred to the whole month of January, most people associate it with the first three days (sanganichi) of the month.

     On these days, people go to shrines and temples, spend time with friends and family, and eat special New Year's Eve dishes. 

     Throughout these days, the bustling Japanese economy practically comes to a standstill.  Schools, companies, and shops close down, and trains, planes and highways are packed as millions make their way to their hometowns or other travel destinations.

     You can see "kadomatsu" (gate pines made from bamboo stalks and pine boughs) standing besides the shuttered entrances of skyscrapers and other businesses. Straw ropes strung with little strips of white paper "shimekazari" hang across the front of parking lots, supermarkets and shopping malls.

     Both kadomatsu and shimekazari are believed to purify the entrance and invite new and fresh life into the home and workplace.  On New Year's Day it is believed that Toshigami, the god of time and fertility, will enter homes and bring good luck for the coming year.

    Traditional New Year's foods are prepared to minimize cooking and household chores during the holiday.  Osechi-ryori, a special selection of food, is prominently featured at most New Year's settings.  This includes seaweed, fishcakes, mashed sweet potatoes with chestnut, simmered burdock root, sweetened black soybeans, and shrimp.  Many of these dishes are sweet, sour, or dried so they can be kept without refrigeration.

     Mochi, a thick, gooey rice cake, is prepared so that it can be served as ozoni (soup with mochi and vegetables) for breakfast, lunch or any other time during the holidays.

     Wishing you and your family, good health, happiness and peace this coming New Year!

Love, Elder and Sister Addington

Delicious Ozoni and Mochi prepared by the Sisters in the Kamiooka Ward

Elder Addington taking his turn at  the traditional New Year's (Motchitsuki) rice pounding ceremony.

The wooden hammers used to 

pound the mochi are quite heavy!

Sisters in the Kamiooka Ward preparing differet sauces and 
toppings to roll the mochi in. We were excited to be 
invited to their ward luncheon and to participate 
in the traditional rice pounding.

Kadomatsu

Japanese hang rice straw wreaths called 
"Shinekkazari" on their front doors, wishing 
for  peace, prosperity and happiness.  
We followed the example of all our 
neighbors and did the same.