Marty served just outside of Kagoshima. We didn't get to see his apartment because it was too far away, but we wanted to see Sakurajima -- cherry blossom island with an active volcano that is regularly billowing smoke.
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| View of Sakurajima from our hotel room. |
Our beautiful hotel had an Onsen.
And fortunately the instructions were in Japanese and English.
Wear the onsen robes/clothes provided by the hotel and slippers.
Mens and womens are separate.
Remove slippers before entering locker room.
Undress in locker room and use small towel for modesty.
Sit on the bucket in front of the many shower stalls, and wash completely.
Enjoy the onsen "hot tubs." Outside, inside, even cold water plunge.
Keep the little towel on your head (or on the side of the pool) to keep it dry.
Dan and I woke up early again so went down to the onsen. There were five other ladies when I went so I could look around and figure out what to do.
Then when the kids woke up, I went down again with Courtney to help her know what to do.
It was awkward at first, but now that we've done it, we're experts!
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| Awkward car photo but of the beautiful trees surrounding our hotel on the hill. We took a short 15 minute ferry ride to the island. We were excited about the ferry, but it was old hat for our Seattle girl.  |
First priority was to FaceTime Luke and hear him open his mission call.
Sierra Leone, Africa!! Ghana MTC, August 1st!!
We could't stop talking about it for the rest of the day -- and Chris' future call for the rest of the trip.
We walked through a park that Marty had recently played football in on P-day.
It was so great to be in places Marty had recently been in.
There was an outdoor foot bath. Almost too hot to put your feet in!
Cherry blossom island wasn't in full bloom yet. But we found a few opened blossoms.
We found another shrine and temple.
These fortunes were so cute!
Google Translate helped us translate our fortunes. Marty helped us
translate Google Translate's translation.
We found a conveyor belt sushi restaurant.
Japan sushi is different from American sushi. You have to set your expectations realistically.
But we generally found soft serve ice cream wherever we went!
After lunch the boys taxied back to the hotel to get the luggage.
We met them at the train station. And then we headed to Omuta to meet
families for dinner from Marty's time in that area.
The train station bathroom had signs for both Japanese and Western toilets.
Also wherever we went there were children's sized potties and sinks!
Visiting Marty's ward in Omuta turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip! When they saw him, everyone ran to give him a hug! Everyone LOVED him! They were so friendly and warm. He didn't stop smiling and one thing everyone commented on was how they loved his big smile and his outgoing personality.
The first woman we met, Noriko, and her daughter couldn't join us for dinner but made a special trip out to say Hi. She spoke English well so we were able to communicate with her.
She wasn't a member, but they had housed into her and she remained a good friend.
We ended up going into English class so he could say hi to everyone there.
Again, they were so happy to see him and had us all introduce ourselves as well.
In fact, a man Marty had tracked into in another area was there, but hadn't started coming until later.
A little testament that you never know when someone will be ready.
We had Japanese pancakes for dinner. They were made with cabbage and cooked on a grill in the center of the table. A type of bbq sauce was added on top as well as mayo and mustard.
They were delicious! It felt like a version of pizza without toppings.
Brother and Sister Kinoshita
Brother Izano and Sister Yona and Yuji (Ruth's son).
Ruth -- or as she likes to be called, Big Momma.
Emi, Ruth's daughter
I'll bet you can recognize this.
(Proclamation to the Family in Japanese)
This says:
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
But surprisingly it doesn't say, "Visitors Welcome"
(But I'm sure they are.)
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