Christmas in Japan

Dear Family and Friends,

This year’s Christmas season has certainly been unique. Here’s a rundown of how things went.

Saturday Before Christmas Eve

We regularly meet with nearly every missionary in the mission. We love them all. One of the elders in Machida, where Saori’s mother Keiko lives, is Elder Fackrell. We learned he’s been playing the violin since the age of 3. We meet with him every week to help with Japanese and he’s just wonderful to be with. 

When Elder Fackrell found out that Sister Low’s mother lives in his area, he looked up her address and went and knocked on her door. He introduced himself and told Keiko that he works with her daughter. Keiko was delighted. They stood in doorway and chatted for a while. (Keiko told us later that his Japanese is amazing. Yeah, we already knew.) Then Elder Fackrell told her that he’s playing the violin in the ward Christmas program in Machida and asked her to come. 

Well, Keiko called us, very excited, and we made plans to take her to the program. She’s 85 years old now and needs a little help walking in the dark. 

On the Saturday before Christmas, we took the train ride out to Machida, met Keiko, then took a cab together to church. The program was beautiful and sweet and full of Christmas Spirit. Elder Fackrell played like a pro. Both of us noticed how much the ward loves him. You can tell when all the primary children want to sit by him.

After the program we all met Elder Fackrell and his new companion Elder Kelley, who is one of our brand-new elders we trained last week. Keiko watched as Elder Low gave them both a long hug and told them how much he loved them. Later, on the way home, she told us how much she loved being there and the wonderful spirit.

It was a really wonderful night. We are so grateful to be able to spend time with Keiko and be missionaries at the same time. We are blessed. Elder Low pondered about the event later: A year ago, those two elders were being high school kids in Utah. School dances and football games. Now they are ingrained into this ward on the other side of the planet, loving the members, speaking their language, playing with their children, visiting the elderly, teaching with power, and blessing countless lives, including our family. Just an incredible thing to watch and be part of. 

Christmas Eve

The day after the Machida program was Sunday, Christmas Eve. This was a big day for us that we planned for many weeks. It required two trips to Costco and we’re grateful to Sister Node for driving us there. We started cooking Saturday night as soon as we got home from the program. Elder Low ended up staying up through the whole night, cooking.

Church was at 10am and as you all know, was just Sacrament meeting this week. After Sacrament meeting, we had a “Christmas Luncheon” for all the YSA kids. We planned for a large crowd and it’s a good thing we did. Elder Low cooked 7 gallons of homemade chili and two turkeys. Sister Low cooked sweet potatoes and the mashed potatoes. We cooked about 40 pounds of potatoes. Plus 40 cups of rice.

We almost had a disaster in the middle of the preparations on Saturday night. Elder Low had a turkey in the oven, Sister Low had the rice cooker going, and we had both of our wall mount heaters running to keep the room warm. Then Sister Low decided to make some hot chocolate and turned on the electric kettle. As soon as she did – click – all the lights went out. We’d blown a fuse. The problem was that we had no idea where the breaker box was and it was 11pm. Elder Low wandered around the building in the dark for a long time, but found nothing. Panic was setting in. Finally, he found a small box in the kitchen that looked like a vent. It was the breaker box, and we were soon back in business and Elder Low’s blood pressure went down to “high.” By the way, our entire apartment runs on one 40-amp breaker. 

The luncheon was a total blast. We fed about 100 of our favorite YSA friends in Japan. Everything was devoured. Down to the last crumb. It was a joy to watch their faces light up while eating a real turkey dinner. It was so fun to be together with these wonderful people and just eat, laugh, and hug.

After the luncheon, the branch decided to do a “Christmas Activity” and you won’t believe it. They set up an assembly line and made hundreds of treat bags with pass-along Light The World cards in them. Then we all divided into small groups, put on Santa hats, and scattered into Shibuya and passed out the gift bags to strangers. We also made posters that said, “What’s your favorite thing about Christmas?” and asked strangers to write what their favorite thing was on a sticky note and put it on the posters. We were amazed at how much fun people had writing on the sticky notes while we gave them treats.

Our group was assigned to the coolest place of all – the middle of the Shibuya Scramble crosswalk – the Busiest Spot On Earth. We were surrounded by thousands of people as we passed out our treat bags. And here’s the amazing thing: In our group there were two investigating friends who weren’t even members. They had come to church, eaten lunch with us, and then joined the activity. And they looked like they had the time of their lives. 

Here’s what that looked like:

It took a while to clean up the church after all that and the whole branch helped. Then we went home and had Christmas Eve by ourselves. We finished reading the Book of Mormon that night together.

 

Christmas Day

Christmas Morning was strange for us. We woke up to a quiet apartment, alone. There was our tiny tree, but no presents, no kids and grandkids around us, no wrapping paper or Lego bricks on the floor. 

It was just – quiet. To be honest, it felt a little lonely, but we both felt so grateful this Christmas morning. We are so blessed. We have the best children, daughters in law, and grandchildren on earth. They continue to bless us and each other even though we’re on the other side of the planet. Though separated, we felt closer to them than before. And honestly – Christmas is so much nicer when you don’t spend time buying presents. This year, Christmas felt real. 

Later that morning we called our family and enjoyed talking with them. Then we went to Christmas lunch at an udon noodle shop. 

Christmas Day was on Monday this year. That meant we had Family Home Evening on Christmas Night. We told the entire branch, “Please come. You won’t want to miss this one.” 

Elder Low started simmering leftover turkey bones at 3pm, then started rolling out his own homemade pasta. By 7, it had become a wonderful soup. Sister Low baked her signature breadsticks. 

We had about 40 people come to Family Home Evening. At least five were nonmember friends. President Murakami and his wife Aki also came, mainly because President didn’t want to miss out on the soup. They were amazed at the crowd and the activity. We played games and chatted and laughed a lot. 

Here’s a glimpse:

The soup was so popular that the last partaker turned the five-gallon pot upside down so he could get “the last drop.” That’s when Elder Low broke out the corn chips and salsa from Costco – something you can’t get anywhere else in Japan. That produced a joyful sound. They were thrilled. The kids ended up sucking the crumbs from the bottom of the bag.

Then Sister Low showed this video:

After the video, she bore her testimony.

“Elder Low and I decided to go on a mission so our family, our children, and grandchildren could be blessed. We’re not with them tonight, and we’re with you instead. We need blessings from God. So do you. I promise you that as we follow the Savior, and continue to love each other, the blessings will come.” 

When she was done, the room was quiet.

Oh, we did get one real Christmas present on Christmas Day. During Family Home Evening, three of our wonderful YSA members came up to us and gave us a simple bouquet of flowers and a homemade, handwritten card.

“You make us happy every week. It’s so fun to be with you. We feel God’s love when we’re around you. We’re so, so grateful that you’ve come to us.”

We don’t think there was a dry eye in the room by then. Then we all hugged each other and went home. 

We walked into our apartment late that night with smiles and tears. Then we crashed into bed and were out cold in five minutes. 

And that’s how our Christmas went this year. 

We know that we’re following the Savior and doing His will. As set apart ministers of the gospel, one of our responsibilities is to promise blessings. We take this opportunity to promise blessings to each of you. May this next year be better than ever for everyone. May our troubles be miles away. We promise you that if you follow Him and live His gospel, you will be blessed. 

May God Bless Us, Everyone.

Love,

Elder & Sister Low

ロウ長老姉妹