Japan Summer

Dear Family and Friends,

It’s time for an update from Elder and Sister Low.

We are now in the middle of the hottest part of summer and every day is sweltering. Temperatures are in the high nineties with humidity levels also in the high nineties. We now shower using cold water, multiple times per day, and it feels wonderful. We are grateful for good air conditioning in our apartment and the church buildings. But our daily travel by foot and rail is like hiking Francis Peak while walking through a steam room at the gym. Our great young missionaries are out in the hot weather all day, doing their best. They work hard.

We’d like to point out that we are really loving this mission thing. We love what we do. We want to do anything and everything we can to help. We feel uplifted and useful as we work every day. Although this mission is not permanent, we have found our place. We feel the Spirit guide us as we work. We are extremely honored to take part in this work. This is what we were meant to do.

The important thing we pray for is that our family will be blessed in our absence. We love and miss our family. Each member of the clan is dealing with their own challenges and trials, as well as joys and successes. Our hope is that our effort will consecrate and strengthen us all – together in some way. So dear family, please know this: Your missionary parents and grandparents love you, pray for you, and exercise faith on behalf of you every day. We know blessings will come.

FHE Food

We continue to have fun with our Young Single Adult friends. We fall in love with them more every day. They are so wonderful. The Finest.

Last week the Relief Society prepared an after-church lunch for everyone to eat while we discussed dating. The sisters had sent a survey to the brothers in the branch about dating and marriage and they wanted to review the results– with the boys and girls together – over lunch. It ended up being a really fun meeting.

In preparing for the the lunch, they set three rice cookers full of rice to cook. But while the rice was cooking during Sunday School, somebody went into the kitchen and put something in the microwave. That set off the breaker in the kitchen and the rice stopped cooking mid-way through the process. The result was a pot of rice that was partially mush and partially tiny bullets.

We thought it couldn’t be saved and almost threw it all out. But Sister Low doesn’t believe in throwing away food. “Let’s see if we can somehow use it tomorrow for Family Home Evening.”

So Elder Low thought a bit and came up with an idea for the FHE treat. “Let’s make kiritampo.” It’s essentially barbecued rice on a stick. In order to make it, the rice has to be really sticky.

So we gave it a try. Sister Low molded the globby rice around a chopstick and Elder Low put the chopsticks in the oven and set it to broil for 15 minutes. When they came out, they were golden brown, crispy on the outside and steamy moist on the inside. Then he basted them in a homemade teriyaki sauce.

“I wonder if this will work,” he thought.

Well, he thought right. They were delicious. The kids went crazy. A member from the branch also brought all the fixings for gyoza and we had a gyoza making, kiritampo eating family home evening with about 40 people. The food was amazing.

Since then, many have asked us to make the kiritampo again, but we’re not sure if we can. We don’t know the right timing to trip the breaker and kill the rice cooker. We may never be able to to reproduce those delicious snacks again.

Awa Odori

Summertime in Japan is festival time. We love our traditional festivals here, most of them have their roots going back hundreds of years. We’ve decided to take advantage of being here and try to see as many festivals as possible. For the past two weeks, we’ve gone to a few. All were really fun.

We went to the Awa Odori festival in Kagurazaka. Awa Odori is a traditional type of obon dance that dates back to 1000AD. It started in Tokushima prefecture on Shikoku, but now there are Awa Odori festivals everywhere in Japan. The one in Kagurazaka ran for three days, late into the night.

The dance mimics people acting silly, being “idiots,” and having fun, and it’s performed parade style – like a marching band. We watched hundreds of Awa Odori clubs dance and parade past us. Watch this; it’s really cool:

Honestly, it was thrilling to watch. Elder Low has always wanted to see this. Sister Low participated in Awa Odori when she was a little girl on vacation in Tokushima, so this festival brought back a lot of memories. Elder Low made friends with a 90 year old lady who stood next to us as we watched the dancers go by.

Yoyogi Obon Festival

Last Saturday we dropped by the Obon festival in Yoyogi Park. It was a typical neighborhood festival that had dancing, happy people, and lots of great food booths. It’s fun to be out on a summer night mingling with your neighbors, eating great food, chatting and watching the kids dance. This was a classic Japan summer activity. Watch this short video:

 

Nagashi Somen Festival

Sister Low found out about a Nagashi Somen Festival happening in the Sasazuka neighborhood of Shibuya and just had to go to it. Why? Because it’s a noodle festival. Noodles. Her favorite food. Here’s how it works: They set up a gutter that ran down a hill for 70 meters. Then, while fresh water is running through it, they drop in freshly cooked noodles and send them running downstream. Neighbors and friends from the town gather around the gutter and catch the noodles in their chopsticks as they go by, dip them in a broth, and eat it right there on the spot. Talk about a feeding trough – this one was 70 meters long. Watch this; it’s crazy:

There was a huge crowd of people of all ages, swarmed around the trough, gobbling the noodles as they floated by. It was a hoot. Everybody looked like they were having a wonderful time. Sister Low would like to do something similar at our YSA branch meetinghouse and invite the whole neighborhood for an outdoor water slide/noodle eating party, but we don’t think we could pull off the 70 meter long trough.

 

Shibuya Obon

We also dropped by the big Obon festival in Shibuya. This one was huge. They blocked off most of the Scramble and set up a big Obon dance platform. Thousands of people came to participate. There were hundreds of tourists, TV cameras, celebrities, and crammed walkways. But it was fun to watch.

Don’t worry – we’re still busy being missionaries. We continue to work with our beloved YSA branch, work in the temple, help out in the mission office, and coach our young missionaries. It’s all a joy.

Tomorrow will be another busy day. We’ll keep trying. We love you all.

Hey grandkids: Your grandparents love you! Please remember us in your prayers.

Love,

Elder and Sister Low