Light The Shibuya

Dear Family and Friends,

We have another update for you. Let’s start with the upcoming Christmas holiday.

This story starts from a year ago.

When we saw what the church did at Times Square for last year’s amazing and beautiful Light The World campaign (https://youtu.be/INse1lhgZGA?si=hzvgvD2ZCc2DjRmT) we instantly made a comparison. Why couldn’t we do the same here in Shibuya? Shibuya has a similar setup, with dozens of huge screens surrounding the Scramble Crosswalk.

So Elder Low contacted the Public Relations missionary couple in our mission and proposed the idea. “Can’t we do the same thing here next Christmas?”

Our PR missionaries ran with the idea. That started a stream of conversations and meetings that we weren’t part of. But Elder Low did supply the names of the companies who own the big screens and how to contact them to purchase projection time.

Eventually, screen time was booked as part of this year’s Light The World campaign. We were thrilled.

The church also purchased screen time on other big screens all over the city, and other places around the world.

Once we knew the projection time for Shibuya, Sister Low went to work. She posted messages and made phone calls to everyone she could think of, inviting them to come and see the projections. She coordinated with our young missionaries to make sure they got as many possible of their investigating friends there.

The projection in Shibuya was scheduled at the same time as our institute class. So we told our students that instead of class, we’ll be walking down the street to watch the big event. Then Sister Low told the other institute teachers who were teaching that night that they should do the same thing, which they did.

In the end, we had dozens of people there to watch the beautiful projection, in addition to the hundreds of ‘normal’ people and tourists from all over the world who were walking by and stopped to watch. Sister Low knows how to draw a crowd! You can see what happened here:

A camera team from Bonneville Communications came and filmed the projection and crowd here in Shibuya. It will be part of this year’s Light The World video. So watch for it. You may see some familiar people in the video.

Also, last week for Family Home Evening, we decorated the church for Christmas. This year, we decided do our part to Light The Shibuya and put our biggest Christmas tree in front of the big window on the third floor of the building, so everybody in the neighborhood can see it. We’re happy with how it turned out.

Seminary Grand Prix

A few weeks ago we were given the opportunity to help with an activity called the “Seminary Grand Prix”. It’s an annual event held for Seminary students here in Tokyo. The idea is provide a day for them to gather into a large group, have some fun together, learn something, and hopefully feel the Spirit and remain motivated to continue attending seminary.

We have a lot of respect for seminary students in Japan. We have early morning seminary here. Very early. And then they have to get to school, which starts about an hour earlier than it does in the US. Most kids have commutes on trains and busses to get to school as well. Then a long day of studies and a long night of homework. Then up again before dawn for seminary. So events like this are important.

We were asked to come up with some kind of game, using the books of Mormon, Ether and Moroni as our source or theme. Sister Low decided on Pictionary. We came up with some ideas of pictures they could use in the game, like “16 white stones” and “Moroni buries the plates.” Some were easy. Some were very hard.

We spent the morning conducting Book of Mormon Pictionary games between teams who competed against each other. In the end we had a lot of fun. The kids loved it.

Visitors

Last week our good neighbors Rob and Lisa Harris and their family came to Japan on vacation. They stopped by and visited with us for a couple of days. It was so great to see them and so fun to be with them. We love them, and now we miss them.

Also this week our son Jonathan came to visit. What a joy to be with him. He looks so good. We love him so much.

More Transfers

Last week was transfers again. We sent home seven missionaries, all of whom we dearly love and will miss. And we welcomed 11 new missionaries. We love being allowed to help in this process. It’s a very busy, hectic two days for us but we’re grateful for it every time.

J Kaiwa

If you remember, we teach Japanese classes on Thursday nights. Most of our students are only in Japan temporarily or are here studying. But we have a fun time teaching them.

Our weeknights are still very busy. Institute, J Kaiwa, Sports night, Temple night – there’s something going on every night. We’re always on the go in the evenings and come home late. So fun.

Great Stake Conference

This weekend was stake conference for the Tokyo Stake. This time, we were asked to speak. We spoke during the adult session on Saturday night. We were asked to speak about our mission, what’s it’s like for us being here, and any advice we would give somebody who could potentially serve.

Both of our talks turned out to be very emotional for us and, we suspect, for those who heard us speak. We both struggled to contain the tears as we tried our best to express our gratitude for the amazing blessings we have received by serving here.

We are so blessed. We are so grateful to be here. We know we were guided to serve this mission. We know the timing of this mission was perfect and was the Lord’s desired timing. We have had many miraculous experiences that were not coincidences. We have fallen in love with hundreds of people who are now part of our lives.

When our stake president, President Domon, introduced us, he told the audience that Elder Low was the young elder who taught and baptized Brother and Sister Soma over 40 years ago. From the stand we could see there was a visible reaction from most members when President Domon said that. The Somas now live here in the Tokyo Stake, are known by all and very beloved by the members here. They are now quite elderly and deal with multiple health issues. But still faithful. If Elder Low had to use one word to describe the Somas, the word would be “pure.” 純粋.

Sister Soma is currently in the hospital, but Brother Soma managed to come to the Sunday session. We had an emotional reunion. Elder Low and Brother Soma hugged each other for a long time, follow by tears and a long talk.

Also during stake conference, we sustained Taiki – a member of our YSA branch – to receive the Melchizedek priesthood and be ordained an elder. He was baptized a year ago. If you remember, Sister Low baked a giant sheet cake and carried it through the Tokyo mass transit system to his baptism. People in the crowded subway stared with envy as they smelled the warm cake.

He asked Elder Low to ordain him. What an honor. For Elder Low, this was one of the most fulfilling and rewarding experiences of his mission so far. This young man is so incredible, so faithful, so strong. A great future awaits him. We are so proud of him.

So things came full circle for us during stake conference. From reuniting with loved ones from the past to blessing loved ones headed to a magnificent future. A glimpse into heaven and pure joy.

We still pinch ourselves every day. We can’t believe we actually get to be here and be a small part of this great work. We just can’t believe it. We are so blessed.

But there is more to come, so stay tuned.

We love you all,

Elder and Sister Low