Nihon ni ikou!

So, I realize I'm doing a super duper good job of staying up to date with my blog. I think it's been more than a month this time around since the last time I wrote. . .well, I'm pretty sure I mentioned going to Japan, so I'll just say that it was uber fun. Here are some pictures. Many of them are the cooler ones, mainly from Kyoto and Oosaka region.
This picture says to not feed the birds. . .because they will poop anywhere, including people's laundry.

This was funny. So, Chris and I were at Asakusa (located in Tokyo) and we kept being approached by Jr. High school kids who were on a school field trip from Hyogo-ken (Kobe region). They had an assignment where they had to interview a foreigner, get a picture taken with them, and then have the foreigner sign their paper. Well, I stand out with my blond hair and light skin, and Chris stands out with his height. So, we got stopped often by groups of boys and girls, and at one point got them to take a picture with our camera too. It was the first time I had ever autographed anything, and was hunted down and practically cornered.

We went to the Fushimi inari jinja (shrine) in Kyoto. As you can see by the pictures, you walk through more than a thousand torii gates. and i mean more than a thousand, because the path goes up and around the mountain. We walked/hiked it all and there were torii the entire way. It was really cool, and very pretty. The top picture is where the path splits, and you can to either way to end up at a little shrine; and from there you can hike around the mountain.

On Sunday, we went to Chris' bean area (his very first area for his 2-year mission career), Toyooka. We went to church there, got to meet and play with the members, and then high-tailed to the neighboring area for a baptism. This baptism was done in the ocean, more specifically a bay area. But it was a very neat experience. I had always seen a baptism done in a baptismal font in a church, so this was really neat. What was also amazing was that once the missionary (the one on the right) began to say the baptism prayer, everything became quiet. All the cars, boat, and ocean noises disappeared, and all you could hear was the prayer, the birds, and the wind blowing through the trees. It was a very calm and peaceful feeling and I felt very close to Heavenly Father. I'll never forget this. And that second picture is the three of us outside the Toyooka church. Happiness!

So, yep. That was my Japan trip. On top of seeing new sites, I had real takoyaki (octopus cooked in balls of dough), and onabe (veggies and meat cooked in a pot of yummy-flavored broth) and had real Kobe beef. good stuff. I have many more pictures, but so that the server doesn't get overloaded, I'll replace my lovely picture of the Turtles with pictures from the trip. I'll try to do it often but. . . .we'll see about that! MUAHAHAHAAAAA!!!

Until next time, catch ya later!