Friday, September 29, 2017

Church in Yokosuka

The church building here in Japan is pretty different than what we are used to.  I don't think the church owns the building because church is just on floors three, six, and seven.  There is no parking and one small elevator that everyone tries to use.  We sometimes have done the stairs but seven flights in high heels while holding a baby can be a bit of a challenge.  The elevator is obviously shared with the other people so it is weird to send the kids up to Primary on floor seven, while I am in Sunday school on the third floor.  
It is also not a lot of space.  We attend an American military ward so everything is in english and there is a good amount of people.  The ward seems bigger than the one we came from, but we have at least half as much space.  There are no pews just chairs set up, and they all get filled.  The ward is also different because it is very young.  All the adults are military related and the average age is 31.  So lots and lots of poeple our age.  There is basically no welfare because everyone is employed by the government and no one needs help moving either. 
We've gone three times now, and last week was the primary program.  We made it just in time!  Tucker, and Penelope were nervous but memorized their parts and did a great job.  Scarlett had a really hard time with it this year.  I think because it is with all new people.  She refused to ever practice her part and when it came time for the program I had to pick her up and set her in her seat.  She was in the front row so we had a clear view of her silently crying almost the whole time.  When she got up to do her part she grudgingly started in an obviously upset voice.  Then some people laughed and she was done.  She went back to her seat.  I felt bad for her because she just seemed really unhappy.  Leon didn't seem nervous and just said his part loudly and quickly.  There are two sunbeam classes in this ward.  
Most people park on base because it is so close and walk the rest.  We were taking the bus to the base gate and then walking the rest.  Two times people gave us rides back home.  This week we walked back to the bus stop.
We took some pics while waiting 25 minutes for the bus.



Everyone in the ward is really welcoming and friendly.  I think we will really like it once we get used to the building.

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