Ohaiyo Gozaimasu! (Good Morning) From Chris Fry in Japan

We were pleasantly surprised to receive the following e-mail from Chris Fry, who is a member in the American Branch in Japan:

Good Morning to you from Yokosuka! It is a treat for me to share this email with you. Tonight, we had Elder Mumford and Elder Frank over for dinner and a FHE with our Japanese neighbors. 

Our neighbors (mom and dad and 3 teenage daughters 15-18) came to our home for the evening. We went around the room and everyone introduced themselves, including the Elders. The Komatsu family tried to do all their speaking in English, and we tried to do most of our talking in Japanese with the Elders helping a bit when we got stuck.

When it was my turn I told a little bit about myself and then I pointed to the big picture we have hanging on our wall and told them my husband and I were married in the SLC temple. They gasped and ohhhhhhh-ed and ahhhhhhhh-ed.  Then all three of the girls said, "I want to get married there" in Japanese and the Elders got a chuckle out of that!

 Next we played a giant game of UNO. It was a lot of fun!! One of the daughters won the first game and my youngest son, Ryan, won the 2nd game. Afterwards we had some delicious(very delicious!) blueberry cheesecake the family had made, and we all sat around and talked.

 

I began showing them pictures of our home in WA and we talked about my son serving a mission in Sapporo.The Elders told a little bit about what they were doing and the family had some great questions. The oldest daughter commented on the wooden sign I have hanging above our family picture- "Families are Forever". She said she liked it. I had Elder Frank translate to her in Japanese my feelings about it. I explained that it really helps me to know that our family can be together forever, especially after losing my son. I know I will be with him again one day. As Elder Frank translated she got a bit emotional and commented on the warm feeling in our home and said that she really liked it! 

I thought Elder Frank was going to pop a button with excitement! She had felt the spirit throughout the evening and was responding to it. At the end of the evening we discussed getting together again in their home, perhaps on a Sunday evening. They are very excited to get together again. I am hopeful the missionaries can be a part of this and we can share the gospel with this family. If tonight was any indication, they have been prepared to hear the gospel.

-Chris Fry