Day 1 What a full day it was!

From Melissa:

Good morning! I would have posted sooner but by the time we were able to sit still long enough to post something it was time for bed... and no one made it longer than 10 min once we had gotten into the room.

The plane finally touched down in Tokyo around 4:30am and I think that coasting to our gate terminal took longer than the actual flight haha Haneda airport was massive and completely pristine. There was no litter or discarded trash anywhere. Our first stop was the bathroom. That was when I fully realized that I was in a different country.

Our first meal was in the an airport cafe. Ordering went really smooth since the young man taking our orders seemed to know all the English names for our meals. I had minestrone soup, which was amazing! After the meal we bought water and used the restroom one more time before heading to the monorail. I remember thinking it was hot and muggy in the airport until we were standing by the airport doors when they opened and I was blasted by the outside air. This was going to be interesting.

All I can say is, "Thank you Lord for Steve and Marina!" I cannot imagine how anyone could navigate the rail system in Tokyo without getting completely and hopelessly lost. They got us to the bullet train with no problems and I am just so thankful.

The bullet train was fun and those who could slept. "I fell asleep right away sitting between two (Japanese) dudes who were also sleeping.... Guys are the same everywhere."

I sat in the middle of the three seats as well. The older woman on my right was on her way to a mountain temple to pray. She was very friendly and we had a very animated "conversation" which resembled charades more than anything else. The man on my left didn't say a word for the whole trip and didn't seem to register my presence. The older woman was nice enough to teach me a couple words in Japanese. "Otoko" which means man and "Ohna" which means woman. Then she told me a story of a handsome one-eyed man who used to live on a hill in Sendai. I found out later that his name was Date Masamune and he was credited with establishing the Sendai region.

At the Sendai station we met with Roy, Nancy, their son Joseph and a pastor from Okinawa named Tim. Tim took us to have lunch at an Udon restaurant. I wasn't sure how I was going to like cold noodle soup but it was really delicious. Tim even gave us a tip about how slurping while eating noodle dishes is proper etiquette in Japan. I tried it but I found that I was so concentrated on making the slurping sound that I wasn't actually eating the noodles.

We finally got to the Toma's house , unpacked, went over house rules and had our first devotion in Japan. We focused on worship and ministering to the Lord. What an amazing way to begin our time of service in Japan. After washing we were all so tired that we fell asleep within 10 min of going in the room.

I cannot wait to see how the Lord works through us. He told us to go and we have stepped out in faith to follow Him. May He grow us and use us as He wills.

Planting seeds in Japan :D

PS. The airplane food was as they said it would be.