Kansha-Shimasu

I just looked at the post Ryan put up - UltraOnda. Good times. Seriously - way good times! (Honestly, the mission - sometimes not such good times, but time spent with friends connected to that - always good times!) My list of thanks today is obviously mission-related, and here are three specific things I am especially thankful for:

1. The existence of the Japan Okayama Mission. (Compare it to the Midwest here, and you can get a sense of what much of Japan thinks about that area on the map.) I learned a lot there. I made a lot of friends. I tried to give my all, and I always gained so much more in return, filling me up with even more.
2. Friends I have, now far and wide, from that precious time. Some of those friends are still in Japan. Many are in the US and Canada, others are spread out across the globe. Over a dozen years ago, some of those friends were old, some young, some were missionaries, some were members of the church, some weren't - who could forget Mr.X, all the triffs, sweet little obachans? The years press on and for many of us, our daily focus of husbands, wives, kids, jobs, houses, etc. has pushed aside memories of a precious time - devoted solely to something completely different from what and where we are right now. But what we have shared connects us and, I think, makes each of us stand a little taller, smile a little wider, live a little better.
   
3. Mission Reunions - especially the one in April, 1997. (Hey, Ryan - I'm winking at you!)