Mochitsuki (Making Pounded Rice)

Today was a special Sunday at our Church where all the children were prayed for individually by the pastor during the service. Afterwards, we had a celebration with the kids which included making Japanese style cotton candy "wata ame" and ....



... also participating in "Mochitsuki" (making pounded rice). It takes quite a lot of effort, and you can see that several of us took turns using the big wooden mallets!






We then ate the "mochi" for lunch with various toppings - including daikon radish sauce and black sesame sauce. We also ate it dipped in soy sauce and sandwiched between two pieces of "nori" (dried seaweed).



Ahh, nothing like a plate full of "mochi" served with "tsukemono" (Japanese pickles).

Almost Halfway!

It is hard to believe that I'm almost halfway through this pregnancy! We are so excited about this little "tummy baby", and can't wait to find out whether it is a boy or a girl. We will go to the doctor in three weeks to find out! I'll keep you posted. We've got some names picked out, and it will be fun to call the baby by name soon.
Here is a photo of our baby from just a few days ago. You can see the right hand up by the face covering the right eye. This seems to be a favorite position for our little one. Since it is standard procedure to have an ultrasound every visit - we've seen this pose several times.

A few interesting differences I've noticed in the medical care here:

1) I had to go to the OBGYN earlier than in America. I started going when I was just 5 weeks pregnant. The reason is, you need to register the delivery date. Hospitals only accept a certain number of deliveries per month, and then they don't take anyone else. Since we are due at the end of March, all of the women due earlier in the month had a "head start" at registering their deliveries! We actually had trouble finding a doctor in Chiba because of this, but God did provided a doctor who we feel very comfortable with in Tokyo. He speaks fluent English and seems to have more of an American-style approach to medicine.

2) By the time I was 13 weeks pregnant I had gone to the doctor 6 times. Actually, I'm not sure that this usual for all women. Several of my Japanese friends think that the doctor here really wants to deliver a foreigner's baby, so he was trying to "court" us into delivering with him!

3) Most of the OBGYNs here seem to have their offices in the hospital. I guess this is most convenient when they have to deliver babies. I have had to take someone with me at every visit to help translate for me. It has been such a blessing to see God taking care of us in this way.

4) At about 13 weeks, you receive a little book in which are written all of the important things relating to the pregnancy. This little book is a record for the child through his/her life. What a great idea! So many times medical records are scattered around, but this simplifies things!

5) Here in Japan they count the pregnancy as taking 10 months! It took us a little while to figure out that they count months as only 4 weeks, rather than calender months. So, currently I am in my fifth month ... with only five more to go! :)

Thank you for your prayers for our little one. We are well taken care of here and are eager to find out who this little one is. We'll let you know!!!

Jon's first "Talk" at Church

Well, I gave my first official "stand up before the congregation" talk at our current Church - Karuizawa Christ Church. I gave a 10 minute testimony based on Psalm 23, and then sang a song "Reassure & Comfort Me" that I wrote several years ago (also based on Psalm 23).

The video below includes just the final minute of my testimony (since it won't mean much to you anyway!) plus the final verse and chorus of the song. It took me over a week to put it together with the help of my Japanese teachers, and I didn't really have much time to practice it. However, I really felt God's presence as I spoke and it went better than any of my practice attempts!


We were blessed that our good friends, Minako-san and Manabu-san, came to church worship for the first time to hear me speak. She attends Sarah's Bible Study, and he has had various spiritual discussions with Jon this last year. We pray that God will continue to use us to show them His love.

I got dressed up with a tie since I would be speaking, and I thought this photo was funny because you can see that I'm in my socks! No shoes in the church building, and the slippers don't fit my feet so well. :)

Becoming Autumn in Japan

This is Matsumoto Castle, about 2 hours away by car in Nagano prefecture.

"Cut the Pickle ... Tickle Tickle"

A little fun from an evening with Grandma (Dad is away on a trip to visit other missionaries in Nagoya city). First is a cute little thing they learned from Aunt Molly when in America this summer. "Up High, Down Low, In the Middle, Cut the Pickle ... Tickle Tickle."



Next comes a kid's song we sing at church to the tune of "Its a Small World".

(Umi to sora tukurareta shu wa
Anata) no shu watashi no kami
Tsumi o yurushi sukuita mou
Minna no shu
Iesu wa shu - Hareruya! (3x)
Minna no Shu

"Iesu wa Shu" means "Jesus is Lord". We love the way Annabella finishes with an emphatic "Lord" at the end. :)

Grandma & Grandpa Pfeil are here!

My parents arrived in Karuizawa on Friday and we've had lots of fun with them. Here you can see that Annabella and Olivia were so excited to see Grandpa, that they kept bringing him all their special things for him to see - including each of their pillows and their Cinderella and Hello Kitty balloons.

They also brought boxes of "treasures" for us - everything from maternity clothes and a baby car seat to powdered sugar and puzzles for the kids!


We invited our good friends, the Shimizu family, over for dinner on Monday night. Mom & Dad enjoyed getting to know them and we all had a great time together. It is a good thing that laughter doesn't need to be translated! :)

Sick Girls ...

All 3 girls in our house are sick. Here are two photos of back to back days - without much change in their expresions or positions! Olivia & Annabella have had bad coughs and they all have been very lethargic during the day. We finally went to the doctor and got some medicine for everyone - but it comes as a powder and has been hard to get the girls to take it (especially Annabella).













Annabella is sleeping here, but seems to be praying that she and Olivia can feel better soon. :)

With Sarah being pregnant, our local doctor won't give her any medicine. (American doctors may prescribe drugs too quickly, but Japanese doctors are probably too cautious!) She has been afraid that she will get a sinus infection, so we were blessed to finally find a new doctor willing to give her antibiotics. Please pray that all would get better soon, and that Daddy can stay healthy enough to take care of everyone.

Kids at Sarah's Bible Study

At Sarah's last Wednesday morning Bible study there were 9 kids (7 shown, plus 2 infants)! It got a little crazy, so we resorted to watching a movie ("Tonari no Totoro") to keep everyone semi-peaceful. :)

　After the Bible study, most of the Moms and kids stayed for a pot-luck lunch. Here is Olivia with 3 friends - Yuzuki, Nanako, and Hina.


It is a little crazy to keep an eye on all these kids, but we are so blessed to have up to 6 non-Christian ladies coming. Please pray that God would use the times together to open their hearts to Him.