2/19/2016 Sharing Japanese culture: Okay, a friend shared this, but it's awesome! Japan's answer to crop circles

Planting Rice in Japan...

Looks ordinary enough....... but watch as the rice grows!

Stunning crop art has sprung up across rice fields in Japan , but this is no alien creation. The designs have been cleverly PLANTED! Farmers creating the huge displays use no ink or dye. Instead, different color rice plants have been precisely and strategically arranged and grown in the paddy fields.  As summer progresses and the plants shoot up, the detailed artwork begins to emerge.

A Sengoku warrior on horseback has been created from hundreds of thousands of rice plants. The colors are created by using different varieties of rice plants, whose leaves grow in certain colors. This photo was taken in Inakadate, Japan.

Closer to the image, the careful placement of the thousands of rice plants in the paddy fields can be seen. Rice-paddy art was started there in 1993 as a local revitalization project, an idea that grew from meetings of the village committees. The different varieties of rice plants grow alongside each other to create the masterpieces. In the first nine years, the village office workers and local farmers grew a simple design of Mount Iwaki every year. But their ideas grew more complicated and attracted more attention. In 2005, agreements between landowners allowed the creation of enormous rice paddy art.  A year later, organizers used computers to precisely plot the planting of four differently coloured rice varieties that bring the images to life! TRULY LEGITIMATE WORKS OF ART

[Kirsten's Mom:  Sorry, I had to reload the pictures to get them to show up again.  Then some of them didn't upload in a straight, centered column.  I don't have more time to keep fussing with this to make it perfect.  :-( ]

February 19, 2016 -- @ MTC Elders that lighten things up, Testimony

Here are some of my funny district and zone leaders
(Mom's comment:  If you play "Where's Waldo?", could Kirsten be somewhere in the photo??)

こんにちは!（≧∇≦）

So much growth this week. I know for sure that there is a god, and he is our Heavenly Father. There is a Heavenly Father and He does love us. He has a plan for us and it's real. None of this is made up. Everything that happens to us, happens for a reason. I know my trials I experience and will experience are for my benefit so I can be prepared for the life to come, and for the life I'll live in Japan. Jesus Christ suffered all ways of afflictions so men might be saved. He sacrificed his will to God to be able to succor his people. He understands everything we go through; He went through it, too. The things I experience, whether good or bad, will help me to be able to help the people in Japan. I can only truly teach if I have the love for the people I teach, and seek to understand what they need. The teachings of Jesus Christ helps every soul find peace and belonging. We belong in God's fold, and the only way to get there is to come unto Jesus Christ. There's nothing in this world that could make one more happy than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Salvation may not be cheap, but it is worth everything.

"Man's extremity is God's opportunity." ( Elder Jeffrey R. Holland)

あいしています。love you! That's all for this week :)

Parker Shimai

More From 2/12/2016 -- @ MTC

MY TESTIMONY

こんにちは、皆さん。私は回復された福音の証が会えいます。イエス・キリストの福音は真実です。ジョセフスミスは預言者だったと知っています。ジョセフスミスのじゅうじんによってキリストのきょうかいをかいふくしりました。この協会は真実だと信じています。キリストのあがないは本当に大切です。毎日、あがないによってわたしをたすきます。精霊をみちびくことができるとしています。精霊をきけばへいあんをかんじます。イエスキリストのみなによっておいあかします。アアメン。

Hey everyone! I have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel.
Jesus Christ's gospel is true. I know Joseph smith was a prophet.
Through Joseph Smith's obedience, Christ's church was restored. I
believe this church is true. Christ's atonement is important.
Everyday, the Atonement helps me. I know we can be guided by the
Spirit. By listening to the spirit, we can feel peace. I testify in
the name of Jesus Christ, āmen.

I didn't mean to put all those complicated kanji!!

Parker 姉妹 (Shimai)

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Here are some more pictures

Provo Temple near the MTC.  Still very cold

Another Winter scene near MTC and Provo Temple

I'm in good company because Sister Burke plays the piano
and Sister Pearson sings!

An Elder in the Aussi zone roundhouse-kicked
the tree and created a snowfall

"We three sisters of MTC are, bearing the gospel we'll travel so far"
(to the tune of We Three Kings), ha ha

Yep, that's my name tag!