Headed south to Fukuoka/Okinawa

We talked with the military relations office this morning and were told to pack our bags and relocate to the Fukuoka mission. There is already one Military Relations couple working in Okinawa where there are 14 US Military bases. There are two bases up near the mission home which do not currently have a Military Relations couple. Originally we were scheduled to fly out on Tuesday, March 22nd but then received a call this evening from our mission president and he said it would probably be better if we were just to pack our mission car and drive down there. It is about a 15 hour drive. We get pretty good gas mileage in the Toyota Corola but not tha t good. We are contemplating taking two 5-gallon gas cans of fuel in the trunk just in case we can't get fuel along the way. There are many gas stations up this way closed today because they are out of fuel. The further south we get things should be better.

This morning the President Albrecht, the Tokyo Japan mission president, put 140 missionaries on three different buses to be disbursed between three missions. He has 15 missionaries still at the mission home who will be flying back to the States tomorrow. After that he will be all alone in the mission home. My heart aches for him.

The US Embassy i n Japan issued a voluntary evacuation for Americans living in the affected areas. The will be flown to South Korea or Taiwan and from there they will have to find their own way to the final destinations. The military bases in our area are evacuating the dependents only--once again, on a voluntary basis. They will fly them to South Korea and then on to four selected locations in the United States and from there they would have to get to their final destination on their own.

Anyway, we will pack our two suitcases and whatever else we can fit into the car and drive away Saturday morning. I'll probably have time to post one more time tomorrow and then will have to pack away the router and will not have internet connection. There may be internet access at the rest stops a lon g th e way. We understand it is a very beautiful drive--and an expensive one with over $500 just in tolls. Keep us in your prayers.


We are still having scheduled blackouts. Yesterday it was from 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM but the power came back o n at 8:30. These pictures were taken as we did our scripture study in the dark--Sister Arnell using the laptop and Elder Arnell lit up by his IPAD. Today the blackout time was 3:30 -6:30, just enough time for a nice long nap