Trip to Japan: Sunday

Sunday was such a special day. We had to get up early and it was easy because we were so excited to see the temple! We weren't able to get tickets to the dedication at the temple that morning. The Takahashi's had tickets so we dropped them off. It was fun to walk around and take pictures. The temple and area around it were so beautiful. There is a mission office, visitor's center, and housing in beautiful buildings surrounding the temple.

There is an awesome video about the architectural design of the Sapporo Temple here.

 The walls around it look like miniature versions of the walls around the Imperial Palace.

I love this bridge that is near the temple.

There is a beautiful waterfall and pond.

Marshall and I watched the dedication at a ward building nearby. It was really special and the best feeling. It was such a change from the rest of our trip. We had been to many different Japanese temples and shrines and we saw people worshiping there and the feeling was empty. Sunday morning the spirit was so strong and I just knew there was a difference. The temple is peaceful and sacred and I'm so grateful that the people of Sapporo can have a temple nearby. It is amazing how many members travel monthly to the Tokyo temple.

Sunday afternoon we went for a drive up through the mountains southwest of Sapporo. It was about two hours with beautiful scenery. We saw this fox on the side of the road. As we got closer it went in the bushes. Then we stopped next to it and it came out.

At the top of the mountain was this beautiful hotel. On a clear day you can see the coast out one side and Lake Toya out the other side. Unfortunately it was a very rainy and cloudy day so we didn't get to see the views. We did have wi-fi for a short time while we walked around the hotel and that made me happy. I loved getting messages from my family to help me feel connected to them.

We didn't get a good picture of the hotel so I found one on their website. It was a really cool and unique looking hotel.

 We drove down to Lake Toya.

There was a hot springs foot bath and it was fun sitting there with our feet in the water on a cold, rainy day.

Lake Toya is unique because it has an island in the middle of it. The clouds came and went as we took pictures of it.

 We had to show the Takahashi's our silly side.

The hotel is at the top of the mountain in this picture. You can barely see it because the clouds were covering most of it.

We loved the Takahashi's little car. It looks so little but it really surpised us how roomy it was inside. It was like a clown car where you can just filling it full of people and luggage. One night We had five of us in it, suitcase, stroller, laundry bags, and shopping bags.

We ate dinner lake side. The restaurant had a great view of the lake.

There was a hand bath at the front of the restaurant. It felt so nice!

A few of the restaurants we went to had traditional Japanese tables and we sat on pillows on the ground.

View out the window.

I really enjoyed my dinner. Just because I don't like raw fish doesn't mean I dislike all Japanese food. I did go out of my comfort zone and try the meat Sayu ordered.