AN UNEXPECTED GIFT

GIFT #5 - THE IINUMA FAMILY

Yukiho, Sachiko, Sotaro & Toshiya

As many of you know, we had the amazing opportunity of having a Japanese student stay with us for a week in October. There were 235 Japanese 9th graders that came to stay throughout Utah County with different host families. About 2 weeks before Sotaro came to America, I received an e-mail from his family. They introduced themselves and something in that e-mail struck my heart. His mother expressed a nervousness about him coming to America and I could feel that she was concerned and worried about him being so far away from home. I had such empathy for her because I know I would feel the same way about one of my children going to a foreign country for the first time. About this same time, I started blogging. I decided each day to update my blog so his family would not worry. I wanted Sachiko and Toshiya to know that I would take care of Sotaro, as if he were my own son.

Our family just thought we would be having a house guest for a week. We had no idea how Sotaro would capture our hearts. There is something so special about his boy. He brought a special feeling into our home. We enjoyed him so much. He is smart and funny. We laughed together and played games together. It was fun to introduce him to American things and watch his expressions.

After Sotaro went back to Japan, his mother, Sachiko and I started e-mailing each other. We e-mail frequently and I really enjoy hearing from her. It is amazing to me how similar our lives are. We both love our family and children. We both can't believe how quickly our children are growing up. We have a lot in common and I love being able to have all of them as friends. Their family holds a very special place in our family's heart. We love them, even though we've only met Sotaro for a week. We are hoping they will be able to come to America in 2010.

Sotaro e-mails us every Sunday. Each week I look forward to Sunday because I enjoy hearing from him. I enjoy the pictures his mom sends us and hearing about his success in school. A couple days ago, we received a Christmas package from his family. It was so beautiful! They sent us a wonderful Christmas card and a family picture. They also sent us the same book Sotaro had brought with him to America that has English and Japanese in it. We have all enjoyed looking at the book and are still trying to speak Japanese.

Yukiho & Sotaro - We are happy to see our BYU flag is safe and sound in Japan. The Wendels were looking for it a few weeks ago!

We love The Iinuma family!! Thank you for bringing joy into our family!