Last week, the Japanese ward that we share our church building with, invited us to join them for mochitsuki! Mochitsuki is the pounding of rice until it turns into mochi, and it's done at the beginning of every year. It was really fun to participate in such a classic Japanese tradition! We had a chance to pound the rice into mochi--which was surprisingly tough! And then Peter and Will helped to roll the mochi into individual sized balls.
Once all of the mochi was pounded and formed into balls, we were able to eat it! The cute kids from the other ward were there to serve us; they offered chocolate pieces, peanut butter powder, nori (seaweed), lima bean powder (I have to admit that I didn't try that one . . . ), and an (sweetened red bean paste). It was all so delicious!
