Lisa Talmage of Tokyo, Japan

By Jeri Jeppson

Lisa Talmage, Japanese? Although her father, Ron, is from Salt Lake City, Utah, he once served a mission in Japan and is now a businessman in Tokyo, one of the largest cities in the world. Lisa lives there with him, her brother and sister, and her mother, Kumiko, a Japanese convert to the Church. Both English and Japanese are spoken regularly at home.

Lisa goes to a girls international school with girls of sixty different nationalities. She wears a uniform—a checkered skirt, a blue sweater, a white blouse, blue socks, and brown shoes. Her teacher is from England, and the classes are taught in English, so Lisa must know it as well as Japanese. Besides the regular subjects taught there, she takes a class in Japanese music. Her favorite subject is art, particularly painting with watercolors.

Lisa’s brother, Kory—short for Coriantumr from the Book of Mormon—is seven years old, and he goes to a boys international school; he also wears a school uniform. Although they don’t go to the same school, Lisa and Kory do things together, like shopping and playing in the park.

Sometimes Lisa takes her little sister, Lillie (18 months), to the park and pushes her on the swing. Other times she rides her bike to meet her father at the subway station when he comes home from work.

Lisa enjoys activities with her family, especially family home evenings and camping in the mountains on vacations. Sometimes they make shorter excursions to see special places like the Tokyo Tower, a Buddhist Temple, the Meiji Shrine, or the Imperial Palace.

The Church is growing rapidly in Japan. Despite the great distance between Tokyo and Salt Lake City, Lisa and her family have had the opportunity to meet several General Authorities because her father has served as executive secretary to the Church’s Far East area presidency. When she was little, Lisa went to the open house for the Tokyo Temple.

Now there are nine stakes in Tokyo, a city with over eight million people. The ward Lisa belongs to uses six floors of a large building for their meetings. She loves the scriptures and especially likes to hear stories from the Bible.

Photographed by Jeri Jeppson

1 and 4. Traditional costumes are worn by those celebrating Buddha’s birthday.

2. Tokyo seen from Tokyo Tower

3. Lisa with Tokyo Temple in background

5. Lisa, Kory, and Lillie

6. Tokyo Tower, a famous landmark

7. Meiji Shrine

8. Getting ready to ride home from park

9. Lisa at park with Lillie

10. Mount Fuji (in background)

11. Part of Imperial Palace