January 23rd

Dear Family,

This last week has been REALLY busy. The senpai left on Sunday and they are now in JAPAN! Two sisters performed a musical number in Sacrament Meeting and I was able to accompany for them. It was "A Believer's Prayer" (the one mom and I sang on my last Sunday at home). I have "I am a Child of God" memorized in Japanese and Sister Foutz and I want to find a cool arrangement and sing it in our Sacrament Meeting before we leave. And we can now... because we have two brand new districts... with missionaries that play the piano!! 

   Companion cut off like 2 feet of hair  without telling me!! she said it was a 

TRIM.

 I saw SOLOMON (i actually see him all the time because our meal times overlap)   

Sunday nights are really awesome. After Devotional we get to watch church films or talks by general authorities. The past couple weeks I've taken advantage of the opportunity to watch films in Japanese. So, so far I've seen the Joseph Smith movie and The Testaments dubbed in Japanese. I can't understand too much because my vocabulary isn't amazing... but it's nice because they are church movies and I do have a decent church vocabulary! It's just cool to be able to hear the language spoken fluently and be able to recognize grammar principles and sentence structure that we've learned. I don't know TONS of Japanese but I really have improved so much over the last several weeks. We did some listening activities in class last night and it was super hard, but our teacher showed us our very first listening activity and I understood all of it... when just a few weeks ago... I couldn't understand more than like 3 words! It is so awesome.... the MTC is the only place in the world that you can learn this much of a new language in just a couple months. I took Spanish for THREE years and I know WAY more Japanese than Spanish.

 

 smallest room ever that sis maloy and i studied in one day

 inside a tiny room... inside a tiny mtc.... we are TRAPPED 

 Last night was TRC. From now on, we don't meet with volunteers in person... we skype members of the church in JAPAN! And we have to talk to them for 40 minutes! We talked with Miura Kyodai last night. He was so nice and had a smile on his face the whole time. I couldn't understand very much of what he said... because it was over skype. and it was in JAPANESE. haha but we were able to get to know him for a little bit and then share an overview of lesson 1- the restoration! I set a goal last Saturday to have Joseph Smith's description of the first vision memorized by this last Sunday night. So.. I was able to share Joseph Smith's exact words last night! Memorized :) So now... I have to choose a new scripture to memorize. I'm thinking Mosiah 4:9 or Amos 3:7. 

 

 

Sister Foutz and me outside the temple

Update on our investigators: Ogura San is SO prepared. He went to church on Sunday! Yesterday in our lesson we asked him about his experience at church and he said he really liked it and enjoyed Sunday School. I asked him what he learned and he said they watched a video about baptism and he felt that it was an important thing. It was a perfect lead into exactly what we wanted to share with him! We wanted to talk about how he can know the truth of the message through the Holy Ghost. I asked him if he wanted to know whether or not this gospel was true. He said something like, "I don't think you would be lying to me and I feel that what you are sharing is good, so I don't really see why I would need to find out if it's true, because I already feel that it is." We talked more about baptism and following Christ's example. We asked if he would want to follow Christ's example (and be baptized) as the Lord answered his prayers and as he came to know that the message was true. Poor guy.... with a legitimate concern... said that he didn't want to follow Christ's example because he didn't want to die on the cross. So after clarifying what it means to follow Jesus and keep the commandments, he said that he wanted to be baptized and he would ask God when he wanted him to be baptized and we will set a date for his baptism next time we meet! 

Toshi San is our other investigator. He is great and we love him!! He is super busy with his job, but he doesn't seem to enjoy it all that much. He is a tough guy and doesn't see why he would need God's help and support because he can do things on his own and he doesn't need to hear about God's plan for us, because he has Toshi's plan! He doesn't like the concept of commandments because he doesn't want to mess up, but after teaching him about Jesus Christ and the atonement and forgiveness, he felt lots better. He isn't super committed to read the scriptures and pray to God and he is unsure about coming to church. We are just having a hard time helping him to feel the Spirit and having spiritual experiences together as we visit. If he could feel the Holy Ghost testify to him of the truthfulness of the doctrine, he will have more of a desire to obey and understand his relationship with Father in Heaven better and understand how this message can bless his life. 

 

Sister Crapo.... last day before she left for JAPAN     

 

 the shimaitachi.... before they left us!!!

On Sunday night we just got in bed when we got a call on the hall phone from the front office!! We jumped out of bed to go pick up the newest sister in our zone! Taufaga Shimai from Fiji! She got to stay in our room and come to class with us for a couple days until all the other new missionaries arrived on Tuesday and Wednesday! Brox Shimai also came early- on Monday evening! So we had lots of adventures... having a couple extra sisters added to our companionship and making sure they were getting around ok. With all the new missionaries, as Sister Training Leaders we have been so busy and had lots of meetings!! But it's been really exciting! We have 9 new sisters in our zone and they are so awesome. We also got to host new missionaries for the first time yesterday! As a host, we meet them on the curb as they are dropped off and take them to get their key and name tag, help them take their bags to their residence, get all their books from the bookstore, and find their classroom! I got to host Taufaga Shimai and then Sister Smoot and Sister Scott.. going to NY and LA. It was so fun and exciting to greet all the new missionaries and remember how exciting it was when I first arrived and remembering how I had so many questions!

Picking up Taufaga Shimai in the middle of the night! 

We were really privileged this week to hear from lots of cool speakers. On Sunday we heard from Sister Wixom (general primary president) in Relief Society. And then Sister Sheri Dew for Sunday evening devotional. And Bishop Causse on Tuesday night! It's amazing how they always seem to share exactly what I need to hear!! I am so happy that I chose to serve a mission. It is not easy, but definitely worth it. I've been sick this past week with a cold and cough and haven't been able to sleep very well... or enough!! And I've also been a little stressed with the busy-ness of my new assignment and the urgency of taking advantage of these last few weeks of study and the real importance of the calling I have as a missionary. I am starting to be less concerned about being able to speak the language and more concerned about just being the best missionary I can be. Being an effective servant and being able to really love and serve those I meet... be able to share my love for the gospel, share a smile, and be able to personalize the message to meet their individual needs. I really want to help others to feel the Spirit and know that they can come to know the truthfulness of Christ's gospel for themselves!! I've learned from teachers and speakers this week that stress and disappointment are good things. It is not so good when stress and disappointment become distress and discouragement. As we are obedient, the Lord will send blessings. As we humble ourselves, the Lord can turn our weaknesses into strengths. I feel inadequate for my calling as a missionary because I am... this is the Lord's work! Without Him, I can't do anything. I am so grateful that we don't have to live this life alone. I know we have a loving Heavenly Father who watches over and blesses us daily... even sometimes blessing us with challenges! Because he loves us, He sent a Savior to atone for us and to overcome sin and death so that we don't have to be alone and we can return to live with God again some day.
I love you all!! Have a happy week!!

  new sisters who arrived early.. sister taufaga and sister brox

stokes choro and i both have mustard yellow sweaters... 

random (but we planned it)

January 16th

hey y'all.

it's p-day again! time goes by SO fast here. 

On Sunday, my companion and I got to teach our district meeting. It's like the MTC equivalent of Sunday School. The topic was Enduring to the End and the lesson went SO well. Our branch president and district president were there and they added a lot of good insight. We talked about all the different definitions of enduring and shared our own definitions of what it can mean to endure to the end. There was a lot of participation from the class, sharing experiences and testimony. I shared a personal experience/analogy with my marathon running about enduring to the end. We want to finish this life exhausted, knowing that we did all we could, knowing that we had been patient and trusting and faithful. I shared one of my favorite quotes from Sister Hinckley: "I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair perfectly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and I really lived." My companion shared a quote from President Hinckley: "Life is meant to be enjoyed, not just endured." This life is a test... we will face so many trials and obstacles, but we can find joy in enduring, find joy in obedience, find joy in the every day things. 

On Sunday... my companions and I were also asked to serve as Sister Training Leaders for our zone for the next 3 weeks. As STL we just set the example and love and serve the sisters in our zone. We have lots of meetings and we get to visit with each sister one on one each week so we miss lots of study time, but it's such a good opportunity to really get to know everyone individually. We have such a great branch! 6 sisters are leaving this week and we should be getting some new missionaries in our branch next week!! 

Being in the MTC is wonderful time for studying the language of the Spirit- studying the gospel and getting to know the scriptures and the doctrine. I am so grateful for this time that I will probably only have as a missionary. It's so exciting to become more familiar with God's word and prepare to share the truth. As I study the doctrine of Christ in it's simplicity: faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end, I am amazed at the new insights I receive and how I come to understand how everything just seems to fit and make sense. I KNOW this gospel is true. I can't deny it because I have received a witness from the Holy Spirit... so many times as I have chosen to just live the gospel and try as much as I can to follow Jesus. Christ is the only way... without His perfect sacrifice, it would be impossible for us to return home, to live with our loving Heavenly Father. I am so grateful to have a knowledge of God's plan for us- the plan of happiness- the plan of salvation. This knowledge, gives my daily life meaning and purpose. The atonement is the only means through which we can change our hearts and become better each day. I know that our Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. 

So this week at devotional.... we had ANOTHER visit from Elder Bednar. He must really love missionaries or something :) He told us that he received over 1000 questions on Christmas and he came back with his wife to answer a few more... he has now touched on 15 of our questions! I absolutely loved his talk on Tuesday. He taught us about why bad things happen to good people. It's because God trusts us to learn lessons through hard things. Only in opposition do we learn lessons that are vital to prepare us for eternity. One of my favorite quotes from Brigham Young is "Every trial and experience you have passed through is necessary for your eternal salvation." Our experiences are for our good... God doesn't allow us to be tempted above that which we are able to endure. He will be with us as we learn these important lessons and all our experiences are tailor-made for us individually. I, personally, am grateful for all that I have experienced so far in this life... even the tough times. Our district president's wife taught us that our most faithful hours are often right after our darkest hours. This is so true... our trials humble us so that we remember our dependence on our Lord and remember to turn to him, and love him and serve him. Elder Bednar touched on SO many other awesome things... but I'll share one last quote... When new missionaries come to the MTC they have a little sticker on their name tag to show that it's their first day. Elder Bednar looked at an Elder in the audience and said, "Elder, the little orange dot on your name tag- it's called a dork dot. You need to lose it. I know it's his first day, but he needs to lose it!" Haha I love that the apostles have a sense of humor. Sister Bednar said, "If I would have known that he would become an apostle, I wouldn't have married him!" I feel so lucky to hear from apostles so often here in the MTC. It's amazing. 

Today we went to the temple again! The Provo temple is SO efficient... probably because it's like Mormon central around here. Anyway.. they started showing the new new film on Tuesday.. so we are some of the first to see it! 

I love that I live right across from the temple. It's so amazing to just look out and see it every day! It's so beautiful and I feel so blessed to be so close! 

So I know some of y'all said you were confused about the difference between TRC and our investigators and stuff. Oopsies. I get on here and type so fast because time is limited that I don't even realize that I'm not explaining things that aren't completely obvious to people who aren't missionaries. Anyway... TRC stands for training resource center... we go there once a week and teach two lessons. Volunteers from the area who speak the language come so that we can talk to them! Sometimes we teach a family or a couple or some friends or a single college student. A lot are native Japanese. Most of them are members of the church. We just teach them as themselves and invite them to come closer to Christ. It's really fun!! 

P.I. is when we teach our progressing investigators. They are actually our teachers... pretending to be some of the people they taught on their missions. So... they are not members of the church and we start from the very beginning and teach them as Toshi san or Yanagihara or Iida or Akiyo or Ogura or Yuki. They obviously aren't real, but we treat it like it is so we can get appropriate experience and learn how to prepare for the various needs of investigators. My companion and I are currently teaching Ogura and Toshi. Ogura is just soaking it all up. He is so awesome and he says that he is becoming more and more happy as he reads and prays. He says that the Book of Mormon is sometimes boring cause he doesn't always understand it, but he is really intelligent and motivated. Toshi is a little more difficult to work with because he doesn't understand how religion could help him. He is really stressed and busy. He says he wants to read the Book of Mormon, but he is too busy. So... we are going to do an object lesson with him next time! The big rocks and sand object lesson. If you put the Lord first (the rocks) and then put the rest of your to-do list next (the sand), it will all fit in the glass! But if you put the sand first, the rocks won't fit. If we put the Lord first, he will bless us and we will be able to find the time for our own interests and desires. God wants to bless us in all things, both temporal and spiritual. He cares about our desires and goals. As we show him that we love him, he will provide us with divine help and assistant to accomplish the things we are responsible for. 

Well... that's enough for now! I love y'all :) 

Love, 

SISTER REEVES

January 9th

konnichiwa!

surprise!! P-day is now on Thursday! We got new schedules for the new year. we just started them this week and it's so much better. meals are at much more normal times, gym time is right before meals instead of right after and our study times are in a logical order. our personal, companionship, and language study hours are now back to back. class time is also more structured. 

Service time with Maloy Shimai! We get to wear goggles when we use dangerous chemicals ;)

the temple opened back up on monday and we were able to go this morning! today has been such a happy day! it was so good to be able to attend the temple again... it's been awhile and I've missed it!

Sunday temple walk with Sister Maloy and Sister Foutz

Our New Year's was super exciting.... We went to bed at 10:30 as usual... and toasted with sparkling apple cider in styrofoam cups. We could hear some fireworks (hanabi) outside as we fell asleep. YAY! But... we had an awesome devotional to start off the new year and talk about goal setting. Repentance allows us to change from the person we were and become someone new! As we repent we will want to do good continually and find the best uses of our time here on earth. We have opportunities each day to become more Christ-like. We can leave behind whoever we were last year and become someone new. Sometimes when we make new year resolutions we think we have to be perfect and NEVER mess up. Often when we mess up first... on January 2nd... we give up. We shouldn't despair when we fall back into our old ways. We should just get up and try again... If you're better for a day... you're better. Just try one step forward at a time. It doesn't matter how close you are from the end goal... it matters what direction you are headed in. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is NOW! How exciting is that... we can change! We can be the person we want to be! 

This last Sunday was Fast Sunday. It was such an awesome day! I felt comfort as I fasted with purpose and enjoyed the Sabbath day. Our schedule on Fast Sundays is a little different. Instead of having relief society, we go to a Mission Conference as an entire MTC and hear from the MTC President and other speakers. It was such a good meeting. Our sacrament meeting was a testimony meeting, of course. I got to lead the music, which was cool and scary cause I'm not even that good at reading the words in Japanese! But it is so amazing that even though I don't understand all the words I'm singing, I can still feel the same Spirit and the truth of those hymns. I have never shared my testimony in a Sacrament Meeting, but I knew that this was a perfect time to face my fears and share my testimony with my Branch... which is actually super tiny (just 24 companionships) because my district is still the newest group of missionaries! I was able to share my testimony in Japanese!! It was scary, but I realized that I really did know how to communicate a lot of the feelings of my heart in Japanese! As always, we got to walk to the temple and just enjoy being on the grounds.

Japanese is coming a long. The learning pace isn't too hard to keep up with... we are just expected to do a lot of studying on our own! We get to "mogi" (role-play) a lot. Last night Sister Maloy and I practiced teaching another companionship in our district. We had a teacher there to observe and help us. It is really cool how if you take the mogi seriously, you can really feel the Spirit and the truth of the message you are sharing. It's the same with the lessons we teach to progressing investigators. They are actually just our teachers, but we pray for them and care about them and seek to discover their needs and be a friend to them. The last lesson we had with Toshi San did not go very well at all. We weren't able to relate to him, understand his needs, or share with him anything that he could relate to or feel. It was really frustrating and I was really upset afterwards. I felt so sad that we had an opportunity to help Toshi feel the Spirit, but we messed up and left him confused and without much of a desire to understand anything more about his relationship with God. After the lesson, our teacher (who pretends to be Toshi) could tell that I was really upset. He was able to talk to me about how I felt and help encourage me: We haven't been taught all the skills we need to be effective missionaries and I am doing all that I can. I am diligent in my studying and an example of diligence to my district. He made me promise that I would eat ice cream at dinner. Haha.. that wasn't too hard! That night I just really wanted a hug from a friend. I felt a little alone. The same teacher took us up to the top floor of one of our buildings and had us look out at the mountains. They are huge and beautiful and it's so amazing that God created them for us. Those mountains are way bigger than the problems we face and God will help us overcome anything! It was also crazy to look out the window and see lots of Provo and all of the BYU campus. It was weird to see the past couple years right in front of me and have a flood of memories- the experiences that helped me learn and grow and make the decision to be a missionary and share the joy of the gospel with those who need the comfort and peace that it brings. Looking out at the mountains and the campus was exactly what I needed.

Heart-attacking Sister Sorenson's bed while she was in the shower (:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 

That night we went to the devotional. We heard from the Presiding Bishop of the church, Bishop Stevenson. He served his mission in Japan and was also a mission president there later. The message that stood out was that sharing our testimony invites the Spirit to our lessons. Our testimonies are more powerful and mean more than any truth that we teach. Inviting the Spirit is so much more important than our investigators understanding the doctrine. They can just feel that it's true. Often, people won't be able to understand what we are saying, but they will see our happiness and feel warm and peaceful and want to know more and find out for themselves. It is no coincidence that the speakers at our devotionals lately have connections to Japan. It is no coincidence that I have been called to serve in Japan at this time. There is work to be done in Japan and I am willing to be the Lord's servant and assist him in this work. The people of Japan are wonderful. They are ready to hear this glad message and I am so excited to be a friend to so many Nihonjin (Japanese people) that I meet!

TRC has been going well. The volunteers are so nice to us, even when we aren't very good at speaking the language. I feel like a little child... speaking in such simple sentences, but as my companion and I share our testimonies, I can feel the Spirit so strongly and the volunteers can, too! Lots of the people we meet with are native Japanese and they talk SO fast and it's hard to understand what they are saying, but I can feel the power of their testimonies and experiences, too! They usually write us a review about how the lesson went and how they were inspired because of the meeting. and sometimes they write in Japanese... which gives us a good challenge for language study!

Weird faces with Sister Foutz and Elder Tipene

There is so much to tell y'all, but not lots of time!! Thanks for writing me and keeping in touch. LOVE YOU. 

Sister REEVES

January 4th

Well... it's been another week!! We are starting to really get into a routine and it often feels like just the same old thing. And we study.... and study... and study....

But... it's a lot of fun and I love all the amazing people I am getting to know here in the MTC! 

Every Thursday we get to do service in the mornings. My assignment is with Sister Maloy and our other roommates, Sister Sorensen and Sister Foutz. We clean the bathrooms on our floor for about an hour, sweeping, mopping, cleaning the sinks and toilets, showers, all that fun stuff! and sometimes we get to vacuum the halls and clean the water fountains. It's a good break from studying!! yay... 

This last Saturday was our first time at the TRC. Volunteers from the area who speak Japanese come to the MTC and we have the opportunity to get to know them and leave them with a quick message. Last week was so fun! Most companionships just got to meet with one person for 20 minutes, but Maloy Shimai and I got to teach two lessons! It's a lot different from meeting with our progressing investigators because the volunteers are members of the church and we teach them as themselves. Just leaving them with a message and a commitment that will help them to come closer to Christ and strengthen their faith. The time flew by so fast as we got to know them and with 5 minutes left... we were like "Oh yeah... families are really important to God. The home is the best place to teach and learn the gospel. Have you prayed about the Book of Mormon?" We first met with Megumi and Paru... they are both college students. Meg is from Japan and Paul is from Peru. They were so nice and understanding about the fact that we barely know any Japanese. The volunteers have an opportunity to leave a review about how the meeting went. I will attach pictures of their notes to us! We also met with a man named Jushi Kyodai. He is from Japan, but he now lives in Orem with his wife and he is a professor at BYU and UVU. He teaches a calligraphy class. He told us to take his class when we get home and he will give us an A. He was so nice... but he sort of laughed at how bad we were at speaking the language. I asked him what he expected from us, the missionaries... he said that he expects missionaries to help others to feel the Spirit and to invite them to be baptized. He said he was learning about the gospel from missionaries for over a year in Japan before any missionary ever taught him about baptism. He called himself an "eternal investigator". The Japanese word for investigator means "seeker of truth". He was seeking truth for so long without knowing what else he could do to follow Christ. Christ was the perfect example. Even he was baptized... to fulfill all righteousness. Baptism is a wonderful opportunity to witness our faith and to show God that we desire to follow his commandments. Jushi Kyodai taught us to not fear when we share the gospel and to invite everyone to follow Christ and his example and be baptized. It was so cool to meet with him. He asked if he could take a picture of us afterwards so that he could show some new missionaries headed to Tokyo South to his wife and friends. We get to go to TRC again tonight and help our volunteers to understand how they can receive answers to their prayers. 

Our teachers have instituted a new "punishment"? for when we are late to class. If we show up late, the door is closed and we have to treat it as a door approach. We knock on the door and our sensei or someone in our district opens the door and speaks to us in Japanese. We have to introduce ourselves as missionaries and tell them that we have a message for them about Jesus Christ and ask if we can meet with them... It is really funny. And good practice. Especially because in Japan, they will usually speak to you through the door and not actually open it to invite you in. 

Our lessons with kyudosha are getting so much better. We have 2-3 progressing investigators at a time. Right now we are teaching Yuki san and Toshi san. I am getting more comfortable with a lot of grammar and I can better communicate my thoughts and the ideas that I want to share. They always ask really good questions about Jesus Christ... most of them don't even really have a strong faith in God or know who Jesus is at all. And they wonder why there are so many different Christian churches. It's sometimes hard to explain these concepts in Japanese, but it's more important for them to feel the Spirit than to understand everything about Christ's gospel. As I am becoming more confident in speaking Japanese... I bring in fewer notes and helps for my lessons and just struggle through it with what I know! At the MTC we use the concept, "SYL" (speak your language), to keep us motivated to just try to say everything we can in Japanese before we use English. It's really hard because it takes so much longer to find the words to say the same ideas that come so naturally in English... but doing this helps our Nihongo became more natural. 

I love that most of our time is spent studying the doctrine of Christ. As we seek to obtain the word of God and study the language of his Spirit first... we can then be blessed in our study of the Japanese language. The Spirit of the Lord is the universal language. People in Japan may not understand what we say or completely understand the message of the gospel and the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, but they will feel something different and special when they are with us and will want to invite us back. Our confidence and strength should be in the Lord because this is His work and His gospel and these are His children that we will meet in Japan. 

I am so excited to go to Japan and get to know the people and the culture and the language. But with such a long time in the MTC... it feels like that part of my mission will never come!! even though it's coming so quickly!! It's crazy that 2 months of the mission is spent in training, but it's such a great opportunity to learn and grow and be prepared to share the word of God and share the glad message that we have a Savior. He loves us and wants to bless us. Through him, we can repent and be able to live with our Father in Heaven again. 

I love y'all. Have a happy week!! 

Ai shite imasu, 

Reeves Shimai 

p.s. seirei ni yotte heian o kanjiru koto ga dekiru to shitte imasu.
(I know that through the Spirit, we can feel peace.)