Keeping Busy

{Our cutest Sister Reeves is keeping so busy in Japan! We've only received a couple of small emails the last two weeks. We can't wait to get a long letter and hear about everything! Keep praying for her!}

February 24th:
hi family. I'm alive. :) sasaki ShiMai and I were super busy so we
skipped p day.... maybe later this week? love you all. thanks so much
for everything. you are my favorite people!

February 25th:
こんにちわ！愛していますよ。
hey y'all guys
still not p day haha but it's gonna be on Thursday for a bit so I will
have time to email and give you an update on everything that's going
on :) it's good to be so busy... we are on exchanges today. fun to
work with a がいじん (foreigner) and talk with someone who is closer to my level in
日本語 (japanese)。love you so much! be happy 

February 17th

{I'm sure everyone is extremely anxious to hear from Reeves Shimai! Here's her first letter from Japan. Her family was able to talk to her during a layover in Seattle. It was so good to hear her voice, she is happy and positive and was so excited! We even got to hear her speak a little Japanese, it was awesome and she sounded so legit! Please send a letter or an email, so she can feel love and support from her family and friends while she is adjusting to such a new place!}


こんいちわ^ ^あいしていますよ！

hello! I love you! hi from japan! so... super cool. our mission is actually not the trial mission for laptops... every missionary in Tokyo south actually has an iPad. way crazy. and it always has me typing in Japanese so it's sometimes confusing. anyway... I have been here for almost a week now. and I love it! the traveling wasn't too bad except the head rests on the seats were ginormous so we all felt like we were leaning forwards haha. The flight was like ten hours and it actually went by pretty fast. we were just so tired and excited. the flight attendants spoke both Japanese and English so it was だいじょぶ (OK)。we got through customs pretty quickly. there weren't too many people in the airport. we were met by president and sister Wada and the APs. we had to drive an hour and a half to get to the ほんぶ (mission home) and I had to pee soooo badly. haha maybe my new nickname will be おてあらい しまい (sister bathroom)。we ate soup and had a quick thought and went to bed. first night sleeping on a futon and the pillow is literally full of beans instead of feathers or cotton or whatever. awesome. we woke up at six and went running through the koen (park). so fun! japan is rad. lots of training and our first でんど (missionary work/proselyting) experience! lots of good food too in the mission home. we ate dinner out and I chose a fun sushi place where the sushi is on a conveyer belt and you just pick up the plates you want. really cheap sushi... like 100 yen for a plate which is pretty much one dollar. afterwards we taught English class. so fun! next day woke up early to run again.. more training... this time with the trainers... but none of us knew who our new companions were until right before lunch. yayyyy it was so fun. my companion is sasaki しまい (sister)。she is Japanese and little and adorable. she is really good at English and so sweet! I love her. she has trained tons of missionaries so I've heard I have the best trainer.

my area is called kichijoji and it's the same place as the mission home. I am so lucky to see president wada all the time and be so close. it is also the most city-like and has tons of malls and shops. the sisters in our apartment are way cute and nice. sister wells and sister feist. our apartment is tiny. there is a freezing bathroom, kitchen, room with closets and our futons and a room with desks. We have a washer but no dryer. I heard we have one of the worst apartments in the missions but being being in kichijoji makes up for it. the first night we went to sports night at the church. volleyball and badminton. what an experience. I am terrible at sports... it's another thing to have terrible jet lag and be in a foreign country...
definitely what you would call out of the comfort zone, but it was sorta fun and completely embarrassing. haha I think sports night is every Thursday night.... :) first couple days of dendo were soooo hard. I feel like a complete idiot because I am literally the only gaijin (foreigner) anywhere and I don't understand or speak the language very well at all. but the people here are so sweet and not judgmental at all. always saying I'm so じょず (skilled)。which is just out of politeness, but that's okay! it's hard to imagine that I will ever understand the language or feel comfortable, but I'm studying lots and I have an awesome comp who will teach me lots. I like to teach her fun English words too like gangster and peace out and what's up. our first day of dendo, we visited Asai shimai. she is the tiniest lady ever. everyone thinks I'm so 大き (big)。she is so cute and nice. She knows some English. we helped her to clean her house for a guest who was coming... we had a lesson planned but she needed help organizing. that is one of my favorite activities! but... she didn't heat the house and it was an extremely cold day and snowed alllll day. Sister sasaki and I were freezing. also in japan you never wear shoes inside so my feet were killing until I couldn't feel them anymore anyway haha. we talked with her briefly about the book of Mormon. she likes to read the bible with her grandchildren. she wants us to help her make dinner next time, but we also want to invite her to have a family home evening with her daughter and grand kids. it has snowed soooo much. we made a huge ゆきだるま(snowman) in the church parking lot. everyone says it's really unusual for Tokyo to have weather like that. today the weather is really nice! yesterday was my first day at church! よかった！(YAY!) i couldn't understand like anything, but the members are so sweet. Sunday school was easier to understand... the teacher had me introduce myself and even had me make a comment in the lessons scaryyyyy. haha. there are lots of missionaries in our ward. and they are all so nice. I felt so much happier after church. it was wonderful to feel the spirit and take the sacrament and just be uplifted and ready for another afternoon of missionary work. I smiled so much more and participated a lot more in the conversations we had with people we met. we most often hand out fliers inviting people to えいかわ。English class. everyone is so cute andすてき (classy)。I want so badly to be able to talk and communicate with them. We do lots of dendo on the trains and in the parks. there are literally people everywhere and everyone rides bikes. I get to buy a bike later this week! today is p day and so we were able to go to the grocery stores. it was so fun. they have lots of food that I can't identify but there is tons of fish and really awesome and affordable veggies and fruits. Yummy. sorry if this email is all over the place. iPads are hard and I'm cold cause the church isn't heated either (but the church toilet seats are). Haha being a missionary is such a humbling experience but I am so grateful to be here. keep praying for japan! :) love y'all so much. きよすけてください！(take care!)
 

February 6th

Note:::: All mail for Sister Reeves needs to be sent to the updated address on the right side of the blog. (underneath the glamour shot of Sister Reeves!)

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII. 4 days. I can count that on one hand. WOAH. I started packing today! YAY. It's getting really real, but I still can't imagine being in Japan. I do not know Japanese... I've learned a lot, but oh my... native speakers will be impossible to understand! Anyway, leaving Monday morning... I'll have a 4 hour layover in Seattle, so I'll call home!

This week was fast sunday again! I had the opportunity to bear my testimony... and I think it made a little more sense than last time, so that's good :) Fast Sundays are my favorite at the MTC. 

We've had a lot of "lasts" this week. Tuesday was our last service day. We LOVE the girl who leads our assignment. She is the girl who cleans our building, so we help out once a week. She is super cute, return missionary, BYU student and just so fun. She always leaves us super nice notes and candy when she does our bedroom cleaning checks. Anyway, we are going to miss her, but service was definitely fun. 

Today was our last trip to the temple. Our district ate breakfast in the cafeteria after the session and it was so nice to eat food that seemed more real than the food at the MTC. A delicious omelet for 2 bucks... :) I'm excited to visit the temple in Tokyo... I've heard that we get to go every transfer! 

Tuesday devotional was great! Elder David Evans came again... he talked about addressing the importance of families and how the world's view of the family is changing. Wonderful message. 

I am singing in a musical number in Sacrament meeting on Sunday. We are now going to have a couple elders with us... singing I am a Child of God in Japanese! Crazy that it'll be our last Sunday at the MTC. I have loved my branch and our branch presidency and their wives. It sounds sort of crazy, but I'm going to miss the MTC. It has been a wonderful experience. I have learned so much and grown a lot, too. Our teachers like to say that the MTC stands for "my time with Christ"... and it really is. It's a perfect setting for studying the gospel and learning how to be a better representative of Jesus Christ. 

Our skype with the nihonjin has been fun... I don't really ever understand much of what they are saying, but they are very nice. Last night we talked to an old man who doesn't know english at all... he was super happy and friendly. He would just laugh when we were struggling. We told him that we know we aren't very skilled. We have only studied for 8 weeks. We know God will help us and we know that the Spirit is skilled in Japanese :) He thought that was funny, but it's true! 

My companion and I had a couple really amazing experiences this week with feeling the Spirit: 

1. Our teachers leave the decision of how we spend class time up to us... I suggested a concern that I had that I wanted to teach with the Spirit and be able to help the investigators feel it... and have a spiritual experience together. I knew that just saying the doctrine wasn't going to bring any change... it needed to be more powerful than that. Our sensei said, "I don't think you know who you are." It is hard to really recognize that I am a missionary... called by a prophet of God... called to be a representative of Jesus Christ and His church. As a missionary, it is my calling to share with people the things that Jesus would share/say/do/etc if he were there. And I have the authority to do that. Woah. He had Maloy Shimai and I try it out... he sat with the two of us and told us that we would teach each other just as each other (maloy shimai and reeves shimai). We both know the gospel but we can both be invited to come closer to Christ. If Christ were there... what would he want us to know? The catch was... we could only ask questions. Maloy Shimai was the "missionary" first. She asked me some deep questions and really got me thinking about my faith and the desires of my heart. One of the responses I gave her left her wondering what she would say next. She turned to the sensei and he told her that she didn't have to ask questions anymore but she could just say what Jesus would say... He said it was okay if she was silent for awhile. We just sat there crying... she started sharing with me how Heavenly Father feels about me and it was exactly what I needed to here. Then... it was my turn. I was so nervous. I didn't know if my thoughts were my own or not. The teacher told me to just open my mouth and the words would come. We did the same thing... questions first and then just words of God's love for Maloy Shimai. It was amazing to feel his love for my companion. He loves ALL his children. With a perfect love. It was an exhausting experience but incredible. We wanted the same thing for our investigators. 

2. Ogura Kyodai is doing awesome. Preparing for baptism this weekend. We have one more visit with him tonight to just go over a couple commandments and get him ready for the interview. Toshi Kyodai has been a difficult kyudosha to work with. He doesn't understand how the gospel can help him and we have had a hard time helping him to understand. Another sensei met with us and told us to go into our next visit and only do the following things: pray, share testimony, share scriptures, share experiences, express love, and ask questions. We couldn't teach a prepared lesson. We were pretty nervous, but we prayed really hard and went into the lesson. We were prompted to ask the right questions that opened up more insight into his concerns. We asked why he thinks this gospel message might be important. He didn't know... We asked why He thinks it's important to learn about Jesus Christ (because he said that is why he meets with us). He didn't know... I shared that God was pleased with him. It is a wonderful thing that Toshi has the desire to learn of Christ. We shared testimony of what it means that we have a Savior. We spoke of repentance and forgiveness. We asked if he wanted forgiveness and healing. He said yes, everyone wants those things, but he shared that he doesn't think he can have those things. He says that he things the missionaries and church members can, though. We expressed that we don't understand his life perfectly, but Jesus does and we know that this gospel can help anyone's problems, but specifically his. We asked if he thought he was deserving of or worthy of these blessings that we say he can receive through the gospel. He expressed that he didn't want to talk about it specifically, but he has done a lot of bad things and he isn't that good of a person. We explained that we all sin and God understands. That's why he sent a Savior. So he could overcome sin and we could return to live with God. As my companion shared her testimony... I was searching for a scripture. and I came across the perfect verse. Mosiah 26:22

For behold, ^athis is my ^bchurch; whosoever is ^cbaptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whomsoever ye receive shall^dbelieve in my name; and him will I freely ^eforgive.

 I had him read the verse out loud. It was silent for a bit and then I asked him how he felt. After asking that question... it was literally silent for 5 minutes. Tears were forming in our eyes and my companion and I just kept praying in our hearts. After 5 minutes he handed the book back to me and said thank you. I bore my testimony and asked him if he wanted to receive baptism. He said yes. We explained that it is a wonderful goal and we are here to help. This is why we are missionaries!! We love him!! It was an amazing experience. I learned a wonderful lesson about the Spirit... we can receive revelation in the hour (planning) and the minute(the lesson)! and we need to not be afraid of leaving our agenda and plan aside when prompted to take the discussion in another direction. 

Anyway, I love you all! Keep Smiling. Life is awesome.

January 30th

Hello Again.

GUESS WHAT?! I'm going to JAPAN in like 12 days. WOOHOO. Only one more P-day. Starting February 10th.... send mail to the following address and don't use dear elder anymore :) 

Sister McKenzie Reeves 

Japan Tokyo South Mission

1-7-7 Kichijoji, Higashi-Cho

Musashino-shi, Tokyo 180-0002 JAPAN

I have absolutely loved the MTC. And this is gonna sound weird... but I think I might miss it just a tiny bit. But... Japan and real life missionary work is gonna be WAY more cool!! 

Oh... so before coming to the MTC, we were thinking that I wasn't going to be able to read the scriptures in Japanese. And I don't know where we heard that, but I actually can! I'm just pretty slow at reading, but practice makes perfect, right? The prophets have said that anyone who reads the Book of Mormon in a foreign language will become fluent in that language... and that would be pretty rad.

Sister Foutz and I on P-day, trying to escape the MTC! 

My Japanese is coming along okay... I'm able to grasp the grammar concepts and put it together and my pronunciation is good! My teacher told me that for these next few days he wants me to work on imitating the rhythm of native Japanese speakers.. so I listen to phrases on the computer and repeat them over and over and try to sound like them and speak at the same tempo. It's pretty fun... if I only understood what I was saying. My goal for the MTC has been to understand grammar principles and not really focus on vocabulary at all. If I know the sentence structure... I can make sense of the words I do know. We did skype again last night with a sister in Japan. She was awesome... I'm understanding more each time, but seriously, they talk so fast. And we probably sound like 3 year olds with our 7 weeks Japanese experience. 

Sarah Katherine and me! 

Peri (:

Twinning with my companion :) I made her match me.

The other day, the fitness center was super crowded so Foutz Shimai and I headed to the big gym to run on the track. I know I broke my rule of recovering from my injury before running again, but it was SO awesome to be able to run. It was just a short 3 miles, don't worry :)

Heart-attacking the new sisters! 

We visited again with Toshi the other day. There are so many fundamentals that my companion and I wanted to work on... teaching people not lessons, setting expectations, understanding our missionary purpose, etc. We said SO many prayers, preparing for this particular "lesson". We decided to go in to it without an "agenda"... without any doctrines that we wanted to teach, without anything in particular that we wanted to cover... just to show up, listen, be a friend, and wait for the Spirit to guide our thoughts. Our lesson went SO much better. We were able to talk like friends.. it felt so much more comfortable, we were able to help him pray, and we shared with him why we were there: We were called by a prophet of God and sent to Toshi! We love Toshi so much and we want him to be happy. He said he meets with us because the missionaries are really friendly and seem like really happy people. I asked him why he thinks the missionaries are so happy. He wasn't really sure, but he expressed that everyone wants to be happy. We shared with him that that is exactly why we are missionaries, we have a knowledge of Christ's gospel and when we live according to its teachings, we are SO happy! I shared my favorite scripture, Mosiah 2:41 (consider the blessed and happy state of those who keep the commandments...). The lesson wasn't perfect, but it felt so much better!

Got my tag! 

Ogura is doing really well. He is consistent with scripture reading, prayer, and church attendance. We set a date for his baptism... February 8th! SO soon... we are just meeting with him 3 more times until then. He asked a wonderful question awhile ago. He was wondering how he could receive personal revelation through the Book of Mormon. We came back the next visit and had "scripture study". We read where he had just finished reading in the Book of Mormon. 1 Nephi 16- where Nephi's family is lead into the more fertile parts of the wilderness by the Liahona. The Liahona is like the Holy Ghost, it guides us according to our faith and will continue to guide us as we following it's promptings. Another part of this chapter shares the story of Nephi's broken bow. His family was murmuring because now they wouldn't be able to eat... but Nephi put in the work, made a new bow and then asked where he would be able to find food for his family. Revelation works the same way. If we have a question, we first need to seek and study and put in the work, and then ask in prayer, and be sure to listen and act on the answer we receive. The guidance on the Liahona changed from time to time. Just like the way the Holy Spirit teaches us... we can read the scriptures a million times and always receive something new from our study! Ogura is really prepared. So amazing.

Temple walk... with Solomon and an Elder from his district. 

Elders Young, Stokes, and Carlini.

We got to host new missionaries again this week! 4 new sisters came to the MTC from JAPAN. They are headed back to Japan for their missions and will actually be leaving the same day I am! The sisters in my district got to host these new shimaitachi. It was fun to try to speak Japanese and they were so sweet and cute!

Sister Foutz, Sister Taufaga, Sister Maloy

Sister Foutz, President Johnson

 
All the sisters... or lots of them and our zone leaders (Elder Young and Elder Bates)

On Tuesday night, my district ushered for the devotional. I guess when you're here for so long... they give you more responsibilities! haha it's always the missionaries going to Asia helping out :) Elder Martino of the seventy came to speak to us. It was so amazing... he talked about working with the members to get referrals, but also about bringing members to our lessons. He shared the story of Alma and Amulek. Alma was the great missionary, but Amulek was the member who astonished the people! As he was sharing this story, he also talked about how Alma was really discouraged because none of the people were accepting the message of the gospel. An angel appeared to him and told him to rejoice. He had been obedient! He was committed and diligent and obeyed the Lord with exactness. The angel came to lift him up and encourage him. Angels also prepare people to hear the message. This part of the story about angels stood out to me because I have been discouraged as well... but the same day as the devotional, I got a letter from Mom! She shared with me that the presence of angels in our lives is just as real as the presence of the Savior and of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Angels are watching over us daily. They can be with me to cheer me on and to encourage me and also help our investigators receive the gospel. And then yesterday... our teacher shared Moroni chapter 7 with us! And he said... that the missionaries can be these angels, who call people to repentance and help them to receive such amazing joy in living the gospel. I went back and read this chapter again. It has such a great message. We can't have hope without faith. There are so many people who are looking for happiness... looking for something to hope for. The gospel brings me so much hope and peace and comfort. Fear is the opposite of faith. Charity casts out fear and charity never fails. If we strive to follow Christ's example and love as he did, we can strengthen our faith and have hope in the Savior and his sacrifice and find happiness in following him through this mortal journey.

Ready for the gym!

Service time! 

Anyway, I love y'all SO MUCH! Be happy and obey ;)