September 22nd

Hello everyone!
First off... The weather here is gorgeous! The hot summer turned into
perfect cool temperatures. About time to open my cool weather clothes
suitcase!
This has been one of the hardest weeks on the mission so far. My faith
was definitely tried and built, but I know it will work out according
to God's plan. I've struggled all week with a cold and feeling overly
tired and stressed. Our area hasn't been as productive as usual and I
have felt down thinking that the slow progression is my own fault. My
companion is so new and needs my support and I struggle to find the
comfort and teaching and words in her language. But I am learning to
communicate love even silently as I focus on her needs because they
are just as important as the needs of my investigators. And maybe it
will take just as much energy but she is worth it!!
Tuesday: went on an exchange with sister Barnes. We visited tons of
members and non members and delivered daily messages. Little thank you
notes or thoughts! We were able to pass  a Book of Mormon and be bold
and natural in our invitations. The weather was perfect... And we were
on bikes like all day! She takes a more relaxed approach to missionary
work than I do and still gets so much done without the extra stress! I
can learn a lot from her! It was also nice to talk in English for a
bit...
Wednesday: We visited a member in the morning and shared a lesson with
her. We tried out a new place for proselyting... The river! We got
there and there really weren't that many people out and the ones who
were there weren't super approachable. I prayed and had the feeling
that if I took my Book of Mormon out of my bag, there would be someone
placed in our path and we could have a meaningful conversation with
them. I obeyed the prompting and soon enough we were able to start
some really natural conversations. Just a few, but I was so grateful
for even just one! On our way back to where we parked our bikes we met
a lady who seemed in a hurry at first, but I just kept asking her
questions and she would stick around and talk longer. She didn't
accept the Book of Mormon I was holding in my hand nor did anyone else
that day but she let us into her home and shared her ideas about
religion with us. She had met with missionaries of another church in
the past and didn't have the most positive experience. She knows a lot
about Christianity but kind of lost interest over the years because of
various experiences. We pray for her and look forward to more
opportunities to strengthen our friendship and invite her to hear more
about Christ and his perfect love.
We met with Terumi and Sato Shimai. We were finally able to have a
member present! She is understanding more and more and she is changing
little by little. She is less tense and distant and reserved and
sometimes there is a little sparkle in her eyes.
English class was hilarious. Went on splits with sister Eyring. We
taught the advanced class and sometimes they know more English than we
do. They asked us about the things that surprised us in Japan and
laughed at our stories of not knowing how to flush the toilet, etc...
Thursday: we visited Takahata Shimai for her birthday and were able to
share a message with her. I think she was able to help us more than we
helped her, though. My companion is having a way hard time adjusting
to life as a missionary and feeling like a valuable tool for the Lord.
Takahata Shimai testified powerfully and encouraged both of us in our
growth.
We had a lesson with our friend, Tomoe. She introduced us to her
friend, Kana, and we taught them both about prayer. They listened
interestedly and intently. They are mainly there for the English
lesson but both are bright girls and have lots of thoughts about life
and religion. Kana says she believes in God but also really believes
in help from her ancestors who have passed. We asked them to think
about what they would ask God if he were right there in the room with
us. Kana prayed to God for the first time. She will now be meeting us
for lessons each week!
We went to game night and fellow shipped a recent convert, Okuno
Shimai. I think I lost all the games we played but it was fun :) haha
Friday: exchange with.... Bryson Shimai!! There was a conference for
the Japanese missionaries and both of us have Japanese companions this
transfer... So we exchanged and I brought her back with me to
hibarigaoka! So fun! We laughed about all of our crazy experiences and
rejoiced in remembering all the miracles! We had such a great
transfer. We visited the Aoki family and had lunch and shared a
message with their little girls. Mito is adorable and so talkative.
She really wants to be a missionary one day. Our proselyting was
really natural and fun. I was so grateful for the simple experience of
sitting next to a lady on the bus and making origami with her. At
first when I sat down I didn't know what to say but I knew I really
wanted to talk to her. I decided to just open my mouth and talk to a
stranger and she became my friend!
We received a text that night from an investigator... She dropped us.
I began crying, but then got a call from Sister Merstrand. We talked
together and knew that we made an impact in that lady's life and maybe
that was just the introduction to the gospel she needed. God has a
plan for her and a plan for us!
Saturday: we went to the Tokorozawa ward fall festival with nana and
her little sister, rara. They are so cute and always excited to come
to the church!
The next story is a long one!! In summary: our investigator let us
borrow something really special of his and wanted it to be returned to
him by president wada when we would all meet together. Turned out that
we would all not likely be able to meet so I asked president wada for
this item back. Well... Sister wada had kindly cleaned out his car and
it was gone. Through a series of other events, our investigator was
reallyyyy upset with me. He felt like I had abandoned a friend and not
shown him the respect or concern that I should have. After many tears
and prayers, sister wada and I were able to meet him together and
learn a powerful lesson about forgiveness. He had been so appalled
that we as mormon members would hurt him...  He had lost interest in
studying about the church and couldn't understand much about the rules
and doctrine. I apologized and shared that my actions were never
perfect, though I certainly try. The members of Christ's church are
imperfect people but Christ and his gospel are perfect. He was able to
forgive and we were relieved to resolve this dilemma. That is the
sparknotes version for sure!!
Sunday: church!!! And a long day weekly planning and submitting our
stats. Sometimes having technology in the palm of our hand is a
blessing and sometimes it makes things more difficult! Haha... But we
survived!
Moral of the week: God didn't send me here to fail. He loves me and he
loves you and he loves all his children! He gives me tests and trials
and weaknesses that I might rely on him and trust him and receive his
strength. This rough patch is for my growth! Find hope amidst trial
and remember how much you depend on the Lord. He is always there for
you.
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let
it be afraid.
John 14:27
Jesus Christ showed us the way. It is by obedience to his gospel that
we can find meaning and purpose in the things we do. He will give us
peace.
I love you all and pray for you. Thank you for your love and prayers!
Xoxoxo
Sister Reeves

Fall Festival in Tokorozawa with Nana and Rara

Shitami Shimai and me eating sandwiches from Ishii Shimai

More from the Fall Festival

Sister Bryson, Me, and Aoki Mito chan 

Sister Shitami, Nana, Rara, Sister Merstrand 

CUTE little Aoki girl (:

Sister Merstrand, Sister Shitmai, Nana

September 15th

Hey y'all.
It's the beginning of another transfer with yet another companion! At
this rate I'll have 13 companions by the end. I'm on number 7 already!
Anyway, her name is Sister Shitami. She is from Sapporo. A way cold
place in Japan. The weather has gotten really cool here and she thinks
it's hot. Haha anyway, she is really cute and doesn't speak English at
all.... So this forces me to learn Japanese for sure. It's really
exhausting actually. She is a brand new missionary and way nervous to
be out here. It's interesting to be the one showing her the ropes when
she's the one that actually understands what's going on around us..
She just hasn't had any experience being a missionary, yet. Way crazy
and slightly intimidating. But she is really patient and encouraging
and I'm grateful for that.
Tuesday: exchange with sister eyring. She is so fun. Always has so
many jokes... It's good comic relief for the stress of being a
missionary. We visited a less active together, rang a few doorbells
and experienced rejection, and talked to as many people as we could!!
We even came back with a sketch some man had drawn. We said hello and
he reached into his bag and gave us a sketch of some sheep and tried
to give us some explanation but we didn't understand it.
After we exchanged back, sister Merstrand and I visited a million
people so she could say goodbye. Transfers are a way good opportunity
to get your investigators to meet with you ;)
Wednesday: we were able to teach three lessons! Good day :) we met
with Tomoe, hirata Shimai, and Terumi San. Each lesson went way well
and Terumi is progressing well towards her baptism. Earlier in the
week she had given us a sweet note that she had worked really hard on
to write in English. She expressed her gratitude for praying at the
church and preparing for baptism. In our lesson this week she thanked
us for telling her that she is a daughter of God and that he loves
her. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to teach her. I'm grateful to
be a daughter of God!
Thursday: went to the mission home to pick up my new companion! There
were only 3 new sisters who came in and all three are Japanese! We ate
together and had various trainings and were there pretty much all day.
We came home and started planning for the week.... It's always hard
when transfers come and you have to update your companion on the
background story of all the people you're working with.
Friday: we visited to potential investigators and less actives and
attended district meeting. Tried to talk to a bajillion people and I
just had to stop and pray that at least one of them would say hello
back to me. It's really hard to try so hard and be ignored.
Saturday: we visited a less active for her birthday. She lives forever
and a year away and the bus doesn't come very often. So we were stuck
in her area for an extra hour and a half and there was literally no
one on the street so we had no choice but to go "housing". We saw lots
of success because we gave many people a choice... But no potential
investigators.
Sunday: Sunday is usually the most exhausting day for me, but I
magically had lots of energy. Church was great... Spoke with lots of
members and set appointments with them. This ward is so great about
helping the missionaries. We visited an English class student and his
wife after church. We weren't able to teach them about the church and
they didn't express a lot of interest but I really think one day they
will be willing to learn more. It's really cool... He actually met the
missionaries for the first time in this area when he was in junior
high. It is no coincidence that he has this relationship with the
Mormon church!
We "heart attacked" a less active family's door and I guess they heard
us because as we were leaving we heard the door open a crack... So we
ran!!! Haha way fun.
We had dinner and played games with the Abe family. They both
converted to the church when they were 18. They have three cute little
girls. They wanted us to come teach their 7 year old daughter about
baptism. She wanted to know how she can help her girls have a desire
to go to church and be baptized. She had lots of questions about what
it was like for us to be raised in the church and if it ever felt like
we were being forced to go to church and follow the commandments. I'm
really grateful for the things my parents taught me from a young age,
but I'm also grateful for the freedom of choice that we all have. I'm
grateful to have been able to learn for myself the truthfulness of the
gospel of Jesus Christ and make my own decision to follow him.
Monday: we had a great lesson with fumiyo and kana. We gave them a
Book of Mormon story reader for children and taught them how to read,
ponder, liken, and apply the messages of the Book of Mormon to receive
Gods guidance and feel his love. We used the story of Lehi's dream to
help them understand how to study God's word and apply it in our lives
to experience happiness. We always have so much fun studying with
them. They are so sincere and we are grateful for our friendship with
them. They are so willing to pray and always excited to learn about
Jesus. They love all the pictures of him and think he looks cool.
Haha.
I love you so much!

TOMOE San 

After the temple (:

Morita Shimai

CHOI (Terumi)

Transfer day: Sister Barnes, Sister Eyring, Sister Reeves, Sister Merstrand 

Danish origami stars with Hirata Shimai

September 8th

Hello! Today we had transfer calls....
And I will be staying in Hibarigaoka for a third transfer! Yay!
And like all transfers before... I'm getting a new companion. But the
trick this time is I have no idea who she is yet! She is in the MTC
right now and I will meet her on Thursday morning. Yep, training! Sort
of an overwhelming assignment but I'm excited. Maybe she'll be
Japanese. You'll find out next week!
This week was good! We were able to meet with Misako again after quite
awhile. We always enjoy our time with her so much! We met for a lesson
and then watched the restoration video together and ate treats! She is
super busy with work so we may not see her very often until her
temporary job ends in January!! She expressed that she wants to
continue learning about the church and studying and feeling the peace
she feels at church but she doesn't have the time. We gave her a cute
handout with a pack of gum and told her to read until the flavor is
gone! She admitted she probably has time for that :) as we put the
important things first, there will be time for the rest!
We visit a sister in the ward almost every week who was converted
about 4 years ago. This week she introduced us to her friend who lives
near by. She is a sweet older lady who is well-traveled. She has the
cutest house with trinkets and statues and dolls from all over the
world. She showed us her pictures from her tour around Europe.
We had dinner with the cutest couple from our ward and a recent
convert was able to come with us. The lesson was about fasting and it
was perfect timing because fast Sunday was in just a few days. She had
never fasted before and didn't understand much about it so she was
grateful to learn from the experiences of the members and feel the
spirit in their home.
We visited a less active for her birthday. We had visited a couple
weeks earlier during the typhoon for her daughter's birthday. She is a
funny lady and not interested in coming to church or meeting us again,
but we always enjoy our conversations on the door step. This time we
asked if we could come back to visit and she basically said she
wouldn't mind if we kept stopping by with candy! So... We will :)
A single adult in the ward who was just in town for the summer and
going back to BYU Idaho later this week had us over for lunch and
invited her friend to join. They have been good friends for many years
but she didn't know exactly how to bring up the gospel with her so she
thought it would be great if she was able to meet missionaries. We
made lunch together and shared a message about loving and serving
others and making a difference in even just one person's life because
each soul is great in the sight of God.
Saturday night, all the Hibarigaoka ward missionaries were invited to
a big get-together with 4 of the families from the ward. One sister's
inactive and non member children and grandchildren were present and
she was so excited for us to meet and talk with her family. She loves
her family so much and has such a desire for an eternal family and a
happy family in the gospel. She wants her non member grandchildren to
hear the message and have the opportunity to make the choice for
themselves. It was a fun activity and it meant so much to this sister
to have us there and interacting with her family.
Regine came to church on Sunday and we were able to teach her about
the restoration of the gospel during the Sunday school hour. She
wanted to know what happens to those people who don't have an
opportunity to be baptized. We asked her if she would be baptized if
she knew this church was true. She explained that she didn't know now,
but it also may be hard because her whole family is catholic and in
the Philippines what your parents do is just how it goes. It's a
respect thing. She explained though that she would let us know if she
received an answer, but she would want her husband baptized with her
if that's what she decided. She is so sweet and has such strong faith
in God and in Christ. We learned about qualities of Christ in relief
society and I learned from her and her comments. She shared that
Christ was the perfect example of patience because even though we make
so many mistakes, his love never ends.
Anyway, just some highlights. I hope you all are happy! I love you so
much! This church is true! Christ's love can heal any wounds and lift
any burdens. This gospel can bring peace and strength to anyone's life
and bring them to power to endure or overcome any challenge. I know
this is true and sharing this message is so important to me that it is
worth any rejection or trial I endure as a servant of God. Our God is
so good and we are so blessed. Don't ever forget his perfect love for
each of you.
Love,
Kinz

Takoyaki party with Yuzu

Erina (Yuzu's friend), Sister Reeves, Sister Merstrand, Yuzu 

the weather was nice. and i'm in rain boots. 

Temple P-day

Lunch with Junko San 

Dinner/FHE at the Uemura home with Fumiyo and Kana

Sister Hirata's cute friend 

Dinner at the Ganaha home

September 2nd

Hello!
Shout out to my big sister who just had the cutest baby boy! Happy
birthday and welcome to the world, River Chatterton :) I'm so excited
to be your aunt! Send more pictures :)
Also, happy birthday this week to my super hip grandmother, MOMA D and
my way cool brother in law, Darian! Eat lots of cake and ice cream :)
I'm glad y'all were born, too!
So many great things happened this week.
We had family home evening with the bishop's family and our friends,
fumiyo and kana. It was so much fun! The bishop has a daughter the
same age as Kana! We did a super fun object lesson about commandments
and dinner was way delicious.
Had breakfast at the mission home with some of my favorite sisters to
see a missionary off. We all got to participate in her final testimony
meeting. It's always sad to see the best missionaries go, but so
exciting to see them off into a future full of many more miracles. And
once you take the name tag off, you can surely still be a missionary!
God has so much work for us all to do! Join the party :)
We crashed another zone's zone meeting cause we missed ours and we
learned lots. We studied and practiced teaching the law of tithing.
Does anyone have an experience they can share with me of their
testimony of tithing and maybe temporal or spiritual blessings they
have received from obedience to this law? Please and thank you :)
A sister in our ward had an idea to surprise sister eyring for her
birthday. We got to help her plan and keep it secret. It was so cute
and she was so surprised! We love Asada Shimai!
We were privileged to be able to attend the temple with our friend,
Erina! She was baptized 2 years ago, but had never been to the temple.
We went with another member, Kakiki Shimai, and participated in
baptisms and confirmations for the dead. It was such a wonderful
experience to teach her about the temple and set a goal to be there
and to be able to be there for her first time! And Kakiki Shimai was
the best! I love the spirit that I can feel in the temple and I'm so
grateful for the covenants that I made at baptism to always remember
my Savior and try to follow his example. Temple work is such a great
way to be a missionary, helping those investigators in the spirit
world have the option to accept the baptismal commitment and come unto
Christ!
Patrick: he is reading the Book of Mormon and feeling like he is
receiving the knowledge that it is truly God's word. He knows that
thinking about baptism is the next step. His family is pretty against
religion and especially Christianity, but he knows that God will
provide away for him if he puts God first in his life. He is full of
faith and we are excited to invite and help him to accept this perfect
gospel. I know this gospel has the answers to all of our questions in
this life. The atonement has the power to help us through any
challenge and it is the power that makes everything that seems unfair
in life be made right.
On Saturday we went to Oikawa shimai's baptism! It was the HAPPIEST
thing ever to see a dear friend and investigator receive baptism. The
gospel has brought so much light into her life. I couldn't stop
smiling at the service. It was so exciting also that we were able to
go with our friends from Hibarigaoka, Regine and Terumi. The spirit
was so strong! When sister Feist and I were teaching Oikawa Shimai,
she mentioned a song she really loved. It's about friends from the pre
existence who find each other on earth. It's called "I'll find you, my
friend". We told her then that we would sing it at her baptism. There
were tons of missionaries in attendance and we were all able to sing
to her.... The spirit was so strong. I'm so blessed to be in Japan and
finding my friends here! President Wada baptized her... It was so
special. He was present in so many of her lessons and played a big
part in helping her to understand the atonement and make the decision
to be baptized. They have such a great relationship. It was fun to see
members and friends from kichijoji and be able to participate in such
a spiritual experience. Our friend, Moeka, was there and she commented
on how happy she was to have been invited.. She explained that it's
not something many people in Japan get to see and she felt that it was
very special.
A member in our ward, Lilibeth, came with us to the baptism and really
fellow shipped Regine. They spoke in Tagalog and became real friends
so quickly! We are grateful for such wonderful members who have a
genuine desire to serve and love. We are grateful to have the
opportunity to work with her and Regine and study the gospel of Jesus
Christ together.
Saturday night was the summer festival at the church. So many people
came and many non members and people who had never been to a church
before. There was lots of fun traditional Japanese food, a story
teller, musical performances, and a play. There was a fishing pond for
little kids to play with and something called nagashi somen. It's this
long tube (a water slide for noodles) there is a hose at the top and
everyone stands in a line on either side of the tube and someone sends
noodles and veggies from the top and those on the side try to grab the
slippery noodles with their chopsticks, get them in their bowl and eat
them! The kids had so much fun and ate so much!!
Today was temple preparation day! Twice in a week! Beyond blessed.
I love my family! Miss you.
Love,
Sister Kinz

Purikura with Moeka and Juri

Asada Shimai. She is so cool ;)

Lilibeth Shimai, Regine, and Terumi at Oikawa Shimai's baptism

Sister Feist, Oikawa Shimai, Sister Merstrand, Sister Handy

Elder Berube, Franky, Sister Feist, Sister Merstrand, Sister Handy

Sister Feist, Sister Winkler, Sister Merstrand

Okuno Shimai, Elder Carlini, Big Toe, Elder Brown, Michiko?, 

Matsunaga San, Sister Merstrand, HERO

Moeka at the Summer Festival

Our House

Anpan man hard boiled eggs with Terumi

August 25th

Hello family.
The internet at the church isn't working so I'm sitting on the
sidewalk in front of a 7/11 convenience store to write you. This is
true love.
We had sort of a crazy week. My companion got pretty sick and then she
got bit by a scary bug and got a weird infection and her hand and arm
got way swollen. So we got to go to the doctor and go on a few fun
splits with the other sisters. She is doing better so no worries!
We met with Patrick a couple times this week. He always mentions
"hypothetically" choosing to follow the doctrines of the Mormon
church. He is reading the Book of Mormon and praying about the
message. He knows we crossed paths for a divine reason and he is
interested in continuing to study with missionaries in San Francisco
when he returns home. He really really wants to meet our mission
president so we will all meet for dinner soon. We really want to help
him gain a testimony of the restoration and modern day prophets. He is
having a lot of spiritual experiences and this is a special time to be
learning about the church while he has a brand new baby in his family,
straight from Heaven!
Terumi is really owning her baptismal date. When she met ward members
at church she explained to them that she was studying with the
missionaries and will be baptized on October 25th. We talked about the
restoration this week and it's a lot of new information for someone
who has grown up without a knowledge of God. I told her that there was
one thing I wanted her to learn: God is HER Heavenly Father.
Regine is so spiritual! We visited her home and she showed us her
study notebook that she writes in while she reads the Book of Mormon.
She translated her thoughts and questions into English for us, too.
She has lots of deep thoughts and gratitude for the savior. She has
grown up Christian and has strong faith in God. We will attend a
baptism with her this weekend and help her prepare and think about
receiving baptism for herself.
We finally met the Filipino sister in our ward! She is willing to meet
with Regine and help us translate in our lessons. We are so grateful.
Really good news!! Investigator from Kichijoji is getting baptized!!
Do you remember Oikawa Shimai?! One day it just clicked and she
realized that Christ atoned for her. She said she was pretty busy but
said she had a day off on the 30th and chose her own date! Sooner than
the one she had chosen with Sister Hathaway and I. We are attending
the baptism with Regine and Terumi. So excited!
Thursday night we had game night/ping pong night at the church. Our
friend, Nana, came and she brought her mother and 3 of her younger
siblings. It was amazing! It was their first time in a church and we
all had so much fun. They are a way cute family and have really close
relationships. We are excited to continue our friendship with them and
cultivate interest in the happy message we share.
We had interviews with President Wada this week. My interview was
wonderful. He asks us to bring the questions and topics of discussion.
We spent our whole time together talking about our investigators and
how we can help them and how he can help as well. He is excited to
meet and work with a few of our investigators and make some visits to
Hibarigaoka! He's the best!
We met with a few members this week. We were able to study scriptures
with each of them and help them improve their scripture study. And we
are following up just like we do with our investigators! One sister
showed up to church excited to tell us she had read and showed us her
notes from her study!
On Saturday I had the opportunity along with some other missionaries
to be a guest at a district leader training meeting. It was a
fantastic meeting and really helped remind me how I can follow
Christ's example of service and how I can leave behind ALL my personal
affairs and give this time completely to him.
After the meeting we went with Tomoe to a Filipino culture night
activity at the Fuchu ward. We got lost and went the wrong way for
quite a ways on trains both traveling there and back. It was a long
time on a train and lots of money but a great activity and good
experience for us all.
I love you all very much!
愛してる
リーブス姉妹

Typhoon in July