November 16th

Hey family! 

Here's a little update on this week. First off... My companion and I got pretty sick this weekend so we have been in bed for like 3 days. Pray for us! 

On Tuesday night we had a cooking activity at the church. It was Choi shimai's idea... All 4 sister missionaries came and we invited a couple ward members. Choi taught us how to make a Korean dish. It was yummy. Then each sister missionary shared a mini devotional about missionary work. It was a really good defining moment for Choi Shimai and allowed her to use her talents and make friends in the ward. 

Wednesday I went to Tokorozawa on exchanges with Merstrand Shimai! It was such a good day. We studied, then went to a beautiful park for finding. Lots of the leaves had changed colors and it was a gorgeous day. We talked to tons of people! Sister merstrand is a really bold missionary and I really admire her. We met with one of her investigators for a lesson as well. She is this cute and sort of crazy old lady, Kimiko San. She put the picture of Christ that the sisters gave her, as well as the Book of Mormon on her Buddhist altar because she knows they are really important things. We taught her about the Spirit and invited her to come to church on Sunday. She said it will be her first time going to a church in years but she hoped it would take away some of her worries. Then we taught Eikaiwa together. We taught the advanced class and that's always fun because they are usually basically fluent in English. Sister merstrand likes to send her students with a challenge or question to ponder each week. The question they answered this time was "what do you want you friends to remember about you when you die?" I was really surprised, that most of the answers given were that they didn't care if they were remembered. 

Thursday: We went to visit a less active who has now missed her appointment with us twice in a row. :( We planned a really good message for her about the role of women and were really sad we weren't able to share it with her. We went to visit a member for her birthday. It was fun because I had never met her before and she was home and we were able to sing to her! 

Friday: We had district meeting in the morning. I was asked to do a training on teaching the plan of salvation. We paired up with another companionship and were to teach a simple overview of the lesson in 5 minutes. We met Okuno Shimai for a lesson. We talked about the temple and she said she wants to have an interview for a temple recommend so she can go and do baptisms. We will teach her about other temple ordinances next time. We had a lesson with Choi Shimai and Asada Shimai about obedience and prayer and scripture study. We watched part of Elder Scott's talk from conference. Asada Shimai was perfect... Really good fellowshipper and friend. She shared powerful testimony of prayer and how obedience is the way to be free. Then we met with hirata Shimai for a lesson. We watched the last part of president uchtdorf's talk from the women's conference and read scriptures about the blessings coming after tribulation. And we watched a mormon message about trials called "mountains to climb". Hirata Shimai really appreciated the lesson and said that she felt God's love through us. 

Well. That's all for now! Love you. 

Love, 

Sister Kinz

exchange in Tokorozawa with Sister Merstrand

Korean cooking with Choi, Sister Aono, and Sister Okuno

Sister Miller, Me, Sister Merstrand, Sister Ellsworth

Choirs cooking night with Sister Miller 

Waiting for a bus... Sister Miller and me! 

November 10th

Dearest Family, 

It was a crazy week. We did lots but then got to the end of the week, looked at our stats and I thought, "did we even do anything this week?!" Yep, we did. Part of that included going to Kichijoji 4 days in a row. So we were hardly in our area! 

On Tuesday I went on Splits with eyring Shimai. We had a really fun day. I love working with her! She is a really good missionary and bears her testimony in every conversation! Her companion told her once that she feels the Spirit every time Eyring Shimai speaks! It's really true actually. It doesn't matter what she says or if her japanese makes sense because it's said with sincerity and love and guided by the Spirit. We visited 2 recent converts and 2 less actives together. And... Miracle... They were all home!! It made for a really happy and busy day. Eyring Shimai and I are planning on being companions when the earthquake comes... So we can wear our yellow helping hands vests and bring the gospel to a nation in crisis! So pray for an earthquake! I think natural disasters soften hearts and bring people together in love and service. 

Family history... I'm doing it! Sort of. The mission has asked all the missionaries to finish their "my family" booklets so we can share family history with those we meet. There is a section in preach my gospel about family history as a method for finding investigators and I always thought that was silly or sounded boring. But it's actually a miracle worker in Japan. Japanese people, whether they are a real Buddhist or not, receive an influence from the Buddhist religion. Families and ancestors are given a high priority and are very important to most people. Many pray to their ancestors morning and night, visit their graves on occasion, and believe that they are with them and watching over them. There is even a special day in the summer when they come back. This value placed on loved ones who have gone before is a really good way for us to introduce the gospel and the plan of salvation and eternal families. Also, people are hesitant to talk about religion, but they'll open up if we talk about our families! As I have been copying information about my ancestors into my family book and reading stories about them on family search, I'm actually feeling the spirit of Elijah. I thought it wasn't real. But it is. I want to know more about my family and get to know living relatives better than I have. We don't have time during the day for family history, so I need your help! I'll be emailing you personally ;) 

MLC. This was one of those days in Kichijoji for mission leadership council. It's really long but fast paced and way exciting. We weren't even able to get through everything on the agenda, but we got in lots of practice and discussed the progress of the mission. Our mission is seeing so many miracles right now. 7 baptisms in October! Our goal is for each companionship to extend 3 invitations to be baptized by the end of the year. When we invite, we succeed. Before elder Ringwood came, each missionary took an online survey to see where we are at as a PMG mission. We broke down the results of the survey together and decided the possible root causes for the low results and chose items for future training in our zone and district meetings. Lots to do! And so much growth to see! 

Interviews. On Friday we were back in kichijoji for interviews with president wada. Mine was shorter than usual because I didn't come with too many questions. But he gave me some good council! To not run faster than I have strength, but to build my strength and use this time to understand the Spirit and revelation and to enjoy missionary work! I took his council and studied further in my personal study. I'm definitely the type to freak out about all the things I have to do and forget to have fun. But... My current companion is way good for me! She is really easy going and always positive. She is good at finding miracles in a rough day and she helps us to recognize the good that we are doing and the good that is happening around us. And so... Each day is imperfect. And each day is fun! Imperfectly fun. :) 

And... We went back to kichijoji for stake conference on Saturday and Sunday! Fun thing about having been in the same stake the whole mission so far is that I get to see all the old members from kichijoji, too! The focus of so many of the talks was missionary work. President and Sister Wada spoke in both sessions and we heard from 2 recently returned sister missionaries. It was awesome! When we went for interviews this week, sister wada interviewed us as we were waiting and asked us about the good influence our mothers had on us. and then she shared our answers in her talk! This is what I said ;)『私の御母さんは天使です』(My mother is an angel!) I love my mom! I told her about Mom's silly songs and how she taught us that our siblings were our best friends and how she is good at being the mom and the friend. 

Riding the bus to kichijoji a million times turned out to be a miracle. I re-met people I had met before several months earlier! Our mission and our approach has changed since then so I was able to extend a proper bold invitation to attend church or hear our message. The statistics say that a person typically comes in contact with the missionaries 7 times before they decide to take lessons. This time I got to be time number 1 and time number 2! And I saw the difference in these ladies. They remembered me and asked if I was headed to church! They brought up the church this time and I was able to invite and share my testimony and my purpose. They didn't accept the offer, but I saw how their hearts had changed and I feel like if they had that experience 5 more times, they would certainly say yes! We never know the difference that these simple conversations can make. 

Me and kana chan! Look at her crazy hair ;)

Well. That's all for now! I love you. 

Love, 

Kinz

October 27th

Hey family!

This has been a great week of many miracles! It was way sad to say
goodbye to Shitami Shimai who was transferring and Barnes Shimai who
finished her mission and returned home! I'm missing them!

My new companion, Sister Miller, is great. It's fun to work with
someone who is my same missionary age. There are lots of things I can
learn from her! She loves missionary work and she starts conversations
with everyone!! It's fun!

This week we met with Fumiyo San and Uemura Shimai. We reset
expectations and found out that she is not so much interested in a
church as she is interested in answers to questions she has pondered.
We had planned on teaching the restoration but felt prompted to change
our plans and teach the plan of salvation instead. Uemura Shimai is
the bishop's wife... And she was so helpful! The plan of salvation
answered a lot of the things Fumiyo wanted to know, she is really
interested in the doctrine of resurrection. She was so grateful for
the lesson and is willing to study the Book of Mormon before we meet
again.

We met with Asada Shimai for dinner and a lesson at her home. She is
one of my favorite people in Japan. She's like my japanese grandma!
She has the strongest faith of anyone I know. She has been through
many hard things including, losing her 5 year old son, all of her
children becoming less active, a difficult marriage, etc. A few years
after she was baptized, her family's home was destroyed in a fire.
They lost everything. But her Book of Mormon... Remained. That
experience strongly testified to her of the importance and
truthfulness of that sacred book. Here's a picture... She holds it
dear!

Halloween Party: Choi, Ishizaka couple, Sister Okuno

Lesson with CHOI

October 21st

Dearest Family! 

Sorry to be emailing a day late! P day really was yesterday, but we had an appointment with a potential investigator so we weren't able to email! 

So first off.... We got transfer calls! And I am staying in Hibarigaoka!!!! YES! But... My companion is leaving me... Again :( I was actually excited about maybe having another transfer with Shitami Shimai, but my new companion will be Sister Miller. She and I came to Japan at the same time and actually sat next to each other on the flight over here. We will both be transfer 7 missionaries this next transfer! Time flies so fast! Anyway, I have also been called to serve as a Sister training leader and I will be over three sister companion sets! This means I will be going on exchanges like all the time! 

Yesterday was an amazing experience! President Wada gave us permission to travel as a zone to the place where Japan was first dedicated for missionary work. We met in a beautiful park and prayed together, read the journal entry about the dedicatory prayer, read various prophecies about the work in Japan and had an opportunity to share our testimonies. It was faith-building to read words of apostles and prophets and to know that we are apart of something great. The church is so strong here and the work is moving faster than we think. I am so blessed to be here and get to know and love such an amazing culture and people and to help strengthen the church and share the truth that I know with my brothers and sisters here. God is so real. He is mindful of each and every individual on this earth. Here are some of the prophecies: Soooo cool! 

 

Anyway we had a busy week! Some highlights! 

Choi Shimai has finished all the lessons and her baptismal interview and will be baptized his coming Sunday! We are sooo excited for her! I'm grateful for the friendship we have. I have learned so much from her and feel so blessed to be able to continue to study and apply the gospel with her as she begins her journey on the covenant path back to our heavenly home. 

We did a "family history blitz" as a district. We met near a neighboring train station and proselyted together for a couple hours. The first bit we stayed with our companions and "streeted" (aka. Walking around and talking to people you see haha). Our focus was talking about our families and introducing family history and the family a proclamation to the world. We found a new potential investigator! People are more likely to open up when you talk about family... Family and ancestry are really important to japanese people. The next bit we switched companions and I worked with sister eyring. We went housing and were to introduce the same materials. Housing means... You ring doorbells:) We met tons of people with no interest in why we were at their door but we had so much fun and knew we were fulfilling our purpose. It was really cool to be united as a district and really effective proselyting! 

Today we went as a district with some other ward members to sing at some sort of home...? I'm not sure what it's called in English but it was kind of like Hope Village... A place for people with various handicaps to gather and participate in activities. We sang three traditional japanese songs and a couple patriotic songs from America. It was so cute and we all felt the spirit so strong. One cute lady who loves singing, sang us her favorite English song from karaoke.... You are my sunshine! We asked her if she knew what the words meant, and she didn't so we taught her! And told her she was our sunshine! She gave us hugs as we left! 

I'm learning a lot about love here in Japan. I didn't know what kind of experience I would have in Japan before I came here, but wouldn't trade these experiences and friendships for anything better I thought I was leaving behind. I don't know how much of a difference I'm making in other's lives but they are certainly making a difference in mine. This work isn't easy at all, but is all worth it for the lessons I'm learning about Christ's perfect love and for the love I feel from my brothers and sisters and eternal friends where I serve. It's so simple and so pure to give and receive expressions of love. Love is a language that crosses all barriers. Christ is our perfect example of how to live and how to love. When we understand his gospel and strive to live and love as we did, our natures change and we can change the world. This week in church we learned about having love for all of God's children and I loved this quote from President Joseph Fielding Smith: 

"I think if all men knew and understood who they are, and were aware of the divine source from whence they came, they would have feelings of kindness and kinship for each other that would change their whole way of living and bring peace on earth."

Also, please read this passage from president uchtdorf's talk to the young women in April 2013 about the language of love!! 

"In our premortal life we learned firsthand, from the Father of our spirits, a universal language--one that has the power to overcome emotional, physical, and spiritual barriers.

That language is the pure love of Jesus Christ.

It is the most powerful language in the world.

The love of Christ is not a pretend love. It is not a greeting-card love. It is not the kind of love that is praised in popular music and movies.

This love brings about real change of character. It can penetrate hatred and dissolve envy. It can heal resentment and quench the fires of bitterness. It can work miracles.

We received our first lessons in this language of love as spirits in God's presence, and here on earth we have opportunities to practice it and become fluent. You can know if you are learning this language of love by evaluating what motivates your thoughts and actions.

When your primary thoughts are focused on how things will benefit you, your motivations may be selfish and shallow. That is not the language you want to learn.

But when your primary thoughts and behaviors are focused on serving God and others--when you truly desire to bless and lift up those around you--then the power of the pure love of Christ can work in your heart and life. That is the language you want to learn.

As you become fluent in this language and use it in your interactions with others, they will recognize something in you that may awaken in them a long-hidden feeling to search for the right way on the journey back to their heavenly home. After all, the language of love is their true native language too.

This deep and abiding influence is a language that reaches to the very soul. It is a language of understanding, a language of service, a language of lifting and rejoicing and comforting.

Learn to use the universal language of Christ's love." 

Your Wonderful Journey Home- Dieter F. Uchtdorf 

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2013/04/your-wonderful-journey-home?lang=eng

I LOVE YOU 

Each of you mean so much to me <3

Regina's Aunt, at Regine's birthday party!! 

MLC

Tomato Ramen with Mariya 

Chinese cooking with Sister Barnes, Sister Eyring, and Sister Shitami

Cute in our rain suits :) 

Gyoza and Nikuman

Zone P-day- This is where Japan was first dedicated for missionary work! 

Sister Shitami and Me on Temple P-day 

RAMEN with DAD (President Wada)