Kenzie Says "Kon'nichiwa": January 2015

Sunday, January 25, 2015

January Pictures

Dinner at the Hayase Home

Dinner at the Yamada Home

Sister Brown and Me at English Class

It's been another week! The time just keeps going by even faster! I
can't believe how fast the time has gone on my mission. There are some
days that seem so slow. Some days that are so fun and some that are
really hard. But I am grateful for each day and each experience
because each one is teaching me and helping me to come closer to my
Heavenly Father.

Here's what last week was like:

We were finishing up our weekly planning last Sunday and we got to the
part where we prayerfully choose members and investigators to visit to
seek referrals and other teaching opportunities. We decided we needed
to visit Tokita Shimai. We called her right away to set an appointment
and she was so excited!! She had us over on Tuesday for lunch and her
non-member husband was there! He was so friendly and they are a way cute
couple. Tokita Shimai's conversion story is cool. She was hosting her
daughter's 8th birthday party when two sister missionaries came to her
door. She had been attending other Christian churches and had interest
in learning about what the missionaries had to share. She and her
daughter began taking lessons and were baptized within two months.
While their daughter was still at home they had family prayer and
scripture study and family home evening. So Tokita "Kyoudai" is pretty
familiar with some church things. We shared a message about Christ's
perfect example of loving and serving others and talked about the
service we do as missionaries and the service we can all participate
in. We asked if we could visit with them again and have family home evening
together. They were also way excited about coming to the upcoming Ward
activity. Tokita Shimai was so excited and grateful. She said when we
called she thought, "this is the chance!!" For her husband to accept
the gospel. We don't know what will come of us working with this
family but I trust in God's timing!

The Tsukada/Nakazawa family had us over again for dinner cause so many
missionaries were transferring and they wanted to have a goodbye! So
again... We ate lots... And ate even more for "repentance" when we
lost a game!

On Wednesday night before eikaiwa we had a gyoza party! All four
sister missionaries, a less active single adult, and a potential
investigator came! We made pot stickers together and shared a thought
about prayer and the peace it brings to our life as we make it a
priority. Our PI, Ma, is from China so she told us we could meet again
and she would show us how to make pot stickers from scratch! She was
excited that we invited her and said the timing was perfect. She had
lots of questions about our church and had a really good time at
English class and wants to meet again. She didn't accept the Book of
Mormon when we offered it to her on the street but we think as we
develop a friendship and teach her more, she will want to accept it
and join with us at church.

Thursday was transfer day!! Yamaguchi Shimai is the cutest and
sweetest. We met with another PI, Tomi. She lives way close to us and
loves discussing religion. We met at her house and made dinner
together. She is super devout in her religion. She is part of a
Buddhist sect called SoukaGakkai. She shared her experiences and how
her religion has helped her change her life and we shared our
testimonies as well. It was really cool. She said she couldn't pray
with us for the food because she can't participate in other religions
but her leader encourages making friends with people of all faiths.
She is way funny and cute and uses really hard japanese and lots of
slang, too. She has a dog full of energy who kept getting into my
food. Haha and an older brother who might be a little mentally slow
who kept coming in wanting to practice his English. She kept telling
him to leave but was really grateful for how I responded to him and
showed him interest. It was an interesting evening but she kept saying
how amazing it was that we were out here doing what we were doing.
We'll see what happens with Tomi!

Friday: long day and being terrible at reading maps, and lots of
finding! But we shared messages with a couple members who were home
and ended up having a way good and exhausting day!

Saturday: we went to the church mochitsuki! I'm not really sure how to
explain it but it's an activity where you make mochi, which is sweet
pounded balls of rice. Really chewy and delicious. Anyway, there were
tons of non members there and it was so fun! We found a new PI, a
referral from the elder's investigator. Her name is Mika, and she is
from China. She had so much fun and got along really well with the
other single adults. She came to church on Sunday and loved it and
wants to come from now on!
We had a lesson with Suzuki San. It was really interesting... She was
really hesitant about praying and about acting on the message. She
loves John 3:16 about God showing his love for us by giving us a
Savior that we might receive eternal life. She wasn't sure though if
she wanted that gift. I know she feels the spirit when she is with us.
She says she wants to be closer to God before she does these things we
ask her to do but these are exactly the things she needs to do to come
closer to him. She said she wouldn't pray but then started praying! She
has a happy family and a lot of gratitude for God. I think she knows
we have something to share that could benefit her life. Pray that
Suzuki San can understand the spirit she feels and that she will be
able to pray to her Father in Heaven!
We went housing in the evening and met the sweetest grandma! She came
out to talk with us and some of her grandchildren came out too. One
little boy asked her who we are and when she explained we were from a
church, he asked, "what's church?". It seemed like a really cute
question at first and then I realized... I am so blessed to have grown
up in a family who believed in God and worshipped him. How sad it must
be to not know God and not understand our relationship with him!

Sunday: Busy day at church! Brother Carlson visited Hachioji Ward and
brought the package from home! Thank YOU so much! :)
Between Christmas and this package I have tons of fun treats!

Monday: Lots of dendo! And then FHE with the Kawatani family! We
played a cute game we found in the Liahona and talked a lot about the
priesthood and how the ordinances connect us to God and bless and
strengthen our families. I know that God has all power. And the
priesthood is that power. God loves us so much. I know this is true!

We were able to go to the temple today! Always a happy day :)

I read a wonderful talk yesterday called Wherefore Settle This in Your
Hearts by elder gibbons. Speaking of pre-earth life he said,"You were
there with Him. Your spirit knows what it is like to live in celestial
realms. You can never be truly happy in an uncelestial environment."
We are children of GOD. That is our identity. Preparing for eternal
life is the way to the happiness we have the potential to obtain. I
don't exactly know what eternal life means and I can't imagine anything
"perfect" but I know it's the gift God wants to give to all of us. I
know it's part of who my spirit is to become like God and live the
life he now lives.

Thank you for your love. I love each of you so much! Have a happy week!


Cheers! Happy New Year!

January 11th

My dearest family! Hello!

We got transfer calls last night... Surprise! New companion: Yamaguchi Shimai! Yes, I will be speaking Japanese alllll the time again :) She will be transfer 6 and she is the cutest and sweetest sister in the mission! Way sad to have Brown Shimai leave me :( We had a way fun transfer together!

And the updates and miracles of this week:

I participated in MLC on Thursday. I always love going to the mission home and learning from President Wada. He knows so much about the scriptures. This time he taught us from Alma 36 and we talked about repentance. In the afternoon we had a chance to practice teaching the principle of repentance. Repentance is the purpose of this gospel. If we aren't repenting, then we can't receive the blessings this gospel offers and our membership and attendance in the church means nothing to us. It's so important and yet one of the hardest principles to teach. We learned that it is really hard to teach a principle we have never applied. If we don't know the rejoicing that comes from turning to God then we can't help another to come unto Him. I'm grateful for the power of Christ's sacrifice for us. His love for each of us is real and infinite and unconditional. His love is the power that allows us to change and experience peace.

We had Zone Conference on Friday. It was a really cool meeting. I have enjoyed experiencing my own personal growth as a missionary but also watching our mission grow together. For several months we focused on simple missionary skills like teaching lessons and finding investigators. Our focus at this conference was helping new converts, working with Ward councils, seeking referrals, and cultivating a desire to serve the Lord. We are becoming more effective and seeing miracles as we work with the members! There are 90,000 missionaries and 15 million members... The force is a lot bigger if the missionaries aren't left to do it alone. We had a lot of good trainings! For one of the trainings, we had the 2 zones split into 4 groups and each sister training leader got to do a training on teaching simply with our smaller groups. I was nervous but it ended up going really well! So glad the Spirit is always there to help me! Also, the area medical, Dr. Hansen spoke to us about maintaining our health. And I got to introduce myself to him and thank him for all his phone calls and help while I was down with food poisoning.

We had SPM this week as well and met with the stake presidency. It's fun to get to know and work with many leaders. President Wada drove us back to Hachioji and we had a great conversation about all the missionaries we have been leading and serving in our zone. President Wada is the best. Sometimes he seems more like a friend than a leader. Grateful to be in this mission. And grateful Bishop Allan said hello to him years ago!!

We had a miracle with a less active. So, there is this lady named Yoshida Shimai. She has been less active for years, but her husband was always really active and he was the last Ward mission leader in Hachioji. Anyway, he passed away about 3 years ago. There is a tradition in Japan that when a family member dies, the family doesn't send out a New Years card that next year. Well, the Relief Society president got a card from Yoshida Shimai this year! So she suggested we try to visit her. We stopped by with chocolates and a message but she wasn't home. Brown Shimai suggested that we write on the note: "we will be back in the area next Tuesday afternoon and we will visit again. Please call us if you will not be home at that time." So inspired! No one EVER calls us to thank us for chocolates or cards and no one ever calls if we leave our number and suggest that they call to meet again. Anyway, she calls and leaves a message and explains that she won't be home on Tuesday but was thankful we stopped by. We are excited to make an appointment with her and help her to come back to church.

We are working with a new investigator, Ishizuka San. She is Yamada shimai's friend. She is a really cool lady... She has never joined a church or practiced a specific religion but loves learning about all of them and taking truth from each one. She is really spiritual and has a closeness with God. We taught her about the pre mortal life and she said she felt that it was true. She was surprised though when we said we learned and understood God's plan and chose to follow Christ before we came to this earth. We encouraged her to think about her identity as God's child and write a letter to herself about the kind of person she wants to be at the end of 2015. I'm grateful to be a child of God and happy to have that knowledge. I know I chose to come to earth and I'm grateful for each of the people I have met along my journey.

I love you and miss you all. Have a happy week. Remember happy is a choice ;)

Love,

Sister Reeves

Karaoke activity with Ai chan and the young men and young women

YM/YW Activity

(Ema, Yurika, Yume, Sister Reeves, Ai, Hiromi, Sister Toya, Sister Watanabe, Sister Tokuzawa, Little Watanabe, Little Toya, Takumi, Sister Nakazawa, Ako, Meri, Sister Hotu, Little Nogami)

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

January 4th

Dear Family,

Happy New Year! I hope you had fun celebrating. My week was crazy! Who knew New Years was such a big deal?!

During Christmas we were pretty surprised that literally no one invited us over for dinner or anything. We had to create our own celebration and it was really fun! Well, we were shocked again when everyone and their mom wanted to have us over and feed us during the week of New Years. Christmas and New Years here are the exact opposite from how it goes in America. Christmas is the holiday that's for going on a date or hanging out with friends. But New Years is when everyone has work off, sends cards, visits their family, relaxes, eats a ton, plans parties, etc. So no one realized Christmas was a big deal to us and we didn't realize New Years was a big deal to them! So we got Christmas again!

President Wada told us our week would be pretty miserable if we didn't have tons of appointments with members because the work would be really slow and literally no one to find because it's the holiday! Luckily we had so many appointments we could barely find time for the things we had planned and time to plan for this week!

On Tuesday I went on exchanges with Sister Hotu. She is from Australia/New Zealand/is quarter Chinese/lived in Hawaii. Anyway it was a day of unexpected miracles. We had a lesson planned with their investigator, Goto San. She has a history of not following through with appointments and she also lives over the hills and across forever so we were praying and calling to confirm several times that she would be home. So we were riding our bikes to her home and on the way Sister Hotu started feeling faint. We were stopped at a red light and she started falling over so still on my bike, I grab her arm and pull her towards me so she and her bike don't fall in the middle of the road. Then she comes to and starts biking across a major road so I followed close behind.. Then she stops right before she runs into a big bush. After resting for several minutes we decide to walk up the rest of the way to her house. An ambulance passes and Sister Hotu jokes that she hopes its not for Goto sans mom who was being taken away on a stretcher last time they visited. Well we get there and it most definitely was for her mom. So we left a note and started knocking on doors. We met her sweet neighbor who only opened the door because she recognized that we were the missionaries that she had said hello to before. She is very devout Buddhist but wants to come to the church for English class and would love us to continue to say hello when we are in the area. Next we visited a sister in the ward who's husband is less active and less than excited about ever coming back. She wasn't home but he was so he graciously accepted the card we made for his wife and was very polite. Next unexpected miracle happened when we were on our way to visit a couple less active sisters for their birthday. We sat down next to this super cute girl on the train and immediately began a conversation. She was on her way to Hokkaido for New Years but works and lives in Hachioji. We invited her to come to church with us when she came back and she asked where the church was. She found me on facebook and then started looking at the church's facebook page. We asked if she had heard of our church before and mentioned that sometimes we were called mormon. We explained that we read the Bible and another book, the Book of Mormon. We offered her the book and she was really excited to receive it! We got off the train and went to visit the members and realized their address was incomplete in the directory so we couldn't find them but we were grateful for God directing our path. We had opportunities to share our purpose and message and invite! Successful day!

Wednesday: We taught the Kawatani family and then visited Sister Tanaka who lives nearby. Her parents are non members and her father used to take lessons with the elders. She called him out so we could meet him. He is really funny and stubborn. He knows a lot about the bible and has really deep, difficult questions. He says if our church can answer all his questions then he will join. He asked why Adam and Eve had to eat the fruit to become mortal but the animals in the garden were already subject to death. He had lots of other questions too. I'm not sure how satisfactory my answers were but I had the opportunity to point him to the Book of Mormon for his answers and teach him about the Restoration. When I told him about the apostasy, he seemed interested and said he had never heard of that before. I invited him to church and he said he would think about it. We called him again on Saturday night and he came! But told me he just came because I invited him and it would just be that one time! I'm not so sure we will let him off that easy! The ward was really happy to see him there!

On our way to the train station we met a new friend, Mai. We were waiting at the cross walk and complimented her scarf. She answered in English. Turns out she is fluent and has lived over seas for several years. She is in college studying English but went to a Christian school before. We invited her to meet with us to learn more about our church and she immediately agreed. She says she usually has time on Saturdays and Sunday's. Perfect!

Later that day we had a lesson with our Filipino friend, Jeanne. She brought her American boyfriend, and Japanese niece. We taught the restoration and taught in both English and Japanese. Her niece, Norika, who is just eleven years old, listened intently and took notes when we taught her how to pray. Jeanne said she would read the Book of Mormon and pray and come to church! We hope she'll continue to meet with us and become a new investigator.

Thursday: we woke up early to watch the first sunrise of the year. It's a japanese tradition to watch the sun rise from a high mountain. Well, we felt like our balcony was pretty high so we stepped out our door into the cold and watched the dark sky turn into day. We didn't quite catch the first glimpse of the sun because it was hiding behind the clouds but it was a peaceful experience and a cool tradition I would love to incorporate into how I celebrate the new year!

On Thursday our overeating began! Also it snowed! We had lunch with the Yamaoka family and ate lots of delicious food and played fun games. All the missionaries were there and it definitely felt like Christmas. They also gave Brown Shimai and I a referral to meet their friends, the Maeda family and have dinner with them next week.

We had dinner with the Furui couple. Sister Furui's husband is not a member. We shared a lesson about Jesus Christ and the power of his life and sacrifice that makes it possible to become the people we want to be. We talked about our New Years resolutions and how it's our new start to becoming better people. We talked about how our purpose in this life is to learn about Christ, believe in Him, follow Him and become like Him. We invited him to meet with us again to learn about Christ. He was unsure but very polite. And we had a really good time at their house and the spirit was way strong as we testified of the Savior.

Friday: we had lunch with the Suzuki family. Brother Suzuki is a marathon runner so we bonded over running. He was actually watching a big race on tv as he was making lunch! He has run 19 marathons in many different countries. Genius! I definitely want to do that... You get to run marathons and travel the world! So cool! Anyway we had lots of fun and of course stretched our stomachs even wider. It hurt. Our dinner appointment for that night had been cancelled and we were rejoicing but the relief society president found out and insisted that we go to her home for dinner. So we spent our evening with the Kitahara family. And ate even more. Haha she also had tons of fun games and we sang songs together. Sister Kitahara referred Brown Shimai and I to a less active in the ward she would like us to visit.

Saturday: We had a break from eating for a bit so we hit the streets. We were on our way to visit a referral the elders had given us when we met the cutest girl, Tomi. She is Buddhist but really wanted to meet again to talk about religion. She lives really close to the church and was so excited we met!

So we get to the street the elders directed us to and they say it's a blue house. So we ring the door of the first blue house we see. A man opens the door and we explain that we are missionaries and our friends visited and talked with his wife a while ago and asked if she was home. His wife comes to the door and actually has never met missionaries but we explain that we are greeting everyone and sharing a happy message and could we share it? She said, go ahead. So we start teaching and bearing testimony right then. She cuts us off after a little bit and tells us good luck. But we know we were directed there for a reason. It was so cool! Brown Shimai said it was definitely in God's plan for her to paint her house blue so we could meet her and give her an opportunity to feel the spirit.

Saturday night we had dinner with the Tsukada family, and the bishop's family and all the missionaries. The bishop has all girls and they are so cute and funny! It was soooo much fun! They play lots of silly games and punish the losers by making them eat more food so they can get rid of it all.

Sunday: fast Sunday thank goodness. Kosuge Shimai brought her friend to church so we invited her to join us in gospel principles class and sat with her in the other meetings. They have been friends for awhile. They are coworkers and neighbors! Kosuge Shimai was a great missionary and offered a Book of Mormon to her friend. We will help her continue to be a missionary and share the gospel with her friends.

We participated in ward council after church and it was really encouraging and I felt very supported by the ward. I like that we get to attend and learn about the ward vision and coordinate the work.

We had a lesson with Seki Shimai about the plan of salvation. We focused on how the atonement helps us to overcome the obstacles that keep us from returning to God.

Then we think we are about to start our weekly planning finally when another recent convert shows up way early at the church building. So we have an hour to kill... We ask her about her New Years and her goals. She says she really wants to go to the temple and see it and do baptisms this year. She wants to meet with the other sisters again and learn about the temple. We suggested that we could study a little bit with her right then so we did a quick lesson about the temple and our baptismal covenants.

Then Seki Shimai met us at the church and we all walked over to the Yamada home for dinner. Yamada shimai's friend came as well and sister brown and I will be able to start teaching the friend and her husband soon!

Anyway it was a great week! Seemed too busy to do work, but we saw many miracles in the little bit of proselyting time we had and built relationships with members that are leading to teaching opportunities!

I found this quote in my study this week:

"True ministry is measured more by the depth of our charity than by the perfection of our statistics.” Sister Beck

I hope that the lesson I'm learning and the quality I'm developing can be charity. If I have charity I can never fail. It won't matter how many converts I have or how many lessons I teach with a member present or how many investigators came to church. It will matter though if I am becoming more like Christ and loving others the way he would if he were here.

Brown Shimai and I have a new theme scripture for this year and the last but most productive 6 months of our missions.

"Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever."

Moses 4:2

As we learn of Christ and follow the example he set and invite his spirit to be with us, we can always do the will of he Father. We can repent and always have a remission of our sins and be clean and acceptable before the father. And the things we do can glorify him and serve him and carry forth his work as we love his children. So there's an important question: "What does the Father want me to do/be?" Always remember that he is cheering you on. The plan is in your favor. His son came to give you power to change and become like your Father. All that you are and have is because of a loving God. You can achieve your goals and find strength and gifts only through the divine help of our Heavenly Father. Remember him and rely on him as you set and work to achieve goals this year. I love the new year because it's a fresh start. But because of Christ, every day can be a fresh start as I repent and turn to him.

Alma 37:47 "Look to God and live."

Love,

Sister Reeves

Presents from the ward

See the white mountain all covered in snow... GREAT view of Mt. FUJI!

Selfie with my new FURS.

December 28th

Hello :)

Christmas was so fun! Talking with y'all was one of the highlights! I LOVE my family :) Can't wait for Christmas 2015!

We had Mission Conference on Christmas Eve in Kichijoji. 210 missionaries! It was awesome! President Wada and Sister Wada spoke and we got to watch Meet the Mormons. It's seriously amazing. You must watch it. Some sisters from the Musashino Stake helped Sister Wada with the food and they fed 210 missionaries sooo well! We had a gift exchange and of course my gift was thoughtful and so cute, but I got a really big bottle of hot sauce. But Sister Eyring got a baby head on a stick so I felt better! Hahahaha anyway it was just really fun to celebrate Christmas and feel the spirit among an army of missionaries :)

Eikaiwa Party: We held English class on Christmas Eve cause well, it's just a normal day for everyone so they came! We had a Christmas themed English lesson and sang songs and did a gift exchange and ate lots of dessert! It was really fun! And delicious!

One of the students in the class complimented my "japanese performance". I can speak polite Japanese and bow well I guess. Anyway, next he knelt on the ground and bowed to me... Like literally the most polite bow I've ever seen. Haha I just teach free English, yo!

Christmas Day was so fun and happy! Skyping with the family was of course a highlight but Brown Shimai and I had a miraculous day. After skyping and study we went out to spread Christmas cheer! We had a list of about 8 people we wanted to visit and plans for each one of them for messages to share/gifts to give/lessons to teach, etc. and we visited everyone! It was busy and exciting. We ended up teaching a less active and our investigator, Suzuki San. The less active member even came to church yesterday!

Our lesson with Suzuki San was wonderful. We had planned on sharing a quick Christmas message and setting up a return appointment. We shared the message and used some HTBT and it was feeling like she was giving us all the "I have no interest in learning further" cues and the conversation was really headed in the direction of "oh okay we get it. You're Buddhist. Let's just be friends." But then I asked her how she felt when she used to read the Bible. And the atmosphere changed! Brown Shimai asked her if she had been reading the Book of Mormon and when she said no we suggested that we read it together. She went to get it and we started from the introduction. She had lots of good questions which lead to the opportunity to teach a simple overview of the Restoration! She said she had been to church before several years ago and loved the family environment and understood the messages in her heart. She says that right now she isn't sure that she will attend church or be baptized but she wants to continue hearing the message. She said she will read the Book of Mormon.

On Friday I went on an exchange with Brox Shimai. She is great! We had a really busy day. She said she wanted to improve on teaching lesson 1 simply to practice what she learned in the training at zone meeting. We had the wonderful opportunity of teaching lesson 1 four times together! We had 3 member mogis and then a lesson with a less active member. It was a miracle. My testimony and confidence was strengthened and my faith that God guides us and there is power in our calling was also increased. The less active member we taught was baptized at 16, actively attended church for 2 years, and about 10 years have passed since then. She has forgotten everything she learned at church and even the reason she was baptized. But she feels the spirit so strong when she meets with the missionaries and she wants to remember! She is reading the Book of Mormon and praying... Finding her testimony again! Brox Shimai bore powerful testimony and the spirit was strong as she testified to the less active member that the message we shared was what God wanted us to share with her specifically today. She teared up a little bit and remembered that she had been able to feel God's love powerfully in her life when she was living the gospel.

Sister Brown got invited to a Japanese Culture Conference! I was jealous but hopefully she'll teach me everything there is to know! Merstrand shimai's companion also went, so she and I split and worked on a assignment we were given at the last leadership conference. Our mission currently uses the tools from the Tokyo mission for teaching eikaiwa and has never created our own handbook or given trainings to missionaries on how to have an effective and professional eikaiwa. We studied the materials from several old books and have started to create the handbook and studying ideas for training our mission and improving this service opportunity to increase the number of students, have member participation, and invite these friends to learn about why we are here in Japan giving our time and service for 1 1/2-2 years.

On Saturday night we went to look at the Christmas lights in Tama... Right by Hello Kitty Land! We went with 2 single adults(one returning member, and one active member). We had so much fun and the 2 singles were able to strengthen a friendship. And both came to church on Sunday! After looking at the lights and taking lots of pictures we saw it was crepe day at the crepe shop so we ate and shared a daily message we had prepared for them.

Great quote from President Monson: “By learning of Him, by believing in Him, by following Him, there is the capacity to become like Him. The countenance can change; the heart can be softened; the step can be quickened; the outlook enhanced. Life becomes what it should become.”

The purpose of our lives is to learn! When we learn of God and become like Him we prepare ourselves to return to our heavenly home :) I know He lives and he loves us and he wants us to be happy! Because of our Savior there is power to change. This week as we look back on 2014 and think about the change we want to make in the new year, we can think about the Savior and how we can make room for him in our lives.

Love you!

Love,

Kinz

Sister Maloy and Me at the Christmas Conference

White elephant. I got hot sauce.... Look what eyring Shimai got. Scary!

Lights in Tama with Saori, Sister Brown, and Yuki

President Stevenson is SANTA

210 missionaries. Biggest workforce Tokyo South has ever had. Happy Christmas, y'all!

Christmas JAMZ.

Selfie on Christmas day.

Kentucky Fried Christmas.

and Christmas CAKE

Sister Eyring.

Peace on Earth. Goodwill to Men.

December 23rd

Merry Christmas:) 🎅🎁🎄

“Sometimes the most precious and sacred things are right in front of
us, in plain sight, but we cannot or will not see them… .
“I promise that if we unclutter our lives a little bit and in
sincerity and humility seek the pure and gentle Christ with our
hearts, we will see Him, we will find Him--on Christmas and throughout
the year.”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

“This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss
suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft
answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep
a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to
understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone
else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude.
Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the
beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it
again.”
President Howard W. Hunter

I am very excited to SEE you and talk to you on Christmas! Grateful
for modern technology :) and iPads. It's interesting the way God
hastens his work. I know that our happiness is God's work. He loves
us. He really loves us. All that he does is for our good and is in
favor of our eternal joy. He has given us all many gifts. Our lives,
bodies, families, talents and abilities, opportunities for growth,
prophets, the gospel, commandments, many temporal and spiritual
blessings, and the greatest: a Savior, Christ, the Lord. We can
celebrate Christmas each day of our lives as we remember the Savior
and the many gifts God continues to bless us with. We can give a gift
to Him of love and kindness to others, obedience to His commandments,
gratitude for His mercy, and doing those things each day that bring us
closer to Him and help us become more like Him. And when we do that,
we just keep getting more gifts! In the Old Testament we can read,
"Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open
you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there
shall not be room enough to receive it."
Malachi 3:10
When we obey God with faith, we receive his promised blessings. So
many that there's not enough room to receive them! Make room for the
blessings of God. Invite his influence into your life and share the
gifts you have received with those around you. Christ is the most
important Christmas gift you have ever received. Because of Christ,
and with Christ, anything is possible.

“What will you and I give for Christmas this year? Let us in our
lives give to our Lord and Savior the gift of gratitude by living His
teachings and following in His footsteps. It was said of Him that He
‘went about doing good’ (Acts 10:38). As we do likewise, the Christmas
spirit will be ours.”
President Thomas S. Monson

We have enjoyed sharing our testimony of the Savior and sharing the
joy of Christmas this past week.

Today was Temple PDay! We had a wonderful day and met lots of great
people on the way and came back to lots of prep for Christmas parties
and things and met with Seki Shimai to knit scarves! :)

We have spent most of our week Caroling to members and friends! We
love sharing the spirit of Christmas and inviting everyone to think
about the gift they will give to the Savior this Christmas.

We had Zone meeting this week and it was awesome! The zone leaders had
assigned several missionaries in the zone short trainings and
testimonies. It was fun to learn from other missionaries and it was an
awesome opportunity for younger missionaries to accept a
responsibility and lead. I got to do a training on teaching the
message of the restoration simply as an overview. We practiced
teaching the entire lesson and extending commitments to read the Book
of Mormon, pray, come to church, and be baptized in under 5 minutes.
It wasn't rushed and the message made sense. A lot of times we
complicate the message by giving too many details and confusing our
investigators! But the message of the restoration of the gospel is so
important. God loves us and he speaks to us still through a living
prophet. We can know that this is true by reading the Book of Mormon
and receiving an answer through prayer. It's so simple and so powerful
and can change lives.

We visited a cute old lady member in the hospital this week. She was
soooo grateful for the visit. She invited us back to the hospital to
attend the hospital's Christmas concert with her. We ran into other
members and a potential investigator there. It was fun to listen to
Christmas songs and feel sort of Christmasy! The doctors at the
hospital had a choir, jazz band, hand Bells, and japanese sign
language group.

The ward Christmas party was cute! There were lots of Eikaiwa students
and their families and other friends and non members. The bishops
family did a cute skit about family home evening. Another family did a
puppet show of the Christmas story from the bible. There were a couple
musical numbers and lots of delicious food! Japanese Christmas is way
different from American Christmas mostly cause they have no idea how
to do it but it's fun :) I'm excited!!!

Miracle: Sunday night we were walking to a members home to carol and
share a message. On the way we saw this cute girl in Mickey Mouse pjs
and orange crocs walk out of a convenience store. She was totally our
kind of girl. Most japanese women will never leave the house unless
they are way perfectly put together! Anyway, brown Shimai complimented
her crocs haha and we got talking. We talked about the real meaning of
Christmas, taught and bore testimony of the Savior and showed her the
He is the Gift Christmas video right there on the street. Afterwards I
said that I felt peace when we watched the video. She said she felt
warm. I told her she could give a gift to Christ by learning about Him
and following his teachings. I asked her if she would meet us and
study with us in order to learn about Christ. She said, "where?!" We
exchanged numbers and are so excited to meet with her!

President Wada visited Hachioji and did a fireside for the
missionaries and our people! He showed a portion of the movie: It's a
wonderful life!! Best Christmas present ever :) people were in tears
and we all realized that each of us is important and the good we do is
significant. I love the note the angel Clarence writes in the book he
gives to George: "No man is a failure who has friends." I'm so
grateful for the friends I've had in every phase of my life. I feel
success on my mission because God has blessed me such wonderful
relationships here who have blessed my life. I'm glad I didn't miss
watching our traditional Christmas Eve movie this year :) now... If I
could have traditional Christmas brunch... ;)

Have y'all seen the church's Christmas video for this year? If you
haven't, watch it and share it with your friends!

Happy Christmas!!

Love,
Sister McKenzie Reeves

View from the apartment... My new area is beautiful! We can see the mountains!

Nativity at the Temple

Christmas box we received from the ward

knitting scarves with a milk carton with Sister Brown and Seki Shimai

December Pictures

Christmas Countdown with Thuy and Sister Brown

At MLC with sister merstrand

Picture with the guy who sings by the Hachioji station

(Sisters Brown, Reeves, Handy, Brox, and Hotu)

December 14th

Hello!

How is everyone doing?! I miss you all especially with Christmas coming up so soon! I was thinking this week that I've never felt so far from Christmas before and I wondered why because I'm testifying of Jesus Christ everyday! And I decided that it's because the Christmas Spirit isn't a part of Japanese culture and only a small population spend this season rejoicing in the Savior. And that's why I'm here! To bring a little Christmas spirit into a few of their lives! I know Jesus lives and he is the reason we celebrate!

Miracles have not ceased in the Tokyo South Mission! I'll share just a few with you from this week :)

Tuesday:

We met with Furui Shimai for a mogi (role play) lesson. We shared the following quote from Elder Ballard's talk, "put your trust in the Lord":

"Brothers and sisters, fear will be replaced with faith and confidence when members and the full-time missionaries kneel in prayer and ask the Lord to bless them with missionary opportunities. Then, we must demonstrate our faith and watch for opportunities to introduce the gospel of Jesus Christ to our Heavenly Father’s children, and surely those opportunities will come. These opportunities will never require a forced or a contrived response. They will flow as a natural result of our love for our brothers and sisters. Just be positive, and those whom you speak with will feel your love. They will never forget that feeling, though the timing may not be right for them to embrace the gospel. That too may change in the future when their circumstances change.

It is impossible for us to fail when we do our best when we are on the Lord’s errand. While the outcome is a result of the exercise of one’s agency, sharing the gospel is our responsibility."

We bore testimony of God's great work and she opened up about who she wants to share the gospel with. She is the only member in her family. She began talking about how she would like to introduce us to her husband. We talked a lot about him and prayed for him and didn't even have time for our "lesson"!

We met Thuy Shimai in the evening. We made Christmas advent calendars with her and then shared a message about God's unconditional love for us. She opened up a lot about her feelings as a recent convert and her testimony. We were able to help her with some of her concerns and discuss Christ's perfect gospel. She is so strong and has great faith!

Wednesday:

We planned the most amazing lesson for our investigators, the Suzuki couple. The plan was dinner in their home and time to share our lesson. Mr. Suzuki made us udon noodles. He learned how to make them when he was 10 years old and he loves to make them. It takes 3 days!! And he made them for us! They were absolutely delicious. So a cool thing happened. We didn't get to share our lesson but... We met their daughter in law, Keiko, and her 7 year old boy, Shouta, who live upstairs. They came downstairs and we chatted and got to know them and built a good relationship. Keiko was so happy to meet us and Shouta was so fun! We practiced writing in English and Japanese and drew pictures with him.

Thursday:

Sister Clark and I traveled together to Mission leadership council (MLC). MLC is the best. I love receiving training and spending time with the Wada's. Learned lots about success and being guided by the spirit, and leading and loving like Christ. I also got to bear my testimony at the meeting! Sister Clark and I talked with everyone in the train on the way there and back. I introduced myself and didn't ask if they wanted to hear our message... We just started teaching! We split back and Sister Brown talked about all the miracles she had seen that day. They met a less active who welcomed them back anytime, found a potential investigator, and had similar experiences teaching those they met on the street.

Friday:

We had a really cool lesson with an active member who helps us all the time! We shared President Uchtdorf's testimony from the talk, "living the gospel joyful". We each had an opportunity to share experiences and bear testimony of God's love. Each of us had tears in ours eyes at one point in the lesson. The member was so grateful and said it was exactly what she needed to hear that day. I know God trusts his missionaries and gives us inspiration and guides us in the work we do. Teaching lessons with members is such a good opportunity for building trust and for letting them see that God trusts us as his servants and messengers of truth.

Saturday:

In the morning, Sister Clark and I traveled to the stake center for SPM, with the stake presidency. The Machida stake is very awesome. President Wada told the stake president here that my dad was also a stake president. So, President Reeves, President Tokuzawa says hello!

Way cool day!!! We have tried to go out in faith that God will help us reach goals we have prayerfully set. And we've gotten sooo close! We went out with people in mind to visit and messages we wanted to share. We came home having taught lessons to 2 less active members and extending 12 SOS invitations. Short of our goal by 1 lesson and 4 invitations but we felt so happy and my faith was definitely strengthened. I know we are seeing miracles and success.

We stopped by the Suzuki home with a thank you card and met.... Their son! The only member of the household we hadn't met! We learned from him that their family had taken lessons from sister missionaries several years earlier and he had been to church before and has interest in returning. He asked us to please visit again. Brown Shimai and I have started working with a family!! They have a lot of interest in family history and their family relationships are very important to them. We are excited to teach them about how the gospel can bless their family and how they can be an eternal family.

We visited Maruyama Shimai and shared a message about Christmas with her. We asked her what she would do this Christmas to discover the gift of Christ. She isn't ready to return to church but she said she would pray! She always welcomes messages from the missionaries so we are excited to help her remember her testimony and strengthen her faith.

We visited with Thuy Shimai at a bakery and had a lesson. It was perfect timing. She shared with us a lot of her experiences and shared her love for her family and desire to have her own happy family. She shared a lot about her background and the things that shaped her to be who she is today. She was so grateful that we are there to listen.

Sunday:

Always the craziest day of the week! I was asked to play the piano for relief society, speak last minute in sacrament meeting, and join a musical number for this weekend's Christmas party. It's hard to be in a new ward and get to know names and faces again but I'm excited for all that I will learn from serving in his ward.

We went to the stake center with Watanabe Shimai and a potential investigator, Haruka chan, for the Christmas devotional. It was so wonderful! I read along in English as we listened in japanese. I loved the messages about family history and emulating Christ's family, and about feeling and recognizing the Spirit.

Love youuuu very much.

Love,

Sister Reeves


One year as missionaries!! Celebrate with pink :) Pink drinks and pink ice cream! And lots of selfies.

December 8th

Hello everyone!

This will be quick. Yesterday was crazy! So sorry for not writing!

But for news: I have been transferred!!! I left my beloved Hibarigaoka after 4 transfers (about 6 months). I learned so much and formed relationships with many special friends. I am now in Hachioji. Far away! A new zone and new stake! And it's cold here! Haha I hear Machida stake is amazing though and has a lot of fire for family history. My ward right now is really big. About 150 active members attend sacrament meeting each week and lately there have been a lot of reactivation miracles with the less active members of the ward. I'm really excited to be in this area and continue to learn and grow from these opportunities. My new companion is the BEST. Her name is sister brown. We were in the MTC together and both transfer 8 missionaries right now. She is from New Zealand so she has a super cool accent and sometimes I can't tell what she is saying. She is hilarious and loving and we are already having so much fun. I can tell we are going to have a blast this transfer and see lots of miracles... Even though winter has come!!!!

My last few days in Hibarigaoka were fun and interesting. I worked in a threesome with Funakura Shimai and eyring Shimai until miller Shimai came home from the hospital on Tuesday. Just an fyi the member was never hospitalized and never had salmonella... She has a cold. Just in case y'all were worried. Her bento was different from ours. Haha.

When miller Shimai came back we had to take turns staying with her and going on splits to go out and work. I got to teach and meet with potential investigators with Funakura Shimai quite a bit and she is such an outstanding missionary! It was so much fun! I got to meet with a lot of my favorite people before I left. It was weird and sad to say goodbye but felt so good to know that I had made the most of my time in the area and was leaving with memories and relationships. I also felt so loved and important. Our last lesson with Choi Shimai was amazing. We taught about baptism and confirmation and wrote down her conversion story. We asked her tons of questions and got to know her feelings and how her life has changed from learning of and accepting the gospel. It was a wonderful way to remember our lessons and her baptism!

Hachioji is fun! I live with the coolest sisters, our district is great, and the ward is seriously so accepting and helpful. We are already seeing little miracles each day. It has already snowed here.... The coldest month is yet to come... February! Wish us luck and warmth.

Sorry I don't have time to give a more detailed update.

Here's a scripture from my study this week:

7 And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.

13 O remember, remember, my son Helaman, how strict are the commandments of God. And he said: If ye will keep my commandments ye shall prosper in the land--but if ye keep not his commandments ye shall be cut off from his presence.

14 And now remember, my son, that God has entrusted you with these things, which are sacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and preserve for a wise purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations.

Alma 37:7, 13-14

Sometimes as a missionary i feel very small. But God has called me and entrusted me with a sacred calling and an assignment to love, teach, and serve his precious children. He trusts me and he loves me. I can't fail when I follow his commandments. He shows forth his power when we obey. And through our small efforts, we can see great things of eternal significance. He is mighty and he is real. I know he is our Father. I know this life has a purpose and I know we can return to him one day.

Please remember that you and your efforts are not insignificant. God is mindful of you. He will be with you and help you as you do your best and trust in him. His hand is in your life. Pause and acknowledge him and you will see great and mighty things in your life and be able to prepare for eternity.

I love you all and hope you always remember that! Thank you for the wonderful influence you have in my life.

Love,

Sister Kinz