February 15th

Hey everyone! Happy Valentine's Day!
Our week was fun and full of LOVE! Valentine's Day took on a new
meaning for me as the love of God became the theme (:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life.
John 3:16
I chose to focus on His perfect love and this week I found myself
forgetting my own worries and cares and enjoying showing love to all
those around me. My love is not perfect at all, but I hope that with
my best efforts others can learn to feel God's perfect love.

Highlights of the week:
-FHE with the Kawatani family! We had a wonderful conversation about
showing, feeling, and recognizing love. We studied from scriptures and
talks and challenged everyone to share a simple note of love with
someone they care about! Saying "I love you" is REALLY hard for
Japanese people but there are so many ways we can express love! We
talked about the things we can do to always feel God's love in our
homes. I gave them an assignment chart I made for their family home
evenings and encouraged them to continue FHE together even when we are
not there!


FHE chart for the Kawatani family                Making frosting with Sister Tsukada

 -RS cupcake making activity: We decorated the cutest cupcakes for
Valentine's and ate lunch all together with the RS women. One way I
feel love is from the fellowship and support i feel at church and
among the members.

My Valentine ;) Sister Yamaguchi

-We had a really great lesson with Ishizuka San. Sister Hatanaka came
with us and was perfect! She was able to explain so many things that
we couldn't and had the perfect experiences to share. She could really
relate to Ishizuka San because they are close in age, are both
Japanese, both wives and mothers, both work, grew up outside of the
church, etc... We shared the plan of salvation and she loved it. She
says she has always thought that we must have lived before this life
and that death is not the end. When we began teaching about the
atonement of Christ, she expressed that when she thinks of Christ,
it's more an awareness rather than having a relationship with him.
Please pray for her and for us! Our next step is to help her to
understand the atonement and her relationship with Christ by helping
her to know who He is by scripture study and praying in His name.

-We met with our PI, Mika on Wednesday before eikaiwa. She had just
had a birthday so we met and made pancakes together to celebrate! It's
was also my one year mark in Japan! Can you believe it?! Anyway, she
shared with us that she had never believed in Christ and doesn't know
much about him, but recently has had experiences that have led her to
begin to believe. She loves church and says sometimes it's hard to
understand. Her schedule is really busy so it's hard for her to meet
with us but hopefully soon we can meet for lessons!
 

Valentine's Day Kid's Eikaiwa with Ma San and her daughter

Birthday Pancakes for MIKA

-We met with a less active, Risa chan for a lesson and activity. We
read scriptures about hearts and decorated papers hearts to tie on a
string and hang! It was really fun and they are reallyyyy cute! Risa
chan is awesome! She is a convert, and a great member missionary! She
has a busy work schedule and can only make it to church every once in
awhile. She makes it to the temple often but really misses the
spiritual nourishment of Sunday school and church attendance.
Hopefully we can continue to meet and study together as her schedule
allows!

Shitami Shimai at the Sisters' Conference





 -We visited a less active, Muramoto Shimai. She's a cute old lady who
at first wasn't thrilled that we had visited because her husband is
pretty against her meeting with missionaries. In the end she invited
us to come again in the afternoon when her husband is gone. We were
able to say a prayer together and she teared a bit, remembering the
Spirit that comes from prayer and gospel living.

-On Friday we had a Specialized training meeting for all the sisters
in the mission! The theme was hearts! We learned about change of
heart, kind heart, healthy heart, sharing heart, etc. It was so fun to
learn together and to reunite with almost all my old companions! After
the conference Sister Bryson, Sister Merstrand and I stayed for dinner
at the mission home. Our investigator, Patrick, had come in town and
was invited by the Wada's for dinner! He learned a lot and Sister
Bryson invited him again to be baptized.


at Moeka's Baptism, with Sister Bryson

Sister Sasaki surprised us at the Sister's Conference!!

-Saturday was crazy... We woke up super early and spent our day
basically all over the mission. We had a meeting with the stake
presidency in the morning at the machida stake center and then went
back to Hachioji for district meeting and then went to Moeka's baptism
in Kichijoji with an investigator. It was AMAZING. We met Moeka last
March when Sister Feist and I were together. She has changed so much
since then, and she radiates light! Her faith is strong and her future
is bright. She had the courage to ask her parents for permission to be
baptized and they supported her and attended her baptism. She bore
testimony of the timing and hand of God in her life. It was no
coincidence that she was placed with a Mormon family when she home
stayed in America, it was no coincidence she had a mormon friend at
school, it was no coincidence she met the missionaries and began
taking lessons when she did. I love her so much! She is actually
really excited to meet the family too. When I told her you were coming
she said, "can I please hang out with you guys?!" It was fun to be in
Kichijoji and reunite with some of the members and actually really
exciting that most of them remembered me! I am SO grateful to be a
missionary. I'm grateful for each of the experiences I've had and the
people I have met and learned to love.

 
Happy Baptism to MOEKA


Haruka chan came to church!!

-Sunday was Seki shimai's one year mark as a member! We met for a
lesson and made caramel popcorn together. Popcorn is her favorite! But
she said it was her first time to have sweet popcorn! We had a lesson
about service and talked about all the opportunities we have to serve
as members of the church in callings, and visiting teaching
assignments, and through simple acts of kindness. Service helps us
understand God's love for his children and helps us to forget ourselves
and find joy in helping to lift other people. Seki Shimai is awesome!
She is one of my favorites (:


Scripture Hearts with Risa

Y'all are my favorites, too! I have so many people I love(: Thanks for
loving me.
Have a happy week(:

Love,
Sister Reeves


All the Sisters of Tokyo South :)

February 8th

Hello everyone (:
This week seriously flew by so fast!! I don't know how the time
escaped so fast. I've really been thinking a lot lately about time...
And how precious the time is that God grants us each day. My time in
Japan is short... A simple year and a half that sometimes feels like
it will never end but it has been full of opportunities for growth and
lessons of a lifetime. I don't want to waste a moment or regret any of
my time here. I want to focus my attention on others and leave knowing
that I had served the Lord with everything I had. It's kind of like
long distance running and I was never really good at the sprint to the
finish, but as long as I leave it all on the course I can be satisfied
with my race! I remember I would always pray before my race... Of
course I had goals and certain competitors I wanted to beat but I
always prayed that no matter what happened I could be happy with how
it turned out. I know that all our experiences are for our good and
God didn't send us here to fail. This is our race! I want to return to
my Heavenly Father and be able to say I gave it all I had. I look
forward to the day when He can say, Welcome Home!

Shimizu and Saori (:

I hope your week was full of miracles! I would love to hear about some
of the miracles you experienced (: I'll share with you some of mine!

Last Monday night we had plans to visit 4 less active members and do
some heart attacking and share messages. The first two, we couldn't
find... The third one took forever to find and we finally found her
home. We met her husband who is not a member and he informed us that
she had passed away last May. We left so confused about why we had
felt good about our plan. Then we searched for the last member and it
was getting late. On the way I received a phone call from an
investigator in Kichijoji! Moeka!! She wanted to call and let me know
that her parents gave her permission to be baptized and she will be
baptized this Saturday and wanted me to be there! She is a miracle and
I am so happy to have been a small part in helping her come to know
her Savior. We never found the last less active before it was time to
head home but we have since been thinking about the husband of the
other less active and have arranged to return with a member this week
and hopefully be able to share with him the message of God's plan and
forever families.

Zone Blitz with Sister Yamaguchi, Sister Foutz, and Sister Blake 

I went on exchanges with Sister Hotu this week and we had a great
opportunity to meet with a less active member, Shimizu Shimai. This
time we visited with a member, Saori, who had been her friend back
when they were young women. It was perfect! Shimizu Shimai really
wants to obey the commandments. The sisters are helping her to
remember to pray and read the Book of Mormon daily and help her
overcome her problems with the word of wisdom. She is amazing and I
learned a lot on our exchange about how important we are to our
Heavenly Father and how blessed we are when we obey His commandments.
Obedience sets us free. It allows us to strengthen our relationship
with a divine being and allows His spirit to be with us always. When
we follow God's law of health we are promised that we will "find wisdom
and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures"
D&C 89:19
The greatest treasure is of eternal nature... It's coming to know God
and to know God we need to know ourselves.

Zone Blitz SELFIE 

On Wednesday night after English class I spent some time talking with
one of the students, Watanabe San. He is a nice older man who attends
the advanced class and is really good at English. We talked about many
things: Texas, Baseball, sports, education, psychology, family,
Japanese culture, language, and then eventually the subject shifted to
talking about God. He said he has been to the church a couple times
and liked it a lot but he said that he is not able to believe in God.
I asked him why he thought that and he wanted to know why I can
believe in God. I shared with him my simple experiences of finding
answers to prayer, receiving help and guidance and gifts from God. I
explained that maybe it is different for me because I've been taught
about God from a young age and was taught what I needed to do to have
faith in Him. I've had many experiences that have testified to me of
His reality. He said that hearing my experiences really helped him. He
said he wanted to hear more experiences from more members. I invited
him to join us at church where we share our experiences and help each
other and discuss our relationship with God. I testified that it's not
too late for him to find out for himself, and he can know through
experience and a test of faith. You can know too! God is there. Ask
Him. He will show you.


  This week I attended MLC! It was the best of course! The theme was
accountability but the lesson that I learned was preparation. When we
do our best to prepare well for everything we do, we first show our
love to God by showing that we care about the responsibilities with
which we have been entrusted. When we prepare we show those we serve

Dinner with Kosuge Shimai 

(Sister Yamaguchi, Sister Hotu, Sister Reeves, Sister Kosuge)

that we also care about them and love them! This life is the time to
prepare to meet God! Our whole purpose is preparation. Show your love
and appreciation to God and those around you by taking some time to
prepare. I can take extra thought to prepare a lesson tailor-made for
an investigator, rather than giving them the same-old generic lesson.
I can prepare for my meetings and call the other leaders in advance so
we can be ready to discuss. I can prepare my proselyting by using my
study time to treasure the doctrines. I can prepare for each new day
by counseling and accounting to my Father each night. Prayer really
can be a counsel/interview with the Lord.

Friday was such a weird day. But I learned that sometimes God has
something different in mind. We planned a lesson for Mizuki and then
went to visit her. On the way we were stopped by a man who ended up
talking for forever! We invited him to church and he wrote down the
time and place and committed to be there. He told me that I invited
one person but my influence will travel further than that because he
would invite another! And he did! And they came to church and loved it
and said they would be back again! When we got to Mizuki's it turned
out she had time! Perfect! But she wanted to go to the church so we
walked 30 minutes back to the church with her and her energetic 3 year
old son. We did a quick tour and then gave him paper and markers so we
could talk with Mizuki. We tried to get to know her better and set
expectations but it was so distracting with her little boy! We ended
up studying a little bit from Alma and then ended with prayer. But the
miracle came when we walked out of the church. Sister Yagi who is the
primary teacher for the 3 year olds showed up! She was way sweet to Mizuki and
Koki and showed so much interest in them! It meant a lot to me that
she would love our investigator! She has offered to help her get a
ride to church on Sunday!

Zone Blitz

We had a two zone combined family history blitz on Saturday afternoon.
For three hours we focused our proselyting efforts on the family and
inviting others to research their families and join us at church. We
switched companions and proselyting methods each hour. We all went out
there and gave it our all for an exhausting three hours and saw
miracles! It was so much fun! There was power in number and faith as
we all went out in the same area and spoke with everyone! We met a
lady who immediately said, "I'm buddhist" but we began talking about
the importance of family and she stopped and talked to us longer and
was so grateful to have met us! We met a lady who was on her way to
visit her grandma and was way excited to talk to her grandma about
their family history after talking with us! We met a man who said, "I
just met an American man just like you an hour ago!" We talked with
him awhile and to him it was such a miracle that we had both met him
that day. He said he takes the road by the church often and he is
interested in coming some time!

Sunday was tiring as always but we had a wonderful day. A lady that
the elders met came to church and was fellowshipped by so many
members. Her ex-husband is a member and they lived in salt lake while
they were married. She has studied many religions and was so touched
by the service on Sunday. She isn't sure if she will be able to come
again but I know God loves her and lead her to be there to feel his
love.

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God's
true church. I know it was restored by God through a prophet, Joseph
Smith. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. The gospel is
true and it's happy!!!

I love you so much!

Shout out to my super awesome Dad who is turning... Who is having a
birthday this week! Thanks for choosing to follow the Savior and come
to earth! Thanks for your example!

Love,
Sister McKenzie Reeves

February 1st

Heyyy everyone! 

Update from your favorite missionary in Tokyo! 

Tuesday: We had an appointment with a member that fell through so we had a little extra time. We visited several less active members/part member families and they were either not home or didn't want to talk to us so we spent hours knocking on doors and inviting people to church. We met a couple really nice people who chatted with us awhile but nobody with any real interest. We also met this lady from Peru and I literally couldn't think of one word of Spanish! Can someone teach me how to introduce myself as a missionary and explain what we are doing, etc in Spanish? Anyway, it was a long day. Our phone tells us how many steps we took and I don't know if this is actually far but I felt tired: 23,724 steps :) 

Wednesday: We visited Mizuki for a lesson and it turned out she didn't have much time but we were able to follow up on commitments (she's reading the Book of Mormon and praying and loving it!), read a scripture, testify, and pray on her front porch. In the afternoon and evening we taught kids eikaiwa and eikaiwa for adults. We met with our Chinese friend, Ma, before eikaiwa. She loves talking and talks SO fast... Even Yamaguchi Shimai said it was super fast! We could barely get a word in but she wants to meet again when she has time and talk more about what we do. She also said she thinks that she can learn a lot about the church and the people who attend by continuing to attend eikaiwa... Looks like we need to get more members at English class! 

SNOW DAY

Thursday: We had a lesson with Ishizuka San and shared the message of the Restoration. It's really cool... Every time we recite the first vision and testify of Joseph's experience, the Spirit is so strong! I can feel it and I know it's there! I'm grateful for opportunities to share my testimony because each time it is strengthened! The church is true!! 

Friday: Zone meeting! Our zone is so cool... We received trainings from many different missionaries and none from zone leaders or district leaders! I was able to sing in a musical number with 3 other sisters... If I can get the video I'll send it! 

Friday was also a snow day!! It snowed a lot! :) 

We visited Suzuki San and she is busy until March!! Oh no! :( 

We also met with a couple members... Our member missionary work focus this week has been sharing the gospel online. We have encouraged members to create facebook accounts and mormon.org profiles and share their testimonies online! You should too! The advancements in technology are evidences of the hastening of God's work of salvation and we can all participate and reach thousands of people! 

26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

2 Nephi 25:26

During our morning jog

Saturday: 

Busy day of lots of proselyting but we made our goals for the week! And we had a fun day and finished our weekly planning :) 

Sunday: So busy and so miraculous! Our Ward had 11 investigators at church! It was so awesome! After church we had ward council and a lesson with Seki Shimai and then we headed out to dendo! We found a potential investigator right away! A cute Chinese girl here for study. We have a plan this week to heart attack the ward leaders and ward missionaries so we did one of those yesterday, too! The bishop saw us leaving the church and asked where we were off too... And we gave him a really vague answer and then said... Missionary work! It was fast Sunday so he was like "ohhh so you're going to get lunch...". Haha We planned on visiting a less active member and a potential investigator and it turned out that neither one of them were home so I started wondering why we had felt good about that plan. We decided to go housing in the area with the time we had left before our next appointment and we ended up being invited in and were able to teach a lesson to a new friend, Kawakubo san! She had received lessons from missionaries from other churches and had read the bible before. She said there were 4 times in her life when she had contact with Christianity but this was the first time she had met Mormon missionaries. She was excited to receive the Book of Mormon and thought the words were so good! It was actually a way cool member missionary experience too because the Book of Mormon we gave her was the one we had a member write her testimony in. She had returned it to us at church and we were able to pass it the same day! We prayed with her before we left and there were tears in her eyes. We are excited to teach her the message of the Restoration this week!

Heart-Attacking Sister Yamada's House

Love yall so much!! 

Sister Reeves

January 25th

To my wonderful friends and family:

Coming on a mission has been the craziest and best decision ever! I am
learning so much! Having a Japanese companion is humbling. You start
to realize how little Japanese you actually know, but I'm happy to
have such a sweet and patient companion. Yamaguchi Shimai is the best!

 

She's a really hard worker so it's been really fun to just get out
there each day and do what we came here to do! We have set realistic
goals as a companionship and got sooo close this last week! Goal: 15
lessons and invite 45 people to come to church or take lessons. We
taught 14 and invited 44! Consistent with my other japanese
companions, Yamaguchi Shimai prefers "housing" over talking to people
on the street, so we have been knocking on lots of doors and receiving
all kinds of responses! Something that I'm learning though is that we
are successful when we invite! I feel satisfied with the work I am
doing and I know my Heavenly Father is pleased with me. My companion
and I are being blessed with various opportunities to teach the gospel
and it's so happy!

This week we found a new investigator! Finally! Our goal is to get out
there and find those that receive us. To find the elect. And sometimes
actually finding them is a rare experience. Anyway, the elders met a
young single mom while they were housing a couple transfers ago so
Yamaguchi Shimai and I went back to visit and were able to share the
message of the restoration. It was a little crazy with her active son,
but it was of course wonderful to share my testimony of the prophet
Joseph Smith, of the Savior, the love of God, and to teach Mizuki how
to pray to her loving Father in Heaven. She has a desire to come to
church and is willing to start reading the Book of Mormon.

Lesson and activity with Thuy Shimai! We are princesses!

 

We met with Ishizuka san this week and read from 1 Nephi 8 with her
about Lehi's dream. We taught that there is only one iron rod, one
path that leads to the tree of life. The world may teach that there
are many paths to happiness but the Savior taught just one. His way is
the way!
21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is
none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in
the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ,
and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen.
2 Nephi 31:21
She had a hard time believing that there could only be one way because
she herself has found joy and peace among many different faiths and
paths. But, we had an interesting experience when we asked her how she
feels the love of God. She mentioned that she feels grateful when she
looks at the beauty in nature all around her and she said she wanted
to thank God too every time she heard the missionaries pray
specifically for her and her family and her situation.
It reminds me of the following scripture. Jesus visits the people in
the ancient Americas and teaches them and prays for them and they
could not even describe the joy they felt when they heard him pray to
the Father.
17 And no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man,
neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things
as we both saw and heard Jesus speak; and no one can conceive of the
joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto
the Father.
3 Nephi 17:17
As a representative of Christ, I hope I can always invite the Spirit
into my work so that the things I do and say can always be done in the
name of Christ and glorify the Father. My desire is to do and say as
the Savior would do and love as he would love the people I am serving
as if he were here. Through participation in this work, others may
feel the love of God.



This weekend was stake conference. Such a cool experience... I was
spiritually fed. I like attending church in Japanese a lot! When I
can't understand the words, my only choice is to understand what the
Spirit is teaching me and often it has nothing to do with what the
speaker is saying. The talks were great! We learned a lot about
councils. Ward council, family councils, etc. Then on Sunday we heard
about temples, and missionary work, and the second coming. A few
things I learned:
1. On Sunday we got to sustain our local and the general leaders of
the church. No matter what language it's in, it's a privilege to
sustain apostles and leaders called of God.
2. One of the speakers spoke about missionary work. He said that as he
looks back on his mission he remembers it as a fun and happy time! I
would say that maybe this fun and happy time is one of the hardest
things I've ever experienced, but it's true and it's happy!
3. I have been really wanting to understand lately what it means to
receive eternal life. Receiving that gift is the purpose of our
existence here on earth, but what is it and why do I want it? The
Spirit really spoke to me about eternal life. As we learn about Christ
and live His gospel we come to know God, little by little and our
relationship with him is strengthened. As we live the gospel, we
receive a small taste of eternal life and we reach a small part of our
potential as children of God. Eternal life really is to know God and
to love God and to understand who we are as his children. Eternal life
is not an extension of this kind of life... It's qualifying for a
better one. One where we can progress eternally and become as our
Heavenly Father.
4. We had the privilege of attending a recent convert fireside after
the conference with a couple recent converts in our ward. It was a
beautiful opportunity for the converts to each share their story and
testify of Christ. This gospel has the power to change lives! There
were about 3 mentally slow members or friends in attendance at this
meeting. For the opening hymn we sang I am a child of God. One sister
sang loudly, off beat but full of enthusiasm. One sister sang/wailed
joyfully, almost crying. And one young brother stood up in front of
the room and danced interpretively. No one laughed, but everyone
smiled. I was filled with overwhelming love as I understood that each
child is loved by our God and each child is welcome to join with us
and learn to feel that love.



On Sunday night we attended our beloved Kawatani Kyoudai's baptism! It
was so amazing! The Ward has been praying for the husband of Kawatani
Shimai for years and this was the day each one of them had been
praying for! After the baptism, he mentioned that he knew this day
wasn't the end, it was just the beginning of the rest of his life,
learning and progressing as a disciple of Christ. He is the cutest!
And we are so happy for their family!

4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a
better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope
cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would
make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being
led to glorify God.
Ether 12:4
I am grateful for my belief in God. Belief gives us hope and helps us
understand the purpose of our lives and of the things we experience.
It allows the spirit to always be with us. It helps us to look forward
to eternal life- something greater than our current lives. Eternal
life is the kind of life God lives and this life is our test to
qualify for eternal life. And our faith comes through trial and test.
My faith truly is an anchor. I've really recognized that lately as
I've met several people who say they can't believe in God because
there is so much sorrow in the world, people who say they've lived so
long without faith, they will just die without it, people who admire
our faith and believe it's a good thing but decide that it's too late
for them, people who are lost but don't know they are lost. God is
real and he has a plan. He is the Father of us all. He loves YOU.

I love you, too!

Love,
Kinz