February 26th

okay hiii
finally getting a break to send an email with updates on my week! I bought a bike last week! it's super cool... has really thin tires and it's so light... so that will make transfers lots easier... we have to put our bike in a bag and take it on the train with us!
 
we eat so much good food here. we ate cabbage pancakes at a members house last weekend and we go out to eat with investigators quite a bit. I love curry. and they have the most delicious looking bakeries everywhere here. kichijoji is the place to be for lots of eating and shopping. it's way city-like and has tons of people. and everyone is so stylish!
 
we teach lots of English classes. we have eikaiwa for adults every Wednesday night. and we have kids eikaiwa on Saturday mornings. everyother Wednesday morning is baby English class (ritomic ages 1 to 3).
the babies are soooo cute! we also offer a program where we teach English for thirty minutes and then teach about the gospel for thirty minutes. every Thursday night is sports night. it is so hilarious and sometimes president wada comes and plays basketball with us. I'm definitely the worst but mostly everyone is pretty bad... so it's really funny. on Sunday we went to a baptism in kunitachi and our investigator, Amy san, came! she is part of the half English half gospel program. last night we were able to talk to her about baptism and all the blessings that come from receiving that ordinance and following Christ throughout our lives. She said she wants all those blessings but she was so surprised that it is possible to feel Gods love. we are hoping she shows more interest and becomes a progressing investigator. She is Chinese and so cute.
 
On Sunday I got asked to give a talk in church on March 30th. Ahh that will be fun and scary :)
I've been pretty overwhelmed with all the Japanese I hear allll the time and with how little I can understand and contribute. It's been hard for me to understand why God would send me here to feel so useless and ineffective. But it's been an amazing growing experience and it is definitely humbling. I really am nothing and can do nothing without Gods help. We had exchanges this week and I had the opportunity to work with an American sister. It was so refreshing to hear Japanese on a more understandable level and be able to keep conversations with people we met on a level and speed that didn't completely surpass my Japanese limits. Sister wells was also able to share with me her experiences about feeling the same way that I am right now. She is in her eighth month of the mission and says she still doesn't really understand anything at all and maybe she will never be comfortable with the language, but there are more ways to show love and invite others to come unto Christ than just words and talking. She says it does get better but she found that people feel loved when she remembers their name and prays for them to feel her love for them. Working with her and hearing her testimony and love for the gospel and this work really helped me to get more excited and be okay with drowning here for a little while. I wouldn't trade these tough experiences here right now for anything I would be doing at home today. 

I am learning so much. I am in japan!!! It's incredible. I love the gospel. I am learning to trust more in God and recognize that this really is his work. The weather has warmed up and little bit and that makes me so happy! I'm excited for springtime and the cherry blossoms :) We met with an investigator the other day who is also Chinese... Actually most of our investigators are Chinese. It's really hard to teach someone without a religious background or belief in God about the church, using church words in Japanese that she can't understand. We had a sister from the ward who speaks Chinese to come and help and be able to explain things better. It was also nice to not understand a thing they were saying in Chinese but not having to use all my brain energy to pick anything out! She wants to learn about Jesus but it's really hard with... Sort of a double language barrier. She and the church member got along really well and we were so excited! They exchanged phone numbers and walked home together! We do a lot of contacting with people in the park. we are lucky to have such beautiful parks in our area. We meet such amazing people and see cute moms and little kids and get to enjoy being outside! We have been doing a lot of role plays with church members to practice our teaching skills and get better at explaining confusing principles or new words in a really simple way. It's also a really good way for us to build relationships with members and receive referrals as they
play the part of one of their friends who could benefit from hearing about the teachings of Christ.  

Sister Sasaki and I made a goal to memorize a scripture every week this transfer. She memorizes in English and I memorize in Japanese. I love memorizing scriptures. Elder Scott said, "great power can come from memorizing scriptures. To memorize a scripture is to forge a new friendship. It is like discovering a new individual who can help in time of need, give inspiration and comfort, and be a source of motivation for needed change." These words of a prophet are so true. As I have needed comfort recently, I have repeated in my mind the words of scriptures and have been reminded of my Heavenly Fathers love. he is mindful of me always and he is mindful of all his children. Craig recommended his favorite scripture to me in his last letter and it has been such a blessing to me. Proverbs 3:5-6 "trust in The Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths." The scriptures bring so much power into my life. I am grateful for these words from God written by ancient prophets. I am also so grateful for modern day revelation received through Gods prophets today. God is real. He is our loving Heavenly Father. This life is a blessing. As we learn and grow and turn to him we can be prepared to live with him again. And enjoy perfect happiness for eternity.
I love you all. Thanks for your love and support. Xoxoxo