April 29th

Hello beautiful people,
Sorry to be a day late. Today is zone temple p day! Yay yay
I have learned so much this transfer. Being a missionary is such a
humbling experience. It's only with the help of The Lord that I am
enough. But I've really learned a lot about his expectations for me.
He doesn't expect me to be the perfect missionary but he will help me
improve and he will guide me and show me what to do next. Sister Feist
and I really wanted to work on becoming better PMG missionaries this
transfer and it has been so inspiring to study the PMG with her and
learn from inspired leaders. I am so very blessed to have this
opportunity to be a witness of God's work. I stand in awe at his
goodness and love and knowledge. I am really grateful for his mercy
and for my Savior who makes it possible for me to change.
 

 

                   Random friends on the train

  
So I found out why we kept being stopped by police... Apparently Obama
was coming in town and so they felt like they needed to make sure that
all the foreigners were there legally or something?

 

 
                             Random girls at the park

We have been able to work more closely with members and less active
members recently and it has been such a blessing as we are all edified
together. Sister Feist and I have been studying the PMG sections about
working with members to strengthen them and also work with them as a
finding tool... We have been really blessed to be doing half English
half gospel lessons with an active member, sister itou . She is such a
good friend and a fantastic member missionary! She has pretty bad
cancer but she has outstanding faith and trust in her covenants. We
feel it has been inspired for us to have the opportunity to get to
know her and serve her.

 
FANCY lunch at the cute bread place to celebrate our awesome transfer 

 In zone meeting, we learned that the half gospel/half English program
is just six weeks and this knowledge changes so many things for our
investigators. A few of our long time investigators have little to
zero interest in the gospel but have continued to meet with us because
we teach them free English! It hasn't really been fulfilling our
purpose and it has made it hard to set expectations. We are excited to
implement the six week program with them and offer the program more
often while streeting as we receive training on how to use it more
effectively as a Missionary tool.

 
waiting for lunch at "Colonial Garden"

 We are seeing several miracles with our investigators! Sayaka Suwa San
has a new baptismal date. She doesn't "own" the new date because she
is unsure about the social aspect of not drinking tea but she says
that recently when she buys tea she feels like its a sin! She is
really strengthening her faith through daily scripture study and
prayer. She is such a deep thinker and so strong. We are so excited
for her!

 
                                    Peanut Butter Happiness

 We haven't made contact with Aya San, but we are not giving up hope.
God certainly has a plan for her. We know she really felt the Spirit
and feels the love of God as she reads the Book of Mormon. She has
sincere desires to follow the Savior.
We have made progress with our teaching with Pinko, who has apparently
been an investigator for like 10 years but doesn't understand
anything. We are slowly discovering the best ways to help her
understand the gospel clearly and simply... Despite quite a few
language barriers. She has a sincere desire to be a true Christian.
She says loving God is number one! She really wants to understand the
message of the gospel. She wants to understand the Spirit and receive
confirmation that she really does need to receive baptism by someone
who holds the priesthood authority of God.

 
Sister Maloy and me at the temple

 We have a new investigator named Sakemi Mie San who is incredibly
prepared. The elders met her while handing out free English class
fliers at the station. They introduced us to her before English class
on Wednesday. She felt the Spirit so strongly as we visited in the
chapel during a church tour. She suddenly realized she had been to a
Mormon church before... When she was 20 years old and not really
interested in religion. But she remembers feeling so welcome and
loved. She is really interested in understanding everything! She has
lots of questions. She has been to several different Christian
churches and really wants to know which one is true. She says she sort
of feels like a prophet because she feels like she is being lead and
she really wants to find the truth. We explained that she can receive
personal revelation and we are so excited to share the message of the
restoration with her!

 

 A favorite verse from this week. It was shared in a talk this Sunday.
I am so grateful for the covenants I made at baptism to be a follower
and witness of my Savior, Jesus Christ. I have taken his name upon me
to become a Christian and a witness for him. As we remember him and
share the light of his gospel with others we will receive more of that
light in our lives.
 
"Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall
work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly and remember the
covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another." (D&C 90:24)
It's amazing the see the little miracles each day. God really is
guiding and directing me. I have so much to be grateful for.
Sister Reeves