April 27th

Howdy y'all! 

Here's your update:  

Life is so good! God is so good!! 

Monday: Our investigator, Rie San, has a desire to know things and she taught us that to know is more than gaining knowledge, it's gaining experience. It's applied knowledge. But as we taught her this last week, she expressed that she has little to no desire to know if God is real. She also doesn't believe anything will change in her life if he was real. Therefore, she has no desire to plant the seed or apply what she is learning with us. But she loves meeting with us. She is intelligent. She loves the deep questions we ask and the discussions we have and always looks forward to it. She has interest in the message but no intention on practicing it. We plan on teaching her the restoration this evening. 

Tuesday: Zone meeting in the morning. We learned a lot about obedience and worthiness and earning the trust of the Lord. I had the opportunity to do a training using the scriptures and talking about the Liahona and how the story applies to the assignment we have as missionaries and how it applies to our investigators who are seeking answers. I love the meetings in this zone. They are always focused on the Savior and having a spiritual experience together. In the afternoon we went out to visit a few members and less actives and talk to everyone! And we did! And it was so fun! We had the opportunity to teach and testify of Christ and make new friends. One friend, Ito, invited us back to her tea party. We had watched the Because of Him video with her right on her doorstep as she was headed out to sweep her front walkway. She loved it! One friend, Riko, had never spoken with a foreigner before but was so happy to meet us! Another, Sumie, was a really crazy old lady who thought we were the prettiest people ever. She couldn't get over it and kept talking about how she was losing her brain but she wouldn't forget meeting us. Haha. 

Wednesday: 

We had a lesson with Shimizu shimai. She is awesome! She had just gotten back from her work trip to Guam and brought us yummy coconut cookies. We focused our discussion on the Book of Mormon and encouraged her to pray to know if it was true. She said she had never tried that before. We testified that the answer to that question would increase her commitment and help her to find the answers to all her other questions. The Book of Mormon is true! It answers all of life's questions and all the questions of our souls. 

Kids eikaiwa was fun! We did a sports theme and made flash cards with lots of sports, and taught them the song, take me out to the ball game! 

When we got home we saw a double rainbow from our apartment! It was beautiful! And surely a sign of God's love. It was the happiest! 

Thursday: 

We visited Mineko San. She made us lunch and we talked about her family and her relationship with God. We talked about how God had led the missionaries to her 5 years ago because he loves her! She said the missionaries had come looking for someone else and she let them in because they were sweaty and so she offered them water. Sometimes that's how it goes. We go out to work thinking we are looking for one person, but God leads us to someone else. It was no coincidence he lead the missionaries to Mineko's door. We felt as we met with her that she has a lot that's keeping her from progressing but she's so close! She has many concerns and we need to listen to her but first we need to build a relationship of trust. She is not super willing to make appointments to meet for formal lessons because she is really busy and lessons are not a priority but we want to show her that we care about her and want to help her and be a part of her life. She is not one to ask for help but she cooks and cleans every day at the dorm she owns. So we want to serve her each week and come over and just help! We believe that through service her heart may open to listening to the message we have for her and her family. 

Friday: 

Yamauchi San is our new investigator! Sister Hotu and I met her a few weeks ago and she expressed interest in coming to church and meeting us again but wasn't super eager to give us her number so we gave her a meishi and... She called us last week! We had a lesson on Friday. It was super long because she talks forever but we suffered long. And prayed and endured. Because we love her! and then she attended stake conference on Sunday, and then she spent like all day with us. We had another lesson and then she attended Ooishi san's baptism. Her husband was Christian so when she was married she was baptized into the Anglican Church and received a Christian name. We taught her about baptism and the correct method and authority. She felt the Spirit way strongly at the service and kept mentioning how she was thinking that she probably needs to receive baptism the correct way and wanted us to ask if she could get baptized too! We will be meeting her on Tuesday and setting the date! She is 82 years old and should be like our grandma, but she is 28 at heart, is tomboy and loves sports, used to be a catcher, loves talking, dresses like a teenager, and is super hip. So she wants to be called Noriko Onechan. Our older sister! She feels the spirit so strongly and she knows it's not a coincidence we met. She believes and she wants to learn and follow. After she prayed, she said she felt like she just entered pre-school again... Learning little by little. 

Later we met with Hidaka shimai, the young women president, to talk about how we could work with and strengthen the youth. We had a great discussion and have lots of plans to continue to get to know them individually and encourage them on the path. 

We visited the Watanabe family in the evening. They have 5 kids and 4 of them are youth or YSA age. We had a great discussion with them about the Book of Mormon and studied a bit with them. We encouraged them to pray about the Book of Mormon and write their testimony in the cover of one of the free ones we give to people we meet. It was so great! Two of their daughters who were a little less active have recently started coming back to church more regularly. One of them has returned because her non-member grandfather has started to pray. 

Saturday: 

Lots of time inside. Study, district meeting, weekly planning. But... We got out in the evening and visited a young family and shared a message with them about families and our responsibility to defend the sanctity of the family. We extended a challenge for them to share the family proclamation with someone they know! We also got way close to our SOS invitations goal this week. 68! 

Sunday: 

Stake conference. New stake president was called to replace President Tokuzawa. The new stake president is half Japanese and perfectly flawlessly fluent in both Japanese and English. Our friends, Hiura San and Yamauchi San were both able to attend! It was perfect. Hiura San rode and sat with a member family. She comes to church every week but has declined invitations to take lessons but this member family wants to help us out! Yamauchi San rode with us and the Ward mission leader and a couple other members. She loved it and met lots of members. And got to see sister Hotu, as well! Both Hiura San and Yamauchi San came to the baptism, too! An 8 year old girl and an 88 year old man were baptized. So cute. The old man's family came, too and it was a wonderful service. He has come to church for 10 years because our church is the closest to his house but the members finally encouraged him to take lessons and he agreed and got baptized and says he feels like he's started a new life. Yep! Endure to the end! 

Another woman who has been coming to church for years but doesn't think she knows enough to meet with the missionaries or get baptized called us up and brought us some sushi she had made for us! We are slowly being able to form a good relationship with her. She is a social worker and super busy but the sweetest old lady. A family in the Ward said they are willing to help and invite her to FHE! 

Anyway, it's been a good week. God is pouring out the blessings. 

Sister Wilson is a fantastic companion. We want to be obedient and work SO hard and invite everyone and teach everyone. And we have seen so many miracles and met so many amazing people. God is guiding our path and we feel his love and approval. 

Love y'all lots. 

Love, 

Sister Reeves 

photo shoot 

eikaiwa peeps: sister yamaguchi, sister wilde, sister wilson, maika, koji, me

honky tonk 

watanabe family 

Making wishes! And crazy new friend we met. Sumie San

New bff Yamauchi San

 

April 20th

Hey y'all guys! How's it going? 

I feel so blessed. God is pouring out the miracles like crazy! We feel so guided and it's just amazing and astonishing to participate in the work here in Tokyo South. Sister Wilson and I have set a goal to never second guess a prompting. So we follow anything that comes to our mind that seems like it might be from the Spirit. And it takes us weird places and down paths we never would have planned to walk. We meet people God wants us to meet! He puts us in all the right places at all the right times so we can tell his children that he loves them. And some people think it's so weird. But it's true! And we are his messengers. :) 

Here's my new theme scripture: psalms 118:24 

24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

It's the best! God made this day for you as a gift. He gave you breath and allowed you to live this day as a preparation to meet him. Time is a gift. It's precious. Be happy and joyful TODAY(: 

So here's what happened this week: 

Monday: Rie san's lesson was way good last week. We started out by reading 3 Nephi 14:8 and talked about seeking truth. We taught about how God knows our desires and is waiting to give us gifts and is waiting for us to ask! She said she wants to know things rather than learn. She said the difference between learning and knowing is that learning is knowledge and knowing is experience. We each shared experiences and testified of the Book of Mormon as a tool from God to know truth. All truth is from God and all truth leads to him. Hama shimai introduced the promise in Moroni 10. We promised that as she reads and experiences the Book of Mormon she will feel the Spirit and she will know. We taught about the Spirit and read from Galations. She desires peace and happiness. Tonight we will read from Alma 32 together and help her to understand the Spirit and how to discern truth. We want to emphasize humility, that God can only teach those who are prepared to hear the word. Those with inquiring minds, seeking truth. 

Tuesday: 

We visited a referral, a previous investigator who is the neighbor of a member in our Ward. They had zero interest in talking with us. :( So we visited this way cute member in the area, Hizawa shimai. She was so happy we came by and let us in right away. We read from Luke 15 about the lost sheep and invited her to share her testimony and find the lost sheep. When Elder Ballard came to Japan he extended a challenge to the members to fast and find one. Either a less active or non member, and introduce them to or invite them to church. Recently our Ward has been doing a fasting relay for missionary work and it's been awesome. Our Ward has 7 people with baptismal dates and we have been finding new people like crazy. So our Ward mission leader emphasized that we must be humble like so many times in our meeting on Sunday. We have like some of the best missionaries in our Ward. It's really intimidating and really hard to not compare when you are constantly hearing their stats or being compared to them. Anyway, we are working hard. Sister Wilson and I want to come home absolutely exhausted every night. 

Wednesday: 

We visited ishii shimai at the sushi place where she works. We hadn't seen her in weeks!! When her mom got sick she kind of fell off the map and stopped meeting with us and coming to church. But we kept in touch by phone a few times a week. Anyway, she was so happy to see us! We visited a couple less actives in the area and they weren't home but everyone we met along the way had some weird connection with the church. They always say it takes 7-8 times meeting the missionaries before one decides to hear the message. We think everyone should just have a number over their head so we can know who to talk to among the crowd. We also met these way nice Jehovah's witnesses who were out proselyting. They listened as we taught about Joseph smith and the first vision. They liked the picture we showed because they also believe that God and Christ are separate beings. And they shared with us some of the things they believe. And then they got super excited when I asked where their church is! We also keep meeting the best people on the trains. They say they really want to hear our message or come to church but they almost never live in our area. We have been sharing more of our message on the streets, inviting them to take lessons and giving them a Book of Mormon. We also meet a lot of men when we go housing... So we send the elders over there! That's what's nice about 10 missionaries... We can all juggle the work together. 

Thursday:

We had interviews with President Wada in Kichijoji. I love the Wada's. It's gonna be a really sad day when I have to say goodbye to them. 

We had a member present lesson set up with out 85 year old friend, Kurokawa San. When she didn't show up we walked out to the station to see if she was lost. We couldn't find her so we headed back to the church and on the way I noticed another old lady we had met a few weeks earlier. She said she really wanted to take a lesson and asked where the church was. We said, "we're heading there right now! Come with us!" So we walked to the church and she met the member we had waiting for us. She kept saying how it was fate and destiny that we had met! And surely it was. She comes to a doctors appointment once a week very close to the church so we are hoping we'll be able to meet again this week! 

Then we headed out to teach Goto San at her apartment. The lesson went way well! We read the Book of Mormon with her and reviewed the restoration. She struggles with reading and understanding but we broke it down really simply and we think she is understanding and retaining a little more each time. She has accepted the commitment to be baptized so we are praying about a date to help her work towards baptism. 

Friday: Really cool miracle: We met this girl from Vietnam, Huong, who was interested in the family English program. We called up the less active, Thuy shimai to see if she could meet us and teach together. She is always super busy and doesn't always answer calls and we rarely see her but she said she had time and came! Turns out the girls knew each other from language school and were friends. The lesson was amazing and Thuy bore powerful testimony of her Heavenly Father and the power of prayer in our lives. Thuy ran into a few members while we were at the church and said she was so happy to see them she wanted to cry. She misses church but just has such a hard time getting up early in the morning to come. She says she's just so busy and allows that to be a justification for not coming to church. We also found out that another less active, Mien shimai has moved into her apartment. Thuy has a testimony and she is a wonderful missionary. We are praying that she may continue to meet with us and work with us. Huong doesn't have faith in God but she trusted as we told her that he was our father. She said he was like a friend. She has never prayed to him but thinks she could pray morning and night because he can understand things she could never share with anyone else. So true. I'm grateful to be able to pray. 

Saturday: We visited our investigator, Mineko, and were able to set an appointment with her for this week! We decided to proselyte around her area and just followed the spirit! We ended up at a really old apartment building. We met a lady who said she wasn't interested but she directed us to a sushi place down the street. She said the people there are Christian. We went with it and "housed" a restaurant. Turns out the owner is catholic and she said she would talk more if she wasn't just about to open for business. She pointed us down the street further where there was a Methodist church. Sometimes when you follow the Spirit, you get referrals! In the evening we visited a lady I had felt impressed to visit. Sister Hotu and I had gone housing a couple transfers ago on an exchange and met a lady named Tsujimura San. I kept thinking about her so we went back. When we came she said, "Oh! I saw you two the other morning running early in the morning! And you said hello!" We stood on her doorstep talking, mostly listening, for forever. Sister Wilson told her that we came because I had a feeling we should. And God had sent us to her so we could tell her He loves her. She kept saying, "No, no. It's coincidence." So we said it again. "God loves you." It was an exhausting conversation. But I know it was no coincidence we were sent to her home. 

Sunday: 

Cool miracle happened when we got a phone call from a lady named Yamauchi San. Hotu shimai and I had met her on the street the previous transfer. She had lots of interest but was nervous of giving us her number because she just met us. So we gave her ours. Anyway, she was thinking she wanted to come to church so she called! We have an appointment to meet her this Friday and she is planning on coming to Stake conference on Sunday! 

We went out and did lots of proselyting. It's fun to work with Sister Wilson! Invited tons of people, gave out a Book of Mormon and found a new potential for the elders! 

Then we had a dinner appointment with the Bishop's family and his wife's parents. Always the most fun! :) 

Today we went shopping(: 

I love y'all so much. Talk to you soon! 

Love, 

Sister Kinz 

Our friends: Kitty & Yu

Housing

Our Chinese friend, Shou San 

Hachioji Sisters 

Miracle lesson with Huong and Thuy 

H for Hachioji...Roomies

Ako and Miyu 

April 13th

Hey y'all!
What's new these days?

So my new companion is Sister Wilson. She's Samoan but born and raised
in California. She is the coolest. She knows Stef from BYU Hawaii! She
is a fantastic missionary and we are having lots of fun (:

A bit about the week:

On Tuesday we met lots of foreigners! It was weird! One new potential
from Nepal who we referred to the elders. We also visited our
Vietnamese friend, Ho Thi Lan. She was on her way to school but we
told her we had a gift for her. A book that God gave us so we could
learn about him. And we brought it in Vietnamese and she was so
excited! She wants to meet us again! We also stopped by to visit Misa.
She is from Hong Kong. We brought her a Chinese Book of Mormon and she
graciously accepted it and said if she could she would read it every
night! Then we visited our Filipino friend who works near the Toyoda
station and bought cakes from her shop. A day of bringing the world
His truth! So fun (:

Wednesday: We had two member present lessons scheduled and both fell
through so we had some time open up. We dropped a daily message off at
a member's home and then went to heart attack a recent convert,
Kawatani kyoudai. It was so cute! As we were about to finish I heard
movement inside the house right by the door and then his voice calling
out to his wife, "someone is coming!" He was standing right in the
genkan and about to leave! We tried to escape but he caught us and
invited us in for some hot chocolate. It worked out perfectly though
cause we hadn't seen him in so long. He has been really sick for the
past several weeks and hasn't made it to church. Kawatani shimai said
he lit up to have the sister missionaries there. We love them!
We dropped by to visit our investigator, Mineko San. She owns a
dormitory so she was busy in the kitchen but we were able to sit and
chat with her as she worked. She has been meeting with missionaries
for years but doesn't have her answer yet. She said she learns because
she is curious and she has always wondered why youth come from far
places to serve a mission. We talked about the sacrifice we make
because we love God and we know it's true. She apologized for not
reading the Book of Mormon or praying but we explained that we don't
ask her to do those things to please us but to strengthen her faith
and help her understand her relationship with Heavenly Father. We
shared experience of finding answer to prayer and she shared about how
she recently read the Book of Mormon and called out to Heavenly Father
after getting angry at her son and not liking the feeling she had. She
said she felt his love. She knows deep down that it works!

Thursday was transfer day! Two more appointments cancelled but a fun
first day with Sister Wilson. We visited a referral from the elders, a
couple who used to take lessons and attend English class. Then we went
housing and talked to tons of people and finished our day with weekly
planning (: sister Wilson is so good at proselyting. She always
teaches and always testifies. Our contacts are full of the spirit. Her
japanese is also really great!

Friday was a cold and rainy day. We took a bus way far out and visited
a potential investigator, heart attacked a member, left a cute note
and general conference talk with another member, and then visited an
investigator who neither of us had ever met, Goto San. She is way
flaky with appointments but she was home and let us in for a lesson!
It was an interesting experience. She has some sort of mental illness
but loves God and Christianity. She has received baptism in another
church. We taught the restoration and asked if she would be baptized
by someone who holds the correct authority when she receives
confirmation that the message is true. And she said yes! Not sure how
much she understood... Because she kept saying, "I think so too!" And
then was completely confused when I used a really easy analogy. But...
It was great to meet her and share this message of happiness! And she
happily received it!

We woke up super early on Saturday to head to Machida. I attended the
meeting with the missionary leaders and stake presidency... Our last
one with President Tokuzawa! He has just been called as an area 70 so
we will be having stake conference and getting a new stake president
in the next couple weeks! Exciting! President Tokuzawa is the best.
I'm grateful for these few months I have had the opportunity to work
with him and learn from him. After SPM we had district meeting and
then straight into 2 sessions of general conference! A day of meetings
but it was amazing! There was so much to love. But I especially liked
the talk about choosing to believe. It takes effort and action and
choice to have faith. We don't just stumble upon it and we don't just
happen to know God is real. We must choose. I'm grateful for the
choices that have strengthened my belief and have brought me to light
and a knowledge of truth.

Sunday was the best. I love general conference. We thank, thee, o God,
for a prophet!! It never ceases to amaze me that God can teach each
one of us all over the world through his servants and their messages.
The Spirit teaches according to our understanding and because God
understands our hearts and desires he can teach each one of us
differently and perfectly through the words of his prophets. I felt
like the Sunday sessions really taught me how I can improve and become
a better person and disciple of Christ in sooo many different ways. I
have so many goals and so many new desires to change. And it's because
my loving Heavenly Father reached out through his chosen messengers to
teach me! What did you learn?!
Our trips to and from the conference included lots of conversations
with amazing people! One lady in particular was really touched by our
discussion. Tears came to her eyes as we talked about love and God and
families. I felt the Spirit so strongly as we spoke and knew God had
placed me in the seat next to her on the train that day because she
needed to meet a missionary!
On the way back I shared a Book of Mormon with this cute lady who did
her best to speak English to me. She loves Jesus and his teachings.
She studies a book that she believe contain his real teachings. She
showed me how I could order it online. I introduced her to a book that
has changed my life. A book that testifies of Christ and contains the
fullness of his teachings. I bore testimony and offered it to my new
friend. At first she was sure that she didn't need it and then she
said, "I have no reason to refuse it!"

Today we went on a Costco adventure with a couple members. We bought
pizza and muffins!! The best! Another rainy and cold day.... Sad
because now all the Sakura are fallen from the trees. :(

But everything is happy because God is our Heavenly Father and Jesus
lives. My belief in God carries me through each day. I know everything
will always work out.

I love participating in this divine work. I love my Heavenly Father.

I love all of you!

Have a happy week(: Dance to the music of the gospel even if you look
silly and even if you must dance in the rain!!

Love, Sister Reeves

Last SPM with President Tokuzawa 

Real American pizza at Costco! What?! The ice cream was def japanese though.

Lesson with Goto San 

April Pictures

Sunday dinner at the Kitahara home 

Cherry Blossoms in the bamboo forest with Rie and her BF, Kawabata San 

Siser Hama, Sister Hotu, Hitomi San 

April 6th

Hello there 皆さん！お元気でしょうか？

I miss y'all. Hope you're all happy these days!

Today we got transfer calls. I'm on my eleventh transfer now. Crazy. I
used to make fun of transfer 11 sisters cause they were soooo OLD and
they knew everything. Wow. I do NOT know everything. Haha. Anyway, I'm
staying in Hachioji and my new companion is Sister Wilson. But...
There are two sisters Wilsons in the mission so I'm not sure which one
it is.... Haha but both are way cool so I'm excited! Hotu shimai is
leaving to be my New Zealand Brown Shimai's companion!

 
Easter themed Kid's Eikaiwa 

 I feel like there's so much that happened this week! So here it goes:

Monday:
We had a lesson with Rie San and Asuka Shimai. For the English lesson
we talked about our best friends. It was a fun way to get to know each
other better(: For the gospel portion we sang I am a Child of God and
started a discussion about God. She let us know that there is a huge
barrier for her to overcome before she will pray. Her mother converted
to a particular sect of Buddhism and is a very devout follower. Rie
San isn't sure if she believes it but wants to respect her mother and
practice what she has been taught. Asuka shimai shared her experience
of growing up in the church and learning the truth of the gospel and
deciding to follow it for herself. After hearing her testimony, Rie
said she became more interested! We testified of how we came to know
its truth and helped her understand that we value the agency of others
but came to share something with her that will be a blessing to her
life. We asked her if she would experiment on the word and try prayer
and scripture reading and she said she couldn't answer that question.
It's one thing for her to learn but it would be another for her to try
it out. That's exactly right! Spiritual truth cannot be learned
without prayer and following the commandments of the one who is the
source of all truth. Rie San is way cute and has a desire to know
things. We are excited to share the story of Joseph Smith who also had
a desire to know! Pray for Rie and pray for our lesson to go well:)

 
BUNNIES with Sister Yamaguchi 

Tuesday:
Exchange with Wilde shimai. She and I are the same missionary age so
it was fun to work with her for the day and share all our stories
about investigators from previous areas and share miracles and things
we have learned. She has a really great attitude and focus on things
that really matter. We decided to do "Sakura dendo" and go out and
enjoy the cherry blossoms and talk to all the other happy people! They
only bloom for a week so it's really special! And Japanese people love
talking to foreigners about things that are unique to Japan and they
get so happy when we say we love it here! In the evening we went to
visit Kimura San. Do you remember her? She is a super classy lady. We
have already decided that she will be the relief society president one
day after she is baptized. Anyway, we visited and taught a bit about
the pre earth life and our identity and potential. She admitted that a
belief in God would change her life. She said she knows where the
church is and knows it's there when she needs it. We taught that a
belief in God gives us hope that there is a better world. A hope to
live with God again. We suggested she read Alma 32 to learn about why
we need God every day even when things are going well and about how we
can develop a faith in God. She asked how we knew? We said it was
simple. We read the book and lived its teachings. And we felt in our
heart that it was right. She agreed to read and said if she had read
she would be able to converse better with us about these things. We
asked her if she remembered how to pray. We explained the method again
and she prayed right then and there without us even asking her to! It
was one of the best prayers I've heard! And her first prayer! She
prayed to know if God was there and to know if he was there when she
needs him and even when she doesn't know that she needs him. She
agreed to try praying every day because she loves how she feels when
she does. New investigator!

Ako chan :) (Bishop's daughter)

  Wednesday:
Miracle lesson with Shimizu shimai! We had decided to teach about
Jesus Christ and discipleship to help her feel the Spirit and find an
answer to her question about if Christ was really there. It was
amazing! We studied from scriptures and words of modern prophets, sang
hymns and discussed what the atonement means to each one of us. We
talked about how we can gain a testimony and what it means to have
taken upon ourselves the name of Christ. We taught her that she was
chosen and prepared. She is in the world but not of the world. She may
suffer a little as a disciple of Christ because she is different and
may have to stand alone but he is always there. And he suffered even
greater things for us. She teared up and explained that she had never
had such a defining moment feeling the spirit. She said she was so
astonished. She said it was like Lehi's experience:
"And it came to pass as he prayed unto the Lord, there came a pillar
of fire and dwelt upon a rock before him; and he saw and heard much;
and because of the things which he saw and heard he did quake and
tremble exceedingly.
And it came to pass that he returned to his own house at Jerusalem;
and he cast himself upon his bed, being overcome with the Spirit and
the things which he had seen."
1 Nephi 1:6-7
She had another concern that she hadn't even told us but through the
words we shared with her her concern was answered. She had found
anti-Mormon things online and read bad things and was worried! She
felt alone and unsure. But in the lesson the Spirit taught each of us
and she knew that we were really God's messengers because we didn't
even know her concern.
She is amazing. She wants to be a light for her family and she has
already informed her coworkers that she doesn't drink or smoke so she
is all set for her work trip to Guam!
I don't know what concerns the people I teach have or the things they
are feeling but God does. I know that the words we speak by the Holy
Ghost are his words. When we teach it's as if God is teaching if we
will look to heaven and say the words He puts into our mouths. I KNOW
this is true.

o-hana-mi at fujimori park with sister hama 

 Our Easter themed kids English class was awesome! The kids were so
cute in their bunny ears and it was fun because primary children and
their moms joined us for the activity. We worked way hard planning for
it and it was a hit! Thanks, Mom and Dad, for all your help!!

Thursday:
I got to attend MLC, and Asuka shimai (the sister who returned from
temple square) came with! She is so awesome. It was a really wonderful
meeting. The items that were covered and taught were exactly the
things i had been thinking about and studying and trying to improve
recently! Sister Wada taught us about our personal liahonas, our
patriarchal blessings. They are personal scripture and must be studied
as often as scripture. We also learned about the gift of the Holy
Ghost and how to explain why we must receive it and how it is
different from just feeling the Spirit. I am so grateful for the gift
of the Holy Ghost. The Spirit guides me to choose the right path,
teaches me truth, testifies of Christ, comforts me, and purifies and
cleanses me. From the Holy Ghost I have received personal revelation
in times of need and sure confirmation of gospel truths. The gift of
the Holy Ghost is the best blessing! A promise that the third member
of the Godhead can be with us always if we will obey. The Holy Ghost
will never lead us astray. It provides protection in a world of
confusion and sorrow. This is why we want our investigators to receive
baptism and this is why we must receive it. A sister in our stake just
received the gift of the Holy Ghost on Sunday. She said afterwards
that when she received the gift of the Holy Ghost, she felt a fire
burning within her. That same fire burns within me. Obedience is
always worth it.

Friday:
We had a lesson with Kojima shimai. We helped her arrange for her
5 month old baby girl to be blessed in sacrament meeting. The whole
family came to church and her husband was able to participate in the
blessing. She wants so badly to be a light to her family. She says
it's hard to be a mother and it's hard to teach her family the gospel.
But she knows as she puts God first, he will help her. Her testimony
of the atonement is strong. She says she has seen it change people and
change lives and she believes it can change her and change her family.
Did any of y'all see the general women's meeting? This was my favorite
part:
"Strong eternal families and Spirit-filled homes do not just happen.
They take great effort, they take time, and they take each member of
the family doing his or her part. Every home is different, but every
home where even one individual seeks for truth can make a difference."
Filling Our Homes with Light and Truth- Sister Esplin
Be the light in your home because even one small candle will make a difference!

Zone Meeting from Transfer 10 

 We went to the park in the afternoon with Hama shimai and looked at
the cherry blossoms and ate Japanese "fair food". Yummmm. All the
best! We took pictures and had a picnic and studied scriptures
together. She is the coolest. When we met her at the station to walk
to the park she was leaning against a wall reading her scriptures.
Then when we were at the park, she helped us share the gospel with a
lady who was working at one of the booths!

This week we have been sharing the message of Christ and his
resurrection with every single person we meet! It's been incredible to
teach and testify of Christ and invite them to come unto him! Have you
seen the new Because He Lives video? Check out HeLives.mormon.org to
watch it! We love it! We watched it with a cute old lady with green
hair on the street today. He is her Savior, too! I know he lives!

Saturday:
We attended the general women's conference with Hama shimai and our
crazy friend Hitomi San. It was wonderful! A spirit filled meeting
with messages everyone needs to hear! If you didn't see it... Go read
it! :)
Since the travel to and from the stake center takes quite some time I
had lots of time to talk with Hitomi. It has been a really good
opportunity for me to know her and work with her. She sometimes wears
really immodest clothing to church and says the weirdest things but I
decided that no matter what the members thought, I would be proud of
my friends who come to church. I realized on Saturday that I love her.
We learned a lot together as we talked. She says she always tells her
friends about our church. She says it's really fun because we sing
hymns and take the bread and water. She loves hymns because there's
lots of music but hymns are special. They are songs that God gave to
us. She says it feels sacred like a prayer. We read some scriptures in
the car and talked about prayer. She will be going to China for 6
months so we won't be able to meet again but I'm grateful for her!

When we got back we went with Rie San and her boyfriend to look at the
cherry blossoms at a national park. It was a bamboo forest and super
pretty. There was almost no one there so it was really quiet and
peaceful. We enjoyed the blossoms and took lots of pictures. We taught
them about easter and some of the traditions we have and invited them
to join us for church on Easter Sunday.

Sunday:
Sooooo many people at church. So packed. During sacrament meeting
there were people who couldn't find a chair to sit in! Recently there
have been around 160 people attending Hachioji Ward. So cool, huh?
We were walking down the hill by our apartment when we met these two
cute sisters holding bunnies. We thought it was fate that we met them
on Easter Sunday. We taught them about the meaning of Easter and
invited them to hear our message and join us at church. Yay!
Then we broke our fast at the Kitahara family home. They do a huge
meal for the missionaries and our friends each month. We always eat
tons of food and sing hymns and play games and have a spiritual
thought. It's kind of like FHE. This time we took turns choosing
people to perform a hymn of choice. Hotu shimai and I were chosen and
we sang a duet.. I Know that My Redeemer Lives. I'm grateful for
hymns. Hitomi is right. It's the music that God gave to us. I'm
grateful to my mom who taught me to sing and taught me to sing primary
songs and hymns. Through these sacred songs, I learned important
gospel principles and because I know the words by heart, they are
scripture I can lean on in times of need.

I know that my Redeemer lives! Happy Easter!

Love,
Me! (Reeves Shimai)

March 30th

Hey y'all guys,

The cherry blossoms have started to bloom and the weather is
absolutely perfect! I even broke a sweat today! So happy!

Just a quick update on what's new:

We had a really good lesson with Shimizu shimai. We had planned on
teaching about virtue and the law of chastity and focusing on our
identity as women and daughters of God, but we showed up and the
Spirit took us a different direction. Our Japanese was all over the
place but it was exactly the lesson she needed. We shared experiences
about when it was hard to obey the commandments when everyone around
us was doing differently. We shared how we recognized answers to
prayer. And we taught about faith. We explained that it takes an
experiment and a leap of faith for our faith to grow, for us to
understand that God can be perfectly trusted. We read from Alma 32 and
taught her that her desire to know if Christ is there is Faith! Her
faith is strong and I am constantly amazed by her and grateful for all
that she teaches us.

Mission Leadership Council February

We exchanged our iPads and now have new ones and I feel even more
fancy than I did before.
We will go through lots of training from here! Yay!

This week we focused lots of our study and practice on the gift of the
Holy Ghost. We learned that the gift of the Holy Ghost gives us a
small taste of eternal life. We choose the right because feeling the
Holy Ghost is always better than the alternative. We can't return to
God without this special gift. We need the cleansing and sanctifying
power of the Holy Ghost and we need its promptings and guidance to
teach us to do good and to lead us back to our Heavenly home. I'm
grateful for this gift. I am grateful for the experiences that I've
had when the Spirit has guided me. I know this power and gift is REAL.
Can't live my life without it. Can't return to God without it.

Zone Conference Transfer 8

 Hama shimai is doing awesome! She got called as a ward missionary so
from here rather than meeting with her for her own lessons we will
have her help us out with the missionary work in the area. She has
been attending all of church and even participated in the SA
activities the ward has been having. The SA group in our ward is
really strong. I continue to be amazed at the way they love and accept
everyone who joins them. They love our investigators and they love the
less actives and they welcome anyone and everyone. Anyway, Hama shimai
helped us out this last week by joining our lesson with Rie San. And
she was perfect! They have really similar personalities. She shared
her thoughts and testimony and experiences. She helped Rie understand
confusing doctrine and helped her to feel comfortable about prayer. We
hope she can continue to fellowship Rie and join us for lessons.

The lesson with Rie was awesome! We taught her about Jesus Christ and
his resurrection and showed her the new Easter video. You must see it!
It's called He lives! I know he lives. He is always there. Through the
good and the bad. He lives and we will live again, too! There is so
much hope because we have a Savior. Rie says she wants to know. She is
hesitant but she is feeling the Spirit and I know the Spirit will
teach her. I sincerely believe that anyone who will ask God will
receive the answer that it's true. If they ask. It's true! How blessed
we are to know the truth!

We continue to meet the most amazing people. I don't even question
anymore who God puts in our path. Some people are ready now to hear
the message, some are ready to talk to the missionaries, some just
need a smile or a wave, others just need to see us. The work we do for
the Lord is never in vain. And we can never fail as we put our trust
in him. And it's fun to invite people to come to know him! I want to
be a light for him. I want to hold up a light so others can find him.
He is there.

We had some really fun appointments with members this week and got fed
an unreal amount of dessert at each appointment. Really funny...
Definitely made up for my 5 day dessert fast! :)
We met with the Nukui family and their grandchildren who aren't
members. We taught about Joseph Smith and how we can pray to God. They
were so cute. The little girl wears a princess dress every day. She
said I was like a princess! The Nukui couple is also really cool.
Brother Nukui used to be in a band and have long hair. And they both
like motorcycles. And they fed us reallyyyy good sushi!
We met with Sister Maeda and her two little girls. Her husband and boy
were out of town on a father and son trip to universal studios. We
taught the plan of salvation to her little girls. The nine year old
said she shared her testimony with a friend at school! I love to visit
with members and learn from the example of families who learn and live
the gospel in their homes. It just feels so good to be with them and
feel the Spirit in their home!
On Sunday we visited the Nakazawa family. They have 3 teenagers. The
parents really wanted us to come and share a message about missionary
work to motivate their children to serve missions. We ended up having
a really cool experience with them. After sharing a message, we knelt
and prayed and asked God for the faith and the ability to see
missionary opportunities and to know how to follow the promptings of
the Spirit. After the prayer, we each took pen and paper and I lead
them through a list of questions. "Who comes to mind..?" We challenged
them to pray for the people who came to their mind and ask the Lord
how they could help these friends. They are a super cool family and we
had so much fun with them!

Mission Leadership Council January

Missionary work is the coolest because we get to participate in God's
work. If our goal and purpose is to become like him, the best way to
find out what it's like is to try doing what he does. When you become
a missionary, you're always a missionary. Forever. Eternal life, I
think, is eternal missionary work. But, it's where God finds his joy.
Perfect joy. The kind of joy we want to know! I can't say the mission
is always joy. It's tough. But that's the price we pay as disciples of
Christ. We wear his name and act in his name. He too was rejected. He
too suffered for the will of the Lord. I love my Savior. I know He
lives.

I love you. Have a beautiful week(:

またね！See ya!
<3,
リーブス姉妹 
Sister Reeves

March 24th

Hello my dearest people,

It's me again! Here's your weekly update(;
Does it feel like these updates keep coming faster?
Time is one of the most precious gifts from God and one of the most
precious resources He gives us to do His work. But He doesn't even
measure time! Woah!

all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men.
Alma 40:8

This time in Japan is fun! It's getting warmer... Sort of! And the
cherry blossoms should be blooming within the next week or so(:

This week we had another 2 mission conference but this time with Elder
Nelson! Oh you know, an apostle of God just visits us every few
weeks(; The conference was AMAZING! The purpose of the conference was
to prepare us for missionary work in the digital age. And at the same
time it wasn't about that at all. Our missions have been part of the
test group using iPads. From here on several missions around the world
will be using iPads and other technology for proselyting and teaching
purposes. So... We are turning in our "test" iPads this week and
exchanging for new ones. Part of being in the test group meant that we
got to make lots of mistakes and learn how to use them effectively
without a lot of guidance or rules. So with the new mobile devices
comes a restart and a refresh. A chance to be more obedient and more
committed to our purpose. The message of the conference was more
centered on us and on our individual repentance and commitment to the
Lord rather than using technology to share the gospel. Heavenly Father
reached out to us in love through His servants to offer us a second
chance and to teach us that our testimonies and faith are the best
filters for technology. The things we are learning on our missions
will bless us and protect us throughout our lives. I don't really know
how to explain all that I learned at the meeting, but I am grateful
for my Heavenly Father and His chosen apostles. I'm grateful that we
have a Savior. If we were perfect we wouldn't need Him. If we were
strong, we wouldn't need God. My weaknesses turn me to the Lord. And
the Lord, in turn, gives me strength. I'm humbled to be His servant. I
often feel inadequate and unfit for my task, but He offers strength
and makes up for every place I lack.

So anyway, we are saying "Sayonara" to facebook for a bit as we start
over with iPad training. Our new iPads won't have the app and it looks
like training will take 2 transfers so I may say hello to facebook
again when I'm home. Along with our restart for iPads our mission is
doing a restart on our basic training for teaching and basic skills.
We all get to pass off all the requirements again just as if we were
transfer 1-2 missionaries so as to never forget the fundamentals. They
are apart of us and that's where we get the foundation to build off
of. I love this theme of a refresh and restart. It's always nice to
remember that we haven't failed, and God always gives us another
chance(:

Okay so now for the heartbreak of the week:
We went to visit our new investigator, Jun. Her mom answered the door
and was basically like, "you were here the other day, too. I told you
we were buddhist. This is getting weird." We explained that we had met
her daughter and had an appointment with her she was like "yeah, she
accidentally shared her name with you. If you don't stop coming I will
call the police." So we had to drop the most prepared investigator I
have met on my mission. When we taught her, she taught us. She was
looking for the knowledge and she loved it. I'm grateful we met her
and I know God is watching over her and has a special plan for her.

Cool things that happened:
1. Hotu Shimai and I went housing and we met this lady named Takahashi
San. We ran her doorbell and began talking through the intercom like
most people do. She explained that she had no interest and we
explained that we were sharing a message with Everyone! We asked if we
could talk with her on her front step. She agreed and came outside and
we talked about God, and read from the Book of Mormon and taught her
about prayer! She didn't accept the Book of Mormon or a return
appointment, but she listened and we invited the Spirit to be there.
And we felt it. The message we share is true.
2. We had a great lesson with Hama Shimai. We taught the principle of
"teaching and learning in the church" and invited her to attend all
three hours of church each Sunday. And she replied that she had
already been thinking about it recently and had made the decision to
attend relief society and Sunday school starting this week! And she
did! And she received a calling, too! To be a ward missionary...(: so
we will be working lots with her!
3. The ward had a talent show to celebrate the anniversary of Relief
Society. It was so cute and there were quite a few non-members/LA who
attended/participated. Our friend, Hiura San came, too! She has come
to church every week since we first met her and invited her. She won't
take a Book of Mormon and has no intention of taking lessons or
joining the church, but she comes every week. And she keeps her
promises. We were happy she was able to come and meet more of the ward
members(:
4. Our role play lessons went really well this week. We focused on the
plan of salvation and more specifically how to teach "the creation",
and "agency and the fall of Adam and Eve". Really hard to explain to
japanese people. But SO important to the plan. Just like gospel
dispensations and apostasy, these doctrines are true and necessary. As
I studied and prepared to teach and taught these truths, my testimony
increased. I'm grateful for our first parents, who used their freedom
to choose to choose life! Because of our first parents, we too have
the opportunity to live on this earth and enjoy all that comes with a
mortal journey. So much pain and SO much joy! The purpose of our
existence is to experience JOY! I hope you are finding joy each day
and each moment. (:
5. Went on an exchange with Yamaguchi Shimai! It was really fun to
work with her again! We learned so much together. We attended the ward
YSA FHE activity after church and fellowshipped with their nonmember
friends. The theme was God's love and our individual worth. It was so
much fun! As we went out to proselyte we used each opportunity to find
as an opportunity to teach. We taught a woman on the street how to
pray. And she said when she looked at us she could see Christ. These
little miracle moments are the moments that make what's hard about
missionary work, Worth it! The weather was also super weird: perfectly
sunny day and then random tiny tiny tiny raindrops. Then an hour or so
later, dark sky and HUGE raindrops. And of course, far from home, the
Sabbath, and no umbrella. Very fun(: We visited Suzuki San and she was
home!! Continue to keep her in your prayers. She needs the joy and
comfort that comes from the gospel, she is just so hesitant about
taking the leap of faith.
6. Our paths have been guided. It's never a coincidence that we meet
the people we do. God knows what He's doing(:
7. Today we went to the temple!!!

One more story:
So I decided to do this thing where you choose a bad habit you have or
something you do frequently and try to go a day and then a week
without it. The point is to understand the feelings our investigators
have as they try to obey the word of wisdom or overcome an addiction.
I decided to try a week without sweets.
Day 1: Day after my birthday. PDay. We show up to the church and there
are brownies there for ME! I said YOLO and decided to try again on
Tuesday.
Day 2-6: success! No sweets. Yay! We played a game at the ward party
and my team won. We were given really good chocolate bars. My
favorite, actually. I received 2. And gave one to Hama Shimai and one
to Hotu Shimai. A brother in the ward saw me do that and gave me his!
I gave it to an elder later. Then... It was pot luck... So many
delicious looking sweets. And somehow I survived.
Day7: we show up to the YSA activity and the sister in charge
announced,"today's meal is sweets paradise. Only sweets,!" Uhh... Haha
yeah, I gave up(: but I totally see how impossible it is to give up
coffee or tea. Even if you have a good excuse, it's REALLY hard to
explain yourself in social situations when people offer things to you.
Well, I guess I learned what I needed to from the experiment, it's
really hard. And I like sugar. Good thing the word of wisdom didn't
teach us to avoid chocolate!

I love the gospel! It is "sweet above all that is sweet, and pure
above all that is pure"
Alma 32:42

I love you all so much(: Feast upon the sweet words of the gospel.
It's the source of never-ending happiness(:

Love,
Sister Reeves

March 15th

Hey everyone! This week was MIRACULOUS! Do I say that every week? But it's true! Last Monday was so busy we literally didn't have PDay time but we had a great opportunity to meet with a new investigator, Rie. We met with her and had a member, Asuka, there with us. Asuka just returned from her mission in temple square! She is the best and it's been fun to work with her. We are doing the free english program with Rie. We had so much fun! During the lesson we talked about God and her beliefs and feelings about God. She is a member of a buddhist religion but says she wants to learn more about God. The spirit was strong as we talked about our Heavenly Father and taught her how to pray. She is excited to meet with us again!   Rie, Sister Hotu, Asuka, Me  Tuesday was zone conference. I was asked to give a training on the teaching skills: How to Begin Teaching. Check out chapter 10 in PMG! Anyway, it was the training I had requested for the conference because I really wanted to receive it! So... Of course they asked me to do the training and I learned soooo much more that way. I was really nervous but I asked Sister Ogawa to help me and it ended up going so well. We focused on how to use the how to begin teaching points in our finding to explain who we are, what our message is, and to invite with a clear and direct invitation to take our lessons. We had lots of time for practice and it helped so much. We went out after the conference with a new enthusiasm for finding and it has made a huge difference in our conversations with others. And more people understand who we are and what we came here to do and why our message is important. Our zone conference was focused on chapter 10 of PMG and how we can become master teachers! Never thought I needed so much training on how to teach because I thought I was pretty decent... Haha but... I have oh so much to learn! On Wednesday we had the Best lesson with Shimizu Shimai and Saori chan. We taught the law of chastity. We had prepared and practiced and studied a bunch for this lesson because it's a hard lesson to teach and uses a lot of vocabulary that we don't actually use everyday. Anyway, the Spirit totally guided us and it ended up being perfect. Shimizu Shimai is preparing to get married this September so we focused the lesson on how this commandment prepares her for a happy and successful marriage and family life. She has so much courage and faith.   Sister Kosuge and Sister Hotu  So another really cool thing happened... We went to the church to do our language assessments that we do for the MTC every other transfer and the elders came in and were like..."we just found a lady who wants to hear the message right now!" So they direct us to her house and we had the BEST lesson in front of her apartment. She soaked up everything we taught. Her family is pretty active in their buddhist religion but she had been thinking a lot about faith and God recently. She had the most amazing questions and loved what we shared about why we read the scriptures and pray everyday. She was so happy when we told her that she lived with God before. It was almost like she already knew that! We read scriptures and prayed together and she loved it. Then.... These missionary type ladies from another religion came and started talking to us really urgently about their god who has more power than Christ because he couldn't be killed but Christ was weak and died on the cross. I asked if I could say something and so we took the opportunity to bear testimony of the Savior. We pointed out the things we believed in common and the things we really respected about their beliefs. They eventually handed our new friend their pamphlet and left. When they left, Jun asked us if we had felt different when they came. She said it was so wonderful when we prayed but then it went away when they came. We used the opportunity to teach about the Spirit. She agreed to meet us again for lessons but was nervous we think because of her family, so she didn't take the BOM and agreed that we should meet at the church from here. Please pray for her! Thursday was cool cause we taught lessons all day! We had a really good role play with Furui Shimai. We were able to practice teaching the pattern of gospel dispensations and apostasy which is really hard to explain and I often avoid explaining it completely cause the people I teach don't have a Christian background anyway. But... It's so important because it illustrates that God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. He has always called another prophet and shown his love by restoring the truth and his power. The power unto our salvation. We visited the Omata family and shared the plan of salvation with Kyoudai's non-member mother who is like 92 years old. She has a hard time believing the message but thought it was really nice and was happy to have heard it. Social Media Fair in Kichijoji  Friday we had another lesson with Kojima Shimai. She had been really diligent about studying the scriptures on her own and shared her thoughts from what she read and applied it to herself. She thought it was amazing how Nephi and his family were so faithful to follow the commandments of God and leave everything they had. She hasn't been asked to do that but she has been asked to do a hard thing, set an example for her family and teach them the gospel. We listened and she expressed a lot of concerns. Her husband was baptized a few years ago so he is behind her in his testimony and knowledge and enthusiasm for living the gospel. Also, she wants to teach her children but she is worried that she can't teach them in japanese because it's still really hard for her. We testified of how the Spirit helps us to do those things that seem impossible. Just like us, she has been assigned to preach the gospel in the japanese language and in the most important field, her home. And it is hard but the Spirit will help her! Pray for the Kojima family(: We met with Hama Shimai as well and she shared a lot of what she learned from the stories she read about Laman and Lemuel. We read with her about the Liahona and applied it to the compasses and guidance that God gives to us. She said she wanted a Liahona to lead her to heaven. We talked about how the promises of God are sure as we do our part to show faith and obey his commandments. We talked about a really important liahona we have to guide us and show us our potential, our patriarchal blessings. She said she left it at her parents' home and said she doesn't have a lot of experiences using its guidance because she hasn't read it in so long. She is excited about returning home to find her blessing, a personal letter from God. On Saturday we attended the social media fair in kichijoji held for members of both Musashino and machida stakes. There were maybe more missionaries than members but it was a great event. We learned together about how to share our faith online with all the tools we have today. We learned about good techniques for missionary work on blogs, mormon.org, facebook, YouTube, Twitter, etc. It was fun! I liked it because it's simple. It's something we can all do. And when I don't have my name tag any more, I can always be a missionary and share my faith with my friends(: Sunday was my BIRTHday! 22! Thanks for all the birthday wishes and love. I do feel so loved! It was a regular day but I ate sweets all day: waffles, cheesecake, chocolate, etc! I had the opportunity to prepare and share my testimony in gospel principles. I was given the topic of how I experienced conversion through scripture study. I think that's where we all find conversion. Because the Book of Mormon is the evidence. I'm grateful for my parents who taught me that the Book of Mormon has significance in our lives and showed me the difference a simple study habit can make. I'm grateful for the decision I made to try it for myself. It's true! We met another new friend for the free english program. She actually asked us how much it was. Yep, free. We explained that we came to Japan to teach about Jesus Christ but we like service too so it's free! She was surprised that learning about Jesus was the added bonus. But our lesson with her was really good. Her name is Kurokawa San. She is 85 years old. Her husband died 2 years ago and she never had children. She longs to be with him everyday. He watched over a buddhist temple in his life and she explained that she will not change her religion. We sang hymns together and she loved it! She asked, "once more please!" We taught her that God is her loving Heavenly Father and read scriptures together and explained that she will see her husband again. She had never heard such things and it turned her entire world upside down. She's not sure if she hopes for these things or wants to know if they're true but she is sure she wants to be with her husband. We taught her how to pray and she thought it might be bad for her to pray if she didn't think that God was her Heavenly Father. How sad to never know that you have a perfect Father in Heaven, watching over you, loving you, guiding you, and answering your cries to him. I know it's true. He is there. He loves each one of us. EVERY one of us. She said she wants to make time to meet again.. Pray for her, too please (: Anyway, life is good. The church is true. I know it's all true. I learned in RS yesterday a simple principle. Truth changes people but people cannot change truth. The truth has changed me and continues to change me. People try to change truth and people have taught incorrect ideas as truth, but it doesn't change what is true. I believe in a God who is constant and unchanging and infinite and eternal. His truth is the same. It never changes. And that's why I can put trust in Him. I should be able to put my trust in Him 100% because He will never ever fail me. The best thing we can ever do with our agency is align our will with His. I love Him. And i love all of you! Thanks for loving me and supporting me! Love, Sister Kinz Ps. Shout out to my brother in law, Jason. Happy birthday, brother! I hope it's the best. (:  Me eating brownies for the day after my birthday celebration. I feel sick. Haha