A Week of Learning

Hey Family,

Another week has passed by and this is actually the 6th week of my first transfer. Next will be the beginning of my 2nd transfer. Can you believe that I have been in Japan for 6 weeks already. For me it has gone by slow and also very fast. I don't know if I told you this but missionaries in Tokyo judge how long they have been in the mission by what transfer they are on. So Elders have a total of 17 transfers with the option of extending and foreign sister missionaries have 11 transfers. The japanese sister missionaries have 12 with an option of doing 13. So only missionaries like me don't have the option of extending. It is kind of sad.

Last week I really learned the power of the atonement. From the time that I first came to Japan till the middle of last week I wasn't myself. I felt this huge weight on my chest and shoulders. I wasn't being as outgoing as I usually am or even feeling that much love for others. I was wrapped in my own thoughts of how hard it was, the frustrations of learning the language and trying to talk to my companion. And thinking/feeling that way would just make me sink lower because I felt terrible for how I was feeling and felt like a horrible missionary. I have been praying with all my heart for help. I want to serve the Lord with all my heart and soul and dedicate everything I have to Him who has done so much for me. Last week my prayers were finally heard and that heavy burden I was feeling was lifted off of me and ever since I have felt light and been filled with joy and peace. I have been able to find myself again. I am excited and happy. I have felt an increase in love for EVERYONE. My companion, the investigators, the members, the Lord and even myself. The atonement is such a wonderful gift to us from the Savior and Heavenly Father. It can be used at anytime and for any reason. We can not go through this life without. We need it to find true joy and happiness. I am so grateful for my Lord and Savior for taking this burden away from me and having understanding and giving me the experiences I have had to help me learn and grow. He is there!!! I know it with all my heart!! I feel Him wrapping His arms of love around me every day feeling me with peace and joy and also strength. That is the best thing I have learned during my first transfer and I am trully grafteful for it!!

So this week we had 2 lessons with Priti, the investigator from Banglidesh. The first lesson we had with him went alright. He asked many questions and we answered them but he wasn't really listening to us so it was a little bit difficult.But the next day when we had a lesson with him it was AMAZING. The spirit was so strong and we all felt it. I can see the spirit working inside of Priti as his faith is slowly growing. He still wants to know everything he can know about Jesus Christ but he can believe that he is Heavenly Fathers son and that He cares for him and he wants to be able to become friends with Jesus Christ because that it what I testified about. It was truly a wonderful lesson. And the joint we had with us is the third member of the church in Oyama. She gave a strong testimony about the time when she was baptized and how she first heard about the church. When she was baptized it was done in a bath tub. She is amazing. Her name is Inabashimai. :D Priti will becoming to church next week and also a baptsim that the Elders are having for their investigator. We are really grateful that he has time to come to this because it will be great for him to see. Next time we actually see him and teach him (because we are doing lessons over e-mail for this week because he is so busy) we are going to challenge him to baptism. We are praying that the spirit will be with him and he will accept. We firmly believe he will be ready by the date we picked out for him. Now he just needs to believe it.

On Friday was the new missionary training and I loved it. I love seeing my doki (the missionaries I travelled with). We had a lot of fun and it is always great to hear from President Budge and his words of wisdom. He gave me some great counsel during our interview. President and Sister Budge really are amazing people. One thing happened on Friday that made me really happy and filled with hope. On the train coming back to Oyama I talked to two teenage girls on the train and got to know them and was able to tell them about me and what I am here in Japan for. One of the girls asked about Jesus Christ and who He is and we had a wonderful conversation. I was only able to give them my number but they do live in our area and I am hopeful that they will call me sometime. What was great about that experience was that I talked to them in Japanese, by MYSELF. Sister Lundy was talking to someone else. It made me happy and made me realize that I can do this and learn the language. Just very slowly and that I need patience.

Saturday we went to Nikko with Narumi. Nikko is a very very famous place in Japan with many things to do there but we went and visted the shrines. That is what the pictures are from. Nikko is AMAZING. It is Japan to the T!! I know that Dad and Justin would love to visit there. The buildings were amazing and it was acutally pretty cool because it was raining a lot while we were there so it kind of added to the aura of the place. I wish I could write more about it but I am running out of time. I will try to write more about it next week if I remember. I am sorry. But know that it is way cool and we had an amazing time with Narumi. We are becoming really good friends and we are praying that from there we can become sisters in the gospel.

Well I have to go now. We are waking up early tomorrow to go to the Temple. I love you all and miss you like crazy!!

Love

Kenzie

p.s. I got a hair cut. Do you like it??