Trick or Treat

Hey Family,

I hope you all had a good Halloween. But can you believe it is now November. Wow!! I don't even have a year left until I come home from this wonderful mission. That is weird to think about because when I think of the time between last November till now that year has gone by quick. That makes me worried. I still have so much to improve on and get better at. How am I to do it in a year. Well I will do my best and rely on the Lord.

So this last week has been pretty fun. Monday we were finally able to meet with an investigator who has a baptism date in two weeks and have a lesson with her about some of the commandments. It was my first time meeting her and I fell in love with her right away. Her name is Shushu and she is from China and has been living here in Japan for 5 years and going to school here. She has had a cold and had some trouble with work and finding a new apartment so we never could meet until last week. Sister Nishihara and her previous companion found her in June through eikaiwa and started teaching her. She is a golden investigator. She accepted everything that she was taught and was really excited about the church. Last week we taught her about praying often, reading the scriptures daily and obeying the word of wisdom. And what was awesome is that when we were teaching her about keeping the word of wisdom and asked her at the end if she would keep it she said that she has already stopped drinking tea. We were very surprised and asked her when did she start doing that. She explained about going to a party with the sister missionaries where she made tea cookies. She noticed that no one was eating them so she asked why. The Sisters explained about the word of wisdom a little bit to her. At the next meeting she asked more questions about it and they taught her more without really committing her to living it. After that she decided to stop drinking tea. “It's my health!” she said. Isn't that amazing. The Lord really does help His children and have the spirit move them to do great things.

She was also able to find a new apartment so she was able to come to church yesterday. Because of recent move she has moved just outside of our area into the Nakano area so we went with her to the Nakano ward yesterday. She loved it. Everyone was very sweet and welcoming and there were even a few that could speak Chinese which was a pleasant surprise to her. We also stayed for the ysa activiity after church. The Nakano ward has A LOT of single adults. 50 or so, so it works out great for Shushu. I am so excited to see her baptized and am honored to have met and be apart of this experience with her.

Tuesday we went and visited Sochiru in the hospital. She had her baby! It is a boy and they named him Eli. They are both doing well. She was released on Friday but they are keeping him in the hospital for another month or so in order for him to gain some weight. So right now she is living a hotel nearby because 1. she doesn't want to be far from the baby 2. for her own health (she got a C) and 3. because she needs to go every 3 hours to feed him. She said she is doing well the last time I spoke to her on the phone and that she just asks for our prayers. She did say that she would like to come to church but right now it is hard. It is great to see that she has an interest in our church and wants to learn more. But for right now we just keep praying for her family and visit with her as much as we can.

Wednesday we met with Sayaka and taught her lesson 3 – the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She accepted everything really well. During the lesson I asked her if she believes in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father and she said yes. Sister Nishihara then started telling her how we want to make a date for her to be baptized as a goal to work towards. She said “Ok!” then pulled out her calandar, looked at the dates and said, “November 18!” We were both taken aback by that because we had a date in mind for December and here she wants to be baptized in two weeks. We didn't realize that her desire was so strong. We set that date in our planners and told her that in order for her to be baptized she needs to attend church twice. She said she understood and would go to church on Sunday. She is another that lives outside of our area and because of confusion of where exactly she lives we have been coordinating with two other sets of Sisters. She was going to go to the Urayasu ward yesterday and the Sisters there were prepared to meet her and teach her. Unfortunately she didn't go. She had work and couldn't end up making it. So her date will probably be pushed back. But she still has a strong desire to be baptized and she is really willing to make a date. We are able to meet with her often so that is good. Now it is just helping her to come to church. That and start reading the Book of Mormon. She said it is hard to understand. So on Friday when we met we talked about the Book of Mormon and why it is important. We had a member from the Urayasu ward there with us and she and I both testified about how when we read the Book of Mormon, even if we don't understand things right away we focus on the feelings that come from reading it. And that through those feelings we can understand. I love testifying about the Book of Mormon. I have such a strong testimony about it. It really does pick you up and make your life so much better. Last summer was the worst for me. I felt so low and was not myself. Satan was trying to take full advantage of that time to try to discourage me to go on a mission. And even more then that. Have me question my own self worth. When I finally took a step back to see what I needed to do to feel better I realized what I have been doing wrong. I wasn't reading the scriptures. When I started reading the Book of Mormon my life saw light again. I was able to be happy and be excited about my mission. I am very very grateful to have the Book of Mormon and love every chance that I get to testify about it. :D

Also on Wednesday we had our Eikaiwa Halloween party. It was so much fun. Sister Nishihara and I helped decorating beforehand and I was drawing/writing on the balloons. I made a vampire and showed it to Nishihara. She asked if it was supposed to be one of our zone leaders cause it looked like him. I said it could be and put DOMO next to him because that is what he always says. I then decided to try drawing all of the missionaries (there are 6 of us total) and make a game out of it. Guess that missionary! So the picture with the missionaries and the balloons is us standing next to our balloons. I will say this right now. I AM NOT AN ARTIST. Hahaha I feel so bad for one elder because he turned out to look like a radish or something. I felt so bad haha. Then we played a game involving flour which is why I have flour over my face. I lost. Haha Eikaiwa really is so much fun. And even though I am not teaching right now I love the chance to try to get to know everyone. It is a great way to do service.

Thursday we had a 3 zone conference and always love those. I love being surrounded by other missionaries and learning how to be a better missionary. For example I learned that when it comes to myself I am a pessimistic person. Good to know. Now I am working on that. :) Trying to see my potential. That is one of the biggest challenges I am facing while being here but I also faced that problem a little bit before my mission. But I am learning a lot while trying to improve and I feel like I am improving. It is wonderful. Anyway at the conference President Budge told us that between these next 2 transfers we are losing 24 missionaries and only gaining 3 (only Elders I believe). He called it the quiet before the storm. Our mission right now has about 170 missionaries and the expect next year that it will go up to 250 missionaries. He also told us that the church is opening up 50 new missions around the world. And one of the missionary couples who works in the church office here and handles the missionary papers said that were there used to be (I don't know if the numbers are exactly right) like a 7% of sisters going and now it was up to like 18% or so. Again I am not sure if the numbers are right for that one but I just remember it being a significant jump. Everytime I hear this kind of information it makes me excited because I think of you Megs and how you are preparing your papers and will join the forces of God's army next year. It makes me proud. I have had a lot of people ask me what I think about the new age and I always reply with the news that my younger sisters wants to go. I am proud to tell people that. :) So yes I brag about you a lot.

I also want to let you know Mom and Dad that when I show your picture to people they always comment on how young you look and how you make such a cute couple. :D Oh and Mom I did get the coat last Tuesday and I love it. It will be perfect for winter. Which it is getting colder. But it is funny. Sometimes the apartment is colder then outside. So weird.

Well that is all for this week. I love you all and glad everything is going well. Next week my Pday is on Tuesday (Temple day) so that is probably when I will be doing e-mails. Just to let you know. I love you with all my heart and pray for you everyday. Until next week!!!

Kenzie