My Journey to the Land of the Rising Sun

Hello my beloved family,

It is so weird that this is my last e-mail to everyone from the mission field. How crazy the time has gone by. Thank you for your love and support that you always gave to me during this last year and a half. Your love and your prayers gave me the support and strength that I needed to get through some of the more difficult challenges that I had. I have the best family in the world.

This last week was another great week in which we were able to see some more miracles. On Thursday we were able to meet with our family, the Stiglichs,  that we are teaching and we were able to start the lessons and teach them lesson one. They are soooo ready. They want this so bad for their family and already have such strong faith in the Gospel. The spirit was so strong as we shared with them Joseph Smith's experience and testified about it. But what I also like is that they asked what happened to him after. Did he have a wife? a family? what happened. We shared with them a brief overview of the early saints and then shared with them about Joseph's death. The spirit was so strong and my testimony was strengthened as I bore testimony of Joseph Smith. I am so grateful to him and for his faith and courage. He is a wonderful example to me and I love him so much and I was able to share that with this family. Guess what!? At the end of the lesson we were able to set a baptism date for them!!! They are being baptized in December!! They are so excited that they have a date now and Sister Stiglich is really excited to tell her husband. about their date. This family is so prepared and I am sooo excited for them. I LOVE THEM!!

This last week we also got another referral from the same member from Yokohama stake. While he was working (killing cockroaches) he started talking to the woman whose house he was at and they started talking about Christ. Isn't that amazing!!!! Great example of being a member missionary. She lived in America and was baptized into the Protestant church. She believes in God and Jesus Christ but is still looking for the truth and wants to know what would bless her life and the life of her daughters. We met with her on Saturday and we were able to share the first lesson with her and then also read the first chapter of the Book of Mormon together and applied it to her. By the end of the lesson she could understand Joseph Smith more and said that she was going to read the Book of Mormon and find out the truth as well as come to church next week. She is ready as well. It is amazing the people we are meeting and the way the Lord has prepared this area. It is so humbling to be apart of and to see. We are really excited for her as well. 

We also visited a less active, Sister Sai, this last week. It was our 2nd time visiting her. She is so cute and just so loving. Because of body ailments she hasn't been able to go to church for a long time. When we visited her she told us that if it cools down some more she would be able to come to church. And yesterday, SHE CAME!! That made my day. She told us thank you so much for visiting her. She has been waiting and waiting for the elders but they never came but from our visits with her she felt that she received power and was able to come to church today and she looked like she loved  meeting her member friends and taking part of the Sacrament. Just thinking of her taking the Sacrament again brought tears to my eyes and I was so grateful that she was able to make it today. I felt the love that our Heavenly Father has for her so strongly and knew that He too was pleased that she was able to make it to church today. I love her so much!!  On Friday we are meeting her again and she is going dress us up in Kimonos and we are going to take pictures together. It will be so much fun!!

I am very grateful that the Lord guided me hear to Yamato and has given me the opportunity to finish strong with a great companion, great members, great investigators and great miracles. I feel that if I ended my mission with what I had in Kohoku in the situation I was in I would have gone home very different I think. How grateful I am for this transfer. This is what I needed and it will be one that I will always remember.

This last 18 months has been the most joyful, trying, interesting months of my life and I am so very grateful for it. The Lord has shaped me into a person that is far better then I could have even imagined. And I am not done. I know that everything that I do and become will be because of the mission that I have served. How grateful I am for this experience and to have served in a country that I have wanted to come to for many years. I love this land so much. I love this people. They are the sweetest and kindest people ever and I want them to embrace the Gospel so much because it is my belief that when they do this people would be the best the world has seen. They are my family, my brothers and sisters and I love them so much. I am so grateful for all of the people that I have met and feel humbled by the fact that I was able to be apart of their lives even if it was just for a moment.

This work is our Lord and Savior's work. And He needs each of us to do our part. As we do our part and rely on Him we are able to see miracles happen and see the light come into someone's life. I know that my Lord and Savior, even Jesus Christ lives. He LIVES!!! I know it with all my heart and I know that He knows me perfectly and is my closest friend. He has been my strength and my light during the dark times and has been there to share the joys with me as I witnessed His hand in the work. I know that His Atonement is real. Because of His Atonement we are able to have Eternal families and be clean and once again return to His and the Father's presence. How I look forward to that day. To kneel at their feet and express my love and gratitude for them. This church is Christ restored church and I know that He restored it through His prophet Joseph Smith. And I know that through Joseph Smith the Book of Mormon was able to be brought forth. The Book of Mormon really is another Testament of Christ and we can become close to him as we read it, ponder it and apply it to our lives. How grateful I am for this.

My official mission is coming to an end. In a week I will take off this wonderful name tag that shows the world that my name is with Christ's. But I will forever continue being a missionary. Christ's heart is written on my heart forever and I will always strive to follow the spirit so that I can always be the Lord's instrument. I feel like Ammon right now, my feelings are so strong.

"I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God.

Yea, I now that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefor I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many might miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

In the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

Sister Mackenzie Marie Dolan

Japan Tokyo Mission and
Japan Tokyo South Mission

Being a tool in the Lord's Hands

Hey Family

This week has been AMAZING!!! We have seen some pretty great miracles and the Lord is really pouring out His blessings in this part of the vineyard. It has been so humbling to see and experience.

First off one of the miracles is just a personal one but He has given me strength to finish strong and has filled our days with appointments to keep us busy which is what I like best. I am so grateful that He has given me strength and has allowed me to meet so many wonderful people.

Now about those wonderful people.

On Tuesday after we had interviews with President Wada (which was my last one before "the" last one) we visited a family that is a part member from the military branch. The husband is a member but his wife and two children - 8 and 13- are not. We were told to call them from the ward mission leader. Brother Stiglich is deployed right now but we were able to call Sister Stiglich and make and appointment to visit them. Sister Stiglich is very nice and so are her kids, Stephen and Brigitte. After we sat down and talked for a bit to get to know them better they asked a question about something they read recently from the children's doctrine and covenants book Sister Stiglich told us that she was ready. She is ready to be baptized and to have an eternal family. She has that feeling and knows that it is her time and that her kids are ready too and know it is true. When we asked Brigitte if she too wants to be baptized she said yes and that she likes church because she can learn about God. They have been so prepared and carry such a special spirit with them. It was my first time meeting them but I felt like I have known them for a long time. I am so proud of them for making this decision and wanting to make this change. It made me so excited as we then talked about baptism and the steps that will need to be taken before then. Since brother Stiglich is currently deployed they want to wait for him and he of course wants to be present for it. Unfortunately he does not get back until Decemeber so they have along time to wait but their faith is strong and we will teach them the lessons and keep their faith strong though I am not worried about them at all. Last Sunday there was a typhoon and they had plans on coming but because of the storm it was dangerous so they weren't able to make it but they just went back to their house and read scriptures and studied them together. How amazing is that!!!! I love this family and I am really excited to start teaching them this week. It will be great!!!

Another miracle we saw was on Thursday. We went to visit a member on one of the bases and as we were waiting outside the gate for her to pick us up we were just talking with each other when this guy, probably in his 30's, stopped and started talking to us. He asked if we were working in this area. We said yes and as we were talking to him we found out that he is member but has been less active for 5 years. Recently however, he has been getting many signs that he needs to come back to church. When he was in Australia he ran into the missionaries twice and he recently saw the church. We he talked to his mom about it she said that he should go back or talk to the missionaries so when he saw us he knew that he needed to talk to us. He recently moved to this area and has been living in Japan for about 5 years. He really wants to come to church and said that he will come this next coming week. We were able to get his number and told him we would give him a call and send the Elders over to visit him. It was such a cool miracle and was a reminder that the Lord places us where He needs us to be and will lead us to people or will lead them to us. It was a great experience.

Friday we got a phone call from a member in another Stake who told us that he had a referral from us. At one of his jobs he started talking to this girl and asked if she wanted to be happy and she said yes and he asked her if she would try listening to the missionaries and to the message that they have and she said that she would. We called her on Saturday and made an appointment for over the phone for last night at about 9 pm. Now even though the lesson was over the phone it was one of the best lessons I have ever done and it was soooo much fun. I was able to ask her about things that she believed and explained to her our purpose as missionaries and how this message can help her. We talked about God being our Heavenly Father and after she said that she wanted time to think about that I taught her about prayer and the steps of it. She said that this week she will try praying and we are meeting with her next week. It was a great lesson and the spirit was so strong. I could feel it testify through me and there is no feeling like comes close to that. I can not even describe it in words. Being a tool for the spirit to use and being able to speak a powerful testimony is the best thing ever. When we said goodbye and hung up the phone I felt like I was floating on cloud 9. I was soo happy. I had so much fun talking to her and I knew that the Lord was pleased with the way that I taught. I have really high hopes for her and feel like she is ready to hear the message. She is willing to listen and to try. From there the spirit will touch her heart and we will see more miracles happen. I am really going to miss this feeling.

This week is what being a missionary is all about and I feel so blessed to have been able to have such a great week!!! to be able to teach some many people and to have great experiences. This is the way I want to end. And I will be forever grateful to my Lord and Savior for giving me these last few weeks. They are the best.

I love you all so much and I know that this work is true.

私はこの福音がしんじつだとしています。イエスキリストは私のあがない主や一番ともだちです。彼は私の伝道ちゅに私に助けました。もし私はイエス様が泣けラバ私の生活がすごいたいへんになります。でも私はイエス様しているなので心の中にいっぱい光を感じえます。この技は主の技です。だから何でもできます！

愛しています！！

Kenize

  

Japan = Home

Hi Family,

I am glad that everyone is doing well and thank you for the e-mails and videos and what not. I liked them. :D

So this week has been one filled with love for the people of Japan. Last Wednesday before we went to Eikaiwa we went back to the apartment to make some quick dinner and for a reason that I didn't even understand I was feeling down and so I did the only thing that I did know how to do. Pray. 

The prayer I uttered I feel really mirrored Enos's prayer. I prayed for forgiveness from so many things asking to feel the Savior's love. I then started telling the Lord about my concerns. Before our plate was really full and I was probably making it bigger then needed but I still felt overwhelmed and stressed about the amount of work we needed to. I was thinking about the members, investigators that we do have and the people we still need to find. I was overwhelmed with the amount of love I had for these people and pleaded with the Lord to bless them. To bless the members to recognize their responsibility as members to share the gospel and to have the courage to share it. To bless the investigators that they would accept the gospel into their lives more and decided to make the decision to be baptized and also for the people in general. The Japanese people are already so kind and wonderful and if they had the gospel in their lives they would be the best people. I love them so much and my heart is slowly starting to break as I am getting ready to say goodbye to them. And what is really funny, my love for them grows even more as I spend time with the members in the military branch. This place and these people have become my home and I want to do so much more for them than I am already doing. My weaknesses and my limitations get in the way and I am only one person. But the Lord has spoken words of comfort to me and I know that He is watching over these people and will bless them. 

This opportunity that I have had to sere in Japan is the best decision in my life and the best moment of my life. I have come so close to the Savior and have learned so much about myself. This has been the greatest blessing in my life thus far and nothing will come close to matching it. I am grateful for the challenges that I have to go through and will still go through during these last few weeks. I know the Lord will be my support and will help in every step of the way. 

Love,

kenze

A Week of Fun

Hi Family,

well another week has gone by and I can't believe it. The time is coming too quickly for me to say goodbye to this life and to the people that I love dearly. It is getting harder as the time passes passes more. But that just makes me enjoy everyday that much more. 

Well on for this last week. Opening up a new area requires patience, especially when you know that you are only going to be here for such a short time. It is basically just trying to help my companion figure things out and train her to be able to take over the area. But It requires a lot of trust and reliance on the spirit and a lot of good planning. 

But it does help that so many members are really excited to have sister missionaries in the area. We visited one member this last week who has officially one the title as #1 member. She didn't give us good or gifts all though all of those things are really nice. She prayed before we came over to know who she could refer to us. Who would be ready to hear our message? She gave us 3 names!!! 3!!! That is the most I have ever received during my mission. She is awesome. We even went to one of her friends house right then and met her and now she is trying to set up another appointment for the this week. Again AMAZING!!! This is what missionaries want and what really makes missionaries happy. Just so you know. So always be thinking and praying about people you can refer to the missionaries. Do it!! haha

Another fun time though that we had this last week was on Saturday we went and had sushi with some older members in the Japanese ward and then ended up buying us both a new pair of shoes and taking us to their house and giving us a ton of Japanese items for free. My companion got a kimono and we both got a lot of obi pieces and I was offered a Japanese harp but I of course turned that down. I was really surprised. We are living the dream in this area really. We get food, souvenirs and referrals. What more could a missionary ask for? :D

Yesterday in the English branch I spoke in Sacrament about Missionary work. That was so weird to give a talk in English but I was able to give it really well. Spending 18 months teaching has helped make me into a good speaker I think. haha It was really fun to speak and I felt the spirit strongly as I spoke. That is all that I wanted to do. Is teach and speak through the Holy Ghost always. 

Well I love you everyone. Sorry this e-mail isn't really descriptive but if you have questions you can ask me. I am getting to the point of just liking to read e-mails more than write them haha and of course chatting. :D

Love you all,

Kenzie

  

Yamato

Hey everyone, 

I am happy to here that Megs got off safe and sound for this week. I can't believe she is gone and off on her very own adventure. I am very proud of her. 

So Sister Ellingson and I are doing wonderful!!! We moved into our apartment last Thursday and it is soooo nice. It is nice and big and filled with light. It has been hard because we haven't had any blankets, sheets, pillows and some other things but we are getting by and it really is a pretty apartment and it was just 5 min from the church. It is very close which is very convenient. 

I love this area already. It is a great area and I can already tell that this area was meant to be my last. It has been great!!!

We got a lot of referrals from the Elders when we first came in and one of those referrals was a family with 3 children. The dad is a member but has been less active for years and his children are 12, 11 and 8. The Elders set up an appointment for us when we came in for this last Saturday and so we were able to meet with them for the first time and teach a lesson. The lesson was ok not the best though it was fun meeting the kids. It is my first time teaching kids and one of the kids is autistic so it was hard, strange enough. We need to keep the lesson a lot more simple so hopefully we will be able to do that the next time but we were able to make baptism dates for them and that will be in 2 weeks so we are hoping we can get them to those dates. We may have to push it back but we will see. The kids are really shy but nice and they are a cute family. 

Saturday night I went to one of the american bases for a meal appointment and I had a little bit of shock going back into America.haha It was so weird. From that experience I feel like this area is going to be a great blessing because the Lord is slowly integrating me back in American culture. haha On base we met with a few families and went to a park and had a bbq with hot dogs and hamburgers and there were some other families near by meeting and it was a lot like an american summer night. It has been so long since I have seen that. It was weird but really nice. The families that were with us are really nice and fed us some great food. Like I said, I like this area. :D haha And the Lord is just continuing giving us miracles and it was a GREAT time to be a missionary.  

Sunday was soooo much fun!!!! We went to both of the wards and it was fast Sunday and since we are both new we were able to give our testimonies and hear others. The Zama branch's (english) testimony was fabulous just filled with so many testimonies about missionary work and about members sharing the gospel. The spirit was sooo strong and I felt it for the rest of the day in both wards. In my heart I felt so grateful for so many things. It is amazing how much the Lord has given me and how much he has helped me recently. I have just felt so much of His love in my life recently and have felt Him so near. I can not even describe the feeling. Last night I was thinking about how much time I have left and was getting sad. Even though I am excited to see you all and for some other things I am also a little scarred to come home. Just very unknown and wondering if I will be able to stay the person that I have become and remember the things that I have learned. But last night after having a long conversation with Him I felt Him draw near unto me and could feel His peace, love and assurance that He will be with me when i get home and everything will be ok. He will continue to guide me and I will be able to continue to follow Him. I really love balcony time. :D

Today was also a great day filled with the spirit because guess what?! It was my LAST Temple pday!!! My last time at the Tokyo Temple as a missionary. I felt so much of the spirit and all I could think of was my mission and how great of a blessing it was. I thought about all the trails I have gone through, all the wonderful people I have met and the growth that I have gone through and was just filled with so much gratitude!! I have been so blessed this last year and a half and have learned and grown so much. I know now that i had to come on a mission to become the person I am now so that I could receive blessings for my future. I am starting to see how the blessings in my patriarchal blessing will come to pass and it is all because I have served a mission and I will forever be grateful for that. How great is the Lord in providing this opportunity for me!!!

Family I love you sooo much and I look forward to seeing you. In some moments i can not believe that I have been away from you for 18 months and other times it feels like an eternity. How strange time is. 

I love you with all my heart, until next week. 

Kenzie

Light of Christ

Hello my wonderful family,

I want to first off say THANK YOU!!!!! Thank you sooo much for the prayers and fasts that so many did. I really felt it this week and I am soo very thankful for them. You will never know how much they helped. I will try to expalin how they did in todays e-mail.

Well first off, Tuesday President Wada came and picked me up in Kouhoku and took me to the area Fujisawa to meet my new companion and to say goodbye to my last one. I didn't know how hard it would be to do that but I felt the strength of the Lord with me and He gave me a very clear, specific way to say goodbye. She acted like I thought she would but I was able to get through it. But I will say though that Tuesday and Wednesday were the hardest days I have ever experienced on my mission and even my life. I felt very alone and still had a hard time feeling the spirit. I knew that God was there and still cared about me but I wasn't hearing anything from Him. I didn't understand why. I really was in the pit of misery. I could feel the adversary's spirits surround me and trying their best to pull me down. I can't even describe the dark state I was in. I didn't feel like myself at all. The mist of darkness is very real and was very strong. I couldn't find my way out at all. I tried to shine a light but it was barel a glimmer. I was lost and just when I was about to give up the fight I found the true source of light. I was able to find my Savior and His light shone so much that the darkness dispersed entirely. His light filled my soul as I really took upon myself the atonement and gave it all to the Lord. Ever since I have been the happiest that I have ever been, since even before my previous companion. I am enjoying life and the mission. I am enjoying my companion and teaching by the spirit. I am goofy and fun. I can see it in my eyes how different I look. Now looking back I can see that before a week ago when I would look at myself in the mirror it was very sad. There was so light in my eyes and my smile didn't reach deep down. Everytime I looked in the mirror I thought I looked ugly and I couldn't understand it. But now when I look at myself I can't help smiling from ear to ear. I can see the light of Christ in myself. I can see the Daughter of God that I am. I am beautiful, even with no make up my hair a crazy mess. I look at myself and just smile. How amazing is that light of Chirst? How Amazing is the Atonement? Through it I was able to get out of the deepest darkest pit of despair that I have ever been in. I know that my Savior lives and I know that through Him we can recongnize who we really are and be filled with joy that can not be described. HOW WONDERFUL IS MY SAVIOR!!!!?

Ok now on to my wonderful companion and area. Well I am actually still in Fujisawa. Our apartment won't be finalized until this Wednesday and so we will be moving in on Thursday. But my companion and I were able to go to a ward party on Saturday and meet some of the memebers. And I am SOOOOOOOO excited to be working with them. They too are really excited to getting sister missionaries. All of the members were so sweet and kind. I really feel like this next transfer we will be able to see many miracles and do wonderful things. I have a feeling that this next and last transfer will be my best one. Oh and the church is HUGE. It is like a temple. I will send a picture so you can see it but it is so nice. AHHHH so excited. Now about my angel of a companion. Her name is Sister Ellingson and I absolutely LOVE HER. She is so much fun and we have been having a blast together and we are both really really excited to get to Yamato and work and see miracles. We are like little kids just waiting for Christmas. We just want to get started!! She is from Alaska and is on her 3^rd transfer. Her and her family besides her dad converted when she was 11 or so. She has a great testimony and she is already one of my best friends. We are going to have a really fun 6 weeks together. Tonight we are having a movie night and eating popcorn and cookie dough. It is going to be a party. We are super excited for it. hahaha

I have really felt the Lord in my life and I have felt your prayers and love. Thank you soo very much. I really needed them this last and they helped so much. I love you all sooo very much and look forward to seeing you. Love you with all my heart,

Kenzie

  

Happening

Hey family,

 

Glad everyone is doing well. :D

 

So I probably won't have time to cover the whole week. But their are 2 things I want to cover the most.

 

First, last Wednesday we had a 2 zone conference with President and Sister Wada there and it was amazing. They are truly inspired from God and I really feel their love for us. At this conference I gave my last testimony. It was so hard and so unreal that it was happening I couldn't believe it. It was a great day filled with the spirit.

 

Now let me tell you about the opposite side. Friday night was the scarriest night of my life and which is why I am actually doing another emergency transfer and going to a new area tomorrow with an american companion. So I have actually been sugar coating my relationship with my companion. It has been hard. There has been no love or the Spirit and I have felt like I have been walking on a mine field the last few weeks. Well on Friday I found a mine and it blew up but I didn't even say anything. I will skip over a lot of the details and the before events but basically on Friday night after we all went to bed I heard my companion in the other room crying and then screaming. Not just screaming like a normal person would if they were mad but it almost seemed like a mental outburst. And that is when she came into the room I was sleeping in by throwing open the door and screaming and yelling at me and Sister Hathaway and then falling to the ground and screaming and pounding the floow. I am not exagerating when I say that I seriously thought that she was going to kill us. Sister Hathaway thought so as well. When it was obvious she couldn't be calmed down by us we called the President and told him what was going and he ended up talking to her and then to me. But while he was talking to her I was shaking like I never have before and even started hyperventalating a bit. No words can descibe how scary it was. It was like horror movie. I coundn't sleep at all that night and felt sick to my stomach and it didn't help that after she did calm down and was talking to us normally she told us that she actually had the thought of killing us and thought she would. When the President talked to me that night he asked if I could stay with her for another 2 weeks (transfer days are really next week) and I told him that I could but Saturday morning when I woke up I was still terrified and didn't want to be alone with her. I called the President to tell him about my feelings and he invited me to the mission home to stay for the weekend with another sister who needed rest any way because she isn't feeling well. So I have been staying at the mission home since Saturday and I just got back to my area today to pack and be ready to transfer tomorrow.

 

I knew that I was missing having the spirit and love around but I didn't know how much until I went to the mission home and just got overpowered by it. Words can not describe my love for President and Sister Wada and how grateful I am for their love and concern. They really do feel like parents and how grateful I am for them because being with them made it easier to go through what I did. Yesterday after dinner I had a interview with the President to expalin again what happend and my feelings and that is when he told me I would be split from her but the details would have to wait till the morning which I got today. But last night he did ask again if I would be willing to stay until November. I prayed hard about it and talked to Sister Wada a lot about it and I still felt like I need to go home in October so that is when I will be home. But I am being transfered to another area called Yamato which has a japanese branch but also a military branch. My companion is american and on her 3rd transfer so it will be fun and I am really hoping I can have the spirit and love back for my last few weeks on the mission. I want to end strong. But it was nice staying at home because I was able to get a lot of much needed sleep and rest. I loved it there. It made me excited to come home to you guys and have that feeling again.

 

And I hope my companion can become better and get the help that she needs. She has been through A LOT in her life. Things you wouldn't even believe and even though I am scared and would prefer not to see her again I still want her to let go of those past feelings and really accept the Savior's Atonement. I pray that she will be watched over.

 

Well that was bacially the eventful stuff from this week. and now I have to get ready to transfer. I am excited and nervous but it will be good. I feel that the Lord is watching out for me.

 

I love you all,

Know that I am ok but still stay a prayer for me.

 

Love,

Kenzie

Buddah, Atonement, HOT WEATHER and more

Hey Family,

First off I want to say that I LOVE you sooo much. My heart and my mind were with you this last weekend-I will be honest I was a little trunky. CONGRATUALTIONS JUSTIN AND AMANDA!!!!! Just I can't believe you are actually married and that I missed it. I seem to miss the big things in your life like when you came home from your mission and your wedding. But know that I still love you the same as ever. And Amanda welcome offically to the family. I have thought about you as a sister for a long time but now it is offical. You carry the Dolan name. Wear it proudly. haha Also Megs I heard that you did a great job on your talk as I knew you would. Now you need to prep yourself for giving the same amazing talks but in spanish. Because it will happen. My ward asked me suddenly to speak and share my testimony when someone couldn't make it. But you will be fine, much better than me I am sure. I also heard about the awesome party reception. I would think of anything less for Justin and Amanda. I am so happy that everything turned out well, everyone was happy and had a good time. I was praying for you all. I am soo happy you had so much fun. :D Now the next step to work towards is the Temple Wedding. Make sure you make that the first priority because if you do I know that great blessings will follow. :D

Ok so onto my week that had many things happen.

Well first off I went to Kamakura last week whichi is where I bought Dad his swords. Which speaking of whichi I cannot believe that they got there so fast. They told me it would get there in a week maybe. That is great. I am glad that you like them Dad. And they are real replicas of a Samuri sword. Last year a Samuri movie came out (which I plan to buy before coming home) and the swords are like the ones in the movie. Glad they got to you safe. In Kamakura there is a giant buddah which I sent a picture of. I love seeing places like this becuase it really reminds me that I am actually in Japan. If I come back with any of you that is a place we for sure need to go to. Because also in Kamakura is a big shrine and you are able to see Mt. Fugi from the beach. Unfortunatly we didn't have time to go to the beach and so I didn't see Mt. Fugi. Next time. :D It was really fun because we went with both the Kanagawa Elders and the Kohoku Elders. It was a blast!!!

Tuesday was an interesting day. I was feeling frustrated and stressed about different things and the relationships in the apartment wasn't the strongest and basically just felt like nothing was going right. But the Lord showed me how much He loves me because we visted a member and she has her own business whichi is aroma therapy massage. She mixed up some aromas that was supposed to be soothing and relaxing and it worked. It started relaxing me and I felt a lot better. She also gave me a nice hand massgae. I just felt like that was such a huge tender mercy from the Lord. I never knew how much I would like aroma therapy. haha And He even showed me that day a little bit that what I am doing here is good thing. He has actually been showing me that for the whole week. Right now we literally have no one to teach. We don't have any investigators or any potential investigators. But despite that I feel very strongly about helping the members and strengthening them and getting them into doing missionary work. I have received many answers about it but there is still always the thought of what other missionaries will think and then the numbers always come out 0 so even though I know in my heart that what I am doing is what the Lord wants sometimes little doubts creep up that I am messing up and not being a good missionary. I know I know that isn't true. and I am working on it. Believe me I am working on it.

Wednesday we had the best zone meeting I have ever had on my mission. So before I explain why I don't think I have explained what the Japan Tokyo South Mission theme is. It's: Obedience is the price, Faith is the power, love is the motive, the Spirit is the key, CHRIST IS THE REASON. So in the meeting we talked about how Christ is the reason why we are here on missions. You may have heard of this activity (because I have before) but it was my first time experienceing it. The zone leaders asked one Elder to do 10 push ups for each person so that they can have an ice cream. Elder Hill went around the room very slowly and asked specifically for each person if the elder would do 10 push ups so that they can have ice cream, it was like, "Elder Schumaucher, will you do 10 push ups so that Sister Dolan can have a coolish?"There were about 16-18 missionaries. I think in total it was about 160 push ups. And guess who was the very last one. It was me. So when it got to me the Elder was of course very tired and his arms hurt a lot. He was huffing really loud and doing them very slow. I was crying so hard because I imagined Christ doing that for me. After He suffered so much pain for everyone else He suffered even more for me so that I can be cleansed, be made strong and returen to His the the Fathers prescence. You can not imagine the spirit that was in there. The zone leaders than talked about how that is why we are here. To share this message. Christ already suffered for the people here. And whether they reject or not it will never change the act that He performed. We need to share with people what was done for them. That is our responsiblity and that is our Reason. I think the same is true for all members. I shared that in my talk on Sunday. I told the members that it is our responsibility as Christ disciples to share the message to everyone. We cannot take the choice away from them. It was a very powerful meeting and I can't fully explain my feelings from it. But know it was amazing.

From Wednesday through the weekend we were busy visting members. After the training we visisted 2 members and do practice lesson using the new training that we received. Thursday we met with our Ward mission leader for a practice lesson and Friday we had 3 appointments with members. It is amazing the change that is starting to take place in the ward. They are allowing the missionaries to come to their homes and share with them messages. Which is exaclty what I want and makes me happy. And this week we have a lot of meal appointments set up with members. I am excited. And speaking of meal appointments, we had one on Sunday night with a family from Bolivia. They are the cutest family ever and just so you know Megs when I told the father about your mission he said the Uruguay is the best place in South America. :D But this family is very cute and have many kids. And that is the funny story I want to share with you. We were asking about their children and their ages and their ages go 10, 8, 4, 2, 1 and 5 months but the mother is 2 months pregnant. Shocked? Ya so were we when we heard. And that is when the brother said that he tries for self control but there is nothing you can do about it. Haha we were dying of laughter when he said that. Us and the Elders couldn't believe that he said that. Funniest thing ever.

As you can notice from the title of the e-mail is that it is becoming very HOT!!!! This weekend has been between 38 and 40 C which is about 100-105 degrees in F. But with the humidity it feels hotter. So right now I don't look pretty at all because I am sweating from every pore and there is really no helping it. I will send a picture to show you what I mean. And if you zoom up on my face you can seen the sweat. Just make sure that this picture doesn't end up on facebook.

This week I was also able to learn more about companion which shed some more light on why she thinks the way she does and do things that she does. I don't want to share what she has been through in an e-mail but she has been through A LOT in her life. It is my first time meeting someone who has been through so much. I have really learned from her to be humble and also have learned the power of the Atonement and how it can change a persons life. Ever since I have learned more about it things between us have been better - at least better understanding. Sometimes it can still be hard but now I am able to understand and have more patience for her and for myself.

This week has been really amazing with the Lord showing me how much He loves me and how much of value I have to the mission. I can't even explain it. And the strongest I felt was when I was in the Celestial Room in the Temple today. My chest was literally burning and I felt so much of His love. It was truly amazing. I can't believe that I only have 1 more time to be going to the Tokyo Temple but how blessed I feel that it is in my mission and I have been able to go and it has helped me have the desire to go every week when I am home.

I love you all and you have no idea how much I miss you!!! Until next week,

Love,

Kenzie

  

Summer Festival

Hey Family,

Wow, I can't believe Justin and Amanda are getting married this week! That is so crazy, where has the time gone. And then Megan will leave and then I will be home. So many things happening in the Dolan home. :D Mom I liked the video of Charlie jumping over the fence. Well,,,at least the fence looks pretty right. haha I hope everyone will enjoy this week with family and take joy in this special occasion. Don't let stress and the hecticness get in the way of this special moment. I have learned that on my mission. Take the joyful moments when you can and always look for the joy in anything. I know it is a lot of work with the farewell and wedding so close to each other and also a lot of family but how often do we get to have all the family together. Not often. And I am very jealous that I will be missing everyone. So please just enjoy this week. Don't get stressed or angry or frustrated (I say this because I know the Dolan's) This is a special moment, enjoy the ride.

Well this last week nothing much really happend. My companion became sick and for three days had to take it easy. I was able to do splits with our roomates though and went with the other Japanese sister and did some streeting and such. That was really fun. It has been a while since I have done that kind of streeting. It was still nerve racking but I enjoyed it. I was feeling the joy of just inviting. But we have been able to visit a lot of members last week and we have a lot of appointments with them for this next week. Yesterday I felt the spirit really strong and it helped me to see the little bit of success we have been having. The atomosphere at church now is lot different then when I first came. We still don't receive referrals from the members or anything so there is still a lot of improvement but I am feeling more of the members love and they are allowing us to come over to their house more. I can feel a change start taking place. And while I was sitting in Sacrament meeting and praying about how we can do better to find investigators I looked around at all the members and could the investigators that they have for us. Many of them are part members and if every member just brought one to two friends to church each week the membership would double and we would see wonderful success. I could feel the spirit of the Lord pushing me to work with the members. Get them fired up with missionary work and so be bold and straight with them. I felt the Lord's promise that if I do my part He will do His. I really want to help this ward. My love for them are growing more and more. They are so sweet!!

This last week waas summer festival and that was a lot of fun. On Thursday we ended Eikaiwa early to go and watch the fireworks. They were in another city but we could see them from close to the church. They were really good but it was kind of sad because it was really cloudy and so some fireworks went high into them and would explode but we couldn't see them. But it was still fun to see. Our eikaiwa students were really excited to watch them. haha And then on Saturday we went to a part of our area with the Elders to do a kubari kai but there was a summer festival down by the river and so we watched and then the Elders and I actually went down and tried dancing. It was so much fun and a lot of people were amazed to see 3 foreigners trying to dance. My companion was filming the whole thing and said that many people were telling thei kids to dance so that they could teach us how. haha I have a video of us dancing but it is too long to send so you will just have to wait. But it was really fun to take part in the Japanese culture. And today we are going with the Elders to Kamakura which has a lot of shrines and ninja shops. It should be really fun. I am excited.

Well that is all for this week. I love you all and enjoy the weekend. I will be thinking of you.

Oh and next Tuesday will be temple pday so that is when I will do e-mails.

I love you,

Kenzie

Dendo Kit

Hey Family,

Hope you all had an awesome week! Staying safe in the heat. It is getting hotter here but it has also been raining a lot. But it is still hot and humid. I am looking forward to the cool Utah October weather. Great time to return home. :D

Sister Tada and I have been working on building relationships with the ward members since before it was kind of hard. So we were able to visit many members and do mogi lessons and talk about missionary work. One member we visited showed us her very own dendo kit (missionary kit) that she takes with her everywhere. She carries flyers, pass along cards and the missionaries phone number's. After visiting her I started thinking a lot about her dendo kit and I came up with the idea that when we visit memebers we should give them their onw dendo kit. A lot of members want to do missionary work but don't know how and don't have the tools to use. I am really excited about this and think it will really help the members. My goal before I leave is to have every member have a dendo kit and to have more fire for the work than when I first came here. Right now I feel like that is my purpose here. We have no investigators which has been hard and we of course will continue looking for new investigators but I really feel like the Lord wants us to strengthen this part of Zion and has given us this oppurtunity to focus on the members. I am exicted and feel very strongly about this. We gave our first one to a family on Saturday. The wife was baptized 2008 and the husband 09 so we talked about their conversion and talked about the power that they have. Really this work is members work. The missionaries are a resource, someone to help. Many people think the members job is to help the missionaries but is the other way around. I have learned that so strongly on my mission. I am determined to be a great member missionary when I go home. The family accepted the kit and said they would do their best to use it. It should be good. Funny story while visiting that family. They are a 3 year old son and when we walked into the house he had on no pants or diaper or anything. That was a funny site to see. His parents kept putting his pants on but he would keep pulling them off and then while we were sitting down talking to them he would come up behind me and climb on my back. It was really funny.

Besides the awesome revelation we received about how to help the members that is basically it. Not much really happend this week. Accept for the hills continually trying to kill me. I've mentioned the hills right? They are big and long and everywhere. My body will be in a good biking shape when I get home and will look good that is for sure. haha

Well I love you all. I can't believe it is the end of July, next week Justin and Amanda are getting married and in a month Megs leaves to start her adventure. How fast time goes which makes it even more important to hold on to and enjoy the moments that we have. Because too soon they just become memories. Enjoy every moment of this week!!

Love,

Kenzie

Amazing Miracle

Hey Family,

 Well the first bit of news is an amazing miracle that took place in our area. Last week was transfers and no I didn`t get transfered but there was a change. So before me and my companion were working in two areas, two wards. Well they split the area and so now me and my companion are just working in the Kouhoku ward and two new sisters came and are working in the Kanagawa ward. How amazing is that!!!? So our apartment has become a 4 man and if you think that our apartment is that big I can tell you no. We have been sleeping shoulder to shoulder and my companion has been working at the kitchen table. It is a very tiny apartment but with the amazing miracle that it is I will take it. How amazing it is that I am allowed to witness the Lord hastening His work. He really knows this people and he really knows me. I was getting pretty stressed covering two areas. Now I feel I can give a hundred percent to Kouhoku and see wonderful things happen. I am really excited!!!! It is a wonderful blessing from the Lord. Because of transfers and with 4 people moving in we had to get the apartment ready so that is what we did last Tuesday and Wednesday. And Thursday the new Sisters came and we did weekly planning and then had Eikaiwa that night.

Friday was really fun because we went to a new part of our area with the Elders and did some housing and streeting there. We were able to talk to one mother who seemed to have interest but then she was pulled away by her children. She said that she would call us and I hope she does. On the way home from that area we stopped by Ikea and had some delicious fries and hot dogs. haha That night was children english class and it was great because a lady that elder Johnson and I talked to a few weeks ago about the class came with her son and she brought her friend who has three daughters. They said they had a lot of fun and will come back again. When they do we want to invite them to church and to hear the message. I was so excited about it. :D

On Friday night there was an interesting instance where 6 missionaries were talking to 10 or police men. We met the elders at one of the train stations because we were going to go together to the stake presidents house for a meal. On our way there the elder that was leading the group had a bike accident. There was a family standing near the side of the road on the sidewalk and the children were playing. The 7 year old girl pushed her 3 year old brother and that put in the path of the bike (which was going slow and he did notice them playing a litte rough). Anyway the boy started crying and his wrist seemed a bit swollen  but I didn`t think it was broken or anything. But the ambulance was called (that is the thing about Japan over the smallest things they go to the hospital like for a pimple or the sniffles) Anyway the ambulance came then two cops on motorcycles a cop car and a cop truck. Probably about 10 all together but they arrived at different times and kept asking for the same story and same explanation over and over again. They even drew circles on the sidwalk that made no sense but apparantly it was to map out what happend. It was pretty interesting. My first taste of Japanese law. They talked to us for about an hour.  My companion was pretty shaken up about it and yesterday was still not happy for a lot of different reasons. The boy ended up being ok just a bruise and the elder who hit him went to the hospital yesterday with Sister Wada to apologize and talk. The parents were nice about it and the father admitted that he wasn`t watching his son closly enough. So I am pretty sure everything has worked out fine and my companion is feeling better about things. I was able to help out the little girl who was crying and freakin out. Who knew that my psychology classes would come in handy. I knew she was freakin out because everyone else was so I just talked to her calmly and asked about what things she likes and everytime she was talking to me and looking at me she too was completly calm. It was only when she looked at her brother and everyone else that she would freak out. I was glad that I was able to help out in some small way. But it will be a memory I won:t forget probably. The Japanese have interesting ways of doing things.

I love you all so much. You are the greatest family ever. Oh and just to give you a heads up. There may be times that I will need to get on the computer early to do e-mails. Right now all 4 of us are at the church e-mailing but just in case I get on earlier I wanted to let you know. I love you all and unti next week.

Love always and forever from across the ocean

Kenzie

Coming Home

Hey Family,

Hope you all had a good week this week. Amanda's wedding shower looked like fun, especially since I was there. Haha the cut out looks great. It is weird to see a life size photo of me. Also thank you for sending JD's e-mail to me. He is doing wonderful and I am so proud of him and the person he is becoming and the wonderful success he is having. It made me glad to hear.

So for the first big news I know my return date now. It is October 8^th. That is coming up so fast I can't believe it. It was an interesting weekend with that though. The Assistants called me and told me that President wants people to extend so have me go home on November 22^nd. The way he made it sound was like I didn't have choice because he asked if I had any family issues that would prevent me from going home then. Obviously I don't and said that November was fine. After we hung up though and thinking about with school in mind I wondered if it would be ok. I ended up calling President Wada and talking to him about my concerns. He actually told me that I had a choice to go home then or earlier. And actually he would need permission from Salt Lake to have me stay at that long. He left the decision to me and told me he would do anything he could to help me out with school or anything. So I had to think of what to do. It weighed on my mind a lot. But after much thought and prayer I realized that November just didn't feel right. I knew that if I did it it would just be to say that I extended and I would probably end up regretting it. But having those choices was a blessing. It made me realize just how much time I have left and how much I absolutely LOVE my mission. I started crying a lot just thinking about leaving. Peoples faces and experience came to my mind and how much I have learned and grown. Serving a mission has really changed my life. I would not be the person I am not if I did not serve the Lord in this capacity. I thank Him everyday for trusting me enough to give me this responsibility and this “once in an eternity” experience. It is truly humbling. And the nice thing about going home in October is that there are some members who will be coming to Salt Lake at the end of that month. I am excited to see them and introduce you to them. They are the best!!

The other news it that I don't know about transfers yet. They have changed the way they do transfers. We get the calls on Tuesdays now and if you are transfering you do it on Thursday. So tomorrow morning I find out what is happening. Sister Tada and I both feel that we won't be companions. But whether that means one of us gets transferred or two sisters come here and they split the area I don't know. And speaking of my companion, this week has been good. We have had a lot of fun together. Since our talk last week the walls have come down and there is more love and trust. Still some culture differences of course but it has been good.

Sadly the work has still been slow. We were able to meet with Dakko last week and teach her a lesson. She had questions about prayer and so we read from the Book of Mormon together and explained the importance of prayer and reading the book of Momron. I was able to give my testimony and an experience with the Book of Mormon and the spirit was so strong. There really is no spirit like the one you have while you are teaching someone and baring a powerful testimony through the spirit. It is the best experience EVER!! I am hoping that with this next transfer they will split the Sisters. Having two areas and two wards to cover is hard because of the areas is far and just riding the bike to get there takes up a lot of time. For the members and the peoples sake I am praying for a split. I feel like the sister missionaries will be able to focus more and have more success not having to split the focus. I guess I will see what happens tomorrow.

Last week we had interviews with President Wada. I can not say how much I love him. He is so great and that was the best interview that I have had during my mission. He helped me out so much and gave me wonderful love filled advice. It is sad that I only have short time with him but I plan to keep in contact with him and with Sister Wada. They really are the best ever. I love them soo much.

Today there was a BBQ for the Kanagawa and they also had a talent show and Narissa with her sister came. I really love her and I want to start teaching her so bad. She gave her presentation for her thesis last Saturday and we met last Thursday and helped her with it since it was in English. Now she has to wait for feedback on if they accept it or not and then she will start writing her thesis. So right now she has time and that is why she was able to come today. She and her sister are so cute. I pray for a miracle with them. :D

Well that is pretty much it for this last. I don't have my journal or planner on me so I can't remember a lot of details or experiences worth writing except for a lot of streeting. The work is slow but my heart is full of joy!! :D

I love you all so much and pray for you everyday.

Love,

Kenzie

  

A Week of Growth

Hey Family,

I am glad to hear that you all had a good 4th of July and had a good week in general. On the 4th we had Eikaiwa (free english class) and we kind of celebrated it. That was the day that we ended up having a party so there were balloons and food and games. It was fun. The Elders popped the balloons after the part with their pens so it was our version of fireworks. It was pretty funny. I will say serving a mission and coming to another country has helped me appreciate my own country even more, especially since that country is America. Don't misunderstand I love Japan. I love the people, the food, the culture but I am true to my counry. I am for sure more patriotic now.

So this last week we had a zone conference where we met President and Sister Wada but the interviews will be tomorrow. But he also came to one of our wards yesterday to speak so i was able to see him then. I LOVE President Wada. He is amazing. I am actuallly kind of sad that I have him for such a short time but he has come at a perfect time during my mission. He is just so full of love and is real about things and has a great love for the gospel and for each missionary individually. It makes me so happy. Sometimes President Budge had a business feel to how he ran things. He to is a great President but I think I connect better with Presidnet Wada already. :D So they talked about the return a little bit last week in the conference and the zone leaders talked about it with him as well in the leader training counsel that was held last week. What it sounds like is that President Wada wants to the missionaries who came together to go home together (and for sisters go home with the scheduled elders that was before) and what is sounds like the earlier date rather than the later. I will find out more tomorrow when I ask him personally but for now it sounds like I will be coming home at the beginning of October sometime. I will let you know more next week but that is the rumor mill.

So this last week I have learned many things. One thing that stuck out was how much I love my mission. Last week I had a dream in which we were at a zone meeting and instead of the usual transfer call we had transfer letters and we took turns reading the letters out loud. When I opened my I read in big black letters YOU WILL BE GOING HOME! TONIGHT! I was so surprised and stammered over my words saying why?why?why? I am not ready to go home yet all while I was bawling really hard.  When I woke up and thought about the dream it made me realize how much I really do love my mission ever though recently it has been hard with not much success and companionship problems. What I am learning, gaining and the people I am meeting are all worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Even knowing all of the tears and hardships I would face. Knowing how tired my body would be. I would do this again, I wouldn't even think about it. It has been a huge blessing in my life. And from thinking that I have thought a lot about where I am at right now in my mission and how I want to finish. I want to be sure to finsh strong. Not holding anything back. That also means taking better care of my body. The Lord has taught many different lessons this last week. Everyday I have learned something. How grateful I am for that. Even if it was a struggle. When I think about who I am now and who I was before I left I am different. I have changed. For that I will forever be grateful. I wish I could explain better the things that I have learned the things that I have felt. It was good, hard week for personal lessons.

This much I can tell you. I know that this church is true. I know that the Savior lives and helps us through trials. And I know that the Book of Mormon is a word of God. My testimony is solid on that. Through reading the book of Mormon we can have the spirit more in our lives. I know it, I have experienced it. What a great blessing and strength. Remember to be reading it EVERYDAY.

I love you all so very much.

I pray that this week is good for you.

Love always

Kenzie 

  

Saying Goodbye and Saying Hello

Hey Family,

Megs you looked absolutely beautiful in your pictures. Thank you for sending them to me. I must say though that you look much cuter than me and way more fashionable then I did or do. So unfair haha

With the weather being so hot be careful and drink a lot of water (Mom, lay off the D.P a bit. :D) Recently it has been cool here but I imagine the heat will come in a few weeks about the same time that I first came to Japan. Can you believe that is in two weeks. Crazy!! O and Mom I did get the package. I got it last week on Friday I believe. They really came on Thursday but I wasn't home so it came on Friday instead. Thank you for sending that. The mesh garments are great and I really like my pens and japan mickey pin. You are the best!! :D

Tokyo South Mission has officially begun. Saturday night President Wada arrived and tomorrow we meet with him in a conference then next week is interviews. In two weeks is transfers once again. The south mission will be receiving missionaries slowly so only 7 new missionaries will be coming in then. I still have the feeling though that I will be transferring. I guess we will see. We also offically said goodbye to President and Sister Budge last week. How interesting that I met them a year ago in the MTC thinking that they would be with me till the end of my mission and there we were saying goodbye already. How things change. But how exciting to be a part of this historic change and to say that I served in two missions. :D What a great opportunity.

This last week was spent A LOT on the bike. For two days straight we were on our bikes for a straight 4 hours and one of those days it was down pouring. Very wet. My butt became very sore. And in case I haven't mentioned how many hill there are in our area, well there is a lot!! More than San Fran. I think. So my body is spent. I now know why Sister Missionaries only serve for 18 months. I am starting to feel it right now. I don't want to go home but everyday I am looking forward to time to sleep. I am actually worried about the condition my body will be in when I get home. That is why I am kind of hoping to end in October instead of November. I don't think my body can make it that long. Please don't judge me. :D

This go around at training has been a little harder with my companion being Japanese. Just with the culture differences and she almost gets angry about learning English. We have had just a few tiffs. It is very interesting doing it in Japanese. And I have learned things from them. We had one this morning for example and I discovered that I am a very prideful person and when pride gets hurt I am not a nice person. It has been a hard lesson.

What has also been hard is that we haven't been having much success lately. We only really have 1 investigator who will probably be moving slowly and not much else. We have been getting out but we also need to talk to more people. I am hoping we will be able to do that this week. Sometimes I just feel like I am not where I should be on my mission. It stresses me out a lot. But I just try to remember what I have done and what I have seen and I feel better. I have seen many miracles on my mission and met many wonderful people. I have changed and grown a lot and I know that the mission is shaping me to be the person that I will be for the rest of my life. Of that I am grateful. I love Japan and the people here and I feel very blessed to have come here. It is the best thing I could be doing with my life right now.

I love you all and pray for you every night.

Love,
Kenzie