A Happy Working Song

Hi everyone! I hope you are all staying safe and healthy and surviving the cold. This month has been surprisingly warm. The big surprise is that the church and the houses are colder then outside. They don't have heating like the states do and so they usually just have one little heater that they plug into the wall or it is just in one room. Interesting right? Anyway, please tell JD congratualations for me. That is so awesome about his mission call to New Jersery and that President Jeppson will be his mission president. That is just so perfecct. Tell my lil bro that I am proud of him and will be praying for him. :D The time will go by so quick. I mean I can't believe that I half way don with my mission this coming Saturday. It honestly makes me scared. I am becoming so used to the life of a missionary, the ups and the downs, that I don't know what I will do when I get home. And yes I have thought about it some since both of my companions will be leaving the 2nd week in February and they have talked about it. I am going to use all the time that I have being a missionary and not waste it (not that I have been wasting it before). 

Now onto this week. Last Monday during Pday we went shopping and as we were walking into the mall I held the door open for my companions and also for some high school girls who came after them. They said thank you to me and replied back your welcome. They giggled and started walking ahead of us when I yelled out to them "Have fun." They kept looking back at us until finally they stopped and turned to me and Sister Edstrom and I and asked where we were from. From there we started having a conversation and in the end we got of one their (there was 4 of them) phone numbers and made an appointment for today to go and eat gyouza (japanese pot stickers; Utsunomiya is famous for them). Just from opening the door we were able to find 4 P.I's. Isn't that crazy. We are really hoping that tonight when we meet with them that they will all become investigators and would like to know more about the church.

 

Tuesday: We had a lesson with Usa kyoudai and we taught him about tithing and the blessings that come from it. We had a great lesson and we were also able to talk to him about asking his mom for permission to be baptzied since he is 19 years old. And yesterday, Sunday, when he called us on the phone we asked him if he talked to his mom and he said that he did and that she gave permission and was fine with it. It was a great miracle because I guess before she was hontai and said he could be baptized only if he moved out on his own. But her heart was softened and now he just needs to go to church one more time and then he will be good to get baptized next week. :D

 

Wednesday: Our apartment was a mess and Sister Budge has asked all the missionaries to use January as the deep cleaning month. So that is what we started on Wednesday is cleaing though by the end of the night it didn't look like we cleaned at all. haha Such is the case when you are deep cleaing. And of course later that night we had Eikaiwa and guess what!? We had a new student come!! She is this really cute 19 year old girl . We were so happy because lately we haven't had many students come so we were so happy that she came.

 

Friday: We had an appointment with this woman named Chiyaki who is in her 30's about and has this really cute little girl about 1 and 4 months or so. We went to her house and had a great time with her and in the end had a great lesson with her. She asked if she could come and see the church and we said of course so we have an appointment with her this Thursday to do a church tour and we also watched two videos. One is called Finding happiness (from the Japanese perspective) and the other was the Restoration. We talked about her relationship with Heavenly Father and how the gospel can help her and her family have a happier life. She said that she wanted to learn more but not at the same time but she still wants to hear our message and she was really grateful when we gave her a Book of Mormon. So that day she became a investigator.

 

Saturday: Went with the Yamazaki family to a place called sweets paradise. It is a place that is an all you can eat but they mostly have sweets (cookies, cakes, ice cream, etc). We all felt pretty sick afterward but Sister Nishihara was feeling the worst so we came back to the apartment and she slep while Sister Edstrom and I did more cleaning and now the apartment is sooo pretty. A lot better then when I first came here.

 

Sunday: We had another lesson with Brother Yamazaki and we watched this great video about the Book of Mormon. He and his wife this last week have been reading the BOok of Mormon together which is sooo wonderful and a huge improvement. And yesterday at the end of the lesson when he prayed he said thank you for a new feeling he had and he also asked for something for his first time. Usually when he has prayed he only says thank you. But this time he asked for help to continue learning about the Gospel. He has been improving so much and I am excited for him. I feel like he is getting closer to baptism. :D

Also on Sunday we had an interesting experience that taught me a great lesson. In the past the sisters have gone to this huge pot luck party that is held by the community and there they have found a lot of p.i.s. At this pot luck party they don't allow religious activity but they have still let the SIsters in before. Anyway, yesterday when we went they asked if we could take off our name tags and then we would be allowed in. When I first heard that I felt like someone punched me in the heart. The immediat answer that came to mind was NO!!!! My name tag is very important not just to me but to my purpose as a missionary. It is what distinguishes me as the Lord's  representative during this time. I can't even describe the feeling that came over me when I first heard that. It was the first time something like has happend to me on my mission. It was a great lesson to learn and now I treasure my tag even more.

Lessons I Still Need to Learn

Thank you for everyone's e-mails. It is always fun to read them. Please tell JD that I am proud of him and that I am excited for him to go through the temple. It is a great blessing. And the Bountiful Temple is a great choice. :D Jen just so you know I wasn't able to see the videios that you sent me. I saw the one with Sean on his walker (sooo cute) but the ones of Jackson being sedated I couldn't see. I don't know why. Maybe if you try sending it again. がんばって！ I am happy to hear that you got the package I sent and that everyone loved their gifts, especially you Mom. I am glad you liked that plate. I thought it was really pretty. :D And in answer to your question about that dvd I would love for you to send it to me.

 

You may have seen the pictures already so you can guess what I did this last week. Yep, I cut my hair. My two companions convinced me to do it and they like this style a lot better then when I had longer hair. What do you think? It is starting to grow on me and I do like it. It is just very different and takes different preperation so it can still be wierd sometimes. But please tell me your honest opinion. ok!!

 

This last week was really busy and I won't be able to tell you everything because I don't have much time. I love being in Utsunomiya because we are always busy and always have people to meet. So to tell you all of my experiences would take a long time. But I will do my best to tell you what I can.

 

Last Wednesday I played a really fun game called Indiaka. It looks and acts like volleyball but the ball thing they use is different and it comes from Germany I think. But we played with a member and some non members and it was sooo much fun!!! Ahh I miss sports. I miss softball. They have it every wednesday so when we can go we do. A less active member is in charge of it so we go to build a relationship with her. After that we met a potential investigator who is very close to becoming a investigator. We went and had lunch with her and she has the cutest year and a half year old named seka. She is sooo sweet and has interest in learning more. We gave a Family Proclamation to wolrd pamphlet. I am so looking forward to meeting her again and maybe then she can become an investigator. :D

 

Thursday we met with Yamazaki shimai who is the wife of one of our investigators and she herself has been a less active since she was a teenager. They are such a cute family and we had a great visit with her about how her example can help her family. She also gave us some more information about her husband and probably why he is always refusing to be baptzied. His mom doesn't know anything about the church and just any church image scares some Japanese people so his mom really doesn't want him to be baptized. That was a big new insight and a miracle. We taught Brother Yamazaki on Sunday about the priesthood and the spirit was sooo strong. It was my first time teaching him and it was sooo much fun. I feel like real soon he will be ready to receive baptism. That is my hope and my prayer.

After the visit with her we went to meet these two 19 year old girls who are sooooo much fun and we had so much fun with them. We shared with them Sister Daltons talk Remember who you are, and taught them how they are princesses and daughters of God. It was an AMAZING lesson and the feeling I had while teaching them was just amazing. I saw them more through Heaven's eyes but I also saw myself more through Heaven's eyes. And we asked them how they felt after hearing our message and one of them said that she had a mysterious feeling so we explained how that was Heavenly Father's love. We asked them if they wanted to learn more and they said that they did so they are now two new investigators. Great right!!! So much fun.

 

I really do love Utsunomiya so much. We are meeting with amazing people and I love that we are always teaching. I felt the spirit working through me so much this transfer and helping me so many times when I literally have no words to say but I trust in the promise of just opening my mouth to teach and the Lord has blessed me. There are no words to describe that feeling. It's just...ugh...amazing!!!

 

Friday was also a great day because we had a zone conference and President and Sister Budge came and we had some training. The training from Sister Budge and one of my zone leaders-Elder Hornor-really hit me to the heart. They talked about grace and hope and it was exactly what I needed to hear. They talked about how when we say "I can't do this..." it is putting down the atonement. Showing that you don't trust in the power of it. Of course we can't do anything. But that is why we have the atonement. It was good reminder. I love those trainings. I feel them helping me not just become a better missionary but a much better person. :D

 

And so just everyone knows I did survive my talk on Sunday. Thank you for all of your prayers. I sure felt them. Well I wish I could tell you more about the other people I met and taught but I don't have time.

Humpty Dumpty Had A Great Fall!

I can't believe how much snow you have received. That is crazy where has with here I had my first experience with Japanese snow yesterday and it came down a lot but Japan snow doesn't stick that much to the ground. But it was nothing compared to what you have received. Plesee be safe everyone and stay warm and healthy!!!

 First I want to talk about one of our investigators, Usa who is 19 and has baptism date for next month. Last week we met him on Tuesday and taught him the Law of Chasity. It is interesting how speaking another language makes things less awekward, at least for me. I wasn't nervou at all to teach him but I guess my companions were. I will admit there was a lot said that I had no idea what was going on (still the frustrating part of the language). Anyway, after we taught him what it meant to keep the law of Chasity and when we asked him to commit to keeping it he told us that when he started reading the Book of Mormon and meeting with the missionaries he stopped looking at inappropriate books (porn). Isn't that amazing!! What an amazing power the Book of Mormon is. It changes hearts even before they know about something like the Law of Chasity. It was such a testimony builder of the Book of Mormon. Which is one of the great blessings from serving a mission. My love and testimony of the Book of Mormon has grown even stronger and will just grow stronger I am sure. It is a WONDERFUL book. :D

On Wednesday I had a good expereince with following the promptings of the spirit. We were on our way back from District meeting and when we got on the train there weren't that many seats open so I made the descion that instead of talking to people on this trip I would just stand and talk to my companions or something. But as I was looking around at everyone (because I like to people watch) I noticed this one woman who had these really cute boots (that is sometimes how i start talking to people. Commenting them on their clothes or something and fyi Japan has the cutest shoes ever. Pretty srue Jen and Amanda would go crazy here with the shoes). I had the thought to go sit next to her. At first I tried pushing the thought away because I was fine standing but the thought came back to me stronger and I knew it was from the spirit and if I didn't follow it I would regret it. So I walked over to her and immediatly started talking to her and we talked during the whole train ride (she lives in Utsunomiya as well). She was a funny lady and I absalutley loved talking to her. I didn't teach her anything just got to know her and she asked some questions about me. Before we parted I was able to receive her e-mail address and she said that she would like to meet again. I have e-mailed her a couple of times and have yet to receive a respose from her but I have faith that something will happen. There was a reason why the spirit wanted me to go and talk to her, there was a reason why I was able to get her phone number. I guess we will wait and see what happens with that.

Now on to my body. It has taken a bit of a beating the last couple days of the week. On Thursday as we were riding to a less actives house I crashed on my bike. The tire, instead of going over a grate rode to the side of it which made it twist and so I lost my balance and fell pretty hard. My legs have some nice bruises and we suspect I could have had a very very very minor concussion because my head hurt, I grew really tired and during the night I became very very nauseated. That was a long night!! But I count my blessings that it happened when it did because the street was small and curvy and right before it happened there were a lot of cars passing by. When my companions first saw me fall they thought I actually was hit by a car. But all is well and I survived with just a few bumps and bruises. Which I ended up getting more the next day when I was walking and went off a step I didn't see and so my ankle rolled (don't worry didn't sprain) and my knee slammed on the pavement pretty hard. I didn't realize until I got back to the apartment that it was bleeding. So my body is a bit stiff and sore from everything but I am ok. Don't worry Mom. :D I have angels looking out for me.

Things are going well with the threesome companionship. We had a good heart to heart last night and we were honest with each other about our feelings which cleared a lot of the negatives away that was in the companionship. That is one thing that I seem to keep learning on my mission is communication. I wasn't very good at it before my mission and I am still not apparently because I keep learning the lesson. But I am happy to learn it again and the love I feel from my Father in Heaven in giving me these many lessons during my mission. They are such precious gifts.

I must say to that I love my personal study time that I have in the mornings for an hour. It is one of my favorite times of the day. This whole week I have had AMAZING personal time and have felt the spirit and Heavenly Father's love so strongly. I have received gentle conformation that I am doing well, that He is proud of me and that I am touching and helping lives in some way that is needed. I love personal time!!! I encourage everyone to take an hour out of their day to study and pray. Trust me, YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT!!!

I Survived

 I can't believe how fast time is going. And now with it being 2013 I feel like the rest of my mission will just fly by in a second. SCARY!!! It is especially weird to think about being with my two companions because since this is their last they always talk about how they don't want to go home. Watching them go through the emotions and thoughts of last transfer is an interesting experience. It reinforces making every moment count. I definitely want to do better at that. 
Well I survived this week with a full week of meal appointments, especially Thursday when we had two. All the meals were very good and I was able to eat some Japanese food again. Being in Shibuya I didn't eat that much Japanese food but now I was able to. Yay!! If I don't I will send you some in next weeks email. What was great is that I was able to meet a lot of the members really quick. The members here in Utsunomiya are amazing and I am so looking forward to get to know them and work with them. One family we visited has a daughter named Yui and she is 23 and is the cutest girl ever. She reminds of some of the sweet spirits in the 5^th ward. I had so much fun with her and I felt like I was with an angel. That was probably the funnest meal appointment of this week. The food was delicous and the family is AMAZING!!! :D
The first week of transfers is always interesting. You feel like a fish out of water at the beginning. But it has been fun and I am so excited to work here in Utsunomiya. We have a lot of investigators and potential investigators. It is great!! This last Sunday was really fun because we were really busy. Two investigators came to church and so during the Sunday school hour we had to do splits and I went with a member and taught a woman named Irene who is from the Philippines and her boyfriend who is the father of her son is a member and they want to get married and he only wants to marry if it is in the Temple so she is investigating. We had a great lesson about the Book of Mormon. I could feel the spirit helping me with what to say and how to help her. Later I found out that she asked the same questions she previously has asked Sister Edstrom and Nishihara. I hope I was able to answer them that made sense to her this time. I think she did and I am so excited to see her again and teach her more. :D (It helps that it is in English).
Later that day we had another lesson with an investigator who has a baptism date for February and during this lesson we read from the Book of Mormon together and also taught him about Fasting and I was able to share with him a great experience that I have had with fasting. It too was a great lesson and I am so excited for his baptism.
I love my two companions. I love being back with Sister Nishihara and being Sister Edstrom's companion is great. I won't lie there have been some moments when I feel like a third wheel but we all feel like that in some way. Me because they are the ones who know everyone and plan a lot of things. Sister Nishihara because Sister Edstrom and I talk in English sometimes and Sister Edstrom because Sister Nishihara and I were companions before and talk about fun moments that we have had. But it is good now. We are all trying to involve each other more. But I really do love them so much. They are always encouraging me and giving me great advice of how I can become a better missionary. I am going to be so sad to see them go. But we still have a fun 5 weeks together!!

Utsunomiya is so pretty. I love being here. I can see the stars and the sun and everything here is just a lot slower and quieter then Shibuya with all of it's husle and busle. And it is fun because for district meetings I go to Oyama and can see everything there. Like last week when we went to District Meeting Sister Adachi came (it is just us and the elders in oyama so we need a member with us). I loved seeing her again and I hope I will be able to see a few others that I met during my time there. :D

And of course as you can see by the pictures I was able to wear a Kimono. It was a surprise to us that we would be doing that. We went over to a members house to teach the mother because she is not a member and after wards they made us lunch and the wife of the member whose mother we taught said we could wear her kimonos. It was so much FUN!!!! And she is an angel for doing that. There are three of us and each Kimono has a lot of parts and can take a lot of time and energy to put it on. So I love her for doing that for us. I will say that the shoes are not comfortable and it is hard to sit down in a kimono (on the floor). Basically the only way is by kneeling and that hurts after awhile. But again, LOVED IT!!!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Japan!!

I can't believe that 2012 is over and done and that 2013 has now begun. So crazy!! Sounds like everyone is having a fun and to some a relaxing New Years. I pray that you all will stay safe and sound.

So want to know what I did for New Years? I was transferred. Yep that is correct. I have left Shibuya (traveled on the train by myself even)  and I am now in my new area which is Utsunomiya which is right next to Oyama and is the same district. I have returned to my bean district. Crazy!! But I am so excited to be back in the "country." Shibuya was fun but just very very city and crazy. And I am also in a 3some. I have 2 companions and they are awesome. One of them is once again Sister Nishihara. She is the companion I had when I first went to Shibuya. The one that I loved and adored. Yep we are companions again. The other sister is Sister Edstrom and she is from Salem, UT and is great!! I feel so lucky to be companions with them because they are both great missionaries and I am sure I will learn a lot from them. This transfer is both of theirs last transfer so it will be sad to say goodbye to them I am sure. But that is why my guess is is that I will be serving in this area for awhile. Maybe 4 transfers is my guess which will take me to the end of June. Weird though, right? But this area is amazing with many investigators and many potentials so I am excited to get to work and teach. :D

New Years is very big here in Japan. They have huge sales, everyone has work off and they all usually go to a shrine or a temple and pray. In many areas in can be very packed. I know that if I was still in Shibuya I would have gone to a shrine but since I got transfered that is a no. Last night a member family had us over for dinner and we have one again tonight. That is what the members do for the missionaries during the first week. You can't really do any work because people have gone home to visit hometowns or are busy and so the members just invite us over. This is the week that is known as the death week for missionaries because you just eat, eat and eat. For example on Thursday we have back to back meal appointments. The first appointment is actually going to be driving us to the second. Ugh scary. The Japanese people feed you A LOT of food so I am just be dieing of a food coma this week. Please pray for me and wish me luck. haha

With the start of the new year I am feeling like the time will move quicker and quicker which is a scary thought. In so many ways I feel like I just landed in Japan and am still a bean. Instead I am on my 5th transfer. That means that my goal for this year is to make every moment count, to find joy in every footstep. 

I love you all and wish you a very Big Happy New Year!!!!

Love,

Kenzie

Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Day, we were able to Skype with Mackenzie. It was so much fun to see her in person (via computer) and hear her voice. She is doing amazing and it was a great experience for all of us. I had a lot of fun showing her my little son, her nephew, who was just 2 months old when she left. Now he's 10 months and changed more than anyone else in the family. This was her letter to us later that night.

You have no idea how much I loved talking and even SEEING you all today. It was so great and made me so happy. Though I must admit it sometimes feels like I haven't been separated from you for that long. Which I guess is a good thing or else it might be harder. :D 

So I will just tell you briefly about my week last week and then I will tell you about my Christmas here in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Last week was great. We went to the Temple and then after we had exchanges and I went to a place called Oizumi with a sister named Sister Silva. Oizumi is where A LOT of Brazilians and Peruvians live so any missionaries who speak Spanish or Portuguese serve there for a time. During this transfer it was opened up to Sister Missionaries so there is one who is from Brazil – Sister Silva and a Japanese sister working there. Going there I realized that I could understand some Japanese and could speak it when I first got here because I could understand absolutely nothing while being there but it was still way fun. I learned a little bit of Portuguese and after working with Sister Silva and talking to her I have felt so much better this last week and felt very much myself and that it is ok to be me. I think what made this transfer hard at the beginning is because I was trying to be my companion which I am totally not. And that wore me out and made me tired. But Sister Silva helped me see things differently and so I have been me this last week and have loved every minute of it. I absolutely love exchanges. From everyone I have learned something new and they have helped me tremendously. We have another one this week for which I am excited for. I guess we will see what I learn from that one.

Last Thursday we also had dinner with a General Authority and his wife, Elder and Sister Yamashita. Elder Yamashita is in the Asia North Area Presidency and he and his wife are amazing people. I loved visiting with them and hearing Elder Yamashita's experiences of being an authority. He spoke at the 2011 October General Conference about how missionaries are treasures of the church. He gave us wonderful advice about things and just made us feel warm and welcome. What a great blessing to share a meal with him. It will be one of my favorite memories from my mission probably.

Friday and Saturday night we went to a thing called Illumination in Roppongi. It is similar to the lights at Temple Square mixed with the kind of show they do in Vegas with the fountains except it was with lights. It was so much fun. Friday night we just went the two of us and did some work there. Mostly service such as “May I take your picture?” and that was really fun because we were able to meet great people and make them happy. On Saturday night we went with Sister Maxfield because her husband is out of town a lot and we thought it would be fun for her to go. And it was Sister Kuwahara's birthday so we celebrated a little bit when we had dinner with her first. It was a lot of fun and I took a lot of pictures and video so when I send this memory card home you have something to look forward to. It may be soon even because this memory card is very close to being full. I am trying to save some room for next week during New Year's. That is the very big Holiday here in Japan. Christmas is celebrated but it is mostly the commercial side and it is mostly for couples. Kind of like another Valentines Day. It was really interesting on the actually day of Christmas because everyone still had work and didn't say Merry Christmas or anything. It was just another day. Kind of sad. These poor people here don't know what they are missing and don't understand the real meaning of Christmas. But that is what I am here for. To help them come to know Christ and that way next year they can have a great Christmas. :D

Anyway speaking of Christmas on Christmas Eve we had a mission Christmas Conference and it was a lot of fun. All of President Budge's family came over to celebrate and they did things with us that they usually do in their family. Like music. Everyone is very musically talented so we had a lot of musical performances by some of the missionaries and by some of the Budge family. We also did white elephant gifts, watched the Budge family's version of Home Alone that they did years ago (very very very entertaining) and we even made a Christmas card for our families. They are still working on it but it is going to be on youtube and probably next week I will e-mail you the link so you can see it. It will be after of course but that is ok. The Christmas party was a lot of fun and it was great spending it with the whole mission. It will be a Christmas Eve to remember. After the conference we went to a Family's home from the English ward – The Raub family. They are so awesome and they absolutely love the missionaries. So it was great spending it with them because they helped make us feel apart of the family. We played games and ate food and had a great time. It reminded me when we had all of those missionaries over years ago when Dad was Bishop. I am sure those missionaries enjoyed spending the Holidays with us and remember those times. I know I will.

Christmas day I woke up and kept up the tradition of saying a prayer next to the Nativity. Me and Sister Kuwahara did it and it was very special doing it while I am a representative of the Lord. This Christmas season I have really come to know the power of the atonement and know that it is an actual physical thing. My relationship with the Savior has been strengthened so much that now I always feel Him beside me and hear Him speaking to me in so many ways. How blessed I am and what a special gift I am receiving from He has given everything to me. I will always remember this Christmas as the one that I have really come to know and trust in my Savior. I of course still have somethings to work on but that is ok. He is always helping me. There are just no words for how I feel. It is a truly wonderful and joyful feeling. Another Family invited us to dinner and we went to the Military Hotel where they had a Christmas buffet that was very fancy. It was delicious food.

I love you Family and I am so grateful for today and the chance I had to talk to you. Please give my love to everyone else and tell them that I wish them a Merry Christmas. It is weird that in just 5 months I will be skyping with you again. I shall look forward to it. And I will try better in the rest of the e-mails to tell you more about the culture and lifestyle that is Japan. It is hard in Shibuya because everything is pretty modern. But I will tell you this – the people's work schedules are crazy!! And it is crazy expensive here. For example movie tickets are about $20 here. And the drivers are crazy horrible drivers. If I die on my mission, especially while serving in Shibuya, it will probably be because of a taxi. Believe it or not it is actually safer and easier to drive on the road with them instead of the sidewalk. And weird enough there are actually more hills in the city then in the country. So I am always getting a wonderful work out every time I leave the apartment. Hopefully after the Holidays are over I will be able to lose more weight. :D Oh and one more tidbit about Japan having to do with the church. A lot of the members in the Church end up going inactive and it is mostly because of the work schedules. They are so tired during the week that they use Sunday's to re corporate and rest so don't end up going to church even though a lot of their testimonies are really strong. It is the saddest thing about Japan. The members are great but there are so many less actives. Like here in Shibuya there are around 600 less actives and people don't know who they are. It is crazy. So missionaries always have something to do. That is it for the info this week. If you want to know anything specific ask me. It will help a lot more.

I love you all soooooooooooooo much and am so proud to be a member of the Sean Dolan Family. I am very blessed and lucky to have everyone one of you in my life. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Love,

Kenzie

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