Oh my people!

 I am so grateful for my family!  Thanksgiving is this week, right?  Its not celebrated here in Japan, but I've been trying to think about things that I am grateful for this month and one of the biggest things is you--my dear family! 

Thank you so much for the simple question "how are you" and for reminding me that you mostly want to hear the answer to that question!  :)  

I am happy and well. 

 I'm eating raw egg, seaweed, fermented soybeans, lots of rice, and more familiar foods (like peanut butter--Dad shoutout!) and sleeping really well after wonderfully long bike rides in refreshing weather. 

One change that we've been a part of is our friend K C's understanding of God.  When we first taught her about God, she thought that God maybe existed, 50% ish.  But after coming to church and praying daily, she told us in a recent lesson that God definitely exists.  SO COOL.  She has also really opened up to us and others.  Last night we had dinner with her and other investigators at our stake president's house and she willingly shared her experience with prayer as part of our lesson.  I am grateful for her and her faith and how her experience has taught me the power of prayer and faith. 

Another thing that I am so grateful for is the power of prayer. 

 It humbles me to think about how many people are praying for me and my mission--and the missionaries around the world.  Really, its powerful. 

Those prayers are being answered, I know it.  The power of faith is another thing that I am grateful for and have experienced this past week.  Opening my mouth is sometimes still really hard for me but this week I decided to just kind of go for it, even though I didn't know exactly what to say.  I'd done so before, but recommitted to that and say miracles as a result.  When we rode the train this week, I was able to talk with many people and even got contact information from one friend that I talked to.  Woot!  As a companionship, we decided that we would each ask 2 people to come to church or hear the missionary lessons after English class on Wednesday.  Even though I was a little nervous, when I let go of that and focused on inviting people in love and remembering that by receiving the gospel people can receive greater hope and strength, it became easier to open my mouth.  And when I invited people, they gladly accepted and gave me their contact info.  Seriously, faith has such POWER.

I love you all.  SO MUCH.  Enjoy time off of school and togetherness.  I am grateful for your examples of faith and righteous desires.  Keep it up.  Again, again, thank you for your individual emails.  I LOVE reading them and hearing your voices through them.  

Love higher than Mount Everest,

Williams shimai

Salutations!

So this week went by really quick, but here are a few photos and even fewer words to let you know what happened this week. 

I am happy, safe, and well.  I was so shocked and grateful to receive a package from David and Kelly!  So many thanks to them! 

Kind of like Grandma and Grandpa Brown, I had no idea that Tokyo would be so international!  Right now we have a few Japanese investigators, a sister from the Philippines, and a sister from the Dominican Republic that we are teaching.  They are so cool and I feel such appreciation and love for them when we teach.  I am so grateful for that gift in missionary work--feeling love for people.  I think that focus often helps me to forget myself and reach out to others by speaking to them on the train, on the street, or inviting them to make changes in their lives to come closer to Christ.  I know that as we focus on the Savior, our hearts change.  We can lay aside our fears and our mistakes and our sins and take up greater resolve, strength, and hope because of His atonement.  It is SO COOL.  And so abundant and continuous. 

OK, know that I love you all and am grateful for each of your examples.  HUGS! 

Williams shimai

More photoage

 So we decided to do email at our apartment this morning and the internet has proved to be impressively, even astonishingly slow.  Sorry about that!  I tried to send this email and pictures a few times, but the connection failed and lost the draft.  Sooo, I have a letter that I wrote to President Budge that I am hoping will get to you and give you a bit of an idea of what happened this week.

Dear family, thank you for your patience and prayers and love and faith.  We had miracles this week--investigators found, lessons taught, invitations extended, and faith built. 

I don't think I really realized how greatly blessed I am to be part of the Dave and Lorene Williams family before.  Thank you so much for your examples of faith, hope, love, and becoming.  That goes for the Williams family and Brown family as well.  Oh, I am so grateful!  I love you all. 

Sister Williams

Dear President Budge,

Thank you so much for your transfer email--it really boosted my hope, courage, and testimony that God is directing this work and lovingly and patiently working through us to bring His truth to those who do not currently have it. It is so wonderful! Again, thank you. 

As we worked to invite others this week, we experienced a lot of miracles! We had our first lesson with a sister and two of her children this week and in that lesson, Jones shimai recited the First Vision for the first time and I got to extend the invitation to be baptized, which they accepted--with the qualifier of more study. They, especially the mother of this family, readily received the message of the Restoration and we left the lesson feeling elated. The next time we taught them, we felt the same hope and joy. I am learning that teaching and sharing and testifying of truth and inviting others to know this truth for themselves brings real joy. Another miracle that we had this week is our friend, a 23 year old young woman who came to church for the first time last week and in a phone conversation with Nagamine shimai later in the week expressed that she wants to become a member. Woah! Sometimes we are not exactly sure how to teach her everything, but as we study and seek the Lord's help, I know that He has inspired us and will continue to direct us to meet her needs. Last one--our meeting with a referral. We determined to meet her at the church  and establish expectations. Some members  were there cleaning the church and guess what? They knew this sister! When they realized that they knew her, they invited all of us to lunch and we had a really good conversation about this sisters understanding of the church and what more she wanted to learn. So cool. 

The work is moving forward in Narita and I feel so blessed to be a part of it with Sister Nagamine and Sister Jones. They are great companions who strive to constantly improve. I am grateful for their examples and eager desire to help others. I also appreciate the time to study. I feel like that preparation is so key to my ability to focus on what really matters rather than my inadequacy and weakness. The perspective that the Lord can work through me to accomplish His work and help others strengthens me daily and I am so grateful for it. As part of that study this week, I read a bit in the Bible--including Luke 1:57--to find examples of those who had that perspective-including Mary the mother of Jesus and Elisabeth. These women are such heroes to me! There are so many heroes who give me strength and hope and direction and an image of who I want to become and I am so grateful. Thank you to you and Sister Budge and all the missionaries here that provide such examples as well. Seriously, I feel so generously blessed to be serving with so many wonderful people in this great cause. I look forward to going forward with love and courage this week! 

Happy and Well

*I don't always post the letters as some are pretty short.  Seems like it is a challenge to email everyone  in the allotted time.  

Hello fam!  Thank you so much for your emails!  I love hearing from you all SO much.  Thank you for your faith and love and joy! 

This week we got to go to the temple and have a sisters conference...and I neglected to take out my camera!  Sorry!  I learned so much about how we are not in this work alone and can ever rely on the Savior to help us in our efforts.  In 2 Nephi 9, Jacob describes the Atonement as infinite.  I love that idea so much and know that it really is true--that we can draw on the Savior`s goodness and grace and power ALWAYS.  It is such a gift. 

Until next week, know that I love you and am happy and well.  Sorry for the lack of detail! 

Love,

Williams shimai

End of the first "Transfer" in Tokyo

*Many missionaries begin to measure time by "transfers."  A transfer is a new area or companionship assignment and they come every 6 weeks not not all missionaries are transferred every six weeks.  Missionaries tend to stay around 6 months in any given area and companionship assignments vary in length.

Hello you lovely people!  I hope that October is going wonderfully.  For me it is flying by!  This is the last week of my first transfer--is that even possible?  While I feel like I`ve been here for a while I know that I still--and probably will ever--have a lot to learn.  That is what we do I guess.  Learn and move forward.

First a little bit of review/catch up/clarification.  Rather than serving in the heart of metropolis, right now I am in a suburb of sorts in Tokyo.  Its a fun mix of country and city with a lot of farms and some wilderness in between newly developed housing and shopping\business centers.  I am in a trio with another new missionary (Jones shimai) and our trainer (Nagamine shimai).  Some of the unusual things I`ve eaten are: whole squid, fish eggs, raw egg (dropped in a bowl of noodles just before serving), and sushi, and soy `meat`.  Kind of crazy, eh?  We are in the Narita ward--and they are such wonderful people.  I feel like they are family that I didn`t know I had until getting here.  This ward hasn't had sisters for several years and as such was really excited to see us when we got here--and they still are really excited to see us and work with us.  Its a real blessing. 

This week was kind of a usual one with lots of study, finding time with knocking on doors and talking to people as they come off the train, and visiting less active members who were not home when we stopped by. Sunday however, Nagamine shimai needed to go to a different area to participate in a baptismal service.  So we went to a train station where she joined a few other sisters and Jones shimai and I faced about half a day without her.  We made it through the trains back to Narita OK and I had a really great time at church despite maybe not understanding exactly what people said, but after church, I made a mistake navigating the train system and we got a lost.  Still, after calling Nagamine shimai and asking for some help from the train staff, we got to where we needed to be safe and sound and very apologetic.  Ah mistakes!  One of the best ways to learn.  

Tomorrow we get to attend the Tokyo temple and then we sisters have a sister`s conference!  I am so looking forward to gathering with these great missionaries and learning from one another. 

Right now we don`t really have any investigators so we often do practice lessons with members--and these are such sacred experiences.  I sort of hesitate to use the word sacred, but really, that is what they are.  When we share the truths of the gospel simply and earnestly, I feel a reaffirmation of that truth so strongly.  It is so beautiful.  I am looking forward to sharing these truths with those who do not know it yet!  

I love you all.  I hope you have a fantastic week!  Thank you for your strength, love, support, and examples.  I know that this is the Lord`s work and have found that as I seek to share it out of love that my uncertainty and hesitation sort of just dissipate and I am so grateful for that--love has such strength!   May we each try to be full of love and thus full of courage and hope as we share the gospel and become more like the Savior.  Again, I love you all so much!

Williams shimai

Hello, hello dear ones!  I loved reading what each of you had to say and the questions you asked this week!  Thank you!  Time is a little short this week, but let me start this by answering some of your questions.

 

Nah-gah-me (like will you help me?) ne as in nest  is how you say my companions name.  For the first several days, I had the hardest time saying it.  My brain thought it sounded like nagusame which means comfort and there were a few times I called her that or some other variation of her name.  She has been a comfort and so patient with me as I learn and ask her TONS of questions.  She is 22, went to BYU-Hawaii before her mission, and will end in January or March.  Kind of crazy, right?  The transfer dates are a little off then I guess.  This is her

10th transfer.

 

We stayed in the mission home for 2 nights.  When we got off the plane, most everyone was exhausted and that kind of remained the case for the next 24-hours.  That Wednesday we had training and then Thurday afternoon we got our new companions. 

 

The language is coming and I think the hardest part for me right now is comprehension.  Often times people talk to me and I nod my head until I realize that they finished and are waiting for a response.  Its pretty great.  They are really patient though, willing to repeat themselves, or attempt some English.  One of the favorite language mistakes I`ve made so far is when I accidently said Josh was 60 instead of 6.  :)

 

Nagamine shimai disassmebled her bike to send from her old area to Narita.  And speaking of bikes, because both were pretty new, guess what?  We walked out of our apartment on Saturday to find them missing.  I think I sent a photo of us walking to the police station to turn in our bike registration slips with sad faces.  Expect I look a little vengeful, borderline murderous.  I`m not that upset about them I promise!  While having our bikes go missing has been upsetting, we did get to talk with a policewoman at the station who showed real interest in coming to our free English class and may become an investigator.  If thats the case, its all good.  

 

The people who were helping in our apartment were church members--the bishop, his 2nd counselor, and the Relief Society president and her 1st counselor.  They are so wonderful, each of them.  There is such strength, love, and unity in this ward!  We had a potluck lunch after church yesterday and it was so delightful.  I just love being around them!  60 is kind of small, but hopefully we can add to that through our efforts! 

 

Short one today, but one last thing before I close.  When Nagamine shimai and I recite our purpose, Doctrine and Covenants 4, the How to Begin Teaching bullet points in PMG and the First Vision in English and Japanese, I feel the Spirit testify of their truthfulness.  It is so beautiful!  PMG is truly an inspired book and I am grateful for it.  Keep learning, living, and loving truth! 

 

Always love,

Williams shimai

 

PS--I think the SD card I have is the reason that I am not sure what pictures I send.  Thanks for telling me what you see.  I hope you enjoy these ones!  Also, Sam, I will think of the grossest things I`ve seen so far.  It may be the raw squid at the grocery store that are just lying in a bin...that is really not pleasant.  I`ll keep thinking and maybe take a photo for you.  :)  　   

Farewell

HI!!!!  

THE MTC has been delightful.  I am well.  My cough is nearly gone, my mind and heart still, and my suitcase not AT ALL packed.  Oh well.  I’ll get there.  It is a SUPER busy P-day.  But good all the same.  I am so grateful for it!  Last trip to the Provo temple and we got soaked running in the rain coming home.  Crazy, eh?

Thank you for your tips, enthusiasm, and joy at my going to Japan!!!!  I am so excited and so at peace and so tranquil it is miraculous.  I know that these feelings are a blessing that will help me serve whole heartedly and with all my might. Please don’t stress about the flight, or jet lagg--however long lasting it may be!  I am looking forward to doing it all!  YESSSS!!   I LOVE YOU SO DEEPLY.  Hooray!  

Time is almost out so...BYE!!!!  

 I look forward to greeting you from out of the MTC and in Japan next week!  

It's coming and we will be going!

  

OK, as per usual I don't have that much time, but I wanted to write a quick note to you all to just say hi and give a brief update.  

1.  I am happy.  So happy.  I love being a missionary and teaching people and learning and serving and all that.  It is great.  And I apparently love writing really short, simple sentences.  :)  

2.  I got the suitcase and was astonished to find all that love in there!  Thank you for the notes.  Ah, our family is just wonderful.  How deeply I appreciate and admire each and every one of them.  Thank you, thank you!   And thank you to Levi for so kindly playing courier for that!  

3.   I was a solo missionary for about 6 hours yesterday as the other international sisters went to temple square to tour it.  It was kind of awkward...I felt like an incomplete missionary.  Now though, all is well.  :)  

4.  I am slightly sick.  Nothing too awful, but I have a pretty impressive reservoir of stuff in my nose and a cough to disrupt class with.  Its getting better though and I think it'll be gone by the time we need to leave.  

5.  Speaking of which, we have travel plans!  In case you cannot see the photo, I am on Delta Airlines flights 1414 and then 283.  I'll have a 3 hour layover in Los Angles.  Calling party!  

OK, I gotta go.  Love you all so much!  More later!  Sorry that this is so brief!!!!  I run out of time every time!  

Williams shimai   

Ready

Hello

This week I felt like "OK, yeah.  I'm feeling like I'm ready to go."  I love the MTC and am so grateful for the experience that I have had here, I don't know the language super well, and I'm not packed, but I am getting ready to head to the land of the rising sun and serve the people there.  Woot!  I can't believe that I have just over 2 weeks before I head out.  Its just thrilling.

OK, brief recap of this week because I'm nearly out of time:  lessons, new teachers, goodbye to some missionaries, devotional with Elder Andersen, walking in a downpour, and just feeling so grateful and excited!  

I love you all.  Keep being the good people you are.  

Warmly,

Williams shimai 

Hello

Thank you so much for the letters and pictures that you sent!  I relished them, as I do each week.  It sounds like you are all getting ready for the change of season that is coming up soon.  Exciting, isn't it?  

Kinben ni means diligently in Japanese and it sounds so much like King Benny that every time I hear it I feel a need to reach for my scriptures and flip to Mosiah to read about King Benjamin.  As missionaries, we get to hear that word a lot, so its pretty great.  

I love being a missionary.  It is this wonderful blend of blessing, opportunity, responsibility, and privilege.  This week I have felt more deeply converted to our Savior Jesus Christ who suffered for my sins, my pride, my weaknesses, my sorrows, my insecurities, and my problems that I may be able to change and become better and truly love this life on earth.  It is so beautiful!  

That being said, missionary work has its ups and downs.  I had a lot of humbling moments this week that eventually brought me to a greater understanding of what the Lord would like me to become and how I can become so, but at the time, I wasn't so sure I appreciated it.  I know that the Lord knows my weaknesses and what will help me learn best and I am so grateful for His generous and perfectly fitted help to cause me to recognize what I need to change.  

As school is starting this week, we loose one of our teachers because of conflicting schedules.  Gardener sensei won't be our teacher soon.  When he told us, me being me, I started to tear up.  My appreciation surprises me with its depth and just comes out of nowhere sometimes.  Change is good though.  It helps us learn.  

All right dear ones, the time for emailing is coming to a close.  Good luck this week; I hope it is enjoyable for each of you!  

Love, 

Williams shimai

Oh dear ones!

  Hello! 

 I hope that this week has treated you well and that you are happy, healthy, learning, and enjoying every day in this amazing world.  I hope that you seek and find opportunities to love and be loved.  Love is such a central part of the gospel and for that I am humbled, grateful, and encouraged.  I want to share a few experiences that I had this week that taught me more about God's love for His children.  It is so deep, so pure, so rich, so abundant, so available, so graciously given, and just so beautiful.  Ah!  Being immersed in learning, teaching, sharing, and living the gospel here at the MTC grows my testimony of God's love and mercy for His children everyday.  Some days are more powerful than others and often His teaching comes in the most gentle, simple ways but my testimony of it deepens nonetheless.  It is miraculous. 

OK, first Richard G.Scott came to the Tuesday night devotional this week and gave a beautiful address on the gift of prayer.  Hearing him speak about that topic touches me--he has a really deep testimony and knowledge of it.  From him I learned that God is so patient with us in our prayers and so thoughtful and purposeful in the way that He answers them.  His answers often help us to grow, change, and become the people of character that He knows we can become.  His address was so instructive and I loved watching him leave as well.  Before he exited, he cupped his hands to his mouth and called out "Be good!"  and "We love you".  Such a dear man.  I love and am astonished by how dedicated and devoted he is.  

Also, President Eyring's First Presidency Message from the August Ensign is SO WONDERFUL.  I loved reading it and thinking about how God has taught me through His blessings and then feeling and expressing gratitude for it.  I know that gratitude is really a tue principle that blesses our lives.  Sometimes it blows my mind to think how generous God is to us. 

As you know on Wednesday, the MTC receives new missionaries.  They have an orange sticker on their tag so everyone knows that they are new and can especially welcome them.  In the evening, my companion and I were walking out of our classroom to go study somewhere else.  I noticed a sister sitting on a bench outside our classroom with that bright orange sticker on her tag and decided to say welcome and hello.  We had a brief conversation and then she was called away.  I clasped her hand and touched her shoulder before she left.  As my companion and I walked outside I thought about this sister and was surprised by the love that I felt for her.  It was so real and so tangible that it overwhelmed me a little bit.  I am so grateful that God encourages us to love as He loves and gives us that gift as we seek it--seriously, it is just incredible. 

Last one. I noticed in my study lately how many stories about only children or only brothers there are in Jesus Christ's ministry--Jarius' daughter, the man who is says "Lord, I believe; help thou my unbelief", the only son of the woman on the outskirts of a town (I think this story is in Mark), Lazarus, etc.  I think its a really simple but profound way of Heavenly Father reminding the Savior that He loved Him.  So cool. 

The MTC continues to be wonderful.  Oh, I was going to write about our teachers!  Right.  OK--We have 2 teachers, Fowers sensei and Gardener sensei.  I am grateful for and appreciate them and while they are really different, I learn a lot from them both.  Fowers sensei is pretty tall, really energetic, teaches us in the evening when some of our district has the energy and nearly the focus of Sunbeams, and laughs often.  Gardener sensei is pretty short (I think he may be just taller than me), quietly funny, kind of subdued, teaches us in the mornings when some of us are really quite lethargic, and is really chill.  Perhaps I'll get a picture of them sometime, though I think they shy away from pictures until the last week for whatever reason. 

Anyhow, thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers.  I feel so at peace and so grateful for you, my dears!  Keep your chins up and know that I love you! 

Love kokoro kara (sincerely, litereally from the heart),

Williams shimai