I'm grateful for earthquakes and snow

Konnichiwa!

My advent calendar

Lets start with the crazy earthquake that happened Tuesday morning. Sister Chinain and I were at seminary and all of a sudden the whole room starts moving like a roller coaster, but everyone else was super calm and didn't do anything, they just acted like it was normal (which in Japan I guess it is). I just kept thinking "I was taught to get under a table or something when there's an earthquake. Why are you all just sitting there?" It went on for a while, and when it finally ended the members asked us it this was our first earthquake. I've been in 1 other one, but it was a lot smaller. Turns out there was a 7.6 earthquake about 300km away from Tokyo that morning. Nothing too bad happened, but people were talking about it for a few days. There was another on Thursday morning, but I was asleep so I didn't really feel it. Welcome to Japan. :)

With Sister Doll

Tuesday we also went to Koiwa for exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders. We were supposed to do it a few weeks ago, but it was the day that Sister Chinain was super sick. Well I was with Sister Doll and she was just starting to get sick so her throat hurt really bad. Did that stop us? Of course not! We stopped every person on the streets and we had some great lessons with less actives. It was way fun!

Care packages when we were sick

Wednesday we came back to Urayasu and we were running really late, but we still wanted to go back to Meikai University and study and eat there to see if we could meet any other students. Well we get there (talking to everyone of course) and we are wondering why there aren't any students around. Then we get to the cafeteria and there this unclear sign that just says the cafeteria is closed. That's when we realized it was a holiday, Labor Thanksgiving, so the university was closed. We felt pretty silly, but it was all good because we got to talk to even more people!

In Japan, Thanksgiving isn't big at all. Labor Thanksgiving is just a day off of work for them. However the members here know about Thanksgiving so we had some nice surprises.

Sushi bento boxes

Firstly was Liu-San, one of our investigators. We had dinner/a lesson planned with her on Thursday night and the day before she texted us asking if we had any plans for Thanksgiving. We told her we didn't. Well, for dinner that night she bought us sushi bento boxes and it was the cutest and most delicious thing ever. She is so sweet! We had an amazing lesson too. We found out that we really need to help her get to know Jesus Christ more before she will feel prepared to be baptized. She really wants to know him and we are excited to teach her more about him! That's why we are here, to teach about Jesus Christ and his amazing example to us. She is such an amazing person though. She really believes and really has a desire to have a strong testimony.

At the end of the lesson, we had about 10 min before we had to leave and she decided she needed to give us dessert so she really quick boiled some water and made these sesame mochi balls that were so good. We had to eat them so fast though to leave and be home on time. It was so bad, but so good!

Our second surprise was on Saturday. We started out the day helping the Ward clean the whole building (they pulled out everything in the closets and it took up the whole chapel. They threw away 200 kilos of trash). Then we rushed 30 min to Shin-Urayasu to meet with Kei Shimai, but she was late. She arrived right when we needed to leave to go to Suzuki Shimai. We had no choice, we had to leave. We were so sad to leave her. Then it took an hour to bike to Suzuki Shimai so we were late for her lesson too, but it turned out okay because the Yamashitas came and helped with the lesson. The lesson went all over the place, but the Yamashitas really helped. Their testimonies helped Suzuki Shimai make the goal to come to church at least once or twice a month. That's amazing . So that was a Thanksgiving miracle as well!

Some of my favorite youth - Sakura, Hannah,
and Momo

The ultimate Thanksgiving miracle came after Suzuki Shimai. All the missionaries were invited to the seminary FHE on Saturday night. We didn't really know what to expect, but it turned out to be so amazing. All of the seminary students bore their testimonies and it was so powerful. I didn't understand much of what they were saying, but I could feel their testimonies. These kids are really amazing. They not only have to struggle with being the only Mormons at their schools, they are also some of the only Christians in their schools. They juggle school, bukkatsu (after school activities) and extra tutoring and yet they still make church a priority. Japanese teenagers have such busy lives, yet these kids still go to activities and seminary. They have such strong testimonies and I loved feeling them.

Thanksgiving Dinner

After the testimonies, the teachers surprised everyone with a real Thanksgiving feast! They had a turkey, fruit salad, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, even sweet potatoes with marshmallows on top! It was delicious! Turkey has never tasted so good! (I also learned that turkey is expensive in Japan so this was really special). We had more time to bond with the youth which is always fun. Sister Sakamoto (the bishop's wife) later told us she was really impressed with the connection we have with the youth. Just 2 years ago the missionaries weren't close with the youth at all, but she can see such a difference now. I love working with the youth. They are so fun! They really are going to be the next generation of super strong stake presidents and relief society presidents. I'm grateful that President Nagano encourages us to work with the youth because I know that through the youth, we can really strengthen the rising generation and the future of Japan.

So my Thanksgiving turned out pretty well. I have a lot to be thankful for. I'm a missionary, I have an amazing family and great friends who support me, I'm serving in an amazing Ward that has so much dendo fire, and I am lucky enough to be living in Japan. I am grateful at I have the gospel in my life, and that I know about the happiness that comes because of Jesus Christ and the Atonement. That is a beautiful gift that I will forever be grateful for. There are so many more things I am grateful for, but we would be here all night. Just know that I am grateful for every single one of you. I can feel your love and prayers from Japan and I appreciate all of your support.

At the temple

Some other things that have happened this week:

On Sunday we had FHE at the Andersons with some investigators, recent converts, and less actives and I TAUGHT LESSONS BY MYSELF!!! I understood what people were saying and I was able to talk to them and share my testimony. It was amazing. I really felt the gift of tongues working in me. I was shocked as people would talk to me and I was actually able to respond. One thing I have really learned on the mission so far is patience with myself. I have to be so patient with myself as I learn new languages. I just want to jump in and be fluent, but that's not how it works. It takes time and work, something I am constantly reminding myself.

My companion and I at the temple

On Thursday we had another miracle. IT SNOWEDDDDDDDDD!!!!! Sister Chinain and I had actually heard it was going to snow, so we set an alarm to wake up at 1 am just to see the snow. Well the alarm went off and we didn't wake up. 6:30 am rolls around and the alarms go off and so I pray and start getting ready.  I hear this "ITS SNOWING!!!" We ran to the window and it was a mix of snow and rain but we didn't care, we were so excited. We ran outside and played in it a bit then we came in (it was so cold) and just sat in front of our window for 20 min while listening to Christmas music. It was beautiful. We got distracted so many times because we kept looking out the window. We didn't want it to disappear! Luckily it didn't and we even got to bike in the snow a bit. Yay snow!!! It made me so happy! I love snow so much!

Entrance to Asakusa

Today we went to the temple and it was just what I needed. I felt so much peace there. It was interesting. We actually went early to do some initiatories and we met Elder Kenley's grandma! Turns out, she tries to be in the same session as him every transfer to see him. She was super funny and she gave Sister Chinain and I cards afterwards. She was so sweet! I also saw a member that used to go to Oizumi even though she doesn't speak Portuguese and it was so nice. Ah, I love the temple!

After the temple we went to Asakusa. We met a guy who did a homestay in Portland with a Mormon family and a man who went to BYU and wanted a picture with us. It was so cool! People see our name tags and immediately know who we are! It totally made my day! So, if you ever see missionaries, please say hi to them! At Asakusa, there was a shrine and a lot of little shopping booths. We had so much fun looking at all the cute little things and taking pictures. We didn't have a ton of time, but it was still so fun. Ah I love Japan, it's just so cute!

So yeah, we are seeing little miracles all over the place and I love it! Heavenly Father blesses those who are working hard. We are working our hardest to help the people of Urayasu and we have definitely seen lots of small things.


One of these small things is the influence of the spirit of Christmas. This year, the church has the initiative to #LighttheWorld by following Christ's example and doing small acts of service every day of December until Christmas Day. I love it! They also put out a video (along with videos for each day of the month with ideas about how to serve) and we have been showing it to everyone. I love this video so much. Earlier I said that I've really been feeling the gift of tongues in my life, well this is part of it. I've been testifying about this video and the light and example of Christ a lot lately and when I do, I feel like the Japanese comes easier. That's 100% okay with me because the most important things I need to say are about Christ. If I can't say anything else, my testimony about Jesus Christ is enough. I love this video (if you want to watch it, go to Mormon.org/Christmas). I know that as we follow the example of Christ and work to light the world, we will not only feel more light in our lives, but we will help others feel more light as well. Truly, when we serve others we feel more love and joy. Right now I am serving others 24/7 and I feel so much happiness. I know that as we each strive to be more like Christ we can feel immense joy every day. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I am so excited to spend it in Japan this year, lighting the lives of others.


Thank you again everyone for your support and love. Have an amazing week ! See miracles and light the world!

ブラクラ姉妹
Black Shimai