Monday, February 29, 2016

Week 46 Tokyo Japan mission

   
 
Manami Chan and us



Park close to our house. Isn't is pretty? I love Japan


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We almost got eaten by this dog the other day!! So scary! This video is kinda after all the trauma, but still funny, haha.

Chocolates and strawberries! Channa and Marjorie brought them for us last week when they came to visit sister Bettridge and I. :)

yummy food!


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This is a less active member who try's to speak English to us
sometimes... Haha! So funny! We love her! :D she left us this message.

Dear Family,

We had stake conference this past week and it was so amazing! They had
everyone speak on the new area plan and how to apply it. After the
conference, a woman from our ward walked up to us and told us she had
a referral for us. So cool!
Japan is really pushing this new area plan. Simply put, it is an
action plan for missionary work and the fulfillment of the many
prophecies of Japan that have been given throughout the last hundred
years or so. So so neat!

There was a leader who asked all the members to go home, make a list
of people who they know who aren't members and pray about who to share
the gospel with. So neat! So straight forward!
The Stake president spoke directly to the youth and said, "tomorrow at
school, pray to know who to invite to church, and do it!" It was so
cool. There was also a lot said to the youth about sharing the gospel
with their friends and being strong examples. It was really neat.
After the conference, Sister Bettridge and I decided we wanted to go
and find around the bishop's house later that afternoon. The bishop
has quite a young family, the oldest being 13 and the youngest being
3. The 13 year old is a boy named k.... kun. Anyway, we stopped by
their house and told them that we felt impressed to find close by. We
asked the Bishop's wife (bishop was still at meetings) if we read a
quick scripture and pray with their family. We shared 2 Nephi 27:23.
It says:

For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto
the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work
not among the children of men save it be according to their faith.

We had the 10 year old read the scripture and then we went on our way
thanking them for their prayers and faith. We went out determined to
find someone who was prepared and we did! **MIRACLE ALERT!!**The first
sight of people we saw was a group of young woman around 13-15 years
old. We called out to them and began talking with them and teaching
them about God. One of the girls recognized us and said, "oh! You are
missionaries in K.... Ishida kun's church, aren't you!" We, surprised,
said yes! She went on to say that she knew 4 of the youth in our ward
and that she wanted to come to church sometime. Her two friends who
were with her told us that they wanted to come too. Sister Bettridge
and I were starstruck! We gave them all information about where the
church was and asked them to ask the youth who they all knew if they
had any questions. After we had said goodbye, we rushed back to Bishop
Ishida's house and told the family what had happened. We told Kaeri
Kun that we had met 3 of his school friends and that they wanted to
come to church. I.... Shimai had tears in her eyes and thanked us for
coming and telling us. It was a way cool experience! It confirmed
perfectly, the area plan for the youth to reach out and share the
gospel with their friends. So amazing!

So, I'm pretty sure I have mentioned I..... Shimai a few times in my
previous letters, but this week she introduced us to 2 more of her
friends! We were able to share the gospel with them and it was an
amazing experience! Right now, we are still teaching one of her best
friends, U....san and she just continues to amaze us! Wow!

Sister Bettridge and I had a lunch appointment with one of the older
couples in our ward named the Nak....i's. They gave us very strict
instructions for how to get to their house so that we wouldn't be
late. I guess many previous missionaries had always been late, and it
seemed that they were a little bit disappointed in that. Anyway,
sister Bettridge and I left a half hour earlier than needed just so
that we could get there on time. The plan was to meet the couple at a
nearby park and then walk together with them to their apartment. Long
story short, we ended up waiting in a park for over 20 minutes and
they didn't show up. We had already spoken with everyone inside the
park vicinity and so me, *the bright one* :P suggested we begin to
house the nearby houses while we waited for them. We had already tried
to call them, but they weren't answering. We housed for probably 10
more minutes, and they still hadn't showed up. We called one more time
and they answered! It turns out that we were in the wrong park and
they seemed to be super disappointed that we, the missionaries, had
failed them once again. Walking with them back to house was one of the
hardest things on my mission. They had such hope in us and we had
failed them because there were over 10 parks in their area no we found
the wrong one. Now, naturally, Japanese people are very forgiving, and
although they did show us a lot of kindness, we could still tell that
they were both frustrated and disappointed in us because we had been
late just like all the other missionaries. We apologized over 15
times, (it is the culture to be really sorry here). During this time,
my mind was constantly wondering how we could smooth things over with
them. I felt so bad that we had gone to the wrong park. After eating
with them, they asked us to share a message with them. My first
impression was to share a short message and then get out of there, but
I felt impressed that we needed to share the 1st lesson with them.
Sister Bettridge looked at me like I was crazy and later told me that
she wanted to share a short message too, but we are so glad we taught
that first lesson.
We had them pretend to be themselves but not as members of the church.
We taught about God, dispensations and Prophets, Jesus Christ, and the
restoration through Joseph Smith. They both seemed to be a little bit
skeptical as we were teaching, but as we said the first vision, they
both changed. They Spirit filled the room and we asked them both to be
baptized. The brother said we reminded him of the first time her had
ever met with the missionaries. They both said that we were the most
outstanding missionaries whom they had ever met. They said that we had
just taught them the best 1st lesson that they had ever heard. It was
all smiles and laughter after that! This experience really taught me
about the power that the spirit has to help us love others. When the
Spirit touched our hearts, we feel genuine and sincere love for
people. Super super neat. They said that they wanted to introduce
their friends to us and it was an amazing experience. Super cool.

We've talked to so many people this past week! We talk with everyone
and have seen some great miracles! We haven't found as many new
investigators as we would like, but yesterday we found a woman who
said she was interested in learning and meeting with us. We taught her
parts of the restoration on the street, and she asked for our number
and if she could come to church sometime. So cool! We set up another
appointment with her right there on the street. Her name is Yamada
San. We are pretty excited about her! She is was kin!

Well, I'm out of time, but this church is true. Jesus Christ is our
Savior. Heavenly Father loves us. We are His children. I hope you all
have a wonderful week.
Love always,

Sister Hubbard

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