Week 52 Tokyo Japan Mission

Dear Family,

Wow! Conference was amazing! I felt like every talk was so inspired.
We really do have living prophets today who lead and direct the work
of the Lord. I'm having a difficult time choosing a favorite talk but
they were all wonderful and I definitely received a lot of answers to
questions I had been thinking about. I love general conference.
Yes, we watch it late here so the Japanese translation is all set up.
We usually watch it in English as missionaries, but we listened to a
couple of the sessions in Japanese too, so I will probably have to
review those ones in my study. I'm excited! :)
President Monson is amazing. I don't know why, but as I listened to his
talk, I felt so strongly that he really is God's mouthpiece and is
called by God to be the Prophet of the world. His presence is so
bright and enveloping. He is such an amazing man.

Thanks for telling me all about your adventures in West Edmonton Mall. So fun!

Anyway, it's been a pretty busy day today! Sister Simpson and I
travelled to the Honbu in Higashi Nagasaki for a zone P-day. It was a
lot of fun! We played dodgeball with the Nagano's and had a BBQ
afterwards. Later today, we met one of our dear friends, Wakana
Shimai, at a famous park in Shinjuku and were able to spend some time
with her. My wonderful companion took a million pictures and we had a
lot of fun together. The Sakura is so beautiful. Cherry blossom season
is such a special time here in Japan. Everyone is always outside,
taking pictures, and enjoying the beautiful blossoms. I love it, and
it provides a wonderful opportunity to teach the gospel as people turn
to nature and enjoy its brilliance. So breathtaking.

Our area, Senzokuike is on the rise! We are finding new investigators
and slowly, but surely, making progress. The Lord has been blessing us
with so many prepared people everyday. The Lord's hand is definitely
in every phase of the work. The kanji meaning for, Senzokuike is
"washing the feet in the pond." There is a really pretty lake/ pond
close to where we live and the lake is called, "Senzokuike." It's a
pretty neat little place I am living in. I feel so blessed to be here.

The biggest miracle Sister Simpson and I saw this week was probably
this past Monday night. A little bit of a backstory to explain what
happened...
The transfer before I got here, there was a sister named sister
Borchert who was hit by a car and taken to hospital. Her injuries were
minor, and she turned out to be okay, but the whole time, the sisters
wondered why it had all happened. Here's where our story comes in...
We were on our way home from a less actives house when a woman name
Natalie called out to us a few moments after getting off the train.
Being new to the area, I didn't recognize her, but she recognized
Sister Simpson and began to ask about a certain "Britney Borchert" and
if she was doing okay. It turns out she was the nurse at the hospital
who had helped with Sister Borchert's accident. At the time, the
sisters weren't able to explain their purpose as missionaries due to
everything that was happening, but we were able to tell her at the
train station. After doing so, she told us she had met with the
missionaries before-close to 20 years ago in the Philippines. During
that time, she said she was taking the discussions with one of her
best friends and her best friend was actually baptized! She explained
that she was also thinking about baptism, but then moved to Japan and
was never able to meet with the missionaries again. SO COOL!! 金人
Alert!! We visited her later this week at the hospital and gave her a
nice card expressing our thanks. She is so awesome! This miracle
really helped me see the hand of the Lord in the work. Everything
really does happen for a reason, and although sometimes we can't see
why all the time, God knows all things. He has been preparing Natalie
for a long time. I know He is directing this work.

Our investigator Himena continues to progress. She watched conference
this past week and felt the Spirit really strong. The Lord is really
blessing her.

Well, sorry this is a little bit short! It's been a wonderful week
here. I hope everyone else's week has been amazing too. This church is
true. God loves you each individually, and will continue to work
wonders in your lives as you rely on Him through your difficulties.
Everything happens for a reason, and God knows all things. He can make
us so much more of us than we could ever make of ourselves. All we
have to do is trust in His timing and in His great and eternal plan
for us.
Love always,

Sister 

Week 51 Japan Tokyo Mission ~ New Transfer

New companion Sister Simpson

Friends from Matsudo



Shizuko San :)










Watanabe's




The watanabe's are a family in Matsudo ward. They are awesome!

This is an exchange student named Maddie who dendoued with us all the time. Going to miss everyone!

Watanabe's Shimai :)

Our apartment in Matsudo (right behind the church)

The Church we meet in.







Dear Family,

It sounds like General Conference was way good! I'm excited to watch
it this next week. :) I'm assuming they didn't say anything about
Sister Missionaries being able to extend to 2 years or anything,
otherwise you would have told me about it, haha. 残念です。Being a
missionary is the best!

It's been a week full of new changes and challenges, but I know I am
in the right place. To answer a few questions, I am in two wards here
in Tokyo. One is Japanese speaking (Senzokuike ward) and the other is
English (Tokyo 2nd Ward). They are both amazing wards! I had the
opportunity to attend church for 6 hours yesterday and was able to
meet many of the members from both of the wards. I didn't think it
would be a hard change jumping right back into an English ward, but it
was difficult for me to process everything. I think I have become a
nihongin, haha. I struggled to bare my testimony in English, stumbling
through different words people usually don't use, and it made me
realize that maybe I am meant to serve in an English ward so that I am
not completely lost when I go home, haha.
As far as tracting and things go, when we are working with Gaijin
(foreigners) the mission boundaries are our boundaries because there
are only two English wards in the mission and they are both in Tokyo.
It's pretty neat. We talk to all people now, he try and teach all
different kinds of people. Yes, I'm pretty sure this will be my last
area, but you never know. My last companion had 7 areas. I guess we'll
see!

I'll tell you a little bit about my new companion. Her name is Sister
Simpson and she is from Oregon. She is a young missionary, and is
still trying to get the hang of Japanese, but is really excited about
the work. She comes from a family of 9 and has an older brother
serving in the Kobe Japan mission. She always teases me about my
Canadian accent, (I didn't know that was a thing) and always laughs
and pokes fun, haha. She's great. We talked to a lot of people this
week! Our teaching pool right now is a little bit 少ない and so we have
been doing a lot of finding and looking for new investigators. Finding
people to teach is one of my favorite things to do as a missionary.
It's really neat to have the Spirit prompting you what to say to
people. Today, on our way to the post office, I felt particularly
drawn to this one woman who was sitting on her bike looking at her
phone. There were probably around 20 other people in the 10 square
feet within our vicinity, but I felt like we should speak wit her. We
began asking her about God and asked her if she had any religious
beliefs. She said her Father made a living off of being a Shinto
priest, but that she had a lot of interest in Christianity. She told
us she would like to come to church and learn more about the gospel
and Jesus Christ. It was a huge miracle!

On the way here from Matsudo, I met a Kinjin on the train! Her name
was Atsuka and she was 22 years old. I was beside her for most of the
ride to Ebisu, and so was able to teach her and set up really good
expectations. She was so excited to receive a Book of Mormon and told
me that she had read the whole bible before. So cool! She said she
wanted to take the missionary lessons and learn more about Jesus
Christ. I didn't have a phone on me, but she gave me her number and
asked me to call her. Hopefully we can meet her soon! She is so
awesome. God really is preparing His people and His elect. We are so
lucky as missionaries to be able to see His hand in the work everyday.
We found another person this week named Momoko Chan. She expressed
immediate interest and asked us where the church building was. It
turns out she lives just a few blocks from the church and so that was
really neat! We also met her father and he expressed interest in
coming to church too. They said they couldn't come this week, but they
said they could come next week! :) So many miracles!

So, one of the things which come from being in an English ward means
that when we are out on the street and we see someone from a different
country, we approach them in English. I have to get myself all psyched
up to talk in English. It's funny, because it used to be the same way
with Japanese. I've had such a hard time approaching people in English
lately. It sounds weird, but it is so hard for me sometimes, haha. We
met two blonde girls from Russia who were in downtown Tokyo this last
week and they were both over six feet tall and looked so intimidating.
I'm quickly beginning to notice that whenever I have a hesitation to
talk to someone that my thoughts are coming from the Adversary and
that I had better follow through with what I originally intended to
do. This was my thought with these two girls. I opened my mouth and
tried to say something smart..."We're missionaries from the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints." ... They they turned to me and
sister Simpson, looked us up and down and swished their hair back as
they continued to walk down the road without a word. I was a little
bit surprised by their responses to us, and so I approached them again
and asked them if they believed in God? Still, no response. By this
time, I was laughing inside myself thinking about how much nicer
Japanese people are and how ridiculous it was that I had been called
to serve in an English ward, haha. Sister Simpson asked these two what
they were doing in Japan, and they turned to her and said, "we're
models" and they kept walking down the street. It was an interesting
experience. It looks like I will have lots of practice with talking to
people in English from here on out. I'm excited for the challenge, and
it certainly is a challenge! Bring it on! :)
I'm excited!

We have a woman from Bolivia who we are working with named Jimena. She
came to church yesterday and had a great time! She bonds well with the
members and always kisses us on our cheeks when saying hello and
goodbye. So cute! We love her. She has great desires and we are so
excited about her progression in the gospel.

Well, I'm sorry this is a little bit short, but it's been a great week
all in all. This church is true. I know Jesus Christ lives and loves
us. I'm so excited to watch conference next week! I encourage you all
to make a plan to apply the things you have felt impressed to change
and do better in your lives after watching conference. We are so
blessed to be able to hear from the prophets and apostles every six
months. I know they speak the words of Christ. I love you all so much!
Have a great week.
Love always,

Sister Hubbard

Week 50 Japan tokyo Mission

Blossoms coming out now!

Dearest Family!

Happy Easter everyone! Easter isn't really celebrated here in Japan,
but it is a beautiful spring. The Sakura is coming out finally (I'll
send a picture) and everyone is so full of life. When I was little, I
always used to wonder what the relationship was between Christ's
Atonement/Resurrection and bunnies, chicks, and eggs. Interesting
thought, isn't it? Baby bunnies are born in the springtime. So are
baby chicks. Life resets itself and everything becomes new. The spring
season is a physical witness of change and new beginnings. Jesus
Christ's atonement and resurrection also give us new life and new
beginnings. I think it is amazing that the Lord was resurrected in the
Springtime. There really is a pattern in all things. :)
As always, thanks for the letters and love! It's been a way busy day
and I am having a hard time keeping my eyes open... This being said,
if there are some grammar problems in this email, I apologize, haha.

We had transfer calls this morning! As expected, I will be
transferring! The new area really caught me by surprise, but I am way
excited and I think it will be a good change. Life is about to get a
lot busier and faster! I have been called to serve in the Tokyo Second
Ward area- Also known as Senzokuike Area. There are two wards- a
Japanese ward, and the other an English ward. There are many gaijin
around Tokyo and so there are a couple English wards. It looks like I
am lucky enough to be able to serve in one of them! I am grateful to
say there is also a Japanese ward though because my English dendou
skills are a little bit rusty. I'm a little bit nervous about
preaching the gospel in English again. The other day, we met 3-4
couples who were from America and Sister Bettridge and I tried to
dendou them. It was so difficult! We kept saying things that sounded
weird and we felt so awkward the whole time! I kept trying to think
about what I would say in Japanese so that we could have a good
conversation about the gospel, but it was so difficult! I'm hoping
with the actual "call" to serve in the 2nd ward that I will be given
my English tongue back, haha. I think it will be a fun adventure! My
new companion is a transfer 3 missionary who just finished her
training! Her name is Sister Simpson and I have never met her, but I'm
sure she is amazing and that we will get along well.

It's hard to believe I will be leaving Matsudo! I love this area so
much. I love all my areas! Saying goodbye to the people I meet and
work with is always the hardest thing for me. We've been running
around today, saying a lot of goodbyes. I have been so blessed to work
in this area and with the people here! We have 4 people preparing for
baptism right now, and so I hope to be able to attend their baptisms
as they come. So exciting! :) God has really blessed this area in
allowing us to find His elect and to teach them. We've really
experienced the power of the Atonement as we have tried to sanctify
ourselves and be worthy of the Lord's blessings. I've learned there is
great power in daily repentance. As we sanctify ourselves and work to
overcome our weaknesses, the Lord is able to use us as the vessels of
His spirit to bring the gospel unto His children. Daily repentance
removes the obstacle of pride in our lives because we are constantly
turning to the Lord for Forgiveness and help. Daily repentance allows
us to see we are incapable of doing anything by ourselves because we
realize we need the Lord to show us the way. Daily repentance helps us
understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ better and gives us the
opportunity to feel the enabling power working within us. I love this
gospel!

I'll share some cool miracles from this past week:

We were coming home from a member's house and I noticed there was a
woman who had just returned home and was walking up to the second
floor of an apartment building. She had a young child in her arms who
was screaming uncontrollably and I sensed she may be in need of some
help. I was a little bit hesitant to speak with her as her baby was
very loud and I knew it would be difficult for her to hear me, but we
walked up to the second floor and caught her last minute anyways. As I
called out to this woman, the baby turned around *red cheeks and teary
eyes* and began looking at us. She was silent. I looked at her and
smiled, while introducing ourselves as Christian missionaries. This
woman, took immediate interest and accepted a return appointment
immediately. The baby was silent, and smiled at us the whole time
while we were taking with her mother. Such an amazing experience! We
are excited to see her again. :)

It's times like these when all I can say is I know there is a God in
Heaven and that He loves His children. It's so neat how things happen
sometimes in the work. We were on a train this past week and we met a
woman who was from Vietnam. Her Japanese language speaking abilities
were very limited, and she only spoke a few words of English, but she
told us that she wanted to come to our church. She eagerly asked us
for the church's address and we agreed to meet at 9:30 so that we
could walk to church together the following Sunday. We then got off
the train and went to our appointment with a member's friend. Later
after our appointment, we received a phone call from a member named
Ishijima Shimai who happened to be cleaning the church that day. She
asked us on the phone if we knew a Vietnamese woman? We told her we
did, and she went on to say the woman was at the church and that we
should come quickly. When we finally arrived at the church, we found a
different Vietnamese woman named Nga San! She had wandered into the
church by herself and told Ishijima Shimai that she wanted to learn
about everything... So cool!! We taught her the first lesson in
Vietnamese (with the help of google translate and the Book of Mormon)
and she said she wanted to learn more! My whole mission, up until last
week, I've probably only ever met a handful of people from Vietnam,
but I'm happy to say God's given us 2 potential investigators and two
new investigators who are Vietnamese this week. We keep finding them
everywhere! Definitely not by chance. God's work is a work of wonders!

Saving the best for last! One of the recent converts in my first area
named M..... Chan attended a baptism with her twin sister this past
week in the Philippines! When M..... Chan's sister saw the baptism,
she felt the Spirit and told M.... Chan she wanted to be baptized
too. Isn't that amazing? She is now taking the lessons from the
sisters in Koiwa and working towards a baptismal date. So many
blessings! I am so blessed to be a missionary here in Japan at this
time. The church is true and Jesus Christ is our Savior. He loves us.
I testify that He lives. He rose from the dead and brought new life to
the world. He died so that we could all live again. I love my Savior.
He is the Prince of peace and the ultimate source of joy and
happiness. I hope you have all found the Savior this easter and felt
of His great love. His love is perfect.
I love you all so much! Have a great week!
Love always,

Sister Hubbard