Monday, May 16, 2016

Week 57 Japan Tokyo Mission


Sister Hubbard's new companion Sister Moffat




Dear Family,

It's been a crazy week full of changes and excitement!
Firstly, I will tell you about the sweetest new companion ever! Sister
Moffat is from Salt Lake City Utah. She has 9 siblings and is the
second born, oldest girl. She is really sweet and has amazing faith. I
had a really interesting experience this past week at the trainers
meeting with her that I would like to share.
As I walked into the room filled with all the new missionaries, I
quietly sat down behind them all and listened to the meeting. I
naturally began to wonder who I might be training. I began looking at
all of the new sisters who had just come to Japan. 6 Japanese sisters,
2 American sisters, 1 from Brazil, and 1 from Australia all sitting
with their backs turned to me listening to the meeting. Walking into
that meeting, I was certain that I might be training one of the
Japanese sisters who couldn't speak English. But, as I looked, I felt
strongly that I wouldn't be training a Japanese sister after all. I felt
a strong connection to a pretty, tall, blonde sister who was sitting
directly in front of me. I hadn't met her yet, but somehow I knew she
would be my new companion. President Nagano invited us to join the
group meeting and sit beside the new sisters. I sat directly beside
sister Moffat. I felt a special connection with her immediately. It
was neat to feel that connection and then become her companion.
President Nagano began calling the trainers up one by one to introduce
their areas and then he would announce announce who their trainee was.
Because the president started from the top of the mission
geologically, I knew I would probably be one of the last Sisters to go
up and introduce, because Sensokuike is at the bottom south end.
Anyway, all being said, sister McCarty (other trainer) and I went up
to the front, both introduced our areas, and I found out I would be
companions with Sister Moffat. The spirit was so strong, and I know
she is the person I need to be with these last couple transfers. We
found out later that both of our Dad's served missions in Sendai at
the same time and had the same mission president. Pretty cool! We are
curious to know if they served together. What do you think, Dad?

We found 3 new investigators last week and we were able to meet with
two of them this week! We will be meeting with the other one next
week. So many miracles!
They all have cool stories about how we met, but I would like to share
a quick one about how we found Yuzu San. We were walking down a busy
street full of hundreds of people. We had been talking to people all
day and it seemed like maybe we were in the wrong spot because no one
was listening to us. We prayed that we would be able to find a new
investigator to help and teach and then continued to talk with
everyone. We probably talked too close to a hundred people before we
met Yuzu San. As we called out to her and introduced ourselves and our
message she said, "Wait a second, your Mormon missionaries! I know
you!" It turns out her friend was also a member of the church and that
she had been invited to Christmas parties and other activities growing
up. SHE EVEN HAD A BOOK OF MORMON! It was a WAY cool miracle for us to
find her. She took immediate interest and we set up an appointment to
meet with her. Our appointment went really well, and we will be
meeting with her again tomorrow. So excited!

We also met a Latina woman named Christina. We learned really fast
that she couldn't speak very much English, and that her Japanese was
very limited. But, this wasn't a problem! She was prepared, and if
people are prepared then nothing will stop them from meeting with us.
Between our broken Spanish and simplified Japanese, we were able to
set a return appointment with her. She told us that she had just moved
to Japan with her family and that she was looking for somewhere to go
to church. Now, I don't really speak Spanish, but as we were talking
with her I had the most amazing experience! I remembered a few phrases
that I had learned once upon a time and these Spanish words began to
fill my mind. I introduced us as missionaries from the church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints and said that we had a church close by.
She got all excited and we were able to give her a Book of Mormon.
SUPER SUPER COOL! It made me think of that scripture in John where it
says that the Spirit will bring all things to our remembrance. God
really does use everything we have to offer in furthering His work of
Salvation. Thanks goes out to Lynette Schipper, everyone else who
taught me a few words in Spanish, and of course to God for helping me
remember something I vaguely remember remembering, haha... It a was
neat. Sister Simpson remembered quite a bit from before her mission as
well, and so it was neat to hear her speak a language I hadn't heard
before.

We found a new investigator named Ellie yesterday, and we will be
meeting her this next week. Sister Moffat was able to give her first
Book of Mormon away and has been so excited to keep on talking with
everyone! Miracles really do happen when we open our mouths to the
people around us. It's just like that scripture in the doctrine and
covenants that says, "mine elect hear my voice and harden not their
hearts."
Lately, I've been giving a lot of thought to how the Lord prepares
others to receive the gospel. It makes me realize more and more that
everything is connected and that there is an individual plan for each
one of us. Even when people reject the gospel, it is nice to know that
God will lead them to the missionaries or the church again someday.
God knows how to exalt His children. He really does know what we need
to experience in order to learn and grow. In our own individual lives,
it's nice to have hindsight when think about these things because it
gives us hope for the future when we aren't sure what to do. Sometimes
we just need to take that first step in faith and believe that the
Lord will provide the rest of the staircase. Definitely easier said
than done, but it is a lesson I have been learning over and over again
on my mission. We just need to trust sometimes.

We had our investigator Miho Yagi San come to church yesterday and she
loved it! All of the members were so good and we had the primary
children sing a child's prayer for her. The Spirit was so strong and
we know she must have felt it. After church, we asked her if there was
anything she wanted to particularly learn about next time. She thought
for a second, and then told us she remembered seeing a picture of two
people in water...
Getting all excited, I brought up the picture of John the Baptist
baptizing Christ and she exclaimed it was the picture! She said she
wanted to learn more about baptism. WAY COOL! Sister Moffat made the
comment that we would love to help her learn more about that, haha. So
awesome! We will see where everything goes with that.

Okay, one last experience. We have a part member family in our ward
who are so wonderful! We went over to their house last night and
taught the Restoration. It was Sister Moffat's first time teaching the
restoration in the mission field, but she did so amazing! Through it
all, she was just so shining and radiant. As we neared the end of the
lesson, she said the first vision and the Spirit was so strong.
"I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of
the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness
and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of
them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the
other--This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"

Everyone was in tears, including the son, who wanted nothing to do
with the church and was being forced by his mother to sit and listen
to us. It was like time had stopped.
Everyone was silent. We proceeded to bear our testimonies about the
truth of the restored gospel and promised blessings upon their
household as they would pray and study together the scriptures
together as a family.
I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. He really did see Heavenly
Father and Jesus Christ in the Sacred Grove. God hears and answers our
prayers and is mindful of us. He knows us. I knows He loves and wants
to bless all of you. I hope you know how much He really does love us,
because it makes a world of difference when we are able to understand
that love, even in the smallest part. Pray to feel it and to know it
because I promise it is always there.
I hope you all have a wonderful week! :)
Love always,

Sister Hubbard


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