Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year!

Hey all!
It's been a little while haha. Our pday was changed to New Year's Day since it's such a big holiday in Japan and people spend it with their families. Yesterday we read the Book of Mormon all day and that was really cool! I learned a lot and really felt grateful for the Book of Mormon and all the sacrifices the prophets in it went through to get it to us, that we can know how to get closer to Jesus Christ and comehome to live with God again. Tomorrow is an all day cleaning day. And the members here are so kind and are feeding us a ton this week and ton last week even too! When members feed us, they don't do it really often like in America but when they do feed us they go all out. I gained a little weight I think but maybe it will keep me warmer hehe.
Also it snowed a ton! We were walking to the other sisters in suehiro's apartment for splits and we took a detour but we went through a path that wasn't shoveled and the snow came up to my hip! We were kind of scared we wouldn't be able to get out but it was really fun haha. My tights were all white at the end and we left puddles all over their apartment. Oops.
Christmas was really magical. We had a little extra time after planning for Christmas Eve so we took baths and ate mochi and yuzucha at night. It was the best Christmas ever. We made sushi for lunch and got sushi for dinner and aside from skyping my family on Christmas Day, we dendoed all day. People here don't really think much of Christmas and a lot of people still go to work, but we felt a special spirit that day for sure.

Hey all!
Hope you're all doing well. I hear jersey is warm. Hope you're enjoying that haha but hope it still snows on Christmas.

It's really easy to talk about Christ during this season here because the people likecelebrating it but a lot haven't thought about the meaning of it, or that there could be a meaning. It means so much to be able to talk about Christ and the impact he has had on my life.

We have these two young investigators who are our age that we are teaching and that's really exciting. We were teaching them at the same time which kind of made us nervous at first because we've never done that before but it went really well, and when I asked if they knew if it was true, if they would get baptized, they said yes! We didn't set a date but I was so happy to hear that from them. We really feel like we can relate to them too and we desire the same things in life and are going through similar experiences, so it's a blessing to be able to teach them.

I gave a talk at church for the first time in Japanese this Sunday!  That was a little stressful but I think it ended up okay. It was a homecoming for a missionary who just got home from a mission called Adriatic north I think. He's American but grew up partially in Japan and Germany so he speaks like 6 languages now. It's やばいよ。

We also sang as a ward and with one of our investigators to a nursing home for blind people after church. That was really special.

I love my ward! I love the people and being able to feel the love God has for them! As I work harder and pray, I can better see the hand of the lord in my life and that is amazing. Missionary work amazes me everyday and I've already changed so much in this short time. It makes me sad that my time with free shimai is coming to an end but I'm also excited for the opportunity to see more miracles and see other people find more happiness in coming to Christ.

I love you all! Thanks for all your love and all that you do!

Heyo!! You guys are great. Thanks for the encouragement this week. It meant a lot. I feel better about myself this week and have really tried to focus on what I can do. I can't do a lot, and I don't have a lot of talents, but I can be really kind. And I've been trying to really do that. Also one new thing I've been doing is writing in my journal everyday about how I have seen the hand of the lord in my life that day. It's really helped me see how the lord has blessed me and the miracles I have seen that day. I'm also a lot more grateful now that I can see so much more of what he does. Our goal this transfer is to see two baptisms. I know it is going to be really hard but we are trying to make baptismal dates and we believe we can see them. These people are prepared.
In other news, we caught the sweet potato truck! It was delicious. As expected. We were on a bridge and waved him down and ran down to meet him and he's like, you guys aren't from Japan are you? Haha. But it was delicious so that is what matters.
Also it snows like every other day here. It's a bit ridiculous but it is a winter wonderland! When it snows, the air is so dense with white that the air looks white too. And the sky is white and the roads and sidewalks are all white too cause they don't plow. It's beautiful.
I love you all! I sang in a duet on Saturday at our Christmas concert which was really scary but I was able to do it to the best of my ability so I'm happy about that be safe this week!! Love you!
Love
Massey shimai