Hey all!
How was everyone's week? Love you all tons. This week was pretty good for me. I was sick for some of it but it's getting better.

There was one day that we had our weekly planning session and I was just kind of drained at the end of it so we took a short break, but after I woke up, Mori shimai and I decided we should at least go see one of our investigators. We were planning to give him a Book of Mormon that day. So we went and we talked with him for a little bit, and then brought up the Book of Mormon again and started to teach him about it and what it means to us, and at first he kind of made a joke out it and told us we needed to try harder if we wanted to sell this book and that we weren't good salespeople. And we realized that we can't sell anything about this gospel. We aren't professional speakers, and I can't even speak the language that well, but we can share what it means to us. We don't know a lot of things, but we know it was true. He changed completely afterwards and took the book and was flipping through it a lot and said he would read it, and it was just a really happy miracle.

I know the power of the spirit is real and that God loves all his people infinitely. And he has a plan made especially for each of us and that if we trust in his plan and follow him and come closer to him, we will be able to feel that love and happiness and peace. Sometimes when I get stressed or confused I find myself drifting away from where I want to be, but I know that we can always come back. That he beckons us back, that his arms are always, always open.

General conference also helped me learn a lot about what I need to do to become better and happier and more trusting. I learned that I need to find joy, and that I need to know I am a child of God, instead of just believing it. I learned that I need to keep trying and loving and doing what I can and that God blesses us in that effort. And that the first great truth is that God loves us. That God loves me and that God loves you. And I know that that is true!
I love you all! Have a happy week and find joy! Be safe too. ✌
Love you,
Massey shimai

ひさしぶり！ everyone,
I'm sorry I haven't written lately! I'm doing well!
I'm staying in kotoni and my companion went home (which was really sad) but I got a new companion! Her name is Mori shimai and she is just the cutest person alive. She is so sweet and encouraging and I'm really excited for this transfer! We knew each other a bit before because we were serving in neighboring areas before and we got to see her every week haha. I love her so much. She is half Filipino and half Japanese!

This week has been good. The work is progressing slowly, but we're so excited for this transfer! We had some time the other day because we ended up 10 minutes early to an appointment so we pinged on two houses and found a new family! At first the dad wasn't really interested but after a little bit he started smiling more and he was really accepting. We think he felt the spirit, and he said we could come back so we're excited for them! The kotoni members are also so great. They are such great examples to me.

Lately I've been feeling really stressed about a lot of things, but I've also been learning the importance of focusing on the simpleness of the gospel and the beauty of the world around me, and just being more grateful. I feel like there are always going to be things in life that stress out or complicate things, or even make enduring really difficult, but we can choose to be happy through faith. I love the gospel and the atonement and I love God. I really feel strengthened or peace when I have asked for it in my prayers and I'm so grateful for a loving God who hears us and is cheering us on through the road bumps and storms and peaceful periods of life. I know that we can be happy now, that it doesn't have to wait until later, and that he wants us to be happy too. I love you all!

This week was general conference in America! You can find it at lds.org! I also feel peace and comfort when I watch it. I'll have to wait till this weekend for the Japanese translation though haha.

Love you all!
Have a great week!