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!