Heyo!
I transferred! ショック because I so thought I was staying. My new companion is Welch shimai who actually had the same trainer as me and second companion and we have a ton in common as well. She's an angel and I love her so much. I needed her.
It was hard saying goodbye to kotoni, especially because I felt like so much has happened there in those short 3 months, but shinkotoni does feel right since being here. Im grateful for this new opportunity and also to be with Welchy. Our first day we went to see an investigator who kind of has a baptismal date but not a solid one, and when she comes to the door like the first thing she tells us is that she talked to her husband who she thought was against it, and found out he actually wasn't! And she was praying for the courage to tell him that she wanted to be baptized and she felt a prompting to do it that day. She has such a strong testimony and were really excited for her. She came to church on Sunday too and bore her testimony to the Sunday school class. She is prepared!!
One thing Welch shimai and I decided to do this transfer is to stop everyone on the streets, and it's something I haven't been doing thus far. And it's been hard but the last person we stopped on saturday ended up being two deaf people AND Welch shimai in atsubetsu before studied Japanese sign language! So we can teach her and we set up a new appointment! It was a miracle.

And earlier that day we went to visit a new family named せき family who live kind of far away and the wind was blowing soooo strong that day and it was hard to keep going but it helped me think about how much I really wanted to go there and meet her and share the gospel with her, and after praying for the strength to keep going, the muscle pain went almost completely away and we were able to get there a lot sooner than we thought. And then after the lesson, which was really really good by the way! And she wants us to come back. And when we asked her if she believed in God, she was kind of like "I don't know... Is there a god?" And when we said yes she was like, smiling, "I guess there is a god." yay. But then after we go out to leave and get on our bikes but my tire went flat all of a sudden so we were going to walk home but then Welch shimai felt like we should go back, so we went back and she pumped my tire back up and we were able to make it home haha. It was such a miracle.

I'm grateful to be here and be with Welch shimai and these people that I've met so far. The ward is way cute too and it feels right. There are about 40 members so it's definitely smaller than kotoni. I'm excited for this transfer!

Love you guys 💕❤️ sorry I've been neglecting my emails. But love you all! Have a great week!

Hey everyone!

Love you all! Sorry I didn't email last week... BUT the past two weeks were good! It's been interesting and there have been a lot of changes but it's good. So there is a member here who just got her mission call and she wanted to come dendo with us to see what it was like and while we were planning we thought since the time was short we would just find before an activity but then we remembered this one investigator we haven't seen in like 2 months who is about our age as well and decided to go there. And she opens the door which in itself is a miracle because she hasn't every time we've gone back. But she opens and we talk with her a little bit and then Mori shimai invites her to a BBQ were having at Honbu for young members and their friends and young investigators that was starting in like 30 minutes and she decided to come with us! So we go and she has a great time and comes to church with us the next Sunday, and cried all through sacrament meeting. And we talked with her a little after and she is so interested in how we personally feel gods love and comfort and she said she would be baptized if she knew it was true so we set a baptismal date for the end of this month. But since Last Sunday we haven't been able to contact her since so please pray that we will be able to meet with her again! We're not really sure what happened, but hopefully she'll come back around when she is ready.

We were also able to meet an investigator who was actually passed to us from another area and she came to sacrament meeting and our Sunday school class too and she sat next to the mission presidents wife なかつかshimai while we were teaching (which is such a blessing by the way) and they became friends so we're happy about that. We're excited to see her again!

Also Lately some grandmas have been coming up and talking to us and inviting us over and it's really cute and fun.

Also I went to the beach last Monday which I missed a TON.

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!

This week was cool! We met a lot of NAs and I got to meet some people,
and our recent convert had her first after baptism lesson so we were
happy about that. Also one of our investigators became progressing as
he started reading the Book of Mormon! We're so happy about that 😊

We also had mission tour and elder Choi our area seventy came to visit
our mission. He and his wife are wonderful! I learned a lot about
being one with God and our investigators. And about being confident in
the lord. I love you all! Sorry this week is really short! Have a good
week this week!

Love
Massey shimai

Hey everyone!

Sorry I didn't mail last week, but this week was really good! Last
week was kind of slow to be honest, and we worked hard but didn't see
much out of our efforts, but then this week came and right from the
start we just saw good thing after good thing after good thing. It was
a miracle, and through it, we learned better that blessings come maybe
not at the time we hope or expect but that they do come.

We met our young investigator who is so interested in church and
activities and even the temple. When we talked about the temple and
showed her pictures of it, her eyes lit up and she got really excited.
It was also really easy to get to know her better and we became
friends fast.

We also met another investigator who has been our investigator for
awhile, and she's 50 but looks 30 and she has the most beautiful skin
I've ever seen. She told us her secret and gave us some cream so we've
been using it haha. It's really exciting actually. She is really kind
and likes talking about religion and we like meeting with her.

AND then we met with an old investigator the elders passed to us who
is about our age. She is so cute and is definitely interested in
religion and we were able to set a return appointment. We're really
excited for her. 😊

This week there were some rough patches but I learned more about being
meek and humble, and learning again the importance of leaning on the
lord. I know that we can become stronger when we allow God to shape us
into who he needs us to be. It isn't comfortable, but I know hat gods
plan is for our eternal happiness and that when we trust in that plan
he will be able to help us the most.

I love you all! How is everyone doing? I heard it's snowing again out
east haha enjoy it!

Love,
Massey shimai

Hello!!
Ooooookay. I got transferred from asahikawa to kotoni!! Leaving everyone was really hard, especially the members and investigators, but I know that kotoni is where God has called me to be. I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve here and have a part in gods work. Those people in asahikawa helped me more than I can even say and they were always supporting me way beyond what would be considered kind. I love them so much.

Kotoni is part of Sapporo and is pretty city! We don't walk nearly as much as we did before in asahikawa. There aren't really progressing investigators but I'm excited to be able to work here with morishita shimai! She is from Osaka and is an angel. It's peaceful being with her and I'm already so thankful for her and her help. It might take a bit to adjust to a new area but I love it here so much already. We're also a 4 person apartment because there are two sister sets and that's been way fun!

Love you guys! Sorry I don't have a ton of time today BUT I love you!

Hello everyone!

This week was kind of all over the place again haha. Wo shimai and I were literally running around everywhere for three days. We had a joint zone conference in Sapporo and I learned so much. Kaicho gave this one workshop about trials and the plan of salvation and he was teaching us how to teach it to answer some of life's difficult questions. He taught a really cool lesson using kanji! So the kanji for difficult is 辛い and the kanji for happiness is 幸. He showed us that when we put a little more effort in, the hard times can turn into happy moments. Truth.

He also talked about being saved and that "saving is not a finish line at the end of life but everyday." Loved it so much and it's so true. He asks us to do our best, but Christ has already made a way for us to come back home in the end. Such a good zone conference! (Also got to see free shimai again and meet Welch shimai (who was trained by free right before me) for the first time! They're so beautiful and good. I got to see a lot of other missionaries I love so that was really nice! Especially because they got rid of transfer spot... So now we'll be traveling alone to our new areas and I'm a bit stressed about that BUT it's okay. Karaka choro is going home in a couple of days and that's been really sad, but it's been such a good three transfers working with him.

Tomorrow we get our transfer calls and it's been making me kind of sad thinking of leaving all these people I love and this area and our investigators but I'm also excited for whatever is next.

This week we didn't spend a lot of time in our area because of zone conference and traveling and splits but we were able to find a couple new investigators and had good lessons when we had them. The elders passed an investigator who's blind and accepts everything we teach her. She's such a good person and we love her so much. So much.

And I love all of you!! This week there were definitely hard moments but we got closer at the end of them.

Love you guys. Stay safe and happy.


Massey shimai

Hey everybody!
The week was kind of all over the place. BUT we saw lots of miracles and really enjoyed this week together, especially because this next week is going to fly by since we're all going down to Sapporo for the winter festival and zone conference.
We were able to meet with a new investigator who is really really cool and is way more interested and knows way more about Christ than we thought she did. We gave her a Book of Mormon and asked her to read 3 nephi 11 this week and she's like okay what should I be looking for?  What should I be thinking about when I read this? And we asked her if she would just pay attention to how she feels when she reads it and what things stand out to her and what she learns about Christ, or like questions she has from reading it, and shes like, that's it?  We're excited for her! And it seems like her daughter likes us too because she runs up to see us when we pass by her shop so that makes us happy because we weren't sure if she liked us at first haha. Love those two.
One thing we've been thinking about lately is how to help our investigators progress more, because sometimes it seems like we're just saying the same thing. It's sad because we want them to come closer to God so that they can have the opportunity to feel his love and that he has a plan for us.
We also met with another investigator who has these three dogs who won't stop barking unless you hold them. So I FINALLY got a hold of the loudest one, and I was like YES now we can teach her! And we talked about the faith and Joseph smith and it was really great until her dog leaped off my lap when she left the room and I looked down at my skirt and found a little surprise. Mm. But it washed out so its all good haha.
ALSO we met this CUTE couple when we offered to help them shovel snow, but they let us into their home after like 5 minutes and gave us all these Japanese snacks and talked to us. I think the husband is probably the cutest person I've ever met in my life. He's just so good and kind and his laugh lines are proof that he is a happy man. They're not interested but they were very kind to us and we were able to talk a little bit about the gospel.
We just got back from the winter festival here in asahikawa! It's smaller than the one in Sapporo but it's apparently prettier because this one has ice sculptures. They're really breathtaking actually. It was a lot of fun! Asappi is our town mascot (every city has a mascot) and he's like a seal with ramen wings... Anyway he's a cutie and we found this taiyaki booth at the festival that made them in the shape of his body and I nearly died it was so cute.

こんばんは！

Hope everyone is doing well! Sorry you New Jersians with 2 feet of snow. Hope you're all doing alright and enjoying it! It's still cold here haha surprise. It gets down to -20s in the early morning, and we wear 3 pairs of tights and our legs still sting sometimes. But there are a lot of really nice people that give us rides around so we don't have to be outside too long. Angels.

This week was really, really good. I feel like I'm finally starting to have more patience with myself and I felt really happy again this week. My first transfer our zone did this thing where we each wrote a talk to build the faith of our zone, and then the zone leaders compiled them and sent them to everyone. I was reading through them the other day and one really stood out to me. She said, "the missionary who tries to do everything right and the missionary who tries to do everything for others are hard to tell apart. But God knows." And reading this helped me refocus on what is most important, because as hard as we try we will never be able to do everything perfectly. I hate that feeling of always falling short, but I realized that through those moments is when we grow. And it would be quite a sad life if I didn't grow at all and learn about the power of the atonement in my own life. And without learning it, I wouldn't be able to share that with others. So I can either stress myself out and feel guilt about not being all that I feel I should be and want to be for these people, or I can choose to have joy in every minute I am with them and enjoy these precious moments with them.

The other day we had a really good lesson with our investigator who is really close to baptism. It was at a members house and the elders were there too! And we all shared our favorite scripture and explained it, but while we were all flipping through the pages trying to open up to the place, our investigator was like, "well in the mean time I have a scripture I've been liking lately and when I first read it last year I didn't know what it meant at all but I feel like now I've started understanding it more." And it was the same scripture that my companion and the member had. Too ichi. She also talked about how she felt the spirit stronger than she ever has before, like it was inside her, and it was the same feeling she feels when she goes to church and is with the missionaries, so we testified again about the spirit and that it teaches truth. It was a really good experience!

We also found more young investigators that are our age and that's really exciting. One of them wants to come to church and as we testified about prayer and what is has done in our lives, she was like, "I want to start praying more!" She's a cutie.

We also invited one of our investigators to baptism! She was happy and receptive and said she wants to do it, but she has a far away image of it and didn't want to make a date. She has so much potential and we're excited.


Thanks for all your love always.


Love
Massey shimai