The Brooklyn Bridge

Here is a photo of the sushi I devoured prior to gaining another kilogram. Kidding, they are not all mine. One is Sister Takaku's. Hello from Nihon, land of the rising sun and miracles! This week we are just going to lay down some stories, because this week was fantastically packed with them! We visited one of our new investigators. We taught her about the Atonement. She is still a little hesitant on the whole Mormon thing, but she felt something special about Jesus, that was a cool moment. Then, without me even thinking about that direction, Sister Takaku just lays down the baptismal invite! (internal me: 'what? *panic* ohmygolly yes go go Takaku Shimai go go! Whoo!') Investigator didn't say yes, but she didn't say no. So she's thinking about it. So awesome! That night as we were walking home we were just trying to chat with the interesting assortment of folk walking around at 8:45 p.m. and found a woman who agreed to meet with us again!  This is bad, but somet...

I was going to post the picture of us at this lunch, but Toshi kun was was cuter. Hi!  Our new investigator is still super nice! She is very busy with her business but we have another appointment for her tomorrow and I am so excited. If we could just get work not to exist and get every one to come to church we could really make some awesome progress, so this week we're working hard towards that! We also found three NEW investigators this week! Wha-hoo, are prayers answered or what? I am still with my wonderful companion, we are learning a lot together!   I am beyond happy, full of joy for being here.  Yesterday Elder Nelson spoke at Stake Conference in Tokyo and then we got to hear the devotional he gave in the evening. He and his wife shared some really simple, enlightening council. Sister Nelson talked about covenants and how making and keeping them should govern all our decisions and actions. She gave me a great perspective. I love the temple, I will very excited to return there...

Because Starbucks is where you should find missionaries.  We just had to try the six-dollar Sakura milkshake, you know? This week we gained a NEW INVESTIGATOR! Hooray! I am so happy. She is an older woman who we met in the train station. She let us come over and teach the first lesson on Friday, and we were able to invite her daughter to listen as well! They had a lot of good questions about the apostasy and were intrigued by the Restoration. They committed to read the introduction of the Book of Mormon and pray to Heavenly Father. She even said, it was lucky fate that we met. This is a truly a miracle! I know Heavenly Father blessed us to be able to meet her. I am so excited to continue teaching her. I hope I can bring the spirit every time.  Bishop Tsujioka has been doing a great job motivating the ward to do more missionary work. He has made sure everyone has a copy of "The Power of Everyday Missionaries" in their native language (Japanese, Portuguese, Spanish, Th...

This is the city of Meito! I went on an exchange there, it was a lot of fun! So, not to be unoriginal, but this week in the wondorous world of the Japan Nagoya Mission: Okazaki we tried really hard to find some new investigators and spent a lot of time looking and asking and inviting and everyone said no! Hooray! However, this is how we learn patience and how to be better servants of the Lord!  Let's share a quotation I love from General Conference! "One woman, each time she related experiences she had during a visit to the Holy Land, would exclaim, "I walked where Jesus walked!" She had been in the vicinity where Jesus lived and taught. Perhaps she stood on a rock on which He had once stood or looked at a mountain range He had once gazed upon. The experiences, in and of themselves, were thrilling to her; but physically walking   where   Jesus walked is less important than walking   as   He walked. Emulating His actions and following His example are far more importan...