The Brooklyn Bridge

Returning missionaries compare going home from the field to death, which is rather dramatic. We have built this new life, and sometimes a new person based on that little white book and big-deal of a blue book. We are on a now-familiar, stringent 16-hour work schedule and most of us have come to really enjoy it. We are blessed with plenty of time to study the gospel and many opportunities to bear testimony. You are doing all that one day, and then tomorrow comes and you step off an airplane into another world, different from the new environment and loved ones you have grown in and close to. It's all snatched away at once. It's kind of like...going on a mission in the first place! Ahahaha, everything is an interesting eternal round. I didn't quite feel like I died  coming home, but it was very strange. The mission seems like a short, wonderful, weird dream I had.  The good news is, it was real! Real, just like real life; the mission was exciting, beautiful, very diffi...

If they published a newspaper for each day of the week, here's what they headlines would say! But I'm not sure, because I don't read the newspaper, because I'm a missionary. Book of Mormon for days. Like. Every day. Monday: Sisters Rejected Even Harder Whilst Trying Out New Family History Approach But Eventually Finds Golden Brazilian Family To Teach Tuesday: Less Active Member Stands Mid-Lesson and Declares "We Are Going to the Culture Festival!" Wednesday:  Investigator Makes Major Breakthrough With Holy Ghost-Feeling Experience Thursday: True Church of Christ Restored By Joseph Smith and Sisters Given Opportunity to Testify About it To Amazing Recent Converts Friday:  Brazilian Member Requests Sister Brewer Cook Six Large Steaks 'American Style;' Sister Brewer Has Never Made Steak Saturday: Japanese Family Serves Missionaries Hamburgers Standing 30 Centimeters High Sunday: 85-year-old Woman Sisters Spoke To On The Side...

Hello Kind Readers! How was your week? My favorite moment this week was yesterday! A great member invited us to her home up in Toyokawa for dinner. SURPRISE. No authentic crazy Japanese foods ladies, she MADE tortillas and we had slammin soft tacos! Her non-member mother happened to be there, and she had a lot of great questions about Christianity. It wasn't too crazy, but we were able to do some simple, direct testifying about the savior and it felt SO good! The spirit of God, like a fire is burning here in the field because He LIVES! I remembered in my past life that I did a lot of acting and theatre and stuff. Some skills I learned there have been rather useful here in the field! Sometimes the play you're in is lots rainbow sunshine and happy scenes and sometimes it's tragic or boring. Usually you just have to act like you have your act together. However, I think acting isn't about pretending to be what you're not, it's about creating the ...

Dearest Mom, Dad, Katelyn, and Eavesdroppers, Hey it's me! Sister Brewer in the Japan Nagoya Mission. Currently stationed in Toyohashi city, working happily but you haven't heard much about it recently, sorry! We have been delightfully busy, and sometimes even busy with the things we want to be busy with. We had lessons this week! In Japan: We've been teaching English/Gospel lessons to a sweet, spunky woman who loves the church but doesn't want to join it. You know, which we've heard a couple of times. She's really nice but has been pretty closed off. In this weeks lesson, Suleman and I were trying really hard to decide what she needed. It's all the same as other machine stories that you've heard from me and other missionaries… We prayed really hard, tried to feel the spirit, and felt it! I taught the lesson and it wasn't perfect but it went really well. We were able to feel the spirit and she opened up a little bit more. Little by ...

And an unfortunate rhyme scheme. Love, Brewer Shimai This day has been busy So quickly I'll write Because I'm to dizzy To have a keyboard fight Tuesday was quick as sneeze Silmara's first lesson was great It was all in Portuguese, But the Spirit? You don't need to Translate . Wednesday NO ONE was home But at night we had English Class Some of those students (some) Really have sass. Thursday my comp and I exchanged Sister Owada came with me There's only the kindest people Here in Toyohashi Friday I gave up on Rhyming We had a nice ZTM Could have been better But I'm grateful for each of them. Saturday was DELICIOUS We made, like, so much mochi We met a new investigator And that was like YOSHI!! And Sunday was good too. I love being a senkyoushi! And for this brand new Toshi, Let us remember our Savior Who did us the grandest favor. I sure love you! And God does, too. ブルーワ姉妹

This week we had a member appointment EVERY SINGLE DAY! Can you even imagine? We had a great time teaching practice lessons to them, it was a really good chance for me and sister Lima to get some good practice teaching with each other. Toyohashi Ward is full of absolutely incredible people, great testimonies, interesting stories, superb cooking skills, and generous hearts. On Sunday the Bishop and his wife brought us muffins from their recent trip to COSTCO! Oh man, I don't know about yours, but my breakfast was stellar. We were blessed to meet and teach some sensational children in the families this week. When we are around the Japanese kids, my heart beings to play this beautiful, simple, cheery melody with a piano and harps and the cello and other happy instruments. Then the whole things gets very warm and kind of smiles inside my chest. I believe we call that the Holy Ghost. I'm very grateful for the gift thereof, and the proper priesthood authority in my...

Christmas Day was magical! I am so grateful for Wi-Fi at the church and my iPad and Skype (OK we are way too lucky), so I could talk to my wonderful family in the morning! I receive so much power from your testimony and support, thank you times eternity. After that we went with Matsuno Shimai and our investigator Kobayashi San to a very short orchestra concert. It was two lovely women one who played the piano, the other the cello. my two favorite instruments! Such a special treat. Afterwards we went to thank them for bringing the Christmas spirit to our hearts, and they got talking about our purpose, and they thought it was so cool how we were teaching about the real meaning of Christmas. They were even more excited when we said that they would that we would teach their kids English for free. So it turned out to be a great finding opportunity! After that Matsuno Shimai took us to a café to visit her friend who runs the place. Her daughter actually just returned from...

Merry Christmas from the Matsumoto District! Okay, finally I will write a letter. On Tuesday we met at the golden clock at Nagoya Station with way too many missionaries to all exchange companions and go to our new areas. It's always a fun time! I met up with the one and only Sister Lima from the Amazon in Brazil! She lives near the Manaus Temple. She is so much fun. She also has an incredible testimony, every time she bears it to me each day and such a simple way. I feel the spirit so strongly. I can tell, as always, but very specially, we are going to see a lot of miracles together in Toyohashi. As we arrived in Toyohashi on Tuesday night, we were welcomed to our brand-new apartment. Not just new to us, literally brand-new. We are taking the stickers off of furniture and everything. We are so lucky! Sister missionaries have not been here for 17 years. The ward has been so welcoming and loving. I'm overwhelmed with the amount of love that I'm drowning in....

ブルーワ姉妹 Hello! I love Jesus and I love missionary work! This week I am transferring from Matsumoto to TOYOHASHI! it's right next to Okazaki, in the same zone I started out in. So excited for a new adventure. I learned how important preparation is this week, especially in 3 Nephi 4:18. We can prepare for all battles this life will bring by studying and acting upon the words of the prophets. So, be more ready than I was in this Zone Photo for whatever's next! Love you! Sister Brewer

Courtesy of Elder Hansen's mom. I swear my companion was in this photo. ブルーワ姉妹 HELLO! Whoa. *Adjusts mic volume, nods in apology.* Hello, fellow saints. This week was great of course because I'm a missionary. Too much happiness and blessings. Y'all should try it. Sister Gunn and I had some great adventures going to really really really far places. We went to cities like Azumino and Yamagata, such beautiful night skies and long country roads. All the rice is harvested and the fields are bare now, just like when I first arrived in Japan. Weird! All creatures of our God and King are stunning! I'm so grateful to be in a biking mission, enjoying all the outside has to offer. I am also extremely grateful for the spirit, which like a fire is burning and keeping us warm. On Wednesday we had a fun Thanksgiving party at our English class. It was fascinating trying to describe the concept of stuffing to everybody. They were convinced that it was disgusting a...

We are definitely neglecting the picture taking recently, sorry. So this is an accidental screenshot of our weekly report video we send to the area presidency each week. Enjoy. (なさい？笑) Hi fellow Organism samas. This week was a lot of up and down, of course! Quite a few cancelled appointments and a couple no-shows. We set a baptismal date with our investigator Manami, which was so exciting, her desire is so pure! She has been progressing wonderfully lately. Unfortunately, the meeting with her parents did not go well and the date has been cancelled. Another one of our investigators has been an investigator since 1945. Yes! She is 91 years old, going very strong. She spoke at a public event for seniors on Wednesday, and she talked about her experiences with missionaries. We got to go listen which became excellent language study and city introduction to the church! No, we can't figure out why she hasn't gotten in the water yet. Thursday I got to go on a companion e...

And that's what companions are for, taking secret pictures of your back in scenic Japan. Hello! This week I've have a new favorite food. It's called オムライス(omuraisu)、which is rice and vegetables in an omelette. SO GOOD. I crave it all the time. Don't worry though, I am still fully faithful to my kitsune udon and Mac and cheese favorites. (I'm coming up on one whole year without eating mac and cheese, can you believe it? How is she surviving. Faith, that's how). Speaking of foods, we visited a really awesome member this week whose house is hidden away in a secret beautiful mountain of smallness. I swear we bike 200 years backwards into this little yamavillage she lives in. That's was great! Her testimony is rocking. Japanese members are like celebrities. They have sacrificed a lot to become members, and they way they show their faith and pure love of Christ is exemplary. And she fed us tsukemono. Japan has this food called tsukemono. What wou...

As you know, Halloween is my very favorite holiday so I was so excited ALL week even though it's not a very big deal in Japan. However, we had successful Halloween parties for both Eikaiwa and the Branch. A lot of people came, it was so great! We didn't get the OK on costumes from the assistants until right before, so we had to run to the dollar store and see what we could do. We had a lot of fun and met a few new people with potential for gospel investigation. Yay! Monday we had a lesson with a newer investigator who brought one of her friends! Whoo-hoo! He was listening the whole time, the spirit was strong, then we asked him to read one of the passages in the Book of Mormon. He did, then flipped through it a bit and asked, (the first thing he has said all lesson) "Hm. I need to buy myself one of these books."  WAA! So then we gave him that one and exploded internally with joy (I feel like I type that a lot, but it happens a lot on your mission. Very hard ...

ブルーワ姉妹 Had a great time here, and even better time in the Book of Mormon this morning. Check out 2 Nephi 25. Much love!

And by that we mean rice fields, not just the mission field, because that is a lot of what we did this week. Our Ward Mission Leader gave us a list of Less Active Members to visit, which was very much appreciated! We have spent the week looking for them. We ventured to one of the valleys of Matsumoto about two hours from the church. We got off the train and followed our all-loyal, sometimes-accurate phone map to her coordinates. The map led us up some forested hills, around a highway, and through many beautiful rice fields hovered by cascading skies of stars. Because, there are no street lights in the country, as you are aware. Or many buildings for that matter, so we were counting the rice fields on the map to try to know where to turn. But the spirit led us along, we found her house AND she was home. We taught a short lesson and were able to give her a Book of Mormon, which she hadn't seen in a while. A miracle! I'm grateful for the warm experiences I have with the spirit he...

Not as sophisticated as you might think.

Hello! It's been a bit of a whirlwind around here, feels like a month since last Pday! I've been on the train more than in my futon, but now we are all Nice and settled here in beautiful 松本！This is the largest area in the mission, so overwhelmingly large, but it's in Nagano Ken so it's beautiful! The weather is very slowly beginning to cool down as well. Monday was so crazy right up to the last minute trying to move out, create the please-take-out-our-garbage-because-they-won't-today-since-it's-a-holiday Trash Schedule for the Elders, cleaning, packing, appointments, blah blah blah (or in Japanese-nani nani nani). Tuesday we had a great session of Trainers' training in Nagoya, then I stayed with beloved Takaku Shimai (my trainer) and Barazza Shimai in Kasugai that night. Back to Meito in the morning where I met Sister VICTORIA GUNN, from Jacksonville, Florida (shoutout to Alyssa). She is so genki and fun and loves the people in Japan so much! We are going t...

Hello, humans. Here's a bit of this week, the last of the transfer! First of all, we had EIGHT investigator lessons this week! *crowd cheers* that is about seven more than usual, wit was really thrilling. A lot of new investigators, so Rogers Shimai and I made a goal to invite everyone to be baptized. It was scary, but the spirit was so much stronger, and I felt like a real missionary! Two said no, four said maybe, and two said YES!! They have set the date for October 25. They are so beautiful!!! God has prepared them, and I am so grateful he led us to them. Their desire to follow Christ is there, it's so beautiful! On Friday we went down to Amori for the Branch President's family Home evening. His granddaughters, age six and four, were way too cute and seemed to enjoy the magic show. It was so refreshing, kids are so magic! Sister Takei also made an immense amount of delicious food, including lasagna, it's been a while since I've eaten that, it was...

Hello loyal readers! I'm still in Japan and the gospel is still true and I still love it all. Thank you so much for letters I have received! They are so wonderful to read. Post a scripture you have like decently and recently below! :) mine is Doctrine and Covenants 68:6. Smile be happy be missionaries! 6 Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come. 6 元 気を​出し​なさい。​恐れて​は​ならない。主​なる​わたし​は​あなたがた​と​ともに​おり、あなたがた​の​傍ら​に​立つ​から​で​ある。あなたがた​は、わたし、すなわち​イエス・​キリスト​に​ついて、わたし​が​生ける​神の​子で​ある​こと、わたし​が​かつて​おり、今おり、やがて​来る​こと​を​証しなければ​ならない。

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...