Hello!
I made it to Yokosuka safe and sound! I was actually a little sick with a cold the day I transferred, but I'm feeling a lot better now.
My last week in Machida was really busy and really sad. I said a lot of hard goodbyes, but I was still excited for the next adventure! If you remember B Shimai (the sister from New Zealand), she transferred at the same time as me. We spent all three transfers together in Machida. She became my really, really good friend! I hope to see her again soon!
Just a little bit of information about Yokosuka. From Machida, it takes about an hour and a half to get here by train. It's pretty far! Here are two southern most points in our mission. Yokosuka is one of them, so I'm pretty far away from everything, but that's ok! Yokosuka is beautiful! It feels like Hawaii here. I live on the 13th floor of my apartment building, and the view is beautiful! I live pretty close to the military base, and there are a ton of Americans walking around. Also, there is a lot of American food in our apartment because the grocery stores on base are American. It's like heaven around here!
My first few days here have been some of the busiest in my entire mission. There are a lot of investigators here, so we are busy with lessons. It's great! Since I am senior companion now, I felt a little bit of pressure because I can't speak Japanese fully and we have to teach all of these lessons. My companion is great, though! She talks a lot too in lessons, so I'm super grateful for her! She's very obedient, which is good. Hopefully there we will see a lot of miracles because of that!
We had stake conference this past weekend, and there were a couple of sessions. The first session was on Saturday night, and we went to Kanagawa for it. I saw M Shimai and M Shimai there! It was so fun to see them there. Now regarding the title of this email, the stake president got up and spoke really easily and powerfully. He first had missionaries stand up and talked to us, then he had all the members stand up, too. He asked them, "where are your name tags?" He then said, "it's on your heart." He talked a lot about member missionary work and he said every member is missionary. I thought it was a really great talk, and it really touched me. Everyone is a missionary! We can all help people come unto The Lord.
Then on Sunday, we went to the English ward for their stake conference, and it was all in English! Afterward, we had a potluck of American food! It was incredible! The members I the English ward are really great and welcoming! Yokosuka was only opened up to sisters 4 transfers ago, so we are still pretty new. They love sisters! I felt very welcomed!
I also got to experience something I feel not a lot of missionaries get to experience, and that is a Japanese funeral. One of the members in the Japanese branch died last week, so I was able to attend. It was really different from American funerals. A lot of Buddhist people came because they wanted to see what a funeral was like in a Christian church. It was super sad, but at the same time there was hope. I'm so grateful for the plan of salvation! The man that died had a wife and a 17-year-old son, so I know they will get to live together again someday. The gospel really does being peace, hope and love into everyone's life, and that's why I'm here in Japan. I want to share that love and hope with everyone I meet!
That's about all for this week. I'm looking forward to my first full week in Yokosuka! I love you all so much, and I miss you! I pray for you, as well as the rest of our family, everyday. Talk to you next week!
Lexie
ダンジー姉妹
I made it to Yokosuka safe and sound! I was actually a little sick with a cold the day I transferred, but I'm feeling a lot better now.
My last week in Machida was really busy and really sad. I said a lot of hard goodbyes, but I was still excited for the next adventure! If you remember B Shimai (the sister from New Zealand), she transferred at the same time as me. We spent all three transfers together in Machida. She became my really, really good friend! I hope to see her again soon!
Just a little bit of information about Yokosuka. From Machida, it takes about an hour and a half to get here by train. It's pretty far! Here are two southern most points in our mission. Yokosuka is one of them, so I'm pretty far away from everything, but that's ok! Yokosuka is beautiful! It feels like Hawaii here. I live on the 13th floor of my apartment building, and the view is beautiful! I live pretty close to the military base, and there are a ton of Americans walking around. Also, there is a lot of American food in our apartment because the grocery stores on base are American. It's like heaven around here!
My first few days here have been some of the busiest in my entire mission. There are a lot of investigators here, so we are busy with lessons. It's great! Since I am senior companion now, I felt a little bit of pressure because I can't speak Japanese fully and we have to teach all of these lessons. My companion is great, though! She talks a lot too in lessons, so I'm super grateful for her! She's very obedient, which is good. Hopefully there we will see a lot of miracles because of that!
We had stake conference this past weekend, and there were a couple of sessions. The first session was on Saturday night, and we went to Kanagawa for it. I saw M Shimai and M Shimai there! It was so fun to see them there. Now regarding the title of this email, the stake president got up and spoke really easily and powerfully. He first had missionaries stand up and talked to us, then he had all the members stand up, too. He asked them, "where are your name tags?" He then said, "it's on your heart." He talked a lot about member missionary work and he said every member is missionary. I thought it was a really great talk, and it really touched me. Everyone is a missionary! We can all help people come unto The Lord.
Then on Sunday, we went to the English ward for their stake conference, and it was all in English! Afterward, we had a potluck of American food! It was incredible! The members I the English ward are really great and welcoming! Yokosuka was only opened up to sisters 4 transfers ago, so we are still pretty new. They love sisters! I felt very welcomed!
I also got to experience something I feel not a lot of missionaries get to experience, and that is a Japanese funeral. One of the members in the Japanese branch died last week, so I was able to attend. It was really different from American funerals. A lot of Buddhist people came because they wanted to see what a funeral was like in a Christian church. It was super sad, but at the same time there was hope. I'm so grateful for the plan of salvation! The man that died had a wife and a 17-year-old son, so I know they will get to live together again someday. The gospel really does being peace, hope and love into everyone's life, and that's why I'm here in Japan. I want to share that love and hope with everyone I meet!
That's about all for this week. I'm looking forward to my first full week in Yokosuka! I love you all so much, and I miss you! I pray for you, as well as the rest of our family, everyday. Talk to you next week!
Lexie
ダンジー姉妹
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