It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Hello and almost Merry Christmas!

I got your package today! Thanks so much! I'm excited to see what is in it, but I'm waiting until Christmas. Im practicing the Christ-like attribute of patience!

This week has been so filled with Christmas spirit! We watched the Christmas Devotional, which was amazing! I love that "Still, Still, Still" song. Then the 8 missionaries and an American member went onto Base to carol out front of the grocery store. It was a great experience! People sang a long with us, so many people were happy and  smiling, and we got to tell a few people who we are and what we are doing in Japan. It was a great missionary experience! And then, the grocery store was so appreciative of what we did, they gave us free lunch! That was one of my favorite parts of my mission. It's so fun to go spread Christmas cheer and tell everyone about how "He is the Gift". I'm pretty sure we are going to go on Base again and sing at the hospital, so I can't wait for that! This is really the best time of the year! And, we get to Skype in a week and a half!

 

Speaking of Christmas, we had the Military Ward Christmas Party, that I was able to go to. It was a Christmas miracle! It took so much time to set up, but with the missionaries and the all members effort, we were able to pull off an amazing party! About 180 people came, which is more people than have ever come to an activity at the church before! It was so packed, people had to eat and stand! A lot of our Japanese investigators and English class students came because they wanted to practice their English. It was so fun! The primary kids sang "Christmas Bells", and C Shimai and I had our moment to shine because we played the bells while they sang. Then they put on a skit where prophets from Isaiah to Joseph Smith testified of Christ's birth. It was a way spiritual experience! Christ is truly the best gift we can give this season. His gift of love, life, peace and hope is for everyone! I know that's true with all of my heart. I'm grateful to be a missionary now sharing His gift!

Nothing else new this week. Our investigators are doing well! Nothing has really changed there. I love you all, and I'm so grateful for your continuous support. I miss you, but I'll talk to you soon! Love you!!

Sister Lexie Dansie

Depression and the Atonement

Hello!!

It's really weird thinking about coming home. I've thought a lot about what to do at the end of my mission. Honestly, I have really mixed feelings about coming home. I'm excited, but I'm sad too. It will be here soon though!

This week was good! M actually hit a really low point in her depression, so she's been down for about a week. Because of that, she didn't come to church, so she can't get baptized on the 20th. We are still working with her though, so there's hope for the future! I think when she gets back up, I think she will be all for it again. Depression is really hard! I didn't realize how truly real it is until this transfer. It's scary, but I'm grateful for the knowledge that through the Atonement, we can rise above anything because our Savior has felt the same pain.

The good news is we got two other baptismal dates this week!! Our friend J, the Chinese, agreed to be baptized. Chinese are amazing! They are so humble and willing to follow Christ. Her date is for January 17th, and we are way excited! The other woman is K, who is half Japanese half American, and her American family are all members. She is scheduled to be baptized on February 7th! I'm excited for her because her family is here to support her on this journey towards baptism. We've been seeing a lot of miracles recently, which I'm so happy about. It's amazing being an instrument in the Lord's hand.

That's about all for this week! Sorry it's kind of short, but this is all the news that's happening lately! I love you all, and I'll talk to you soon!! Love you!

Sister Lexie Dansie

Transfer 9

Hi everyone!

Lots of news today! I got my release information today! It's kind of sad. My release day is May 22nd, which means I'm like serving a 19 month mission. Cool! The only worry is that I don't think I'll be able to go to summer semester at the U, but I can figure that out as the time gets closer.

Also, we just got transfer calls! I was so scared, but the verdict was good! I'm staying in Yokosuka for my 5th transfer!! C. Shimai and I are staying together as well! The other two sisters are staying the same, the only difference is I'm becoming Sister Training Leader. I'm scared, but I'm excited for this new adventure.

This week was really great! Thanksgiving was so fun! We played Turkey Bowl Football, then we went over to a member's house with M and had a blast. We ate turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie for hours!! Then the man who's house we went over to played guitar and we sang Christmas songs. It was so fun! I'm so grateful for the opportunity I've had and will have to spend the holidays on the Base! I'm grateful for you all, too! Thank you so much for all the support!

I'm sorry this week's email is kind of short, it's been a crazy day. I have a lot of pictures, though, so that's exciting! I love you all so much! I'm glad you all had a great Thanksgiving, too! I'll talk to you
next week! Love you!!

Sister Lexie Dansie

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all have a fun day! Eat some pumpkin pie for me! We are going over to a members house on Thursday and I'm going to stuff my face. M is going to come, too, so I'm excited for her to meet the members, even if they're American! It's going to be a great day. Even if I'm all the way on the other side of the world, I still have a lot to be grateful for.

This week was good. A lot of finding, but that's normal. We taught our Chinese friend, J, twice this week. She's doing great! Chinese are golden! I don't even know why, but they are golden! She's been accepting the Gospel really well, and she really likes the idea of living with her family for forever.

We had one really big miracle this week! So M was supposed to come with us up to Yokohama for a Questions of the Soul activity that President Wada was putting on this week, but the day before she got a fever and a cold. Our whole District prayed like crazy that she would still  be able to make it! I called her the morning of, and she still wasn't feeling well. Therefore, I told her to call us and make her final decision if she could or could not come by 2pm. And then we prayed, and we prayed HARD. When it was 2, she called and told us that she was feeling better and wanted to go! MIRACLE!! It was an amazing defining moment for her! She was able to meet President Wada and learn about the Plan of Salvation. She loved it! She was absolutely glowing when she told everyone that was there about her baptism coming up. M is amazing! She's going to be an amazing member. I love being a missionary because you get to experience just a bit of the love that Heavenly Father has for all of his children. I love M like she's my big sister. She's still really excited for December 20th!

We also had interviews with President Wada this week, which were  great! He said I might be able to stay in Yokosuka for another transfer. I hope so! Transfer calls are next week, and I'm way nervous! Since this is my 4 transfer in Yokosuka, I'm on the chopping-block, but I'm so hoping that I stay!! I'll let you know how it goes next week! I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Sister Lexie Dansie

The Blessings of Prayer

First of all, I'm so sorry for emailing late! I forgot to tell you last week that we had our Temple P-Day this week! It was really great! It was C Shimai's first experience in the Tokyo Temple, so it was a great experience. Also, I don't know if I ever told you this, but H Shimai is a convert. Two Japanese sisters taught her in Hawaii when she was 10. After the temple today, we had lunch with one of her missionaries. It was so fun!

This week was pretty good, but only two things really stuck out! First thing, C Shimai and I go walking every morning for exercise, and as we've done so, we met one of our 70-year-old neighbors who now goes walking with us, too. We invited her to a Branch Activity, which was hiking, on a whim, and we were totally surprised when she showed up! Her legs are pretty weak, but she didn't have anything else going on, so she came. We hadn't even made it to the mountain when she said she didn't think she could hike the whole way, but then some magic energy built up inside her and she did it! We hiked for 6 hours, but she made it! She's a pretty Buddhist lady, but while we were hiking we really had an opportunity to talk about God. When we reached the top of the mountain, the view was absolutely gorgeous! We could see all of Yokosuka and more! The old lady who walked with us told us that she had a lot of opportunities to hike this mountain, but because of her job and family, she'd never done it, and that from here on out  she will only get older and not be able to hike the mountain, so she told us how  grateful she was that we invited her. It was a great defining moment for her! She was able to talk to a lot of the Branch members, and she has since asked us questions about church. That was a huge miracle! We hope to give her a Book of Mormon this week.

The second miracle was one of the best things that has happened on my mission. So, as I told you last week, the Elders found two ladies who we have since started teaching. We met with one of them, M, twice this week. The first time we met with her, we taught her about the Book of Mormon and prayer. Then, we just taught her the Restoration yesterday. When we were reviewing prayer, she told us that she had tried praying. She pretty much told Heavenly Father everything in that prayer, that she is struggling because she's sick, she doesn't have any money, she fights with her husband all the time, etc. Then she told us that after she prayed, she didn't fight with her husband that day! At that moment I almost started crying because the Spirit was so strong and my testimony was solidified, once again, that prayer works and Heavenly Father will answer us. We continued with the lesson, and we felt strongly to invite her to be baptized. We asked her about December 20th, and she was so surprised! She thought she would have to wait longer to be baptized, she didn't think it could happen that quickly. She was so excited, and she willingly agreed! She's getting baptized on December 20th!! Our District has been praying and fasting for someone to get baptized, and it's M! She's been so prepared by the Lord. She's had so many struggles in her life, and she's only 28; however, because of that she's super humble and willing to hear the Gospel. I'm so excited! That will be the best Christmas present ever!

I love you all! Have a great week! The Church is true! Love you!

Sister Lexie Dansie

 

When One Door Closes...

Hi, everyone!

It's been a great week! Yokosuka actually got a fourth sister, so now two are assigned to just work in the Japanese Branch, and two are assigned to work in the English Military Ward. C Shimai and I, my new companion who I've been training, are over the Japanese Branch, and H Shimai and her new companion are over the Military Ward. It's exciting! It's nice to be able to focus my energy just on the branch now. Mine and C Shimai's goal is to make it a ward! I will miss everyone in the military ward so much though! I've gained a whole new respect for people in the navy and their families.

As far as investigators go, people have been getting sick recently, so a lot of our appointments fell through. We were only able to meet with one of our investigators, C. She's doing well! She says every time we meet that she can't agree to a baptismal date because she wants to understand everything first, even though we keep telling her that baptism is only the first step. But we will keep trying to help her get over her concerns.

When one door closes, two more open up! The Elders found two ladies that we now have an appointment with this coming week, and they are both interested in learning the gospel. I'm so excited to get to teach them!

That's about all for this week. Sorry, it wasn't super exciting. I love you all so much and I miss you! I'm grateful to be a missionary in Japan! It's way hard, but it's super rewarding, too. This church is true! I know it with all my heart! Have a good week! Love you!!!

Sister Lexie Dansie

慈愛 Charity

Hi everyone! It's been a great week. The weather has been off and on rain, but today is pretty warm, so it's nice.

This week was actually pretty interesting because all three of us got sick. I started getting a fever on Tuesday, and then all of us woke up on Wednesday feeling like we got hit by a train. Now, we just all have stuffy noses and stuff, so we are on the recovering end! I didn't have a voice for a couple of days though, so imagine these Japanese people talking to an American who claims to be a church volunteer but sounds like a chain smoker!

I do have a good story from this week, though, and it comes from being lazy! On Thursday, we had a big conference from Elder Ringwood and we learned a lot about charity. We learned a lot and it was truly inspiring. I wanted to try incorporating more charity in my missionary work. So on Saturday, I was on the train on the way to Stake Conference in Yokohama. On the trains, they have these pull-out seats, and I didn't want to stand up the whole time. I'm glad I sat down, though, because this old lady sat next to me, and she was so surprised that I spoke Japanese that she was will to talk to me. We were on the train for about 30 minutes together, so she really opened up to me. She explained that she has a really bad relationship with her daughter, and she's really sad about that. I pulled out the Book of Mormon (pronounced Morumon sho in Japanese) and opened up Moroni 7:45. She asked me to read it to her, and I'm still pretty slow when it comes to reading in Japanese, so I was afraid I would stumble; however, when I began to read, the Gift of Tongues came to me, and I read the scripture without stumbling. It touched her heart, and she accepted the Book of Mormon. It was a real testimony builder for me. I know charity can help us with every relationship in our life. I also know that the Gift of Tongues is real!

As far as investigators go, they have been busy this week, so we really haven't gotten to meet with any of them.

I love you all so much and miss you! Have a great week! This church is true! Love you!

Sister Lexie Dansie