Social Media Fair 2015

As you probably saw on Facebook, we had a big Social Media Fair at the church by our mission home, which was the first of its kind in Japan. Members came from all around the mission to learn about how to spread the Gospel online. They had little breakout sessions including a Facebook session, Twitter, Mormon.org, and how to work with missionaries, which is where I came into play. About two months ago, the first counselor of our mission presidency asked me to do a presentation about how missionaries and members can work together on Facebook. I was so nervous! But I was able to prepare for a while, and then I had my presentation at the fair. It went really well. It was funny because I had to give three presentations, and the first one President Wada and the first counselor, President Stevenson, attended. After the presentation was over, they went up to each other and were like, "Nice choice! She did great." It was really funny. I felt honored to do the presentation, though. I really learned a lot about how members and missionaries can truly work to spread this wonderful a Gospel together in simple ways using the technology we have. We live in an amazing era. I feel really blessed because I feel like technology and Facebook usage has been a huge part of my mission experience. I've really learned a lot about it. All in all, even though I was way scared to present because it was in 100% Japanese, it went really well and I'm grateful for the opportunity that I had. Also, D Shimai and I took a picture in front of the room where I was presenting with the poster I used, so that's my new profile picture on Facebook!

Other things that happened this week: I gave my "good bye" testimony at Zone Conference. Normally I don't really cry when I bare my testimony, but I was crying from the get-go when I gave my good bye testimony. I didn't really know what I was going to say when I went up, but I figure I would talk about the things that I've learned and am still learning as a missionary. So I spoke on the Book of Mormon, our divine nature as God's children, the Atonement of Jesus Christ our Savior, and praying with faith. Obviously I've learned a lot more, but those are the things that I've really grown to know and apply in my life. The Spirit took the rest!

As far as investigators go, literally we didn't meet with anyone this week because they were all busy or sick, which stinks. We did do a lot of finding, though, so that was good. It's been a pretty big, good week overall! Being a missionary is hard, but I love it here! The church is true! I love you all and I'll talk to you next week!

Sister Lexie Dansie

Two by Two

Hi!

So I apologize now for the shortness of my email. My companion that I'm training, D S., did not receive an iPad and won't until mid-next week. We have to share until then, which includes sharing email time; therefore, I don't have a lot of time, so I'm really sorry!

As far as this week went, it was really good! We are back to two sisters again! R S. got emergency transferred to Kamiooka because another sister had to go home due to injuries. It's way sad, but being in two has been fun. It's really built mine and D S's relationship. We are actually a lot alike! She reminds me of when I was a new missionary. It's kind of cool! I'm trying to help her transition to missionary life be as smooth as possible because it's certainly not an easy process. She's a real champ, though.

We had our dinner and appointment with Y, our new investigator, and we were able to teach her the Restoration. She said she doesn't really believe in God, but when we finished teaching the restoration, she said that she felt like it was a message from God and that it was important to learn. She said she would start taking lessons. Miracle! We met with her again on Saturday and had another great lesson. She started asking us a bunch of questions about prayer and the Book of Mormon. In Japanese, the Book of Mormon is way hard to read, so we went with depth with what it meant and read some scriptures together. Afterwards, she said she would be able to read it, and we prayed together. She said an amazing prayer! She's way willing to learn! It's amazing! Then she came to church on Sunday! It was Ward Conference, so there were a ton of people there. I think it overwhelmed her a bit, but she said she enjoyed it. Hopefully we continue to meet with her this week! We are way happy about Y!

The rest of this week was good. Our recent convert, J S, went to the temple for baptisms on Saturday and said she loved it. Great things are happening around Tama! We have Zone Conference tomorrow, the last one before I leave. I'll be giving my goodbye testimony at it, which is so weird. I'll let you know how it goes next week! I love you all! Talk to you next week! The church is true! Love you!

Sister Lexie Dansie

Surprise!

Hey! So, before I start my somewhat spiritual, surprising email, I just want to let you know that I became an adult today! As a District, we went to Costco today because there is one close to us, and I bought a Costco card that will work in America, too! It was way fun to go to Costco! We bought a whole bunch of American food, so it was great! We have food for the rest of the transfer!

Okay, onto the surprise. So, on Tuesday night, after P-Day was over, I got a call from the mission home saying that R Shimai, and I will be training a new missionary this transfer. SURPRISE! I was way shocked, but I was excited. I spent Wednesday pretty much preparing the apartment for it because Tama had never seen three sisters. It's way cool!

Saying good-bye to W Shimai was way hard because we had a lot of fun together. But I met up with R Shimai S (transfer 7) and then we went to the mission home to get our new missionary D Shimai. We are having fun together so far! It's been great getting to know them. Also, being in a three-some again is fun. The Ward was way shocked to see three sisters walk in.

I don't have a ton of time today to write emails, I'm sorry. We had too much fun shopping at Costco and pretending that we were in America; however, we were able to meet with one of our potential investigators this week and went to Sports Night in Machida with her. We have another lesson with her today! We are way excited! We hope it goes well!

Sorry for the short email! We actually didn't do much besides that this week. I love you all so much and hope you have a good week!

Sister Lexie Dansie

Transfer 11

Hello everyone!

Sorry, I forgot to tell you last week that I would be emailing on Tuesday this week. We had Elder Ballard, Elder Ronald Rasband, and Bishop Gary Stevenson visit our mission and the Tokyo Mission yesterday! It was amazing! There were over four hundred missionaries gathered in the church adjacent to the Tokyo Mission Home to listen to an apostle of the Lord. They gave us some great council about testifying of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith at every chance we get, stressing the importance of prayer when teaching, and improving ourselves to find those who are ready to receive us. It was so awesome! Also, Elder Ballard is hilarious! I'll definitely remember that conference for the rest of my life.

Ok, so you're probably ready to hear about transfers. Sisters go home their 12 transfer, and I'm 11, so I only have two left! Three months! I'm staying in Tama as a Sister Training Leader. Sadly, though, W Shimai is transferring to Fujisawa stake, so I won't see her really anymore. My new companion is R Shimai. I'm excited to see how things go with her. Half of our district is transferring, which is so sad. I've really grown to love this district. We've worked really hard together. This transfer should be good, though! I can't believe I only have one more transfer call after this one.

We went and visited an old folks home (I can't remember the actual word for it in English) and talked to them about Family History. It was so cute! We gave them a family history chart so they can give it to their grandkids and great grandkids. Family History is really great. I can't wait to do family history work when I get home!

On Thursday we had President's Interviews. It's always great to spend some time with President Wada and ask him my questions. He asked me how many months I have left on my mission, and when I answered three months, he said, "You're making me depressed!" I'm really going to miss President and Sister Wada. A lot.

We also had a Questions of the Soul event this week. President Wada came and talked about faith while we watched clips of Indiana Jones. I don't know which Indiana Jones it was, but he had to go find the cup with water for eternal life. There were actually a lot of things that related to faith in that movie! At one point, Indiana Jones in hanging from a ledge, and his father reaches out to pull him up. While doing so, Indiana is mesmerized by trying to grab the cup on a lower rim. He almost slips from his father's grasp, when his father says, "Let it go." Indiana knew his father's voice and let go of the cup and was therefore pulled to safety. Just like with us, our Heavenly Father is reaching out for us, and he asks us to let go of the worldly things. If we do, we will spiritually saved and be able to return home with Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven.

Didn't think you could learn so much about the Gospel of Jesus Christ from an Indiana Jones movie, did you? It was a truly great event. We had two investigators come to it, and they were both really moved by it. One has committed to coming to church this week.

Pretty great week this week! We've actually found a lot of new people this week, too, so the work is going forward! I'm excited to continue the work in Tama! I love you all so much! Have a good week!

Sister Lexie Dansie

 

 

"For where your treasure is there shall your heart be also."

Hello!!

I hope you had a great Valentine's Day.

This week was pretty good. It was way fast! I don't know where the time went! Also, I have less than 100 days in my mission! That's waaaay crazy! It's going to be here before you and I know it!!

Nothing really happened this week until Thursday. We were really busy with Zone Meeting, then we taught a lesson to our recent convert with a member present. I love members because they are able to answer questions that I can't. We taught J Shimai about the Plan of Salvation and doing baptisms for the dead. The member really helped and supported her, so it was a great lesson. Then we made a video with one of the young women in the ward. She helped us do missionary work for this video. It will probably go on YouTube. It was way fun!

Then on Friday we had a Sister's Conference! It was way fun! The theme was "for where your treasure is there shall your heart be also" from 3 Nephi. It was a great conference! Sister Wada gave a training about letting the Spirit into our hearts and letting our countenances show it. We had trainings on a "kind heart", "healthy heart" and "sharing heart". It was really great and inspiring. Also, my trainer, S Shimai came back just for that day! It was so great to see her!

On Saturday, we had a meeting with the Machida Stake President. I haven't seen him since I was in Machida 1st Ward when I was a lot younger missionary. He said, "the biggest thing at has surprised me from this meeting is that Dansie S. can speak Japanese!" It was really funny. The Stake President is way nice.

Sunday was really fun, too! We got together with the youth in Tama Ward to do a big service project and then we had a birthday party for everyone that has a birthday in February. The youth in Tama Ward are really, really great! I'm inspired by their testimony everyday. They go through a lot not having a lot of LDS kids in their school, not even Christian kids, so their faith in Jesus Christ and testimonies are really strong.

That's about all for this week! I love you all so much! Have a good week!

Sister Lexie Dansie

Family History Blitz

Hello! Happy Valentine's Day! (Can't believe it's Valentine's Day already!)

This week was way good and way fast! Last P-Day was super fun! W Shimai used to serve in the Yokohama Stake, too, so we actually went back to Yokohama and did one of the most touristy things there. Kind of like the Empire State Building, but in Yokohama. There is a high rise building that takes you up 69 floors to an observatory where you can see all of Yokohama, Yokosuka, Mt. Fuji, and all the way into Tokyo. It was way beautiful! We went at night, so we saw the city lights turn on. Amazing! I'll send pictures!

Then on Tuesday, I went on splits back to Machida, which was way fun! We walked for days to find this park in Machida, then we did some dendo around there for a couple of hours. I went with a Nihonjin sister, so I spoke only Japanese for a straight 24 hours (if I had a Japanese companion,  that would happen more often). It felt good, though! I feel like I learn more Japanese when I do that. Also, it was nice to be in Machida again!

On Thursday, I went to Mission Leadership Council, which was great. I always leave there feeling like I need to do better, but way pumped at the same time. A couple of big themes from MLC were faith (Alma 32), accountability (being accountable to the Lord in everything that we do), and to make our conversations with people on the street more meaningful. It was a great reminder! After that, I was way motivated to talk to people on the trains, and I met one lady who has been helped by sister missionaries before. She was moved by their kindness, but she didn't really talk to them further. I was able to explain that we believe in being Christ-like people, and especially as missionaries, we want to help people and serve all the time. She actually accepted a Book of Mormon from me. She does live in Tama area, but I hope she meets missionaries again.

On Friday, we got on our bikes and went exploring. We found a way pretty park that overlooks Mount Fuji, and we found a girl in middle school who has interest in coming to church. We definitely want to go back to that area. But I haven't ridden my bike in a while, so my legs were way sore! I'm getting weaker!

Saturday was the best! We had a Family History Zone Blitz in Machida. There were about 69 missionaries there ready to spread the Spirit of Elijah. The Spirit that was there was amazing! All the missionaries were way diligent, and talked to everyone! The whole talking to everyone thing is a little hard I feel like in Tokyo because 16 million people live here; however, we talked to everyone! The zone saw some crazy miracles! Family History is really, really great, and it really softens the hearts of the Japanese people. That was a great experience!

 

Sunday was great, too! We had a woman who is from Colombia so she speaks Spanish and only a little bit of Japanese, came to church. I've never wanted to know Spanish more in my life! There is another lady in the ward who speaks Spanish and English (no Japanese) so we did a two-way translation! I translated from Japanese to English to the member, and then the member translated from English to Spanish for the investigator. It was way cool! I wish I could speak Spanish! Also, five investigators came to church this week, so that was a huge miracle!

This week was way fun! I love you all so much! Have a good week.

Sister Lexie Dansie

 

 

 

Shoveling Adventures!

Hey!!

This week was good! It snowed pretty hard on Thursday, so there was about 5 inches of snow on the ground. So guess what we did? We shoveled! Dad, you would be so proud of me! I shoveled for around three hours. I was exhausted, but it was great because we got to talk to a lot of people. One lady is actually curious about God. I asked her if she thinks there is a God, to which she said if there is, that would be nice. Then I testified of God and she said that we can come back and visit her. The blessings that come from service! I was way exhausted after shoveling, but it was so worth it! I'll probably even be willing to help with shoveling when I get home!

Another cool thing that happened this week is we've been really working with members on using Facebook and their Mormon.org profile for missionary work. We went to a members house on Monday to share with them a message about sharing the a Gospel online, and then we prayed together afterwards. On our way home, we found a lady that was really willing to meet with us again, and we scheduled an appointment, but because it snowed, it got cancelled; BUT we still found her! The faith of members is truly amazing. Then we were invited to have dinner with another family and we shared a message about sharing the Gospel online. I can't wait to see how the work is hastened online with these Japanese members. It's truly a great time!

Nothing else really happened this week. I love you all so much! Have a great week! Talk to you soon!

Sister Lexie Dansie