Hello!!!

Today is a little warm in Japan, but that is okay. We know it will
only get hotter from here. Which is crazy to think about, because it
is already so sticky. So I took an investment and got  nine dollar
haircut from one of the elder's investigators. It is now very short,
but that is okay. I am sure I will be in love with it in a few days.

Elder Cook came to speak! It was so cool hearing him give specific
instructions for our mission! He mainly talked about the love God has
for Japan. Which was very cool. Shaking his hand was awesome, but I
found when I did, it was just like shaking a really, really cool
person who has the Spirit's hand. He didn't know me, and I only know a
little bit about him. But then he spoke to all of us like we were best
friends. And I realized that that is the way God works. In very
personal ways in our lives.

We taught a new friend this week! She is from the Philippines, but is
fluent in Japanese and English. She is an awesome friend who wants to
know about God's love. We taught her how to pray.

I am very tall here. Sometimes that still surprises me.

I love all of you! I know I am doing what God wants me to do. And that
is an awesome feeling. If you pray  He can tell you what you need to
do.

愛していますよ
モレン姉妹

Kawasaki! 川崎!

 

I hope kanji can appear on computers over there. Because it is awesome
and helps describe culture here very well.
Well, this new area is awesome. I love my companion! She is so sweet
and loving! She also has perfect hair, which I would love to have. But
that is for later.

So, as with my other areas, we are finding a lot of people. Because
that is how God works.

I had an interesting experience when i first arrived in this area. My
companion has been in one area up until she transferred to Kawasaki
with me, so she had never opened before. And, as we were planning for
the first time, I said this,"It's okay. We are going to find people. I
can do that. i have done it before, and I can do it again."
-.-
Bad idea. What followed was a very difficult time to
find...well..anyone. To talk to anyone. Japanese got harder, talking
got harder, feeling the Spirit got harder. it finally got to the point
where I kneeled down on Friday and prayed-admitting my mistake. There
was NOWAY I was the one who found the people in the last areas, and I
had been too blind to admit it. That was when I realized that we
needed God more than anything. Really, truly honestly.
So the next day I turned it over to the Lord. ans we just listened to
the Spirit. And found a whole lot of people.
Yup, I didn't do that. My companion didn't do that.

Some of my favorite quotes I have been learning in Panasonic color this
past transfer is from Elder Bednar in the MTC:"The best missionaries
get over themselves and out of the way." I would not say I am "best" or
even remotely close- but I find when I focus days on the Lord and what
He wants and get out of the way- we accomplish what God wants us to.

I am trying to do that more and more with each decision.

I love you all!
Ai shite iru

Molen Shimai

New Place!!!

First off, Happy Mother's Day to everyone who is a mother/wants to be
a mother/whoever has had a mother.
So this week I am now in 川崎(Kawasaki) !

 I love it! 

We are starting from square
one, but I am pretty used to it by now. 

I know God helps us do hard things. 

 Things we normally could not do by ourselves. And I've found
the only way to do missionary work is to have the Spirit.
My companion is downright adorable. 

This is a picture of us on one of
those airplane escalator things.

In a train station.

Everyone rocks!
愛しています
モレン姉妹

ハロ!
 Everything in 高尾 right now is quite good. We received an email telling
us we would both be here for at least another transfer. The weather is
 improving, the bugs are girnourmous, and the people are awesome.
Seriously-they are. The ward here is amazing. On Sunday, we had to do
emergency splits because a Potential investigator needed some help at
the same time we had a lesson with our friend from Taiwan. So, I had
three companions: an 80 year old woman, a returned missionary, and a
27 year old who rode with me on the train. They were all so willing to
help! We told the Bishop, and he quickly got down to business finding
people. I was able to come back in during the last few minutes of the
 lesson, and was able to testify about prayer and baptism. I love my
Taiwanese friend SO much! She is in her 20s and we are so alike! I am
so glad I went on a mission so I could meet her and help her change
her life!
Our other friends are doing well. One friend(while at church) saw a
piano and asked why we had one. We said it was for our Sunday
meetings. She said she remembered going to a church once and liking
the music and how it made her feel. She asked if she could come and
listen.
Lately our friends we have been teaching have been asking a lot about
hope And I have been thinking about how I have found hope in my life.
Sometimes it is temporary, quick fix hopes. Hopes I will survive a
test, able to finish a conversation in Japanese, hope I will find
someone's house in these impossible streets. But the hope given by God
is different. It is a hope that is long lasting- a hope that things
will always be okay. Through scriptures, we know the ending of our
stories. And it is a good one. If we following what God tells us, it
will be a fabulous ending. That kind of hope is always in the back of
the mind, lighting all other thoughts and actions, keeping our little
problems in perspective.
Today there was a bird stuck in the church building. We were shocked
to see one when we came in. The thing with animals in Japan is that
 nobody kicks them. Nobody yells outside, or throws things at them- so
 animals aren't scared of people here. (P姉妹 was scared of it,
though) It was obvious it had been trapped in here for a while- it was
so weak and frantic. It kept trying to get out this single window-a
 window that cannot open. We opened every other window in the building
and even the front doors-but this bird wouldn't budge! We tried
everything I was taught in America to get the bird out-and nothing. We
 were frustrated and tired after working at this for a half hour. We
prayed that the bird would calm down enough for us to release it
outside. Then, the option that was so clear from the beginning came
up- "Just pick up the bird." So I go over, pick up the tiny sparrow,
put it in a basket, went out and let it out.
That is how the Gospel works. Not in gimmicks or tricks to get us
outside. Sometimes we think our safe passage is a way that seems good
 but will never get us to our goal outside-locked glass and false
 pretenses. Sometimes we are so focused on the wrong way we don't notice
God or others (who see more and understand than we do) trying to help
us. Sometimes we don't understand. And we need to trust God (Someone
we may barely know) to pick us up and show us the way. It is all our
choice.
I am emaling a day late because yesterday our ward went CAMPING!!!
 We went and had an absolute blast- even though the equivalent of
camping here is driving an hour away, renting out a big grass field,
and staying in a huge cabin meant for 40 with beds and full on
bathrooms. But it was fun. We were sitting with our friends when we
got our "transfer call". I told our Taiwanese friend how they worked
and said I would put it on speaker. It came, and I picked up. The ward
around us was too loud, so I could barely hear. I put the phone to my
ear.
"Sister Molen?"
"Yup, that's me."
"Are you ready for your transfer call?"
"Yes."
"Well, this decision is from the Lord.After much fasting and prayer,
it has been decided that you are transferring!"
 I paused, and my eyes jumped straight to P姉妹. I laughed. "Is
this a joke?"
The line was quiet for a few seconds. "No. This is revelation from the Lord."
My eyes flickered to my Taiwanese friend, who looked so confused. I
took a breath. "Okay."
"..You are transferring to Kawasaki! You will become senior companion
and your companion is Sister Smith. Do you know her?"
"Uh, yes. She is the sweetest person ever! She was a transfer below me
in the MTC."
 "Okay. Good. Is P姉妹 there?"
I pass the phone over, and she found out she is training.
So, long story short, I am white washing (what that technically means
is the area I am going into is getting a second companionship.So it is
 like opening) I move on Thursday.
I love being a missionary. It is difficult to leave people Iove and to
 move so often, but I know this is what God wants me to do. He sees the
whole picture-even when I don't. I know He knows what is best, and, as
I embark on another adventure, I trust He will be there with me.
This church is legit. God is real. And He wants to talk to us.

愛しています
モレン姉妹

Hello!

 
This letter will be quite short because we spent the morning hiking Mt
Takao- a beautiful mountain that takes up a lot of our area. It was
lovely, and looks like something from a fairy tale. At the top, there
is a beautiful view of Mt Fuji. We had a great time.

This week was good. We are opening this area, which means we are
setting up a foundation for future missionaries to come here. It is an
adventure, but I love it. We hope to be able to meet more people as we
live here and MORE IMPORTANTLY meet who God wants us to meet.
There is a lady who the elders referred the first week  because she
seemed to have interest in religion, but when we got there, we found
out that she was of another faith and just wanted to Bible Bash. After
trying to have a lesson with her, she set another appointment with us.
We responded by giving her a gift and saying we loved her, and if she
needed anything to talk to us. Below is said gift.

We keep meeting people in the coolest ways　We just pray, follow what
we are prompted, and find people. Not everyday, but we trust we meet
who we are supposed to.

Missionaries aren't prefect. I taught a very poor lesson to someone
this week. i feel very bad, because she deserved better. But I know
that, S we trust in God, He will help us become better and become who
He wants us to be.
That was about it this week.

I saw a flying Cheeto on Mt Takao (it was a ginormous orange bug)

This church is true, being a missionary is sometimes just living the
Gospel, and Takao has big bugs

Love you!
モレン姉妹