Hello world! Happy Easter!

That is an interesting concept, actually. People here do not celebrate
Easter unless they are members of our church. But even if they do not
  recognize it, the whole world is affected by the events of Easter.
Everyone will live again.
My Easter was insane. Actually, it was very unusual. We woke up,
hurried to church to create our form for Mission Correlation Meeting
and then was informed that we were asked to go to Ward Council. So we
went to that, went to ward correlation and learned our ward will go
camping and they want us to come. Then we went to sacrament meeting
with our two friends. One is our friend from Taiwan, who gives the
most honest prayers I have ever heard in my life. The other is a
member's friend who went to a Christian church while she was doing a
homestay in Arizona. Both of them had a great time.
(side note here: I did not realize how big of a part wards play in
missionary work until I became a missionary. Our whole ward has been
dying for sister missionaries for months, apparently. So tgey have
been really supportive. And because we have a college in our area,
half of our ward is Returned Missionaries who still have the mission
fire inside of them. We can feel member's prayers in our work. THIS is
the lesson: after sacrament meeting, members came up, introduced
themselves, acted normal, and wanted to be friends with the new
people. That was it. And our investigators said they feel so
loved.That was it. I feel bad- I could have been better at that kind
of stuff.
That.....and the Bishop was so excited to have new investigators he
had them stand up in sacrament meeting.... but they were cool with it!
:) Okay, side note over)
So after sacrament meeting we LITERALLY RAN to the train station to
catch a train (we made it, bytheway) and traveled for two hours to
P姉妹 old area (which is about 10minutes from mine) to witness
her friend and her two children receive baptism. It was one of the
most beautiful things I have ever seen in the world- they all looked
so happy. We then stayed and talked, then got back on the train for 2
hours, made it home, ate dinner at about 7:30, texted out friends, and
collapsed in our futon.
That was my Easter. It was one of the best Easter's ever- seeing God
working in people's lives. Because He does. And #Because of Him we can
find more happiness than we could EVER find alone. I am not saying
this as a blanket statement-it is by experience that I know. And
everyone else can, too. It is so,so easy.
Happy Easter!!

The rest of the week was pretty wonderful as well. Had a sports night
with members!!! That was super fun. No matter what language people are
screaming...I still suck at volleyball. Saw someone outside watching,
and invited her in. She was super nervous, but then the Ward Mission
Leader came out and coaxed her inside using a cultural mix of "Come on
in" "Oh not, it's okay"s that I still don't know yet. But she had a
great time!!! It just goes to show that Mormons aren't
scary.  In other news, my English is really bad. I find myself speaking in a
mix of Japanese and English all day. So it is a little difficult when
you meet someone who only speaks English.
Bought a plant today. (it's Monday) His name is Geronimo, because
P姉妹 thinks he is going to die. I picked him out because he
looked really sick. But I know that, because we took Him out of the
dollar store and will water him, he will get better.
This turned out very long. But I love you all! Keep being the
wonderful,すばらしい people you are!
愛しています
モレン姉妹

OPENING MIRACLES

So, when you open an area, work is a little slow. Most of it is
walking, being led by the Spirit, and finding people. But, there are
things called "Opening Miracles". When you open and things tend to
fall into place.
Such it was with this week. we were packing to leave one day when we
get a phone call from our very sweet and sometimes timid District
Leader.
"Hey, we don't want to bother you, but if you had time, do you think
you want to teach a lesson right now?"
A member from another ward who goes to the college in our area showed
up at the church with her friend. Needless to say we went in the
genkan, said a quick prayer, and rushed out.
And her friend is the sweetest person in the world! She is from
Taiwan, and came here alone. She has such strong faith and loves to
pray. She is very sincere. We have a long road to travel with her, as
she knows nothing, but she is our friend. So we will have fun with
her!
Here are some things about Japan that are now normal to me:

-bowing to older ladies. And older men. and younger people.
-bread shops. Everywhere. Japanese bread paves the streets of Heaven.
-boys wearing traditional button up Japanese jackets to church
-Sakura petals falling around you like snow
-praying in Japanese
-Everyone is super fashionable.
-No one eats in public. Unless you are from Fukuoka
-Being on trains that are so crowded you can't move.
-Not being able to read signs (I will get there one day!)
-Having everyone stare at you. Occasionally when I say konnichi wa on
the street, they gasp. But that is okay. They are all awesome people

I love being a missionary. Nothing is more fun. it is not easy at all,
but there is nothing I would rather be doing right now.
Love you all! Keep at it!
ai shite imasu
モレン姉妹

Hello!!!!!
I am now in Takao!!!! It is a countryside place and is exact opposite
of Yamate. It is a suburb and half of our area is just mountains. (if
you can't find it, try Hajiouji) It is gorgeous.
The ward is amazing. They have so much faith and want to work with us.
The Bishop is probably the happiest person I have ever met. I will
include a picture of when we went to his house yesterday for dinner
 (he is taking the picture, so he isn't in it)
 P Shimai is my new companion. She has been out for as long as I
have. We have both opened areas before, and are stoked to do it again.
Opening an area includes:
Meeting people
Finding friends (which includes people who want to hear why we are
here and why we love God so much)
setting up apartment
creating a map
setting up relationships with the ward
Inviting new friends to teach
and many many many other things. Our Mission President told us, "Yeah,
I had a pretty good laugh thinking about two transfer threes opening
an area." But then he said, "I think the Lord really trusts you."
That is an interesting statement. Because we spend all of our time
trusting in Him. We know enough of the language to scrape by, have
taught lessons with senoir companions before, and have just barely
finished our training from the MTC. So it is to be noted that God is
not putting us here because we are experts or perfect. He is putting
us here because this is HIS work. And as we have a ball these next few
weeks trying the best we can, we know God will help us. Because that
is what He does. As my wise companion says,
"There is a reason why we are here. It is because God wants it done
right. Not because we are special anything like that. It is because we
are young enough to listen and humble enough to do what He says. And
we know we need to trust in Him. And we will do it His way. That is
 really the only choice we have."
I am so excited to be involved in God's work. It is real because He is
real. And as we have wonderful adventures these next few weeks doing
our best, we know God will bless the people here and bless us to
become what He needs us to be. And while we stumble and make mistakes,
we are choosing to have fun through it all!!! It is a blast to be
here!
This church is true. God lives.
You all rock!!! Keep being wonderful!!!
Love you!
Sister Molen

SAKURA

So, I am supposed to be in my new area called Takao right now. But,
because sometimes Japanese paperwork can be difficult, my new
companion and I will move in on Friday. So I am still partying in
Yamate! Which is nothing to complain about. this area is wonderful,
the people are nice, the Spirit is super strong, and it is sakura
week!
Sakura in English is cherry blossoms. they flowrrs come out only for
 about a week or two every year. And peolple talk about them coming
months in advance and months aftera they are gone. At first I didn't
know why, but now...ohmygosh. I can totally see why people love them!
 One lady who owns a pottery shop near the church describes it as when
the flowers fall from the trees, it is like rain. We are going to a
special park today.
 And by we... I mean THREE of us!!! H姉妹 trainee is P姉妹. She
is SO sweet! J love her. She is honestand bold and has SO much faith!
I believe she is awesome!
So with all of the craziness with people moving in and me almost
moving out and then not...we had a crazy week. We did teach a less
active who was baptized about 10 years ago. She doesn't remember
anything about the church. But, when we taught her and her son, the
Spirit was so strong!! She wants to learn so much!
I am saying goodbye to some of my dear friends and PIs this week. It
 is actually very hard. I hope that I can leave them knowing that they
know that i know that this church is true and because I want them to
be happy, I yearn for them to learn about it and to grow in it.
Actually, I have an onegai (request) for everyone. If you would not
mind praying for one of our investigators. She is actually sick and is
unable to meet with us, and we are worried. We have been praying for
her, but if you have time, if you could pray, that would be good.
Thank you everyone! I love you! This church is real and legit! Keep
being wonderful!
Love you!
モレン姉妹

Okay!
So, first: hi. (I said that this week. We got lost in a station and
were running around. We slowed down to ask her for directions, and I
said, Saisho ni, konnichi wa. She laughed for a long time. It was
great!)
So, today is our Zone Leader's last P day in the mission field, so we
are celebrating it! So, I am emailing now in the morning.
 News: I am transferring! Again! We both saw it coming, as H姉妹 is
basically a stud, so she is training someone new. I am going to Takao,
 which is much more country than Yamate. My companion is P姉妹! We
we in the MTC at the same time but in different classes! She is
hilarious! And we are opening. It is a lot of new stuff. But one thing
 H姉妹 taught me was when life come like crazy, you can either
freak out (like I usually do) or just have fun and enjoy the ride. I
will do the latter.
The only crazy thing is that we don't have an apartment wyet. So i
 will be in Yamate until
it gets approved, which should be by Sunday. Which will be
 interesting because we only have two futon and the new girl is coming
on Thursday. Party!
This week...was amazing! Met a lot of new amazing people, and we
taught a lesson to our neighbors upstairs. they have SO much faith! SO
 much! They, like basically all 日本人 here, have no knowledge of God and
are like babies! But they believe God is there and are just so
ready!They accepted the baptismal commitment, soI hope I can come back
for to see them. They are just heroes to me. I would like to be more
like them.
 Um..what else?
I love you! God is real, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday
 Saints is His true and full church just is. Trust me. It is
awesome.
Love you!
モレン姉妹

ADVENTURES IN JAPAN 3/17/14

So, on Monday I had a serious talk with my companion. I talked about
how bad I was a Japanese.
"You are doing fine," she said.
"No, I know I am not, I cannot speak well at all."
"You are doing fine."
"No, I am not!"
"You just stress too much about the language. Tell you what; try not
stressing about it for a few days and see what happens."
"...fine..."
And guess what? This week was AWESOME! I just decided to accept the
fact I am not perfect at Japanese and more fully focus on my purpose.
Do you know what I found? When you are focused on what matters most,
other things fall into place. I was able to say things to people that
they needed to hear-not fancy, but good enough for them to understand
the importance of this message.
I spoke of my friends last week. We gave them Books of Mormon. And
last night one texted at about eleven at night (I always end up as the
one in charge of the phone) And she said that she has been reading it
everyday and loves it!
I taught ballet this week to a group of 40 year old women (in English)
I didn't think that talent would come up to serve others.
Finally, I will talk about our neighbors. I forget if I have mentioned
them. On our third day here (in a snow storm) we gave brownies to our
neighbors. We knocked on their door, they opened it and the first
thing they said is "We want to go to church。We want to learn about
God." So everyday afterward (except some days we would not have time)
we would go up the totally taken stairs and knock on their door. And
they would NEVER answer. it became a joke among us eventually, and we
were concerned about wasting time. We were about to stop our efforts
and say that the young girl who answer probably had a crush o  the
Elders who lived there before us (that is SO common here. Seriously.
If you need a self esteem boost, come to Japan. Because of you are
American, everyone you meet will tell you you are beautiful. ) But a
warning voice went off in my head. We needed to keep visiting them. the
voice was so strong I chose not to ignore it. So, as tough as it was,
we kept going up. And then, this last week, we did it again without
thinking too much. And they answered! We were SO shocked. They
answered with the same enthusiasm. They said they had been trying to
visit our apartment for weeks, but we were never home. but they never
gave up! They asked if they could come to church and, even though they
didn't understand most of the sacrament meeting, they asked how they
could join. They have SO much faith! They are so wonderful! I am so
glad to witness how God is touching their lives and I am so glad He
warned me so they could hear the Gospel.
In other news, we found our first cockroach in our bimio apartment.

We had Zone Pday today. We played in a beautiful park.
We keep meeting prepared people.
This church is legit.
love,
モレン姉妹

Other Pics from Japan:

 

Hello everyone!
This week was full of magic. And by magic, I mean wonderful wind, cool
高校せ, and sassy splits!
So, yesterday was a very blustery day. And by blustery I mean it was
freezing! But I absolutely loved it! 山手 is famous for their sakura
blossoms, which have started to appear here and there in the past few
weeks. I am very excited!
We met with some of our friends this week, who I will call 田中 and 山下!
They are the cutest High school students in the world! I love them so
much! We gave both of them the most precious thing we own (Book of
Mormon) and are inviting them to church activities.
Missionary work here is quite interesting. People here have very
little, if any knowledge, of religious things. So when we say we are
missionaries, they think of blood, crosses, and people taking their
money. Our job is to show what it actually is-and we do a lot of that
through service. And when people have friends that are members of the
church or as they get to know the missionaries better, they see a
light. And then, when we talk about the Gospel and the fact that it
makes us happy, they understand. because they see the light that is in
us.
I went on splits to Yokosuka on Friday with Maloy姉妹! She has been out
for a few weeks, so we had a ball. (she took Captain America in the
MTC, but that is a different story.)


So, we went to go housing(I think she means tracting -hermom) for her first time. And she said she heard of a method where you praying and then go by doors until you feel one is right. So I said, "Yeah, okay". And we did. And we found a door and she said it felt right. So she knocked on it. No one was home. Then we
just did the one to the left, because we felt like we should. A
teenage boy answered the door (we were by an American Military base,
so this was in English.) And we stood there for a moment before I
left the words come out, "We are missionaries and we prayed to know
which house God wanted us to go to tonight and we felt something about
this one." Awkward pause...., "Have you ever thought about God?"
"Um, actually, yeah. I want to go to a church, but due to my situation I can't."
Maloy姉妹, "I know that God loves you. And you are literally His son.
And He wants you to be happy, so he sent us."
He was so cool! We gave Him the Book of Mormon and talked to him some
more. I wish I could know what is happening!
I know God loves absolutely everyone. Even the ones that aren't
listening for Him. He loves us all, so that is why we have the Gospel.
That is why I am His missionary.

Love you all!

モレン姉妹