BAPTISMS anddddd transfer calls

Konnichiwaaaaa!

This week. WOW. What a week. For starters... MAKI AND KAZUKI GOT BAPTIZED! *crowd goes wild* Legit best day of my entire life. I was allllll smiles.... well... and tears;) I don't think words can really even describe how I feel... Soooo... I will use my lovely companion's words. Now let's turn it over to Ohki 姉妹. "It is hard to describe the absolute joy I felt watching Maki make her first covenant with her Father in Heaven and then seeing her watch her son enter the waters of baptism right after. Maki looked so full of light and joy and after we all just cried together. The Spirit was craazzyyyyy strong. It has definitely not been an easy road for Maki, but she has witnessed so many miracles along the way and now her posterity will be blessed for generations to come. Her children and their children and all of the Tanakas from here on out will have the opportunity to be raised in the gospel, knowing about their Father in Heaven, His plan and how to get back to Him one day. I have a testimony that God lives and that He knows and loves each of His children. He is aware of our unique situations and does everything He can for us to come back to Him. He wants us to be happy, and that path of true, lasting happiness begins with coming unto Him!" See? Her wording... Beautiful. ;) But really, it was such a special day. One I know I will never ever forget. We will be friends for eternity and that is so special to me. I feel so so blessed to be here for Maki's and Kazuki's baptisms and know that I truly needed to meet the Tanakas. They have changed my life and being a part of their journey has been a privilege! :)

So the day after the baptisms we received our transfer calls and on another huge note.... I am officially leaving my bean area... I am seriously heartbroken but excited for my next adventure! I will next be going toooooooooooo..... NIIGATA. WHAT. I know that means absolutely nothing to all of you in America. But here? That's huge. Niigata is the very north of my mission, right on the ocean. It is countryside and known for being freaaaaakishly cold *aka send prayers*. Kind of one of those places in Japan that when you tell people you're going there, their eyes get really big and they go WHATTTTT? Ya. I am excited. Haha! The church is fairly new there as well so it really is going to be sooooo different from my first area! I will be a Sister Training Leader with Sister Domino. I have heard sooooo many good things about her and can't wait to work with her! LET'S GO NIIGATAAAAA.

Although I am really excited for what these next few months have in store for me, I am soooooo sad to be leaving. ESPECIALLY leaving Sister Ohki. She actually will be training this next transfer which is so so crazy and exciting! When President Nagano called us this morning he was like, "Mod Shimai you get to meet your granddaughter already!" WOOOOHOOOO! I am so so excited for her. She is going to KILL it. (tbh a little jealous of her next companion)  We are heartbroken to be leaving each other. She has become my absolute best friend and working with her every day was soooo fun. I swear we both have 6 packs now from laughing so hard all the time. I will miss her sooooo much! Missions are cool. They give you a chance to meet your best friends and learn more about your Savior Jesus Christ. What more could you ask for? I hate to say it everyone, but your favorite cream puff lovin' companionship has come to an end.... Stay tuned though because coming Fall 2018 we will be back at the Y together as roommates eating all the cream puffs you could ever imagine. ;)

CHURCH IS SO TRUE I PROMISE YOU!

xoxox

Modersitzki 姉妹

Fun facts:

"Scary Barbie hits Japan"

-JAPAN HAS THE CREEPIEST PHOTO BOOTHS ON THE PLANET. THEY MAKE YOU LOOK LIKE YOUR EYES ARE THE SIZE OF MARS. We went to one with our friend Elen that we met this week and I am convinced the booth turned me into a Barbie..... But.... Nihonjin love them... Stay tuned for pics;)

Akari chan aka my little sister. She skypes us all the time
to ask if we can hang out. SO CUTE!

Adorable!

Twinning is winning!

More baptism pictures:

The crew (Kimora family, Takara family. The friends who introduced
Maki to the gospel.))

By the way... I live on an island

No joke when I say we eat sushi practically every other meal <3.
Also, it's cheeaaaappp #blessingsoflivingin日本

Heyyyoooo!

 

Another week and I am already emailing again?! BYEEEEE. Okay, well first of all, let's just take a moment and do a little throwback real quick..... I OPENED MY MISSION CALL A YEAR AGO TODAY. WHAAAAAAAAAAAT. Literally didn't even realize it. Next thing we know we're going to be throwing my 40th birthday party? :') WHAT IS TIME.

This week, as always, was just the best. All week all I could think about was how lucky I am to be here working with my best friend companion, with my best friend investigator, an amazing district, in the best wards, the nicest people, the best food, on an island? Yep. Still throws me off that I live on an island.... Every few days Sister Ohki and I have to remind each other lol. But annnnnyyyyyyways. Ya. Just feeling super super grateful! There is a good chance that this week will be my last week here because I have been here for 4 transfers which makes me so so sooooo sad, but it's really been the biggest blessing to be here! *hint hint: send prayers that a. I don't transfer, and b. Sister Ohki and I can stay comps for the rest of our missions, thx*

Maki update of the week! She is doing sooooooo good! In fact SHE QUIT TOBACCO!!! WOOOOOOOOO! We basically live at her house we are there so much, but it is so fun and she is getting soooo excited for baptism! In fact today she started filling out the forms and planning her own baptismal program. #CUTE. We are praying soooo hard that she will be able to get baptized this weekend. I can't believe it's actually here! 

Life is more than good. Every day I am learning so much and I love the gospel more and more each day. THE CHURCH IS WAYYYY TOO TRUE. I'M SERIOUS. I can't believe that I get to share this message every day... So amazing. God is sooo real, Jesus Christ really did atone for our sins, and I LOVE THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS! 

SAY YOUR PRAYERS

xoxo

Modersitzki 姉妹

PS. So so sorry I could not respond to like anyone today. It was crazyyyyy. I PROMISE I will respond!! ごめんね～！

Fun facts: 

-Train stations. We live at these places. You base everything off of the nearest station. Also, they have fake rain forest and bird sounds that play in them while you wait for your train. Lol. Soothing am I right? 

Mission school with the homies.

Maki says that Akari is literally turning into us. Today she even said "Let's goooo!"

Kids English class! Soooooo fun. Also, for all those who are wondering why
Elder Morris is wearing a nice paisley scarf, we taught weather so it was cold...
in the room... Hence the snow... on the ground... duh ;) 

I'm going to guess that they're teaching about animals. :)

Sushi making?

The cream puffs make an appearance. AGAIN! Haha!

Clearly she is still the same old Shae in a lot of ways. :) 

JOY!

​

Heyyyyyooooo!

As always, this week was crazyyyyy but I wouldn't have had it any other way! Let's just name a few highlights of the week.

1. MAKI AND THE KIDS ALL CAME TO CHURCH! Sister Ohki and I went over in the morning before church and then all 5 of us biked to church together #goalz. It was suchhhhh a happy day. The ward is soooo welcoming too and everyone is PUMPED about her baptism...... which brings us to our next point!

2. KAZUKI IS GETTING BAPTIZED! You heard it heard here first folks. 11-year-old Kazuki is getting baptized with his mom! He called his grandma yesterday and told her the news.. even though he is still way casual about it with us and pretends like it's no big deal... ;) #tweensamiright. The elders are now teaching him so he thinks he's wayyyy cool. Lol. Sister Ohki and I could not be more excited. At the beginning of this transfer we were setting goals and we both talked about how amazing it would be to see a family get baptized. The amount of happiness that I have because the Tanakas will be baptized together is more than a 4-year-old at Disneyland.. with ice cream... and a new car....

When Satan is mad that the Tanakas are getting baptized and sends a
hurricane real quick but you just take it and roll with it. ;)

3. ALLLLSSSSSOOOOO..... MAKI CAME TO THE TEMPLE WITH US TODAY!! She is so excited to be able to go in one day and was sooooo happy! We went with Kiyomi 姉妹 and practically spent the day together! My best friends all at my favorite place. It was a super special moment to be able to tell and testify to Maki all about the temple, at the temple, because for those who know me well you know that the temple is probably my favorite thing in this entire world. So so so so so so so happy. 

So yes. Overall, my life is amazing. I am so lucky and cannot thank God enough for allowing me to come on my mission to Japan and have the opportunity to work with my eternal friends. THE CHURCH IS SOOOOO TRUE. 

SAY YOUR PRAYERS EVERYBODY

xoxo

Modersitzki 姉妹

Fun facts:

- Last week I talked about how polite people are here... Well, to add to that there is a phrase that everyone uses, 失礼します, which literally translates to "I am rude." You say this whenever you hang up the phone, when you get out of a train, all sorts of things. Just imagine ending a phone call... "Okay, talk to you laterrrrrr byeeeee I'm rude!" Lol. #japanese

When you get on a train and it's a rapid so you miss your stop and take
an extra 40 minutes to get to zone mtg #nice

I call this one... joy

When Sister Ohki gets real artsy ft. pigeons

The missionaries learning kendo (Japanese swordsmanship). How cool is this?

Heading to church!

I'm not sure what is going on here exactly, but I'm going to go out
on a limb and say it involves food of some kind. Haha!

Having fun with Akari chan. 

Future missionary. She is adorable!

Great day at the temple. So so so so happy!

And one last picture, because this is sooooo Shae:

"Oh" ft. bird

BAPTISMAL DATESSSSSSSSSS

KONNICHIWAAAAA

Ok. Wow. This week. SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT. WHERE DO I EVEN START?!? I think first things first. We had a lesson with Maki this week and SHE SET A BAPTISMAL DATE. And not just that, she invited her 11-year-old son, Kazuki, to be baptized with her! WHATTTT. My mind is still blown. She is SO excited about baptism and it has been so cool to see the light come out from within her. The day before we set a date with Maki, we had interviews with President Nagano. He is just so wise. Welllll, let's just say my entire interview was about Maki. At one point of the interview he asked me, "So Sister Modersitzki, have you figured out why you were sent here yet?" When I replied saying Maki, he said he completely agreed. She is such a special one to me. He then told me that because I had been in this area for 4 transfers now it was almost guaranteed that I would transfer in 4 weeks. That broke my heart, but he told me that if Maki was progressing as much as we said she was, she could totally be baptized before then. The very next day, we had the lesson with her, and when I told Maki that I would probably be leaving, she began to cry. The spirit was so so so strong and as we were both in tears we invited her to be baptized. It makes me tear up just thinking about it.... But through her tears, she looked at me and simply said, "やりましょう.”, or in other words, "Let's do it." Maki will be baptized on February 26th, the day before transfers.... This is a tender mercy that I will legitimately be grateful for the rest of my life. The opportunity to be here for her baptism is a privilege and I could not be happier. SOOOOO EXCITING! Her heart has been changed and she has the purest desire. YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYYYYY (!!!!!!!)

Doing the English challenge.

Other than that this week has been great. We did a fun English game/challenge in the middle of a super busy street which was a blast. Our mission has been pushing for creativity lately, so let's just say I am on cloud 9. MISSIONS ARE THE BEST!

Thank you for all the love and support!

SAY YOUR PRAYERS

xoxo

Modersitzki 姉妹

Fun facts:

-EVERYONE backs in when they park their cars... It's incredible. There is no room for anything in this country, yet somehow they all manage to fit themselves backwards... what.

-Japanese people are legit the most polite in the world. There are different words and phrases that you have to say depending on who you are talking to, their rank of authority, and your relationship. It's crazyyyy! But seriously, they are so so so

I love seeing how happy she is!

nice!

-Wearing kimonos in downtown Kawagoe (please enjoy the fur, and the staring grandma)

-Kiyomi 姉妹 aka our 3rd companion <333
(s/o to her for dressing us in kimonos today)

Maki committing to stop smoking. :)

Out doing missionary work with Kiyomi Shimai (a member). She's fantastic!

-"oh" ft. onion