Helloooooo Tokyo!: December 2017

The one and only SHIHO!!

HEYYYOOOOO!

OH MAN. Where to even begin this week. Sooooo much happened and there's not much more I can say besides, this is God's work. I have a testimony of that! Here's a few of the miracles of the week.

First things first. Remember the man, Mark, who walked up to me a few weeks ago and told me he had been talking with missionaries online and wanted to learn again? Welllllll..... Mark has been meeting with the elders almost every day, is speaking with both us and the elders in a group message 24/7, came to church yesterday, and IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SUNDAY! I KNOW RIGHT?? The other day I received a message from him thanking me for finding him that day in Nishi Kasai a few weeks ago. He said that he was touched by studying with the Elders and felt God calling him to be baptized into the restored church. I read it, FREAKED OUT, called the elders, and then they told me to go look at our group message with him... I did, and saw the following message.

Live on the streets showing the new Christmas video.

"I decided after prayer to go thru repentance and be Baptize. Today while studying i felt a very deep calling in heart. Hope Devin (Elder Smith's first name lol) can schedule it. Thanks to God and also to Mod."

My district has began using that phrase ever since.... "Thanks to God and also to Mod." Lol too good.

But being serious, over the past 1 1/2 years I really have learned that it's not us who deserve the credit in the slightest. I am not the one to thank at all, but I am grateful that God was able to guide me to be in the spot that I was that day. Mark is very special to me and honestly I consider him as one of my own investigators. I am sooooo excited for him and soooo happy that I get to be here for his baptism! God is good.

Speaking of being at the right place at the right time, this week I had exchanges in Nakano. It was the definition of a miracle-filled day. We were able to find 3 new investigators, so many people wanted to stop and talk, and we were feeling the Christmas Spirit. WELL. Just as I thought the day couldn't get better, a girl literally jumped out in front of me and said, "ARE YOU MORMON!?" I said yes and she began to scream, jump up and down, cry, all the works. I WAS IN SHOCK. THAT IS SOOOO NOT JAPANESE. Lol.

Shiho with the missionaries. :)

Well, meet Shiho. She is a college student who did a home stay with a family in Utah last summer. She LOVED her host family so much, in fact they were still her phone background! She said that she had been to church before, had a Book of Mormon, and loved everything about it. In fact, she pulled up her instagram and showed me the pictures of when she went to the Salt Lake Temple, etc. HELLO GOLDEN PERSON. She almost cried when we invited her to learn and come to church with us. In fact, she invited her friends to come too! WHAAAATTTT.

I felt so honored to be at the train station where we were at that specific time. Truly a miracle. Being real with you all, I have been getting nervous about coming home and when I met Shiho and invited her to learn, I realized that I probably would never be able to teach her. It broke my heart a little bit, but then Shiho told me the family she stayed with lived in Cottonwood Heights, literally 20 minutes from where I live. She told me that she wanted me to go meet them, and so even when I return home we are planning on doing a lesson through Skype where I will translate for the host family. I AM SOOOO EXCITED. Shiho is definitely another eternal friend, and I'm so grateful for A. That family for making such an impact on her life, and B. The opportunity I will have to continue to teach her.

SO YA. SORRY THAT WAS WAY LONG BUT THERE IS JUST TOO MUCH TO SAY AND TOO MUCH TO BE GRATEFUL FOR.

Here's to the last week..... 頑張りましょう。

xoxo

Modersitzki姉妹

Risa and Keiko, my bff Eikaiwa students.

Party at Illya's

After death interviews (their last interviews with their mission president)
with Sister Anderson (we went on an exchange this week and it was so fun!

When your recent convert's little sister becomes an investigator (!!!)

Sakamoto 姉妹 aka my second mom

Action shots.

Hmmm. I wonder which one is Shae Mod? Oh! The tall one! haha!

"What's the most important thing in your life?" Finding:)

KONNICH

Hahahahahahhaaaaaaaaaaaaaa this week. I loved this week. It was one of those weeks where you are so busy and your schedule is so packed that you leave your apartment at 9 in the morning and don't get back till 9:30 at night.... Every night. The whole week. And yes, that does mean we did not have time to come back for meals.... LOL WHO'S GOT TIME FOR THAT WHEN THERE'S WORK TO BE DONE? (PS Mom, it's okay. I did eat, just in 5 minute increments or with members, so NO COMPLAINTS) But ya..... Sister Robertson and I are both dead. Well let me rephrase that.. Bodies? Dead? Hearts? Alive and GENKI (happy/healthy/pumped about life) as ever. ;)

So, more updates for the week..... IT HAPPENED YET AGAIN. A WAY PREPARED DUDE WALKED UP TO ME ASKING WHAT I AM DOING AND THEN ASKING IF HE COULD LEARN MORE. The current count for referrals for the elders in the past 2 weeks is 6... 3 investigators, 2 English students, and 1 potential investigator. Hahahah it cracks us up every time it happens. But hey, a prepared person is a prepared person right? ;)

#LIGHTTHEWORLD takes downtown Tokyo

This week like I mentioned was superrrrrrrrrrr crazy, but despite running from appointment to appointment, in our mission we find for at least 1 straight hour every day. Well this week Sister Robertson and I decided to switch things up and do more fun and creative things. We did surveys asking people what they thought about God and if they had ever thought about Him or not, we made a giant poster asking people what the most important thing in their life is, and we tried sharing the #Lighttheworld video to people in their homes, on the street, ANYWHERE! In fact, one day all of the missionaries serving in Tokyo (about 40 of us) got together in Shinjuku, aka the busiest place in all of Tokyo practically, and did a Zone Blitz where we did surveys asking people about Christmas, sang Christmas carols, and showed the new video to people on the streets. IT WAS SO COOL AND FUN. (also yes, this is me telling all of you to go watch the new Light the World video. It's SO GOOD) Annnnyyyyyways. That was SO FUN. I love focusing on the light that the gospel brings. This week finding felt different and as I testified about God, families, and Jesus Christ, I feel like I became a little more converted to the gospel that I already love so much. God prepared so many people for us this week and it was cool to just even be someone's first encounter with a missionary. The gospel lit Japan a little more this week and it was so fun to be a part of it.