Cream puffs can dendo too?

cheeeeeessssin bc life is great

Heyooooo!

This week was probably one of the best I have had on my mission. We worked our booottttiiieeesss off this week and saw so many cool miracles! 

For starters. MAKI. I know I bear my testimony about her every week, but she's my favorite person everrrr. I am serious!! This week we met with her almost every day. About a week ago she saw Ohki 姉妹 and my scriptures and saw how they were tabbed, marked and noted. She thought that was so cool and went and bought some for herself so she can get as much out of the scriptures as we do. She now takes notes when we teach her, writes how scriptures apply to her, questions, things she likes, etc. IT'S INCREDIBLE. Her heart has been so humbled and she gets sooooo excited to study. It's the best. She told us a couple of days ago that she reallllyyy wants to be baptized and wants her kids to grow up in the church. YES. She is working so hard and her progression is skyrocketing every day. So so so exciting.

We started a Kodomo Eikaiwa class this week (kids English class). It was soooooo fun. Maki and her 2 kids came too! I don't think all you back at home realize how much we teach English out here.... It is legit every day. We teach like 6 different courses... Nuts. Missionary? English teacher? Both? Idk but it's wayyyy fun.

Okay, now to explain this week's caption. Ohki 姉妹 and I came to a stunning realization that we are literally and completely obsessed with cream puffs. They have these huge cream puffs here that literally change you. I am serious. Change you into a cream puff that is... Well anywaysssss. One day I kept a tally in my planner of how many conversations we had about cream puffs.... I don't even want to tell you how big the number was because it's that big. We are OBSESSED. When you're happy? Cream puff. Sad? Cream puff? Tired? Cream puff. Cream puffs and the Atonement, the answer to all of life's questions. Hahahaha. I promise we are focused lolol.

CHURCH IS SOOO TRUE

xoxo

Modersitzki 姉妹

Fun facts:

-Any time you eat dessert here (ice cream specifically), they put frosted flakes on it. It's actually wayyy good. 10 out of 10 would recommend.

-Sometimes not being able to read kanji is rough. Like for example, when you get a letter in all kanji and all you recognize is the water kanji, and then realize your water in the apartment doesn't work, and it's past curfew so you can't leave, so the next day you have to go to shower your hair in the church kitchen sink... at 6:30 in the morning... and your hair freezes.... ya......  not being able to read kanji is sometimes a bit of a struggle.... ;)

oh.

beauty in a photo. behold. cream puffs.

ha... haha.... hahahaha... ya.

Prayers and potatoes

Sister Mod and Maki at Lalaport on pday.

Konnniiiicccchhhiiiiwwwwaaaa!

This week was good! It wasn't good because of anything super crazy,

but it was good because I was able to serve people here with a best

friend as a companion in a country that I am absolutely obsessed with.

Actually this week, a lot lot lot of our plans fell through and we

weren't able to do as much as we were hoping, but we were able to set

some awesome goals from it, and let's just say Sister Ohki and I are

STOKED for this next week. YA DENDO WOOOHOOOOO.

One really fun memory from this week happened on Thursday during ping

pong. (And yes, for those of you who were wondering, I definitely have

gotten wayyyyy better at ping pong due to the fact that we play every

week haha. I still am not anywhere near Nihonjin level BUT we are making our way.... *insert smolder emoji*) ANYWAYS... Maki and her cute kids came to ping pong! We were just chatting when Maki says to

me, "You will never believe what happened 2 days ago..." She proceeded

to tell me that cute 4 year old Akari chan, after her bath, got on her

Ping pong night.

knees and started praying by herself. K CUTE WOW. We talked about how

powerful the spirit can speak to little kids and I was like a proud

mom in that moment I swear. BUT THEN. Sister Ohki, Maki, Akari and I

all went up to play with the toy kitchen. Akari "made" us all food,

and before we started eating, she stopped us all and said, "WAIT

EVERYONE! WE HAVE TO PRAY". She then said the cutest 4-year-old prayer

of my life... randomly stopping because she forgot the words, but

stilllll. So cute. Also, later that night I gave her a mint. Of course

she popped it in her mouth, but then just teasing her I was like,

"Ummmm excuse me. Did you pray?" She did a little scream, took the mint

out of her mouth, said a prayer, and proceeded eating. I died. So

cute. Maki and her kids now pray together as a family. It is so

special and I just love seeing how God is impacting their lives.

Being a missionary is the best. You really do meet your eternal

friends. The church is so so true. Iiiiiiiii promise!

SAY YOUR PRAYERS EVERYONE

xoxoxo

Modersitzki 姉妹

Remember when I said Japan was so stylish?
Well check out these bad boys...Fluffy hats. A must.

Fun facts:

-JAPAN IS SO GOOD AT STYLE. Me and Sister Ohki always talk about how

we legit look like 2 American potatoes walking around Japan bc we

do.... Today Maki took us to the biggest and newest mall in Japan....

Lalaport. *cue fireworks*. Go look it up. Everyone. Huge. HUGEEEEE. We

were in heaven lol.

-Making mochi (pounded rice) and yes, I did pound it with a giant

hammer-like thing.

See?

More pday fun!

Studying away. bc #missionaries

-Lesson with the new members from last week, Luiz and Edia! They are

from Brazil (hi Leo) and are the bestttttt! Elder Passos has to translate for us all but we LOVE them!

These are the free English class fliers they use. I think....

まだ居る

Heyyyyoooo!

So this week some big things happened... For starters.... I officially hit my 6 month mark in the field.... K LIKE BYE. Also... We had transfer calls this morning and SISTER OHKI AND I ARE BOTH STAYING IN KAWAGOE AND SAKADO. Words just don't describe the excitement we both had. She is the bestttttttt. Also hence the caption.... まだ居る- still existing... but basically translates to staying haha... There's a fun fact for ya... Japanese rarely directly translates. So translating is a crazy adventure lol. I just love this language. So crazy weird and fun.

This week was filled with lotssss of trainings and meetings but I did have a first this week. We got bashed pretty hard by someone who realllyyyy realllyyyyy didn't like us or our church. In Japan everyone is always soooo polite, so I was a bit shocked to say the least. The experience was pretty hard, but through it my testimony was strengthened sooooo much. I can say that I truly know without a doubt that this is the true church. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet called of God. I know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us and is constantly sending angels to attend us each and every day. This gospel is the reason why I am happy, and I am so grateful to have the knowledge of the truth. A lot of the things said during this experience were very hurtful, but as Sister Ohki and I walked out the door we began to talk about Jesus Christ. He suffered for THAT moment. He suffered way more than we did and yet He did it with love. Missionary work is so cool because it gives you opportunities like this to really find the Lord. This was one of those moments for me.

On a completely different note. There were 3 baptisms in our district this week. THIS IS CRAZY PEOPLE! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND. We were all soooo excited and it was fun to help and experience that joy that comes through baptism. Also, WAY exciting random thing. Last week as I was riding the train to meet Sister Ohki in Sakado, I met a super cool woman who ended up having a lot of interest. I invited her to come to the baptism with me and she said if she could she would! I was way pumped but THEN GET THIS. About 2 days later SHE CALLED ME. She asked if she could come to the baptism and to church and to our English class...... *legit ran around the apartment silent screaming I was so excited... ask Ohki 姉妹... she is a witness lol* MIRACLESSSSS.

I am so glad to be staying here another transfer. Kawagoe and Sakado are home. I have now been here a third of my mission and I feel like the luckiest person in the world! 

CHURCH IS TRUE

xoxo

Modersitzki 姉妹

also gomennnnnn.... today was nuts so I can't send pics.... soooo that should keep you all on your toes for next week! lol sorrrrrryyy!

BIG NEWS: still obsessed with my mission

Konnnniiiiichhhhiiiiwwwwaaaaa!

This week as always was just amazing. I cannot believe another transfer is coming to a close. LIKE UM HI WHAT? NO. I am loving each and every day. I fall onto my pillow every night just wondering if this is actually real life.. Well... Every morning I wake up and I am still here so I guess it is! Lol.

This week Maki came to church for all 3 hours! *AHHHHH CROWD GOES WILD* Literally greatest moment of my life seeing her walk through the chapel doors with her two darling kids. She and her kids seemed to really like it and the ward was so so excited. Also, it was Fast Sunday, so it was an awesomeeeee sacrament meeting. Takayanagi Kyoudai was even the first one to get up and bear his testimony about his mother going through the temple and what a special experience that was. THE BEST. I love the spirit that is at church, especially testimony meetings. Soooo awesome.

Speaking of it being Fast Sunday, this week we had a really good lesson with Maki and some members about the Word of Wisdom. She is working hard to stop smoking right now and she and her 12-year-old son even fasted this week. It was so special and she is doing sooooooo good. We are so proud of her, and honestly, I feel soooo privileged to be able to work with her. She is reallllyyyy realllyyyy special to me and I could literally talk about her for the rest of my life. They say you come on missions to find "the one" and I think Maki is one of mine. I needed her. She has honestly changed my life, and seeing her life along with her 2 kids lives changing every day is an opportunity I will FOREVER be grateful for.

Piano with Kiyomi!

Today, we spent our pday free time at a member's house. They were so cute and fed us and then we ended up around their piano (because they are both like music prodigies). We just sang church songs around the piano and the spirit was crazyyyy. There are so many amazing moments about being a missionary, but it's the little ones like that that just make it all worth it.

THE CHURCH IS TRUE I PROMISE

xoxo

Modersitzki 姉妹

Fun Facts:

- As seen in pictures. These doctor's office masks are an everyday wear in Japan. Whether you are sick, have acne, don't want to get ready, are cold, whatever it is.... These fashion statements are your answer. I love Japan.

New Year's cleaning where we may or may not have flooded the room... #casual

The Takayanagis. Some of Shae's favorite people.

Shae could NOT get enough of these birds. She sent us a 4 1/2 minute video of them flying around. :)

Eating a persimmon. Cool!

Baptismal dates and kidney stones... lol

HAPPY NEW YEARRRRRR!

This week was quite the adventure to say the least. The reason you ask? Wellllllll, my darling companion started the week not feeling very well, and by the end of the week we had been to the doctor and the hospital andddd she had kidney stones. KIDNEY STONES. I KNOW! LIKE WHAT? Seriously that girl was such a trooper. This past Wednesday night we had to go to the hospital late at night.... Like PAST 10:30. Lol. Crazy I tell ya. #missionarylife #nice. She had to get an MRI and all sorts of tests. Well, as we were waiting for the tests to come back, the 1 a.m. syndrome got to us and we were literally laughing at everything. Kiyomi 姉妹, the member who was so sweet to take us, was in tears she was laughing so hard. We of course had take really fantastic pictures and the whole hospital was basically

laughing at us, lol.  Great times I tell ya. It ended up being way fun. I'm grateful for a companion and a member who can make a really scary hospital trip really quite a funny memory. And GOOD NEWS! Ohki 姉妹 is HEALED. She is feeling sooooo much better. WOO! True tender mercy! 

Because of the kidney stones we didn't get to go outside a lot, but the first time we did we went to our investigator Maki's house. We were planning on just following up on some things and talking about the priesthood blessing she received last week because Sister Ohki was still recovering, but we ended up having a crazzzzzyyyy lesson about EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING. ANNNNDDDDDDDD... SHE ACCEPTED A BAPTISMAL DATE! I legit was almost in tears I was so excited. She is now praying to receive her confirmation but ahhhhh it was so cool! I love her with my whole entire soul. I didn't think I could love this much. It's insane. Also, seriously, I could feel God's love for her so much while we were talking. There was a point in the lesson where I said something and Maki just stopped in her tracks and was like, "Moda Shimai, how did you know?" She was freaking out. My mouth couldn't move fast enough and I just felt the Spirit speaking right through me to her and LEGIT IT WAS SO COOL. I responded that it wasn't me, it was God, and she just nodded and was like, "I know..." NOW TELL ME THAT ISN'T THE COOLEST THING EVER! I know I say it every week, but I am obsessed with being a missionary and I am even more obsessed with my mission. 

Life is gud. The church is SO true.

say your prayersssss

xoxo

Modersitzki 姉妹

 Fun facts:

-New Year's is the most famous holiday here. They all eat "soba" which is like soup...ish? Ramen...ish? (But don't you go thinking that Top Ramen trash... no no. This is a whole different level). ANYWAYS. Everything they eat on New Year's has a meaning. They eat soba because the noodles are long so it symbolizes a long life! We ate it with Maki on New Year's!