Tokyo Mission is splitting!

Dear family,

My new companion is hilarious/ so strong.  This week she was having a really hard day and just when she thought it couldn't get any worse her bike was stolen.  It was hard at first but she had such a good attitude and said ,"well maybe it was an emergency.  Maybe that person was having a baby and they needed my helmet too because they wanted to be safe". I love her.

Yesterday it was so cold I felt like my lips were making my speech slurred  I usually wear two coats and a few layers underneath padded with handwarmers and two layers of tights but somehow I still feel cold.  I'm realizing what a luxurious life I've lived and how spoiled I've been all my life to have never been subjected to the cold. But slowly but surely spring is coming. I will survive!! 

This week I learned something really important.  One day we went out streeting and talked to a lot of people. When we came home Sister Dolan said 'it was a great day wasn't it?'  For some reason I didn't feel like it was that great, I didn't feel satisfied with my work. We had found three new potential investigators, placed a Book of Mormon and made an appointment for next week, but I still felt disappointed in myself because I didn't do more or have the chance to bear my testimony of Christ. I talked to Sister Dolan about this, and how I didn't feel successful despite the "results". She then told me about Christ, how he healed 10 lepers but only one returned to say 'thank you'. She told me that maybe our short conversations or hellos were enough to lift someone, or heal them, even if I never see them again. Maybe only one will come back and want to learn more, but that doesn't mean we didn't have success.  I really want to be a bold missionary and I feel disappointed in myself sometimes if I am just their friend and don't offer them the gospel upfront. I feel lately like time is passing so quickly and I want to put my heart into every contact and not holding anything back. Sister Dolan is teaching me to just appreciate the work we do, look for how to improve and move on.  She said 'when people see you they can feel Heavenly Father's divine love, and even if you never see them again, you've already given them a part of it'. She has been a great companion and is teaching me how to find joy in the small successes. With every companion I have had so far they have taught me something that has enhanced my mission immensely.

In Utsunomiya you really feel like it's you two and the Lord.  In Nakano I was working with 7 other missionaries and now it's just us in this huge area.  We had an exciting announcement this week.  They are splitting the Tokyo Mission!!  There will now be a Tokyo North Mission and a South mission.  It was kind of shocking that our mission is splitting because that means I might have a different mission president and some of us will be split up, but it also so exciting because that means that Heavenly Father wants to put more missionaries in more areas.  It is such an exciting time to be out!

We started teaching a girl named Michan this week.  She is adorable!!  I'm way excited to be meeting with her.  Have to go but LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

Love marns

This life is the best

Dear wonderful family,

So this week we got a new companion, Sister Facer. I LOVE her!  Her companion went home so we adopted her for a few days.  You never know what is going to happen, I feel.  Since we live just a few minutes from the mission home, when something happens like that our companionship gets a little more exciting. I loved having her as a companion.

So this week one of the Elders friends, Iida Kyodai got baptized.   He is in his 60'ies and he is amazing!  He needs a little help breathing because he just got released from the hospital but he still was baptized and everything and just when I talk to him I feel like he really knows who he is - a precious child of God. When I first met him, when the Elders first started teaching him, he seemed a lot different and seemed to have a lot of problems, and now he seems to have found such peace. The best part about the gospel is that it's one of hope and change.  My good friend Maeda-san who we've been teaching came to his baptism too.  She had a lot of questions. During the baptismal service she whispered to me, "so if I get baptized would you baptize me?"  I explained to her about the priesthood a little more but felt excited that she was thinking about it at least. 

For Pday we had a picture scavenger hunt in Shibuya with our whole zone. It was pretty fun.  We had to find weird things like grandmas with purple hair and re-enactLehis dream etc.  Anyway at the end we all met at this statue of this dog in front of theShibuya train station. His name is Hachiko and he is based on a true story. Apparently he was an extremely loyal dog and picked up his master everyday at that train statiion, and even after the master passes away, the faithful Hachiko came to that train station to pick him up, until the end of his life.  I started crying right there in front of the statue when my companion was retelling all this.  I LOVE dogs!  They continue to help me with my Dendo, they are a great way to talk to people.

This week we also had a tacoyaki party at the church with the elders and investigators. So much fun!  Taco is octopus in Japanese but it's really good and I think is an Osaka food too.  We put all this different stuff in the tacoyaki cooker and just spun the little round tacoyakis until they were done. So fun!  I am zetai buying one.  We put cheese and tomatoes in them too. 

This week we visited a lot of less actives and one of them is named Wasano Shimai.  She has been less active for about 15 years but we have visited her consistently for the past few months.  We have become good friends and she told us this week that she is coming to church in February.  We are so excited!  I know that every person is important to Heavenly Father and no one is ever forgotten. 

My favorite story in the Bible is the one about the prodigal son. I have been thinking about him a lot lately.  When the son comes home for the first time it says "But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and RAN and fell on his neck and kissed him"  Joy shall be in Heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons which need no repentance".  I know that this is true and that Heavenly Father wants to bless us with so much. 

Someone told me on my mission to "wear out the atonement.  Use it over and over again".  I look at my scriptures lately and I always think that every time I make a note or highlight I think "oh my, these are getting very colorful" but then I think again "well wear them out! that's what they are there for!"  I know Jesus Christ is our wonderful Savior and he stands ready with Heavenly Father to welcome us back to him every time we make a mistake or wander away for a little while, he's just there waiting, and when we decide to come back or ask for help he will RUN to us. 

This life is the best!  I LOVE YOU ALL

Sister Vail

dear awesome family

Dear beloved sweet family,

I LOVE THE MISSION!!!! It is seriously so exhausting and every night I pass out instantly but I have never felt like my life has more purpose and that things are so clear.  When you live the gospel and follow Jesus Christs example life just goes better.

  This week we sat down with two people and they asked "what is your conviction?" or how are you so sure that all this is true?  And how when you face so much rejection can you still have hope?"

And my simple testimony is that God will never let us be permanently unhappy.  He loves us too much.   And that all things even hard ones will pass quickly from us and will in the end be for our good.

This week during our morning exercise, I pet a dog named George Bush.  Japanese people are hilarious, I'm pretty sure the owner didn't really know much about the United States or Bush's policies but I found it so cute. The dog went by just Bush for short.   One of my favorite ways to contact people is through their animals or children.  I love striking up a conversation with someone on the train or on the street with a common love for four legged friends.  On the train yesterday a lady was transporting her dog to the vet and I thought it would be funny to review my photo album with her and the dog.  I showed the dog photos of Ruby and Nola and the dog was sniffing each photo, nose pressed to the album, it was very cute and the lady seemed to love it too. 

The mission is so fun!  Just chatting and making friends with everyone.

One of the funnest things we did this week was teach a family of little girls inAdachi, the Kato family. Kato-san is such a kind loving mother. She is from Thailand and her husband is Japanese.  When we arrived at the family's house, we turned to go to her apartment, but instead she hooked a right and went UNDER the stairs. 

It was such a blast. We had our lesson under the stairs outside like Harry Potter.  I loved it. Little cement picnic all huddled under the stairs just chatting and snacking and talking about Jesus Christ. The angel little girls were having trouble sitting still but I tried to talk to them like Sol and told them that Jesus knows all the answers and can help them with anything.  I hid things around where we were sitting and had them close their eyes so they couldn't find them.  At the end of the small lesson the little girl Mi-chan, who is four years old said that Jesus is her Best Friend.  The mother was just such a great mother. I love parents who cater to their kids, like having company next to the bike racks.  Kids just need to have little get-aways like that little club house, I think.   

I love children.  They have no problem believing.  They don't need to see something to believe it's true.  They can use their imaginations.  I wish everyone was more like that. When we grow up, we just forget how to believe.   I'm so thankful for Coco and Sol who taught me so much about loving openly and freely. 

When we left their home/stairs the little girl, Mi-chan,  came running down the street after us and just crying.  I wanted to run back and scoop her up.  But 1.)   we can't hold kids as missionaries and 2.)  we were running late for our train.     Zanen !

Also this Sunday we taught a lady named Haruka.  She wants to be baptized but worries so much that she is imperfect.  I told her that's the whole reason why we have Jesus Christ is because EVERYONE is imperfect.  She said she felt so good during our time together and so did I.  I know God is using us to do his work.

Japanese is getting so much better. I don't know how but sometimes even words I've never studied before like architect or random things somehow I will just know what it means.  It's very weird but at the same time very cool.  I know I'm receiving so much help from Heavenly Father. 

I love working in Nakano.  We celebrated Elder Willards' birthday this week at the mission home.  We had pizza and made him give a speech.  He seriously seems 20 going on 40.  The mission really matures the elders, I feel.  Especially WIllardo Chorro.  We secretly call him Papa because he is always driving the mission van around and being extremely responsible for everyone. 

Okay, well, it was a wonderful week and I love and hope everyone is happy and healthy at home. 

hugs and kisses

marni-chan

aloha family

Dear family

This week was amazing.  I feel like every week flies by faster and faster.  We had an all sisters conference that was extremely fun.  I love having all sisters back home.  I talk about you all so much all my companions say they feel like they know my family.  

I feel like my life is changing.  I feel like I trust in Heavenly Father more and that coming on my mission is opening my eyes to a lot of things.  Like the fact that life is not always easy  but we can make it fun and make it through.  The other night we were knocking on all these doors and I was freezing and people kept saying no thank you and my body wanted to collapse.  But Heavenly Father really brings you rght to the edge everytime and then he scoops you right up and blesses you right when you think you can't take one step more.  He doesn't always take away difficult things but I know that we can lean on him for strength when we ask him for help.

I love these verses in Mosiah 24 10-15.  It talks about if we pour out our hearts to God for help he will ease our burdens.  In the first two transfers of the mission I never felt more alone and misunderstood but I knew that Heavenly Father wouldn't abandon me and it would get better, and it has!  I want to do more of what President Uchtdorf says and live in the moment.  He said something like "We don't listen to music anticipating the end... we connect with the harmony and enjoy it!"  I want to enjoy.   

Try to enjoy wherever you are in life, because it truly will never come again!

We had a Halloween dance this week and I felt like I was back in the 7th grade, everyone were wall flowers.  Eventually they got to their feet though.   This cute girl named Sheenchan came with us and we went to the makeshift haunted house together.  She kept gripping me tightly as we made our way through the ghost grave yards.  Japan is so fun.  Everyone is always so sweet to you and thoughtful. We taught her about Joseph Smith and she is going to read the Book of Mormon this week.  

We gave these girls a church tour yesterday. Their names are Rika and Hitomi-chan. We found them housing and they were impressed by the church.  We visited Rika-chan at her work this week. She works at a place called "Cafe Eyes".  It's a really smoky cafe.  I didn't like that part.  I looked around at everyone and they all looked kind of sad and depressed.  I wanted to help them somehow.  In Japan I feel like its like New York even though I've never been there --- where they kind of have the stone-cold face and then you say hello and then they melt like ice cream cones and are so kind.  But definitly I feel like everyone here is just hungry for guidance and for truth.  We are trying to help as many people as we can with that.  

I want to be like clay in Heavenly Father's hands.  Looking back on my life I've always been so resistant to change, but I heard this thing this week and I like it.  About how if we are a house and God is the builder we just have to trust him.  If we were a little cottage, a builder comes in and he does some rearranging,, we're okay with it.  And then some fix ups here and there, and we're okay with it.  But then we get really nervous when we see he starts tearing down walls, and installing weird things, and we aren't sure if we even trust him anymore.   But then in the end we see that instead of a refinished cottage we thought we would be, we are a beautiful enchanting palace.  We were never meant to be just an ordinary house, in the first place.  You were always meant to be a big beautiful palace.  Sometimes becoming is really tough, and we can't always see the Master's design.  But we just have to trust that there is one.  He will make us into who he wants us to be.

I love you all.   Talk to you soon.  

Sister Vail

october 15 aroha

Dear family---

I'm just noticing a trend with all the pics we take. It's always with food! How embarrassing.  You probably are thinking you sent me off to Nihon on a gourmet tour and all I am doing is eating!!! There is a lot of that going on, but we really are trying our best to spread the gospel to anyone who will listen ;)

So I am loving our town Nakano. It really made a big turn around. We are meeting lots of friends everyday. We had such a miracle this week. Tokyo is giant and there is this special family we met at a train station a few weeks ago.  The kids just moved from Nepal.  The older son was the spokesperson for the family. He's about 11 and the younger sister is Kristina.  She is about 8. They were with their mom and were so nice and so cute and wanted to meet with us again, but when we tried to email them to set up a time, we were devastated when their email address failed and we thought we had lost contact with this special family forever. So we prayed that somehow we would be able to find them again. Then randomly a few days ago we were biking to a members house and vwalah!! There they were walking on the street toward us! We had dinner with them this week and are meeting with them again Wednesday. I know God really is a god of miracles and knows each one of us individualy and all things are possible with his help. Even finding a needle in a haystack of a city!

Also this week was our good friend Elder Hansen's birthday. The elders are always complaning about how they are losing weight, which does NOT seem to be a problem for the sisters, so we made him a sumo wrestling cake and left it on his door. Sister Stevenson also had a brilliant idea to pie him in the face at 6:30 AM, but of course, I was given the job of pieing, and I missed! I could not forgive myself all day. Oh well, pieing people is an art I've come to find. Need more practice.

We had lunch with our new friend Aki chan this week. We taught her about prophets and that they can help with the challenges we face today. By the way I loved the talk by Elder Uchdorf about living in the moment and how to not live a life full of regret. I especially loved the part where he said "life is not a race. Its a journey. Enjoy the moment.. when we listen to music do we listen only to anticipate the end? No we listen and connect to the rhythm and harmony."

I am challenging myself to truly live more in the moment and find something to cherish everyday. Being here we do the same thing everyday, we have such a routine, but really every day is special, unique and delicious.

I miss all of you so much. I think that's been one of the biggest challenges for me on my mission --- just being away from those that I love so much. But as I envision teaching or just talking with one of you, my love grows for the people here instantly. The people in Japan are so easy to love. They are the kind of people that pack their bags full of gifts just so they have something to give, if by chance they meet someone who needs lifting. I want to be more like them!

I've been blessed with so much. But if there is one thing that I could give to anyone it would be a knowledge of who they really are. Knowing who we are, God's child, gives us confidence and helps us relax knowing that if we do our best, he will make everything else work for our good.  If it doesnt seem that way yet, just be patient, because he's not finished blessing your life yet.

Love you all. It's getting colder here.  Busted out my down floor-length parka last night :) I love being a missionary.

love love love

marni lynn

aloha happy fall!

Dear family,

I love fall.  I just love the holiday spirit, coziness, drinking tea, wearing fuzzy pajamas, the cool weather, you bet I am in my fleeces already.  Just special no matter where you are.  I'm on the look out for my Halloween costume.  Maybe Harajuku girl or a Sailor Moon for the ward Halloween party?

 I am love being a missionary though.  What a pure joy.  Everyday our job is to go out and make friends.  It's tiring sometimes, as I never realized how much socializing takes so much energy out of you.  But it's all worth it, every minute.  Lately I really feel Heavenly Father helping me with my Japanese too. Its amazing, I will hear something one time, and then randomly I am able to use it, later that day, it always is surprising to me, how God really does want us to succeed in this work so he really is helping me a lot. 

I love learning.  We can't be afraid to try!  Being out here all the time last minute people ask you to do things.  I used to worry a lot about everything. If I couldn't do it perfectly I might be afraid to try,  But I'm finding our best effort is enough, that's all the Lord asks of us.  I just don't have time to worry anymore.  It's a waste of time!  We can't dwell too long on the past or we will miss the opportunities right in front of our faces.   I feel really pushed to do more than I ever thought possible. 

This week last minute I was asked to teach an English class to deaf Japanese people. I felt so nervous at first.  I really wanted to help them.  I was racking my brain for all the American Sign Language I knew, acting, drawing pictures, using facial expressions to the max.  (Turns out Japanese sign language is totally different than American.)  But what a different experience! I would never have any of these unique opportunities had I stayed at home. So I'm grateful!

I met this wonderful girl on the train this week.  Her name is Madoka.  She's 20 years old and is a dancer and loves to act too. When I met her I thought she looked like a mermaid.  We went out for waffles and taught her about Jesus Christ and that Heavenly Father just wants us to be happy.  Most people here in Japan only know Jesus Christ from Christmas and that's it. So we really start from scratch with everyone we teach.  The most important thing is that they know that we love them, and that God loves them too. 

There were two typhoon warnings this week, just really heavy rain and strong winds.  We were visiting this lady named Inemi Shimai and her son Kaychan at the time. His name should have been little prince because he got whatever he wanted. Like force feeding his mom about ten mochies (rice cakes).  Anyway on the way home we rode our bikes home in the rain.  It was coming down so heavy and fast it was like a lake on the streets. It almost hurt it was pelting us so hard, but it was actually pretty fun.  It's moments like that that I feel truly alive. 

So it's the start of a new transfer.  Sister Stevenson and I will be together again.  I love her, she leaves to go home in 6 weeks though.  She is mildly panicking.  We went out for lunch as a district this week at this shabu shabu place, where you usually do your own cooking on the table.  You take your shoes off before you sit down and put your feet under the table.  It felt odd not wearing shoes in public, but then I felt really at home after a while. I love bare feet.  Made me miss Hawaii a bit.  I feel like a family with the elders we work with.  The AP's drove us in the mission van and it felt like a family road trip.  I loved it. 

I feel everyone in Tokyo is always dressed to the 9ies as they say.  Yesterday we went housing and gave away a Book of Mormon to this young man.  He seemed mesmorized by it. Turning it over and holding it so carefully.  I know every step of missionary work is missionary work, just like Kathy Bussey said.   

Oh yes!  The big news. I can't belive they are lowering the age requirement for missionaries!  It's such exciting news!  It meant so many things to me. 

1.  Heavenly Father really needs the help of everyone to preach the gospel, it's urgent! 

2.  We really are being led by a modern day prophet who knows what this world needs.

3.  This is the strongest generation yet and the gospel really is being preached by the weak things of the earth. 

well love life and I love all of you. 

hugs and kisses

marni

aloha family happy october!

Dear wonderful family,

So this week was so much fun. President Budge said that one of the reasons we cease to see miracles is because we just don't believe.  So lately we really have been exercising a lot of faith and just talking to everyone.  I LOVE IT!  Tokyo is such a busy, busy place.  But the great thing about that it is, you don't have to go far to find a new friend.  If one person doesn't want to talk, you just simply turn your head to the next person sitting next to you on the train, or sidewalk or wherever, and there is your new opportunity. There are JUST PEOPLE everywhere!  The trains in the morning are actually hilarious.  The short people get squished in between the tall people's backs and have conversations with each other (like their own short people's little world) (imagine a big concert where everyone wants to be up front, you're super squished but you're moving).

I love planning activities, I realized!  Everyone says that each missionary is different, and I'm finding that's what I really love is that.  It seems the most natural to me.  Once people get inside the church to a fun activity, they realize church / church people aren't scary, and then they can relax.  I like that the best!.  I keep feeling so grateful for every experience leading up to being here now, because I truly feel that each step we take in life prepares us for what is next.  Even the hard experiences we have, prepare us maybe to help someone with something similar in the future, or we can pull strength from knowing we are capable of doing something. 

I love this that someone said this week, "What you are becoming is more important than who you have been.  You don't have to reach perfection in this life, we just have to keep trying".  I really know that this is true.  I used to stress myself out a lot when I first got here thinking about all the things I couldn't do but we don't have to do it all, or even do it alone.  We just have to do our best, and then after that, it really is through Jesus Christ's perfect sacrifice that makes up for all the rest.

We made this little weekly kids English class here in our new area and the kids are all so cute. Their voices are so high pitched and they love learning. It's a good chance for mothers to just be in the church and learn that we just want to help them in any way we can.  If this transfer were to have a title it would be "Killin me with cuteness". 

There is this word in Japanese that people say "sasega."  It means like "of course you would".  I feel Sasega Vail Shimai, saying this but of course we had to make a talent show!  It brought me back to BYUH days, and it was so much fun seeing everyone's unique talents.  There were some unexpected acts like breakdancing, and weight lifting, a puppet show, and a pianist who broke down he got so into the playing.   Sister Stevenson and I sang and I tried my best to play the ukulele that one of the members lent us.  He also brought us these Hawaiian leis.  It made my head look super round but of course I wore it anyway.  Then our darling Japanese Elders and SisterStevensen and I sang "Don't Stop Believin" and the Bishopric played the guitars and drums.  It was awesome and our friends that we invited had a good time too. 

Being a missionary is like peeking into Heavenly Father's looking glass. This week this lady came to the church who had not come in a long time.  Sister Stevenson called her randomly so she met with us, and told us her recent situation which was very depressed.   She just cried and cried and told us how she could not forgive herself for the things she had done in her life.  That night I just felt so tired, I was hungry, my back hurt and I was just exhausted because it was almost 9 o'clock.  But it was actually a powerful experience.  As I sat there, as tired as I felt, I prayed in my heart to just be able to have the energy to listen.  Sitting there I really began to see her as my sister, and felt a tremendous amount of love for her.  This experience really showed me that God knows each one of his children and also that his love is so much deeper then we could ever fathom. 

I always run out of time, but I love you each, and I know that everything will be okay through Jesus Christ's perfect atonement, we just have to do our best!

ps momi the kid's are TO DIE FOR!!!!!

Aloha Sweet Familia

hey family

So it's finally cooling off over here. In fact, the past few nights I've been sleeping in my fleece pajamas and down comforter.  Everyday I fall more in love with this life.  Sister Stevenson says its hard for her to remember life before her mission (she only has 6 weeks left). 

This week we met up with one of my best friends, Youchanfrom Kichijoji.  She is so wonderful and always calls me her American daughter.  When she met my new companion, she instantly loved her too. She even said the words, "you caught my heart like an eagle".  She is very sweet.  She took us to this Tokyo government building in Shinjuku and it was about 45 stories tall.  You could see all of Tokyo.  People are really into heights around here.  When Youchan hugged me at thetrain station it felt like coming home. 

I love being a missionary.  I shared the Book of Mormon with a lady from Taiwan while waiting for Sister Stevenson to go to the bathroom.  It was kind of funny but really anywhere you go there are people who are really looking for truth.  We saw a lot of miracles this week.  Our friend Elder Hebero from Brazilbroke his arm arm wrestling.  He said that his own muscles broke his bone and it snapped like bamboo so he had to have surgery. Anyone this man we randomly met, a few weeks later, he was in the same hospital and was in the bed next tohebero chorro and then met us again.  anyway you really can see how people are being guided to us. 

Anyway life is good.  Sorry I don't have too much time. 

I love my life and I'm so thankful to be here.

lots of love

marni

Opening doors

Dear Family

I love being a missionary!!!!!!

Sister Stevenson and I have had lots of adventures lately.  One of the best things we did this week is we went back to my old area,Kichijoji and all the youth got together to do a mission prep.  We went on splits with kids 22 and younger kids so they could practice what it would be like to be a missionary.  I loved it. My companion was named Hitomichan and she was 19 years old.  I felt like I saw the future of Japan when I looked into their faces,

One of the things I never realized I would be doing on my mission was baking.  In Japanese culture its almost rude to show up without a gift for someone, so we are always throwing together brownies, or banana muffins or cookies in big batches so we have something to give upon our arrival to peoples houses.  I really feel like every single thing in my life has prepared me to be a missionary at this place at this time, even having all those bake sales!

This week I learned so much about how Heavenly Father wants to perform miracles in our lives but he can't if we are not first keeping all his commandments and second if we do not havebelieving hearts.  On the way home from a conference in Shibuyathis week I was chatting to people on the train and I had an interesting experience.  I tried talking to this lady and she was so rude to me.  Which is surprising because actually most all people in Japan have extremely good manners and will at least talk to you, even if they aren't interested in your message.  Anyway, she was sort of picking at my Japanese and then I noticed out of the corner of my eye a cute lady smiling at me and StevensonShimai, and so I just MOVED.  I think that's they key.  It's easy for me to get hung up and sad but just MOVE ON, we have to!  Add I felt so much better that instead of wasting time feeling sad, I got to enjoy this next lady who was so pleasant and I was thankful that I learned that rejection is nothing to be embarrassed about.

I think that the mission is like opening mystery doors.  You don'tknow who is standing behind everyone, so you just have to knock on all of them.  I have faith someone IS waiting!  I decided to just organize myself and set the stage for a miracle to happen and then trust Heavenly Father to do the rest. 

I'm having a blast though everyday. 

The other day while riding my bike home I realized how much faith is a choice.  We can choose doubt and fear and second guess ourselves or we can simply choose to believe.  I love this scripture in D&C 101:16

"Let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion for all flesh is in mine hands, be still and now that I am god"

I love my life I love all of you!

marni