"Now behold the field is 'Rice' and already to harvest."

Dear family!!

This week has been so great! We had some miracles, fun times, and once in a lifetime experiences. Yay for being a missionary in Japan!! Wootwoot!

So to start... This week we got to do the best service project ever! Harvest Rice!!! So much fun. :)
A members father needed help harvesting his field, so a lot of the missionaries in the zone got to come join in and help out. :) We went on Friday morning and it was so fun. And we could see Mount Fuji from
where we were. It is was the true Japanses experience. While harvesting we saw frogs, crabs, and tons of bugs. The mud is so deep and I was again so grateful for my hunter rain boots. ;) haha :) got stuck in the mud a few times, but it was so great. :)

On Wednesday we had an amazing miracles with one of the ladies we
teaching. Sad part is We found out she doesn't live in out area....so
we will be referring her to the sisters where she lives, BUT it is
okay because she is amazing!!!! When we very first met her a few weeks
ago on the train she said she had been taught English by missionaries
before and she loved it. She said she was okay with us teaching her
about the gospel as well, but she was happy with her life and didn't
feel she needed religion. The last lesson we had with her we committed
her to pray and she said she would. This week she practically ran to
the church and said "sisters I am confused!!! I have a problem. Can
you help me?" We said we could try. So we sat down said a prayer and then asked what her problem was. She said, "You know when I met you and I said I was happy? Well now I am confused, because last time I
prayed and I felt something different. And I feel like something inside of me is changing..... I love learning English and I still want to learn English, but I also love hearing what you teach about and I
want to learn more." We were just sitting across from her dying!!!! It was the best feeling ever. She has been so set on the fact that she is happy and now she is a completely different person!!! She has been praying all the time and she keeps telling us how much she feels like she is changing! That lesson was amazing! We were able to testify and she was so open to all we had to share. Prayer changes people. It was such a testament to me that what I am sharing with these wonderful people is true and it has the power to Change their hearts. I love seeing people change right before my eyes and it happens all the time.

I know there is a God. He is our Heavenly Father. He hearers our prayers. He answers our prayers. And he Loves his children.  I am so blessed to be serving in Fujisawa. This place is amazing and the ward is amazing!

I am so excited for these next two weeks! We have so many conferences
and then general conference! :) I can't wait to learn more about what
I need to do to change and become a better person and disciple of
Christ. :)

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
アシュビー姉妹

If you look you can see mt. Fuji is the way back. :)

Happiest birthday ever!! :)

Japan Tokyo South Mission Fujisawa 4

Dear family!

This week has been the best week ever! :) I had such an amazing
birthday and I loved all of the letters. Best birthday package ever!!! Thank you so much for all of the love! :) it was for sure felt! We had some great miracles and happy moments this week!

We gave out so many book of Mormons this week and taught some amazing lessons. :) that always makes for a good week. :) to top it all off on Saturday Fujisawa had a baptism!! Such a great day! Matsuda Shimai is so cute and she was ready. I was able to teach her once and that lesson was probably one of the best lesson of my mission so far. The spirit was so strong that lesson. This week at her baptism you could tell there was some stress between things going on and ward members, but after she was baptized all of that left and the spirit was there.
On my birthday we taught a lesson, visited 2 less active members and had sports night at the church. It was a pretty perfect day of Dendo.:) Not to hot or cold. :) The weather right now is so perfect! Somedays there is a little chill in the air and you can feel fall is coming.  It is so happy!!

Sorry this letter is so random. :) It has been such a great week I
feel like a can't think. :)

Literally though I don't think I had one bad day this week. :) it was
a tender mercy of The Lord. :)

Church yesterday was the best. We had 2 invest agrees there, the other sisters had an investigator and their recent convert, the elders had two investigators, and then during sacrament meeting a less active family  walked in with their friend who said he wanted to go to church, and then a man from Africa walked in looking for a church to attend, since he loves God and just got here this week. It was amazing!! Heavenly Father is really guiding this work and he is guiding people to this gospel. It is amazing being on this end of things and watching Heavenly Father guide not only my life, but everyone around me as well.
So happy to be here in Fujisawa and surrounded by all the wonderful
people I am surrounded by. :) thank you for all the birthday love and
wishes! It was a great day and for sure one I will never forget! I
love you all and I know that God is guiding your life. Trust in Him
more. Prayer more. Read the Book of Mormon more. Serve more. Love
more. Be more the person you know God wants you to be. We can always
do more to follow Gods will for us. :) I know that that is true. I
know that God loves His children. I have felt that love so much this
week and I can't wait to share that love more with people this week.

愛してます。

Candle out of a chopstick

feeling loved

アシュビー姉妹

Happy Birthday week!!:)

Dear my wonderful family,

Well I got the package and I can't wait to open it this week!! So excited for Friday! It will be a great day! :)
This past week has been great! Transfers came and my new companion is so great! She is from California, but right now her family lives in highland, Utah. So way close right?!? :) She is 22 and has already graduated from BYU. :) Her name is Sister Hannah Lambert! great first name right?!? Hahha :) we have had a good time so far and I am really looking forward to this transfer with her.

We have seen so pretty cool miracles these past few days together. :) On Friday we went to the park to try and talk to some people there. We weren't having much success and we had another appointment soon so we decided to go do some housing over by where our appointment was. As we were leaving the park I looked and saw a lady sitting down and just had this feeling we needed to talk to her. We walked over started talking and had an amazing conversation! We shared with her the first lesson and about Joseph Smith. She thought that was amazing. We committed her to pray about whether or not it is true and she said she would!!!!! We were able to exchange info and she is busy for the rest of September with work but she said we can call her in October and she would love to hear more! It was a really amazing experience. The spirit was really strong. She started reading the pamphlet we left with her right as we were leaving. :)

Sunday we were again on our way to a lesson and on the train we met a girl who home stayed in Utah. She loves the Mormons and we were able to share with her the Book of Mormon. She had seen it in English but
not Japanese before! She was really excited to get it in Japanese. :) so cool!

Yesterday we were able to give out 4 Book of Mormons! It has been such a great past couple days with giving out book of Mormons, teaching, and talking with people about the gospel. I love testifying and
sharing about what I know to be true. This gospel is amazing and true and so wonderful! :)

Well I feel like my brain is all over the place today :)

Today we had temple Pday! So perfect for my birthday week right?!? :)

Well I love you all!! Have a great week! You are in my prayers!

Love,
アシュビー姉妹

Hey look who is in my zone?!?? :) elder Harrison!! :)

F-u-j-I-s-a-w-a :)

Dear family!!!

Transfers came and I am staying in Fujisawa!!!!!! Yay!!!! I love this ward and the people and all the people I get to work with!!!! I have spent about 5 months of my mission here and I love it!!!! My new companion will be Sister Lambert. :) it will be fun!! I don't know her at all so it will be an adventure! :)

Sorry today has been a crazy day and we have just a little email time so this one actually will be really short....... So much has happened this week but I will just tell you about my amazing Sunday!!

I was on splits with Sasaki Shimai. I have lived with her ever since I came to Fujisawa and she goes home this week. It was such a good Sunday. :) testimony meeting was amazing! After church we taught a lesson together to their investigator who had her baptismal interview yesterday. We taught her the last lesson she needed before her interview. We both went into that lesson not really knowing where it was going to go, but it turned out to be the best lesson I have ever been in!!!!!! We both taught with so much unity and the spirit was so strong, we had two members with us as well and they shared such strong testimonies. :) not only was it spiritual but it was fun!! Everyone just felt good. I love teaching the gospel!! It is amazing and it is true. The spirit is the true teacher. :) I love learning as you teach. That is one way you know the spirit is there. I for sure learned a lot that lesson. It was such a privilege to teach with Sasaki Shimai one last time before she leaves. She is for sure one of those people I love so much!!! So grateful for her!! :) so grateful for my mission!

Went to the Aquarium

Oh I wish I could tell you everything!!!!!!!! But we will save it all for later. :)

If you only ever just remember one thing from all of these letters that I write with so many random thoughts and poor English just remember this..... If you are reading this letter I love you so much!!!! You are amazing! You a child of God. And I know that this church is true. Gods has a plan for each of us. He will guide us. :)

I love you all so much! :)

Love,

アシュビー姉妹
愛してますよね。

Dearest family :)

My family!!!

This week has been great! We have had a lot of rain and also a lot of fun. :)

My brain is a little all over the place today so hopefully this won't be too random and backwards...haha :)

On Saturday we went out to dinner with a family in the ward and had shyabu shyabu again. I don't know if I ever told you my first experience eating it.... But let's just say I have never eaten so much meat in my whole life. This time it was a lot better!!!! Haha but still after we were way full. :) food is so good in Japan!!!! Love
it.... ;)

So Rikosan came to church this week for the first time in a long time!!!! Such a miracle!! It was so good to see her again. And she brought the hymnbook we gave her. She likes church a lot even though she isn't too set on joining yet. But we have hope. :) it was such a great Sunday. I loved sacrament. :) it was ward conference. It is always a great feeling to sustain the prophet and leaders of the church. This church is true. :)

On Thursday we had interviews with President Wada. It was so good. That man is truly inspired. He gave me all of the advice I needed to hear. I just need to really think about my true desires. Where really is my
heart?? How much do I really want to speak Japanese? How much do I really love the People around me?? As we reevaluate our desires we can start to see if they are inline with what the Lord wants.  And through
prayer and the atonement of Jesus Christ God can help us change and align our desires with what he desires for us. :) I love the atonement of Jesus Christ!

After interviews on the train ride home I sat next to this girl who had an air Jordan backpack. So we started talking basketball. After a while the conversation changed to religion. ;) ha but it actually was one of the most amazing conversations I have had on a train. She was really interested in the Book of Mormon and it's story, I ended up teaching her almost all of the lesson on the train!!!!!! It was the first time I had taught that much of a lesson on a train. It was amazing.  I gave her the Book of Mormon right as we got to our stop. Such am amazing experience. The spirit was for sure there and I could tell that she could feel that this was so thing special. That was such a good day. :) I love testifying of the gospel!! It is probably my favorite things.

On Thursday after eikaiwa I was talking to a man who has been learning about the church since he went to college in Utah. He is now in his 40's and has read all of the Book of Mormon probably more times then I
have..... Haha well maybe not but he has read it a lot. He has some problems with having full faith and commitment. We talked for a long time about faith, change, and truth. I had a thought come to me during
that conversation and it has really stuck with me since then. He doesn't understand the atonement of Jesus Christ. If he truly understood the atonement, if we all truly understood the atonement a lot of the problems, questions and worries that we have would be less. The atonement of Jesus Christ is amazing. It is real. I think I talk about the atonement every week....haha but that is because It is changing my life. It is beautiful and amazing and it is so important for us to understand. :)

I know this church is true. It is beautiful isn't it! :) I love you.
Have a great week.

Love,
アシュビー姉妹