'You may rescue, you may save.'

Dearest family,

Why didn't I take Spanish? This is a questions I have asked myself quite frequently these past few transfers. Who would have thought that you would come to Japan and wish you spoke Spanish....or Portuguese.
Haha :) This past Sunday my companion and I sat on either side of the two recent converts here in the Atsugi Ward and used google translate to translate the meeting into Spanish for Onelia 姉妹 and Portuguese for
Adriana 姉妹. Usually there is a Ward member there who speaks Spanish and can translate for them, but he had to leave earlier yesterday so we used are resources. Yay Google translate! Haha even if it is a funny translation. 笑 :) but I love Spanish and I have a new life goal to learn it. That and Chinese! :) one day I want to serve a mission in
China! We had a Chinese Ward member in my last Ward that said in her home Ward in China there are 5 baptisms a week and that is just from the members introducing their friends to the church! Amazing right! Power of member missionary work! It is the way to dendo! :)

Anyway... We have had another great week in Atsugi! We had a lot of our appointments this week canceled. Which is kind of sad, but we made the most of what we could do and tried our best. That is really all we
can do. Things happen and all we can do it move forward and pray harder. :)

But are Indian friends came to Japanese class this week and we were able to give them a church tour after. It went really well! We also found out that there is a Book of Mormon in their native language!!!! Yay!!!! Now they can read it and understand it! They said we can study it with them as soon as we have it in their language. Pray that it
comes quickly. Ordering sometimes takes a while. We asked the office and they said plan to wait 3 years..... But we know miracles can happen!! :)

We had Mission Leadership Council this past Thursday and it was amazing. I am always amazed by the leaders in this mission. I am so grateful for President and Sister Wada and all that they do for us. It was an amazing meeting. In preparation for it they asked us to read the talk given by Elder Boyd K. Packer titled, "The Atonement". It is
amazing. In the meeting a group of Elders sang 'Brightly Beams Our Fathers Mercy'. It was amazing. The words to that song have taken on a whole new meaning in my life.

1. Brightly beams our Father’s mercy
From his lighthouse evermore,    
But to us he gives the keeping
Of the lights along the shore
2. Dark the night of sin has settled;
Loud the angry billows roar.
Eager eyes are watching, longing,
For the lights along the shore.
3. Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;
Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,
Trying now to make the harbor,
In the darkness may be lost.
[Chorus]
Let the lower lights be burning;
Send a gleam across the wave.
Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
You may rescue, you may save.

There are people in this world that are yearning and searching for the light that the atonement of Jesus Christ can provide in their lives and God has given us the sacred trust to be that lower light for those who are searching. Be the lower light that someone can look to for guidance. We are needed so much more than we think we are. The World needs more light, so we must share our light. I know that Jesus Christ and his Atonement are the source of that light.

In the words of President Tanaka (my favorite old Japanese man) "I love you. I love you. I love you." He is so cute when he says this to all of the missionaries! It is happiness. Haha :) pure happiness and 

love.

Have a great week!!!

Love,
アシュビー姉妹

厚木!! Atsugi!

Atsugi is Atsui!!!

After the baptism.
Onelia shimai and her nephew. :)

Dear family,

Do you like my pun?? Haha :) You get my pun? If not oh well! Pretty much this new area is on fire with missionary work and I am so excited to serve here!!

This week was transfers and usually transfer week is a little rough...But this week has been the best week of my mission. Hands down. I have never seen so many miracles. But really!! It has been amazing! I left
Hodogaya seeing more miracles then we had seen the whole transfer and came to Atusgi and saw more!! I don't even no where to start and there just isn't enough time to tell you everything. So I will keep it short
and sweet or my hands might hurt. ;)

Tuesday night we taught Tomomi san the first lesson and she committed to be baptized when she knew the church was true. She is amazing and the spirit of that lesson was so powerful!!

Wed. We taught Kaneko san the plan of salvation. This lesson was amazing!!! She has the best questions ever. The spirit guides the questions she asks! Haha :) I love it. Shuto Shimai came as well and was able to powerfully testify to her of the plan of salvation. We set
a baptismal date with her for May 17th!!! Just a few days before I go home. When she realized that, she was so happy! That night at Eikaiwa she came up to me and told me to make sure I came to her baptism. She is totally owning that date. She will have some hard things to overcome to get there. But she wants it and I know the Lord will bless
her so much. :)

Thursday after I had transferred to Atsugi we were walking home for dinner and we met a lady from India. Side note.... My new area is full of people from South America and India... Anyway she told us to come over to her house sometimes. Her husband is Christian and she really wanted to see us again. So Sunday night we were able to go visit them.
We taught them the first lesson and they are coming to church this next Sunday! It was amazing. They are so nice! I love people from India! They are so beautiful and their accents are the best!! They have been looking for a church to go to and are really excited to
come.

Saturday we had a baptism! It was for a lady name Onelia 姉妹. She is from Peru and only speaks a little Japanese. But they are in the process of starting a Spanish/Portuguese branch here in the Fujisawa Stake. I have never felt so much love for someone all at once. She is amazing and has brought so many more miracles into this Ward. The baptismal service was so wonderful and the spirit was so strong. :) It was amazing to speak to her in Japanese. I had to laugh because out of all languages... I can't understand spanish  and she doesn't speak English so we spoke to each other in Japanese..... What?!? Haha :) The
gospel is true.

Sunday at her confirmation was the bigger miracle. The night before we had been calling former investigators and only got a hold of one. She came to church on Sunday and happened to know Onelia shimai! They worked together 6 years ago. She was able to see Onelia shimai confirmed and it was a great experience for her. She too decided that
she wanted to hear our message again. :)

There were so many other miracles and cool experiences that have happened this week I wish I could just share them all... :)

But I will say this. God is guiding this work. The spirit is real and when it touches the heart hearts are changed forever. My heart has been changed and I am so grateful for it. I know that this church IS the true church. God is the head of it and He knows the hearts and

needs of His children. God is good. :)

Have a great week!! I love you!

Love, アシュビー姉妹

Old companions. :) actually two more were there too but they were
still in the temple....

FHE with some Ward members :) all girls!!

"If you remember the atonement."

Dear family!!!

This week has been so wonderful and full of miracles. So much has happened! Easily one of the best weeks of my mission. We have seen so many miracles. Just goes to show how merciful God is to his children.
He truly loves us and I have felt that love so much this week.

This past week we were able to fast with one of our investigators. It was an amazing experience and everything just worked out so well. She told us she believes in God and it was the best moment ever. She has been really struggling with the divorce she is going

through and she just wanted to feel more peace and happiness. So on wed. we fasted all

together and she had a great experience. Helaman 3:35 :)

Thursday we had the best lesson with Kaneko san. It was one of those lessons that you know the Spirit is guiding everything that is said. All of her questions were so inspired and the members that was sharing just the amount of perfect experiences and testimony. Kaneko san told us that one day she wants to get baptized and that she always feels so much comfort when she comes to the church. It was beautiful. We are inviting her again to be baptized this week with a date. Pray for her. She is so ready and loves the spirit, but she is a little hesitant.

Thursday night we went on splits with the Zama Sisters. We had an amazing experience and had the opportunity to teach a lady in the park the first lesson. It was so cool!!! :) After we went on base with the Senior couple serving there and we were able to help with a Family History class a Ward member is doing. I LOVE family history. I think I want to study about genealogy in school. This Ward member did and she totally inspired me. It was so great!! There were a lot of great people there, but since it is on base we can only talk about
church if they bring it up. Luckily family is so closely related to church! :) We found out that one of the students in the class is a less active member since is was 13. Miracle!!! Way cool. :) After the Slades, the senior couple, took us to dinner on the base at Subway!!!!!! I had a turkey sandwich on Italian herb and cheese bread. I haven't had a turkey sandwich since I came on my mission and there were banana peppers. My mouth was so happy!! :) haha :)

Yesterday we had a double mission conference with Elder Ballard, Elder Rasband, Bishop Stevenson and their wives. It was amazing. I learned so much from just watching them. They talked about the importance of the restoration. It was so powerful. But one thing that stood out to me so much was one of the last things that Elder Ballard said. He was
promising us some amazing blessings, but then said, "if you understand the atonement. If you understand the atonement." It is such a simple phrase but it really impacted me. Blessing are just waiting to be ours, If we understand the atonement of Jesus Christ. It is so important. Alma 7:11-14. Jesus Christ suffered for all man. His love is perfect. His atonement is perfect. And because he atoned for me I can one day be perfect. I know that the atonement of Jesus Christ is real and it can make us whole again.

I love you all!! Have a great week!!

Love,
アシュビー姉妹

Ps. We got transfers and I am transferring to Atsugi and my new
companion will be Sister Ellsworth. I am really excited because it is
still the same stake and a great Ward!! :) よろしくお願いします。

Sisters conference.  All 70 sisters from mission.

Dear family,

Happy Valentine's Day!!!! :) Man this week has been a great week. I am so grateful for God and his perfect love. :) And what a great week to feel that... ;)

On Wed. We were able to have two lessons with two very amazing people. First with Rie San we were had the chance to share the restoration with her. I love the restoration. As we were sharing it with her you could tell she felt something different about what we were saying. She really has a desire to do good things. When we invited her to pray about our message and read from the Book of Mormon Moroni 10:3-5 She was like, "Oh I will read the whole chapter!" It was so great. I felt so much love for her and the goodness that comes from the gospel and from God.

Then that night before Eikaiwa (english class) we were able to teach Tomomi san. I LOVE her so much!!! She is one of those people you just can't but help love and want to be best friends with!! :) She is currently going through a divorce with her husband and it has been hard. As we were talking to her more about why she wants to learn about God she said

she wants to know what life is. She asked SO many good questions and her desire to learn is so great. The member who was with us was able to share her experience with the gospel and it was so powerful. It was so real. I love when God finds us people who have desire. Desire to know and learn and discover more. I love that. I can't help but love people like that, because I love that.

On Friday we had a Special Sisters training in Kichijoji with all 70 sister missionaries on our mission. It was the best day ever!! The theme was "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." We talked about the Heart and the importance of having a healthy,
kind, and giving heart. It was so wonderful. :) I learned so much from the Sisters there. One sister as she was sharing her testimony talked about how she felt such a power in the room. It was different then when you are with the elders, because then you feel it as the priesthood power, but this power was different it was power that come from righteous women of God. And that is so true. There is power that flows from righteousness. :) It was a beautiful day!
At the end of the conference Sister Sasaki (a sister that returned home 6 months ago, who I lived with for a long time in Fujisawa and we are just great friends) came to visit and it was so great to see her. She is such an amazing person. :)

Yesterday was great too! There is a member in our Ward that is a return mission president that loves to give us mission advice and usually it is funny, but yesterday he said something that I loved, he said he used to tell his missionaries, "I want you to be the kind of missionary you would want YOUR kids to be." I liked that. I made me want to be better. :) I want my kids to be like me, so I have to be better. My example to them starts now. :) "Now is the best time to start becoming the person we want to be." President Uchtdorf. :)

I love you all!! God is good. God is love. :)

Have a great week!

Love,
アシュビー姉妹


How much bread we get every week from a ward member.... No we don't
eat it all.... We give a lot of it to other missionaries.... Haha :)

Making Cake Pops for Valentine's Day. :)

Climb every Mountain :)

Dear Family
This week has been great. Every week is great. :) Life is great! I hope that is one out look that I keep for the rest of
my life. Always remembering that life is Good, because it is a gift from God, and everything which is good is from God. :)

This week we had a lot of great experiences. We have been setting higher goals and working harder to reach those goals. We have seen a lot of miracles in the process. This week we found a new investigator and I just love her! She is going through a divorce right now and it is really hard. She has one little boy who is 5 and so funny. We shared with her a little bit about the restoration and hope that comes into our lives through prayer and the gospel and she just said, "本当に聞きたいです。" (I really want to hear.)  That is such a great response. That we really don't get that often! :) I love it! We are teaching her this Wednesday. Pray that it goes well and that her heart will be prepared for our message.

We had Mission Leadership Council this week. Which naturally makes it the best week ever! Every time I go to those meetings, every single question that I go with gets answered. I love it so much! We talked a lot about the importance of accountability and being accountable to the Lord. I really needed that. These past few days I have really tried to apply that by through pray really giving a account of my day to the Lord. It has helped me to strive during the day to do my very best and it has been really helpful. I am so grateful for the principle of accountability and the blessings that being accountable brings into our lives. :)

We had the chance this past week to go on a Ward hike. It was so much fun and really 久しぶり. We had a great time talking about the gospel while hiking and hearing members conversion stories. It was really cool experience. Their is power in sharing how the gospel has helped and blessed your life. Strengthening Ward members and others faith is so important. Challenge for this week: Share you testimony and conversion story with someone. How has the gospel changed your life? Look of the opportunity and share. There are so many opportunities
around us. Pray to see them more. :)

I know I am praying more and more for more opportunities to share the gospel. It is truly the happy sound! 福音

I hope you all have a wonderful week. Climb all the mountains that life throws at you whether they be literally mountains or trails. We all have them in life. Everyone does. But it is always a lot more beautiful on the other side. I promise. Climb it with faith, hope, and charity. :)

I love you all!!

Love,
Sister Ashby

"Oh what a wonderful feeling! Oh what a beautiful day!"

Dearest family,

We had a great week this week! It was so great! We had a lot of success meeting with people and this next week we do too! This area is the best and I love working with Brox Shimai. We get a long really well and she is so easy to work with. We both want to set high goals and reach them and it feels so good to reach your goals! We have been
able to teach a lot about the restoration this week and it has really been a testimony
builder for me.  :) Just a short one this week....I don't know really what to say but here is a story and a testimony.

This week we were able to visit a less active couple in the ward. They are so nice and were so welcoming to us. We talked for a little and then started talking about church and why they were less active. We had a really good conversation about faith and then we really felt
prompted to share with them the "Mountains to climb" Mormon message. That Mormon message always makes me cry! The spirit really filled the room and you could tell it touched them. You could tell the husband was really feeling the spirit, but the wife really seemed to be fighting against it. We were able to testify of the power of faith to help us endure. At that moment I really felt the power that comes from faith. I could see this couple, the husband who desired more faith, the wife who seemed to be fighting against faith and it just hit me

how much God NEEDS us to have faith. It hit me how much power faith really does have. It makes all of us stronger and helps us bear what ever this mortal state has to offer. It gives us the courage we need to do the things we know in our hearts we need to do. Even though this couples faith seemed to be so weak at this time, you could tell that the spirit had touched their hearts and that some part of their faith was strengthened.

Faith is truly the power. It is by faith that miracles are brought to pass. "Faith is like a little seed, if planted it will grow." If you haven't already please plant the seed if faith. God knows us and will help that seed grow into the beauty it was meant to become. I know that through faith all things are possible and the Lord works miracles in our lives.

Have a great week! I am praying for you all as always. Have faith! :)

Love,
アシュビー姉妹

We made brownies in the rice cooker!! :) hahaha.....

"I know my savior loves me"

Dear family,

This week has been so amazing. For sure on of the best weeks since coming to the Hodogaya Area. We saw so many miracles and people changing and progressing. We had interviews with President Wada, Zone
meeting, lessons, less active lessons, made cookies and banana bread,  went to primary, had dinners with members, set some great goals, gave  a church tour, talked to people, rode our bikes up and down hills to visit  referrals, and just had a great week!

We worked hard this week and we saw a lot of miracles. I feel like my desire to share the gospel just keeps to continues to grow and grow every week I am here. :)

We have been working with a lot of less actives in this Ward and it has been great to see some progress with some of them. On Sunday one came to church and it was a great experience. She also has been sharing the gospel with her friend. It is a great experience to see her change as she is invited to do so.

Another less active member we have been teaching has finally made some progress. It has been a long process to help her understand the gospel more, but she is finally starting to grasp it. We have been teaching her the Restoration (lesson 1) for the past month. Teaching her piece by piece and helping her understand all of the doctrine. It has been a really great experiment though, to really teach to her needs. She had never prayed before about Joseph Smiths experience, but this past week she told us that she prayed about it and she feels it is true. It is great to see her faith growing. Also, her work schedule is changing so she will be able to come to church soon. She is really excited. Her desire has increased so much and it has really been a testimony builder to me, that as we really teach to people's needs and their understanding, they will change and progress. We all change at our own pace and the spirit speaks to us all in different ways, but the gospel is for everyone. :)

We have been working with two sisters who are 8 and 10 years old. They come to church almost every week and love it. The other day we were able to teach them the "prayer sandwich" and oh did they love it!!! They love praying! Their enthusiasm for prayer has really strengthen my desire to pray from the heart. They are so cute and we love going
to primary with them. Yesterday the primary sang, "I know my savior loves me" and it was so cute to watch them sing. I love that song!! And I love it in Japanese!! So great.

Well I love my mission so much! I got a blessing from President Wada this week while at interviews and in it he told me so much that I needed to hear. But one thing what stuck out a lot was he said that as I work hard for these last 4 months of my mission and give my all to the Lord, I will receive more blessings then I have yet received serving my whole mission. I know that what is said is true, but I don't know how I can receive more. I have already been blessed so much, but I know that as I trust Gods promise and do my very best I will be amazed at the blessings in my life.

God is Good. :)

I love you all!!

Love,
Sister Ashby