love

Fam--

This week was crazy good. Hey remember when we skyped? FUN RIGHT?? Lets do that again. How about in 6ish months?? Okay sounds gooood, looking forward to it.

Im so glad everyone had such a good christmas. I LOVED Christmas this year. It was definitely different, and I definitely missed christmas together, but focusing on others this year was a special experience. As i was strengthening my relationship with Christ and Father in Heaven, I hope i was able to help others feel their love as well. I was sooo glad that we visited Ruri. After her moms funeral, I have been thinking about her a lot. And i think that quick stop really made her spirit a little bit brighter. Mom--Dont worry about the funeral being on pday!! we have plenty of pdays and that experience was worth 100 pdays.

This week was my favorite dendo week. We met so many awesome people. We visited Lanie, one of our investigators from the Philippines. She seemed stressed about working on christmas and by the time we left, she had a smile on her face again and thanked us over and over again for visiting. We gave her a little xmas gift and a BOM and sang Silent Night. I loooove to sing for ppl here. my voice is sooo bad as you all know but it is such an easy way to bring the spirit. After that we met an FI named Saeko chan. She met the missionaries on the street but never had another appointment. She is AWESOME. She is going to get baptized. i know it. She home-stayed in Idaho for one year with a MORMON FAMILY! She went to church for a year and has been to temple square twice. We had so much fun talking with her. We asked her if she would be interested in learning more about gospel, we REALLY want to teach her haha. She said ofcourse! And she said her parents are okay with it too. BOOYAH pray for her! She is so prepared!

Ikemoto Shimai received the gift of the holy ghost yesterday. :) We sang I am a Child of God in sacrament meeting, there was a sweet spirit there. It has been a tender mercy to be a part of her conversion.

Yesterday, Evangeline came to church and we taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ. She is very open with us, which is good, but she is having a hard time. When we talked about baptism and invited her to be baptized, she said if she gets to the point of knowing it is true then ofcourse she would be baptized. but she said she cannot get past the point of believing that God is our father. She prays everyday but I dont think she understands sincere prayer. This morning I reread my favorite page in PMG. please read it its soooo good. page 187. I dont know all of Evangelines struggles or thoughts, i dont know what to say all the time, but Heavenly Father knows Evangeline perfectly. And right now, I am His servant. I know He will guide my companion and I to know how to help her. I know He has a plan for her and for each of us.

Also, these stories from the Oct 2014 Liahona are sooo good.
The Jadeite Cabbage
Upon the Top of the Waters.

I love you so much. Your support, love and examples strengthen me everyday. I know you also strengthen others- always be a LIGHT! Have a great week. love forever,
Sister Wilcox

Its a wonderful life (letter from Dec 15, 2014)

Fam! I cant believe how fast this week was! I feel like i was just talking to you yesterday! This week was so great! Bad news first-- Ruri didnt come to the RS activity. She canceled right before :( I was soooo bummed! Havent seen her for more than 2 weeks! I spoke in church yesterday and she didnt come to that either. So sad! I wish people could understand that this is all they need in life! Nothing else matters! Sometimes agency is so stupid!

WOW yes i opened the Xmas package! Mom are you amazing! So darn cute! i was thrilled to open it and feel so much love. i havent opened anything but the COAT and lights. I looooove the coat. thank you so soooo much! One night we were biking and it was freezing and i was starting to lose enthusiasm...then i noticed the Family pin on my coat. Ahh it changed my perspective, that night ended up being one of the best nights weve had--thank you so much for helping me.. even in little ways you help so much.

One of the highlight this week was a special zone conference- Elder Ringwood came and it was sooooo good! The BEST PART was after, i started talking to him and asked where he was from and he lives right next to you Gma and Gpa! He said to his wife, `This is Odettas granddaughter!` She said ohhh i love Odetta! It was so fun! Its been crazy to have so many connections to people here in japan! She hugged me and he said, `Oh I wish i could hug you right now.`...so sincerely! ..i cried when they left haha. Sometimes just talking to americans is so wonderful. He said to be sure to thank my parents for raising children firm in the gospel. He was so grateful toward you!

Last night we met with Evangeline. I love her so much. We were planning on inviting her to be baptized yesterday but i didnt feel like it was right. She doesnt speak Japanese, so it was fun to be able to teach in English and say everything from my heart and not my head. Please pray for her! She prays everyday and reads the scriptures, but she has a hard time understanding that God is our Heavenly Father. she really wants a sign from God. She wants him to appear on a cloud...sooo...ya. please pray for her haha. We watched The Gift with her and explained how Heavenly Father shows his love for us through the spirit. I love her so much and want her to know the happiness!

GUYS i just love serving a mission. boys i CANNOT WAIT for you to serve! i always wanted to experience what shay did and mom and dad and it is so wonderful! Its so easy in life to lose perspective and on a mission-- I feel like it is so easy to live in the world but not of the world.
This week for eikaiwa one of the students is a professional pianist and he played for us. i thought of you parks and how on your mission you will be able to use your talents to bring the spirit. You are amazing!

I love you so much fam. dont lose faith. dont lose hope. life is happy and wonderful!
love, sister wilcox

dendo (missionary work)

FAM
your christmas adventures already look so fun!! wow its so weird that life is still going on back home. haha like you:re all moving on and getting old! parker your haircut looks way good. jaren stop growing. you already look older and you cant be taller than me. shay you saw the kalbs!!! how are they??? did you meet their nanny?? did you babysit or just visit? give kacie a big hug for me. tell her i miss her a ton. mom you and your friends are partying! wow so many parties going on! bridal baby showers, christmas parties. i cannot believe spencer colemans wife! so sad!!! have you seen them lately? thats scary. send me pics of the house all decorated!! i love to see pics. i forget what things look like haha. dad im so sorry you had to see your daughter look like a dweeb on that video hahah im so embarrassed. i think my japanese is a teency bit better haha.

sooooo i got a new comp. as you all know. she is nihonjin. her name is sister Mineta. and i LOVE HER! shes hilarious. very americanized. ha she has been with a lot of gaijin comps so her english is wayyy good. she speaks as much english to me as she can, and i speak back to her as much japanese as i can. its so funny. everynight she says `sweet dreams baby`. ...we are very much alike..haha.

We havent been able to see Ruri for a while. :( she is so busy! Please pray for her. i know you do. So i have done the most physically exhausting things EVER this week. hahah mineta S and i have been through a lot. On tuesday, we travel to Nagoya (4 hrs away by shinkansen) to meet new comps and travel back. Mineta S had her bike in a bag, and i didnt want her to carry it! shes so tiny! so i carried it to and from trains and whatnot. that doesnt sound too bad, but my body was shaking. i am such a weaksauce baby but it was SO HARD! haha and she was carrying like 4 big bags so we were both dying. then this week it snowed...for 3 days straight. we got about 6 inches i think. the snow here is super wet. and riding a bike in the snow is nearly impossible!!! hahaha we were laughing so hard. Like my abs hurt when we got home one night. we were the only ppl out on our bikes, and you couldnt ride for 3 feet without falling in the snow, or drifting around a corner, ohh my i should have filmed it it was hilarious. like ...its so miserable.. that its so funny. after a while we wer e both soaking wet. and finally we just had to walk our bikes home. that was also so physically exhausting. but Mineta shimai is always happy. we are always happy together. we make good food. we have way good companion study. our investigators are struggling right now. please pray for Yuu chan and evangeline.

So Mineta Shimai is obsessed with Nobuaki!! haha she saw my little shrine of pics with him hanging up and screamed. she knows all his songs and is so jealous that ive met him. i told her that he sang at yalls wedding and she was stoked. she also LOVES Brother Daniels. have you met him yet??? MEET HIM ALREADY everyone loves him. she knew him when he was mish prez in sapporo.

Dendo has been a little slow this week with the snow. we tried visiting members for their bday and made them cheesecake. but what would normally take us 45 min took about 3.5 hours in the snow..and we couldnt even make it to their house before we had to turn around or we would be late for curfew! gahh so frustrating!! we were late yesterday for the first time cuz of the snow. we were really sad. we got home at like 9.45 and felt so bad!! mineta S felt so bad. she kept apologizing haha. but really. we were bummed.

Evangeline got home from Hong Kong this week so we are going to visit her and invite her to be baptized!!! so excited and so nervous. i have been really praying to know what to do and say to her. and all i need to do is invite the spirit. if the spirit isnt there, conversion cannot happen.

FAMILY PLEASE READ boyd k packers talk THE WITNESS from april 2014. my favorite. i read it today during personal study and was almost tearing up. so powerful. please please please study it together and personally. i hope it will benefit you and your testimony like it did mine. I know with all my heart this church is true. Its true! I know God lives. I know Jesus Christ is our SAVIOR. He saved us! What a powerful testimony of love. Keep the first and second commandments, together lets try to be more loving.
Mom i was so happy to hear that yu are studing PMG. we are learning together! i love you!

have a great week. i think of you often. love you with all my heart.
love, whitty

ate eel this week...chewy and nasty will never eat again

this is a hospital...looks pretty sketch

Mineta Shimai always says, you are so FAT.  haha so here I am wearing three coats (so FAT) and when we came back 3 hours later, my SKIN was wet.  the snow here is so wet. ew.  But dendo with mineta is so fun!

change may be the greatest blessing of all...

well.. let me just start by saying this was the BEST week i've had on my mission. seriously everyday was AMAZING!! i wish you were all here to experience the happiness with me.

The best thing of course was Ikemoto Shimais baptism. She is a changed person. So different! It was amazing to see her change from not even know who God was, to being able to pray and have the spirit all the time. She is so awesome. I think ive learned more from her than she has learned from me. Walsh Shimai and I went early to clean the font. it was so fun, we were sooo pumped. just so happy for her! so happy that the Lord lead her to be able to find the truth. That night, the baptism was about to start. It was literally 6:57 and there were only 3 people there! Thankfully, pretty much the whole ward showed up haha. This ward is SOOOO great at dendo. I hope i can be a much better member when i get home. I feel like i have already changed so much. and changed to be closer to the spirit and closer to Heavenly Father. So neat! After she was baptized she said that she has been thinking about things she wants to change in life, and thats when she found the missionaries. she said she feels clean and happy.

"The purpose and central blessing of life is change. It is to be changed to become more like Jesus Christ. It is to incorporate into your character, the qualities of His character. It is to move from one degree of intelligence and capacity to the next, and from there to the next, until you see God face to face and know Him as He knows you."

That is my mission motto. As I am striving to bring others closer to Christ, I must be willing to change, to give my whole heart and soul and will to Him. Only He can shape me into what i must become. Im ready to change! I'm ready to dedicate myself to the Lord! I've seen others on my mission make that change, and I want to progress and fulfill my purpose on this earth. If not that, then why are we here??

Last night we went to a members house, she invited some YSA people and Ikemoto San came and we invited our investigator Yuu chan. Mom--she is like my Yuri or Ruri. I LOVE her. She speaks pretty good english but i try to speak as much as i can to her in japanese. She is my favorite nihonjin that i have met here. She is SO prepared. i know she will get baptized. the members love her. she has been to church 4 times and loves it. PLEASE pray for her! We want to meet with her more but she is so busy during the week. I hate how busy ppl make themselves! like cmon make time to hear about the gospel! ;) we only are asking an hour or two everyday. haha. but really she is so awesome. Our mission-wide goal is to get 3 baptisms by Christmas as a gift to the Savior. Please pray for Yuu chan and Evangeline. They are both so ready- they just need to commit! Anyway, last night was so so fun. the funnest time ive had on my mission. The girls were all in one room and no one was really talking to i was like, "okay English party!!" and starting asking them questions in english and they thought it was hilarious...japanese ppl think anything is hilarious haha. then we taught them down by the banks. then they taught us a game called Broccoli. its so fun hahah we were rolling on the floor laughing. Walsh Shimai and i sang the cup song for them! I thought of you mom--when we made up lyrics of me moving away. Then Yasui shimai (the member) had me read The Christmas Train (pres. monsons book) and she translated into japanese. the spirit was so strong. God is so proud of His children here- they really understand the plan of salvation and understand how important missionary work is. it was sooo fun!! Such a good fun way to dendo and feel the spirit.

I met a couple pontential investigators this week. The first family was from AFRICA (parker) they were so cool. They were so friendly and invited us back anytime. They will be baptized. haha

THEN we went to this brazilian ladys house. we sat in her kitchen to wait for her... and she came out in a TOWEL....shes not a tiny person either....she shook my hand, put on deodorant. i was sitting there thinking ....."ohhhh my gosh this is so awkward what do i do i dont want to look at you." hahah i think she saw my face cuz she was like "Oh Gomen.." and went and put clothes on. hahah so AWK. shes a little crazy.

So many other fun things happened but out of time. i'll write you a letter. love you all so much. As President Yamashita says, "I am so ploud of you." :)

love you love you love you. pray for missionary opportunities they are everywhere!

love, Sister Wilcox

Mercy

hiiii fam. :)
how are you? heebs is cold huh? this past week was actually way warm! didnt even wear a coat. but i think this week is supposed to be cold. tomorrow we are traveling to Nagoya (4 hour shinkansen ride) for trainers training. i get to see all my peeps from the MTC. Walsh Shimai is leaving on Monday! sooooooo sad. She is traveling around jp with her parents for a week.
Youre going to garths for thanksgiving?? soo fun! Tell everyone hi and i love them! So this Thur we have eikaiwa! but i still wanted to celebrate thanksgiving!!!!!! So i asked my comp if it would be okay to have a thanksgiving party! We explained what thanksgiving was and everyone is bringing food and we will all go around the room and say what we are thankful for (i told them thats what my fam does) and playing games! Susan, a member in our ward from Hawaii, is bringing a turkey and pumpkin pie and candied yams! STOKEEEDDDD. i love america. like wow i love america. shay....do you LOVE AMERICA??? haha

IKEMOTO SAN IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!! this friday. its happening. super exciting. she will be an awesome member. she is super shy but has opened up a ton. please pray for her. our goal is to have 3 baptisms by Christmas as a gift to the Savior. If you could include these people in your prayers..i think they have the most potential right now and i desperately want them to experience the joy that the gospel brings!!!!!!!!!! Evangeline, Yuu chan, Naoko, Mami, and RURI! Mom...i:ll be honest. I LOVE RURI so much. But i feel so bad that i cant speak to her! I feel like i cant do what im supposed to be doing because i cant speak japanese. This is such a miracle that we:ve met, but i feel so inadequte and what if I fail? What if i cant help her or strengthen her? It was super fun to be with her though. She took us to the dollar store and bought us a bunch of stuff. then to visit her mom..ah it was so sad. she is miserable, so sad. While we were there Ruri pulled out a scrapbook that becky made. hahahah it was so fun to see pics of you! Here I am thousands of miles away in a Japanese hospital looking at pictures of my cute mom. I love that me nad you and dad and shay have all done the same thing. how amazing are missions??? anyway then we went to a japanese italian buffet with her friends. they brought their 2 13 year old daughters and they were thrilled to be with us i think. they kept taking pics of us and with us and trying to speak english. they were darling. it was so much fun. we are going to eat at ruris restaurant on thursday!

Today we had a Nabe Party with the ward. Naoko san came! and a potential investigator came! we have invtited about 50 ppl to the baptism haha .hope some can come. I know with no doubt in my mind or heart that what we teach is true. The plan of salvation is such a perfect plan!
Some tender mercies this week: (might sound cheesy...but they really were so comforting)...
We went to the Ooi family:s home to mogi and have lunch. CUTEST old couple and they served a mission at the Tokyo temple. They dendo all the time.. just really neat members. One of my responsibilites this week as a bean chan was to lead lessons...so talk the most pretty much. I was teaching Lesson 2 and all of a sudden i had crazy de ja vu....the green curtains, the old couple, the brown table, my companion next to me..and i realized that it wasnt deja vu ..its a dream ive had several times before my mission! My heart was almost hurting i felt the spirit so strong right then. i realized that this really is exactly where i need to be. Heavenly Father, through the spirit, made it known to me through a DREAM i had months ago and has been preparing me for a long time. I was so grateful for that little testomony builder . When we left, Walsh Shimai said that was the best lesson ive taught.

Yesterday, we were biking to a PIs house. I was in kind of a bad mood, trying to show it..but still in a bad mood. I was sad and lonely, and a little annoyed. As we were biking, i was praying so hard to be comforted and to be able to be happy about dendo that day. At that moment we were biking across a bridge. I looked to the left, and the sky was dark and gray. Honestly, a lot like how i felt. I then looked to the right. There were rays of sunshine beaming through the clouds and it was refreshing and beautiful. At that moment, i was filled with the spirit. I immediately moved my bike over to the right side of the sidewalk, directly behind my companion. I realized that only if i was choosing the right, choosing the ways of Christ and working with my companion in unity, that was the only way that i could benefit others and share the gospel. I needed to repent of my selfishness and bitterness. I could not be more grateful for such a merciful Father . to get second and third and fourth chances at life. and anything, really. There is always hope. And Christ is always waiting for us. its us that turns away from Him.

I love the mission. I really do. I already feel like a different person. Im so grateful for the things i learn every single day. miss you all so much. love you more than anything. have a suuuuper good week!!!!!!!!!!!!
love, whit shimai

ps mom or dad i need to fill out this family history book. can you send me pics in the mail of grandparents and great grandparents and you guys and my siblings?? thanks soooo much. and i am supposeed to write stories or anything. so if iyou have time thatd be super helpful .

Can't count the miracles!

FINALLY MET RURI! Ah mom it was such a miracle. Walsh Shimai and I were riding our bikes to a less- actives house and some lady came running up to me waving her hands in the air. Literally my first thoughts were `either she needs help or she really wants to get baptized.` She asked `Sister Wilcox???` I said yes and she pointed to herself and said, `Ruri! Ruri! Ruri!` We were stoked! We were both hugging each other and I was spouting out english and she was spouting out japanese but we were so happy! She took us to Starbucks, bought us scones and a drink and we talked and talked. She told us about Moser and Yuri! I was laughing so hard- iremember you telling us all about that Mom. I showed her pictures from your mission- she loved it. She said you were amazing at Japanese and knew more Kanji than some Japanese people! She asked about my siblings, if you work, what dad does for a living, if you still speak japanese...She asked a ton of questions. Im super excited to meet her daughter. We are going to visit her mom in the hospital this week with her and then go to dinner with her and her friend. Super excited. She is darling! So nice and so ready to hear the gospel. I know it! It was truly a miracle. Mom you have no idea how it made me feel to have someone in JAPAN come up to me and love me and hug me- I hope you are already tasting the fruits of your labors. I sure have. You are incredible!

This morning we met with Ikemoto san. She got work off on the 30th and is so excited to get baptized! AHHH so kinjin. Today we taught her the word of wisdom and the rest of L3. I was praying so hard while my comp was telling her about it, then i bore my testimony, then she said she would follow it and is excited to see the blessings that come from following the commandments and getting baptized. HOW COOL!!!! She is so sweet, and one of the most humble people ive met. Just her smile invites the spirit.

The Lords hand is everywhere. There is no doubt that He is the one doing the missionary work. I am just the one who is inviting. I am amazed with what I learn everyday. Stay true to yourself and always follow the Lord. What ive been so impressed with is the love that Heavenly Father has for us. ....I LOVE our investigators. I think about them constantly and always want to help them. I would do anything for them! We may only meet once a week, and after that they may forget about me. But i do not forget them. Heavenly Father is always thinkning about us, loving us, wanting what is best for us. Any maybe we only pray once a day, and then forget about Him. I hope this week we can all work on developing our relationship with Heavenly Father. We are his children. Let Him help you.

I love you all. Thank you for your support. xoxoxox

Love, Sister whit

My wish for you...

Fam and Friends-

My wish for each of you right this second would be for you to be in Japan seeing the miracles and having the same feelings i am having. I truly cant put it all into words. This week was simply amazing! I feel so selfish as a missionary sometimes. I am supposed to be bringing souls unto Christ and helping them get on the path that leads back to Heavenly Father--strengthen THEIR faith and spirituality. And yet everyday, I am the one being strengthened. I honestly didnt even know it was possible to feel this close to Heavenly Father. I didnt know it was possible to have such a close and very real relationship with Him. I have never been more grateful for Jesus Christ and His atonement. He lived such a short 33 year life on earth- he did all he could to do the Fathers will. If I am only called for 18 months, God must believe that I can make a change! I hope I can do my best every single day. I dont want to waste a minute. I love dendo (missionary work)!

Ill try and give you the short version of everything-- ;)

Mom PLEASE go to Sister Walshs homecoming! I adore her. Shes my best friend and my companion--how lucky is that?? I have sooo much to be grateful for! She gets home on December 9. Ill give you more deets later. She wants to meet you! Shay you gotta meet her too. k thanks. :)

Yesterday we had dinner with Susan (member that is SO good to the missionaries. She texted our investigator and invited her to dinner. how awesome is she??!) I love Hien. ahh i wish you could meet her. She is so prepared and has such a sweet spirit. Youd just eat her up shes so cute. Walsh Shimai and I shared a scripture (Mosiah 34:32) and shared our testimonies. Afterwards she was asking us questions about the BOM, please pray for her! She is so ready!

I can:t remember if i told you about evangeline or not. Shay--this is all for you. We are meeting with Evangeline from Hong Kong. She is KINJIN. She doesnt speak Japanese but her english is awesome. so yay. Shes darling. We asked her how she chose Evangeline- its the stars name from Princess and the Frog. I laughed so hard. in elementary school she went by apple. and in highschool she went by dolphin. haha what? She asked about our names- I told her, `in America- people call me Whitney.` She laughed so hard! She said, `Oh like the bear! ..Winnie the Pooh!` hahaha then Sister Walsh said `In america ppl call me Katy.` She started laughing again!! And said, `Like Hello Kitty!` hahah it was the cutest thing. She also said, `Sister Wilcox you are very vivid.` ...thank you. haha She has to go back to China to study more before her test, and in December we will be able to meet with her more often. She asks the BEST questions. She believes in God and prays a lot!! She texted us the other day and said, `I believe God is helping me!` Too cool.

Ikemoto San is still progressing-shes amazing. We asked her if she still felt like she was ready to be baptized on the 30 and she said YES I got work off! YAY. She came to church yesterday and was asking about the sacrament. I couldnt help but think of you, Dad. I remember when I was little, during church you would whisper in my ear and tell me all about the sacrament. You would tell me why we take the bread and why we take the water. I loved being so close to you and having you teach me the gospel. I cherish that memory. Youre an awesome dad. I love you.

Shay thank you soooo much for your gift. I love love love it. I read it everyday and put my own quotes in their as well. I know it will be my favorite thing from my mission. Youre awesome! Remember calling each other `hun` when we were mad at each other?? And watching the Buttercream gang? hahah

FUNNY: I dont think i told you this story- ignore this if i did it was tooo funny though. Last week we had to get flu shots. My comp went into this room for a while and came out with her eyes wide open ..like in shock. I went in there, didn:t understand anything the doctor said, and all of a sudden this nurse behind me and the doctor in front of me were pulling up my shirt! a little awk,...dont know why they basically had to take my clothes off just to take my heartbeat. but anyway we get out shot and go out to the foyer. Walsh Shimai and I were laughing our heads off. _Okay keep in mind that japanese people are very quiet and shy and they dont really speak to each other. We are in this little foyer with probably 10 other nihonjin. I am laughing my head off. You know how I get when I literally just cant stop laughing! Well i look up and EVERYONE is looking at me covering their mouths trying not to laugh. I thought it was so funny that they were laughing cuz in america everyone would just be annoyed! So i said kind of loud, `Gomennasai. Jinsei wa omoshiroii desu.` and everyone just busted up laughing. It was a bonding moment haha. I waved at everyone when we left. Some lady came up and thanked us for making her laugh. Too fun.

sorry i think i already told you that story. but we still laugh about it. :)

I love you all so much. Lee Daniels-- you get a shout out ;) I hope you get to meet my family soon. They`re pretty cool. Thank you so much for the emails. They uplift and inspire me! Miss you and Sister Daniels so much.

Parker- write me and tell me about preference! I was so sad to hear about your chipped tooth! Did that happen during the assembly??

Thank you for supporting me and all the missionaries. Im so happy to be apart of Gods army!
xoxoxoxoxoxox

Love, sister whit wilcox

I'm soaked...

so much love

i loved reading all your emails! you;re all so dang cute haha hiking looked way fun. this week was just amazing. this mission is crazy fun and ive seen so many miracles already. The Lord goes before and after ---i have a solid testimony of that!

So this week I got a package from Nobuaki! So nice right?! hahah It was so cute.. he said, `I thought I would send you a package for halloween! hahah so he sent me a bunch of japanese candy, 2 CD`s, his conversion story, and a picture of us from the MTC and a pic with you guys! (mom, dad, gma and gpa). it was so fun, he`s such a neat guy.

So the elders found a bunch of highschoolers that were interested in hearing the gospel! Elders can only teach boys, and we can only teach girls-- so we all went and played soccer/volleyball and got 3 new investigators! They:re the cutest, we are meeting with them today. super excited! That same day, we were OYMing (open your mouth) and found another investigator! We havent been able to meet with her, but I know the Lord has a plan for her. Whether through us or others, she has a special spirit about her. Her name is Minami san. If nothing happens, I firmly believe in `planting seeds.` No effort is wasted!

The eikaiwa (english conversation) class is so fun! I taught the kids class- taught them happy, sad, angry, sleepy, etc. Ahh its so hard not to just cuddle those kids. So cute! Hien (from vietnam) came to eikaiwa and we went out to dinner with her yesterday. She has been meeting with the sisters for a while, shes having a hard time believing, but i have so much love for her. We had sooo much fun. Laughed and laughed. I would ask her questions in japanese, and she would answer in english. hahah it was so funny. i wish i could have filmed the whole thing. Mom and shay you would looooove her. she reminds me of lorraine dettman haha. so i started asking questions about the church and we got to talk about joseph smith more in depth. I hope she was able to feel the spirit, she says she keeps meeting with us because she feels so happy when she is with us and we are `different.` She`s ready! She is amazing! I know Heavenly Father loves her so much, and every person with such a sincere love. He wants her to remember Him.. to talk and develop a relationship again. Every soul is great in the eyes of God. Please pray for Hien!

Another amazing experience was with a girl from China. Shay- every single person ive met from china or hong kong is amazing.!!!!! Wow!!! So ready to hear the gospel. I was on an exchange with a sister named Omine Shimai in Kanazawa over the weekend. Anyway her name is Tai He He. She speaks english pretty well, so most of our lesson was in english! She talked about a lot of hard times she is going through right now, and I could relate to her pretty well- we read Alma 26:27,37 and she said that really helped her. She also has a hard time believing in God, but she says she wants to! I asked her to read Mosiah 24:13-16 that night. She looked me in the eyes and said she loved me and hoped to see me again...ah i was almost in tears! How can i love these people so much after spending such a short amount of time with them! I want them to find Christ, I want them to know Christ and know the atonement..so bad!! I know it would bring so much happiness and hope. She asked if i could come back to kanazawa over the weekend and go to lunch..wish i could! haha

Ikemoto san is just amazing as always. She asks perfect questions and has been searching for the gospel for a long time. The spirit is incredible in lessons with her. I know the angels of heaven are with us, and when she leaves after lessons, i feel so much peace. I know she is not alone.

I love you all. Im so so blessed to be in japan with Sister Walsh. We have too much fun together! Im so not looking forward to her leaving in 3 weeks! :( . I couldnt be more happy than where i am, and what im doing. `its the best!` (dad mimicking nacho libre). ;). on the exchange this weekend, omine shimai played the song `goodnight my angel` ...i was first imagining dad singing it to me- made me miss you so much dad! then i imagined Heavenly Father-- i know He loves each of you. He desires only your happiness! Do what he asks and do what the Lord asks. Just do it! It truly does bring happiness. He knows something we dont. Trust Him. :) love love love youuuuuuu
love, whit twit sister wilcox

first week...wow!!!

*sorry this letter is so scrambled and random...:)

WOW. Where do I start?! First of all, SHAY! IT IS SO SURREAL THAT YOU ARE HOME!!! Literally everyone i meet i say in my awful japanese, `my sister went to hong kong on her mission and got home yesterday!` then once my companion translates that for them they throw their arms around me and are sad for me. hahah its cute. literally so many people did that. so tell me everything. so happy for all of you. such a happy time!

Okay.....so let me just say I LOVE JAPAN. Why is America so lame? haha It`s been nothing less than perfect. I have not felt sad or overwhelmed or stressed or scared at all! Such a blessing! All my prayers have been filled only with gratitude. I`m so happy here! I dont know how its possible but i feel right at home. I really do. Heavenly Father is blessing us so much, all of us! Can you feel the crazy amount of blessings??? LOOVEE ITTTT. okay i]ll try to give you deets real fast.

The flight--ew. haha but i sat with Humphreys and Kittaka Shimai so we just slept on each other and it was great. When we arrived in Japan, Yamashita Kaicho and Sister Yamashita were soooo sweet! they spoke english ...hallelujah haha... and the assistants and everyone was soo nice. I probably looked like a troll but..sister missionaries are supposed to look stupid right? The mission home was super nice. We felt bad becuase they fed us and wanted to talk but i felt so sick and dizzy from not sleeping so we went to bed early. The next day we were SOO nervous and excited to meet our comps. but lemme tell you..i got the BEST trainer. We are best friends! Its been so so fun. Her name is Kaitland Walsh, she]s from Draper. She leaves in 6 weeks though...so sad about that. So ill have 2 trainers. Anyway, we are 4 hrs away from the mission home in Toyama. Yep its cold here. i looove it though. Kind of in the city, but i love it. I love riding my bike and looking at all the crazy beautiful things here. The cemeteries are huge..and there are a ton. I love to pray and think about everything while riding my bike. So peaceful. Anyway, its just Walsh Shimai and I in our apt. And there is one set of elders in our ward. The shower is so cool, its like an entire room. The food is weird, its good but super weird. I like cabbage pancakes. EW i ate raw eggs and fermented soy beans on rice and was literally gagging. At the train station one day, we walked into the bathroom and there was no toilet! it was like a hole in the ground and you just squat over it. So i go into the stall and kind of just stare at it for about a minute, walked out and washed my hands. hahah i couldnt do it! The spiders are so big.

Okay mom, dad you werent kidding. I thought japan would for sure be more like america. but let me tell you ....its totally not. After leaving the honbu and traveling 4 hours on a train that is like an airplane, a member lady picked us up and we ate at　her house. The cutest old couple! Well we get there and we kneeled...on the floor!!! my legs were NUMB i was in so much pain. and we ate with chopsticks!!! are you kidding me I cant do that!! haha they were all laughing at me. I learned a lot of sarcastic things in japanese in the MTC soooo they thought i was funny. haha We were all just kneeling around this table with us, the old couple, and the elders, laughing our heads off eating fatty meat and weird sushi that is soooo different from american sushi. but i loved that night. haha

as i]m sitting here laughing to myself about everything that has happened, my companion says i do a lot of DAME (not good) things. like i:m just a loud american that waves to everyone instead of bows, i sound sooooo gaijin (foreigner) when i speak its embarrassing.

oh my gosh the WARD . The ward is amazing. truly truly amazing. I spoke on sunday. Yep all in japanese. and he asked me to 20 MINUTES before sacrament meeting. so i got up there and pretty much said i have 6 ppl in my family, my hobbies are running and volleyball, and im from heber. Actually I said this ... haha ...`Zense kara kimashita. ..jodan jodan! America Utah kara kimashita.` (Im from the pre earth life. jokes! i:m from utah). they all laughed, glad it wasn:t one of those awkward try to make a joke but its not funny kind of thing haha.

I can:t believe how amazing the ward is. Its so cute when ppl try to speak english. There is a special spirit here for sure. So on Saturday morning we went and helped set up for the Halloween Party, and there is a young family, they have 2 kids and they both served missions that were helping set up. I needed to buy a bike that day. So they offered to drive us to town like 20 minutes away and help me buy a bike! So them and another member came and it literally took about 4 hours. I felt SO bad but they were SO nice!! AH i love them!! The Halloween party was so fun and a huge success! I finally got to meet all the members and about 4 investigators came. Okay so I have been praying for more confidence in speaking the language and just saying the things i do know how to say. So I went and sat with one of our investigators, her name is Ikemoto san. My comp talking with a member. Anyway we were just talking and she has never been to church before. So i decided to ask her! Be BOLD right? I asked her if she was coming to church tomorrow, it would be fun and I wanted her to come! She said What time?? ....then i had to get my companion. haha So she explained what church was and she said she only needed to stay for an hour. Then Ikemoto san asked `can i stay for all 3 hours??`....uhhhh YES. I was pumped. I was literally hugging on Walsh Shimai and jumping up and down...she probably thought i was a dweeb but i was so excited! After that I asked another one of our investigators! She said it sounded boring...haha. But hey the answer will always be no if i never ask so i:m glad i asked.

My comp is the sister training leader so we:ve had to travel a ton. Iwent on an exchange with a little nihonjin and we visited a cute little old lady who just got baptized. She fed us this kelp tea that literally tasted like boiled sea water, and little chocolates. I played her piano and shared my testimony. Fun. We dont have alot of investigators right now but i am positive we will very soon. We want to get 3 baptisms before Christmas as agift to Christ. Thats our goal as a mission.

This morning i was reading in D&C ,　i read D&C 20:53. I though of Parkers blessing that he gave to Jaren. That moment I will cherish forever. That was so special parker. I hold that close to my heart. Then I D&C23. Boys--what is your duty?? What do you think Gods will for you is?? Then I read D&C 25 and thought of you mom. Read it, its really good. :).

FAMILY i LOVE YOU. So So so much. Im so happy and so ready to work. I know service brings us so much happiness. Im so grateful for this perfect plan of happiness. Im so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. He is so real to me, I hope you have each found a special relationship with Him and our Savior and Brother Jesus Christ. `Sometimes we should step back and think of the enormity of our potential and the influence and impact we can have in the eyes of others by caring for our own testimonies.`

I love you. God be with you.
Love, Sister Wilcox