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