miracles

Fam and Friends-

another PERFECT week. The weeks are really flying, which is sad, but i love to see the work of salvation moving forward so rapidly! very exciting.
This week I had my first interview with President Yamashita. It was too short! He is such a good man, very in tune with the spirit and so loving. He asked about our investigators, our area, my family...I told him I did not want to be transferred. I want at least 6 more weeks with our awesome investigators that i love so much! He wrote it down in his planner then looked at me and said, `I will pLay (pray) and receive the inspLiLation.` haha I love him! We received priesthood blessings from the district leader, it was a very neat experience and super hisashiburi. Heaven is so near!

Last week, Shimizu san and her 2 little boys came to church. We visited her this week, she seemed VERY sad and had a very dark countenance. It was not what we were expecting, but we were very glad that we visited her. We invited her to a members house for dinner the next day, with very little hope that she would come. And SHE CAME. It was so great. There were 3 member families there and we sang I am A Child of God and everyone shared their testimonies. The spirit was so strong! I hope we were able to help her be in a good place where the spirit could testify to her and touch her heart. This week I have really come to realize that we are not the teachers! The spirit converts people and it is just my job to help the spirit be able to do His job. I am really trying to do my best to do that!

We visited Hirano san (single mother with 6 kids). She told us she had read the ENTIRE BOOK OF MORMON and didnt really understand it so she is reading it again. ...unreal! How cool right??? We are super excited to meet with her again. Please pray for her! She is amazing.

Evangeline is also progressing- slowly but surely. A cool little miracle happened today. She has been looking for a sign from God ever since she met the missionaries. She came to english classon thursday and one of the elders talked to her for a long time about forever families and the blessings we gain by being members of the church. She called us later that night and said her friend had called her because her uncle passed away. Evangeline testified to her about forever families! On the phone she said, `I think God sent that missionary boy to me tonight so I could comfort my friend.` We kept saying Thats a sign thats a sign! It was amazing! She committed to read the Book of Mormon, I hope she can understand with her heart and not her head!

Okay one more WAY COOL STORY----Kon chan came to church last week. (16 yr old investigator). She loved it. We ran into her at the train station the other day. She was with her friend who is also interested in church and Kon chan had invited her friend to church! On her own! I know it was not coincidence that we met her!

I love seeing the many miracles by serving the Lord. I love seeing the spirit- Heavenly Fathers love- touch people in a way that leads them to action. The feelings of the Holy Ghost are undeniable. It is true! The gospel is so true! I love you all so much. Thank you for your wonderful examples and your powerful testimonies. have a super good week. .love love love you!

Love, Sister Wilcox

Someone heart attacked us!

Shimizu is in the middle with glasses

Lesson with members and less-active

In the public restroom.  I have never used one and never want to! :)

best week

THIS WEEK WAS THE BEST WEEK OF MY MISSION! the weather was amazing, the people are amazing, the scriptures are amazing, the spirit is amazing. I love missions.

I want to update you on investigators-- we have some solid people right now. AH i wish you could meet them!

Evangeline-
This week Evangeline will finish school and college applications, then she will be free! She wants to come do dendo with us..haha so next week for valentines day we are teaching her `I am a child of God` in Japanese and English and going `caroling` to members and investigators. This week for an Eikaiwa activity we went to the zoo and she came! Afterward, we gave her a talk from Pres. Uchtdorf in chinese. She said now that she is free from school, she wants to really find out for herself if the church is true.

Ruri-
We tried to visit Ruri this week, she wasnt home. On Saturday she was busy, she called us and told me to thank you- mom - for the money for the funeral. She kept saying over and over `bikuri shita!` that was really nice of you guys. Thank you. It is so sad that she is so busy! We will keep trying to visit and do our best this week to help her!

Shimizu-
THIS STORY IS AMAZING. We were housing last transfer and found no one. As we were walking home, the last lady we talked to was Shimizu san. She was in a hurry but told us we could come back and visit. When we did, we taught her how to pray and she said she wanted to come to church. She didnt come for a while, but we have really been focusing our efforts on her lately. She is a single mother with 2 little boys- 6 and 7 yrs old. Our last visit, she told us more about her life and told us that sometimes she hides in her house and cries cuz she doesnt want her boys to see. She is really having a hard time- it was heartbreaking. Mineta Shimai and I left and stood outside and cried together. We said a prayer together, and on the way home i was pleading with Heavenly Father to lighten her load and find the peace that the gospel brings. We had so much faith that she would come to church. Yesterday, I spoke in church and was watching the door the whole time while sitting on the stand..but never saw her come in. Afterward, Mineta Shimai ran up to me and said `SHIMIZU CAME TO CHURCH!` we were jumping up and down hahah such a miracle! She had come in during the opening song. Her boys ran up to me and hugged my legs. There was so much happiness yesterday AHH it was soo cool! The Saviors grace, mercy, hope, and happiness is what will bring her peace. I know that is what she has been looking for.

Kon Chan-
16 years old- she is the girl that asked us to teach her to pray in the street and texted us later that night asking to teach her again. She also came to church yesterday! Both investigators stayed all three hours! The young women and ward fellowshipped like a boss! They are so great. She really like church and wants to come next week.

Bongo- Family from Africa. so solid! They are coming to church on the 22nd. They want to move to Utah because a lot of mormons are there, and the crime is low. haha They really have a special spirit about them, Im grateful to be teaching them.

Those are our most progressing investigators. sorry for the long email. Please include them in your prayers! I love being a missionary. I know the work of salvation will move forward- with or without me. But I want to be on board! I want to do my duty that I was foreordained for. The Saviors atonement is for everyone!

I wish i could write more and more- too much good to tell! Miss you all, keep being awesome. park, jare, this morning i read a testimony from Joseph Smith that is SO AWESOME you have to read it! D&C 128:22-25.

love you so much. have a great week!
happy valentines day!
love, Sister Wilcox

the gift

I`m sorry, dont have a lot of time this week! But shay----
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Your party looked like a blast. good ol american fun. Your friends really are family- i consider those 3 family. :) So fun that you got to hang out with Mom and Dad too!
Thats fun that Red Ledges is part of the ward! Im pretty sure Pres. Uchtdort has a house up there. I think I remember Michael telling me about that. Fun! Tell them I say hi. ;).

Again, this week flew by! There was a Relief Society activity this week and 2 of our investigators came! Ruri texted the night before and said she couldn:t make it. :( I was so bummed. We didnt get to see her this week. Lani came, I think she is really beginning to see how much this gospel can bless her life. We invited her to get baptized, she said she is not ready yet but wants to keep reading the Book of Mormon and praying. Shimizu also came. Mineta Shimai and I dont stop talking about her haha it was a miracle that we met her! She is so ready. She is a single mother with 2 kids. When she came to the church for the activity, she said she wanted to come back and she asked if she could take pictures of Christ to put in her house. We are so excited to teach her! She is so nice, I want so badly to see her reap the blessings from the gospel. We received a referral from the Elders. Furakawa san. Please pray for her! She has so much faith, and I think she does believe, its just hard for people to change. Dont fight the change! Embrace it! Change is part of life! We sang I am a Child of God to her, and the spirit was so strong. There is power in simplicity. This week I have been studying about the Atonement. We visited a less-active and gave a lesson about the atonement. We did a little object-lesson, I think it went really well--

Lesson: We gave the elders a chocolate bar. We said that we had worked so, so hard for that chocolate bar, We spent all we had on that chocolate bar. It is so delicious- we gave it to them and asked them to eat it. One elder threw it away. The other elder accepted it, but didnt eat it. We had given them the chocolate that we worked so hard for, and they didnt even eat it or enjoy it.
Jesus Christ has given EVERYONE a gift. He already suffered, He already paid the excruciating price, and has offered everyone the opportunity to partake of the gift. `He gave His life to atone for the sins of ALL mankind. His was a great vicarious gift in behalf of all who would ever live upon the earth.` He gave us a gift that no one else could, and that gift is can bring eternal, wonderful blessings if we accept and apply the atonement. How do you think the Savior feels when we don`t apply the gift? I testify that we can use the atonement every single day. We should. I testify that this gift is the only way we can fulfill our purpose on earth, and the only way we become who we are meant to be. We are all sons and daughters of our loving Heavenly Father, and yet not all of us will return to live in His presence. Not all of us will remain with Him. And isnt that what we want? Accept the gift. Apply the gift!

I love you all! Thank you for your wonderful examples.
ps. this week when we were streeting, instead of saying `kiyotsukete kudesai!` which means `take care!`...i said `tasukete kudesai!`...PLEASE HELP!! hahah awk....
love you :)
love, sister whit