A whole lot of nothin' followed by a whole lot of wow

Another week in the Kich has come and gone and I'm still just as confused and dumbfounded and amazed because of the fact that I'm living in Japan. It's a little mind blowing to think about.

Forewarning: this email is REAL long.. ごめんなさい。

Happy late Valentine's Day to all you lovely people out there in the world! I hope it was a good day for you all❤️

Harmon Shimai and I spent Valentine's Day teaching a kids English class for a member and her friends. This isn't always my most favorite service activity but the power of positive thinking is astounding. I woke up that day just dreading going and doing this because there's always a trillion kids and they are all SO loud. But as it got closer to going I was like "okay. You can't be mad and grumpy going into it. You're a missionary. You're here to serve so suck it up and be happy to serve". So that's what I did. And it turned out to be an enjoyable hour of service. But teaching kids English class has also reaffirmed my decision to be a high school teacher and not an elementary school teacher. I do not have the patience to teach small children every
day...

Our area book here in Kichijoji is astoundingly awful. It has been neglected and just so sad. So we spent most of Saturday going through and contacting people from it and inviting them to the special devotional we were going to have on Sunday when Elder Holland came to Kichijoji. I won't spend too much time explaining all the details
because this email would turn into a novel if I did that buuuut we set up an appointment for Friday with a girl from area book! Yay! And here's where it gets even better. We had two people that we had contacted come to the devotional! One lady told us that she has recently been thinking about our church and wanted to come to church yesterday but her health has been bad so she didn't know if she was going to go but then we texted her and she was like "yes. I'm going!" She was so cute! She told us she wants to take lessons once it's not so cold so I'm just going to pray it gets warm soon. The other girl we had emailed just thought "hey, why not go?" So she came and that was great! I'm hoping that something wonderfully amazing comes from this and I think it might!

Now. The really good stuff.

So. Yesterday there was a multi-stake conference because Elder Holland is in Japan. So they broadcasted that from the Matsudo stake center in the morning and my goodness. I just love Elder Holland so gosh darn much. He talked about 3 Nephi 17 and how when the Savior told the Nephites that He would leave and return they looked at Him with tears in their eyes as if to say "don't go". Isn't that what we all want? The Savior to stay with us and never leave? It really was just amazing and I wish you all could have heard him give this talk. He also said something along the lines of "Most of our problems would be solved if we let the will of God rule our life". Wow. Talk about a call to repentance and a need to be humble. SO GOOD, YOU GUYS. But wait. There's more. I don't know how this came to be but Elder Holland ended up scheduling a devotional to be held here in Kichijoji Sunday night. Once again, oh my goodness! I can't even put into words how wonderful it was to hear him speak to the people of Japan last night. He started off by telling us that he didn't have a real plan of what he was going to speak on and that he was just going to talk to us. And after he finished I don't think I've ever been so sure of the reality of the Spirit and
the priesthood power that the Quorum of the Twelve hold. He spoke of "broken things". We are all broken in some way. We all have little cracks and scratches and chips but he asked us to "remember that God loves broken things" and that "God is invested in fixing broken things". God is invested in fixing us. God is invested in us. And the part of us that God loves the most is our broken hearts. Our broken, damaged, bruised hearts and contrite spirits. He later went on to explain exactly how the Savior died. Of course, we all know He died on the cross in more agony than any of us could ever imagine. But it wasn't the crucifixion that killed him. It was a broken heart. It was the weight of the sins of the world on His loving heart that killed Him. Wow. But it is because of the love that is contained in His precious, broken heart that we are able to be fixed. All it takes is us saying "I'm sorry for my sins" as we partake of the broken bread of the sacrament each week. Wow. I think it's safe to say that there wasn't a dry eye in the chapel by the end of Elder Holland's devotional and if there was, that person probably doesn't have a working heart at this moment and they need to see a doctor. The Spirit was so strong and I just wish so badly that all of you could've been there. I seriously can't put it into words but I wish I could.

With all that being said the scripture I'm going to leave you with today is 3 Nephi. Especially 3 Nephi 9 & 17 but the whole book of 3 Nephi. The Savior's earthly ministry to the Nephites on the American continent is something we all could study a bit more and better understand. I know it's something I definitely want to study more and
better understand.

I'm sorry, this email is forever long. Please forgive me.. I just had a lot to say.. but I hope you all have a wonderful week and always remember to look to the Savior when you feel a little broken.

Love you!💕
愛しています！！！

Stay safe. Stay classy. Stay sassy.
--フィッシュバーン姉妹🐟🔥

Our Valentine's Day heart

Zone meeting. Shout out to Harmon Shimai for the new skirt✌🏻

We were a tripanionship with the always adorable Morris Shimai
for approximately 3 hours so of course we had to take a nice selfie
before our time together ended.