こんにちは!!!

This week was crazyyyyyyy. So first of all transfer calls came.....I'm staying in Shinkotoni and my new companion is Hannant 姉妹 from Brisbane, Australia!! We're already having so much fun together. After Aussie and Kiwi companions and learning Japanese, my English makes noooo

sense- hahah ごめん

Saturday the most insane blizzard hit Sapporo! IT WAS CRAZY!!! I've never seen anything like it in my life. So much snow. We decided to go up to hanakawa and everyone we tried to visit was

gone so we were just walking around in this blizzard for 4 hours asking people if we could

shovel their driveways for them but no one wanted our help. We finally made it to a members

house and she let us in. I tried to take my boots off and my boot liners were frozen to my tights

and my hair was frozen to my scarf. Frozen chosen life😂. We ended up shoveling her whole

driveway. Just imagine two girls from places that never get snow trying to shovel a driveway full

of 5 feet of snow. It was so fun! Then we ended up getting lost trying to find the bus stop so here

we are again walking around hanakawa in a blizzard. We passed a group of middle school boys

and they walked us all the way to the bus stop and eventually we made it back to shinks!!! When we finally made it to shinks we went to the church and the elders were there shoveling so we

decided to run up a mountain of snow in the parking lot (videos to come) it was so much fun!

And it hasn't stopped snowing since...

We got to teach Yoshi San again. I showed him a picture of my family and he said "People who

believe in God are beautiful." Hahaha -I love him so much.

Being a missionary during Christmas is the greatest thing ever. We just get to run around telling

everyone we see about the real meaning of Christmas. IT'S THE BEST!

愛してるよ!

リグビ姉妹

We went bowling for a zone activity and you better believe I beat our zone leader!

MIRACLESSSSS!

Last Monday we found out that Lafaele Shimai and I would be going on splits together that night!!!! Tender mercy. MTC comps back it. We were sooooo pumped!! We walked up to Shinkotoni to visit Ochiai San. (Our golden investigator) she let us in and we somehow managed to have a conversation. Miracle. (Lafaele and I are still beans so we don't know much Japanese). Then she started making us ramen. By the time the ramen was done it was 8:30 and curfew is 9 and we were 45 minutes from our apartment. Do you see the problem??? So we ate that ramen faster than we've eaten anything in our lives. And this wasn't American top ramen were talking about... This was a giant bowl of Japanese ramen with eggs and bamboo and other things I was too scared to ask what they were.... After we finished we shared a message about finding strength in Christ and RANNNNN literally full speed in the snow back to the apartment. It was sooo much fun. and painful hahah. The next day Ochiai San called and said she loves when we come over because she feels so much peace. We told her that was the spirit and she agreed:) Miracle.

Wednesday we got to teach one of our Eikiwa students, Yoshi San. He told us he wanted to believe in God because the world is so scary and he wants to feel peace. We showed the Mormon message "Why we need a Savior" after he said "that is my first time watching anything like that and I want more things like that in my life!" Then we talked about the Book of Mormon and I told him reading the Book of Mormon is how I feel peace in my life and the days I forget to read I don't have that same peace. He said "where can I get that book. I will read it everyday." How cool is that??? Miracle. Teaching him reminded me how blessed I am to know what I know and how EVERYONE deserves to and needs to know it.

And for the best news... The first time I taught a lesson in Japan, we taught a 17 year old girl. Himawari ちゃん. She doesn't live in our area so we passed her to the missionaries in her area. She still comes to our Eikiwa every week and last night SHE GOT BAPTIZED!!! We are so excited for her!

Tomorrow is transfer calls which means I'll be getting a new companion and possibly a new area and be able to dendo again!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!

愛してるよ!

リグビ姉妹

げんきよ

おはようございます!

Tuesday I got to go on splits for a few hours with Oka 姉妹 while Massey 姉妹 and Zollinger 姉妹 stayed in the apt!! It was so nice to get out. All the roads were covered in ice so we penguin shuffled all the way to Tonden. No one we planned to visit was home (just my luck) but we still had a lot of fun!

Spent Thanksgiving at the most American place we could think of...KFC.

Friday night we got a text from a random number asking if we could be friends... So we said yes and planned to meet up the next day. I was a little freaked out it was going to turn into the Saratov

Approach 2 but it turned out to be this 40 year old woman that literally just wanted some friends...It was still weird but she believes in God so were gonna try to teach her the lessons!

And that sums up the amount of times I got out of the apartment this week! Massey 姉妹 and I have been having nightmares all week. It's pretty weird. Kaichō thinks it's because we've been stuck in the same place too long haha shoot we've literally gone insane:/

Hope you all had a great thanksgiving and watched lots of football and ate lots of yummy American food. Now go spread the Christmas initiative for this year... #LIGHTtheWORLD. mormon.org :)

愛しています!

リグビ姉妹

"The purpose of faith is not to change God’s will but to empower us to act on God’s will. Faith is trust--trust that God sees what we cannot and that He knows what we do not....It means trusting that God loves us perfectly, that everything He does--every blessing He gives and every blessing He, for a time, withholds--is for our eternal happiness" Dieter F Uchtdorf

感謝祭!🍴

Helloooooo

We've been trapped in our apartment for over 2 weeks now :) Imagine being stuck in a tiny apartment with no wifi, no tv, no social media, no internet, no friends, just you and your companion 24/7 for 2 1/2 weeks. Yeah, I've officially gone insane! I definitely appreciate the little things so much more now...fresh air, a little walk to the church, talking to somebody (literally anyone) even the giant crows have become my friends.

We did get to go to the hospital with President Nakatsuka one day. He sat next to me and we talked about trials and how good things always come from them. He shared a scripture with me that is now one of my favorite scriptures. Romans 5:3 "we glory in tribulations.." How great is it that no matter what we're going through we always can have hope for better days because that is the plan of our God! A plan of happiness!

Hope you all have a great thanksgiving! There's so much to be thankful for:)🍗🌽🍴🏈

次は....クリスマス!🎄⛄️🎁🎊🎅🏼!!!!!

PS if you love me... :)

Sister Whitney Ann Rigby
Japan Sapporo Mission
1-6-2 Oyachi-Nishi, Atsubetsu-ku,
Sapporo-Shi, Hokkaido
004-0042
Japan
💌📬📮📄💌

愛してるよ! 頑張って!

リグビ姉妹

"Does it not fill our hearts and minds with wonder and awe to contemplate the great plan of happiness our Heavenly Father has prepared for us? Does it not fill us with unspeakable joy to know of the glorious future that is prepared for all who wait upon the Lord? If you have never felt such wonder and joy, I invite you to seek, study, and ponder the simple yet profound truths of the restored gospel." Dieter F Uchtdorf

Everest Training 🗻☃️

おはようございます!

It's been a crazy week in shinks...

Thursday night my comp and I were riding home from とんれん, I was singing a song about how cold my toes were and we were crossing a street and a car came out of no where and HIT MY COMPANION!!!!! He didn't even stop and just kept pushing her bike into the middle of a busy road, ran it over then finally decided to pull over. He got out and picked up her bike then said it was too cold, jumped in his car and drove away!!! We went to the police station and sorted everything out and they tracked down the guy and it's all だいじょぶ now. But my companion is pretty beat up so we haven't been able to dendo the past few days.

Still got to break out the snow boots and parka this week!! Woohoo! Working in snowstorms is cold but I just pretend I'm hiking Everest and it's a lot of fun.

Yesterday we had ZTM and something the Zone Leaders said that I loved was that Satan knows our fears and he knows how to take those small fears and turn them into something big. But if we have confidence and trust in God we will realize we have no reason to fear.

Being a missionary is really hard. I'm pretty sure I'm homesick everyday, I'm so far out of my comfort zone, I'm learning the hardest language in the world in the coldest mission in the word and some days 14 more months feels like an eternity. But the strengthening power of the Atonement is so real. I wouldn't have been able to make it through the past 4 months with out it. I'm seeing my weakness turn to strengths and I'm becoming the person I want to be. Change is hard but when you just let go and trust God, he really will make more out of you than you can ever make out of yourself. So as hard as it is, I'm so grateful to be a "frozen chosen" in the best mission in the world, Sapporo Japan. 🗻🎌☃⛩🎎

愛してるよ!

リグビ姉妹

"It's not the mountain we conquer but ourselves." Sir Edmund Hilary

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

こんにちは!

I SURVIVED MY FIRST TRANSFER. Miracles happen. I'll be staying in shinkotoni for another transfer with Sister Massey! Im so glad because I love shinkotoni so much.

They don't really celebrate Halloween in Japan but we threw a ward Halloween party this week anyways and it was awesome!! We taught them how to trick or treat and we had everyone from grandmas to little girls knocking on the doors we set up in the church to trick or treat. It was so cute.

This week we tried to make the trek to Sapporo Eki (metro station) to do some streeting. We've tried a few times before but every day we've planned to go it was raining which isn't good for streeting. Wednesday it was finally sunny so we started riding our bikes down. Thirty minutes later we were caught in a rain and lightning storm. It was raining sooo hard and there was so much lightning that we had to stop at a 7/11. We were waiting inside and the thunder was so loud it was shaking the building!! It was crazy. So we ate some ice cream and waited for the lightning to calm down and made the trek back to shinkotoni in the pouring rain.

We got to go to an NAs daughter's elementary school play the other day. It was crazy. Japanese schools are awesome and slightly terrifying.

I read a talk yesterday called "He Loved Them Unto the End" that Jeffrey R Holland gave in the 1989 October conference. It's one of the best talks I've read about Christ's love and character. You should
read it.

Okay cool I'm going HIKING!!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY! It's pouring rain but I don't even care

:):):)🗻

愛していますよ!

リグビ姉妹

"We are a blessed people. In such a marvelous time as this, I feel an overwhelming debt of gratitude. I thank my Father in Heaven for blessings unnumbered and incalculable, first and foremost being the gift of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus of Nazareth, our Savior and
King." -Jeffrey R Holland

FISHERS OF MEN

It's Christmas Time in the City

Hello hello!

This week we found out one of our investigators used to be in the Yakuza!!! (Japanese mob) HOW COOL IS THAT!!! A little scary because we've been teaching him for a month and had no clue but don't worry we passed him to the Elders this week :)

Thursday it snowed. And it's been snowing ever since. I have to keep reminding myself Christmas isn't for 2 months.... Could've fooled me. But since they don't celebrate Christmas in Japan I guess everyday can be Christmas!!🎅🏼🎄

The kids here make me feel like I'm famous :) Whenever I say hello to them they get so excited. One day there was a group of kids that walked by so I said hello and waved. They spent 5 minutes walking backwards waving and yelling "bye bye" it was the cutest. Gaijin power is real.

We taught Tonaka San yesterday (the guy with the microphone throat) he told us he knows God is speaking through us because he can see it in our faces. Best compliment.

Remember when I was in the MTC and I told you about the group of 10 Elders that came in that we're all going to Sapporo?? Well they come to Sapporo THIS WEEK!!!!! I'm soooo pumped to get some of my pals back.

愛しています!
リグビ姉妹

PS Apparently I haven't been getting a lot of people's emails that they've sent so if you wrote me and I didn't reply that's probably why! gomen nasai!

"Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matthew 5:16

Apostles & Earthquakes

こんにちは!

This week we went back and visited the golden lady we found the other week. She told us her husband died a month ago and she was really struggling the day we met her. She said when we showed up on her doorstep that day she knew it was God helping her. She's been praying and said she feels so much peace when she prays the way we showed her. She's the best!!!

We're teaching another old man who talks through one of those microphone things on his throat like you see in smoking commercials. He's so awesome and so prepared. He said he loves when we come because he feels the spirit so strong. He's pretty hard to understand but we're making it work :)

I survived my first earthquake this week and it was awesome. It was the middle of the night and I woke up to everything shaking. We sleep on mats on the floor so if the ground is shaking, you're shaking. I was about to jump up and finally use the earthquake drill stuff they teach you in school, but I looked over and my companion was sleeping right through it so I figured it was okay..

We got to watch Meet the Mormons!! I may have gotten a little teary watching the part about Nepal and seeing all the places we had gone. Namaste for dayz. I'm so grateful for this gospel and all the

blessings and opportunities that have been given me because of it!!

Of course the highlight of the week was Elder Bednar coming!! Nothing better than spending 3 hours talking with an Apostle of the Lord.

愛しています

リグビ姉妹

"Strong faith in the Savior is submissively accepting of His will and timing in our lives- even if the outcome is not what we hoped for or wanted" David A Bednar

Still 寒い

こんにちはかぞくとともだち!

It's been another great week in Shinkotoni! We finally got to watch conference and it was awesome!! We had to listen to Japanese and English at the same time so it was a bit of a headache, but still good. :)  I loved the shout out to Hokkaido!

One day we went to visit a member and she brought us mugicha. Let me tell you about mugicha. It is a drink here that everyoneeee drinks and it literally tastes like liquid burnt popcorn!! It is AWFUL. She brought it out for us and my soul died a little. My companion knows how much I hate it so while the member wasn't looking she grabbed my cup and chugged it for me😂 MVP.

In other news it's still freezing here. I'm already wearing my snow coat and apparently the coldest time of the year is February so that means it's only going to get COLDER for the next four
months................ :):):):):):):)::):):) yay. The members here love to make fun of me when they find out I'm from a place where it never snows. They always joke that I'll be the first sister to serve in

Wakkanai, the coldest and most northern part of Hokkaido. Let's pray not :)

Elder Bednar is coming to visit our mission this week and I'm so pumped!! I'll tell ya all about it next week :)

愛しています!

リグビ姉妹

"The joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives." Russell M Nelson

Shinden ni iki mashita!

こんにちは!

Sorry this is coming late in the week! We didn't have pday Monday because today I FINALLY got to go through my beautiful new temple!! It's the most beautiful temple I've ever seen or been in in my entire existence.

Things are getting extremely 寒い in Sapporo... It's been raining pretty hard which makes dendo quite the adventure. We spend most dendo time riding our bikes around and stopping people on the streets or going door to door housing. So when it rains we're in it allllll day. The best part is riding through all the puddles:) if you're going to be soaking wet all day, might as well have some fun am I right??

We still had the BEST miracle this week. We were housing and this lady opens her door and says "I want to be baptized I just don't know which church to join." We hadn't even started talking about the gospel yet!! Then she tells us she doesn't like Buddhism or the Jehovah witnesses. THAT NEVER HAPPENS HERE. So pumped.

We got to take an investigator to President Nakatsuka's for Family Home Evening last week. We took this sweet old lady that I just love. We can't really communicate because I can't speak Japanese but she grabbed my hand and walked with me the whole way there. When we walked past the temple she looked at me and touched her heart and said "ii kimochi" which means good feeling. I love the temple so much:)

Oh and just to answer everyone's question, no I didn't crash into any poles this week:)

愛しています!

リグビ姉妹

PS... I got really cute letter stuff so send me your addresses so I have
a reason to us them :)

"Theres no such thing as coincidence when you're on the Lords errand"
-Elder Bednar

Bike vs Pole

Konnichiwa!

It's been another great week in Shinkotoni! I've managed to crash full speed into 3 poles so far while riding my bike. It's always a fun experience- hahah. My companion probably thinks I'm the clumsiest person ever. It'll be a miracle if I make it out of here alive.

On Wednesday nights we teach Eikiwa aka English Class. I love it so much. We were teaching them how to say "mountain" and they all started laughing when I said it. My companion had to explain that in Utah we don't say our T's. :) They got a good kick out of that and made me say it over and over and over- hahaha.

This week we met a cute old man while housing. Apparently, he said he didn't really want to hear our message but I thought my companion was looking at me to start the lesson so I just started and she followed. We taught him the Restoration and the spirit was soo strong and it was awesome. He said he felt the spirit and would read the Book of Mormon!! He's so great I love him!

One lady we stopped on the streets saw me and started trying to speak English but the only words she could say were Obama, church & nuclear bomb. I don't even want to know what she was trying to say....

I hope everyone has a beautiful General Conference weekend this week! We don't get to watch it till next weekend so don't spoil it for me. :)
But in honor of GC you should all go read my all time favorite general conference talk "The First Great Commandment" by Jeffery R Holland.

You won't regret it :)

Ai shite imasu!

Rigby Shimai

"If we give our heart to God, if we love the Lord Jesus Christ, if we do the best we can to live the gospel, then tomorrow--and every other day--is ultimately going to be magnificent, even if we don't always recognize it as such. Why? Because our Heavenly Father wants it to be! He wants to bless us. A rewarding, abundant, and eternal life is the very object of His merciful plan for His children! It is a plan predicated on the truth that all things work together for good to them that love God. So keep loving. Keep trying. Keep trusting. Keep believing. Keep growing. Heaven is cheering you on today, tomorrow, and forever." -Jeffrey R Holland

I'm in Japan

Hellooooo from JAPAN!

It's been the craziest week to say the least. I'll try to sum it up as best as I can...

Last Sunday was our last day in the MTC. Everything we did had me in tears because I didn't want to leave. I had the best MTC experience and met the best people in the world. Saying goodbye was sooo hard. I don't think I've ever cried so much in one day.

Monday morning we left for Japan! We had some Japanese people sitting in front of us and we were able to teach one of them the first lesson and give him a Book of Mormon! It was soo cool.

 When we landed in Sapporo we met our Mission President and his wife Aka, the most amazing people on earth. The APs took us on the subway to the mission home which is on the Temple grounds. I'll never forget seeing my temple all lit up for the first time. It's the most beautiful temple in the world!


The next day I met my trainer and got assigned to my first area. I'm serving in Shinkotoni with Sister Massey. Our area covers the busiest part of Sapporo, clear out to the country side. It's awesome. 

The first day was rough. Like -I want to curl up in a ball on the floor and never move again- rough. The second day didn't start much better. Then I decided I was going to smile and say hi to every single person I passed. Attitude really is everything! I instantly felt better and started to love what I was doing.

Everyone here is so nice! Everyone rejects us in the nicest ways. One lady even gave us a bag of candy. Almost everyone likes to tell me I'm cute, probably because I look like a lost puppy just standing there smiling and nodding my head (I don't understand anything)

Missionary work is hard hard hard but I love it. We meet the most amazing people and see miracles every day. I love being an instrument in Gods hands and I love making people's day better. Even if it's because they think an American girl riding a bike in a skirt and speaking awful Japanese is hilarious.

:)

I love you all!!

Rigby Shimai

"Don't be discouraged, be filled with courage" -Neil L Anderson