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

Nihon ni ikimasho!

Ohayou fam! 

It's been a great last week in the MTC. It's crazy to think 8 weeks ago I said bye to my family and was thrown into a tiny brick room with 7 strangers and a teacher that only spoke in Japanese. I've met the most amazing people, my testimony has grown so much and I've even learned a little Japanese :) Monday morning I leave for Japan!!! 

Saturday I was super bummed to be missing college football. BUT Sunday who would be the devotional speaker but Chad Lewis!!! (He played football at BYU and in the NFL) He was soo great! He told the best stories and talked about his superbowl experience. God loves me :)

One day Stuart Chōrō was trying to tell me what to do. Watashi, being the stubborn person I am, told him I don't take orders from anyone. He's in the Airforce so he didn't like that answer very much hahaha some words were exchanged and everyone watching was on the floor crying they were laughing so hard. I love my zone. I'm going to miss them soo much. 

Last night D. Todd Christofferson came to speak to us!! That makes 3 Apostles in 9 weeks :) My companion and I were third row, dead center. I made him laugh so I guess you can say we are practically bffs. One thing he said that I loved was "Yes He loves you, can He trust you?" I want to be someone God can trust with anything. 

Gotta give a shoutout to all the dōTERRA peeps! Have fun at convention next week!! I'm so bummed to be missing it so keep me updated on everything :)

Well folks next time you hear from me it'll be from Japan.... 

あいしてます!

Rigby しまい

"I am a lover of the cause of Christ" Joseph Smith

Swaterday = sweater Saturday 

Rigby VS Stuart