Monday, September 25, 2017

I've Hit Double Digits

Well once again it's later than normal.  I actually got her email a few hours ago in the early evening on Monday (not late Sunday night or early Monday morning like we have been getting them most of the time).  I got sidetracked by a few things and now I'm ready to hit the hay but I thought I'd get her email up so that you can see what's going on with Jordan Wunderli in the Japan, Tokyo mission.  Thanks for reading and enjoy.

こんにちは、
I'M STAYING IN MY BELOVED NAKANO!! I am blessed to have another transfer in Nakano. And to make things even better, I'm staying with Morelock shimai for another transfer! Here's to another transfer full of laughs, hard work, miracles, sushi, smoothies, failed attempts at being healthy, stress, embarrassing moments, and facemasks.

愛するRyoko:
Ryoko continues to amaze me. We had a lesson with her and introduced the plan of salvation. Well again, she had her highlighter ready and would highlight her favorite parts. She's also been praying everyday without us reminding her! She had a job interview right after the lesson and told us that she prayed the night before that the interview would go well and she would get the job. Well... She got the job.. and on top of that, she messaged us after and she said, and I copy and paste, "thanks to praying... I got the job!!" Let me write that one more time in case you misread that, THANKS TO PRAYING, I GOT THE JOB!! She makes me so happy!! She's my eternal friend. ♡

Sara, get baptized!! *eye roll*
We haven't been able to meet with her at all for awhile because she's been traveling. We were finally able to meet her to go to lunch this week and it was amazing. We found out that she's been keeping the word of wisdom. She told us that she loved tea but hasn't been drinking it because she knows she needs to follow the word of wisdom. She also looked up a church when she was out of town and went!! She was telling us how she loves church and how she believes in Jesus Christ and God and knows that they are there. When the elders were referring her to us (she's been an investigator since January), they told us that she felt super pressured to be baptized and doesn't want to at all, but she keeps all the commandments (except baptism lol), and believes it's all true. I have to admit, we were too chicken to bring up baptism during our lunch appointment, but have no fear, we are meeting with her this week and were going to bring it up. To be continued...

Our child has gone down the wrong path:
Okay kind of bummer, but miyuki, the one who wanted to get baptized just last week, dropped off the face of the earth. We have not been able to get in contact with her at all. We will see that happens this next week, but we might have to drop her. Sad, but it happens. #faithtofind #faithtodrop

So pumped to be in Nakano for another transfer. This is also my 10th transfer, but who's counting. Time isn't slowing down! And luckily for me, the work isn't either. 

愛しています、
Wunderli姉妹

Pics:
1. TASUKU. He's a genius. 
2. Smoothie bowls. Yum.
3-6. There's this app called snow in Japan. All the Japanese girls are doing it. 
7. Live at Takdanoababa. The most popping English class in Japan. 
8. Can you read this? 
9. I made a cake for Morelock shimai's birthday.. it was the most legit cake I've ever made. It even had coconut frosting. It was sooo good. 
10. Oh yeah and I made it in a rice cooker #noovens 
11. Sushi with Sara
12. What a cutie.  














If you've read this far, there's one more surprise email that we got from on of Jordan's companions.  We got it on Sunday evening and were a bit shocked by it just because we hadn't had any communication with her before.  She is going home this week so that's an exciting time for her and I'm sure she was thinking back on her mission and felt compelled to share her feelings about Jordan with us.  Here they are:

Her subject line was "About your incredible daughter."  Here's the body of the email with names removed:

Hi brother and sister Wunderli!

I am about to finish my mission and go home this week, and I just wanted to email you two and tell you how amazing Jordan is and what an amazing missionary she has become! 

I've known Wunderli shimai from her first day in Japan and I've gotten to work with her throughout my whole mission:) she is one of the most dedicated, hard working, talented missionaries in the entire mission! That's why she was called as a leader so young. President Nagano trusts her so much and has given her so much responsibility. I and so many other missionaries have been so blessed by her love, humor, and example:)

Jordan has truly become converted to the Lord on her mission and is blessing so many lives. She is going to do some serious work in the lords kingdom during her life. I'm so so grateful to be her eternal friend. Thank you for raising such an amazing missionary and friend!

I look foreword to meeting you both at Jordan's homecoming in December!

That's all a parent could ever ask for.  I love Jordan with all of my heart and I'm so proud of the young woman she is and the fantastic, hard-working, loving, compassionate missionary she is.  I feel so blessed to have shared her with the people of Japan for this time but I can't wait to she's back home with me.  Like always, thanks for your love and support and your emails, prayers and snail mail.  Back with more next week.

Monday, September 18, 2017

I'm A Mother

Well once again it's a bit later than normal but we just got Jordan's email and there's lots of good stuff in it.  I'm so excited for her.  It's so much fun when you are living right and working hard and you get rewarded for it.  She is seeing the fruits of her labor (and faith).  Enjoy and thanks for reading.

こんにちは、
This past week I hit my year mark in Japan. Well if that's not crazy enough by itself, I also realized that I go home in 3 months. Woah. I have 3 months to give the Lord all I've got and I plan to literally give it my all! I can rest when I get home! Right fam?

This week, sister Morelock and I felt like we got a glimpse in the life of a mom. We found ourselves eating a lot more chocolate than usual when one of our children (investigators) was not doing what we would want them to do. We also found that a lot of our stress, happiness, and every emotion came from them!! I feel so sorry for my mom! But no matter their decisions, we love them the same and desire the absolute best for them. I seriously love each and every one of them so much.

Investigator updates:
愛するRyoko (my BFF) aka. The golden child: We met with her a couple of times this past week. We had a lesson on the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We committed her to pray to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet and at the next lesson she told us that she prayed about it and she knows that he was a real prophet of God!! She also sends us messages all the time saying how she always feels at peace and warm when she meets with us. On top of that, she hung out with us today on our pday! We went to asukusa (a huge shrine in Tokyo) and we got a native to give us a tour. She is the best.

Miyuki (the up and down teenager): What a crazy week it has been with Miyuki. Previously, I mentioned that she really wants her ancestors to receive baptism but doesn't want to receive baptism herself...at least for awhile. Well this week we had Sister Nagano (our mission president's wife) to come participate in the lesson. We thought that would set miyuki straight! And boy did it! First of all, she was so impressed with Sister Nagano (how could you not be), and she just listened to everything Sister Nagano said, one of those things being to, "listen to the missionaries." That night, we got a text message from Miyuki asking how much it costed to be baptized. We explained that there is no cost, but we do pay donations after joining (tithing). The next day she messaged us and asked if she were to get baptized this coming Sunday(the 17th) would she be able to go to the temple for her ancestors (before it closes). We told her yes, but there are still some lessons we had to teach her and that if she wanted to get baptized on Sunday, she would have to meet with us everyday. She decided to wait. She came to church on Sunday and after sacrament meeting she was talking with a member about what she needs to do in order to get baptized and they got so excited and just said, "meet with the missionaries!" Miyuki is so excited to learn more. We're hoping to set a baptismal date with her this week.

Akane: Akane is probably our most confusing child (investigator) right now. She LOVES church and she LOVES the members, and she LOVES learning about the church. But this week she told us that she can't believe in anything she can't see. She also LOVES LOVES LOVES baptism and what it represents. A companionship of elders had a baptism this last Sunday and she stayed 4 extra hours at church just to see the baptism. She was so excited! She kept saying that it was amazing and it looked like he was glowing. When we asked if she wanted to get baptized, she said no, it's not for her. No Akane, no! It is for you! We're working on her, and praying for her.

Other exciting news:
We got to move back into our apartment a couple of weeks early!! The senior couple had to leave a couple weeks early so we got to move back. Our commute is no longer 3 hours and were always in our area. I love being in Nakano!

I love you all. God loves you all. And Jesus loves you all.
愛しています、
Wunderli 姉妹

Pics:
1 and 2: We had six new girl students at our English class. Can someone say partyyy?
3. The Martin's (the new couple missionaries) invited us over for Sunday dinner where we had a roast, mashed potatoes, and apply pie. It tasted like America. 
4. A look into the shibuya apartment (the most expensive missionary apartment in the world).
5. What a fantastic meal.
6. My bffs (Ryoko and Morelock shimai)
7 and 8: Asakusa 
9-11. The skytree 














I'm so happy for Jordan and the experiences she is having.  I know it's very fulfilling for her.  I can't wait to travel to Japan in 2020 and see the places she lived and meet the people she worked with. 

As always, thanks for your support, your emails, snail mail, and prayers.  We really appreciate it all.  Thanks for taking the time to read.  We'll be back next week with another episode.

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Eaten Alive...AND...Living in the Lap of Luxury

The report is a little late this week because we didn't get Jordan's emails until last night (Monday night).  More good stuff in this week's email.  As always, thanks for your support and thanks for reading.



こんにちは、
I think I have about 30 bug bites over my body and wow do they itch. Why am I telling you this? I don't know.. but it has been my life for the past month so I thought maybe I'd clue you in a bit. The mosquitoes really seem to like me, but of course Heavenly Father always comes through and I never seem to be itchy when I'm with investigators. 

Speaking of our lovely investigators.. I'll talk about 2 today.

The lovely Ryoko:
I could talk about Ryoko for hours! She is the best. Ryoko has a baptismal date for October 29th and she is progressing sooo well. She came to church for the first time and the members were so impressed by her. She prayed at the end of gospel principles class without any help from anyone; (she even remembered to pray in the name of Jesus Christ) it was a proud mom moment right there. Earlier in the week we had a lesson on prophets and connected it to the book of Mormon which she's already been reading. We told her about our current prophet, Thomas S. Monson and we showed a picture of him. Well fast forward 5 days and she sees a picture of him at church, points to it, and says, "That's Thomas S. Monson, the prophet!" The members were so shocked. Honestly, she fit right in with the members, I actually forgot a couple of times that she wasn't a member. She even participated in relief society! We had a couple of lessons with her and one of them was a little shorter because we didn't want to move to fast with her and when we finished she goes, "Wait that's it?" She wanted to learn more!! I could talk about her forever, but you get the jist, she's amazing. 

The confusing Miyuki: 
Miyuki loves family history and she wants her ancestors to be baptized (baptisms for the dead). We had a lesson with her a few weeks ago where we talked about the plan of salvation and baptism. She told us very clearly that she did not want to get baptized anytime soon. We ended the lesson on a little bit of a weird note, but all was well. She came to church this Sunday with a huge stack of family history work done and in the church's format. A huge stack. We went to the family history class with her and she shows it to the couple who teaches it and asked what she needs to do next in order for her ancestors to get baptized. They were completely shocked at all the work she had done in just a week and asked her if she was going to get baptized and she said no. It was a little strange because she had no interest in getting baptized for her ancestors, she just wants them to receive baptism and she doesn't care by who, but she wants it done in September. We have no clue why, when we asked her, she wouldn't give an answer. Yeah, we are a little confused, so Sister Nagano (our mission president's wife) is going to come and participate in the next lesson. Don't worry, I'll keep you all posted ;) 

The most expensive missionary apartment in the world:
I can definitelysee how it's the most expensive missionary apartment in the world. First of all, it's HUMONGOUS. Second of all, it's sooo nice. It has heated floors, and the toilet seat opens when you walk into the bathroom and flushes automatically. We also have a dish washer and no one in Japan has a dish washer because they are so expensive. Third of all, it's in Tokyo like the heart and center of Tokyo. It's craziness. But it is a little hard for commuting back and forth to our area. It makes the days a little longer and a little more tiring, but all is well. 

I love the opportunity I have to teach His gospel and to serve His children. I love being with our investigators and members.  I love that I can literally feel His love for them. I love being a missionary. 
愛しています、

Pics:
1 and 2: the new apartment is nice, but it doesn't have a view like our old one...
3. Sister dibble had to go to the hospital so we visited her
4. TASUKU aka my favorite kid ever ❤❤❤
5 and 6. Some pday fun 
7 and 8. Tokyo during the day vs. Tokyo at night 










I hope you enjoyed Jordan's email this week.  I always look forward to them with great anticipation to see what kind of progress she's making with her current investigators as well as finding new ones.  Make it a great week.

Monday, September 4, 2017

Coming At You live With...

As we get closer to the end of Jordan's mission, I expect that time WILL slow down.  I am 100% certain that when she is on the flight home, time will actually stop - at least for me.  This week, however, it is still moving at a decent speed and more good, exciting stuff is happening for her and her companion.  Check it out and thanks for reading.

Jimmy Osmond and an Olympic gymnast!! *the crowd goes wild*

こんにちは、
I'm just going to get right into it...
Jimmy Osmond and the Olympian:
•Jimmy Osmond: For those of you who don't know who Jimmy Osmond is.. ask my grandma.. just kidding.. but Jimmy Osmond was on a famous TV show and he and his family were the Osmond family (pretty famous, don't know much about them), but they did meet the Queen of England and Elvis Presely if that says anything. Well he came to Tokyo this last week and held a fireside in one of the church buildings and the missionaries were allowed to go as long as they brought an investigator, so we brought two!  It was a great fireside and him and his family were able to share why they loved the church which was great for our investigators. Also, apparently Jimmy osmond actually had his first hit single in Japan and he was quite famous here back in the day.

•the Olympian: There we were, doing our normal streeting and talking to as many people as we possibly can. My companion stops this girl and while they are talking I realize that she is super buff, especially for Japanese girl (they usually have pretty thin arms). I was quite impressed with how much muscle she had! Then I noticed her shirt said Rio on it, and on the sleeve of her shirt.. the Olympic rings.. I asked her if she went to the Rio Olympics and she said yes! She was a gymnast for the Japan team! I was not able to watch the Olympics due to the fact I was already on my mission, so I asked her how she did and how Japan did. They got 4th for gymnastics, which is pretty darn good! She told us that she is currently training for the Tokyo 2020 olympics!! But what's even cooler than that, she wants to come to our English class!! We even exchanged contact info!!

愛するRyoko:
Ryoko san is doing amazing. She is on track for her baptismal date and has kept every single commitment we've given her. She high lights all of her favorite scriptures and she does her reading assignments the day we give them to her. We taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ this week and she just kept saying "woah, woah, woah" with the biggest smile on her face. She is seriously soaking every little bit in. The day before church, she texted us to tell us how excited she was to go to church. We never have to follow up with her because she will just text her and say, "I read the pamphlet you gave me and it was amazing!" I could go on and on about her. She is the best and we are meeting her tomorrow!

Inspiration:
I won't go into much detail about this one but it's amazing to see the inspiration and direction we've been getting as STL's for the sisters in our zone. A couple of the sisters were having a really rough time and Sister Morelock and I really felt prompted to go to their area to help them. We questioned it at first, because we had just done an exchange with them, but after praying about it and thinking it out, we decided to just cancel our plans and go. I'm so glad we went. We were there for quite awhile, but they needed us, and we were able to be there for them. Everything ended up working out and everyone is doing well. I'm so grateful for the guidance and inspiration that came to me and my companion.

Just Japan (Tokyo mission) things:
•The most expensive missionary apartment in the world is in my mission. Kind of cool right? It's in shibuya which is right in the heart of Tokyo and one area over from where I am (Nakano). Well I will be moving there this week!! There is a new senior couple coming to our mission and while they look for a new apartment, they have to stay in our apartment, so President Nagano has asked that we move to the shibuya sisters apartment (that area is currently closed to the sisters right now).  Since nakano is our actual area, we will have to commute about two hours in total everyday... We will be losing a lot of time, but the Lord will consecrated the time we do have! We move on Thursday.

Word of the week:
Word: muki muki
Pronunciation: moo-key-moo-key
Meaning: muscular

If you don't stand for something you'll fall for everything.
愛しています、
Wunderli 姉妹

•Akane and her burger 
•The temple 
•cool building
•愛するcherry burger 
•ya know that bike life 
•ice cream with the dibbles!
•Korean food on exchanges 
•yuki the Olympian (look at her muki muki arms)
•bliss 










I love how she is being blessed in so many different ways and some of the reason for that is because of your prayers and support that you give through your emails and letters.  Thanks for your support and for reading.  Back for more next week.