Washing the font and us at the baptism!! :) 
Sister Teagan Clark
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Transfer 3.1: Great Blessings
I know, it has seriously not been that long since you heard from me last. I think all of us expect this to not be a very long post. BUT! It has been a pretty great last couple of days. Not going to lie. This has been the best way to finish out a transfer.
On Friday, we cleaned out the font for the baptism that we had scheduled for the next day. Talk about a ton of fun and talk about being crazy busy! There hasn't been a female baptism in Kanagawa ward for 3 years, so everyone was really excited for this. I definitely think we were the most excited about it. I am still excited about it, and she was already baptized! We made some cute cookie things to hand out after the baptism. They included our recent convert's favorite scripture: Ether 12:4
Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.
Isn't that perfect?! She is the best, I am convinced. If I can be as amazing as her one day, I think I will be happy for the rest of eternity.
The baptism had it's own little miracles. Her daughter and grandchildren were able to come and participate, which was so sweet. Even President Wada found a moment of his time to come and congratulate her. He mentioned to her that Sister Hathaway was transferring... And then she started bawling. And then her daughter started crying. President Wada, the heart breaker.
Oh yeah, I guess I haven't mentioned that. I am getting a new companion! Her name is Sister Matsuzaki and I am really excited! I know that we are going to see a lot of miracles this next transfer. I know it.
One of the reasons is because yesterday, we had a very successful day. Not only was our recent convert confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but we had two amazing lessons with a couple of our other investigators. An investigator that Sister Hathaway has been working with for quite sometime finally broke down one of the things that was holding her back from progressing. It really strengthened my own personal testimony about the importance of going to church. She had received an answer to one of her prayers from one of the speakers in church and it really created a desire in her to continue towards baptism.
With our other investigator, we were able to set a baptismal date. She is from China and literally knew nothing about any religion. But I think she really wants to believe and slowly but surely, we are getting her there. She is wonderful. I just want to be her best friend forever, haha. She works a lot, so I really hope that she will be able to come to church with us one day. We'll figure it out!
I will talk to you again soon!
Love you always!! :)
Sister Teagan Clark
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Transfer 4.6 Pictures
Some more Santa goodness, and our Christmas dinner: DELICIOUS PIZZA :D
It was seriously really delicious.
Sister Teagan Clark
Transfer 4.6 Pictures
District Breakfast!
Oh, and did I mention that we visited one of our neighbors dressed up like Santa? Yeah, it was pretty hilarious.
Sister Teagan Clark
Transfer 4.6 Pictures
Santa Claus came!
And we had our Christmas in the dark... and the cold... It was certainly memorable!
Sister Teagan Clark
Transfer 4.6 Pictures
Pictures from the Christmas Conference we had on Dec. 24th. We had a gift exchange that was a lot of fun AND Santa Claus was there! WHAT!
Sister Teagan Clark
Transfer 4.6 Pictures
We made EGGNOG!!
Our cute little Christmas tree! With lots of presents! YAY LOVE!
Sister Teagan Clark
Transfer 4.6: KURISUMASU!
It has been a while since I emailed last, so this is going to be an interesting update. I have a lot to talk about.
First off, bad things come in 3's. It was a very interesting day indeed. You see, it all started in the morning. We were all getting ready to go to a conference, when we got an email that was for the other sisters.... It wasn't a good email. I won't tell you exactly what it said, but it wasn't very nice... And included swear words... The other sisters weren't very happy. Not too long after that, Sister Hathaway took a pretty bad dive down the stairs. She has some big bruises from it still, and this was over an week ago that all of this happened. 'Bad things happen in 3's.' I warned.
Then we went to the conference and it turned out to be SUPER AWESOME! No really, it was great. We learned a lot and had some delicious Taco Rice (which is just rice with hamburger meat, taco seasoning, lettuce and tomatoes.)
And then we came home... To find that our bikes... Had been chained to a pole with a big sign that had some Japanese characters that neither of us knew. YEAH. Imano Shimai said the sign said illegal. WHOOPS. So our bikes kind of had to be left, because the place was closed that our bikes were parked by. So we ended up walking back home... In the rain.
We also did a lot of caroling at rest home's last week. I ended up having a very lengthy conversation with an old Japanese man about how I did not need a boyfriend. And I may or may not have put a wall in their wall by accident. AKA I totally started crying and freaking out, but it was all chill. I don't know why anyone has paper walls in the first place.
So we weren't able to go and get our bikes for a couple of days, but we would go and check and make sure that they were still there. Finally, we got some time to go and get our bikes from the place, but when we went, they were GONE. And that is when we all started to get a little worried. Sister Hathaway was like 'Ok. Okay. Let's just go back and see if they are around this building.'
LO AND BEHOLD. A miracle. Our bikes were back there and UNCHAINED. We literally just got on our bikes and rode away. It was awesome.
I also got a lot of letters this week, which I loved! So thank you THANK YOU Sherri, Becca, Brooklyn, and Zach! Two of those people are on missions, so it isn't like they can really see that shout out anyways, but oh well.
I got a few packages as well, which was awesome! Most of my siblings sent stuff in the box that my parents sent. Which was way nice!! And then my sister Wendy sent me a package filled with many treasures. Alex sent me a t-shirt too, which was way nice!!
As for the work, we have a baptism this Saturday!! We are way excited! It is a miracle, really. So many people told me how hard the work is in Japan, but there are people here who are prepared to hear the gospel. It is truly beautiful.
Christmas was crazy fun as well! We got up and were preparing to give presents to one another wheeeeeeeen... The power went off! YAY! So we sent Christmas morning in the dark. Then we wee able to spent sometime with our district for district meeting and making breakfast together. Then I got to skype my family which was waaaaaaay fun! My siblings are hilarious, or so they thought. Kevin kept making funny faces on Skype. It was SO great to be able to see everyone. I love my family a lot! I am so grateful to be able to be on a mission right now and help others be able to be with their families for ever.
I love you all so much and I hope that you have had a Merry, Merry Christmas!
Sister Teagan Clark
Japan Tokyo South Mission
1-7-7 Kichijoji Higashi-Cho
Musashino-Shi, Tokyo
180-0002
JAPAN
(PS. I can hardly believe I am almost Transfer 3!!)
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Transfer 4.5 Pictures
Casually making eggnog casually!
Transfer 2 at the temple! (Mitabi, Hathaway, Imano, Clark, Bickmore, Nuttall, Johnson)
Sister Teagan Clark
Transfer 2.5: Caroling Dendo
Hello, my fine friends. It is really good to see all of you this fine Christmas season. Can you believe that it is almost Christmas?? Because I really can't! It blows my mind! I am really excited to be able to talk to my family. I really pray that everything will go well with Skype and that we won't having any technical problems. Japan is really far away from Utah... Really.
This has truly been a fine week. Today, we had the opportunity to go to the temple, which is always lovely. It is always good the see the other missionaries that are not from your area.
This past week, we had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people. It is weird to think that Elder Hill left only this past week... It feels like he has been gone for a long time. He grew into an old missionary and then flew home... I maybe cried a little bit, MAYBE. But it is weird to think how many people I am going to see do the same thing. It is the way of the mission.
We got a new investigator this week that we are really excited about. She is really cute and sweet and really pretty good at English. I am often surprised at how good people actually are at English.
We also started a new health plan this week! Yay for being healthy! According to other missionaries, you gain a lot of weight in the beginning of January because New Years is a WAY big deal. WAY bigger than Christmas. So many food appointments. So little time. We don't really have food appointments the rest of the year, so that is good. We would eat so much. Oof.
We had our last official lesson with our golden investigator this week. She has her baptismal interview this week, and we are really excited!! We really hope that everything works out well!
This week, we also had the ward Christmas party, which was really great and created quite a few defining moments for people. It was certainly not an American Ward Christmas Party, haha, but it was still way good. We sang with our Eikaiwa class and listened to our members sing. Way good. Then we ate cake. Yeeeaaah, cake. :D
OH! We also went caroling! Which... Doesn't go very well in Japan, apparently. Even when we went to the Bishops house, he open the door a little bit, just enough for us to start singing and then shut it on us... We were so shocked! It was hilarious. He then came back and invited us up stairs to sing to his family. Any one else we tried to sing to, said they were too busy to listen. I was a little disappointed... I still want to try again some day. CAROLING DENDO, YEAH!
We have a lot of singing appointments this week and Elder Mitabi asked me if I would sing with him at the Mission Conference... A little bit terrifying! We will see if it actually happens. I am not the best singer... Singing makes me so nervous! I am always afraid that someone is going to make fun of me. Blech, I know. But I hope it will turn out alright. We will see how it goes!!
Thank you for everyone's kind words, and love. And packages. You are all the best! 凄くやさしい人です!
If you have any questions, please feel free to email or write me. I am always up for those things to occur. I wish I had something amazing to tell you, but I can never quite remember like I would like to. One thing I can think of, is that I had the opportunity to talk to someone who another Elder gave a Book of Mormon too. Heavenly Father works in orbits. It is amazing to see how when a seed is planted by one missionary, and then is nourished by another, and by another, until it is finally harvested. It is truly a miracle.
I love you all. I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season. Never forget the seeds that have been planted in your own heart.
Cheers! :)
Sister Teagan Clark
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Transfer 2.4 Pictures
Still at Landmark Tower.
Yeah, I'm tall.
Yeah, that is Sully.
Sister Teagan Clark
Transfer 2.4 Pictures
My second transfer district!
And party pic at Endo curry! (crazy delicious!)
Sister Teagan Clark
Transfer 2.4: In Japan, People Give You Things Randomly
First off, shout out to MOMMA HATHAWAY. I know you are reading this, Momma Hathaway. Sister Hathaway really appreciates your packages and love. Just thought I would mention it.
Second, shout out to THE FAM. Basically, I love you a lot. There is no end to my love and appreciation for all that you do for me. I can feel your love and prayers helping me and I really thank you for that.
This week has kind of been majorly crazy busy. So busy that I can't really remember... So much of it is a blur. On Tuesday, we had interviews... My first, more officially Mission President interview. Luckily enough, President Wada is the best, so it went really well. I think. He could have a completely different perspective on that one.
We were able to do a lot of really incredibly missionary work this week as well. We got two phone numbers while handing out flyers an the train station and we are really excited to get to meet with them again this week. On Wednesday, we found out that Sister Hathaway had to go to Mission Leadership Council that next day. DUN NUH Someone is probably going to become a leader. And it isn't me. Hathaway Shimai and I may or may not be really good at using the 'fake phone call' feature on our phone. That is a story for later. ;D
Anywho, so on Thursday I got to do some missionary work with Feist Shimai and Bickmore Shimai and it was really a lot of fun! Feist Shimai is really amazing and I am pretty sure that we are pretty tight. It is nice to have some good friends to be able to see. Elder Johnson said that we are pretty hilarious together. I am going to take that as a compliment.
The next day I went on exchanges with Imano Shimai. There were bunnies. That is all that needs to be said about that.
On Saturday, I exited to teenaged years. Something interesting about Japan, if you say it is your birthday, they start to try and find something to give you. You can be waving your hands like a madman saying 'really, really, it is okay!' and they will still give you some weird cookies or something. I am not complaining, I promise. It is just funny. Everyone was very kind to me. Hathaway Shimai got me just what I wanted.... CHRISTMAS STICKERS! Dreams came true that day.
On Sunday, we were able to have 2 lessons, which both went really well. We committed our main investigator to follow the WoW, which went very smoothly. She is so wonderfully prepared for the gospel. On Sunday, we also went to a family Christmas party... They kind had already eaten when we arrived right on time and we may have felt a little bit uncomfortable about it. BUT We had a good time, nonetheless.
Elder Hill is leaving this week. Elder is Hill is going over the Hill. Heheheh, I think I am hilarious. But we are all sad to see him go! But we got to go to the tallest building in Yokohama and it was WAAAY cool and nice to send sometime with him before he leaves. We also went to dinner and lunch with some members and some potential investigators and... Basically, we eat a lot and I don't think I will ever eat again, haha. I had my first real Japanese sushi! It wasn't too bad! Spicy Tuna! Yummy!
I hope everyone has a good week! I love you a lot! Remember to pray!
Sister Teagan Clark
Japan Tokyo South Mission
1-7-7 Kichijoji Higashi-Cho
Musashino-Shi, Tokyo
180-0002
JAPAN
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Transfer 2.3: Becoming an Adult.... IN JAPAN.
HEY, my birthday may or may not be in this week. I am excited. But kind of not excited. I don't want people to worry about my birthday. BUT. I will be 20 soon. SO bizarre to think about. Maybe people will stop saying 'YOUNG' every time I say my name.
This has been a pretty crazy week. We've had meetings almost everyday. Elder Johnson lead us in a really good district meeting this week. We are making Christmas Advent Calenders and I think we are planning on going caroling and maybe ringing some bells, maybe. It is all really uncertain on this point.
WE AND THANKSGIVING THIS WEEK. WE GOT TO GO TO AMERICA. And by that, I mean we got to go to an American base. And it was way cool and American. It was also right on the ocean and really pretty, but also FREEZING WINDY. We had delicious food and a lot of fun. I felt SO exhausted afterwards. It was delicious. I couldn't beat my mothers (of course) but it was still good.
And then the next day we had to get up super early and go to a big Sister Conference, where we talked about sister stuff and swapped clothes and did zumba. Yes. ZUMBA. Also, I left my planner there and I am really bummed out about it because it had a lot of important information in it AND it was absolutely adorable. Super bummed.
On Sunday one of our investigators came and it was so great to be there with her! She is so sweet and kind and I am so glad to get to be able to work with her. On Saturday, there was a girl who kept creepily saying 'Sumimasen deshita.' over and over and she would walk away and then come back and say it again and it was more than a little freaky.
Sister Hathaway says Hello.
Love you like always!!
Have an awesome week! And have some Happy, Happy Holidays!!
Sister Teagan Clark
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