Konnichiwa,
We had stake conference this weekend too, it was super good! I learned a lot, and there were a lot of good talks given. From what I could understand of them at least :)
So I am still here in Okinawa in Naha Higashi :) I am still with Kashiwa Shimai hallelujah! One big announcement that came at conference was the reorganizing of wards and branches on the island. We combined with another ward and became one! HUGE MIRACLE! I feel like our area can grow so much more now. We need more available members to help us with missionary work and I feel like with the combining of wards, its going to help us with missionary work move forward so much more now! Thats just one of the miracles…
Last week we weren't able to meet with everyone that we wanted to, but we saw tons of miracles! The first miracle I want to share happened last week on Friday. Kashiwa Shimai and I were out finding and I saw a huge apartment complex pretty close by on a pretty big hill from where we were. I felt like we should go there so we left the area we were in and headed towards the hill. When we got there and started knocking on doors EVERYONE was rejecting us. This apartment building had about 10 floors…after about 4 floors of straight rejection I was starting to get discouraged, and frustrated that nobody was listening. We said a prayer asking for guidance and I told Kaskiwa Shimai that I definitely felt like there was at LEAST ONE prepared person in the whole building who was going to listen to us. She felt the same way, so we kept knocking on doors. The rejections kept coming. We went down onto the next floor and in the hallway I saw two small pink bikes sitting next to a door. As soon as I saw the bikes, I knew whoever lived there was going to be our new investigator. We knocked on the door. A young mom (her name is Maho) with the cutest, chubbiest baby in her arms answered the door and with a warm smile on her face said 'Konnichiwa!' Suddenly two other young girls from the back room came running to the door to see who we were. They had three crazy pony tails in their hair. They were so cute! I said 'Are they twins?!' She said yes, but that they are her husbands kids from a different marriage. As we started talking, we taught her about eternal families. She said she didn't currently believe in eternal families, but if it was real it would be pretty awesome! We asked if we could come back and she said 'Yes! I am here all day, I don't work right now, anytime is good!' We set the appointment for tomorrow. When we left her door, I wanted to drop on my knees and thank God for answering our prayer and guiding us to literally the ONLY prepared person in that whole apartment complex. It was a miracle.
Nakamoto San:
We were able to meet with him last week with a member. We finished teaching him the plan of salvation, he seemed a little confused on some things which is to be expected, but he said that he prayed and read the reading assignment that we gave him from the previous visit. YAY!!! He actually kept his commitment! That was a miracle in and of itself! He said that as of right now he doesn't have a lot of desire to stop worshipping his ancestors because that is all he knows, but he is not opposed to keep learning. We are going back tomorrow! :) The lord is working on him, I am so grateful for the power of the spirit! That is what is ultimately going to convert him and soften his heart! He's really sweet and nice, so once he starts learning by the spirit I don't think joining the church will be hard at all. Especially if he keeps reading and praying..that will be key.
Shiroma San:
Shiroma San is an older guy that we found in the beginning of last transfer and have been teaching him REALLY slowly. He is one of my favorite investigators that I have had on my mission. He isn't progressing super fast, but every time we meet with him, I feel Gods love for him so strong! He loves when we come over! He is a little stubborn, but the spirit is working on him, I see it every time we come. He has yet to pray in front of us, he is always super embarrassed and no matter how hard we beg, he is stubborn and won't do it. BUT last week when we went to his house we sat outside his door, and when we started the lesson he pulled out a piece of paper and I said 'Whats that Shiroma San?' He said, 'I was thinking a lot about what you said about prayer…is it okay if i read this? I've been waiting for you two to come so I could share it.' He opens the the paper and it has a bunch of handwritten Japanese all over it. He takes a deep breath and says the first line 'Ten no Otosama' which means 'Heavenly Father'…He wrote out his prayer and read it to us! It was the cutest thing I've ever heard. He said that thinking about what he is grateful for on the spot is hard, so he took the time to write it all down and was waiting for us to come back so he could read it to us. I WAS SO HAPPY!!!!!!!! It really was such a HUGE MIRACLE! I love that guy!!! I want to take a picture with him next time so you can see him. I don't know if he will let me but I will try haha.
Shinzato San:
This is one of the craziest miracles of the week…We found her two weeks ago, she was SO happy when she met us and said that she FOR SURE wanted to come to church. She is an older lady, maybe in her 70's or 80's and LOVES to talk…anyways, we gave her a Book of Mormon and told her that we wanted to teach her. She said to call her and we could make an appointment. So a few days later we called and some weird guy answered the phone and WOULD NOT let us talk to her!!!! It was the MOST FRUSTRATING thing ever! Since we couldn't get a hold of her, we had no way of making the appointment. We attempted going to her house a few days ago but when we got there we heard that mans voice and decided to try again another time…yesterday as we were driving back from stake conference with a member we got a phone call. It was Shinzato San. I threw the phone to Kashiwa. Shinzato said that she really really wanted to come to church today and that she wanted us to teach her. She said she didn't have a ride to church and wanted us to come pick her up. She didn't know that we had conference and that church was over…we didn't know what to do, but luckily the sweet member that was with us said she would go pick her up and take her to the church for us!!! She came to the church and we sat in the chapel and started teaching her about the gospel of Jesus Christ! We were about to invite her to be baptized but the member that drove her needed to go, so we will have to invite her this week. I have no doubt that she is going to say yes! She kept saying over and over again how happy she was and that she felt so much joy in her heart from meeting with us! She can't wait to come to church next Sunday and learn more about Christ. It was the biggest miracle ever!!! WE WERE SO HAPPY!!!!!!!
I am out of time! ah! But there is one more investigator named An Chan who we are teaching. She is super cute, 20 years old and lived in America for school. She is really good at English and we taught her last week. She committed to pray about the restoration and Joseph Smiths experience. I will update you on her next week! I have to go but I love you all!! The church is TRUE! God is a God of miracles :) He knows us and loves us. He is hastening his work. I am so grateful to be a part of it! Love you all!
Sharp Shimai
Monday, June 23, 2014
Sunday, June 22, 2014
I am so blessed
June 15, 2014
Konnichiwa!
This last week was much better than the week before. Yes it is transfer week- I haven't gotten the call yet, but I am pretty positive that I am staying. I think I will stay here until the end of my mission. Kashiwa and I are doing great :) I really do love her so much, I am sooo grateful for her. I would love to stay companions with her until the very end.
This last week Kashiwa shimai and I saw some way awesome things happen. We went out housing with a member from the ward and we found two awesome people. The first one was a young mother. I knocked on the door and she opened it and the first thing she said is `Oh! Aren't you Mormons!? I saw you two last week in front of your church, we talked for just a little bit, do you remember?` Kashiwa remembered her, but I didn't at all...we talked to her about the Plan of Salvation. She has two young kids, and one of them has a huge fear of people. She said that in order for her daughter to overcome her fears of people, she felt like we were the kind of people she wanted to bring her around. She wants to attend church, but she is super busy this month. We will be recontacting her again at the end of the month, and I think we will be able to start meeting with her. It was a miracle that we not only stopped her on the street, but Heavenly Father guided us straight to her house! She is obviously being prepared. In the same apartment complex, a few doors down, we knocked on the door of an older man named Taira San. We began talking to him about the restoration after he made a comment about how there are too many churches on the earth, all teaching different things from the same bible. He said that he has read the bible and he just doesn't understand why all there are so many different christian churches...he doesn't know which one to join. He didn't have a clue, but he was almost word for word quoting Joseph Smith history. IT was crazy! I shared with him the first vision and the three of us bore testimony of an apostasy. He was touched and said that we could come back and teach him more, but between his work and his visits to the doctor, he couldn't make a solid appointment. However, he gave us all his information and we are going to try really hard to meet with him this week. He is incredibly prepared to accept the restoration. Super excited :)
Konnichiwa!
This last week was much better than the week before. Yes it is transfer week- I haven't gotten the call yet, but I am pretty positive that I am staying. I think I will stay here until the end of my mission. Kashiwa and I are doing great :) I really do love her so much, I am sooo grateful for her. I would love to stay companions with her until the very end.
This last week Kashiwa shimai and I saw some way awesome things happen. We went out housing with a member from the ward and we found two awesome people. The first one was a young mother. I knocked on the door and she opened it and the first thing she said is `Oh! Aren't you Mormons!? I saw you two last week in front of your church, we talked for just a little bit, do you remember?` Kashiwa remembered her, but I didn't at all...we talked to her about the Plan of Salvation. She has two young kids, and one of them has a huge fear of people. She said that in order for her daughter to overcome her fears of people, she felt like we were the kind of people she wanted to bring her around. She wants to attend church, but she is super busy this month. We will be recontacting her again at the end of the month, and I think we will be able to start meeting with her. It was a miracle that we not only stopped her on the street, but Heavenly Father guided us straight to her house! She is obviously being prepared. In the same apartment complex, a few doors down, we knocked on the door of an older man named Taira San. We began talking to him about the restoration after he made a comment about how there are too many churches on the earth, all teaching different things from the same bible. He said that he has read the bible and he just doesn't understand why all there are so many different christian churches...he doesn't know which one to join. He didn't have a clue, but he was almost word for word quoting Joseph Smith history. IT was crazy! I shared with him the first vision and the three of us bore testimony of an apostasy. He was touched and said that we could come back and teach him more, but between his work and his visits to the doctor, he couldn't make a solid appointment. However, he gave us all his information and we are going to try really hard to meet with him this week. He is incredibly prepared to accept the restoration. Super excited :)
Yesterday we were on our way to an appointment that we had at a members house and as we were biking along the sidewalk, a man biking in our direction yells out `Are you Mormons?` in passing. Normally when people recognize us I immediately stop and talk with them...however something was different about this guy, and I had no desire to stop and talk with him. As i rode by I said yep! and kept going..kashiwa didn't hear him so when we got to the light I turned to her and said `that guy back there knew who we were, should we go back and talk with him? I don't really feel impressed to talk with him...` She said she didn't either. As we were waiting for the light to turn green we heard a voice from behind us say `Konnichwa!` we turned around and it was a sweet old grandma who has apparently met sister missionaries before and received a book of Mormon a few months ago. She kept saying that she was looking forward to meeting with us, but we had no idea who she was...I got her name and address and we set up an appointment to meet with her today at noon! huge miracle! I immediately knew why I wasn't impressed to go back and talk with that man..we needed to be standing on that corner so that Chinen San (the grandma) could see us and stop us. The Lord works in wonderful ways :)
One of the best miracles of the week happened with a man named Nakamoto san.
Sister Lewis and I were on exchanges together last week in our area and we housed into this sweet older man who said that he would love to see his ancestors again if he had the chance. We bore testimony of the plan of salvation and asked if we could come back in a few days. He agreed. I asked if his wife would be home at the time that we would be coming and he said no- he also said that she probably wouldn't have any interest in our message. We said okay and left.
Yesterday Kashiwa Shimai and I went to our appointment with him and knocked on his door. His wife answered..she didn't know who we were and seemed a little confused, but we explained that we met her husband a few days ago and that he invited us over. She let her husband know we were at the door and he came and let us in. His wife at first didn't seem to excited that we were in her house, and she didn't participate in the lesson, but I think by the end of the meeting her heart was softened. She served us tea (that we cant drink..always super awkward) and said that we could definitely come back on Wednesday. She will be at work, but she is ok with us coming. Anyways, during the lesson we talked to Nakamoto San about the atonement of Jesus Christ. He knows nothing about God or Jesus Christ, as almost all people in Okinawa, and he worships his ancestors. (Just like everyone else) However, when we explained the role of Jesus Christ and the Atonement to him, he was intently listening the whole time. He had never heard of it before and the spirit was definitely in the room bearing witness to him that it was true. He had never prayed before so we taught him to pray and committed him to pray on his own before he went to bed that night. He said that he would. We set up another appointment for Wednesday :) YAY!!!! I really feel like he is going to progress and keep his commitments. The only problem is going to be his wife, but I think we will be able to soften her a little more with time. He use to be a taxi driver, but is retired now. They have four grown children and 9 grandchildren. He came from a family of 12 which is absolutely unheard of for a Japanese family, and he is the youngest. I Have a feeling that all his ancestors are rejoicing on the other side of the veil when they saw us step into his house yesterday and taught of the atonement and plan of salvation. I am excited to see what happens, and I will update you next week on his progress :)
The church is true! Heavenly Father is hastening his work. I am so blessed to be a part of it. Thank you for all your prayers. I know that the power of your prayers are real!! I love each of you. Remember that God is aware of you and knows everything about you and your life. He loves each of you and is so ready to use each of you in hastening his work. Go to the temple as often as possible! Say your prayers, and read the scriptures EVERY DAY.
Love you all! Stay Genki (happy/healthy)
Love, Sharp Shimai
Sunday, June 8, 2014
LOVE
Konnichiwa!
First thing-This last week has been rough for me. The whole week Kashiwa Shimai hasn't seemed too happy. I can tell that she hasn't been really wanting to work and talking and testifying to peole has been really hard for her. This has overtime started to affect me as well and my desire to love people has dwindled a little bit in the last week. Last night we came home and I had to call the zone leaders to report on the week (like we always do), and they asked me how my relationship was with Kashiwa Shimai (like they always do) and I told them that she is still struggling to open her mouth and talk to people and that it has been affecting my effectiveness as well… After I got off the phone with them I came back into the room and her countenance had totally fallen and she looked so sad. I sensed that she knew I was talking to the zone leaders about her on the other end. She doesn't speak English, but her understanding is getting really good. I felt way bad. I didn't say anything mean about her, but with the language barrier I think she assumed I was talking bad about her. I waited until the end of our planning session to ask her if everything was okay..she said she was 'just tired' which I knew was a lie so I kept prying..she wasn't opening up so I began to apologize for the crappy week that we had and that I want us to be able to work more effectively together but that she needs to start opening her mouth more because I need her! I can't do it all by myself..nor do I want to. She has such a powerful testimony and she can teach sooo well! The sad thing is that she doesn't see her strengths, only her weaknesses. I began to cry and apologize for all my weaknesses and that I feel bad she has to be stuck with me haha…but she finally opened up and began to cry also..the first words out of her mouth were..(in English) 'I hate myself'. I sat there intently listening to her as she told me how she has no self confidence and that it is so hard for her to talk people when she automatically assumes that nobody likes her. Its something that she has struggled with since she was young. And then she said to me…'I don't think you like me…' I immediately ran over to her desk and hugged her so tightly and told her over and over 'Aishiteimasu, aishitemasu!' (I love you, I love you!) She apologized and said that she knows that that isn't how people really feel but that's what she tells herself and overtime she has just begun to believe it. I continued to tell her that its a huge fat lie of Satan to believe that nobody loves her or likes her. We had a good cry session and we resolved any weird tension that was between us before.
Heavenly Father has been teaching me one overall lesson since the moment I came back to the church, and started my mission…The lesson is this LOVE. Love those around you at all times. Love is what the world needs. Not just any kind of love…but the pure love of Christ. Charity. The pure love of Christ is what converts souls, its what changes human nature. My sweet companion Kashiwa Shimai has gone most of her life not feeling loved by those around her…and has probably never felt the overwhelming love that our Savior and Heavenly Father have for her either.
I have felt time and time again that my purpose in this mission, and perhaps my mission in this life, is not just to bring souls unto Christ through the ordinance of baptism, but it is to love people so purely and so genuinely that the only thing left for them to do is to take upon his name through that covenant of baptism. I want to be able to love people so purely that there is no doubt in their mind that God exists. Not just on this mission, but for the rest of my life. Truly we are his hands in helping people come to the knowledge of his existence. We can do this through showing people the love that God has for them. It is there. Its real. It changes lives. And we are also changed in the process and we express it to those around us.
Wherefore my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faith. Wherefore, cleave unto charity which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail- But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth FOREVER; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
Moroni 7 46-47
I am so grateful for this mission experience. There is a reason why I have had 10 companions on my mission and not 10 baptisms. I have been sent here mainly for the friendships and experiences that I have had with my companions, who in their own unique ways have all become my sisters. I love each of them so much. I am grateful for the gentle reminders of our loving Heavenly Father. He keeps guiding me and letting me know how close he really is to me, and to these people.
I love each of you, and I am so grateful for a plan of salvation that enables all these friendships and relationships to last well beyond the grave. Heaven just wouldn't be heaven without a family. I love you all!!!
Until next week :)
Love, Sharp Shimai
First thing-This last week has been rough for me. The whole week Kashiwa Shimai hasn't seemed too happy. I can tell that she hasn't been really wanting to work and talking and testifying to peole has been really hard for her. This has overtime started to affect me as well and my desire to love people has dwindled a little bit in the last week. Last night we came home and I had to call the zone leaders to report on the week (like we always do), and they asked me how my relationship was with Kashiwa Shimai (like they always do) and I told them that she is still struggling to open her mouth and talk to people and that it has been affecting my effectiveness as well… After I got off the phone with them I came back into the room and her countenance had totally fallen and she looked so sad. I sensed that she knew I was talking to the zone leaders about her on the other end. She doesn't speak English, but her understanding is getting really good. I felt way bad. I didn't say anything mean about her, but with the language barrier I think she assumed I was talking bad about her. I waited until the end of our planning session to ask her if everything was okay..she said she was 'just tired' which I knew was a lie so I kept prying..she wasn't opening up so I began to apologize for the crappy week that we had and that I want us to be able to work more effectively together but that she needs to start opening her mouth more because I need her! I can't do it all by myself..nor do I want to. She has such a powerful testimony and she can teach sooo well! The sad thing is that she doesn't see her strengths, only her weaknesses. I began to cry and apologize for all my weaknesses and that I feel bad she has to be stuck with me haha…but she finally opened up and began to cry also..the first words out of her mouth were..(in English) 'I hate myself'. I sat there intently listening to her as she told me how she has no self confidence and that it is so hard for her to talk people when she automatically assumes that nobody likes her. Its something that she has struggled with since she was young. And then she said to me…'I don't think you like me…' I immediately ran over to her desk and hugged her so tightly and told her over and over 'Aishiteimasu, aishitemasu!' (I love you, I love you!) She apologized and said that she knows that that isn't how people really feel but that's what she tells herself and overtime she has just begun to believe it. I continued to tell her that its a huge fat lie of Satan to believe that nobody loves her or likes her. We had a good cry session and we resolved any weird tension that was between us before.
Heavenly Father has been teaching me one overall lesson since the moment I came back to the church, and started my mission…The lesson is this LOVE. Love those around you at all times. Love is what the world needs. Not just any kind of love…but the pure love of Christ. Charity. The pure love of Christ is what converts souls, its what changes human nature. My sweet companion Kashiwa Shimai has gone most of her life not feeling loved by those around her…and has probably never felt the overwhelming love that our Savior and Heavenly Father have for her either.
I have felt time and time again that my purpose in this mission, and perhaps my mission in this life, is not just to bring souls unto Christ through the ordinance of baptism, but it is to love people so purely and so genuinely that the only thing left for them to do is to take upon his name through that covenant of baptism. I want to be able to love people so purely that there is no doubt in their mind that God exists. Not just on this mission, but for the rest of my life. Truly we are his hands in helping people come to the knowledge of his existence. We can do this through showing people the love that God has for them. It is there. Its real. It changes lives. And we are also changed in the process and we express it to those around us.
Wherefore my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faith. Wherefore, cleave unto charity which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail- But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth FOREVER; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
Moroni 7 46-47
I am so grateful for this mission experience. There is a reason why I have had 10 companions on my mission and not 10 baptisms. I have been sent here mainly for the friendships and experiences that I have had with my companions, who in their own unique ways have all become my sisters. I love each of them so much. I am grateful for the gentle reminders of our loving Heavenly Father. He keeps guiding me and letting me know how close he really is to me, and to these people.
I love each of you, and I am so grateful for a plan of salvation that enables all these friendships and relationships to last well beyond the grave. Heaven just wouldn't be heaven without a family. I love you all!!!
Until next week :)
Love, Sharp Shimai
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
My Testimony
Konnichiwa,
This last week we were pretty busy, we taught 8 lessons. None of our investigators are progressing which is really hard. But I had a strong feeling that I know there is at LEAST ONE that will. It may not be any that we are currently teaching, but we will find the one who will. The sisters that we live with had a baptism yesterday it was way good!! Their convert is sooo cute, she's in her 70's and has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon :) she's adorable!!
I had a cool experience last week with one of our investigators Ishikawa San. The elders met him last year and he didn't have a ton of interest but when we met him he agreed to meet again. He looooves to talk, which is a good and a bad thing. But we had the opportunity to teach him the restoration in about 10 minutes. I got to the first vision and he was looking at me with the most intense eyes. for about 1 minute straight our eyes didn't break contact and I felt the power of the spirit testify through me to him the truthfulness of every word that came out of my mouth. I have said the first vision a lot on my mission, and have had a ton of spiritual experiences when sharing it, but never have the words come out of my mouth so powerfully and clearly before. I have it memorized in Japanese, but it was as if I wasn't even speaking, I barely had a recollection of saying anything. At the end, we invited him to pray about everything we taught. We met with him about 3 days later and he said that he went to the church website and studied more about the first vision, and he also mentioned how important the priesthood is, if it is real. He isn't committing to pray about, which is way frustrating. I know its Satan. I know (and I think he knows) that if he prays he is going to get an answer and then he will be accountable! He is a member of a church called 'sokagakai' and from what I hear it was founded by a man who went to BYU, learned about the Mormons and decided he wanted to be a prophet. He came back to Japan and founded a way, way, way corrupt version of our church and people are joining by the thousands. He made it into a Buddhist religion. Its way scary. Probably 1 in every 20 people we meet is a member of this church. I have met sooo so many. None of them (to my knowledge) have any idea that is a corrupt version of our church. If they did, I think they would join ours. Anyways, Ishikawa San is trying my patience because he won't pray the way we have taught him, but we are going to continue to love him and keep him in our prayers.
We met with the girl that had read half the Book of Mormon. When we met her she didn't seem as happy to see us. I think Satan got to her in the days we weren't able to see her. Because she didn't make a return appointment which was really sad. I suppose its not quite her time yet. She is close though.
Last night we were housing in her same apartment complex and we found a girl who lived in California for 4 years. She said that in America she had one friend that was Mormon and all her family practiced Christianity of some sort. She had a piercing in her chin and really short hair. She seems to be a little more rough around the edges but as I continued to talk to her (in fluent English:) the spirit softened her and she said that she would read the plan of salvation pamphlet that we gave to her and if we stopped by again she would be okay to talk with us. It was a huge miracle I was way grateful that the Lord placed her in our path. We will follow upon her progress this week and ill let you know what happens.
Time is short, but I bare my testimony that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. It has been restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith. He saw God, our Father, and the Son Jesus Christ. They live and they love us. The Book of Mormon is evidence of this. Read it. Study it. Ponder it. Pray about it. All those who do so will receive a witness from the Holy Ghost that it is true. It its true, than this is Gods Church. I testify that it is!
I love you all. Pray. Pray often.
Sharp Shimai
This last week we were pretty busy, we taught 8 lessons. None of our investigators are progressing which is really hard. But I had a strong feeling that I know there is at LEAST ONE that will. It may not be any that we are currently teaching, but we will find the one who will. The sisters that we live with had a baptism yesterday it was way good!! Their convert is sooo cute, she's in her 70's and has a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon :) she's adorable!!
I had a cool experience last week with one of our investigators Ishikawa San. The elders met him last year and he didn't have a ton of interest but when we met him he agreed to meet again. He looooves to talk, which is a good and a bad thing. But we had the opportunity to teach him the restoration in about 10 minutes. I got to the first vision and he was looking at me with the most intense eyes. for about 1 minute straight our eyes didn't break contact and I felt the power of the spirit testify through me to him the truthfulness of every word that came out of my mouth. I have said the first vision a lot on my mission, and have had a ton of spiritual experiences when sharing it, but never have the words come out of my mouth so powerfully and clearly before. I have it memorized in Japanese, but it was as if I wasn't even speaking, I barely had a recollection of saying anything. At the end, we invited him to pray about everything we taught. We met with him about 3 days later and he said that he went to the church website and studied more about the first vision, and he also mentioned how important the priesthood is, if it is real. He isn't committing to pray about, which is way frustrating. I know its Satan. I know (and I think he knows) that if he prays he is going to get an answer and then he will be accountable! He is a member of a church called 'sokagakai' and from what I hear it was founded by a man who went to BYU, learned about the Mormons and decided he wanted to be a prophet. He came back to Japan and founded a way, way, way corrupt version of our church and people are joining by the thousands. He made it into a Buddhist religion. Its way scary. Probably 1 in every 20 people we meet is a member of this church. I have met sooo so many. None of them (to my knowledge) have any idea that is a corrupt version of our church. If they did, I think they would join ours. Anyways, Ishikawa San is trying my patience because he won't pray the way we have taught him, but we are going to continue to love him and keep him in our prayers.
We met with the girl that had read half the Book of Mormon. When we met her she didn't seem as happy to see us. I think Satan got to her in the days we weren't able to see her. Because she didn't make a return appointment which was really sad. I suppose its not quite her time yet. She is close though.
Last night we were housing in her same apartment complex and we found a girl who lived in California for 4 years. She said that in America she had one friend that was Mormon and all her family practiced Christianity of some sort. She had a piercing in her chin and really short hair. She seems to be a little more rough around the edges but as I continued to talk to her (in fluent English:) the spirit softened her and she said that she would read the plan of salvation pamphlet that we gave to her and if we stopped by again she would be okay to talk with us. It was a huge miracle I was way grateful that the Lord placed her in our path. We will follow upon her progress this week and ill let you know what happens.
Time is short, but I bare my testimony that this is the Church of Jesus Christ. It has been restored to the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith. He saw God, our Father, and the Son Jesus Christ. They live and they love us. The Book of Mormon is evidence of this. Read it. Study it. Ponder it. Pray about it. All those who do so will receive a witness from the Holy Ghost that it is true. It its true, than this is Gods Church. I testify that it is!
I love you all. Pray. Pray often.
Sharp Shimai
Sunday, June 1, 2014
His work and his glory!
Sunday 25, 2014
Konnichiwa,
This last week went by really fast, we saw so many miracles. We found four new investigators and we were able to meet with just about all the people that we wanted too. A few things fell through but that's okay because Heavenly Father was preparing so many people this week to be in our path it was amazing!! We were about 40 minutes from home and were biking up a pretty big hill, I went to gear down and my chain/gear changer broke off my bike! I have run that dang bike into the ground. We went to one bike shop and they said that nowhere on all of Okinawa had the part that I needed…but of course you can't just take one persons word for it. The next day we went to another bike shop and he said that he didn't have the part, but a bridgestone up the street could probably do it. Luckily they were able to and I have a bike in working order again yay! The next day we were getting ready to go to church and Kaskiwa Shimai's front tire had a flat! So we have been having bike troubles all week, but the good news is that we got it fixed and were still able to make it to all our appointments :)
One awesome miracle that I want to share happened last night. We went to an appointment with a new investigator named Fukuchi San and after his lesson we decided to stop by an apartment complex that we found a week or so before. We talked to 2 really prepared people when we went there the first time, so we wanted to see if they were home. Neither of them were, and we only had about 10 minutes left before we needed to head back home so we decided to just continue housing along the same row of doors until we found someone. About 3 doors into it we come to a door that looked at the door I was overwhelmed with the spirit and love for whoever was on the other side of the door. I knew someone was inside. We rang the doorbell and a sweet young girl maybe in her 30's answered the door. We said Hello! We are the missionaries! Have you ever met missionaries before?! and she said with a smile Yes! I have actually! Just this year! I have a Book of Mormon and I have read if half way through already! Kashiwa Shimai and I couldn't believe it! We talked to her for about 10 minutes about the plan of salvation. I asked her is she felt joy in her life and she said she didn't feel happiness at all…it was a perfect opportunity for me to then testify of our Heavenly Fathers love and our Saviors atonement. She agreed to meet with us this week on Wednesday at 6pm.
Time and time again I have seen the Lord place us in the right place at the right time to reach out to his children in love. It builds and strengthens my faith each time. The best part about this miracle who met her the first time are actually my current zone leaders. I called and asked him if he remembered anyone by the name of 'Maezato' and he said "Oh yeah! I remember her, she refused to take a Book of Mormon and I finally just shoved it at her because I knew that she needed it! She was so stubborn!" I just laughed and told him that his work paid off because she has read half of it. It was a testimony to me that we are preparing people for others who will come along. I already knew this but it was awesome to see the actual fruit of someone else's labor and then be able to report back to that missionary that his effort wasn't wasted even though he thought she was for sure uninterested when they met.
The Lord is truly at the head of this church. This is his church. It is his work and his glory! I am so blessed to be a part of it :)
I love each of you, Thank you for all the prayers love and support. Have a good week!
Love, Sharp Shimai
Konnichiwa,
This last week went by really fast, we saw so many miracles. We found four new investigators and we were able to meet with just about all the people that we wanted too. A few things fell through but that's okay because Heavenly Father was preparing so many people this week to be in our path it was amazing!! We were about 40 minutes from home and were biking up a pretty big hill, I went to gear down and my chain/gear changer broke off my bike! I have run that dang bike into the ground. We went to one bike shop and they said that nowhere on all of Okinawa had the part that I needed…but of course you can't just take one persons word for it. The next day we went to another bike shop and he said that he didn't have the part, but a bridgestone up the street could probably do it. Luckily they were able to and I have a bike in working order again yay! The next day we were getting ready to go to church and Kaskiwa Shimai's front tire had a flat! So we have been having bike troubles all week, but the good news is that we got it fixed and were still able to make it to all our appointments :)
One awesome miracle that I want to share happened last night. We went to an appointment with a new investigator named Fukuchi San and after his lesson we decided to stop by an apartment complex that we found a week or so before. We talked to 2 really prepared people when we went there the first time, so we wanted to see if they were home. Neither of them were, and we only had about 10 minutes left before we needed to head back home so we decided to just continue housing along the same row of doors until we found someone. About 3 doors into it we come to a door that looked at the door I was overwhelmed with the spirit and love for whoever was on the other side of the door. I knew someone was inside. We rang the doorbell and a sweet young girl maybe in her 30's answered the door. We said Hello! We are the missionaries! Have you ever met missionaries before?! and she said with a smile Yes! I have actually! Just this year! I have a Book of Mormon and I have read if half way through already! Kashiwa Shimai and I couldn't believe it! We talked to her for about 10 minutes about the plan of salvation. I asked her is she felt joy in her life and she said she didn't feel happiness at all…it was a perfect opportunity for me to then testify of our Heavenly Fathers love and our Saviors atonement. She agreed to meet with us this week on Wednesday at 6pm.
Time and time again I have seen the Lord place us in the right place at the right time to reach out to his children in love. It builds and strengthens my faith each time. The best part about this miracle who met her the first time are actually my current zone leaders. I called and asked him if he remembered anyone by the name of 'Maezato' and he said "Oh yeah! I remember her, she refused to take a Book of Mormon and I finally just shoved it at her because I knew that she needed it! She was so stubborn!" I just laughed and told him that his work paid off because she has read half of it. It was a testimony to me that we are preparing people for others who will come along. I already knew this but it was awesome to see the actual fruit of someone else's labor and then be able to report back to that missionary that his effort wasn't wasted even though he thought she was for sure uninterested when they met.
The Lord is truly at the head of this church. This is his church. It is his work and his glory! I am so blessed to be a part of it :)
I love each of you, Thank you for all the prayers love and support. Have a good week!
Love, Sharp Shimai
Sunday, May 18, 2014
Gift of the Holy Ghost
Konnichiwa!
Yep, this week did go by way fast!! It was a really good week though.
This last week I have been able to break down walls with Kaskiwa Shimai, we have become wayyy good friends!! I love her to death. The language barrier has turned out to be the root of almost all laughter that goes on between us haha she is trying so hard to understand English, and I'm trying so hard to understand her Japanese (and after about 10 minutes of looking up words and a game of charades we finally understand each other) we make a great companionship :)
Since I have become companions with Kashiwa Shimai my love for the people has become so much deeper. I don't find it ironic that I have always been drawn to the Japanese people! I love them so much. I am sure that Buddah and I were probably the best of friends in the pre existence!!!
Miracles :)
We found three new investigators. We weren't able to meet with the lady in the blue shack but we did call her and she was busy all this week, I think we will be able to meet this week, I will keep you updated!
Shiroma San- An older man in his 70's he is super open to talking about religion but has a really hard time focusing, so we are teaching him with object lessons to help him understand and focus! I feel that with time he really will want to be baptized! We invited him to be baptized next month on the 28th but he still has no clue what the gospel even is so he said that he wants to take it a little slower and learn little by little. Which is fine :)
Akamine San- Kashiwa Shimai and I were about an hour away from our apartment housing a HUGE apartment complex, we had about ten minutes left and knocked on a door. An older man in his 70's came to the door and asked us if we were telling people to come to church. We said ummm…yeah, but we aren't a normal church. Kashiwa Shimai and I busted you the restoration and the spirit testified SO strongly of the first vision. Before we could say anything else he said "do you come and teach this in peoples homes?!" and we said yeah! That's the goal!! He said okay, come back next Monday at 3! He gave us all his information and we are going to meet with him today at three! It was such an awesome miracle! His reaction was probably what every missionary dreams of happening haha. He said I would love to hear from you guys, but i can't make any promises that I will come to church.
….famous last words :)
Fukuchi San- Last night we were out finding again and I had a distinct impression that we needed to change our plans and go to a different area than what we had planned the night before. We ended up at a big apartment that Capener Shimai and I found last transfer and Kashiwa Shimai and I have housed it a few times this transfer without any luck. However, I felt pretty strong that there must be someone inside that was going to listen. We knocked on a door and a man maybe in his 50's came to the door. We taught him about the plan of salvation and receiving baptism. We invited him to be baptized and he said yes…although he has no idea what the actual covenant of baptism is, he felt the spirit and was probably surprised by his own answer. We asked if we could come back this Wednesday but he works during the week so the soonest we could come back is next Sunday. He has a family which is so great! As we were talking to him I could see in his face that he was so unhappy. We didn't get into details, but I am way excited that the spirit led us to his family and that he agreed to meet again! Huge miracle and blessing for that family!
The gospel is true. The Holy Ghost really can be our constant companion as we live worthy of his companionship. When we keep all of Gods commandments and partake of the Sacrament each week worthily, we are then able to feel the spirits influence in our lives! I am soooo grateful for the Gift of the Holy Ghost!!! I wouldn't be able to do ANYTHING without him. I am so grateful for prayer too! Pray everyday. Morning, day and night. Always keep a prayer in your heart!
I love each of you. We are so blessed to be members of Jesus Christs Church!
Have a good week :)
Love, Sharp Shimai
Yep, this week did go by way fast!! It was a really good week though.
This last week I have been able to break down walls with Kaskiwa Shimai, we have become wayyy good friends!! I love her to death. The language barrier has turned out to be the root of almost all laughter that goes on between us haha she is trying so hard to understand English, and I'm trying so hard to understand her Japanese (and after about 10 minutes of looking up words and a game of charades we finally understand each other) we make a great companionship :)
Since I have become companions with Kashiwa Shimai my love for the people has become so much deeper. I don't find it ironic that I have always been drawn to the Japanese people! I love them so much. I am sure that Buddah and I were probably the best of friends in the pre existence!!!
Miracles :)
We found three new investigators. We weren't able to meet with the lady in the blue shack but we did call her and she was busy all this week, I think we will be able to meet this week, I will keep you updated!
Shiroma San- An older man in his 70's he is super open to talking about religion but has a really hard time focusing, so we are teaching him with object lessons to help him understand and focus! I feel that with time he really will want to be baptized! We invited him to be baptized next month on the 28th but he still has no clue what the gospel even is so he said that he wants to take it a little slower and learn little by little. Which is fine :)
Akamine San- Kashiwa Shimai and I were about an hour away from our apartment housing a HUGE apartment complex, we had about ten minutes left and knocked on a door. An older man in his 70's came to the door and asked us if we were telling people to come to church. We said ummm…yeah, but we aren't a normal church. Kashiwa Shimai and I busted you the restoration and the spirit testified SO strongly of the first vision. Before we could say anything else he said "do you come and teach this in peoples homes?!" and we said yeah! That's the goal!! He said okay, come back next Monday at 3! He gave us all his information and we are going to meet with him today at three! It was such an awesome miracle! His reaction was probably what every missionary dreams of happening haha. He said I would love to hear from you guys, but i can't make any promises that I will come to church.
….famous last words :)
Fukuchi San- Last night we were out finding again and I had a distinct impression that we needed to change our plans and go to a different area than what we had planned the night before. We ended up at a big apartment that Capener Shimai and I found last transfer and Kashiwa Shimai and I have housed it a few times this transfer without any luck. However, I felt pretty strong that there must be someone inside that was going to listen. We knocked on a door and a man maybe in his 50's came to the door. We taught him about the plan of salvation and receiving baptism. We invited him to be baptized and he said yes…although he has no idea what the actual covenant of baptism is, he felt the spirit and was probably surprised by his own answer. We asked if we could come back this Wednesday but he works during the week so the soonest we could come back is next Sunday. He has a family which is so great! As we were talking to him I could see in his face that he was so unhappy. We didn't get into details, but I am way excited that the spirit led us to his family and that he agreed to meet again! Huge miracle and blessing for that family!
The gospel is true. The Holy Ghost really can be our constant companion as we live worthy of his companionship. When we keep all of Gods commandments and partake of the Sacrament each week worthily, we are then able to feel the spirits influence in our lives! I am soooo grateful for the Gift of the Holy Ghost!!! I wouldn't be able to do ANYTHING without him. I am so grateful for prayer too! Pray everyday. Morning, day and night. Always keep a prayer in your heart!
I love each of you. We are so blessed to be members of Jesus Christs Church!
Have a good week :)
Love, Sharp Shimai
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