Dear Family!
I am scheduled to leave the MTC on June 3rd! We are flying through Delta Airlines. Our first flight out of Salt Lake is at 9:45 am. From there we fly into Los Angeles. Our flight from LA will take us to Tokyo (4:25pm) from Tokyo, we'll fly into Fukuoka, and we should arrive there by 9:45 or 10:00pm if everything goes as planned!
I cannot believe that i am going to be leaving the MTC! If feels surreal. I am going to miss my district so much! We all get to fly together on the same plane and we will probably all stay together our first night together in Fukuoka...after that we will have to say our goodbyes :(
Their aren't too many updates to give...still having a blast everyday and being edified by the spirit constantly. It's amazing! I do have a cool experience to share from the other day when I was teaching a lesson to our "progressing investigator" named Imai. It was our first time meeting with him and we taught him about prayer and a little bit about the restoration. The lesson went really well and the spirit was really strong during the lesson. Earlier in the day, my whole district memorized how to say the baptismal invitation that is found in Preach My Gospel, and during the lesson later that night when we taught Imai, I had a distinct impression to invite him to be baptized! I blew the impression off because I was thinking "I only want to invite him to be baptized because i learned how to say it earlier today...". When me and my companions finished our lesson, we were walking back to our classroom, and Kwak Shimai immediately says "I felt so prompted to ask him to be baptized"!! Stirling Shimai did too! And so did I!! Even though every single one of us ignored the prompting, I was so happy that we at least all FELT a prompting from the spirit in a lesson! That was the FIRST time ever that i felt inspired to do that, so i guess I didn't really recognize it as the spirit. But it obviously was since we all felt it afterwards. It was an awesome experience and taught me a lot about listening to the spirit. It was awesome because I feel confident that once I get to Japan, the spirit really will prompt me & help me know what to say and when to say it. This experience also meant a lot to me because I was actually saying things from my heart, instead of just saying memorized phrases. The spirit took over an it was AWESOME!!! Huge confidence builder! We plan on committing Imai to baptism in our next lesson!
Long story short I'm really going to miss my district, but i'm really excited for what is in store for the future. Japan is going to be such a crazy culture shock! I'm bracing myself for that now. I am confident that the language will come a lot quicker than it has for me in the MTC because i'll be 100% immersed in it! I am going to be faced with so many challenges, but i'm ready for them!
I am anxious to find out who my first companion is going to be, and what they are going to be like!? Riding a bike every single day is going to be REALLY interesting too...my legs better be ripped by the time i get back thats all i have to SAY!!!
I love you all!!!!! Stay strong. Know that i have never felt closer to Heavenly Father & the Savior in my life. Also know that i am amongst family here, and i am being taken care of :)
Read the scriptures and pray daily. Don't give up when things are hard. The Savior has suffered way more. This is HIS CHURCH, and it is TRUE.
Love, Sharp Shimai
