My last email

Konnichiwa!!!!

My last email…can't believe it!!!  My email is coming so late because for my last pray we all went to an INCREDIBLE aquarium 2 hours away and got to spend the day doing that.  IT WAS SOOO FUN!!!  I will send some pics, oh my gosh.  I wish you all could of seen how amazing it was, apparently it is one of the biggest tanks in the world???

This last week was craaazy! Nakamotos baptism was scheduled for Saturday, however, we got a call on Thursday from the zone leaders informing us that the temple president of Fukuoka passed away and they would be holding his funeral at OUR church, ALL day Saturday so we would either have to postpone Nakamoto's baptism or do it a day early.  It was way stressful, but we got it all figured out and decided to do it on Friday and all went well :) He was so cute, super nervous, but way prepared!!!  He received the holy ghost on Sunday and is going to be receiving the priesthood this upcoming Sunday!  Gosh, love him to death, I'm way sad to be leaving.  The next time I see him will probably be in heaven. :( but that's okay, I'm excited for that day!

About two weeks ago we found a girl on the street who spoke perfect English, (has been living in America for the last 5 years)  converted to Christianity and the first thing she said to us was "I want to become a missionary!"  She was soooo soooo nice. I was so amazed at how brightly the light of Christ was in her countenance when we were talking to her, I offered her a Book of Mormon and she said "Oh yeah! I know some mormons, I've been wanting one of these books, I have some questions!"  We were able to meet with her for the first time yesterday at the church and we talked for 2 hours!  Her name is Alini.  She told us her conversion story and how she came to know about the Savior.  Her mother is half Filipino and I guess when Alini was younger she was super rebellious and didn't believe in God at all.  Her parents shipped her back over to the Philippines and its there that she first heard about God and Jesus Christ.  She was talking to a friend about God and this friend told her that she was a sinner and because of her sins she deserves to go to hell, but because of Jesus Christ, she can go to Heaven, and it was from that point on that she started believing in God.  As I was listening to her tell me all of this I was shocked that this is what she was taught and believes concerning Jesus Christ….she is a Born Again Christian.  They believe that its only through the grace of God that you are saved and if you just confess with all your heart that Jesus is the son of God, you are saved and then become "born again" she said. " I have complete assurance that when I die I am going to Heaven."  I just sat quietly and listened to her speak.  I was praying so hard that the Lord would direct my words, I knew I was going to need to choose my words wisely otherwise it would probably turn into a bible bash…God answered my prayer and he guided the whole conversation, I taught from the Bible and was able to teach her about the need for a restoration.  The interesting thing about Born Again Christians is they don't believe that Jesus is their Savior because they have received a testimony through the Holy Ghost, or any kind of feeling, they only believe because the Bible says so.  Because we are human, and imperfect we have the capacity to deceive ourselves…so they don't go off their own feelings,  so in their minds the only real thing they can rely to know the truth is the Bible. Its actually really quite crazy…but I just testified hard core that a testimony can only come through the power of the holy ghost.  Nothing else.  And we can only know of truth if we ask God.  Anyways, there were many more things discussed, I can tell you about it later.  It was a really interesting conversation. I know God led her to us and I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to bare such a strong testimony of my knowledge of the Restored Gospel.  I learned so much from the experience and my testimony was strengthened as always.

I am waaay sad to be going home.  Last Sunday was hard, but I knew that it wasn't the end…I feel like I'm coming back to Japan again one day.  And the relationships I have formed will continue on even after I come home so its okay.  I'm looking forward to the future :) Just as the Savior commands us to do!

Well, I love you all, can't believe its come and gone so quickly.  I hope to be a different and changed person than I was when I left. :)  I think I am.  But only because of the power of the Atonement, I love my Savior, I love these people.  Thank you for all your love, prayers and support!
I'll save all my "really profound words" for my talk on Sunday ;)  Love you all.
Love Sharp Shimai



This place was AMAZING!

Nakamoto San's Baptism

Kashiwa's beautiful whiteboard masterpiece

Pictures!

Children of God

August 31st

Konnichiwa,

This week was a little crazy, we had some unexpected things come up with Nakamoto San in his final baptismal interview, but we've got it all sorted out and he is still able to receive baptism this saturday, i will definitely send pictures.  My talk yesterday went well, Kashiwa helped me a lot with making sure I didn't sound like a fool with my terrible grammar haha.  After church we went and met with a new investigator, and he committed to come to church next Sunday yay!  After church we went to a dinner appointment at a really strong members house with all the missionaries, it was way fun!!  They asked me to bare my testimony at the end (I'm all testimonied out…haha).  Also we are to meet with an investigator that we haven't seen in a long time, she committed to come to church this Sunday too which was awesome.  Our mission president has asked all missionaries in the mission to get as many investigators at church on Sunday as possible.  AS a whole our mission has a goal to get 200 investigators this upcoming Sunday.  Maybe that doesn't sound like a lot, but for our mission it is haha. I'm excited to see us exceed it!

I don't have anything too exciting to update you on!  My appreciation for these people is growing deeper and deeper.  Yesterday as I looked out upon the congregation as I partook of the sacrament, I really felt as if I was in the midst of my own family members. They look nothing like me and we speak completely different cultures, but I felt so strongly that we were all children of God!!  Nothing can ever separate me from that knowledge.  I love these people, I feel strongly that I will return one day for some reason or another and I will be able to continue to do missionary work!  It might be 5 years or 40 years from now, but I will come back. :)  I love you all thank you for your prayers and support!  Keep praying for Nakamoto San that everything goes well! I will talk to you next week :)
Love, Sharp Shimai

Keeping the Commandments

August 24th

Konnichiwa :)

This last week was a little bit stressful with Nakamoto.  We finished all the lessons and scheduled his baptismal interview for this Wednesday.  When we reviewed the baptismal interview questions with him he told us that a long time ago he had a little bit of a flirtatious thing happen with a woman before and after he was married…he made it sound like adultery but turns out, it wasn't anything.  Ha. When we taught him the ten commandments and taught "thou shalt not kill" he got the most serious look on his face and confessed that 50 years ago he was at a park and was playing with a dog and it fell into some water and he tried to get it out, but it died.  His Japanese is way hard to understand sooo I missed the whole part about it being a DOG, (thought it was a person) and the only thing I heard was "accidentally died…" everyone went silent and so I was freaking out…I turned to Kashiwa and was like "what died?!"  and she whispers…"Inu." Which means dog. hahaha it was so funny.  We had to explain that that commandment is referring to people.  I felt way bad because I kind of started to laugh, but he felt way bad about it.  Long story short, he is well prepared to be baptized and I feel is going to be a way strong member of the church :)

We weren't able to meet with our other investigators this week (its summer break right now for all the kids) so all the parents are spending time with their kids and don't want to meet with us ha.  But we found two new investigators (actually, one is from the elders) and then the other one we found, she is Filipino and catholic, but super nice and actually already had a Book of Mormon, she received it from a friend in the Philippines! So awesome.  So we are going to go visit her tonight. :) Wish us good luck!

There are a total of 8 missionaries serving in the same ward as me, and a family had all of us over for dinner last week, it was SO FUN! The mom actually does massage therapy and when I walked in and saw the table I was like wow…I miss that.  But anyways, she asked all of us why we decided to serve missions and I had a way awesome spiritual experience as I bore my testimony.  It hit me that my mission is almost over and I got really emotional.  I have to speak in sacrament next week and teach gospel principles class…so I have more opportunities to bare testimony to the members which I am happy about.  I always feel the spirit the strongest when I have opportunities to share what I know to be true.

One more thing.  Last week, President came down with the AP's and did interviews.  We have them about once every other transfer.  While president interviews all the missionaries in the zone, we receive training from the AP's.  I can't even describe in words the deep spiritual experience I had in that training.  I don't think I have ever felt the spirit that strong since I have been on my mission.  Kashiwa and I had the opportunity to do a role play lesson in front of everyone, and the spirit was so strong.  Afterwards I had an opportunity to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon and the spirit overcame me. At the end we all sang "more holiness give me."  (In Japanese) and I felt like we were sitting in the celestial room of the temple.  Heavenly Father was in the room. I seriously felt as if his arms were wrapped around me.  All I could do was cry because of the deep love that I was feeling.  It was so amazing!!! I won't forget it.

I love each of you! The church that we are all apart of is true!! It truly is the church of Jesus Christ! Only in this church and in following and keeping the commandments of God are we guaranteed true and lasting happiness.  Don't forget this! Love you all.
Sharp Shimai

Pictures!

I stopped this cute grandma on the street. I thought she was beautiful :) she was almost 90! She spoke a little english! yay‏

Random stranger I wanted a picture with. Beautiful Kimono :)‏

everyday views‏

Kwak Shimai

Kashiwa Shimai

Gratitude!

August 17th

Konnichwa!

We had a really good week :)  We taught Nakamoto San the word of wisdom yesterday at church, and I was super nervous about it because I knew for sure that he drinks tea, and in the Japanese culture its a really big deal to them so I was a little nervous that there was going to be a problem.  We asked a recent married couple in our ward to join us, they are older, in their 40's or 50's and the husband is a recent convert of 4 years.  He kind of use to be an alcoholic but when he learned about the church, he was able to quit immediately.  We knew that he would bare a strong testimony for Nakamoto…when the lesson started Kashiwa and I were both really nervous, but as the spirit always does, it testified SO POWERFULLY of the truthfulness of the word of wisdom.  Kashiwa was telling a story in the lesson about a friend that struggled with the word of wisdom, and as she was talking i was OVERWHELMED with gratitude for having been taught this commandment at such a young age…an overwhelming love for my Mom and Dad came into my heart.  The deep gratitude that I felt in that moment is going to be hard to explain in words because it was such a spiritual experience.  I thought about the wonderful examples that my Mom and Dad have set for me in being so strong and never breaking this commandment.  Not even once.  And then even more gratitude came into my heart when I thought about the miracle it is that my Dad has never turned to alcohol given the fact that his father did.  God has blessed me and my family SO MUCH.  I felt it so strongly yesterday.  After Kashiwa was done testifying I expressed to Nakamoto how grateful I was for the word of wisdom and I knew that it was given to us from God.  It was given for the protection of not just our bodies, but for the family.  After the witness I received of that yesterday, (and many times before) that testimony will never leave me.  I feel like every commandment that has ever been given of God has been given MAINLY for the strengthening and protection of preserving the Family.  Everything in this church can be tied back to family :) love it.

Teaching him yesterday was such a spiritual experience for so many reasons.  God hears and answers our prayers.  Before we even asked Nakamoto San if he would follow the commandment he said "Mamorimasho!"  which means "Lets follow it" (or in other words: lets do this!)  Yay!!! Was a huge miracle!!  I love him :)

We met with Miyazaki San and it went really well, we are going to be meeting with her at a members house tomorrow, I think her and the member will hit it off, she is the relief society president and is way awesome so I think it will be good!  She felt the spirit really strong when she was with us.  She doesn't really believe in God, but we will change that tomorrow :)

We met with a young mom named Kamiya last week and it went sooo good!  Tears started to well up in her eyes when she expressed her gratitude for us.  We have only met her twice but she said "I want to be like you two! You seem so pure"…she put her hand to her heart and said " I feel something in my heart when you guys come." UMM OKAY SHES GOLDEN!  She's super cute and a way good mom.  Her kids are super cute too!  She told her husband about us and wanted to take a picture of us so she could reassure him that we are girls, not boys coming over haha.  I will keep you updated on her progress.

I can't believe my time is almost up, it doesn't feel real.  Kwak Shimai (MTC companion) is going home this week for school she got special permission to go home in the middle of the transfer, but I was able to see her yesterday for the last time (at least on the mission) and it started to hit me that things are coming to an end.  Super sad.  I was reflecting on how much I love the people that I have met here.  Especially all the wonderful missionaries.  I remember when I got set apart, President Moss said that I would come to love my companions as my own sisters and I would make eternal friendships on my mission.  I have definitely felt that that has happened!!!!!  I love these people and I love my mission!  Coming home is going to be way hard, I can already feel how hard its going to be, but I know that all things have their time and place and my mission will have served its purpose in my life and all the lives I came for and will continue to bless me for the rest of my life…which in and of itself is a great reason for EVERYONE to go on a mission. :)  Maybe I'm selfish haha… Im just excited for all the post blessings as well!!!!

God lives.  He hears and answers our prayers.  I KNOW with all my heart that families are sacred, and the most important thing in this life and in eternity.  I know marriage between a man and a woman is ORDAINED. OF .GOD.  I don't care what anyone says.  That is the truth, and I will testify of it for the rest of my life.  I love this Church.  It is Gods church.  I LOVE the commandments. I love the plan of Happiness.  I love the Book of Mormon.  I love our LIVING prophet.  I love God and his son, Jesus Christ.  I know they love us.  I know they live.
Stay strong.  Be examples and let your light so shine!!!!
I love you all.
Sharp Shimai

Working Miracles!

August 10th

Konnichwa,

This week went by really fast and slow, we had some trials, but overcame them! I am looking forward to going to the temple AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  I think I will get to go through the temple right before I go home, which I am way excited for. I have only gone twice my whole mission, I miss the temple probably more than anything. It is such a blessing!!  

This last week we saw lots of　miracles! We found a woman named miyazaki san who we are meeting with tomorrow. How we found her was really crazy! We were looking for a less actives house that we had never been to before- according to our record, this person lived in an apartment in door number 202. When we found the right apartment and checked the name on the mail box of 202, it was a different name than the one of the Less active that we were looking for. WE decided to house the apartment building anyways. We went to the top floor and nobody was home, we went to the next floor and knocked on a door and a really nice woman answered and talked to us for about ten minutes. The first thing she said was `I dont have interest` But as he always does, the spirit filled out mouths with all the right words and by the end she asked US when we could meet her again. She said she really wanted to learn more about our church. Lots of missionaries (from other churches) have knocked on her door and she has always told them she didnt have interest, but she said when she saw us she felt like she needed to listen. YAY for the light of Christ and the Holy Ghost working miracles!!! During our whole visit I felt overwhelming love for her! When we left, Kashiwa shimai turned to me and said `Sharp shimai! She lives in number 202!!!` 

The less active that we were looking for moved out about two months ago and miyazaki san moved in. To the same apartment. Number 202. Miracle or WHAT?

The Lord truly does know us and will place us in peoples paths at the right time and in the right way. I have a huge testimony of this. Another huge testimony that I have is the need for Faith in the Savior Jesus Christ and Repentance. My life has changed as I have recognized my weaknesses and repented of my mistakes since I have come on my mission. I know the healing and forgiving power in the atonement is real. However, receiving those blessings are only accessed upon the principle of repentance. WE need to repent everyday! I am so grateful for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I would be lost without him. I love each of you and want you to know that God loves you and knows you by name. Call upon him and receive all the blessings that he has in store for you!! He will bless you as you follow the example of his son and seek to love all people and repent when you fall short. I testify that that is true.

I love you all!! Have a wonderful week!

Sharp Shimai

It's not coincidence!

Konnichiwa,

This last week was really good!!!  Nakamoto San is still doing really good,  he is still working on being baptized on the 6th yay :).  This last week Kashiwa Shimai and I felt impressed to start seeking out more less actives that are in our area.  We probably have over 100 in our tiny little area…we started from the very beginning of the list and decided to go see if some of them were still living where their record said they were.  We randomly picked one named Arakaki Fujiko.  All we had was a name and her address. We were able to find her house pretty easily.  When we knocked on the door a small little Japanese woman opened the door with a smile on her face and didn't even ask who we were she just started talking.  She said "I'm reading a book about the Egyptians right now!" After about ten minutes of hearing about the Egyptians, I said…"Do you know who we are? Do missionaries come here often?"  She said that the last time missionaries came was about 2 years ago.  BUT THEN SHE TOLD US SOMETHING CRAZY! Remember the typhoon we had here 2 or 3 weeks ago?  She started to say that on the day of the typhoon she was all alone in her house and she said that suddenly she saw the most beautiful bright light coming from her window.  She said it was the most beautiful white light she had ever seen, it was nothing like what she'd ever seen before.  She told us that when she saw this light, she immediately remembered the Book of Mormon.  She had a feeling like she needed to repent and that God probably did exist.  When she told us this you can imagine all the thoughts running through our minds!  We testified to her that God is talking to her and that all of those feelings that she had were from God.  At the end she said "You guys are so sweet and so nice, but I am studying something even deeper than the bible right now!  Maybe you can share the message with someone else…"  We didn't pay any attention to her remarks and the last thing we said was "We'll come again!!!"  This all happened last Monday.  Last night we were in her area again and I saw her light on so we went to go see if she was home.  She came to the door and talked our ears off for 20 minutes haha she is SO prepared to come back to the church.  We aren't sure why or when she lost interest but she said that she is still living the word of wisdom.  She was a nurse when she was younger and really believes in the importance of taking care of her body.  We just listened to her talk and eventually I brought up the bright light story again, and testified to her that it was from God and that he sent us directly here to her.  We also told her that out of all the names we could of chosen on our list of hundreds, we chose her.  Its not coincidence!  She said "I know! I know! Its God huh!"  At the end she was apologizing that she had nothing to give us, she said "I have some apples, will you take those?!"  We politely declined and said that we would be back. :) She is so sweet and so nice. I am not surprised that the Lord directed us straight to her, we need her in the church and the church needs her.  I am excited to see what the Lords plan is with her.  I really hope to see her reactivated by the time that we leave.  Just in the two visits that we've had with her, her heart has softened so much!  Since meeting her my testimony has been strengthened the God lives and loves his children.  We are his hands on the earth :) I'm so happy and blessed to be able to take part in his work of Salvation.  I need to go, but I love each of you, stay strong and continue to bare your testimony in word and action!  Love you all!  Sharp Shimai

Pictures!

Konnichiwa from Okinawa

                                  The teachers of this class that invited us in :) 

Baptism date set!

Konnichwa!

Nakamoto came to church again yesterday and guess what, he committed to be baptized on September 6th!  Kashiwa and I were so happy and excited!  We still have a lot to teach him, but I am sure he is going to stay committed :)

This last week was crazy, we did exchanges on Friday and Sister Lewis and I stumbled upon this interesting Okinawa children's dance class of some sort haha…I have pictures that I will send.  We also got to got to the Beach with a member which was way fun.  Also have pictures that I will :)  I think I was out in the sun too much on Friday, I haven't been feel in top notch since that day so this email is going to be pretty short I think, I can't stare at the screen.

Kashiwa and I are still doing great, I hope we get to stay together for my last transfer I'll be so sad if she or I  transfer, I don't think we will though…there are like 10 sisters coming in next transfer though so there is a possibility that she could train?

We didn't find any new investigators this week but we started teaching a woman that we found last week,  she has four young kids and she seemed interested in the plan of salvation, she said we could come back on Wednesday.

As for Taira…satan got a hold of him, and he canceled our appointment last week and said he couldn't meet with us for a while.  We are going to give him a little break and contact him again later. Other than that not too many other updates to give.  The church is true, and I'm so happy to be on a mission :) I love you all, thank you for the prayers!!

Until next week,
Love, Sharp Shimai

I LOVE PRAYER

Sunday July 13th

Konnichiwa,

Its crazy that the time has gone by so fast and slow at the same time!  I was thinking about how different my mission has been in every area.  I feel like I have been on three completely different missions all packed into one experience.  All wonderful and hard in their own ways.

Nakamoto is doing so good!  He came to church yesterday for the first time!  He showed up exactly when we told him to come, and he was able to see the baptism of a little boy that turned 8 yesterday.  He stayed for all three hours, and when we went to meet up with him after priesthood, all the elders and our mission leader were circled around him.  He had his Book of Mormon opened up and was sharing his favorite scripture!  I didn't even know he had a favorite scripture?! Haha he was so cute.  His faith in Jesus Christ is growing and it makes me sooo happy!  I feel like he is going to accept our invitation to be baptized.  We are going to invite him this week. :) Pray that he says yes!

Our other progressing investigator (Taira) has sort of slowed on his progression.  However, we taught the full restoration to him last week and he LOVED IT.  He committed to pray about it to know if it was true, and yesterday when we met with him, he said he didn't pray about it yet.  I'm not sure what he is waiting for, but we are working on getting him to pray.  He is so stubborn about it! If there is anything I have learned on my mission, it is the power of prayer and the importance of it.  If we don't have the confidence to open our mouths to talk to Heavenly Father, not only are we letting Satan have full power to tempt us and deceive us in our lives, but we CANNOT know of spiritual truths.  I LOVE PRAYER.

I think i told you about the mother that we met with 8 children? When we went back, she rejected us pretty hard core which was way crappy, but the good news is that we found 2 other investigators in that same apartment complex, so it made it okay :)

The typhoon wasn't too bad, just way, way, way strong winds.  Knocked a few trees over, but other than that nothing was damaged.

Kashiwa and I had a little bit of a bumpy week at times with our communication (LANGUAGE BARRIER!!!!!) but we were able to talk things out and we are happy and genki again :) Love her!

Other than that, nothing too crazy to update you on.  The work is going well here and I am so blessed to be a part of it!

I had my first Okinawa mango last week at a members house and it was SOOO DANG GOOD!  Mango is now my favorite fruit.  Guess how much 4 mango's cost? $40 dollars.  We bought the cheapest kind we could find for $10 dollars, mmmm so good :)

Anyways! Love you all, have a good week!
Love, Sharp Shimai

I love my mission!

Sunday July 6th

Konnichiwa!

This last week was really good, I can't believe another week has come and gone.  Before I know it I'm going to be on a plane…doesn't feel real.
ANYWAYS!
We saw lots of miracles!  We found a family that has EIGHT kids in it!  The mom was super nice!  All the kids are 12 years and younger!  We made an appointment to meet with them tomorrow but unfortunately a typhoon is suppose to be coming tonight and President said that anyone on Okinawa can't go outside tomorrow :(
So we will have to cancel. Sad :(

We were able to meet with a lot of our investigators this last week!
Nakamoto- He is doing well, he is continuing to keep all his assignments that we are giving to him and he prayed out loud for the first time this last week in front of us. (with the help of the member) nevertheless, he did it!  He is converting!  Slowly, but surely!

Taira San- He is also doing well, we invited him to be baptized last week and he said that as he continues to meet with us he feels like that is what he is going to want to do, but he feels so unworthy to receive baptism and go to church that he didn't commit to the date that we suggested.  He has read all of the bible, and believes in Jesus Christ, but he doesn't understand the power of the Atonement, otherwise he would of accepted baptism.  We are working on explaining the Faith in Jesus Christ and the repentance process.  He has SO many great questions, they are hard to answer, especially in Japanese.  I am SO grateful that I have Kashiwa Shimai!!  The spirit always guides me to say what I'm supposed to, even when I'm not sure I completely know what is going on it always ends up working out!  He is so prepared, but his repentance process is going to take some time.  I really hope to see him convert before I have to head home.  But if not, I know he will shortly after :)

We had zone conference last week, and President came down with the APs, we received some great trainings on teaching with the spirit.  It never ceases to amaze me how in tune my Mission President is with the spirit, I love that man!  I love my mission, as each day passes I realize more and more how precious this last year has been to me.  Its changed me so much! Yay!

Kashiwa and I are still doing great together, I love her so much.  I was thinking the other day that we must have been really good friends in our pre earth life.  I can't wait until we can meet again one day and communicate perfectly in either English or Japanese! Love her to death.

Anyways, I don't have too many crazy thing to talk about, but I love you all, have a good week!
Love, Sharp Shimai

Pictures!

I have an investigator named shiroma san and he is in his 70s..( he is crazy!) but he lives alone and LOVES kashiwa shimai and I. This is weird, but there is a bird that comes to his porch every single day and shiroma he gives him bread. Its become his friend...when he met me and kashiwa he named the bird `sharp` :) in japanese my name is pronounced `Shiyahpoo` haha...anyways. After an appointment that we had last week, he went and got a coconut and drew `Sharp` and the bird that always comes on it. Hahaha! I love him. I took a picture of it.

Our cute Helmets and rain suits

This is a pretty common thing the japanese people eat..

back on my birthday

 Zone Conference Picture

Power of the Spirit

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

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 :)

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

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

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

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

Pictures!

 May 11th, 2014
Pics from Last pday :)
beautiful Chinese/Okinawan/Japanese garden park