Little by little…

Monday 17th, 2014

Konnichiwa,

Well the sad news is that Fujisawa San cancelled our appointment last second and we haven't made contact with her since.  She said that she was at the doctors, but I'm not so sure that was the truth.  That's what everyone in Japan says when they don't want to keep a commitment. Plus people go to the hospital here for no reason.  I think its out of boredom…ha.  But anyways she said she would call us when she could meet again, we'll keep her in our prayers.

The GOOD news is:
We found two new investigators last week.  One of which we met with today who doesn't have a TON of interest in the gospel yet, but we met her on the street last week and said she really wanted to become friends with us :). She is in her 30's, married with no kids and super nice!  We went to a park with her today and ate cake and strawberry mochi (Japanese dessert) it was way good.  Heaton and I took pictures of our families so she could see that we were normal people, and bore testimony through the way we live our lives and what we are doing as missionaries right now.  We were able to talk about God a little bit which was good, we are going to call her this week and invite her to eikaiwa, she has interest in that, so I think as we continue to build a relationship she will want to know more about the gospel.

Fukushima San!
We found her housing yesterday!  She is SOO nice!!  She was the last door that we knocked.  of course :) before we rang the doorbell Heaton Shimai said "this is the one!"  and before she even said that, I was feeling the spirit on her doorstep.  I looked at the house and the one next door and I said "yep, if its not this one, its going to be the next one."  Fukushima San is in her 40's with two kids!  She lives in a beautiful home, and accepted a Book of Mormon.  We know that she is prepared because neither of us could get a lick or understandable Japanese out when she came to the door and somehow she still said we could come back.  We are going to her house tomorrow to follow up on the Book of Mormon and explain more of our purpose with her.  I'm excited to see where it goes.  she has a family so I am WAY HAPPY!  Something that has been really interesting lately is that everyone that has allowed us to come back to their house has said that they have already seen us on the street before.  Fukushima San said she saw us in her car on our bikes just a few minutes before we got to her house.

The woman we met with today said that she sees us all the time on the street.  Another woman that we met last week that is a potential investigator said that same thing.  SO many people are being prepared :) Little side note that I needed to add!

Hiroko Chan-
We met her about three weeks ago on the street, she had already met missionaries (not surprised) and received a pamphlet.  she is 18 and busy, but she is meeting with us tomorrow for the first time :) super excited!

Kojima Shimai- (the bishops wife) is going crazy and is introducing us to all her friends.  One of her friends and her three kids came to eikaiwa last week and we taught all her kids in our kodomo (children's) eikaiwa class.  THEY ARE ADORABLE.  We will probably have the opportunity to teach them the gospel with a little more time.  We have four other families that we need to go contact that are all referrals from her.  ITS A MIRACLE!

Kumamoto was way fun!  I was on splits with a Sister named Andaca Shimai, she is from the Philippines, and a WAY good missionary.  I was able to learn sooo much from her, it rocked!!  We found a new investigator for their area so I was way pumped about that!  I got there Thursday night slept over, and then came back Friday night.  I biked there, its only 30 minutes away from my area.  Little side note, experienced my first earthquake HA it was SOOO crazy, first one I've ever been in.  Came in the middle of the night when I was in Kumamoto and I hope it was my last- It wasn't way big, but definitely wasn't fun!  All the Japanese people are so use to them, they just sleep right through them. Crazy!!!

Ummm what else…transfers are coming up!  Not this week but next Tuesday is transfer calls…so crazy.  I feel like I might be transferring but maybe not, I have no idea.  Our mission is about to hit maximum capacity so they will probably give some other Shimai a chance to be in various leadership positions so I'm not really sure if I will stay a Sister trainer leader or not, but ill keep y'all updated.

Life is good, I pray that the mission will slow down so I can actually take in all the new things that I'm learning.  Not a day goes by where I don't feel like I'm learning something new.  I'm so grateful for the gospel in my life, I want the Japanese people SO baby to accept our message.  Little by little hearts are opening here, I pray that the Lord keeps guiding us to the prepared hearts.

Thank you for all the love and support!!  Stay positive, stay obedient, and remember to pray.
Love, Sharp Shimai