Konnichiwa,
I don't have much time so I will cut to the chase! This last week was pretty crazy. Lots of new changes are coming…
Last week Capener Shimai and I got a phone call from the AP's and they told us that we could choose between September 11th for our return date or October 24th. I had NO idea that we were going to be given options and when they called and asked if we had decided what we wanted to do I didn't even know that there was an option in the first place, I thought it was going to be October no matter what. So I was pretty taken off guard and didn't know what to say. We told them that we would let them know by the end of the day what we wanted to do, but we were SO busy that day that I really didn't even have a chance to think about it. I prayed and nothing was coming super clear to me as to which date I should pick. They both have their pros and cons and I am actually still confused and not sure what I should do. I told them I would take the October date but that I wanted to talk to president about it…and he has been way busy with transfer calls so he hasn't been able to talk to me about it yet. :(
The next news we got was a phone call form president saying that he has a few problems in the mission with some Sister companionships…and he needs to transfer Sister Capener down to Taniyama to help the struggling area. :( noooooooo! So sad.
Guess who Sharp Shimai's new companion is?! Kashiwa Shimai from Tokyo! MY FIRST JAPANESE COMPANION! She will be on her third transfer, so still way new, but I'm way excited/super nervous. She speaks ZERO English. So I can already foresee many trails that lie ahead, but i am way grateful! Maybe I will come home from my mission speaking Japanese after all eh? haha :)
I am going to miss Capener Shimai sooo much. Gosh I love her! We have seen sooo many miracles together! I'll share a few quick ones from last night.
1-Our investigator Agarie came to a ward party with all her kids for the first time and had lots of fun! Huge miracle :)
2-The ward party went late so we didn't have a lot of time to go finding after, like 10 minutes… but we decided to stop by a potential investigators house to see if she was home and then knock ONE door and pray that it would be someone who was prepared to hear the message…
WE went to the potential investigators apartment and she wasn't home. So we looked across the street and went to the first lighted window that we saw and knocked on the door…nobody came, BUT.
Capener shimai turns around and says "is that a house?!" And sure enough there is a little blue shack house with a light on hidden between to apartment buildings…"LETS GO!" We ran up to the door and knocked a few times and nobody came. Just as we were about to walk away a sweet woman maybe in her 40's answers the door (with a little bit of confusion in her face as to why two Americans were knocking on her door at 8:45pm) but I said my name quickly and she said "OH! Aren't you guys Mormons?!" and we were like "UHHH…YEAH?! How did you know?" and she said she has just heard of us, and that she is Protestant. I said GREAT! WE BELIEVE IN CHRIST TOO! Here's this pamphlet, we want to come back and explain it , is that okay? And she said sure! We set up an appointment for this Friday night. :) HUGE MIRACLE! We ran back to our bikes and biked home as fast as we could and got back at 9pm on the dot. It was such a fun miracle, and the lady was so sweet and kind. I am way excited to go back! I feel like all the Lord wants us to do is 1. Have faith in him and 2. Work until the very end.
Life is SO precious and soo fragile. That is one thing that I have learned. Family is the most important thing and always needs to be the most important thing. I am so grateful for the gospel and the plan of salvation. The knowledge of a Savior blesses my life every single day!
I need to get going but continue to stay strong and keep the Savior as your rock. The rains and the floods will come no matter what, but you CANNOT fall if you are founded upon a sure foundation. That doctrine is true and I am so grateful for it! I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Love, Sharp Shimai
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Sunday, May 4, 2014
God is in charge!
April 27, 2014
Konnichiwa,
This last week went by so fast again. I have been contemplating a lot on why this transfer has felt so different than all the other transfers, and I have realized a few things.
1. I get along with and LOVE my companion, which invites the spirit. Always.
2.Because I get along with AND love my companion, we are then able to go out and love our brothers and sisters of Japan.
3. Because we have been blessed with this gift of charity, the people are feeling it and listening when we stop and talk to them.
4. Because they are listening, we are able to testify of the miracle of the Atonement.
5. WHICH THEN BRINGS MIRACLES!
I was telling Capener Shimai that there has never been a time on my mission where I have felt so guided by the holy ghost in all aspects of missionary work. We are being guided DIRECTLY to those who are prepared and ready to receive us. I can recognize and feel when the Holy Ghost is prompting me to say certain things to people or do certain things that are going to help them come closer to the Savior. Its been so amazing to feel like an instrument in the Lords hands.
We have an eikaiwa student who comes to our class every Wednesday night Her real name is Miya, but she goes by Gaga as in…yes…Lady Gaga…haha she basically worships lady gaga, it really bad…but anyways, I walked up to her last week ad just asked her how she was doing after the class was over and she started talking to me about what happens to us after we die. She is engaged to a guy whose father passed away in a tragic accident and burned to death. She said that her fiance has seen him a few times as a "ghost" and wants to know why he hasn't' gone to heaven…its kind of a weird thing, and who knows if its true or not, but either way she is asking us to know what we believe! I asked her if we could meet the next week before eikaiwa started and we could have a little lesson about it and she agreed. She came, and Sister Capener and I had a completely different lesson planned than what happened. The first thing she asked was "why did you join this church!?" so Capener Shimai, I and the member that was with us bore the most heartfelt testimonies of why we all joined the church…I was able to tell her that I was baptized at 8, but fell away. At age 17 the spirit told me to change my life and go back to church so that's what I did. The spirit was so wrong in the room. She is a little blinded by the world, but I know as we start to peel back her layers, the spirit is going to touch her soul. Its funny how you don't always know why you are sent to certain areas but as time goes by, you start to see exactly why you are here. I feel like she is one of the many people I am here to help guide back to our Heavenly Father. I love her!
Last night we were out biking in the rain, and decided to stop at an apartment, that we found a REALLY prepared person in a few days earlier. We wanted to finish housing the apartment, so that's what we did. On the last door that we knocked (of course, its always the last door) an older woman answered and as soon as we said that we were form the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints she said " Oh…I have a different way of thinking…" and she talked for about 10 minutes about how she didn't really agree with things that we teach in the church and that there are so many churches, all there thinking is different…the thought came to mind to ask her if she believed that Jesus Christ was her Savior, so I did. She replied by saying that she for sure believed in Jesus Christ and God. My response was…"Looks like we have the same way of thinking. So do we! :) From there she began to open up so much more and turns out she met missionaries a loooong time ago and had them over for dinner. She doesn't have anything against the church but just thinks that some of the things we teach are kinda weird. She asked if we believed that we could become Gods, and do we condemn others who aren't married in the church. The spirit took over and we were able to answer all her questions in a way that testified of the truth. It was a miracle, she said we could come back and that we could bring a member with us. I am sooo excited to teach this woman. She is searching for the truth. One thing that she asked was "Where does your church come from?! Ya know, the Jehovah Witnesses were established 100 years ago…blah, blah…where did yours come from?!" UM, GOLDEN QUESTION. We then testified of the restoration. I am so grateful for the gift of tongues!!! I will keep you updated on her!
Appointments fell through last week, but all is well. God is in charge here. We are seeing so many miracles, I wish I had time to write them all but I don't. I love you all. Stay strong and immovable in your faith in Christ. Read Helaman 5:12. This has become one of my favorite scriptures of all time. Notice how it doesn't say "IF satan…" it says "WHEN satan…" Build your foundation on Christ. For that is a Sure FOUNDATION.
I love you all. Give extended family my love. You are all in my prayers!
Love, Sharp Shimai
Konnichiwa,
This last week went by so fast again. I have been contemplating a lot on why this transfer has felt so different than all the other transfers, and I have realized a few things.
1. I get along with and LOVE my companion, which invites the spirit. Always.
2.Because I get along with AND love my companion, we are then able to go out and love our brothers and sisters of Japan.
3. Because we have been blessed with this gift of charity, the people are feeling it and listening when we stop and talk to them.
4. Because they are listening, we are able to testify of the miracle of the Atonement.
5. WHICH THEN BRINGS MIRACLES!
I was telling Capener Shimai that there has never been a time on my mission where I have felt so guided by the holy ghost in all aspects of missionary work. We are being guided DIRECTLY to those who are prepared and ready to receive us. I can recognize and feel when the Holy Ghost is prompting me to say certain things to people or do certain things that are going to help them come closer to the Savior. Its been so amazing to feel like an instrument in the Lords hands.
We have an eikaiwa student who comes to our class every Wednesday night Her real name is Miya, but she goes by Gaga as in…yes…Lady Gaga…haha she basically worships lady gaga, it really bad…but anyways, I walked up to her last week ad just asked her how she was doing after the class was over and she started talking to me about what happens to us after we die. She is engaged to a guy whose father passed away in a tragic accident and burned to death. She said that her fiance has seen him a few times as a "ghost" and wants to know why he hasn't' gone to heaven…its kind of a weird thing, and who knows if its true or not, but either way she is asking us to know what we believe! I asked her if we could meet the next week before eikaiwa started and we could have a little lesson about it and she agreed. She came, and Sister Capener and I had a completely different lesson planned than what happened. The first thing she asked was "why did you join this church!?" so Capener Shimai, I and the member that was with us bore the most heartfelt testimonies of why we all joined the church…I was able to tell her that I was baptized at 8, but fell away. At age 17 the spirit told me to change my life and go back to church so that's what I did. The spirit was so wrong in the room. She is a little blinded by the world, but I know as we start to peel back her layers, the spirit is going to touch her soul. Its funny how you don't always know why you are sent to certain areas but as time goes by, you start to see exactly why you are here. I feel like she is one of the many people I am here to help guide back to our Heavenly Father. I love her!
Last night we were out biking in the rain, and decided to stop at an apartment, that we found a REALLY prepared person in a few days earlier. We wanted to finish housing the apartment, so that's what we did. On the last door that we knocked (of course, its always the last door) an older woman answered and as soon as we said that we were form the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints she said " Oh…I have a different way of thinking…" and she talked for about 10 minutes about how she didn't really agree with things that we teach in the church and that there are so many churches, all there thinking is different…the thought came to mind to ask her if she believed that Jesus Christ was her Savior, so I did. She replied by saying that she for sure believed in Jesus Christ and God. My response was…"Looks like we have the same way of thinking. So do we! :) From there she began to open up so much more and turns out she met missionaries a loooong time ago and had them over for dinner. She doesn't have anything against the church but just thinks that some of the things we teach are kinda weird. She asked if we believed that we could become Gods, and do we condemn others who aren't married in the church. The spirit took over and we were able to answer all her questions in a way that testified of the truth. It was a miracle, she said we could come back and that we could bring a member with us. I am sooo excited to teach this woman. She is searching for the truth. One thing that she asked was "Where does your church come from?! Ya know, the Jehovah Witnesses were established 100 years ago…blah, blah…where did yours come from?!" UM, GOLDEN QUESTION. We then testified of the restoration. I am so grateful for the gift of tongues!!! I will keep you updated on her!
Appointments fell through last week, but all is well. God is in charge here. We are seeing so many miracles, I wish I had time to write them all but I don't. I love you all. Stay strong and immovable in your faith in Christ. Read Helaman 5:12. This has become one of my favorite scriptures of all time. Notice how it doesn't say "IF satan…" it says "WHEN satan…" Build your foundation on Christ. For that is a Sure FOUNDATION.
I love you all. Give extended family my love. You are all in my prayers!
Love, Sharp Shimai
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