Konnichiwa,
So I survived without Buhler Shimai this last week- It was hard, but the lord put 4 ENGLISH speaking Japanese people in our path in the day that she was gone...it was CRAZY! None of them were super interested in our gospel message, but they all were very interested in our free English class that we teach every Wednesday night. (Don't know if you knew that we teach English every Wednesday? We have about 10 students that attend regularly!)
It was just amazing to see how mindful the Lord was of us to put so many people in our path that we could communicate with. If I learned anything, its that this is Heavenly Fathers work. All he requires is a willing heart and mind, and he will make things happen!
The lady in the kimono pictures is one of our Eikaiwa students (English students) her English name is Kathy and she LOVES the missionaries...she doesn't have any daughters so she always invites us over on pdays to do fun activities with her. She has been coming to Eikaiwa since 2009...missionaries have tried teaching her, but for some reason she hasn't quite accepted the gospel yet. We are going to talk to her about the gospel this week and see if she is open to having us start teaching her again. We love her though she is the best and she loves us! That day was so fun. She didn't give us the Kimonos though, she just has a ton!
So yeah, there aren't too many updates to give! Life is really good! We had a dinner on Friday night with our branch ward missionaries at their house, (They are less active...) and at the end of it, I bore a really strong testimony on less active work...the spirit was so strong. After months of being less active, they finally came back to church yesterday! And yes, they are SET APART missionaries.
Yesterday was fast and testimony meeting, and I bore my testimony to the ward, and again, it was a great spiritual experience for me. We also taught gospel principles class yesterday (yes, its in Japanese..always haha) and it was really good! In relief society we had five minutes at the end of the lesson for testimonies..and nobody was going so again...I bore my testimony. HA
The biggest revelation I have learned since I have been in Japan is that in order to see change among the members, I HAVE to be their example. At all times. If i want people to be better members, then i have to be a better member, and outwardly show it. If I want people to share their testimonies more, then I have to willing to share mine. If I want ward members to stop fighting with each other, then I have to be their example of love. If I want people to always remember Christ, then I always have to be talking about Him. I am not waiting for the members to change their ways anymore...they need to be taught how to change through the example of others. And it starts with the missionaries!
I know that Heavenly Father loves all his children. Its such a powerful truth. I love this gospel. I pray every night that the members will more fully understand the gospel so that the members here can grow into a ward. I want it to happen so bad. But they need leadership, SO this is my new determination...Lead by example. Always. Even when I can't communicate perfectly, I need to do it anyways. I know its what the Lord expects of me...
Once you are converted, strengthen your brethren... That is what Jesus taught.
Doctrine and Covenants 64:33,34
Wherefore, he not weary in well doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great. Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind...
I know that that is SO TRUE!
All is well. I am so grateful to be here. What a blessing to have the gospel in our lives.
I love you all!
Sharp Shimai
Monday, August 5, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
A week of transitions....
Konnichiwa!
Updates,
This last week was a huge transition for our companionship. Getting in the groove of things with a new missionary was challenging, but its also been really great.
I LOVE our new apartment! Its so nice! I will send pics next week!!
Our investigator that lived 40 mins away can't get baptized anymore, she is too old and forgets everything. She wouldn't be able to pass a baptismal interview which is crappy. The Lord knows her heart. I am positive that she will accept baptism when she dies!
We found a new investigator last night, and I am excited to go back to her. We will meet with her next Sunday. She has two young kids and is married. She seemed drawn to eternal families, so that's probably what we will talk to her about when we go back. We had her read the last two paragraphs of the Book of Mormon right there on her doorstep and committed her to read the rest of it for when we come back.
Yesterday we also Housed into one of our less actives that we didn't even knew existed. He got baptized 15 years ago! He moved a while ago and so missionaries stopped visiting him I guess, and since he had been forgotten. When he answered the door and saw us he was like OH I'M A MEMBER! and we were like whhhaaat? Who are you?! Gosh we were super happy! When we asked him if he remembered who Joseph Smith was or the Book of Mormon he was like...no?? I pulled out a Book of Mormon and he was like I have never seen this book before??? OH MY. SO CRAZY. So basically we are starting from the beginning with him. We also found another less active last week his name is Funakotsu and he is allowing us to come back! He wants to know why there are so many Churches...and he doesn't know which one is true.
Its so sad to see how many people got baptized and had NO idea what the church even was. I'll let you know how all those people are doing next week!
Nakamoto Shimai is doing great! She got confirmed yesterday and she is loving life! She is a little missionary already, she is trying to get her brother to join and his four young kids! keep ya updated.
We got a new branch president last week, and he is AMERICAN! YAY! We have dinner with his family every other Tuesday. They live on the outskirts of UBE its like 90 minutes away so we take the train, or they come pick us up. There is only 1 branch in UBE! We HOPE that it will become a ward one day... and then a stake. I would be the happiest person alive!
The language is really coming along! I am getting better every week. I don't say much about it because I have my ups and downs, and its not something I want to stress to much about ya know?!
Yesterday I taught the Gospel Principles class in Sunday school and i really felt the power of the gift of tongues it was amazing! Loved it!!
Buhler Shimai leaves today for Hiroshima to do a training with the sisters there so I am in charge of Smotherman Shimai and I for the next 3 days!
I will send some fun pics!! I LOVE YOU ALL!
Please don't worry about me, I am on the Lords errand I am watched over more than you could ever imagine. Truly. I am his servant.
Love you.
Sharp Shimai
Sunday, July 28, 2013
1st Baptism!!!
July 22, 2013
Konnichiwa,
Updates,
Sister Buhler and I got a NEW BEAN!!! Her name is sister SMOTHERMAN. She is just as interesting as her name is haha...she is 20 and from california! I'll send a pic!
WE had Nakamotos Baptism yesterday! AHHH it was SOOO good! Sister Smotherman and I sang Be still my soul in english, and we had the whole ward there. Nakamoto was sooo happy afterwards. We love her and are so grateful for her amazing spirit and love that she has for God. I have a pic that i'll send.
We will be moving into our apartment TOMORROW. FINALLY!!
We have been working SO hard this last week, it was crazy. We were going from place to place so we didn't have alot of time to go finding, but its okay, this week is going to be filled with so many miracles. We have a lot of potential investigators that we will have time to visit with, and hopefully we will make them progress into progressing investigators.
We have two new reactivations in our ward! YAY!
One of their names is Nakamura San. We had a dinner appointment with him last night, and it was amazing. We talked to him and another member that was there about the importance of being involved in member missionary work and the spirit was SO STRONG. He called us afterwards and was in tears because he was so grateful for us and for everything that we had told him to start doing. It was just great. I love that man!
I love you all. Jesus Christ is our Savior, look to him in every thought and actions. Strive to feel his presence in your lives daily!
Love, Sharp Shimai
Konnichiwa,
Updates,
Sister Buhler and I got a NEW BEAN!!! Her name is sister SMOTHERMAN. She is just as interesting as her name is haha...she is 20 and from california! I'll send a pic!
WE had Nakamotos Baptism yesterday! AHHH it was SOOO good! Sister Smotherman and I sang Be still my soul in english, and we had the whole ward there. Nakamoto was sooo happy afterwards. We love her and are so grateful for her amazing spirit and love that she has for God. I have a pic that i'll send.
We will be moving into our apartment TOMORROW. FINALLY!!
We have been working SO hard this last week, it was crazy. We were going from place to place so we didn't have alot of time to go finding, but its okay, this week is going to be filled with so many miracles. We have a lot of potential investigators that we will have time to visit with, and hopefully we will make them progress into progressing investigators.
We have two new reactivations in our ward! YAY!
One of their names is Nakamura San. We had a dinner appointment with him last night, and it was amazing. We talked to him and another member that was there about the importance of being involved in member missionary work and the spirit was SO STRONG. He called us afterwards and was in tears because he was so grateful for us and for everything that we had told him to start doing. It was just great. I love that man!
I love you all. Jesus Christ is our Savior, look to him in every thought and actions. Strive to feel his presence in your lives daily!
Love, Sharp Shimai
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Transfer Week
Konnichiwa!
I am emailing today, (tuesday) instead of yesterday because its transfers week and pray always gets moved to tuesday instead of monday just in case you wondering.
Speaking of transfer week, here we go:
We haven't gotten the phone call from the AP's yet, but Buhler Shimai and I are going to be staying here in UBE for another transfer! (6 weeks) we know this because the recorder from the mission home told us yesterday. Burgon Shimai and Eddy Shimai are both transferring to other areas, but we have no idea where yet. We should be getting the news in a few hours i think! It's exciting!! Our mission is about to EXPLODE with missionaries! We have 30 new beans coming in to our mission which is CRAZY!
Some more exciting news is that Buhler Shimai is becoming a SISTER TRAININING LEADER! Basically aka, she is becoming a sister AP. So is Eddy Shimai and 2 or 3 other older missionary Shimai that have been in the mission for about a year. They are going to be having to go to a bunch of areas all over the mission to train all these new Shimai's that are going to be coming in. SO I have no idea what this means for me if she is going to be gone all the time? Buhler Shimai and I think I will be put into a threesome this transfer, and I will probably become a trainer my 3rd or 4th transfer. AHHHH lets not even talk about it! It will all work out though, so im not too worried about it. Heavenly Father knows exactly what he is doing! I'll let you guys all know the verdict next monday!!
So we had a change of plans, and we aren't moving into our apartment until thursday! We really don't have to move anything though, the mission home ordered all new furniture and appliances for our new Apartment and had them delivered yesterday! What a blessing that was!!! WE are SUPER blessed here in UBE! What little things we do have to move, members will be helping us!
MIRACLES:
Buhler Shimai and I actually just finished a lesson with our Investigator Nakamoto San (I think I called her Katsuno San in my email last week on accident...I seriously am horrible at keeping names straight ahhh and what is even worse you are ALWAYS expected to call someone by their NAME...you can't address them as 'you' even in casual conversions...gosh its so hard! Japanese names are insane.) Anysways, her name is Nakamoto San and we just taught the last lesson she needed in order to qualify for Baptism. We taught her the ten commandments, and it went SO well. WE have had a member present with us at every lesson so they always help us out when we need help explaining something. The spirit was so strong in this lesson. Nakamoto San really changed so much since the first time we met with her. She love church! She loves the commandments, she Loves God. She is so obedient...Japanese people are some of the most obedient people I have ever met in my life.
When they say they are going to do something, they do it. We had to move her baptism to this Sunday, instead of Saturday. She is excited! She is so prepared! Her baptism interview is tomorrow, and she is going to pass with flying colors. Love her.
Our other Investigator Miyauchi San, is going to get baptized on the 27th, we had to push hers back because she isn't quit ready, she forgets a lot of stuff, which is totally fine. She is very old, so its ok! We love her sooo much, she really is the biggest ray of sunshine in my day! She lives about 40 minutes away on bike, so its always pretty tough biking out there in the heat, but every time we do it, we get to here house, and it is always completely worth it! Gosh, we love her so much!!!
About two weeks ago we went on exchanges with some sisters that are from another area in our zone that came to Ube to help us go finding, and while we were out finding, we knocked on a door that Miller Shimai felt really impressed to knock on. A SWEET old lady came to the door an immediately let us in. (that never happens) We talked to her about eternal families...it was so amazing. I have yet to meet someone and that quickly felt like I knew them right away like I did towards her! Gosh, i immediately loved her, and felt like she is someone that we need to work towards baptizing. Eddy Shimai was with us and she committed her to come to church on the 14th (which was this last sunday) and SHE CAME! We weren't able to make contact with her again after the first night that we met her two weeks ago, so we thought for sure she forgot about us, but guess what she CAME! Oh my gosh, she walked in and i was overcome with that warm feeling again when I saw here. Basically, I am 100 percent sure that she is going to accept the gospel. Her name is Kowamuda San. She feels like she is my long lost Japanese Grandmother or something :) We are going to her house tomorrow so I will give you her updates next week!
The less active project is still going strong! We love everything about going out and rescuing Heavenly Fathers sheep who have strayed! It's so rewarding!
Time is running out so I have to go, but I will send pictures next week of Nakamaotos baptism! I love you all thank you so much for the love and prayers!!
The gospel is true
Love, Sharp Shimai
I am emailing today, (tuesday) instead of yesterday because its transfers week and pray always gets moved to tuesday instead of monday just in case you wondering.
Speaking of transfer week, here we go:
We haven't gotten the phone call from the AP's yet, but Buhler Shimai and I are going to be staying here in UBE for another transfer! (6 weeks) we know this because the recorder from the mission home told us yesterday. Burgon Shimai and Eddy Shimai are both transferring to other areas, but we have no idea where yet. We should be getting the news in a few hours i think! It's exciting!! Our mission is about to EXPLODE with missionaries! We have 30 new beans coming in to our mission which is CRAZY!
Some more exciting news is that Buhler Shimai is becoming a SISTER TRAININING LEADER! Basically aka, she is becoming a sister AP. So is Eddy Shimai and 2 or 3 other older missionary Shimai that have been in the mission for about a year. They are going to be having to go to a bunch of areas all over the mission to train all these new Shimai's that are going to be coming in. SO I have no idea what this means for me if she is going to be gone all the time? Buhler Shimai and I think I will be put into a threesome this transfer, and I will probably become a trainer my 3rd or 4th transfer. AHHHH lets not even talk about it! It will all work out though, so im not too worried about it. Heavenly Father knows exactly what he is doing! I'll let you guys all know the verdict next monday!!
So we had a change of plans, and we aren't moving into our apartment until thursday! We really don't have to move anything though, the mission home ordered all new furniture and appliances for our new Apartment and had them delivered yesterday! What a blessing that was!!! WE are SUPER blessed here in UBE! What little things we do have to move, members will be helping us!
MIRACLES:
Buhler Shimai and I actually just finished a lesson with our Investigator Nakamoto San (I think I called her Katsuno San in my email last week on accident...I seriously am horrible at keeping names straight ahhh and what is even worse you are ALWAYS expected to call someone by their NAME...you can't address them as 'you' even in casual conversions...gosh its so hard! Japanese names are insane.) Anysways, her name is Nakamoto San and we just taught the last lesson she needed in order to qualify for Baptism. We taught her the ten commandments, and it went SO well. WE have had a member present with us at every lesson so they always help us out when we need help explaining something. The spirit was so strong in this lesson. Nakamoto San really changed so much since the first time we met with her. She love church! She loves the commandments, she Loves God. She is so obedient...Japanese people are some of the most obedient people I have ever met in my life.
When they say they are going to do something, they do it. We had to move her baptism to this Sunday, instead of Saturday. She is excited! She is so prepared! Her baptism interview is tomorrow, and she is going to pass with flying colors. Love her.
Our other Investigator Miyauchi San, is going to get baptized on the 27th, we had to push hers back because she isn't quit ready, she forgets a lot of stuff, which is totally fine. She is very old, so its ok! We love her sooo much, she really is the biggest ray of sunshine in my day! She lives about 40 minutes away on bike, so its always pretty tough biking out there in the heat, but every time we do it, we get to here house, and it is always completely worth it! Gosh, we love her so much!!!
About two weeks ago we went on exchanges with some sisters that are from another area in our zone that came to Ube to help us go finding, and while we were out finding, we knocked on a door that Miller Shimai felt really impressed to knock on. A SWEET old lady came to the door an immediately let us in. (that never happens) We talked to her about eternal families...it was so amazing. I have yet to meet someone and that quickly felt like I knew them right away like I did towards her! Gosh, i immediately loved her, and felt like she is someone that we need to work towards baptizing. Eddy Shimai was with us and she committed her to come to church on the 14th (which was this last sunday) and SHE CAME! We weren't able to make contact with her again after the first night that we met her two weeks ago, so we thought for sure she forgot about us, but guess what she CAME! Oh my gosh, she walked in and i was overcome with that warm feeling again when I saw here. Basically, I am 100 percent sure that she is going to accept the gospel. Her name is Kowamuda San. She feels like she is my long lost Japanese Grandmother or something :) We are going to her house tomorrow so I will give you her updates next week!
The less active project is still going strong! We love everything about going out and rescuing Heavenly Fathers sheep who have strayed! It's so rewarding!
Time is running out so I have to go, but I will send pictures next week of Nakamaotos baptism! I love you all thank you so much for the love and prayers!!
The gospel is true
Love, Sharp Shimai
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Updates!
Konnichiwa,
This week is going to be a short email im sorry! But i`ll give an update on all the miracles!
1.We have been working with an older woman whose name is Katsuno San, and she has committed to be baptized for July 20th! LOVE HER TO DEATH. Oh my gosh. She seriously has not had one problem accepting ANYTHING about the gospel. She is such a wonderful good person. We taught her the word of wisdom yesterday and she was like `well I love tea, but sure i`ll give it up!` Japanese ppl LOVE their tea. She has also LITERALLY kept every single commitment we have ever given her. She is so loyal, and she is going to be a great member. Ah, love her so much. I`ll keep ya updated on her progress.
2. Miyauchi San-
Okay, this was a total random miracle. We got her as a referal from someone in our ward, and we have tried visiting her multiple times but she never really can meet with us. She is super old so she has always just said that she is too busy or tired..but miraculously she showed up to church yesterday and sister buhler and I taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the member who referred her to us..and SHE ALSO committed to baptism for JULY 20th! SO AMAZING! She is honestly probably in her late 80`s or early 90`s but she is the SWEETEST little old grandma ever. She will probably forget that she committed to be baptized, but thats ok :) We`ll definitely be reminding her daily haha.
3. Ami-
Sister Buhler and I had an AWESOME lesson with just her this last week when we went to her house. We had planned on teaching her about the plan of salvation, but i got a DISTINCT impression right before we left that we needed to teach her about repentance, and talk to her about getting her temple recommend back so she can start doing baptisms, and then work towards her endowment. Well, that impression was definitely from the holy ghost. When we got there, she said it was exactly what she needed to hear. She was sexually abused when she was younger, and was in an abusive marriage for 9 years...she definitely needed to hear the message of repentance, the Atonement, and forgiveness. She is SUCH a strong woman, i cant believe how much crap she has been through. She was addicted to hard drugs by the age of 12. But by some miracle she pulled herself out of it...Heavenly Father never gives up on us.
4. We also met with another less active whose name is Nishino Kyodai-
Him and his wife have been inactive for years, but their daughter went on a mission to temple square. Nishino Kyodai claims that he only got baptized with his family because everyone else was doing it and he liked the missionaries..he says he doesn't have a testimony at all. BUT, i KNOW he does. He is just stubborn. He would not have gotten baptized if he didn't feel something all those years ago. So sister buhler and I are just working with him so he can TRULY convert this time and be a strong member. He would make an incredible leader in the church. His wife is adorable. She is way more receptive to us, and i think she is going to progress a lot faster than him, but thats ok! We love them both so much! They have come to church the last 2 weeks, so its great, they are progressing!
5. Yesterday we found two new investigators who I think are going to be pretty solid investigators. One is a 22 year old guy who lives alone and is going to school to become a nurse, and the other is a lady who we contacted on the street on our way home last night. She has actually already met with missionaries before and loved them. She was married to a christian but they got divorced..she loves the bible though with is AWESOME! She was so dang cute though and super nice to us. So we will be meeting with her this week also.
next, WE ARE MOVING APARTMENTS! Yayyy! haha. Its bigger, newer and nicer!
I Love you all! I love this work!
Love, Sharp Shimai
 |
| Katsuno Kyodai and the Sister missionaries |
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Week of Miracles!
Konnichiwa!
So WOW! What a WONDERFUL week of miracles sister Buhler and I have had!!!I seriously look back on the last three weeks and i wonder how in the world we are doing any of this...but we are. Its a miracle every day.
LOVE YOU!
Sharp Shimai
Monday, June 24, 2013
BOLDLY PROCLAIM IT THIS WEEK!
So this week Katelyn sent an email and some pictures! I will post some of the email first and add the pictures after!
Konnichiwa,
Answers to questions:
There are not ANY elders in UBE! It's just us four crazy shimai!!! Within my zone there are probably like 10 Elders. As the mission grows hopefully the president will send us some elders. This isn't uncommon though, our mission has SO MUCH land mass to cover, not every area is going to be able to have both elders and shimai-
We had interviews with the President this last week and he told us that he has THIRTY new missionaries coming next transfer and SIXTEEN OF THEM are SISTERS!!!!!! OHHH MYY GOOOSSSSHHHH!!! This means that I probably going to be TRAINING a brand new BEAN on my third or fourth transfer!!! Don't ask me how in the heck i am going to do that...the Lord will have to really help me out on that one!
Next, on our Pdays the four of us decide what meals we are going to eat everyday and then we go to the store on bikes and go buy everything. Our bikes have baskets on them so we just load the groceries up into that . Sister Eddy LOVES cooking so she hooks us up with great food every day. Our Schedule is the same everyday as far as when we eat goes...wake up 6:30, exercise, start rotating in the shower, while everyone eats breakfast, usually cereal, and then we start our personal study by 8am. We have companionship study at 9 and then we do our 12 week program form 11-12, from 12-1 we have lunch in the apartment and by 1 we should be out the door and on our way DENDOUing! (proselyting) we get back by 8:30 or 9, plan for the next day, make dinner and go to bed!
We eat a lot of Japanese food too, i don't know how to spell any of it so im not even going to try. But we ear rice, veggies, fish, chicken, and fruit. FRUIT IS SO EXPENSIVE here is crazy. So far all the food has been really good though. We went to a sushi restaurant on like the first week i was here and i tried a squid roll and it was so disgusting. Thats the only thing I haven't liked...pretty sure I was chewing on a slimy booger. AHHHH it was so gross!!
UPDATES ON THE LORDS WORK!
UM, where to begin?! We have one progressing investigator right now, Katsuno San, (everyone in Japan goes by their LAST name, older people basically refuse to tell you their names at all unless you really get to know them. And to make it polite you have to say 'San' at the end...its like an equivalent to Americans saying Mr. and Mrs.) But she came to church yesterday and she is loving it! Sister Buhler has given her all the church pamphlets and she has read every single one...she doesn't really understand any of it (haha...nobody in Japan does) but when we brought up baptism to her yesterday she started to cry and she said how she wants to have a "clean feeling" SO WE ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK WOOO!!! She left for Tokyo this week, but she will be back this Saturday so she will be there for church! We are hoping to commit her to be baptized for July 6th.
Before I got to Japan Sister Buhler and Sister Eddy were out housing one day and found this family of four. They LOVE the missionaries...they don't really know our purpose as missionaries yet, so we are hoping that we can continue to be friends with them, but start introducing them to the gospel so we can start teaching them. We tried yesterday but they were not home. THEY HAVE THE CUTEST KIDS EVER!!! If i wasn't on a mission I would have stolen at least 100 Japanese babies by now. OH MY GOSH they are the cutest things I have ever seen!!!!
Yesterday Sister Buhler and I were out housing apartments and we were in a complex that had a ton of young families within it, which was sort of rare, i haven't seen that a lot since I have been here...but there were like 6 young kids playing outside when we pulled up to the complex on our bikes and they became our best friends! Japanese children, teenagers LOVE LOVE LOVE Americans!!! Sister Buhler and I started knocking all the doors and these little kids followed us to almost every single door HAHA. I took pictures of them, i'll send some if i can, it was great.
Within that area that we housed we met some really heart hardened people...we spent 20 minutes with one lady trying to explain the plan of salvation and she wasn't having it. It was really sad, we were feeling pretty drained from her...everyone was rejecting us all day yesterday. Those wonderful little kids brightened our day SO MUCH, but we were still feeling pretty down...i was at least.
We started biking to another complex and I was fed up with being rejected so I just yelled out to Sister Buhler "THE NEXT PERSON WE SEE JUST NEED TO TELL THEM STRAIGHT UP THAT GOD HAS RESTORED HIS CHURCH TO THE EARTH THROUGH A PROPHET NAMED JOSEPH SMITH, AND THAT THIS CHURCH IS TRUE!! YOU CAN KNOW IT THROUGH THE BOOK OF MORMON!" she was like "okay im gonna do it"!!!! So we stopped the next lady that we saw and this is exactly what happened..(i didn't say anything I just watched her do this, and it was amazing...)
Sister Buhler: "EXCUSE ME" We are Representatives of Jesus Christ..."
Middle aged woman: (as she starts to slowly walk away says) "Oh...no thank you..."
Sister Buhler: "NO WAIT! THIS MESSAGE IS REALLY IMPORTANT! The church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth through a Prophet named Joseph Smith. In 1820 this young boy, he knelt down and prayed...in his own words this is what happened..."(she RECITED THE FIRST VISION RIGHT THEN AND THERE!) BAM!
The look on this ladies face was pure confusion...but pure astonishment at the same time. She has NO IDEA what she was talking about, BUT everything about her demeanor toward us changed. Its like she knew she just had heard truth but she had never felt the spirit before so its like she has no idea what had happened...we both testified of the message and sent her on her way. IT WAS SO COOL!!! She left and I turned to Sister Buhler and asked her if she has EVER in her life been that bold to someone on her mission and she said no! From that point on I was like GREAT WE HAVE A NEW FINDING APPROACH!!! Lets do this to every single person we see! It was seriously soooo powerful. When she recited the first vision...the spirit was SO STRONG.
Nobody in Japan believes in God. Its so sad. So, we have to start telling them a little MORE BOLDLY that he lives. We are going to do this though reciting the first vision to everyone we see...this sounds crazy because I guarantee that 99% of everyone we are going to do this to have never even heard of Jesus Christ...so when we tell them that his gospel has been restored they are probably going to think "SO WHAT" but i'm telling you there is nothing stronger than telling someone about the first vision. I AM SO CONFIDENT that as we start doing this, Heavenly Father is going to start putting PREPARED people in our paths who are PREPARED TO ACCEPT the gospel immediately even though they have no idea who God and Christ are...all they need is to hear it once though I really believe there are people out there that are that prepared!!!!
So after we scared the heck out of that old lady, haha, we went to another apartment complex and did it to another person...a 15 year old boy came to the door and Buhler shimai didn't even let him talk she just started declaring the gospel! IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING THING EVER!!! JUST AS she was about to give him the Book of Mormon and invite him to be baptized HIS MOM came out of nowhere form behind him and was like "we are already Christian...no thank you"! So let me back up a little...
When Sister Buhler first started testifying to this young boy he had a look on his face like we were crazy and then by the end of it he was ASTONISHED. We KNEW that if his mom would not have come out HE WOULD HAVE ACCEPTED THE BOOK!!!! We both saw it in his eyes! When his mom came out she said that she saw us the other day on our bikes and that she already has a Book of Mormon...and then she looked at Sister Buhler and was like " I have actually already talked to you before, do you remember me?" and Sister Buhler remembered talking to her a while ago and was like "OH YEAH! You said if we ever ran into each other again you would listen to our message!" And the lady was like, "yeah...no thank you though...im sorry..."and that was that. AHHH how frustrating! HEAVENLY FATHER DIRECTED US TO THAT HOUSE!!! And yet that mother still rejected us. The son would have accepted it, i am convinced...Satan is so aware of what we are doing.
But thats ok. He isn't going to win.
There are many other wonderful amazing miracles happening in UBE. I wish I could share them all but I'm running out of time. Maybe i'll start writing letters so I can update you all more on how great missions are!
I LOVE LIFE! I LOVE being a missionary! I can't wait to BOLDLY PROCLAIM IT THIS WEEK! Sister Buhler and I have make this weeks theme a FINDING week so we are going to work really hard and focus all our efforts on finding people!! I can't wait! Expect to hear about miracles next week! Give everyone my love!!!! LOVE YALL SO MUCH!!!
Love, Sharp Shimai
Konnichiwa,
Answers to questions:
There are not ANY elders in UBE! It's just us four crazy shimai!!! Within my zone there are probably like 10 Elders. As the mission grows hopefully the president will send us some elders. This isn't uncommon though, our mission has SO MUCH land mass to cover, not every area is going to be able to have both elders and shimai-
We had interviews with the President this last week and he told us that he has THIRTY new missionaries coming next transfer and SIXTEEN OF THEM are SISTERS!!!!!! OHHH MYY GOOOSSSSHHHH!!! This means that I probably going to be TRAINING a brand new BEAN on my third or fourth transfer!!! Don't ask me how in the heck i am going to do that...the Lord will have to really help me out on that one!
Next, on our Pdays the four of us decide what meals we are going to eat everyday and then we go to the store on bikes and go buy everything. Our bikes have baskets on them so we just load the groceries up into that . Sister Eddy LOVES cooking so she hooks us up with great food every day. Our Schedule is the same everyday as far as when we eat goes...wake up 6:30, exercise, start rotating in the shower, while everyone eats breakfast, usually cereal, and then we start our personal study by 8am. We have companionship study at 9 and then we do our 12 week program form 11-12, from 12-1 we have lunch in the apartment and by 1 we should be out the door and on our way DENDOUing! (proselyting) we get back by 8:30 or 9, plan for the next day, make dinner and go to bed!
We eat a lot of Japanese food too, i don't know how to spell any of it so im not even going to try. But we ear rice, veggies, fish, chicken, and fruit. FRUIT IS SO EXPENSIVE here is crazy. So far all the food has been really good though. We went to a sushi restaurant on like the first week i was here and i tried a squid roll and it was so disgusting. Thats the only thing I haven't liked...pretty sure I was chewing on a slimy booger. AHHHH it was so gross!!
UPDATES ON THE LORDS WORK!
UM, where to begin?! We have one progressing investigator right now, Katsuno San, (everyone in Japan goes by their LAST name, older people basically refuse to tell you their names at all unless you really get to know them. And to make it polite you have to say 'San' at the end...its like an equivalent to Americans saying Mr. and Mrs.) But she came to church yesterday and she is loving it! Sister Buhler has given her all the church pamphlets and she has read every single one...she doesn't really understand any of it (haha...nobody in Japan does) but when we brought up baptism to her yesterday she started to cry and she said how she wants to have a "clean feeling" SO WE ARE ON THE RIGHT TRACK WOOO!!! She left for Tokyo this week, but she will be back this Saturday so she will be there for church! We are hoping to commit her to be baptized for July 6th.
Before I got to Japan Sister Buhler and Sister Eddy were out housing one day and found this family of four. They LOVE the missionaries...they don't really know our purpose as missionaries yet, so we are hoping that we can continue to be friends with them, but start introducing them to the gospel so we can start teaching them. We tried yesterday but they were not home. THEY HAVE THE CUTEST KIDS EVER!!! If i wasn't on a mission I would have stolen at least 100 Japanese babies by now. OH MY GOSH they are the cutest things I have ever seen!!!!
Yesterday Sister Buhler and I were out housing apartments and we were in a complex that had a ton of young families within it, which was sort of rare, i haven't seen that a lot since I have been here...but there were like 6 young kids playing outside when we pulled up to the complex on our bikes and they became our best friends! Japanese children, teenagers LOVE LOVE LOVE Americans!!! Sister Buhler and I started knocking all the doors and these little kids followed us to almost every single door HAHA. I took pictures of them, i'll send some if i can, it was great.
Within that area that we housed we met some really heart hardened people...we spent 20 minutes with one lady trying to explain the plan of salvation and she wasn't having it. It was really sad, we were feeling pretty drained from her...everyone was rejecting us all day yesterday. Those wonderful little kids brightened our day SO MUCH, but we were still feeling pretty down...i was at least.
We started biking to another complex and I was fed up with being rejected so I just yelled out to Sister Buhler "THE NEXT PERSON WE SEE JUST NEED TO TELL THEM STRAIGHT UP THAT GOD HAS RESTORED HIS CHURCH TO THE EARTH THROUGH A PROPHET NAMED JOSEPH SMITH, AND THAT THIS CHURCH IS TRUE!! YOU CAN KNOW IT THROUGH THE BOOK OF MORMON!" she was like "okay im gonna do it"!!!! So we stopped the next lady that we saw and this is exactly what happened..(i didn't say anything I just watched her do this, and it was amazing...)
Sister Buhler: "EXCUSE ME" We are Representatives of Jesus Christ..."
Middle aged woman: (as she starts to slowly walk away says) "Oh...no thank you..."
Sister Buhler: "NO WAIT! THIS MESSAGE IS REALLY IMPORTANT! The church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth through a Prophet named Joseph Smith. In 1820 this young boy, he knelt down and prayed...in his own words this is what happened..."(she RECITED THE FIRST VISION RIGHT THEN AND THERE!) BAM!
The look on this ladies face was pure confusion...but pure astonishment at the same time. She has NO IDEA what she was talking about, BUT everything about her demeanor toward us changed. Its like she knew she just had heard truth but she had never felt the spirit before so its like she has no idea what had happened...we both testified of the message and sent her on her way. IT WAS SO COOL!!! She left and I turned to Sister Buhler and asked her if she has EVER in her life been that bold to someone on her mission and she said no! From that point on I was like GREAT WE HAVE A NEW FINDING APPROACH!!! Lets do this to every single person we see! It was seriously soooo powerful. When she recited the first vision...the spirit was SO STRONG.
Nobody in Japan believes in God. Its so sad. So, we have to start telling them a little MORE BOLDLY that he lives. We are going to do this though reciting the first vision to everyone we see...this sounds crazy because I guarantee that 99% of everyone we are going to do this to have never even heard of Jesus Christ...so when we tell them that his gospel has been restored they are probably going to think "SO WHAT" but i'm telling you there is nothing stronger than telling someone about the first vision. I AM SO CONFIDENT that as we start doing this, Heavenly Father is going to start putting PREPARED people in our paths who are PREPARED TO ACCEPT the gospel immediately even though they have no idea who God and Christ are...all they need is to hear it once though I really believe there are people out there that are that prepared!!!!
So after we scared the heck out of that old lady, haha, we went to another apartment complex and did it to another person...a 15 year old boy came to the door and Buhler shimai didn't even let him talk she just started declaring the gospel! IT WAS THE MOST AMAZING THING EVER!!! JUST AS she was about to give him the Book of Mormon and invite him to be baptized HIS MOM came out of nowhere form behind him and was like "we are already Christian...no thank you"! So let me back up a little...
When Sister Buhler first started testifying to this young boy he had a look on his face like we were crazy and then by the end of it he was ASTONISHED. We KNEW that if his mom would not have come out HE WOULD HAVE ACCEPTED THE BOOK!!!! We both saw it in his eyes! When his mom came out she said that she saw us the other day on our bikes and that she already has a Book of Mormon...and then she looked at Sister Buhler and was like " I have actually already talked to you before, do you remember me?" and Sister Buhler remembered talking to her a while ago and was like "OH YEAH! You said if we ever ran into each other again you would listen to our message!" And the lady was like, "yeah...no thank you though...im sorry..."and that was that. AHHH how frustrating! HEAVENLY FATHER DIRECTED US TO THAT HOUSE!!! And yet that mother still rejected us. The son would have accepted it, i am convinced...Satan is so aware of what we are doing.
But thats ok. He isn't going to win.
There are many other wonderful amazing miracles happening in UBE. I wish I could share them all but I'm running out of time. Maybe i'll start writing letters so I can update you all more on how great missions are!
I LOVE LIFE! I LOVE being a missionary! I can't wait to BOLDLY PROCLAIM IT THIS WEEK! Sister Buhler and I have make this weeks theme a FINDING week so we are going to work really hard and focus all our efforts on finding people!! I can't wait! Expect to hear about miracles next week! Give everyone my love!!!! LOVE YALL SO MUCH!!!
Love, Sharp Shimai
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