Konnichiwa!
Well, another week gone, time is flying I can't get over it! Thanks for all the advice on companionships, I am definitely learning a thing or two about effective communication and I'm so grateful for it! Sister Pinzon and I get along GREAT though, I haven't laughed this much with a companion since I have come on my mission, she is amazing!!
Sounds like you all had a nice Thanksgiving, we had a really fun party with our zone. We ate chicken, not quite turkey, but it was still good! Afterwards we went to some members houses and ate more food…wanted to throw up because I was so full, but yeah-such is life. Happens all the time ha!
WE saw SO MANY miracles last week! Particularly on fast Sunday! We had 5 investigators show up to church!! SUCH A MIRACLE!!! We are trying to have two baptisms on the 21st…it will be a miracle if we do!
We found a new investigator last week on the street who met missionaries over 40 years ago, she quickly wrote down her name, number and address and said "yeah, if I'm home you can come over!"
we didn't know how to find her house, I new the general area but that was it…when we went to go look for it, by some MIRACLE the lord directed us straight to her house. We found it, but she wasn't home…we decided to do some housing at some nearby apartments and come back in 2 hours or so and in the meantime we found another investigator! His name is Fugimoto, he was really nice and he said he wanted to know if God existed. We gave him a Book of Mormon and we are going back next Sunday! Afterwards, we went back to the other ladies house and RIGHT as we walked up to the house the car pulled into the driveway. She let us inside and we gave her a short lesson on the plan of salvation! She was SOOOO nice, she gave us a bunch of oranges and let us meet her husband who is also really nice. We are going back next week and she is making us some kind of Japanese lunch. We are grateful she is so nice and willing to have us back!!!
We are teaching Muranaga tonight (she is the one that met with missionaries over a year ago and already had a Book of Mormon and pamphlets) she is really cute, and I feel that she has been prepared by God to receive baptism, we are extending a baptism date for the 28th tonight. I REALLLY hope she accepts it!!
I don't have much time, but there are many exciting things happening in Ube! I am so grateful that I am still here to be apart of it! Kaneyasu's lessons have kind of stopped which makes me really sad because I love her so much, but we are going to try and visit her tonight and bring her cookies, we'll see what happens. I want her to come to church so bad.
Anyways, I love you all so very much! Thanks for all the updates, I have to go!
Love you all,
Sister Sharp
Monday, December 2, 2013
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Count all your blessings!
November 25
Hello! I have no time at all I am sorry, so here are some quick updates!
I am still in UBE!!! I was NOT expecting that at all…for some reason President really trusts me with all these beans…if he only knew how much i was corrupting them maybe he would stop sending them! ;)
She is sooo great! She is 26 (looks 18 though) she was born in Columbia and moved to Tennessee with her whole family about 12 years ago. She knows perfect English but she has a Hispanic accent and I love it. She got a degree in Asian studies and lived in Tokyo doing study abroad for about 4 months 6 years ago. She studied Japanese for about 2 years as well and can read a little bit of Kanji which is the best thing ever!!! She isn't fluent or anything, but she similes ahead of where I was when I was a bean! She is so sweet and cute. We get along great, i think it is because of her age. She brings a maturity to the work that I have desperately been needing to feel I think. Heavenly Father knows me :) Her name is Sister Pinzon!
Miracles:
We did meet with that new investigator last week! Her name is Muranaga Akami. She is soooo great, we are meeting with her again tomorrow! We taught her about the nature of God and taught her how to pray. Sister Pinzon and I both bore strong testimonies on the power of prayer and we feel confident that she will start praying on her own. She works a lot this upcoming month so coming to church will be difficult, but we know God is going to perform some miracles! We are meeting with Kaneyasu in about 90 minutes, I am way excited for that, we are going to teach her about the holy ghost a little more and talk to her about coming to church and baptism. Hope she commits. We saw her at the grocery store today and it was great :) her mom is getting really sick, I guess and she takes care of her each weekend so coming to church is a problem, so we'll see what happens.
WE GOT ELDERS IN UBE! there are now 6 of us! The elders last area was Okinawa, and he is on his 4th transfer. The other one is brand new and has no idea what he is doing…but that's ok…hopefully he'll adjust quickly.
Can't believe I only have 11 months left…ahhh don't remind me! Its going too fast :( I talked to Buhler Shimai on the phone the other day and she is going home after this transfer!! THAT IS SO CRAZY!!! Gosh, I love her.
I have to go meet with a member right now and then go to Kaneyasu's, but I love you all! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, count all your blessings! Thank the Lord that we all know the truth about his beautiful plan of Salvation :)
Thank you for your prayers, they sustain me and keep me going I am sure! Love you all. HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (we are having a zone party this thursday but we won't be Turkey, oh well, next year!)
Love, Sharp Shimai
Hello! I have no time at all I am sorry, so here are some quick updates!
I am still in UBE!!! I was NOT expecting that at all…for some reason President really trusts me with all these beans…if he only knew how much i was corrupting them maybe he would stop sending them! ;)
She is sooo great! She is 26 (looks 18 though) she was born in Columbia and moved to Tennessee with her whole family about 12 years ago. She knows perfect English but she has a Hispanic accent and I love it. She got a degree in Asian studies and lived in Tokyo doing study abroad for about 4 months 6 years ago. She studied Japanese for about 2 years as well and can read a little bit of Kanji which is the best thing ever!!! She isn't fluent or anything, but she similes ahead of where I was when I was a bean! She is so sweet and cute. We get along great, i think it is because of her age. She brings a maturity to the work that I have desperately been needing to feel I think. Heavenly Father knows me :) Her name is Sister Pinzon!
Miracles:
We did meet with that new investigator last week! Her name is Muranaga Akami. She is soooo great, we are meeting with her again tomorrow! We taught her about the nature of God and taught her how to pray. Sister Pinzon and I both bore strong testimonies on the power of prayer and we feel confident that she will start praying on her own. She works a lot this upcoming month so coming to church will be difficult, but we know God is going to perform some miracles! We are meeting with Kaneyasu in about 90 minutes, I am way excited for that, we are going to teach her about the holy ghost a little more and talk to her about coming to church and baptism. Hope she commits. We saw her at the grocery store today and it was great :) her mom is getting really sick, I guess and she takes care of her each weekend so coming to church is a problem, so we'll see what happens.
WE GOT ELDERS IN UBE! there are now 6 of us! The elders last area was Okinawa, and he is on his 4th transfer. The other one is brand new and has no idea what he is doing…but that's ok…hopefully he'll adjust quickly.
Can't believe I only have 11 months left…ahhh don't remind me! Its going too fast :( I talked to Buhler Shimai on the phone the other day and she is going home after this transfer!! THAT IS SO CRAZY!!! Gosh, I love her.
I have to go meet with a member right now and then go to Kaneyasu's, but I love you all! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, count all your blessings! Thank the Lord that we all know the truth about his beautiful plan of Salvation :)
Thank you for your prayers, they sustain me and keep me going I am sure! Love you all. HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (we are having a zone party this thursday but we won't be Turkey, oh well, next year!)
Love, Sharp Shimai
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Right places at the right time!
November 18
Hey!
Don't have much time I'm sorry! But today is transfer call day and I will be getting a phone call at some point telling me whether or not I'm staying in Ube or going somewhere else. Last week was crazy, Smotherman had to go home because of her foot. She didn't meet the missionary physical requirements anymore so she left last week. Since Thursday Sister Nelson and Sister Southworth and I have become a threesome.
We saw soooo many miracles last week. Too many to write about. I have time to write about one! The three of us were housing an apartment building Sunday night and we met a really nice woman who had been to a catholic church and was a little bit familiar with christianity. She talked about how she loved hymns, and so we asked if we could sing a hymn for her in her genkon (doorway) and in the middle of singing she stopped us and said "there is a woman who lives directly below me on the next floor who has interest in hour church! Im going to go call her right now!" Whhhhaaaat??????? SO CRAZY!! She called her and two minutes later this woman came up to the floor we were on, and gave us all her information. She said she met missionaries a long time ago and received a Book of Mormon form them and had some pamphlets. She talked about watching movie about Christ. She has four kids and is married! We talked with her for a little bit and she said that we could probably come back this friday. We left and I couldn't believe what a miracle it was that that happened. Heavenly Father never ceases to amaze me, he really does place us in the right places at the tight time.
I know the work is true. I am a little anxious to see what this transfer holds, I don't really have any idea
what is going to happen but next week you'l all know if I have transferred or not!
Sorry its so short this week, all the missionaries in my district are traveling to Ube right now and they will all probably want to use the computer too so I'm making it short!
I love you all!
Love, Sharp Shimai
Hey!
Don't have much time I'm sorry! But today is transfer call day and I will be getting a phone call at some point telling me whether or not I'm staying in Ube or going somewhere else. Last week was crazy, Smotherman had to go home because of her foot. She didn't meet the missionary physical requirements anymore so she left last week. Since Thursday Sister Nelson and Sister Southworth and I have become a threesome.
We saw soooo many miracles last week. Too many to write about. I have time to write about one! The three of us were housing an apartment building Sunday night and we met a really nice woman who had been to a catholic church and was a little bit familiar with christianity. She talked about how she loved hymns, and so we asked if we could sing a hymn for her in her genkon (doorway) and in the middle of singing she stopped us and said "there is a woman who lives directly below me on the next floor who has interest in hour church! Im going to go call her right now!" Whhhhaaaat??????? SO CRAZY!! She called her and two minutes later this woman came up to the floor we were on, and gave us all her information. She said she met missionaries a long time ago and received a Book of Mormon form them and had some pamphlets. She talked about watching movie about Christ. She has four kids and is married! We talked with her for a little bit and she said that we could probably come back this friday. We left and I couldn't believe what a miracle it was that that happened. Heavenly Father never ceases to amaze me, he really does place us in the right places at the tight time.
I know the work is true. I am a little anxious to see what this transfer holds, I don't really have any idea
what is going to happen but next week you'l all know if I have transferred or not!
Sorry its so short this week, all the missionaries in my district are traveling to Ube right now and they will all probably want to use the computer too so I'm making it short!
I love you all!
Love, Sharp Shimai
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Pictures!
MTC peeps for life!
Sister Kwak
Little sneak peak into what its like riding on the trains at rush hour SO MANY PEOPLE!!!
Planting Seeds
Hello,
Another week gone by! I don't have much time to write, so i'll update you on all the miracles we saw last week
We found 3 new investigators last week, and about 4 new young families that all said we could come back if they were home.
MIRACLES!!!
We have Nakamura San, Yutani San, and Kyoshi San. Two of them are older men who aren't married. One has a 20yr old in Tokoyo, the other one isn't married and has no kids. The other one has 2 kids that are 18 and 20. The one that we met last week at the festival is way nice and he invited us into his home. We tried teaching home the restoration but he wasn't super interested in it…I think he mainly thinks americans are cool ha. However he said that he wanted to come to church sometime so we will keep in contact with him. We met his wife and she was really nice too. We are meeting with the other two this week so I will let you know how their progress goes.
One of the potentials that we met is form Indonesia and he speaks English!! YAY! He has a young family and is married. We need to go back to him this week to drop off English materials because he can't read Kanji. He was really nice though and knew a little bit about Christ. When we asked if we could come back he seemed more than willing to allow us to drop by. YAY!!! Miracles!!!
Kaneyasu's lesson went really well last week. We are teaching her again tonight and we are going to ask again if she will find a way to come to church..we also really need to start teaching her with a member so I hope she will allow us to start coming with a member, she will start progressing so much faster! She kept her commitment form last week yay! She read 3rd Nephi 11 1-17 its when the Savior come to the Nephites. She understood it, and committed to read the rest of the chapter. Before our lesson with her started she pulled out some old photos for us to look at and they were the photos of the missionaries that she had met 20 years ago!! The dates on them said 1994, SO crazy!! Her whole family met with them, her kids and her husband were in all the pictures with them. so that was sooo great to see. The lord has been preparing her for 20 years. I was saying last week to sister Southworth how it would be so cool to be able to meet her old missionaries and tell them that their efforts were not wasted, and that they planted huge seed for us..and then she pulled out their pictures and I was so happy!! miracle
Since that experience I have realized that probably more times often then not, missionaries will probably never see the majority of the fruit of their labors. We are planting seeds that might not start growing until 20 or 30 years down the road when the next missionaries knock on that persons door. Its comforting to know that the Lord really is in charge of this work. He knows exactly what he is doing and has a time and season appointed for all people and all things.
I love the gospel!!!
I love you all sorry I don't have more time. I will send some pictures!!
Love you,
Sharp Shimai
Another week gone by! I don't have much time to write, so i'll update you on all the miracles we saw last week
We found 3 new investigators last week, and about 4 new young families that all said we could come back if they were home.
MIRACLES!!!
We have Nakamura San, Yutani San, and Kyoshi San. Two of them are older men who aren't married. One has a 20yr old in Tokoyo, the other one isn't married and has no kids. The other one has 2 kids that are 18 and 20. The one that we met last week at the festival is way nice and he invited us into his home. We tried teaching home the restoration but he wasn't super interested in it…I think he mainly thinks americans are cool ha. However he said that he wanted to come to church sometime so we will keep in contact with him. We met his wife and she was really nice too. We are meeting with the other two this week so I will let you know how their progress goes.
One of the potentials that we met is form Indonesia and he speaks English!! YAY! He has a young family and is married. We need to go back to him this week to drop off English materials because he can't read Kanji. He was really nice though and knew a little bit about Christ. When we asked if we could come back he seemed more than willing to allow us to drop by. YAY!!! Miracles!!!
Kaneyasu's lesson went really well last week. We are teaching her again tonight and we are going to ask again if she will find a way to come to church..we also really need to start teaching her with a member so I hope she will allow us to start coming with a member, she will start progressing so much faster! She kept her commitment form last week yay! She read 3rd Nephi 11 1-17 its when the Savior come to the Nephites. She understood it, and committed to read the rest of the chapter. Before our lesson with her started she pulled out some old photos for us to look at and they were the photos of the missionaries that she had met 20 years ago!! The dates on them said 1994, SO crazy!! Her whole family met with them, her kids and her husband were in all the pictures with them. so that was sooo great to see. The lord has been preparing her for 20 years. I was saying last week to sister Southworth how it would be so cool to be able to meet her old missionaries and tell them that their efforts were not wasted, and that they planted huge seed for us..and then she pulled out their pictures and I was so happy!! miracle
Since that experience I have realized that probably more times often then not, missionaries will probably never see the majority of the fruit of their labors. We are planting seeds that might not start growing until 20 or 30 years down the road when the next missionaries knock on that persons door. Its comforting to know that the Lord really is in charge of this work. He knows exactly what he is doing and has a time and season appointed for all people and all things.
I love the gospel!!!
I love you all sorry I don't have more time. I will send some pictures!!
Love you,
Sharp Shimai
Monday, November 4, 2013
Directed by the Spirit
Mina San Konnichiwa!
Yep, another week gone by fastttt. There is only about two weeks left in this transfer and then I'll be on transfer 5 WHAT?! Sometimes I feel like this is going by waaay to fast and I'm not learning everything I need to be learning because time is moving so quickly...and then there are other times when I feel the complete opposite. Mission time is so weird!! Anyways-
This last week we weren't really in Ube, we traveled to Iwakuni and stayed the night there on Tuesday so that we could make it to Hiroshima the next morning by 10 for our zone conference I got to see KWAK Shimai!!! Yayy!!! I love her!! I haven't seen her since we landed in Japan- her bean area was Okinawa but last transfer she transferred to Hiroshima. I was so excited to see her, I saw a few other elders form my district that I hadn't seen yet either, it was so fun! :) I will send pictures next week. We were also in Hofu so support them in their Halloween party it was so fun! There was so many ADORABLE Japanese kids...I was having kidnapping tendencies the whole night! THEY ARE SO CUTE!!!!! Gosh, I can't even talk about it. Wish I could hold one of them :( JUST ONE!!! Stupid rules...
Sometimes I can't believe I am still in Ube. Its pretty rare to spend this many transfers in your bean area..but here I am-the work here is slow moving so it gets a little redundant at times and it would be nice to have a change, but I'm hanging in there. Sister Southworth is is opening up little by little so that is good to see. sisters Smotherman got hit by a car last week and fractured a small bone in her foot so she is out for about 3 weeks or something like that...her and Sister Nelson can't really go out and work because Smotherman is on crutches, so thats a big bummer and crappy for them. Im not really sure what is going to happen in the next few weeks or how its going to affect transfer calls. I guess we will have to wait and see. Oh, and if your freaking out about me getting hit by a car...don't worry its just a part of mission life haha ;) if anything serious ever happens to me I'll let you know. So far I have been very protected, i have seen miracles, angels are watching over us for sure I'll leave it at that haha
Miracles:
Not to much to update on, but last week we taught Kaneyasu the plan of salvation using some cute picture cut outs and it went SO well. She really really felt the spirit. And I don't think I have ever taught a lesson so directed by the spirit before since I've been on my mission. Words and thoughts were coming in Japanese, I didn't even have to think about it. It was such a miracle!! I am learning that the interpretation! I realized I am not going to understand every individual Japanese word that people are saying to me, but the spirit gives me just enough information to INTERPRET correctly what they are saying...I am fine with just getting main ideas! It was such a blessing.
Last night in Ube there was a huge festival going on and so Sister Southworth and I decided to go out and promote eikaiwa and try to get a foot in with talking about the gospel..we had one man come up to us and ask if we were missionaries and we said yes, he had met missionaries a long time ago and he said we were welcome into his home anytime. He was so nice, he gave us his number, address and his wires phone number as well. We gave him a Book of Mormon and said that we would call him this week. He was really great and unusually nice...we had been praying to teach a family so this answered out prayers, he had three kids. My only concern is that there is a slight possibility that he could have been drinking because of the festival, and was really nice due to that?? I couldn't really tell, but i guess we will find out this week when we call! Either way he still gave us his information and it was a huge miracle.
Satan is working hard on the hearts of Japan right now. Last week was probably the roughest week we've had in a long time while we were out streeting, and housing. People were really really rude to us...ruder than I have ever seen since I've been in Ube. It makes me sad and a little discouraged, but there isn't anything we can do to help people who simply aren't prepared to receive the gospel. Heavenly Father knows how hard we are working and he will bless us for our efforts. This week will be filled with miracles I can feel it.
I read about an incredible miracle this morning in Ether 3...every time I read this chapter it opens my eyes to the power of faith. Please read it if you have the time.
I love you all. Thank you for your prayers, love and support. I am grateful for my wonderful family who is such a great example to me. Your prayers and faith keep me going. Thank you!
Love, Sharp Shimai
Yep, another week gone by fastttt. There is only about two weeks left in this transfer and then I'll be on transfer 5 WHAT?! Sometimes I feel like this is going by waaay to fast and I'm not learning everything I need to be learning because time is moving so quickly...and then there are other times when I feel the complete opposite. Mission time is so weird!! Anyways-
This last week we weren't really in Ube, we traveled to Iwakuni and stayed the night there on Tuesday so that we could make it to Hiroshima the next morning by 10 for our zone conference I got to see KWAK Shimai!!! Yayy!!! I love her!! I haven't seen her since we landed in Japan- her bean area was Okinawa but last transfer she transferred to Hiroshima. I was so excited to see her, I saw a few other elders form my district that I hadn't seen yet either, it was so fun! :) I will send pictures next week. We were also in Hofu so support them in their Halloween party it was so fun! There was so many ADORABLE Japanese kids...I was having kidnapping tendencies the whole night! THEY ARE SO CUTE!!!!! Gosh, I can't even talk about it. Wish I could hold one of them :( JUST ONE!!! Stupid rules...
Sometimes I can't believe I am still in Ube. Its pretty rare to spend this many transfers in your bean area..but here I am-the work here is slow moving so it gets a little redundant at times and it would be nice to have a change, but I'm hanging in there. Sister Southworth is is opening up little by little so that is good to see. sisters Smotherman got hit by a car last week and fractured a small bone in her foot so she is out for about 3 weeks or something like that...her and Sister Nelson can't really go out and work because Smotherman is on crutches, so thats a big bummer and crappy for them. Im not really sure what is going to happen in the next few weeks or how its going to affect transfer calls. I guess we will have to wait and see. Oh, and if your freaking out about me getting hit by a car...don't worry its just a part of mission life haha ;) if anything serious ever happens to me I'll let you know. So far I have been very protected, i have seen miracles, angels are watching over us for sure I'll leave it at that haha
Miracles:
Not to much to update on, but last week we taught Kaneyasu the plan of salvation using some cute picture cut outs and it went SO well. She really really felt the spirit. And I don't think I have ever taught a lesson so directed by the spirit before since I've been on my mission. Words and thoughts were coming in Japanese, I didn't even have to think about it. It was such a miracle!! I am learning that the interpretation! I realized I am not going to understand every individual Japanese word that people are saying to me, but the spirit gives me just enough information to INTERPRET correctly what they are saying...I am fine with just getting main ideas! It was such a blessing.
Last night in Ube there was a huge festival going on and so Sister Southworth and I decided to go out and promote eikaiwa and try to get a foot in with talking about the gospel..we had one man come up to us and ask if we were missionaries and we said yes, he had met missionaries a long time ago and he said we were welcome into his home anytime. He was so nice, he gave us his number, address and his wires phone number as well. We gave him a Book of Mormon and said that we would call him this week. He was really great and unusually nice...we had been praying to teach a family so this answered out prayers, he had three kids. My only concern is that there is a slight possibility that he could have been drinking because of the festival, and was really nice due to that?? I couldn't really tell, but i guess we will find out this week when we call! Either way he still gave us his information and it was a huge miracle.
Satan is working hard on the hearts of Japan right now. Last week was probably the roughest week we've had in a long time while we were out streeting, and housing. People were really really rude to us...ruder than I have ever seen since I've been in Ube. It makes me sad and a little discouraged, but there isn't anything we can do to help people who simply aren't prepared to receive the gospel. Heavenly Father knows how hard we are working and he will bless us for our efforts. This week will be filled with miracles I can feel it.
I read about an incredible miracle this morning in Ether 3...every time I read this chapter it opens my eyes to the power of faith. Please read it if you have the time.
I love you all. Thank you for your prayers, love and support. I am grateful for my wonderful family who is such a great example to me. Your prayers and faith keep me going. Thank you!
Love, Sharp Shimai
I love the Book of Mormon
October 28, 2013
Konnichiwa!
This week went by pretty quick. We didn't have any mind blowing experiences, but we did find a new investigator. Sister Buhler and I housed into her my first transfer as we were housing around a less actives neighborhood...she was really nice back then, but didn't accept a return appointment. We were visiting the same area last week and we housed into her again. I remembered the house as soon as I saw it. She was home, and she accepted a return appointment for Thursday! We have to take the train to her house, and then its a 20 minute walk from the station, but she's really nice so it will be worth it. Tonight we are meeting with Kanyeyasu. Last weeks lesson went well, except for one small little detail...she ALWAYS goes out of town on the weekends to go take care of her aging mother. She also mentioned that she couldn't enter into a christian church when we extended the invite for her to come...something to do with a Buddhist belief and is she came she would be betraying her husband, culture, family...etc. Same old excuse i have heard a million times. So I am not too worried about it, as we continue to meet with her I know the Lord will soften her heart if its her time to accept the gospel.
Last week we also taught our Chinese investigator. Nimo San. We watched the restoration dvd in Chinese and I just say that...I AM SO GRATEFUL TO BE SPEAKING JAPANESE instead of Chinese!!!! AHHHH!!! Things could be harder! The language barrier with him is still an issue. He does know way more Japanese than I thought though. He said a prayer in front of us FINALLY for the first time, and it was great. He said when he knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet he will get baptized..but he doesn't always read or pray so its obviously going to be hard to get an answer. We are working on that.
We ran into our other investigator Marin on the street last week. She is back from Hawaii YAY!! She said she is coming to eikaiwa this Wednesday so we will hopefully be able to set up a teaching appointment with her then, she is busy with work and school but she is still really interested which is great. Hmmm...that is about all the updates I have for you this week!
I read some really great chapters this last week in the Book of Mormon...some of my favorite things were:
2nephi 25 "The right way is to BELIEVE IN CHRIST"
Alma 5 "Are you stripped of Pride?"
Mormon 9 "God is a GOD OF MIRACLES"
Alma 11 "This restoration shall come to all"
I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON!!! It's so so so clear. It outlines the gospel of Jesus Christ SO CLEARLY and Plainly. I love it. I encourage you to all look to the Book of Mormon for comfort and answers to life's questions. I promise you that there is not a single problem in this life that can't either be solved or answered by reading the Book of Mormon daily. SO PLEASE read it. DAILY.
I love you all!!! Thank you for all the support, love, and prayers!!
Happy Halloweenie!!! :)
Love, Sharp Shimai
Konnichiwa!
This week went by pretty quick. We didn't have any mind blowing experiences, but we did find a new investigator. Sister Buhler and I housed into her my first transfer as we were housing around a less actives neighborhood...she was really nice back then, but didn't accept a return appointment. We were visiting the same area last week and we housed into her again. I remembered the house as soon as I saw it. She was home, and she accepted a return appointment for Thursday! We have to take the train to her house, and then its a 20 minute walk from the station, but she's really nice so it will be worth it. Tonight we are meeting with Kanyeyasu. Last weeks lesson went well, except for one small little detail...she ALWAYS goes out of town on the weekends to go take care of her aging mother. She also mentioned that she couldn't enter into a christian church when we extended the invite for her to come...something to do with a Buddhist belief and is she came she would be betraying her husband, culture, family...etc. Same old excuse i have heard a million times. So I am not too worried about it, as we continue to meet with her I know the Lord will soften her heart if its her time to accept the gospel.
Last week we also taught our Chinese investigator. Nimo San. We watched the restoration dvd in Chinese and I just say that...I AM SO GRATEFUL TO BE SPEAKING JAPANESE instead of Chinese!!!! AHHHH!!! Things could be harder! The language barrier with him is still an issue. He does know way more Japanese than I thought though. He said a prayer in front of us FINALLY for the first time, and it was great. He said when he knows that Joseph Smith is a prophet he will get baptized..but he doesn't always read or pray so its obviously going to be hard to get an answer. We are working on that.
We ran into our other investigator Marin on the street last week. She is back from Hawaii YAY!! She said she is coming to eikaiwa this Wednesday so we will hopefully be able to set up a teaching appointment with her then, she is busy with work and school but she is still really interested which is great. Hmmm...that is about all the updates I have for you this week!
I read some really great chapters this last week in the Book of Mormon...some of my favorite things were:
2nephi 25 "The right way is to BELIEVE IN CHRIST"
Alma 5 "Are you stripped of Pride?"
Mormon 9 "God is a GOD OF MIRACLES"
Alma 11 "This restoration shall come to all"
I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON!!! It's so so so clear. It outlines the gospel of Jesus Christ SO CLEARLY and Plainly. I love it. I encourage you to all look to the Book of Mormon for comfort and answers to life's questions. I promise you that there is not a single problem in this life that can't either be solved or answered by reading the Book of Mormon daily. SO PLEASE read it. DAILY.
I love you all!!! Thank you for all the support, love, and prayers!!
Happy Halloweenie!!! :)
Love, Sharp Shimai
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