A transfer plus some pictures!

TO THE FAM! Konnichiwa! 

I have sooooooooooooo much to tell you! and time to type it! Yaaaaay. 

So. I`m here up in Hachinohe, where it:s getting quite colder. I actually wore a jacket for the first time this week since I left on my mission. We are near the sea so it gets breezy. From Nagamachi to Hachinohe was about 4 hours long on a bus. (I almost missed that bus, but that:s another story) I made it and that`s all that matters. 

We live in a new apartment. So no mold! Plus the futons actually feel like futons. Our apartment has a total of 4 sisters. The 3 sisters that were here before plus me. Our apartment is right next to the river! and there is a walking trail and railraod track as well. Very Japanese-ish. All and all, I feel safe at home. 

My companion is great! Yim shimai is in her 2 transfer, so not perfect Japanese, but she was a lot farther than I was one month ago. Since Hachinohe is quite new we mostly go finding. In Nagamachi I didn:t really go finding all too often. So in Hachinohe there are a LOT of Less actives. Apparently a few years ago they had about 90 baptisms in one year, but they all went LA. That makes it harder for us to know who exactly remembers the church or not. That`s ok though. 

Hachinohe is quite countryish. Some parts of the city remind me of Utah, while other parts are Japanese like. There was a festival going on during the weekend, and though we didn:t participate, we sure had to try and get our bikes through it. SOOO many people! and giant floats that were steered by 30 plus people. They also had taiko drums! Amazing! 

So...

I feel like Im forgetting to say something. 

OH YA! SO! I didn:t realize the WHOLE family sent me a package about the camping trip!! Apparently It just got to me! WOW! That certainly made my day. And it was a good thing it got to me after I moved. THANK YOU!!!! I loved everyone:s letters... drawings, and testimonies. Im sorry I just got it. 

Back to the mission. Since being a trainer I`ve been anxious about a lot of things... but being here in Hachinohe is quite a blessing. Im not scared. I`m excited! I want to do all I can to try to find people and teach them. Since I`m trainer in a new area, That`s all we do! One ideas that we were thinking of is... *drum roll* VIOLIN LESSONS! yep. We found a violin, and i:m going to start teaching people for free at the church! Not sure how people will come, but I hope we can get to talk to people. Our amazing Branch leader found out I know how to play the violin and got a hold of one. not sure how... he told me it was a himitsu. (secret) 

WELL! if you want pictures Im running out of time. So instead of more words, You will see some pics. Don:t have a lot from hachinohe for some reason... but I hope you enjoy. 

I know that Our timing is not God`s timing, and if we trust in his will he will guide us to happier lives.

-Money Shimai

Sept 15

TO THE FAM~

Hey everyone! Thank you so much for your wonderful emails and letters. I read them all~ Unfortunately things are about to get quite crazy for me in the next 3 days so email time is tight. Can you guess why? *drum roll* YES I'm being transferred~ Aomori zone in Hachinohe~ Bigger news *Drum roll* I'm a trainer~ :D My companion is Sister Yim. She's from Indiana, and that's about all I know for now, Haven't met yet. Will meet tomorrow. She's been here 6 weeks less than I have. ^-^ I won't lie, I'm a bit scared, but excited at the same time. We both can't really speak Japanese, but we can certainly Dendo. Let's hope people up there like Americans so we can  talk to people.

 

at the moment there is a giant typhoon going on, and I still have to make it back to my apartment, Don't worry it's like 2 minutes away, but weather here as been crazy this week. This week I was suppose to be "senpai" and lead the trio to meetings, lessons, and other such planning activities. Needless to say it woke me up to how much responsibility someone has to take on when they become trainer. I wasn't too prepared for it, so I suppose this is a sign to learn fast. Can't be slackn' with a bean by my side.

 

This week I spoke in sacrament meeting and bore my testimony. It was a simple talk of course, and I was quite nervous, but just like when we teach, when we speak from our hearts we can't really go wrong. Just need to listen to the spirit.

 

If you're wondering what happened to the oreos... they failed. They just don't have the same mix as they do in America. However, people here in Japan Hate sweets, so it tasted just fine to them. If only they knew... It was hard saying goodbye to all of my investigators... I didn't get to say goodbye to most of them, which is quite upsetting...however I know they'll be OK. I just want them to keep progressing.

 

This week will be hard to write letters to everyone, so be patient. I still need to pack and everything. So, here in Japan there are a lot of rice crackers, we call these senbeis. I eat them almost everyday, I love them to death! at zone conference however we were challenged to sacrifice something for the cause of finding new Q's each week. It could be anything to food, to letters. I am sacrificing my senbeis. *probably should think of something better* however it's still a sacrifice. Along with prayer we will see more miracles and efforts in the missionaries here. Japan will change, there are a lot of gaijin missionaries coming in every 6 weeks. Hopefully I can do my best to be able to learn, train, and serve.

 

I love everyone! and I can't wait to hear from you all again next week.

Please take care! I always pray for you!

-Money Shimai

Sept 8

Hi Family and Friends!

 

Thank you for your letters, and thank you Mom and Grandparents for the lovely package. Certainly brightened my whole week. Let's see, This week we did a lot of teaching to investigators. (last week also) Most of our investigators are learning about Faith and Repentance, so it seems we are teaching the same thing, but in reality that is so wrong. Each investigator had different questions and different levels of Faith. One investigator has knowledge from a lot of different churches and can read the Book of Mormon with no problem, while another is finding Christ's words a bit hard to understand. We can't know everything about how to help an investigator, however the spirit can. As it says in the scriptures (this is paraphrased...) God doesn't send his most learned and successful bit top business man to go serve missions. He sends 18 and 19 year olds, as well as senior couples to go and preach the gospel. The Spirit works through the weak and humble. Through the Spirit's promptings we can be able to help those we teach, and get them closer to Christ and Baptism.

 

Good news! I haven't crashed since that one time I ran into a sign! Interesting news-- apparently everyone in the whole mission knows about how I ran into that sign and won't let me live it down. :3 Kind of ok news, I think I'll have this scar on my face for quite some time XD eeeee, Mission memories.

 

On Saturdays we are teaching an Eikaiwa class to 3 young men. One less active, and 2 of his friends. They like the Beatles so during the lesson we learn how to sing it in English. Note the subject on the email. Good thing we have great hymns to get inside our heads afterwords however.

 

This week has been quite cool here in Sendai, which is odd because everyone says it's usually hot till October. Apparently there is suppose to be a typhoon coming... or it already happened, I'm not quite sure what is going on half of the time. We have a member that calls us everyday to teach us about the weather the next day. haha, at least he cares. Next Wednesday is Zone conference where we will be teaching lessons in front of people. I'm a bit anxious but I think it'll be a great learning experience.

 

Apparently the fact that I can make homemade brownies is something of a miracle here, so next time we meet our old lady investigator I'll be making Oreos. Hopefully I can remember how. I have a bit of a reputation of the "gaijin that can't cook" Honestly, I'm really not that good. but I can at least feed myself. However here EVERYONE is an amazing cook and serves top notch meals everyday. So yes, I am that one gaijin that can't cook.

 

I need a better system for remembering what I've done in the week so I won't seem so frantic when I type to everyone. :/ One of my lifetime goals. Being organized... and remembering things. Kind of important ne? oh, for those who are wondering if I'll have a weird accent when I get back. I can promise you this. No accent, but a lot of weird words, and actions. :3 I love Japan.

 

I'm so thankful for my companions and for our district leader. Transfers are coming up, and I'll probably be leaving. Not 100 percent sure however. It was hard to leave my "Investigator" In the MTC, and I wondered how I'd manage in the field... guess we'll find out. I know however that I've helped in someway getting them closer to God, and for that opportunity I am grateful.

 

Thank you everyone for your support and prayers. I have felt them strongly here in the field. I don't think I could be the little sister Alicia Money I am today without my family.

 

I love you! Stay well! .... and play with my birdy! I bet he could be lonely :3

hee hee,

 

Ja, raishyuu made

-Money Shimai

September 1

FAMILY LETTER TIME!

 

HI EVERYONE! :D Big news! This week we were not able to baptize our investigator, unfortunately Her husband's heart has gone to critical hardness. :/ HOWEVER, my good friend from the MTC and his trainer were able to baptize a part member family. So we were very VERY lucky to see a baptism kai this Saturday. It truly was special. I don't know if i can express how different everything really is here in Japan. I got to sing I know that my redeemer lives in Japanese to our new member :3 It truly was an amazing night.

 

There is still hope for our investigator always. We'll do our best to help her husband feel the spirit. Everything will be ok, I know it. Well, a baptism is about as exciting as one can get in a week, so let's see if i can keep typing to everyone. In FHE *YSA* we got to share some scriptures. An elder shared an amazing one that I missed somehow while reading through the BOM. It's Alma 29:14-16, I don't have time to type it all out, so you'll have to read it yourselves~ It's all about rejoicing in others successes. I can truly testify that when we want others to succeed, (instead of wanting them to fail) we are avoiding pride, and achieve more happiness in this life. It could be little things, or big things. I'm happy that my good friend was able to get a baptism. I'm happy that someone was able to get baptized. I'm excited that my shimai friend was able to give a great lesson in Japanese. The blessings are endless.

 

In more news~ We have a new investigator~ She has a pretty interesting daughter, which makes teaching lessons very hard, but we do our best to feel the Spirit. She has a lot of interesting questions and it really seems that she wants to listen to us. We are great friends as well, so when we leave it might be a bit difficult. But she loves Missionaries whoever they are so let's hope that we can teach her something she won't ever forget.

 

We were able to get in touch with another investigator, unfortunately his story is a bit sad. He might not be able to see the next month due to terminal cancer in many places in his body. We are doing our best to make him happy and teach him some wonderful lessons about peace and love. He won't receive baptism for various reasons, but that doesn't mean we just give up. I hope to be able to talk to him some more.

 

How about some interesting Japan facts? There are a TON of different kinds of tea here. Apparently we can drink mugichya (wheat tea) and it's ok with the word of wisdom... at first it tasted like it looks. Dirt. But now I'm slightly addicted XD haha, nothing beats a nice cold cup of mugichya. I also think I ate tiny shrimp in a salad... at first I thought the little black dots were pepper... nope. They were eyes.

 

I was talking to my district leader a bit about his areas and where he's served. His first area only had about 3 active members in the ward... not sure if that makes it a ward... anyway. Let me just say how grateful I am for the church members. Missionaries would be nothing without them. Their strength lifts us up in hard times. If only they knew what kind of influence they have on the Lord's work, the whole world could change. I love my area, and I hope that whatever happens in transfers that I'll be happy. I love everyone here, but I wanna meet new people. I love all of you, and I hope everyone is doing great. Unfortunately my 20 minutes are up :D so I must be off. Until next week. If you want a letter, just ask~

 

and guess what...?

 

The Church is TRUE!

Love you!

-Money Shimai

August 25

WHOA! it's been a while! like 2 or a week? I can't remember. Time is flying here.

 

This week has been full of long bike rides across mountains to see members. Honestly members are what keeps Dendo work going. *mission work.* we had a fun time trying to read the map and figuring out the best way to get there. We didn't quite see the main road, and we were led into what looked like a forest national park. It had no paved roads, so we had to be careful. If I saw a cougar, I wouldn't have been surprised. Anyway, That was fun.

 

Since It's hard to get people to listen to us, and since about 80 new missionaries are coming in by the end of this year, people have been a bit worried about the language barriers. I've been worrying since day one, but you know me. However because of the members help, we are able to practice a bit, give a spiritual message, and learn the language. They really want to help the missionaries.

 

For those of you who haven't heard, we have been trying to help this one Old lady get baptized. It's been hard because the husband is being REALLY stubborn, *yet... nice?* with the whole situation. We'll see by next week. I know however, that even though the closer we get to that baptism date, Satan shows his ugly face. With faith and prayer everything will work out for the best. Even if it takes more time. I believe that. :3 My trainer has been quite overworked with the whole deal however... I wish I could help at least talk. I will someday! My Japanese isn't perfect, and it's hard to see if it's even improving... but I think it is? haha, People keep telling me that but I think they are just being nice.

 

Last week was very hard, But this week got a lot better! Thank you everyone for your prayers, It really does make a difference. In sacrament meeting we learned about honesty. How it is hard, but we can strive to have perfect honesty. It's obvious to see the big lies... but it's usually the subtle, and the *not telling the whole truth* that are the real dangerous ones. The devil is full of deceptions, and temptations. But if we realize that we have a responsibility to listen to the spirit, and to search for those good thoughts, we can become triumphant in the face of sin. It's just like when we were little. Our lies were so obvious, our parents knew when we were lying, but let it happen for us to learn the lesson. Just like our Heavenly Father. He knows when we lies, and is disappointed, but let's us have our agency. However when we come clean he always welcomes us with love and open arms. I love this gospel it truly is the best thing for families. I know my life has been blessed by this gospel. Please remember that I love everyone, and know that I'm not forgotten :3

 

Please have a good week! I'll see you sometime! ^-^

Love money shimai

Aug 15

Hello family and friends!

 

This week has been a bit crazy, due to transfers and everything. Of course I didn't move, or anyone in our district because we are all green beans being trained by trainers... but lots of people came to stay at our apartment and we had to change a bit of our schedules to accomodate. Our little apartment, usually fitting 4 to begin with, now with 5... but with the transfers we fit 10 people! yep, our little room fit 10 people where people slept on the floor. We sleep on the floor normally, but it was more like the room was one giant pillow... and by pillow I mean tatami mat.

 

Just want to say whoever said it was cold in Sendai.... AHA! it hasn't been cold since I've gotten here. Of course there have been rather suzushi days, but now that we've hit august, it is blazing humid hot :D might cool down by October and get really really cold, but for now i'm not convinced. It's so hot that probably most of the pictures I will send to the fam will have me being a sweaty mess.

 

Other than the weather, i've been having a hard, but fun time. Riding bikes is always tough because of my area, being only massive hills and narrow roads. However I get to see so much of the beautiful Japanese countryside that everytime I go out all I say is "wow, that's beautiful" We didn't teach too much this week. It was a lot of just going around to less active houses and seeing how they are doing. We are working with this one loving investigator Baa Chan who is so close to baptism. I'll keep you posted of course, however we need to get permission from the husband. It's a hard and scary task, but with our Heavenly Father's help, anything is possible.

 

It is President Rasmussen's birthday this wednesday, and on that day we are going to a SMYC somewhere in Japan. I think it's like an  EFY (especially for youth)  kind of deal. I had to memorize two songs and we are going to sing it there and teach from PMG (preach my gospel).... Memorizing things is a lot easier when you know what you are saying. XD haha, that's for sure! but that's ok! It sounds pretty. I'll do my best.

 

No more bike accidents! Not even close encounters. Everything is going well there, so I thank everyone for your prayers. They really mean more than the world to me. ^-^ wish to hear from everyone soon, so if you have time please email or write me. Thank you for all your hard work, and for your love of the gospel. Share it with those you know. It truly is the best thing for them. I know that through this gospel I have found happiness in my life. The spirit can touch anyone's hearts, just do your best to bring the spirit.

 

I love you all! have a good week!

-Money Shimai

August 3: I can ride my bike with no handle bars.

**NOTE: Alicia's email didn't come through last week, so here are two emails from the last two weeks***

Subject: I can ride my bike with no handle bars.

Except I can't in Japan... because i have a basket with lots of Morumon shos in it.

Konnichiwa! how is everyone doing in the hot hot sun of July/August? Me? oh you know, just biking in the rain almost everyday. Honestly I think it's fun! my companions don't... awe well. It's quite cool over here actually. I'll enjoy it while I can because in August I found out it gets horribly hot.

This week has gone by very fast. Let's see if i can recall a few things. Yesterday is what comes to mind first. We had sacrament meeting as always, and because I'm still a new missionary they like to pick on me a lot to say the opening prayer. We also sang I love to see the temple. I thought it was going to be in Japanese, but they wanted to sing it in English. ee hee, so much for Japanese practice. After we were going to visit a members house. It was a very long bike ride, so we were going to hitch a ride in a members car. Though... there wasn't enough room because our companionship has 3 people. SO WE BIKED ANYWAY! and holy cow if i sent a picture of where i was at the end of it, you would ask, how? Yes, we biked for about 2 hours up a hill. It was very hard, however I got to see a lot of Japan, and the visit was great. On the way up, i prayed to one: not crash on my bike (when we just got started i ran into a man and went flying into some bushes, it was fun. Don't worry dad... the bike is ok) and 2: to let this be a wonderful spiritual experience for the Imano family. I got to talk about how God doesn't just send us here to fail, that he always provides a way for us to do the things we must. I shared my 3 favorite scriptures. Ether 12:27, 1st Nephi 17:3 and DC 112:8? (oh shoot) I'm getting the language better. So I was able to say all that i wanted to say. Also found out that the family's daughter is into archery! If there is one thing I ever wanted to take up... it was Japanese Archery.

we went to a Gym activity and got to talk to a lot of non members. I got to play Frisbee, and played some soccer with them. It was so fun! All the Japanese people were very into it, and got excited whenever we would score a goal. I got to eat my favorite type of bread this week. Melon bread! Tastes sort of like a sugar cookie. I also ate some... I think it was squid, but it was purple. It was very good.

Earlier in the week I was able to volunteer at an old persons home and massage hands... haha! I wasn't very good so they taught me how pretty much the whole time. Maybe next time I can help. It was great talking to people... couldn't understand much however.

I have a few investigators and all are on different levels. There is a woman who believes all religion is true, however is feeling a bit different about our church. Not that it isn't true, just the spirit is touching her heart differently. She is studying the book of Mormon and loves to learn more. I hope I can help her see the difference.

We were studying a bit on effective study, and i figured out that before my mission I wasn't doing a very good job at it. I can see now how Joseph's smith's example in JSH, really is the key steps. Read, Ponder, Pray. Just think of the power of Faith works in the scriptures, and how we can strengthen our faith through our studies. Joseph smith's prayer changed our world today, Even though experiences say you can't change what is, Faith always over powers fear and disbelief.

Thank you everyone for your love and emails. They mean so much to me. I'll send pictures... when i figure this out and have more time.

LOVE YOU!
money shimai

 

ok, so last week's didn't send, so there is that!

 

Now for this week! Today's topic: SPLITS!

 

This week 3 sisters from Akita came to our apartment for 3 days so we could go on splits. It was amazing because 2 of them were from America ^-^ I got to be able to speak like a normal person and actually make sense. With one sister (the sister training leader) we got to do a lot of streeting and housing. I was scared to death. I literally just walked on the street and talked to as many people as I could. At first I was scared, but then It got easier as time went on. Oman shimai gave me some pointers and now I'm able to progress even more. Since these sisters are from Akita, I got to try to find my way to one of my appointments at a members house by myself. I got to ride the subway and make my way through the bigger city of Sendai. I didn't get lost! It's a miracle! I have the sense of direction of a 12 year old, who gets distracted at everything and turns a wrong corner, usually not realizing that they are going the wrong way till it is too late.

 

Last week was Luk shimai's birthday! so to celebrate we went to a sushi restaurant. Let me tell you, sushi is REALLY different here than it is in America. It's just rice and a piece of raw fish on the top. Which... surprisingly is very delicious! I got to eat Takoyaki as well. Which is just raw octopus inside a breaded cake ball. Super good.

 

Time for some random facts about Japan. Not sure If I mentioned this at all. They aren't any garbage cans anywhere, so you have to carry your garbage. The garbage trucks play ice cream truck music as they go about the streets. You can't read while you eat or else that is very rude. I think I've seen about 10000000 spiders here in Japan just walking around housing. :U eeeeee....  Everything is self automated! The sushi place we went to as well. You just pick what you want, and the cooks send it to you via a transportation device right to your seat.

 

It rains like... everyday XD However this makes the mountains beautiful. This week was actually very tough for me, because I got into another bike accident (don't kill me dad! it's hard riding a bike in Japan!) There was a man walking in the very narrow way, and I slowed down to go around him, the ground was still very wet, and I slid and ran into a sign. Because of my helmet my head was perfectly fine, however my face got banged up a bit. We went to the doctors and he didn't say I needed stitches. Just two little cuts on my cheek and eyebrow. If I get scars... well then, it will be a constant reminder and how important it is to listen and FOLLOW the spirit. Heavenly Father wants his missionaries safe, but if they don't act on the warnings they get, it can become a problem. I heard the spirit warn me to stop, and not to try to get around him, but i didn't listen. They really are very subtle. If the prompting you receive is a good prompting, don't take time to ask if it's from the spirit. Everything good comes from God.

 

I love it here in Japan. I'm getting the language better than I did before! (still doesn't mean I can speak like a native) but I can try to wing my way around the lessons. Everyone has trials in this life, but I've learned that if we do as much as we can, God really will help us the rest of the way. That's what makes life so beautiful. I may not know everything there is to do with the gospel, but I do know that it is the best thing for our lives, and for our family's lives. When we go to church, we get to remind ourselves of that beautiful gift and blessing. We get to feel peace, and clean through the Atonement of Christ. This is why we are on earth. To prepare to one day meet God. I want the people of Japan to know their purpose, and to give them hope in this hard life.

 

Thank you everyone for your love and prayers! (maybe more bike specific ones are needed XD ) I'll see you all next week, and hopefully this one sends...

 

apparently i need a separate thing to post pictures on this old computer. We'll get it next week! So stay tuned for some amazing pictures!

 

I LOVE YOU ALL!