Dec 9, 2013

Family letter!

 

Hey! Zone Conference and Transfers just happened! Today we didn't have too long to Email so I will give you the basics and write later about the two.

 

My companion yim shimai is getting transferred and I am staying here! I will get a new nihonjin companion and will be training her in her second transfer! (aaaah) A little nervous, but Things will be great! At zone conference we did a nativity scene and I got to sing a duet with clark shimai! not sure why they got me to sing, I really cant sing. I got a present from the parents and cried my face off XD haha, thank you It really warmed my heart.

 

We got to listen to the testimonies from the missionaries leaving soon and it really got me thinking. (whoa! It has been a year since I opened my call!) This mission is fast. Too fast. Even if you are having a hard time changing the people`s hearts in Japan, you truly can change someone`s. Aka, yourself.

 

We watched a bit of the Joseph Smith restoration video. Our testimony of the restoration is so important. The restoration hasn't ended yet. Christ is still leading this church, and God is still revealing his truths to us. Through the happiness we have found in this gospel, we can show it to others even just by living the commandments of our Heavenly Father. Our Joy and hope are very apparent. Christ`s atonement is real, and is Eternal. It has changed my life, and I hope to bring this message to others, even if they wont listen.

 

Thank you everyone for your holiday wishes. This time is truly a special one. We can show our love to our Savior by the service we give to others. Matthew 25:40 Always keep Him in your thoughts, he will be there by your side.

 

I love everyone!

 

Thank you for everything!

あいしています！

お金姉妹

Dec 1, 2013

If you don`t know what Nato is... (naato?) Look it up. I remember my Japanese teacher bringing it into class one day and half of the class ran to the other side of the room. BUT YES! I love nato now. I think my taste buds are changing... I still love everything sweet though. 

Happy December! Now that it`s 12 Gatsu my companion is doing all she can to get into the Christmas spirit... yes, she has lights and everything. I still think it`s a bit too early XD but hey, whatever makes her happy. 

This week was as follows:

Monday! Pday, but we had to do a bit more Dendo because we had choir practice after 6. We practiced for Sugiura san`s baptism on the following Saturday. Also during that day we met a cute grandma who cuts hair for super cheap and I kind of made my companion volunteer  to cut her hair so we could get inside and talk for a long time XD ... (she`s ok) Her daughter has the cutest 3 year old. I found out she used to have dinner with the missionaries like 15 years ago and would love to keep talking to them. not sure what happened... Maybe we`ll find out today! 

Tuesday was a huge finding day because we don't have any meetings or activities. I was really tired, but it was nice to just spend the day talking to as many people as I could. It rained a whole lot, but I was prepared! We also go to talk to the cute obaasan for a little bit and sing songs with her. She`s a member in our ward who is too sick to come to church, so she loves the missionaries over.

Wednesday was EIKAIWA! 3 new people came and this time we celebrated thanksgiving and made mashed potatoes (instant curtousy of nebeker choro`s mom) and ate together as s `class` it was very fun and people were able to speak English to us. 

Thursday was of course THANKSGIVING! ... but Japanese people don't celebrate Thanksgiving! So we were kindly invited to attend thanksgiving dinner at a members house in misawa! so we were able to eat at a dinner table, eat turkey, play quarkle and eat my favorite Pretzel jello. All in all, I don't think I could survive the year if I didnt eat thanksgiving food. So I`ll be set! The members in Misawa really are wonderful. (most of them are American, and kind of spoil missionaries) Our two nihonjin elders were shocked when they sat into the recliner chairs, it was funny.

Friday was ZTM (zone training meeting) so it was nice to learn a lot there and see everyone, it started snowing on the way back on the train so it was beautiful! Snow didn't stick in hachinohe though. Too windy and wet.... but super cold at the same time. 

Saturday was the baptism! Sugiura san is a bit shy, but she was able to feel the Spirit. Everyone did as well. It`s true as it says in the scriptures that our joy is multiplied when we see other`s successes in life and spiritual journeys. We sang "Abide With Me tis eventide. 

Today was Seminary`s last day. So we had an akashikai or testimony meeting and hear all of the youths thoughts. It made me think of my life when I was still in seminary and how I really miss it. Having a wonderful teacher who helps you as you read the scriptures truly is a wonderful blessing, and I regret a lot now not really studying as much as I should have. But we all have our weaknesses and as we strive to become better, the Lord will help us on our way. We just have to give all we have. 

Hope everyone`s week was great! Hope to hear from you soon! 

Nov 17

Enter the amazing Weekly letter!

 

Well, this week probably won't sound too amazing actually, not a whole lot happened haha. Hachinohe is REAAAaaaly quiet. After I left last week we as a district played the game of Life! Jinsei game! except it was Japanese style... I ended up having no kids, a dog, and gambling all my money on Pachinko to try and beat Miura shimai... didnt work out. AH WELL! and then we DENDO`d (street tracting) in freeeeeezing main street! I think people just took my flyer because I looked horribly cold. It got warmer after that day though thankfully. On Wednesday it was our DL`s birthday, so an eikaiwa student from Niigata came to our class... its about 10 hours away by bus! Apparently she is his number one fan. Teaching eikaiwa makes me realize how hard English is for Japanese speakers. All of our pronunciations are just... off. The word GIRL is impossible; and Vocabulary.

 

Thursday we were able to talk to one of our favorite PI`s. She loves to talk to missionaries and loves to help them with their Japanese problem... little to no interest in the gospel, but she feels that our messages are important. I shared with her the scripture about earthly treasures and heavenly treasures. After she read the scripture she pointed behind her and said `My two treasures are all I need` aka her kids. Aaaawwww. Someday she`ll get more interested in the gospel!

 

So last mainstreet time I was able to eat at Mister donuts... and they were celebrating a Charlie Brown Christmas! I got to eat a Snoopy donut and Woodstock donut! It was awesome! I'm more shocked that they actually knew what Woodstock`s name was. Usually they only know Snoopy. Anywho, that was my highlight of the week...

 

Every sunday we have a shuwa class, I`m getting SLooowly better but it can only go as far as my language skills with Japanese which is kind of lacking. It`s still fun though, plus I can sort of talk to all the deaf people in our branch!

 

Well that`s kind of all that happened this week. Our other shimai tachi have a baptism interview next week! I hope it goes alright... The last baptism in Hachinohe was about... 5 years ago so! I`ll be praying continually for them and for her. Thanksgiving is coming up! Please eat turkey for me! cuz... honestly you can`t eat that here.

 

I love you all! and can`t wait to hear from everyone again next week!

I love you all bye bye!

 

Money Shimai

Nov 11, 2013

That is tonikaku and anyway put together. Apparently it`s missionary slang. 

This week has been great!  Right now for Pday we are playing the game of life with everyone. And it is my turn to do email. haha, some things missionaries do for fun... 

So this week we did a lot of eikaiwa advertising again! and last eikaiwa we got 3 new students! a family! WHAT! that is so exciting news seriously. They said they were coming this week too. We`ll see if that promise stays true. Our new DL has a lot of ideas and we are doing our best to get the word out missionary style, while talking to people on the side. Literally the side of the street, people try to run, but we catch them eventually. People dont realize how fun it is to talk to missionaries, especially gaijin missionaries who try so hard just to say hello right. Anywho, 

The weather here has been crazy. SOOO windy, in fact there was a tornado watch in Aomori. And it is snowing and sleeting here. So fun. Thank you dad again. I love staying dry. So last week I designed the pamphlet board for our church. I cut out a giant temple I drew on silver paper and put a golden angel Moroni on the top. It looks... well, messy to me, but people love it. so i guess it`s ok. 

So now that it`s cold all the members are dropping off all sorts of warm clothes and blankets, so thankful to them. Sorry this email is a bit lame... Most of this week has just been me trying to talk to people on the streets and ending up totally failing Japanese, but making someone laugh, and sometimes handing out a good flyer. I love it though. You  meet some amazing people.

we have an investigator that was passed from the elders. She is pretty strong bhudist. but she enjoys listening to our thoughts on God and has her own prayer journal. She recognizing his blessings in her life, but says she wont ever get baptized... even though we haven`t tried to ask her yet. (the elders did) Someday ya? haha. She`ll be fine. 

Thank you everyone for your emails and letters! I read a pretty good section lately in the bible.... If only I wasnt the most forgetful person in the world. I`ll check my notes later... but mostly it goes about doing all your work lovingly and not grudgingly. Sometimes it feels a bit hard in Japan and your attitude goes down the drain sometimes, but if you really remember the purpose of being a missionary, or whatever calling you have, you feel a strong desire to improve and follow God. 

Stay well! see you next week!

-Money Shimai

OH PS! we had the children`s program this week! there was a total of 3 kids. XD haha, the missionaries helped out a bit and I shared a story about Baptism... (little Nathan`s actually.) Tell him to never forget his baptism experience Like I did. ahaha, well, almost forgot everyone. I remembered the feeling of the spirit... and the scriptures I got. (still using them) and my brother XD I love you brother! Have a good week!  

Nov 3, 2013

Heeeey, So something that`s new this week is that I have no time to email! OTL. Today we went on a bit of a trip to visit a member's farm so that my companion could see a horse. haha. She really loves horses. So we talked there, and no it`s Dendo time! SO! back to work. 

This week not much really happened other than we have a new DL and he is awesome. He is actually my old Zone Leader in Sendai. He is full of ideas and since this is his last area he is going full out on dendo. I hope we can help Hachinohe and live his vision. 

Which is through Eikaiwa! We pretty much teach English for free and have a fun time every week, but lately the people just stopped coming and since we have no investigators the town knows us as *those* kind of missionaries. So, we have some resurrecting to do. Hopefully we can get it done. 

Next week is Zone training meeting and I get to see a lot of my old MTC district because they all transferred up to Aomori Zone. As for the weather here... IT GOT SUNNY! what?! this has to be a joke or something. It was sooo cold before! Maybe it was just being nice for the new missionary that came to hachinohe. Soon the storms will hit, I`m sure. I hear it`s snowing in Utah. Lucky duckies. IN 青森 It gets about 9 feet... In Hachinohe maybe 2. Something to do with being so close to the coast. 

So in our last lessons with one of our investigators, she had a question about why God would let so many bad things happen to this world. For some answering this could be hard... However once we realize that Our Heavenly Father is a loving God, everything bad that could happen ALWAYS brings us hope. Whether it`s through our own growth, or a long trial that brings great results... even results that wont happen in this life. I don't know what the scripture is in English but... よろこんでなさい。Recently a lot of Japanese people have wondered this question. The Japanese culture really is different, but Japan is changing. Miracles are going to happen here. 

Thank you everyone for your letters and emails! Hopefully I can reply to everyone! 

ALSO! Nathan! thank you for the Halloween package! I will make great use of the cookie mix. Believe it or not... they don't really have cookies here XD hee hee

Till next week!

I love everyone! BYE!

October 30, 2013

To the rest of the world,

Aaaaahhhhh So much has happened in this past week and I don't even know where to start...I guess on the first day XD So on Monday it was our branch president`s birthday! so we all prepared a great message and drove to his house. We sang the song *ai ai* which means love... and a kind of monkey. ... we also sang love is spoken here, but we couldn't really find the first note so we were off key the whole time and sounded terrible. I think he appreciated that the most. Earlier that same day we had a birthday lunch for elder Keshino, and invited a very odd old investigator... Apparently she is German and doesn't speak Japanese. She always where a wig and sunglasses and tries to predict the future for everyone. So that was a wonderful time as well. hee hee... 

The next day we went to Misawa for a District meeting. Yim shimai and I got to teach, then after we had a district lunch at the Base... And I ate SUBWAY! and raspberry cheesecake cookies! All the gaijins tried to order food, but they just complained that there was waaay too much and only filled their cups half way. It was awesome. 

The next day we were able to go to Eikaiwa... unfortunately all of our students are gone except one man who has come every week for 23 years D; So we really need to try to bring in more students... or something? On Wednesday we also have a shuwa class so that the missionaries can learn how to communicate with some of the members. It`s way fun! But It`s rather hard for me, because I haven`t really tried to Learn ASL at all. 

on Thursday we thought it was going to be a pretty slow day, but while housing in a nice quiet town we were able to talk to one nice 30　year old lady. She was very interested in the restoration of the church, and after we taught her what was different about our church, she invited us to go to her apartment to teach her more! She hasn't been 100 percent sure God really exists so we taught her about prayer, and she honestly really wanted to pray and find out! I hope she got an answer, we will be speaking to her tomorrow. This is our first investigator we have found on our own efforts, so It`s very excited! but also a bit scary as well. What we are doing really is the Lord`s work and he expects us to do the best we can, and with love and care, so that we can be able to teach with the spirit. 

On Fri/sat we had a huge Halloween party... which honestly wasn't that prepared at all. Because we are missionaries we planned it rather quickly and couldn't get the members too much involved... but our branch president being amazing helped us at the last minute to make some great decorations. I was able to invite one of the referrals we received from a member. The referral and her 8 friends and kids came! they had a blast and said that everyone had fun. Hopefully we can re invite them to more activities. 

For Halloween of course I was a .... well... pirate. Because it takes a good 5 minutes to prepare. XD haha. I got no candy though. Guess that`s the only difference. Many Japanese people don't really celebrate Halloween, they just love it for the decorations and theme. They aren't really sure why Americans celebrate it either. (they don't really like candy either so...) 

On Sunday the missionaries sang a great arrangement of I am a child of God and called to serve. I also remembered that I was asked to give a talk in church and prepared one during the day... OTL haha... I forget a lot of things. But it turned out great! and I only messed up a few times with Japanese. 

Speaking of Japanese, Its hard to think I'm getting better... I'm probably not, but honestly I must be or else things would be a lot harder! I`ll keep studying...

So today is transfers. I'm staying, our District leader is leaving. Which is a bit upsetting... but he`s been here for 5 transfers. We`ll be getting my old Zone leader from Sendai as a district leader. 

sorry for the typos! everything is great here! It`s getting cold... but today was actually sunny! I've noticed this week that if you really do just work, God will put you in other people paths... He will honestly make everything turn out just fine. D C 123;17? I think Hopefully. I don't have my scriptures with me at the second, and I'm out of time...

I love everyone! I pray for you always. Have a good week! 

-Money Shimai

October 16, 2013

To the fam:

Hello everyone! I hope Conference was great for everyone. I finally got to watch it with all the gaijin senkyoshi here in Hachinohe. We actually saw the Sunday session first because we only had one DVD. :3 but that`s ok! I`m pretty sure General Conference is like an energy drink for missionaries. After we heard all the great talks everyone`s energy just shot through the roof. During conference I think we all learned something for ourselves, families or friends. Whatever we learned or relearned can only become helpful to us if we apply it. Again, Watching general conference and hearing what goes on is just not enough. That makes me kind of kick my old self. I remembered how when I was young I didn`t like watching all the sessions. Let alone one for 2 hours! What was I thinking. What we do in our lives, what choices we make, greatly influence our future. For better or for worse, it still happens. But one thing that gives me the greatest happiness is knowing that because my family centered it`s life around the gospel, and around Jesus Christ, I too understand the blessings, and purposes of Commandments, The truth that Jesus is our Savior, and that I am a child of God. As we feed ourselves more spiritually, exercise faith we become an overall better person, and can resist the horrible temptations of Satan and the world. 

Remember what makes you happy, and what has blessed you. Even though the world is a bit nasty at the moment, our families can be safe and warm. 

Other than Conference this week not a whole lot happened. Of course I was still housing, finding, streeting, riding some trains, and of course Studying. Though what I think changed the most this week was the sun. THE SUN! It rained a TON last week and the wind was about 1000 mph. Hee hee, guess I`ll give you something other than a weather check. I`m learning Shuwa better! Japanese sign language. Can`t wait to come back to America and try to talk to all the ASL people out there. Will probably confuse them. 

Since Yamanaka Kaicho realized I could also draw on Photoshop as well, he got me to design a poster for an upcoming halloween party the church is holding! No pressure. That man loves Talent dendo. I:ll send you a pic of it. Not too great, but I got to draw on a tablet and everything! just like the good old times! then i remembered how hurt my back gets after drawing :U 

Well! wish me luck next week! My Daughter is going to be leading for the whole week, so I suppose i wont need too much luck. She`s honestly a wonderful leader all ready and i have no reason to fret. 

Have a good week! I promise I`ll respond better soon. Time was a bit hard today. 

I love everyone!