Fwd: 1st Transfer Week 5

From: Lindsay Sanders <lindsay.sanders@myldsmail.net>

Date: November 23, 2014 8:51:22 PM MST

Subject: 1st Transfer Week 5

Konnichiwa! Sorry I was confused about what was going on with P-Days. I have a P-Day today and again on SATURDAY, so if you email me again by Friday night y`all would be great :) I will not have P-Day at all next week. Sorry, that`s just how it works I guess. I get to go to the temple on Saturday though, so I am super excited! 

This week was awesome! Last P-Day we went to the mall and ate some pizza (Japanese pizza is crazy... I had shrimp and corn pizza with mayonnaise instead of sauce... they had normal pizza too, no worries!) and we found an aweosme little thrift store where everything is less than $5. I got a sweater because it`s getting pretty cold! 

Yesterday we finalized all the plans for Yamaguchi san`s baptism! He passed his interview and we have a really nice program planned. He will be baptized next Sunday before church!　WEARESOEXCITED!　Nelson Shimai and I will be singing... something. We are having a really hard time deciding what to sing.

In my district, we have 1 set of Elders- Elder Fender and Elder Needs. Elder Fender is the District leader and he is THE BEST. and he has really bright red hair. Elder Needs grew up in all kinds of cool places around the world and likes snowboarding. Somehow, they have found 3 Chinese investigators in the past couple weeks, so we`re all learning some Chinese :) and then Elder Cascardi`s parents are mission presidents in Brazil... IDK what mission. But he and his companion Elder Sugimoto are teaching a Brazilian so I get to use the Portuguese I learned from Elder Soares at the MTC! YAY! I love learning all these languages! My Japanese has gotten way better. I still speak simply, but I am getting lots more comfortable just speaking.

This week I `celebrated` 3 months of being a missionary. We got to wear jeans while we helped Manami Shimai clean her house. It was a blast! We helped her move furniture and stuff around then cleaned her floor because she is PREGNANT! She is going to have the cutest baby ever. She is always willing to come and joint for our lessons.  I am so thankful for her!

This week, we did a Junkai... which means splits with the Sister Training leaders. I went with Sister Owada who is a NIHONJIN. (Japanese). I was so worried because my language is so simple right now, and I knew there would be a huge communication gap. But you know what? It was so fun! We went streeting and taught a lesson. I love her so much! We also found a huge hill and decided we`d rather take the long way then try and ride up it......... I`ll send a picture. I am so excited to have a new friend!

This week at a member`s house, I ate sushi, tofu with flish flakes, Mochi filled with pickled plums, and Mugicha (it is a tea made from wheat, so it`s okay to drink). The Sushi was good. Sister Nelson said `I`m full, so can I take the mochi home and eat it?` which means that she really just didn`t want to eat it.... but she said that BEFORE me, so I HAD TO eat it in order to be polite. It was NASTY. THat`s the first thing I`ve tried that has made me almost throw up. Haha Sister nelson really is a good companion other than that ;)

This week in my studies, I found Alma 36:24-25 Yea, and from that time even until now, I have labored without ceasing, that I might bring souls unto repentance; that I might bring them to taste of the exceeding joy of which I did taste; that they might also be born of God, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. Yea, and now behold, O my son, the Lord doth give me exceedingly great joy in the fruit of my labors;

Being a missionary brings me such great joy! I get to see people change their lives for the better. Some people don`t believe that God is their Father who loves them. One of the only things I can talk about in detail is God`s love. I try to share that with everyone who will listen to me. 

Love you lots! Thanks for sending me talks to study! I am doing great! I AM SO EXCITED FOR CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Have a great week! 

--

Sanders Shimai

Star Wars, Graveyards, and Thanksgiving... chicken?

From: Lindsay Sanders <lindsay.sanders@myldsmail.net>

Date: November 16, 2014 8:58:06 PM MST

Subject: Star Wars, Graveyards, and Thanksgiving... chicken?

This is gonna be a short one, gomen nasai. But we had a great week!

On the 20th, I`ll have been in Japan for 1 month, and serving my mission for 3 months! We are planning on making a yummy dinner, but that`s about all the celebrating we have time for.

First, I have to tell you about the cutest investigator ever, YAMAGUCHI SAN! His lesson on Thursday I was so nervous for, because we had to find out how he was doing witht he Word of Wisdom. He comes into the church and basically struts past us to the classroom where our lessons are. We follow him and ask `Chie no Kotoba dou desu ka?` and He says in english, Smoking, bye bye, Alcohol, byebye, COFFEE.... bye bye. Every day is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH he is doing so great! I can see the change in his face! He looks so happy. We are trying to decide if we move up his baptism date. We have started planning for it, and we will probably sing I heard Him Come... one of my favorites! He is the most prepared person. He is so willing to keep the commandments. On Sunday, he showed us his own ketsui (commitment) paper saying FROM THIS DAY ON... I WILL NEVER USE TOBACCO, ALOCOHOL, OR COFFEE BECAUSE I WANT TO BE SAVED. So cute! We cried. Both me and Sister Nelson are criers, haha!

Our other investigators are great! Yukari san is working on Reading the Book of Mormon every day, then Yamasaki san is... still deciding some things... but we went with her to visit her friend in the hospital, who turned out to be interested in our message! We want her to feel comfortable calling herself Christian. She has made a lot of progress in the last few weeks. 

This week it got super cold! But one day while we were riding our bikes, the school kids had just gotten out, and a group of boys starting yelling Herro, I rove you!!!!!! as we were riding past. SO FUNNY! Everyone tries to use their English when they talk to us.

We will be singing Christmas carols at Tenjin! That`s southern Japan`s equivalent of Times Square. Sister Nelson and I are in charge of it, but she goes home in 2 weeks, so after that it will be all me. Good thing I love music, right?

I overcame a big weakness of mine this week and I told myself to just TALK to people, be myself, and say what I know. I was able to contact 70 people this week, make appointments, and place lots of Book of Mormons to people who I think were actually interested. I just have to open my mouth and have faith!

I am so happy! Thanks everyone for your prayers and love! I am so thankful for it!!!!!!!!!

LOVE YOU ALL! Have a happy Thanksgiving!

-Sister Sanders

--

Sanders Shimai

Fwd: 1st Transfer Week 3

From: Lindsay Sanders <lindsay.sanders@myldsmail.net>

Date: November 9, 2014 10:06:07 PM MST

Subject: 1st Transfer Week 3

Wow. This week has been a blur. I`m glad I brought my journal with me right now or else I wouldn`t have a lot to talk about, haha! We have been so busy! We are always busy and genki!

This week I overcame a lot of my fears. Sister Nelson has been giving me a lot more responsibility, and I don`t feel qualified for a lot of it, but she makes me do it nayways and then it@s fine. FOr example, calling people, making appointments, doing hokoku`s (reports to my district leader), leading the way to certain places, picking areas to do housing, stopping people on the streets, and teaching lessons. It is so scary!!!!!!! My language is so simple, but I am able to do these things now. Sometimes I psych myself out and tell myself that I can`t do it, but then I think Sister Sanders, WHERE IS YOUR FAITH? If God needs you to stop that woman and give her a Book of Mormon, then He`s going to help you do it! I am learning a lot about having faith. My focus of personal study has been surrendering my will to the Lord`s, and also Change. If anyone has any thoughts, please send them to me! It`s been really cool to study.

We have seen a lot of miracles this week. Yamaguchi san (we asked if we can call him Yamaguchi Kyodai and he said yes!) has been without cigarettes and alcohol for 36 hours. That is the longest he`s been without it in 57 years is what he told us. We gave him the Word of Wisdom lesson on Saturday night, and he said Yes, I know that I need to keep this commandment in order to be baptized. He is such a kiinjin! Golden person! It has been hard for him. At church, he came up to Sister Nelson and said I know that I need to repent and keep the commandments... but it is HARD. Gah, it broke my heart. We are all praying for him though. I have never helped anyone overcome an addiction. We are relying completely on the Lord to know what to do. The Elders are helping a lot too. We taught him the Plan of Salvation, and showed him the 3 kingdoms of glory, and asked, which one do you want to go to? He said I want to go to the Celestial Kingdom, but I will probably never be good enough, so I`ll probably just go to this one *points to Terr. kingdom*. I almost started crying. We taught him about the Atonement. We taught him that he CAN live with Heavenly Father again, that, through Jesus Christ`s sacrifice, our sins can be washed away and we can become perfect. HIS FACE COMEPLETELY CHANGED. He asked Can such things really happen? Sister Nelson asked Do you think God loves you? He said Yes, I know He loves me. She said Then why wouldn`t He want you to come home to Him? It was amazing.

Our other investogators are doing great! Yukari san is thinking about baptism. She has a lot of struggles... but during a lesson she said I feel it. I feel God`s love for me. That was the first time I saw her smile! We are also teaching a mother and daughter. They are really interesting to teach. The mom drinks a lot, and the daughter is a little excited... like all the time, so we keep our lessons really simple. But they came to church and the lesson was about temples, and the mom leaned over and told me, what do i have to do in order to go inside God`s house? I said, well,t he first step is to stop drinking. She laughed and said Oh, well... I don`t have to go right now. It was funny, but we also know that she doesn`t want to change right now, which is fine. When she wants to change, the church will still be here! We also teach a Nepaljin named Aashrit. He speaks English, thank goodness. He has a lot of questions. This week, we brought his friend Nick, also Nepaljiin, and I taught the Restoration. They weren`t sure about it at first, but I told them the First Vision, and they could feel it. They are both coming to church this week. We have other investigators, but I don`t have time to talk about them. They each have their own trials and successes and I love all of them! I am so lucky to know them!

There is an Irish Sister and her son who come to our ward and they are the best. The son reminds me of the kid from How to Train Your Dragon. Sister Davidson HATES America, so she always tells us how bad it is... and we just have to sit there and listen and smile and say, Thank you. They are funny though.

I am learning Shuwa! Japanese Sign Language! It is so cool! Tsuchida Shimai is teaching us and it is the best. I will show you when I Skype you on Christmas! What`s crazy is we were at her house on Friday night, and ,learned it, then Saturday morning we were at the train station and saw two women doing it, so we were able to *talk* to them! 

On Saturday we also helped at the Mission Prep hosted in Fukuoka for Southern Japan. I took a Nihonjiin companion around (all by myself) and contacted people on a busy street. In the rain. I was so scared because I am still struggling witht eh language. but I prayed (a lot) and it was fine! My comp, Fujita Shimai is so sweet and she made me a paper crane.

Christmas is coming up, so all the stores are playing Christmas pop music. That`s about the extent of Christmas that they go to here. I am so excited for my first Christmas in Japan though!

I love you all! I am thankful for your prayers and love! I hope that you can understand just a fraction of how happy I am so be a missionary! I see miracles everyday. I get to help people everyday. Riding my bike through the rain and over hills isn`t as bad anymore, because I decided that I know why I am here. It`s not about me, it`s about doing the Lord`s work and I am so blessed! 

I know that this Church is true! I know that God loves YOU. Jesus Christ atoned for YOUR sins because He loves you too. If you ever wonder if you are loved, I challenge you to PRAY and you will know. I promise that you will feel peace and confirmation that God knows you. He loves you.

Minasan, ai shite imasu! Iesu Kirisuto wa watashitachi no Sukuinushi da to shitte imasu.

-Sanders Shimai

--

Sanders Shimai

Fwd: Fall

This week has been crazy and awesome! I want to apologize for the last few weeks. I have had NO TIME, but I am super busy doing the Lord`s work. I am super happy! Sister Nelson is the best. She is a great friend! She is on her last transfer, and loves to sing, and is super positive. SHe has been teaching me how to cook and how to survive in Japan. I am so thankful for her! We can harmonize when we sing hymns which is fun!

The members in my ward are uuuuuhmazing. They always want to help us and let me practice teaching lessons in Japanese. One lady was so cute, she said Come over anytime, even if it`s midnight! I would love to help you practice! The Sisters (me and Nelson Shimai) eat at a members house maybe twice a week,. They love the sisters here. They take care of us! 

I am getting used to biking- our apartment is at the top of a huge hill and this week I was finally able to make it to the top!!!!!!!! YAY! Milestones! We bike like 5 hours everyday. Plus Sister nelson is a good cook and makes lots of healthy food. I have lost about 5 pounds since being here. At the MTC, I didn`t gain any weight either.... so... that`s good I guess. We are really focussed on being healthy! The food is all so good though! Lots of vegetables and noodles and meat and fish! Most of it is super yummy. There are some things, like the octopus with shrimp stuffed inside was nasty, and then there`s a type of onko which is a dessert made of soybeans that is really gross. So I ate one and when the woman offered I take another one, I sneakily hid it in my bag and snuck it out. I promise that is the only time I will ever do that! It was gross though. 

I can find my way around to like 5 different places, but the streets are not numbered or have names, so it`s hard to find things with just an address. The steering wheels are on the opposite side. Everything is opposite basically. Traffic is decent. Here in the city, most people walk to ride bikes. I am super impressed with women who can wear high heels when they ride their bike, or really old men who can hold a bottle of beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other while they are biking. We avoid riding by them because they are known to crash into things. 

The language is hard, but it is super humbling. I am working like crazy. I feel myself improving everyday. The other missionaries say I have good Japanese for a bean, but I honestly have no idea if they are just being nice or not. I know that the Gift of Tongues is real though! I have felt help so many times!

We have about 10 investigators, but none of them are really able to meet on a regular basis. I`ll just tlak about a few... Miko lives in Russia, so we Skype teach her, but she is cool! She will be coming home for Christmas so we will meet her face to face! We are teaching a woman who has been less active for a long time, but has come back to church and is BACK. This woman`s testimony is on fire! We taught her about the Atonement. Her lesson was the first one that I felt like I could really help someone. I know that through the Atonement, we can let go of any guilt that we`ve been holding on to. 

We experienced a few miracles this week. One of them being that Elder Fender has been fasting from candy and sweets for the last 3 transfers of his mission to show Heavenly Father that he really wants to teach a family. On Fast Sunday, Nelson Shmai and I fasted for him to find a family. He didn`t know that we were doing that! That night, we got a call that HE FOUND A FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We made him a big plate of cookies! Another miracle is that we have been teaching Yamaguchi san, who struggles with smoking and drinking. The last few times we went to visit him, he`s been super drunk... so we brought the pristhood with us this lesson. He has read the Book of Mormon and knows that it is true! I got to ask him if he would like to be baptized by the end of this month... and HE SAID YES!!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited! Obviously he has a long way to go, but this is such a miracle! Baptisms are hard to get in this area. We are super blessed. THe Spirit was so strong in that lesson.

Also, if you are a sister, expect to be asked to sing at everything. I have done 3 performances since I`ve been here, have 10 in this next month, and we are planning Christmas stuff. I am so busy!

We teach Eikaiwa which is English class. It is lots of fun! Really nice people come.

We had Zone Training this week and received counsel from Kaicho. We have a lot of goals to work on!

I am almost out of time, but please ask questions!!!!!! I love being a misisonary so much! This is an amazing opportunity to serve the Lord!

I know that Christ lives. Everyone please watch the Because of Him video on LDS.org. That explains everything better than I could. But it is my testimony that, because He lives, we are able to live together with our families in forever happiness.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!

Shu ni tayoru shikanai desu. There is nothing but to Rely on the Lord.

Sanders Shimai

PS. Mom, look up the songs The Olive Tree and One Voice. I heard them at the MTC and they are beautiful! I think they are EFY songs or something??

Fwd: Hello

Sorry this is a day late! We had a Zone Training yesterday and we had to move PDay to today, so I hope you are waking up to a nice email! Things should be normal for the rest of this transfer, so you`ll get my email on the normal day!

I am sorry to hear about Brady- he is a great kid! I will pray for his family.

I am glad to hear that Jadyn had her baby and that you are loving your calling!

I don`t think you`ll recognize me when I get home. I have changed so much! My testimony has grown stronger and I have grown in so many ways... and it`s only been 2 weeks. I have seen miracles that have made me catch my breath. The Lord is so involved in this work. I am so blessed to be a missionary here in Japan! There is so much happening. I wish I had time to tell you about every single detail! Just know that I am so happy, and even when I have a bad day, I know that the Lord is helping me.

Japan is completely different. Haha I am still adjusting to how people talk and bowing every other second. We bike pretty much everywhere. In my area, everything is less than an hour away by bike, so we don`t need to use the train. In other areas, you use the train a lot more. I am on my bike whenever I need to get somewhere- our apartment is about 20 minutes away from the middle of town, so to get to the church or most members houses is about a 40 minute bike ride- I`m guessing about 5 hours worth of just bike riding a day? I am getting pretty strong and can make it up the bigger hills now! The people here are so fashionable. We try to talk to 30 people a day, which is easy because everyone walks everywhere!　Asia is so different. I really love it though. I like being in the big city, but it:s also fun to ride out to members houses because they live by the rice fields and mountains.

We are trying to reignite the dendo fire in our ward- to get the members excited about missionary work. We spend half our time doing less-active work, and it has taught me the importance of members helping us out.

One of our investigators is going to be baptized! I got to ask the big question! I said, in the simplest sentence there is, Yamaguchi san, baputesuma o ukette itadakimasu ka? which means, Mr. Y~, will you receive baptism? and he said HAI, itadakimasu! Which means YES!!!!! We are working with him to give up drinking and smoking, but his date is Nov 30th. It is a miracle. We are praying for him so much. We really wanted a baptism before Sister Nelson went home. 

I ate a whole octopus stuffed with a shrimp over rice with a lemon wedge. It was disgusting, but a member gave it to us, so I swallowed it with a smile. Most of the food is really good, but most of it looks like it`s still alive....... yeah.

I got a letter from Samantha this week! It was awesome! I will tell you when I get stuff. I sent you a letter last week! Since we live so close to the Mission Home, they give us mail whenever they see us (which is mulitple times a week) or it gets sent straight to the apartment. I am warm enough!! No worries! We have a heater and lots of blankets. It`s not super cold- just the wind while I`m biking at night is a little chilly. It has been raining though. It`s like someone turned on a waterfall showerhead above you, and it just follows you. I`m getting used to it though! 

I am finally used to riding my bike. My leg muscles are pretty impressive, haha! 

I am so happy! I love being a missionary! How is everything at home? I love you guys!

Love your missionary, Sister Sanders

-- Sanders Shimai