Sanders Shimai in Japan: Fwd: End of week 4

From: Lindsay Sanders <lindsay.sanders@myldsmail.net>
Date: May 10, 2015 6:36:10 PM MST
Subject: End of week 4

Happy Mother's Day!!!
I love Mother's Day for selfish reasons.... I got to skype with my family today!
I am so thankful to get to see their faces and see how much my siblings have grown up. My parents look the same, haha!
They look good and happy and normal :) I am way excited to see them again at Christmas!

This week was Golden Week, which is kind of like Memorial Day where everything is closed and there are huge parties! We went to a Firework Festival! And a concert! It was waaaaay cool! We missed it, but there is a traditional game where you have a little net with wax paper and you try to catch as many goldfish as you can out of a big bucket... But if you rip your paper, then obviously you can't catch any more fish! There was also a concert where people dressed up like their favorite anime characters. It was way fun to hear real music though. At the end they blasted "sweet Home Alabama" and everyone was singing along. Strangest experience of my life, but it was fun. We went to visit Juina chan who was making hotdogs at the food station.

Junkai! Ogawa Shimai came and spent a few days with me and Layton Shimai while the STL's went up to Hiroshima to do exchanges with the other sisters. I loooooooooove Ogawa Shimai. She is my favorite Nihonjin. I also got to be a lot better friends with Layton Shimai. She is way cool. She is half Japanese and grew up in Nagoya, and now she lives in, wait for it... Layton Utah! I love her. She is really pushing me to learn more Japanese and be a better missionary!

Uchiyama Kyodai took us out to yakiniku, which is where they bring you raw meat and you have a little fire to cook it on. It is very delicious, but also very expensive. We felt like celebrities it was such a fancy place! The members are soooooo kind to us!

We met with Sakamura Kyodai, who returned home from the Sapporo mission about a month ago. He is soooooo cool! He is the best member missionary ever. He has been helping us so much. After he jointed for a lesson, we were asking him questions about his mission, and he gave us the best advice. I asked him how I can be an exactly obedient missionary who is focused on the work, while still having fun. I don't want to be super stiff. That's just not the kind of person I am. I haven't been able to find that balance of being completely focused and having fun every single day. And by fun, I don't mean disobedience! But you know how some people get suuuuper focused and they get too stressed...? Yep, that's me. I don't like the kind of missionary I am when I get into the "do or die" mode. I don't know anyone who likes that. Anyways, I have been focusing on becoming more Christlike. Sakamura Kyodai's advice is: decide NOW what kind of missionary (person) you want to be, and don't wait to start.

From that exact time, be that person that you want to be. So many times we want to start changing tomorrow, or next week, or maybe next year because that seems more convenient to us. If you need to repent, do it now. If you wait until tonight or tomorrow or next week you will probably forget. I know I do. If you have a change of heart, act on it now! Don't even wait 5 minutes! My mission (life) is obedience training. I signed up to be tested on how obedient I am willing to be to Heavenly Father. I didn't think it would be so hard! I realized how selfish and headstrong I am! I am trying to be more willing to submit to God's will, just like the Savior did.

You're probably thinking "yeah Sister Sanders, but it's hard to change!" I know. Believe me, I know. I am trying to change everyday. Helping other people try to change their lives for better has taught me one thing: as soon as you decide to change, and take that first step into a more Christlike life, it makes our Heavenly Father and Savior sooooo happy. He loves us more than we could ever know!

Imagine this: you give your little brother or sister a nice new car, because you know they need it. To get to school and work. How would you feel if they never even used it? If it just sat in the driveway for years and years? I would be pretty frustrated. Thankfully, our perfect older brother and Savior Jesus Christ does not get mad at us. He patiently waits for us to realize that we have this gift, the Atonement, waiting to be used... And then use it so we can get to where we need to go. I know, because I have felt it, that God loves us infinitely and unconditionally. No matter who we are or who we were, He is always waiting with open arms. We are all just travelers trying to make it home to our loving eternal Father. Christ shows us the way to get there.

One of my favorite talks from General conference is "the Music of the Gospel" by Elder Wilford W. Andersen. I love the way he relates music to the gospel. It really struck a chord with me. Hahaha! Ha.... Yeah I'm not funny, sorry. Anyways, the point of the talk is: we can learn correct dance steps, and do those our whole lives, but it is not until we hear the music that it becomes beautiful. How many of us say prayers just to be seen by our kids or spouses? (Or in my case, my companions). Are we doing the dance steps to fit in with those dancing around us? Or does the music we hear cause us to move to the beat of the gospel? It's all dependent on you hearing the music. Read the talk if you get a chance, it's the best!

I heard there are some awesome Sister missionaries in my ward at home! Please give them my love and let them know I pray for them every day! I can't wait to be a member missionary when I get home so I can help them out! I couldn't be a missionary without the help of members. Especially with Japanese investigators. I don't know if this is how it is in America, but like if you don't have a member at your lesson, the investigator doesn't progress. The members are always willing to help us. They have great faith. There is a Sister who drives for an hour to pick us up, and then another hour to our lesson. She helps us with the lesson, takes us out to lunch, then drives the two hours home. She is amazing. And she offers to do it. Geez, I certainly never offered to do something like that for the missionaries. My perspective has completely changed!

I know that this Church is true! I know that God loves us. That is my testimony.