サンダーズ姉妹より
Monday, March 7, 2016
More pics
At Hamazushi with a smoker friend
Visited Nishino fam with the Sasaki's
Me and Teru chan
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Pictures
Pretty flowers
Junkai with this cute girl! Fritchen Shimai!
Delicious dinner by Watakabe Shimai
サンダーズ姉妹より
Transfer 12 Week 6
Transfer 12 Last Week! Transfer Week!
Woah, this is my last email from the mission field! This is so weird.
I can't believe it. I apologize for my letter last week. I had to
email pictures home :)
We had snow again this week! That was a surprise! We were riding home
on Monday and it had been raining, but then everything turned white
and I looked like a snowman by the time we made it home. But then a
few days later it was hot and I didn't even need a coat! Japan's
weather is bipolar sometimes.
Today we get our transfer calls. Fujikawa Shimai is taking us to
Akiyoshidou which has a famous cave, and then she is taking us
shopping and then we will eat shabu shabu :) the PERFECT last pday!
I wanted to say more about the concert we did last week! It was so
fun! The Elders from Yamaguchi came and helped us out. We sang about
11 songs, and then Kumiko, who is a YSA who is incredibly talented,
played a song on the piano that she has been working on. It was time
for the concert to start and no one had come! I was so sad! I felt
awful because the elders had to take a train and it was expensive. We
waited a few more minutes and finally one person came, so we started.
As we went through the night, a few more people came. We found out
that next Sunday that everyone had gotten sick. Our ward mission
leader Matsumoto Kyoudai invited one of his friends from work-
moriyama san, a middle aged woman and her daughter. They have come to
several activities before. Her husband passed away last year from
cancer, and she is really looking for answers and peace. When the
concert was over, she came up to me and I asked if I could give her a
hug. She broke into sobs and I stood there holding her for a few
minutes. After she calmed down, she said thank you. She couldn't
really speak. I promised her that God loved her and wants to help her.
She looked around at the basically empty room and said "I understand
that now. If he did all of this for me, then he probably does love
me". This work is so much more than knocking on doors. It is about the
people you serve and helping them to feel God's love!
Lots of members invited us over for dinner and such. So much for
trying to come home skinny ;) It was so fun! I even learned how to
make Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (which is my favorite!!!) from the
Sasaki family. I cried so hard after I said goodbye to them! I really
really love my Ube family. They have all been so kind and supportive.
I have met so many amazing members who are great examples to me. I am
so lucky to have served in this area!
Sunday morning we had a surprise. My companion woke up and her face
was swollen and she wasn't feeling well. Then her nose started
bleeding, so we decided to take her to the hospital. They told her she
could have the flu, or it could just be a cold. She just got some
medicine, and we went to church. She was feeling awful, and I told her
we should go home to let her rest, but she wouldn't go and got really
mad at me. I didn't really care though, so I asked a few brothers in
the ward to give her a blessing and she refused a few times, but we
convinced her to receive a blessing. After the blessing, she said she
immediately felt better. Her eyes looked better and the swelling went
down almost immediately. It was the first time she received a blessing
for healing, and all day she said "Wow, the priesthood is cool!" Even
though she felt better, she wasn't doing too great. I did make her go
home and rest after church though. Cool miracle!
Other than that, We have been visiting tons of people. I have a
feeling this area is going to explode!! So exciting! The less active
we have been working with gave us a referral, so Komatsu Shimai will
visit them with her new companion.
I realized I haven't said much about my ai suru doryo! My companion,
Komatsu Shimai is awesome! She is from Kyoto. She is fluent in
English, and is always asking me to teach her new things. She speaks
to me in English, and I usually speak to her in Japanese... It is
really fun. She studied nursing before her mission, and wants to be a
midwife. She is the same age as me:) She also LOVES American music!
She knows Coldplay and all my favorites. We have a shared love for One
Direction! We are very different, but I finally feel like we have
learned how to work with each other. She is very strict and harsh and
such a powerful, bold missionary! She says my personality is "soft",
whatever that means. I love her though. We laugh all the time :) She
is an amazing missionary. She works so hard. She never rests! Even
when we had to go to the hospital she asked me to give her her iPad so
she could update the area book. I said NO and made her rest :)
お疲れちゃん。I am grateful for her example and I am confident in handing
this area over to her. She will do a great job! It has been so fun to
learn from her.
Funny quotes from this week:
On P-day, running up the stairs so we could email, my companion says
"Sanders Shimai, I have never seen you run before!"
At District Meeting, an elder looks at me and says "You're a
dinosaur!!" I just said "Thanks."
During dinner, my companion randomly asks "Where can I go in order to
sing with a black person?"
Yasuko san's lesson was amazing. We finished teaching her the
commandments, including the law of chastity. Easily one of the most
entertaining lessons of my life. We ask her if she had any concerns
with keeping that commandment, and all she does is say "I am 91 years
old. No, I have no concerns." And then SHE busted up laughing! How is
she so genki?! We finished the lesson, and I told her that I was
leaving this week. She gave me the biggest hug and said "Thank you for
teaching me... In a few weeks, I will be baptized and I can be with my
family forever. Thank you!" Yep. We both cried. She is one of my
eternal friends. We both had tears in our eyes, and she said "I want
to see you and your family in Hi no Sakae (Celestial Kingdom)!!" and
she made me promise to find her there. I had been doing so well with
not crying until then... Oh well! She has blessed my life in many
ways. It is really hard to say goodbye to people you might not ever
get to see again. Saying goodbye to my family was hard, but I knew I'd
be coming home to them. This is so much harder.
I love my mission! I am so Soooooooooooo sad I have to leave! What an
amazing experience this has been. My faith has grown so much! I feel
like my capacity to love has expanded. My testimony is stronger. I
have different priorities. I have learned that serving others makes
you happy. All those good things :)
I just want to end by saying I know that God lives! This Church is
true, and so is the Book of Mormon! Jesus Christ is our Savior.
Missions are THE BEST!
See you in a few days! 愛しています！
サンダーズ姉妹より
Sanders Shimai
Woah, this is my last email from the mission field! This is so weird.
I can't believe it. I apologize for my letter last week. I had to
email pictures home :)
We had snow again this week! That was a surprise! We were riding home
on Monday and it had been raining, but then everything turned white
and I looked like a snowman by the time we made it home. But then a
few days later it was hot and I didn't even need a coat! Japan's
weather is bipolar sometimes.
Today we get our transfer calls. Fujikawa Shimai is taking us to
Akiyoshidou which has a famous cave, and then she is taking us
shopping and then we will eat shabu shabu :) the PERFECT last pday!
I wanted to say more about the concert we did last week! It was so
fun! The Elders from Yamaguchi came and helped us out. We sang about
11 songs, and then Kumiko, who is a YSA who is incredibly talented,
played a song on the piano that she has been working on. It was time
for the concert to start and no one had come! I was so sad! I felt
awful because the elders had to take a train and it was expensive. We
waited a few more minutes and finally one person came, so we started.
As we went through the night, a few more people came. We found out
that next Sunday that everyone had gotten sick. Our ward mission
leader Matsumoto Kyoudai invited one of his friends from work-
moriyama san, a middle aged woman and her daughter. They have come to
several activities before. Her husband passed away last year from
cancer, and she is really looking for answers and peace. When the
concert was over, she came up to me and I asked if I could give her a
hug. She broke into sobs and I stood there holding her for a few
minutes. After she calmed down, she said thank you. She couldn't
really speak. I promised her that God loved her and wants to help her.
She looked around at the basically empty room and said "I understand
that now. If he did all of this for me, then he probably does love
me". This work is so much more than knocking on doors. It is about the
people you serve and helping them to feel God's love!
Lots of members invited us over for dinner and such. So much for
trying to come home skinny ;) It was so fun! I even learned how to
make Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (which is my favorite!!!) from the
Sasaki family. I cried so hard after I said goodbye to them! I really
really love my Ube family. They have all been so kind and supportive.
I have met so many amazing members who are great examples to me. I am
so lucky to have served in this area!
Sunday morning we had a surprise. My companion woke up and her face
was swollen and she wasn't feeling well. Then her nose started
bleeding, so we decided to take her to the hospital. They told her she
could have the flu, or it could just be a cold. She just got some
medicine, and we went to church. She was feeling awful, and I told her
we should go home to let her rest, but she wouldn't go and got really
mad at me. I didn't really care though, so I asked a few brothers in
the ward to give her a blessing and she refused a few times, but we
convinced her to receive a blessing. After the blessing, she said she
immediately felt better. Her eyes looked better and the swelling went
down almost immediately. It was the first time she received a blessing
for healing, and all day she said "Wow, the priesthood is cool!" Even
though she felt better, she wasn't doing too great. I did make her go
home and rest after church though. Cool miracle!
Other than that, We have been visiting tons of people. I have a
feeling this area is going to explode!! So exciting! The less active
we have been working with gave us a referral, so Komatsu Shimai will
visit them with her new companion.
I realized I haven't said much about my ai suru doryo! My companion,
Komatsu Shimai is awesome! She is from Kyoto. She is fluent in
English, and is always asking me to teach her new things. She speaks
to me in English, and I usually speak to her in Japanese... It is
really fun. She studied nursing before her mission, and wants to be a
midwife. She is the same age as me:) She also LOVES American music!
She knows Coldplay and all my favorites. We have a shared love for One
Direction! We are very different, but I finally feel like we have
learned how to work with each other. She is very strict and harsh and
such a powerful, bold missionary! She says my personality is "soft",
whatever that means. I love her though. We laugh all the time :) She
is an amazing missionary. She works so hard. She never rests! Even
when we had to go to the hospital she asked me to give her her iPad so
she could update the area book. I said NO and made her rest :)
お疲れちゃん。I am grateful for her example and I am confident in handing
this area over to her. She will do a great job! It has been so fun to
learn from her.
Funny quotes from this week:
On P-day, running up the stairs so we could email, my companion says
"Sanders Shimai, I have never seen you run before!"
At District Meeting, an elder looks at me and says "You're a
dinosaur!!" I just said "Thanks."
During dinner, my companion randomly asks "Where can I go in order to
sing with a black person?"
Yasuko san's lesson was amazing. We finished teaching her the
commandments, including the law of chastity. Easily one of the most
entertaining lessons of my life. We ask her if she had any concerns
with keeping that commandment, and all she does is say "I am 91 years
old. No, I have no concerns." And then SHE busted up laughing! How is
she so genki?! We finished the lesson, and I told her that I was
leaving this week. She gave me the biggest hug and said "Thank you for
teaching me... In a few weeks, I will be baptized and I can be with my
family forever. Thank you!" Yep. We both cried. She is one of my
eternal friends. We both had tears in our eyes, and she said "I want
to see you and your family in Hi no Sakae (Celestial Kingdom)!!" and
she made me promise to find her there. I had been doing so well with
not crying until then... Oh well! She has blessed my life in many
ways. It is really hard to say goodbye to people you might not ever
get to see again. Saying goodbye to my family was hard, but I knew I'd
be coming home to them. This is so much harder.
I love my mission! I am so Soooooooooooo sad I have to leave! What an
amazing experience this has been. My faith has grown so much! I feel
like my capacity to love has expanded. My testimony is stronger. I
have different priorities. I have learned that serving others makes
you happy. All those good things :)
I just want to end by saying I know that God lives! This Church is
true, and so is the Book of Mormon! Jesus Christ is our Savior.
Missions are THE BEST!
See you in a few days! 愛しています！
サンダーズ姉妹より
Sanders Shimai
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