Snow in Sapporo!

 Hello!

   We had our first big snow fall in Sapporo! It's the beginning of winter and we are getting prepared by pulling out the scarves and gloves and snow boots and down jackets! This is going to be a fun last winter here! :)

   This week I got to go on splits with one of the STLs (Sister Training Leader). Me and Yoneda Shimai were able to see so many miracles that day! I was able to get a lot of good advice from her and I gained a lot more hope through her positive attitude and love. We met one women named Suzuki San. We met her on the street and were able to have a great conversation. She really loves learning about history and so we told her about the Book of Mormon and how it's a recorded history from the people in Ancient America. She got really interested and we were able to give her the Book of Mormon right there on the street. It was such a great testimony for me! Whenever we talk to people and get to know them, something they say will always relate to the gospel - which makes it easier to bring up the gospel in almost any conversation that we have. We were able to get her phone number and we will call her next week and try to make an appointment for next week!

   We also were able to meet with Oota San this week. She is still on track for being baptized in January. We had a Team-up on Wednesday and we tried to talk about moving her baptism. We feel like she is ready for baptism and so does the ward. She is basically a member, just hasn't been baptized yet. :) But she is still very set on getting baptized in January. So we will continue to teach her and continue preparing her for her baptism.

   Thank you for all your love and prayers! They are greatly appreciated!

   Have a wonderful week!

   Morrison Shimai

Snow!

 Jazmyne with Yoneda Shimai

Saigo Made Taeshinobu! - - Endure to the End!

Hello everyone!

   Hope you are all enjoying your Fall weather, because we have finally hit Winter here. Last Monday was the first time it snowed and it is getting so cold here. Even though there isn't really a lot of snow on the ground I've wearing my snow boots the past few days because it gets so cold at night that I like to keep my feet warm. :)

   This week was transfers! And I stayed in Shinkotoni with Yugawa Shimai! So happy about that! Me and Yugawa Shimai get along so well so I was really hoping that we would get to stay together for my last transfer. I can't believe I'm almost at the end! I feel like it was still only last week that I was getting ready to leave the MTC and finally head out to Japan! Man how fast time flies! But as we say in Japan: saigo made taeshinobu! Endure to the End. And that is exactly what I'm going to do! I'm so ready to work and I'm ready to work hard! We are going to have a great last transfer!

   Right now we're kind of in a rough situation because we really don't have any investigators in this area right now, well except for Oota San (and yes she is still doing great). So me and Yugawa Shimai are just going to hit the pavement and really get to work. We are already seeing so many miracles for our efforts. This past weekend, we met 2 really nice people. One of them we met while housing and she wasn't interested in the gospel she did show a lot of interest in our Free English Class, so we were able to get her phone number and she said that she would try to come next week. Then while we were out contacting people on the street yesterday, the first girl we stopped was super nice and we talked with her for about 10 minutes. Not sure how much interest she has in the gospel right now but we were able to get her phone number and made an appointment to call her again.

   The best part of the week was meeting with Ooshima Kyoudai (kyoudai=brother). He is a recent convert from about 2 months ago. But sadly right after he got baptized the missionaries who taught him got transferred and then he just stopped coming to church. So me, Hojo shimai, and Yugawa Shimai went to go and see him on Monday and we were able to meet him and we found out that he had thrown away his Book of Mormon. So we gave him a new copy and had a good conversation with him. He's been having a rough time recently because he's been looking for a job for a few years now and he found one about a month ago, but then it fell through just last week. 

   He hadn't met either of the new Elders, so we decided that all 4 of us would go and introduce the Elders to him. So we all went to his apartment last night. We knew he was home, but he wouldn't answer the door. So Goddard Choro (being the bold but loving missionary that he is) just starts yelling his name from outside the apartment and saying he wants to talk to him. And it works! He comes outside and Goddard Choro asks him if we can come in and he lets us in! Ooshima Kyoudai is really just a sweet, innocent man who has been having a rough time. Before we went to his house I asked Goddard Choro what the plan was and he simply told me that the plan is that we are going to show him love. And that's exactly what we did. He's so lonely and he really just needs friends, and he needs to be shown love. We were able to talk to him and help him to realize that he has friends at church who miss him and want to talk to him. We were able to commit him to come to church this next Sunday.

   

Everyone needs love!! That is the one thing that I have really come to understand this last transfer. No matter who you are or what your situation is, everyone needs help sometimes and everyone needs love. Heavenly Father is able to show his love best through other people. So I want to make sure this last transfer that I never miss an opportunity to show someone love and kindness.

   

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love you lots!!

Morrison Shmai

 Our District

KFC Santa - Getting in the Christmas spirit

 Good-bye to Holt Shimai - Homeward Bound

 Bastow Shimai at Transfers

 Nacho Party

Endure to the End!

I Love to see the Temple, even if under construction!

Hello everyone!

   This week was good! This week with Oota San we focused on talking about the temple. So we had a really good lesson about the temple and why the temple was so important on Saturday. Then on Sunday a member took us all to the temple site! It was such a cool experience for us and for Oota San. I think it's hard for her to imagine what the temple will look like or what it will be like to go inside, but I think she really enjoyed going. There is just a different kind of spirit there, and I think she could feel it. :) 

   This week we also had a Halloween party at our Free English Class. It was so fun! In Japan people don't actually celebrate Halloween, so we were explaining to everyone how you dress up and go door to door asking for candy. They just thought that was so weird and dangerous! Pretty funny! We played some fun games and we even had a pinata! But did you know that they don't have pinatas in Japan? Well they don't... So me and Yugawa Shimai put our brains together and we made one! It was really not fancy at all, but I think it turned out ok. The only problem was that I think we put too much tape on it, so it was really hard to break! It was my first time making a pinata people! Give me a break! haha :) We had quite a few young people show up, so there ended up being about 25 people there! So fun!

   Also this week we really were focusing on showing the members more love and how grateful we are for them. We went and visited about half of the members during the week, and it really payed off, because we ended up getting 3 referrals! We were so excited about that! I know that we can't do this work without the help of the members, and I'm so grateful for the help that they have given us! I know that the missionaries are always grateful for everything the members do. Whether it's a referral, an opportunity to serve, or just a nice conversation. Please never pass up an opportunity to let the missionaries help you either. We love to help, and we want to! No matter what it is. When we are truly united as missionaries and member missionaries, I know that this Work of Salvation will go forward with greater speed than it ever has before!

Have a lovely week!

Love you all!

Morrison Shimai

 Homemade Piñata

 English Class Halloween Party

 Sapporo Temple Construction site

Disappointments and Blessings

Hi everyone!

   Well things here are going good, except for the fact that we had so many appointments for the week and day by day all of them fell through. I was so mad and frustrated. At the beginning of the week, I felt like we did everything we could to make sure that we would be able to use our time most effectively so that we could get lots of lessons and lots of contacts. But then I felt like Satan was really working hard on us and on our appointments and everything got cancelled. I just kept asking myself, why? I know that sometimes we have really really good weeks, but at the same time sometimes we have really really bad weeks. And I know that as long as we tried our best, and then if things didn't work out perfectly and people use their agency and chose not to listen to us, then we can't say that it was our fault. Everyone has the opportunity to choose, but it is up to us to do all we can to help them make the correct choice.

   But we did have a really good lesson with Oota San on Wednesday! She said in the past that she has never felt the spirit, and every single time we ask her what she feels when she prays, or reads scriptures how she feels. She always says that she doesn't feel anything. But we watched the Finding Faith in Christ movie, and we had a really good discussion about how we should always be improving and striving to be more Christ-like in our lives. At the end of the lesson she said that she had a really good feeling inside and so we pointed out that that is the Spirit telling her that everything she is learning is true. It was a really amazing experience. 

   One other highlight of the week. This week we had stake conference, and Shinoro is in the same stake as Shinkotoni! Yep that's right! I got to see Endo family! Before this transfer I had been praying so hard to Heavenly Father that I would be able to see them one last time before I went home. I was hoping the answer to that prayer would mean me getting to back to Shinoro, but God truly does work in mysterious ways. I didn't get to go to Shinoro, but I got to go to a place that was in the same stake so that I would be able to meet them one more time. I know Heavenly Father listens to our prayers. We may not get the answer in the way we expect or want, but he truly knows what is best for us and that is how he answers us!

Love you all! Have a wonderful week! Don't catch a cold! :)

Morrison Shimai

The Endo Family

Bowling with Call Shimai and Dialogue Choro

Zone Activity - with Malmrose Shimai

It is great having Investigators!

Hello everyone!

   This week has been good! We found 2 new investigators! The first one is Yoshida San. I think I mentioned her in my last email. We first met her on the street about 1 1/2 weeks ago. We talked with her a little bit about Jesus Christ and when we asked her if we could meet again, she gave us her phone number and her address and we were able to make an appointment for Tuesday. So we went to the appointment and she remembered us! Yes that's a good sign! :)  We were there for a long time and she just told us about her whole life basically. She really loves to talk, but she is so smart and so knowledgeable about the world. She lives by herself, oh she does have the cutest little dog I have ever seen! She used to be part of a religion called Sokagakai - which is a very strict Buddhist religion. She told us about how she never really believed it, but always thought that there was a God. We told her more about God and Jesus Christ and we ended up giving her a Book of Mormon. She took it and said that she was excited to read it! She really loves learning about other religions and so she says that she really wants to understand what we believe.

   The other new investigator is Shintani San. We met her while we were out housing on Monday night. She's about 30 years old, she's married and has 2 young sons (age 0 and 7) - super cute!! So when we first met her, she was standing outside of her house and she was smoking. I was a little hesitant to talk to her at first, but I just went right up to her and starting telling her what we believe. She didn't tell us to go away so I just kept talking. Basically she has never even thought about religion before, but when I asked her if we could come back, she said yes! So we went back again on Friday and talked with her for about 30 minutes about the Plan of Salvation and about Jesus Christ. Most people don't really understand what we are talking about, so I'm not sure that she really understood it, but she was willing to take a pamphlet and she said we could come back again! 

   One of our themes for the transfer is to 'Find the Elect'. And I know there there are people for us to find here. They may not know that they are looking for something more in their life, but once they hear it, they will realize that we have something good, and we want to share it with them!

Have a wonderful week!

Love you all!

Morrison Shimai

President and Sister Nakastuka

 Waiting for the subway

Conference Weekend

Hello Everyone!

  So this past weekend we had the opportunity to watch general conference!  During the conference the prophet, all of the apostles as well as other leaders speak to us. This conference was so uplifting and hopeful. Some of the main topics that were spoken about was listening to and heeding the prophet's council. As well as finding out truth for ourselves through personal revelation from God.  As I listened to Thomas S. Monson I could just feel the Holy Ghost so strong, confirming to me that he truly is a prophet of God. I know that when he gives us council and direction, it is coming directly from the Lord.  However we also have a responsibility to find truth out for ourselves. I really liked a talk given about how it's ok for us to have questions about the truth and to have the desire to find truth for ourselves, but we need to look to God and truly study his word in order to receive that confirmation of whether or not it is true.  I know this church is God's church here on the earth today, and while we may not understand or know everything, we do know that we have a loving God who is our Father. He is always watching over and helping us, during our times of question and times of success. His love for us will never change.

   This week we also met with a few investigators. Oota San is an investigator who has a baptismal date for January 31st. She prays everyday, reads the scriptures and she even comes to church every week. This week we talked about Service and Enduring to the End. She was able to relate the good feelings we get when doing service to the Spirit. She really has a great desire to continue studying so that she can understand the church doctrine more fully. We also met a great lady named Yoshida San. We met her on the street on Friday. We had a great conversation about religion and apparently she has met with missionaries from many different churches before. She is definitely searching for the truth and it was such a miracle to have met her! We have another appointment to meet her next week so hopefully that will go well! I just know there are lots of people for us to find this transfer and I'm so excited for the opportunity to be able to work in the Heart of Sapporo for the last little while of my mission! 

Thanks for everything!   Have a wonderful week!

   

 Morrison Shimai

In Sapporo

With new companions

Dinner at Tony Roma's

Hello Kitty!

Transferred!

Hello everyone! 

   So I finally made it to the city of Sapporo for the last few months of my mission! i never thought it would happen. but here I am livin' big in the big city! I was so shocked! But I know this transfer is going to be so much fun!!

   It was so hard to leave Hakodate! It was especially sad because me and Holt Shimai both got transferred out! ;( We cried a lot. We had to pass all of our investigators to the other shimai. But I know that they are all in good hands and Oonishi san still has a baptismal date so that is still super exciting! Please keep praying for her!

   So now I'm in Shinkotoni with Hojo Shimai and Yugawa Shimai. Yay a trio companionship! It's going to be so fun and I'm really excited. Yugawa Shimai is full Japanese, but she has lived in Hawaii all her life, but her Japanese is actually really good. Hojo Shimai is from Nagoya and she got to Japan the transfer after I got here, she doesn't speak any English but she is so funny! Sorry this is such a short letter, but I will be sure to tell you more about the area and the investigators and the members next week!!

   Love you all!!  Thanks for everything!   Have a wonderful week!!!

   

   Morrison Shimai

Last Week in Hakodate

 With Onishi San