We Love to Teach!!

Hello all!!

 So this week was good!!! The beginning of the week started out just too perfect! It was truly the beginning of a miracle week! On Monday night we were out dendoing and we weren't able to meet with an NA (non-active), she ended up not being home when we went to visit her. So after we were trying to figure out what to do, go housing, call some people, try to see another NA. By this time it was about 7:30 at night and so Gibbs Shimai says "why don't we try to go visit Ayana Chan?" Side note* she is one of our investigators who has a baptismal date for the middle of May and we have had a really hard time getting a hold of her and haven't been able to meet with her at all so far this transfer. So we decided to pray about it and we were just pleading with Heavenly Father that we would be able to meet with her. So we go to her apartment and she is home!! She invites us in and she was really excited to see us. She tells us that she will be moving on Sunday (yesterday). So it was a little miracle that we were able to meet her one more time before she moved! Luckily she will still be living in Muroran so we'll continue to teach her! Super exciting!

   Ok and then on Wednesday we went to yama no ue (top of the mountain). Literally it's like this tiny part of the city at the top of this huge mountain. Really weird I know! :) We tried to meet some people, but no one was home, so we decided to do some housing. And right before we started housing Gibbs Shimai said, "I don't want to do finding anymore! I want to actually teach people!" And then I said "Me too! We really need to make an appointment and find strong investigators."  I truly think the Lord heard our sincere plea to teach people, because the first house we knocked on a lady answered the door. She was a young mom and we started teaching her about the importance of families. And she kept listening for a good 5 min! So Gibbs Shimai asked her if she would be interested in hearing more about our message and she says yes! Then I asked her if there was another time we could come back when she's not busy. And she was like, "well how long is your message?". So we say "well about 30 min". And she says "ok I have time let me just go get my baby and you can teach me now". And as soon as she went into the other room, me and Gibbs Shimai just look at each other and we both say, "we're going to teach a lesson!!" So we quickly talked about what we were going to teach and we stayed at her house for almost an hour teaching her about the Plan of Salvation and then we introduced the Book of Mormon and we gave it to her and she took it!!!!  It was a really exciting day! We made an appointment to meet her on Tuesday again!!!! Her name is Kunimatsu San and she has a 4 month old baby boy named Ritora. So please keep her and her family in your prayers that we will be able to teach them!

Love you all and hope you have a great week!!!

Morrison Shimai 

Food Pictures - We rarely have dessert because it is so expensive.  Gibbs Shimai

"Bolt Man"  (Fun things we find in Japan)

Hills

Hello everyone!!!!

   So this week we climbed lots of hills and they were steep hills too! Muroran is a city right on the southern coast of Hokkaido and so we have lots of hills all over the area. They were so long and so hard, but we were so determined to get to the top and it was a little dangerous because there's still snow and ice on the ground.

   The most exciting part about the week is that I decided to take us to an area of Muroran that I've never been before. Since this area just opened for Shimai before I got here, we had been focusing a lot on the main part of town. But now that I have a new comp. and we've got time, we decided to go to the most southern part of the city right on the shore. It's only about a 20 min. train ride to this part of the city. It's the older part of Muroran so it has lots of older style buildings and lots of temples and shrines so that was interesting. But anyway the purpose in going down there was I wanted to meet 3 NAs (Not Active Members) that live down there. 

   Sadly our day started off a little discouraging. When we first got there the sun was out and it was warm, but after about 30 min. it started snowing really hard and it got really cold really fast. We started housing one area, and literally every single person shut the door on us. Usually people are pretty nice and will let us tell them who we are before they tell us 'no thank you', but this time as soon as we said that we were from America, they would shut the door. One lady started yelling at us to go away and get off her porch. It was so shocking and very out of the ordinary. And then we went to visit the 1st NA on our list and she told us that she was really busy and had no interest in the church anymore and so it would be better for us to leave and not come back because we would just be wasting our time. So by that point our hope was basically gone. I started feeling like we had just wasted our time by coming to this area.

   But the story doesn't end there. We went housing at the very top of one these steep hills. And one of the first doors we knocked on there was an Obaachan (grandma) that answered the door. She had white hair and she was probably 85 years old. I really love talking to old grandmas which is good because we find a lot of them. :) So we told her who we were and she started asking us all sorts of questions as to why we were here in Japan and what we had been doing before we came. We were talking to her about 30 min. We told her a little bit about our message and about God, but she told us that she was old and would never change. But then she started to tell us about how much she admired us. She told us how it was rare to see young people be so dedicated to something and actually have something to believe in. She told us that she thought we were doing a good thing and told us 'Good Luck'. Then before we left she gave us some bananas and crackers. (Such a grandma thing to do right??) She was so sweet and totally lifted our spirits. The rest of the day went pretty well and we were able to meet some nice people.

   Heavenly Father has to lead us up the biggest and tallest hill to find someone at the top to give us some hope. And it's the exact same way with life. We each have our own hills to climb and sometimes they might be covered in ice and you slip and fall down a little, but you keep going. You may not know what's at the top, but Heavenly Father knows. And he knows that you'll be happier once you get there. God truly knows each of us individually and he knows how to help us when we feel down. Each of us is his child and he will always be there to guide us up all of our hills.

Love you all!! Have a good week!

Morrison Shimai

Overlooking Muroran from a tall apartment building

Creative picture taking

The shore of Muroran (Pacific Ocean)

The Shore

Hills

Conquering the Hill!

Sixth Transfer - Still in Muroran

Konnichiwa!!!!

   Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes!! It was a good and super busy week! We had transfers this week! So on Sunday night we got a call from the APs telling us that Kuroki Shimai will be STL (Sister Training Leader - basically like a ZL, but they are only over the Shimai) this next trasfer.  Before we only had 2 STLs in the mission but now they are expanding it so there will now be 4 STLs.   So on Monday we made some vistis to investigators so Kuroki Shimai could say goodbye before she transfered to Sapporo.

   Then on Tuesday (my birthday) we had DTM in the morning (a training meeting for our whole district) and they sang to me, and gave me a little photo album where they had all written nice notes to me. It really was the sweetest birthday present! Then we went out to lunch, visited one member, and then we went to the train station to catch our train at 2:30. The best part was Wada San and her husband met us at the station to say goodbye! It was so sweet! We took the train to Sapporo and dropped Kuroki Shimai at the Honbu (Mission office). Then me and Baker Shimai and Oosugi Shimai went back to Atsubetsu area (still in Sapporo).

   On Wednesday I was on splits with the 3 of them in Atusbetsu. We had so much fun and we were able to meet a lot of people. Then on Thursday I met up with Gibbs Shimai (my new companion) and we came back to Muroran that night. I already love Gibbs Shimai! She is on her 7th transfer, so just one ahead of me! She is so kind and her Japanese is really good.  I'm so excited to work with her and have her meet all of our awesome investigators here in Muroran!!

Hope all is giong well!! Love you all!!!

Morrison Shimai

 A member from Obihiro (previous area) sent her a birthday cake!

 Together with members in Muroran celebrating a holiday called Hina Matsuri

Matching outfits with Kuroki Shimai on Jazmyne's birthday

Miracles and Perspectives

Hello everyone!!

This week was really great!! To start off, we made another baptismal date!!!!! For April 27th!!! Ahh so exciting!! 2 baptismal dates in 2 weeks!!! I couldn't ask for anything better!

So this baptismal date we just made is with a lady named Kasai San. She's in her early 30's and she lives in a little apartment with her dog named Kotarou.  He is so cute, he is a tiny little black pug! Every time we've gone over he always jumps on us and licks us! So cute!

Anyway, we met her for the 2nd time this week and we taught her about Jesus Christ and about who he is and why he is important. We talked about how he is our perfect example and how we should always strive to follow him. So then we started explaining how Jesus Christ was baptized and how it's important for us to be baptized and the we extended the baptismal invite and she said YES!!!! Then at the end of the lesson we asked her if she had any questions and she was like "yea, I know that in some churches they have prayer, but do you guys do that in your church?" Me and Kuroki Shimai just looked at each other with a face like "Wait she knows what prayer is??" Best moment ever! So of course we said yes and taught her how to pray. It was a really great lesson and I'm excited to continue to teach her!!! It's so amazing how prepared she is and we were so lucky to find her!

Sorry I don't have much time again today. An hour is really not enough time!! But as I'm coming up on my half way point I have really been reflecting on how I've changed in the past 9 months - and I really have changed and learned so much! And really it's all good changes, things that I want to continue to do even after my mission.  One thing I know for sure is that these last 9 months have been the hardest months of my whole life. It's been really fun and at times rewarding. There was a quote I heard and it goes something like this "Lots of people say their mission was the best 2 years of their life, but I disagree. My mission wasn't the best 2 years of my life, but it was the best 2 years FOR my life"   And I think this is the closest/ most true statement I can give at this point. It's already been the hardest, but also the greatest learning experience so far in my life. So I guess that's kind of my thoughts at this point. :)

Hope you all have a good week!!! Much love!!!

Morrison Shimai

We had a Baptism

Konnichiwa!!!!!!!

   Well I'll just tell you the big news first.... We had a baptism on Sunday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok now before you jump to conclusions, it wasn't one of our investigators, but it was an 8-year-old girl in the ward named Kamada Aoi chan. She is so cute and it was so exciting to be able to see my first baptism! :) The service was so nice. One of the ward members gave a talk about the importance of baptism. And then us missionaries and the YSAs in the ward sang "Love at Home". And she was baptized by her father. After she was confirmed a member, she bore her testimony. The good thing about when little kids talk, is that they're pretty easy to understand. And so she just bore the sweetest, most innocent testimony about the church and how she knows the Heavenly Father loves her. 

   The work here is moving along! Because of the efforts of past missionaries, now those converts' children are now entering into the covenant of baptism. And that family will bless future generations as well!! I'm so grateful for all the missionaries who have served here in Japan. And they may not know it now, but their efforts payed off. Because of their missionary efforts now there are families who can raise their children in the gospel and continue to share the gospel. 

   Ok I'm almost out of time, but I'll just tell you quickly about Ayana chan. She is one of our current investigators. She's 22 years-old and currently a college student studying to be a nurse. We met her at the end of January, but we haven't been able to meet with her recently because she had a big test at school, but she finished her test last week. We were able to meet with her on Saturday! We taught her about the Plan of Salvation and she seemed to really understand it all! She even said that she wants to go to the celestial kingdom so that she can live with her family forever. So at the end of the lesson we extended the baptismal commitment and she said yes!!!!!!! Ahhhhhh!!! We were so excited!!! So we scheduled her baptism for May 18th!! 

Love you all!!! Have a great week!!!

Morrison Shimai

 Baptism with Muroran Elders and Sisters

 Splits with the Sister Training Leaders

Young Single Adult's with the Elders and Sisters

Got my birthday package!

Too Much Time on the Train

Hello all!!

   This week was a little hectic for us!  We have been on so many trains this transfer - going back and forth from Sapporo for Music Practice and Zone Conferences and Zone Training Meetings. I'm honestly getting a little tired from all the travel time and waking up early and the reason why it's so tiring is that lately when we have been traveling, there are so many people on the train, that we end up standing the whole time (an hour and a half there and then an hour an a half back).   But it's been kind of fun being able to see everyone and we've had some really good workshops at all of these conferences!

   So because we were traveling so much this week, we were only able to meet with 2 of our investigators. We first met with Matsuda San. We've been teaching her and her son for almost 3 months now. I think I've mentioned this family before, but we found them through a Free Family English Program that we offer. So the deal is that we teach English for 30 min. and then we teach about our church for 30 min. And usually it's pretty hard to find families to teach so this program is a great way to get them interested. So we taught the first half of the Plan of Salvation this week. And I asked the mom what she thought the purpose of life is and she said, "well really I just want to be happy". And it caught me a little off guard because it was a great and perfect answer!! I feel like she really understands our message and I know that the gospel will really bless her and her son. The Program that we are doing with them only lasts 6 weeks, so I hope that even when the program is finished that they'll want to continue to learn more about this great gospel of happiness!

    One quick funny story from yesterday. So after church we went with the chorotachi (elders) to one of our investigator's houses. His name is Kakisaki San.  He's a college kid and so we wanted to pass him to the Elders so that the Elders could start teaching him. The lesson went pretty good, he's shy so it was a little awkward at some points, but he really has a lot of potential!   Then after, we were walking through the college campus and then we see a couple college guys making snowmen.  And one of them calls out to us in English, "Hello". So we answer and say hi. Then he asks us if we want to come make snowmen with them. And all four of us just look at each other and I'm thinking, what, who ever actually calls out to talk to us??   Haha!   But, then we just said ok! :)   So it was all of us missionaries (3 of us Americans) and about 5 Japanese college guys playing in the snow and making snowmen!   It was so fun! Haha.   At one point we were talking about how old we were and I asked one of the guys to guess my age and he says 40!   What?    Obviously he was joking, but I hope I don't actually look that old! hahaha.   We hung out with them for about 2 hours and we invited them to all come to Eikaiwa (free english class we teach) and they said they would try to come!! 

Snowman and the college students

They shovel the snow at the church each Sunday

Enjoying a little fun in the snow

Mini Snowman

Mini Snowman

Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival)

Konnichiwa!!!!

   This week started out pretty slow, but on Wednesday we got to go to Sapporo and go to the Yuki Matsuri (Snow festival)!!   It's very famous here in Japan and they have one every year! There are tons of ice/snow sculptures!  Some are small and some are really big! There was one that was like a castle and every 15 minutes or so they would play a light show. They would light up the sculpture and have music that went along with it! It was so cool! But it was really cold and by about 8 the snow was coming down pretty hard. So me and Kuroki Shimai went to get dinner, but it was too cold for us to use chopsticks so it was pretty funny.  There was so many people at the festival!!  I haven't seen so many not-Japanese people in a long time. We even met a couple from America. He is in the Navy and currently stationed in Tokyo.  His wife served a mission and so we were talking with her for a while. It was a really fun night!!

   The next day, Thursday, we had a zone conference with 2 other zones in Sapporo. We had the mental health doctor there as well as the normal doctor in charge of all the Japan missions. And mom you won't belive who was there!! So the mental Health doctor is Moris Grahm (not sure about the spelling).   Anyway him and his wife were there. They went to Scandinavia on the cruise with their 2 grand daughters. They are from Hawaii, but are on their mission in Tokyo. She didn't really remember me but it was still fun to see them. They talked about a lot of great things at the conference about how we can strengthen our relationships; the relationships with our companion, the members and our investigators.

   Sorry this is so short, but I have to go now!

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

Morrison Shimai

Pictures are from the snow festival, a holiday where they wear monster masks, and yes - Jazmyne eating sushi rolls, and a One Direction poster in the subway station.