こんにちは,
As of today, I'm a second transfer missionary. How crazy!! And I'm staying in Sado!
P-day:
Last Monday was crazy busy. We were in Niigata and had zone preparation day (p-day) where we played ultimate frisbee with the whole zone! We went and ate at a standing sushi place for lunch (you literally just stand up and eat sushi). We then took a 5-hour bus ride to Tokyo!! We got to Tokyo around 8pm and had to take 2 trains just to get to the honbu (mission home). It was my first time riding on a train in Japan (my area is the only one without a train station). The train system was so confusing and we had to take a million escalators just to change trains. We got to the honbu around 9pm and we had girl talk with Sister Nagano for an hour (she's the best).
Last Monday was crazy busy. We were in Niigata and had zone preparation day (p-day) where we played ultimate frisbee with the whole zone! We went and ate at a standing sushi place for lunch (you literally just stand up and eat sushi). We then took a 5-hour bus ride to Tokyo!! We got to Tokyo around 8pm and had to take 2 trains just to get to the honbu (mission home). It was my first time riding on a train in Japan (my area is the only one without a train station). The train system was so confusing and we had to take a million escalators just to change trains. We got to the honbu around 9pm and we had girl talk with Sister Nagano for an hour (she's the best).
I love Dendo (missionary work):
On one of the trains we got onto I saw an empty seat next to a girl so I went and sat next to her.
"Konbanwa (good evening)!" No reply. I said it again and she still didn't reply. I asked her how school was and she finally acknowledged me and said it was good. We made small talk and she asked where I was from and if I had ever been to Disneyland before. I asked her how old she was and she said that she was 18 and then I said oh I'm 19! She laughed and said that I look like an adult, so I explained to her that in America I am an adult (in Japan the legal age is 20). She then asked if I was in college which was the perfect time to introduce the gospel!! I said I was, but right now I'm a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I asked her if she had ever heard of "Mormons" before and she said no, but she had heard of Christ before. I asked her if she believed in God and she said sometimes yes, sometimes no. I then testified that God is our loving Heavenly Father. I asked her her name and told her that God loves her. She looked at me and said thank you. I asked her if she had prayed before and she said yes. I then told her that through prayer we can talk with our Heavenly Father and receive answers. Then everyone in my zone said, "It's our stop hurry up everyone!!" And I had to leave just like that. Ugh!! It was such a cool spiritual experience and hopefully the missionaries will find her again.
"Konbanwa (good evening)!" No reply. I said it again and she still didn't reply. I asked her how school was and she finally acknowledged me and said it was good. We made small talk and she asked where I was from and if I had ever been to Disneyland before. I asked her how old she was and she said that she was 18 and then I said oh I'm 19! She laughed and said that I look like an adult, so I explained to her that in America I am an adult (in Japan the legal age is 20). She then asked if I was in college which was the perfect time to introduce the gospel!! I said I was, but right now I'm a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I asked her if she had ever heard of "Mormons" before and she said no, but she had heard of Christ before. I asked her if she believed in God and she said sometimes yes, sometimes no. I then testified that God is our loving Heavenly Father. I asked her her name and told her that God loves her. She looked at me and said thank you. I asked her if she had prayed before and she said yes. I then told her that through prayer we can talk with our Heavenly Father and receive answers. Then everyone in my zone said, "It's our stop hurry up everyone!!" And I had to leave just like that. Ugh!! It was such a cool spiritual experience and hopefully the missionaries will find her again.
Bednar conference:
David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles talked to the Tokyo and Tokyo South Missions for a three hour conference on Tuesday. Call Shimai and I got 3rd row seats so we were right in the action. He asked us a ton of questions and we got to ask him some as well. One thing that he said, "Tender mercies help us see that we are on the right path." I love this. All of those little miracles that we see everyday means we are doing something right!!
David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles talked to the Tokyo and Tokyo South Missions for a three hour conference on Tuesday. Call Shimai and I got 3rd row seats so we were right in the action. He asked us a ton of questions and we got to ask him some as well. One thing that he said, "Tender mercies help us see that we are on the right path." I love this. All of those little miracles that we see everyday means we are doing something right!!
Tokyo Temple:
Again the trains were crazy but it was all worth it because we got to go to the temple. It was weird because we were walking in the city with all of these buildings and then we just ran into the temple. It kind of blended in! The temple was so pretty and peaceful and it reminded me of going back in Utah because this church is the SAME all over the world.
Again the trains were crazy but it was all worth it because we got to go to the temple. It was weird because we were walking in the city with all of these buildings and then we just ran into the temple. It kind of blended in! The temple was so pretty and peaceful and it reminded me of going back in Utah because this church is the SAME all over the world.
Follow up training:
I got to see everyone from my district in the MTC which was awesome. It was cool to see how everyone has changed in just a short 6 weeks. Call Shimai and I also got to mogi (role-play) with President Nagano about a teaching situation and he said that we work really well with each other so that's good!!
I got to see everyone from my district in the MTC which was awesome. It was cool to see how everyone has changed in just a short 6 weeks. Call Shimai and I also got to mogi (role-play) with President Nagano about a teaching situation and he said that we work really well with each other so that's good!!
Dendo fire:
Being a missionary is just so awesome because no matter where you are you can just talk to people and testify of Jesus Christ and we have the authority to do so. We had to wait 10 minutes for our bus and we just said, "Let's go talk to people!" We ended up giving a pregnant lady a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and testifying that families are so important to God.
Being a missionary is just so awesome because no matter where you are you can just talk to people and testify of Jesus Christ and we have the authority to do so. We had to wait 10 minutes for our bus and we just said, "Let's go talk to people!" We ended up giving a pregnant lady a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and testifying that families are so important to God.
Back in Sado:
We couldn't do much this week because we were out of town until Thursday night and then Call Shimai got sick, but we are so excited for this transfer and we're going to go to work!!
We couldn't do much this week because we were out of town until Thursday night and then Call Shimai got sick, but we are so excited for this transfer and we're going to go to work!!
Word of the week:
Japanese: tanoshimi
Pronunciation: taw-no-she-me
Meaning: excited
Japanese: tanoshimi
Pronunciation: taw-no-she-me
Meaning: excited
愛しています,
Wunderli Shimai
Wunderli Shimai
Pics:
1. Our futons (what we sleep on). Can you guess which is mine?
2. Me and Call Shimai at the Tokyo shinden (temple)
3. Tokyo Shinden
4. Stand up sushi
5. Niigata
6. Niigata again
7. Gorner Shimai and I at the follow-up training!!
1. Our futons (what we sleep on). Can you guess which is mine?
2. Me and Call Shimai at the Tokyo shinden (temple)
3. Tokyo Shinden
4. Stand up sushi
5. Niigata
6. Niigata again
7. Gorner Shimai and I at the follow-up training!!
I want to clarify something that Jordan said in her email. She said that we have the authority to testify of Christ. We believe that when she decided to go on a mission, she put in her papers telling the General Authorities of our church that she wants to go and then they called her to go on the mission. The calling part followed by a blessing to set her appart is what gives her that authority as a missionary to share the gospel. It is different than me sharing my testimony of the Christ and the church with a friend because I'm doing it in an unofficial capacity. I'm sure there are many people who could explain it much better than I, but that's the short explanation. As always, feel free to comment or ask questions and thanks for your support. She always loves hearing from people back in the states and is so thankful for any and all support she is given.
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