The weeks are flying by!! 4-27-14

Konnichiwa, kazoku! 

What a party of a week for you all! Urayamashii! I am glad all of that callback and auditions business is starting to wind down for you mom - you are so good with all of that. Don:t forget that I will be bringing you home some awesome music for callbacks next year. As soon as I heard it that is what it made me think of. Music nerd? Why yes, yes I am. 

Anyway - that is so great that you were all able to go watch devin:s concert in the valley! Sounds like it was quite the fun time. I also loved the matching t-shirts pictures. Looking good. I can:t even tell you what a big fan I am of Heather. I am so happy for them both! And just so you know, I never remember if I answer all of your questionsor not - I feel like I usually don:t. I will start with those today!

So the costa rican girl has been really busy with college, and we haven:t been able to work with her tons, but things are going well with umeda san '(brazil). It:s really interesting - we teach and communicate in all of our second languages (Japanese). she speaks portugese and japanese, we speak english and japanese, and we all can understand each other - how exciting!! We found a portugese speaker in the hikari, hiroshima ward, so we will hopefully be jointing with him this next week. We are so excited. As far as our twig turning in to a branch - we need to have 4 melchizedek priesthood holders for it to turn into a branch. Right now we have 2, but 2 of our recent converts are preparing to receive the melchizedek priesthood so we are really hoping to have a branch this next transfer! Our district is awesome. Everyone is working so hard! I think there are about 5 baptismal dates between our district right now - several scheduled for mothers: day so we are hoping those will go through. Because there might be baptisms that day, (and it would be in hikari, about an hour train ride away) we are not sure yet about times for mothers day calls, and whether it will be the phone or skyping. But I will fill you in on those details next week! 

Saijo. It is such a place of miracles. Last week we were able to teach Kimurasan, the 85 yr old lady that we met on the street a couple of weeks ago, and she actually invited one of her friends to our lesson. The two of them were very sweet, and so sincere as we taught the restoration. They really have a strong desire, and it was an awesome experience. Kimurasan:s eyesight isn:t very good, but we found out she had been reading the book of mormon with a magnifying glass. We are meeting with them both again tonight and can:t wait to explain more. After our lesson, kimurasan played the koto for us, which is a traditional japanese instrument that is way cool. It has 13 strings, and is really long. It was way cool. I think I might have told you a little bit about this last week, but we are teaching AB lessons to Lisa, a recent convert from malaysia that just moved to saijo. She is super fun and bubbly - it is awesome to be working with her. Sorry I just have time for one more story - but this was one of the funniest things of my mission. We housed into Odasan last week. He is about 65, and really short and really funny. When we met him, he was drunk, and in a tshirt and boxers. Kind of weird. But he did say he had a little bit of interest in knowing about god, but not while he was in his drunken state. But he said I drink every night after coming home from work, so I guess this won:t work out. We gave him a book of mormon, told him to read the intro, taught him how to pray, and asked him to pray about it before we came back a few days later. We told him we will come back on friday - and when we do this, we will be coming with friends, and don:t drink before we get here. we will come at 7. So we came back a few days later with the elders (and he was properly dressed and not drunk this time) and he had kept his commitments! We had  a great lesson, and passed him to the elders. My favorite part was at the end of the lesson,  at the end of his prayer. He had said good things, then at the end said And I am grateful that this was a LITTLE bit fun. (sorry, it:s funnier in japanese when a little old man is saying it - Kyo wa SUKOSHI tanoshikatta node arigatou gozaimasu). Anyway, that was a fun time. Sorry this is all over the place - I want to say a thousand more things but I have no time. I love you all, the church is true, and I hope you have a great week!!!!

Ai shite imasu!

Flake Shimai

Easter and Kimonos! 4-20-14

Getting to play dress up at a less active members kimono shop

Konnichiwa, kazoku!

It sounds like you had quite a week! Thank you so much for always keeping me so updated with everything that is going on with you! Just so you know, if that sentence is grammatically incorrect I blame it on the fact that English is a struggle these days. True story. Sometimes when I speak in English I find myself saying things that are a direct translations from Japanese. Or I just completely use incorrect grammar. So please have patience with me - that's all. Anyway, things have been great this week in Saijo! I can't even express how much I love Saijo - and for that matter, Japan. It's scary to think that I am cominig up on my year mark so soon. Elders are so lucky to be here for two years. I'm just saying. Anyway, on to the week!

Oh but first I will try to answer a few of your questions. A typical day - - - (but first a disclaimer - every day is way different)--- Wake up at6:30, go running, eat breakfast/shower, then on to studies (personal, companion, and language) from 8:00-11:00. Lunch, then we are out the door by noon. If we have appointments, we will find (street, talk to everyone we see ) on the way to the appointment, teach, find on the way back. Sometimes we visit members, or less actives and do that same thing. We usually come back home and eat dinner at around5:00, then head back out. If we don't have solid appointments for the day, we will go and visit potential investigators or just pick an area the night before during planning that we want to go to to find a new investigator, then we will street on the way there, and house, and street on the way back. Come home by 9:00 to plan. We try to always schedule our day hour by hour (by that I mean always have something planned for every hour) even if we don't have solid appointments so we can be as effective as possible. Yeah - that about sums up our days! It is really interesting though seeing such a stark contrast between the city and the country. Everyone was so busy in the city. We would have days in Fukuoka where we would be finding for hours and didn't even get past Konnichiwa before the person said they were busy and walked away. Things are a bit slower paced here. Anyway, sorry about that explosion of boring details but I have some things to tell you about!

Alright, to start off - We went to Miyajima for p-day last week. It was so beautiful. It is a really famous place just past Hiroshima -- I will try to send some pictures. It was weird going there though, because it is a really tourist-y place and it was the most foreigners I have ever seen in one place in Japan. SO WEIRD. This past week we rode the train so much it was ridiculous, between general conference saturdayand sunday, miyajima on monday, then interviews on Tuesday. It's a party! We had  interviews with President in HIroshima on Tuesday, and it was great to talk to him about how things are going. Always such a boost to see him and sister Gustafson. I have a thousand things to tell you all and no time -- oh no! I will speedwrite. Don't you fret. 

-Bakeries in Japan are unreal. They are so good. There is a bakery in hiroshima called the one coin bakery - everything is 100 yen - the equivalent of one dollar. Fun stuff.

- A less active member called us up and asked if we wanted to go try on kimonos last week - so we did! We were able to talk to her and get to know more about her, and we went to this super intense kimono shop and all these japanese ladies dressed us in kimonos (which have many layers, fun fact) and when we took pictures told us to tell our friends the kimonos were from that shop. 

-We followed up with a pretty solid potential investigator that we had met while streeting last week, and when we went by her house to see if we could schedule another appointment she invited us in and we ended up teaching an entire lesson right on the spot. Her name is Umedasan, and she is from Brazil. Her husband is Japanese and she has been here for the last twenty years, so she speaks portugese and Japanese. We gave her a portugese Book of Mormon, and she can't wait to read it. This is so interesting, because she and Adriana are the first people I have ever taught that are Christian. It is so interesting how different the teaching approaches are when you teach a Christian. It is so cool. We are currently learning how to pray in Portugese from our Brazillian zone leader so we can teach her. Super cool experience.

-I FINISHED LESSON MASTERY. I can't remember if I already had told you or not. It's exciting stuff.

-Aloe vera flavored everything. Melon flavored stuff. They're great.

-Lisa. Coolest thing ever. Last week, the elders started talking to a lady on the street and she told them she just moved to Saijo from Malasia last week, and she was baptized there into our church a few months ago, and she was hoping she would be able to find the church but did not know how to go about doing that, and was praying to know, then met the elders. They gladly showed her where the church was, and she came to eikaiwa during the week and church yesterday! She has two adorable little kids, and tripled our primary. There has been just 1 girl in primary, but now there are 3 kids there and they are great friends already. 

-OUR LITTLE TWIG. Church here is just about the best experience on the planet. I love these people with my whole soul. We are really hoping to turn in to a branch in May - two of our recent converts are preparing to receive the Melchizidek preisthood by then. Every single member is so unique but they all contribute so much and help so much. Sister Fe is from the phillipines and has been a member since she was young - she moved here about 20 years ago and is a really solid member. Brother toma is our ward mission leader and he has been a solid member for  a really long time as well. The rest of our twig is made up of recent converts that are awesome. 4 that have been baptized in the last few months and one that was recently reactivated. They are all huge examples to me. I really feel so blessed to be here learning from all of them. I want to talk about them all day but unfortunately don't have time for that right now. One day - I  will tell you about more of the continuous saijo miracles.

-We had a huge eikaiwa party this past week that was a really big success - big dinner/played games at a huge park. It was loads of fun. 

-Yesterday was Easter! What a wonderful day. I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting (half Japanese, half english because of our international branch these days) and it was a good experience. I learned a lot while I was preparing. The Atonement is so real! We really are so blessed to have it in our lives. I am so grateful for the things that I have been learning on my mission. I can't imagine what my life would have been like if I hadn't come out here, and learned the things that I have been learning and that I know I will continue to learn. Sorry to get all preachy, but it is definitely the truth! Unfortunately I have got to run, but I love you all - have  a great week!

Flake Shimai

ps We do sometimes get good teaching opportunities from our english class - and it is a super fun thing to teach. we have regular students that come every week, and find more while we are streeting each day

General Conference! 4-13-14

Konnichiwa, kazoku! 

I hope the week went well for you! I feel like my weeks are so packed full of goodness that I often forget to tell you some things that have happened! I will try to be better with that. :)

Happy news - my bike finally arrived! Usually they come a few days after transfers, but the mission office has brand new APs and office elders, so things were a little crazy for a while and such but let me tell ya it is good to be biking on good ole Eleanor once again. This past week, we were able to meet some really solid potential investigators. There are such nice people in Saijo. We also did a chirashi kubari that was way fun. I don't really know exactly what that is called in english. But we went near the university, got permissiion to wear pday clothes and we handed out fliers to everybody we could that just talked about our english class that we teach each week. No contacting about the gospel, but just english. Fun stuff. We had another lesson with Ayakosan this week, and it was interesting - we are working on moving forward bit by bit with her. She came to general conference, which was awesome because it was in Takasu (I'll explain more about that in a bit). We also were able to teach Adrianasan this week - she is a university student from Costa Rica, and she is Catholic. She has so much faith and believes so many of the same things as we do. It was so interesting teaching her and hearing so many of the same things we believe - I realized she is the first Christian I have taught on my mission. I have taught lots of different people with varying Buddhist beliefs, people with Hindu beliefs, and people with no religious beliefs. But never Christians. It is an interesting change of pace - a bit of a different teaching style, to say the least. But it was a good learning experience. 

I passed off my last lesson mastery this past week and I am so excited to be done. It may not sound like anything too crazy, but trust me - I have spent so much time on these, throughout my mission so it is definitely a relief to be done. 

GENERAL CONFERENCE. I realize you watched it last week but we got to watch it this past friday and saturday and it was just incredible. We went to Takasu to watch it - which is about an hour by train, then 10 minutes by city tram/trolley, then about a ten minute walk or so - and it was just incredible. This church is so true! Those speakers did not beat around the bush - we were told just what to do. I loved Elder Nelson's talk - it focused so much on faith and how important it is. I loved that there was such a theme throughout the whole thing of needing to be prepared and willing to stand strong for what we believe. I am so proud of you for walking out of that offensive number - you have always been such a great example to me and continue to be such an example to me! I am sorry I am totally out of time but I love you all so much and can't express how much you have done for me. I love you!!! Have a great week!

Ai shite imasu!

Flake Shimai

Saijo!!! It's just like Disneyland! 4-6-14

Konnichiwa, kazoku!

So, fun fact is this. I am currently typing this on an ipad (courtesy of Elder and Sister lamb, the senior couple in our area) and I just accidently deleted my whole email that I had previously written. It was clever, funny, and witty, so if this second go around is not quite up to par, I just want you to know it was at one point. :) Anyway, it sounds like you  had a crazy week! I can't believe you were able to sing in the tabernacle, listen to motab practice, and have a workshop with vocal point - that is a trip your students won't be forgetting anytime soon. Sugoii!  Well, I just want you to know that Willes shimai and I are having an incredible time here in Saijo. I really miss Fukuoka - the people we were working with really are so important to me. And to tell you the truth, it would have been a little harder to adjust with the transfer if I didn't have such an awesome companion and an awesome area. But really, things are going so well here. We have been able to talk to so many different people here. It is really cool, because there is a big Hiroshima university in our area so there are people from all over, here in Saijo. In the past week, we have met people from China, Nigeria, Thailand, India, Egypt, Iran, Mongolia, and Taiwan, just to name a few. It is really neat. As far as the other sisters we live with - I can't believe I didn't say anything last week about that - they're the coolest! So one of the sisters, Sister Williams, from Utah, is our doki (which means she came to Japan at the same time as us). The three of us are on our 7th transfer right now. And she is training Tseng Shimai right now (1st transfer bean from Taiwan) and we basically have a fabulous time every day. Tseng shimai is completely fluent in Japanese (she went to college here for a few years and has studied it for a long time) but doesn't speak much english. The super cool miracle with that - there are tons of chinese people here that don't speak much japanese or english, but Tseng shimai can talk to them! So the other sisters have a few chinese investigators - the lessons are half japanese and half chinese. Pretty cool. I'll try to send a picture of all 4 of us one of these days. They are both pretty chill - we  are having a great time. Our district consists of the 10 Saijo missionaries. 4 elders, 4 sisters, and a senior couple. Fun fact. We have the coolest district. Everyone is really focused. It is awesome. Don't get me wrong, I have loved districts in the past as well, but there have been a lot of times where there is one or two missionaries that are just goofing off or don't really care. But here, it is awesome because everyone is fun, but really focused on why they are here. I think I forgot to tell you, but the nicest thing - last week when we got to our apartment that first day, we got to our door and saw that the other missionaries and the ward members had covered it with candy, happy notes, and the like - way nice. Okay, on to more fun things from the week - - - 

We had ZTM (zone training meeting) this week in Hikari (in Hiroshima). It's about a 45 ish minute train ride from Saijo. Our zone leaders are awesome. We had some really good training, and costco pizza. Definitely the first time in a while that I have had pizza without corn on it. But it was great! It's been awhile since I've had to travel for zone meetings. But I love it. 

Investigators - - - so we have some unfortunate news. Minaesan had to cancel her baptismal date. She still has a desire to know about this gospel and such, but when she talked to her husband about getting baptized he put his foot down because their whole family is Buddhist and always has been. But, he is okay with her still learning about this, just no baptism. We are really grateful that we will be able to continue meeting with her. She has read a ton of the Book of Mormon, and had some really good questions. We are working bit by bit with her, and will figure this out. Ayakosan, our other main investigator, is a bit of an interesting situation. She is very Buddhist. Specifically SGI, a sect of Buddhism. She is always asking questions, and likes to try to ask irrelevant things to trip us up. Last week's lesson was a little frustrating, because she just started doing a Buddhist prayer chant when we were trying to talk about the way that we pray, and she would interrupt us a lot. I think she really is interested in the things we believe, and it makes her feel unsettled, which is why she will try to disrupt things. Even though she is a little interesting, she does like us. She has come to church twice in a row, and probably will come with us to general conference as well. We will do our  best to get her figured out, but I think it's going to take a little bit of time :) Fun thing with general conference - we will be watching it in Takasu, which is about a 1 1/2 hr train ride from here. We will watch it this next weekend - can't wait!

Last fun little tidbit from the week - we stopped a cute little old lady (and when I say little I mean tiny - all the old ladies here come up to my elbow) on the street this past week. We started talking to her about eternal families, and how the knowledge of this plan brings us happiness. She was interested at first, then just started muttering and looking around in her purse for something and kind of muttering under her breath. We gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet, and she just kept looking for something. We realized she might be looking for her wallet, so we told her no, no - it's free, we're volunteers, etc, but she just continued going through her bag. Finally, she whipped out her wallet and pulled out a sen (the equivalent of 10 dollars) and told us we were really nice, and should take this money to buy some tea for ourselves. We refused it, and thanked her for her kindness, and backed away, but she kept insisting we take it. So we refused again, and continued backing away. She came running after us and tried to put it in sister willes's pocket, but she backed up really fast, so it didn't work, so the old lady stuffed it in willes's belt, and ran away. When she was a ways away, she turned around and smiled and told us to go buy some tea again. It was hilarious. What a sweet little lady. I wish I could just record all day every day the things like that that happen to us, for you to see. My life these days is a little crazy. In a good way. Japan is very, very different from America. It makes me sad that I can't explain to you exactly how things are here, but I hope it suffices for me to say I love it and can't imagine being anywhere else. I have learned so much and am continuing to learn and grow every day. I love you all so much - thank you for your love and support!!!!!

Ai shite imasu!

Flake Shimai