May 29, 2012

May 29, 2012

Dear Family!

I've been living in Japan for over one year now. I feel like it too : ) I am used to this place. Today we went to the temple and afterwards we went shopping in downtown Tokyo. It was only a Tuesday afternoon but the streets were still packed with throngs of people. Ono Shimai mentioned a couple times how much she didn't like it, and I realized that I've gotten used to the crowds, strange to say. I guess I've learned a lot of patience for the city since I have come here.

Thank you for praying for Katagiri Shimai. I will tell her what you said Mom.

I need to go, but I hope you all know I love you!

Has summer break started yet? Have fun!

Love,

Waite Shimai

May 22, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LAST WEEK TO SADIE!!!

Sadie- A card is headed your direction. I felt bad last week not being able to get it out but I thought of you all day on the 18th! Glad to hear you got some good presents!

Mom- Thank You a million for sending that package! It was like Christmas. I'm taking the vitamins, loving the licorice, and smelling great : ) I really like the oils you sent. When you mentioned before you were sending some I had hoped they would be the DoTerra kind. Sister Derricott has a bunch that we used in the MTC when we were sick, and since then I've heard from a couple other people here in Japan that they are the best. Thanks also so much for the toothpaste and the Ensign, and for picking up the sketchbook for me. Really Mom, I opened that package and kept wondering 'How did Mom know exactly all the things I need? Thanks so much.

We went to a member's house last week and helped her plan sharing time for primary. Her name is Sister Katagiri and she joined the church 2 years ago. She is married and has 2 kids and became the primary president a year after being baptized. As you can imagine, she felt sort of overwhelmed and still meets with missionaries every once in a while to talk about her lessons together. Her husband is not yet baptized, but Katagiri Shimai has already gone to the temple, and is solid in the church. Lately a sister missionary who taught Katagiri Shimai came and visited Tokyo again and stayed at their house. Apparently the husband was really impressed and said he wants his daughter to become the kind of person that that sister is.

Since then, I recently got 2 letters from Camden. He said in them that he is praying for me to find a family to teach. That is something I haven't even been praying for, but when I read it I felt so impressed that there are families within our reach that could be made eternal. I feel strongly that Katagiri Family is one of them and would appreciate any prayers you could offer in their behalf.

Today for P-day we all went to the zoo as a zone. It was pretty fun and I thought of when we went to the Zoo a few years ago. The best part of this zoo was the giant panda.

Did any of you see the eclipse the other day? I completely missed it, but heard about it later. I guess I'll catch it the next time it comes around... in about 20 or 40 years.

Something our district leader shared with us yesterday was really interesting: In the scriptures, we always read about faith, hope and charity being the 3 most important attributes to possess. He told us, that faith just means loving God enough to act on His promises. Hope just means loving ourselves enough to expect that those promises could actually work for us. And charity is just loving others as Christ would. So: those 3 attributes really just boil down to LOVE for God, our self, and others.

That's all folks. The Gospel is true and I love you.

Love,

Waite Shimai

May 13, 2012

Dear Family-

I love you so so much. Thanks for talking this morning. I don't have a whole lot more to say either. This morning, before I talked to you I studied and thought about how powerful our work has been lately and of all the reasons why. I wish I could help you know how fun it is to be a missionary!

We really have seen so many blessings lately thanks to all the prayers and fasting. I was thinking this morning about it, and just a few of the blessings are: We are blessed with more guidance of how to best use what little time we have. I feel we are touching more lives and sincerely inviting more people to Christ than I ever have before. We are blessed to be able to find natural ways to start conversations and become friends with the people we meet on the street. We are better able to keep in contact with our investigators. We are meeting more and more people who will listen, exchange telephone numbers or e-mail addresses, come to the church for a tour, or agree to meet.

We are able to bear more sincere testimony, and when we speak people can tell we mean what we say. They look in our eyes more and think about our message. 

Thinking about all this reminds me of the story in Mark 5 when Christ was walking through a crowd and paused to ask who had touched him (verse 30). Even though He was surrounded by many, He could feel that power had been imparted from Himself to another. When we go outside on the street, crowds of people pass us, but we can feel the power of the Spirit testifying to the one person we are talking to. It's not our power they feel, but we are glad to be able to bring it to them. 

I know that the messages we hear during conference are true. They are words spoken by living prophets and apostles, and I can feel them anchoring me. God lives and Jesus Christ paid for the price of our experience on this earth. When we believe that and start to live it we are endowed with the power to become more like God.

I love you all. 

Love,

Waite Shimai

May 7, 2012

FAM!

I am GENKI!!! I am feeling so so so much better thanks to all your prayers. Really, I am a different person. I can't believe how much better I feel. It's amazing. It really really helped to have the family praying. I have slept like a rock the past 2 weeks. My eyes are clearing up, and I don't get headaches near as often. Thanks so much.

The biggest difference is that I don't have stress. Last transfer seems like 4 weeks of college finals, all in a row. I'm glad that's over and now I can just focus on being a missionary for one ward, and one area, and being one person's companion. Ono Shimai is great by the way. We get along seamlessly.

Tamae is pronounced: tah-my-eh. The 'tah' is pronounced the same as the 'aw' in 'awesome'. And she is pretty awesome.

Suzuki is probably going to get baptized this week. We had a tea party with her and tasted 4 different kinds of tea that is ok. Keep praying for her to be able to quit drinking it this week. Her biggest problem is just self-confidence.

I realized about 2 weeks ago that as a missionary I have the ability to promise people blessings for following the commandments. When we teach, we always make sure to tell people the blessings that will come from following a specific commandment. I've started studying and praying more to know what specific blessings I can promise to people. When we had Suzuki Shimia's lesson, I studied a lot with her in mind and made a whole list of promises I was pretty sure God was willing to grant her if she quit tea. In preparation, I also quit eating after dinner, which has been a bad habit of mine lately, and something I looked forward to way too much. Experiencing what she might go through made it easier for me to see what blessings would also come. When we had her lesson I told her that if she would quite tea, she would not only understand but come to love the Word of Wisdom so much that she would want to share it with other people. Interesting. I hope that was what the Lord wanted me to tell her. 

I LOVE YOU ALL. I am so thankful for all your prayers. Gotta go. Talk to you this weekend!

Love,

Waite Shimai