Hello Fam!
Wow- got lots of good mail this week! I got a letter from Uncle Jacob and Aunt Trista and one from Cam that was sent May 5th - both had been sent to the MTC and then forwarded here. It was so good to hear from both parties. AND, 3 Dear Elders. I don’t think they came in the order they were sent, but I got them all the same. Dad, thank you so much. I love knowing a few specific things about life at home, and I pray for your foot. I love, absolutely love, anything you send.
Dad- I don’t know when Fathers Day is exactly, but I know it’s coming up soon. I wish you the best of days! I have thought a lot about you lately, especially because of Fathers day, and because of your foot, and because of the DearElder’s you send. I will really miss being with you on the hike this summer. I love you.
This week seems to have gone so much faster than last, I think because I am starting to get the hang of things. Having a Japanese companion is a little intense. Before her mission Saiki (Sai-key) Shimai didn’t speak any English at all, but she has picked up some things in the past year thankfully for both of us. I’m still pretty much clueless most of the time though. : )
Every week the missionaries here teach English to anyone who wants to come. I teach the advanced class because they know a lot of English so I don’t have to do much in Japanese and they still understand. This week I was teaching and all of a sudden a couple of the people in my class stopped paying attention and started looking at each other with worried faces. Then they asked me if I could feel the earthquake. I couldn’t feel a thing because I was standing, but they were sitting and apparently had felt the ground moving a bit. They were very concerned. Since the events in Sendai they are on pins and needles waiting for another big aftershock to hit.
Yesterday we had a mission conference that was really good. And then last night we taught a lesson to Ko and Nie. Ko (the mom) is Christian but doesn’t understand how our church is different from all the other Christian churches.
On Thursday we taught a lesson to Misaki and asked her to be baptized. She said she would try to get ready, and then later we found out she is going to France for about 10 days (I have no idea why) so we probably won’t be able to contact her much for the next little while.
This week we were out streeting in a really random place and tons of people (literally... this is Tokyo) were shuffling by us on the sidewalk. A lady walked by and we were able to get her attention and we started talking to her. Right off she asked if we were the Mormon church. We told her we were and she got really excited and said that she had just been baptized in our church a few months ago! She was baptized, and then confirmed, and then hasn’t been to church since because her step-daughter goes to this weird religious school and holds a leadership position there, and one of the conditions of being a leader is that no one in your family can be associated with a religion except the religion the school has. So... this lady hasn’t been coming to church because she can’t be seen associating with us. She seemed so so hopeful and was really excited to have run into us. I could tell her faith is still strong and that when she is able to come to church in the future, she will. It was just crazy that we were able to run into her among all those people. Actually our ward mission leader had told us about her and her situation before, and had asked us to call and strengthen her even though we aren’t able to go visit her. Anyway, thinking about it later I realize how great it was that we were there and were able to meet her.
Also, we went to visit a lady the other day and right then she introduced us to this family that lives next door to her that just moved from Sendai area after the earthquake. They are apparently really struggling financially and are just trying to recover from everything. I am really hoping we can get to know them better and teach them.
Well, thanks for all your prayers. They are felt - I promise. I love each of you and pray for you everyday, often I pray specifically for you girlsies. Also, I’m so thankful for all my aunts and uncles and for Grandma and Grandpa Waite and Grandpa Wadsworth. I know they all pray for me and I think about each of them often. Mom, I love you so much.
Cousins- I think about each of you all the time! Being in Japan is a pretty neat experience. The people here really are especially gracious and kind. Every day I put on my nametag and see my family name and am reminded again about all of you. When I bear my testimony in Japanese it’s not very good, but I always talk about how important my family is to me. I love you all. I hope you are doing things now to help your own family - especially in reading the Book of Mormon together. Aishiteimasu! (I-shtay-moss). -Waite Shimai
Best-
Waite Shimai
PS- yes, all those areas on the map are in the Tokyo mission.
PPS- We ride the train quite a bit here (at least a couple times per week). They have these guys who stand on the platform and when there are really busy times, they tell everyone to squeeze in. And when it’s SUPER busy, like in the mornings when people are going to work, they literally shove people into the trains and pack us in like sardines. It’s pretty crazy to have your body pressed up against everyone else around you, and then to ride like that for half an hour.
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