April 30, 2012

April 30, 2012

Dear family! Happy first day of May! This time one year ago I was getting pretty restless - having been cooped up in the Incomparable Compound for 2 months with still one left to go. Thinking of that food still gives me a bad feeling : )

I am feeling ok. Not perfect, but good enough to keep going. Thanks so much for worrying about me. All of your prayers help a lot. I can't do anything strenuous without feeling it all the next day, so I'm being careful, and trying to get better sleep.

My new companion is Ono Shimai. She's Japanese, 21 years old, and went to BYU-Hawaii for a year so she can speak English even though she doesn't like to. She's a great companion. I wish I could work as hard as Saiki Shimai did when she trained me, but we are still working all the time so I think she will learn the ropes well enough.

Today at 7 am we went to the church for early morning seminary (they usually meet at 5:45, but today is a holiday) where we talked about missionary work with the 4 students there and then ate breakfast together. This afternoon our ward had a BBQ at a park. It was great. Our new investigator Tamae came. The YSA members love her to death, and if she isn't careful I bet she'll be baptized before she knows it. Pray for her if you can.

Keep praying for Suzuki Shimai too - this week we had a lesson and made a plan for her to slowly quit tea over the next few weeks. I hope she's as serious about it as we are.

Mom, thanks for answering all my questions! And I did think Bishop Summers looks way different. I haven't tried to take money out of my account. Actually I lost the pin number after I wrote it down and can't find it again in my e-mail but have been too ashamed to tell you, plus I haven't had a lot of opportunities to actually buy what I want anyway. Could you tell me the number again and I will try it out and see if it works? I'm so sorry.

The rain suit is just a thin layer of waterproof fabric that I slip on over my normal outfit. My skirt just gets all bunched up at the top. I take it off once I get to an appointment.

 Alright, 5 minutes before I need to be in bed and the teeth still need brushed. Oyasuminasai!

-Love Waite Shimai

Pix next week.

April 22, 2012

Dear family-

Today is the first day of our next transfer. Right now I'm in the Koiwa apartment, still with Tomura Shimai and Barbour Shimai. In a couple of hours we will go to a church about an hour away and meet all the other sisters who will trade companions and go to their new areas together. Barbour Shimai will go to a place called Takasaki and Tomura Shimai and I, plus one other sister will all return to Urayasu. The three of us will work together for tomorrow and then go to the mission home on Wednesday to pick up our real companions who will have just arrived from the MTC. Kind of fun. I'll let you know next week all about my new companion.

I'm glad it's a new transfer. I feel ready for a new start. I've been sick this past weekend and spent most of Friday and Saturday sleeping. Tomura Shimai is also a little sick, and Barbour Shimai has been putting up with both of us. It's clear  that Tomura Shimai and I have been on our missions a little longer than Barbour Shimai because of how much weaker our bodies are. We get tired riding bikes faster, and we get sick a lot easier. I've been noticing lately how much slower I am. I sound like a grandma.

This week we have been still bouncing back and forth between our 2 areas. It's been kind of stressful. It's interesting to see how people deal with stress differently - A good measure of your own character. Just something I've noticed.

Thanks for praying for Suzuki Shimai. Prayer list: Suzuki, Hiroshi (male), and Maria.

...Gotta go. More later I hope! I LOVE YOU!

-Waite Shimai

April 23, 2012

Mom (and family)~

I just got back from transfers and read 2 DE's from Dad and a bunch of news-clippings you sent. Thanks!

I don't have a whole lot to add to what I said this morning, so I'm going to go take a nap. The theme of my life for the past 3 weeks or so has been: TIRED. Mom, you asked why... Well, I don't get sick from the food. I just get sore throats and things like that easier because my immune system is weaker. The past couple weeks the skin around my eyes has been dry and red and irritated.  I've been getting headaches everyday lately, and my back aches all the time. I think the back ache is due to the fact that 24/7 I'm either hunched over on my bike or carrying a heavy backpack. Tomura Shimai massaged my back for a few minutes the other night and said that the muscles on the left side aren't even with the right side. I could feel what she was talking about.  

No worries though. It’s all just from a year of a lot of stress and work, and not enough rest and real exercise to make up for it. I know I'll be fine until my mission ends, but I hope I can summon enough energy to be a really good example for my next companion.

Love you all!

Thanks for sending everything.

-Sister Waite

April 17, 2012

Dear Fam-

Wow Mooze... I have no words besides: Congrats! I say that, knowing that it meant that the family and Sisters Cox and Cook had to do a lot too, so: Congrats Waite Family, Nancy and Jo Dee for being the 2012 Distinguished Young Woman. : )  (Sister Cox was your hostess right?)

Last week was kind of rough; 3 nights in Urayasu, 2 in Koiwa, 1 in Chiba, 1 in Urayasu, 2 in Koiwa...  The night in Chiba was an exchange with Konno Shimai. 

I really like her, but didn't ever know much about her because I couldn't understand Japanese much. It was fun to be able to work with her for a day now that I can understand a little more what she's saying.

Usually when we go to the other apartment we ride trains. My bike that I received last summer has been on its last leg (wheel?) for the last 2 transfers though and thankfully, there was a bike left at the other apartment that I can use. So we decided to ride bikes and swap. Coming home it was raining the whole way and we had all our suitcases shoved in my bike basket and hanging off handles, and backpacks on our backs. Plus we didn't have our rain suits with us so we bought cheap dollar store ones. That was an adventure. It made me grateful for all the hikes we've been on, and learned to see the adventure in it all... Hikes are training for life I say!  Or at least for missions.

This last week all the Sakura, (Japanese cherry blossoms) have been in bloom. 

We made bread at a member's house with Suzuki. Thanks for your prayers for her. 

We met Maria 2 times this past week. The last time she told us really sincerely that we should really pray about and reconsider the Book of Mormon, because she did her research and has decided that according to the Bible it can't be true. I heard that and smiled knowing that I do that all the time. A couple times every week I find something in the Book of Mormon that confirms to me, one more time that it is true.

Lesson learned: I was talking on the phone with someone and it was on speaker so my companions could hear. The person said something kind of rude about someone who happened to be listening... It was so awkward. Remember to just always talk better about people behind their backs that you do to their face. It will save you pain.

I love you!!!

-Waite Shimai

Some pix of our apt.

Poor Tomura Shimai is kind of just camping out in the corner of our study room.

-Waite Shimai

April 8, 2012

Dear Family-

Hallie, thanks for writing and tomorrow: お誕生日おめでとうございます！（HAPPY BIRTHDAY!) Are you really in Young Women's?

Life here this week has been as crazy as it is at home. For the most part I feel like missionary life is a pretty routine thing, thanks to our schedule. But lately things have been chaos. We had an exchange this week, which meant that we met up with 2 other sisters, swapped companions, and then met up again the next day to switch back.

The tough part was that the sister who served with me and Barbour Shimai for a day forgot to hand us the bike keys back when we switched back. She texted us as we were on the train back to our area, and I was so busy responding to them that I didn't realize that the train had stopped at our stop until it was too late and I saw my 2 companions on the other side of the train door as it closed and I whizzed away, going only further from the direction of the bike keys. To add to it, I happened to be on the rapid train rather than the normal one, which stops only at major stations, so I was riding for quite a while before I had a chance to get off and get back to my companions. Meanwhile, the other sisters were still waiting for us all to come back to the station we swapped at so that they could hand us the keys. This was all complicated by the fact that you can't make phone calls while riding a train. It took an extra hour and a half for us to get the bike keys to their rightful owners, and to get the rightful owners back to their right areas. (Sequences).

 Then for general conference we went and stayed in our other area (Koiwa) and slept at that apartment for 2 days, and then came back this morning.

Being temporarily assigned to 2 areas is confusing for both us and the ward members. We are overcome with all the calls and questions coming to both phones, asking where we are going to be, and on which day, and whether or not there will be 2 or 3 of us coming to church... I remind myself that it's all out of love. We are almost loved to death, I feel.

Our investigator Suzuki Shimai came to part of conference. Every time we see her she is brighter. You can see it in people’s eyes when they start embracing pure truth. I love it. Keep praying for her. Tea is still her set-back. Oh, and Kanesaka and Maria are still on the prayer list too, but we couldn't meet last week.

You know Fukuda, our investigator in Utsunomiya? He got baptized yesterday! Sister Stevenson sent me 2 pix that I'm attaching as a PDF. He sure looks different. Every time I saw him he had a doctor's mask on and a bandana on his head. Once again, it's neat to see the physical changes that spiritual change naturally brings about.

I got a package from Nancy today stuffed full of Kool-aid and 8 different colors of food-coloring, plus some lip gloss and a card. Amazing to think that she had the thought to send that in the middle of the play AND Jr. Miss, not to mention battling the false rumors Jordan has been spreading around about a future wedding. I'll write her anyway, but could you tell her an extra big thanks from me?

On a spiritual note, a theme of my life, mission, and especially a theme of this past week is that God has prepared so many blessings for us that are just waiting to pour out upon us if we will only ask. My prayers have been a lot more specific, and thoughtful, and sincere lately. And my actions have also been more meaningful in correspondence with those prayers. I have seen more specific answers. I spend a lot more time thinking about what I am truly concerned about, and what things among those are appropriate to be asking the Lord for help with. The power of prayer is amazing.

A member in Utsunomiya told me once that when lightning comes from the sky, it connects to the earth at a point where there is the most electric power. She said that prayer is the same way. A little bit of power on earth calls down lightning bolts of power from heaven. I wish I knew more about the science behind that analogy, but I can for sure testify of the spiritual truth in that.

I love you all. Conference was great. The book is blue, and the church is true. Good luck to everyone this week (especially you Mooze!).

-Sister Waite

Picture: A landmark in our area called Sky Tree.