August 29, 2011 -- email (Sorry this one is out of place!)

Hannah, and the rest of the family--

WOW- it's good to hear from you Mooze! I love hearing about the happenings of the lives of my siblings. Thanks for writing. Best of luck to all you girlsies with school! I couldn't believe it when I read that it has already started.

This week we started teaching a girl named Tamaki Yuria. She's 25, and she's studying chemistry in college. She's such a funny person - she is unbelievably skinny, and has these huge 80's glasses. I really love her. Her family doesn't believe in anything at all - they aren't Christian, Buddhist, or Atheist... they have no religious beliefs. She has heard Jesus Christ's name, and said she had heard about Moses when we talked about prophets, but that’s it. She's never read the bible or gone to a church. It's pretty neat to think that we are completely starting from scratch with her. Most people at least have some pre-conceived notion of religion in general, but not so much with her. I don't know what we did to earn the opportunity to be the ones who get to tell her about this wonderful gospel, but I am excited.

Also, tonight we have an investigator named Sano Chieko who is coming to FHE that we are also really excited about. We met her on the street two weeks ago and the following weekend she came to church. When she first walked up the church that Sunday I mistook her for a member. She had on a nice blouse and skirt and already looked like she fit right in. She has a heart condition and wasn't feeling well last week so we've been looking forward to tonight.

Also, I told you about Sumire I think. She's the girls who is 18 and called us. Well, she's moving back in with her parents who aren't in our area. She still wants to meet with us and learn the gospel she said, but admitted that she likes meeting with the missionaries more than she actually likes talking about the church... maybe a new set of missionaries in her home area would be a good thing.

The pictures I attached are just some we took since it's a new transfer. We made fliers with them and handed them out to our wards.

I can't think of a lot else worth saying about things going on here - oh, last night I killed a cockroach. Oh and Mom, I LOVE the CD you sent me for my birthday! Thank you!

As I type I'm going back over all the letters and DE's I've received lately - there are always so many and I wish I could comment on all the things you have been involved it! I love hearing about things at home. Dad I always love the PS notes you add at the end. Thanks for those. : )

This week I got a PACKAGE from Nancy Cox! I'll write back to her soon, but be sure to tell her thanks for me.

Well, gotta go. Love you all!!!
-Waite Shimai

PS- one more time, Hannah, I just can't tell you how great it was to hear from you. And especially to hear about Trek, I will be thinking about that all week long.

September 12, 2011 -- email

Dear Fam-

I'm exhausted...

We just had a district activity for P-day and I don't have a lot of time so sorry in advance that I can't say much! For our activity we went to a Mexican Buffet. It was funny to be eating Mexican food served by Japanese people. They tried really hard, but it was still very Japanese-y. There wasn't a bit of cheese, sour cream, or refried beans to be found in the whole place, but they did have a version of Mexican rice.

Next week is our last P-day of the transfer so we will be going to the temple. I'm excited, but can't believe time is flying that fast. This past week we had interviews with our mission president. It's nice to be able to talk to him for a few minutes in person. I read in one of Cody's letters that he just got a new president and hadn't had an interview until then - that's crazy! I sure am grateful for the mission president we have here. I am pretty sure that I won't be staying here after these next 2 weeks are up. I've gotten pretty comfortable here in Yokohama and I have a feeling I'll be moving on soon. That's fine as long as I see Sano get baptized before I go!

About her (Sano). Her baptismal date is still on. She's amazing. She has a heart condition that makes her a little weak, but it doesn't stop her from being one of the happiest, most pure people you'll ever meet. I just hope that after she comes up out of the water she doesn't get translated right then and there... the world needs more people like her.

Also, this Sunday we are having a baptism for a guy named Shingo. I met him at a park a while ago with Saiki Shimai. He speaks perfect English so I spoke to him and was blown away by how ready he was to hear the gospel. I'm pretty excited about him.

Something funny: Yesterday we were walking in the evening down a street and met these two people: a scraggly looking guy about 60 years old and this girl about 25ish. We talked to them and were really close to the church so we invited them to come see the church with us. They hesitated so we said we should just go to the porch. The guy said "Last time I followed people like you to the porch of the church they put me in the bathtub." Turns out he was actually baptized years ago.

This week on Wednesday is Asai Shimai's birthday. I think it must be part of my personal mission calling to be companions with people when it is their birthday. All of my companions so far have had a birthday while I was with them... I'm running out of ideas.

Mom-the front of your card said "O tanjobi, omedeto gozaimas." Which essentially means, "for your birthday congratulations". And sorry, but I didn't make it in scrapbooking. All the stuff they do in scrapbooking looks exactly like the scrapbook stuff in America. I wanted to send something Japanese.

Alright, gotta go. Mom, I'm thinking about Christmas though. Don't worry.

I LOVE YOU!!!!
-Waite Shimai

September 5, 2011 -- email

FAM-

WOW! (Don't I start all letters that way?) Time flies! This week has gone pretty fast. Thanks to I'm sure many prayers, and probably a nudge from our mission President, my companion has really kicked things up a notch this week. She is fantastic, and we are really learning to work well together. It's amazing how different missionaries can each be incredibly effective, but in so many different ways. I've also done a little repenting on my end and realized how much improving I could do as well. The Lord sure likes to keep His servants humble : )

Actually, I've thought more about that this week - humility. I probably wrote about this before, but in the MTC I remember a speaker saying that as missionaries, we will be promising people a lot of blessings in encouraging them to change their lives and follow Christ. Then he read Ether 12:27 and pointed out that that scripture actually promises when we come unto Christ we will become more aware of our weaknesses, which is a somewhat painful promise. So if you're having a bad day, and you realize there's not a whole lot you can do right... take it as a sign that you are on the path that's leading to Christ...

Mom, thanks for reminding me that I never have really explained about the laptops. We use them to e-mail investigators. Here in Tokyo, most working people go to work long before we are out of the apartment, and aren't back until pretty late at night. (For the men it's not at all unusual for them to be at work until past 10pm.) So, most people we meet on the street are either students or unemployed. There is a big group of people that we never have the chance to meet. That is especially a problem for the Elders. So the laptops are to help us maintain contact with investigators who are extremely busy.

So far, I personally have just used it to keep in contact with people through e-mail. After we teach a lesson we always want to follow up and see how the investigator is doing. E-mail really helps us contact people who are too busy to receive any other form of communication. Also, we are starting to do all our area books online. (The area book is where we keep people's contact info and the record of what they have been taught.) The bishop of our ward also has access to the area book, as well as the ward mission leader, so they can both look at it throughout the week and see what the latest news is on our investigators. Also, we have Skype, so if investigators are too busy to meet in person we can do a lesson on Skype. So far, that's not something I have used, but a lot of others have seen success with that. Our mission also has created a homepage with a whole bunch of resources and it always has updates from the mission office. Communication is a lot faster to them now. Another thing is that people who aren't willing to give you a phone number on the street are still willing to give an e-mail address, so it is easier to get contacts. That all sounds pretty nice, which it is, but we still have a lot to figure out about how to use the computers effectively.

This week we had our first lesson with Sano Chieko. Saki Shimai and I met her on the street a few weeks ago and that weekend she came to church. At church she blew us away... she would just walk up to people and introduce herself. She's a self-fellowshipping investigator. She also expressed interest in the stake choir flier that she was hanging on the bulletin board.
She has a heart problem and was a little weak for a while after that week so the first time we were able to meet her since then was this week at our FHE activity, and then the first chance we had to teach her was this Friday. We only taught her the first half of lesson one because we didn't have time to finish, but we still asked her to pray about the message we had shared with her and if she felt it was true to be baptized. She said yes, so I asked her if she would be baptized on the 25th of September. She paused for a minute and then turned to her bag and pulled out her planner to see if she was free that day! I was blown away again. Then, she opened it up and my heart sunk a little because I saw that there was already something written on the 25th... and then I realized what it was: Stake Choir practice. Who does that? Who says they can't come to their own baptismal service because they are already too busy with Stake Choir?

Anyway, we still have a lot to teach her and I don't want to count hens before the eggs hatch, but we are really hoping to see her baptism this month.

Other than that, not a whole lot has happened with our other investigators unfortunately. A lot of them haven't responded for a while so we're going to have to move on soon.

Tell everyone hello for me: Auntie Annie, Austin, Josiah... and tell Aunt Georgia and Uncle Ethan congrats.

I have one more thing to say and then I need to go: I knew that I would meet a lot of interesting people on my mission, but I thought most of them would be on the street... in actuality, visiting the members is always an odd experience. This week we visited an older lady and she had 2 ferrets running around her apartment. She told us a story about how her ankle had been broken for 25 years. We ate a surprise dinner that she had prepared for us in her bedroom (apartments are teeny here). Her walls were plastered with pictures of this Korean actor that she's crazy about. She probably never would have stopped talking about him except thankfully her ferret climbed in my backpack and provided a distraction from the conversation. Another member we visited this week dressed us up in Kimonos. Another old lady we visited did a puppet show for us. (Evidence of all 3 occurrences is included.)

I love you much.
-Waite Shimai

PS- The last picture is of us at a memorial of the first people who came to Japan and opened it up for missionary work. This week was the 110th anniversary of the prayer they said to bless Japan, and there was a little anniversary meeting held at the church closest to where the prayer was said. We look tired because the meeting started at 6:30 am so that people who had work could still come.

August 22, 2011 -email

Dear Fam-

Wow. I just can't tell you how wonderful it is to be a missionary! Life is pretty great.

Mom, I loved your story about the roses! That was fun. It’s always good to hear about life at home. As to which of the good books you should read, I don't know how to help you pick. That's something I still haven't figured out how to prioritize : )

It's been unusually rainy and cool here lately for this time of year. Kind of strange. Japan sure is a pretty place. The area I'm in right now reminds me a lot of England. It sort of has a village-y feel. They play music in the streets where everyone shops... I have no idea why. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a movie and that's the background music.

A couple weeks ago, Saiki Shimai and I went to a train station and tried to talk to people on the street there. It wasn't going very well. A lot of other missionaries must have proselyted there before because everyone seemed to see us and immediately do all they could to avoid us. When things get like that, I usually just start handing out fliers for our free English classes. I was walking down the sidewalk and this guy passed me and instead of looking away he actually kept looking at me and my tag. It was right as I was walking by him, so I took about 2 more steps and then looked back and he was still watching me. I realized he probably wanted a flier. I said sorry and handed him one and thought I would just turn back and walk away, but he started to talk to me. He had a New York Yankees cap on and we started talking about English. He said he used to speak it but had forgotten and he said he would come to our class the next day. He did come that week and last week, and yesterday he came to church. The Elders have started teaching him but they travel a lot so we will probably start teaching him. I'm pretty excited.

Most people we talk to here stop just long enough to hear that we are associated with a church and then they keep walking. But every once in a while we meet just one person who just looks hungry for the gospel. Those people make my whole life happy.

I've been thinking especially lately about the call of a missionary and trying not to forget the importance of that. I've seen a lot of manifestations of that in my life this week. They've actually been there all along but I've seen them lately because I've paid attention. Specifically, recently on a day when my weaknesses were especially apparent, I remember thinking that being a missionary isn't really that different from being a normal person who wears a badge. People always talk about the spirit that missionaries have with them and I have wondered if I ever have that kind of spirit or not. I still don't understand Japanese, and I have realized through experience that teaching is not a strong point of mine.

Then, last night I had a dream of me just living normal life, doing and worrying about the things that I would be concerned about now if I weren't on a mission. It was very detailed and reminded me of specific situations that I used to be in. It reminded me of a lot of the things I used to think and stress about. I woke up from it and couldn't stop thinking about it for a long time. I kept trying to figure out how I was going to deal with that situation once I got home. Then I finally fell asleep and had another similar dream. It was a completely different scenario, but still it was about me being home and trying to make a decision that was really hard. I woke up again and couldn't stop thinking about it for a long time. It was like I was not a missionary and had all the concerns I used to have. I hate to say this to you who aren't on missions, but it was a terrible feeling. It really impressed to me the uniqueness of being a missionary. There are so many big things I don't have to worry about for a while: school, money, other big decisions...

There is so much peace in being able to lie down at night and know that you've given your whole day to the Lord. No regrets. I've realized that being able to feel that is a once in a lifetime experience. Not that there aren't ways we can improve as missionaries -actually most days it seems my weaknesses are magnified here more than ever, but it's a good feeling to be able to give what little you have. Anyway, I just hope you know that this sure is a wonderful experience. The 'setting apart' of a missionary is real.

In one of the letters from Cam that mom sent he shared an experience about how he had been bearing his testimony one day and as he did so he was thinking of all the times he has seen the Lord's hand in his life. That really struck me and now, every time I bear my testimony about something I try to think of a specific time when I saw blessings from following that certain commandment, or that certain gospel principle. It has changed the whole way I teach. It is so much easier to be sincere and help the people I'm talking to feel the spirit.

I just read what I wrote... sorry this week's letter is on the somber note. I didn't mean it to be! I just hope you know how happy missionary life is!

In Aunt Amy's words, Have a Happy.

-Waite Shimai

PS- Mom and Dad, I thought of you on your anniversary!

PPS- Read the Bible Dictionary's entry under the word 'Miracles'.

August 15, 2011 -email

Ausuru Kazoku!

Kyo wa atarashi tenkin no hajime desu! Totemo tanoshimi ni shiteimasu! Atarashi doryo wa Asai Shimia to imasu. Kanojo wa konno Yokohama area ni kimasu, desu kara, watashi wa area Sempai ni narimasu... choto wakai to omoimasu.

Hello fam! It is so good to hear from you all and know your lives are going on as normal as ever.

Well, today is the first day of my 3rd transfer in Japan. I was thinking about that this past week and realized that means my mission is 1/3 over. BAH!!! That's hard to believe. Today was transfers and Saiki Shimai was transferred to another area. My new companion is Asai Shimai and she is from New York, New York but is Japanese. Her parents were born and raised in Japan and then moved to the States. I think she'll be a pretty good companion, but can already tell she doesn't work as hard as Saiki Shimai. Not a lot of people do, but I just hope we can accomplish some things this transfer.

I don't have tons of time to write since we had transfers this morning, but I will say that we have seen a LOT of things happen this week. 3 brand new investigators came to church this week. That's not saying much for Mexico... but in Japan that's called a miracle. We are pretty excited. Here's the new and updated prayer list (thanks in advance): Sano, Bat and Tomii, and Sumire! Sano and Sumire are both about my age and Bat and Tomii are a couple from Mongolia.

Well, gotta run. Love you tons.

-Waite Shimai.

PS - lately I've been reading the greatest book, highly recommend it. It's called the Book of Mormon...