Week 2 in Japan

Kon`nichiwa Kazoku to Tomodachi!

Wow, I apologize for how few details I gave in last week`s e-mail! And it was like super depressing- I really do love it here, the first week was just super overwhelming haha :) Really though, it is going so much better every day.

So, where to begin? It is pretty hard to know where to start. After I and all the other new missionaries went through the custom check last week, S. Shimai, my MTC companion, started talking to some Japanese high school girls that were there. They were so excited to see so many Americans. Well, we were all in a rush to take our luggage to the waiting bus, but as we were being whisked off, Z.K. asked if we had gotten their contact information. I wasn`t sure how to ask for that in Japanese, but I ran back and told the two girls why we were here, and that we taught about Jesus Christ and his teachings, which were conveniently contained in the Japanese copy of the Book of Mormon that I had bought in the MTC the day before with the hopes of giving it to someone my first day! I told them it was a gift and asked if they would read it. They were so ridiculously excited that I gave them something! It was awesome, and I hope that somehow they will be able to find me someday (they took a picture with me after I gave them the Book of Mormon.) It was really an awesome first experience, and I hope with all my heart that those two girls read The Book of Mormon.

So, my first day in Japan, I and all the new missionaries (all 33) of us went to the mission home in Kobe. It was one of the most gorgeous places I have ever seen in my life, it felt like the temple and was a blend between American and Japanese culture, which was super neat. We had a meeting that night once we were all settled in, and I don`t remember almost anything that was said, because it felt like the middle of the night. Afterwards, the senior couple congratulated us for being the first group of newbies to ever be able to stay awake during their presentation. It was pretty hilarious, luckily this week the jet lag and time change have worn off.

The third day, we were all given our assigned areas. I don`t remember if I mentioned this, but I just had this feeling that I was going to be going to Osaka where the airport was. And sure enough, here I sit in a place called Hannan, which is right across the bay from the airport! Osaka is a great place to be! Our apartment is in a rather little city, but we frequently ride into Sennan City, which is pretty big.

My companion is U. Shimai- she is from Tokyo and has been on her mission for six months now! She is super hardcore, she loves the investigators so much and has been doing everything in her power to help me speak correct Japanese for them. She is really into dancing, hip-hop- ballet, ballroom dancing, and cheerleading. Her mom is a professional ballroom dancer (that made me think of Skyler! Is he still dancing?) U. Shimai is a great trainer and is helping me so much.

I have rented a bike from the last sister that U. Shimai trained, it's holding up great!

What is the food like here was one of the questions someone asked...it is so great! The Gyoza here is sooo good! Also, the fruit here is unlike any I have ever had in my life. The grapes here are gigantic and so much more sweet and tangy. Every so often, the church members here give U. Shimai and I something called a Fruit Basket...Which is basically enough food to feed us for a few weeks. The people here are so generous and nice! Seriously, the (I think Young Men`s leader?) finds us every week and exclaims "Oh, it`s my daughters!! My daughters!" It is hilarious. So, I have been officially adopted into the ward here quite literally. The church members here are the best.

In my next email, I'll talk more about our investigators- we have 19 currently, and I seriously love them all even though I haven`t had the privelage to meet all of them.

Anyway, I hope everything is going well with you all! Stay genki everyone!
~Watkins Shimai

Below is a map that the Mission President sent out. Sister Watkins is in area #13. :)

Konnichiwa from Japan!

Kon`nichiwa!

The computer that I email from in Japan is really different... So I apologize in advance for all of the grammatical errors!

 

Wow, where to begin? Last week when I talked to my family, I promised to share a miracle that had happened with them. But I want to be able to share a little bit about Japan too.

 

On the day of my final preperation day in America, it was my district's final lesson with T. Sensei where we were all present. Honestly, half the class looked so tired that they looked like they might just fall out of their chairs after a day of frantically packing, writing letters, and attending the temple for a final time. During class, T. Sensei set up a time where everyone could role play together so we could practice how to street-contact, set up an appointment, and practice with a new investigator for one last time.

 

During the mogi, he asked if we could one by one think of a question to ask the investigator to better understand who he was, and his religious beliefs. When he mentioned how much he cared about his family, and that he had a belief in Christ, my mind strayed a little from what everyone was saying. I wanted our investigator to be able to feel the spirit through the question that I was going to ask, but I wasn't really sure how. In the back of my mind, something just clicked. It was literally like climbing up the stairs, one step at a time. I felt an impression that I should share a scripture from the Book of Mormon. But what? It was almost my turn and there wasn't much time left to spare. And then it came to me "We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." It seemed to fit perfectly with everything our investigator had said about his beliefs. I didn't know where the verse was, but thought that maybe it was in first or second Nephi. So I opened up my book to find it. I opened it to the exact page, and that verse was the exact place where my eyes looked first.

 

When it was my turn to ask a question, I asked our investigator if he would read the verse. After reading it, he seemed completely surprised. It threw me off a little when he asked, "Why did you share this verse?" but I answered that I believed its truthfulness.

 

After our mogi, T. Sensei told me that it was that particular verse in 2 Nephi 25: 26 that had changed his investigator`s heart, and that after reading it, agreed to be baptized. I realized later that night that it wasn`t me at all that had thought of that verse. God knows us each personally, I know that now more than ever. If we seek to have the Holy Ghost in our lives, we will be able to work miracles in ways that we in no way could do ourselves.

 

 My dear friends and family, I apologize in advance: you all sent me so many wonderfully long e-mails that I really don't have enough time this week to respond to them all. I hope that this e-mail will suffice for now, and next week I`ll try to do better to responding to you individually.

 

So! Japan is a little different than the MTC, hahaha. I hardly know where to start. A lot of my roommates in college thought I was ridiculous with how often I cleaned the apartment... But Japan is so ridiculously clean. Every time you walk into a house it becomes a game of "don't touch the lava." You can only let your feet touch certain areas without shoes, and the entry-way is not one of them. Wow, sorry, this is really hard to explain in English. But yeah, the people here are so clean.

 

My first full day with my new trainer and companion was crazy. I pushed myself to speak as much Japanese as I possibly could, but was having a really hard time forming sentences. I tried to apologize and tell her that I was usually better at understanding than speaking Japanese, and in practically perfect English, she said, "You don`t understand ANY Japanese unless I speak REALLY slowly and REALLY simply." Ouch, that stung to the core. I thought taking calculus, statistics, economics, business law, and accounting at the same time was hard, haha! Now this is tough work, but the most important work in the world. Salvation didn't come at a cheap cost. Jesus Christ was the only perfect person to ever live or teach, and yet he was rejected too. I have never felt more humble in my life, and I understand more how out of place he felt among the people he taught.

 

My investigators are the best people I have ever met. Sometimes it feels like I have met them before, which is awesome. Keep being strong everyone, and remember who`s side you are on :)

 

Watkins Shimai