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