Dec. 31, 2015

(Also, it's freezing here. I don't know how Robi survived in Sapporo.)

I have a cold and started coughing a little bit during study, and komatsu Shimai quietly went and got a mask and put one on then handed one to me. Yep. I'm definitely in Japan and I definitely have a Japanese companion!

Happy new year Family and friends!
I hope everyone's Christmas was filled with Christ's love and joy.
Before my mission when people would ask where I wanted to go, I would always say I didn't really care but that I wanted to learn another language. Now, I'm not so sure why I wished for that. Want a humbling experience? Learn Japanese. It'll kick your butt. It's a good thing I am on the Lord's errand in this work and He is helping me. Progress is very slow but coming.
Japan is kind of obsessed with English. There's English everywhere and most of the time it is incorrect and hilarious. My favorite is definitely the hair salons. I've figured out the basic formula they all use. It's always three words, the first word is always hair, and the second two words are just random. We live next to a place called "hair space time" and some of my other favorite names have been "hair make leaf" and "hair make FERICE". Love the spelling of fierce. I've enclosed a couple pictures of the other cleverly named hair salons!
This week at district meeting, we learned a lot about charity. I've been having a hard time being homesick and thinking about my family and friends. At district meeting we read Moroni 7:45 and went around the room each reading aloud a different charity character trait. When it came to me, mine was 'seeketh now her own.' Basically Heavenly Father was telling me I need to stop thinking about myself so much. So since then I've been studying charity and really trying to develop that Christlike attribute! Charity really is the pure love of Christ. In all the scriptures I've read charity is associated with service, love, compassion, selflessness, and purity. In Japanese, charity is 'jiai' and 'Ai' is love, so in kanji, charity has the symbol for love in it. For being such a pain in the butt, kanji can be pretty beautiful and symbolic. So I'm really concentrating my efforts on developing a love for the people here, for the language, and for this work.
We were housing a couple days ago and scheduled a return appointment with a lady and her four kids! This is the first solid return appointment i've gotten so it's really exciting! We have been practicing for her lesson and praying for her ever since. It's so exciting getting to introduce people to the greatest most perfect message to ever be shared!
I love you all and pray for everyone's safety, health, and happiness!

Love, Sundell Shimai

Read Moroni 7:45!