Jan. 10, 2016
Konnichiwa! I hope everyone is doing well and is happy and healthy. Things here in the land of the rising sun are going well. Im settling into the culture and am becoming closer with the members, which I love!
Hopefully no one tried to google the member of the seventy's name that we had dinner with a couple weeks back for Christmas.  I wrote that his name was Imashita choro, but it's actually Yamashita choro. Embarrassing. Japanese names are a slight struggle for me to remember/hear. They all kind of sound the same and it's also confusing because they say their last name first, but I'm slowly catching on! So sorry for that.
I experienced my first earthquake! It was about a week or two ago around 8 pm and we were talking with a teenage girl we had just met. The earthquake was only about three seconds long and pretty mild but it was terrifying! I was worried for a second that I was being called to repentance like alma the younger, but I think the earthquake he experienced was a little more severe. (Refer to Mosiah 27)
Funny moment: Komatsu Shimai and I were dendoing one night and were talking about random things, music I think. She asks me, "do you like Lapping?" I was confused and asked her to say it a few more times and finally I figured our she was asking me if I like Rapping! It was so funny the way she aid it, so now I always give her a hard time about liking lapping. And we are slowly making up a 'dendo lap' which is quite entertaining.
My favorite two scriptures right now, and the whole time I've been here, are Helaman 5:12 and Alma 18: 30-32. When Komatsu Shimai and I are planning messages to share with people I'm always drawn to these two scriptures- they apply to so many situations! Helaman 5:12 is Helaman's promise to us, that if the gospel is our life's foundation, we cannot fall. This gospel is truly a perfect foundation for anything that we have or will ever experience in this life. This scripture was one of the first scriptures to really stand out to me as a child, and I love being able to share it with others who are learning about God and Christ and this gospel for the first time.
Alma 18: 30-32 teaches that we were all created by Gods hand. Gods love for us is incomprehensible. He created us, He watches over us, He helps us, He cares for us, He wants us to follow Him and live with Him again. This week I was so overwhelmed by the love God has for all of His children. I felt the perfect love that He has for a specific family and in turn I loved that family also. In going onto verses 33-35, Ammon explains his calling as a missionary called of God. I love those verses because it shows how sacred of a calling all missionaries have and how much trust the Lord puts in us to take care of his beloved children. I do not want to let Him down.
Family, friends, this gospel is perfect. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love each and every one of us, and if we put our faith and trust in them, we need not fear. This gospel is a message of happiness, peace, and love, and I'm so thankful for this opportunity to devote all my time, energy and heart to sharing it.

All my love, Sundell Shimai

John 14: 15-19
Also, I've been complimented multiple times on my chopstick skills. And my ability to eat anything weird put in front of me. Looks like all our sushi dates paid off! I'm definitely adjusting to the food here, and can eat most all of it.

Yes I got my package.

Dinner with imashita I mean Yamashita choro and Shimai!

A super yummy dinner made by the Kobe family- meatloaf, raw fish, deviled eggs, not pictured rice and miso

This little girl is Mia! Her dad is white and he and his wife met at buy Hawaii and now live here with her parents! Have I mentioned Japanese (and half Japanese) babies are so stinking cute?

Super ghetto makeshift raincoat/trash bag.