'Twas the day after Easter...

 Well it's still Easter for all you in America. I hope everyone is having a wonderful day and feeling our Savior's love especially strong today. Yesterday was the most incredible Easter. We had THREE investigators come to sacrament meeting. It was an Easter miracle! Hinata chan, Keiko San, and Takahashi San all were able to come! On Saturday we had a lesson with Hinata chan and nakamatsu Shimai (Chris kyoudai's mother-in-law) was our joint. In our last lesson we had committed her to pray every night and write down how she felt and when we asked her if she had done it she said yep and pulled out her notebook to show us. This angel had really written at least a line every night with dates and everything! She is absolutely incredible. Anderson Shimai and I are always amazed at how reliable she is And how well she understands everything. When we invited her to church again nakamatsu Shimai offered to give her a ride and she completely wanted to come! So yesterday Anderson Shimai and I waited outside the church for our sweet Hinata chan to show up, and sure enough we see the nakamatsu drive up and Hinata chans beaming face in the back seat of the car! She stayed for all three hours, and the Shokuji after church and everyone just loved her! We had told all the members how amazing she was, but I don't think any of them really believed a nine her old could be that incredible, but now they all know for themselves. During primary the teacher was asking Hinata what she remember about baptism, prophets, etc, and she had incredible answers for every question! We knew she was always listening but we didn't know she understood everything so well! Chris kyoudai invited us and Hinata chan over to their house after church to dye eggs and she was so excited to come. We had a great time and she now has a strong relationship with their whole family.

Dendoing the past few days has been so special. Yesterday specifically I was overwhelmed with gratitude for this opportunity to share the gospel. Hopefully you all have seen this years two minute Easter video put out by the church, but if not check it out now! When we contacted people we asked them if we could share a two minute video about Christ and Easter and a few people agreed. The spirit was so powerful in each viewing and my love for the Savior grew each time. How incredible that we got to share a message about Christ on the day of his resurrection. The video talks about how because of Christ's atonement, we can all be 'made alive' in Him. Through Christ we can be both physically and spiritually made alive. It made me think of a part in the living Christ that reads, 'He rose from the grave to become the firstfruits of them that slept.' Christ is truly our risen Lord. He atoned for our sins, was crucified and was resurrected. He is the firstfruits, and because of Him, we too will be resurrected into perfect, immortal bodies. How glorious will resurrection morning be when we will all be reunited with our loved ones. This gospel is a message of hope and peace, and I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ who desire for each one of us to find that everlasting peace.

This gospel is true, God and Christ's love is real, and they love each one of us individually. There's no happier message than that

All my love, Sundell Shimai  

This is Keiko San! She took us out to a super delicious restaurant for lunch after a lesson we had with her. She's a hoot. She's slightly obsessed with us and our first names. She calls me Abby chan all the time. 

Our sweet Hinata chan's first time at church! How lucky are we that we got to share that experience with her!

Egg dying with Mia chan too. On Hinata chans egg she chose to write 'Jesus' resurrection day' Good choice, Hinata, good choice!