FUNBUN to FUKUOKA

May 23, 2016

Friends, what a week. Can I just say how incredible being a missionary is. I love it I love it I love it.

First off, I know you all are on your seats about whether our investigator is a guy or girl... Yeah we still don't know. But we have another lesson tonight and we have a member jointing for us so maybe they will be able to figure it out. We have gone about this many a ways and still can't figure it out, so hopefully tonight does it in.

Hammond, the marine we started teaching last week dropped us and that was a major bummer, but because he dropped us we miraculously able to meet with a less active and share a message that he was really in need of. It was absolutely the Lords timing and it was so interesting seeing how Hammond had to drop us to get the timing to line up so that we could meet with the other guy. It was just really eye opening to see how everything is perfectly lined out by the Lord's hand.

We had our first return appointment with Holly, a lady we found from Idaho who lives off base, and it was amazing! She is one of the most Christlike, loving, prayerful, respectful people I know and Luczak Shimai and I are just amazed by her. She's probably in her 60s and lives by herself. At the end of our lesson with her she told us how she had been studying the bible more and how she was at a thrift store and found a couple study aid books about the bible. She pulls the books out of a bag and shows them to us and guess who they were published by, yep, the Mormon church! As she showed us the books she said 'I think we were meant to meet.' It was miraculous!

When I got my transfer call to come to Iwakuni and work near the base I was honestly crushed. I did not want to leave the complete culture immersion of being in a Japanese ward and I was just really dreading the transfer. This week I developed a new appreciation for this experience of getting to serve with both Americans and the Japanese people. David Shimai and I were on splits and dendoed in Japanese all day and had incredible experiences together. Then we went onto base for an after baptism lesson with Jorge and then a bbq and played tag around the playground with a bunch of kids. Then we went back off base and dendoed some more and made a miracle return appointment with a lady. By the end of the day I was just so overcome with gratitude that I get this unique experience of getting to serve near a base and learn how to be a missionary in English and Japanese language and culture. Basically, the Lord knows what he's doing when he sends us to specific areas and I just took a little while to be humble and thankful for this area I get to serve in.

The highlight of the week was yesterday. We had a huge mission conference that ELDER COOK came and spoke at! We all went down to Fukuoka to hear him and his wife and also elder And sister Yamashita. I also got to see Mckenzie Shimai and Anserson Shimai! They were both in a group musical number together and sang Come Thou Fount. As they sang I was just overcome with the spirit and was bawling! I love them both so so much and am forever thankful for the incredible companions and best friends I have been blessed with. Hearing them sing together and then at the end hearing Komatsu Shimai say the closing prayer and sitting with Luczak Shimai the whole time was just overwhelming! They are all such blessings in my life.

There were so many things that touched me during the conference but what touched me the most was elder Cook's testimony of Christ. Elder Cook is an apostle of the Lord, and there was no denying that as he shared his testimony of the Savior. Being in such an intimate environment with one of the twelve apostles and hear his special witness of the Savior is something I will always remember. He promised us, in the most beautiful words, limitless blessing for our service. He promised us that our families and all those who are loved and dear to us would be blessed because of our faithful service. That our future spouses, children, and posterity would all be blessed because of our service. And he promised and testified to us that we are beloved children of God.

I'll forever be thankful for the experiences that the Lord is blessing me with at this time. He lives and loves us!

Have a wonderful week!

Love, Sundell Shimai

We stopped to talk to this lady who was doing field work and she said wait a minute, walked over to the field, yanked two cabbages out of the earth and pulled the long roots off, then walked back over and handed them to us. That is an accurate description of these selfless people. I love Japan