Kiseki

家族や友達や宣教師へ、

Konnichiwa from Matsudo! I hope all is going well!

This week has been crazy! We taught twelve lessons in the last two days, and we've seen so many miracles! We had Sisters' Temple PDay, as mentioned in my previous email, and zone meeting. Regardless of that, we were able to meet mission standards for the first time this transfer! We had at least twenty lessons, at least two investigators came to church, and we have two new investigators! Things are really going crazy here in Matsudo, and not just for the sisters. The chouroutachi are also seeing a bunch of miracles.

Yesterday, Teruya Shimai and I went on splits right after church. Teruya Shimai taught our new investigator, Hibiki, and I taught our eternal investigator, Isono san. Isono san has been investigating the church for eleven years now, and she has never read the Book of Mormon completely! I taught about its importance with Anderson Shimai. I could only bear simple testimony of its truthfulness, but I felt that that was enough. However, Isono san still declined my invitation to read every day with her son. She says that she does not have faith and does not want to read the book. It makes me really sad to see her refuse to feel that peace, but I know that the choice is hers. I look forward to the day when some missionary can touch her heart and bring her back to her Father in Heaven. Afterward, I joined Teruya Shimai's lesson with Hibiki san and three wakai jyosei, and I was informed that Hibiki san accepted the commitment to be baptized on the 24th of May! It was so relieving. Teruya Shimai said that the young women basically taught the entire lesson, which is as it should be. Hibiki san really loved church, and the wakai jyosei in the ward were really good with befriending her.

What's interesting is that two of the wakai jyosei who participated in the lesson went to a birthday party a few weeks ago that we also went to, and we were able to start a relationship with them. The Lord was preparing us to work together to teach Hibiki chan, I think. Hontou ni a cool kiseki I think.

Teruya Shimai has several nicknames for me. One is Pocky, because my limbs are always popping and she thinks it sounds like breaking pocky. She also calls me a Scripture Vending Machine because she can tell me what kind of scripture she wants and I can always find one for her.

Every store I go to in Japan has super magical music. Not just that, but every day at 5:00 pm, a song is played really loudly all throughout Matsudo. It is so happy, and every time I get super excited. Teruya Shimai has been in Matsudo for seven months and is tired of the song. The music here in Japan makes me feel as if I am in a Pokemon game. It's really interesting.

I was reading the Book of Mormon a few days ago, and I read Alma 17:2-3. I've always loved this scripture, but it seemed a lot more meaningful this time. At this time, my friends and I have all gone our separate ways to preach the truth that we love, and someday we will all be reunited as brethren and sisters in the Lord. I really look forward to that time. I am so blessed to have so many wonderful friends with standards that match my own.

I love you all! Keep smiling! The Lord is always watching out for you! He wants to protect you!

Love, Crandall Shimai

Sisters' Temple PDay

Dear Friends and Family,

We had a temple PDay on Tuesday, so our PDay schedule was kind of mixed up. Most sisters had time to email after the temple, but all of the new missionaries had a training that we missed at the beginning of the transfer. Instead of doing PDay on Monday, we had exchanges, so here we are on Wednesday finally emailing.

The temple was so wonderful! It was so natsukashii (nostalgic) to go since I haven't been in several weeks. I feel so blessed to be on a mission where we can go every transfer! We were running late, so in my haste I didn't even see the temple until we were right next to it! It's really tall, and it was hard to take pictures of it. The inside really reminded me of the Provo Temple, except for the cool Japanese style art pieces. The temple is definitely the best.

Last week, before Eikaiwa, I prayed that someone new would come that we could teach. I was a little disappointed when no one new came, but our investigator named Mizuki did come back from Sendai, so we visited with her afterwards. The contrast between when she left and when she came back was so stark! She suddenly had a bunch of kyoumi (interest) and actually treated us as missionaries (instead of just friends). She said that while in Sendai, she thought a lot about the church, and she said that she always feels something different when she talks to the missionaries. We invited her to be baptized, and she said that if she feels this is true, then she will be baptized! We want to set up a date tonight. Although no one new came to Eikaiwa, teaching Mizuki is like starting all over with good expectations. It truly is interesting how the Lord works.

We had to drop an investigator on Friday, which was really hard. But, when we got home, we got a call from the elders about a girl who is super interested in learning more about the church. The Lord immediately filled that hole in our hearts. It was such a tender mercy. The girl, Hibiki, came to Conference on Saturday! I think she was a little confused (and she was worried that there were no nihonjin in the ward here), but she still really liked it. We look forward to working with her more.

Speaking of Conference... It was so good! There were so many talks about marriage and family. I feel like the focus is coming off of missionary work and more onto preparing for future family life – at least, that's what a current missionary/future mother heard. The talks were all so inspiring. I especially liked President Packer's talk. He was so straightforward. I think some other themes from Conference that stood out to me were the importance of covenants, maturity, and the importance of actions over words (that last one is what Mizuki learned when she came to Conference). I love Conference! I am so grateful that we have living prophets and continuing revelation from God. I am grateful that the Conference talks are already online (in English, at least) so that I can go back and study.

I'm starting to get better at finding. Talking to strangers has always been difficult for me, but I know that the Lord is strengthening me. I handed out three Books of Mormon in the last two days, the only ones I've ever handed out before! And one of them was to a gaijin named Ed (Eigo dendou is super hard. I prefer Japanese)! I still struggle with train dendou, but I talked to a lady who we found out was baptized a long time ago but had fallen away when she became busy. We challenged her to go home and pray with her family. It's super cool to see all the tender mercies of the Lord.

Those are about all of the highlights for this week. Well, besides the exotic food I've been eating... I've had a bunch of mushrooms, and I'm able to eat tomatoes now (yay!). Last night the Watanabe family fed us takoyaki... It was my first time eating octopus, and it wasn't too bad. It was super chewy.

I love you all! Keep studying Conference!

Love, Crandall Shimai

Fukkatsusai Omedetou!

Dear Friends and Family,

I apologize to those who did not receive my email last week. I was short on time and unable to add everyone to the list. I am hoping that will not happen again.

Happy Easter to everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful time decorating eggs and celebrating the resurrection of our Savior! I'm sad that we were unable to watch Conference, but our fast and testimony meeting here in Matsudo was pretty great, too. The Spirit was very strong. We were hoping to get 300 people to church, but there were only 260. Oh well. Have you all seen the Easter video yet? I meant to share about it earlier, before Easter, but I forgot to. It is so good, though! We shared it with a bunch of people, member and non-member alike. #BecauseHeLives #イエスが生きておられるので

I wasn't planning on bearing my testimony on Sunday, but then the thought came to me, "If your testimony could bless the life of your investigator (Miki was our only investigator to come to church), would you bear your testimony?" Of course! I bore my testimony very simply, but I feel that I spoke by the Spirit. Hopefully Miki was able to feel the reality of her Savior.

This last week was pretty exciting. I don't care for riding my bike in Japan because the sidewalks are so narrow. Last week, we biked to a recent convert's house, and when I stopped, I suddenly lost my balance and fell over. It was so weird. It was a super dramatic fall onto my back. I kindof bruised my nose, which was really weird, since I fell on my back. My helmet probably saved me from going to the hospital... Mom, I promise to be more careful! (The only thing that REALLY HURT was my pride...)

We had temporary exchanges again because Teruya Shimai and the other Sister Training Leader had a leadership meeting, so I went to Kamagaya with Tausinga Shimai again. We visited with a sister named Ayako, but she likes to be called Baba (because she's a grandma). She had a baptismal date for Saturday (and was baptized, as planned)! She was so cute! I love her to death. I'll probably never see her again. She was so kin.

We saw several miracles this last week. We went through the area book and called several people, one of which was a Mongolian woman named Bagi. She cried when we shared our message with her and told us to come over as often as we want. She is so prepared! I look forward to meeting with her, although she just informed us that she will be returning to Mongolia for a while because of visa issues...

We met with a sister named Liu. She recently returned from China. She has had several dreams, one in particular about baptism, and one where there were three doors and certain people were going through each door... it sounded a lot like the Plan of Salvation the way she described it... During the lesson, I got the strongest impression that I needed to invite her to be baptized, so I did. She said no, but then after a bit more talking, she decided that if she did feel that this was the true church, she would be baptized. It was a really soft baptismal invite, but at least she knows our purpose as missionaries.

Every week we teach Eikaiwa, an English speaking class. I teach it with one of the other elders in our district. We both have Nihonjin companions, so they can't really help us. It is a bunch of fun, even if it does feel weird to talk to people in English... At Eikaiwa this last week, we met a girl named Margaret. She is from China and has been studying here in Japan for a few years. She has no religious beliefs and is searching for truth. She is so kin. She was very receptive to our message and is super excited to come to church on Sundays and to read the Book of Mormon.

We felt prompted to visit with an old investigator named Miyazaki san this last week. Apparently she stopped meeting with the missionaries because she felt intimidated by them. Something like that. We stopped by and shared the Easter video with her and talked about Christ and Joseph Smith. She started crying. The Spirit was so strong! I was hoping she would come to church on Sunday, but she didn't. Hopefully she will be able to take a step of faith and come unto her Savior.

This last week, Teruya Shimai and I bought some bread from a bread truck. It was kindof like an ice cream truck, but it sold bread instead. It was playing some English Folk song. It made me so happy! Bread here in Japan is so yummy! I don't like bacon, but people often make bread with bacon bits in it and it is delicious!

I learned that Teruya Shimai and I have opposite tastes. I love sweet foods, and I am super picky with what I eat. Teruya Shimai prefers vegetables, but can eat anything. We were at a member's house yesterday, and I got up the courage to try natto... otherwise known as fermented soy beans! Most missionaries hate natto. I'm like most missionaries. It was so gross! But, I am proud to say that I swallowed my bite.

I loved the General Women's Conference! We watched it on Saturday (in Japanese, but I had the English talks on my iPad), and it was so good! I loved what Sister Oscarson said about protecting the Family Proclamation. I feel strongly that I want to be a mother. I want to be one who stands up for families! I also think it was interesting what President Eyring said. At the last meeting, President Uchtdorf spoke about how the Lord wants to bless us. At this meeting, President Eyring spoke about how the Lord wants to bless others through us. I loved it! I always want to be someone that the Lord can depend on to bless others.

I love you all! Have a fantastic week! Keep working hard! I know that the Lord will bless you for your efforts!

Love, Crandall Shimai

Heated Floors & Bathroom Surprises!

Dear Family, Friends, and Missionaries,

I don't have much time this week, so sorry if my thoughts are all over the place!

I bought some Pokemon Candy this week. All of the members love that I love Pokemon. They also love that I like JPop, but none of them have heard of Kalafina...

We did exchanges on Tuesday, and I got to work with Tausinga Shimai in Kamagaya. Tausinga Shimai is on her second transfer. They had no investigators, so we spent the entire day finding. It was good speaking practice, but it was so cold! People here don't even open their doors when you ring the doorbell. They either yell through their door at you or they look at you with their camera and speak through the intercom. So weird. The apaato in Kamagaya has a heated floor. It was so nice to lay on it after our daily planning.

About the title of the email... My first day in Japan I was surprised to find that the toilet seat was heated! I definitely want one in my house. It was quite a pleasant surprise. This last week we were using the bathrooms in the church, and while enjoying the warm seat, I was looking at the different buttons wondering what they did... I accidentally pressed one, and then the toilet sprayed me! I had heard of toilets that would spray you, but I don't know why anyone would do that! Luckily, I knew the kanji for "stop." Otherwise, the toilet would have kept spraying me! It was so crazy.

Teruya Shimai and I have several investigators, but we feel that they aren't progressing anywhere. They keep all of their commitments, but they don't seem to be building testimonies. We want to make sure that they know why we are here, and we want to try changing the commitments to help them progress more. We'll see how it goes.

Yesterday, I street contacted (while biking, which is crazy) a girl named Emelyn. She is from Firipin (the Philippines) and showed a lot of interest in learning about the Church. Teruya Shimai and I have really wanted to find a kinjin (golden person), and we're hoping that Emelyn turns out to be our Firikinjin. :3

We took pictures of some of the cherry blossoms today! There are so many! I'm really excited, because I probably would not have seen them if I came at the end of April like I was originally supposed to...

I know that the Savior is aware of all of us. He knows us perfectly. He knows how to help us. I am so grateful for His strength.

I love you all!

Love, Crandall Shimai

Matsudo

Dearest Family, Friends and Missionaries,

Konbanwa from Japan!

For those of you who did not know (or did not realize by the absence of an email last Thursday), my visa came girigiri right on time for me to leave with the rest of the Tokyo missionaries on Monday! Yatta! I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is aware of me and of my desires.

As a quick side note, I had been temporarily (for like three hours) assigned to serve in the Illinois Chicago mission until my visa came! Maybe I would have seen Sheely Shimai? That would have been cool. Except that I didn't pack any winter coats.

We spent the first night in the honbu (mission home) and then went to a mission conference the next morning (Wednesday). The main speakers were Elder Russell M. Nelson and Elder David F. Evans (I think). I got to shake an apostle's hand on the first full day in the mission field! Yes! They spoke to us about the use of media and devices on a mission. One thing that really stood out to me is that we have iPads not for missionary work but to train us how to be agents unto ourselves, to not be acted upon by the iPad. The use of an iPad on a mission is how Christ reaches out to us and develops a stronger relationship with us. We are meant to learn how to be masters of devices and social media so as to strengthen our future families. Really interesting stuff. Elder Evans spoke a lot about pornography. He said that most of us will be hurt by pornography somehow, and we need to be mature enough to talk about it. What stood out to me the most was he said that pornography is NOT an addiction. We ALWAYS have our agency to stop. Are we agents unto ourselves, or do we let pornography act on us? Really good stuff.

My new companion is Teruya Shimai, a Nihonjin (native Japanese) from Okinawa. Originally, I did not want a native companion. Communicating with Yoshimura Shimai in the MTC was extremely hard. I wanted to get a better grasp on the language before I had a native companion. When Teruya Shimai's trainee was going to be announced, I suddenly knew that it would be me. I was really nervous, but I know that I am supposed to be with her. Teruya Shimai's English is extremely good, so communication is no problem. I feel that with her my Japanese will be able to improve a lot more than with a gaijin (foreigner) companion. I love her so much, and I am so grateful to have such a wonderful companion!

Our area is Matsudo. The Matsudo ward is the largest ward in Japan, and the church building is the largest in Asia (5 floors!). It's probably even bigger than most churches in Utah! The ward members seem to be very involved, which is great. I really look forward to working with them, and hopefully I can learn all of their names quickly...

I love Japan. The roofs are so cool! Our apartment is simple, but has a traditional tatami room with sliding doors and futons! It's so exciting! I spent a bunch of money and bought a bike on Friday. Riding on the left side of the road is really weird, but I'm sure I'll get used to it before long. Hearing a different language all the time seems normal to me, thanks to my time with the Nihonjin district in the MTC. Seeing Japanese everywhere doesn't seem strange. I thought I'd have more culture shock, but I really haven't. Besides cars on the wrong side of the street, but whatever.

We have several investigators, but only one with a baptismal date. There was a baptism recently, and we're going to meet with her this week and film her conversion story. I'm excited for that. The language is hard, but I know that as I push myself, I will become better. All of the members are surprised that this is my first transfer, and people I talk to on the phone all think that I'm native... but I still feel like I can barely say anything in Japanese. I'll keep striving to get better so that I can better share the thoughts of my heart.

On Friday, we visited a member for dinner. Wakana Shimai is mostly deaf. Her son was there, and he is not a member. We had sushi for dinner, and amazingly I was able to eat an entire roll! Maybe there is hope for me after all! Someday, I will love seafood! Teruya Shimai and I wrote our testimonies down for Wakana Shimai. I wrote mine on the back of a picture of the Timpanogos Temple, and when Wakana Shimai saw it, she freaked out. Apparently she had been there before. It was a really cool experience!

A lot of people here don't have a belief in Christ. But, I know that through Him, we can be strengthened. Though storms may come, though the adversary may attack, when we are built on the foundation of Christ, we can endure. (Helaman 5:12) I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:12, I think)

I ran in to Sister Roth!

I love you all! Keep working hard!

Love, Crandall Shimai

PS: feel free to send me mail! <3

Atarashii Disutorikuto

Nihonjin District

Dearest friends, family, and missionaries, 

Shortly after sending my email last week, I was swept away into the Nihonjin district.  Instead of going to the temple, I went to a four hour class in Japanese where I barely understood what was going on.  I had to move all of my possessions to a new room, and I'm still living out of my suitcase... It was super overwhelming at first, but I am feeling a lot better and more capable now.  Teaching is still hard, but I feel that as I push myself, I am able to do more.  I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to learn with the Nihonjin.  

My new companion is Yoshimura Shimai.  She is so sweet and understanding.  Planning and stuff can be really hard sometimes, but I find that it is getting easier to share thoughts with her during companionship study.  

Sisters Crandall & Yoshimura

I love the Nihonjin!  They are so crazy and loud!  I could just watch them all day.  =3  I am so grateful to be with them.  They are kind and willing to help me with Japanese.  In turn, I help them to differentiate between Ls and Rs.  

Half of the Nihonjin are leaving on Monday and the other half are leaving next Thursday.  I was informed that my Visa is not yet back, so I have no idea when I will be leaving for Japan.  Whether I go on time or not, I know that the Lord has a plan for me.  I am grateful for the opportunity that I have to study with the Nihonjin.  I have seen so much more improvement with them than with my previous district (although I love them and loved the time that I had with them).  

Quentin L. Cook spoke to us at the last Devo (Tuesday night), and one thing he said really stood out to me.  He said that he knows the Savior's voice.  The thought immediately came to me that I, too, can know the Savior's voice.  

I love you all!  Keep striving for improvement, and I know that the Lord will help you get there.  I know that as I rely on Him, he will turn my weaknesses to strengths.  I may not be very good at Japanese yet, but even a simple testimony can invite the Spirit, and it is the Spirit who really does the teaching.  

Love, 

Crandall Shimai

Many are called, few get a Charmander

Minasan, 

O genki desu ka?  

I'm doing great.  My first Pokemon was a Charmander.  I also have a Pikachu and a Magikarp.  This last week I purchased a Bulbasaur at the copy center.  

I'm going to be the Pokemon Master.  

I have a wonderful companion named McCarty Shimai.  She and I are perfect for each other.  She is super spiritual, and I (apparently) am super good at Japanese.  I do most of the talking in our lessons, but I try to give her plenty of opportunities to participate.  McCarty Shimai also went to BYU, and she even lived in Wyview.  Our first night in the MTC, she saw a friend who asked her, "Where were you on Monday? I didn't see you at your party."  And she was like, "Wait, what party?"  and then I was like, "Wait, are you talking about that potato party at the MPB?  My friends hosted that party for me!"  Haha, small world.  =)  Sometimes McCarty Shimai talks in her sleep, and sometimes I talk back.  

Tomorrow, I will be joining the Nihonjin (Japanese Native) district, and then I will be leaving with them and our senpais for Japan on the sixteenth of March.  It is hard to believe that I will be in Japan in less than two weeks!  

If you haven't realized by now, my P Days in the MTC are on Thursdays.  They will be on Mondays once I am in Japan, although that will beSunday nights here.  

It was fun to see a bunch of familiar faces here at the MTC.  I got a picture with Sister Nieznanski, and I saw Elder Brower and Elder Flemming as well.  Also, Elder Braswell from my Japanese class at BYU.  

We currently have one investigator named Ina.  We have been teaching him about the Plan of Salvation, and he committed to be baptized in the first lesson!  He is so sweet, and I felt super cool when he started to invite us in rather than us asking him to let us in.  =3  I was surprised to find out that the Kyoudai who acts out Ina Kyoudai was in my Japanese class at BYU.  =P  I didn't even recognize him, but he recognized me.  

MTC life is really different.  Time is so structured.  We spend hours each day studying, but I feel like I never have enough time to study.  I was reading in PMG, and I saw somewhere that I had written, "a whole hour to study each day!"  Oh, how I wish I had more time.  

You get a new sense of humor at the MTC.  Things that once were not funny are now hilarious.  It's interesting how you don't get tired of being with the same 12 people all day every day.  I love my district!  

We got a bunch of study materials here at the MTC, and each book has it's own name (in the Japanese districts, at least).  My favorite is Charmander, an orange book.  We have a yellow dictionary of grammar named Pikachu, a useless dictionary named Magikarp, and other books named Ninja, Sumo, Katana, Miyagi San, and Samurai.  I purchased a green piece of paper with the most important grammar listed on it.  Its name is Bulbasaur.  

The devotionals have been so great.  They are usually focused on obedience or the Doctrine of Christ.  It is so important to be exactly obedient to all mission rules.  I commit to be faithful to all commandments of the Lord, especially the mission rules, and especially the rule to stay with your companion at all times.  

We watched a video on Sunday titled the Character of Christ.  It was a devotional given by Elder Bednar a few years ago, and it was SO GOOD.  I don't think you can find the video online anywhere, but see if you can.  I know you can find the words, though, but the video is so much better!  For those of you who have yet to enter the MTC, make sure you watch it!  I really want to lose myself in the work.  I want to always turn outward instead of inward.  I want to become fully converted to Christ.  

I love you all!  I hope to hear from you!  

Love,  Crandall Shimai