Meet the Mormons

Minasan, konnichiwa!

I decided I always start my emails the same way, so I'll shake things up a bit this week.

As many of you may have guessed, we watched Meet the Mormons! We had zone Pday today HERE (yay, no hour long train rides to other areas in the zone!) and we ate pancakes and watched the movie. More on my thoughts later.

We saw a lot of crazy miracles this last week. We had exchanges on Thursday, and I had the opportunity to stay in Kisaradzu with Hirschi Shimai! She served in Kisaradzu last December, and she was able to really help our investigators move forward.

We met with Saitou Shimai and talked with her about the temple. We set up a date with her to go to the temple and do baptisms for her ancestors. All she needs to do is pay tithing and then she will be worthy to enter. Chapman Shimai and I met with Saitou Shimai again on Sunday and talked about the blessings of tithing. It was a super intense lesson. We shared personal experiences and asked Saitou Shimai to trust in her Savior and just try paying her tithing. We'll see what happens this week.

Hirschi Shimai and I also met with Eiko san, and she said that her family really enjoyed the FHE we had with them last week. They even filmed the entire thing! Eiko's husband had fun, and he said that he is okay with doing it every week. We talked with Eiko about her baptismal date, which was last May, and she said that she wanted to wait for her family to desire baptism as well. We told her that her family will never understand how important the church is to her unless if she gets baptized. We told her that she needs to be the example for her family. She agreed and decided that she will be baptized on September 5th! We will work with her to make sure she is prepared for that date! I know that as she takes steps of faith, her family will be able to follow her clear beacon.

I am so grateful for the gospel. We watched Meet the Mormons today, and I felt so much gratitude and love. The gospel is so beautiful and simple. Christ truly is the source of lasting happiness. He will use us to strengthen others: friends, family, neighbors, etc. the gospel can heal us. His way will make us better. The church is full of imperfect people, but through His teachings we will become more and more like Him. I am so grateful for the examples in my life. I love my family so much!

Love, Crandall Shimai

P.S. Here is our new mission logo!