Charity Never Faileth!

Dearest Family and Friends,

Week one of the transfer is already gone. I can't believe how quickly October is flying by! We've been planning a Halloween party for the 31st, so hopefully it turns out alright. I'll attach a picture of the flyer we made.

We had the opportunity to go to a festival in Tateyama with an investigator this last week, and it was way fun! There were these giant wooden floats that people would pull through the streets. There were drums and flutes going the entire time. There was so much food, and I almost didn't have to buy anything because the people we were with kept sharing their food with me! We watched this weird little skit of some samurai fighting an evil samurai. It was pretty intense. The costumes were way cool, but our investigator told me she thinks the costumes my sister made were better. We took a refreshing walk on the beach and then watched a short firework show before taking the hour long train ride home.

We've been meeting consistently with Mami, and she is soaking up everything we tell her. This last week, she told us about how she was talking with someone about the Bible and she asked him why God preferred Abel's offering over Cain's, and she could tell that he hadn't thought about it before. She told us, "I don't think his answer was right, because it was different from yours!" We asked her why she was so convinced that Crandall Shimai's answer was right, and she immediately responded, "Because I trust you!" It was very touching. I love Mami, and I am so grateful for the amazing relationship that I have been able to build with her. It's relationships like these that make me so grateful for my mission. I am so grateful for the amazing experiences that I have every day. I'm grateful for the miracles and for the friends. I am most grateful for the opportunity that I have to draw closer to my Heavenly Father. I know that He will magnify me as I strive to further His work.

Lastly, I'd like to go over my ponderizing scripture for the week. This last week, my scripture was D&C 121:45: "Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men... And let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then may thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God;" This is the first of many scriptures that go along the theme of "Charity Never Faileth." I want to develop more charity in myself, and this first week I focused on "charity thinketh no evil" by striving to always have clean thoughts and hold no grudges or anger. For this next week, my focus is "charity vaunteth not itself." Charity is not prideful, but builds people up through humility. My scripture is 1 Corinthians 8:1: "Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth."

I love you all! Have a great week, and don't forget to memorize the Family Proclamation!

Love, Crandall Shimai

The Five o'Clock Song

Dear All,

Yes, I recorded another song. Starting in October, the city started playing a new song at five o'clock. The sun sets earlier now, so they play the song earlier. It's way cute, and I was able to get a recording last week.

We had transfers today, and I am so happy to be in Kasarazu once again! I love this place and wish I could spend the rest of my mission here.

I was looking at our transfer goals last week, one of which was to get two new solid investigators. I realized that we did get two new investigators, one of which is way solid! Her name is Mami. I've probably mentioned her before. This last week, we gave her a Bible, and she was way excited. She had previously been using a Jehovah's Witness one. She asked again what the difference between the Book of Mormon and the Bible was, and after I explained, she said, speaking of the Book of Mormon, "are you going to offer it to me?" I replied, "do you want it?" She cried out "yes!" Oh, she is so cute. I'll have to get a video of her singing America's National Anthem. It's priceless. Anyway, the first time we offered her a Book of Mormon, she refused, but this time she was so excited to take one! She has progressed so
far, and she doesn't even know it!

We watched conference this last weekend, with only half hour breaks in between each session. It was pretty intense, and I definitely need to go back and study the talks some more. I love conference. I'm so grateful for living prophets and continuing revelation!

Ping Pong Pro

Sorry, I'm short on time again. I love you all! Keep working on memorizing the Family Proclamation! Christmas is coming fast!

Love, Crandall Shimai

The Hike

Dearest Family and Friends,

I apologize for the short message last week.

This week was great. We went to the temple on Tuesday, and I was able to do the temple work for one of my almost ancestors, Sada Shimogawa! It was great to feel the peace that can be found there. We had new missionary training, so we weren't able to do any sightseeing in Tokyo. It was still fun to be in the big city, although I was very happy to return to the countryside in Kisarazu.

The General Women's Session talks from conference became available in English this last week, so I took the time to watch those. They won't be broadcast here for another two weeks. I loved the talks, especially President Uchtdorf's. His parable was so beautiful, and it really helped me to hear what I needed to hear.

Saturday... Was not conference, but our talent show! (We'll be watching conference this weekend) I sang two songs, one with Moore Shimai and one on my own. I had a lot of fun, although we didn't get any videos. I'll see if I can get some this week. It was great that Morishita was able to come and teach everyone how to do yoga. I did some in my exercise this morning, and it was great.

Funny story: Before the talent show, we were practicing the songs we were going to sing, when suddenly Ozawa, an Eikaiwa student, walked in, gave me a plastic bag with huge (fake) sunflowers coming out of it, bowed weirdly, and left. I just kind of looked at Moore Shimai and said, "Did Ozawa just give me flowers and chocolate? What the?" He's been giving me sunflowers ever since I told him my mom loves sunflowers. It kind of creeps me out, but I guess I'm not complaining about free chocolate.

Today we went on a super intense hike to a Daibutsu. I previously visited a big white one with Sensui Shimai. This one was cut out of stone in a mountain. It was way cool. We also hiked to the top of the mountain and took a bunch of pictures. It was an intense hike – really steep with lots of stairs. It was so spiritually refreshing to spend the day in the mountains. Nature truly is evidence that God lives. I'm so grateful to live in such a beautiful world!

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be in Japan right now! The experiences I have every day are one of a kind. I will not ever be able to have this kind of experience again. I'm grateful for the wonderful friends I can make and the wonderful places I can go.

I love you all! I hope that all is well wherever you are! Please be safe and make good decisions

Love, Crandall Shimai

Temple Pday

President & Sister Nagano in center... Sis Crandall 3rd from left in front

Hello all!

I am short on time today, but please know that I love you all!  I am going to the temple and then we have new missionary training after that.

I know the church is true!  Be fun!

Love, Crandall Shimai

モニュメント

Dearest Family and Friends,

This week was pretty crazy. We had a mission conference on Wednesday, and immediately afterward we had exchanges with the sister training leaders. We also had to prepare two lessons for Sunday and some talks. Sister Moore spoke yesterday, and I will be speaking next week. Notwithstanding being busy with other stuff, we got more than twice as many lessons this week as last week. Crazy miracles everywhere!

For our mission conference, Elder Whiting came and spoke to us. He was very straightforward about how we as missionaries need to have more faith to baptize. I feel very inspired to work harder to talk to more people, especially younger people. I feel inspired to work harder and have more faith. If I have faith, God will work miracles. A marvelous work and a wonder... Often we focus too much on the work part and miss the wonder of seeing God lead His own work.

I think our eyebrows got a little singed in that meeting.

We have been striving to teach with the Spirit more, especially in asking inspired questions. I feel that our lessons have improved a lot. We met with an investigator named Mami on Saturday, and we just talked about Christ the entire time. We talked about His birth and His ministry. We focused a lot of time on the atonement, and what that means for us. It was a really powerful lesson. I feel so grateful whenever I have experiences like that.

We had the opportunity to teach Primary yesterday, and it was so much fun! Japanese children are the cutest. Just sayin'. I also basically singlehandedly taught the gospel principles lesson on tithing, so that was fun. Sister Moore spoke in Sacrament Meeting, and I felt like a proud mother. Her testimony was very simple yet powerful.

This morning, we decided to go find some statues on the top of a hill. I've been seeing these two statues for three months now, and I decided I really wanted to find out what they were for. We biked up a hill and then hiked up a little more until we came to a lookout with the two statues towering over us. It was a beautiful view, but there were no signs anywhere describing the statues. After a few minutes, a lady joined us on the platform, and we started talking. We talked a little about church, and she told us how she sees the elders biking around a lot. She believes in God, and was curious about our relationship with Him and with Christ. We talked a little about that, and then she told us the story behind the statues! Apparently there was a huge Typhoon, and It was becoming very dangerous for Kanagawa prefecture. So, a princess (one of the two statues) went down to the bay and prayed, and then some kind of god (the other statue) came down and calmed the water. It is supposed to be some kind of love story between the princess and this god.

Within minutes of that lady leaving, Morishita came to the platform as well! I feel like we see her everywhere. She kindly took some pictures for us, and we were able to get some pictures with her, too. She's so cute.

We had zone Pday in Toke, so we got to ride the trains a lot. It was fun to talk to a lot of different people. As we were walking to the park in Toke, a man stopped us because he wanted to talk to gaijin (foreigners). He told us about how he might want to study English, and he played a leaf for us. (Grass whistle?) It was way cool, then he said bye and left. We got a little lost looking for the park and found ourselves in a cool forest-y area. We saw a cool shrine and lots of pretty scenery. Every day I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be in Japan right now. This place is so beautiful and the people are so kind. I know that the Lord has prepared the Japanese people. The work here will explode, and I hope to be a part of it!

Stay safe! Be fun! Have a great week!

Love, Crandall Shimai

Sister Amelia Crandall

Japan Tokyo Mission

4-25-12 Nishi Ochiai Shinjuku-ku

Tokyo-to 161-0031

Japan

Caterpillar

Beautiful Kisarazu

Dear Family and Friends,

I'm glad to hear my cougars won again. <3

There was an earthquake Saturday morning, about a 4 I think. At least that's what we felt it at. We didn't get any flooding, which is great. Right after the earthquake, though, we hear sirens going off and the city's intercom system was saying things. We couldn't understand it, and we decided that if there was a tsunami coming, someone would call us and tell us, so we went back to bed.

We had zone meeting last week, and I feel super inspired to set better goals and work towards twenty lessons every week. I really want to make use of the phone and help people get spiritual nourishment every day.

I got sick last week and had to cancel several appointments, but I am feeling mostly better now. We were able to visit with a less active member and his wife yesterday. We asked the wife if we could come back and visit sometime, and she said, "Yes, please!" Hopefully we can help her to grow a testimony of the Book of Mormon. She is such a sweet lady, and I think she could really help her husband.

I know that the Lord is aware of our circumstances. He does not ask unrealistic things of us. As we are obedient to Him, we will receive more blessings that could have been expected. I know that He loves everyone individually. I have felt His love for me, and I have felt His love for His other children as well. I know that He is proud, even when we are imperfect. He is proud when we do our best.

Love, Crandall Shimai

PS: We saw a caterpillar last week.

The Secret of the Six-o-Clock Song

Dearest Family, Friends, and Missionaries,

I feel like it has been so long since I've last written! A lot happened this last week.

I was very sad to see Sister Chapman leave. I really enjoyed the time I had with her. We saw a lot of miracles and crossed many bridges. It was pretty great. It's hard trying to get used to someone new.

We were shocked this last week when we learned that Eiko had talked with her husband about baptism! Missionaries have been trying to get her to do that for over a year now, and she finally did it! He didn't really respond at all, but I know that as Eiko shows that courage and that faith, we will see miracles.

I went to the Honbu on Wednesday to pick up my new companion, Sister Moore! She is from Idaho and shares the same love for cosplay that I do. She is very sweet, and very shy. Her Japanese is pretty good, although she is often too shy to say anything. However, the branch had her bear her testimony in Sacrament Meeting, and she prayed during third hour. I think that helped her come out of her shell a little bit. I'm sure that she will continue to get more confidence as she opens her mouth.

Thursday through Sunday were spent teaching lessons, weekly planning, setting up facebook, etc. on Saturday, we were able to go to Asahi and buy a bike! This experience was very different from my first experience in a bike shop. When I bought my bike, I had no idea what the shop worker was saying. But this time, I understood almost everything that was said. I guess I just know a lot of bike terminology. We had a lot of fun, and now Sister Moore has a beautiful, bright yellow bike.

While we were waiting for the bike baskets to be put on our bikes, we were able to talk with one of the workers there for a little bit. I asked him about the meaning of the song that plays throughout the city at six pm every day, and he said it was a song about a crow. It plays at six so that the children, who often lose track of time as they play together, will be able to get home before it becomes dark. Because the sun is starting to set earlier, he said that the song would probably move up to five-o-clock or so. It made a lot of sense!

We've seen a lot of miracles this last week. Sanae san seems to have more interest in the Book of Mormon than she used to, and Eiko san is glowing with the light of Christ. I think that Eiko has been reading the Book of Mormon, because there is no other explanation for that light. We met with a new investigator named Mami. She says she can't be converted because her family would be violently opposed, but she wants to learn about different religions, particularly the differences between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. We feel that it would be good to visit with her, even though she can't get baptized. Our zone has a new goal for every companionship to teach at least twenty lessons per week, whether they be to investigators or members, and I truly believe that we can do it. I know that we will continue to see miracles throughout the transfer.

I love you all! I know that God is leading us all in this great work. Shall we not go on in so great a cause?

Love, Crandall Shimai

PS: Go Cougs!