Weeks 25 & 26: 16 Black Thunders

English fasting
So I made a deal with Sakamoto Shimai. Every other day, I would only speak Japanese. If I accidentally talked in English, I would buy her the renowned Japanese candy bar, the BLACK THUNDER. Well, I've only done this exercise of only Japanese for two days, and between those two days, I've bought her 16 Black Thunders. She says I'm crazy. I agree. On the second day, after a long day of struggling through broken Japanese, I started telling her that I feel "kanashii" (sad)
and "tsukareta" (tired). We finally busted out to dendo in the evening. We were guided to this apartment and started knocking on the doors. This woman a few feet away was parking her bike just about as angrily as you can. Lots of loud crashes and stomping. She gave us a stony, disapproving look, and then sauntered into the door that we were about to knock on next. Yay. Well, we knock. She opens the door a second later, "What is it?" I was feeling so not ready to preach the gospel. She said she was busy and that she'd already talked with missionaries before. Truly this felt like the beginning of a conversation I've had a million times since coming to Japan. But I looked at her, and felt the Spirit. I told her, "God loves you. God is our loving Heavenly Father. You are his daughter." Even though I say those things everyday, it still felt different in this moment because I knew that these were new principles to her. When I talked about the Book of Mormon, I promised it would bring her comfort, and that when she felt busy, it would bring her peace of mind. But then I realized I didn't have a Japanese Book of Mormon to give her! I apologize about three times for not having the book to give to her, even though I wasn't even sure if she would want it. She smiled briefly, mumbled something, and closed the door. Well, time to head back home. But then a few seconds later, the door opened and she had a big smile on her face as she said, "Come again another time!" And she hands us....coffee in juice box containers? Lol-there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes that light takes the form of coffee in juice box containers.

I think I'm going to keep that coffee in the fridge for all eternity just to remind myself. I joked maybe I should give it to a cat. Mac Shimai in complete earnest said, "I've seen cats drink coffee in cartoons."
"Oh be wise, what more can I say." :)

Ohanami at Kumamoto Exercise Park
(Ohanami is a flower viewing party/picnic during cherry blossom season)

Snowing sakura petals surrounded us in the rich forestry of this wonderfully expansive park. The children were as numerous as the sakura trees. Most days can be a little chilly, but that day the sun had tagged along to this special retreat in the park. The whole ward was there to say goodbye to a departing member moving somewhere else in Japan, and sitting on the ground surrounded by this community of saints brought peace to me. Such fragile ties that bind us in this mortal state, and yet we can glimpse eternity in friendship and prayer. The air was so clean and clear. The trees were green. Sakura petals kept falling onto my hair, and I was reminded that we are like sakura
blossoms in the eyes of God. We are beautiful both when we flourish and when we fall. "Be still my soul, the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below." Our spirits know God. In that special place, feeling God's love was an moment of remembrance. "All now mysterious shall be bright at last. Be still my soul."

Take care everyone.

Over and Out,
Rogers Shimai

Sorry don't have time to label pictures.... :P The memes won't make sense probably, but they are just as confusing on this side of the world too, so no worries.

Weeks 23 & 24: I Have a Japanese Companion

At the church with Brown Shimai

Brown Shimai, my withered mikan, has gone the way of the earth... Dearly missed Brown Shimai is probably now wearing RIPped jeans in the real world, because her mission is complete! I learned a lot from her, like what it looks like to build trust with your investigators, never giving up, embracing mission life--the small rules, gross, battle-scarred skirts, mayo bread, all of it... She taught me how to
always be optimistic about investigators. A baby step is still a step. She was so good for this area! Her faith is immovable. Maybe she didn't drink enough water, but she fought a good fight. And I'm staying in Shimizu Ward (Kumamoto) to pick up the pieces and keep going... now with my new Japanese companion, Sakamoto Shimai!!!!!

Brown Shimai's funeral (sorry Brown Shimai's mom if she ever sees this picture)

Well, this is the first picture I have with my new companion!
Sorry bad quality. :P

I'm trying to not speak to her in English, but it's really hard. The first day with her, I had a mini breakdown because I just cannot. Speak. Japanese. Fun fact about Rogers Shimai. Yup. I say I want a gloomy quesadilla (kurai) instead of a spicy quesadilla (karai), and laughing about little things like that makes the language struggle easier to bear.  Sakamoto Shimai is the cutest human being on the
planet, and her laugh is the best! I want to be just like her. Her English is actually way good because she has been studying English for six years and also being with American companions throughout her mission. If Sakamoto Shimai were a country, she would be Japan, because that's the best one. It's been a very humbling experience so far to be with her. Maybe I'm insecure in the language, but I'm secure in the knowledge that God is on my side.


D&C 84:88
88 And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.

Much love,
Rogers Shimai

We all try to draw like Sister Henderson...

This is a picture of Moriya Shimai's family years ago... The kimono
she is wearing in this picture is the one she gave to me!

I tried on another kimono. :)

The district picture before transfers happened

Spring in Japan

Mac Shimai drew the elders, who were in a San-nin (tri-companionship)

We got to model clothes for a less active. Her boutique is so cool!

 

Snack of the week: mango lassi from an authentic Indian restaurant. So good.

Our investigator, Leena, wanted to say goodbye to Brown Shimai

"Avoid collecting too many personal items and souvenirs." -White Missionary Handbook pg. 44 #returnwithhonor

In front of the church

Weeks 21 & 22: For Death There Is No Mercy

Shinto Shrine in Kumamoto

I tried to dye my hair again. Didn't work. Soooooooo

This weather has been perfect lately. I just really really want to go to the ocean though... Maybe next week.

Japanese is so hard! I think when you go to a Spanish-speaking mission, you get pretty close to fluency, but um... this is still the best mission there is so it's worth it even with the language struggle. Whenever I go on exchanges (which is a lot since my companion is a Sister Training Leader for all the other sisters), I'm with the other STL companion--the new missionary Sister Hansen. Talk about jumping in the deep end. A first transfer and second transfer dendoing for the day... crazy stuff is bound to happen. Sometimes when a guy says they are Buddhist, you accidentally say your message is "from Buddhism" instead of "for Buddhist people" (Particles smarticles). Or sometimes when you are talking about Buddhist temples with a stranger, instead of saying the word for temple--"otera"-- you say "otearai" instead, which is a fancy word for toilet. Fun fun. Or sometimes you say, "For death there is no mercy." Or sometimes you ask about the temple a person goes to, and they say, "ikimashou," and they take you to a Buddhist temple and you tour the temple during dendo time. iinjanai....(why not... might as well). And at the end of it all, the thought comes to mind, "I never ever, ever want to train someone." It would be a hot mess.

Me and my bike, 4G

Well, on a separate note, I found a really weird thing I like about Japan.... TOFU TRUCKS. Imagine these sketch white vans driving slow with this mournful two tone song, and there you have ice cream truck's creepy older brother that you definitely don't want to mess with. I just picture these kids running out of their house like, "Mom!! It's the tofu truck!! Mmmm what flavor should I get... How about tofu. Mmmm what size should I get... How about tofu size." Haha

With my investigators... jeez we have a lot of English speakers. I mentioned Tris and Leena (the Filipino sisters) a few emails back, and I probably should give an update on that situation. So, Tris has come to church once, but her work schedule makes it hard. Her work schedule will change on March 18. I pray for her everyday. Right now, she really wants to know if this is the right church to be baptized into. She is praying and reading the Book of Mormon, seeking an answer. Her parents in the Philippines told her not to change her religion. Since that happened, Leena hasn't met with us anymore, but according to Tris, she is reading the Book of Mormon still. We are going to follow up and see if she wants to be baptized, and we are asking her today. I'm way stressed about it actually.

This scripture has helped me get through the hard days of mission life:

Mosiah 24:13-14
"And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their
afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I
know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant
with my people and deliver them out of bondage.
And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders,
that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in
bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me
hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do
visit my people in their afflictions."

I know that God supports us in times of trial. He will never give a challenge that is more than we can handle. He gives us what we need to grow. I'm learning to love this journey.

Lots of love,
Rogers Shimai

My weird mission family

And they say this place is "inaka" (rural)

After Pres. Whiting Zone Conference

Octopus in Japanese is "taco" so watch yo self. It has a mild flavor with same softness as crab.

Kumamoto Kumas

No words

Elder Ballard was emergency transferred--another elder went home for medical reasons. :(

Ichigo being Ichigo <3

Miajima-San, one of our investigators, showing us all her adventures

This is Miajima-San and she gave us diamond necklaces... I don't know whyyyyy. People are soo nice sometimes.

Weeks 19 & 20: #Shimizutemple

Out on the street

Spring is here. The elders down in Okinawa will take their suits off tomorrow. The Sakura blossoms are beginning to show. The sun rises the same time that we do now. Meanwhile, there is fresh rivalry...
In our district, there is a little rivalry between Shimizu and Tsuboi. Four missionaries are in each of these wards. It started off when one P-day, Elder Johnson said, "I've noticed that Shimizu has gotten more baptisms this year, so it's probably going to stay Shimizu district..." Little things. The hashtag #tsuboistake2017 was born. A note found in a bike basket read, "#shimizutemple." The Tsuboi sisters gave apple cinnamon bread to the elders, and they got a text that read, "Thank you for the bread. It is fueling us to continue building the Shimizu temple.... #tsuboistake u da best." Mac Shimai responded, "All the flavors and you chose to be salty." Later that night we return to the apartment and find chocolate swirl bread on the doorstep." When we thanked the elders, the text response was, "I didn't choose salty. I chose chocolate." All in good fun. 😂

Please pray for our Filipino investigators! Being Filipino in Japan is so hard. The cultures are so different. Filipino people are so warm and outgoing and the religious landscape is so different here from what they are used to, but Japan has better living opportunities. I know they are sacrificing a lot to live here in Japan so far away from family. Their family back home is telling them not to change their religion, but Tris came to church yesterday. She hugged us so tight and said, "I want to come back. I'll get my manager to change my schedule so I can have Sundays off."

When missionary work is challenging, that's when it feels right. To be able to teach by the Spirit, it requires 110% concentration and effort from both people. I'll look over at Brown Shimai as she is testifying or sharing a personal experience and if her ears are red--oh snap it's about to get real and my heart starts beating faster. When her ears are red, I know contributing to the lesson with anything less than my full heart, might, mind, and strength wouldn't work.

I think the fastest way to gain respect for the people of a country is struggling to talk to strangers in the native language. I am truly at the mercy of the Japanese people. I'm facing this huge language barrier, and to have people kindly stop and talk to us for a few minutes... well, I find it very humbling.

Missionary life is so fast-paced. My schedule is constantly changing. Sometimes, I go to church twice for investigators that can't make the 2pm time. Sometimes, I have to Kiki delivery service all the way home before curfew when the lesson takes longer than expected. Sometimes, we need two backup plans when appointments fall through or people just aren't home. That's just how it is. Brown Shimai's three adjectives to describe a mission: wonderful, hard, fun.

Also, going to a member's house for dinner feels like going to my summer home in Babylon. Riding in a car has become a great luxury.  After dinner we have to go right back to dendoing in the cold and my body says, "zetai yada, baka!" (Absolutely not, fool!) But is it worth it? An investigator's prayer (paraphrased): "God I am a sinner. I make mistakes everyday, and I pray to you everyday that I might be forgiven. I don't know which is the right path for me, but I am so grateful you have given me this chance to meet with the missionaries. Thank you for them... God, I don't know why I live here so far away from family, so please help me know what to do. Thank you for my many blessings. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen." Yes, it is worth it.

Don Quixote is an insane(ly awesome) Japanese store.

Yeaaah idk

last picture with my old hair (sorry mom)

... the result? my hair smelled thrilling for a day. The end. Also I own this kimono--a sweet recent convert gave it to me!

MTC flashback-- look how much shorter my hair was

Brown Shimai lookin snazzy as ever

The generous recent convert folding the kimono she gave me

It was so pretty I didn't eat it all. (as in there was coffee jelly at the bottom)

The melon pan brings all the missionaries to the yard.

Weeks 17 & 18: Kimonos :)

Fulfilled my dream of being a burrito (also a Japanese empress!)

Well, I think the pictures are more exciting than anything I'm going to write this week, but hiiiiii! I probably shouldn't say this in an email I'm sending to newer missionaries, but here I was thinking first transfer was hard. JK--second transfer and you die. But it's still ok, because I have awesome investigators and an awesome companion!!

Some investigator updates:
Kurihara - she was the first person we set a baptismal date, but now she's in the hospital right now indefinitely, and she doesn't want us to come visit her while she's in the hospital. My trainer says that, just because she is in the hospital, it might be a few transfers before she gets baptized. Pray for her!

Tris and Leena -  they have had their own set of challenges as well, but every time we meet with them, I feel the Spirit so strongly.  Normally, great lessons make me think "Yeah, this is why I'm here!" But last lesson I walked out asking, "Why am I here? Why do I even have this responsibility? I'm just a lil punk missionary!" Brown Shimai says she's had that feeling many times. This is God's work and we are His instruments so we just gotta ganbaru (try our best) and trust in God's power and grace. My teaching skills are far from being tight like unto a dish.

We have a lot of other investigators, but these are the ones that have especially been on my mind lately...

In our apartment, we were deciding which characters from the BOM we would match up with (yeah, ok, I know our apartment is weird), and for me they said Lehi (the visionary one). Whenever someone has a weird dream in the apartment, I tell them to write it down in the shared dream journal, so I was all about it. 😇 But when I told them why I thought it was a great match, Mac Shimai said, "Umm that's not what I meant." Haha oh well. If Mac Shimai were my breaker (my second companion), that would the best and the worst thing ever. :D

Sister Mcnoneofyourbusiness and I eating cold tapioca drinks in the freezing cold. 🎉

I love reading the BOM as much as Brown Shimai, and I think that's the reason why we've seen so much success giving them to people. I finished the one month BOM challenge today and this time my favorite part was King Benjamin's speech. Brown Shimai says my smoothest Book of Mormon handout was this:

A guy answers the door, and we start talking about if Japanese is harder to learn than English. He says Japanese is harder because of kanji. Then I say, "Yeah, kanji is way hard. I'm trying to read this book in kanji right now... just a little each day, but mainly I read the hiragana instead. I have it with me actually. It's called the Book of Mormon and it's my favorite!...." Then I always end with "doozo"(go ahead/go for it)" as I put it into their hands. I love saying "doozo" when I give people the Book of Mormon, but I just realized how weird it would be for me to say that in English. Oops.

Stay safe everyone! Know that I love you!!

"Every challenge you face, every hard thing you confront, every bad thing that happens to you, every unfairness, every conflict, every sadness, tragedy, every disappointment and heartache, every temptation and every opposition happens for one purpose only: to give you opportunity to respond by applying in your life the teachings of Jesus. As you do so you are changed to become more like Him.
"If you were never presented with some advantage to be gained by dishonesty, such as recognition, or money, or a better grade on a test or avoidance of punishment or embarrassment, you could never develop integrity. If no one ever offended you, you could never learn to forgive or internalize mercy. We're you never wearied by the annoying behavior of another or the repeated failures of someone else you could never become patient. Without opposition the plan would be frustrated, you could not progress and the purpose of life would be unachievable." - The Fourth Missionary

Over and out,
Rogers Shimai

Brown Shimai

Snack of the week! Yogurt water was an experience. A little tangy, a little sweet, and whole lot of weird. Baskin Robbins Love Potion was ok, but Melty Kiss is better. (Fam, you know it)

Shimizu District is where it's @

Brown Shimai is the kind of girl that can make holding a glass of water look classy.

Suizenji -- Famous garden of Kumamoto

Suizenji

It's not even spring though....?

Mac Shimai insisted on pregnancy pictures because she is training a new incoming missionary... Sister Hansen. I wish her companion good luck. haha!