Blooming where you are planted :)

Me with some of our English students.

Our investigator dressed up like a missionary.

My district (small group of missionaries)…what a silly bunch!

This week went by fast.  Transfer calls are today.  Our free English class ladies took us out to lunch yesterday. They're worried that after all this time I might actually transfer.  I have no idea what will happen.  But I'm pretty good at blooming wherever I'm planted so as long as I have an area to work in I'll be happy.  I LOVE being a missionary!  It is hands down the hardest thing I've done, but it's the time I've learned the most about myself, about working hard and about who Heavenly Father is and how He works.  It's been a sleepless, fast-paced, adventure-full blast.  I am so grateful! 

Sight seeing!

Four Sister Missionaries sight seeing in Okinawa!

Sister Missionaries writing home :)

Ginowan Zone Conference (3 Districts)

This week in a glance:

Sister Miller and I are apartment mates.  The days are filled with adventure and mischief ever since she got here.  She kind of reminds me of dad (only funnier :).  I got home Monday night after preparation day and had lots of mud on my shoes.  I walked in to the bathroom to grab some toilet paper to wipe it off and much to my horror something fell out of the toilet paper roll.  A cockroach!  Except it was MASSIVE and the biggest bug I've ever seen.  I was terrified, screamed bloody murder, freaked my companion out and then when Sister Takei saw it we shrieked.  It makes it into one of the top 5 scariest moments of my mission life, easily.  We decided that this was a serious matter and immediately called the other sisters.  As I explained to Sister Miller that she needed to come back and kill this thing, she starts laughing so hard she's crying on the other end.  Turns out that she had "planted" this little bugger in the bathroom and I fell victim to it.  Not OK. :)

We got a phone call from one of our sweet investigators this week.  She is one of the nicest ladies I've ever met.  She reminds me of Grandma Helen (my great grandma).  She has taken the lessons and is waiting patiently for her husband to allow her to be baptized.  She excitedly called us and informed us that her husband has really experienced a change of heart lately.  He had to go in to a medical center and they asked him his religious preference.  He wrote down Mormon!  :)  We were able to teach both of them in their home and it was a wonderful experience.  Our investigator has such a beautiful testimony.  We get referrals from her regularly because "this church knows what it's doing."  :)

Sakamoto San was also baptized this week!  She is one of the Elders in our district brother's wife's mother :)  That a tough one to explain, especially in Japanese.  They've been meeting with her for a long, long time and she decided to be baptized.  It was such a wonderful day!  It was fun also because Sister Capener and Sister Takei and I have also met with her somewhat regularly and taught her.  She is a cute lady and very determined.  We were able to skype her family in from the States which was really neat. 

Sister Takei, Sakamoto San, and me!

We made Takoyaki in our free Japanese class.  I'll attach pictures.  I'm sure that Morgan, Rachel, Syd and Hannah would love this.  It's octopus surrounded by bread about the size of a meatball. :) 

Takoyaki!  YUM!

Making takoyaki…..breaded octopus!

And finally the best part of the week:  Saturday…..Sister Takei's birthday landed on the same day as Kelley's baptism so it was two fun celebrations. 

Sister Takei's birthday!

Kelley's baptism day!

Kelley, Sister Wedekind and me :)

I'm almost tempted to just send pictures of the baptism because words can't describe how wonderful it went.  There were lots of things leading up to the baptism that made it extremely stressful, but as soon as the opening hymn started up I just felt so much peace.  It was a beautiful service and we all felt the spirit really strongly.  Kelley was super cute and excited as she showed up and that enthusiasm spread quickly.  She is such a unique girl.  I love her!  I'm so grateful I've had the opportunity to meet her and learn from her.  She's a girl after my own heart.  She had to be baptized three times because (we believe that baptism is by immersion) either her long hair floated up or apart of her dress, but when she bounced up out of the water she was just beaming.  I felt like a proud momma!  :)  The thing that has stuck with me most from that day was when she stood up afterwards and bore her testimony.  It was simple and extremely powerful.  She just has such a sweet spirit around her and she is so independent.  I love her! 

This week was great.  I love these people.  I love the culture and I even love the big cockroaches.  I am one blessed missionary!  I hope you guys have a great week.  I love you to the moon and back!

Sister Hawkins

Sushi and lesson mastery

Sushi!  YUM!

What is this?

Lunch on my Preparation Day!

I am surviving the rainy season.  I can feel summer.  It's coming!  The only memories I have are of sweat, sweat, humidity and sweat.  I can't wait!  Transfers are coming up next week.  I have no idea what will happen.  We just had a wonderful zone conference this past week and our mission president said that because of the size of our mission and the number of missionaries in it that missionaries will be staying in their areas longer.  I can't complain about that.  Okinawa has been my absolute favorite.  I completely forgot about March Madness!  BYU made it!  Yay!  Hopefully they can win a game :) 

This week went by so fast.  Time is flying!  This must be what it feels like to get old.  Last preparation day we played volleyball as a zone.  It was a blast.  Then we went and spent time with our investigator.  Misa San!  She is adorable and has a cute son who is always dressed to the nines in... Disney gear :)  So cute!  On our way back home we decided to stop by Sister Wedekind's house.  She is the world's greatest missionary.  She let us right in, fed us, and then invited us to Family Home Evening.  It was wonderful for Misa to see that kind of environment and feel the spirit in their home.  Spending family home evening with them reminded me of you guys!  It felt like home.  I love the people here in Okinawa. 

Lesson Mastery Pin!

I passed off my lesson mastery!  It's a mission wide program to help us with our teaching ability and language skills.  It feels so good to have it done and I feel like my Japanese and knowledge of the gospel is really improving.  I am growing.  Another exciting thing happened this week!  We have consistently been visiting a cute part member/less active family for the last month.  This week we stopped by shared a message and on our way out we asked this family's youngest son to say the prayer.  It was absolutely adorable and when he said "amen" he was just beaming.  On our way out his mom said to us, "That was his first prayer." They came to church this Sunday.  Happiness and pure joy doesn't even begin to describe how I felt. 

This week in a blur, my many miracles and fun times:

***Sister Takei role playing with her "English bear" in Spanish...

***Running down the trash guys and having the neighborhood kids cheer you on and even a passing by car honk to help :)

***Building testimonies and having a family that is investigating the church ALL come to church :)

***Eating eel and not losing your lunch

***Having perfect timing. Making bus connections perfectly. Arriving at a station seconds before the bus pulls up. 

***Playing soccer with our less actives and investigators and people telling me "You're not terrible anymore" :) 

***And last but not least, scheduling a baptism for this Saturday!

The dear Williams couple…..they got us a table for our new apartment!

Our cute high school student investigator is getting baptized this Saturday!  Having taught her from the very beginning and watch her grow and learn has been a privilege.  And now she is super excited to be baptized this week.  She has been taught all the lessons, is living all the commandments and is really progressing. The members are doing a great job of fellowshipping her. Especially our wonderful young women's program.  The girls all really do love her and I think they love having her as the newest addition to their group.  We are so excited for her! Her mom is extremely supportive. When we followed up on the word of wisdom with her, she said not only had she been keeping it but her mom had been helping her.  That is wonderful!  Exciting things are happening in Okinawa. 

I am so grateful to be serving in Japan.  I love these people!  I hope you have a wonderful week!

Hawkins Shimai

When it rains it pours!

I forgot about Day Light Savings.  Japan doesn't have Day Light Savings.  Which I am extremely grateful for!  I am running short on sleep anyway. :)  I think it might be a tender mercy  :)  

I always pray for my companions.  Even before I meet them.  I usually ask that they are hard workers.  I can't imagine how miserable it would be as a missionary if you couldn't work hard.  But my wish list typically consists of native and nice.  But from now on I'm going to add good cook to that list.  Takei Shimai is an incredible chef.  I'll certainly miss her if we transfer! 

This week has been so hectic.  I've had a blast.  I'm always the happiest when I'm sharing the gospel and working hard.  We were super blessed though to go with Sister Nielsen for a fun preparation day today.  We visited castle ruins, went to the beach and tried lots of interesting Okinawan food.  It was an absolute blast.  I love her! 

I am so blessed to serve in Okinawa.  It's an extremely unique environment.  I feel like I'm getting to work on a lot of different skills since we work so closely with the military.  I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father shipped me half way across the world to meet such incredible people.  In a weird way, it feels like my home is here and I am just so happy!  With our move to a different area we have had a fun time housing and finding lots of new investigators.  

We just entered the rainy season here and when it rains it pours!  We were knocking on doors and yelling at people because the rain was so loud.  I remember a lot of thunderstorms in Dallas when we lived there, but I don't think it can compare to Okinawa.  It makes riding a bike a whole new adventure.  I get home at the end of the day sopping wet even with all my rain gear.  I don't bother putting make up on.  We get a whole other shower when we're outside :) 

In the Missionary handbook "Preach My Gospel" they have a paragraph that I really like.  It talks about how Heavenly Father is constantly guiding His children and that as we work hard and talk to everyone that we will either be lead to those seeking the truth or they will be led to us.  Typically I feel like we're searching for those prepared people, but the other night lots of them came to us. A couple of nights ago my companion and I went with a recently reactivated young single adult into the military barracks.  It's basically like a college dorm except it's 95% men and 5% women.  It was a little intimidating, actually it was totally freaky.  I've been living in my own little missionary bubble for awhile so having people showing us their tats and telling about party experiences was a little foreign for me.  I felt slightly out of place.  Especially when we first got there because there was a crowd of men waiting outside of the door.  When we enter base we have to take off our name tags, but as soon as we walked past the group one of the men said "Hey those are the missionaries!" I was shocked.  That was the last place I expected to be recognized especially without our name tags on.  Seriously!  Turns out that there was a less active member in the group who just guessed that due to our skirts and backpacks that we were Mormon missionaries.  We went upstairs and they all followed.  They had a million questions like who were Mormons, why were we here and what we do on a daily basis.  In what is typically an environment that is totally not conducive with the spirit we were able to sit down and share our simple testimonies and our experiences of why we were on a mission.  It was crazy!  We felt the spirit and some of them came to church.  Heavenly Father really does know His children.  He loves us.  And he places us inexperienced, young, blond missionaries in situations where His children can learn more about Him.  I am so lucky to be here.  I am so grateful!

Look what Sister Miller and I found at the store!

Lastly I wanted to give an update on our wonderful investigator.  She is so incredible!  We taught her the Word of Wisdom this week and asked her again if when she had prayed about baptism she had felt she got an answer.  She still has the desire to get baptised and she has such strong faith!  One of the main reasons I wanted to go on a mission is because of the scripture in Doctrine & Covenants.  It says there are many people who are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.  I feel like that describes Kelley perfectly.  As soon as she learns about a new commandment or principle of the gospel she prays about it and acts.  She lives the gospel!  When we taught about the Word of Wisdom she decided that she would follow it even though it would mean giving up things in her life that she likes and uses often.  I am so impressed with her.  She is an incredible young woman.  It was music to my ears when at 6 in the morning I got a text message saying she was up and drinking... hot chocolate!  When I followed up with her on Sunday she was sharing her experience with me and even pointed out blessings that she had already received because she was following Heavenly Father's commandments!  She is awesome.  I love her and so does the whole branch.  They've been so welcoming to her, especially our fantastic young women's leaders and girls. 

Lunch with Sister Wedekind!  She is great!

That's this week!  I love you!  I'm praying for you!  Thanks for being such great examples!

Hawkins Shimai

A bit bumpy :)

Sister Takei and I 

Sister Takei and I on the beaches of Okinawa :)

This week has been a little bumpy... literally.  We had a pretty big earthquake this morning at 4:00 am.  It felt like it lasted a long time.  Typically I sleep through anything, especially as a missionary, but I woke up and almost got mad at Sister Takei for shaking my futon, then I realized it was an earthquake.  Oops!  But things are built so well here there wasn't any damage.  All is well in Okinawa!  :)

We have been so busy lately!  It's a wonderful problem to have.  I am so grateful that we have lots of investigators to teach, great members to work with and wonderful missionaries all around us.  I have been keenly aware on my mission that people who typically accept the gospel are not always the people I would have thought would have (if that makes any sense).  I've learned not to judge a book by its cover and I'm working on being bold.  This gospel is a huge blessing for everyone regardless of their circumstances or background.  The gospel is just as true for someone extremely wealthy or dirt poor.  To quote mom and Dr. Seuss, "A persons a person no matter how small."  I ask everyone if they want to hear the gospel and lots of the time we hear "no", but occasionally we hear "yes"!  You never know who is ready, willing and waiting.  One of our investigators, Sarah, is a high school student and we met her through some of the volunteer service that we do.  She is a super bright, fun, sweet girl but I didn't necessarily think she would ever accept the missionary lessons let alone baptism.  But we invited her, she accepted and we've been teaching her for a month or two now.  She is phenomenal and she loves the spirit she can feel in our church building and with people who are living the gospel.  We had a lesson with her recently and she said she prayed about baptism and feels great about it.  We set a date!  March 22nd!  Pray for her!  I am so grateful for the opportunity I've had to teach her and get to know her.  I always learn more from our investigators than I feel they learn from me.  I love them!  We are so excited for her!  

I've also learned that as a missionary a "reactivation" is just as exciting as a baptism.  Finding the lost sheep is hard especially here in Japan when the majority of people are less active, but occasionally we come across someone willing to come back.  We've been working a lot with Winter lately.  She has two cute boys but her husband is not a member.  She's been taking the lessons lately and I can see the change that is taking place inside of her.  We always have to be actively engaged in this work.  But that doesn't mean that if we do stumble we can't come back.  A funny loving lady in sacrament meeting made a statement in sacrament meeting yesterday.  She said,"People fall out of Church for the same reason they fall out of bed, they're just not in far enough."  A mission has been huge for me.  I know that this message is true without a doubt.  I have felt it and I have lived it.  But I need to make sure that I am continuously working towards becoming becoming better and closer to my Heavenly Father.  I love it!

On a couple really happy notes:  We moved!  Becoming a four man was crazy and we just got a bigger apartment.  It took all day to pack up and unload but it was worth it.  I am so grateful for wonderful members who are always so willing to help the missionaries.  It would have been impossible to do by ourselves.  The plus is we have a wonderful new apartment.  The downside is that our neighbors have a rooster.  Yep!  A real live rooster.  It's like clock work.  He is up at 4:30 every morning.  I had always imagined that they just yell once, but ooooohhhhhh no.  I was completely wrong.  He makes a ruckus from 4:30 on.  I'm buying ear plugs today.  Between the rooster and the earthquakes (we just had another one about a minute ago too...) I'm going to be one tired missionary.

The excitement of  our new apartment

Sister Takei, Me, Sister Miller

Elder Chung's birthday wishes from us

Lastly, Justien and Andrew!  I love them.  Andrew got baptized a couple months ago and I've known Justien since I got here last summer.  I love her.  She's like a sister to me.  Lately we've both been so busy that we haven't had time to check up on each other.  There have been some military cases too that have kept them both busy on Sunday.  But the other day I saw Justien and she told me some exciting news!  They're expecting!  I am so so so so excited for them!  I love them both and I can't wait for their new adventure.  But what really made my day was when Justien leaned over to me and said, "We still plan on going to the temple."  It was music to a missionary's ears.  I will move heaven and earth to be in that sealing room.  Baptism really isn't our goal as missionaries, it's the temple and having families be sealed for time and all eternity.  I can't wait for that blessing to be Andrew and Justien's.  When Justien told me that, I felt so much pure JOY.  It helped me have just a glimpse of the happiness Heavenly Father must feel for everyone of us every time we decide to make a good choice and follow our Savior and His example.  I am so grateful to be in Okinawa.  I've thought a lot about why I am here and for this long.  But I have felt certain that I am just reconnecting with friends who need this gospel.  I am one lucky, lucky missionary.  I love you guys!  I hope you have an excellent week. I'm thinking about you and praying for you.  

Sister Miller drew me :)

Hikari and I !  Love this girl!

With my valentine's package!!!!

Sister Ooshiro and I 

Love,

Hawkins Shimai

No chocolate! :)

This is what our investigator does every time she gets her picture taken :) We call it the Akikio!

The four of us Sister missionaries in our apartment.  We are getting ready to move so please excuse the mess!

Elder Bullock and I with Sister Takei…she finished her lesson mastery in Japanese!

This week went great!  We had the opportunity to do lots of service.  I love any excuse to get out of my skirt and put on some pants and work hard.  Nothing feels better than jeans and tennis shoes while you're painting or pulling weeds!  But my favorite service this week was going to Naha and volunteering at a hospital there with the Gushikawa Relief Society women.  We handed out donated clothes, jewelry, painted fingernails and gave hand massages.  I've realized on my mission that I am a huge people person.  I just love people!  And I absolutely loved talking to the patients at Naha.  It was a wonderful opportunity.  I've also seen how service can open people's hearts.  We went and helped out one of our investigators this week move some furniture. After we finished, we thanked her and asked for her to let us know if we could ever do anything else to help.  She laughed and said, "Why are you thanking me, Sisters?  You helped me!"  I don't think she realized how much fun we had.  The best way I've found to help me love people is to serve them.  She showed up to church the next Sunday without us even having to invite her.  The miracles of service!  I love it! 

Volunteering at the Naha Hospital!

Lately I've been trying to figure out how I can relate more to the people we teach.  Here, I am a tall (ha ha tall! ... at least by Japanese standards), blond, foreigner, who is 19 and basically fresh out of high school.  We teach people triple my age with lots of differences in hobbies, favorite foods, religious beliefs and backgrounds.  But I have a strong testimony that no matter who we teach or what their background, the gospel of Jesus Christ can help them.  But my job as a missionary is to help them see how it can help them and invite them to apply it in their own life.  This past couple of weeks we have taught the Word of Wisdom a half a dozen times.  I have no experiences with not living the Word of Wisdom (The health code that Mormoms live by….click here Word of Wisdom if you want to read more.) Luckily, I was raised with the knowledge that some things, like alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and coffee are not good for your body and it never was a temptation for me growing up.  But I wanted to be able to relate to what our investigators were feeling when they had to give up something that they love and drink or use all the time.  So for the last two weeks I gave up my favorite food.  Chocolate.  It's my life line.  I didn't realize that I decided to do this right before the biggest chocolate holiday of the year... Valentines Day!  It's been a rough couple of weeks.  Seriously!  But I decided to take it seriously and I'm proud to announce that I have been chocolate free for two weeks!  I had to tape my chocolate drawer shut!  But even though I just gave it up for a little bit to help me understand what our investigators are thinking it's been a really neat experience.  I've learned more about the power of prayer and avoiding temptation :)

Sister Takei with a member of the ward who taught with us…she just got back from a mission to Saparo Japan.

One of our new investigators….we gave her a church tour and then went to eat at an Indian Restaurant! She is a blast!  I can't wait to teach her more!

I love you guys!  I hope you have a wonderful week!  Don't worry about me in Okinawa.  I love it!  I'm working hard and having lots of fun along the way.  Love you!

Hawkins Shimai