Election time in Japan!

Birthday packages!!!

Celebrating McKenna's 20th birthday with a package from home!

One of the benefits from knocking on doors…..we reached the top to find a beautiful view with the ocean on both sides of us!  We did climb a lot of stairs :)

Guess what!  The Jehovah Witnesses came knocking on our door.  I think we accidentally became their investigators! :)  I am not sure yet!

This week was extremely exciting.  I'll just quickly bullet point everything so I can get it all down...

This week was super fun and really frustrating at the same time.  All week, every time we tried to contact people on the street or by knocking on doors NO ONE would listen.  We almost didn't have time to say the word "God" before they 1. ran (seriously we had several runners this week) or 2. immediately said, "I'm not interested"!  That was a little frustrating.  However, despite the fact that no one wanted to talk to us, our investigators really blossomed.  It was a huge blessing!  We were also able to find new investigators through members who really are our best assets.  We have a new investigator whose husband is less active, but really wants to learn more about the church.  So many people are confused about religion.  There are so many churches and many are good, but they all teach different truths.  She came to church this Sunday and she and her children really enjoyed it. 

Right now in Japan it is election season.  Between that and our rooster who wakes us up at 4:10 every morning I am getting little to no sleep.  For election season each candidate has a ton of cars, vans and trucks patrol the city.  Each vehicle has a million speakers strapped to the top and they play their candidates name over and over and over again at all times of the day and night.  If I hear "Kuwae, Kuwae, Kuwae" one more time I'm just going to walk around with ear plugs in permanently.  But it is funny to see the cars filled with tons of people waving at us on the street.  Japan.  You've got to love it.

Our investigator whose mom is Mormon and whose dad is Muslim is doing super!  We met with her this week and she is just so cute and happy!  She excitedly told us that she is reading the Book of Mormon and is half way through the Book of Nephi.  She told us with a huge smile "I'm interested, I'm really interested!" I have NEVER had an investigator tell me that.  We were happily surprised. 

 

We have a baptism this Saturday!  Rhea is super excited to be baptised!  We taught her some of the commandments and after we finished she asked us if she could learn more and if we could come back the next day.  She is just so prepared!  We are sending the missionary's to her home in the Philippines so that her family can learn more too.  Rhea said that she had sometimes seen the missionaries, but they had never knocked on her door and she was too shy to ask them to come over.  She has repeatedly thanked us for teaching her what she needs to do to become closer to Heavenly Father and become a better example for her daughter.  She is a wonderful example to me.  I love her! 

And lastly, Easter was really great.  All three of our sacrament services were well done and they had beautiful messages, songs and thoughts about our Savior and His Resurrection.  We watched a really great video in our Japanese ward "Because of Him".  I really liked it and so did all of our investigators.  I can't wait to look it up in English too and start showing it to our other investigators.  The miracle of the whole day though happened after church however.  We went over to a members home and shared a message with their neighbors.  They really are prepared.  It's a WHOLE family.  We felt the spirit as we shared the message of the restoration.  They were so excited to learn more! 

Sister Miller and I showing off our chopstick skills!

Making so many friends!

The picture doesn't show the size of this bug very well…..We killed it!  There was some screaming involved!

It's been a great week!  Thank you so much for writing me!  I love you guys!  Have a wonderful week!

Sister Hawkins

What a birthday! # 20

Some of the sisters from church took me to lunch ……at Chili's, yes in Japan.  Me, Sister Olsen and Sister Finlayson.

At Chili's….they said it was the busiest Chili's in the world!

Sister Finlayson gave us dinner in a box for my birthday!  It was so thoughtful of her and delicious! 

Inori Shimai made me a cake for my birthday and everyone sang to me after conference.

One of the church members asked me what I miss most about the United States and I said real cinnamon rolls.  The Flake family surprised me with this!  Don't worry I shared :)

This week was Kawamura Shimai's birthday too.  We invited Capener Shimai and her companion over for splits.

Sister Olsen and I went to teach a lesson and they surprised me with a birthday cake!

Thanks for your letters and everyone's birthday wishes!  I had a great birthday and stayed super busy.  All of the members were so kind to me and I had lots of calls from people singing "Happy Birthday".  It was fun and I'm super grateful to be serving in such a wonderful area.  These people here are more like family then they are friends.  I love them!  My birthday was really fun.  Lots of members went out of their way to call me or drop something by.  It was really thoughtful and I felt really blessed.  The members here are really extraordinary.  The other sisters in our apartment Miller and Kawamura were really funny too.  I woke up at exactly 6:30 thanks to the loud firecracker type devices they had found in the dollar store.  Our room smelled like gun powder for a while :) 

This week went by quickly.  We are almost half way through the transfer.  Yesterday was wonderful!  I love General Conference (semi annual worldwide Church broadcast), but being a missionary listening to it just makes it that much better.  I really liked all the talks, but especially Elder Bednar's talk about needing spiritual traction.  One of our investigators really LOVED that talk, too.  Elder Ballard's talk "Follow Up" and the other talk about our life's "4 Minutes" were some of my other favorites.  I walked out of that Church building completely refreshed and ready for the next 6 months.  Our investigators that came with us loved the talks too.  They stayed the whole Sunday and when I checked in on them (there was a separate room for the American missionaries) they had a huge smile on their face and said, "Americans really know how to give speeches." I laughed and explained that the speeches were from God and that the great feeling they felt was the spirit.  :)  It was great all around! 

What the rainy season means for our poor umbrellas !!

Our district in the massage chairs on preparation day!  It was the best kind of break ever!

Sister Miller drew a picture of me :)

We found a new investigator a week or two ago.  She's an American and we found her housing (a term missionaries use to describe going from house to house knocking on doors).  It's always a little intimidating talking to Americans so I did lots of small talk, explained who we were and weaved in religion and when I asked her a little about her religious background she explained to me that her father is Muslim.  We had a great conversation about that and then I asked her if her mom was also Muslim.  Her response: nope, she's Mormon.  My jaw dropped to the floor.  It was pretty funny because that was the last answer I was expecting.  We laughed pretty hard.  She did too.  She knew who we were from the moment that we knocked on the door.  She isn't a member herself, but we invited her to hear a little more about the church and she agreed.  We were able to go back this week, just the other day and we had a SUPER wonderful lesson about the Restoration of the gospel.  We explained really simply that this church is not just another religion, but it is in fact Christ's church restored on the earth.  The more I study the scriptures and Preach My Gospel manual the more I love the Restoration and how it sets us apart from other religions.  I think the reason most people think Mormons are weird is not because we're strange :), but because we are actually unique.  We are different.  She's letting us come back which was really exciting!  She accepted our commitment to read the Book of Mormon and we're excited to meet with her again next week!  

We had interviews with Kaicho (mission president) this week.  Recieved training from the AP's and Sister Gustafson.  We are so far away from the mission home that we rarely get to see them so it was nice to hear what is going on in the mission and see how we can improve.  Lots of our investigators are really progressing.  We have two with baptismal dates and several baptismal dates that we hope to create.  I love teaching about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Restoration and the Plan of Happiness.  A mission has been so wonderful for me.  I know how to be persistent, work hard, love others, and be effective.  I can't wait to be a member missionary too.  I absolutely LOVE Okinawa.  I love my mission and it's flying by.  Thanks for all that you do for me!  I certainly could not do it without you!  I love you guys and have a super week! 

Love,

Hawkins Shimai

 

An amazing week, again!

Getting my ugly cry on when Sister Takei left!  I am going to miss this girl!

Sister Wedekind was my companion while I was waiting for my new companion to arrive.  I don't have favorite companions, but if I did it would be Sister Wedekind  :)

I sent a bunch of pictures this week.  I almost hate writing home, because I can't fit how wonderful my week was into just one letter.  Hopefully the pictures will help supplement.  The only picture I didn't send was the fighter jets, because I just looked at my pictures, zoomed in and I realized there was a huge red sign saying NO PICTURES.  Oops!  I'm jealous that you are all watching General Conference (a two-day conference broadcast from the President of the Church and other church leaders to all the church members worldwide.   This conference happens twice a year, once in April and once in October)!  We are a day ahead so we will be watching Conference this coming Saturday and Sunday.  Conference is never as exciting as it is on your mission.  We are all looking forward to it.

Sister Olsen with the hair I just cut for her :)

Sister Olsen trusted me to cut her hair!  What?!

Companion unity!

Samurai swords

I think I'm OK with skirts for now.  I went thrift clothes shopping and found one or two.  By the time I fly home all my clothes will be in rags.  But that's OK!  Thanks for the happy birthday wishes!  Turning 20 is a big deal in Japan. It's when you officially become an adult.  Exciting.  

I was super sad to hear about Jerry Isenhart.  We were Spanish class buddies.  That's really too bad.  It's always comforting though to know that God lives and that we will be able to live with Him and all of our friends and family again.  That is one of the greatest blessings of being a missionary.  You have the opportunity to share that message with people everyday. 

This week was really, really wonderful.  Lots of exciting things happened.  I have so much that I'll just outline it really quick.

We taught one of our investigators Rhea.  She is a super cute 20 something girl who has loved learning about the gospel.  She is just visiting Japan and her sister here happens to be Mormon.  We asked her if she wanted to hear the lessons and she said of course!  After teaching her a couple of times and after going to church she has really come to love learning and loves how she feels when she is around members.  Yesterday we taught her with another recent convert Nate and it was an extremely powerful lesson.  We taught about the plan of salvation and how families can be together forever.  We invited her to be baptized and she accepted!  We set a date for April 26th.  The neatest thing though was watching Rhea tell her older sister about her decision to be baptized.  They both started laughing and then crying.  It was really neat to see their bond and how happy they both were. 

We received a phone call a couple of days ago from a former investigator that we had dropped 5 or 6 months ago.  She called us in tears saying she was having a really hard time and wanted to meet.  We were able to meet with her that day and she explained that previously when she had heard the lessons she was happy, and didn't have any problems but now that she was going through a rough time she had realized the need for religion in her life and she told us that she wanted to come to church and hear the lessons one more time.  We were both really surprised, but super happy.  I could see the change that occurred in her and as we biked back home I couldn't help but think that Heavenly Father really does know His children and that He is preparing them to receive His message.  Even though Naoko Shimai wasn't ready a couple of months ago, she was now.  And because we had met with her before she knew who to turn to when she was ready. 

We went this week to visit another investigator.  A couple that lives near the new church and as we did so we knocked on their door but were pretty disappointed to find them not home.  We went downstairs and I got on the phone to find out where our next appointment was when we had a young woman walk towards her apartment door.  I stopped her and started talking Japanese.  She responded in English that she had no idea what I was saying and to hold on a second.  That took both Sister Olsen and I by surprise.  So we waited outside of her apartment for a couple of minutes a little confused and then she opened her door and let us in.  That was really surprising!  Japanese people never let us in to their homes.  It's just not in the culture.  We typically teach right outside, but she let us in and she explained to us that she had been praying last night to God for help.  She had just come back from church and when she went to work her coworkers were all making fun of her because she believed in God.  Then when she saw us as she was getting out of the bus she prayed again that we would help her.  We shared a brief message and told her that God loves her.  That He knows her and that's why we were standing outside of her door.  She asked us to come back next week!  How cool is that?!?!  That never happens!

Octopus!

Making takoyaki with the takoyaki maker I found for $4 at the thrift store.  Takoyaki is octopus meatballs (kind of).

YUM!

This week was super neat.  I love being a missionary, I love serving others.  My unofficial motto for my mission has been "fake it till you make it", because half the time I don't know what's going on.  But, I've been really surprised lately that I DO know what's going on for the most part!  Japanese is becoming less of a barrier and I've got a lot more experience in all aspects of missionary work.  Maybe that's the wisdom that turning 20 brings :)

All the sister missionaries on the island of Okinawa.

Sister Miller and I !  I love this girl!

The Ginowan Zone after zone conference.

I got to Sister Capener again!

Hope you all have a great week!  I love you!

Hawkins Shimai

A new companion, but still in Okinawa :)

Yes, I'm still in Okinawa :)  No one could believe it when I showed up at church the other day with a new companion.  I survived transfers!  I guess Heavenly Father still has more for me to do here.  And I can't complain.  My favorite people, places and things are on this island.  If I never leave I'll still have a blast.  Most people spend their whole mission dying to come to Okinawa.  On the other hand, I will have lived in Okinawa and died (the missionary term for ending your mission) here.  I do have a new companion though.  Her name is Sister Olsen.  She is from Heber, Utah the oldest child in a family where the rest of the siblings are boys and she's a super hard worker and great missionary.  We've been having a great time together so far.  It was sad seeing Takei Shimai (Sister Takei) go. 

Sister Takei's last morning before transferring!

A quick last hug goodbye!

  

This week went wonderfully.  Everyday is an adventure in Okinawa and on your mission.  Winter had officially ended.  We skipped spring.  Now we are pressing forward head first into summer.  The huge banana spiders have started to make their way out and I now have ditched sweaters, layers or anything of that sort.  It gets hot and humid here! 

This week we met a less active, Nakamine Kyodai randomly while housing.  We stopped at a random apartment building and just felt prompted to start there.  The first door we knocked on we met a nice man in his 50's.  We introduced ourselves and he excitedly proclaimed that he was a Mormon too!  After a wonderful conversation with him, he agreed to come to the open house that we had last week for the new church building.  He came!  He loved the church building and what he was able to feel inside of it.  It was a neat miracle!  I've really come to find out that Heavenly Father knows His children.  It's such a great comfort to know that as long as you try your best great things will happen and you will be guided.  Thankfully we receive a lot of help.  If this church wasn't true it would have been single-handedly brought down by a bunch of 19 year old missionaries cluelessly trying to help.  Luckily it is true and that hasn't happened :)

We have a cute young investigator named Yuki Chan.  She's adorable and a high school student who loves learning about God.  At our last lesson a couple months ago she really felt the spirit and kept repeating how overwhelmingly happy and warm she felt.  We made a baptismal date with her but because of one thing or another it fell through and we weren't able to meet with her.  But she contacted us a couple weeks ago and we were able to give her a church tour.  We wanted to meet with her again but her schedule was really busy due to her upcoming brass concert that she was practicing for.  She invited us to the concert, but I wasn't sure if we should go.  Sister Takei was packing and I didn't know if it would be the best use of our time.  But I prayed about it and decided we should attend the concert.  We barely made it to the little concert in time, but when we walked through the doors we bumped into Yuki's mother.  A HUGE miracle!  The biggest problem typically for our young investigators is getting their parents permission to join.  We had a SUPER DUPER great conversation.  That right there made our trip worth it.  But after the concert, we ran into her again!  She thanked us again and again for coming to support her daughter.  Then Yuki Chan joined us and it was awesome!  Out of all the hundreds of people there the miracle that we ran into her mom twice was unbelievable! 

Yuki Chan and I after the concert!

Lastly, this week was our new church building's open house.  I almost don't want to write about it because it went too well for words to describe.  TONS of people came.  Members invited so many of their friends, co-workers, family, and even random convenience store workers.  Everyone of them are phenomenal missionaries.  What really stood out to me was how the members took the extra step.  They invited their friends, but also encouraged them to come over to their homes and meet with us so that we could answer any of their questions.  I was floored!  It took a lot of courage, but much to my amazement not a single person said no.  Not a single one!  We have appointments lined up next week with lots of our member's friends and co-workers to teach and answer questions.  I was extremely impressed!  And most of these friends were all really excited and grateful that their member friends had invited them to come see the church and meet with other members.  It was a huge blessing and the event was really well put together. 

That is this week in a nut shell.  I love Okinawa and more importantly I love the people here.  I'm the luckiest missionary in Japan :)

Love  you family!  Hope you have a great week!  Be safe!

Hawkins Shimai

Sister Miller and I "helped" assemble our table :)