I have to tell you about my week!  I wish you were all just here to see what happens on a daily basis.  Nothing is ever dull when you spend your whole day speaking a foreign language and ride a bike in a skirt.  First off!  Yesterday!  Oi Shimai and I have been praying to find a Chinese investigator.  There is a perfectly good Chinese Book of Mormon just waiting in both of our bags to be given away.  We searched all week!  And this week was HARD.  No one would listen.  Kurume is a special place.  I have never ever worked in an area this hard.  We usually contact over a hundred people a day and typically at least seventy percent will listen.  In Kurume we get about 20%.  As soon as a say hello people "Kekko" ("I'm good!") us.  So frustrating!  I asked someone on the street if they could spend eternity with their family, be reunited after they die, how would they feel?  She looked at me and said "iranai" ("I don't need that").  Come on!  This is the greatest message ever!  But Oi Shimai and I have been working SO hard.  Poor girl she only has one week left on her mission and she is exhausted, but she's been working so much!  I love her!  But we went really all week without seeing any major success.  It was really frustrating.  But I have learned that when really hard things happen there is almost always something wonderful about to happen.  And guess what?!?!  It did!


We showed up for church on Sunday and found out that Elder Tashiro, a member of the seventy would be there and was speaking.  I was really excited.  Our mission president talks about Elder Tashiro all the time and about how wonderful of a person he is so I was excited to meet him.  Then we had a member come up to us and introduce her non-member friend, Yuki to us.  She is super nice!  Really tall, has two sons and guess what.... she is CHINESE!  But best part is is that she has lived in Japan for a long time so she speaks perfect Japanese!  We sat next to her during sacrament meeting and Oi Shimai and I were practically in giggles.  We couldn't believe it.  Then Elder Tashiro gave a talk.  He called up people from the congregation and had them bare a brief testimony.  The first girl was a freshman in HS.  She shared a wonderful testimony about how the gospel blesses families.  It set the whole stage for the rest of the time.  The spirit was so strong too!  I got called up and almost fainted.  But it all went really well!  And Yuka... she loved it!  She cried!   She left after sacrament meeting with tears in her eyes saying that she wanted her boys to be in an environment like this. Elder Tashiro gave a wonderful talk about families and Christ and it really touched Yuki. I was sad to see her leave after sacrament meeting, but she came back 3rd hour with one of her sons! He absolutely loved church too. They stayed for Elder Tashiro's fireside as well. Elder Tashiro during the middle of the fireside had Yuki come up in front of everyone and share how she felt coming to church. It was INCREDIBLE! The neatest experience I have had on my mission. This mother wants her and her two sons to be baptized. I was in awe the whole Sunday. Best member present lesson ever :) The whole experience really helped strengthen my faith that when we work hard, when we work smart and have faith, Heavenly Father allows miracles to happen.  I am so grateful to be here.  I am having an absolute blast doing what really matters.  I love it!  I am learning so so much!

Have a wonderful week!  I love you!

Hawkins Shimai

P.S. 
Pray for me!  Almost every single one of our investigators is a foreigner!  Nepalese, Vietnamese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Indian, etc.  If you thought Japanese was hard try Vietnamese!  Crazy