All Smiles :)

Sunflowers in Japan

Our mission heard about the deaths of 2 missionaries in Taiwan.  We had a huge crack down on Co2 detectors since then. I'm glad everything worked out for us last time.  It was definitely a huge blessing.  Williams Shimai and I both got a pretty good laugh out of Dad going to home teach the Riggins at the same time as the BYU football game.  That is sketchy.  But we both approved.  Nothing brings the spirit as quickly in to the room as a touchdown.  

This week was incredible.  Really unbelievable.  It was a mixture of a spiritual highs and just downright craziness.  

• We taught so SO SO many lessons this week!  It was a blast.  I love teaching.  So much fun and for the most part the people we teach have no Christian background so they have just as much fun as we do learning about Christ.  In particular we taught Imamura Kun.  He is a 21 year old with lots of spunk.  Probably one of my favorite investigators.  He had a pretty bad car accident and had an experience where he began to believe in God.  He is just so bold.  Every time we teach him something he lives it.  "Well I should probably pray right?" "Well I don't want to just pray once.  Can I pray where ever and whenever I want?  like a lot?"  I love questions like that.  He is a great missionary too.  Every time we teach him he invites his relatives, friends, girlfriend etc to come listen too.  Love it.

• This week was a lot of eating adventures.  All the things we have eaten this week that we shouldn't have:  cow tongue, cow liver, fish eggs, raw eel, green tea (we didn't know!), raw squid, raw octopus, fermented soybeans.

• Got back off the train from District meeting to find out that our bikes were gone.  GONE!  We locked them I promise!  After a half hour of searching we found that they had been moved two football fields away.  The same day we were in the car of our investigator and got in a slight car crash.  It really wasn't that bad but nothing is simple here so it was a fun process of exchanging information with the police and sharing the gospel with our investigator's son.  God works in mysterious ways.  

• Rhea our investigator came to church for the first time!  She was so cute and brought a special baby carrying thingy so that she could walk with her daughter to church.  She loved it and the members were so kind to her.  She asked if she could bring her husband next week.... yes!  

• Probably one of the biggest miracles in my whole mission.... General Conference worthy….We got a referral from a member.  Those are really rare here in Japan and a huge blessing!  Williams Shimai (Sister Williams) and I were super excited.  We went and visited the referral.  A member's older sister.  We had no idea what to expect and it was a miracle in and of itself that we found her home.  We came inside and she sits us down with her husband and she brings out a bag.  It has Books of Mormon, D&C, a Bible and lots of Liahona articles.  She told us that she has read the Book of Mormon 7 times and from how many notes she has in her Book of Mormon, I believed her.  She then got really quiet and said "I don't think you will believe me but... I have read this and it is from God.  I believe it is true."  Wow.  She has never had the lessons from the missionaries.  We are excited to see where it goes. :)

I love you!  I love Japan.  I am so grateful to be here and serving my Japanese brothers and sisters.  I know God lives.  This is absolutely His work and He is involved in it.  It is spreading joy :) and I love it.  I hope you have a great week!  Be safe!

Hawkins Shimai

Normal days?

I have this vision of missionary work that one day I will wake up and have a normal day.  Normal studies, meeting normal people, having our plans work out perfectly with no sudden surprises or crazy phone calls and without running crazily from appointment to appointment like chickens with our heads cut off... well I haven't had it yet and this week was no different.  But it has been fun! :)  That's for sure.  

Somehow with all our careful planning our Junkai`s (companionship exchanges that we do with other sisters in their areas) almost all ended up landing on this week.  Which meant we were going to be out of our own area for a decent chunk of time.  I love Kurume and I love our investigators so Williams Shimai (Sister Williams) and I were both a little bummed and had no idea how we would be able to fit all of our lessons in.  Our mission is so spread out that the 24 hour Junkai`s we conduct end up being 31 hours for us because of all the traveling and waiting for trains involved.  But somehow, even with all that, this week could not have worked out any better.  It was perfect... craziness :)

• On Wednesday our trains were all delayed because of the downpours and we had to cancel an appointment, but miraculously on our way home we ran into THREE of our investigators just on the street.  We taught them on the street.  Set up a real appointment and then continued on and then we would meet another one!  That has never happened to me before!  It was so neat! 
• We received a referral from a member!  I love those :)  We were able to visit him in between appointments and it all worked out perfectly!  We just taught him again this morning with the same member and he prayed for the first time!  In his prayer he said he was excited to learn more!  Yippee!  
• We were able to time things perfectly to meet with some of our progressing investigators.  We met "mom and dad" (as we call one of our couples)  They are in their 70's and they are adorable.  They were so excited to see us.  "Dad" had kept all of his commitments and is progressing towards baptism.  They were so happy we had come all the way from Sasebo that they made us dinner.  We were starving so we scarfed everything up before asking what it was.  Tofu and liver never tasted so good!  
• We desperately searched for a member to come teaching with us.  Called all the less actives we could too.  We needed someone!  We called a less active and she came to one of our lessons and it was incredible!  She bore her testimony and cried.  She is a young, super cute girl in her 30s.  During church yesterday I felt someone tug my braid behind me and guess who it was... her!  :) We were so happy!

That and so much more happened.  It really was a miracle week.  I am so happy that we are so busy.  I love teaching people and sharing the gospel.  It is so fun.  Williams Shimai and I are loving Kurume.  Never a dull moment.  

I love you guys!  

Have a wonderful week!

Hawkins Shimai 

More blessings!

This week was eventful and overflowing with miracles.  I almost hate writing emails home because it can't adequately explain just how absolutely wonderful things are here.  I am busy, I am tired but I am so happy :)  I wouldn't be anywhere else.   

The jungle I live in :)

We went on exchanges (where you switch companions for a day) with some of the sister missionaries in our zone.  It is always nice to serve and work with other people, but it made me grateful to normally work with Sister Williams.  Getting along with all sorts of personalities is another mission blessing.  We probably have too much fun on a daily basis.  

We had one of the neatest lessons since I got here in Kurume.  We spent the night before calling ALL of our members asking if someone could join us for a lesson.  But this week was "Obon" a HUGE holiday week where people have feasts, meet with family, worship their ancestors and give them offerings.  Working this week was almost impossible, but we did see several "Obon" miracles.  Anyway after calling 30 plus members and having no one who could come I flipped through our less active book and called someone and this member said yes!  That she could come.  She asked if she could bring a friend.  Of course, I said yes.  The next day we had our lesson at the church and it went SO well.  We taught about the Restoration of the Gospel on the earth.  About God, families, prophets, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith, the Bible and the Book of Mormon and prayer.  Our 2 joints (one the less active and the other one the less active's friend who was a recent convert) were absolutely incredible joints.  Teaching lesson one was great for all of them and they testified and shared personal experiences.  The spirit was so strong and I think we all left there happy and feeling the spirit.  

Lastly, we randomly housed (knocking on doors) into one of our Nepalese investigators.  He was so excited to see us! He excitedly told us that he prayed for the first time and that he received an answer from God.  He said he had a job interview earlier that week and he decided for the first time in his life he would pray.  He asked God for the courage to go to the interview and do his best.  He received so much peace for that prayer that he said he really does believe God lives and that he listens to us.  It was so neat to hear and he was so excited!  I know that God listens to and answers our prayers.  Maybe not in the time wframe that we want or expect but he does listen and answer.  Sometimes the answer is "no" or "no not at this time" but it is still from a loving Heavenly Father.  It was so neat to hear about our investigators' experience and he was so excited!  Nothing has made me happier these last 15 months than sharing the gospel.  I absolutely love it. 

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

McKenna

Persistence….it saves lives :)

愛しています!元気ですか?

This week was exciting.  So exciting that it's all kind of a blur.  If I don't have my planner I can't for the life of me remember what has happened.  More things happen in a day on my mission then I had happen in a year in high school.  Busyness, Miracles, Co2 leaks, investigators, crazy housing experiences.  I just can't keep up with it all. 

Our apartment is near a school and the school children have been practicing all week for a summer festival.

• I LOVE teaching!  We had lots of really great lessons this week.  It is interesting to have the perspective of a missionary and constantly be talking with people on the street about God, eternal families, what happens after we die, etc.  More people than you would think have questions about these things.  We are getting in to "Oboun" a Buddhist holiday week here in Japan and it involves worshiping their ancestors that have passed on before them.  It has given us the great opportunity to testify and to teach about the Plan of Salvation.  It was been really wonderful! 
• I am learning the Bible better!  :)  In Japan not many people have a Christian background so as missionaries here we are not faced with a lot of Bible and Book of Mormon questions.  But this week we had the opportunity to teach one of our Filipino investigators who is Catholic.  He was asking us lots of good questions about resurrection and if Christ currently has a body.  We were able to talk about the passage in the Bible when Christ's apostles had the same question and doubts and Christ ate fish and honeycomb in front of them.  Our investigators face just lit up.  He was so excited to find answers in the Bible.  He just didn't know where to search.  Then we shared some of the experiences from the Book of Mormon when Christ visits the Americas and how the people felt His hands and feet.  The Bible and Book of Mormon work so well together and I am so grateful for church programs that taught me about both. 
• We had a Co2 leak in our apartment this week.  A little scary to have our alarm go off during personal study.  We called the Assistants to the President and they had us call the fire department.  Luckily we had Hirata Shimai (Sister Hirata-she is Japanese) there so she could explain what was happening.  My vocabulary when it comes to C02 leaks is limited :) The fire department thought the alarm was just malfunctioning so they gave us another number to call.  But I learned from Dad that you just have to be stubborn to get what you want :)  So we got back on the phone and I have bad enough Japanese that I think they felt obligated to come over immediately.  Ha! We got it all worked out.  I wanted to make sure we weren't going to die!  So they got the leak stopped.  All is well :)  Persistence.  It saves lives.  
• Gathered all of our investigators that we could and brought them to the fireworks show we had this week!  It was lots of fun and our investigators got to meet some members.  I sent a couple of pictures.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• We played tennis for preparation day today with a cute 80 year old member in our ward.  He is adorable and reminds me of Grandpa Herb!  It felt great to smash something :)  

It has been a great week.  I am so happy.  I am beyond exhausted.  And I am really grateful to have the opportunity to love and serve the Japanese people!  日本人が大好きですよ！

Have a great week!

McKenna

Happy, Smiling and Testifying

I am glad the wildfires at home have died down.  One of the church members here

My roommates, Sister Hirata and Sister Messer

is really cute and she was keeping me posted about it :)

This week was pretty busy and lots of fun!  I am just always surprised about how many prepared people there are just waiting to hear about the gospel or to learn more about Christ.  Saturday we had all of our appointments cancel.  We had made 3 backup plans, THREE, and they all were cancelled or moved to a different day, etc.  Our 3rd backup plan had us "finding" over in a new area.  So we headed over and said a prayer and then started to get to work.  Williams Shimai (Sister Williams) and I started biking to an apartment complex only to hear someone say, "sisters!" in English.  That got our attention and we turned around to see a man in his 40s standing outside of his car waving at us. Ends up that he had met with the missionaries five years ago, had been to church a couple times and had read the Book of Mormon.  Something happened, the sisters transferred and he felt like he couldn't go back to church.  He said he had started praying again and asked God for a sign.  And then a week later he saw two foreigners, with white helmets on mountain bikes.  It was really neat.  Heavenly Father is really guiding us and guiding his children.  

Williams Shimai and I have been having LOTS of adventures recently.  Mom to answer your question: Williams Shimai is from Chicago but most recently from Alpine, UT.  She and I are both 20 and we were in the same Missionary Training Center district.  We got to Japan together and then she went to Hiroshima and I went down to Okinawa.  Then we met up a year later in Kurume.  Crazy!  She also went to a year at BYU before her mission.  We think we might have had the same Poly Sci class but we don't remember each other.  With over 30,000 students I guess that happens.  But we are having a blast together.  We just hit Transfer number 10.  That is really old in "missionary life/time".  

Just one quick adventure:  We knocked on a door and met our first Pakistani.  At first I thought we were going to get in a fight.  The discussion was a little heated.  Both he and his wife are Islamic.  We talked about living prophets and that didn't go over very well.  But we just were happy, smiled, testified, tried to be really understanding and respectful.  Finally we were about to head out when he asked if we had already eaten dinner.  Next thing we know we are sitting down with him and his lovely wife eating homemade SPICY Indian food and discussing missionary topics.  You never know what is going to happen :)  I love it!

I hope you have a great week!  I love you!  I am so happy!  I really love what I am doing.  I can't think of a better way to spend 19 months of my life :)  Love you!

Hawkins Shimai

Smile :)

Smile :)

This week was an absolute adventure.  I`ll give you bullet points... there was so much!  I am loving Kurume (which that in and of itself is a miracle.  I was SO sad to have to leave Okinawa)!  

We are currently teaching a cute older couple.  They are adorable.  Their daughter who lives in America referred us to them.  They were against the idea of missionaries and church 20 years ago but they have had a change of heart recently.  Williams Shimai (Sister Williams) and I decided after a lot of prayer and thought that we would work really hard on serving them.  Yesterday we spent a decent chunk of time in their garden.  I have always wanted to work in a rice field.  :)  I finally got to cross it off my bucket list.  I even had a Japanese hat!  The real miracle happened afterwards when we taught a lesson.  We have taught them a couple of times but recently they have been really receptive.  The husband, after he came to church on Sunday, said he felt really good about it and wanted to join the church.  We were able to set a date with him.  Its really neat to see what sweat, fellowship, and the spirit can do.  It changes hearts!

We got another referral this week!  From God :)  About a week and a half ago Sister Williams and I went out to dinner at a restaurant where one of our investigators works.  We had been praying about this man for awhile and we and our stomachaches thought it would be a good idea to stop by when we knew no one would be there.  We were able to teach him and give out a Hindi Book of Mormon. Cool right?  (I currently am learning Nepalese by the way...  seriously though.  It was super exciting.)  Then in walked two customers.  We got ready to leave but before we left we started a conversation with them.  They were both from Nepal and they asked what we were doing in Japan.  We told them about the church and what we did as missionaries.  Then invited them out to Eikaiwa (English language class), giving them our name and number.  Last week we got a call from one of them.  He said he was interested in Christianity and wanted to know if we had time to meet.  It was incredible!  But what was really neat was when we met this man he sincerely had interest.  He wanted to know why we are here, where are we going, why is there so much evil around us and how can Jesus help?  It was absolutely wonderful.  We have met with him several times since last week and it is been a huge blessing to teach him.  Referrals from God!  They work :)  

Risky, the cat, before her bath!

Also Williams Shimai (Sister Williams) and I became parents!  I was biking around Sunday and I noticed a little kitten.  It was stuck off the side of the road.  Well Williams Shimai and I saw it, fell in love with it and wanted to raise it.  Which is not OK with missionary rules.  But we couldn't just leave it there!  So we took it to the church, gave it a bath and went home to feed it.  We talked with our roommates and they said they had just found an investigator who had tons of cats and could probably help.  So we took an emergency run over there during dinner time.  Risky, our little kitten, (it means dangerous in English and blessing in Indonesian)  is doing great.  Everyday is an adventure :)

I love you!  Have a wonderful week!  

Hawkins Shimai

Good Morning from Japan!

Good Morning from Japan :)

We made these "bentos"…in Japan it is considered an art form :)  Yes, it is food!

Kind of funny to read the translation into English :)

Summer is officially here in Kurume.  The sweat rags have come out and the make up off.  It's really a miracle people talk to us on the street :)  We have had a fun week.  Full of hand-sized (well, almost) cockroaches, tropical storms, new investigators, and adventures all around southern Japan.  It's been a blast!  

Williams Shimai (Sister Williams) and I have been working on our Japanese a lot and recently have been learning lots of Vietnamese and Nepalese.  The Book of Mormon is not translated into Nepalese so we use lots of fun teaching strategies and bounce around between English, Japanese and Nepalese and Hindi.  Our cute Nepalese investigator is doing great!  We had a wonderful lesson about the Plan of Salvation this week.  In every culture and everywhere in the world, families are central and with the knowledge that our families can be eternal brings hope and comfort.  We had a great discussion with her and she was so cute!  Every time we read a scripture (in Hindi) she would excitedly explain it to us in a mixture of cute English and Japanese.  I love sharing the gospel, but it makes me even happier when our investigators get just as excited as we are about it!  :)  

We have also been focusing on serving people.  When I first got on my mission I expected to do a lot of service.  Anything…mowing lawns (they don't have any here in Japan) or whatever came our way.  But for a solid year we have been offering everyone and anyone who we come across that we would LOVE to serve them.  Missionaries are always happy, but they are especially happy in basketball shorts pulling weeds.  Well, this week we took matters into our own hands.  One of our families who has had a health problem has a huge beautiful garden.  But with how busy they have been it's been a little neglected, so we surprised them and showed up and worked in their garden all afternoon.  It was WONDERFUL!  I have never been so happy raking up old eggplant bushes or radishes.  Williams Shimai and I went in with the goal to help them out with some of their physical needs, but as we were leaving the family asked if we would share a message with them.  We asked what they wanted to hear about and the cute grandma said, "Something about that Jesus Christ you keep talking about."  Gladly :)  It went great!  

I am so grateful to be a missionary here.  I LOVE it.  I can't even tell you about half the amazing miracles that happen to us on a daily basis.  I love it.  I know God is a living God.  He is aware of us.  It is just wonderful :)  I love you guys!  Have a great week!  And be safe!

Hawkins Shimai