34th Week in Japan; 2nd Area. The love of family.

This past week we taught Family Home Evening on Monday night and we talked about baptism to prepare their son who is being baptized next month on Christmas.  He is just like my brother!  It's hard to listen to a lesson when a young boy is so cute you want to play games instead.  :) Haha Sister Shoji related too.

[For those of you who don't know what "Family Home Evening" {FHE} is, it is one night set aside, usually Monday night, for families in the LDS church to get together in their own home, with the other family members, and have a spiritual lesson.  They can also include a short family council, and games or refreshments if they wish, tailored according to their family's needs.  FHE is designed to help families bond and grow spiritually.  It does not take the place of regular weekly Sabbath worship and instruction. ]

I contemplate life's trials and the power of family love and support, and how the gospel is a guide to us to help us navigate through life's difficulties, just as a compass guides a traveler:

This is a test in life, although a very hard one, we can still choose to be happy and focus on the joy of the gospel! I promise as you love according to the principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will always have peace and happiness through the power of the Holy Ghost. Of course, there are still times that we can't help but feel sad, hurt, or upset. 

I really like this scripture.

Alma 37:

"38 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the thing which our fathers call a ball, or director--or our fathers called it Liahona, which is, being interpreted, a compass; and the Lord prepared it.

39 And behold, there cannot any man work after the manner of so curious a workmanship. And behold, it was prepared to show unto our fathers the course which they should travel in the wilderness.

40 And it did work for them according to their faith in God; therefore, if they had faith to believe that God could cause that those spindles should point the way they should go, behold, it was done; therefore they had this miracle, and also many other miracles wrought by the power of God, day by day.

41 Nevertheless, because those miracles were worked by small means it did show unto them marvelous works. They were slothful, and forgot to exercise their faith and diligence and then those marvelous works ceased, and they did not progress in their journey;

42 Therefore, they tarried in the wilderness, or did not travel a direct course, and were afflicted with hunger and thirst, because of their transgressions.

43 And now, my son, I would that ye should understand that these things are not without a shadow; for as our fathers were slothful to give heed to this compass (now these things were temporal) they did not prosper; even so it is with things which are spiritual.

44 For behold, it is as easy to give heed to the word of Christ, which will point to you a straight course to eternal bliss, as it was for our fathers to give heed to this compass, which would point unto them a straight course to the promised land.

45 And now I say, is there not a type in this thing? For just as surely as this director did bring our fathers, by following its course, to the promised land, shall the words of Christ, if we follow their course, carry us beyond this vale of sorrow into a far better land of promise.

46 O my son, do not let us be slothful because of the easiness of the way; for so was it with our fathers; for so was it prepared for them, that if they would look they might live; even so it is with us. The way is prepared, and if we will look we may live forever. [this makes a reference in the bible during the time of Moses I believe, when people were dying and if they looked up to the serpent on the stick, they lived.]

47 And now, my son, see that ye take care of these sacred things, yea, see that ye look to God and live. Go unto this people and declare the word, and be sober. My son, farewell."

I testify that God loves us and he always will.  Love conquers all.  Even during times of difficulty, God is always there to help and lift our spirits up.  And then when families live according to the gospel, there is that support that family members give to each other. :) So that's why we are here, to help each other.

Keep going! ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ

Sister Kirsten Parker

Sent from the white fields of Japan 🍲🌅

(image from the internet)

November 22, 2016 (6am Japan time) [11/21/16 afternoon US] Earthquake and tsunami offshore from Fukushima

Update after the earthquake:  From Kirsten/Parker Shimai--

I felt the earthquake.  In Tokyo it was about a 3 magnitude (said a lady who we talked to on the train today).  So in Mito, it was probably about a 4 magnitude.  The earthquake was at 6:00a.m., ten minutes before we set our alarms.  The trains were delayed for about and hour and some more, but we talked to this really sweet lady while we waited.  She may come to Eikaiwa (English conversation class). I didn't realize the earthquake was so big in Fukushima though! We are safe! :) 



*******************
We hope no news is good news (she's probably okay).  Kirsten/Parker Shimai is in Ibaraki prefecture (similar to a county), and lives a few miles inland, i.e. not near the beach, and now is under tsunami advisory (lowest rating).  I assume that she would've been woken up by the 6.9 / 7.4 earthquake though.  We'll continue to watch for aftershocks and see how the Daiichi nuclear power plant does.   

K-Mom

Here's a link to an instagram post if you want to hear what Japan's tsunami siren sounds like:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNFpalxAIEm/

Kirsten is in the yellow area below the orangey-red X.

Tsunami Forecast Region  Category of Tsunami Warning/Advisory
IWATE PREF.             TSUNAMI ADVISORY
MIYAGI PREF.            TSUNAMI ADVISORY
FUKUSHIMA PREF.     TSUNAMI ADVISORY
IBARAKI PREF.          TSUNAMI ADVISORY

******* Earthquake Information ******** Occurred at  05:59 JST, 22 Nov. 2016 Region name  FUKUSHIMA-KEN OKI Latitude 37.4N Longitude 141.6E Depth  about 30 km Magnitude  7.4

33rd Week in Japan; 2nd Area; In prayer we plant the seed of faith which gives us the vision (goal)

I don't have much to report this week. But one thing I learned this week was that prayer is not only a way to communicate back and forth to Heavenly Father, but it is a way of giving our hearts to God and becoming one with His will.  

We also found two new investigators:  Sa____-san and Ta_______-san ["san" is an honorific title that you give to somebody else.  You never give that title to yourself].
We've really been making time between our appointments to talk to everyone. There's a lot of people by the station so sometimes it takes like an hour or more to get there by bike (without stopping people, which unfortunately we have had to do sometimes, it's like 15 minutes).  On Friday after district meeting, we were super pumped to talk to to people. We have prayed and [as a missionary district] made a vision [faith goal] with the ward to get three baptisms by the end of this year.

John 20:24-29
"24 ¶But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.  But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.

26 ¶And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.

27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

28 And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.

29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."

(Picture from internet)  By Caravaggio, "The Incredulity of Saint Thomas"

We can get three baptisms. We can do it!  That day, we talked to a lady on the train who was so kin金(golden), but we had to get off the train and couldn't get her phone number so we just gave her a flyer.  And then when we were off the train walking to Children's English class, we talked to another girl and she accepted to learn more!  Then after the class, the next lady we talked to has a lot of interest in God and is reading the bible a little bit. She read a Japanese comic version [of the Bible] first and liked it, so she started studying the Bible.  That's Ta_______-san!  After three weeks we finally found some more people to teach!!  I was ecstatic.   

Other news:  Today we had zone p-day.   Also, unexpectedly, Elder Newey our district leader was transferred and will be a Traveling Assistant for his last transfer and a half of his mission.  So now instead of three elders, there are two, Elder King and Elder Sato. (Elder Sato was my first district leader in Okegawa and then he came to Mito after me!). 

Love, Sister Parker

p.s.  On 11/11 it was Poki day.  Poki is a very popular sweet.  It's a stick usually dipped in chocolate.

Pocky /ˈpoki/ is a Japanese snack food produced by Ezaki Glico. Pocky was first sold in 1966, and consists of chocolate-coated biscuit sticks. It was named after the Japanese onomatopoetic word pokkin --Wikipedia

(packaging how it looks in America)

32nd week in Japan; 2nd Area; The Holy Spirit works with people. Coincidences sometimes are miracles.

November 7, 2016

I hope you know that I am trying my hardest to be obedient to the Lord.  There are many rules for a missionary, and I am following all of them the best I can.  I talk to everyone with my companion on the streets testifying of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon and things like that, and invite them to learn more.  Often I try to be friendly and compliment their clothes and ask about where they live or what they do and then introduce my companion and me.  There are many people interested, and I know they can feel the Holy Spirit but they don't recognize it, so they do not become investigators.  But someday, they will meet missionaries again and they will be ready by then.  There was actually a time that Sister Madsen (my previous companion who I trained) and I were biking back to church and we were in a hurry, but Sister Madsen said, "stop that lady!" I was thinking about why she said that, and when I looked at the lady's eyes I immediately felt we needed to stop her.  She was interested in the gospel, but lived in Nagoya, so we had to refer her to that mission area, nevertheless, it was amazing!  

And then the next person that we spoke to, spoke English and went to church in Europe.  I asked why she wanted to learn about Jesus Christ and she said, "It just feels good, I just feel that I want to learn it." I explained to her that we look for those people that have those feelings and we teach them about Jesus Christ.  She came to church a couple weeks later and she loved church.  We gave her a Book of Mormon and she said she'd read it and wanted to learn.  We figured out that she lives in a different area, right next to the LDS church building, but she came all the way to Mito (it took over an hour on the train) to come to church.  I think she is still investigating the church in Tsukuba area.

During recent missionary exchanges, Sister Nicholes and I had some appointments fall through, but it was such a great day!  One of the lessons we taught, was with one less-active (less actively attending member).  We called her and asked if we could visit her, but she said it wasn't a good time.  So we shared a message on the phone about Alma 5:60  and it was really good. 

60 And now I say unto you that the good shepherd doth call after you; and if you will hearken unto his voice he will bring you into his fold, and ye are his sheep; and he commandeth you that ye suffer no ravenous wolf to enter among you, that ye may not be destroyed.

After we said goodbye, she called us back immediately and said we could come over and that her daughter wanted to meet us.  We told this story that connected well to repentance and they understood it very well.  Her daughter is currently suffering through some things and becoming less-active but she had many questions and both the mom and her were engaged in the lesson.  I felt a lot of joy during that lesson and I was so happy the Spirit was there to help us.  I just felt peace and it felt like we were experiencing a bit of heaven.

Also, our investigator R_____-san came to church on Sunday finally!  I was actually fasting for her that day, hoping that she may be blessed with the desire to be baptized.  During Sunday school, we watched the 20 minute Restoration of the gospel video (in Korean for her!) and she really liked it.  The Sunday school teacher, Brother H_____, asked her how she felt about the video and she said she thinks it may be really true!  She said she felt emotional and understood Joseph Smith very well and how he was searching and searching for an answer to his spiritual questions.  That night, we had a lesson with her friend and we taught the beginning part of the Restoration pamphlet and we were going to ask her to be baptized, but we ran out of time. We are going to try Tuesday! Please pray for R_____!

I want to tell you of an experience I had yesterday and today.

So Sister St_____ (Australian member in this Ward who was a missionary in the Sendai and Tokyo mission), went to America, to Utah last week.  Her former MTC companion was getting married and she met her former mission president at her wedding!  He was a YSA (Young Single Adult) Stake President [administering over several congregations] over a woman named JS who lives in Japan now.  He asked her to find her, if she could.  So Sister St______ looks her up on Facebook and finds her and she works at a nearby high school!!  Literally a four minute walk.  So yesterday, on Sunday she is bearing testimony of the gospel and she shares this experience and how God works miracles and says in the microphone, "Where's the shimaitachi.  [Sisters].  Ah ha, yes!  You there in the back!   Tomorrow we are going to visit this less-active!!  K cool cheers! Thanks!"  

And today we visited her.  Sister St______  went in the high school during their lunchtime and brought her outside as we waited (a little odd for missionaries to go in, so we waited outside) and we met her! She hasn't been to church for 5 years and is not teaching English in Japan!  We got her number and told her the story and how amazing it is God is reaching out and she was grateful!! She said that her mom gave her the address of the church so she could go to it, but she forgot about it. We invited her to English class and Christmas party and she is probably going to come!!  We told her about how Sister Shoji [my new companion]  and I were on the train the other day talking to some high school students.  When I told them I was from Utah, one of them freaked out a bit and said that their teacher is from Utah, Miss JS という先生。(A teacher who is called). 

God works miracles everyday and he does reach out to all his children everyday.

My new companion, Sister Shoji is great! She laughs at my dumb jokes, even if she doesn't understand them.  But I can't tell when she doesn't, so I try to explain it in Japanese. 

Here are a couple of pictures of the inside of our apartment.

  

Sister Shoji, in the apartment kitchen

Until next time,

Parker Shimai

Sent from the white fields of Japan 🍲🌅

("For the fields are white, ready to harvest")

Picture is from internet, showing wheat.  The color is light, almost white when it is ready to harvest.

29th - 31st weeks in Japan; 2nd Area. People, places, fun, and health

October 31, 2016:   Hello wonderful people!

This week was kind of slow, but *Sister Shoji [new Japanese companion] is awesome! I feel like we are similar people.  She's very sweet and patient and mellow.  Sister M______ [one of my favorite female members in Mito] took us to Costco today, and it was like going back to America.  It's so huge, it was way too big!  But we bought lots of food.  I have a strong testimony of prayer and the power that comes from praying with faith.  Faith is things which cannot be seen, but are true.  I will pray about questions so that things are done according to God's will.

The beachside with view of a Torii (shrine gate)

 

Carside view of the trip

* 11/15/2016 update.  I have since gotten permission to give her companion's name and pictures.  Her new companion is Sister Shoji.  I have edited this post, as well as the November 7th letter, now to include pictures of her.   K-Mom.

October 24, 2016:   This week in pictures!

The first and second pictures we are at the honbu after the Elder Bednar conference [For those of you not familiar with Elder David Bednar, he is a leader of high rank in the LDS church. He came to Japan recently.  "Honbu" means central mission office in this context.] I love Sister Alvarenga and Sister Hill! 3rd and 4th pictures are with our investigator, R_____. She will be moving soon and opening her restaurant, so we are also teaching her English! She is so sweet!!   And the video is of Elder King at our Halloween party.  We were playing minute-to-win it games.  We were able to invite many non-members to come to the party and it was a big success!!

             

    

Sister Madsen is transferring to a Portuguese speaking area.  She is excited! She's already fluent in Spanish and has studied a little Portuguese while in Japan.  And I'm staying in Mito and my companion is going to be... Drum roll......🎳 Sister Shoji !!   She is Japanese, so I get a Japanese companion!! Yay!!  I've met her before and she sooo sweet!  Her English is pretty good, but I'm excited to be able to learn lots from her. She's transfer 5, so we have been out about the same amount of time [she has a little less time than me]. Also, our elders will become a trio.  So Elder Newey (from Utah, he's district leader), Elder King (from Australia), and then Elder Sato is being added to Mito.  Elder Sato was my first district leader in Okegawa! 

Today we are going to volunteer at a retirement home where a member lives. In about one hour from now we will be taking a train.

October 17, 2016:  Health

Exodus 20

12 ¶Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.  God has given a commandment to honor our parents and I respect and value your judgment. 

I have been getting up and doing jumping jacks or some exercise like you said I should. Although, almost everyday we are sprinting.  We do running or other workouts in the morning and then during the day we walk and bike, and sprint to appointments because we run late.  I am exercising a lot, but getting up and doing jumping jacks helps more. President Nagano [mission president] has said, and I quote, "Your health is more important than missionary work." He said that. I just want to assure you that they do care.  Without our health it is pretty hard to do missionary work.

[Kirsten's companion mentioned last week that maybe they would go to the park in the a.m. and do tai chi exercise -- so I don't know if that figured in with her picture of the hands with the oriental descriptions.  Kirsten also mentioned that she has a minor physical issue, and so Sister Nagano (the mission president's wife) misunderstood the origin of Kirsten's issue and referred her to a mission doctor-counselor for mental/stress issues, which Kirsten says is still a blessing because the doctor is teaching her stress management.  Stress can always be a contributor to any physical ailment.   The mission staff really does care about the wellbeing of the missionaries.   K-Mom]

This scripture has been on my mind: 

2 Nephi 33: 3 But I, Nephi, have written what I have written, and I esteem it as of great worth, and especially unto my people. For I pray continually for them by day, and mine eyes water my pillow by night, because of them; and I cry unto my God in faith, and I know that he will hear my cry.

4 And I know that the Lord God will consecrate my prayers for the gain of my people. And the words which I have written in weakness will be made strong unto them; for it persuadeth them to do good; it maketh known unto them of their fathers; and it speaketh of Jesus, and persuadeth them to believe in him, and to endure to the end, which is life eternal."

I pray for you all that you may be able to always have joy by holding on to the iron rod, which is the words of Christ.

Until next time, Parker Shimai

Sent from the white fields of Japan 🍲🌅

28th Week in Japan; 2nd Area. Snippets of Comments from the letter

Snippet 1:

Do you know how excited I was this morning when the breeze felt cool for the first time without it being rainy?!  "It's beginning to look a lot like Chriiistmas!!!" I sang.

Snippet 2:

I know as you continually apply the atonement of Jesus Christ in your life, you will have joy and be able to overcome the problems around you.  I myself am striving to do so.  It's been hard trying to be a trainer.  But I believe it is for my own good.  President Nagano told me this little allegory that his mission president told him [President Nagano] while he was serving a mission.

He said something like, that everyone is a diamond in the rough, and in order to get rid of the rough parts of the diamond, it needs another diamond.  So two diamonds in the rough rub and scratch and grind against each other, and other diamonds to get [off] the little [rough] pieces left, until it becomes smooth on every area [facet].  Then, the Jeweler sets the diamond on a black velvet background so everyone can see the beauty and shine of the beautiful diamond.

2 Nephi 9 

"18 But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel, they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever."

Snippet 3:

At the barbeque we went to recently, I learned some Japanese sign language (Shuwa).  [For those of you who don't know, I already know a little bit of American Sign Language.]  That was really cool!  We found a deaf potential investigator there.  That was last last week, I think.

Snippet 4:

This week has been FULL of miracles. I don't even know where to start, but I'll send you some of this from my letter to the mission president:

"We had a lesson with A____ on Monday.  She originally said she could not join our church but wants to learn.  However, today as we were going through the Restoration [of the fulness of the gospel] she said that she almost believes that God is her Heavenly Father and if she did believe it, then she would get baptized.  She understand the Restoration pamphlet much better when we went through it together.  She gladly accepted the Book of Mormon we gave her!

During lunch with an Eikaiwa [English] student, O____, she said that she was thinking about what Sister Madsen said a few weeks ago: that when she looks at nature she can feel God's love.  O____ felt the same way but she would use different words..  And she wants to learn more about what we believe!  That was amazing!  Last time, she said that because she was Buddhist, that she was not interested in learning about the church.   O____ was actually a referral from a member, and she was surprised that she was interested. 

We had one lesson with M________ for the first time on Tuesday!  It was a douseki lesson on the phone.  We talked about the character of God and who He is.  Having a member there was so nice. M_______ said that when we first stopped her on the street, she thought it was fate that we met because it was her birthday and we talked about God.  She had never thought about it before, but it made her interested.  We are going to meet at the station by her house sometime soon, we hope! Yay!!"

Douseki:  per google translation: Presence; 

verb
	sit with		同席
	be with		同席

i.e. in context -- a member that sits in with the lesson

Snippet 5 - Snippet 6 - Snippet 7:  Pictures

Zone p-day today! It is Sports Day holiday in Japan!!

This picture was today at the best restaurant ever. I love Indian curry so muuuuucchhh.  Yum!!

On my left, is my companion, Sister Madsen. Sister Fossa, on my right is from Italy.  She's so silly and funny!  Then the sister behind me is Sister Nicholas, she is from Utah but she grew up in Japan (half-Japanese).  And then sister Alvarenga is my MTC Senpai/ Sister training leader.  Then in front of me is Sister Hill, Sister Gorner(?), and then Sister Fukuda.

Sister Parker, Sister Madsen, and a Japanese friend

Sent from the white fields of Japan 🍲🌅    Sister Parker

[A white field is a field that is ready to be harvested -- souls for Christ]

D&C 11:3 Behold, the field is white already to harvest; therefore, whoso desireth to reap let him thrust in his sickle with his might, and reap while the day lasts, that he may treasure up for his soul everlasting salvation in the kingdom of God.

John 4:35 ...Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

D&C 33:3  For behold, the field is white already to harvest; and it is the eleventh hour, and the last time that I shall call laborers into my vineyard.

Note:  Ever wonder why the Lord mentioned the eleventh hour of harvest?  In the Biblical day, the first hour was 6am-7am.   So, the eleventh hour was 5pm-- very near the end of the workday.  Basically, the Lord is saying, these years are the last ditch effort to bring souls to Him, before the worldwide calamities end wickedness, so that the righteous rule of Christ (1000 years) can begin.

27th Week in Japan; 2nd Area. "Another Rep [repitition] for Jesus!"

Hello everyone!!

It's great to be a missionary in Japan!  We had the wonderful opportunity to attend the wonderful Tokyo temple.

We had exchanges this week with our Sister Training leaders.  I love them so much!!!  I went with Sister Alvarenga again.  She gave me great counsel that I really needed.  We don't have as much success in our area as much as others, despite as hard as we may work.  Sometimes it can be hard and depressing. I've realized that doing missionary work is simpler than I've been making it.  Missionaries are just sharing truths to people and inviting them to act.  When we approach people and introduce ourselves and state our purpose, we then tell them gospel truths. We bear our testimony of what we know as the Spirit directs us and then it is up to the receiver to accept the invitation to learn what we give them.


Sister Alvarenga and I were housing. (By the way, almost all housing has an intercom with a camera.)  There was this one house.. and we pressed the button on the intercom and then their camera turned on. As we were speaking, a lady came out of the house and we happily shared our message with her.  She continually nodded and said, "Yes. Yes. I know that.  Yes, I already understand that," as we spoke of God and how we can return to live with him. She's Buddhist but previously investigated the Protestant religion, so she had some background knowledge of Jesus Christ.  She was very nice.  In the end she did not accept our invitation to take lessons, but we know she came outside because she felt the Spirit.  She knows there is something good about Christianity.  The Lord has been working in her life and is extending His hand in mercy to her.

We have three new investigators!  Two are high schoolers from our English textbook class/ mission school program.  After sharing a small spiritual lesson, we asked if they wanted to learn about Jesus Christ and they both said they have a little interest.  Little interest is a big thing!!  Sister Madsen, my wonderful bean-chan companion, and I were ecstatic.  Although Sister Madsen has been in Japan for only about 2 months, she is such a fantastic missionary.  She's very good at leading!  Yesterday, we also met with a student from English Conversation.  A couple weeks ago we invited her to learn more about the Church and she said no.  However, this week she said she had been thinking about what Sister Madsen said, "When I look at nature, I feel God's love."  She's Buddhist, but she said she feels the same way, but would use a different description.  So, we are going to start teaching her on Skype weekly.  As well as help her with her English.   Yeah!! :D

Religions all have truth.  They all have commonalities and similar principles with each other.  I believe when we share the gospel of Jesus Christ with people, it's not all brand new.  Everyone has felt the Spirit before.  We are just helping them make connections and learning to recognize that they already know God.
In Galatians 5, it says:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
gentleness, goodness, faith,
23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Small story: we were riding our bikes and it was raining and we were trying to get home to finish study, but there was this one girl with a yellow umbrella we needed to stop.  Sometimes it feels like the Spirit is yelling with a small voice, "Stop her!"  We stopped her and introduced ourselves as the missionaries and both bore a simple
testimony of Jesus Christ.  She did not want to learn more.  When we got home, Sister Madsen said, "Sister Parker, I'm glad you stopped that girl.  It felt like the spirit was screaming at me that we needed to stop her." I don't know why we needed to stop and talk to her, but Heavenly Father knows.   It could be because one day she may meet the missionaries again and she needed to have previously met us before. And/or we discovered a college that is by our house.  Suddenly lots of college students got out of school and maybe we wouldn't have discovered it biking earlier past it.  College = better chance of finding young investigators. #StrengthenTheRisingGeneration

Peace to all!!

Love,
Sister Parker