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

  

  

25th and 26th Weeks in Japan; 2nd Area. Knowing Christ's attributes is part of conversion.

September 18, 2016

Yesterday we did splits with members and I had the wonderful opportunity to be with M_________ Shimai (a good member friend--I've mentioned her before).  Despite the heavy rain, we housed for two hours!  She always shares bit of her conversion story.
It started when she was very young.  She said when she was about 10 years old, she saw missionaries (of another Christian church) walking around the neighborhood.  She would think to herself "Come on, come on, come on!!"  She really wanted to learn about Jesus Christ.  When she was even younger, she thought Christmas was about the death of Jesus Christ and wondered by people were celebrating it! Because she wanted to celebrate the holiday, and although her family was poor, she would go outside to their little tree in the backyard and decorate it with what she had.

A little about Japan:
Today has perfect weather! The wind is cool and there may be rain but I love that it isn't hot anymore!!  I think it's done.  A lot has happened this week, we got 7 referrals!! :)   We are really seeing the fruits of our labors.  Even though we don't really have any investigators, we are going to find one today.  We are going to the bike store to fix my bike pedals, maybe shopping, and then we are proselyting in Tomobe!  Yay!!  Tomobe by train is about half an hour away, I think.  We are visiting a less active and a potential investigator referral with a member (Sister S_______, she's from Australia and served her mission in Sendai for the majority).  Also, we teach lessons 1-5 before someone gets baptized.

Here are some pictures of Sister Madsen and I.

  

  

  

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September 26, 2016

This week has been hard, but I love Lord's work. 

Alma 31: 38  "And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith."

We got two new investigators!!  One is really busy and we had to cancel our last appointment, but our other investigator we are meeting tomorrow.  The elders have been helping us a lot and giving us advice with dendou [missionary work].

Coming unto Christ is so important.  Learning about His attributes is part of that process.  It is important to know the nature of the Being that we should love and trust.   If you can listen to the talk given by Elder Bednar, titled "Character of Christ" that would be great!  It was instrumental in part of my conversion to Christ.

This is an excerpt from the visit of Jesus Christ to the Nephites on the American continent, after his resurrection.   

[His visit to them was part of the promise and statement that he made to the Jews in Jerusalem, wherein he said that he would visit people away from the Jews:     John 10: 16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring,    and  they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.]

3 Nephi 9: 13-15

13 O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?

14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.

15 Behold, I am Jesus Christ the Son of God. I created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are. I was with the Father from the beginning. I am in the Father, and the Father in me; and in me hath the Father glorified his name.

Sorry this letter will be short this week because we have to spend extra time cleaning our apartment today.

Until next time, Parker Shimai

Sent from the white fields of Japan 🍲🌅

24th Week in Japan; 2nd area. Rain, rain, come today.

Also from Sept. 4/5th, 2016 (last week)

Currently, there is a lot of rain outside. Probably a typhoon. 

2016 Pacific Typhoon Season (from Wikipedia)

  

Japanese pedestrians battling typhoon season (picture from internet)

I like the crazy weather because then it cools down a bunch!  I'm really excited for Fall!  It's suppose to start cooling down at the end of this month.  Then the leaves will change color.  In Japanese, the word for thunder is "Kaminari" it makes me think of kami, which means God and nari, means ringing.  Although the kanji is different, 雷(rain on top of rice field), kaminari sounds more like the meaning is "God's ringing." 

We found a new investigator. It's actually a family!  We had this potential investigator in our Areabook who we've been trying to meet and teach.  One night, we prayed for help and guidance, and we were searching and searching for her apartment and finally found it.  Although, her husband answered the door.  He knew some English so that made things easier!  His wife (our potential investigator) could not come to the door, but as we were speaking with him, we were able to make a return appointment.  When he was a college student he read the whole Book of Mormon, which was shocking, all of it he had read.  He was curious of which church was the most remarkable, so he studied about many religions at that time.  We offered to give him a Book of Mormon, but he did not want to hold some thing so big in possession.  He asked, "Do you have something smaller, like a pamphlet?" [smiles]: Of course we do.  I have like 20.   So we whip out a 'Restoration of Jesus Christ's gospel' pamphlet, which was perfect.  He asked for one in English for his son to study, so we gave him that too.  Then, he asked about church and our English class we teach so we offered him a handout;  He took that too.  That was quite a miracle!! 

We are teaching that family tonight with a member.  Most people I've taught have not really had a background of Jesus Christ or God, but this family knows a lot more so they may have many questions about the Church.  I'm a little nervous, but I read this morning in 2 Nephi 27:23 --

"23 For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith."

So I have faith that we will be able to teach with the Spirit. I pray we will be able to teach efficiently and clearly so that they may want to be baptized!!  And then they can go through the temple and be sealed together as a family!!

From Sept 12, 2016

This week we visited a bunch of less-actives! [Remember the list of 200 I mentioned a few weeks ago?] We've been working more with the Filipinos in the ward too.

We had dinner with the amazing M______ Shimai [the one mentioned in blog posted last week when we went and visited Sister F_______] at the M___________'s house [different family]. They cooked us real Chinese food. We talked about families and it made me very excited to be a mom and to raise my own family someday.

The family of proclamation says,
 "The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities."  

[The message of family is important to Japan because these days, many younger people in Japan are not choosing to date nor get married and have children.  Japan has an aging population -- including many Centenarians.  This 'fewer marriages and children' is not a trend which leads to good population balance!! ]
https://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/no-of-japans-centenarians-increases-to-65692

About the weather again, I think typhoon season is ended [almost], however, it is expected to be raining all this week and then it will cool down into Autumn.  I love Fall I'm so excited!  

In this video we are having a district meeting while we are waiting for the rain to let up.  "District meeting!" .. "It's raining!"

The elders' names are Elder Ishikawa and Elder King. Elder King is from Australia and he's hilarious, but very humble.  Elder Ishikawa--we were at the MTC together.  [He is Native Japanese] His English is good and he's a district leader.  Well, we just got transfer calls today and he is going to be our zone leader now!  Sister Madsen is staying in Mito with me!  Elder King is staying in Mito and he's going to get two new companions, so he will be a sannin (3 people companionship)!!

Also, do you have any Halloween party ideas?  We are throwing a little Halloween party at the church for everyone, but just need a few more ideas.  We are going to do this relay race that involves possibly bobbing for apples, wrapping people like a mummy, and then trick-or-treating upstairs. Nothing scary though.  Just very kid-friendly, but it's for everyone!  Pumpkins are different in Japan so we won't do carving probably, but we were thinking of decorating cut-out pumpkins from paper.

One thing I'm working on is loving people more.  When we share our message of the restored gospel, but don't show love like Jesus Christ would then it's hard for the Spirit to teach.  When we are filled with the love of Jesus Christ, it overcomes everything else.  The Lord wants everyone to be able to have the chance to choose happiness and return to live with Him again.   It's our choice if we accept Him and live with him again.  Our faith and our actions have to show that we want to be with Him again.

Until next time,  Parker Shimai

Sent from the white fields of Japan 🍲🌅