15th and 16th Week in Japan; Mostly answering personal questions

On July 11th, 2016 we had a temple day, bumping P-Day (preparation day) to Tuesday July 12th.

Here is some personal correspondence we exchanged on July 12th in short emails due to being online at the same time.  It was not planned but it was a happy thing!


Mom:  Hello Dearest Daughter, How are you?

Sister Parker:  Genki desu yo! O-genki desu ka?  げんき です よ！ おーげんき です か？  [I'm fine!   How are you?]

Genki: Japanese meaning "enthusiastic, energetic, lively".. in short, happy.

Mom:  How is your health?    How is the food working out for you?

Sister Parker:  My health is good, I'm losing weight again and I just had a delicious burrito bowl.  Mmm, there's no Mexican food in Japan, haha!  Except by the temple in Toyko.

[Sister Parker has an interest in cooking, organic cuisine, health & fitness exercise, and has studied and worked in the food industry prior to her mission.]

Mom:   How will you get your package being so far from the mission office?  Should I send it to your apartment?

Sister Parker:  No, send it to the mission office.  Once they get the package, they send it to me and it comes very quickly :)

Sister Parker:  Sorry, we have to catch a train so we are going to have to finish emailing later.

I love you and I'm praying for you all daily!! 

Stay genki!! :) or get genki.. [happy].  Onegaishimasu.   [Please].

I love you very much and I'm thankful for all your love and support. :) 

Here's an applicable scripture:

3 Nephi 13: 19-22    [The Savior taught the Beatitudes to the Nephites just like he did to the Jews in Israel during his ministry].

19 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and thieves break through and steal;

20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.

21 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

22 The light of the body is the eye; if, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.

I love the scriptures!! Sometimes, I wish I could read it all day!!

ONE WEEK LATER... (family out of town but we communicated with her through the smart phone).

July 17th, 2016
Sister Parker's comments about difficulties of anonymous people she knows:

As I was reading in the Book of Mormon, it was in 1 Nephi and it spoke of how Nephi and his family and his brethren and their families were in the wilderness for years. They had so many afflictions that they could not write them all.  I think at least 8 years.  The woman became strong like unto the men, the Lord took care of them and made sure their needs were provided for.  Once they made it through the wilderness, they made it to Bountiful. They called it that because it was filled with different fruits and vegetables and beasts and all manner of things, to be provision for them.  They even found the beach!  They were very happy and blessed. 

Many times Laman and Lemuel were impatient and hard-hearted and did not believe that they should be going through afflictions or that they should have left Jerusalem.  They humbled themselves many times, but constantly they let themselves become grieved and angry.  Even when they reached Bountiful, even after seeing angels, they often did not believe in Nephi's words at first.  They did not believe he could build a boat or understand that God told him to.  They did not believe that God is all-powerful or in the mercy that he has constantly shown towards the children of men.  They had to be chastised by God in order to be humbled again and then believe.

Sister Parker:  Changing topics, here are some pictures.

My desk

[Pictures of people that the missionaries have taught and worked with]

Pictures of Mito and the nearby area

These members took us out to eat interesting, but delicious food!

I am also with Sister Lacey.

Until later,  Parker Shimai

14th Week in Japan, 2nd Area; The gospel brings freedom

Hello everyone of the world!!!

It's the Fourth of July, Independence Day!!    

Speaking of freedom. I'm reminded constantly of the tender mercies of the Lord and his sacrifice, daily. Our souls can be free and rescued of strifes because He lives again.   The gospel also gives guidance to our daily lives in that we can be free from the sadness and consequences of our potential poor choices, when we choose instead to live the gospel and make good choices.

Here's part of President Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk from general conference.

"He Will Place You On His Shoulders And Carry You Home"

You Are Worthy of Rescue

"My dear brothers and sisters, my dear friends, I testify that God sees us as we truly are--and He sees us worthy of rescue.

You may feel that your life is in ruins. You may have sinned. You may be afraid, angry, grieving, or tortured by doubt. But just as the Good Shepherd finds His lost sheep, if you will only lift up your heart to the Savior of the world, He will find you.

He will rescue you.

He will lift you up and place you on His shoulders.   

 

 (Artist: Minerva Teichert)

He will carry you home.

If mortal hands can transform rubble and ruins into a beautiful house of worship, then we can have confidence and trust that our loving Heavenly Father can and will rebuild us. His plan is to build us into something far greater than what we were--far greater than what we can ever imagine. With each step of faith on the path of discipleship, we grow into the beings of eternal glory and infinite joy we were designed to become.

This is my testimony, my blessing, and my humble prayer in the sacred name of our Master, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

*************

By the way, We have a new investigator named S_______.  She's had a really hard life. We set a baptismal date with her yesterday for July 31st, 2016.  She really likes Jesus Christ and wants to go to the celestial kingdom to be with the Lord.   At the end of our lesson, we can tell how much happier she is.

Here are some pictures of nature in Japan, and a video of spiders in an apartment building's stairwell. Neither Sister Lacey nor I like bugs and spiders, so the video is trying to make light of something we both don't like.

By the way, did you know that you can click on the picture and get a bigger view?

  

Here's the video:

Have a great week everyone!!

パーカー姉妹

Sent from the white fields of Japan 

Parker Shimai

13th week in Japan, 2ND AREA

Beach scenes near Mito, Japan (picture from internet)

Nighttime View:  An unusual tower in Mito, Japan (picture from internet)

As you knew from my email last week, I got transferred to Mito.  It's about 80 miles NE of Tokyo.   It is 5-10 miles inland from the coast.  I am with Sister Lacey.   

[K-Mom's note:  the day I found out that my daughter got transferred to Mito, I had a dream.   I was in her new location, in an apartment, I saw large cockroaches in the dream, running quickly back and forth across the floor.  I wondered if Japan has a bug problem due to the climate difference, that we don't have here.   Sure enough, they do.   If you wish to know more, I found this website informative:  

http://zoomingjapan.com/life-in-japan/insects-and-other-pests/   ]

I've heard of cockroaches are very popular in Japan, haha. The hottest month here is August. Luckily, Mito is not as hot as Okegawa. :)

Thank you for your concern about the bugs and stuff.  The other day actually, we were praying for guidance of where to go finding people to teach, and found this old apartment complex.  We had already parked our bikes and as we were going to approach the stairs, we saw spiders all over the ceilings and the stair rails.  It took 3 or 4 times to get the courage to go.  We were going to turn around and find somewhere else, but we did it!  There were so many spiders!  In Japan, people do not kill spiders. Do not! I've actually heard that there are no poisonous spiders in Japan that could harm you seriously. There was like, a story of a person who was rescued by a spider or something, long ago and a bad guy killed the spider.  So Japanese people don't kill spiders.  They are seen as like protection, I guess?

From our efforts, two people answered the door.  One was not interested and the other was busy cooking, but we could hear a mother and a baby playing so we gave them a church flyer.  We felt they in the future may be baptized.  Later that evening, we went to a nicer apartment complex.  The first door we knocked on was a Chinese young man.  (Whenever we do housing-contacting, people only open their door a little bit).  Once we introduced ourselves, he was more interested and had many questions about the church and what we believe.  We gave him a church flyer which has the address of our church and he wants to go, but he said because he's a student and is busy he may or may not go; but he will go if he has time!  He showed us his Bible he's been studying, and it looked fairly new.  He's been in Japan for a year and a half and he knew some English. Chinese people are often kinjin (金人), "golden person" which we say for golden investigators. 

A few other people, were willingly listening to our message. It caught me a little off guard, but it was such a miracle!  Also, another blessing that same day, when we left the apartment, a spider was crawling down in the middle of the walkway in the air and almost landed on Sister Lacey's head and I almost didn't see it! So I walked right into it, and it almost touched my eye, but I backed up quick enough that it didn't touch me!!!

That's just one story I have of my week. 

Here's a picture I took this week:

Until later,  Parker Shimai   😄😂😍😘❤️💕💕🍣

Sent from the white fields of Japan 🍲🌅

[K-Mom here:  for some reason the river and the sunbeam in the above picture made me think of two things:  1.  From 1st Nephi it talks about the river leading to the Tree of Life (God's love). 2.  I also thought of this hymn: #335  Brightly Beams Our Father's Mercy

Lyrics

1. 1. Brightly beams our Father's mercy
   From his lighthouse evermore,
   But to us he gives the keeping
   Of the lights along the shore.
2. (Chorus)
   Let the lower lights be burning;
   Send a gleam across the wave.
   Some poor fainting, struggling seaman
   You may rescue, you may save.
3. 2. Dark the night of sin has settled;
   Loud the angry billows roar.
   Eager eyes are watching, longing,
   For the lights along the shore.
4. 3. Trim your feeble lamp, my brother;
   Some poor sailor, tempest-tossed,
   Trying now to make the harbor,
   In the darkness may be lost.
5. Text and music: Philip Paul Bliss, 1838-1876