6th Week in Japan -- 1st Area; Pondering Honor

Sister Kirsten Parker with Sister Riggs, visiting an elderly beautiful Japanese woman

This part is written by Kirsten's Mom:   Sorry readers for my delay in getting this next post out.  I was really exhausted and I didn't think I had much subject matter from her this week (it was mostly personal communication, along with 3 pictures).   In re-reading the personal letter, I found some inspiration with which to write:  Honor.  In May and June in the United States, we have several holidays which honor our foundations in life:  Our parents (Mothers' Day and Fathers' Day) and also Memorial Day, which used to be called Decoration Day (decorating the graves)--1st time was in May 1868 to commemorate the fallen dead from the US Civil War, which now we have as a day to remember all our dead, both from family, friends, and military dead.

Kirsten gave me several sentences of thanks for being her mother.   Then she shared this quote:  As Jeffrey R Holland said in October 2015 General Conference, "No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child...

This kind of resolute love “suffereth long, and is kind, … seeketh not her own, … but … beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” Most encouraging of all, such fidelity “never faileth.” “For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed,” Jehovah said, “but my kindness shall not depart from thee.” So too say our mothers."

Similarly, fathers are very important to the well-being of families.   I would reiterate that righteous fathers are very important too.   Studies have been done about the effect of having both mother and father in the home, and that each parent contributes something which the other parent cannot do equally.   It is unfortunate that in many societies, the role of good parents, male and female, is being torn to shreds.  Anything else is not the exact replacement of a good mother and good father in the home.  

Now, some people may argue, "but my mother or father was..." gone, or mean, or distant (emotionally unavailable or unconcerned).  I recognize that not everybody grew up with this ideal model in their home.  However, there is still room to be grateful.  Our mothers and fathers gave us life.  Life is an opportunity to learn from experience to choose good over evil.  It is the opportunity to gain wisdom and develop our talents, and then assist others in their walk through life.   Our parents minimally, probably changed our diapers, fed us, clothed us, or had us go to school.  They taught us to not touch fire, or reminded us to be home by dark.  If nothing else, maybe we got good genes from them:  strong legs, hard-working hands, a quick intellect, witty humor, some other talent, or if lucky, a nice-looking face.  Sometimes, parental words of warning and restraint, came from their experiences, as they have become judges of character, and could and can sniff trouble coming a mile away.   Young people should not be defiant, but grateful for instruction.   Young adults should not be defiant either, thinking, "I'm over 18 I can do what I want!"  This is a teaching of the devil, because such a rebellious attitude leads to a spirit that cannot discern or does not care when they are falling into sin.  [Wicked] Adults are the perpetrators of the worst things in this world, not children {okay, there are some wicked children now, but you know what I mean by this}.  

Our ancestors may have given us a great legacy, or they may have simply endured a difficult life so that we could be here at this time.  We can take inspiration from their ability to endure, when we pass through our own trials.

Just as we honor our parents and ancestors for what they contributed to us, we should also honor our Heavenly Father, and our Lord:

Hebrews 12: 

9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 

The apostle Paul from the New Testament had knowledge that in the last days before the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, that society would fall apart and people would fail to care about true law, would hate being told what to do, and would discard and destroy good values.

2 Timothy 3:

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, [boy, isn't this prevalent right now, labeling good people with proper values as "hateful"]

 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: 

from such turn away   [do not embrace their ways].

The apostle Paul then goes on in chapter 3 to explain that lust would drive people to do bad things, and that in spite of their smartness they still would be clueless about what is really true, and that deception of the issues would abound, and that one day, the folly (in colloquial language = foolishness or stupidity) of their choices that they thrust onto society would be known by everybody.

The following passage is similar to 2 Timothy 3 about what would be the predicament [in these last days]:

2 Corinthians 6:

9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

*****

Another observance in the May - June time frame, is honoring the laws given by God, called Shavuot by the Jews.  49-50 days after the first Passover in the Spring, the Hebrews received the 10 Commandments (etc). at Mount Sinai. This was the Old Covenant. Originally, all were invited to go up the Mount to see God [Too scared of dying in God's presence, they just sent Moses to the mountain top.  Moses later lamented that he wanted everybody to be prophets with the Spirit.  Numbers 11:29].      The New Covenantal promise of Christ that he would send the Comforter (the gift of the Holy Spirit) was given to the ancient Saints on Pentecost (Acts 2), which coincided with Shavuot.   The Holy Ghost fell upon many people, and about 3000 were converted to the Lord on that day, and baptized.  Easter is actually supposed to coincide with Passover week.  If it did, Pentecost would always be on the same date as Shavuot.   

Please take this time to remember gratefulness for that which your parents and ancestors have done for you.   Remember your Heavenly Father everyday, and every Sabbath Day, remember to keep it holy.

Takoyaki

Kirsten also sent this picture.  I am not sure if this was food served at a home.   It looks yummy, but trust me, it's got a list of ingredients which for a American (or at least me) could be an acquired taste. http://www.justonecookbook.com/takoyaki-recipe/

She also mentioned that she finally got to visit the home of the bishop, by appointment {for those of you who don't know what this means, it is the leader of the local church congregation}.   The Japanese people can be exceptionally busy due to long work or school schedules.   Working with the church leadership and membership is crucial to doing effective missionary work, because fellowship is the glue that brings people together.

Signing off, K-Mom

5th Week in Japan -- 1st Area. Recap on Shibuya, and this week's mission work

This picture was taken at Shibuya when I was in Tokyo last week. 

 [For those of you who haven't heard of Shibuya before, it is a special {geographical} ward of Tokyo, like a suburb.  Some of the things which Shibuya is known for are its very large and busy railway station, a fashion district, nightlife scene, and also it has Information Technology businesses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shibuya].

Just a thought:  In this picture, we are surrounded by very busy people, in a hurry to get somewhere.   Many of them look not-so-happy, worried, or maybe tired.  One of the beauties of the Sabbath is that people slow down for one day and rest, and contemplate the things that are most important in our eternal destiny.

Enough of Shibuya.   

Now, sometimes it's hard to remember everything that happened, but this past week, we have 3 progressing investigators, and 4 other investigators.  Every Thursday evening, we do weekly planning (as the manual Preach My Gospel  says on pages 147-150).  Last night we ate at a member's house with an additional member family.  I keep practicing my Japanese with them.  We have a lot of appointments with members, especially meal appointments compared to most.  This week I think we have 4 or 5 planned.  They like to feed us!  Some know English too, so it makes it a bit easier to communicate.  Everyone knows about Ghibli Films.  In the South Tokyo mission, there's a Ghibli museum.  A member gave me a Kiki toy (from Kiki's Delivery Service) and a little Totoro spirit toy (the yellow one).  I remember when I was really young, I watched Kiki's Delivery Service a bunch of times, I believe I was like 6?  And of course, since then, I have seen other Ghibli family films [For those of you not familiar, Studio Ghibli in Japan, via director Hayao Miyazaki, made some family-friendly animated films].  Heavenly Father has been preparing me for Japan all my life, in so many ways.   These films were just one way in which my preparation began, and they were my first introduction to the beauty of Japanese culture.  I've been drawing more recently too, for teaching purposes or on like birthday cards.  It makes me want to become better.

Someone told me, I think an apostle said this, but the first thing the members think about you (first impression) is not how well you can speak the language or how well you get along with your companion, but how happy you are.  So I try to smile all the time.  I think it helps a lot!  

Until later,  Parker Shimai

4th week in Japan -- 1st area. Tripping along by rail, and teaching new people

Part of the purpose of my blog is about my mission, of course, but being an American in Japan is pretty exciting.   So I like to share the experience of what Japan is like, as through my eyes.

We traveled by rail to Tokyo to go to the LDS temple.

Roof edging Japanese sky

Houses by the train rails

 

Trip in Fast Motion.  It is less than a minute, but it might loop on you and start again, and seem longer than a minute.  Try not to get dizzy.

Okay, moving right along, I liked the picture of the huge stretched-out limousine that I got in the email.  I sent that one to Sister Riggs too.  She said that it would be super funny if we showed this picture to Japanese people and told them that it was our car.  Hahahah lol!!   Because everything here is much smaller than America, cars too.  It's really funny (and adorable) when Japanese people are surprised and express it.  They go like, "EeeeeEEEEHHHH!!!" And then if we showed that picture and said, "This is my car." They would freak out. Ahaha!   Then we would tell them, "Just kidding." We would just show it to members probably (people that we are friendly with and we know would appreciate the joke).   The church members here are really nice.

So, I have previously commented in other posts about the food here and how I am enjoying it.  Another thing that I like, is the clothing.  It's easier to find modest, nice-looking clothing  here in Japan.  Modesty is what you put on your body but it is about your spirit being modest too, for the right reasons.   As a missionary, it is extra-important to be modest, because immodesty sends the wrong message and can bring about unwanted actions from others.  A person can still be modest and beautiful (or handsome if a young man) at the same time.   

As for missionary work this week,  We found a few new potential investigators--  Two moms that a member brought to kids' English class that we are teaching. We taught them a lesson about the church and what missionaries' purpose are.  And then on Thursday, we decided to go to this free Japanese class with the Elders in our missionary district.  There was a Filipino young woman there. After class, I commented on her cute clothes and we got into a conversation.  We talked about why we were in Japan and that we are missionaries.  She said, "Oh cool!  Can I come and join your church?"  She's golden!  She's Catholic but doesn't like the Catholic people here [I don't know why].  She went to a Jehovah's Witness church here too, but didn't like that either.  We are going to have lunch with her and talk with her about the church.  She's married to a Japanese man and ended up moving here. She's kind of lonely being a foreigner, so it's a great opportunity to become friends and teach her the gospel!

There are so many miracles everyday!!

Love, Parker Shimai

4th Week in Japan -- 1st area; Temple Tuesday P-Day

Sister Parker with Sister Riggs, at the Tokyo Temple grounds

I-Spy game:  Find the golden angel symbolic of Revelation 14:6

Good morning, lovelies!!
Sorry my P-Day is today instead of Monday this week, because we are going to the temple. We go to the temple once every transfer and when we do, our P-Day is on Tuesday.    

~ 11 hours later.... ~

So the Tokyo Temple was really pretty! They had an English session.  Our zone and Tokyo West Zone went together.  I love endowment sessions.  They're so cool.  The Holy Spirit is so peaceful in there.  It relieves stress and clears your mind just being inside.  I learned that it's going to be closed in August for a year for reconstruction.  So I'll only get to go to the Temple like 3 more times I think.  After the Temple, the sisters in our zone went to a Hawaiian restaurant that has all-natural food. It was really good! 

Okay, this part (the rest of this post) is added by Kirsten's mom so people not familiar with an LDS temple and the doctrine behind it, can have some of your questions answered.   There are a bunch of scripture passages mentioned and explained.   Maybe it's a bit much for some of you to read (I like to be thorough).   You can jot down the references listed, and read them from your Bibles at your convenience.  If you wish to reference any LDS (Mormon scriptures) and are good at finding your way around a website, you can go to https://www.lds.org/scriptures/   It also has the Bible online (KJV) along with some study aids.  

I do have a picture at the bottom of this blog which is worth seeing if you wish to skip the paragraphs of scriptures.  Please first read my FYI paragraph immediately below this one, before skipping to the picture art at the the bottom of the post.

[FYI, for those not familiar with Mormon Christianity, the temple endowment service is in a quiet building called a temple, open to faithful members; it is a re-enactment of the Biblical Creation story (movie style), along with ceremonial promises which the attendees make with God to be, in summary, good people.  It is done for oneself, or for the dead (as a proxy attendee) as in Mormonism they believe that all people, living and dead, are entitled to make covenantal promises with God, through the gospel of Christ, to follow Him and live according to his precepts.   Baptism is also provided in temples in a separate area, mainly for the dead who are baptized by a living proxy (often a direct descendant or other living relative).   NO we are not creepy people who dig up the dead and dunk them, according to foul rumors.   That is the stuff made up by demented or paranoid people looking for lies and sensationalism.   I mean, that's just gross!!!  Some others pick on Mormons for their time and money spent doing genealogy to identify the dead, quoting 1 Timothy 1:4.  In a study aid at lds.org/scriptures, it says: 

In 1 Tim. 1:4, Timothy is urged to give no heed to “fables and endless 

genealogies.” The reference is probably to exaggerated stories of the heroes and patriarchs of early Hebrew history, such stories being at that time very popular among the Jews. Paul’s denunciation of “endless genealogies” was not of the scriptural and spiritually rewarding study of one’s ancestry (as even the Lord's ancestry was included in the New Testament) but was a criticism of the self-deceptive practice of assuming that one can be saved by virtue of one’s lineage. See Matt. 3:9 and Luke 3:8, wherein John the Baptist rebuked those who put too much emphasis on ancestry and attempted to use lineage as a substitute for righteousness (see also 1 Ne. 17:34–35). See also Adoption. ]

Scriptural backing for ordinances (which are recorded in books and now also, electronic format)  for the dead comes from the New Testament,  Revelation 20:12 ,  1 Peter 4:6 and 3:18, and others,  as well as commentary from modern revelation (especially D&C 128).   While Jesus Christ's body lay in the tomb, He opened the spirit world for missionary work.   This is because He had finished the atonement and thus the dead qualified to have the opportunity to receive the gospel while they await their resurrection.

The account of Jesus' baptism showing that immersion baptism is required, is recounted in the Gospels.

Jesus Christ also told his followers to baptise all nations, in Matthew 28.  Water baptism by complete immersion (which is the ONLY form of baptism symbolic of the promises given to us by Christ-- you just have to think about this to realize why it's true), and then baptism by spiritual fire of the Holy Ghost (another promise given based upon our continued faithfulness when a person is confirmed by the ordinance called, Laying on of Hands for the Gift of the Holy Ghost).

Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 

1 Peter 4:6

6 For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

1 Peter 3: 18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

 19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

 20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

1 Corinthians 15:29:Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptized for the dead?

Matthew 28: 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

 19 ¶Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Jesus Christ knew that the descendants of Israel had been scattered and would be further scattered throughout the earth.  He knew that many of them had fallen and would fall out of covenant (as prophesied in Hosea 1:9 and other scriptures); they had and would intermingle with the Gentiles and forget their identity.   The gospel, even in the Old Testament, allowed provision for converts from those who were not descendants of Abraham, yes it is a gospel for the world.  The Jews who are of the ancient covenant, need to be brought into the fullness of the covenant through Christ, as do the other non-Jew but still part Israelite descendants.  Many of these souls are deceased, and that is why the gospel word is for them also.  It is inferred that present and past peoples need to be brought into the gospel, as written in Malachi (Old Testament), chapter 4, verses 4-6

4 ¶Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

5 ¶Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:

 6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Often with scriptures, there is more than one meaning that can be derived from them.  It refers to 1.  the disobedient descendants getting converted to the correct teachings of their ancestors (not the false traditions);  2. The righteous ancestors hearts will guide their children's (descendants') hearts back to them in remembrance of them, as well as to the gospel, and that this will be achieved through genealogical work and gospel ordinances such as baptism in temples, bringing the dead fathers back into covenant with Christ,  3.  In the end times (before the armies of the world are converged upon the Jewish nation, that Elijah would perform a work to turn the heart of the still unconverted Jews to Christ (as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Moses (etc)  accepted Christ whether they realize it or not).

*****

Mormons believe that Moses and Elijah returned to the Latter Day Saints on April 3, 1836, to reopen the gospel to all peoples, both living and dead, and to the Jews also.  As promised in the scriptures, God said that he would gather His people again.

Moses and Elijah appeared together to a transfigured Christ, also to Peter, James and John in Matthew 17 of the New Testament.   They also heard the voice of Heavenly Father coming out from a bright cloud, introducing Christ as the son of Heavenly Father, that he was well-pleased with him, and that we should listen to him.  Heavenly Father also introduced Jesus Christ as His Son (and that he was well-pleased with him) at the baptism.  Matthew 3.   Two times the Father witnessed that he was well-pleased with Jesus.   There is a scriptural rule in the Bible about two or three witnesses being important to establish truth.  That is why there are two witnesses from the Old World (Bible) and two witnesses from the New World (Book of Mormon, and, Doctrine and Covenants).   {In Deuteronomy 17:6 in fact, a person never received the death penalty by just one witness.}

Some people believe that Moses and Elijah will make other appearances too, in the Last Days (some people think Revelation 11 applies here).   The Jews set an empty seat at the Passover meal dinner table, for Elijah.

D&C 110:11-16  Moses & Elijah appear to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland, Ohio temple, on  Sunday, April 3, 1836.  This was during the Passover season of 1836.

Right now 4/26/2016, it is also during Passover, because the Hebrew calendar is based on the moon and the sun, not just the sun.

Now you know why the LDS church is a missionary church.   We are commanded to spread the gospel among the living, and to facilitate the gospel ordinances (such as covenant-making baptism) for the dead.  As it teaches briefly in the New Testament, they have missionary work going on in the realm of the dead.

Some people may argue that a person was already baptized while they were alive.   Baptism for (not of) the dead is still offered to them, and performed by proxy because a deceased person may not have received all needed teachings associated with their baptism when they were alive (thus making their covenant attached to only a part of needed teachings), OR, they might've fallen away into a life of spiritual laziness or sin, and thus need to renew their covenant with the Lord.

3rd Week In Japan - 1st Area. The Miracle Shower has Begun...

I am actually happy even though the language is challenging and missionary days are a lot of work.   This is a great time of my life!

Yes, there were several bad earthquakes in the southern part of Japan this past week, it's so sad.   Inquiring minds want to know:  Did I feel the earthquakes?  ---No, I was too far away.  We had a zone conference call that talked about earthquake precautions and our zone leaders talked us through our emergency kits.  Some of the food in our kits is expired, so we will buy more.. but we have plenty of water. They asked us regularly to practice earthquake drills. Sister Riggs and I talked about where we would run to safety around the apartment like if we were showering, sleeping, studying.. I haven't experienced an earthquake yet but I guess they are most common during spring and fall.  Thank you and others for your concern! 

In Japan here, the church wards are like family. Everyone takes care of each other.  I've only seen this ward so far, so I can't say for all wards, but they tend to be really involved in missionary work.  All the kids love missionaries and know the mission president.  We work a lot with the members and try to get them to come with us to lessons.  I've been trying to write down names and something about the person I've met.  Those are good ideas, to not just pass time with people, but get to know them, and then help investigators and members get to know each other too.  There are almost 200 members in the Okegawa ward though so I have a lot to memorize, but I'm getting there.  Last night, we ate at the N________ family's house.  They have a wonderful family with several children!   All meals I've had with members (except for one) have been absolutely delicious!  I played some guitar for them, they had a guitar.  Since coming on my mission, I've been using my talents often.  I've been drawing pictures and singing a lot. It's come back to me fast. 

We have visited members and less-actives from the ward.   I show them my mini photo album and they like looking at the pictures.  We've had 8 meal appointments. This is really rare.  Sister Riggs says that they rarely have meal appointments.  I've heard that the more members like you that the more they want to give to you.  We've been getting a lot of food donations and meals. :).  I am saying this to show that kindness begets kindness.  The social part of missionary work can be powerful.   When people feel loved, and when they feel that others are interested in them, they often will rise to the occasion and do great things.   This is also motivating to myself.  I feel like I want to do more because these people and my mission companion show love to me also.

So my other thoughts are --- What have you learned from a child this week? 

Mosiah 3:19

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

In order to receive entrance into the Kingdom of God, we must become as little children. A child always looks to his or her parent for guidance, help, and strength. They always seek their love. They jump in the arms of their mother or father.  They are willing to do whatever their parents tell them too. We are God's children. He wants us to depend and rely on him and his son Jesus Christ.

My testimony and confidence in the Lord's work has strengthened this week as Sister Riggs and I have followed the direction of the Spirit.  Many miracles have occurred! There are tender mercies everyday.  We've been able to get hold of more potential investigators and less actives.  We've scheduled appointments; They have opened up to us and we are able to see how we can help them progress.  We have one new investigator, as well!  Her name is L______ and she's from Africa.  She has 3 children.  She is such a sweet lady and has desires to go to church and come closer to God.  Life is hard for her, but she is strong.  Sister Riggs and I think she may be a Kinjin (term for golden investigator, one ready to receive the awesomeness of the gospel).  It was amazing talking to her and feeling the Spirit.  We knew exactly what to tell her to help comfort her.

I'm adjusting better to the missionary life. I've realized that I have been more stressed with the language than I thought, but I know I just need to keep enduring and studying as best as I can. This week I'm going to focus on diligence. I don't want to waste any precious time for God's work.
Until next week!! :D

Parker Shimai

p.s. Here's a city scene picture from Omiya.   "Dorothy says:  Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore."

2nd week in Japan -- 1st area

Hello Again!

I loved General Conference.  We finished it on Saturday.  Elder Uchtdorf's talk and Elder Holland's talks were the best!!!! They are my favorite!  Elder Eyring's was pretty good too. Elder Holland is my most favorite speaker though. 

"The greatest part about the gospel is that you get credit for trying."

How is missionary work going here so far?  

Well, We were talking to a lady on the train today who is in the religion like Takai or something. They believe everyone is the same level and they worship at Fuji.  She was really sweet, we talked about how we too believe everyone is the same in our religion and we are all children of God.  She was kind of like "oh hmm nice, that's cool." Many people aren't interested, but some are. Mostly everyone here is very nice and will talk to you. It's funny getting rejected to hear about the gospel in Japan compared to other places.  They are considerate and will just say "no thank you, I'm not interested."  They'll give funny excuses when we go housing or streeting asking if they would like to hear about a message of Jesus Christ. The responses of rejection we get are pretty reasonable. They'll say something like, 

It's cold, sorry.
I'm holding my dog.
I have a baby.
It's dark outside.
I don't understand.
I'm in a rush.
I'm inside my house.
I'm Japanese.
I'm Buddhist. .. Us: "Oh great! What's your favorite thing about Buddhism?" *person walks away*
Sorry, I live in Japan.
I don't speak English.

This is literally the worst rejection I could get in Japan.. So far.  Being a missionary is great!  I've seen so many things and my love for these people keeps growing.  I know I need to be patient with finding investigators, as the Lord is patient with me and my mistake-full self.

Constantly, my companion and I are looking for people to teach who are looking for truth in their life, those who are ready to learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Some questions we approach people with are like if they're interested in what we have to say or have any interest in hearing more about Jesus Christ, our religion, etc. 

We are going to reach out to youth more. Our mission is a pilot program and are going to start teaching a tutoring English class.  In order to get into high school, students have to take an English conversation and interactive test (Eiken). Our mission president believes this will really build the church up, it will keep the church alive, since there are many older people here in Japan.

Kodomo eikawa. English class for kids. They're so cute!! Today was my first. It was hard to take a picture with all of them.

Asian people were originally Christian I believe. Japanese and Koreans both incorporate Chinese characters in their writing. The kanji appeared about 4000BC or something?  Many of their characters point to the Laws of Moses and Jesus Christ and prophesies. 禁じる (kinjiru) is the verb to prohibit. If you see these two symbols 木, this means Ki or tree, but can also represent a person ( 2 people). 示す (shimesu) means to show.  Both of these kanji (示 and 木) make this 禁.. This meaning relates to God and Jesus Christ appearing to Joseph Smith in a forest, revealing and showing to him the truth, prohibiting him to join none of the other churches, as a marvelous work was about to come forth.

We had a busy day today. There was some visiting members on Sunday, a family of Americans, who we spent the day with today.  We were riding the train for a while and we tried on kimonos!

We did a lot of sightseeing today! Lots of walking and I tried Japanese ramen today, hand-made noodles.  Still can't believe how delicious the food is here and simple!  So the food isn't too expensive, it's only some fresh foods that are overpriced, we make curry often, and it has apples, eggplants, radish, potato, sweet potato, something green I think, onions, and meat. The fruit is kind of expensive but we just buy the apples in bulk and the bananas aren't too expensive. We ate strawberries and melon at a members house.  I asked my companion if we could ask some people with home gardens to buy food from them and she says we could probably do that.  Maybe we could find a farmers market too! That would be cool. They have really good candy here, too.  Ha,ha, there's this chocolate called Black thunder. It's like a Twix, Kit Kat, and a chocolate biscuit in one.

So they eat a lot of raw eggs here and they are orange. You can actually eat Japanese raw eggs and not get sick. I eat it with Nato (fermented beans). It's super healthy. And these eggs taste soooo good. It's like there's melted cheese inside of them.

Here's another picture of something we saw on our P-Day outing to Kawagoiya.  [I'm not sure what it is, but it looks interesting.]

Love, Parker Shimai