Goodbye Japan

Sasebo week 24 - wk 72 in Japan, wk 81 total

Tuesday August 23, 2016

Time has flown by so fast. I seriously can't believe this. It doesn't seem real, and it probably won't until I'm back in America.

This week has been awesome. We were blessed to be able to have an amazing lesson with our new friend Naomi. She's a young, awesome mom that is working really hard for her daughter. During our lesson she said that this was one of the first times in her life that she has felt that God is there. It's such a special opportunity to be able help people find Heavenly Father and the Savior Jesus Christ. I will cherish these experiences for the rest of my life.

When I first came on a mission, my scripture that I chose to be my theme was proverbs 3:5-6
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." I have seen this come true so many times in my life and even more on my mission. There have been so many times when He helps us know what to say, what to do, where to go, and who to talk to. And I know that as we rely on Him in our daily lives, He will in the same way guide us to find the most pure happiness.

As I've been serving as a missionary another scripture has become really meaningful. It's in the Book of Mormon, a prophet Moroni testifies of Jesus Christ: Moroni 7:41 "And what is it that ye shall
hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise."

This is the essence of believing in Jesus Christ: it's the hope that we can have in this life because of Him. Hope to overcome our mistakes and weaknesses. Hope to become better people. Hope to be able to find happiness in this life. Hope that there is so much more than just this short life on Earth.  I am so grateful for the blessing and opportunity I have had for these precious 18 months to help people develop and strengthen that hope in the Savior. And I don't plan on stopping! Being a missionary is a life time opportunity. We are so blessed to know of Jesus Christ and the ways He can and does help us each and every day, and so we have an equally awesome opportunity to
help those around us experience those blessings too!

Thank you so much for the love support and letters.
See you soon!
Love, Sister Lowe
ロウ姉妹より

 Yes, these watermelon cost $38 each

Still alive!

Sasebo week 23 - wk 71 in Japan, wk 80 total

Monday August 15, 2016

Sorry no group email, I just didn't have enough time.  Here are a couple of pictures!

Love,

Lowe Shimai

Week 79!

Sasebo week 22 - wk 70 in Japan, wk 79 total

Monday August 8, 2016

Sorry I didn't write a big email today, I spent my time confirming plans with friends in Maeburu and Nagasaki for when my mom and aunt come to Japan!  But here are a couple of pictures.

Love,

Lowe Shimai

Over here in Sasebo

Sasebo week 21 - wk 69 in Japan, wk 78 total

Monday August 1, 2016

This was a good week. The people we were able to meet with last week weren't able to meet again, which is sad but it's okay. We met some cool people. And our friend Phoung came to church, she's really interested in learning about Christianity.

This week I was able to give a talk in Sacrament meeting about the personal blessings I've received from Jesus Christ. It was a really neat opportunity to reflect on the many different times I've felt the
Savior's strength, love and forgiveness. Some of the experiences are small, some of them big, but each of them are the foundation of my knowledge that the Savior lives. I know that He loves each of us perfectly and unconditionally.  I know that when we reach out to Him, it opens the path for Him to come to us.

Love Sister Lowe

There is a restaurant here in Sasebo where you can eat somen (a type
of noodle) in a cave! We went with our English Class Students this week.

Beautiful views of Sasebo!

 

Our friend Phoung came to Church yesterday! She moved here from

Vietnam to study Japanese.

Honda Shimai taught us how to make all kinds of things this week,

 she is so good at cooking!

Miracles all week!

Sasebo week 20 - wk 68 in Japan, wk 77 total

Monday July 25, 2016

Looking back on this week, I can't believe that's it's only been a week! We've seen enough miracles for an entire month! Let me walk you through it:

Tuesday: we went to the mission headquarters for Training in Fukuoka. That was really fun because I got to see some really good friends that I won't be seeing for a long time. It was a long day, training from 10-4, with one 45 minute break for lunch. But it was really good, we discuss concerns that everyone is facing throughout the mission and how we can try to help. We talk about what we can do better as leaders of the mission and representatives of Jesus Christ. All in all its really uplifting. When we got back to Sasebo around 7:15, we hurried and biked to an appointment with Miyazaki San! Sound familiar? She was taking the lessons, progressing really well and came to church about 2 months ago, but after that, stopped answering our phone calls and texts. But! We felt prompted to invite her to church last Sunday and she actually responded! She said she couldn't come but when we asked if we could stop by again she said yes! So yeah, on Tuesday, we visited her at her apartment. She's been sick for the last week, and we could tell she's exhausted. Turns out she's just been jam packed with work and literally has no time to think about meeting. We shared with her a scripture from the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 24:15-16 which basically says that the Savior will bear our burdens so they will be light even in the midst of difficult experiences. We promised her that she could feel that relief through Jesus Christ. And she set up another appointment all by herself! So we are really excited to keep working with her.

Wednesday: A Senior Missionary couple came to Sasebo on Wednesay. They will be here in Sasebo for 2 years. President Egan asked that we go and decorate their apartment door to help them feel welcome. As we headed up to their apartment, we ran into one of our investigators who hasn't answered the phone since she came to church two weeks ago! Fujisaki San! She's the one who was walking her dog in front of the church. We chatted for a bit and she told us she's just going through a hard time and isn't sure what to do next in life. We were able to set up an appointment for the next day! After welcoming the missionary couple, we did some Streeting in the limited time we had before our next meeting. The last person we talked to was Sari. She was waiting for her friend after work. We told her a little about the Book of Mormon, and she wanted to read it! Her native language is Tagalog though and so we set up to meet her a gain and bring her a Book in Tagalog! And her friend came up while we were talking, and asked for a Tagalog and an English Book of Mormon (she's married to an American).

Friday: we made lunch for Miyazaki San for her to take to work, because she always brings her lunch since her works cafeteria is too expensive. She was home when we brought it over and she invited us to go to a summer festival with her and! She said she could come to another of our friend's baptism in a couple weeks!

Saturday: we were able to meet with Sari and she brought another of her friends. Sari had read the part of the Book of Mormon that we asked her to (which never happens) and she really wants to learn more. She said "I feel peace in my heart when we talk and when I read this" there is a bit of a language barrier because Japanese is her second language but, we will also be meeting with her again this week!

There were several more, but I don't have enough time to explain them all! It's been amazing to see this this week. Honestly weeks like this don't happen very often, where people are actually interested, or actually responding, or doing what we invite them to do (pray, read scriptures, come to church) and it really isn't anything me or my companion has done differently. I really think that the Lord is at the head of this work and we are His hands. And as long as we continue to put our trust in Him, He takes care of the rest. If things aren't going well right now, that's okay. Press forward with Faith in Christ. Faith that He can and will take care of you, and I can promise that everything will work out for your good. Even if that means you have to get a few bruises along the way, it's all worth it.

Love,

Sister Lowe

 Sari is on the far right, next is Helen in the blue polo 

and my new companion Sister Shibayama on the left

 Training at Mission Headquarters, 

me with some really awesome sister missionaries

Little fuzzy, but an awesome view, high on a Sasebo mountain top :)

Trust in the Savior

Sasebo week 19 - wk 67 in Japan, wk 76 total

Monday July 18, 2016

This was a good week, sent sister Ehlers to Okinawa. I know it'll be an adjustment but she'll do great. My new Companion, Sister Shibayama, is really awesome. I am really excited to work hard these last 6 weeks with her. She is a really awesome missionary.

I love Sasebo, I love Japan, I love being a missionary. I know that when we trust in the Savior, everything works out. Life is still hard, but with Him it's possible.

With Love,

Lowe Shimai

Fritchen Shimai and Olsen Shimai 

waiting with me for my new companion to arrive!

My Last Transfer Week!

Sasebo week 18 - wk 66 in Japan, wk 75 total

Tuesday July 12, 2016

We got transfer calls today- Sister Ehlers is going to Okinawa! She'll be in Shuri, which is the smallest area of the mission, right next to where I was in Naha! So that's exciting! My new companion is a Japanese sister who actually was in the MTC with me and we sat together on the plane ride over to Japan! So I'm excited for that!

Our highlight of this week is on Wednesday. We didn't have a lot of time in the evening to go out and talk to people, but on our way from one appointment to another, we stopped and talked to a lady who was walking her dog in front of the church. We invited her to church on Sunday and she said yes! Gave us her number and said we could call her. And guess what! She actually came to church! And she wants to learn more about the church! We have a lesson with her tonight and are really excited to teach her.

My spiritual thought for this week is from the Book of Mormon, Alma 5:33 "Behold, [the Lord] sendeth an invitation unto all men, for the arms of mercy are extended towards them, and he saith: Repent, and I will receive you."

I love this so much because it just shows how simple the Saviors invitation to all of us is. With His arms outstretched, he invites us to repent, or in other words to align our actions, thoughts, desires
with His perfect actions, thoughts and desires. And when we do He receives us, he helps, loves, supports and comforts us. All He asks is for us to try our best.

All my love!

A local member and her daughter visiting from Utah 

took us to a restaurant that specializes in Salisbury steak!