Almost to Japan!

This is my last week at the MTC before I Leave for Japan next Monday, April 6th! I am so nervous and excited all at once!! The next few days will be pretty busy packing and finishing my classes!

During my scripture study this last week I was reading in the Book of Mormon, Ether Chapter 12. Two of my favorite scriptures are in that chapter (verse 6 and 27) and I have read it many times. When I was studying it this last week, I learned a lot about how faith works in our lives. Verse 6 says "Faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive not witness until after the trial of your faith." A lot of times when life gets difficult or stressful or a tragedy occurs, we question whether or not God is really there. We feel as if we have been abandoned when we need Him the most. I know that God is always there. I know that if we put our faith and trust in Him, He will take care of us. He will make our burdens seem light, we just have to show Him that we trust Him enough to do that. 

Thank you all so much for all the Love and support!

Next week I will be writing from Japan!

Love, 

Lowe Shimai

 

 

Nihon ni ikimas! (I am going to Japan!)

7 Weeks down at the MTC, 1 and a half to go!

Tomorrow we receive our flight plans for traveling to Japan on April 6th. Usually the missionaries head to Salt Lake Airport around 3:30 am; so that will be fun! 

My favorite part about the MTC has definitely been the amount of time that I am able to study and learn about Jesus Christ and His teachings. Every Tuesday night the MTC Choir sings at the devotional. Raines Shimai and I sang in the choir this week and I am so glad we did! In preparation for Easter, remembering Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, we sang "Behold the wounds in Jesus' Hands" The lyrics were so simple and beautiful. My favorite lines were

      "Behold the wounds in Jesus Hands, the marks upon his side, then ponder who He meant to save when on the Cross He died....Behold his wounded hands and feet! Come touch and see and feel the wounds and marks that you may know His love for you is real"

I know that Jesus Christ suffered for everyone's sins and pains. It is because of this ultimate act of perfect love that He is truly able to comfort us no matter what pains we experience. My favorite scripture on the Atonement of Jesus Christ is in the Book of Mormon, Alma 7:11-13. It was only after reading this scripture for the first time that I realized Jesus did not only die for our sins. He suffered so that "his bowels may be filled with mercy [...] that he may know how to succor his people according to their infirmities" Infirmities can mean anything, weakness, sadness, feelings of betrayal. Whatever your infirmity is, he has suffered it too and can comfort you in ways nothing else in this world can. In  John 14:27 the Savior says "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" 

 

I hope that you all may be able to feel the Saviors peace and Love for you this week.

As always, All my love!

Lowe Shimai

Trust in God, then go & do

Minasan, Konnichiwa! (Hello Everyone!)

3 more weeks until I head to Japan!! I am definitely nervous!! I can say very simple sentences in Japanese, if you give me a couple minutes :P It is still difficult to understand the native speakers, but I am able to understand more than I could 6 weeks ago, so that's good! I think that when I get to Japan I will learn more quickly since I will be immersed in the Language, and forced to speak it (: 

So this Tuesday Night devotional a member of the Quorum of the 70, Ron R. Clarke came and spoke. He was an amazing speaker, very engaging, very loving, and invited the Spirit. He talked to us about some important principles that missionaries should be aware of. Some of the points really stuck out to me. One was the Holy Ghost. Through the Holy Ghost we are able to receive divine comfort and revelation. This will help us overcome the greatest trials in our lives. In order for us to receive that guidance, we must be doing good, exercising our faith, and trusting the Lord to guide us. He said "Revelation comes when you're on the move" it doesn't come when we are just sitting around waiting for God to tell us to do something; he wants us to use our agency and do good, then he can guide our actions. He also posed the question " Will you overcome your obstacles or allow them to discourage and break you?" It truly is up to us to decide. That is one of the most sacred gifts He has given us is our agency. We get to decide who we want to be. That's kind of a heavy concept but the amazing thing is that we don't have to do it alone. We have a Savior who loves us beyond comprehension. And He wants to help us. So when we feel weak and feel like whatever obstacle is staring us in the face will truly break us; we can rely on the Lord to strengthen, uplift and comfort us. I know that this is true because He has done that for me. 

Thank you for all the love and support!!

Ai shitte masu!

Lowe Shimai

Week 5 at the MTC

All the Shimai Tachi at the Temple

Minasan, Konichiwa!
(Hello everybody!)

It's been super cool to have the Japanese Missionaries with us! Some of them know English pretty well, and they are all super nice and super funny!! It's been really cool to try to communicate with them, which is pretty difficult still. But at the same time, I think by showing the effort to try to communicate has really fostered friendship between us all, despite the language barrier, which is super comforting.

Other than that, I've just been studying the gospel and learning Japanese! I have really enjoyed being at the MTC and having this opportunity to prepare to share the Gospel in Japan. On Sunday, Raines Shimai and I watched a devotional given by David A. Bednar a while a go. It's titled "The Character of Christ" it is an amazing talk about how we can come to understand who Jesus Christ really is. Elder Bednar really focused on how Christ always always always reaches out to others instead of being concerned about himself.

http://www2.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/ReligionSymposium/2003_01_25_Bednar.htm (text)

http://scottwoodward.org/Talks/Audio%20Talks/2-Prophets-Apostles/Bednar,%20David%20A/BYU-Idaho--Ricks/BednarDA_CharacterOfChrist.mp3 (audio)

When we study the New Testament we can see this happen over and over. I know that as we reach out to serve and comfort others, we can become more like Christ. Even though it's going to be difficult in Japan, speaking the language and teaching people about Christ, I know that Christ qualifies who he calls. I know that as long as I am humble and trust in Him, relying on Him for my strength, that I can be an instrument in His hands to bless His children, or "Feed [His] Sheep" as it says in the New Testament. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have to put myself aside and serve the Lord. I know this is where he needs me right now.

All of my love!!

Lowe Shimai

How many missionaries can we fit!?

1 Month Down!!! 5 Weeks Left at the MTC

Ohayo Gozaimas! (Good Morning)

The highlight of this week was that Raines Shimai and I subbed in for the Sister Training Leaders who were sick. We had the opportunity to welcome 16 Missionaries from JAPAN! on Monday and Tuesday. We ate dinner with them and showed them around the MTC campus and sat with them during the Tuesday night devotional. The shimai tachi (sisters) are SO ADORABLE!! and super sweet as well! Raines Shimai and I felt pretty incompetent when it came to communication though. At this point we are getting pretty good at teaching simple lessons about the church with the vocab we know, but we realized that we know very little everyday conversational words!! So it was fun to try to communicate with them in our broken japanese. Some know quite a bit of English which helped out. 

It was really funny, there was one Choro (Elder) that was asking Raines Shimai questions throughout the day about the MTC and what not. After the Devotional on Tuesday he came up to her and Said "I have a question" ... "Do you want to build a Snowmaaaan?" It was SOO Hilarious!!! then he was like "Do the magic! Do the Magic!" it was so great. Apparently Frozen is big in Japan too!!!

Yesterday marked 1 month here at the MTC. The more I study the gospel of Jesus Christ, the more I want to share it with everyone! The message of the restored gospel is absolutely beautiful. I know that anything is possible when we put our trust in Jesus Christ. I know that if we have faith in Him, He can help us overcome anything, and accomplish anything. He has definitely been helping me here as I am learning the Japanese language, it's hard! But I know that I can do it with Him beside me. 

I love you all! thank you for the love and support and letters!!

Ai shitte masu!

Lowe Shimai (:

Week 3 at the MTC! 2/26/15

Not much has changed here at the good 'ol MTC. The schedule is still crazy busy and the language is still tough, but I am still doing wonderfully! Our week is broken up very nicely with Devotionals every Tuesday Night, Service project on Wednesday mornings, Thursday preparation day, and Sunday night devotionals.

This last Monday, our teachers told us that we could not use our language books while we teach the investigators. That was really nerve wracking at first because we relied a lot on them! They told us they were taking them away a week early because they were so impressed with how well we already understand Japanese, and they feel that in relying on the language materials during our lesson is just holding us back from progressing even more. So that's pretty cool that we are doing so well as a district. I have definitely noticed a difference in our lessons without the crutch of the Language Books. So now, in order to prepare a lesson, Raines Shimai and I write out the English of what we want to teach and then look up the words that we don't know in Nihongo (we can use our language materials to prepare for the lesson just not while we teach) Then while we teach, we are able to form (VERY BASIC and guaranteed grammatically incorrect) sentences!! It's pretty exciting to be able to do this! Our sentences are simple but they teach the truth. I have been amazed by the spirit and feeling of comfort and peace we experience when we teach now. 

Healey Shimai in my distict and Hunsaker Choro

So much has happened in these past 3 weeks, I cant imagine whats in store for the next 6 here at the MTC and 16 months after that!! I am so grateful for this opportunity I have to serve the Lord. I have already learned so much here. I am also so grateful for the Dear Elder letters, I don't have a lot of time to respond to them but I am trying! Keep them coming because I love hearing about everyone and I feel so loved!!

Thank you so much for all of the support!

Ai Shitte Imasu!! (I love you)

Lowe Shimai

Sunday 2/22. Our zone before our Sempai (elders) left for Japan Monday

Some of the girls in our zone. (L-R) Raines, Lowe, Healey, Fullmer, Gibson, Smith, Madeaux, Thompson​

  Hymn in Japanese!! Which I can read because it's in Hiragana :)

My object lesson for teaching the Atonement

My name tag - It's Katakana so i can't read it yet but I will soon!

 Our classroom, we spend at least 10 hours a day here!

 My desk with all my study materials!

This is our bedroom; between getting ready in the morning and then at night before we sleep, we

spend a total of 2-3 hours in here each day 

My Aunt Laura sent chips and salsa; she knows me well (: the shimai tachi loved it!!

Week Two at the Missionary Training Center!

O Hayo Gozeimas! (Good morning!) (I'm not sure If I spelled that right...)

This has been a great week at the MTC. So I told you all about teaching our first investigator in Nihongo (Japanese) during the last three hours of "classroom instruction time" in our schedule. Well last Friday we came into class for that three hour block and the person we had been teaching turned out to be our second Sensei (teacher)!! It was a fun surprise! And also a relief to hear her speak and actually understand what she is saying because she spoke Ego (English) to us in class!! Then she showed us a video introduction of the next person we will be teaching; it is Fitz Kyodai (Brother Fitz) who is the person who has been teaching us this whole time!! It was pretty a pretty fun surprise to find out that we will be teaching our teachers. This is to help us practice planning lessons and then teach the lessons in Nihongo. So now our schedule is that we teach a 20 minute lesson every day. And it alternates between our two teachers Fitz Kyodai and Smith Shimai. 

It's still pretty overwhelming here. But the first week was especially, and apparently they make it that way on purpose! To help teach us to rely on the Lord for our help and guidance. Raines Shimai and I handled it very well I think. The first week we just focused on learning Japanese in class and then teaching the investigator in the evening. Now we learn Nihongo in our afternoon class and then in the evening we learn Nihongo but also we learn about how to be good missionaries, what our purpose is, how we can strengthen the faith of others and help them strengthen their relationship with Iesu Kirisuto (Jesus Christ). So now the MTC is a lot more like I thought it would be, we are recieving a lot more guidance and direction from watashitachi no serei tachi (our teachers), which is really nice. 

Raines Shimai and I are doing so well together. We have really learned how to incorporate prayer into what we are doing. When we are planning for a lesson, or feeling discouraged, or incompetent in our Nihongo, we pray for help and guidance. It has been a truly amazing experience of relying on the Lord, not necessarily to solve our problems, but we pray for peace and guidance and strength. And I know that He has been answering our prayers. I have never felt the Spirit so consistently as I have while I've been here at the MTC. I am so grateful for that. 

Raines Shimai and I are teaching this Sunday's lesson about how to recognize the Holy Ghost. Elder David A. Bednar talks about three different aspects of it that are simple and profound. If you are able, watch them on www.lds.org I'm pretty sure they are entitled "Patterns of Light".
 

It's been a really interesting experience being at the MTC. We have a service project once a week, which is just cleaning residence buildings for an hour and 15 minutes. It's really nice though because it gives me time to just relax and not stress about making lesson plans or trying to understand Nihongo. It's a welcomed break to say the least. The windows in the residence buildings look out over my dorm buildings that I lived in on BYU campus. And I just had the thought that being at the MTC, or even when I am out in Japan, this experience is the epitome of being "IN the world and not OF the world" We are right next door to a campus full of College kids doing their thing, while we are studying essentially all day about how to invite and help people come closer to Christ. And though it was kind of a funny thought at first, I am realizing how true it really is. Although it is difficult sometimes, this is such an amazing opportunity for me to be able to put aside the things of the world and really focus on serving the Lord without any distractions. And I LOVE it! It's especially nice to be able to talk to someone and not be distracted by a ringing phone or urgent text. It's so great here. The Shimai Tachi are really great too, we help each other stay positive and lift each other when we struggle. 

As far as Nihongo goes, I have a lot to learn! BUT! It has only been two weeks and I think I am doing pretty well considering I only knew how to say Good afternoon and thank you in Japanese just three weeks ago. I have the Hiragana alphabet down pretty well which enables me to be able to sing Hymns in Nihongo as well as Read most of the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon is difficult though because all of the characters are right after each other, so it's really difficult to distinguish words; you pretty much just have to know where one word starts and another ends. Next I need to learn Katakana. I'll keep you all updated :)

Anyways, I hope everyone is well, I absolutely love receiving the Dear Elder letters, and I will try to write back to those today. I am so grateful to all of you.

Ai shitte imasu (I love you - that's how you really spell it ;) )

Lowe Shimai (That's how you really spell sister too, I'm still learning :) )

-- Here is the link to the videos that Sarah recommended watching --

https://www.lds.org/search?lang=eng&query=patterns+of+light