May 24, 2015 - 2nd transfer

Hi everybody. So guess what, I'm officially a second transfer. I'm
staying in Nishinomiya and my trainer is still my trainer. I am happy
about both those things. Our district stayed pretty much the same
minus one elder going home (this was his last transfer). Our ward is
really tiny right now we any have 3 youth and they are all the
bishop's kids. However, our church is super close to Christian
college. Guess who dendo-s at the college? That's right us! So far
from the college we have found plenty of people who want to hear our
message.

Story time: So we have be teaching Fujinakasan maybe 2 short lessons
now. She goes to the college and she's such a sweet heart. We decided
that we should teach her about the restoration, when we got to Joseph
smith's vision we ended up showing her the restoration video.We
testified about the restoration.. And then my comp.. Bumped me and
passed a note that said "ask her to be baptized". The video finished
and I was kinda freaking out inside. I said a little prayer and asked
her to baptized. She said she would! We haven't set a date ,but I know
that God helped me say what I needed to say to her even though it was
really scary.

Last week we had visited a member ,Sakae shimai. And she seemed kinda
sad ,so we figured that we would bring her some chocolates and heart
attack her door. So we bikes to her house at like 8ish and we were
super quiet because we knew that they were home. So we got to work
sticking hearts all over her door and we saw someone by the door. So
we stopped and waited a minutes. Then we saw the door moving and we
were like "shoot shoot.. Let's hide" so we attempted to hide on the
side of the door. Well sakae shimai's husband walked out and saw and
we scared him pretty good. We were like "shhhh" don't say anything! He
was really funny and said we almost gave him a heart attack... Oh the
irony. So we finished up and headed home. Come Sunday Sakae shimai
came up to us and said thank you and she told us that her husband
pretended not to know about anything ,but he's not a good liar so she
knew! 

I'm sorry but half of my letter got cut off so I figured I'd fill
y'all in. Okay the really pretty picture that I have of the sunset is
my area. We have a less active that lives up on the hill and it's
always really fun to go visit them.

Then there is me. My comp did my hair like a little Dutch girl while
we're were waiting for a less active to come to the church. I liked
it.

Ok we found some funny English on a bike then on this trash can.

Then there is a picture of our relief society. We love love the little
old lady(Nakano shimai) who is sitting on the couch. She has our
heart. She can't really walk because she is 90+ and coming to church
is really difficult. The elders moved the couch into the chapel and
then into the relief society room so she could be comfortable. She is
the happiest kindest woman I have ever met. We all love her so much
and it was a blessing to see her on Sunday.

Spiritual thought:
So lately I've been reading a lot in Romans.

Romans 8
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for
what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
^hope is incredible. Though trials will come our way nothing can ever
get that bad if we always have hope in our hearts. Hope is what gets
us through those tough times.

Romans 8
31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can
be against us?
^i love this so much. Nothing else matters is we have god on our side
and despite what we might believe he will always be on our side. He
loves us so much we can't even comprehend it ,so he will always be
there in every stage of our life. It just a matter of are we on his
side? All he asked is to try our very best and follow the footsteps of
Christ and he will lift us if we fall.

Well I hope all of you have a wonderful week. I love all of you!

Love,
Fullmer shimai

May 17, 2015 - 4 bikes 1 transfer

I know I talk a lot about my bikes but seem to be what this transfer
was about. Whether it was a bike accident or the struggle of biking an
elders bike.. It's been all about the bike. Well guess what... I got a
new bike! Not a new new one ,but like missionary standard new. So
here's the story on the bike. So as most of you know I had my original
pink bike for about 2 weeks then the axel broke while we were going up
hill. Then I was given the monster bike for about 2 weeks and and I
kept getting in bike accidents because it was really difficult for me
to control. Next I got another bike from the home office that was my
size that was navy blue. I had been using this bike for about a week
,but for some reason it seemed hard to bike and keep up with my
companion. Well the elders where riding back with us to the church and
they told me the wheel was  shaking. We stopped at a bike shop and had
them check it out. The rim on the back tire was bent and a spoke was
broken and the breaks where broken. The man said it was dangerous to
be biking on that bike because it was in such terrible condition. We
were all laughing as he told us everything that was wrong. So after
all this we called the home office and they brought another bike for
me yesterday. This bike is probably one of the best bikes I've ridden.
It's nothing fancy. It just works and so far it's a lot easier to
bike. I like this new bike of mine. I'm thankful that the home office
has patience with me and my bike troubles.

So Japan is a rainy place. Well apparently there is a typoon season
coming up soon. It's kinda cool that they have their season like that.
See what people do here is they carry umbrellas when they bike. We do
something much more fun. We put on this full body rain suits called
kappas. They keep us dry from the rain ,but really warm and sticky on
the inside. Anytime it's a rainy day.. My companion and I just laugh
and say "it's a kappa kinda day".

Funny story: so this past Tuesday it rained really really bad.
Tuesdays we teaching English. Well we set up class at 6 and the actual
class starts at 7. We (Us and the elders) got to the church at about
the same time and were completely soaked through. We all took off or
socks and shoes to try and let them air out before class. Well we all
out or socks on the heater so that they would dry faster. We didn't
put our shoes on for the rest of the night because they were just
soaked. Our English students laughed at us because we were just
wearing our socks. Well after class none of us wanted to put our shoes
back on so we just ended up biking home in our socks in the rain. To
be honest, it was a weird feeling biking with out shoes but it was
kinda fun!

Miracle: on Thursday night my companion had some paperwork to finish
up at the church ,so we had been at the church for a couple hours.
Well we had lingered a little longer and took our time packing up when
we usually just pack up and go. We were locking up the church and I
saw a woman biking by. I ALWAYS say hello because I know that I know
of the things that can happen from a simple hello, good morning, good
evening. Well I said hello to this woman and she stopped her bike and
smiled and waved to me. We went over to her and she told us that she
rode by the church everyday. She was baptized 30 years ago and she
wanted to come to church but she just didn't know anybody and because
she had moved here not too long ago. We got her contact information
and we are going to study with her soon. She was excited to meet us
and when she told us all about her baptism. It was very sweet. Always
say hello to people because you never know what miracles might come
from it.

So update on Miyu. I don't remember if I wrote about her. So I'll tell
you about her. Miyu is a 18 year old college student. She's a hip-hop
dancer and she is probably one of the happiest people I've ever met.
She has a smile and attitude that just lights up a room and it's just
amazing. She asked us for our first names and we told her ,but we also
told her that she still has to call us Fullmer shimai and bean shimai.
But anyways, she texted us and asked " Adrianna and Rolen baputesma
uke mashita ka" so she thinks my name is Rolen because the L's and the
R's sound the same ,so that's kinda funny ,but anyways she asked if we
are baptized. We told her we were and we gave her some scriptures to
read. Next time we meet we are going to give her a baptism invite. I
know she is prepared and it will be so sweet to see her progress and
continue to be wonderful and amazing. Sometimes I have no idea what
she's saying but I still just love her so much!

Spiritual thought:
3 Nephi 5:13
Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been
called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might
have everlasting life.

This was the old mission theme from 2 years ago ,but I am making it my
mission theme. I love this scripture so much because it is simple yet
it means so much. I am called to serve for the Lord and I am trying to
be a true disciple. I don't know that much and I sometimes I might not
have that much to offer ,but I do know that through Jesus Christ that
I can declare the word of God and help people come to discover the
truth and happiness that the gospel brings. I love the work and I love
the people so much.

I hope everyone has a great week! I love you guys :)

Love,
Fullmer shimai

May 10, 2015 - My missionary life

Hello all! 

This week has been fun. Yesterday I got to talk to my family. It was really great to see them. I felt like the time was too short. I wish I could have talked to them for hours ,but it happens. So after I talked to them, I was really missing my family. It's this thing called homesickness. I don't like this thing. It makes me sad. Sometimes the best thing to do when you are sad is to go to work. That's the best medicine ,so we decided we needed to go find a woman we met a couple weeks of weeks ago at a train station. 

Back story:

We went finding at a train station and we didn't seem to have any success. We were about to go home and I saw this older woman sitting on a bench. I felt like I should just hello to her ,so I did. She jumped up smiling and just started talking with us. She told us she wanted to meet with us again and gave her name,phone number, and address and told us to come and visit her.

^this is not a super normal thing we are lucky if we get a phone number.

Yesterday:

So we knew she lived near us,but we didn't know where. We biked for a couple of hours in circles. We found an apartment complex with her address ,but it was college housing so we weren't really sure if it was her house. We ping ponged and no one answered ,so we left. We decided to walk around the other side of the road and see if we could find her kanji and we did. Apparently there is a neighborhood with the same address as the apartment complex. We ping ponged her door and she was like " oh oh my goodness" she came and got us and invited us in. She said "my son and his family are coming over for Mother's Day." We were thinking oh no we disturbed their Mother's Day. She asked us to join them for dinner ,so we did. Her daughter and her family showed up shortly after dinner started. So here we have these two families their extremely friendly mother and we are just thinking oh my gosh this is amazing. Total I think there was 5 kids between the families. We had dinner and after shared a short message. We invited them to our English class and asked if,we could meet them again. The grandmother pretty much said we can meet her whenever. The grandma gave the best hugs ever. When you hug a Japanese person it's kinda like this awkward thing where they kinda stiffen up and awkwardly wrap their arms around you like a rag doll and pat your back. This woman gave an American grandmotherly hug. It was great she was just so loving and warm. 

Fun fact about Japanese: there handshakes are also awkward. A lot of times, it's the dead fish handshake where they just kinda let their hand hang lifelessly. It's really really funny and weird.. I just love Japanese people and Japan it's a great place :) 

Spiritual thought: 

 This week I have been thinking a lot about working hard and how to "labor diligently". Missions are hard work. They are mentally, spiritually, and physically draining. I haven't been out long at all ,but I've already learned so much. I've been trying my hardest to "forget myself and go to work". I feel the happiest when I'm working my hardiest and trying my best. It's when I put my faith in the Lord that and forget about my own weakness that I can find strength. 

I really liked this 2 scriptures this week: 

Moroni 9:6

And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God. 

Ether 12:27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. 

I love all of you and hope you have a wonderful week! Oh and I didn't get into any bike accidents this week! 

Love,

Fullmer shimai

May 3, 2015 - My missionary life

Hello everyone!

This week was a rough one. On Thursday night we decided to go visit
the bishop with the elders and share a message. On the way over my
companion cut in front of me to turn and I hit the back of her back
and flew off my bike. Needless to say my pride was bruised. I scrapped
up my knee pretty bad and bruised my ribs but other than that I seemed
to be okay. We walked the rest of the way to the bishops house and he
patched me up when we got there. We shared a message about trials and
everyone kinda just "causally" glanced at me.

We had a really cool experience with a lady this week. We decided to
visit a potential investigator and we knew that he lived on the 10th
floor in the 5th room. We couldn't find it because the way the
building was set up was super weird ,but eventually we found the room.
We knocked on the door and this lady opened it. She said she had been
to the Catholic Church and asked if that was us we said no and went on
to explain our church. We shared the message of God being our father.
We ended up singing "I am a child of God". I know she felt something.
Before we left we asked if we could pray with her. So we did when we
looked up she was crying. She asked us if we wanted her name and
number. We were like of course we do. We asked to hug her and she said
"You want to hug Me Why?" We told that we cared and that of course we
wanted to hug her. We hugged her good bye and she stood at the door
smiling and waving goodbye and asking us to come back. Sometimes you
find these people and they are just so ready to hear our message. It's
amazing!

Story time:

So the past Sunday was fast Sunday. Sunday's are hard already because
it's 3 hours of not knowing what's going on ,but fasting on top of
that makes it so hard to stay a wake. But I made it through almost
unscathed. Before dinner we decided to go visit a Investigator that
lived down this hill. We road down the hill pretty quickly and the
turn was just on the right. I wasn't aware that that was where the
turn was. My trainer was on the other side of me and she turned in
front of me. Well guess what.. I ran into her bike and flew off my
bike and down part of the hill. The left side of my body is pretty
scrapped up and I whacked my head pretty hard on the ground. I
stumbled to get up and see the damage. My hands and knees where bloody
and my head ached. I used to hate wearing the helmets because they are
just goofy looking ,but I was so so thankful I was wearing my helmet.
I sat on the Side of the road and just wrap my head around what just
happened. A couple weeks ago I asked my trainer if Japanese people
would help you if you got in a bike accident. She said she wasn't
sure. Well I figured it out they will! I couple of people came to help
me. I told them I was okay and we slowly made our way to a grocery
store to clean up. It hurt so bad cleaning out all my cuts. I can't
really move my left arm right now it's kinda like when you get a shot
and it's just really sore.. It's like that except some of the skin is
gone. This worst is my left hand has a pretty deep cut its so hard to
do things with one hand. I think I'll live though. I think I'm going
to be a sore ,but I'll be okay. You know what the say, "a mission is
full of blood, sweat, and tears." This really is a war and I am going
to have the scars to prove it!

Spiritual thought

21 And now as I said concerning faith--faith is not to have a perfect
knowledge of things; therefore if ye have faith ye hope for things
which are not seen, which are true. (Alma 32)
^ this is one of my personal favorites. Sometimes we might not know
what is a head of U.S. But we just have to have faith in God and he
will guide us in all things. Sometimes we just have to walk in the
dark in order to find the light. So let's seek the light!

I love you all and hope you have a Great week!

Love,
Fullmer shimai