October 12, 2015

Hey hey everyone

THis week was pretty busy. We are still shooting for more lessons and slowly our numbers are getting closer!

Monday: so every Monday we have FHE (family home evening) with at the church with some of our young single adults. Usually it's us and the elders and we share a spiritual thought and do some kind of game or activity. This week the elders were in different areas because they are zone leaders ,so the turn out for FHE was us and two people. Yoko and tatsunori. So we wanted to focus on god's love and we were going to go out and try to give people these hearts we had made and have yoko and tatsunori do it too. So we showed them a video on god's love and we were going to let them know what we wanted to do. However we finished the video and tatsunori said "I want to be a dad! I want to be a dad!" He really wants to get married and have kids, but right now he's not dating anyone right now and he's super busy with his job. So our FHE turned into girl talk about marriage. It was so funny. 

Recently it's been getting colder. That kinda scares me because the members show me pictures of snow covering cars and they always joke that I'm just going to freeze. But it will be a new experience that's for sure! 

Saturday/ Sunday: so we got to watch general conference this week. General conference was amazing. I can't pick one talk that I loved but I heard quite a bit that I thought was so good. I am incredibly thankful that we have leaders in our church today that can give us guidance and answer questions we have. One incredibly powerful talk that hit me so hard was "Behold thy Mother" by Jeffery R. Holland. In it he said  "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." Isn't that amazing. I've never really thought of that before. I've never thought of the sacrifice that my mother gave in raising me and the pure love she has for me and my siblings. All during the talk I thought of the times that she comforted me and helped me and a just made me want to call home. But of course I can't do that. It took me a bit to recollect myself ,but it helped me too. I wanted to go find people to teach so I could teach them about this pure love. 

I feel like I always come back to love in my emails. I just think that the church is all about love. God loves us so he sent his son to atone for our sins and to bare us up when we fall. Jesus Christ loves us with a perfect love so he willingly suffered our pains. I feel like as a missionary all I am really doing is sharing god's love. Well at least attempting to I'm sure I could do better ,but I'm trying to share the love. They tell you as a young missionary to just share your love with people even if you can't speak the language. I used to wonder "how do I share love if I can't speak this language?!" I've learned that people all speak the same language of love even if we are different. People want to feel and be loved. It's just a normal thing ,so finally figuring that out made it so much easier to love people around me. Someone slams a door in my face.. That's fine.. There are still a child of God so I love them. Easy huh? Well sometimes hard ,but when you figure out how to see people how God sees them it becomes a whole lot easier. I'm not saying I know how to perfectly love people and how share love ,but I'm figuring it out. 

Well I hope you have a great week everyone! I love you!

Love,

Fullmer shimai

Oct 5, 2015 - My missionary life

Hey everyone!
Just another great week in beautiful Nihon (Japan). We are super busy
everyday ,but that's good because when we're busy we are happy. My
companion and I decided that we needed to get 20 lessons every week. I
wish I could say we got that ,but we didn't quite hit that ,yet. So we
have been working as hard as we can to teach and talk to people. I
know that when people are ready to come unto Christ they will.

Tuesday English class:
Oh gosh, English class.... Wow. It was something. So a 60 year old guy
showed up a little early. His name is Tom. Tom is something. When I
met him he said " you are very beautiful." I said thanks and kinda
laughed it off. He asked me "do you have a boyfriend?" I said " yup I
do and he's great" I thought it would be better to lie so I did, so I
pulled up a picture I had on my iPad of me and some friends I pointed
at a friend saying this is my boyfriend. He said "oh I am jealous". I
was like ahhh awkward. So Tom is a funny guy.
So for class we did some self introductions and favorite colors, and
how many kids you want. Dale choro said he was from Tokyo and everyone
was so confused. He's from California! We got to Tom and for the how
many kids you want question he said "i'm 60 and single. I give up" we
all laughed at that. He's so funny.

Friday
First we went and visited Mizuki shimai. She's about 80 years old and
she is the cutest little grandma. We went to her tiny little
apartment. I was on edge because I didn't know what to expect. We rang
her door bell and then Gibson shimai opened the door a bit and we saw
her just standing in the door way. We said "mizuki shimai!" And she
kinda just lit up. She likes to sing and hum random songs ,so she
started humming and dancing and we hummed and danced with her. We
brought her this raisin bread from the store she likes and she was
just so happy. We walked in to the apartment and she hugged Gibson
shimai and then me and then she wanted to hug both of us. So funny
thing about Mizuki shimai she's like 4 feet tall. She was between me
and Gibson shimai ,but her head was like at our waists and she was
pushing us together to where Gibson shimai and I were pretty much
hugging each other. It was like one big sandwich and on top of that
she's gripping our waists and she started to kinda tickle us. So I was
nose to nose with Gibson shimai with a little grandma nestled
in between us and she was tickling us and humming. That's when I
realized I was in a different country. We kept laughing because it was
so funny! After we finally sat down, we sang a hymn with her and
talked about Jesus and his light. She told us that we have a light and
that she was so happy to be with us today. She said that she loves
light and that she knows it comes from God. She is such a sweet little
grandma. We got to hear
the most pure and innocent testimony from her. It's like when you
teach little kids and they are just so full of love. It's like that
and I love it.

The area I am is tiny maybe 30 ward members ,but I have never seen so
much love from people. When I was watching some of the members during
church I could just feel the love of God from everyone. There is one
man in the ward and he is in a wheel chair. He can't control his body
anymore, he used to be normal ,but he was in a really bad car accident
,so he understands and can kinda speak ,but he can't really use his
arms or legs anymore. Its like he has mini spasms. His mother puts him
into his wheelchair and wheels him around ,but during the second hour
of class, she has to go teach class. So Tatsunori Kyodai took the man
to the other class we were in. I watched him hold out the book for the
man so he could read the book and pat him gently on the back.
 Mizuki shimai is also taken care of in a loving way. One woman helps
her go to the right class and brings her to church then home. She
kinda holds on to Mizuki shimai because she doesn't really know what's
going on ,but that woman just cares so much for Mizuki shimai. It's
wonderful.
This area is so great.

I know I'm only 19 years old ,but because of this experience I have
gotten to see just a little glimpse of heaven. These people in this
ward are God's Angels. They are amazing examples of disciples of
Christ and I want to be like that. I've never seen so much love
before.

1 Nephi 11:22-23

22 And I answered him, saying: Yea, it is the love of God, which
sheddeth itself abroad in the hearts of the children of men;
wherefore, it is the most desirable above all things.
23 And he spake unto me, saying: Yea, and the most joyous to the soul.

God's love really is the most desirable thing. I always teach that
missionary work is love. That's all sharing the gospel is. It's
sharing God's love. I love these people and I have felt God's love in
my life ,so I know what it feels like to have that joy and because I
have felt it I want to share it with everyone. I know that this church
can and will bless everyone's life. So this week, I have a challenge
for you... Love someone. Tell your family you love them, do a small
act of kindness, give someone a hug, anything is awesome! It doesn't
have to be big just something small. When we share love, we can feel
love more abundantly in our life. And who doesn't want to feel love?
So go love someone!
Love all of you!

Love,
Fullmer shimai

Sept 28, 2015 - My missionary life

Hello all! So we had transfers. Guess what I am I with Gibson shimai!
I love Gibson she's awesome.so she is from my MTC district so we are

one and the same Transfer. I was so surprised when I opened the
announcement call because I I didn't think I would be with another
sister from the Mtc so that's two for three . I think it's funny
because I was not expecting it. President Welch sure know something
but I don't know what he's inspired or something, probably inspired.

Transfer: so we went to transfer point. And we said our goodbyes. And
uchida shimai (my old Japanese companion) went with the other people
who were training. She's going to such a great trainer! I looked
around and saw a lot of people from my doki (Mtc time). I said hellos
and goodlucks and then... Gibson shimai showed up. We were like hey!
This is awesome crazy awesome! We ended up going back to our area with
a member. This member is my favorite. He took us and the elders all to
go eat and so we went to eat really quick then we hopped in his car
and headed back. His name is tatsunori kyodai and he's so funny. He
was baptized 5 months ago in a river. He showed me the picture. He is
what they call a miracle. The missionaries found him on a beach drunk
and crazy. He completely changed because of church. He doesn't look
like he goes to church at all. He's got this crazy hair style and he
was wearing combat boots and he has small earrings (but he takes them
out for church, so it's good). He's awesome. He loves the church and
the missionaries.

Friday: so on the way home the day before, tatsunori kyodai asked us
what we like the most curry, stew, or something else. And we said
curry. Little did we know he was going to make for us and bring it to
us for lunch. After study time we always have lunch. He called and
said "I'm bringing curry". So he came to the apartment and we came
down the stairs and he handed us a big bowl of homemade curry with two
bowls of rice. He typed in Google translate on his phone and showed us
the phone is said "cold pan burnt". So we just nodded said we
understand. That was the best curry I have ever eaten.

Friday night we had our sports night which means we got to the church
and work out with members which is us the elders tatsunori kyodai and
yokochan. We ran for a 10 minutes and I ran next to yokochan. I asked
he if she liked running she said I hate it. I laughed and jogged next
to her. We did all kinds of fun work outs and when we finished we
looked over at tatsunori kyodai and he sat complete straight up with
his legs in criss-cross. Apparently that's resting form in judo. My
resting form was laying on the ground with my arms stretched out in
front of me.

Funny English we taught Elder sugimoto:
-dude, bro, homie
We told him to call his companions sweet pea. He does it now. When we
had follow ups we told dale choro(his companion) to call him sweet
pea. And he did and of course he said it back. Dale choro got made at
us and said "what are you teaching him?!"

Funny things sugimoto said:
- he said his favorite English word is "crap"(he learned it from his companions)
- there was bugs outside and my companion jump because one flew into
her face and in a completely monotoned voice he said "calm down"..
After that he said " I freaking hate bugs."
- he knows "pain in the butt" from past companions. We don't know how
he learned these things ,but it is just so funny.
*all of theses are so funny because it is completely monotoned with no
emotion in a bit of a Japanese accent. Gosh I love Japan.

Spiritual thought:
D&C 29:2 Who will gather his people even as a hen gathereth her
chickens under her wings, even as many as will hearken to my voice and
humble themselves before me, and call upon me in mighty prayer.
^ we shared this in a lesson and I just love this. This to me is about
the pure love that God has for us.

Love ya!
Love,
Fullmer shimai

Sept 21, 2015 - My missionary life

Hello all! If you write email me and I don't respond this week I am
sorry! I'm packing ,but I still love ya

Sept 14, 2015 - My mission

Hello lovely people!

This week was interesting. It's starting to cool down. I guess the
cool weather helps people become a little bit kinder. Of course they
still tell us to "go away", but it's a little bit of a softer "go
away".

Friday night we had dinner with some members. The couple was just a
cute couple. The wife was really bouncy and tiny and the the husband
is this tall lanky interesting guy ,but they just work! She kept
saying "oh you two are beautiful!" To my companion and I. And her
husband said "the 3 of you are beautiful." She laughed and called him
a liar. It was so adorable! We asked them how they met and I learned a
new Japanese word 一目惚れ (ひとめぼれ)(hitomebore). Love at first sight. She
said that for her that's what it was. We thought it was adorable. This
couple was just so cute.

Sunday we had a baptism. Last week I was asked to share a thought... I
was so incredibly nervous for it. I wasn't sure what to share and I
had been trying to prepare all week. Saturday night rolled around, To
say the least I was extremely stressed out. I had written and
rewritten the talk a couple of times and studied scriptures and all
kinds of talks ,but I seemed to hit a block of what actually needed to
be said. I prayed and for guidance because I didn't know what to
share. After my prayer, I looked up and saw a quote that I always have
in front of me. I felt like I should share that quote. Only problem
was I had to translate it to Japanese and it was a bit difficult. I
ended up finding it in a talk and luckily for me there was a Japanese
translation and my companion reads kanji ,so she wrote it out for me
in Romaji ,so I could read it. She checked my talk too because I asked
her to. She happily corrected it for me and the morning of I practiced
over again. I spoke before the baptism and it went really well.

Baptism! So we've been teaching her just this transfer ,and she was
preparing to get baptized when we got here. She is a quiet timid woman
,but she is very kind and she was so excited to be baptized. After her
baptism she was in tears and she was just so happy. It's almost like
we saw a whole new person. It was really cool to hear her simple testimony
and just see her glowing.

Funny story: well kinda a funny story. So in this ward there is one
Japanese man who intimidates me. He's just the stereotypical Japanese
man with very few emotions and his face is always serious. I don't
think I've seen him smile once since I've been here. So anyway, he
came up to me after the talk and told me my pronunciation was very
good. He said it sounded like a Japanese person... :D yay! The most
intimidating person complimented my Japanese! I was so happy about
that!

Spiritual thought:

If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest
times in life can be a blessing. In all conditions, we can choose the
right with the guidance of the Spirit. We have the gospel of Jesus
Christ to shape and guide our lives if we choose it. We never need to
feel that we are alone or unloved in the Lord’s service because we
never are. We can feel the love of God. The Savior has promised angels
on our left and our right to bear us up. And He always keeps His word.
-Henry B. Erying (General Conference April 2012 "Mountains to Climb")
^this is the quote I shared at the baptism

Love all of you!

Love,
Fullmer shimai

Sept 6, 2015 - My missionary life

So it's just another week in Japan. Have I ever said how beautiful
Japan is? Well if I haven't it really is a beautiful country. It has
all kinds of cultural things in it and the land itself is just so
beautiful.

 This week we did some finding. Well lots of finding. I asked my
companion if housing like going door to door for like salesmen is
normal. She said no. Apparently we are kinda weird to people, it's not
normal for people to come to your house and try and talk about God. I
guess that's the same every where though right? I think about what we
are doing and when I think about it ,it really is amazing. 18 and 19
year old kids go some where in the world (without knowing that
country's language) with a rule book, our scriptures and faith in God
and we are told to go find people to teach and baptize. The great
thing is we do it. We aren't forced to serve missions. We don't really
have to come out here and give 1 year and a half or 2 years to God.
Well then why do so many of us do? Because we love God. The short time
I've been out here has taught we so much about my Savior and my Father
in Heaven. I am trying through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement
to help other people come unto Christ. I might not even see any
success ,but I know that this in the Lord's work. We are all God's
children and he wants the best for us. Which is why I'm here to help
my brothers and sisters realize that they are children of God.

I am extremely happy to say that  one woman we have been
teaching for a while is getting baptized. I am incredibly happy for her
to baptized. She is a wonderful woman and I know that this gospel will
bless her life so much.

Mosiah 18:9 Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea,
and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as
witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places
that ye may be in, even until death, that ye may be redeemed of God,
and be numbered with those of the first resurrection, that ye may have
eternal life.

^i read this this morning and it just hit my heart. To me, this is a
true disciple of Christ. We help those in need and stand as a witness
of God. Incredibly powerful words. When I read this I thought about my
life and whether or not I have always been a witness of God. I know I
messed up a few times ,but that's okay because through the Atonement I
try again and learn from the past. I love this gospel so much because
I know that through it we can find lasting joy and happiness.

I love all of you and hope you have a splendid week!

Love,
Fullmer shimai

Aug 30, 2015 - My missionary life

Baseball:
This week we played baseball. Wow it's been so long. I can't believe
how much I've missed it. It's a little different than softball ,but I
still had the same "ahhh" feeling. We played with some ward members
and man I guess I had a lot of stress of something because when I was
batting I really didn't hold back! It felt so good to run around the
bases. It was just so good to play with a worn in glove. After we
played, some of the ward members told me "good batting". It felt so
good to play and bat.

Typoon:
I always have the worst luck I swear! So this week. There was a typoon
last p-day I considered buying some rainboots but I thought nah I'll
be fine -_- I'm just unlucky! Anyways my companion and I tried to go
visit an investigator we walked down this hill with our umbrellas( and
wearing our rain jackets) the wind and water beat down on us and I
just kept saying "it's the winds of adversary!" I was pretty much
yelling it because the rain was so loud that we couldn't hear each
other. Each step was so difficult, it felt like pulling your foot out
of knee deep mud. But onward we went. Finally we made it to the
woman's home. We knocked on the door and her son answered. He told us
she was sleeping. He shut the door and didn't come back. My companion
and I looked at the door then at each other and we just were think
"ahhh well that's a bummer" we whipped out our umbrellas once more and
trudged to church because we were going to have a lesson soon. We
arrived at the church and stripped off our completely soaked jackets
and hung them to dry for later then we had our lesson. Our
investigator told us how she just thought satan was so strong and that
she just think she could overcome some of her problems.(she's about
the get baptized soon) for some reason I thought I should talk about
the typoon to her. Well I did. I said " the typoon was really strong
today" she gave me a weird look. " the typoon was really strong today
,but we went out and tried to teach people. Because that's our job
,but we had our umbrellas and raincoats. It was still hard ,but we
could do it. Just like the typoon satan is strong and he won't let up
,but you have an umbrella and raincoat. That's Jesus Christ, us, the
ward members and scriptures. It's going to be hard ,but you can do
it." Her face lit up when she made the connection. It was cool to see
her kinda recognize something she already knew.

Spiritual thought:
Ether 4
19 And blessed is he that is found faithful unto my name at the last
day, for he shall be lifted up to dwell in the kingdom prepared for
him from the foundation of the world. And behold it is I that hath
spoken it.
^ I don't have any profound thoughts on this ,but I just like this. :)

Well love yall!

Love,
Fullmer shimai