Mountains to Climb

Hello family! Long time no see! 6 months now. Time has flown by for me! I'll see you in a year! But we have Skype time here soon, so I'm excited! I'm still not sure of the exact details, but I know it's only supposed to be a 40 minute Skype call, so that's kind of sad. I'll let you know more details when I find out more!

Things in Machida have been pretty good. Monday we went to an aquarium in Shonan, Tokyo, which was fun! It was a huge aquarium, and it was right next to the ocean. I got to touch a dolphin, so I was happy. I also got to touch a shark and an octopus! It was the weirdest feeling having it suck my finger.

On Wednesday instead of going to regular English class, M Shimai and I started an English Bible class where we read the Bible together with some of the English class students. It was a way cool experience! We read the last chapter in Matthew together since it was Easter recently. Because the Japanese people don't know a lot about Christianity, they didn't know about any of it, so it was really great to learn about Christ with them. I also learned something! You know the word "banzai"? It's a Japanese word that means "all hail" kind of. I had no idea! I thought it was just something you said when you jumped into a pool!

On Thursday we went to visit a member of our ward who is in the hospital. It was a great experience. Turns out she first learned about the church when her son was in the hospital and she was given a Book of Mormon. Now she wants to pay it forward and give Book of Mormons to everyone in the hospital while she is there! We were actually able to give out one and we met a Korean woman who wanted one too. The lady in the hospital was a great example to me because even though she is in the circumstances she is in, she is still so full of light and you can feel Christ-like love radiating from her. I learned a lot from her! Hopefully we get to go back and visit her again soon.

Saturday was a cool experience! We got all the missionaries in the zone together and we went to Tama for four hours to tell people about family history! We streeted, housed and passed out Family History papers. We had some pretty cool stories come from it! One elder talked to a guy who wants to talk to his parents more, and because he received a family history paper he can now! We also met a PI who has met with missionaries before while doing this. I had a cool story too! I saw two foreigner girls looking at a map, so I went up and talked to them. They were from Sicily, and they said I was the first foreigner to talk to them, so they asked to take a picture with me! It was way fun!

As for the title of this email, I read President Eyring's "Mountains to Climb" talk from April 2012 Conference, and M Shimai and I made it a goal to ask for our own mountain to climb as a companionship so that through a trial, we may be able to become the best missionaries possible. Nothing has really happened yet, but we are still working and being obedient as possible! One funny thing though, when we asked for a mountain to climb, we literally got one because we went hiking yesterday. We went to Mt. Takao and it was beautiful! We saw Mt. Fuji from the top. It was a way fun hike. The people that took us to the houses went on the hike with us too. I'm kind of sore from the hike, but it was fun.

That's about all for this week! I love you all so much! I'll talk to you soon! 愛しています

Lexie
ダンジー姉妹

How to Talk Yourself Out of an Apartment Contract ‏

Hello, family! How are you? Everything in Japan is great, it's just been pretty cold here the last couple of days. Weird!

Funny story for the week! So E Shimai (a new sister in Machida from Alaska) went to visit a PI, but we had never been to her house before. So I asked a lady how to get there, and because she is so nice, she walks us all the way there! But turns out there are three of the same apartments, and she had walked us to the first, but we wanted to go to the third. So a nice lady working there sat us down and showed us a map about how to get to the 3 apartment. Now, our Japanese isn't that good, so we only understood about half of what this lady said to us. She did, however, offer to drive us to the apartment. Be politely said no, because we had our bikes. Then she offered to meet us there! At this point, we are thinking, "Wow, she is really nice!" When we get there, we say, "Our friend lives on this floor, thank you so much!" And she says, "That's great, the new apartment is on the top floor." So, the whole time she thought we were looking to buy a new apartment, when in reality we just wanted to visit our friend. It was really awkward when we finally explained that to her. It was way funny though! We laughed about it the whole day!

Some other cool things happened this week. Japanese people are the nicest people in the world because they want to do so much for you. For example, these people that we met at Rajio Taiso took us to a really old, Japanese house museum, and it was incredible! We were able to talk to them a little bit about the gospel. We had a way fun day with them.

For Easter yesterday, we had a great day! It's not a big holiday in Japan, but we had a lot of fun at the church. I actually had to talk in church, but then they had an Easter program after church where we watched an Easter video and had food. It was great! We had a couple of PIs come! We had a lot of fun! Also, that same night we went over to a member's house and had food with them. Then afterwards we all sat around a listened to music because that family has like a music studio. It was a blast!

One other crazy thing that happened this week! M Shimai And I were sitting in the church working on some FB things, then all of the sudden the stake president comes in and asks us to introduce ourselves. When we walked around the corner to see who it was, we were super shocked! It was Sister Linda Burton! Like the General Relief Society President!!! She talked to us for a little bit and gave us a hug! It was incredible! We also met her husband! (Fun fact: he went to Bingham High School). That was a once in a lifetime opportunity! She was so incredible, I want to be just like her!

That's about all for this week! We are going to an aquarium today, so I can't wait! I love you all so much! Talk to you next week!

Lexie
ダンジー姉妹

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Always Have an Attitude of Gratitude!

愛する家族。こんにちわ!

I know I said last week my email day was Tuesday, but just kidding! We decided to email today since Temple days are so busy. I'm so excited to go to the temple though!

It's been a pretty good week! I loved watching Conference as a missionary! It was amazing! I've never been more excited to watch it in my life! Sunday morning was great, and so was Elder Holland's talk, but I think my favorite one was President Uchtdorf's talk about gratitude. That even in times of trial, we need to be grateful and be faithful that we will get through said trial. I also loved President Eyring's talk about hope and making covenants with God. Conference was awesome!

We had a lesson with a lady who's son is on a mission right now, and he has been talking to her about the Book of Mormon over Facebook. She knows a lot about the Gospel, and she says she can't get baptized, but hopefully we will help build her faith and her desire to get baptized will grow. She's the cutest, and her son wrote us on Facebook and he said, "she loves you two." It's so cute! I hope she gets baptized in the future! We did a lot of passing out of English class flyers this week, so we talked to a lot of people. We talk to a lot of people because they're so interested why we are two white girls speaking Japanese.

Also, the single adults in our ward had an okinomiyaki party this week, so we invited a lot of our friends to it and we had a church tour. It was way fun! We met one girl on the street an hour before the party and invited her, and she came! It was so fun!

Today, we went with some of our PIs to the Ghibli museum, which is just a museum about anime. I'm not into anime, but it was a way cool museum! We will have to go when you come to Japan! It was so fun!

Not much else happened this week, but the Japanese missionary that lived with us got transferred. We are so sad! But the new sister that lives with us in Machida is way cute, so we are happy.

I love you so much! I'll talk to you on Skype in like a month!! Have a good week! I love you!

Lexie
ダンジー姉妹

Hail, Cherry Blossoms and a Birthday‏

It was a really good week this week! M Shimai and I have been working really hard. I've come home exhausted every day, but it's the good kind of exhausted! Also, the two other sisters have been sick all week, so we have been trying to not get sick. Our throats started feeling a little scratchy a couple of days ago though, so we had the elders come give us a blessing. We've felt pretty good since then! The priesthood and priesthood blessings are awesome! Dad, I'm glad that you hold the priesthood and were always willing to give blessings. I know that's a huge strength to have in our home.

Weather wise, it was actually pretty cold this week, and we had hail, thunder and lightning yesterday, but there are cherry blossoms everywhere! The cherry blossom pedals are falling off the tree, so it looks like it's raining cherry blossoms. It's absolutely beautiful right now. We have a river by our apartment that's lined with cherry blossoms.

It was M Shimai's birthday this week too! She turned 22, so we had a big Taylor Swift party for her. We cooked her a big breakfast with pancakes and bacon and balloons, then we went and visited some people, talked to a lot of people because we passed English class flyers, watched the General Women's Broadcast (which was amazing, by the way), "heart attacked" our friend's house (where you put paper hearts on their doors with notes on them) because it was her birthday too, visited a nearby shrine, and came home where we had dinner and a cheesecake. It's not a birthday without a cake! She kept saying how it was the best birthday ever. Such a fun day!

A couple of other exciting things happened this week. We went with one of our PIs to a really beautiful park, and she told us all about different flowers. Grandma  would love Japan! Every Japanese person knows a lot about flowers! She actually was a little missionary herself because she told two people how we were missionaries and how they should come to church. We were like, "S San, that was great, but you should come to church!" It was really funny, and we had a lot of fun with her. We also met a girl this week that has been to our church in Okinawa, and we met her the first day she came to Machida! We've been able to meet with her twice, and she is way cool! We hope to meet with her more often! I've met so many great people here in Japan. I love getting to talk to people every day and meet so many different types of people. It's so fun! I've had so many fun experiences. We also had another Facebook training this week. It sounds like our whole mission should be using it by May! Exciting stuff!

I love you all! I hope you have a great week! I can't wait for conference next week! From what you've said so far, sounds like it's going to be great! As always! Talk to you next week! Thank you for all the support! I love you! 愛していますよ。

Love,

Lexie
ダンジー姉妹

 

  

Prayer List

Good morning, family! おはいよございます。

It has been such a good week here in Machida! The weather has been mostly nice here. It rained pretty hard yesterday, and we've had a lot of wind, but it's getting really warm. I love it! The cherry blossoms are almost in full blossom! There are so many cherry blossom trees here, it's beautiful! There are also a lot of other trees that I've never seen before blossoming. They have really pretty flowers on them. Japan is full of color right now! It's beautiful! Cherry blossoms (sakura) are such a big deal here in Japan, that they had a Sakura festival on Saturday which we went to! It was way fun! It was like a big carnival with blow ups (kind of like at Classic Skating), a stage with performers and comedians, lots of food and a lot of people. We stayed for a couple of hours and talked to a lot of people, so it was really fun!

Also, we got an idea this week of visiting members and having them pray for our investigators and PIs, so we tried it! We have visited a member everyday the past week and given them a little card with names on them, and we have already seen results! It's incredible, a true miracle! We are so excited! Since we just started out this week, we are excited to see what happens in the next couple of weeks! We have faith that big things will happen here in Machida. I'm so stoked!

We also met a lot of new people this week! We have made appointments with a lot of people, so we are going to be pretty busy these next couple of weeks. I'm seriously so excited! We had a little bit of a slow patch last transfer, but we are starting out this transfer strong and we are having the ward members get involved. It's going to be a good transfer I think!

On more of a downer note, I had some cash stolen from me this week. I left my bag in the kitchen during Sports Night, which we usually do, and the next day I checked my wallet and only my cash was gone (thank goodness), but another member who had their bag in the kitchen got their cash taken too. I lost about $30 from my personal fund and about $10 taken from my missionary fund. So it was kind of a bummer, but no big deal. I'm just glad nothing else was taken! We are definitely going to be more careful here during Sports Night in the future.

That's about all for this week! I love you so much! I miss you! Thank you so much for all the support! It means the world to me!

I love you!

Lexie
ダンジー姉妹

P.S. I hit my 5 months this week! Time is flying! See you all soon!

Transfer 2 Complete!

Hello family!

I'm no longer a greenie because I'm now on Transfer 3! I have some news (drum roll please) I'm staying in Machida for another transfer! M Shimai and I are still together, and the other two sisters are staying together too! We are so excited! We've had so much fun this last transfer, so we are excited for another transfer of fun! This last transfer went by so fast! It's crazy! I wonder if they'll all go this fast!

This week has been really fun! We started off by going to Tama Zoo as sisters for P-Day, and it was so fun! It beats Hogle Zoo by 100! I'll send some pictures! We will have to go to that zoo when you come to Japan!

You know how I told you about the suicide last week? Well the other sisters were the ones who witnessed it, so it really affected them. So in order for them to refocus, we decided it would be a good idea to spend some time learning about Japanese history, so we went to a shrine in Kamakura and prayed there! On the way there, we rode a train where we saw both Mt. Fuji up close and the ocean! It was incredible! The shrine was a super spiritual experience too! I learned that Japanese people are actually very religious, devoted people. Buddhism and Shinto religion are actually really close to our religion. They have a story of where Jesus visited Japan long ago, but they have a different name for him. It was cool because when I read in 3 Nephi, it says He goes and visits other tribes, so He went and visited Japan! Such a cool experience! I'll send pictures!

For P-Day today we went and played sports for a while, so that was fun. Also, it's officially spring here! The cherry blossoms have started blooming! It's beautiful, but I am excited for next week because they will be more full!

As for people, we haven't taught any lessons this week, but we have made some really good friends, and we have some appointments for this week, so we are really excited! I'm excited to be in Machida for another transfer and help these people more! We also had a concert the other day put on by two elders because they are really talented, and a lot of people came! Members, less actives and non members came, and it was a really awesome experience! Some people have interest in meeting the missionaries more now because of it! Miracles are happening here in Machida! I'm excited to see where things go from here! I loved being in Kichijoji, but I really, really love Machida! It's great here!

Also, funny thing for the week: I have random people that want to take my picture all the time! Even if I just talk to them for a minute, they want to take my picture haha. It's really funny! I think I had 4 people take my picture this week. I guess my face is just all over Tokyo now! It's really funny!

That's about all for this week! I love you, Mom, Dad, and Hailey, so much! Thank you for being a great family! Thank you for all the support! I miss you all, but now 5 months has flown by. I'll be home
before you know it!

Love you!
Lexie

ダンジー姉妹

 

 

Week 22: There's Always Hope

Hello, this is Dansie Shimai reporting live from warm, beautiful Machida, Japan! (Did you like my reporter intro?) we had one big rainstorm this week, but other than that, the weather has been
beautiful. It's really getting warm, so it feels like spring finally! And you know what that means? The cherry blossoms will be blooming here in the next week or two! I can't wait! It's going to be
beautiful! I'll send pics when they bloom!

We still don't have any investigators, but that's all right. We met a lady on the street Sunday who lives super close to the church and wants to come on Sunday! That was a huge miracle! She's a hoot. We are excited for her, and we hope things will work out!

On Sunday, M Shimai and I had the opportunity to go into Primary and bear our testimony about Jesus Christ. It was so cute! The kids were learning, "I Stand All Amazed", so we got to sing that with them. They kept saying how pretty we were. It was cute! Then later that evening, we went to a members house for dinner. It was super fun! The father in the home is a return missionary, so he gave us good advice about working hard but still taking time to smell the roses on your mission. Also, this family is on the cover of the Japanese Word of  Wisdom pamphlet, so I had them sign it haha. I know famous people!

Not a lot else happened this week. I went on splits in Tama again, which was fun. Today for P Day, we are going to the zoo, so I'm so excited! I'll take pictures!

One thing did happen yesterday. There was an accident at the train station that involved someone committing suicide. I didn't witness it, but I heard about it. It makes me so sad to think that some of these Japanese people have no hope. All they do is work all day. That's all they live for. The truly sad thing is that suicide is not uncommon in Japan. I think it actually happens quite often. It breaks my heart! There is always hope! Jesus Christ is that light and hope, and through believing in him, we can get through any hard time in our lives. This reminds me of my favorite scripture, D&C 121:7-8: "My son, peace be unto thy soul. Thine adversities and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment." Through Christ, we can find true happiness. I know this is true! I know this church is true! I love being a missionary and sharing the gospel with my brothers and sisters in  Japan! I have the privilege of bringing that light to them!

I love you all so much! I miss you! As always, thank you for your support! I'll talk to you next week!

Lexie
ダンジー姉妹