Monday, March 9, 2015

Awake my soul



The title of this email does come from the scripture in 2 Nephi 4:28 but it more applies to a funny story that happened yesterday during church. I was sitting next to a ward member and I was feeling a little sleepy so I pulled out some mints and offered her some. Lately as time has been creeping for me to come home I have also become immensely sleepier. So lately I've been buying super strong mints. I accidentally poured 2 mints into this members hand and just told her she could have both. She ate them, her eyes got wide, and then she whispered, "awake my soul!" in English. It took all of my strength not to burst out laughing in the middle of sacrament meeting but I did it. I love serving in this ward.

This week was a really rewarding week. We got to see a couple of our investigators progress a little more and found a couple of new investigators. I had a lesson in Portuguese this week! So we have these Brazilian investigators that I've told you all about before and lately we haven't been able to meet with them. But we met with them and Skyped with an office elder who is Brazilian and it went SO WELL. The mom had so many awesome things to say and so many appropriate wonderful insights, it was so easy! It didn't even feel like a lesson, but more like a discussion. When teaching people in Japan trying to get people to say what they feel and think in this country is like pulling teeth. It was incredibly refreshing to just have a really good gospel discussion in a language they could understand.

Then this past week one of our investigators accepted the invitation to be baptized and we had Family Home Evening with her and her family yesterday and it went awesome! Now the whole family became investigators and it is just super rewarding to see how the gospel brings families closer together.

I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve as a missionary in Japan! I love this place and I love these people.

I hope all of you have a fantastic and happy week!

Love your Japanese friend,
Aulick Shimai,
アウリック姉妹

Monday, February 23, 2015

Mambo #5



Guess who is NOT transferring......THIS SISTER. Nope they are keeping me in the beautiful good land of Akashi. This will be transfer #5 here. Hence the subject. But today we're going to refer to this transfer as mambo #5. The lovely and beautiful Bean Shimai will unfortunately transfer and so Weber Shimai and I will continue to be companions. 

This week was way good. The work is progressing rapidly here and at times it is hard to keep up. We had 2 less-actives and 2 non members come to church yesterday from the sisters side and it was extremely tiring to try to say hi to everyone and make sure every one was happy but luckily for us we have a spectacular ward who are great at fellowshipping. I feel so blessed to be able to serve here. 

We found a new investigator this week who is a 73 year old man. He is awesome and we are working on getting him baptized for this next transfer. When we first met with him it took all of our efforts to keep on track of the lesson. We gave him some Book of Mormon homework to read and when we met with him for the 2nd time he sat down, immediately opened the Book of Mormon and wanted to hear our opinions on the homework. We stayed on track the whole lesson and loves Jesus Christ. But then again, who doesn't love Jesus Christ? The Book of Mormon is a powerful tool to invite the Spirit.

The work is good. My life is happy and I love all of you! Have a happy week!

Love your Japanese friend,
Aulick Shimai
アウリック姉妹

Saturday, January 17, 2015

It's a girl!‏

Weeelllllll transfer calls have come. And I get to train! And I will also be put in a threesome! My other companion is a 3rd transfer and I have already heard super awesome things about her. I am so excited and so nervous. I know nothing about being in a threesome or about training but I am excited for this opportunity to learn and rely on the Lord more than ever before. 

In other news my beautiful, wonderful companion's release date has been moved up and she will be going home this week. She has been sick for her whole mission and has been fighting the good fight for as long as she can. She will considered as an legitimate returned missionary. It will be good because she will get to go home and get better. But it is also a little sad because she is seriously my best friend and I will miss her a ton. But she's got other work to do in America. All is well. :)

This week was a good one. We worked hard and saw the Lord consecrate our efforts on numerous occasions. We were able to contact and make appointments with a couple of potential investigators and was stopped on the street by a random couple so we could exchange phone numbers and come over to their house later. The Lord is truly hastening His work.

Something that I learned this week comes from a scripture that I read in the Book of Mormon this week. It's in Alma 37:34

"Teach them to never be weary of good works"

When I read this, the importance of doing good works struck me with great force. That often times we become weary of doing these good deeds is because we don't see the effects of them. So we become frustrated with the fact that we believe that we may have wasted our time. I promise that no good deed goes unseen by our loving Heavenly Father. And often times the effects of that our beyond our sight. That's one of the things that I believe builds faith. Faith that if we do good things then good things will happen. Because I know they do. I know this because I have been able to see time and time again instances where Heavenly Father has been preparing people to hear and receive the restored gospel of Jesus Christ before and even after we meet with these people. I know Heavenly Father will consecrate our best efforts and deeds if that is what we give to Him with our whole heart, might, mind and strength.

There truly is no greater work than this. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love your Japanese friend,
Aulick Shimai
アウリック姉妹