HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 

It was super nice to be able to skype you all for Christmas! <3 I'm sososososososososooo sorry that I forgot that I told you I'd be skyping you an hour earlier and also that I forgot my password. omatase shimashita!!! gomennasai! But it all worked out (:

This past week was way fun!!!! Christmas dendo is my absolute favorite thing in the whole world because I love teaching people about the meaning of Christmas because there are SO MANY PEOPLE here in Japan that have no idea that Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of Christ. I think one reason is because in the Japanese language Christ's name is not in the word Christmas, and also it's written in the foreign word alphabet of katakana so people overlook that completely. And also Christianity is just not very popular here yet. Christmas isn't really very much celebrated in Japan except that families sometimes get together and eat fried chicken and cake. And I'm not sure where that tradition came from, but Japanese people definitely get really confused when they learn that America does not eat KFC and strawberry cake on Christmas. I think maybe it's the association in their heads of America= fried chicken and sugary things and also America= Christianity. But as a matter of fact, Jesus Christ suffered for all of the sins, pains, afflictions, deaths, trials and heartaches of every single Japanese person too. And one day they will all know it. 

This past week we had a lot of fun activities with members and investigators revolving around Christmas-- like making gingerbread houses and caroling and attacking investigators' and our mission president's door with snowflakes. It was way fun. And! On Christmas day all the missionaries from the zones in Kobe, Fukuchiyama, Akashi and Kyoto got together and had a big Christmas party!! we ate costco hot dogs and cake and it was super American. Also we had a talent show and our Mission President spoke to us and we heard the testimonies of the missionaries leaving this transfer. It was awesome!!! And then after skyping you all the next day Daniels shimai got gradually sicker and sicker and ended up with a really bad cold this morning. But my companion is actually the most angelic person that I know and has taken super good care of me and was nursing me back to health this morning. I've been sleeping during most of meal times to try and rest up so that we can go out and work for the rest of the day which was working fairly well but today is pretty heavy and fortunately it's preparation day so I can just lay in my futon after emailing. There are quite a few missionaries right now with either the flu or the cold. Fortunately I don't have the flu and I can heal pretty quickly. Which I'll need to do because these next 3 weeks are going to be ridiculously busy. 

I love you all!!! <3 Have a wonderful New Years!! <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Love

Daniels shimai

Merry Christmas everyone!!!! <3

I hope your week is AMAZING and full of thoughts of the Savior and His birth, life, death, resurrection and atonement for us! It's way easy to remember the meaning of Christmas when you're on a mission and I think that's been why this whole month (and the past however many months I've been on a mission) has been so full of joy. 

This week has been SOO FUN but before I get into that, I will let you know the skype details (:

I will be able to skype you on your Christmas night which will be my day-after-Christmas afternoon. We worked it out so that we should be able to skype on my Friday at 12 noon which should be somewhere around your 8 pm on Christmas night but I can't remember the time difference. Let me know if that is too late! I'm suuuuuuuuuuuuper excited to talk to you!! It can only be for 40 minutes though, so choose carefully what you'll want to say. (; 

I don't have a ton of time, but this week was incredibly busy because we went on 2 splits and also traveled to my zone when I was in Toyooka (in a town called Fukuchiyama) to do some training during zone training meeting. It was SO MUCH FUN!!! 

Also it's snowing pretty good up there and I just wanted to hug all of the sisters forever and let them know how proud I am of them for working so diligently despite not being able to bike because of the ice and thick snow and for housing for hours in the cold during the week. I just wanted to talk with them forever about doing missionary work in the dead cold and wind and endless snow and help them know the trick to bring blood back to your toes and feet and also that they aren't alone because I know at least a little bit about how they feel, and lighten their load by just talking to them about it for awhile. 

And i think that's how Christ feels. He knows exactly how hard our trials are because He felt the exact same trial and pain that each of us goes through. He knows what to do to overcome those challenges because He overcame all of them. And I imagine it would be really difficult for Him to see us go through those challenges because sometimes we don't rely on the thing that could help us the most-- Him. But even those who do rely on Him feel pain and hurt and gain the experience they need as they face trails. And I can see Him wanting so badly to take those pains away from us immediately because He loves us and doesn't want us to suffer. I can't imagine how Heavenly Father felt as He experienced something similar when His Only Begotten Son was crucified-- even though He could've saved Him so easily. They have the power to take those challenges away. But fortunately They're wise and see our potential, and know what will become of these trails we do face. They know that the battle over your natural man to force yourself outside each day in the cold will build qualities you'll need in the future. But they don't leave us alone to fight our battles. And that is why the Gift of the Holy Ghost is so important. Because we can have God's help and guidance ALWAYS as long as we are keeping our part of our baptismal promise and keeping God's commandments. I think it gives Them hope that we can have this gift. It brought me hope to know that my sisters up in the north can walk with Jesus Christ each day as they are worthy of this gift and that He will help them carry their loads and strengthen them every day. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are amazing.

We had an awesome activity with the youth in the Kobe ward as well-- a ''missionary day'' where we studied with them and talked about missionary work and a bunch of awesome stuff. I loved spending so much time with the youth because they are AMAZINGGG.

I don't have time to talk about much else, but I hope you have an awesome Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talk to you soon! <3

Daniels shimai

JESS HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 I hope your birthday was fantastic despite taking the ACT again the day after. In japanese we say ''otsukaresama desu'' which kind of translates to ''you're a hard worker''. They say it when Americans would say ''you're awesome!'' which is definitely an interesting culture difference but also a conversation for a different day, BUT both ways of thinking have benefits. 

It's 10 days until CHRISTMAS!!! <3 

This week went wicked fast, but it was awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Last Monday the Director of the MTC came to pick up his daughter from her mission in the Nagoya, Japan mission, and he decided to visit the Kobe Japan mission and do new training with our mission president. He also sat in and participated in our mission leadership conference and it was SO AWESOME!!! He spoke a few times when I was in the MTC and he is an incredibly wise and inspired man. His daughter spent a day with us and we did missionary work with her and it was awesome!! We found these two incredibly prepared girls on the street on the way to a less active's house and if things work out we'll start teaching them this week and they'll start down the path of returning to their Heavenly Father. 

I've only got a little bit of time left but we also had the ward Christmas party and the ward brought a jillion friends and we were able to talk with all of them and it was so awesome to see the ward participating in missionary work! ESPECIALLY the primary children!!! They sang and did a play where they talked about the meaning of Christmas and talked all about Christ's life and when/why He was baptized and that He was resurrected and it was by far the most impressive play I've ever seen in my life. It was perfect!! Soooo many investigators came and the ward was incredible with fellowshipping them. I think these parties should happen every week. 

So that was about a hundredth part of my week and I wish I could write more but unfortunately I am out of time. But I love all of you anyway!!! Thank you so much for the package!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 and thank the Perras family for me too!!!!! I received a package from them today! I will definitely be sending a thank you card. You are all incredible! 

Have a wonderful Christmas week!!! Eat lots of cookies!! Serve lots of people!!! 

Love,

Daniels shimai

Konnichiwa!!! 

Aunt Carol- thank you so much for your Christmas package!!!!!!! <3 I pinned the angel you made on the top of the Christmas calender. <3 I love you!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSICA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (: YOU'RE TURNING 18!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you were a boy, you could serve a mission!!!!!!!!!!!!! haha I promise you I'm going to send you a letter in the mail today but I am so sorry because it won't get there in time. Last Monday we were running around trying to move two sisters out of the apartment.

haha which will be my and Hunt shimai's preparation day today-- cleaning out the room of things that collect when the past 4 out of 6 missionaries that are living there go home. But Hunt shimai and I found fake mustaches this morning :{ )  I'll be sure to send that picture (: 

MY NEW COMPANION IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know how to accurately describe how incredible she is but she is super loving and humble and hard working and has the most rock-solid foundation testimony of the Savior ever and I love dendoing with her. And it's so cool because she's so focused and we basically just talk about the Savior and how amazing He is and how He's changed us so far on our missions and how He's changed the people we meet and how He's healed our investigators and missionaries. I'm so excited to work with her-- I have sooooooo much to learn from her example. She is the person whose influence makes you decide to be better. And I am so lucky to work with her. 

We've already seen so many tender mercies of the Lord and seen Him softening the hearts here. We are going to be working a lot more with Ooshima san, our 87 year old, who has so much gratitude because God has helped her in the past with her health and bringing her happiness. But she's scared of baptism for a lot of different reasons, but we're trying to figure out the root of her fear. We visited her yesterday and had one of the most love-filled lessons I've ever participated in. Heavenly Father's love for her was so strong and it was tangible and we were testifying of it. And she told us that she promised her husband that she'd take care of his gravestone after he died and she feels loyal to that part of her buddhist culture BUT the thing is is that you can still belong to a culture and also follow Jesus Christ. It reminded me of the story of the guy in Meet the Mormons who is from India who still touches his father's feet to his forehead to show him respect-- while also still knowing who he worships and following one of God's commandments to honor his parents. By the way- 

(it also killed my heart to watch the segment on the Navy football team but it's okay because I'll watch football someday. But don't worry- I wasn't distracted!! Because Jesus Christ brings me a lot more joy than college football. And you know I love college football.) (also I am super proud of Ohio State and for Cardell Jones and I wear my Ohio State sweatpants to bed each night.) 

The Christmas devotional sounded amazing! And so did the ward Christmas party! We have our party this Saturday! (: (: (: I'll let you know how it goes! I'll also let you know about Skype calls for Christmas next week after we figure out schedules with the elders. It'll be 5 Americans to determine the schedule with (: 

I love you all! I know that as we accept the gospel of Jesus Christ-- especially enduring to the end-- we can have happiness and hope and light and peace. We can have help from God-- the same God that created worlds and universes and life and light. You can always trust Him. 

Love,

Daniels shimai

p.s. I GOT TO TALK TO GRUNDVIG SHIMAI AT TRANSFER POINT! <3 oh my heck I love her

I am SO old holy cow-- today I become a tenth transfer missionary. Today is also our last day with Mason shimai as she is finishing her mission tomorrow, and as a super unexpected surprise-- Takahashi shimai is transferring to the Fushimi sister training leader area and I am getting a new companion named Hunt shimai. It'll be her last transfer and I'm sending her home. I'm still in shock about everything that is happening in my life. 1. Mason shimai is an angel sent from heaven and has taught me a jillion things about charity and communication and trusting and relying on the Lord and she won't be here anymore which will rip out my heart. 2. Takahashi shimai is leaving too which also kills my heart because I love her and our relationship has been better than it ever has this past week. 3. Takahashi shimai is going to my very first area <3 <3 <3 4. I'll become the area senpai which means I need to pay more attention to the streets haha. oh my heck my heart is feeling lots of crazy emotions and I'm so excited but also in shock and 5. ALSO OH MY HECK DO YOU  REMEMBER IMADE SAN FROM WAKAYAMA?!?!?!?!?!?!? SHE IS GETTING BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 Broadhead shimai sent me an email and my heart is dancing and crying and God is incredible. AND her son is getting baptized too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The elders have been teaching him and there was a problem about him being the eldest son in japanese culture and not taking care of their butsudan and praying over their ancestors as a buddhist but God can soften hearts and He did. 

I love my life. 

6. also my old canadian district leader when I was in Wakayama is becoming my new zone leader!!!!! (: He rocks!!!

This week was really amazing and we met with a lot of really amazing people and picked up quite a few of Mason shimai's investigators which was awesome. We're teaching another 87 year-old lady (; YESSSSS!!!!! She's a gem and is totally going to get baptized. 

One thing that was super cool was that we had a small activity that Mason shimai had been planning for awhile where it was kind of like a seminar and we taught really simply the 3 questions of the soul: 1. where did I come from? 2. why are we here on earth? 3. what happens after we die? and we made and passed out a jillion fliers. There weren't a ton of people but a few people that we contacted on the street came and one was this awesome guy from Iran who is super prepared and ready to hear the gospel. HE ROCKS!!! 

I love you all!! Sorry this email is so short! Thanks for the pictures of thanksgiving!!! I thought of all of you-- especially Aunt Tammy because at eikaiwa we had a mini thanksgiving party and I brought a dessert of her special whipped cream/snicker/apple salad. Aunt Tammy-- everyone loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahah it was so awesome! I wish you could've been there!!!! I've never seen japanese people enjoy dessert so much. Thanks for your recipe!!! 

Have a wonder DECEMBER! Build lots of snowmen for me!!! It was raining this morning but is still like 40-some degrees. I don't mind it (;

Love,

Daniels shimai

Konnichiwa! 

I WENT TO TOYOOKA THIS WEEK! It was the best day of my whole entire life and it was just amazing and I can't properly explain to you how amazing it was but I'm going to try. 

So also before I start we got Christmas calls information! And it turns out that this year WE CAN SKYPE!!!!!!! haha but it's also just 40 minutes.  I'm excited to see you!!!!!!!!!!!! (: And we can prepare for the limited amount of time by writing Daniels shimai letters and telling her most of the thoughts of your heart. (; hahahha just kidding, I know you're busy and I just got some letters from you, except Mitchell, so I'm almost satisfied. (;　But I still love all of you anyway (:

So Toyooka! it was incredible and I got to exchange with this amazing sister named Sister Porter and it was seriously the best and it was way fun being with her because she is an amazing teacher and is also super fun and we laughed the entire day which was super necessary because we had a lot of bike problems. But! The Lord helped us get to all of our appointments before we had bike failures so that was a nice blessing. Being back in Toyooka was soooooooo natsukashii-- the most sentimental thing ever. And it's just starting to become cold there and I loved it. We ran around in the morning and visited some PI's and less actives and taught and it was super fun. AND THEN WE VISITED SATAKE SHIMAI! ahahahhah she's turning 90 soon and the sisters wanted to give her a triple combination Book of Mormon so we had the opportunity to visit her and my heart was so happy and when she saw us at the door she had her cute little Yoda smile on her face and told me I looked really familiar but wasn't sure why and we connected that I made the picture books and she got really excited and we caught up and shared a scripture with her and talked about how she's changed since she was baptized. And she's gotten healthier. And she tried to give us 40 dollars because we're her grandchildren but we gave it to her nephew to give back to her. She's still stubborn haha. And then after we left her house my skirt got caught in my bike brakes and we ended up having to cut off my skirt but it was okay because during dinner we made bracelets with it and it was hilarious. And then Porter shimai got a punctured tire going to the church for seminary that night so like the whole branch came to help her and I got to have a fun reunion with them and it was like heaven. 

Otherwise Kobe is amazing and I love my companions and this is Mason shimai's last week so it'll be super sad and busy and also we are throwing an activity this saturday and going on splits twice and it'll be kinda crazy but whenever you lean on the Savior He always provides a way for things to work out. 

I love you all!!! Eliza, I'm writing you a letter today!! thank you for your email! (:

Michigan looks wicked cold! hahah but I'm jealous of your snow. kind of (: 

Have an incredible thanksgiving and MOM- have a wonderful birthday!! I'm sending your birthday card today!! 

Love,

Daniels shimai

Hello!!!!!

This week was really crazy and also very sad but we also saw miracles and met a lot of really cool people. We lived in a 4 person apartment with 2 other sister missionaries, but one of them went home this past week because of some health issues and it was super super heart-breaking to see her go. She was ready to go home and we think she'll get a lot better once she's not on missionary life schedule anymore. But! her companion became my and Takahashi shimai's companion and it's been super fun with her around. She is truly an angel sent from heaven and is soo happy and upbeat and kind. I love her with all my heart. I have so much to learn from her about patience and charity. Unfortunately she is going home at the end of this transfer so she really only has 2 full weeks with us but I'm definitely going to learn as much as I can from her. She'll be going on splits with us and I'm super excited for it!!!!! (: Also, this week on Thursday we'll be on splits with TOYOOKA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (: finalllly!!!!!! I'm so stoked!

I don't have much time, but I'm going to put up some pictures for you because I've forgotten every other week.

the one at the top was from Halloween! I was anpanman! which is a character whose head is delicious bread filled with sweet beans! it's incredibly delicious. and we also got fake eyelashes(:

and this picture is with the family I visited who used to live in Toyooka when I served there. I love them with all my heart.

Sorry this email is so short!!! next week I promise I'll write more. Have an amazing week!! God lives!!! His Son is our Savior!

Love,

Daniels shimai

p.s. please send me a picture of the snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (:

I am so sorry--- I definitely didn't realize how much time I was taking reading emails, but the good news is that my friends and family are genki (healthy) and also I read some really amazing things about Wakayama's progress and it was the best thing of my whole life and my heart is so happy to hear that Imade san and a lot of my loved ones are doing well and accepting God in their lives. 

This week was super busy with MLC (mission leader conference) and also with companion exchanges and zone training meeting and lots of missionary work and lessons and pondering and studying the Book of Mormon in between. Takahashi shimai and I also got to present training at zone training meeting and it was way fun. Things are well in Kobe. Also, President Welch challenged the mission to read the Book of Mormon from beginning to end by the end of February and to mark the mentions of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, and also their characteristics and the things they say. I am sooooooo excited about this challenge, because I know it'll help the sisters in our areas. I know that through reading the Book of Mormon we can grow closer to God than we can by reading any other book. I've felt that every day that I've been here in Japan. And it's helped me more than I can even explain.

Thank you family so much for the package!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 I loved it!! thank you for all the letters and love inside. I'm so sorry to hear about Brother Roll-- please send his family my love.

I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a wonderful week!!!

love,

Daniels shimai

Happy Halloween!!!!!! (:

I can't even describe how awesome and full of tender mercies this week was. But I will start by apologizing for not bringing my camera cord. And I know I promised I'd bring it next week, but I actually promise I'll bring it the next next week! (:

I've never been so exhausted in my entire life but I love being here in Kobe. The entire area is one big slope that starts at the beach and really quickly hits the mountains and all of the roads in between are slanted upwards toward the mountains. It's way pretty!!! But also a super good work out. But I've been spoiled my entire mission in miles of flat rice fields. BUT KOBE IS AWESOME! 

I had my first exchange with a sister this past week and it was by far one of the top 5 experiences of my mission. The area I went to was super country-side and I missed it so much <3 But fun fact: when I was serving in Toyooka there was a really awesome family of 5 (all of the primary and 1/3 of the Young womens) who moved to the area that I went to for exchanges. (It's called Nishiwaki.) And I had heard from one of the assistants to the president who I worked with in Toyooka that the 15 year old girl had gone less-active because she didn't have any friends at church and joined club activities that were on Sunday rather than going to church. SO during the exchange I asked my temporary companion about them and she said they lived pretty close to the church so we went and visited them at night time before dinner. It had been like 10 months since I'd seen them, but we were really close and they freaked out when they opened the door. Unfortunately the mom was still at work, but the dad and the 3 kids were there. We talked to the dad for awhile because the kids went back to watching t.v. and it was awesome to just talk to him because I could finally. My japanese wasn't super good my second and third transfer when we were with them haha. So we asked to take a picture with the whole family in order to lure the kids out of the room so we could share a message or testimony with them. The girl and I talked for awhile and caught up on life and she definitely looked empty-- completely different. After we talked for a while I asked to share a message with them. 

We shared a really simple but powerful message about the power of prayer and how through prayer we can feel God's perfect love for us and know that He exists. And the girl just started crying and I just hugged her and held her for a really long time-- I have no idea for how long. But the Spirit was there and you could feel God's love for her, despite her not coming to church. Heavenly Father loves us perfectly, not because of who we are or who we aren't, but because of who He is. And I whispered in her ear that God loves her and that He will always listen. And she knows. To end we sang her favorite hymn and prayed over them. It was so special and I don't know how to accurately describe to you the power of God's love we felt, but it was definitely there and it was strong and undeniable. Their dad walked us over to our bikes and told us about how he didn't know what to do because he didn't want her to hate church, but he knew how important it was for her to take the sacrament. She'll be okay-- he and his wife are incredible examples and that's all they can be. That's most important. The girl said she wants to be a missionary. 

I don't have any more time but this week was awesome and God is merciful and loves us with a love that is more comforting than the warmth of the sun.

I love you all!!! I also really love the kids' costumes!! hahaha noo!! I did not skip school on senior skip day! I definitely went. But all of my classes were empty so I did take a lunch break to a near-by restaurant with my friends. But I definitely went to school. 

have an awesome week!!! enjoy the snow!!!! <3

love,

Daniels shimai

This week has been the most emotional week of my life and also just super busy and awesome and fun. But we share 2 computers between 6 missionaries so I don't know how much detail I'll be able to go into. 

So saying goodbye to Wakayama was the most devastating thing I've ever done in my whole life. I cried every day. But only because I loved them more than anything else. They were my whole life for 6 months. It actually tore out my heart talking to Imade san and Kana san and Tateishi shimai because they told me changes they'd seen in their own lives-- whether it was coming back to church and feeling God's love again, or being open to hearing about God and being healed from some really deep food disorders or feeling God's love for the first time, or feeling a beam of light in a life that's been depressed for years. God heals lives and families. He strengthens feeble knees. This I know. 

Now I'm in Kobe with Takahashi shimai who is AMAZING. I can't describe how awesome she is. She's an awesome teacher and also is so good at recognizing points in the day where we can improve and use our time more wisely or be more proactive. She's super hard-working and she loves dendo. (missionary work). We live in an apartment with another set of sisters and the storage space is maybe enough for 2 people, but it's a group of 4 who have all been on missions for over a year and thus have collected lots of little japanese charms and old skirts and kimonos and anpan man stuffed-animals (secretly the best gift I've ever received) and also the apartment is full of ancient things from years of past sisters so it's a little cramped. But we are living in Japan. The other two sisters are really sweet and also incredible singers. One is currently really sick so she's living here close to the mission office so she can figure things out with the mission doctor. 

So we have 7 sets of sister missionaries that we kinda watch over and we will go on companion exchanges with each companionship by the end of this transfer. Which means loooooads of travelling. This week Wednesday we'll be going up to my old Fukuchiyama zone and going on splits with two hawaiian sisters. It looks like I'll be splitting with the young 4th transfer missionary and staying up in their area and training her there. We asked them to send us goals that they'd each like to work on during the exchange and so last night before I fell asleep and also this morning for a little bit I was pondering and studying how to help the sister I'll be with. We also called their zone and district leaders and asked for anything that they would want us to focus on with them. I'm a little bit nervous to go on my first kokan but it'll be way fun I think.  (: 

Last Saturday we had a ward halloween party here in the Kobe ward (which is also full of english speaking americans and philipinos) and it was way fun. I dressed up as anpan man who is a Japanese cartoon probably equivalent to the popularity of spongebob? But I carried around the stuffed animal Kana san's son gave me and dressed up like him and bought some fun face paint. Also my companion and I thought it would be hilarious to wear fake eyelashes but unfortunately I forgot my camera but I'll definitely send those in next week. It was way fun!!!!!!! And my costume was probably the best costume I've ever devised in my whole entire life. 

I have to go but I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 God lives and supports and loves us! 

Love,

Daniels shimai

p.s. thank you for the pictures of the trees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.p.s. THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE CITY

Ai suru mina san,

I felt like it was coming, and everyone called it, but today we got transfer calls and they're tearing me away from Wakayama. </3 Even though it was kind of expected, it was still the saddest news of my life. These people are my family. This is my home. I've seen everyone come, and some go, and millions of miracles in between. Wakayama has really been my furnace of affliction and I don't think I've ever grown so much in my entire life, but also a personally sacred place where I've seen the hand of God and walked with Him. I will come back one day. 

I also got a call from the Mission President this morning and he called me as a Sister Training Leader in the heart of the mission-- Kobe. I'm not entirely sure what that entails either, but I know that I'll have 7 companionships of sisters (including the ones working in TOYOOKA!!!!!) whom I'll be praying over and serving and going on exchanges with and training and loving. We work closely with the mission president and his wife, and we are the way he reaches out to the sisters of the mission. And we'll have a meeting each month with Kaicho (president) and all of the zone leaders and we'll plan how to help the mission move forward. It'll be way weird being in one of the biggest cities in all of Japan after serving in rice fields for my whole mission, but I know the Lord called me there for a reason, and I'm excited to find out what it is! And He has my back. 

My new companion is Japanese. Her name is Takahashi shimai which should mean ''tall bridge'' if my kanji senses tingle correctly. I'm excited to have a nihonjin again and to have the opportunity to serve and work with many sisters in the mission, but also you should know I'm slightly terrified. But mostly just heart-broken to leave Wakayama. It'll be really difficult but the Lord really can do anything. And that'll be evident as He helps me fill my calling and become the missionary and disciple He wants me to be. I'm going to need a lot of help though because I feel like I definitely cannot do this. And I can't by relying just on myself. Which is zen zen daijobu (all okay) because the Lord promises us that as we rely on Him, He will ease our burdens and sustain us and lift us and give us the strength that we need and don't have enough of. And that is one of the reasons why I love Him. 

I know Broadhead shimai will take good care of Wakayama for me. It'll be her last transfer. The sister coming in my place is Derksen shimai who I love with all my heart and I know that everyone will love super quickly. 

Really quickly- some cool things that happened this week: we had some really awesome lessons, especially with a mother and daughter less-active yesterday and the Spirit was super powerful and they also fed us delicious grapes that were the size of golf balls. And they were green. We also had interviews with the Mission President and there are few men in this world who have as much love as that man does for missionaries and the Lord. We found lots of potential investigators and a less- active who I've been searching for for the past 4 transfers appeared at church yesterday so that was a miracle. And she's way cute. 

I love you all!! It's good to hear that the leaves look amazing in Michigan. Please send me pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3 <3 Maple trees don't exist in Japan. Especially in the city.

Heavenly Father lives and loves us. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and the Son of God. They have called a prophet to lead us today!!! And Christ will guide the prophet to help us safely return home to our Heavenly Father. 

Love,

Daniels shimai

p.s. this first one is a picture of us and K san, whose 4 year old son asked her to take him to the flower shop to buy us flowers. <3 MY HEART

#2 is a less active and her son (who just turned 8 and we are teaching). He does japanese-folk story-telling called rakkugo. Which means he sits in seza (sits in a kneeling position) while acting out an old japanese folk tale and wearing a kimono. This is japan!!!!

GENERAL CONFERENCE WAS SO AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not sure which talk was my favorite but I know each one was inspired of God because little gems of wisdom from God was woven into those messages to help me understand what I need to make sure my investigators understand, and also what I need to do to rely more on my Savior. IT WAS AWESOME!! The Spirit also taught me quite a few things I needed to hear and I just feel so happy and just this outpouring of love from Heavenly Father. Life is so good!!!!!!!!! 

I also especially loved the talks given by the members of the 70. It was incredible to hear them speak in their native tongues and I feel like they had a lot more confidence as they spoke and the Spirit was extra strong. I feel for them. But even when they had to speak in english before, the message was just as true. It was just really cool. It was super interesting and awesome how so many of the talks focused on gaining your own personal testimony of God and of the Book of Mormon and of the validity of the prophets through asking God yourself. And then continuing to strengthen our testimonies after they have been built. IT WAS SO GOOD! 

this week we also did quite a bit of service including HARVESTING RICE!!!!!!!!!!! THE DAY FINALLY CAME!!! We biked far, far away to our Ward Mission Leader's house with the elders and he had a barbeque for us, we ate the same disgusting shell dead gross things as last time because he thought our reactions were hilarious, and we went to work, harvesting rice fields half-destroyed by last week's typhoon. I learned lots of analogies and I will definitely be including them in future family home evenings. (; harvesting rice is my favorite thing to do ever. mostly because we got to use the sickles to their full potential and there was just something super eternally rewarding to harvesting rice and reciting Doctrine and Covenants 4 as you do it. 

There were lots of other really cool things that happened in this little miracle-city, but I also don't have much time, BUT I will end with a quote from Conference. 

''Knowing truth will not change your world unless you ACT.''-- Elder Eduardo Gavarret

I love you all!!!!!!!! The Mormon movie sounds super awesome!!! 

arigatooooo! 

Daniels shimai

p.s. from the pictures- the picture of the food on the grill depicts the one gross food I mentioned. They are the super beautiful-looking shells. But the insides is what I'm holding in the next picture. And it tastes bad. Super bad. 

konnichiwa!!!!!

The suspension is killing meeee-- waiting an extra week for conference, here in Japan. But!! It'll be here this Saturday and I'm stoked!!! Thank you for all of the notes! 

I don't have any time to send a big email, but I hope you are all doing really well!! Thank you for your emails and updates. Our progressing investigators are doing suuuuper well and it's amazing to see how in-tune they are with the spirit, and they recognize the light of the gospel. As for the lady that came to church last week and asked to be baptized: it was totally a miracle and faith building, but this week it proved to be even more faith building. We had a super powerful lesson with her and the whole time she was so amazed at the spirit that she was feeling. She told us how happy she felt and how she felt like her heart was being healed, and she felt like it was right and she wanted to receive eternal life and baptism. We scheduled our next appointment and planned to meet at the church with a ward member who connected with her at church and she was excited. 

Two days later we are waiting for her to come to the appointment and she was late so we called. She picked up, thanked us for coming over last week, said she didn't want baptism or want to meet anymore and she just sounded really dark. I testified about how important this message is and how it will bless her life more than anything else, and asked if we could talk again before she gave up. She said we could, and hung up. We felt really inspired during planning to visit her on Sunday, and when we did, we met her just in time, before she left for a walk. She let us in, and we asked some inspired questions and really just testified and figured out her concerns. She was really open and told us she felt like she couldn't be as good as the members because she wasn't smart or good with people. Again, the Spirit was there super strong and she described those same feelings of the Spirit. We explained that those feelings were given her from God, and that when she feels that way, she can know that what is being said is true. She was all for it, and asked us to teach her prayer next time we met. Then, 10 minutes after arriving home, we got another call from her, and she sounded really dark again, and told us she didn't want to meet. I asked her about those feelings she felt and she denied them. It was really sad. 

I think Heavenly Father was giving her many opportunities to accept Him and accept His Son. But we also have the choice. Our lives will continue, and we can continue to rough it on our own, or to be lead and strengthened and carried by God. I have faith that God has a plan for us. I have faith that the Savior brings hope. I have faith in the Son of God and know that He will work miracles through us as we continue to believe that He can. I can't imagine how hurt He is when we reject Him because He knows perfectly our potential and how happy we can be because of Him, and suffered the same things we're suffering. He loves us perfectly and knows perfectly what eternal life will be like because He is resurrected and is there-- dwelling on the right hand of God. 

I'm here serving Him because I love Him. And I know that if we let Him, He will change us. 

I love you all! have a wonderful week!!!!!!!!!! remind me next week to tell you about the athletic meet at school we went to with our investigators. IT WAS AWESOME!

love,

Daniels shimai

Konnichiwa!!!! 

Thank you for all of the wonderful emails!!! It's been an amazing week!!! I saw one of the biggest miracles of my entire life yesterday. I'ma tell you it before anything else because MIRACLES DO HAPPEN IN JAPAN!! 

Okay. So. Broadhead shimai and I were welcoming people as they arrived at church yesterday, when all of a sudden a humble, quiet looking woman entered the building. We both kinda shot/leaped/galloped/flew over to her and it might have been too much happiness for a second because she looked a half bit terrified so we did one of those things where you stop flying in the middle of the air and try to calm down but you're way too excited to see someone you've never met who wandered into the church. I pray for these people. But I look back and imagine myself as a japanese woman and seeing two beaming american girls approaching me and I'd probably also be terrified. But we covered it up with some compliments and friendly conversation and tried to figure out where she came from. 

This lady met with missionaries 3 years ago maybe two times. One of them (named Dani-- whose name strikingly resembles my own. Heavenly Father is the best) gave her the address of the church. Three years later something nudged her to come. SO we escorted her to Relief Society where half of the room introduced themselves to her and welcomed her. And then the teacher started her lesson with each person standing up and introducing themselves by saying her name, when she became a member of the church, and why she likes this church. It was a little intense with a few of the members and maybe it's better to avoid problems with the word of wisdom when you talk to people that aren't even investigators yet, but overall it was super amazing to hear 1. a quick conversion story of every member (it's the coolest thing ever when the church is sooooooooooooo young and everyone is a convert) 2. the testimonies and witnesses of 20 people. And then the class was all about the Atonement and a review of Elder Bednar's last conference talk about burdens giving us traction to rely on the Savior.

So then! She went to gospel principles where we learned PRAYER! And a returned missionary of about 3 months taught and it was amazing and each of us 4 missionaries were asked to share our testimony/experience on prayer and it was way powerful. And this lady is soooooo amazing and has so much desire to learn. And then we had sacrament meeting which wasn't super focused on Christ BUT there's nothing like taking the sacrament (except for baptism) but it's okay. The Spirit was there and she had all the intent of the world. I was actually with some other investigators that came, but Broadhead shimai was sitting with this visitor from heaven the whole time. She asked her if she had any questions. And she asked, 'does this church have senrei?' (which is another word for baptism in other denominations here in Japan.) And Broadhead shimai explained to her simply what baptism was. And our friend replies, 'So if I'm baptized I can become a better person?' and since that is one of the many benefits of baptism, Broadhead shimai says 'yes'. And our friend says 'When can I be baptized?' And Broadhead shimai says (since they have to come to church 3 times before they are baptized) 'we'll help you prepare for baptism and you'll need to come to church a few times before you are baptized, but how about October 26th?' And our dearly beloved friend says 'yes' and writes it in her planner. And miracles do not cease until faith ceases. But faith will not cease here in the Japan, Kobe mission. And God is wonderful. And His Son is the Savior of the world. And because of His sacrifice for us, bad men can become good; good men can become better; and we also can live again after we die AND live in the presence of God and with our families FOREVER. And this is my life-- bringing this knowledge to people. 

But lots of other cool things happened this week including our SUPER ROCKING INTERNATIONAL PARTY!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was crazy successful and I think if more people came the room would've exploded. SOoooooo many students from our english class came and also lots of less actives came and also we had investigators come and also some street contacts! AND a member invited and brought a family whose children are half congan, half japanese. and a young woman brought her friend. and it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fun. The first 20 minutes was just time spent looking at the booths. Broadhead shimai and I were obviously America, one of our zone leaders and our district leader's companion had a super decked-out Brazilian booth, our Bishop's wife and mother-in-law brought many really cool hand-woven crafts for their Philippine booth, and our canadian district leader shared half of a table with the other zone leader who is actually from Sendai, Japan, but pretended like Sendai was its own country. I will definitely send loads of pictures. And then for like 15 minute time crunches we had Maeno choro do some crazy soccer juggling tricks and then taught a big group of kids, and a Philippino dance was performed and then whoever wanted to join was able to. hahaha Bishop's wife tore me away from putting a Justin Bieber temporary tattoo on a little boy's cheek and made me dance on the stage with her. Awkward thing was that I hadn't learned the dance because I was teaching the culture of america. But it was way fun!! Also we brought 10 people up on stage and played chubby bunny. I think our Canadian district leader won with 15 giant marshmellows? Also Sendai was represented by our Zone leader doing magic fushigi ball things. You've probably seen the ''Fushigi ball'' commercial in America? The glass ball floats and is full of magic? I used to judge it super hard and then I saw it in real life and it was honestly super cool. AND! to end the night, the priesthood holders performed the new zealand cultural hakka. Mackenzie shimai taught them the famous one that the All Blacks rugby team performs. it was super awesome. And I think I died. 

Okay-- one last super cool thing. I told you this week was awesome!! Elder Ringwood of the Quorum of the 70 came to our mission and we met with him on Thursday. We all shook his hand to start the meeting, and then throughout his address to us, he inserted individual names. It was way impressive. His remarks were amazing and I learned so much. One thing I wanted to share was one thing he said about 2 witnesses. Missionary work is established by 2 witnesses. When there are 2 witnesses, then people can be astonished. (see the peoples' response after both Alma and Amulek had called them to repentance). Even more important than two witnesses in the mission field are the two witnesses at home-- our parents. Mothers and Fathers are the two witnesses to their children as they teach them that Jesus is the Christ. In the home tomorrow is created; strong testimonies are forged; and broken hearts are healed. Families, under the direction of both the mother and the father, prepare for eternity. 

I love you allllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so cool that Brady, Sam, Talmadge and Taylor are all returning from their missions. WHATTT. Tell them congratulations and hello for me! Shout-out to Broadhead family!!! I'm impressed that you send your daughter hand-written letters every week. ***Daniels family**********

hahah just kidding, I still love you, family. WITH ALL MY HEART.

Fortify yourselves against Satan please!! Say your prayers, read the scriptures every day! Take the sacrament worthily each week!! Have family home evening each week!!! I love you!!!!!

Love,

Danieruzu shimai

I have officially been a missionary for one year which means...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (: HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYDNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (: I hope you had a great day!!!! The Ohio State pictures were awesome but it looks super cold and I'm a tiny bit jealous because autumn is my favorite in Michigan. It's still t-shirt weather here but there was one day last week that it was cool enough to wear a jacket and it was overcast and I felt like I was in Grand Rapids. It still smells like rice here which was kind of surprising because I was expecting the smell of corn and apples. Nevertheless, conference is coming soon!!!!!! 

I didn't celebrate my year mark at all, mostly because there is nothing to celebrate about being two-thirds done with your mission. We had a good lesson with Imade san though which was worth celebrating. I ate some yogurt for dinner and a hole rubbed through my shoe's sole? hahahha but seriously I am so sad because once I am done with this transfer I will have only 4 left. But it's okay because I will be a forever missionary.

There are zero things better in this life than bringing hope to those who have none. I bet that thought carried Jesus Christ through so many of the pains He suffered for us. I believe He saw our faces and saw us at our lowest, and saw what we could become as heirs to the Kingdom of God and the never-ending, perfect joy we could receive. And knowing that He was the only one who could bring us that much happiness and hope made the sacrifices that He did. I'm so grateful for Him and I love Him with all my heart. 

I'm discovering a lot of weaknesses that I have and also how much I love these people here. I want my companion to love these people as much as I do and to take good care of them when I leave. She is a good missionary and we've been able to adapt to teach well as a companionship together. She has a strong testimony and is really independent. I have also grown pretty independent these past couple transfers and I'm learning to be a lot better of a companion now with her and giving her the chance to speak more. She's pretty quiet around japanese people but she wants to be more involved.

We've been crazy busy planning and preparing for the international party tomorrow!! I have zero things from america. haha I think I'm bringing my flip-flops and justin bieber tattoos. hahah ahh. I'm so grateful Grundvig shimai gave those to me in the MTC (:

I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! have a great week!!! enjoy the leaves changing for me!!!!!!!!!!!!

love,

Daniels shimai

Konnichiwa! Last Monday Mackenzie shimai and I definitely thought we would be together for another transfer in Wakayama, but Tuesday evening we got a call from the assistants to the president of the mission saying that Mackenzie shimai would need to pack super quickly so that she can transfer to Takatsuki in Osaka on Thursday morning. It was super sad-- we were way excited to be together for another transfer; she's become one of my favorite people in the whole wide world. It was a really big shock to us and also all of our investigators and less actives that also thought we were staying, but all things are done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things and she is saving souls in Osaka now. And I miss her. But I'll see her at the taikai next week! President Ringwood is coming to our mission!!

My new companion is named Sister Broadhead, which is extremely difficult for japanese people to say. I think it's my favorite thing of my life when they try and pray for her and they mumble under their breath and say a couple things like Brawnheaddo and burokkoheaddo and then give up and say ''headdo'' shimai. She's very patient with them.  She is a 10th transfer missionary but will be going home after her 11th transfer but I really admire her because she isn't getting trunky but really wants to work hard these last 2 transfers and finish strong on her mission. She is from Lehi, Utah and is very friendly. She was actually in my district for a transfer when I was up in Toyooka so we knew each other a little bit before she came. It's way different going from training to having a 10th transfer companion and there are lots of things that I really like and also that I really miss. But we're going to continue to see miracles. 

Tateishi shimai is continuing to progress and we talked to Bishop this past week and he was on the same brain wave as us and had an interview with her. She will be making 2 small changes and then she is going to be temple worthy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She came up to us after and was so excited and told us that she was preparing to go to the temple with Bishop and my heart exploded. I love her from the tips of my toes. She is doing so well!!!!!!!! 

We've been working steadily with a super cute 13 year old less active, the daughter of a recently-returned active mother in our ward. Her name is Megu chan, so naturally, we're best friends. She got baptized last year and doesn't understand a lot of the doctrine and doesn't come to church because she is exhausted from school and wants to sleep. We were also doing a dance activity with her because she does ballet but because we are in shortage of professional ballerina, we started drawing out scriptures kinda like what we used to do in seminary. She got super into it and is really learning a lot about faith from Alma 32 and asked us lots of questions about eternal life which are my absolute favorite questions to answer. 

Also! You always hear stories here of missionaries housing and finding perfectly prepared golden Filipinos who know about God and believe in Him and love Him with all their heart. Well. The Lord inspires His missionaries to find these people and sends them to less-actives' homes where they no longer live. So then the missionaries house the floor until someone is there and they ask if they know the neighbor/less-active. I'm going to go back into 1st person: so we knock on this door and it opens a crack and a FILIPINO WOMAN asks us to wait a minute and closes the door. 20 minutes later she opens the door again and invites us inside and is the nicest lady you've ever met and she asked us if we spoke english and gave us coke and we sat down and she told us her entire life story from when she was 15 until today as a 47 year old woman. She is incredible and has the strooooongest testimony of prayer ever and needs this gospel, as we all do. God saved her life and the life of her son and she said she doesn't want to be baptized but it's okay because we will teach her about the restoration of the priesthood. Unfortunately she is going to be in the Philippines for the next 8 days, but I'm expecting amazing things from her!!! And so is her Father in Heaven!!!

There were lots of cool experiences this week including going bowling as a ward. I think half of my heart withered away because it was so worldly inside the bowling alley. But it was also super legit but wayy different from american bowling alleys and I definitely understand why our last mission president banned bowling. But we got an okay from our current president! And also it was way awesome to have fun with the ward. 

Thank you always for your emails and updates! It's weird to imagine that it's currently September. the weather here is still really warm and sunny and feels like summer in Michigan. But it's cooled down a ton and we moved our futons back into the tatami mat room and just sleep with the fan on instead of placing ourselves under the air conditioner in our study room. 

I love you all!!!! God lives!!!!!!!!

Daniels shimai

It's transfer calls again and I'M STAYING IN WAKAYAMA WITH MACKENZIE SHIMAI FOR A 3RD TRANSFER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!! I've never been an area for 4 transfers or with someone this long, but  I'm super stoked because I love her dearly and I love these people with all of my heart and we also got this heart melting text from a new investigator this morning and afternoon and I'm going to tell you how the conversation went. I am 99% sure that this is why I am staying in Wakayama because I definitely thought he was pulling me out. I would just also like to say that I believe I will be with Grundvig shimai next transfer because she is also staying in her area for a 4th transfer and she also told our mission president's wife that we're best friends and haven't been companions yet so my hopes are still up. I still have 4 more chances!!! And that just dashed my heart realizing that I only have 4 more transfers after this one is done... what. 

BUT Heavenly Father answers prayers anyway.

This was the lady I was telling you about who has a lot of eating disorders and anxiety problems. She met with us this last week and brought her 3 year old son which was really difficult and we weren't able to teach a full lesson, but it was also nice because her doubts came right out and we've been able to study for them for the next time we meet. this is how it went. her english is actually pretty good:

-Hi!!! Daniels! Mackenzie! Good morning!! Please, stay Wakayama yet. Please, please, please!!!!!!!!! I hope that I want to meet you more. Please (>_<)(>_<)(>_<) 

-YAYAYAYAYAY WE'RE IN WAKAYAMA STILL!!! (: (lots of japanese emojis)

-Really? I'm very glad!!! I can't stop tears. I prayed all the time from yesterday. I need you.

And thus we see that God gives us excellent teaching moments and opportunities to see His hand and know that He is God and that He hears our prayers, even if we don't believe He's there yet.

This week has been way humbling and also full of miracles and super cool lessons and seeing God answer our prayers and allowing us to forget things at the apartment so that we run into the people that we need to. I've never been really forgetful on my mission because we write everything down in our planners but we have this week and each time we've met the people we were intending to teach or set appointments with. 

BUT!! I'll share my most favorite day this past week which was Sunday. I have come to see on my mission that fast sundays are the best days in the whole universe. And the days you see the most miracles and truly feel so much closer to our Father in Heaven.

Tateishi shimai. SHE IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! I can't even explain the process of the Spirit working with her the past 3 transfers but the woman that we met in her genkan that was hesitant to let us back and told us straight up that she wouldn't be coming to church has become this AMAZING ROCK SOLID WOMAN and she has been coming to all 3 hours of church for the past two weeks and yesterday she stood up at the end of relief society and bore her testimony. AND THEN she got up in sacrament meeting in front of the whole church and read a small talk/testimony that she prepared for today. I felt like I was at one of my investigators' baptisms-- it was just as special. She shared with everyone about how she joined the church and then gave up and fell away and her husband passed away and she had the opportunity to talk to one of his students about him and it made her miss him a ton. And then two beaming sister missionaries appear at her door later that week. And they asked her about her baptism and somehow the conversation was led into the plan of salvation and she opened up for some reason to them about her husband and it felt like they were her friends because they asked about their marriage and how he had proposed. (And that may be super 20 year old stereotypical but it was totally led by the spirit ahah). 

She spoke about how Mackenzie shimai came and how strong the spirit was when she shared her conversion story in broken japanese. She spoke about how amazing it was that one sister was living in Michigan and the other from New Zealand heard the same conference message and both felt inspired to come on missions and were both called to Wakayama to help her. She bore her testimony on latter-day prophets and how they are inspired of God and she knows that their guidance was meant for her. Apparently the sisters knew that she needed to hear Elder Holland's talk (THAT was 10000000 jillion the spirit speaking through my mouth because we definitely hadn't planned to talk about that one) and just how Peter had returned to his old life-style of fishing after knowing the Savior, she had returned to her old life-style before her baptism. But the Savior was calling her back, just as He did Peter. She said she is keeping the commandments now and has returned to church so that she can return to the presence of God, and be worthy to live with her husband for eternity. 

We're challenging her to meet with the Bishop for a temple recommend interview before the end of the year this Tuesday. And this is my life. I wish I could upload a nugget of the joy that I felt when she bore her testimony or how I feel now as I'm typing this up again. There is no greater work than missionary work. 

I don't have a ton of time for this next experience, but we had a really cool lesson with a less active and her 16 year-old daughter who is also less-active. They are incredible!!!!!!!!!!!! and so friendly and nice and the lesson was centered around 2 Nephi 1:15 so you should read that because that scripture has become my favorite in my mission. I JUST WANT TO TELL YOU ALL OF MY LIFE!!!! I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Heavenly Father lives!!!! His Son, Jesus Christ lives!!!!!!!!! He is our Savior!!!!!!!!!!!

Otherwise, we visited the castle in wakayama last monday! it was cool and had super awesome samurai armour inside buuuut we weren't allowed to take pictures. 

Thank you for all of the pictures and Big Ten updates. (: Everyone looks old!!! Especially lizzy and spencer. Thanks dad for the beard picture! hahahah but I think you pull off the 'stache だけ look better. 

I love you all with all my heart! Read the Book of Mormon every day, pray every day, repent and partake of the sacrament each week. Thank you for your prayers! 

Sister Daniels

A pinch and a punch for the first of the month!! My trainee has gotten me the past 2 months with that one and I finally got her today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOOOO! I've never actually heard that one until I met her. Which also means I haven't learned the ''no tag-backs'' tagline either so I still got a pinch and a hit for being so quick. But now I know that you have to say ''white rabbit''. We'll have to stay together for another transfer (:

This week was fantastic but mostly because yesterday was one of my favorite days of my whole life. So a little part-member family has a son named kai kun who the elders have been teaching and preparing for baptism and have asked us to teach with them quite a few times these past couple transfers and he finally turned 8 on thursday and had his baptism yesterday!!! He is my favorite japanese boy in the whole world and if you saw him smile I think your heart would probably melt into nothing because there is just so much joy in his face. Especially when he was baptized and Maeno choro pulled him out of the water and the perfect joy of the gospel was ALSO filling his tiny little body. And so much joy was emanating in the room and I imagine heaven to feel that way. 

That set the tone for an awesome church service and Tateishi shimai attended ALL THREE hours of church!!! And was actively participating in relief society and during gospel principles she went with her friend/visiting teacher/family research specialist to do family history work. And my heart is so happy! and she came to sacrament and the ward is awesome and fellowshipped her as they have been. 

ALSO a really awesome lady in the ward, who we have recently been working with a little bit because she has a less-active daughter, made us really cool baby dolls that are made of kimono material and I should've taken a picture of it, but it's way cool. and her daughter came to sacrament meeting!!!! and the ward was awesome and fellowshipped her and she said she'll be back next week. ALSO a family of less-actives came to church! We used to work with them a couple transfers ago but they dropped us out of the blue and sent us lots of really heart-breaking messages, but sometimes they show up to church and glare at us and refuse to talk to us when we greet them, BUT yesterday we complimented their sparkly hair pins and one of them smiled at us and complimented us back!! and we invited her to the international party and she looked super interested. woooo!! the Lord softens hearts!!! 

ALSO there's another less-active sister we've trying to contact for a few transfers and we finally got a hold of her and when we tried to set an appointment she said 'I think I'll come to church this week and we can set up an appointment there!' WOO!! And she came for sacrament! Literally the entire ward lit up when she walked in. And the previously mentioned awesome lady came up to her and her face was so beautiful. It's the face you see on fathers when their sons return from their missions, or that you see when moms are way proud of their children for doing some act of service or doing well in school. And they embraced and sat down together next to us. The opening hymn was Nearer my God to Thee and I turn to the less-active and say, '' this is my favorite hymn!!'' and she says ''mine too!! They played this at my baptismal service!'' WHO PICKS THESE HYMNS??  Every calling is inspired. The spirit was there and she was crying and I patted her back and she cried more and we bonded and after the meeting everyone in the whole ward came and greeted her and welcomed her back and this ward is awesome and I love them. 

There were so many miracles throughout the week and so many instances where we could see the hand of the Lord and the angels surrounding us. I wish I had time to tell you about all of them and not just about sacrament!!! We started teaching this amazing woman who we'll call K san, who has been struggling with really severe eating disorders and anxiety problems for a few years because of an abusive relationship that she fled from. God lead us straight to each other-- I know that from my heart. We gave her a church tour and a small lesson about the gospel blessing families and individuals and at the end when we prayed she was just weeping and felt really strongly that she needed us in her life. This work is miraculous. And it's because it's true!!!! 

I hope you are all having a wonderful week!! That is super sad that Braxton Miller is out for the entire season. Is he a senior this year?? I'm reppin my Ohio State pride snuggled in my futon. 

You are in my prayers. I love you all!!! 

p.s. picture #1 is of me and flower shimai whose last week of church was yesterday before returning to thailand this next week. she has the same birthday as Bryan!!! 

and picture #2 is the pacific ocean with some earthquake clouds. apparently they always appear the day after earthquakes

konnichiwa! this week was insanely busy and amazing and I am so exhausted but my heart is happy and this gospel is true. The rain storm at the cincinnati red's game looked really intense and kind of like typhoon clouds! I'm happy they still had the game and that we won! All of the pictures of the zoo and trip looked way fun!

Last preparation day the zone leaders, mackenzie shimai and I went to our district leader's area and met up with him and his companion and went to this huge ferris wheel and mall and it was awesome and I was the only white american. My companion is kiwi, zone leaders are full japanese and half japanese-brazilian, district leader is canadian, and his companion is brazilian and also is hermana Caitlin Ferderber's trainers' brother!!!!!!!!!!!!! this small world!!!!!!!!!!!! 

we were able to meet with a ton of less actives this week and share messages with them. Tateishi shimai's mother passed away this past week so we were really worried about her but we dropped off flowers and she called us the next day and set up an appointment and we brought her a delicious cheesecake and just talked with her and I feel like she is one of my best friends-- we connect so well and I love her with all of my heart. In japanese there is a phrase called betsu bara which is what you say when you are eating too much but you keep eating-- like an extra stomach-- but I am going to change the body part and request another heart because I just will never be separated from these people because they bring my heart so much joy. But we also sang ''families can be together forever'' and testified of forever families and she said that she has already met with her visiting teacher who also happens to be the family research specialist and is starting the work for her mother who had literally passed away that week, and has called her cousin and is trying to figure out more of her family information to do the work for more of her relatives. WHO IS THIS WOMAN. I love her. She is incredible. 

We had a thousand other wonderful experiences happen this week but I don't have enough time to type them except!! Our amazing friend Imade san who made me delicious healthy food when I got sick came to the church birthday party yesterday with her sons and the ward was AMAZING with welcoming her and playing with her kids and helping them feel welcome and I walk with angels in Wakayama. We have been making a lot more of an effort as a companionship to work with the members and it has been blessing us all so much. Some members invited us over for dinner on saturday night and helped us with invitations for our big cultural night that we're having and also fed us like queens. AND I AM ABOUT TO TELL YOU  THE SIMPLEST AND MOST DELICIOUS RECIPE EVER. Boil a can of sweetened, condensed milk in a pot-- completely immersed-- for 2- 2.5 hours. And it becomes pure manna-like caramel sauce. I don't know why or how but I know this is true. 

I hope you had a wonderful week! You are continually in my prayers. Thank you for yours! 

Love,

Daniels shimai

p.s. we experienced another earthquake!! and apparently there are special clouds in the sky that come after earthquakes that my zone leader pointed out to me. it was super legit. I'll send pictures

p.p.s my area and Grundvig shimai's area are separated by a body of water, BUT I saw her area in the distance when we were out with an investigator and my heart was so happy

konnichiwa!!!! this letter will literally be sooo small and I am soooooo sorry!!! The missionaries in my district are meeting up in the other area, Sennan, and we are going to this huge mall with a ferris wheel and we have to leave in 15 minutes to bike over to the eki to catch our train! so!! this will be way short and probably not very spiritual and I apologize. But I will do better next week!!!

We had many opportunities to serve this past week which was the best thing of my life because normally japanese people do not let us serve them. But!! our ward mission leader is in his high 70's and has a few rice fields and asked us and the elders if we could come and help him weed his rice fields. IT WAS THE BEST THING OF MY LIFE!!!! We got gum boots (sp) and stylish hats and WE GOT TO USE A SICKLE and we just went through rows and rows of rice fields and pulled out weeds and cut out really big weeds and I'm not sure if I even used the sickle that much, but it was the most empowering feeling of my life and blade was about the size of my forearm and I was just reciting Doctrine and Covenants 4 in japanese for a solid 2 hours. Also we met his in-active son and his non-member family and it was really awesome and we ate gross food with them!! Probably the best day of my life. It was sooooo hot but I really appreciate the hours and hours of weed-training that mom blessed me to have. (;

I will write more next week, I pinky promise!!! Jesus Christ lives!!!!!!!!! He is our Savior!!!!!! We are engraven upon the palms of His hands and He will never forget us or leave us hopeless.

Have a wonderful week!! 

Love,

Daniels shimai

This week has been another amazing week, but also pretty challenging. My companion got sick early in the week and I've been sick since yesterday, but we're still alive and kickin' and  Jesus Christ is still the Savior of the world, and the Book of Mormon is still true, and this is still the Church of Jesus Christ on the earth today so we move forward.

We both have been pretty nauseous and also have a cold with chills and stuffy noses and hana mizu and scruffy throats, but we'll get to rest quite a bit today since it's preparation day. The amazing zone leaders in our area gave each of us a blessing this week for our health and also turned into fantastic blessings of counsel and the power of the priesthood is so real and undeniable. And our zone leaders are so in-tune with the spirit and I am so blessed. But I will never be getting sick again on my mission. However we saw our next door neighbor investigator when we were biking to the church this morning for the blessing and she brought over some super delicious and vitamin-filled japanese and chinese cooking to help my health and it was the sweetest thing ever. I'll send pictures of her note and food and you can appreciate japanese-english and her pure heart with me.

Yesterday we had a huge typhoon hit and church was cancelled. BUT because our bishop rocks he rescheduled sacrament meeting for 4 pm after the storm was supposed to be done so we were still able to take the sacrament and my heart was cleansed and it needed it so badly. I accidentally broke the word of wisdom this week for the first time of my life which is awkward because I am a missionary, so I repented a lot and I don't think I've ever felt as strongly the purifying power of the atonement as when I partook of the sacrament yesterday. The Atonement is REAL. And I am clean!!!!!! It feels so good. But as for the typhoon, lots of power lines were snapped and there was lots of flooding in certain areas. We didn't get much damage, but the wind and rain was SO STRONG but we were protected and fortunately it all happened during our sleep and our study and lunch and we called and set up appointments but then the storm had passed so we still got to dendo. 

So the word of wisdom hanashi. The Bishop of our ward is the man!! Seriously the man and I have so much respect for him and I love him and his family. His wife has gotten pretty sick the past couple of years and her mom came from the philippines to stay and help her out when she has bad seizures. So! We want to serve our bishop and his wife's health has been troubling his mind so we went and served his wife and her mother on Tuesday. While we were there, they gave us this iced tea from the Philippines which is mango flavored and was their favorite drink and extremely delicious. Japan drinks tea like people breathe air and they have more types of tea than there are Disney movies but not all of them violate the word of wisdom, so it's pretty difficult to differentiate which teas are good. It comes down to whether or not the tea has leaves in it. If the tea is made of beans, tree leaves or grass it's drinkable but other leaves are bad. Either way-- they said it was good, and we trust them so we drank it and it was so delicious and I drank like 3 glasses. And then they gave us a packet of the mix because they have zillions. And then we went home and read the ingredients and the bad tea is in it so we immediately prayed and repented and asked for forgiveness so that we could be worthy for the spirit to guide us in God's great work again. So it was a pretty big scare when the typhoon was coming on Sunday and we didn't think we'd have the opportunity to take the sacrament and renew our baptismal covenants with God and be made clean from violating the word of wisdom. It was an accident, BUT we NEED the spirit to do this work and the spirit leaves when we're disobedient. But it's okay because we've repented and been forgiven and been cleansed. 

Heavenly Father and our investigators tried my patience this week. And tried my faith in His timing and His will. But I know that whatever happens that we, and others are in the hands of the Lord-- always. No matter what decisions we make. Many will choose to exercise their agency incorrectly maybe because of fear and pressure and temptation. But I know now in my heart that even when people reject Jesus Christ, and therefore reject their Heavenly Father, that despite the heartache they, and we feel, that God will still guide them back. He will still give them the opportunity to accept Him. And He'll do it over and over again-- nan kai mo-- because He loves them. And He is just and merciful. They are in the palm of His hands. He'll prepare their hearts and circumstances and give them the opportunity to choose eternal life. 

In other news, we're starting to teach another less-active and her son who was born when she became less-active and he turned 8 yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (: we made him a cake in a rice cooker (there is a setting) but it was gross so we're buying him one. They don't just sell cake mixes here! and don't have ovens. No wonder they don't celebrate birthdays. 

Also, really quickly-- we found a hornets nest on our veranda when we were hanging our futons out this morning!! haha it was awful. and also a bad idea to leave our futons outside and then spray kitchen cleaner at the nest because now they are angrily swarming our futons. Mackenzie shimai managed to knock the huge nest out from under this big electrical box with a cooking chopstick while wearing a strainer on her face and a towel and oven mitt. it was probably the best thing I've ever seen in my life. But we'll probably sleep on the floor tonight. 

I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thanks again for the package last week! The temple trip sounds way fun!!! I miss the temple sooooo much. Give Uncle Andy and Aunt Alli hugs for me and thank them a gazillion times. If you could send me their address too that'd be great. (: Thank you for your emails as well!! I tried really hard to send a good email this week. Also I wrote in my journal so I remember this week a lot better! (; My headaches are getting worse but only because I have a lot of pressure behind my nose. My mission president says that you will be able to come pick me up!!! I think my last transfer ends after the first week of april? 

have a wonderful week!!! (:

itsuma demo ai shite imasu yo ne!

p.s. the first picture was us adventuring outside after the storm had passed. it was still super windy so my skirt was blowing up but I caught it just in time

and this is part of the storm.