Another week in Nihon!!!!

Konnichiwa mina san!!!!!

I love japan!!!!!! every day is just the best!!! Japanese people are the greatest! I am serving in the best place! so lucky to be here!

ok so this week...

Tuesday I got my bike!!!! finally!!!! it was quit the process however.. my companion and I walked to the bike shop for two hours!!! uhh... we were streeting along the way with little success.. we finally get to the bike shop. I am sweaty, sun burned, and didn't talk to hardly anyone. Then to find out that the bike shop is closed just for that day. the sign said come back tomorrow. yaaaaaa right!!!!!!! we just laughed and laughed! because if we hadn't of laughed we probably would have cried! hahaha! it was the longest day ever and I felt dead! so... I laid down on the side walk. nagamine Shimai tried to figure out what to do and I just layed there. hahaha! im a great companion! I got up and started banging my head on the door of the store. when I opened my eyes, a man was standing in front of me from the inside! hahaha! he opened the door, we told him our story, and he let us in!!! ahhhhhh such a blessing!!! so I finally got my bike!!!!! ive never been so happy! hahahah! Heavenly Father really loves me! so many tender mercies and miracles!!! I am so grateful!

I went on two exchanges again this week. one with a sister I live with, Willden Shimai. She is got to japan the same time I did but she is half Japanese so she is basically fluent. We were still so nervous to go out and do missionary work as two new missionaries! but we actually talked to a ton of people! we were able to get by with the little Japanese we know! it was so great!

Wednesdays are my favorite days! We teach free English class at the church!!! it is seriously the funniest thing ever!!! now I know why people laugh at me when I try to speak! its funny hearing someone trying to speak your language! and its super funny when they are so confident but say something so ridiculous! we play games! I am always the team captain because appearently I am competitive? hahaha! my team always wins!!! my nihonjin love me!!!!! eikaiwa (English class) is where we do a lot of our missionary work! non members come and we get to know them really well! I love eikaiwa! I love English!!!!!!! hahahah!

Had my first bike crash! hahah! don't worry it wasn't bad. it was actually really lame. we were just leaving our house like seriously two feet away. I get on my bike and rid through a narrowish way still in my complex. well I got nervous and basically made myself fall over in the planter. im so dumb. but it was hilarious! at least my companion thought so!

then I went on an exchange with Taneda Shimai. She is a nihonjin and doesn't speak any English.. that was an interesting day!!! I have become really good and charades since I have been here. I can act out anything and somehow manage to communicate with people! its great!

So I decided that I need more help with just everything. I need more help with the language, with teaching, ,with streeting, just everything! so im doing my best to be exactly obedient. everyone told me before I left that that was soooo importnant! and its so true! but I need to be better! so the day I decided to be EXACTLY obedient to all the rules turned out to be the most tempting day to not be! ahahah! of course... as I was alking through the streets of chiba you will never guess what I heard.. one direction!!!!!!! I about died!!!! first time in three months!!!!!! ohhhhhhh I literally screamed!!!!! I came up with two ideas. one, it was the devil tempting me because I was really trying harder to be a better missionary, or two it was a gift from heavenly father because he knew that I was seriously about focusing and wanted to give me a little bit of my favorite boys before I got serious. he was encouraging me that I can go a year and a half without these boys! Im pretty sure it was the second idea! hahaha!

so today for pday we went to asakusa! its a super cool part of Tokyo with a buddist temple and tons of shopping and nihonjin stuff!!! ahhh it was the coolest day!!!! we got the coolest pictures! we went inside their temple! first we had to be smoked... you stand and let smoke blow in your face. then you clean your hands and drink some water from a weird fountain with budda giving you the water. then you can go inside. everyone was singing some weird song/prayer but seriously soooooo cool! people worship in so many different ways! it was so interesting! such a fun day with lots of Japanese culture and food!

I love it here! love my mission with all my might! miss everyone back home! hope everyone is well! I sure am! love you all dearly!!!!! the church is true! nothing brings me more happiness! love you!!!! ai shite imasu!!!!!

Christensen Shimai!

FIRST FULL WEEK IN NIHON!!

HI HI HI!!!!!!! Konnichiwa!!!! greetings from Japan!!! I love being a missionary in Japan! ahhhh! like what? im in japan!!! and absolutely loving it! Each day gets better and better! I don't even know where to start!

So I am absolutely exhausted! hahah! missionary work is tiring! but in the best way possible! Right now my companion and I do not have a ton of investigators so we do a lot of finding, and streeting! And because neither one of us has bikes.. we do A TON of walking.. We come home every night dead! its great! The problem is that japan is full of busy people so not every one wants to stop and chat with us. But when they do, we are the happiest people in the world!

My companion, Nagamine Shimai, is the sister training leader for our zone so she goes on exhanges every week with another sister missionary. So each week I get to be companions with someone new! Super cool experience even though I never want my companion to leave me because she is seriously the most amazing person ive ever met! Such a great missionary! Everyone always cries in our lessons because she is just that in tuned with the spirit. I love her! So this week I went on two exhanges. One with a sister who lives with me, Bagley Shimai! Shes from Michigan and has been out for 3 months. We went streeting in the main city of Chiba! Tons of people! Since we are both gaijin (foreigners) we thought we would try to speak English and see who would speak back to us! Surprisingly a lot of people came up to us! They wanted to try out their English skills on us! sooooo cute! Everyone wanted to know what two white girls were doing in japan! We talked to tons of people! Most just laugh at us! They laugh when we speak to them in English and then they laugh again when we try to speak in Japanese.. hahah! Then I went on an exchange with Champonis Shimai (I have no idea how to spell her name) We did a lot of walking around! I have honestly never walked so much in my entire life! And because its soooooooo insanely hot here we eat a ton of ice cream! hahaha! and that's basically my life.. walking and eating ice cream! its great!

Wednesday, Nagamine Shimai and I met with a lady we met on the train. Her name is 

Umezawa San. She is in her 60s. She lives pretty far away so again.. we walked. I feel bad when we show up to peoples houses because I am a hot sweaty mess! Anyways she had the coolest house ever! Like soooooo Japanese! She is the cutest little lady! We sit down and she says she has food for us. I always get so nervous when people want to feed us because so far I have not liked a lot of the Japanese food... she came back with two trays FULL of sushi.. I literally almost started crying! hahaha! I was sooo scared! In japan it is rude to not finish your food especially if it is given to you by someone else. I didn't know what to do! There were huge pieces of red and white fish everywhere! my companion looked at me and was like "good luck!" hahaha! ughhhhh... I did my best not to make faces while I put nasty raw fish in my mouth. and I did my best to hide my gagging faces hahahah! im so weak! I kept praying the entire time asking heavenly father to make my fish turn into something else! anything else! didn't happen.. luckily my companion stopped eating when we began to teach the lesson so I stopped too! The lesson went amazing! Umezawa San's mother recently passed away. Umezawa San has read all of our church pamphlets and loves them! When her mom died she put the plan of salvation pamphlet with her moms body so she could read it in heaven! we were shocked! She is so ready! We talked more about the plan of salvation with her! We told her that their are spirits who are teaching her mother about Christ! She was so happy! She so desperately wants her family to be together forever! And through Christ I know they can be! Before we even asked she said she would pray every morning and night and that she would read the entire Book of Mormon! Like seriously... I love her! She is so sweet and already has an amazing testimony! Nagamine Shimai and I sang "I know that my redeemer lives" for here and she started crying! The spirit was so strong! I am so grateful for her and how she has helped strengthen my testimony about the Plan of salvation!

and guess what?!?!?!!? Heavenly father really loves me because... I found my camera!!!!!! ahhhhhh! best day ever!!!! we kept calling and calling the lost and found but no such luck. We went to the actual lost and found a week later and they had my camera!!!!! soooooo happy! most of my pictures on my camera are of my face showing how happy I was.. hahahah!

Sunday was definitely my favoritest day this week! I HAD MY FIRST BAPTISM!!!  Eva San got baptized!!!! Nagamine had been teaching her before I got to japan and then I got to help teach! She was soooo excited! I have never seen someone that excited in my entire life! She was so happy that she had finally found what had been mission in her life! Her daughter came to her baptism which was a miracle! It was such a sweet meeting! It was just the best day! We got a member referral, a less active member came to church and told me that she wanted us to visit her this week, and the stake president invited us and Eva Shimai's family over for dinner! Like best day! That dinner was the yummiest food ive had since ive been in japan! I ate so much food! prior to dinner, our ward had a pot luck and they had peanut butter sandwhiches!!!! ohhh i was stoked! I ate six! don't even feel bad about it! hahahah!

So ya.. Japan is amazing! the food is interesting, its like deathly hot and humid, but the people are ready! We haven't met a ton of them, but the ones we have met have truly been prepared by the Lord to meet us! They make missionary work so rewarding! Missions are hard! But nothing good comes easy! I am so so happy to be here! I love japan! I love the people with all my heart! I love my companion! and i love my savior! Without him there is no way i could be here! He loves all of his children! I am so very blessed!

Love you all!!!!!!!

Christensen Shimai

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

DUDE IM IN JAPAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I still don't even believe it.. like I wake up and im like wait.. I just woke up in japan... THIS IS NUTS!!!!!! everything is so Asian!!!! hahahah!!! I don't know why but I expected to see more white people cause im in Tokyo.. but nope! everyone is Asian!!!!! soooooooooooo weird and sooooooooo great! seriously Asians are the best! Japanese people are the best!!!!!!!! I don't even know where to start! I feel like I left the mtc centuries ago!...

so it took a bus, two trains, and two planes for us to get here! longest two days of my life! but they were awesome! traveling with 36 anxious missionaries was so fun! everyone was bouncing off the walls constantly!

ok so I get on the plane to japan for a 12 hour flight and my seat is in the middle of two nihongin! I was like what?!?!?!? scary!!!!! I don't know how to speak!!! ahhhhh!!!! I sat there for a good 10 minutes trying to think of what to say to them.. but Japanese people are the nicest people in the whole entire world so one of them turned to me and said "if you have any questions please ask"!! he didn't speak English very well but he had that sentence mastered! hahaha! then the lady on the other side of me said "I love English!" hahahah!!! that was a miracle!!! so for the next two hours the three of us talked together! They helped me with some Japanese and I helped them with some English! it was so fun! seriously the nicest people ever! I told them that I was a missionary for the church of jesus Christ! we talked about missionary work, prophets, the book of Mormon, and joseph smith! I don't know if they were just being nice.. but they seemed really interested! anyways.... then I arrived in japan....

I step off the plane and was immediately covered in sweat! holy humidity!!!!! guys its insanely hot here... this is what death feels like.. hot, sweaty, sticky, smelly ness.. anyways we met president budge and his wife! they are the adorable! so happy to see them! we get on a bus and drive to their house. on the bus they gave us our first Japanese food.. some kind of fish wrapped in seaweed. YUCK! I had one bite and almost threw up! hello japan!!!! hahaha! my shimai tachi all slept in one room :) by the time we showered it was like 4 in the morning when we finally went to bed! but we got to sleep in until 8! ahhh! felt so good! so that next day we had training all day long! I now officially know what jet lag feels like. I have never been so exhausted!

next day we were given companions and assigned to an area! my companion is Nagamine Shimai! Shes Japanese!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! woooohoooo!!!!!! at first when they called my name i was freaking out! like of course i get the Japanese missionary... seriously im not kidding i don't know Japanese! again another blessing... she speaks almost perfect English!!!! ahhhh i love her so much! she is so sweet and such a hard worker! she tries to only speak to me in Japanese so i can learn it better! shes amazing and so helpful! I am south of Tokyo in a city called Chiba!! Its like half city ish half country! definitely not what i was expecting! when i thought of Tokyo i assumed i would see big nice buildings all clean and pretty and lights and what not.. chiba is kinda gross. hahaha! not beautiful but not bad! haha! so we live in a teeny tiny apartment with two other sister missionaries! I love them! Wilden Shimai is new but half Japanese so she basically fluent and Bagley shimai! I really like all of them!

so after i got with my companion president budge told us to go to lunch somewhere! the four of us started walking and found a little restaurant that had some American food! yayy! everyone got fish and i got a BLT with fries hahahah! Japanese food is gross and smelly! after that we started streeting! which means talking to anyone on the street! streeting is really hard! no one really wants to stop and talk to you.. people either say they don't have time or they don't say anyting at all. we get ignored a lot. but we continue on!

next day we taught yoshida san! shes a sweet lady with two little girls! Nagamine shimai taught while i sat there and smiled :) after we went to go buy bikes. But guess what.. in japan i am actually normal height so there weren't bikes my size.. i ordered one but it wont come for two more weeks... so we do lots of walking! its great!

next day we had kids eikaiwa (free English class put on by the church) even the tiny kids no way more Japanese than i do! i was so lost! hahah! they just laugh at me cause all i can say is hi and cute!

later that day we went to Eva Shimais house. Her 26 year old daughter just got baptized and she really wants to get baptized as well. We taught her the commandments! after we finished the lesson (i actually talked a little this time :) eva shimai started crying. She told us how badly she wants to go to the temple and have her family with her together forever! i was so overwhelmed with happiness that i too started crying of course! It was so sweet! since ive grown up in the church ive always known things like the church is true and families can be together forever. Eva shimai learned throught the spirit that these things are true and she really wants them! it was the happiest thing ever! It made me realize that this is why i am on a mission! I still have mini panic attacks every morning because hello im in japan... but its ok :) there are people here that need the gospel! I know that families can live together forever! I am so very grateful for that knowledge! What a blessing this church is!

Sunday was a blur! church was crazy! so many people introducing themselves to me and me not understanding anything! hahaha! i just look at my companion and have her speak while i smile :) i am really good at smiling! hahah!

This is definitely a interesting experience! Its scary and most the time i just feel nervous but i am grateful to be here! Heavenly father wants me here! I am here to do his work and to invite everyone to feel peace and true happiness through the gospel! I love you all and miss everyone like crazy!!!!!

Christensen Shiami

IM OUTTA HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOLY FLIP IM GOING TO JAPAN!!!!!!!!!!! its actually happening! I know i know.. no one thought this day would come.. well let me tell you neither did I!!!! But im doing it! Im going! Two more days!!!! I can hardly stand it!!!!! Today is my last Pday! Its so weird! This place has become my home! Im almost sad to leave the MTC. I love the people here, i love my classes, my teachers, the devotionals, and just everything! But then i think.. im going to JAPAN!!!! AHHHHH!!!! sorry i just freak out like every second about it! 

But this was an amazing last week!!! We taught our last lessons to both Komeda san and shohei kun. I cried of course in both lessons because i am going to miss them like crazy! They are just pretending to be investigators but I love these pretend people! I know it wasnt real but my companion and I taught each lesson like it was and they made it seem like we were actually able to help them come closer to God and our savior! We asked each to share their testimony with us! Thats when i lost it because we were able to help them learn through the spirit that God loves them. They both testified of it! I am going to die in japan! How am i supposed to just leave the people i teach in japan because of a transfer? I fall in love with people too easily and i get attached fast! Im not even in japan and im already sad thinking out having to leave them someday. But i am so excited because i know there are certain people i am supposed to meet!

We had in field orientation all day yesterday! A lot of the different meetings were about us instead of focusing on investigators. I think the MTC wants to make sure were ok and can still breath since we are all leaving so soon! It was such a great day though! It made me a little more nervous but i know i can handle anything! I am on God's side. We all chose to come to earth. We are all on his team. We cannot fail! Something that i really liked from yesterday was that one of the instructors said that its good to feel overwhelmed. That means that you care. It means that you know you cant do anything without help from someone. So turn to a higher source. Turn to your heavenly father and your savior. Life is hard and definitely overwhelming at times. All we have to do is turn to those who love us and they will make our burdens light! This definitely helped calm my nerves! Its ok that im scared out of my mind to be in japan trying to understand a language i still really dont understand! I am going to rely on my heavenly father and my savior more then ever! And thats ok! They want me to turn to them! I am weak but with their help i can become strong! We are so very blessed! I testify that the lord knows and loves each and every one of his children! What a great thing to know!

I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon! I was able to finish it just this week! I have never loved a book more in my entire life! I loved having the opportunity to spend so much time reading and studying this great book! I understood much more than i ever have before! The book of mormon is the word of God and it has filled my heart and soul with the greatest joy! What a blessing the book of mormon is in our lives!

Well i have much to pack.. But i love you all! This gospel is true! I know it with all my heart! I have never felt more loved in my entire life! I have the greatest family in the entire world! I am so very blessed to have been put into my family that is so perfect for me! I have been blessed with so many amazing people in my life that have helped shape me and have helped strengthen my testimony! I love you all! I love my savior! The next time you here from me I will be in Tokyo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!! I pray for you all night and day! Ai shite imasu!!!!!!

Christensen Shimai