Week 8 & 9: Departure Confirmed!!

Hi friends and family! Finally week nine! This Monday at 2:30 I will be getting up to leave the MTC, flying out of SLC, then to Minneappolis, and then will be arriving in Japan 6:30 their time. So some sort of crazy time change. So that's the scoop on the travel plans. 

This week has been spent with a lot of freaking out and terrified feelings and elated feelings and sad feelings. Basically crazy emotional roller coaster. I've been waiting for this for the past four years, and I'm so grateful for this amazing opportunity to serve the people of Japan. I learned so much in the past two months of the MTC, and I can't wait for all the learning experiences I'll have in Japan!

As for the pneumonia sitch, I'm mostly better now. I got some antibiotics, and they gave me an allergic reaction, which was way fun. But then I got legit ones that didn't give me hives, and they worked like a charm. I'm still trying to work on getting back into shape so I can breath and ride a bike in Japan, but for the most part, healed! I even got to 340lbs on the leg press. Yeah for goals!

The weather has been so nice here, but I'm so scared that when we get to Japan it will be so hot and I'll be sweating buckets! 

Our branch president got released as well, which we were so sad for, because he was basically the coolest old guy ever. He was so well-versed in the scriptures, and we would have so many great discussions with him! 

We also had a devotional from Linda K. Burton, the General Relief Society President as well. She was an amazing speaker, and I actually got to meet her and give her a hug afterwards! 

Anyways, I won't be able to email next week, and I don't have a lot of time today as I still need to start packing my life away, again. Sorry I wasn't able to go into much detail, but thanks for your emails and all of your support! I will carry that into Japan! Lots of love!

1. Nihonjin Shimaitachi and being cray cray!

2. Sister Conley!!!

3. Branch president and zone!

4. Amazing quote

5. Savage/satsubatsu face

6. Freaking out over travel plans!

Week 7: Pneumonia and the BYU Health Clinic

Hi friends and family! It's week eight and the countdown till Japan is twelve days! 

So this letter will be pretty short and not terribly exciting, mostly because I've been stuck in bed for majority of the last week. In case you were wondering why, I'll tell you my sad tale of woe.

So this week I came down with a nasty cough and a crazy lack of energy. Thursday I woke up with a fever of 103 degrees, and then had to go to urgent care in the BYU Health Clinic. They then told me I had a virus, and sent me home telling me to sleep and I would be better in three days. For the next four days, I had a fever that fluctuated from 100 to 103. Then on Monday I went back to the doctor, got a chest x-ray, and then got deemed with pneuomonia. I got some drugs, and then spent the majority of the day sleeping in the sick bay in the health clinic. Which happened again Tuesday. So basically for the past week or so I've been sleeping and trying to survive. The doctor says I should be good by Monday, so I'm excited for that.

So that's really all for this week, sorry it wasn't terribly exciting. I should have  more adventures this next week as my health improves and I have more of a desire to get out of bed. It's a miracle I'm even writing this much. But it's okay! I got antibiotics and I've got the Lord on my side, and as soon as I'm healthy, I'm going to baptize at least five hundred people!

Thanks for all your love and support! 

愛してます！

Dimmitt Shimai 

Since I was in bed all week too...no pictures...sorry (＞人＜;)

Week 6: Brazilian, Spanish, or Japanese?

Hi friends and family! It's week six...seven...seven? I'm pretty sure it's seven. I didn't get to write home my first week so I'm convinced it's week seven. Which means...I have two more weeks until I go to JAPAN!! JAPAN OR BUST!! 

This last weekend all the dai-senpai and the Nihonjin left again. It's always so sad saying goodbye to old friends, but it's also so exciting as you have the opportunity to make more and cheer on your friends who get to go to work!  

A little bit of language humor: This last Sunday my companion asked one of the Nihonjin sisters what she ate for dinner. She said salad. In Japanese, salad is pronounced, "sarada". But my companion thought she said "karada", which means "body". You can imagine the surprise and the confusion that ensued afterwards. 

My companions and I also have a favorite "curse word" we like to say. "Satsubatsu", or "blood-thirsty savage", can be applied in any situation, I promise. Also Chidester Shimai is a beast and made 57 free throws in a row, smashing all the boy's free throw records into the ground. She's pretty bomb. 

Apparently no one can decide my ethnicity. This week I got asked if I was from Brazil, Spain, or if I was half Japanese. None of which I'm pretty sure I look like. I'll just keep them guessing I suppose. 

As for goals this week, I successfully got to 320lbs on the leg press, got my freaking Japanese name tag!!!!, played volleyball and didn't suck, I ate the infamous MTC Graham Canyon ice cream for the first time, and taught the law of chastity for the first time with minimal to no awkwardness. Whoohoo! 

So I already mentioned that Elder Ballard came to talk to us a couple of weeks ago, and discussed the importance of making goals. I may have gotten a little overly ambitious, and made like eleven ridiculous goals. A little word of advice: you will never complete them. Especially if you're trying to do eleven+ all the time. It's still important to have goals, but I was run so completely ragged by trying to do all my daily goal stuff all the time that I ended up throwing most of them out the window. So I think it's best not to do that. 

Some exciting news: my companions and I are now the new Sister Training Leaders (or STL's)! That's basically like a female zone leader. So now our last couple of weeks are going to be super busy. So we're getting 20 kouhai (underclassmen) altogether, half of them are Nihonjin. Last night most of the Nihonjin got here, so that was fun being able to herd these poor missionaries who had had an eleven+ hour flight, didn't really speak English, starting to experience jet lag, and didn't have a clue what was really going on. They're all so sweet! It was actually pretty fun getting to speak with all of them. One of the Nihonjin elders was the younger brother of one of our most recent Nihonjin sisters who left on Monday. 

While being a STL can be fun, it also has it's drawbacks. I'm starting to get sick again, and so we all went to bed pretty early last night. One of the sisters arrived at 10:30, so we had to get up, put our church clothes back on, and then go get the sister and her luggage. It will be all worth it in the end!

I'm super excited for all the amazing things to come. This gospel is so true. God lives. Jesus Christ died for us and all we need to do is come unto Him to receive His help and guidance. The Book of Mormon is the true word of God, and the more I read it, the more I know that it was no accident that everything has happened the way it has. Thanks so much for all  your support and for your words of encouragement!

愛してます！

Dimmitt Shimai

1. Me being a spaz because of my Japanese name tag

2. Companions and Nihonjin sister's! 

3. Hearts with the Nihonjins!

4. One more heart with Nagata Shimai!

5. And a jidori(selfie) practicing Japanese poses just cause with Nagata Shimai

 

Week 5: My New Japanese Name!

Hi friends and family! This is week...five? Six? I don't know. Anyways, I'm supposed to be leaving the MTC on the 22nd...or the 21st....I don't know...I'm バラバラ  (all over the place).

Sorry about the musical number! I finally tracked down the elder who took the video and coerced him into giving me the video. (Jk Jk, I promise I was Christ-like) Anyways, I'll be sharing that via Google Drive because apparently it's too big for email. So hopefully you'll be able to access it. I'm sorry!

This week was a week of lovely spring weather. It was so warm! The snow melted completely and we were all eating outside and soaking in the sunshine, but today it started to snow! When we went to the temple this morning there was at least a foot of snow on the temple grounds! There won't probably be a whole lot of snow in Fukuoka, so I'm making all the snow angels I can make now!

Everyone is so sick right now! Most of our zone has this horrendous cough, while the few healthy ones are all carrying around posies and cough drops for our sick companions. Graviet Shimai and I are convinced that Chidester Shimai might die. We've been washing our hands like every five minutes, and I'm trying to get as much sleep as possible. Cross my fingers and knock on wood I won't get it!

This week I had the chance to have class with the Nihonjin, which of course, was in all Japanese. On one occasion the teacher was an actual Nihonjin, and so I had a really difficult time understanding. One thing I love about native Japanese is that they speak super quickly, slur all their words, and also speak super quietly. I barely survived. I have such a long ways to go with this language! But I still had a lot of fun.

As for goals this week, I seizaed for 35 minutes, got to 300lbs on the leg press, mastered 10 new kanji, and went on a walk in the hail! We'll be getting our third investigator sometime this next week. It was a pretty productive week. The Nihonjin also gave me kanji for my name.

For those of you who don't know what kanji is, it's basically Chinese characters used in the Japanese language. A lot of times names are spelled with kanji, rather than basic Japanese kana. So the Nihonjin gave me kanji for my first name. The first one they gave me was for "e", and they used the kanji for smile. "笑" So far so good. I like smiling. The second they gave me was for "ma", and they used this kanji. "麻" This kanji means flax, or cannabis... So, "smile", and "cannabis"! After explaining the English meaning to the Nihonjin, they said that it's a pretty normal kanji for names. I about died. But then we later picked this kanji "真", which means truth. A little bit better.

Anyways, this week wasn't terribly exciting, but nonetheless still fun. I'm so blessed for this opportunity to preach the gospel to a people who don't have the most religious background. Just seeing our own "investigators" here at the MTC progress is such a joy and a pleasure. I love being able to be a part of this work and to partake in the blessings that come from teaching Christ's gospel.

Hope all is well with y'all! 愛しています！

Dimmitt Shimai

Sorry only one pic! 

1. P-Days in the laundry room

Week 4: I've Never Heard Elder Ballard be so funny!

Hi friends and family! Going on week four and almost halfway through the MTC experience! I'm learning so much and am so glad I get to have this experience. Sorry, I mentioned last week that I would be leaving in three weeks. I actually meant to say six weeks! Sorry sorry! 

This week during TRC we were able to teach a Nihonjin named Yoshiko. Our lesson wasn't even that great, but it was still a pretty neat experience. Yoshiko has one son who is out in Fukuoka, and we asked her to say the prayer at the end. Her prayer was one of the sweetest and most tender I had ever heard. She prayed so much that we would be able to help the people in Japan, that we and our families would be comforted and safe, and that we would be able to learn a lot while we're in the MTC. We were all crying at the end. We knew her for twenty minutes, and we already loved her so much. It was such a testimony builder of how the gospel can bring people together.

Our musical number went pretty well I think. I was shaking because I was so nervous, but after a little bit, I relaxed and sang my testimony. All the people that I performed with did so awesome. The elder I sang with has the coolest voice, so that was awesome. We were only able to do a black video with audio  afterwards, so I'll try and see if I can send it. 

We have two new Nihonjin, both sisters going to Tokyo. Because of the super small numbers, we've gotten pretty close with them. I had the opportunity to go to their district meeting, which was of course, only in Japanese, but it was still pretty neat. One of the Nihonjin sister's dad served with Chidester Shimai's dad in Sendai! How cool is that! 

Yesterday we were able to hear last night from Elder Ballard! That was the coolest ever! The choir got to sing and the devotional was broadcasted to all of the MTC's from all over! He and his wife were so cute and waved to all of us on several occasions. Elder Ballard talked about your attitude and making goals to be successful in your mission and in your life. It was super neat. He mentioned that he had the trial of facing brussel sprouts almost everyday on his mission in England. I've never heard Elder Ballard be so funny! It was such an awesome opportunity to be able to listen to him and his words, and to have such fantastic examples like our apostles.

Yesterday was Valentines day, as most people probably know. Or singles day. Or whatever you want to call it. Anyways, it was fun to hand out Valentines and suckers to all the missionaries. The Nihonjin were so excited and delighted to receive VeggieTales Valentines and a lollipop. It was so cute. Thank you so much for the Valentines day packages and messages! You are all so sweet! 

I'll probably send the musical number in a separate email. Stay tuned, and sit down. Turk Choro has an angel voice. 

Lots of love!

愛してます！

Dimmitt Shimai 

1. All the past shimaitachi!

2. Valentines! Thanks so much!

3. Our first investigator and favorite teacher, and us all trying to look cute...

Week 3: Learning to Sit Seiza Style

Hi friends and family! Going on week three this time and still going strong! 

This week our dai-senpai and our original Nihonjin district left for Japan. It was a very sad yet exciting time. All of them were super excited and stressed out, and it reminded me that I will also be leaving for Japan in three weeks. However, we were sad that all of our friends were leaving for different places and areas. Sunday was full of tears and spiritual experiences. We had relief society, and cried. Then we went on our temple walk, where we sang to the dai-senpai, and cried some more. Then we had church, where we cried a whole lot more. The dai-senpai bore their testimonies and then sang "I'll Find You My Friend" (which is probably my most favoritest song ever). Everyone was bawling, including the Nihonjin. It was one of the best sacrament meetings ever. The two days without the Nihonjin were the worst, but today we get our new Nihonjin today, which I'm so excited for! It's amazing how close the gospel can bring you to complete strangers in just three weeks.

 This Friday we started something called TRC. I have no idea what it stands for, but I know that it's super fun. Basically members come into the MTC, usually returned missionaries, and we teach them a lesson based on identified needs. The members are so nice, and we had one tell us we gave him the best lesson he had ever had. We were all stressed out because we basically had to prepare a lesson on a whim, and we were praying so hard to know how to help these members out. I think that when  you depend on the Lord and have faith, then the Spirit can really work through you.

With all the dai-senpai leaving, our branch divided quickly in half. We only have three Nihonjin coming into our branch today, so our branch is going to be pretty small for the next little bit. As expected, my companions I got new assignments.  We are now the ward music coordinators! Which I'm pretty excited about.

Speaking of music, this Sunday I'll be performing "Savior Redeemer of My Soul" with an elder. Graviet Shimai will be playing the piano and another elder will be playing the violin. I'm so excited! It's such a beautiful song and the piano and violin together sound gorgeous! Potentially might record it so stay tuned. The elder I'm performing with has an amazing voice and hopefully we'll be able to bring the Spirit into the meeting. 

So something that I had never before from my Japanese RM friends was about a little something called seiza. Some of you martial artists may know what that is, but essentially you cross your feet underneath you and kneel. So generally Japanese people will sit on the floors in their homes, and the formal way of sitting is seiza. So when you come into a Japanese person's home, you sit seiza until they tell you to relax and sit comfortably. But sometimes they don't, so you have to sit seiza for a long time. And if you get invited to a Japanese funeral, you do seiza the entire time, and one funeral can last two to three hours. And for those who have never done seiza, it hurts like the dickens. Our teacher had us do it during scripture study, and after ten minutes, my legs were dying and I couldn't hold it anymore. Ten minutes, let alone two or three hours. Wish me luck. 

This morning I was able to do an endowment session with my companions and a couple other sisters. During one recent devotional, the speaker mentioned that baptism shouldn't be the end goal for investigators, but the temple should be the goal for them. Every time I go to the temple I can't wait for the opportunity to bring more of God's children there to learn more about their divine identity and feel God's love for them and the blessings that come from going to the temple. I'm so blessed to be able to go to the temple every week with wonderful elders and sisters who continue to lift each other up.

Anyways, life is starting to stabilize a little more, so unfortunately not too many exciting things, but regardless, it's still great to be a missionary!

Thanks to all those who have sent me emails, I read all of them at least twice or three times. If I don't reply to you I promise it's not personal, but all your support and words of encouragement are what motivate me to work even harder!

愛してます！

Dimmitt Shimai 

1. P-Days and Laundry

2. Love notes from our senpai and the Nihonjin!

3. Bye bye pictures

4. Matchers with my teacher!

Week 2: Miyagi-san, Ninja, and Pikachu

Hi friends and family! Week two and I still haven't run away from the MTC!  I feel like I've been here for a really long time, and I still have seven weeks to go... But that's still a blessing, and that means I'll just be extra prepared when I leave! 

Update on our investigator situation: So our investigator ended up committing to being baptized! And he also ended up being one of our teachers...I can't say I didn't see it coming,  but since we already had three teachers, I guess you can say I let my guard down. Honestly one of the most embarrassing things ever. But he is the sweetest teacher ever and we love him. We have a new investigator now. A 17 year old girl whose parents are divorced. Her mother is a member,  but her dad is Buddhist and really against the church, and as you can imagine, she's struggling a lot. Teaching her was very difficult because she doesn't express her feelings well, and she was very guarded our first lesson. Hopefully we can get through to her eventually. 

Something I've come to learn in my short period of time as a missionary is that Sundays in the MTC are the best. After working really hard all week, being able to relax a little bit and focus on the Spirit is a true blessing. We have choir and a devotional, both of which are fantastic. The Sabbath truly is a day of rest and spiritual rejuvenation. 

Something else I used to take for granted a lot that I miss now is music. We aren't allowed to play music at all here, even on P-Days. Any music at all is earnestly sought for and desired. Also because of our busy schedule, I hardly get to play the piano anymore. I received the great blessing of being asked to accompany for a musical number during sacrament meeting, which was a huge tender mercy for me, and which brought the Spirit so strongly. I'm also working on a musical number with one of my companions and two elders, which I'm super excited for. 

I caught a cold this week, which I'm slowly recovering from, and let me tell you when you're feeling sick and miserable, the last thing you want to do is be a missionary. However, I'm still pressing forward! 

There are a lot of international missionaries here at the MTC, and we have like a gajillion interpreters. So during devos the international missionaries will wear headphones to listen to in the interpreters. Last Sunday my companions and I were sitting in front of a couple of Chinese missionaries. One of the missionaries companions,  who was American,  was falling asleep. So his companion next to him took off his headphones and put them onto this sleeping missionary, which of course quickly changed to an awake missionary. My companions and I about died. This guy won the official Best Way to Wake Up Your Companion Award. 

Something that I wanted to share with y'all that I totally forgot to mention last week that I thought was super cool. In the MTC, English is the most common mission language. Second is Spanish, and third is, guess what? Japanese! My mind exploded when I heard that! There are three temples in Japan, and seven missions! The work is progressing so much in Japan and it's so exciting! 

So in our Japan mission MTC culture,  we have names for all of our textbooks that have been passed down from district to district.  We have a red basic grammar book that's called Miyagi-san, because it will teach you everything. We have a little red book containing a bunch of useful missionary words and phrases, called the Ninja, because it's sneaky fast. And the best one is a thick yellow grammar book called the Pikachu, because you should always keep it by your side. There's a gajillion other names for our other books. Basically our senpais are nerds.

This is the last week for our Nihonjin district. We've gotten so close with all of them and we're going to miss them so much! Thankfully both of the sisters are going to Fukuoka! We had an opportunity to teach them in a lesson that focused on finding others needs, and they in turn taught us. It was such a neat experience. The Spirit really transpires all language barriers, and as long as you love them, it doesn't matter how difficult it is to communicate with them. 

I'm really grateful for the chance I get to serve such wonderful and loving people. The gospel is something that can bring them so much joy and knowledge and I'm even more grateful for it everyday. Our zone went to the temple this morning, and the peace I felt there is something that everyone needs. I'm so grateful for this opportunity to serve, love, continually repent, and grow closer to Christ everyday. 

愛しています！

Dimmitt Shimai

1. Sister Graviet solution to a cold classroom

2. 4 great Nihonjin, one America Jin, and one...Canada Jin?

3. My Shimaitachi!

4. I can't get enough pictures with the Nihonjin 

5. The field is white ready to harvest: missionaries only