The sea urchin test

May 22, 2018

Starting off this post with a heart-warming story of sea urchins, mainly because I tried it for the first time this week and miraculously kept it down.

When my dad was courting my mom back in the early 1990's he had to pass the sea urchin test in order to prove himself worthy to marry my mom. My grandpa (mom's dad) took my dad to a restaurant and ordered a fresh sea urchin. By fresh I mean it was literally pulled straight out of the ocean minutes before and plopped on a plate. My dad observed the spines of the creature moving on his plate, fresh and very much still alive. He peered inside the creature's head (or was it a head?) and observed it's yellowish innards. My dad panicked a bit as he met the piercing eyes of his future father-in--law, who was intently waiting on him to eat it. Motivated by his desire to win the hand of my mother, he ate the poor creature. Both died a little in the process.

Unlike that poor sea urchin, Jacobson Shimai and I are happy, healthy and somewhat alive! The winds of Hachinohe are pretty much the same as the winds of Idaho so we are thriving in this weather.

Our weekly cooking nights are exploding! What started out as a simple two-on-one cooking lesson between us and Noriko San has turned into a full on class with around 10-15 people showing up each week! This week we had nine nonmembers attend! It`s a party. And the recipes that Noriko San teach us are out of this world amazing.

Apple Pie Party

Speaking of Noriko San, she and her husband became official investigators this week! Jacobson Shimai and my beloved past companion Ishikawa Shimai were on splits and taught them about the plan of salvation! Jiro san (Noriko's husband) studied religion in college so he showed a lot of interest in the lesson by asking some great questions. Meanwhile, Noriko san was doing some intense note-taking and when asked to pray, she replied, "I'll pray every single day!" It's wonderful being able to see our friends progress!

We get transfer calls next week and everyone who's served missions knows the anticipation of waiting. I've been in Hachinohe for four transfers so who knows what will happen! I've really enjoyed serving here for almost half a year. Looking back at myself six months ago I can definitely see a difference in the growth of my faith. There's been some rough experiences in Hachinohe, but it's amazing to be able to see and recognize God supporting me through those times. And it's not just throughout my time in Hachinohe or my mission, God has been there every step before I even put on the name badge.

Almost exactly a year ago, I was in Idaho waiting to open my mision call. I was having some extreme doubts and fears about my decision at the time. But as I opened my call with my parents beside me, and heard my mom scream "Japan Sendai!!" before I even read it, I've never felt more peace in my life. Serving in Japan is the best thing I could be doing with my life right now, and it's right in line with God's perfect plan for me.

God loves you, and He has a perfect plan for you as well. Never doubt that!

Wish I had more time to write, but please know that my love and prayers are with you all!

Church is true.

Love,

Matsuura Shimai

Jacobson shimai is officially the model for all my cheesy quote pics.

The Wonders of Hachinohe!

May 15, 2018

Hello Everyone!

Sorry no time to write out an actual email because Jacobson Shimai and I decided to explore beautiful Hachinohe today! Here are some photos. Enjoy!

Love you all!

Matsuura Shimai

Fun fact: In Japanese, "Matsuura" means pine tree by the bay.

The converting power of TACOS

I guess we'll just jump right in.

SUCCESSFUL CHURCH INVITE

At Eikawa (English conversation class) on Tuesday we invited everyone to come to fast and testimony meeting the following Sunday to "listen to American missionaries try to speak Japanese." This tactic apparently worked because we had three Eikawa students show up at church this Sunday! They sat through the entire meeting and seemed to enjoy themselves. Two of them were the Miura couple, whom we've become super close with over the past month through our cooking parties. We're hoping they will come to church next week!

MEET EMON

We found a solid investigator this week named Emon San. He's a 16-year-old high school boy who has alot of interest in learning about the gospel. We shared a brief message on the restoration with him and handed him a Book of Mormon. He was super excited and said he would study it! At the end of our meeting we asked him to offer the pray and without any prompting, he got down on his knees. We all kneeled on his doorstep as he offered a heartfelt prayer. Truly a miracle from the Lord!

WATCH US COOK TACOS

Jacobson Shimai and I brought our (limited) cooking skills to the table and taught a class on making good ol' Mexican Tacos. Everyone loved it because there is zero trace of Mexican influence in Japan so this is the second best thing (after the gospel of course) that we could offer them. There were 18 people crammed in a tiny kitchen doing various tasks like rolling our tortillas, cutting onions, mashing avocados, cooking meat, washing dishes... It was a blast!

CAN WE JOIN YOU?

Operation BLT (Bring lots of Tomodati) still going strong! We planned a frisbee activity on Saturday but then no one showed up. We contacted some of the girls who committed to come, but it turns out they were at a festival celebrating Children's day (Japanese Holiday). So we asked if we could join them and it ended up being one of the funnest activities ever! Also, we may or may not have called the mission president for permission to ride a jet coaster ;). We were able to develop good friendships with some young people and we already have another activity planned with their friends!

Thank you for all the support from back home! I love you all!

Church is true.

Love,

Matsuura Shimai