First off- I gotta say...little Kaiden is SO CUTE!!!!! ALL I WANT TO DO IS HOLD HIM! Goodness. He is adorable.

Oh I gotta joke for everyone. So Roberts Shimai and I were in a rush to get somewhere, and so I was like "we`ll be rushin` on the way there..." and then I realized what that sounded like and said- "and japanese on the way back!" hahahaha thought I was so funny. Get it?- Russian? Anyways....I dont know where I inherited this corny sense of humor from, but it keeps me going hahaha

Also--- Congratulations for Katie!! Mexico!!! That is AWESOME!!!! She is gonna be great.

So, we are encouraged to follow promptings that we receive right? Which people to talk to, what to say, where to go, etc. So I have been trying to be better at that. And BOY have I found the blessings from it. I spied this little old lady walking down this old dark ally and you best believe we went after her! She talked to us for about a straight ten minutes, smiling like crazy and laughing after every one of her sentences. All I got out of it was that whenever we are hungry, she wants us to come to her old creepy door and yell "OBACHAN! (grandma) GOHAN TABETAI (I want to eat food)" and she said she would reply "TABENASAI"--(the command form of eat) hahaha anyways, she said that about a million times, and she was just the smiliest little thing. If you wondering what the tone/mood of this whole encounter was- thing Harry Potter- the scene they have in the movie where they go into that house finding that lady and then they find out that the lady is actually dead, and has been for some time. I don't know why it reminded me of that, but it was a creepy little place, she was extremely happy, and the whole thing was just pretty fun. You best believe we are gonna be calling on her!!

YUKARI

So- we got a new official investigator this week! I cant describe to you how sweet she is, but just imagine the cutest little sunflower or something and convert that into a person. She is awesome.　And we love her so much. She should be in some of our pictures! So we met up with her, and we were going to officially ask her if she wanted to be an investigator- because up until then, we had been inviting her places with the missionaries, and talking to her about things but yeah. So we asked her if she wanted us to teach her about Christ, and teach her about what we believe, and she said yes!!!!! HURRA!!!! And then we asked her if she was going to come to church on sunday, and she goes "mmm uh yes. But please dont tell anyone!" and so we asked her why- and she goes "I just dont think I can be a missionary!".... hahahaha she is so sweet. We dont know if she mixed up missionary with member- because when she said that she was speaking english. but either way. It makes sense- because she has only really been around the missionaries. But even if she meant member, she thought that you had to be a member to come to church. It was so sweet hahaha and she was so relieved afterwards haha. She LOVES church, and she loves all the people. I am confident that no matter what happens, she will be coming to the mormon church every sunday for the rest of her life hahaha WE LOVE YUKARI! Some of the things she says in english are hilarious. Some of them I cant repeat. But basically, she is the best. So that is Yukari!

So I was looking back at my notes I took in the MTC, and man there were a lot of good speakers that came! One scripture that was talked about- was Hebrews 12:1 "Let us run with the patience the race that is set before us"  :) I love that. Reading different stories in the Book of Mormon- especially near the end of it- just reminds me that Heavenly Father causes or allows all things that happen to happen. The purpose of us being here on earth and not in Heaven is to have experiences here on earth that will teach us and help us grow! So- who is the teacher? Heavenly Father! And He is the very best teacher. He knows exactly how to teach each of us. Sometimes, the only way that we can learn something is the hard way. Sometimes, even when we are doing things right- bad things happen. I feel like that happens for 1 of 3 reasons. 1)-we have hardened ourselves to the point where the only way to learn is the hard way, 2) we are doing what we can but Heavenly Father knows we can be purified through these difficult experiences, or 3) to be an example to others. I know that I have been strengthened by other people going through hard things, and I have grown even though I wasn't the one directly going through the trial. When we suffer with patience things that happen to us or around us, we are collecting treasures in Heaven :) We dont need to be scared, because our Heavenly Father is in control of all things! We just need to "be still, and know that {He} is".　

A couple other thoughts-- Patience in the Lord is Faith in the Lord (Luke 21:). and Romans 5:3 says "we glory in tribulation also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience" so next time you open the back of your car and the eggs, milk, and chocolate cake fall onto the driveway- just smile and say Yay!!! Another opportunity for me to exercise patience!! hahaha

Anyways, those are my thoughts for the week! Today for p-day we are going to this underground place we discovered last week---it is the coolest. maybe I will take pictures. Guess what is under there besides a whole City of Embers kinda world? KRISPY KREME!!

I shall send some pictures momentarily :) It was sister Andacas birthday this week, and we had a PARTY! I made a lovely monster cake in the scone cooker. We still dont have a stove, but we got this awesome rice cooker and waffle iron thing that we can cook ANYTHING in!!! I will prove it in the pictures.

Tower of tim tams for tim tam slams--and the cake!!!

Well, have a great week! And a delicious one! Anyone done a tim tam slam before? They are the coolest. I want to try it with kit kats though.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!! Smile lots and do something fun somewhere beautiful, because it is the beginning of the best season of all!! 

Love you all :)

-Lane Shimai

my first note I wrote to someone in characters!! Its all in hiragana pretty much...but still! I was way way excited!

When we went to a members house for dinner :)

My Weekly Update!

Basically, Everyone is the best ever! And I had a great week!

So there is this sister here who is convinced that I am exactly like Rapunzel (the tangled Rapunzel) anyways, she is convinced. And I love it hahaha for my birthday she gave me this huge picture of Rapunzel, and I have it hanging on my wall now haha. Also- my mission mom bought me cake! and then ate it too haha annnnnnnd we went to this Nepalese place for lunch, and all these random people were being so nice. They all sang, and then this man came up and gave me like notepads, a pen, and a tissue box, and then ten minutes later another man came by and presented these perfect looking grapes...and THEN the owner guy comes and tells us he wants to give us all free ice cream....basically- I am blessed haha.  ---ps-Kimber, Emma, or Bennett...want to send me some songs from that movie? The nonromantic ones? That would be awesome if you could! If you cant though dont worry about it! I guess I will love you anyways...

This week....miracle #1---Karan came to church!! He has been investigating for a while, and he just stopped coming to church. but he just came! And It was awesome! ALSO- Yukari came....she is so afraid of religion but she texted us on Friday morning and was like " I think I will come to church this Sunday. Is that okay?" hahahaha oh my GOSH it was more than okay! Every time we ask her she cant...but this time she did!!!! It was so good!

Oh, and we moved this week into this bigger apartment, which is everything we hoped and dreamed it would be. We don't have a stove anymore...but we got our rice cooker! And it has given us the opportunity to be super creative with it! Which is awesome. Sister Roberts magically got a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese (her favorite) and she made it in the rice cooker hahaha it was awesome. But yes. Bigger apartment. AND it is on the top of this huge hill....we all know what that means!!! My muscles are gonna be so big, nobody is gonna know what to do! And I absolutely love the feeling of getting to the top of the hill haha. Everyday of my life. It is so good.

ps-thank you for all the birthday wishes!!! Opening up my email today was like PURE joy. I love you all so much! And even though I don't have time to email back---- I love you all so much and I am so grateful for all of you!

So there is this crazy lady in our ward- love her to death. Sat next to her on Sunday, and she was saying all sorts of crazy things. I told her I liked her necklace, and she went off on how I was just so good at Japanese, and these poor other missionaries trying to learn  Japanese....(we were speaking in English together at the time, which shows you how good my Japanese is...plus most of the missionaries here are all pretty much fluent...in the last months of their mission and my Japanese is..no good at this point, but it will get better!) but nonetheless, it was so much fun. She told me that I needed to cover that one part of your neck-- clavicle? Anyways, she kept touching it, and then she gets this heart key-chain and she was like " you need something right here...not a necklace....oh! I have this heart! Can I glue it to right there?" hahaha crazy lady. love her to death.

So we have been working a lot more with the members, and they have been responding so well! I actually have friends when I go to church now haha. But member work is really so important! When the members feel involved, they are so happy to go to lessons with us, and they are so sweet to all of the investigators that come to the activities. Roberts Shimai and I are determined to work on the Less actives. Japan has a 20% retention rate. 20%....that is....REALLY BAD. But, we are going to try to help fix that! So we went through the ward list yesterday with the bishops wife--- it was 28 pages long, and she had never heard of about 80% of the people, and then with the remainder, half were active and half were inactive. So. We are working with the less actives. Just make sure you are always super kind to everyone around you, it is so important! And I never ever realized how hard it would be to join the church in the middle of your life. If you can- try to read the section in preach my gospel about people who are less active. Sorry I don't have the page number! Just read it :)

Also--- We visited Emiko this week- turns out she is an amazing little chef! We went with her home teachers, and she made us dinner. Then after dinner she had me put away a whole bunch of things around her house, because "I has the height". So funny. She is such a cute old lady. She has stuffed bears all around her house, and lace, and everything old lady that you can possibly imagine. ALSO--- all the `cool` old ladies here are obsessed with Audrey Hepburn. I love it haha 

I have an o-negai! `Forgot Me Not`- By President Uchtdorf. You can find it on LDS.org if you just write in the title. I know that it was given fairly recently, but It is just like a little breath of fresh air every time I read it. So if you have never heard it- read it! It will make you feel so loved! And if you have heard it, read it again! because it will remind you just how much you are loved.

MM! Something I read today in the Book of Mormon--Ether 2:19, 23-25

Read Ether 2:19, and then think about how it can apply to us as people--put it into this new context. I basically is a plea to heavenly father saying ` There is no hope left in me, heavenly father, please help me, I don't know what to do anymore. Sometimes I feel like I cant breath, and my energy is just running out. Please help me`--- and then verse 23-25 is heavenly Fathers response--- which basically says- `move forward. Figure out how to lift yourself up, and when you start doing that, I promise that I will be watching over you. you must walk this path, but I will be right next to you every step of the way. I will protect you. "I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea"..."I prepare you against these things". Anyways, it was beautiful reading that. Those scriptures, along with the Footsteps poem (look it up, print it out, and put it on your wall) it is just so peaceful, and it makes me feel like I can do anything at all!

 

Alright! one minute to say goodbye! moral of the story this week is that I love life, I love the Japanese people, and I love the Book of Mormon! I am so grateful to be a part of this church, because I know that it is the only church that has the complete, perfect Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Time is out, simply put- I love you all!

Love,

Lane Shimai!

ooooojamashimasu!

Hello beautiful outside world!!!! I am in this Fukuoka bubble, and I think it is so funny sometimes that there is a whole world out there. Fukuoka is pretty awesome. The people are pretty awesome too.

This week began with a lovely Italian man. He came a creepin during one of our lessons, and Roberts Shimai and I were like....who is this guy? Turns out he is one of our investigators friends hahaha. His name is Amedeo, and he is hilarious. He is a classic Italian. No offense intended. I just love him so much hahaha the first thirty minutes of us meeting him was him telling us about how talented he is with the accordian and the piano, and every time we tried to start the lesson he cut us off and told us that what he was saying was much more important hahaha. I love it. He is the best. And he continues to meet with us hahaha he is gonna get baptized. Then you will be able to see him! I will try so hard to get a picture of him. He has a little head, and a big body. He has the thickest Italian accent. Every time we are with him, I think of Aly. Love it.

So yeah, our investigators right now- one is Peruvian, one Nepalese couple, a Filipino, and then a japanese girl. So funny how that works out. I guess things are more diverse in the city! Which is cool! 

I want more pictures of Kaiden!!!! HE IS A CUTIE!!!! And I LOVE the red hair. It just makes me so happy hahaha man. I cant believe he will be like a whole year and a few months when I get back. I just want you to fly him out here! Send Kaiden, Owen (if that's still gonna be his name), and Brittany`s little girl out here. I swear I will babysit them all, love them up, and then send them back speaking Japanese! Think about it! I pray for them all every night! I hope Haylie, Eryn, and Brittany are all doing well!

I have been trying to figure out a place that would be super cool to take a picture with my Allen Orthodontics T-Shirt to send in to Dr. Allens office....but I havent quite found a place. I dont even know if they are doing that anymore! But still! I miss them all! I want to know how Gloria is doing, and her baby!!! Tell Brother Allen and Sister Hoynacki I say hello!! And Doreen, Nicole, Mandy, Gloria, Clare, Kristin...do we have the office`s address?

Anyone ever been to the San Juan Islands up in Washington? Sister Roberts showed me a picture....and I am DYING to go. That was random..but I thought I would say something cause if any of you ever have time to go on a random trip, just go up there, have fun, and send me lots of pictures!

So, I have made it a habit to keep a notebook by my futon every night, and it has been awesome! I recommend it! Its a notebook I keep all of my impressions in, and questions! Its like gold to me. 

We had zone meeting this week, which was really good because we have got some super cool elders and sisters. And basically the theme was why are we here? What is our motivation behind missionary work? And people shared really amazing stories. One elder got in a really bad car accident (he was walking, and a car ran into him) a year or so before the mission, and they had to do some crazy surgery on his leg. Since he has been here, its been getting worse, and some doctors said that they can fix it, and others say that he is going to have to get his leg amputated. So he was explaining how there is no way he is spending the last two years of his life walking just to get numbers, collect statistics, or waste his time away in Japan. He has come to really love the people. Love them enough to serve them in the best way possible! And you can tell, he really really loves the people. The only good missionaries are the ones that actually love the people. Anyways, everyone has really good stories, and stories about how miracles are happening with their family back home because they are on missions. One elder has an aunt an uncle who never went to church, and they have a couple kids. One of the kids just wrote him and asked him to baptize her when he gets home. I can`t really explain all the miracles that I hear about everyday, but I see so so many. I write some of them down, so hopefully one day I will be able to share them even more!

One thing that I have been freaking out about in my mind that just loves to over-think things, is....How in the WORLD am I supposed to be a good missionary? I hear a million different things everyday, a million people give you advice for different things, and then other people share all their strategies, etc....I felt a little like I was drowning! And that I was completely inadequate to be honest. But, the other day, I just realized. It isn't complicated. It does not have to be complicated. ALL that I need to know, is that my purpose is helping others come closer to Christ. And how am I supposed to do that? Be like Christ. Christ is the perfect missionary. So, my crazy little mind has finally been calmed! And I know that all I need to do is to have love be my motivation, and Christ be my way. I think this applies to real life perfectly too! Haha not just missionary life. If you feel like things are driving you crazy, and you really just dont know what to focus on, or how to manage your time, or what to do....just calm down, take a deep breath, and be still. Then you can slowly weed out all the unnecessary stresses, and just calm down. All we have to do, is try to be like Christ. Let love be your motivation for everything, and everything really will fall into place. Bad things will always happen- but its just like that quote from that one lady. `Bad and good always exist in our lives. but it is our choice to decide which garden to tend`. I know that that is so true! Dont get caught up in the details of things! Try to remember the big picture! Heavenly Father is watching over you, He loves you, and He is holding your hand through everything. We are all his children, no matter how grown-up we feel.

Something that Heavenly Father has wanted me to do this week is learn how to meditate. Hahaha he has made that abundantly clear through the scriptures, and letters from other people. So that is what I have been trying to do. And let me tell you, it is the best thing ever. Just try it! meditate everyday, even if it is for 5 minutes. For those 5 minutes, just calm down. Don`t worry about a thing. Close your eyes, and just relax! maybe even smile. Just calm down. I challenge you all to do it!!! Really truly try to make a habit of it. Maybe it isnt for everyone, I dont know. but I am pretty sure it is haha. Give it a try. You got nothing to loose!

Oh! We had a miracle yesterday! There is this lady who has been less active in the church for a while, and she never listens to the missionaries. BUT, she gave us makeup a while back, and so we texted her and asked her if we could buy her dinner to thank her for the makeup (tricky right, who says no to free dinner? not this girl) but yeah so she agreed, and then she said she would be out of town so she wouldn't be able to make it to church or anything. but GUESS WHO CAME TO CHURCH!!! SHE DID. I am way excited!

A really good talk I read this week was Band of Brothers---by Wirthlin I believe? It isn't a conference talk, but you can probably find it online! look it up if you have time. The other amazing talk I have is Character of Christ- and I heard that this one is impossible to find on the internet. SO, I want you all to read it, but only if you want to. So if you cant find it and you want me to send you a copy, just send me a quick email or something! heather.lane@myldsmail.net. I will mail it to you! It is soooooo so good.

Something really quickly that I learned from Sister Roberts this week-- When we are trying our hardest to improve ourselves, Heavenly Father pours out His blessings. The ones we need, even before we know we need it. It is amazing!

By the way...It has been raining a lot and well. Long story short. I got crocs. Yup. I did! I just did it ! last Saturday right after emails we went happily on over to the crocs outlet. I will email a picture of them. Roberts Shimai is a firm believer. but now, every time it rains, I wear these crocs and I feel like I am walking on a cloud! (me heels feel like they are walking through a field of needles barefoot, but Roberts Shimai says that will get better). Anyways, we also have these creepy pictures of trolls that now have the name of Roberts Shimai and Lane Shimai, and we like to hide them around the apartment every once in a while to get a good laugh. Andaca Shimai and Bush Shimai are such good sports hahaha. Ps- Bush Shimai and I are always coordinating with our outfits. Its super weird. not necessarily matching, but just so coordinated. WEIRD! I will send a picture of that too. And one with our investigator Elsi (Filipino in orange) at a members house last night. fun fun fun!

oh! And we are moving this week! (cross your fingers that it will actually happen). We are supposed to move on Saturday! And we have junkai Thursday, Friday, Saturday, which means this week is gonna be crazy! but good I am sure!!! 

Here is a quote Kimber sent me that I absolutely love and I will just share here in closing. You of the male gender can switch a couple of the words if you wish. The truth will still ring!

"Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God who walks in virtue with an understanding of why she should do so, who nurtures her spirit with everlasting truth"  -President Gordon B. Hinckley

Aint that the truth!

I love you all so much! have a fantastic week! and HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY MCKENNA!!!!!! I expect that you will do something super fun for it. Cause its important. And it is a good excuse to go on a random adventure and eat some good food. Yum.

By the way, I am working on the rice cheeks. Trying my hardest to embrace the culture you know.

ps grocery shopping is still my favorite, even in Japan. They got these awesome foods. And GUESS WHAT I AM GOING TO HAVE LATER TODAY IF ALL GOES ACCORDING TO PLAN?!?! A root beer float. Yup that's right. And my tummy couldn't be more excited.

Alright, sorry, my emails are always super long, there is probably about three or four people who actually read through the whole thing haha so if you are one of them, congratulations! You have endured and made it through! I am sending you an imaginary high five at this very moment!

Well, as always, I hope you are allllll so happy! Learning lots, progressing, growing, and being awesome! have fun everyday! Choose every morning to make it a good day! If you pray to be happy in the mornings, and try real hard, I promise it will come! I am such a morning person now! Even though I am dead tired hahaha. I actually go out running in the mornings! Imagine that!

Well. Goodnight to all!! I get to go grocery shopping in 4 and a half hours!

Smile lots! BE SAFE! Remember to enjoy all the little things in life!

LooooOoooove,

Lane Shimai :)

pps. I learned how to ride a bike `like a lady`. I will teach you all when I get home. I feel so cool

I dont even know how to begin this letter hahaha this is so weird! We are emailing so early!

Alright lets see...this week was BEAUTIFUL!!! Typhoon! The rain was amazing. We took every opportunity we could to bike in it, and be in it. Man. I have never seen it rain so hard for so long, and there was crazy thunder and lightening too!!! Dream come true!!! I have been a happy happy camper. Plus...I found hot chocolate. Soooo I am pretty much in heaven. The rain stopped yesterday, but it will come back someday! 

Mmmmkay, I have a couple cool cool stories for you! So, this past week I was reading Kate Bokovoys last weekly email, and In it she said that everyone should read D&C 6! So I did! And then D&C 6:16 stuck out to me- "there is none save God that knows the thoughts and intents of thy heart". And I had been praying that I could help someone out- like actully find someone who really needed our help. So I was studying that during personal study, and then some ladies name came to mind and I felt strongly that we should visit her and share that scripture. So we`re like alrighty. sooooounds good. So we bike there, and right when we get into the parking lot another member is walking across the parking lot and is talking to us---she had been on her way to visit this same member we were. So we go up there, and we visit for a bit, and then we share our message and the scripture---and this lady breaks down and tells us everything she has been worrying about. I dont know how much we helped her, but this experience helped me a lot, and I felt the spirit so strongly while we were talking to her, and afterwards. I know that no matter what happens, that was exactly where we were supposed to be, and we did exactly what needed to be done! It was an answer to my prayer. Soooo--- even though this seems like a little experience, it was awesome! And when those random thoughts come into your mind- follow them! Dont try to figure out if its just you or if its the spirit. If it is a good thing, just get up and do it!!  And thats when you see miracles happen!

So this week we got another Sister living in our apartment! Sister Bush! I knew her in the MTC, so it was really cool to hear she would be with us! basically it has been a party everyday. A party cause we are all really cramped into this tiny apartment. but it really has been fun. But yeah---we are getting a new apartment and we move into it on wednesday! It is almost 3 times the size as the one we are in now. Which is insane! And we got to go look at it. I saw two spiders while we were there....the jumping kind. So that will be exciting! The other three sisters dont have a problem killing bugs, so I am in good hands! 

Anyways....Oh! So funny. Soooo I shall include a picture of this actually after I tell the story. So we love brownies right? But when we try to cook it in our little microwave oven thing (you are supposed to be able to cook cakes and stuff in it) I always mess up. So my solution is to fry them in a frying pan! And they turn out splendidly in about a third of the time. So sister Roberts made them this week, and we were like man....we really should share with the elders...but they look like...well, a pig pile of questionableness. So sister roberts decides to shape each one individually for the elders, as loving as she is, and they turn out looking very... realistic! So then Im like well...we cant just hand these to them- they wont appreciate it. So Andaca shimai breaks out this goodie bags to wrap them in, and then I'm like well heck, lets make this uplifting- so we add some Nacho Libre quotes to it and BAM! Best gift any of these elders have ever received I am sure. here is a picture of our beautiful creations:

Anyways that's them! Andaca shimai wanted to shape them into something cute (which is why there are cookie cutters) but Roberts Shimai wouldn't have it. Soooooo yeah. One of the best service experiences I have ever had! Hahaha It was a lot of fun. And the Elders absolutely loved it.

Alright. I am trying to think about my week, but for some reason its not coming to me. Robert Shimai wasn't feeling well yesterday, so after church we went home so she could try and sleep it off---and I watched All of the District 2, all of the District 1, the stonecutter, Legacy, the Joseph Smith Movie, John tanner Story, and Mountain of the Lord. Every time one of my companions get sick I just break out the district. Soooo by the time this mission is over, I am sure I will have it ALL memorized. It was good!

Okay- now for Christina and Karon! So, there are these people who used to be investigators but just kinda dropped the missionaries. So Sister Roberts and I decided that we needed to visit them and make them feel loved. So we wrote a note, and the Sister Roberts got a fever (the day before we had biked all day in downpours, it was really fun, but yeah...it got her sick!) but yeah so I decided I really wanted to deliver it anyways! Soo. Me and Sister Bush (the sister who got here a few days ago) decided we were going to go deliver it. So we bike there, (we actually find it) and we knock on the door, and lo and behold Karon is actually home!!! So he steps outside and we introduce ourselves, and then we are talking for a bit, and we share a message with him! He was SO nice! And he said him and Christina had been talking, and thought that it was about time for them to start coming to church again. And then we showed up that night! Anyways, it was a miracle! The whole thing! It was a miracle we found the place in the rain at night, it was a miracle we were safe, miracle he was home, miracle he was nice, miracle he could speak english (haha), and the timing was a miracle. Just a night of miracles. It was awesome!

So since there are now two Sister companionships in Fukuoka, we had to divide our investigators this week. it was so sad. But we prayed about it a lot. Together and individually, and ended up figuring out exactly which ones each companionship should be teaching! We have Nora, Yukari, Elsi, Mineoi, and Christina. And we are going to be working with Emiko. Speaking of Emiko---can you all please keep her in your prayers? She isn't doing very well, and we don't know what to do.

Also- we made sushi this week. I actually love sushi now! (not raw fish sushi....) But man I love sushi with carrots, cucumbers, and egg! Never thought I would like any kind of sushin, so this is awesome!! That is sister roberts by the way! My one and only companion for the next six weeks! :) I love her to death! basically, you should all meet her because she makes me laugh all the time, and she makes everything fun. PLUS she has an amazing voice. And basically, she knows how to laugh at everything haha. We do this cute corny thing before we go to bed, we say one thing that we love about each other. Its actually super awesome though, and everyone should do it! Whether its to your roommate, all your siblings, or to your husband/ wife. It is so cute! oh, AND her mom is super duper cool too. She wrote me a letter! It was so sweet!! So that is sister Roberts! You will be hearing lots more of our adventures for the next 6 weeks! :)

man. that is really all I got! basically the weather is awesome, my language is slowly improving, I am learning lots about Japanese people, Heavenly Father loves me, and He loves you all too!!!! 

Also--- the talk I recommend from this week--- "Love Her Mother" by Sister Dalton. I could say more, but I am not going to! Just be loving always!

I will try to make this week interesting for you! Write me letters if you have any questions! Or anything at all! Advice! I do love letters :)

ps- Mama!!! I need McKenna and Nathan's email... I don't have either and I am dying to talk to them!

Love you all!!!!!!!! BE SO HAPPY AND SAFE!!!! Smile lots! oh! And thank you Aly, Kate, Kate, McKenna, Christopher, and Luke for sending me your weekly emails! I print them out are read them all week long! I love you all!!

-Lane Shimai!