The Atonement helps Anything!

July 25, 2016

Hello family and loved ones! Well how are you? Sounds like a good week for everyone and I'm glad all is well for everyone there in St. George and summer vacation. Well I'll be honest, this week we weren't able to go out and do a lot because of the knee but we do have some good experiences still and I have some spiritual thoughts I want to share. Sorry, not very exciting this week. So this week we had Branch Conference. President and Sister a Welch came to our area. Boy is that always the best, I LOVE the Welch's so much. They are parents to me here in Japan and just are so close to the spirit. We also had interviews with President Welch this week. Those are my favorite things ever. I always feel the spirit so strong and so much love from him. I can testify, mission president are for sure called by God, they know everything. I compare them to moms because he seriously knows all we feel and everything. It's amazing. Well after branch conference a member came up to us sisters and said Dohi Shimai is having a hard time, will visit her with me? And of course we would love to do that. Dohi Shimai has some disease I don't know but her body always hurts, especially her back. She can't eat really and just struggles. So we went to her house, gave her some goodies and just listened to her. She has a hard time trusting God now and she never lets us pray but we said can we pray together please before we leave and she let us. My companion said it and the spirit was so strong and I could feel the love God has for her. Even though she says she can't feel it, I know deep in her heart she can feel it. It was just a neat moment to know we all felt they warmth in our heart whether she says she did or not. God loves all his children no matter trial he gives to them. Last I want to share the spiritual thought and challenge this week. So I was reading a talk from August 2016 Liahona by Elder Bednard called Accepting the Lords Will and Timing. So I won't spoil the story but it talks a lot about faith and I want to share a quote that changed my view of faith. "After this experience, I knew that having faith--at least in my circumstance--was not necessarily knowing that he would heal me, but that He could heal me. I had to believe that He could, and then whether it happened was up to Him." Faith to me has always been having faith it'll happen, which is right but after reading this, I realize that faith is knowing it can happen but accepting either results. And boy do I need to work on that, I know for me faith is just k he can do this and now do it please ha but it's not that. True strong faith is knowing he can but being willing to accept any result because you know it's his plan. I know God has a plan for us even if it's not the plan we want. I challenge you all to read this talk and look at your faith and see if you could have this faith the people have in the story. If not quite, pray, use the atonement, and strengthen your faith to trust his plan. I know it'll bless your life, and I know it's through the atonement that we can strengthen our weaknesses or even our strengths. This church is so true, Christ died for us, and he wants us to do all we can to become like him. I know it's all true. I love you all and miss you like crazy. Keep staying close to your savior in good or bad. #RELY #FAITH  スミス姉妹 Smith Shimai

"Addie Smith met a missionary I knew really well that just went home in SWEDEN! What? Haha small world.."

"1 year"

"She gave me a present for my year mark haha"

"Fireworks for summer festival"

"I made carrot cake for the branch haha"

"Sorry gross but ask dad, I keep getting bumps on my ears and then they bleed.."

"Sorry fam gross but dad what is this? Did you get Sister Welch's email?"

A year? No Way?! Time, STOP!

July, 18, 2016

Hello Loved OnesCan you believe it's been a year since I left? Insane.. I don't like it.. But it's okay change subject.
How are you all this week? I am sure you're dying of heat in Sunny St. George but you don't know this heat of 100% humidity haha but enjoy it! I love you all and thank you for your love and prayers. Truly I feel them everyday. Okay first off new transfer started this week. And well we stayed! Same companion and same place. So no changing here, so here we go! First, fun experience of the week, we visited Satake Shimai a LA who is so old she can't come anymore but we always visit, sing her a hymn, and bare testimony. But we were just talking at the beginning and the first 10 minutes or so she asked us, "You know how to get here? By bike?" And we just kept saying, yup! And smiling.  Old people are so cute! Okay miracles again, yes they keep coming!  Let me tell you about them! First one is Rika chan. She's a young high school girl we met on the street. I saw her 100 yards ahead and thought okay she's it, let's stop her. So I did, and well she actually had met missionaries before and liked them but didn't get to really get to know the gospel well. So we introduced the Book of Mormon and God loves us so we can pray at anytime. So we gave her a Book of Mormon and had her read from it and we exchanged numbers! Yes! So we text her the next day and she read it. She wants meet again soon when it's summer vacation. We are super excited about her. Next was one that built my testimony about the spirit is simple. So we were visiting an investigator but he wasn't home so I felt we should try and visit this young LA who is NEVER home. So I asked my comp and she said 行きましょう！ or Lets go! Haha So we did, and SHE WAS HOME. First time the whole time I've been here in Toyooka. It was amazing. You could tell she was happy to see us and we were able to check up on the simple prayers and reading. She hasn't been much and so we talked about meeting more and about this souman party (souman: cold noodles they eat ALL the time in the summer here) she said she wants to come to more activities so we are striving to do more of those. But I'm so glad we have the spirit giving us simple thoughts and then we do our part by acting on them. Then God provides the rest with what you say and understanding those people. A fun thing this week was we cleaned the church for Branch Conference this week. It was supposed to be a relief society activity but only the president and one other lady came so us 4 cleaned from top to bottom. Haha it was fun! I love cleaning (thanks momma smith) haha Sorry, there is not a lot this week my comp hurt her knee so we were inside a little bit but that's okay still saw miracles. We are working on getting it better and working hard again on finding those prepared people. So my spiritual thought of the week is a quote from a prophet, forgot who... But it says "It is true that the answers to our prayers may not always come as direct and at the time, nor in the manner, we anticipate; but they do come, and at a time and in a manner best for the interests of him who offers the supplication.” Be thankful that sometimes God lets you struggle for a long time before that answer comes. Your character will grow; your faith will increase. There is a relationship between those two: the greater your faith, the stronger your character; and
increased character enhances your ability to exercise even greater faith." I love that! Sometimes we pray and nothing comes, what the? Why? Haha but we know God is helping us learn grow and change. Our faith grows and we are able to become the person he wants us to become. This just hit me way hard. Especially the end about character and our faith. Those just balance each other out. I had never thought about it that way before. So a challenge this week, is write this quote down, especially in the place you pray and if you don't receivethat answer fast or when you want it, just remember this. It's okay to be challenged, but he will provide. I know he always does, he is aware of us. I promise. He isn't not paying attention to how you feel, he is just letting you grow  first. I recently gained that testimony, and Itestify it's true. He loves you all and knows you. Your savior has felt the hard things, the happy things, and all in between things you've felt, don't forget that. Pray, pray, and pray. It's the best solution to all things. I love you all and thank you for your support. Keep being safe healthy and strong. You're amazing! #RELY #CHARACTERANDFAITH スミス姉妹 Smith Shimai

"A LA, well she's just too sick and old to come but she forgets everything too so she asked us like 10x times if we bike everywhere ha"

"Beautiful, everyday we see this biking over a HUGE hill haha"

"From my last area, I got this picture today! Ah!"

"A sick bat... Woah!"

Transfer 8 here we come, that's insane!

July 11, 201

こんにちは！皆さんお元気ですか？Hello! How is everyone? I hope all is well over there in HOT St. George haha I'm just dying in 90 degrees and 100% humidity haha,  yay for sweating 24/7! But it seems like it's been way fun to have everyone back and you all enjoyed the fun 4th of July. Well first, I want to give THE BEST GRANDMA IN THE WORLD A SHOUT OUT! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  I hope you have a wonderful day and I will be thinking of you, hope you're healthy and happy Bonnie. You deserve the best birthday ever. Love you so much! お誕生日おめでとうございます！愛してますよ！ Well what a wonderful last week of the transfer we had here in Toyooka. Miracles and success are just popping out right and left. Patience is key, it's always His timing. So we had a companion exchange this week but this time they came to our area, it was so much fun! I was with Luczak Shimai yet again, it was the best and we saw so many miracles. We were biking to go knock on some doors and we saw this lady down the street so we thought okay let's go but she turned so we looked and then booked it on our bikes and I got up to her and talked to her then we were able to teacher a spirit filled lesson about our purpose in life and a lot about prayer. Her name is Nakajima and she loves basketball so that was fun to be able to relate with her and talk about it for a little. Then we related a game to life. If we need a time out we take one and who do we talk to? Our coach, or God. And he always gives us advice to succeed not to fail. And you could tell she was having a hard time in life at the moment so she was truly pondering what we said. We gave her a plan of salvation pamphlet and committed her to read it and pray and she is going to call us. It was such a strong spirit that was there to be able to help her know all these things in life that can help her. Then we went and visited Hama a lady me and Harada Shimai met two weeks ago who hasn't been home recently and she was home. So we were able to finally teach her about God and prayer. She hadn't thought about any of this before so we were literally just starting from square 1 but it went great, she said she would come to church but didn't.. So that hurt but it's okay she agreed to let us come back and we are excited to see the progression soon. We found 3 new investigators this week and we are just praying that they will keep contacting us so we can see more and more progressing people here. I love this area and want to help it grow so badly. Well Sunday was great! We had a Baptism. The elders got a referral from a recent convert here and this guy was just so prepared, it happened so fast. But it was such a spirit filled meeting. Harada Shimai and I were able to sing "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" and wow it was such a great feeling in my heart as we sang. Because yes I do know MY Redeemer lives! Well I'll end with the thought of the week. I forgot where I found this, I'm pretty sure from a talk I read but it says "Our willingness to take a step is not just met; it is exceeded by the Lord’s promised blessings." Wow! Isn't that a promise? All we have to do is be willing to take a step, have faith, and act, then the Lord doesn't just meet it, He exceeds it. Okay, if we have that promise we should be able to do all things he wants us to do even if it's hard, scary, we are too tired, etc. I just loved that because sometimes as a missionary, it's hard stopping someone random on the street, it's hard when you've been finding all day and stopping this person, etc. but we just take a step of faith and He exceeds our expectations of that situation. I was so blown away at the love He has for us. I'm grateful that we have a promise if we just act with a little faith, he makes up the rest and better. I've seen that on my mission so many times and I love it. Never forget, He promises. So just take that step. I promise with all my heart and as a representative of Christ at this time that he will give you this promise. Trust him. He loves you and wants to provide what's best for you. I love you and I love my Savior. He died for me and for you, give it to him. Love you all and miss you lots! But have a wonderful happy week, rember take that step. #RELY #STEP  スミス姉妹 Smith Shimai

"Johnson Shimai who lives in American Fork and was visiting..."

"No Comment..."

"Eating omelets

"Companion exchange"

"We couldn't go out for an hour because it was insane, RAIN"

"Last zone conference this transfer"

"Always fun to be with Miller Shimai again"

JULY? No way.. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA

July 4, 2016

Well first things first, PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, HAPPY 4th OF JULY!  I do love Japan more than I ever imagined, but being away from your country does make you more grateful for it. There truly is no place like America. So don't over look this holiday, it's a blessing to have our free great country. But sounds like all is well, crazy Aus and Dev are officially back for good.. Never thought this day would come. But welcome back even though I'm not even there haha also tell your sweet little girl Demi happy birthday from her FAVORITE auntie (whom she hasn't met) haha love her and can't wait to meet her. Okay well on to the week, wow let me just start off with God is real and is aware of us individually. We found 3 new investigators this week! Yes, you read that right, 3! It was miracles.  First is Matsuoka, I wrote about him last week but anyway, we found him when we were knocking on doors. So we went back and followed up if he read the pamphlet and he did. He actually loved it and thought it was all great to learn about. He thought it was all good stuff and he needed it in his life. So we talked a little about church and asked him to come but he had work and so we just made a time to come back and it was just good. Next is Kikuchi San. I wrote a little about him I think but we met him knocking as well. He had a sister pass away and it has been bothering him why and where she is etc but he is just having a hard time having faith and wanting to know for himself. So we were able to talk about the BOM and faith in Alma 32. It was such a spirit filled lesson. He really is ready we just need to open up that hardened heart of his. We talked about how we can't see God but we can feel him like wind. So if we trust its there then we will feel it. He never thought of it that way and loved it. It was guided by the spirit for sure. And last is Okada San. So it's a young mom we met Tuesday when we went to visit a referral but we couldn't find so we looked at each other and said lets pray, so we prayed and both said lets go to this apartment. So we did, the first 3 nothing.. And it was the last door, yup God gives you blessing after a trial of your faith. So we knock and she comes to the door and ask why we are here, so we introduced ourselves and talked about gods love and eternal families. We showed earthly father heavenly father and testified of God wanting all of us to return to him and we can have life after death. She was amazed that there was a knowledge after death. She said she has been curious about what would happen after death so she would love to hear more. We were so excited and so grateful for that blessing after searching for a referral and couldn't find it to see a miracles and someone prepared. So we will go back the same time this week and we are both excited. The last week of transfers, here comes the miracles!  So my thought this week comes from my sacrament pondering time. So I made it a goal to pick one subject to ponder during the sacrament every week. This week was happiness. So I was reading some talks about happiness and found these quotes that changed my view of happiness. "Happiness comes as a result of our obedience and our courage in always doing the will of God, even in the most difficult circumstances." -Benjamín De Hoyos I loves that because when times are hard you think you can't be happy but because of Christ even in the times we have to dig deep and endure, we can be happy. And the other is, "Happiness is not only simple, but it is here for us to experience each day. Happiness is all around us." -President Uchtdorf We sometimes think I can't be happy today, life is hard, but we always have something to be happy for. It's simple, just as simple as, I can breath, I have a family, I have the gospel, etc. And as I read those and ponder happiness in sacrament, I realized life is always happy if we follow God and look for the simple happiness. So I challenge you two things this week, first try picking out one thing before sacrament to really ponder and learn about it makes sacrament even a better experience. Especially if it's something we need to improve or change. Then second, everyday look for the happiness in your life. I promise it is there. We just need to do two simple things, follow God and look.  I know God wants us to be happy so he will allow us to be happy. I promise it is true. I love this work, I haven't been able to honestly say this till now but I am sincerely and honestly happiest I've ever been.  I love my Savior, he died for me so I can become a new and better person. I'm forever grateful for him. I love you all and I'm thankful for your support and prayers. Have a wonderful safe week!
Smith Shimai スミス姉妹

"We made home made gyoza with a LA, it was fun."

"LOOK! What the Japan?!"