Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving minasan! I love you! I was talking with another sister missionary this week about how much we have grown to love our families from coming on our missions. She said that she feels like she doesn:t really have the words to say how she REALLY feels about how much she loves them. I feel the exact same way. Like, I can say "I love you!" But want to make sure you get it. Its SO REAL and so I want you to know that it is hard to say in words how much my love for our family has grown. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

Being an American in Japan is so funny! Its not like they:ve never seen Americans before or anything...but its just not super common to have foreigners here... This week when me and Syuto Shimai (on a split) were out giving out Eikaiwa pamphlets we passed a girl and she saw me and as we passed she turned around and was just like "Gaikakujin!" Which is like "foreigner!" Or later this week on another split with Luk Shimai, we were on our bikes, waiting at a stop light and there was a little group of young teenage girls and they saw me and just came over and started talking to me in English and being so giggly and excited!

This week is Thanksgiving! They don:t really celebrate that here in Japan, but lucky for us missionaries, we have the Browne family in our ward who is having us over for Thanksgiving dinner!

This week I went to my first funeral here in Japan. It was like the movies where everyone wears black. It was different, because there was no casket, because they don:t bury their bodies here. After the funeral, everyone lines up and we are handed a flower and you go and put it on the memorial table and then bow to the picture of the person, and then turn around and bow to the family. Us missionaries sang Families can be together forever.

I am so thankful that our family is sealed together forever! I am thankful for prayer. I am thankful for the Book of Mormon and Bible. I am thankful for Jesus Christ. I am thankful for Heavenly Father:s tender mercies!

I love you so much!

Love Kingu Shimai

splits with Tui shimai and Kodama Shimai