To the coolest kids on earth...my family!

Oh my dearest FAMILY! I LOVE YOU SO! 

I have a thousand things I want to say, so its maybe going to all be a little random, but here we go! 

Yesterday we were sitting in church, and this really funny guy from the stake was up there talking and speaking SO fast, but making everyone laugh and being so funny. I didn:t quite know what was being talked about, but I just sat there, looking around at everyone laughing and realized how much I was growing to love my people here! It was such a sweet happy moment!

This week I went to Aizuwakamatsu on a split with Tuttle Shimai! Tuttle Shimai is special because she is Brother and Sister Hyer`s niece. Before my mission, Sister Hyer was so excited for me to serve in Sendai, because that is where her niece had been called too. I met Tuttle Shimai when I first came to Japan, but this week I got to be her companion and it was so wonderful! We walked from the apartment in Aizuwakamatsu to the castle to dendo. While we walked we stopped and talked to a couple girls in a park sitting on a bench. We went over and started talking to them and invited them to look at Mormon.org. 

Eatin a big ole pile of curry on the table. No plates. Just curry! 

Then we went on our way and when we were almost to the castle, we met these 2 older ladies who were also on their way to the castle to see the cherry blossoms. We started walking together, and talking, we looked at the cherry blossoms together, and then they fed us their picnic, and then we went and climbed the stairs in the castle up to the very top and looked out over Aizuwakamatsu, and then they bought us ice cream! They weren:t too interested in the Gospel, but they sure had fun pampering the two of us missionaries! 

Another miracle is happening over here! Tess Shimai`s granddaughter, wants to hear the lessons! She is only 10 years old but is so brave and has come to some activities at the church all by herself! We have our first lesson with her this Saturday! 

I never told you about a really weird experience us missionaries had. Last transfer, there was a family in the Fukushima ward who had 2 of their sons get baptized. One of them was about 10 years old, but had never been baptized, and the younger one was 8 years old. All of us missionaries went to Fukushima for the event. Fukushima is one of the areas that was hit by the tsunami 3 years ago, and because of that, the oldest boy is really scared of water. After his 8 year old brother got baptized (who loved the water, and loved all the attention, and was kinda swimming around in the font...) it was the older brothers turn to be baptized. He did NOT want to be baptized. I don:t think it was so much that he was against the principle of being baptized, it was that he is so so scared of the water. 

He and his dad stood in the font for quite awhile. He kept crying and saying it was so scary. His dad tried to baptize him, but his son resisted. After trying to calm the boy and trying to help him get baptized, but to no avail, the dad talked with some of the other men in the ward, and they came to a conclusion. The boy must get baptized! So, the dad once more said the baptism prayer and then pretty much held his son and body tackled him into the waters of baptism!    ....I don:t know if that:s allowed. But that's what happened. So hopefully it counts! 

Mom, I loved the talk about first person faith you sent me a couple of letters ago! Thank you so much! I also loved your last letter, hearing about sweet Bella waving and waving to know one in particular, and holding out her arms for Grammie. I:m going to play with that little sweetheart everyday when I get home! Oh I love her! 

Last night in our apartment we had a funny little experience, called a GIGANTIC bee buzzing around our apartment. We were running around, my companion with a towel draped over her head for protection, me with a blue plastic strainer in hand to catch the lil` devil, and all of us just kind ducking and screaming and running around turning lights on and off, sliding doors closed, trying coax the beast out of our apartment! ...Then it disappeared. It suddenly vanished, so we just gave up the fight and figured it had gone out the door. But this morning and 6:00 am, what do we hear? Buzzing! It was still in our apartment just hanging out in the curtains! We finally found it and sent it on its way outside. Kind of a random, not missionaryish story, but know you like hearing all the parts of my life, so there you go! 

Oh, my dear family, a little miracle is happening in my heart that I want to tell you all about. But I want to write it in a letter, and I don:t have much time to write it in this email. So I will write you a letter about it later today. 

I love you all so so much! 

Have a beautiful day!

Love Kingu Shimai