Earthquake :)

Dear Fam!!

Okay so I felt my first earthquake!!! It was super tiny......... Haha like really small but it was yesterday during church and it was so crazy. Gotta love Japan. :) supposedly rumor is that Tokyo is way over due for a huge earthquake.... Scary. :) but god protects his missionaries. 

The weather is starting to really warm up!! It is amazing!! And the cherry blossoms are out!! They are amazing!!! Yeah for Sakura Dendo!!!! It is the best!!! :) 

This week has been so great! We had transfers and I am now in kouhoku!! I love it!!! It is more of a city and the ward is great! I love my new companions. Kawajo Shimai is from Okinawa and Bickmore Shimai is from Lehi. They are the best!!! We have so much fun together! It is way different then Tama but I love it so much!! We are seeing some cool miracles too. The power of 3. Yay!! 

Sad day though when I left Tama. Wed. At eikaiwa was so wonderful. It was sad to say goodbye to all those amazing people but it is okay because I will see them again. I will send a picture. They had the two missionaries leaving in front and so it was a little funny.... ;) haha It was such a good night. I was able to share a lot about the gospel with a lot of our Eikaiwa friends and it was so good. 

So I have been reading a talk called The Fourth Missionary. It is super famous in the mission field....haha :) it is so good!! In it he says this, "the purpose and central blessing of life is change. It is to be changed to become more like Jesus Christ. It is to incorporate into your character, the qualities of His character. It is to move from one degree of intelligence and capacity to the next, and from there to the next, until you see God face to face and know Him as He knows you." 

I love that! This life is all about becoming. I love that word. Become. It holds so much potential. We are here to become like god. We are able to do that through the atonement of Jesus Christ. I love the atonement. Through the atonement we are able to become all that god intends us to become. I love this gospel and opportunity I have to be here sharing it everyday. It changes lives. I have seen it. It not only is changing the lives of those I teach but it is changing mine. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to change. To become better and more like Christ. I know that this gospel is true. And I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of god. As we read it we learn of Christ and how we can become like him. Read it everyday :) it will help you to become the person you want to be. :) 

I love you all so much!! I hope you have a wonderful week!!!! :) I am so grateful for your love a support. I for sure feel your prayers. 

I am praying for you!! 

Love, 

Hannah Ashby Shimai 

愛してます!!!! 

アシュビー姉妹 

Here comes the Sun

Dearest family and everyone else.... Hah :)

This week has been one of the best yet!!!! So amazing!!! I wish I
could just send you a movie of it all! Haha :) the weather has been so
great these past couple of days so that is always nice :) the sun
really makes Dendo that much better. :)
I don't know where to begin..... I guess we will start with transfer
calls. We got them today. A day early.... Hah I am leaving Tama.... :(
my heart really hurt when I heard that. I love Tama. Like I can't
describe how much I love the people here in Tama. It is me bean area
and we opened it so I will always love Tama :) we are also just
starting to see some amazing progress and we have great investigators.
But I know I will love..... Kouhoku!!! That is my new area. I will be
in a three companionship too!!! I am excited it will be fun!! I will
miss Nakamura Shimai though. She is my little Nihongene and I just
love her!! It is her birthday this week and so we had a small party
with an investigator. I will send a pic :)
But kouhoku is in Yokohama zone.... So I am that much closer to the
Ferris wheel!!!!!!! Cool huh?!? :) haha
So Thursday they had a relief society hula activity and a miracle
happened. So we have really been wanting to teach one of our eikaiwa
students. She is amazing and we became such great friends. Her
husband died 2 years ago and last week her aunt died and so we really
could see her need of the gospel. For weeks we have been trying to set
up a time to meet with her but every time something comes up last
minute and we can't meet. Man satan..... Haha, anyway, so Thursday we
invited her to this activity but she said she couldn't come.... then
all of a sudden we turn around and guess who walks in... Yep she
came!!! But this is the story. So she was on her way to yoga and she
started walking.... Half way she realized that instead of walking to
yoga she had started walking to the church instead. And she realized
that she really actually wanted to go see her friend (who is a member)
do the hula so she came. After the activity we talked and it was
amazing. She and I have become such good friends. I told her all about
why I am who I am and she told me about her husband dying and how hard
that is. I was able to testify to her about the plan of salvation and
how through the gospel she can live with her husband again. It was so
cool. After she told me that I inspired her. I was just so grateful
for that whole experience.
Then today we went to her house for lunch. After we taught her and it
went really great!!! The spirit was so strong. I gave her a
Book of Mormon with my testimony in kanji and she loved it. It was so
wonderful. But you will never believe what happened next.... Like I am





still in awe. No she didn't say she wanted to get baptized... That
would have been amazing!!!!!!  Haha but she looked at me and was like
"ashby San I want to give you my kimono." I was floored!!! First if
all kimonos are like thousands of dollars....and she really just
wanted me to have it. It is for sure one of the greatest gifts I have
ever been given. It is beautiful. Like I don't even know what to say
still. I will probably have to send it home cause I can't really carry
it around Japan with me. But mom it is so cool!! Page is one of the
sweetest people I know. I just love her so much. She is one reason I
am sad to leave, but I am excited to experience new things.
Sorry that was a long story... I have some other cool stories but no time.
This week though we had 2 investigators come to church!!!! It was the
best day ever!!!

Well I know this church is true! With every party of my soul. It is
beautiful and it us true! Cherish the gospel, live what you learn from
the Book of Mormon, love everyone!! Life is so good. Be happy!!! Have
a wonderful lovely week!! I love and pray for you all.

Love, Hannah Ashby Shimai
                                    
愛してます!!!!!

 

It was a "すばらしい" week!!!!!!

Dear family and anyone else that reads these, :)

This week was so wonderful! I love Japan more and more every week I
think. As this transfers comes to and end the weeks get better and
better and I am really wanting to stay here in Tama!! But I will go
where ever the Lord wants me to go. Time really does fly though!! This
transfer has gone by so fast!!!
So many cool things happened this past few days and so many small miracles. :)
So sorry this letter is late... We had Pday get changed to today so we
could have sister zone Pday at the zoo with some of our investigators
:) it was a lot of fun!!! I will send pictures :)

So on Tuesday we had interviews. President Wada is such an inspired
man. It was so good to talk to him. He gave me a lot of great advice
and it really helped me to feel good about the work here in Japan. I
feel so blessed to be serving here in the Tokyo south mission. The
Wada's are amazing people and are helping this mission so much.
President focus a ton on our purpose and our mission motto. It is
really cool.
This transfer Nakamura Shimai and I have been really studying our
mission motto. We started first with "obedience is the price" then the
next week "faith is the power" and so on. This week our focus is
"Christ is the reason". What a great focus ね! :) I have been
reading a lot about Christs atonement lately and I love it. It is for
sure one of my favorite subjects. It involves so many aspects of the
gospel. During study though I found this quote and I wanted to share
it cause I loved it.
"Prior to his call to the Quorum of the Seventy, Elder Bruce C. Hafen
explained that the Atonement is not simply God’s method for righting
wrongs and satisfying the demands of justice. The Atonement is
rehabilitative, a miraculous power that can help us change who we are:
“I once wondered if those who refuse to repent but who then satisfy
the law of justice by paying for their own sins are then worthy to
enter the celestial kingdom. The answer is no. The entrance
requirements for celestial life are simply higher than merely
satisfying the law of justice. For that reason, paying for our sins
will not bear the same fruit as repenting of our sins. Justice is a
law of balance and order and it must be satisfied, either through our
payment or his. But if we decline the Savior’s invitation to let him
carry our sins, and then satisfy justice by ourselves, we will not yet
have experienced the complete rehabilitation that can occur through a
combination of divine assistance and genuine repentance. Working
together, those forces have the power permanently to change our hearts
and our lives, preparing us for celestial life”

Through the atonement we can gain the power to permanently change our
hearts and lives. That is amazing. We can permanently become better,
more holy, and sanctified through the atonement of Jesus Christ. That

is such an amazing gift!!! Are we using it to its full capacity?!? We
currently are working with a lot of less active members who have been
less active for a long time and seeing them be able to change through
the atonement has been so amazing. They are slowly gaining the desire
more to return to the place they were once before yet now more
refined, with a stronger testimony then they had before. I love the
atonement!!!!

Anyway... This week we had an investigator come to church!!!! It was a
miracle!!! She is one of our eikaiwa students!! This week we started
Sunday morning eikaiwa right before church and she decided she wanted
to stay for church and she loved it. She came with us to the zoo this
week and she is coming to church again on Sunday. :) she is so great!
She is actually Chinese but speaks perfect nihongo. I don't know if I
talked about her before.... But she is teaching me some words here and
there in Chinese... Man I am glad I am learning nihongo over
Chinese..... :)  Chinese it is hard dad!!!! Haha

Yesterday we went over to one of our PIs houses and she practiced
teaching us how to wear kimonos!!!!! It was so cool!!! 
Those things are amazing but they have so many layers!!! 
Such a fun experience though. The one I wore is a 
traditional coming of age kimono that girls 
wear when they turn 20. So perfect for me cause 
I am turning 20 this year..... 
Weird.... I feel so young yet 20 seems so old....
It was a lot of fun and we took some fun pictures :)
and I just remembered it was st. Patricks day 
yesterday and the kimono I wore had green on it!! 
How perfect :) she was truly inspired to have
me wear that one... ね

Oh Saturday I went on splits with the dearest Sister Miskin. She is my
favorite :) she is so cute! We had such a fun time! And we got to do
Kubari with some street performs. The chorotachi in their ward got
permission from president to put on a music fireside so they got to
advertise for it by performing on the street at the eki :) we went to
help pass out flyers and talked to so many people. It was a lot of
fun. :)

This week was the best! I love my area and my comp :) we saw so many 

miracles in some of our investigators this week too but I don't
have time to write them all.... Haha
You guys are the best and I am so grateful for your love a support!
Keep doing all the subarashii things you are doing!! :) I am praying
for you and I love you.

Love,
Ashby Shimai

愛してます!!!


アシュビー姉妹


Fun with brown Shimai :) she remind me a ton of Michelle perry :) haha

Oh what a privilege it is to be a missionary!!! :) but really.......

My Dearest Deers,
See what I did there.... ;) haha
So this week has been so good. Every week is good, but this week was
GOOD! Haha I got to go on Splits twice this week so it was a lot of
fun! Both times I went on splits with sisters I was in the mtc with so
we saw same miracles because let's be honest we don't speak that much
Japanese..... Haha :) on wed. I went on splits with Hokanson Shimai.
It was so fun!! We taught mommy Eikaiwa and it was a blast! There is
this one cute lady that wants to learn all the English slang she
can.... Haha she is so funny! She loved saying "what's up?!" And so we
taught her "legit". She loved it! Anyway... I also road an electric
bike that day. Those things are amazing!!
But the best day this week was Saturday.... What a miracle day!! So I
was on splits with dansie Shimai. We are both transfer 2 missionaries
who learned no Japanese prior to the mission. Sounds scary right...
But it was probably one of the best days of my mission yet!!! The
whole day was a miracle. We talked to so many people!! But this was
the real miracle.... So we went to do chirashi Kubari which is when we
hand out Eikaiwa flyers. It is a really really great way to Dendo and
talk to people!! So that morning I had put a ton of flyers in my bag
because I thought we were going to do a Kubari Kai with our
trainers... But they ended up not coming so it was just us with tons
of flyers and just jokingly I told dansie Shimai " okay we aren't
leaving until we are out of flyers k?" But in my head I was like there
is no way we are giving out this many flyers! We had at least 100+
Flyers and only 1 hour.... Like no one really ever takes a flyer....
Haha but God had something else in mind. Those flyers literally
disappeared out of our hands!!!! It was so much fun!! And we were able
to talk to so many people because of it! People just wanted the
flyers. It was amazing!! Such a miracle!!
Also this week we got a new investigator!!!! She is so cute!! Her mom
is a less active member and she has never been baptized but wants to
learn about the church and English. They came after ward conference to
the ward lunch and they are coming to church this next week as well!!
I am really excited so hopefully they will be able to come. My whole
time here I have only ever had 1 investigator actually keep their
commitment in coming to church.... So hopefully we will start seeing
some more progress in that area. The work here in Tama us really
starting to progress. It was really really slow at first with opening
the area. But now it is going places. I love Tama!!!! Transfers are in
2 weeks and I don't want to leave.... It is just to great. Oh send the
ward is amazing this cute old lady is making us socks... Hahah :)
This gospel is amazing. The blessings that come from living it
everyday are infinite. Some people might look at what we do in the
church as making huge sacrifices, but to those who know of the
blessings that come, it is a privilege to live the gospel. The members
here in Japan gave such strong testimonies. I am strengthened everyday
by them and the amazing people I get to associate with. There is so
much good in this world. I love this work and I know it us true. God
loves his children and I am so grateful I have the privilege of
sharing that love with the people here in Japan everyday. I love and
pray for you all everyday!!! Thank you for your love be support!!
Love, Hannah Ashby Shimai

愛してます!!

I wrote my testimony in the Book of Mormon!! :) kanji is really hard!! Haha

Miracles happen once in a while if you believeeeee ;) hahaha

Dearest family, 

こんいちわ!!!!!!!  Herro family!! ;) this week has been so good and for sure one of small miracles!! The week started out so promising with lessons and mogis (practice lessons with ward members) and some great potential lessons. Then wed. night every lesson we had for the rest of the week got canceled..... Everything.... It was so sad and I was really tempted to get discouraged, but Heavenly Father had a different plan for us. Instead of teaching the lessons we had planned he lead us to different people to teach and it was such a miracle. I loved being able to see his hand guide us to find others to teach. In the end those individuals weren't all that interested in learning more about the church but they did allow us to give them a church tour or teach them about the gospel at least once and that will help to make all the difference maybe a little later down the road for them when they are ready for the gospel. It was so cool! 

Other great things about this week.... So last week our temple trip got canceled so we got to go today and it was amazing. :) the temple is heaven on earth. Go as often as you can!! 

Oh on Sunday we got to be in primary because there is a new family in our ward from who moved here from Provo. Their kids don't speak Japanese and so they asked us to translate for them.... Well Nakamura Shimai translated..... Haha but you have to love singing time with about 15 kids singing in nihongo at the top of their lungs!! Oh it is the best :) these kids from Utah are such troopers though. Their are so cute and are trying so hard to learn the language. 

Yesterday was an amazing day too. In Japan they have girls day on March 3rd. While we were housing this random old couple invited us in to see there huge doll display. These displays are super expensive and the full sets are very rare. I think I sent you a picture of another one I saw last week... They are so detailed though and beautiful. They were so sweet and so proud of there display. We also went out to sushi with one of our investigators :) it was the best. Sushi in Japan is amazing...... Just saying.

I love this work and I love seeing the lords hand working in people. It is amazing to see how things all work out perfectly when you follow prompting a. There is a less active family in the ward that we have been trying to visit for ever but every time we go they aren't home. They live far away and so it is hard to visit them often... But miracle last night we both felt like we should go visit them.... We were hesitant cause it was getting late and we didn't know if we could visit them and make it home in time but we both felt like we should go so we went and..... THEY WERE HOME!!!!! We were able to talk with the mom and she said us coming was such a tender mercy. She has been wanting to meet us since she heard there were sisters in Tama. There are a lot of other cool things that happened with that visit but I don't have time..... :) 

This church is true though. We just need the rely on The Lord and he will help us become the person he needs and wants us to be. I pray for you all everyday!! Have a great week!! You are the best family ever :) but really..... Love you to the moon and back and back again. 143!! 

愛してます

アシュビー姉妹

Feb. 24, 2014 Short letter computer glitch - unzipping pictures - back on track

Dear family.....So this one is going to be a
short one this week I am so sorry. I had a great week though!! Today
we didn't get to go to the temple cause there were some scheduling
miscommunications with zones but we get to go next Tuesday instead!!
So I will have Pday next Tuesday as well. Tama is the best!! We say a
lot of miracles this week one including one of our eikaiwa students
really wanting to start being taught the lessons. She is an amazing
lady and I just love her so I am really excited!! It was a happy happy
day when she called us.
So other really cool things happened too but I have no time to write
about them.... :( but Dijobu!! I love this work and I am so grateful
to be here and see the lords hand not only working in my life but the
lives of all those around me. The Lord has a plan for all of his
children. He us truly mindful of us all and he truly loves us. :)

I love you all and hope you have a great week!!!

Here are some pics.... There is a story behind them all but I don't
have time to explain... Maybe after the mission...Haha :)

Don't forget who you are, whose you are, and what you stand for! :)
Love, hannah ashby Shimai

愛してます!!!!
アシュビ 姉妹

Ps. Happy happy happy birthday dad!!!! There is a letter in the mail
for you!!! :) love ya!