Smiles:)

Congrats Nate on winning the audition!! I`m sure mom and dad will be glad to see you more often, and I will be too once I get back from my mission.:)

It suddenly turned from summer to fall this past week--with several windy and rainy days. It`s starting to get cold again...

We had a wonderful week! Katou Kaoru chan and Naoki kun were confirmed in Sacrament meeting, and are now official members of the church! They are already great friends with all of the primary children/young women and love coming to church each Sunday. They`re the best!

This week we had our third lesson with Saito san, who the elders found streeting and passed to us. She`s a mid-aged lady, and has studied/joined 8 different religions throughout her life, and has now been part of a religion called `seicho no ie` for 10 years. She came to church once, and told us she loved our, the missionaries` smiles, and all the members` smiles she saw at church. She thinks that the reason behind our smiles is that we`re receiving some kind of inspiration from God...we explained to her simply that it`s because of the joy we feel from living this gospel. The gospel is true, and definitely brings us this joy that Saito san saw through our smiles! We hope as she continues to learn about the restored gospel, she`ll realize that it`s true, and experience herself the joy that comes with this knowledge.

I`m enjoying my time every day as a missionary, and also helping our new companion. Dotson Shimai is doing so well, and her language and skills as a missionary are improving each day. I`m so grateful to be a part of seeing her, and our investigators progress!

I know that we are God`s children and that he loves each one of us!

Love,
Swain Shimai