I hope you read my title in some sort of dramatic way. (My [short
pause] fellow americans [long pause] happy [short pause] thanksgiving
[clapping and cheering])
This is amazing. By some miracle I have obtained the use of the one
computer in the entire church here in Taniyama and I am composing this
using a keyboard. What an idea. Wow, what freedom. I feel like I am
riding on the wind. Look at how fast I can type when I don't use an
iPad!
This past week and a half has been LONG. Oh man I thought I would
never make it to P-Day. Kaicho made today P-Day so we haven't had our
regular break in a while and we are pooped! Honestly the bags under my
eyes and the wrinkles on my forehead are increasing in size at a steady
rate. And I am sorry I forgot to tell you that today was P-Day as well. I
honestly wasn't thinking about that last Monday. So, forgive me.
How is Thanksgiving? Wonderful I suppose. I woke up and laid in my
futon for about ten seconds before I hopped out. Here is what flew
through my mind:
Mom is already slaving away in the kitchen and for some odd reason
we all feel that that is some sort of tradition. We watch intensely for
the moment that she takes out that turkey, freshly buttered and ready to
go, into the oven. Oh that smell. If I could just get my hands on a
freshly baked turkey... Here is the kicker. All the night before mother
slaved away making dough for the rolls. Oh... sweet victory. Those rolls
you could die for. Rolls so good that if we happened to be in the
hunger games I would risk my life to enter the cornucopia to get them.
The rolls that literally slip down your throat and with some sort of
sick humor they are gone too fast. Oh, how the butter rolls down the
sides of your face only beginning to quench your desire for more. A pan
is gone, and the next, we haven't even had the turkey yet. Mom tells us
to stop eating them, but we all know she can just make more, so we
don't. Somehow Margaret has gotten herself roped into making the mashed
potatoes and gravy, although we know Dad is the one who ends up doing it
anyway. What a task. Peeling those potatoes with all the force in her
small hands. They are cold, and her hands start to freeze, but it
doesn't matter. We sacrifice for these types of splendid occasions.
Fingers freezing, the process continues. The rest of us sit and watch.
Ravenous, we pull out the bag of doritos in the cupboard. Oh the smell
of the food! Doritos are just not good enough now! However, we eat the
entire bag anyway. One bag of doritos down, two pans of rolls and we
still await for the turkey. DING. It's done. Mom has to check the
temperature but we all reassure her that there is no possible way that
we can wait any longer. The worst part. The gravy. We smell the sweet
sweet scent of the turkey rising from the table. Oh so delicious. The
copper color, the grease dripping along the sides, oh the flavors. Our
mouths water. Hurry up Margaret, get the gravy done. However, Mom has to
do it anyway because she is the only one who knows how. What a shame.
Us frauds. She's done. Oh the pounding in our hearts. A day dedicated to
eating. What could be more pleasing than that? We pray, we dig in, and
finally...
I realize I am sitting in my futon in Japan still.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING ENJOY IT WHILE IT LASTS :)
Ten Things Sister Raines Is Grateful For: Thanksgiving 2015
1. Mom, Dad, Lauren, Jake, Lillie, Cooper, Scott, Kenzie, Margaret
2. My whole entire extended family
3. The gospel of Jesus Christ
4. The temple
5. American deodorant, toothpaste and shampoo
6. The memory of thanksgiving foods
7. Ice cream
8. The beauty of the earth
9. America the Beautiful
10. Japan, the Land of the Rising Sun
11. Japanese people
This last week... yeah! We had a lot happen! Our mission president
has given us two goals. One is to have two baptismal dates by
Thanksgiving and the other is to have one baptism by Christmas. Right
now we have one baptismal date, and we are really sure it is going to
happen! We are really excited for our investigator. We are still trying
to work through a few things but we have a lot of faith and we are
counting on everything going smoothly. We know God wants us to have
these kind people come into his fold. This is His work. I was standing
on a door step the other day, yesterday maybe, and I was thinking about
how weak we all are. How human and powerless we are. I was thinking
about how wonderful of a miracle it is that God trusts us young people
to be spreading this gospel all over the world in our broken languages,
unable to convey everything we have to say, yet some how the spirit is
able to work through that. This really is Gods work. No matter what I
do, I have to attribute it all back to God. Its a miracle, this work is.
We had zone training this week and they talked about faith.
Actually, it was a special training from our mission president. I really
liked it and thought it went well. I definitely have a lot to improve
though, and I am doing my best. The relief society sisters from the
Kagoshima Branch and the Taniyama Branch made us lunch and it was
delicious! I am always really grateful for the sweet sisters that I get
to work along side with every day.
We have just been working hard every day. Doing everything we
possibly can to find those people that we can bring this wonderful
message to. Every day it seems like it gets harder and harder but the
rewards are becoming larger and larger as well. We had to sing in
sacrament meeting as missionaries and we had to sing in the zone
conference as well. So that took up some of our time.
Sorry this letter is a little weird. Giving you a play by play of
the last week and a half of my life would be completely boring, so I
thought maybe I could just tell you a few things that have been going
on.
I sure love you all. I am so grateful for you all and I know this
gospel will bless your lives if you allow it to. This is a great time to
think of all the things that this gospel has done for you in your life,
and to really think about what blessings are in store as you live it
more fully. I love you!
Love, Raines Shimai
P.S. All I want for Christmas, if you send something is the
toothpaste I like. Crest whitening blue sparkly stuff you used to send
me. Ho ho ho!
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