week 8.5: one last goodbye

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My final days at the MTC were filled with more photo opportunities than ever, 
but how could we not document every one of our last moments together!
The MTC has been better and more than I imagined it could be.
I have made friends that I will have for the rest of my life!



Our teacher: Richardson Kyodai


Our teacher: Raines Shimai


Our teacher: Akamatsu Shimai


Japanese name tag!


Last Sunday devotional


MTC sistas




gotta have some silly with all the serious



Double Zone Pic


Moss Shimai


Lee Shimai


Kesiel Shimai


Crandall Shimai


North Shimai


Tsuchiyama Shimai


Hippolite Shimai


Davis Choro


Rasmussen Shimai


Aren't those faces so precious?



Lavea Choro




no words people...no words


Easter, conference. April Fool's day, and our last day in Provo!


TRAVEL PLANS!!


Note from the mama:
Maddy called us this morning from Salt Lake while she was getting checked in. Much to her relief, her bags made weight! One was 50 lbs on the dot, and the other was 49! Hooray for small blessings! The cell service was spotty, so the 4:30 a.m. phone call was a little fuzzy and hard to hear over all the announcements on the loudspeakers. 

We got another call from Minneapolis. Service was sooooo much better and we were able to hear each other! Maddy pretty much crashed for the first flight...not going to bed the night before will do that, but really, how could anyone sleep the night before leaving to live in another country!!?? She wasn't sick at all on the flight...another blessing since motion sickness is usually a big problem for her. Thompson Shimai (Shee-my)--if you're wondering how to say it right--is seriously just so happy and excited for everything. She can't wait to meet her mission president and her trainer. The mission home is in the basement of the temple, so she is really looking forward to seeing the Fukuoka temple. When I asked Maddy what she was most excited about, she said "meeting the people of Japan!" Could there be a better reason to travel halfway around the world than to meet new people and share with them the message of the restoration? 

Maddy should arrive in Tokyo about 11:00 tonight (1:45 p.m. Japan time). Then she will board a bus to another airport, and head to Fukuoka. I will be anxiously waiting for an email letting me know she's made it!

When it was time to say goodbye and board the plane, we cried a little, but with mother's day just next month, we will be talking again soon! We miss dear Maddy so much, but there is nothing and nowhere else we would want her to be right now. She is doing what the Lord wants, and she is seeing blessings in her life that will be a strength to her forever. 

I am reminded of this quote by Elder Holland:

Our Maddy will make one incredible missionary!

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