Home!

(UGH!!!!  So sorry!  I thought this posted two weeks ago)

Nicole is Home and we are loving having her back with us, though we know she is missing Japan and the people there.

She will be speaking at our ward this Sunday
December 8th at 11:00

Our ward building is at 6750 W. 10400 N. Highland

If you need help finding it call Nicole's Dad, Derek at 801-372-8494

We will be holding an open house later that evening from 7-9 at our home.

6848 W. 10205 N.  Highland

If you are coming from out of town, please drop by our house after Sacrament Meeting so you can visit with Nicole.

Last Email Home

November 11, 2013

It`s really weird writing this email. I know in my head that this is the last time I will email all of you. But it still hasn`t hit my heart yet. 

Well, this week was super awesome! We have cool things moving along here. 

First is always A**** Chan. I just LOVE her! She really is progressing super well! She has such a pure and believing heart. If she feels like it is truth, then she just readily accepts it. We even taught her about the atonement very simply, and she really understood it. 

She came to church and everybody just loves her. She fits right in. :) 

Y****  Kyodai

We also had a really cool experience with Y**** Kyodai! Well a few weeks ago he called us and said he wasn`t going to meet us at the church any more. If we wanted to meet him it would have to be at the mall or McDonalds. And we could teach him there. Well, I knew that teaching him at the mall was not going to be conducive to the Spirit, so I just told him that, that wasn`t happening. And if he wanted to come to church anytime he was free to come. 

I think he was kind of angry at us about that. And we didn`t hear from him for a while. But as a mission right now we have really been working on helping our investigators help themselves come unto Christ. And we do that by helping them with their prayers,Book of Mormon reading, and coming to church. 

So me and Crofts Shimai prepared a really good Book of Mormon lesson for him. And then we trusted in the Lord. And He pulled through. Tuesday afternoon we got a call from Y**** Kyodai. It went something along the lines of, `I want to meet at the church. Can you meet on Thursday? Ok. See you then. Bye.` I was super startled at first and not quite sure what had happened, but I was not complaining.

Well we show up to the church on Thursday for our lesson and he pulls out his Book of Mormon, puts it on the table and asks, `how am I supposed to read this?`. Whoa! So cool! When he said that my testimony just shot out of the roof. I knew that because we had prepared, the Lord blessed us and him so that he would be able to start progressing again. So cool!

Well, we obviously taught him about studying the Book of Mormon. Afterwards he said that it was very easy to understand and that he would try it. 

Zinke Kaicho (President Zinke)  is so inspired and I am grateful for him. I am grateful for the Lord who arranged all of this. And I am grateful to be a missionary taking part of this great work. 

We also got to meet with R**** and J****ana this week. Because they are both devout Catholics, they only say specific prayers. So we felt like we needed to simply teach prayer. 

Thank heavens for visual aids, (thanks to my trainer, Anderson Shimai who taught me how to make good visual aids) and the Spirit. Because combined they were able to understand and they both prayed at the end of the lesson. 

After they prayed the Spirit was so strong. They said that they both felt it and that they are going to continue to pray this way. Yay!!! I was so happy! 

Also on Saturday we got special permission to go with Hiromi and Satoru to do a little sight seeing. They are the ones we met in the bike shop forever ago. They have been coming to Eikaiwa every week. Hiromi is a member of the ward next to ours and Satoru is her non member friend. 

We had a great time with them and got to have a really good discussion about God and religion. He still seems a little nervous about religion, but I think he is warming up and is eventually going to be baptized. He really is so great! 

Then Sunday morning before church we were able to meet with F**** San. This lady who randomly came to church a few weeks ago. 

We also taught her about prayer. She seems to have some pretty severe anxiety problems but when she found out she could talk with God she couldn`t stop smiling. She seemed so much happier.

When we asked her what she want to ask God she said that she wants the darkness in our life to go away. When she said that my heart just ached for her. This poor woman is surrounded by darkness and is yearning for light. I bask in light everyday. I am spoiled rotten. Really, there is nothing hard about my life. I am so blessed. 

Well church was a great experience as well. We had 4 investigators come to church. (A****, Y****, F****, and S****) and the other sisters also had 4 people come. 

I think that woke up the members a little bit. They were all looking around at all of these people and getting really excited. 

It`s so cool to see everyone get so excited about missionary work! I was just sitting there soaking up the joy that come from being a missionary. It made me never want to stop. 

But as my wise companion, Crofts Shimai told me when I was complaining that I had to go home, there is a time and season for everything. 

Sometimes, it`s just hard when those times change. 

Well, I love you all so much. 

I love this work so much. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and His sacrifice for my behalf. I know that God and Jesus Christ live. They love us more than we can imagine. And if we just turn to Them, they will lead and guide us safely back to their presence. 

The church is true! It is only through this gospel that we can find the most joy in this life, and eternal joy after this life. I am so grateful for it. 

I am so grateful for you. I love you, see you soon. 

Love, 

Dobson Shimai 

Arisa reminded me of my sister Becca

God is There and He Loves Each of Us

October 28, 2013

HELLO!! 

This week was a relatively good week. 

We got to meet with A**** Chan  (the cute college student we met last week) a few times this week. 

She is just so sweet!! 

We really are so blessed as missionaries!! We get to hear these people`s first prayers to their Heavenly Father. It really is such a neat experience. 

When we were teaching her prayer, at the end of the lesson we all kneeled down and prayed. As she prayed the Spirit definitely filled the room. 

Afterwards we all sat their quietly for a minute. She then said, `I feel so good. I know that God is there. I know that God loves me.` 

Japanese people really don`t say that a lot. It was so cool hearing it come from this beautiful 19 year old`s mouth. He really is there. And He really does love her. And all of us. 

She came to church and we got to teach her a little bit afterwards. She said that she loved church and wants to keep meeting with us! We love A**** Chan!!! 

We also got to meet with Y**** Kyodai. We decided to introduce him to Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. We drew up a diagram on the whiteboard and just started talking about Heavenly Father. We intended on getting through all 3 personages, but after taking an hour just on Heavenly Father we decided to end it there. 

This poor man is really so lonely. He just needs to be loved, but he has a hard time believing that God can love him. 

I just want to help him understand, so badly! But If he isn`t willing to open his heart,

there isn`t much us or the Spirit can do. 

We`ll just keep praying that he will open his heart. 

We did meet this really great guy! We found him in the area book and called him and asked if he would like to meet the missionaries again. He agreed and we set up an appointment. 

He is a 22 year old college student and when I first saw him I was so surprised how much light he had.   Definitely more light than any other investigator I`ve had, and even a lot of the members here. 

We sat down and started talking with him and he just talked about how interested he is in church. He said he was even baptized Christian a couple years ago when he went on a study abroad. His biggest question right now is which church is right, or if they are all ok as long as you believe in Christ. 

We told him we would teach him that next time. He also said that his mom would be interested in meeting the missionaries as well. 

We got so excited!!! 

Unfortunately he doesn`t live in our area. He lives in the one next to ours. When we told him there was a church closer to his house he said that he would prefer to go to that one because he would be able to go more. 

Although of course I would love to teach him, I know that the Elders next door will take good care of him. And it`s not a competition of who has the most investigators. We are all on the same team helping our brothers and sisters come unto Christ. 

The rest of our investigators either got sick or had work so they couldn`t meet with us. That was a downer. 

This week is Halloween! Yay! Any fun plans? 

We actually have interviews. All the sisters in my apartment are thinking about dressing up. I won`t tell you what we are going to be. You`ll get to see next week. :) 

Well I love you all so much!! 

Love, 

Dobson Shimai 

English Class

I Love Curry

Takoyaki (Octopus Balls) Cheeks

Sakai Zone

Reaping the Rewards

October 21, 2013

Well, I don`t know about over there, but it sure is getting pretty chilly over here. It feels good. I like it. :) I know I never would have said this 2 years ago, but I actually like being in the cold. More than the hot that is. Crazy how missions change you. 

(Granted, it hasn`t been THAT cold....so ask me in a month if I still like the cold. ;) ) 

Wow. This week the Lord has just opened up the windows of heaven to us and just handed us some pretty great miracles. So BLESSED!! 

So on Tuesday we went to visit a previous investigator from before we were in the area.  Reira. She is Filipina and seemed really nice on her record. 

Well we visited her and she let us in. We started talking with her for a little bit and we met her older sister, Johna.  Reira has lived in Japan for 7 years, is married to a Nihonjin and can speak a decent amount of Japanese. Johna has only been here for 3 months and doesn`t speak Japanese or English, but we asked if they wanted to listen to our message and they agreed.  

We taught them and they both had lots of good questions. They are both pretty devout Catholic, but their mom was a Mormon at some point. So they said they saw the missionaries a lot growing up. They wanted to know why we are different from other Christian churches and all sorts of other things. Well they agreed to meet with us again and we are meeting with them tomorrow. So excited!!! 

Wednesday we had just a little bit of finding time before Eikaiwa. Just like 15 minutes. But that`s all the Lord needs. We decided to just go out in front of the church and start inviting people to Eikaiwa. 

Well the second girl we talked to was the winner. Her name is Arisa Chan and she is so cute! She is a freshman at college studying to be a Preschool teacher. She said she lived close and always walked past the church. We invited her for a tour and a little message. She agreed and we showed her the church. We got to teach her a little bit and set up an appointment for a couple of days. 

Well she came back on Saturday and we got to teach her a real lesson. She said that she goes to  a Christian college and has really become interested in Christianity lately. She said when we talked to her on the street she felt like it was a chance she needed to take. 

The Lord really does just lead those who are ready to receive Him straight to us. He is just so amazing! 

Another interesting/cool miracle happened this week as well. 

One day as we were studying at the church the phone at the church rang. That doesn`t normally happen. But Murayama Shimai went to answer it. She started talking for a minute and she then said there was someone on the phone who wanted to talk to the Gaijin missionaries, and handed the phone to me. I got on the phone and at first the lady said, `no. the AMERICAN missionaries.` `I am American!` I responded. `Oh, hello. I want to come to church this week, can I come?` `YES!! OF COURSE!!` (The whole conversation was in Japanese.) 

She said had previously met us and her name was Fukushima San. Well about a month ago me and Crofts Shimai met a Fukushima. We even taught her a lesson and she was so excited. But then 3 days after our lesson she called us and said she didn`t want to meet us again. 

Well we thought it was the same lady and we were so thrilled, awed the Lord was showing forth His power. 

Sunday morning comes and we get to church a little early. There is only one lady sitting down in the chapel. We go and start talking with her. She said her name is Fukushima San and that she wanted to go to church today. We realized that this was not the Fukushima San we were anticipating, but giddy none the less that she actually still came to church. 

We got to teach her a lesson, and although she seems to have some anxiety, she said she loved the lesson and church and is coming back next week. 

One last cool story.  So...Yamauchi Kyodai. We feel like he wasn`t progressing, and no matter what we did, he wouldn`t change. So we decided to not drop him officially but just to not try contacting him for 2 weeks. We hadn`t heard from him for a while. 

Well, even though Sunday it was raining cats and dogs, guess who walks in to church right after sacrament meeting! That`s right. The beloved Yamauchi Kyodai. What? I was sitting up on the stand, playing the organ when I saw him walk in. It was all I could do to keep my mouth from dropping. It was SO unexpected!! After sacrament he wouldn`t meet with us or go to Sunday school. He was going to ride his bike back the 45 minute ride to his home, in the pouring rain. 

I can`t figure this man out. He is a total enigma! But I love him and want to help him more than anything!!! 

Well that was basically my week. We are so excited that the work in our area is finally starting to pick back up again. 

I feel like the Lord was just trying our patience to see if we would still be faithful, even if we weren`t seeing success. I guess we passed the test, because He sure is being generous! :) 

Oh. The Moroccan man couldn`t make it to our lesson last week. His work went late, but we should be able to meet him this week. :) 

I love you all lots and lots!! 

Love, 

Dobson Shimai 

I Love Japan

PreSchool Kids Out On a Walk

Moroccan Miracle!

October 14, 2013

Hello Hello. 

I know that this is all a week late for you, but I just got to watch General Conference. 

Ah. Sooo GOOD! 

Of course, being a missionary, I loved every minute of the Saturday Sessions. I felt like all of it was about missionary work. And even though my mission is coming to an end, it helped me realize that I never have to stop being a missionary. :) 

Sunday was also so good. I felt like an overarching theme was enduring to the end and being in the world but not of it.

Nobody sugar coated anything, but they were real and talked about the challenges in life that we face. Then I felt like they all just testified how through the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we can be strengthened to bear our burdens and change our circumstances. 

Even though I totally don`t understand how it works, I am so grateful for my Savior and His sacrifice in my behalf. 

Yesterday I went back a year in my journal to see what I was doing. Wow. I`ve really changed...a lot. I hope it is for the better. 

I know that those changes could not have happened if not for the cleansing and enabling power of the Atonement. 

This week we met the greatest new investigator!  Wow, he is amazing. His name is Hassan. He is from Morocco. We called him from the area book and asked if he wanted to meet with the missionaries again. He agreed and we set up an appointment. 

Well we met him and he is just the most humble, sweetest man you could ever meet. We gave him a tour of the church and he was so excited about all of the different rooms. He talked about how important it is for us as humans to always continue learning. 

Then we sat down in the chapel to have our first lesson. We sat down, and the Spirit was so strong. I was a little shocked when I realized I wasn`t in the celestial room of the temple. It felt like I was. Truly, the chapel is a sacred place. 

Well as we were sitting in the chapel he just got really quiet and put one hand over his mouth and one over his heart. He was just taking it all in. He would occasionally choke out, `yes, yes. I feel the calm`. I felt like we needed to just sit there and let him soak it all up. We didn`t say anything for 5 minutes. (I think the member was a little confused why we were waiting so long to start, but I think she also started to feel the Spirit.) 

Well as we started the lesson I became even more impressed with this man. His only desire is to serve God. He wants to do all he can to learn about God and to make his life more in line with what God wants. 

In the part of our message where we said that meeting with us is free he stopped us. He said, `But I want to pay money to my God. I want to take the money He has given me and give it to other people. I just don`t know who to give it to. I want to give it to safe hands. I don`t want people taking the money I give them to go do bad things like buy alcohol. But I feel like you are ‘safe hands.` 

Wow! He is so ready even to hear the commandments!!! 

After our lesson with him, Crofts Shimai and I were just elated. This man is so prepared for the gospel and he ate up every word we told him. I can`t wait to meet with him again! He`s GOLDEN!!! 

Sunday I also was so happy. Matsuzaki Kyodai came to General Conference with some members. He had bought a new suit and looked super spiffy. Talking with him in between the sessions just made me elated. He was so filled with light and hope. You could see it in his eyes. The gospel really does change people. He is evidence of that. 

I think the only news other than that is that we have a new ward mission leader. Yes, the Beloved K**** Kyodai was released. I will miss that man. 

 But we have another cute old man as our ward mission leader. After our first real meeting with him on Friday, him and his wife wanted to take us out for dinner. At first there was no objections...Especially when we found out it was going to be a yakuniku. The korean meat bbq. 

But they ordered SOOO MUCH FOOD!  I have honestly never eaten that much food in one sitting in my ENTIRE LIFE!! Oh my goodness. And they just kept ordering more. Bless their hearts they spent AT LEAST 250 dollars on meat. AT LEAST probably more like 300 dollars. 

They wouldn`t eat like hardly any of it, and it`s SUPER rude not to eat the food so we just kept eating and eating. Afterward when all four of us got home we were so full we all were just laying on the ground, we couldn`t move. It hurt to breathe there was so much food in our stomach. 

Haha. Well, that`s it. 

I love you all lots and lots! 

Love, Dobson Shimai

The Sky Was So Beautiful

The Sky Was So Beautiful