I Made it to Japan!!!

Monday September 3^rd, 2012

Yay! My first p-day in Japan! 

Please excuse the typos as they will probably be frequent. There are a couple reasons for this. 1:Not exactly sure how to use this Japanese keyboard...2:The spell check will be off. So bear with me. 

Ok. I don`t even know where to start! 

We ended well at the MTC.  Very happy to leave.  For our last devotional speaker we had a surprise! Elder Neil A Anderson from the Quorum of the 12 came and spoke! It was super, super great. 

Then we woke up super early Monday morning, finished packing, and took our 50 lbs suitcases down 4 flights of stairs. Yep. That was fun. (I was actually 5 lbs under on each suitcase. YEAH for me!)

We all loaded on a bus and were off to the airport! 

We had a two hour flight from SLC to Seattle. Had a little layover there and then we were off to

Japan! It was awesome to look around and see that once we stepped on that airplane we were immediately the minority. 

Japanese Airplane Food brings a new level of grossness

The flight went smoothly, and we tried to sneak in a few short naps. 

When we stepped off the plane to Japan and instantly the humidity stuck to our skin. So did our clothes. But we were excited! 

We wanted to freshen up a little bit so we went into the bathroom. Holy cow! It was really like Mator`s experience in `Cars`!!! We didn`t really have time to explore, so we just brushed our hair and teeth and were off to customs. 

We had a fun time trying to communicate with the people at customs, but eventually we got through. 

We met the Zinke`s and the AP`s. Ah! It was such a relief to see them!!! 

We piled into the vans and set off for the mission home. Then we had a little bit to freshen up. Then it was dinner time! We had dinner then a little bit of training about office things. To be honest, I really don`t remember what about...I was so so tired!! They were kind and let us go to bed early, around 9. 

The next morning, for exercise we went with the AP`s and office Elders and played ultimate Frisbee. They don`t really have just grassy patches of land. There is either dirt, houses, or rice fields. So we played in the dirt with was great. Then we had some training from President Zinke. I`m really excited about his vision for the mission! His goal is to make us, as missionaries, become true disciples of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Basically taking the skills we learn here, in the mission field, and using them for the rest of our lives. I think that is a great idea. He also is doing something that is a little more on the interesting side, but I like it! 

 

Each companionship has prayed to know how many of the Lord`s sheep (or those who are ready and prepared to receive the gospel), are in their certain area. President Zinke`s goal isn`t to have 200 baptisms for the whole mission. He wants everyone to find those who are ready. Each companionship has prayed and fasted for their area, and each comes up with a different number.  Every companionship reported, and the total for the whole mission is like 1400 people! Can you believe that?! That`s a lot more than just 200 baptisms. There isn`t really a time limit on how fast this needs to be accomplished. But there is a goal to have every companionship have at least 1 baptism per transfer. That`s a lot. But, it`s becoming a reality. My area-which I will reveal later- has 12 people waiting to hear about the gospel. I`ll go more into detail on that later. 

After training we went to `world buffet`....it`s kind of like chuck-a-rama...except for maybe a little worse. Anyways....we had interviews after that. After interviews with the President, Hansen Shimai and I went with the office Elders to a lesson. It was with this super, super cute 84 year old woman. I loved her. 

After this we had dinner and then a testimony which was great. We were allowed to go to bed early again, (which felt SO good!) 

Next morning we woke up to a rain storm which was LOTS and lots of fun. We played Frisbee out in the dirt which instantly became mud. It was raining harder than it can in the shower. I loved it! 

Then we cleaned up, had some more training and....met our trainers!!!!!!

I got assigned to be with the genki-est missionary in Kobe. Actually probably in all of Japan. Anderson Shimai is just the greatest!!! She is from Bluffdale and is the youngest of 7 kids. We are on flipped ends of the family cycle. She was at BYU studying a conglomeration of things before the mission. She`s still not exactly sure what she wants to do.

She has been here in Japan since March, and is as courageous as a Lion when it comes to dendoing (proselyting). 

Thanks Sister Anderson for the Welcome Note

She did start training last transfer with Belnap Shimai, who I knew from the MTC, but due to some medical reasons, Belnap Shimai is going to go home. It`s really sad, but probably for the best. But seriously. I`m way way WAY excited to be with Anderson Shimai. I think she is just what I need to learn how to become a great missionary. 

Sister Belnap, Anderson & Me

My zone is: Kobe-Akashi

District: Sumoto

Area: Akashi 

We are about 45 minutes away via bus and train from the Mission Home in Kobe. 

Where I am at, it`s not a super city like Kobe or Osaka, but there are definitely a lot of houses and buildings and train stations. I`ve only seen a few teeny tiny rice fields here and that was on the way to a dinner appointment at the edge of our mission. 

Um...My Zone Leaders are Elder Wilde and Cardoso. Elder Cardoso is from Brazil, but has been here 18 months and his Japanese and English are amazing. Elder Wilde is from Saint George and this is his first week in Akashi as well. My District Leader is Elder Jou, and he is Nihonjin. I`m not sure where from though.

Anyways. That`s my district. Shimai, District and Zone leaders. I haven`t met the District leader and his companion yet. But I will on Friday at our district meeting. I`ve met the Zone Leaders. They are also here in Akashi, and share the ward with us. Basically, when we go contacting, we talk to all of the females, and they talk to all of the males. I think we are going to get a long just great. 

 

So...I bought Belnap Shimai`s old bike for actually super cheap. And I LOVE it! It`s a ``mamachati``. It`s not like a mountain bike. It has a low bar, so it`s like a beach cruiser. They call them mamachaties because all of the moms ride them, and have their kids in the back on a seat. It`s bright red  (my favorite color) and beautiful! It has a little bit of a wider seat that is cushier so your bottom doesn`t hurt as much.

We go contacting by going to the Eiki, or the train station, and we just stop random women and talk to them. Sometimes someone is nice enough to stop and listen. And if we are lucky some are actually genuinely interested. We`ve had about 2 or those so far...Hopefully something will become of them. 

Right now we have 2 investigators. One is in her mid 40`s, she lives with her dad, and has what they call some `mental instabilities`. When we teach her, we usually teach on a primary level. She is REALLY invested. And keeps all of her commitments, plus studies more. She`s great. She has a baptism date for the 30th this month. We are also teaching an 11 year old. She`s actually been taught all of the lessons a couple of times. And had a couple of baptismal dates, but...none of her family are members, and they are really pressuring her not to join. I think she likes the social attention she receives at church...we`re not exactly sure what to do about her. 

The ward members here are great! They are all very nice and supportive. When they met me on Sunday they kept saying that Anderson Shimai and I have the same `environment` is the direct translation. We act a lot alike I guess. To me, that was a huge compliment. I want to be able to emulate some of the love and joy that Anderson Shimai has. 

Umm...Japanese is hard. Most the time I can only say a few things here and there.

My food buds are adjusting to the food...it`s a different set of tastes I`m not really used to. It`s a nice break from the MTC food for sure, but...still working on it. 

 

Mom! You would be so proud of me!  I ate tofu in my salad. 3 times! Of my own free will and choice. I would have eaten more, but we ran out of tofu. And guess what. It WASN`T cooked! :) 

Well. Sunday we went to dinner at a member’s family’s house. They put these frying pans in the middle of the table and raw vegetables and meat around it. You would throw in the pot whatever you wanted to cook, let it cook and then pull it out and eat it. It was kind of a fun way to have dinner. If you weren`t eating enough-which apparently I wasn`t-they will just put the food on your plate for you...Uh. I was so full!!!

Well, I should probably get going. I love you all so much! I thank you for your prayers. I need them more than anything. And I have felt their strength when I`m feeling low. 

Love,

Dobson Shimai.