Konichiwa!

Dressed Matching for Sunday

September 10^th, 2012

Hello Everyone! 

Things here in Japan are going great! The weather is really cooling down which is so nice! I was lucky to escape the worst part of the summer. Usually there is a nice breeze that is coming in from the ocean which feels nice but can sometimes cause problems with the skirts....But, we keep on peddling! :) 

So....Where to start?

Um...We found another investigator!! Yay!! (We did drop the 11 year old so we are still at 2). But our new lady is probably in her 60`s. She`s had several contacts with the missionaries. She used to live by the church 30 years ago. We decided to visit her, without really informing her we were coming. We went and she seemed genuinely excited to see us. She pulled out all 3 versions of the Book of Mormon. (The Book of Mormon has been re-translated into Japanese). Then she showed us all the pictures of her husband and her traveling all over the world. They had a lot of fun together. He died a few years ago, and you can tell that she really misses him. We taught her a little lesson and set up another appointment.  We are meeting with her on Wednesday. Hopefully she`ll want to keep listening. I think she is finally in a place in her life where she is ready to accept the gospel and all the blessings that come with it. 

As we were out housing (just knocking on apartment buildings and houses) we came across a mom with her 2 young kids. They were SO cute! We tried teaching them a little bit about families and asked to come back. They actually said yes!  I hope that they too will be interested in our message. 

So every week we teach a free English class. Before it was we would teach and then we would share a spiritual message. But the church is changing it over. Now we just teach English. It`s kind of like our public service for Japan.

There are two classes. I taught the advanced class. These 5-6 students are basically fluent in English. We work on harder concepts. Like, for example, on Tuesday we talked about sayings such as, `It`s raining cats and dogs` and `chip off the old block`.  Stuff like that. They just loved them! They thought they were hilarious. They make me laugh! None of the students really have an interest in the church right now. They just enjoy learning English. One day though...one day. 

We have to puncture the Insect Repellant before our Mandatory Recycling of it

Oh! I forgot to mention last week that I tried mugicha.  The wheat tea thing. We had it for dinner at a member`s house. The first time I tried it during the meal, it was warm. And actually it didn`t taste too bad.  Probably because it was too hot to actually taste. The second time they served it with dessert.  It was chilled. It was so gross!!!!  It tasted like cigarette buds!  Not like I know what those taste like, I`m just thinking that is probably what they taste like. Oh yuck!  It was gross!  It was all I could do to not pull a face as I drank it. BUT I succeeded. 

On Friday we had a Zone Conference, here in Akashi. They talked about a lot of really awesome things. We read the talk `Pride and the Priesthood` by Pres. Uchtdorf. Even though I don`t have the Priesthood it applied great to missionary work. We, as missionaries, need to remember why we are here. We are here to work to bring the gospel unto all those who are willing to listen. We are not here to seek gain, to be better than others, to out beat people with baptisms or anything like that. We are here to work. So let’s work! 

Something cool they also talked about, I guess the Japan Kobe mission is specifically pointed out by general authorities as one with forward leaning motion. Even though we are in a slow baptizing area, we set really good goals, work hard, and accomplish them. I think we have one of the best missions in the world. (I know everyone says that, but I`m serious. :) :)

Our church

 





Oh! We had a member of the Asia Area Presidency come to church yesterday. Elder Ayogi. All the members were a buzz and flittering around. They all seemed very nervous and excited. They wanted everything to go smoothly. I`m sure it did. And I think he gave a great talk. Everyone around me seemed to be enjoying it. I bet I would have enjoyed it had I known what was being said. One day I will understand this language. But that day is not today unfortunately. 

But...it is not all easy. We work hard.

I heard a quote, "Those who are called to English speaking missions become masterful teachers. Those who are called to Central or South America or Europe become linguists. Those who are called to Asia become...humble." I have definitely felt that humbling aspect of missionary work. 

You have to feel humble when you ride your bike up and down hills, climb an innumerable amount of stairs, knock on countless doors and go home with the same number of investigators as you had the previous days. I think it would be very discouraging. But luckily, with the help of the Lord and Pres. Zinke`s goals, I haven`t felt that discouraged yet.  Which is good. Because in PMG we learn that discouragement is the opposite of faith. 

I`m not getting discouraged but I am feeling the refining flame come into my life. 

Missions are hard. Definitely harder than I had anticipated. It`s hard physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally. But I have definitely learned to rely more on the Lord. I think that is why I was called to Japan. He knows that had I gone anywhere else, I would have tried to rely on my strengths and abilities. Well. Here, in Japan. I have none. I can not do this work with out Him. I`ve grown so much closer to Him and the enabling power of the atonement that He has to offer as I have been here. 

That doesn`t mean that it doesn`t hurt.  I`ve hurt a lot just over these few short weeks in Japan. But I know this is the Lord`s plan. He takes my heart, like a rock deep inside my chest cavity, He takes it and is scrubbing off the rough edges. It hurts because I have a lot. But I know that He is doing it so that I can be more fit for this life and the life to come.

"In the fire of affliction it is our choice whether we are consumed or refined" -John Groeberg. 

Well I love you all so much! I know that it is through your prayers in my behalf that I have been lifted up when I was down. Thank you for them! I miss you more than life itself. 

Love, 

Dobson Shimai 

More attractive than tasty :)

Pictures of Akashi

Here are answers to some of our questions:

Anderson Shimai is very funny. She is very good at being happy all the time. She never has anything negative to say about missionary work. She has an awesome can do attitude that can be hard to keep up with. She is good at listening when I have a hard day.  She`s really good at seeing the bright side of things. That`s a goal I have. To be more optimistic. 

The ward is great! There are probably about 60 people in it. We have some really strong families and members. But mostly there are part member families. You can tell that`s hard on them. We`ve tried to get referrals of people`s families. They say they aren`t ready yet. Hopefully one day they will want to hear more. 

 Akashi is like a suburb to Kobe. There are nice places and kind of sketchy places. Our area goes basically all the way up to Kobe. It`s pretty big.  So many apartment buildings and people to talk to. I haven`t seen the coast yet....There are too many buildings. So I don`t know about that.