Exchanges and Ward Christmas Party

December 18^th, 2012

Hello to all those I love!

I don`t have a lot of time to write today. Sorry.  It will be short. But just know that I have had lots of cool experiences this week! 

Well this week we had exchanges. That was fun. I went to Niihama with Sister Lewis. It was only 24 hours so it was really short but we had cool experiences and I am continuing on my journey to learn about how I receive revelation.  Really cool. 

The Sisters from Our Exchange

On Thursday we had an AWESOME lesson with N*** San. We didn`t get through everything we wanted to, but the Spirit was there. He really has such a sincere desire to learn. At the end as he was saying the prayer I was so happy! I can`t explain it. But the gentle thought of, `This is my special son. Thank you for helping him` came into my head. I was filled with this love for our investigator and I was a little teary eyed. I was so grateful for that experience. 

Then on Friday right before we were going to start district meeting he came to the church. He gave me and Anderson Shimai a Christmas present and then said that he wouldn`t be able to continue coming to church. He said he talked to his brothers and they told him he can`t. This is what happened last time he was investigator too. I guess he really just relies on his brothers` opinions.

My heart was broken! In our lesson just the night before I felt how much he really needed the gospel. Everyone needs the gospel, but he REALLY needs it! My heart hurt because I just wanted him to have the blessings that come from this wonderful truth.  He wants to know and he even said he felt God`s love. But ugh. His darn family! That night I even cried a little bit. I haven`t cried for a while but I did. But this time it was different. It wasn`t stemmed from selfish feelings of homesickness or feelings of inadequacy. This time it was because I was so sad for this poor man who needs the light of the gospel. 

Luckily the Lord is infinitely merciful. And I know that He will provide a way for N*** San to receive all the blessings the church will bring into his life. 

On Friday we met with M***. The spunky lady who loves Jesus Christ that we met last week. She invited us to her house and we just talked. And by we, I really mean her. We kept trying to start the first lesson but for some reason it just wouldn`t happen. I think she just needed to talk for a while. She lives a really hard life and I am sure she is pretty lonely. Anyways. We are meeting with her this next week. Hopefully we`ve built that relationship already so then it will be that much easier to teach her.  


On Saturday we had a really great party at the church. It was so fun! The members were all hustling and bustling around. The Christmas Parties here are a big deal. There was a play, and Santa came to give presents to the kids. And there was SO MUCH FOOD!!! Wow. So much food.

The I*** family came! That was great! That was the first time they`ve been to the church. Hopefully it was a good experience. 








 




Also O***`s daughters came. They are so cute!  





  





Sh*** Sai came with her Korean boyfriend. 

And our awesome investigator R*** came with her daughter and grandson. 

I was looking around at everyone and I was just so happy! I love these people. They are all so amazing. It was fun celebrating the birth of the Savior together. Especially in a culture where they don`t really do that. 

On Sunday R*** came to church! She said she would only come if it wasn`t raining or cold. She said that she would pray so that it wouldn`t be cold and she could come. We prayed as well. Sure enough, Sunday morning was a beautiful clear day. That was so exciting! We taught her during Relief Society and we had a great lesson! She likes to talk A LOT. But she is such a fun person! 

When we pulled out a picture of the Savior something super cool happened. She picked it up very reverently. She held it in her hands and then said, `I feel this love. I feel like I love Him like my older brother.` We hadn`t told her that he was her older brother! It was just a testimony builder to me that really we aren`t teaching anything new to these people. Their spirits already know it. They`ve all heard and accepted this knowledge before they came to this earth. It was cool to see the Spirit working with her spirit just testifying of truth. We just got to be in the room and watch. I was so grateful! 

Also! We got a new investigator. He`s pretty great. He is the friend of a ward member. They are both in college together and he came to the Christmas party.

Then next day he came to church. After church we taught him a lesson. At first I think he was a little hesitant and didn`t really know what was going on. But as we started talking he relaxed a little bit. We started talking about God`s love. He initially said that he has never felt it. But as we talked about when we normally feel it he said, `Oh! I have felt that before. I guess I just never thought of it in that way. Cool.` Ya. Way cool! :) 

Also. On Sunday we were out housing and we found this awesome family. They are from Peru but have lived in Japan for 30 years. They are so cute! The dad and kids all speak really good Japanese. The mom struggles and really only knows Spanish. I really don`t remember any Spanish! Both Anderson Shimai and me both forgot how to say friend! Amigo! Ya. That was embarrassing! We are going back to meet with them on Saturday and they said they are going to come to church on Sunday! Wahoo! 

This week U*** Shimai hasn`t been doing well. We haven`t been able to contact her. I don`t want to drop her. But she has her agency. We`ll try her again this week. But right now it seems like she isn`t really interested. *sigh* That is a big bummer. 

Anderson Shimai taught the Ch***`s while I was in Niihama. Apparently it wasn`t the most spiritual lesson we`ve had...Dang it. 

Well that`s about all for this week. There are miracles every day! Some big and and some small. But they are constantly happening. I love it! 

I love you all! 

Love,   Dobson Shimai