Agency and It's Vital Role in our Lives

January 21, 2013

Hello wonderful friends and family! 

Where to start with this week? 

So last Monday was a little bit crazy. After Iz**** Shimai passed her interview she said she had to go so her boys didn`t get interviewed. Then she told us that they had tournaments for the next 2 weeks so they couldn`t be baptized. We asked her about February and she said she didn`t know their schedules yet. That was a bummer. 

But good news on the baptism column! On Friday Is**** San passed his interview! He is going to be baptized after church this Sunday!! We are obviously thrilled for him. But we haven`t really done anything to help him...This is definitely not `our` baptism. It is the mission`s and the previous missionaries` baptism. 

On Saturday we met with a girl, T**** San, we met streeting during Shogatsu. We texted her a couple times before and she either didn`t respond or it took her a long time. So we were about to drop her when on Friday night she texted us. This is what it said, `Anderson San, Dobson San. I want to hear about God`s plan. When can you meet?` Obviously we were elated! We met with her on Saturday and had a good lesson. We did the water downed Plan of Salvation with some How to Begin Teaching. She was feeling the Spirit and said she is really interested and wants to learn more! yay! She doesn`t know her work schedule so we don`t have a return appointment yet. But we are waiting.... She is super cute! 

On Thursday we had interviews! That was great. In my interview President was telling me about all the sisters that are expected to come. It`s going to be crazy!! So in the next couple of months we will be getting a few more sisters here and there. Then come July there are going to be 11 new sisters in one transfer! President said that number could even go up. 

The problem with them all coming in July is that all the Sisters who make up a majority of our mission right now are going home in June. President told me that when that transfer comes he won`t need revelation about who is supposed to be training. It`s `all hands on deck`. Crazy! He said if we don`t have enough trainers we are might even have to have 1 trainer to 2 new missionaries. That would be insanity! But it is so exciting to see how the Lord is going to hasten His work!

SHIMAI POWER here we come!! 

At interviews President did some training about agency. Long story short. We do need opposition in all things. And as frustrating as it is for us to watch our investigators choose what they know they shouldn`t when that opposition amounts, it is a vital role in Heavenly Father`s plan. 

The training couldn`t have come at a better time. 

Saturday and Sunday we watched our investigators exercise their agency. 

We had tried to contact Iz**** Shimai to talk about baptism and just to keep in contact. We knew that Satan was going to work so hard on her, especially because she already passed her interview and was that much closer to baptism. 

On Saturday she avoided us and wouldn`t talk. 

On Sunday at church we got a text from her. Long story short...She read a lot of anti-literature and said she no longer wanted to be baptized. We asked if we could go talk to her about it. She said no. Ugh! 

On top of that. Ni**** San came to church. Gave us Kentucky Fried Chicken, and then said he could never come back to church. And left. 

Sh**** San came to church too! That was great. She hasn`t been for a while. But she said school is super busy and she needs to get a job. So she isn`t sure if she can keep coming. 

R**** went back to her home on the island off of Shikoku...she won`t be able to meet for a while. 

So basically in a period of less than 12 hours we lost almost all of our investigators. 

Needless to say we were a little down after church. We felt like we had done everything we could have for each of them. And they decided to exercise their agency and choose not to continue. 

We were doing a little bit of Japanese study after church and in our Book of Mormon reading as a companionship we read 2 Nephi 10:23. It was exactly what we needed. `Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves-to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.` The Lord knew that we had done everything we could have to help our investigators. But. In the end. It was their choice, and they are `free to act for themselves`. 

We aren`t going to give up. We are going to keep working. Especially for Izu**** San. She is so close! We know she can make it. She will come around eventually. Hopefully it`s sooner rather than later.... 

Well. That was basically our week. Even though it was rough, I definitely felt the Lord comforting me. Letting me know that everything will be alright. And I know it will if we just trust in Him. 

I love you all so much! Keep going strong! 

-Dobson Shimai 

Anderson Shimai and I decided to lay out our aprons for a Winter Indoor Picnic

Baptisms' Are A Comin'

 January 14, 2013 

Hello everyone! Wow what a crazy week. I am going to try and blitz through it. Ready go. 

Monday. We taught an awesome lesson to Iz***. At the end her boys all got home and came in and sat around the table. They all grabbed their Books of Mormon and were following along when we shared scriptures. My favorite moment was when the little 5 year old came, sat down, turned to his mom and said, `Nan peiji?` (what page?) He is sooo cute!! I just want to hug them all! But I can`t so I won`t. But as we were all kneeling down at their little table, I looked around and it hit me in the face. We were teaching a beautiful family! The boys were all listening and wanting to follow along. They learned about tithing and had fun paying back the 10%. There was a warm glow in the room and I was so happy inside. I didn`t know if I wanted to scream or cry. I was SO HAPPY!!! We have seen the wonderful blessings of the gospel come in and touch the lives of every member of this cute family. From the beautiful mom to the cute little 5 year old. I really was filled with the Savior`s love for this wonderful family. I couldn`t stop smiling! It was probably the happiest moment in my mission so far. 

Here's a 'Keep the Commanments Game' we made for the Iz*** Family

So on Wednesday we met with the mom again. We talked more about the Sabbath day. It`s been the hardest thing for their family because she works and her boys all have sports. But we told her we would fast and pray for her that night and the next day so she could figure out what to do. On Thursday when we were talking to us she said, `Oh! I wanted to call you last night. So a couple hours after our lesson I got a phone call. I got a new job offer. I don`t have to work on Sundays!` (Except for all in Japanese) Wow! Can you say miracle?! She kept saying over and over, `It was such a surprise. I wasn`t expecting it.` Then she got quite for a second and said, `That`s an answer to my prayers...right?` `Yes!` We both emphatically shouted. Truly the Lord is so loving and wants His children to obey Him. He truly does hear our and our investigators` prayers. I am infinitely grateful for that! He is just so wonderful! 

We have seen so many wonderful miracles with this beautiful family! Today they have their baptismal interview and if they pass that then they are getting baptized THIS SUNDAY (January 20th)!! Ah! We are so excited for them. Neither of us have seen a baptism yet, so we kind of feel like chickens with our heads chopped off, just running around. We don`t really know what we are doing, but we are inexpressibly happy that they are getting baptized! I just LOVE THEM!!!!!!!! 

So...I still don`t feel super confident in my Japanese, but it is getting better. Funny story. I guess in the middle of the night I sat up straight in my bed and started frantically talking to Anderson Shimai. I kept talking about how we needed to help our investigators. As random as that is, she said I was doing it all in Japanese!   Exciting!!!

Anyways...

Cool other story. So Is**** San. He came to have a `lesson` after church on Sunday. When we walked in, his whole demeanor had changed! He had a lot more light. He even smiled and laughed a little during the lesson! Ok. It wasn`t really a lesson. We were just talking to him. He still wants to be baptized on the 27th. Which means that his interview has to be this Friday. We were talking to him about what sort of questions the interview would have. He said he was ok with all of them. He does have some special circumstances in regard to church attendance. I didn`t know everything that was going on. His work schedule is super crazy. He even came to meet with us after work even though he had been at work since 1 am. He really is trying his best. He actually wants to be baptized. And because he knows he is getting baptized, he is really so much happier. I can`t explain it all. But he is completely different. Hopefully we can figure out the church thing. But it is so cool to see the gospel finally working on his heart. Even though he is kind of a rough and tough person, the gospel has the power to change all hearts. Hopefully he can be ready to be baptized next week! 

R*** is still doing great. She fits right in at church and everyone just loves her. In fact, whenever we have lessons with members they go SOOO long and they just start talking about the randomest things. Rachel really likes all of their experiences and testimonies though. She said she loves church and she is going to come every week. She is the funniest lady. I am excited that we get to keep teaching her. We asked her to read Alma 32. Then she came back just 5 days later and said she read ALL of Alma! She said she liked the part we gave her but the rest was just about wars. She didn`t like that part.  Haha. She is truly one of the honest seekers of truth.  And she just loves soaking up knowledge. Every time when she drinks from the fountain of the gospel she just gets more light and is more refreshed. I love watching her learn and grow! 

We have had lots of great experiences this week. We have met so many cool people and I wish I had time to tell you about all of them. Alas, my time is short. 

Well. I love you all! Keep pressing forward! 

Love always, 

-Dobson Shimai 

Sushi for District Meeting

 

A Week of Working Towards Baptism and Shogatsu Food

January 7, 2013 

Hello everyone! 

Yep! I am still here in Takamatsu! Yay! And my companion is....Anderson Shimai. We are going to be together for yet another transfer! That makes 4! Apparently the Lord has big plans for us here in Takamastu. We are excited to see what this transfer will bring! 

Quick update! 

 

So this week was Shogatsu. The members were right. It wasn`t super effective for missionary work. No one really wanted to listen...But we ate some traditional shogatsu food at the members. That was fun! And...mostly delicious. There were some things I had to not think about while I was chewing. But overall it was lots of fun! I learned how to make mochi! That was an adventure. 

So for planning this week we were setting companionship goals for the transfer. We really feel like the Iz***Family and R*** could be baptized this transfer. That makes 4. But as we were praying we felt like there was supposed to be 5. We didn`t know who. But we set it. 

Sunday was a day of MIRACLES! 

So to start off. Every fast Sunday all the missionaries send in requests for a fast. Usually they are for investigators with family members who are opposed to them joining the church or special circumstances. Then the assistants send out a text with all the names and situations and everyone in the whole mission prays for them individually by name. It has been wrought many miracles in the mission and this week it did it in Takamatsu.

We put the O**** family on the list. We really felt like the mom just needed to come to church once. If she came then her fears about it would go away and we would be able to teach her and her cute daughters more. 

Sunday morning right as Sacrament meeting was starting, SHE WALKED IN!! She came into the church with her little 10 year old daughter! The power of fasting and prayer is so real. It was cool to see the windows of Heaven being opened. 

Not only did Oz*** San and her daughter come to church, but so did N*** San, The Iz****, Ok***San and R*** San! Yay!! We were so excited! Everyone seemed to be doing really well and enjoying the testimonies of everyone. Oz*** San`s daughter even got up and bore her testimony! It was along the lines of, `I went skiing and snowboard for Shogatsu. It was lots of fun. I am glad I came to church today. I am happy. The end.` So sweet! And I think her mom was really touched. 

Before church we had a super fun lesson with Iz*** San and her boys. Unfortunately the oldest one didn`t come because he had baseball....But we taught her 8 and 5 year old. We did a walk through Plan of Salvation and Gospel of Christ lesson. We had different rooms that represented each part of the Plan of Salvation. In the earth room they walked through a path (Gospel of Christ) and if they did the steps they got a little sticker on their `life card`. At judgment they handed in their life card and if they had all the stickers they got to go to the Celestial Kingdom! 

The boys seemed to understand it fairly well. And I think it made more sense to the mom as well. So that was great. It was really fun teaching them that way. 

During church we had too many teaching appointments so we went on splits with the members. (I love when our `problem` is having too many lessons. :) ) Anderson Shimai taught Ok***San and I taught R***. During Sunday school she had a lot of questions about the atonement. So I changed our lesson plan and talked about that. She is such a fun person, but sometimes she gets off on the weirdest tangents. I felt like I was in a pinball machine at the beginning of the lesson. But at the end she settled down a little bit and had some of her concerns resolved which was good. We talked about baptism. She said she really wants to be baptized. But she wants more time to feel ready. She said she won`t set a date. (She has a little phobia of making appointments-even teaching appointments with us). But she said she will continue to come to church each week. She said it is her favorite thing. She loves the members and they all love her. It`s fun to just sit back and watch their interactions. 

Anyways after church Is*** San came and wanted to have a lesson. Honestly, he uses really hard Japanese that I don`t understand. I was trying so hard to concentrate on what was going on. First he was concerned about the differences between the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Then was asking why we use water instead of wine for the sacrament. As I was still trying to figure everything he was saying, I realized we had switched topics and were talking about the law of tithing. Right as I was still reeling over that and trying to come up with a response he told us his birthday is the 27th of this month. And that is when he wants to be baptized. Say what?! 

I am not sure all of what happened. Some changes are definitely going to have to be made if he wants to be baptized. But when I realized that is what he was saying the Spirit said,  `This is number 5.` Whoa. So apparently he is the 5th person that needs to be baptized this transfer. 

We had 2 members in the lesson and afterwards they were both just elated about the whole thing. I definitely didn`t understand very much of what happened. But apparently it was a really good thing. I am super excited! 

So that was basically our week here in Takamatsu. Miracles are happening. I am so  excited to see what this transfer brings! 

I love you all!!! 

 Dobson Shimai

Here are pictures of the Shogatsu Food.  Don't let the flowers fool you (Yep, tofu)

Happy New Year and Shogatsu!

December 31, 2012

Wow! I have already finished another transfer! CRAZY! I am now on transfer 4. The last transfer went by so fast. And I heard they just keep getting faster. That`s a bummer. 

So... you might ask if I am transferring or not...That is a great question. I don`t know. 

This week in Japan is their biggest Holiday. From Tuesday-Thursday everything is shut down and people are with their families and go to the shrines and pray. So because of this none of the city halls where we register and check out of are open until Friday. So we can`t transfer. Transfer calls are on Wednesday and then if we do transfer we will transfer on Saturday. So who knows where you will be getting an email from me next week! I`m pretty sure I`m going to be leaving Takamatsu...But I`ve been wrong before. 

Well brief update for this week. 

On Tuesday we had a wonderful Christmas! We did the best thing anyone could do. Talked to people about Jesus Christ! It was actually really fun. We put ribbon around a bunch of Books of Mormon and Pamphlets. Then we went to the Shotengai and handed out free Christmas presents.  People were actually way more receptive than they normally are, probably because it was Christmas. But it was great. You can`t spend a better Christmas than helping people who have no idea why we celebrate it, understand a little more.

 

This was our Christmas Dinner

It was great to talk to the family on Wednesday! It was kind of weird hearing all of your voices! It materialized you. It made you more real. Sometimes I forget that there is someone on the other end of the emails and letters. You all sound like you are doing well. I love you!!

This was our Christmas Lunch-Sorry if I gross the fam out with my slab of cold tofu

  Wednesday afternoon we got to teach Izumikawa San. We sat down and it was amazing! I looked at her and was almost blinded! There was SOO much light exuberating from her eyes! She looked so different! She looked healthy and happy. Come to find out she is keeping the word of wisdom and is still praying and reading every day.

It was such a testimony builder to me of the power this gospel really does have. You take the woman we met the first day on her porch. She wasn`t really interested and the only reason she talked to us is because her boys swung the door open really fast. She didn`t want to talk to us. You take that lady and then compare her to the beautiful woman she is becoming, through the gospel, and it`s so cool! I love it! The gospel really is only for the benefit of us. Yay! Aren`t we so blessed?! I am so grateful I have gotten the chance to see her grow in truth and light. What a privilege for me just to sit on the sides and watch her. Even if I transfer, and I don`t get to see the full process all the way to baptism, I am forever grateful for this wonderful woman I have met. I just love her! 

I love that I get to see my MTC doryo again at Zone Tai Kai

Thursday was so great! We went to Okayama for a Zone Tai Kai. We all played sports in the morning which was fun. They had dodge ball (which was a little scary with the elders), capture the flag, ping pong, and volley ball. It was just fun to enjoy this wonderful time of year with all of these wonderful missionaries! Sister Zinke is just adorable and wanted us to have a homemade Christmas meal. There was ham, beans, fruit salad, and my FAVORITE! FUNERAL POTATOES! *sigh* I was so happy! :) 

Then we got to talk about all of the wonderful things that are happening in regards to missionary work. President Zinke was talking about the number of missionary applications the church is receiving and it is crazy! Crazy awesome of course! Right now this mission has about 140 missionaries. He was told by the Area Presidency to get ready to support 250 missionaries! Whoa!! The work is going to be progressing at a rapid pace soon. It is so cool to be a part of it!! I can`t wait to see what this next year brings. 

Speaking of all the changes with the mission. So because they are shortening all of the time at the MTC by 1/3 they have to do some weird things with transfers here as well. This next transfer is normal but after these 6 weeks the next transfer will only be a month! I guess in every mission it is a little bit different. But after the month transfer everything should go back to normal. Some of the missionaries figured out that this messes with every one`s departure date as well....Long story short either I got home in November or January....November is so soon! I don`t want to go! But January is hard. I have to be back at school in January if I am to keep my scholarship....So we`ll have to figure that out. 

Anyways... For the rest of the week....

 Honestly it was pretty slow. Everyone is either going home for Shogatsu (The big Holiday) or preparing for it. Nobody really wants to listen. So this next week is also supposed to be pretty slow in regards to missionary work. Bummer. 

On Sunday Izumikawa San and all 3 of her boys came to church! They showed up an hour late because they thought it started at 11 instead of 10. Bummer. But they came! The boys had a great time in Primary. They are all SOO cute. We ended up teaching a lesson to Izumikawa San. We taught the Law of Chastity and Sabbath Day. She took them both very well. She really has so much faith and is willing and wanting to be obedient. She`s GOLDEN! 

In our lesson on Wednesday she told us she was struggling with some things and didn`t know what to do so she was praying and reading the Book of Mormon, to figure out what to do. She didn`t share what her concern was but both Anderson Shimai and I felt like she needed a priesthood blessing. At church we explained what it was and asked her if she wanted one. She said she would and she got one.

Wow. I love the Priesthood and I am so very grateful for the role it`s played in my life. And it was way cool to see the role it played in our investigator`s life. 

The work of the Lord is progressing so fast! I love Takamatsu. I never want to leave. But I will go where I need to be. This wonderful gospel is true! 

I love you all! Have a great week! 

-

Dobson Shimai 

Also! COOL THING I FORGOT TO WRITE ABOUT! Yoshiko Shimai-our investigator from Akashi-got baptized yesterday!!! YAYYYYYYYY!!!!