I LOVE Missionary Work!!!

Us with Ha*** Chan (Center) and her friend (in the pink coat)

 February 25, 2013

Wonderful things are a happen in Takamatsu! Wow. What a privilege to be a missionary here! 

So the rundown for the week. 

Monday and Tuesday were pretty normal with not a whole lot to report. 

But Wednesday we had an appointment with Ic**** San. She is someone we met on the train coming back from Okayama in December. She said she would be interested in listening to our message but she was really busy. We tried setting up several appointments but she never could met. We thought she wasn`t interested but we tried one more time. Long story short we had an appointment at the church. We wait for her at the church, but she didn`t show up. We call her and she said she didn`t have the map to the church so we couldn`t met. But she said she does want to meet so she asked if we could meet at the Eiki and give her the map. We end up meeting her that day and giving her a map and then we asked her if she could meet right then.

She said she would like to talk. So we sat down and talked with her. Some how it turned into a watered down version of the plan of salvation. We didn`t really plan on that. But the whole time you could see the Spirit working with in her. She had this pondering face on and she would occasionally say, `Oh. That makes sense` and then go back to thinking. Well even though it wasn`t the best environment to have a first lesson, the Spirit was still there and you could tell it was reminding her of what she used to know. She is interested and wants to learn more! Yay! She said next time she`ll be able to come to the church which is great. She has kind of had a hard life, and she looks pretty burdened down. But you could tell that after we talked she had that little extra light that comes from hearing the message of this wonderful gospel. Cliche I know.

But it`s true. It wouldn`t be cliché if it wasn`t true. 

Wednesday we also got to teach Ta**** Shimai. She is so funny. We asked her if she believed in Christ she again said that only in her heart. Right as we were about to offer her a picture of Him, she said, `I can`t take that. Everyone who comes in will see it and make fun of me.` She is so funny. She believes she is just too worried about what everyone thinks to do anything about it. 

Us in the hallway of the Hospital

Saturday we got a text from R****. She went into the hospital that morning and she asked us to come and visit her. 

**side note about Japanese hospitals...They are kind of gross and a little sketchy.... That`s all**** 

Well we were planning on visiting her at her house that day anyways so it was perfect. She has something wrong with her stomach and is having surgery today. She looked pretty sick and she was embarrassed about how she looked but she said she wanted us to see her so we would believe her when she said she couldn`t come to church on Sunday. She is so funny. She said she doesn`t want us or any of the members visiting her for a while which is a bummer. But we are praying that she will be able to make a quick recovery. We love her so much!!! 

Saturday we had an awesome miracle! So we went up to invite the Oz**** Kan to church. (The family with the deaf parents). We have been trying to meet with them and teach them but it hasn`t been working out. We ended up talking with the mom and the 10 year old daughter, Ha**** Chan, and invited them to church. The mom said she couldn`t go but if Ha**** Chan wanted to go with their next door neighbor, who is a member, that would be fine. I felt like I needed to ask her if she wanted to keep meeting with us. She unfortunately told us that she had heard enough and that she really wasn`t interested. 

That is something me and Anderson Shimai we were worried about and talked a lot about. We couldn`t forget the first time we met them and how powerful that first experience was. Probably one of the most Spiritual experiences on my mission. The Spirit that we all felt when we first met them was undeniable. We kept remembering this experience and wondering why we had this if they were just not going to listen. 

We ended up thinking that maybe it was Ha**** Chan that we were supposed to meet. Every time we taught them she was more interested than her mom. She is praying every day and loved when she went to church. 

Remembering us thinking about this I asked the mom if we could teach Ha**** Chan. Ha**** Chan turned to her mom and begged her to say yes. The mom said she thought that was fine. As long as we did it with the member who is next door. YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That really is such a big miracle! Even though the mom has no interest, she is allowing her 10 year old daughter to listen. We seriously are SOO excited! We know that that was definitely the Lord`s hand. It wasn`t us. Multiple times Anderson Shimai and I have tried to ask for something like that and it never worked out. But through the Lord`s timing, it was possible and now we have the cutest 10 year old investigator! 

WE are just thrilled! 

Ha**** Chan ended up coming to church on Sunday and just soaked it all up. She was singing the hymns with everyone and went to primary with her little neighborhood friends. She loved all of it. 

We should be able to start teaching her this week and we can`t wait! 

On Sunday night we also had another miracle! So back in December we met a PI family. All from Peru. They are so humble and so prepared! We have been trying to meet with them, but the Dad works out of town all week and is only here on Sundays. The Mom and their 16 year old boy and 7 year old daughter are also really busy with work and school. Last night we finally got to meet them and talk with them. Wow! What a stellar family. The parents just have so much faith and love. They both hate Japan but they know this is the place their kids will be able to succeed the most. So they have been living her for 20 years, working.

The parents have so much faith and where telling us how much they love Jesus Christ. The dad said he used to think the only thing that mattered was money. But now he realizes it is his relationships with his family and being able to help them. He said he prays every day thanking God for all the blessings that he has. Wow. He is amazing! 

We ended up teaching the parents and they said they are interested and want to hear more!  We are going back on Sunday and we are so excited that we get to be teaching a family again! 

Oh I forgot to say. Before we left we prayed. Ri**** (the dad) asked if we would do it in English and Japanese. Walker Shimai prayed in English, I prayed in Japanese, and then Ricardo prayed in Spanish. The Spirit was so strong. You could feel it fill up their little apartment. I love that feeling! 

I'm getting my hair cut today, but look how long it's grown!

We walked out of their apartment truly happy and feeling so grateful that we just got to teach this wonderful family. 

Missionary work is awesome!!!! 

That was this last week. 

This week we have a huge mission conference. Tad R Callister is coming and so all the missionaries in the whole mission will be getting together. I am so excited! I love this conferences. You feel empowered and ready to work. It`s a good recharge, drawing on all the strength from the other missionaries. 

Well that`s about all for today folks. :) 

I love you all!! 

An Indian Curry Dish We Had

-Dobson Shimai 

Welcome Walker Shimai!

 February 18, 2013

Hello Everyone! 

This week has been great! 

The beginning of this week was going with Anderson Shimai to try and say good bye to old investigators and PI`s. Seeing if they wanted to meet again. It honestly wasn`t super successful. 

Funny story. So we were supposed to go to Okayama Wednesday night sleep there, and then everyone would switch companions. We had planned plenty of time to get to the train station, make the train, and even talk with some people. 

Well we wanted to just swing past a PI`s house and invite her to church and see if she wanted to continue meeting with the missionaries. Well she is so cute and invited us into her house. We thought we would just talk for a little time and then leave. But when we looked at our watches it was 7:00. Our train was supposed to leave at 7:40 we were 40 minutes away from the Eiki (train station) and we still didn`t have Anderson Shimai`s luggage. We booked it home and tried to grab all of her miscellaneous bags (which was A LOT). We ended up throwing her 35 lbs `carry on bag` in the back of my bike and rode with grocery bags hanging off both sides of our bikes. We were riding as fast as our legs could carry us. We looked like the Beverly Hillbillies. Oh I am sure we were a sight to see. Of course we had tons of crazy looks as the mild manner Japanese people see these two gaijin riding as hard as you would in tour de france with grocery bags flapping behind us in the wind. Even thinking about now makes me laugh. 

Well we got to the Eiki with 1 minute to spare. And there was our cute Branch President just wanting to say a last minute goodbye. I am sure he was embarrassed to see us as we came panting, running with our bags, and Anderson Shimai still had her helmet on. Oh it was embarrassing but so funny. 

(side note* The branch president thought it would be funny to tell all the members on Sunday his experience of watching us come sprinting into the eiki.  Yeah. That was embarrassing.)

We safely got to Okayama. Sleeping in Okayama was kind of an adventure. There were 9 Shimai. 7 futons. 6 blankets. And 5 pillows. Undoubtedly not the best night sleep I`ve ever had. 

Anyways. So me and Walker Shimai became companions! Yay. She is great! 

Honestly at first I was scared out of my mind to be Senior companion! I didn`t feel like I have the skills needed. And actually I don`t have all the skills I need. But I have realized over the past couple of days that I have enough of them. And by me I really mean that the Lord has made up for the parts I don`t have. 

There have been so many contacts where we are talking to people and I have no idea either what they are saying or what I am going to say but then I just opened my mouth, and (this might sound cliché, but it`s true) and it is filled. It doesn`t come out in perfect Japanese. But it comes out in understandable Japanese. Unfortunately most of those people decided to not want to hear more...BUT! I know that it wasn`t because of any fault of mine. 

So this week we decided to visit R****`s daughter. We thought R**** was on her island, she said she wasn`t coming back until Spring. But we wanted to invite her daughter to church. So we rang her doorbell and Rachel came out!! She was actually here! She showed us the results of her English test that she passed. She was so excited. She was so sad that Anderson Shimai had left but she just fell in LOVE with Walker Shimai. They are going to be great friends! We ended up teaching her most of the plan of salvation and she had a lot of her resolves concerned. Walker Shimai helped her so much and I was so thankful! Unfortunately she went back to the Island Saturday night. But she said she should be coming back to Takamatsu this week. So hopefully we will be able to keep teaching her. I just love her!!!! 

Sunday we got a new investigator! Her name is Ke**** San. I think I might have talked about her before...I can`t remember. We found her housing about a month ago. She is a cute single mom with 9 and 7 year old boys. SO cute! She went to college in Texas and now is a private English teacher. So she is fluent in English. We have been trying to get a hold of her but she is so busy with teaching that it hasn`t happened yet. We just decided to swing by her house right after church. She invited us in and we ended up teaching her the whole restoration. She picks and chooses what she believes. She takes whatever she likes from various religions and believes that. But after we told her about the restoration we asked her what she thought. She said, `If that is true. That`s amazing.` She said she is honestly looking for truth and so we taught her and invited her to pray. She said she would try and that we could talk to her how it went. We are going back to meet her on Tuesday. We are so excited! Oh she`s just great. 

Sunday night our Branch President wanted to go with us and visit Iz**** San. He said he wants to help her resolve some of her concerns. So we caught a ride with a couple from the ward and met him at her house. 

The unfortunate thing about Japan is that a lot of their doorbells have cameras. So you can see who is at your house. We could hear her family inside, and all the lights were on. We rang the door bell and there was some commotion  But they didn`t answer.  We rang again and the oldest boy talked to us on the intercom. We asked him if his mom was there and he said she just got in the shower....Ugh! I am 98% sure she was not in the shower. I am so sad for her! She is so close to the truth. She still wants it. But Satan just buckled down and got her! I am so frustrated. 

But at least I know we have done all that we know how. The Lord just has to take the rest. 

Me and Walker Shimai are getting along great! She is awesome and we are trying to be equal pullers. No one is above the other. I am definitely loving being her companion. We probably won`t have much longer together, but we are excited to see the arm of the Lord revealed here in Takamatsu. As we see miracles we truly know that the Lord can take small and simple things (us) and have great things come to pass. What I wonderful privilege to watch Him work through us! 

Well I love you all so much!!!   Happy Valentines Day

-Dobson Shimai 

The Dobson - Anderson Reign Comes to an End

February 11, 2013

Well it has finally happened. The Dobson Anderson reign has come to an end after almost six months. We got transfer calls this morning and....I am staying in Takamatsu!

Anderson Shimai is transferring to Niihama (where I went for exchanges) and Walker Shimai is going to be my new companion.

I knew Walker Shimai from the MTC. She came in the transfer behind me. I think she is great! We already get along really well. So she is starting her 4th Transfer. That makes me Senior Companion. CRAZY!! Neither of us speak Japanese very well....So. If anything gets done here, it definitely is from the Lord. Here we go! I am pretty excited! 

So this week. Visiting R**** at Shodoshima was way fun! We got to met her family. They are all a hoot. Although I do feel bad for her poor husband. He lives in a house overtaken by felines and bossy women. 

We were going to try and teach her a lesson but basically she threw us in her car and drove us all over the island. It was SO beautiful but she kept complaining because it was cloudy and you couldn`t see everything very well. 

We talked to her a little bit about the word of wisdom because she fixated on it. She said she likes church but she doesn`t like the Word of Wisdom. And she believes that God is nice enough to forgive her for drinking a little wine and coffee. She is so funny. 

Zone Interviews

In regards to the rest of the week...nothing was super spectacular. Then on Friday we had a big zone meeting. It was awesome! The training was basically on the two parts of the atonement. First the cleansing power. And then how through that cleansing power of the atonement we can access the enabling power.

Zone Interviews

They shared these really cool prophecies prophets and apostles have made about Japan. I was going to write them in the email but...I forgot the paper. Basically the coolest one was given over 100 years ago by Heber J Grant. He said that at first the work in Japan would be slow. Then it would be one of the most successful missions in the world and it would ASTOUND the world. Well so far in the history of missionary work the work has been going pretty slow.

But when President Zinke got here he asked each area to seek revelation and find out how many `elect` or people ready in that moment to receive the restored gospel by being baptized. The number was astonishing. Current we have over 1500 in the boundaries of the Kobe mission who are ready to be baptized but haven`t been. There are 9 in Takamatsu. 

President Zinke and all of us have felt this propelling power. The Lord wants these people gathered. He wouldn`t have told us that many if He didn`t think we could find them. 

Now what President Zinke wants us to do is to use the enabling power of the atonement and gather all the elect. How do we use this enabling power? It`s actually really simple. We make sure we are worthy through the cleansing power, we humble ourselves, make sure we are aware of this power, and then go to work. We don`t need to over analyze everything. We just need to go to work. 

It wasn`t anything earth shattering. But it was a great training and we all feel empowered. 

There have already been miracles all around the mission since this training started. And it hasn`t even been a week! I can`t wait to see what happens over the next year or so. World. Prepare to be ASTOUNDED! :) 

It really helped me refocus on our purpose. I really want to go find the elect! But I know that it is only through the enabling power of the atonement that we will be able to do that. I am just grateful we have that power on our side. I just want to work has hard as I can to go and find them!!!! 

Anyways....church was great! I played the flute and Anderson Shimai spoke. We invited everyone we knew to come to church and listen to us. Ush****Shimai and R**** came! That was great. We were so excited to see them. Ush**** Shimai really only came for us...but I think she felt the Spirit. She said she still can`t meet, but we were happy she came. 

R**** is so funny. She just soaks up church and all the members get so excited when she comes. We really just need to help her get over her coffee problem and then she is free sailing. 

Well...that`s basically it. I love you all so much! Have a great week. Oh! Happy Valentine’s Day!!! 

-Dobson Shimai


Here are pictures from last week's P-Day excursion to Shodo Island to see R***

Our Very Deluxe Ferry

The Ferry had these cool (and somewhat random) pillars!

Look How cool it was inside the ferry

 

There were monkeys all along this road

In front of a famous Greek Windmill

Soy Sauce IceCream-Yes, It really is Good!!!

A trip to Shodoshima

February 4, 2013 

You may be wondering, `Why on earth is Dobson Shimai writing at 7:30 in the morning?!`. Don`t worry I do have an explanation. 

Recently we haven`t been able to meet with our wonderful investigator R*** San.

She lives on the island of Shodo shima. She hasn`t been able to come to Takamatsu for a few weeks, but wants to continue learning. We decided that for part of our preparation day activities we would go visit her! We are taking a ferry with her daughter at 9:30 this morning. We already got up early and did everything we needed to. We are excited to go on a little adventure and to visit our beloved investigator. 

But as for this week... Well... we were faithful. We were working hard and really trying to be focused with an eye single to the glory of God. We diligently sought after revelation. We followed the Spirit, we contacted almost all of our PI`s trying to find someone who we could invite to come unto Christ. 

The Lord just wants us to be faithful. We didn`t have a whole lot of `success` in the terms of numbers. But we met with a lot of great people. Unfortunately either they didn`t want to listen or they wouldn`t really let us teach.  Bummer. 

We tried Izumikawa Shimai again. She wasn`t home when we visited her and she may have blocked our number...ugh. We are going to have her neighbor who is a member talk with her this week. Hopefully we will hear more about that this week. 

So recently President Zinke has put a lot of emphasis on how there are often people who come to church for years but aren`t baptized for one reason or another. Some of them are older people who can`t remember very well so missionaries and members think they don`t know enough and can`t pass the baptismal `interview` in order to get baptized. President has said that their spirits know everything, it`s just that their bodies are limiting them. He told us that if they want to follow Jesus Christ and want to baptized, that`s good enough. 

Well that came as a huge relief. We have this SUPER stellar couple in our ward. They are both so strong. (They are the couple we made mochi with). They both serve endlessly and are always helping us and giving us food. We love the T**** K. Well T**** Kyodai (brother) has the sweetest mom. She is the funniest Japanese 87 year old you will ever meet. She has been coming to church every week for YEARS. She loves church. 

Previously T**** Kyodai wanted us to teach his Mom. We did and she had a hard time remembering anything. So he thought she couldn`t continue. Well when we heard this we talked to him about it and asked if we could just talk with her. 

So on Wednesday we went to her nursing home and talked to her about Christ. Even though we see her every week at church, because of her Alzheimers, she didn`t remember who we are and when we were talking to her she asked us the same few questions over and over again. But as we talked to her about Christ and how through Christ we can live again as families, we asked her if she believed in Christ. She said in her heart she does. And when she is grateful she told us she prays and says thank you. We told her that through baptism we can get Christ`s help and return to God with our families. She said she wants that. And she thinks she wants to be baptized. She is just worried about her daughter whose husband is a Buddhist monk. She`s worried about her daughter not being baptized and offending her daughter if she did get baptized. 

Luckily T**** Kyodai told her that it didn`t matter and that she could choose for herself.  She still was a little worried about it when we left. We asked T**** Kyodai after if he thought she would want to be baptized. But he just shrugged his shoulders. 

But then yesterday in testimony meeting he got up and talked about how excited he was that we said she could be baptized! He went on and on about it. She hasn`t technically had her `interview` with our district leader, meaning, he hasn`t asked her if she wants to be baptized, but if she passes that she could be baptized like next week! 

It`s funny how we aren`t teaching any lessons right now. And yet...people are being baptized! And when we were teaching a lot of lessons...no one was getting baptized. Life is funny. 

So at district kai this week we had the Zone Leaders come and do a training. They talked a lot about being humble. It was an AWESOME training. We really are so blessed to have such inspired leaders. 

They said it was just a foretaste of what Zone Tai Kai is going to be like this week. We are definitely excited! 

This month President Zinke has really focused on the Sacrament. Understanding it`s significance and then teaching it simply to investigators. This week I had a cool insight as I was studying it. We have all heard, `Take upon us the name of Christ` and I think I had an artificial knowledge of what this was. I know we get His name as we are baptized, but I didn`t REALLY understand what it meant. 

Well as I was sitting there in personal study, pondering this a scripture popped into my mind. I didn`t even have to look it up because the Spirit told me what it was. 

It shows that it was inspiration because I have a hard time remembering scriptures and I can`t remember how it goes now...but. It is the one in Mosiah 4...I think…saying that as we are baptized we are spiritually begotten by Christ. We become His spirit children. And as I was thinking about this I realized that it the same as when we are born physically. We are born to parents and we `inherit` their name. We take upon us their name. From my parents I took upon me the name of Dobson. 

It is the same when we are baptized. We spiritually take upon us the name of Christ. He becomes a part of us. 

This might not make as much sense in writing as I would like, but as I was thinking about it, it made way more sense to me. And I`m hoping now that I can use this example to teach investigators better as well. Hopefully they will understand it more. 

Anyways. That was about this week. I love you all so much! I hope you have a wonderful week. 

Next week I`ll know about Transfers. CRAZY! 

-Dobson Shimai 

Thanks to Sister Anderson's Mom for the following information and pictures

 

Shōdo Island 

is an island located in the Inland Sea of Japan. 

The name means literally "Island of Small Beans."

There are two towns on the island: 

Tonoshō and Shōdoshima, 

comprising the district of Shōzu.