May 6, 2013
Wow. It`s already
preparation day?! This week flew by! Time flies when you are having fun I
guess. But I did go into a mid life crisis when I realized I only have 6 months
left. WHAT?! Where did the time go? Everyone says the last 6 months goes the
fastest! That can`t be happening. I feel like one of the cats in the cartoons
who is digging her claws into the tree but still slowly sliding down. Come
November I will hit the ground. ugh. That sounds horrible. I`m just going to
stop talking about that.
On to happier
things...
This week has been
great!
I’ll start off with
Ay**** Shimai. She has been amazing! She is working harder to keep the
commandments than she ever has. She told us that one morning she opened the
fridge and saw coffee and then slammed the door and shouted, `No!` haha. She is
actually going to be able to be baptized this week!! I can`t wait! We had some
great lessons. We did a life size version of the plan of salvation. Those are
my favorite. I think she really enjoyed it and understood it more.
The members are all
wanting to get on board to help her. They assigned everyone a different day to
call her and encourage her and tell her not to drink coffee. She is excited to
be getting all of the attention and I think it is going to be just what she
needs to make it through the next week. yay! Way excited about her!
Next. We met with
Sh***San (the Chinese girl). We taught her about prayer. She still is iffy
about who God is and if He is really there. But after we explained prayer she
said, `So, if I have to make a big decision. Like, whether to stay in Japan or
go back to China after I graduate, I can ask God about that?` So I think she
really understood the concept well and she seemed excited to be able to have
that help in making big decisions.
She was supposed to
come to church but then she said she made a mistake on her paper and had to fix
it instead. But before we even asked her she asked when the next time we could
meet was. yay. I love it when investigators are asking YOU when you can meet
instead of the opposite.
The next one. M****
Shimai. I LOVE HER!!! Really though. Like, SOO much!
Well we taught her a
lesson on Wednesday after Eikaiwa (English Class). We taught her about prayer.
I am not sure how well she really understood it, but she said she would try it.
Then she called us
the next day and said she had some English questions and was wondering if we
could meet her and talk about them. We agreed. We thought it wasn`t going to be
very long, and we decided if we could talk a little bit more about the gospel
in the end, we would, but we wouldn`t push it.
Well after we
answered her question she started talking. She asked us awesome questions like,
`Why did you decide to be a missionary?`
Also, `When my
friends went to Utah they talked about a big church that they went and saw. Do
you have one of those?` We pulled out a picture of the Salt Lake Temple and
showed it to her. `That`s it!!` We briefly explained what happens in temples.
She then said that she wanted to go. We explained our role as missionaries, and
how we want everyone to be able to go into the temple and eventually return to
heaven. The more we explained the more excited she got. We ended up showing her
the baptismal font in the church and talked about how it is the first step to
getting to the temple and eventually to heaven. She was so excited and right
then and there we invited her to be baptized. SHE chose the date and is now
working for June 30th!!!! Yay! We were all so happy!!
She also really
opened up and told us some of the concerns she has been having lately. Both me
and Lee Shimai have experiences with similar situations. We talked about how much
God helped us through it. I think she is understanding so much more and now
trusts us.
I can`t wait to see
her progress! I know it`s selfish, but I don`t want to transfer. I want to stay
and see her go through the whole process. She is GOLDEN!!!!!!
I`ll have to take a
picture with her this week so everyone can see how cute she is!!!
That`s about it for
the week. We really have been praying and working our guts out trying to find
new investigators. But not yet....This week. I can feel something good coming.
I am praying and praying to find a family. I miss teaching families. They are
my FAVORITE!!!!
But that is about it
from over here.
I love you all so
much! Have a great week!
Love,
Dobson Shimai
p.s. Sorry no pictures this week