Faith and Fear

Me and Lee Shimai with N** Shimai

June 24, 2013

Hello everyone!! I hope you are all doing well. I love you all so much!!

This week went really well.

Where to start?

I got to go back to Shimogamo again to do another exchange. So fun! I loved being back there. I even got to teach a lesson to N*** Shimai! (One of our past investigators who LOVED studying) It was so good to see her. It surprised her a little bit when she saw me show up to the lesson, but I think she was pleased.

It's always so fun getting to work with other Sisters. I get to learn so much from them.

This week I got to meet our investigator, T****Shimai, for the first time. She is deaf and struggles a little bit with learning but she has such a desire to learn!

Luckily we have a member in our ward who can do sign language. It just always strengthens my testimony that the Lord has everything under control. He prepares and leads us, so that when the time is right all will be able to work out.

We got to hear a little bit about her story and her home life. Honestly it is pretty hard. The thing that impressed me the most about T**** Shimai is even though she is living in these hard conditions, she always comes to our lessons and to church with a beaming smile! She is content with the blessings she has, and looks for the beauty in the world around her.

It is definitely a good wake up call for me, someone who has been blessed beyond measure, to remember my blessings. And even when the times get a little tough, I shouldn't grumble. Instead I should rejoice in the chance to grow.

I'm still learning how to do that. :)

We also got to meet with K**** Shimai a couple times this week. The lessons always seems to be all over the place. She gets so sidetracked so easily. We're trying to figure out how to teach her more simply so she can stay focused.

Honestly I don't have a bunch to write about this week.

I love doing exchanges and getting to work with all of the sisters, but honestly we don't have much time to spend in our area. We're trying to move the work along but it's going pretty slow....

But I will share something cool I learned this week while I was studying faith. One of the previous Assistants said that in order to understand an attribute, he studies the opposite. If he has any of those qualities associated with the opposite, then he know he doesn't have the attribute he is working for.

So while studying faith I studied a little bit about doubt. I was reading the account in Mathew of Peter walking on the water.

Initially, Peter had a lot of faith. He believed that if Christ could walk on water, so could he. But as he got into the water, his faith faltered a little. He started sinking. We all know that. But something that I realized that I didn't before is that  he still had faith in Christ. He reached out and said, "Lord save me". He believed that Christ could do anything. But I don't think he believed that he could do anything with Christ's help.

In Preach My Gospel there is a phrase that says, "You are confident that you can do whatever the Lord requires of you, if you rely on Him."

So the conclusion I came to is that, I think I have faith in Jesus Christ. I know that He can do this work. I know that He can do anything. I think that part where my faith is wavering a little bit is whether or not He can do it through ME.

I know that He can do this missionary work. I know that He can help these people be converted. But do I really believe that if I rely on Him, He can do all of that through me? Idk. I think I am a lot better now than I was 6 months and especially a year ago. But I am still working on that.

Well I love you all so much! I hope you have a splendid week! Enjoy your vacation.

Love,
Dobson Shimai