Konichiwa!

Dressed Matching for Sunday

September 10^th, 2012

Hello Everyone! 

Things here in Japan are going great! The weather is really cooling down which is so nice! I was lucky to escape the worst part of the summer. Usually there is a nice breeze that is coming in from the ocean which feels nice but can sometimes cause problems with the skirts....But, we keep on peddling! :) 

So....Where to start?

Um...We found another investigator!! Yay!! (We did drop the 11 year old so we are still at 2). But our new lady is probably in her 60`s. She`s had several contacts with the missionaries. She used to live by the church 30 years ago. We decided to visit her, without really informing her we were coming. We went and she seemed genuinely excited to see us. She pulled out all 3 versions of the Book of Mormon. (The Book of Mormon has been re-translated into Japanese). Then she showed us all the pictures of her husband and her traveling all over the world. They had a lot of fun together. He died a few years ago, and you can tell that she really misses him. We taught her a little lesson and set up another appointment.  We are meeting with her on Wednesday. Hopefully she`ll want to keep listening. I think she is finally in a place in her life where she is ready to accept the gospel and all the blessings that come with it. 

As we were out housing (just knocking on apartment buildings and houses) we came across a mom with her 2 young kids. They were SO cute! We tried teaching them a little bit about families and asked to come back. They actually said yes!  I hope that they too will be interested in our message. 

So every week we teach a free English class. Before it was we would teach and then we would share a spiritual message. But the church is changing it over. Now we just teach English. It`s kind of like our public service for Japan.

There are two classes. I taught the advanced class. These 5-6 students are basically fluent in English. We work on harder concepts. Like, for example, on Tuesday we talked about sayings such as, `It`s raining cats and dogs` and `chip off the old block`.  Stuff like that. They just loved them! They thought they were hilarious. They make me laugh! None of the students really have an interest in the church right now. They just enjoy learning English. One day though...one day. 

We have to puncture the Insect Repellant before our Mandatory Recycling of it

Oh! I forgot to mention last week that I tried mugicha.  The wheat tea thing. We had it for dinner at a member`s house. The first time I tried it during the meal, it was warm. And actually it didn`t taste too bad.  Probably because it was too hot to actually taste. The second time they served it with dessert.  It was chilled. It was so gross!!!!  It tasted like cigarette buds!  Not like I know what those taste like, I`m just thinking that is probably what they taste like. Oh yuck!  It was gross!  It was all I could do to not pull a face as I drank it. BUT I succeeded. 

On Friday we had a Zone Conference, here in Akashi. They talked about a lot of really awesome things. We read the talk `Pride and the Priesthood` by Pres. Uchtdorf. Even though I don`t have the Priesthood it applied great to missionary work. We, as missionaries, need to remember why we are here. We are here to work to bring the gospel unto all those who are willing to listen. We are not here to seek gain, to be better than others, to out beat people with baptisms or anything like that. We are here to work. So let’s work! 

Something cool they also talked about, I guess the Japan Kobe mission is specifically pointed out by general authorities as one with forward leaning motion. Even though we are in a slow baptizing area, we set really good goals, work hard, and accomplish them. I think we have one of the best missions in the world. (I know everyone says that, but I`m serious. :) :)

Our church

 





Oh! We had a member of the Asia Area Presidency come to church yesterday. Elder Ayogi. All the members were a buzz and flittering around. They all seemed very nervous and excited. They wanted everything to go smoothly. I`m sure it did. And I think he gave a great talk. Everyone around me seemed to be enjoying it. I bet I would have enjoyed it had I known what was being said. One day I will understand this language. But that day is not today unfortunately. 

But...it is not all easy. We work hard.

I heard a quote, "Those who are called to English speaking missions become masterful teachers. Those who are called to Central or South America or Europe become linguists. Those who are called to Asia become...humble." I have definitely felt that humbling aspect of missionary work. 

You have to feel humble when you ride your bike up and down hills, climb an innumerable amount of stairs, knock on countless doors and go home with the same number of investigators as you had the previous days. I think it would be very discouraging. But luckily, with the help of the Lord and Pres. Zinke`s goals, I haven`t felt that discouraged yet.  Which is good. Because in PMG we learn that discouragement is the opposite of faith. 

I`m not getting discouraged but I am feeling the refining flame come into my life. 

Missions are hard. Definitely harder than I had anticipated. It`s hard physically, emotionally, spiritually, mentally. But I have definitely learned to rely more on the Lord. I think that is why I was called to Japan. He knows that had I gone anywhere else, I would have tried to rely on my strengths and abilities. Well. Here, in Japan. I have none. I can not do this work with out Him. I`ve grown so much closer to Him and the enabling power of the atonement that He has to offer as I have been here. 

That doesn`t mean that it doesn`t hurt.  I`ve hurt a lot just over these few short weeks in Japan. But I know this is the Lord`s plan. He takes my heart, like a rock deep inside my chest cavity, He takes it and is scrubbing off the rough edges. It hurts because I have a lot. But I know that He is doing it so that I can be more fit for this life and the life to come.

"In the fire of affliction it is our choice whether we are consumed or refined" -John Groeberg. 

Well I love you all so much! I know that it is through your prayers in my behalf that I have been lifted up when I was down. Thank you for them! I miss you more than life itself. 

Love, 

Dobson Shimai 

More attractive than tasty :)

Pictures of Akashi

Here are answers to some of our questions:

Anderson Shimai is very funny. She is very good at being happy all the time. She never has anything negative to say about missionary work. She has an awesome can do attitude that can be hard to keep up with. She is good at listening when I have a hard day.  She`s really good at seeing the bright side of things. That`s a goal I have. To be more optimistic. 

The ward is great! There are probably about 60 people in it. We have some really strong families and members. But mostly there are part member families. You can tell that`s hard on them. We`ve tried to get referrals of people`s families. They say they aren`t ready yet. Hopefully one day they will want to hear more. 

 Akashi is like a suburb to Kobe. There are nice places and kind of sketchy places. Our area goes basically all the way up to Kobe. It`s pretty big.  So many apartment buildings and people to talk to. I haven`t seen the coast yet....There are too many buildings. So I don`t know about that. 

 

I Made it to Japan!!!

Monday September 3^rd, 2012

Yay! My first p-day in Japan! 

Please excuse the typos as they will probably be frequent. There are a couple reasons for this. 1:Not exactly sure how to use this Japanese keyboard...2:The spell check will be off. So bear with me. 

Ok. I don`t even know where to start! 

We ended well at the MTC.  Very happy to leave.  For our last devotional speaker we had a surprise! Elder Neil A Anderson from the Quorum of the 12 came and spoke! It was super, super great. 

Then we woke up super early Monday morning, finished packing, and took our 50 lbs suitcases down 4 flights of stairs. Yep. That was fun. (I was actually 5 lbs under on each suitcase. YEAH for me!)

We all loaded on a bus and were off to the airport! 

We had a two hour flight from SLC to Seattle. Had a little layover there and then we were off to

Japan! It was awesome to look around and see that once we stepped on that airplane we were immediately the minority. 

Japanese Airplane Food brings a new level of grossness

The flight went smoothly, and we tried to sneak in a few short naps. 

When we stepped off the plane to Japan and instantly the humidity stuck to our skin. So did our clothes. But we were excited! 

We wanted to freshen up a little bit so we went into the bathroom. Holy cow! It was really like Mator`s experience in `Cars`!!! We didn`t really have time to explore, so we just brushed our hair and teeth and were off to customs. 

We had a fun time trying to communicate with the people at customs, but eventually we got through. 

We met the Zinke`s and the AP`s. Ah! It was such a relief to see them!!! 

We piled into the vans and set off for the mission home. Then we had a little bit to freshen up. Then it was dinner time! We had dinner then a little bit of training about office things. To be honest, I really don`t remember what about...I was so so tired!! They were kind and let us go to bed early, around 9. 

The next morning, for exercise we went with the AP`s and office Elders and played ultimate Frisbee. They don`t really have just grassy patches of land. There is either dirt, houses, or rice fields. So we played in the dirt with was great. Then we had some training from President Zinke. I`m really excited about his vision for the mission! His goal is to make us, as missionaries, become true disciples of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Basically taking the skills we learn here, in the mission field, and using them for the rest of our lives. I think that is a great idea. He also is doing something that is a little more on the interesting side, but I like it! 

 

Each companionship has prayed to know how many of the Lord`s sheep (or those who are ready and prepared to receive the gospel), are in their certain area. President Zinke`s goal isn`t to have 200 baptisms for the whole mission. He wants everyone to find those who are ready. Each companionship has prayed and fasted for their area, and each comes up with a different number.  Every companionship reported, and the total for the whole mission is like 1400 people! Can you believe that?! That`s a lot more than just 200 baptisms. There isn`t really a time limit on how fast this needs to be accomplished. But there is a goal to have every companionship have at least 1 baptism per transfer. That`s a lot. But, it`s becoming a reality. My area-which I will reveal later- has 12 people waiting to hear about the gospel. I`ll go more into detail on that later. 

After training we went to `world buffet`....it`s kind of like chuck-a-rama...except for maybe a little worse. Anyways....we had interviews after that. After interviews with the President, Hansen Shimai and I went with the office Elders to a lesson. It was with this super, super cute 84 year old woman. I loved her. 

After this we had dinner and then a testimony which was great. We were allowed to go to bed early again, (which felt SO good!) 

Next morning we woke up to a rain storm which was LOTS and lots of fun. We played Frisbee out in the dirt which instantly became mud. It was raining harder than it can in the shower. I loved it! 

Then we cleaned up, had some more training and....met our trainers!!!!!!

I got assigned to be with the genki-est missionary in Kobe. Actually probably in all of Japan. Anderson Shimai is just the greatest!!! She is from Bluffdale and is the youngest of 7 kids. We are on flipped ends of the family cycle. She was at BYU studying a conglomeration of things before the mission. She`s still not exactly sure what she wants to do.

She has been here in Japan since March, and is as courageous as a Lion when it comes to dendoing (proselyting). 

Thanks Sister Anderson for the Welcome Note

She did start training last transfer with Belnap Shimai, who I knew from the MTC, but due to some medical reasons, Belnap Shimai is going to go home. It`s really sad, but probably for the best. But seriously. I`m way way WAY excited to be with Anderson Shimai. I think she is just what I need to learn how to become a great missionary. 

Sister Belnap, Anderson & Me

My zone is: Kobe-Akashi

District: Sumoto

Area: Akashi 

We are about 45 minutes away via bus and train from the Mission Home in Kobe. 

Where I am at, it`s not a super city like Kobe or Osaka, but there are definitely a lot of houses and buildings and train stations. I`ve only seen a few teeny tiny rice fields here and that was on the way to a dinner appointment at the edge of our mission. 

Um...My Zone Leaders are Elder Wilde and Cardoso. Elder Cardoso is from Brazil, but has been here 18 months and his Japanese and English are amazing. Elder Wilde is from Saint George and this is his first week in Akashi as well. My District Leader is Elder Jou, and he is Nihonjin. I`m not sure where from though.

Anyways. That`s my district. Shimai, District and Zone leaders. I haven`t met the District leader and his companion yet. But I will on Friday at our district meeting. I`ve met the Zone Leaders. They are also here in Akashi, and share the ward with us. Basically, when we go contacting, we talk to all of the females, and they talk to all of the males. I think we are going to get a long just great. 

 

So...I bought Belnap Shimai`s old bike for actually super cheap. And I LOVE it! It`s a ``mamachati``. It`s not like a mountain bike. It has a low bar, so it`s like a beach cruiser. They call them mamachaties because all of the moms ride them, and have their kids in the back on a seat. It`s bright red  (my favorite color) and beautiful! It has a little bit of a wider seat that is cushier so your bottom doesn`t hurt as much.

We go contacting by going to the Eiki, or the train station, and we just stop random women and talk to them. Sometimes someone is nice enough to stop and listen. And if we are lucky some are actually genuinely interested. We`ve had about 2 or those so far...Hopefully something will become of them. 

Right now we have 2 investigators. One is in her mid 40`s, she lives with her dad, and has what they call some `mental instabilities`. When we teach her, we usually teach on a primary level. She is REALLY invested. And keeps all of her commitments, plus studies more. She`s great. She has a baptism date for the 30th this month. We are also teaching an 11 year old. She`s actually been taught all of the lessons a couple of times. And had a couple of baptismal dates, but...none of her family are members, and they are really pressuring her not to join. I think she likes the social attention she receives at church...we`re not exactly sure what to do about her. 

The ward members here are great! They are all very nice and supportive. When they met me on Sunday they kept saying that Anderson Shimai and I have the same `environment` is the direct translation. We act a lot alike I guess. To me, that was a huge compliment. I want to be able to emulate some of the love and joy that Anderson Shimai has. 

Umm...Japanese is hard. Most the time I can only say a few things here and there.

My food buds are adjusting to the food...it`s a different set of tastes I`m not really used to. It`s a nice break from the MTC food for sure, but...still working on it. 

 

Mom! You would be so proud of me!  I ate tofu in my salad. 3 times! Of my own free will and choice. I would have eaten more, but we ran out of tofu. And guess what. It WASN`T cooked! :) 

Well. Sunday we went to dinner at a member’s family’s house. They put these frying pans in the middle of the table and raw vegetables and meat around it. You would throw in the pot whatever you wanted to cook, let it cook and then pull it out and eat it. It was kind of a fun way to have dinner. If you weren`t eating enough-which apparently I wasn`t-they will just put the food on your plate for you...Uh. I was so full!!!

Well, I should probably get going. I love you all so much! I thank you for your prayers. I need them more than anything. And I have felt their strength when I`m feeling low. 

Love,

Dobson Shimai.