Yay for Missionary Work!!!

April 29th, 2013

Hello hello! Wow! What a great day! I don`t know what the weather is like over in your part of the world, but the sun is shining and the world is all bright and beautiful! What a great day to be alive!!

This week has been crazy but good! Where to even start?

So last week we had an awesome lessons with Fu**** Shimai. I feel like we were teaching the same thing again. I really think she might have some memory loss going on. But not exactly sure. But we invited her to church again. And after digging for a while,  trying to figure out why she won`t come, we learned that her main concern was that she thought she had to pay in order to come to church. After us and the member explained how that wasn`t necessary, she seemed much more relaxed and said that she would come. We were afraid she was going to call us before church and cancel, but she didn`t! And sure enough there she was Sunday morning, in Sacrament meeting. I am just so grateful that we were going to be able to figure out what to do to help her.

We also taught N*** Shimai. We reviewed a lot about who God is, which I think helped her. We didn`t plan it, but the lesson eventually turned towards the direction of baptism. We ended up showing her the baptismal font in the church. She was super surprised. She thought that she had to get baptized in the ocean, I guess she was a little worried about that. haha.

As we talked more about baptism we invited her again. She said that she wouldn`t say yes then, but after she talked with some of the members in the ward, she would probably say yes. She just wanted to hear their experience and why they chose to be baptized. I wish we had thought of that first! Well at least she did. And we are trying to set that up.

We also got to meet with Sh*** San. I don`t have a bunch of time so I`ll briefly talk about her. It was a good lesson. At the end of the lesson we were reviewing about our purpose as missionaries. How we want to help her return to God, and we do that by helping her be baptized. She stopped us and told us that she has a lot of interest in religion. That she is really searching for truth right now. But that she doesn`t want to choose one because (and I quote), `I want my whole HEART and SOUL into it. I want to be very serious about it` Well. That is DEFINITELY something we can work with. :)
 

We told her she didn`t have to decide right now, but asked if she would be willing to keep meeting with us. She agreed and we have a lesson with her tomorrow. yay!

On Thursday I really felt like we needed to go to a part in our area that no one has really been to before. It was at the top of a mountain.

We were hot and sweaty peddling up. And there were even parts we had to get off our bikes and walk them up the mountain. But I felt really good when we got to the top. I truly felt like the Spirit was telling us we needed to be there.

Well we prayed and thought about where we wanted to start. We housed and housed. Nothing. Not even a real conversation with anyone.

Afterwards I was filling a little bummed because I had felt really good about the place and we only had 15 minutes before we had to start heading home.

We decided to go out and start talking to people on the street for a little bit. The second girl we stopped was SUPER cute. We started having a good conversation with her. She has been to America a couple of times and so she is really interested in English. She also said that when she went there she went with a friend to a Christian church.

I got all giddy inside. I felt like this is who we were supposed to meet. I asked if we could meet her and teach her a lesson right there in the park. She agreed.

We sat down and did our how to begin teaching lesson. We started talking about who God is. When we asked who she thought He, she said, `I think He is a person, like us. But really really nice.` Wow! People in Japan don`t generally have that perception about God. We then transitioned to talking about God`s love.  As we were doing so we asked if she had ever felt it before. At first she said no. But then you could see the Spirit whisper to her that she had. She got quite for a second and then said, `When I went into the Church my heart felt so good. Was that God`s love?` We emphatically told her it was.

We explained what we do as missionaries and she said that she would want to keep meeting! We set up another appointment and then she promised us she was going to come to Church and Eikaiwa (English Class). She really is so great! She has an extra measure of light. It`s not just a good make up job. You can tell when people are just closer to the truth. The more truth you have, the more light you have. I love teaching people who already have some light. It makes it so much easier to build on what they have.  

(Unfortunately she texted us Sunday morning and said she got really sick and couldn`t come to church. But said she was excited for our next lesson) Oh. Her name is Mi**** San.

We also met with Ay**** Shimai. She is really doing well! We met with her and she is just progressing right along. I am actually really glad we didn`t let her get baptized last week because I think it was a big wake up call. It made her realize how important keeping the commandants is. She has been doing great with everything since then. I really think she is actually going to be able to make it for Mother`s Day! yay!!!

Well since both me and Davis Shimai are staying in Shimogamo, but getting new companions we needed to somehow divide up our investigators. I am obviously so sad to stop teaching some of them. But we took it to the Lord, asking who needed to go with who. I thought it was going to be difficult and He was going to make us struggle. But honestly with in 24 hours we both knew exactly who needed to go with who. Davis Shimai is taking Ni**** and Fu**** Shimai. And I am taking Ay**** Shimai, Sh*** San, and Mi**** San. I think I definitely got the better end of the deal. :)

So that was all before Friday. Then on Friday we had TRANSFERS!! Crazy!

Now I am a TRAINER! 

Friday we woke up early and went to Kobe. After training from President we met our new companion!!

Sister Lee is my new companion. She is awesome! She is from Orem but her parents are Korean so she speaks fluent Korean. She went to BYU for a semester before coming on a mission (she`s 19) and she is SO GREAT! She really has such a strong desire to serve and is so brave in talking to people, even though she is not always sure what to say. We are going to get a long just great! `Training` has been pretty easy because of my companion. I got broken in pretty lucky! Thanks President!!

Friday was basically just getting all of the stuff she needed and then getting home. We then did weekly planning and went to bed. She was whomped. That jet lag is hard stuff.

Saturday we met with Ayako Shimai, did some street contacting, and then had dinner at a members house who also lives on top of the mountain. 

Lee Shimai hasn`t ridden a bike since elementary school and was a little shaky at first, but she`s totally picked it  back up way fast.

I remember how HORRIBLE  and terribly afraid I was on my bike. When one of the zone leaders in Akashi saw me riding my bike he said, `You haven`t ridden a bike for a LONG time haven`t you.....` Of course I was so embarrassed, but his companion was all cheerful and optimistic about it and said I would become pro in no time.

Well I am not pro. but now I don`t have a problem going fast, and weaving in and out of people on the busy street. And  I actually ENJOY riding my bike. :) I may or may not have measure it to see if it could fit in my suit case. I want a bike when I get home!

Well Sunday was great....Nothing too exciting. I gave a talk. That was a little scary. But I had one of the members check my Japanese before so I hope most of it was right. A LOT better since the last talk I gave in church where I mixed up all of my particles and said things that I did not mean. 

Sister Lee is working hard.  It's great to have her.    

Well. That is basically it from my end of the world. I love you all so much! Have a splendid week!!!

Ai shite imasu!

-Dobson Shimai

Sister Zinke wrote: This week we welcomed twenty new energetic missionaries from the Missionary Training Center.  What a crazy week it was...but what fun!  Fourteen of them come to us from right here in Japan, three are from Australia and three Americans.  We are thrilled with our new missionaries!

The Missionaries Arrive at the Airport

The Trainers Are Waiting For Their New Greenies

Trainers and Greenies-Getting Acquainted

Sister Lee in Front of the True Disciple quilt

Me and  Sister Lee

A Roller Coaster of a Week

April 22, 2013

Hello everyone!! I hope you are all doing great.

Things over here have been a little bit Topsy Turvy. Such is life though.

Like Grandpa Carl always says, `We know what tomorrow brings... Lots!`

Where to start? I guess this week we can start backwards. Starting with today.

Today we got transfer calls! 

So me and Davis Shimai are both staying in Shimogamo.

BUT....

We are also both training. Not in a three-some. We will each be training a new sister. So now we are going to be living with 4 Shimai in our apartment. And that makes for 6 Missionaries in our area.

Wow! That`s a lot of missionaries, but I am way excited!

I guess there are more new Japanese Sisters than there are Gaijin. So President said we may end up training Japanese Sisters. But he has to wait until he meets them to decide. But it would definitely be interesting to be training a new Japanese Sister! Who knows what Friday will bring...You will probably be able to know via Sister Zinke`s blog. She`ll probably get it up faster than I will be able to email you.

We haven`t decided how we are going to split up our investigators yet. But we will have to.  I am going to be way sad to stop teaching some of our investigators,   however I will be able to keep seeing them at church and stuff. So that will be good.

So yesterday.....Ya. We were supposed to have a baptism...But on Saturday afternoon Ay*** Shimai called us. We were talking with her about her baptism and she kept saying how nervous she was. Which is kind of weird for her because she has been SO excited to get baptized. When I asked her why she was so nervous she said that she drank coffee on Friday. noooooooooooooooo!!!

We were so bummed! After talking with our leaders about it, the decision whether or not to let her be baptized kind of fell on us. But we felt like she needed to realize the consequences that come with our actions. It was so hard to do, but we told her she couldn`t be baptized. She seemed kind of bummed on the phone but I couldn`t really tell what she was feeling.

Then Sunday morning she came to church at 8:00. When we asked how she was she said, `I am so excited!` And showed us her new church shoes she bought. When we asked why she was so excited she said for her baptism. Apparently it hadn`t totally sunk in that she was not getting baptized. We sat down with her and talked about why she couldn`t get baptized this week. But then set a date with her to be working towards again. She needs some more review because she still doesn`t quite understand why we have commandments. Which is probably a big reason why she is having such a hard time keeping the word of wisdom.

Of course I wanted her to get baptized on Sunday. But I think it might be good to have a little bit more preparation. She is now going to be baptized on Mother`s Day! That will be a good goal to help her start progressing.

I think the reality started sinking in as we went throughout the day. She talked with one of her favorite ladies at church. She started crying and just was talking about how badly she wanted to get baptized.  Luckily the member was gentle and just soothed her and told her it wasn`t the end. That she would be able to make it. It would just take some more work. I think not letting her get baptized was a good decision. Kind of a wake up call for her. I think she is going to work harder now and I am excited to see her baptized in 3 weeks.

As sad as we were not to be holding a baptism on Sunday, the Lord did bless us. So the Chinese PI who came to General Conference last week came again to church this week! This week was Ward Conference and so there was a lot of sustainings.  I wasn`t quite sure what she would be thinking but after Sacrament Meeting we pulled her into a room and taught her a lesson. To start off I asked her what she thought about Sacrament meeting and everyone raising their hands. She said, `I think this is what it means. Everyone in the church has a job. And you raise your hand to say you support them.` Well. She explained as well as I could have explained it. She is way sharp! 

We found out that she is doing her Master`s degree at Kyoto University. She is studying dialectology. She studies different dialects of languages, why there are dialects and how a word was said in the same area 1,000 years ago. Crazy! She is way smart but she is very open to learning more. She said she doesn`t really have a certain belief about God. She isn`t sure if He exists.

But during our lesson when we were talking a little bit about eternal families she said, `My family means the WORLD to me. I would do ANYTHING to be with them forever.` Perfect. We can help with that. :)

We are meeting her again this week and I can`t wait to teach her! She is so golden!!

Friday we had a good day with investigators.  One of the members wanted to do something kind of like Family Home Evening with Ni**** Shimai. Except for that it was a Friday, and at noon I guess it was pretty close. It was us, the Elders, the member and Ni**** Shimai. We ate lunch, played a game, had a talent show, and treats. At first I think Ni**** Shimai was a little confused about the whole thing. She wasn`t exactly sure what we were doing, or why. But she soon settled in and opened right up. All the members just love her and are working so hard to help her out.

After our `FHE` (if you can call it that) with Ni**** Shimai we had a lesson with Fu**** Shimai. We felt like we needed to go back to the beginning with her. Start over. Do some more expectation setting. We started off talking about God. And all of His attributes. We asked her who she thought God was at the end of teaching it and she that He was scary. Well, we retaught it. The second time we asked her she talked about all of His wonderful attributes. Sweet. It made sense. Then we talked about how He wants her to go back to Him. She said she would like that. We then asked her a question that President Zinke suggested we ask. We asked her why she thought we were meeting with her. She had no idea. We explained that we are here to help her return to God. The wheels were turning in her head and she had some good questions. She had some questions about the commandments. The member in our lesson explained that they help us get ready for baptism.

Fu**** Shimai then taught herself. `So if I want to go back to God, I have to be baptized.` `Yes` came our response. `If I want to be baptized, so I can go back to God, I have to keep the commandments?` Deep doctrine spoken right there! That is the simplified version of what President Zinke said at interviews. He said that Commandments qualify us for Ordinances. And Ordinances qualify us for Eternal Life.

I like how simple that is!

Well in the lesson we also talked a little bit about coming to church. How it was one of the commandments. We told her we would teach why it was important in the next lesson, but we invited her to come. She readily agreed and seemed excited to come.

But I don`t know what power is influencing her life. But not 45 minutes after the lesson she called us. In English she said, `I believe my God. Me no go to churchi.` Ugh. Really?! What change happened in less than an hour? We tried calling her the next day, but she doesn`t want to talk to us on the phone. She gave the same response and then said we could talk to her about it at our next lesson. I am not exactly sure how to help her.

Anyways. The rest of the week we had a couple of lessons with Ay****

Shimai, getting her ready for baptism. We talked simply about the temple and after looking at all the pictures of the temples she kept saying over and over again, `I want to go. I want to go!` We are hoping that will help her stay on the path even after baptism.

I love you so much! Thanks for everything!!!

Love,
Dobson Shimai

Goodbye to Batis Choro

Happy Birthday to Sister Zinke-We LOVE you!