Soaring

I just got wonderful emails from the ones I love! Thank you so much!

Sundy talked about how sometimes on the mission she was soaring, then others she was running, walking, or crawling. All with the help of the Lord. Right now, I feel very good. Conference is just around the corner for us. We have to wait a week for the translation to get here on DVD (but we do still get to watch it in our native language!)

Lately, there's been a big focus in our mission on this Process of Purification. I think I mentioned it a while ago, but I realized that I wasn't giving myself full-heartedly to it. Well, my companion and I both felt like we needed to keep going past the "40-day fast", so I started over. The idea is to purify ourselves, getting rid of behaviors that poke at the spirit, to help us have it with us more.

Friday (after Thursday's Zone Meeting and Interviews), we met with Donna from Brazil. It was one of the greatest experiences I've had so far here in Japan. She started off by talking about how she wanted a "new Donna", and expressed her desire to be baptized. During our lesson, I felt a little prompt to sing "I am A Child of God" for her. She said that she knew the song before we started, and used to sing it with her daughter. As Elder Daimler and I sang, she was brought to tears; she said that she felt so happy. She knows that this is what she needs to do; she said she will change, and give up coffee, and do what it takes.  Her husband is a little opposed, and she's met with the missionaries at various times before, but she said that this time feels different. We asked her to pray about a goal for a baptismal date, and are working with her to her personal goal of talking with her husband about this.  It was such a small prompting, I wasn't even sure if it was the spirit or not, but from seeing what happened as we sang, I realized that it was. Maybe that's why it's so important to purify ourselves, because if we have things in our lives that can distract from the spirit, we can't hear it's soft voice when it whispers.

I met a very solid potential investigator on Saturday, named Ran. He's from China (so that makes two people from China that we're working with right now). We connected really well. He met Elder Daimler last transfer, and we finally got to head up to Takahashi (to the north of Kurashiki) to meet with him. He shared his talents with us by playing the guitar - He has some amazing skills! Looks like he's very interested in Metal (played Van Halen's most famous guitar solos FLAWLESSLY), Fusion Jazz, and Japanese Rock and Pop. We have a lot in common, and I think we're becoming pretty good friends. Next time, we're going to try to bridge his interests with the gospel.

So I realized that I haven't told you too much about Elder Daimler. He's from Bountiful, Utah. He converted two years ago, thanks in part to his Girlfriend. His family is mostly Catholic, and he's the only member. We're getting along really well, and becoming pretty good friends. Since he's only six weeks ahead of me, depending on how things go, we might be returning around the same time.

We've got a Ward Talent show coming up pretty soon. I'll try to send you a copy of the video, because Elder Daimler and I get to participate with the Bishop in doing a Maori Haka called Ruaomoko.

Oh, and I will hopefully be going up to Okayama on Friday for an Exchange with Elder Atkin! He goes home at the end of the transfer, and I am so excited for one last opportunity to work with him. Seeing him as Zone Leader has been amazing. I think I was a bit hard on him when he was with me in Izumo.

Oh yeah, I heard about the new temple announced in Sapporo, Japan! That's so exciting!! Hopefully we'll be getting either an Okayama or Hiroshima temple someday. . . We'll see.

I'm very thankful for all the support and prayers I've been getting. I feel really good right now. We're seeing a lot of good things, and a lot of small miracles. Like yesterday, we stopped to say hello to our Cafe-Owner Friend Mr. Wakabayashi, when a group of High School BMX riders passed by and said "Hey, Peterson!" They totally remembered me!

Oh yeah, and we randomly had to teach Gospel Principles on Sunday. . . It was almost the lesson on the Law of Chastity. . . EVERYONE in the class was married and/or a lot older than us. So. . . we switched to Temple Work and Family History. . . phew. . . Oh and then we taught the Plan of Salvation for the Aaronic Priesthood class.

Well, more coming next week. I love you so much!
Elder Peterson