Where's Pauldo?

Launching Out Into the Deep

2010-01-18T19:34:00.000-08:00

Week two of transfer eight! The Exchange with the Zone Leaders starts tonight, bringing Elder Goto (Japanese) here to Kurashiki, and sending Elder Eagar to Okayama with Elder Gatchell (St. George).

Zone Conference will be on Wednesday and, as always, I'm excited to receive the answers I need, that have come from listening to the counsel and teachings of President Isa and the others that speak with him.

Well, we have a goal of teaching 20 lessons a week, that's a mission-wide goal. This last week, my companion and I got closer to that goal than ever before. 18 lessons!! We're going to try to up it just a bit more this week!

Lately, the Mission theme has been "Launch Out Into the Deep - 2nd Stage". I heard the phrase 'Launch Out Into the Deep' my first day at the Mission Home, but I had no idea what it meant. I think I was still dreaming, and didn't really understand. Even after they mentioned it last Zone Meeting, I just barely started to understand. Recently, I've been floating around the shallow water close to the beach of my comfort zone. But, in order to find and teach those who are prepared to receive, I have to launch out further, breaking free from my comfort zone, and following the guidance of my Savior.

We've had a lot of small miracles this week, including a couple of lessons on the train home from Takahashi on Friday night. We asked a man if the train went to Kurashiki, he helped us, and then boarded the train. He started moving to the back of the train as we sat down near the front. I started to think "Shucks", but then he came back and sat down with us. Then his friend, who boared shortly after came and sat by us too. We had a very nice conversation, and got to teach these men about the Book of Mormon, and answer some of their questions. They didn't accept a copy, but we plan on seeing them again.

Well, life it wonderful! The weather is even getting a little bit warmer. Still pretty cold though, but maybe not as much as Utah.

Love you!
Elder Peterson

Winds of Change Start to Blow

2010-01-11T19:25:00.000-08:00

Elder Bronner is back in Brazil. I'm still in Kurashiki. BUT, a LOT of things have changed.

President Isa told me that I was becoming a Senior companion AND a District Leader. Needless to say, I'm feeling just a teeeeeeeeensy bit more stress. . . (Teensy, a word which here [in this email] meaning 'alot', but used in an ironic manner to denote the amount of stress that may or may not be phasing the person in concern).

My new companion is Elder Eagar (pronunciation: eager), from Sacramento, California (however his family moved to Logan, Utah right before he left). He came to Japan in July last year, and his Japanese is AMAZING! This will probably turn out very well, because it looks like he's really bold, so hopefully he'll help bring out some more boldness in me!

Rosalie was confirmed in Sacrament Meeting! We got to participate in that wonderful experience. Then, Elder Eagar and I both spoke.

Things with Elder Bronner ended on a really good note. We had a talk the night before he left, and I feel very at peace, reconciled, and thankful for the chance I had to work with him.

So, did I ever show you a picture of Elder Rea? He was in my room at the MTC. Well, after waiting for about half the mission, we're FINALLY in the same district!!! He transfered to Fukuyama! We got to do a tad bit of catching up on the phone. What a tender mercy!

Please pray for Jenny Lu. We had an amazing visit with her last night, and the spirit was very evident. I felt as though we really had been used as instruments in the Lord's hands. She's Christian, but was a bit afraid of coming to church. But, looks like that is about to change!

Well, I better go, but please pray for me and Elder Eagar in this new transfer! I'll probably be here in Kurashiki until at least February 18th, but we'll see!

Elder Peterson

Like Earth Right After Rain...

2010-01-04T19:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was amazing. I had the privilige to see my dear friend Rosalie enter the waters of baptism. As I sat in the meeting, listening to the Japanese version of When I am Baptised, and singing it along with over half of the ward-members, I felt very nostalgic, remembering the feelings and imagery I received back when I was a child and first learned that song. The spirit was there. Rosalie seemed a little nervous, but you could tell that this was what she wanted to do. She felt very impressed, and bore a really powerful testimony, saying that words couldn't describe how she felt. What a wonderful experience. She will be confirmed in Sacrament meeting next week.

It was a little intense, helping her to prepare for baptism. We had to meet with her a few times, and even though it was the week of New Years, she made the time for us, and even had another meal with us on New Years Eve. So kind, and radiant!

I can definitely feel the winds of change starting to blow. Elder Bronner leaves for Hiroshima on transfer day this Thursday, so we'll see where I end up. Wherever I am, I think it's going to be a different ball game next transfer, because of the missionaries leaving the field, and how things might change. I'm excited... maybe a little nervous, but I'm ready to work!

Wow, we have been treated to meals a lot this last week, and looks like we have a few more ahead of us this week.

Life is good! Thank you for the prayers and support.
I love you all SOOOOO much.

Love,
Elder Peterson

Christmas Is A Coming, The Goose Is Getting Fat...

2009-12-21T19:14:00.000-08:00

...Please put a penny in the old man's hat!

Christmas is practically here! Is it not just the best time of the year!? And here I am in Kurashiki, Japan, serving the very King that was born all those years ago, the one whose birth we celebrate on the 25th!

My dear family, I love you so much. And I really am not very homesick. I'm being honest. I know where I am, why I'm here, and what I need to do. My life is in His hands, and I'm going to serve the best I can! Don't worry about me getting homesick after the phone call; I'm doing fantastic! I've listened to the Christmas CD you sent (With "I'll Be Home For Christmas") and the Family Christmas CD numerous times, and all I'm filled with is the spirit of Christmas. I remember after the Mother's Day Phone Call, I was on cloud nine the whole day, not homesick at all.

Rosalie (Philipino) is getting SOOOOOO close! We are going to set a baptismal date with her this week. We've talked with her about it before, and she instantly accepted the Word of Wisdom last week. Amazing!

This week was pretty exciting, but sadly I'm just about out of time, because another person wants to use the computer. But fear not little flock, we shall commune on Christmas morn!

My Dear Family! I love you, and I'm really doing well! I'm overcoming fears, and Elder Bronner has been giving me a lot of help with my teaching skills - helping me "Pass off" different principles, and even leading practice lessons. We've got 19 days left till he leaves. I try not to think too much about transfers and such. . . I will be entering my 8th Transfer period of my mission. Please pray for me as I continue to overcome my fears and open my mouth more.

Merry Christmas!

Love,
Elder Peterson

"It's Christmas!" (11 Days!)

2009-12-14T19:04:00.000-08:00

I received the package from you, family, on Thursday! Music to my ears, and decadent treats for my partaking! (Well, I GUESS I will share a little with Elder Bronner ;). Elder Bronner was very thrilled by seeing "Companion" on some of the presents, and said that he loves you forever!

This last week threw us a few downs, but a whole lot of really good ups! Zone Conference was amazing, and once again, answered the questions that I have been pondering, and what I need to be doing to help things in Kurashiki progress.

One of our Philipino investigators appears to be REALLY close. She has been to church four times now, and has shared some amazing experiences with us; things that look like they are bringing her very close!

I've been feeling more opposition as of late, but probably because we've been working out some more bumps in the companionship and are more unified, and also because our investigators are doing so well. Please pray for them, including:　Rosalie, Aiko, Shinichi, Tomoko, Makoto, Hidenori, Hideatsu, and Jacianna.

Oh I love the Christmas CD, and those Billington Family Chocolates are as divine as always! I'm saving most of the packages, especially the labeled ones, for Christmas, but we've been opening an unlabeled snack-like present every few days. Thank you so much!

We've only got around 26 days or so till the transfer ends, and we're in the midst of a mission Goal for 15 Baptisms for the Month of December. Please pray for us to be able to accomplish this. I know, it's not about the number, or baptizing someone to boast about it. This is a real serious cause, helping people come unto Christ, and changing their lives. I think Rosalie is the closest among those we are meeting with. Please keep her in your prayers.

I am SO Happy! We got to watch the First Presidency Christmas Fireside last night! I feel the Spirit of the Season! I LOVE Christmas! And don't worry, I'm still not trunky. I change the words on that CD to "I'll be home NEXT Christmas!"

I love and appreciate all of you oh so much! I feel good! I feel wonderful, and loved, and cared for! THANK YOU!

Till next week! (11 Days!!! :)
Love,
Elder Peterson

All I Want for Christmas...

2009-12-07T18:59:00.000-08:00

Don't worry, I'm not getting homesick. And, even with Elder Bronner counting down the days (33 left) I'm not getting trunky. . . not really.

So we were walking through the amazing two-story dollar store megaplex recently, and Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" was playing on the radio. That brought back good memories ;)

Elder Bronner and I are doing great! We have been receiving a LOT of apples lately. WAY too many to eat, so we've made a few apple pies to give slices away to investigators and less active members. Wow, it smelled kind of like Christmas. We're feeling very optimistic, especially since one of our Philipino investigators looks like she's really close to baptism. She has been in contact with her member sister and brother, coming to church, and is still interested in learning more. We talked about baptism last time, so we hope to have a date set this week.

I think having Elder Bronner around is good for me. It's helping me get used to the teasing of an older brother (didn't really have that growing up). We're pretty unified, and are trying to be obedient and work hard. We have a goal to see a baptism before Elder Bronner heads home. I'm excited! We spent some time today with our other two Philipino Investigators, translating for them at a Job Assistence center. Things didn't really work out, but we took them out to eat at a REALLY delicious Indian and Tai all you can eat restaurant. So delicious!

Not too much to report on this week, but I am loving life.
Please keep me in your prayers. I'm doing okay, but the opposition is trying to rear up again. No worries, in the strength of the Lord I can and will do all things! Zone Conference on Wednesday! Yea!

We might be over at a member's house for Christmas.
Hey, is the 'Lude still alive and kicking? Or has good ol' Rusty passed away? (The car)

I'm thankful for you and your love. Yes, this is much more bearable thank boot camp. And wow, I keep having military dreams, once a week or so. I need to write Sergeant Walker, probably today, for my Annual Muster.

Anyway, you are amazing!

Love,
Elder Peterson

And The Transfer Announcement Is.... (Part II)

2009-11-30T12:18:00.000-08:00

Drum Roll Please. . . . . .

I'm staying in Kurashiki with Elder Bronner! He leaves for home in January, so this is his last transfer. Don't worry, as I've told him before, I'm a tough cookie. I haven't gotten really homesick. Even listening to the Family Christmas CD, I get good, spiritual, nostalgic feelings of Christmas, and the true reason of why we celebrate it.

I didn't really want to transfer anyway. There are a lot of people in our teaching pool right now. I think we'll be seeing some baptisms very soon. We have a goal to have Elder Bronner baptize before he heads home. Here we go!

I had a few ups and downs this week. We've been teaching an increasing amount of lessons, but should still be teaching more. But, as we discussed last night, we haven't been really unified. Even though my Japanese skills are growing, I still haven't been opening my mouth as much as I should. I've been trying, and sometimes it's just hard for me to jump into my companion's train of thought, but things are going to be better. We talked about a lot last night, some little problems that were keeping us from being completely unified. We haven't seen a whole lot of miracles lately, but after yesterday, I'm not worried. We both have things we're working on, and I feel Elder Bronner's concern and support. I'm excited for this transfer, and remain optimistic!

We had another Fiesta de Brazil (I know that's not proper Portugeuse. . . I think it's Spanish. . .) with our Brazilian investigators on Saturday. DELICIOUS!! And we even met a new potential investigator who speaks a little Japanese (which could help me communicate with him).

Well, today was pretty interesting. . . Brother Takata came over to teach us how to make "Nabe" using "Horumon" (Pig guts - YES, pig intestine. . . that's right). I must say that it didn't taste nearly as bad as the guts smelled, but it was a little weird. We had received A LOT of food from a less active family we went to visit, and had no idea how to use it. Yes, they even gave us the horumon. . . I could probably eat it again, but I didn't really go for seconds.

But guess what! Cucumber - OKAY! Mushrooms - also okay! Tomato - I'm just about there! I can eat them! I'm conquering my picky foods!

Happy Turkey Day (and Happy Lacey Day!!)!!!

Love you so much!
Elder Peterson

Oh The Weather Outside Is Frightful...

2009-11-23T12:15:00.000-08:00

Actually, it's not too dreadful (although it is taking a toll on my Brazilian Companion, he can't BELIEVE that I don't feel that cold), but the cold weather has indeed started. Thankfully, we've been blessed to have a few air-conditioning/heating units in the apartment. They kept us cool during the hot months, and now they work for warmth!

No, I did NOT catch what my companion had. In fact, I wonder if it was the same thing I got in Izumo and passed on to Elder Kajiuchi. Or maybe it was just the fact that I drank just about 2 gallons of water every day we were in the apartment, in an attempt to keep whatever he had out of my system. Ooh, and lots of vitamin C (the oranges and mandarins here are DELICIOUS!)

Sunday was a tad bit stressful, but good. The reason: we had 9 people who are not members come to church! Only four were actual investigators (and one of those only made it for Elder's Quorum), but still! One of our Philipino investigators brought ALL of her daughters (she has four), and one of them brought a friend! And it seemed like they enjoy it. Rosalie is amazing, I can see her getting baptised VERY soon.

Well, my Japanese comprehension is growing. It's alot easier for me to follow along in conversations now. My speaking ability is getting better too, but sometimes I still can't express exactly what I want to say. Or maybe I just need more confidence. . . that's probably the problem.

We're going to Takahashi city for an activity with some ward members today. YES, we have an investigator, and a potential that we taught last week coming. We'll be hiking up to the Bichuu Matsu Yama Castle. Then we'll actually be staying for a bit to try to contact some former investigators.

So Transfers are this week. . . I try not to think about what happens with transfers, but I'll be fine no matter what happens. I would LOVE to stay in Kurashiki; we've been getting a lot of exciting things set up, and I would be blessed and honored to stay and see the results. But it's all in the Lord's hands.

We had an amazing Zone Conference this last week. Elder Aoyagi of the Seventy Came. It was very good. They took time to shake everyone's hands at the beginning and end. His wife even thanked me, commenting on how attentive I was (usually I'm not that attentive, but I've been trying... and it's hard when you can't understand what they're saying!!!)

During the Morning Session, we had some spur-of-the-moment interviews. Senior Companions were interviewed by Elder Aoyagi, and Juniors by President Isa. I was very thankful for that opportunity. I never cease to be amazed and impressed by Pres. Isa; I am very blessed to be here.

Side note: my fellow combat engineer in the ward showed me a picture from the conference ensign (we don't have English copies yet) of a Chaplain in full dress uniform! AWESOME!

We had a crazy haircut fiasco. . . And let's just say it was both of our faults, and my companion now has an army-esque buzzed head. . . a bit longer than that. Pres. Isa even asked me about that (laughingly, it's okay. . . ;)

Well, I've got to run, but I love you dearly!!
Elder Peterson

The Flu Strikes Again...

2009-11-16T12:14:00.000-08:00

Yes, Elder Bronner got the flu. . . No, I haven't caught it (or at least if I did catch it, I've been drinking enough water to fill Deer Creek. . . maybe even twice over!). But it turns out that he probably did have the Swine Flu. Sixteen church members from the Halloween party we were at a few weeks ago caught the swine flu. Elder Bronner contracted it at the same time, and even though the doctors didn't confirm whether it was the new type or not for Elder Bronner, we think it was. Maybe it's what I got back in Izumo with Elder Kajiuchi. . .

We were in the Apartment A LOT last week. Yes, I did get some good study done. And hey, Lacey and Mom would be proud of my desk, I got it all cleaned and organized (I promise I will be better about keeping my room clean when I get back!)

There isn't too much to report on this week due to sick time, BUT. . . If we hadn't been grounded for a few days, we could have had 50 hours of working time, and over 10 lessons. We had to cancel seven appointments. Yes, it can be nice to take a break once in a while, but being quarantined stinks. A member of the bishopric even stopped by (the Bishop and his family caught the flu too) to give us food (I LOVE this ward), and ask/tell us not to come to church. I guess numbers were pretty small this week, but one of our Brazilian investigators came with his Recent Convert mother!

Elder Bronner and I are very greatful for the food items and recipes you have sent so far. Thank you very much! I love and apreciate you SO much!

Well, in spite of the whole flu epidemic, I am doing quite well. I continue to learn a lot, especially through interacting with Elder Bronner. He's been helping me to realize that I can lighten up a bit, and not over-worry.

Love you!
Elder Peterson

It's A Wonderful Life... With Miracles and More!

2009-11-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

This last week was AMAZING! Elder Bronner and I had 47 working hours (the most I've ever had with a companion).... I'd say we worked pretty hard!

We've been encountering a lot of miraculous people, that seem golden and ready to speak with us. Recently we were challenged to try to work more with families. We found one! The mother is from the Philippines, where her brother and sisters are members and referred her about 5 years ago - but she didn't have interest at that time. Well, she kindly accepted us into their home. Her husband doesn't seem to have interest, but kindly attended the lesson as well as two of their four daughters (one's only 6 months old). The mother looks like she really wants to know. She called her sister after our first meeting, and came to church with two of her daughters on Sunday!

One of our English students from weekly Eikaiwa also came to church again, she appears to have a lot of interest too. The man from last week didn't make it, but he still seems interested.

It was amazing! For the first time in my mission experience so far, we hardly had ANY time for finding (we did maybe an hour or so on Thursday. . .) because we had SO many appointments! It felt good to have so much to do!

And on the train up to Takahashi to visit one of our Chinese potentials, our Chinese investigator came on board with two of his Chinese friends, one of whom wants to hear our message too!

We talked about this, and Elder Bronner and I think it has to do with obedience, companionship relation, our increased efforts on Book of Mormon study, and REAL faith. I felt that for a long time, every time I tried to exercise faith, it felt like part of me was still thinking "No, that can't happen, it won't work." I'm working on dispelling those thoughts. "Fear is like the clouds that veil the earth from the sun. Faith is like the morning rays that break when night is done!"

I tried making the banana cake. It was DELICIOUS! And the people I gave some of it to really enjoyed it.

Tried making the chicken spaghetti yesterday. . . DIVINE!!! But was I supposed to not drain the tomatoes/chilies? Good thing we still have leftovers. . . ;)

Hey, ask Brother Taniguchi if he has any relatives in Kurashiki. Our next-door neighbors bear the same last name. . .

Church is so colorful! The primary music director that sings opera (audible from the next room where priesthood meeting is held. . .), the Music Director during sacrament meeting who, in a couple of decades, could very well give Margaret Brown a run for her money (tee hee), the 28 year old Bishop who served a mission in Australia and taught us the Haka to perform with him during the talent show. . . This place is so great, and I love the time I'm spending here!

Well, I've got to run, but please pray for us and our investigators! Our teaching pool is larger than it's ever been and Elder Bronner and I need help knowing how best to follow up and act.

Elder Peterson

Increasing Faith, Hope, and Charity

2009-11-02T12:07:00.000-08:00

This week was AMAZING! For some reason, it wasn't until planning last night when I realized in retrospect how many amazing things have happened so far this transfer.

On Saturday, Elder Bronner felt that there was someone waiting for us to contact them in the area book. He was right! The LAST person he called, without even being asked if he would like to meet said "If it's a talk, I'll come!" We met roughly an hour later. He was a former referral from the Temple Square Visitor center a few years ago. He was very talkative and interested in what we had to say. He wants to become Christian, and REALLY is looking for truth. He's fifty years old, but you would never guess it (it's almost impossible to correctly guess ages in Japan. . .). He happily said he would come to church the next day, and kept his word!

Then, during Sacrament meeting, one of our English Class students who had been invited by a member to come to church actually came! She had to leave for a bit in the middle, but came back to attend Relief Society as invited by Sister Obata. Looks like she really enjoyed it, and wants to meet after English class to learn more about the church!

I think it might be due to the fact that we've been trying a bit harder to follow the rules. . . I had been having problems getting to bed on time, and my companion was struggling with getting up, but we've been helping each other lately, and things are happening. Part of it might have been a lack of faith, but we're going forward with more faith. Elder Bronner said he expects two of our investigators to be baptized within two weeks. Instead of doubting that kind of conjecture as I probably would have in the past, I'm holding on with faith. This coming week is filled pretty heavily with appointments (something I am VERY happy about), and Elder Bronner and I are getting along great. I'm excited to see what happens!

Yesterday was full of embarassing experiences! Leaving my bike-lock key at the apartment after a member had driven us home so we could get our rain suits (pouring cats and dogs by the way). A typical Peterson fiasco. . . Then we had a dinner appointment, and well, looks like Elder Peterson. . . ahem. . . had a slight wardrobe malfunction that commonly befalls most (if not ALL) men at LEAST once or twice. . . Hopefully no one noticed ~_~

I am SO jealous about Elder Palmer's new Space Heater from Back to the Future, but I've actually been to the Waterford Crystal Factory, HAH!

Till Next Week,
Elder Peterson
LIFE is SWEET!

Double Bubble, Toil and Trouble...

2009-10-26T12:05:00.000-07:00

I'm doing SUPER! I'm doing my best at being obedient. I've finally tackled the bed-time commandment for the last two nights in a row, and I know I can keep going! I've been trying to pray fervently for more confidence and stronger faith. I think that a lot of miracles are around the corner. I was being a bit hard on myself. I'll work on that too. Part of my frustrations have also been from my companionship relations. Last transfer I had a bit of trouble struggling with what were probably judgmental thoughts; it felt like my companion wasn't being sincere. I conquered it, and started to just try and love him no matter what. And now with Elder Bronner. He's nice, and we seem to be getting along. I'm learning to rely on the atonement during those moments when he says something that isn't really meant to offend me, but makes me a little peeved (like excessive talking about how little time he has left). Just wait. Next week's letter will be even better! My attitude is getting better, and I know the things I need to work on right now. Interviews with Pres. Isa are on Wednesday. I expect it to be very good and helpful. Please contine praying for me -- for me to be able to be sincere in my prayers. I've read a lot of scriptures lately that talk about praying mightily, pouring soul into prayer, speaking in the energy of the soul (the end of Mosiah - Alma; I'm currently in Chapter 8 of Alma).

Well, with Halloween just around the corner the festivities have started! We went to Okayama on Saturday to help our Zone Leaders with their Halloween Party activity. Looks like the "Haunted House" we were running might have been a little too scary for 3 of the kids. . . But it turned out well! It also gave Elder Bronner a chance to re-connect with a former Brazilian investigator from the year before, that the missionaries had lost contact with. He had a LONG talk with him, and looks like his heart is starting to open again.

Hey, can you try to search the web for information about a Russian Cello Player living in Tokyo named Dimitri? We've met this man twice so far on the train to District Meeting. He's very nice; comes down to the Kurashiki area to teach lessons.

Our investigators seem to be doing well, especially the Brazilian ones. Wow, Elder Bronner has connected really well with them. It's amazing; being able to talk about the gospel in your native tongue ;)

We found a couple of new investigators last week. They're from the Philippines and speak very good English! We were trying to visit a referral, and then I got the thought to try and find a separate referral family that we had heard about. The first door we knocked. . . Not the other family, but these two brothers that are amazing!! Another appointment with them tonight!

I have to go, but I love you so much!!

Till next week,
Elder Peterson

I'm Still In Kurashiki

2009-10-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

Transfers were last week, but I'm still in Kurashiki. Elder Daimler transferred to Yanai in Yamaguchi Prefecture. (They have a military base there, I'm jealous ;) That transfer went by way too quickly. I had some very good times with Elder Daimler.

My new Companion is Elder Bronner from Kurichiba, Brazil (Parana State). He was in my Zone all throughout my Izumo experience, and was my District leader for my last two transfers there. So, it's not too weird. Elder Bronner is scheduled to finish the Mission in January. His Japanese and Kanji skills are amazing!

Yes, we have three Brazilian investigators, a Brazilian recent convert, and a couple of Brazilian less-active members so I am very happy that Elder Bronner is here. We had a really good lesson with Donna (one of our Brazilian investigators) on Wednesday. She's getting so close! And she called us yesterday to say that she had talked with her husband and told him EVERYTHING! She had to cancel our appointment for this Friday, but I am very optimistic about this!

Well, District Meeting last week was really cool. We held it outside at a Park by the Station. We had a very good discussion about the Book of Mormon, and Elder Packer (District Leader) shared Elder Holland's Talk from Conference (which I still haven't seen in English yet. . .). We each went out with a copy to try and use it in out Contacting. We had some really good conversations, including Tanaka-san (a 19 year old college student who I connected really well with). At the end, he didn't accept the book, but we left on very good terms! It was in Fukuyama City, so I might not see him again, but it helped my confidence a bit.

So, we met with the 64Cafe owner and his staff on Wednesday, and I taught them how to make apple crisp (actually using pear, because it tasted better with my recipe), but it was really fun. It was a first for me too! BAKING in a cafe! We're becoming pretty good friends. Now to extend the invitation!

We had the Ward Talent Show on Saturday. I performed the Ruaumoko Haka with Elder Bronner, and the Okayama Zone Leaders came down and performed it too. It was a cool experience, I'll try to send the video ;) I also played a song I wrote on the Piano a couple of years ago.

I've been working on waking up at 6:00 every day for extra Book of Mormon study, and it's helping a lot. I'm learning so much about the importance of planning and budgeting my time, and I give you my word that I will keep that going.

The church is true! I had a cool thought as I looked through some of the letters dad had sent to me earlier. "Have a wonderful week as you serve the King of Glory". Sometimes I kind of forget that fact. I'm not just here in Japan for some random reason. . . I'm here to serve the Lord, and I can receive his protection and help!

I love you so much,
Elder Peterson

Hurray for Velveeta, and for General Conference!

2009-10-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

I feel so grateful for your package, Mom. It has been at least half an eternity since I last had that delicious Velveeta stuff, so I'm looking forward to trying that chicken spaghetti meal! Thank you so much!

I loved Priesthood Session! My favorite talks were all from the first presidency. I LOVE THEM so much. I was very impressed with Pres. Eyring's talk, especially about being prepared. And Pres. Monson's talk on anger has given me help as well. And someone else in Priesthood Session talked about dads and fathers and spending time with each other, three items for each, and how returned missionaries are probably closer to their fathers at that point in time than they will ever be. I also listened to the three things from the young mens' point of view in the mind set of a Heavenly Father and earthly father.

Really, I want to spend time with you Dad when I get back. I feel that I cheated you out of time that I should have spent with you. I love you and want to spend all the time in the world with you when I return. Thank you for your prayers and love.

I'm working on obedience, and getting better. I'm gaining a stronger testimony of it as well as one of the Book of Mormon. Let me share some of the words from one of my favorite EFY songs: "Power in the heavens, power in the plan, power in discovering - learning who I am. There's power in obedience, it's the truth that sets us free, to find a sense of confidence: Power in Purity."

There is power in purity and obedience, and I'm striving to get there. I love my mission president so much, and he has really helped me. I feel so blessed, and am able to look back on those times myself, where my blessings were tied to obedience. I'm starting to learn so much more!

Yes, General Conference was wonderful! My favorites: Elder Scott from Saturday Morning, The First Presidency's talks during Priesthood Session, and some others. I'm sure I'd have more, but we watched the last half of Conference with our Chinese investigator Pack-san! We were so happy he could make it! But the Chinese members couldn't make it, so we watched it with him so he wouldn't be alone. Hard to "get" everything. It's okay, sacrifice yields blessings!

Last week was pretty fun. We ran into A LOT of people that spoke English on the streets. That was great.

If you remember our Cafe Owner friend, Mr. Wakabayashi (former fashion designer in Tokyo), that we met back in week one. . . We had dinner at the cafe, met one of his friends (a super-high up College 'Salesman' for lack of a better word) who was very nice. Mr. Wakabayashi even told him about us, why we're here in Japan, and such. Now I just hope we can share the message with him. But, this week, we're going to the cafe on Wednesday for me to teach one of the workers (we got to meet all the workers too, they all speak a bit of English, and they're amazing!) how to make Apple Crisp (they don't have it in Japan!). It's an idea I got a while ago to help the relationship. Mr. W is really excited, especially since we refused payment for it. I'm so excited, if they like it, it could become an Elder Peterson mark in Kurashiki!

Friday, I went to Okayama for one last chance to work with Elder Atkin. That was so amazing. It was really fun, and I'm so thankful for that chance. He heads home this week. He'll be stopping through Utah some time soon; I offered Mom's gourmet meal skills if he passes through Orem; you might get a call ;)

Love,
Elder Peterson

Soaring

2009-10-05T11:54:00.000-07:00

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

More International Adventures!

2009-09-28T11:53:00.000-07:00

This last week was a little rough, but good. I'm learning a lot. We had a lot of run-ins (good run-ins, not the bad kind. . .) with people from other countries. Met the Sydney Santa Claus a few more times. He was cool; he'd always greet us with an Australian-accented "How ah ya, boys?" Sadly, I think he returned back to Australia. Oh well, I have his card, maybe I'll try to write him. Too bad I didn't get my picture with him though. . . But it was more of a summer-vacation Santa anyway; he didn't have the Santa suit on.

We're working with another investigator from Brazil, Donna. She was a former investigator, but some earlier missionaries dropped her because her husband didn't really want her to go to church. Well, things are changing, and we're building a really good relationship with her. We had a lesson this week, outside in her driveway, then went back the next day to do some service and trim her trees (I got to do A LOT of sawing). She thanked us with an AMAZING shrimp and broccoli pasta lunch that felt like our Peterson Family deck-top meals. . . ah, that was nice.

We also did some yard work for a woman named Jenny Lu from Singapore, who speaks REALLY good English. She's very funny, and reminds me a lot of my 12th Grade Creative Writing teacher, Mrs. Stanton-McAtee.

Went by train to meet with Pao Lin Hau on Saturday. He's half Korean and Chinese. AMAZING! He has a testimony, and loves Jesus Christ. We're going to take him to a baptism in Okayama this weekend, see what he thinks, and hope to extend the challenge again.

So many new experiences here! So many Japanese adventures. Ah. . . The first few months of the mission were a little shaky, but I'm starting to get a little of that "best two years" feel; especially as we said goodbye to Elder Magno a few weeks ago after Zone conference. Wow, with the setting sun. . . that was like a scene straight out of God's Army.

Well, take care. I love you all so much, and am thankful for your prayers. I need them.

"I will stand in the light, look to the dawn as it breaks through the nigh. With courage and strength, I will stand in my place, with the flame of my faith burning bright. I will stand in the light, hold up the truth and stand for the right. I can reach so much higher, filled with this fire, when I stand in the light."

Love you,
Elder Peterson

Uh oh... 5-Minute E-mail

2009-09-21T11:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry, It's a holiday! The City Center was closed, and this place only gives us 30 minutes. Ah!
But hey, this week was pretty awesome!

We had Zone Conference this week at Okayama again. Wow, it took 60 dollars for there and back from Izumo, but now it's just 4 dollars each way on the train! We headed up Tuesday night to stay at the Zone Leaders' flat right by the church (I've stayed the night there every single time so far!) I have made some really good friends here.

Isa Kaicho is amazing! Once again, I heard things that I needed to hear; and some things weren't even spoken by the speakers, but I heard them nevertheless!

So, we saw Santa Claus a few weeks ago on a random street corner. And then we met him again Saturday night, and actually had a good conversation with him. Jim Whiff, from Sydney Australia - "Australia's Famous Sydney Santa!" He gave us his business card. Cool. Showed him your picture dad, but he didn't recognize you ;) Hah, that would have been cool.

We had dinner with an awesome couple last night! I love these wonderful new ward members! Life is great!

We have a lot of appointments this week, so things are going to be pretty busy!

OH I love you so much!!! Thank you so much for everything, for your words, and inspired guidance.

Ah, so much to say! I promise to write more next week!

Love you all so much!
Elder Peterson

Where Did The Week Go?

2009-09-14T11:51:00.000-07:00

Kurashiki is WONDERFUL! Life in the city is great. However, on Wednesday, we went to Fukuyama city (in Hiroshima Prefecture) for District Meeting, then I stayed there for an exchange with Elder Packer from Layton, UT (he went to the same high school as Chris Escalante and knows his family, cool). Fukuyama was even bigger than Kurashiki, the city kept going. . .
Oh, I forgot to mention how fabulous the apartment is in Kurashiki. It's got two floors, a sofa . . . AND a massage chair! Wonderful! I've got so much space here compared to my last apartment!

Our investigators are doing pretty well. We met with our Brazilian investigators on Friday night. Bishop Yamada and his wife (Sis. Yamada happens to be Brazilian and fluent in English, Japanese, and Portuguese!) taught our recent convert while Elder Daimler and I ganbaru'd with Sis. Oliveira's friend and son (the son translated for us, BUT I got to recite the first vision in Portuguese, memorized it in Izumo!)

I get to meet our Chinese investigator tonight. He lives a few hours north, but he's coming into town to have dinner with us, and then attend a family's sports activity. This should be good. We're still trying to figure out if he's a member or not. I guess he remembers being baptized a while ago, and loves the church, reading the Book of Mormon, and keeps the commandments... but they can't find his record. We'll see.

Yesterday was one of the best experiences I have ever had. Stake conference. We took a two hour drive up north to Nimi for Stake Conference. It was at a performance hall. I got to be reunited with former companions (Elder Kajiuchi and Elder Atkin), and former ward members (the YSA from Izumo Branch). I got to see Umetani San and her daughter Haruna briefly, they had to leave quickly after, but wow, Umetani san was BEAMING! The Baptism will be on the 20th of September! I'm so excited for her. I finally have her address, so I can write to them! Kajiuchi choro let me know that Seki San (the protestant friend of our Brazillian member in Izumo) has started taking the lessons! I feel so blessed! He gave me a letter from my friend Lisa, where she talked a bit about the adversary trying to deceive us into thinking we're not working hard enough. The things that are happening in Izumo now made me feel that I really did do my part. It's all about the Lord's timeline, and I feel absolutely blessed!

I didn't understand everything that was said, but I loved being surrounded by so many of these wonderful people! I love Japan, I love the people! I want to get better at Japanese so that I can better communicate with them, and reach the hearts of more of these precious sons and daughters of God!　Life is great. Yes, there are still ups and downs, but we're overcoming the downs as they come.

Zone Conference is on Wednesday, and I'm excited! Every time I go with deep questions I need answered, and so far, they have been answered. This time, we'll see what happens!

Well, I love you all! I'm enjoying my stay here, and I'll try to get you some pictures soon. Ooh, I could use a little bottle of maple flavoring and that maple syrup recipe. I can get peanut butter here through the mission home, so you don't have to send any more of that. Thank you so much, you are so amazing! I really appreciate all your continued love and gifts and tastes of home. We made some bbq chicken sandwiches the other night. SO GOOD!

Praying for you, and loving you,
Elder Peterson

And The Transfer Announcement Is....

2009-09-07T11:57:00.000-07:00

I got transfered! That was so weird! I had been in Izumo for so long, that it didn't feel real. I left on the same bus that we took to Zone Conference every transfer; it felt like I was going on an exchange.

The new location: Kurashiki City in Okayama Prefecture. The address:
Okayama-ken Kurashiki-shi Tanoue 1041
Atorio N Tanoue #125
710-0831

The bottom number is the zip code. They order the places and names differently in Japan, but I'm sure if you get all that info on the envelope, it'll find its way!

Izumo was a decently-sized city, but there weren't very many people. The center of town had some tall buildings, but then it was basically farm-land as far as the eye could see.

Kurashiki is HUGE!!! Like, this is the city life right here! I guess that compared to Okayama City, and then even BIGGER cities like Tokyo, this place is still "small". But that's comparison for you. This place is SO BIG! We can go streeting, there are tons of people on the streets. I've been to some cool places already; like the Bikan Area (Bikan Chiku) - a really old shopping district that attracts a lot of people.

My new companion. . . an American. Someone I met at the MTC! Elder Daimler, from my Senpai group (six weeks ahead of my group). NO WAY. I was shocked when Pres. Isa told me over the phone. I did not see that one happening at all. I think it's going to be really good for the both of us. I had a good time with Elder Kajiuchi, but I think I relied on his fluency a little too much. We're going to be trying hard! Yosh! Elder Daimler's from the Salt Lake City area, Clearfield? This is going to be a completely different experience from my first four transfers.

For example, we were streeting the other night, ran into this cafe owner who was working on some plants outside his shop - Mr. Wakabayashi. We chatted for a bit, he asked us if we were Mormons! He was born here, but lived in Tokyo for a while as a fashion designer. He wants to talk with us again, and share his thoughts and feelings with us! NO WAY!

I keep meeting Brazilians, and the same night as the cafe man, we met a man that totally looked and sounded Japanese but spoke Portuguese. I have a little bit of vocab thanks to Elder De Menezes (Any progress on that address? ;) ... so it was fun.

Met a recent convert - baptized last week! She's from Brazil, and her son and friend also met with us. Her friend is working with us toward a baptismal goal of October 5th. Wow. . .

It's starting to feel more real, the more time passes. . . But wow, I am looking forward to this transfer. Oh yeah, I'm in Elder Atkin's zone now - He and Elder Vaughn (my last zone leader) are the zone leaders, so I'll get to work with them again. This is going to be fun!

We have an Exchange planned for this week, so I'll be staying in Fukuyama after District Meeting on Wednesday. A whole new place, full of new potential, adventures, and a fresh start for me!

I LOVE the ward. There were a lot of people in Church on Sunday. They are wonderful. The bishop is 28, served a mission in Hawaii, and speaks English fluently, along with his wife from Brazil, and a bucket load of other members. But don't worry, we're still trying to speak Japanese as much as possible.

Well, I better let Elder Daimler take a turn. We have to do email at the City Hall - with one computer. But don't worry, we can still have an hour or so, and then we switch to writing snail mail letters while we wait.

The Barbeque sauce is DIVINE!! Elder Kajiuchi and I made a pizza "pie" on Wednesday. And the POP-TARTS! I'm in heaven! I've got to buy a pie plate or two, but I'm looking forward to making those peanut butter pies. But hey, I made an awesome tiny cake yesterday out of pancake mix, brown sugar, an egg, canned peaches, chocolate, and baking powder. Awesome. . .
Anyway. I love you. I'm thankful for your prayers and amazing emails. I am very blessed.

Next week then,
Elder Peterson - Livin' in the city!

LATER:::::::::::::::::::

Hah, I was so excited about Kurashiki that I forgot to mention the good news about Umetani San. Her husband finally gave her the okay for Baptism. She will be baptised soon; they were to decide the date after transfers, so I'll find out next week at Stake Conference when I see Elder Kajiuchi (and everyone from Izumo) next week. Same Stake, cool huh? ;)
I'm so excited for her. It was amazing to see the dramatic flip-around in her countenance and attitude about God and religion. She's reading and praying every day. I hope to come back here some day and find that she's still active and strong!

We visited Rahman san to tell him I was being transferred. He invited us into his apartment happily, honored that we came at the exact moment that we was breaking his fast for the day. He gave us part if his food, heartfeltingly thanked us, and even embraced us and called upon the Lord for blessings upon us. What a brother; he is truly seeking light and truth. He wants to make a difference in the world, he wants to be a true disciple of God. The new bean-chan that transferred to Izumo is from America, so hopefully they will be able to build a good relationshi.

Oh I will miss Izumo, all the wonderful people, and the experiences I had there. The young single adults held a little FHE/goodbye party for me on Wednesday night. I felt so much love.

Well, time to start over. This is a fresh slate. Time to make a difference in this new, beautiful city. Ganbarou!

Elder Peterson

Transfer 4 Comes to a Close

2009-08-31T11:46:00.000-07:00

Halleluja! I have a giant bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Barbeque Sauce ALL to myself. . . But I'll probably share with my companion ;) Elder Kajiuchi had his first pack of pop-tarts. Oh they are so delicious! Hey, can you send me some good recipe ideas for the cream of mushroom and chicken soups that don't require chicken? We can buy chicken, but it's kind of a hastle to deal with. . .

Oh, random side thought: I went to Yonago on Monday night. Elder Bronner had this book "Where's Mom Now that I Need Her" It's like the ultimate cook book with laundry tips, maintenance help and more! Pretty funny.

Yonago! Excellent! We had a lesson with this man named Kondo San, who had been taught by Sister Mortensen (from my MTC district) when the area was run by Sisters. I met him back in Transfer 2 at Yonago's English class on the day of a Zone Meeting, and there was a noticable difference. Since that time, he started reading the Book of Mormon, and I got to see once again the power this book can have in someone's life. Like Umetani san! These two people are my first in-field example of the Book of Mormon's power. The light and joy it brings. . .

During the exchange, we went to visit Elder Nakatsuka of the Seventy. He came to Izumo a few weeks back. What a spiritual powerhouse. . . That visit boosted me, and strengthened my resolve to overcome my fears and talk to more people. And I have been! Yeah, I'm still passing a few people by, but we're trying!

We went to Unnan City, Kakeya town again. . . But this time, we took a route through the mountains. Yes, it was shorter, and took about half the time. . . But WOW it was in all reality uphill BOTH ways. I didn't think I would be able to make it up the mountain on the way back. Sure enough, upon starting up my strength was about to crash. But I felt a very literal flow of the atonement's power. It was similar to my hardest moments at Boot Camp. When my strength is exhausted, and I can't do any more, with faith, Christ helps me and gives me strength. This was a physical example, but that just goes to show that the Atonement is eternal and all-encompassing - Emotional, Mental, Spiritual, Physical. . . all difficulties can be lessened and/or overcome. That was one of those lessons that I've needed to learn multiple times.

On the way back, we stopped to try and visit an investigator, but were greeted by a man from China! He was very friendly, and started talking to US. He asked why we were in Japan, which led to a very good conversation about Christianity and the church. He said a couple of times that he was thinking he might like to become Christian, and told us that we had given him a very good impression of Christians. Man. . . If I transfer this week. . . too bad!

We also met with our investigator from Bangaladesh. He's doing well, and the meeting was great. I called him to see if we could stop by to give him a Japanese Language book, and we ended up having a discussion about Jesus Christ. Wow, he was once again very kind, and at the end of our visit told us that he considered us close friends! He wants us to pray for him.

Things in Izumo are becoming quite wonderful. I've been trying not to think about transfers too much, but we'll see what happens.

Thank you SOOOOO much for that wonderful package, and mom, that letter was just what I needed. I haven't opened the Sauce yet, but eagerly await that long awaited barbeque taste!

Well, time is growing short. Know that I love you, and am thankful for your prayers. I love being here in the land of my dreams . . . I love these people, the food, the scenery, the weather (even though it's hot!)

Love you,
Elder Peterson

International Adventures

2009-08-24T10:45:00.000-07:00

Well, adventures being in the form of lessons and/or meetings with our potential investigators from different countries. . . We met again with Armando from Brazil a couple of times this week (his wife Genesi had to leave back to Brazil a few weeks ago, I think I mentioned the farewell party). It's amazing, even though there is definitely a language barrier, we've built a really good relationship with him. Elder Kajiuchi is studying Portuguese every day, and thanks to Brother Junior and our friend Brother Oda from Matsue (a Japanese man who speaks Portuguese), we should be able to teach him again some time soon. Our meeting with him and Brother Oda a few weeks ago was really good. I think he's going through some pain (from being so far away from his wife among other things) that the Gospel of Jesus Christ can heal.

We had a lesson on Thursday with our Mongolian investigator (Gana-san). We taught her and her daughter about the Plan of Salvation... using a Doraemon teaching aid (Doraemon: a pretty popular cartoon character around these parts).

We've been waking up early a lot recently; my time spent in the Book of Mormon actually hadn't been very high, so I've started a program to wake up early, read the Book of Mormon for half an hour, then exercise and follow the schedule. I need that. I've been noticing different things than what I've learned in times past. Right now I'm in Alma 18, and learning a lot from Ammon's example. Ooh, and Friday on the train to Zone Meeting last week as I read the account of Alma and Amulek, I was able to visualize it vividly in a new way. It was almost like watching a movie in my mind, with the evil Nehor-esque judge persecuting and beating the two missionaries, "What say ye for yourselves!?" Picturing the children and wives of the faithful being martyred in the fire, while Alma and Amulek watched in pain. Zeezrom's heart becoming softened, he tries to plead for them, is cast out. I've read the Book of Mormon maybe 4 times, and I didn't notice this part at all. But now, things are sticking out.

I made what was supposed to be a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Marble cake this week (for Zone Meeting), but it would probably be better as a plain pb/choc. chip cake. But hey, I didn't follow a recipe and it actually turned out pretty yummy! Made brownies too. It's amazing, you can actually use the Hot Chocolate powder here as a substitution for regular cocoa. The Japanese people don't use nearly as much sugar as Americans do, so the Hot cocoa powder works great for baking! They turned out pretty good. I'll make them for you when I get back.

Oh boy. . . You have no idea how excited I am for the Barbeque Sauce. I have absolutely no idea who that "Sweet Baby Ray" character is, but I can't wait! Barbeque Pizza, here I come!

We're still meeting with Umetani-san frequently, and she comes to Church almost every weeks. She's been 9 times so far!!! She's still progressing, and wants to be baptized! We're still praying and fasting for her husband's permission. I think it might just be an issue of timing.

I'm starting to conquer my fear of talking with people! Lately, I've been stopping a fair number of people as we travel to and from our appointments by bicycle. I'm still a little nervous, but it's just a numbers game. The more people I stop, the more natural it will feel. The trick really is about focusing on them and what they need or are interested in!

Oh Sister Molnar sent me a CD from the Ward's Patriotic Program in July. Getting to hear Jay and Jordan speak was awesome. Oh, and the Sharon 3rd Ward Choir! Music to my ears!

Oh hey, mom, can you send me a recipe for that divine banana cake that you make every once in a while. It's the kind with the pretty decadent frosting. . . Our oven is pretty small here, so I might need the recipe halved or something, but I'm sure I can do the math!

Peculiar Profundities and More International Adventure!

2009-08-17T11:44:00.000-07:00

This last week seemed to go pretty well. Umetani San continues to do well, but we're still waiting for permission from her husband. We're working with her to help her gain the strength and courage to ask again for his permission to be baptized.
We're meeting with a new person (I think I mentioned him a little bit ago), a man from Bangaladesh. He follows the Islamic faith, and we had quite a good conversation yesterday. Yes, our religious views are a bit different, but I was surprised by the similarities that we shared. I didn't know too much about Muslims and Islam before, and I'm looking forward to maybe learning a little more. The meeting was great, he's a bit lonely, after being gone from his (wait a minute this sounds like me. . .) family for seven months. He had no problems with listening to our message, and didn't feel like we were trying to force it on him. And that's right, we're not trying to force this message. We're seeking those who will listen, and giving them the chance to choose for themselves whether it's true or not. We might have a bit of difficulty meeting with him though, because Ramadan starts tomorrow (the 18th of August) and goes until the 20th of September, where he'll be fasting until the sun has gone down every day. He said he'd probably be too weak to meet with us (and that was before we had started talking about religion), but he is very congenial, and I think we've made a pretty good friendship with him!

On Friday, we biked A LONG way, to Kakeya Cho (town?) in Unnan Shi (City). It was roughly 30 kilometers one way. . . I guess Kakeya cho isn't too far away from Izumo, but because of the mountains, you have to go ALLLLLL the way around. We went to try and track down a former, open-ended referral from the Area Book. We found his house, but he wasn't home.

On the way back, a had a little drop down on the back wheel of my bike from the ledge we were riding on (messing up the breaks. . .). I had to carry my bike a few hundred meters to a house where we asked for help. Maybe it was meant to be, because the Mother that helped us seemed very kind, and said "Itsuka asobi ni kite kudasai" (roughly please come back to have fun or something like that). She and her father (a grandpa) talked with us a bit, and she asked why we were in Japan, so we got to talk a little about Missionary stuff, but we'll have to see about inviting them to hear our message later.

Thankfully, one of the members in our branch lives in the same Town, and said that there's a considerable short cut that we can take through the mountains, so we won't have to travel so far. We'll see!

So they have Cheetos here in Japan. They're completely different from American Cheetos, but I came to a profundity last night . . . They're called Cheetos because the Mascot is a Cheetah!! I had no idea. . . Shows you how dull I can be at times.

Zone Meeting and President's Interviews are on Friday this week! I'm so excited!

Things are going well!

Elder Peterson

Poptarts and BBQ Sauce!

2009-08-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

(Not together, of course. Just craving Both!)

Dear Family,
We went and played Volleyball for a while with some Brazillian friends of Matsue's Ward Mission Leader (Brother Oda, he's constantly helping us out; he has a lot of connections in Izumo). I'm terrible at volleyball, but it was fun and a good workout. One of the players even recognized us from having seen us on the streets. It was a good chance to make some friends. Hopefully we'll bump into them again. One of them was named Paul as well, and he lived in the states for quite a few years. It was a nice English interlude ;)

This week was exciting! Once again, we took the bus to Okayama. Elder Atkin seems to be doing really well. He and his companion, Elder Matsuoka are the Okayama Zone leaders, and they have a lot going on right now, very busy, waking up early almost every day.

I learned some important concepts at this conference, one of which is a "40 Day fast" from behaviors that detract from the spirit. Pres. Isa shared a story (originally shared by Elder Holland?) about the Process of Purification. So, Elder Kajiuchi and I started our 40-day fasts after we got back from the conference. Please pray for us. I'm starting to notice a few differences already. We keep having random encounters and experiences that I think are connected to the fast. Investigators who have had trouble meeting with us or coming to church have recently accepted invitations to meet with us (at a party, but still!) and came to church (this week, only one came, but it was great. Gana san, our Mongolian investigator!)

On the flip-side, I had my first real encounter with persecution. I mean, compared to other places, it's probably not that big of a deal, but it made me very thankful to be in Japan, where I don't have to deal with it very much. We were housing yesterday with some members. A woman came around the corner as we were waiting by a door that we had just barely rung. Elder Kajiuchi called over a hello, and "Nice weather, eh?". She came over to us, looking a bit annoyed. "Jehova's Witnesses?" We responded with "No, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints". I tried to follow what the woman said next, but couldn't really understand. She started walking back to where her apartment was. I got a little prompting to tell her about a party we're having on Thursday. Kajiuchi choro gave me a "What on EARTH are you doing" look. . . The woman interrupted me by yelling a swear word and storming into her apartment. She did not look very happy. I mean, I got pretty used to people swearing at me during training, but in Izumo where most people give the very polite "No thank you, Otsukare Sama Desu" treatment, it was a little surprising. Oh well, I got over it. I figure that compared to being held at gun point, stabbed, and/or constantly persecuted as in other areas of the world, I actually have it pretty good.

Friday we biked all the way out to the Hinomisaki Shrine. You should have some pictures, it was the same day Atkin Choro and I went to the Light house. Back then, we couldn't enter the shrine. . . We were supposed to meet an investigator at a festival there. While waiting, we found out that the inner-shrine only opens up one day a year, at a certain time only, and we were there at the right time. So we went in, were given these little, white cloth aprons to put around our necks, were "purified" by one of the [priests?], and then got to walk around. It was pretty cool, and there appeared to be some Mosaic similarities (kind of Tabernacle-esque).

Wow, that bike ride was long and tough, but it was worth it.

So yesterday, we spent some time at the Hamamura household. A less active member and her non-member friend were coming - we helped to prepare a picnic meal to eat while watching the Firework display. I learned how to make Onigiri (balls or triangles of rice). I'm not very good, but it was fun!

Brother Hamamura (our Branch Mission Leader) showed us some pictures from his mission. His scrapbooks had Contact Cards in it too. Darin Palmer (formerly in the 1st ward?) served in his mission (Japan Sendai) around the same time (1985)! He was my scout master back in the day, and I was friends with his son Mitchell! If you see him or happen to get in touch, please say hello. Kazuhiko Hamamura is the mission leader's name. Bro. Palmer might not remember, because they weren't companions, but the did exchange cards.

I want you to know that I'm doing great. Elder Kajiuchi and I have been doing great since we got back from the conference. I think this fast is changing things. Sure, the hard times of missionary work will come and go, but for the time being, we don't seem to really get angry at each other.

Well, tell everyone I love them,

Mata ne
Elder Peterson
ピ－ターソン

Banana Bread, Bicycles, Blunders, and More

2009-08-03T11:41:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,

I love you, and love hearing about all the fun stuff that's going on. The 80th Stake Birthday Party sounds fun. I remember when our Stake had it's "Diamond Jubilee" (75th anniversary).

Mom, I'll look forward to that care package you're sending. . . I could use some pop-tarts ;) I bought a little pack that looked like pop-tarts, but wow, it was COMPLETELY different. Nothing whatsoever like a pop tart. . .

Well, this week was pretty cool. We did have a bit more down time as my companion needed to recoup a bit more from the crazy cold that attacked last week, but I think he's doing okay now. During that time, of course I was excited to try my hand at some new baking! Steamed Bread (a first for me, kind of like cupcakes), Banana Bread (another first, it actually turned out okay!), and a wretched Caramel apple upside-down cake in the frying pan. I burnt the caramel twice, and then the finished product cooked a little too long and was burnt as well.

Hey, onto better, and more important topics. Umetani San! Still amazing, still wonderful! We have lessons with her roughly twice a week, and see her on other occasions too. She accepted our challenge to read a page a day from the Book of Mormon, but is reading more! And to make things better, she's earnestly asking questions to help her understand more! We were able to meet with her and her husband for a bit yesterday, so hopefully we're getting a bit better of a relationship built with him. No new baptismal date yet, but it could potentially happen this month. I don't want to try to rush it though, so I might not be here - depending on if I transfer in September or not.

The bad news is that I'm once again riding a wretched grandma bike (mama chari), while I wait for my new wheel to arrive. Yay. . .

Random by-the-way announcement: August 6th marks one year since I graduated Basic Training (ROTC/National Guard)! Yay!

Saturday morning, we biked up to the Hei Sei Sports Park to participate in the last half of Branch Camp. We got to help host some games with the group (there were quite a few young, non-member friends there). I introduced the game, "Do You Love Your Neighbor". Wow, the scenery was SO cool. It made biking through the crazy rain so worth it.

Well, this week's Zone Conference, so we leave for Okayama tomorrow. I'm excited to see Atkin Choro again.

Thank you for your prayers, I've needed them a lot this week. I'm doing okay; but as usual, this week was rather topsy turvey with highs and lows.

Next week then,
Love,
Elder Peterson

Ding Ding Ding! Round Four!

2009-07-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm staying in Izumo for at least another transfer. Yes, I think I wanted a slight change of scene, but I'm glad to be here. Lately, I've been making some really neat connections, and looks like I have a chance to strengthen them.

Elder Kajiuchi and I are still companions. Things seem to be going well. I think we were able to get over most of our differences last transfer. Althought I'm sure the hard moments aren't done, I at least know that it is possible to work things out.

We planned and put on a Farewell Party for Genesi-san (a Woman from Brazil who has to return to Brazil without her husband Armando to take care of her ill mother). The Farewell Party was on Thursday night, and was a really good experience, thanks to our miraculous Brazillian member that showed up a few weeks ago (Brother Junior), we were able to communicate very effectively, and even got to perform a musical number, half in Japanese and Half in Portugeuse (Elder De Menezes would be so proud. . . Speaking of which, any news on an address for him yet? :)

This week's cooking adventures. . . .

We received a gigantic cucumber from one of the branch members, and didn't really know what to do with it. . . So, I tried a couple of things. One, I made a Cucumber Cake (Kyuuri Keeki) (basically a white cake with cucumber in it. . . It's okay, but kind of wierd. Hmm. . . At least I can eat cucumbers now, and I am kind of starting to like them. You're next, Tomato!), and then I made a Potato salad - ALL by myself. Hah! This mission is proving to be good training grounds for broadening my cooking and baking skills. I mean, obviously that's not the most important aspect, but it's part of the "icing on the cake". . heh heh. . . ;) Oh, and I also made some old fashioned peanut butter cookies for the first time, the kind with the criss-cross fork pattern. Wow, I always wanted to learn how to make those, and now I can!

Concerning the people we're working with, Umetani-san and Nanba-san are still doing quite well. We're working with the church members in working with both investigators, and seeing some good things.

Lately I've been doing a lot of the phone calls. I was way nervous at first, and I'm still not completely confident, BUT it's not as scary anymore. I just need to stay calm, focus, be confident, and I actually can kind of communicate over the phone!

[Editor's note: in response to a comment made by Paul's Aunt Laurie about having three cousins on missions at the same time - Paul in Japan; Jason Palmer in Dublin, Ireland; Jared Keele on his way to Guatamala. Our very own "Three Nephites"]

Hah, Aunt Laurie, the Three Nephites ;) I like it!

Don't forget, you can still email and write snail mail letters. I PROMISE to write back :D

Well my dear family, once again, I love you, and thank you so much for your prayers. I need them, as much as I can get them.

Take care, (体をおだいじに）

Raining Ramen Noodles, for Real!

2009-07-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

Holy COW! We got completely soaked yesterday, EVEN with our rain suits on. . . The rainy season really is intense here, and I think the rain is daitai onaji (about the same) with Irish Rain. . . Wow.

Well, Umetani San will still be baptised, but turns out that her husband wants her to wait a couple of months to see if she's serious about joining the church. He doesn't seem opposed to it though.

My relationship with Elder Kajiuchi seems to be doing alot better. We had some good, honest conversation this week, and I feel that we are on very good terms right now. And wow, he makes SUPERB ramen noodles. No, I don't mean the store-bought dry kind. I mean, REAL ramen noodles! He didn't make the actual noodles, but he got a package from his family a little while ago. SO gourmet, really, you have not eaten Ramen noodles until you have tried fresh Ramen from Japan! We ate at a Ramenyasan (ramen restaurant) a few weeks ago, and wow, it was delectable too. Sugoi!

We were finally able to meet with our Mongolian investigator (fluent in Japanese) this week. It seemed to go pretty well. I've been trying to participate more in lessons lately. I'm understanding a little more now adays, but it's still a bit tough to understand what's being said, and respond. I'm working on it!

On Saturday, we biked out to Lake Shinjiko. We've been spending a lot of time around central Izumo lately, and I wanted to try to find some good locations for naturally conversing with people. Wow, the ride was a lot longer than I expected. But it was a good trip. And we stopped every once in a while along the way to talk to people. We knocked on a couple of doors, talked with a 20-ish year old man. . . As we approached Hirata Town (close to the lake), we asked for directions from a woman tending a road-side graveyard. Wow, she's been to Kajiuchi choro's hometown, and she has some kind of connection to Utah. She recognized us as missionaries, thanked us for coming to this part of Japan, and wished us good luck. She had met missionaries before, that greeted her friendly. Cool. The lake was beautiful! I don't know how often we'll be going out there, probably not too often. . . But hey! It was a good day!

I made Pizza this week. I messed up on the dough some how (too much water?). I tried the 60min. roll dough recipe mom sent me. Wow, it was SO good, almost like Dad's! Just. . . a little different. But hey, Japan seems to get the "Pizza" sauce right. Too bad the bottle wasn't bigger. . . But hey, I tried some Roasted Sesame Seed Dressing as the sauce for part of the second pizza, and wow, that worked out too!

Thursday was awesome! Brother Junior (the unexpected Brazillian member that moved here last week) had us over for lunch, some DELICIOUS brazillian strogonoff. . . Mmm. . . And he shared with us some of his amazing guitar ability! Wow. I feel connected to some of the people here.

Church: Elder Nakatsuka from the quorum of the seventy and Brother Watanabe from the stake presidency (he came to Branch conference a while ago too, the one that lived in Utah and went to UVSC) came. I was asked to speak before them. . . I was a bit nervous. . . My topic was the Love of a Family or something like that (In Japanese: Kazoku no Ai). I tried to translate A Family is Forever, and sang it at the end of my talk. It was a good experience. Wow, Elder Nakatsuka was awesome, and I actually understood parts of his talk!

Sunday night, we had dinner with the Sato family. Pres. Swaisey built their house, it was American-style, and once again like stepping back into America. They have this cute little 3 year old daughter, Yuria-chan. What a beautiful family.

Well, I better go, but I love you, and who knows, maybe I'll be writing from a different location next week (transfers are on Thursday) Take care, Elder Peterson

The Rainy Season

2009-07-06T21:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I kept making fun of the rainy season and I think it took offense; it rained A LOT last week. It started to rain as we were riding home from Umetani san's house on Friday afternoon. It was just a little at first, but we stopped in one of the subterranean cross-the-street-tunnels to put on our rain coats. I was thinking "Oh, it's not raining too hard. Surely we won't need our rain pants as well!" . . .

. . . About 7 or so minutes later, the cats and dogs started coming down. It would have been useless to stop and try to put the rain pants on at that time, because we were already soaked. It poured and poured! Good thing I like rain. . .

Now, however, we are once again experiencing some hot and humid weather. I'm getting a little more used to it, but wow.

Oh, thank you thank you THANK YOU for the package with the Peanut Butter Pie ingredients. I had mentioned how much I loved Peanut Butter Pie to a missionary at Zone Conference and then low and behold: BOOM! Your package arrived! I made the pie for Elder Kajiuchi's birthday (July 3rd).

By the way, yet another beautiful 'Elder Peterson' moment: I followed a recipe in our trusty mission cookbook to make the pie crust. The good thing was that butter can indeed be substituted for a lack of shortening. However, I forgot all about that critical part of pie making where you flour a table top, and roll out the dough to flatten it. . . As I tried to hand-scoop the sticky dough and pat it down into the pie plate I was thinking, "There must be a better way of doing this!" Hee hee. . . About two minutes into the baking I realized with a gasp of horror what I had done. But alas, I was too late. . . However, it still turned out OKAY! So yeah, if you ever feel like sending more PB Pie ingredients, please do. ;)

An update on Umetani San: her interview is scheduled for this Friday. We've been reviewing and practicing with her, so I think it'll go just fine. If everything goes according to plan, the baptism will be held on Sunday the 19th (Sunday so her husband can attend). We met with both of them and the Branch President yesterday to ask for permission to baptize her. He's now deliberating, but we called her last night and looks like things might be okay. There's a chance her husband might even come to church on Sunday! So, we'll see what happens!

Well, to wrap up I figured I'd share a few tidbits of Izumo culture. There are cute little signs everywhere displaying cheerful puppies carrying bags and pooper-scoopers -- Japan seems to be very clean and hygeine-oriented. Ooh, and the post men are awesome, speeding around on these sleek red Vespa Scooters.

Happy Belated 4th of July! (Random: I saw a single, medium-small firework explode in the sky right before we returned home that night. . .)

A worry I've had is that I still don't feel very confident in my planning skills or ideas for effective activities, and sometimes I'll ask my companion what he wants to do or if he has any ideas. He'll often respond that he doesn't have any ideas. Thanks for the words of advice. I needed that and I'm going to start keeping those things in mind, and trying to connect with these people more.

Our district leader called this morning to follow up on goals and such. He complimented me on something and I expressed how I didn't feel like I knew what I was doing. . . in short I was being a bit hard on myself. I've realized that (thanks to your encouragement) and I'll work on it. My district leader gave me a piece of advice he heard at the MTC, "If you ever feel like you're not very good at teaching, at the language, or with something else remember: you ARE in the right place at the right time." I've been feeling a little down about not being able to understand these people I love and care about, but I'm just going to press forward, tell myself that I can, and do all I can to be worthy and deserving of all the blessings that have been promised to me. Sorry if I have sounded a little down. I actually am doing a lot better and the Zone Meeting and Interview this week will help a lot.

Transfers are on the 23rd of this month. I might or might not get transferred, but it would be a good idea to send snail mail letters to the mission home for the next couple of weeks.

{editor's note: the mission home address can be found toward the top-left of this page}

Thank you for all the ingredients, love, and recipes! I love you so much! I am learning so much while on this mission. I’ll keep trying to write everything down so I can share it with you.

To the Mountain Top!

2009-06-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

Zone Conference at Okayama again this last week! So much fun! It was cool getting to see Elder Atkin again. I also got to reconnect with Sister Condie, one of my MTC Distric Members, and see some of my senior MTC missionaries.

Again I was amazed by President Isa and the spiritual giant that man is. I was reminded of my weaknesses and all of the things I still don't know, but it gave me a big boost to push forward. Stake President Swaisy also spoke.

After the conference, we started a spur of the moment exchange that my District Leader forgot to confirm, but it's all good. I went with Elder Tanaka (one transfer behind me . . .!!!) to Yonago. Pres. Swaisy gave us a ride to the train station near his house -- about 2 hours away from Okayama -- where we said goodbye to Sister Condie and Iizuka. I can't remember the name of the town, but we went with Pres. Swaisy, his daughter and son in law back to their house. He's lived in Japan for over 20 years. WOW! Their house was totally classic American Style - it was kind of like stepping back into America for a bit. We had some good conversation, and they fed us. It made me think back to when we would have missionaries over for dinner. . . It's funny being on the flip-side now. . . ;)

Yonago was great. Yeah, Tanaka Choro and I were both Junior companions, but we had a great time. And we saw some really cool things. Like the almost spur of the moment, "Do you want to climb a mountain?" missionary excursion we took. Up top, above the massive expanse of this beautiful city, on the ruins of an ancient Japanese castle (yeah, it was AWESOME), we met J. Wadson, a man from Missouri. Wow, what an amazing experience.

Well, the weather here is quite rainy now. It's the rainy season, but yet it's only rained once a week so far for the last two weeks. We'll see.

I totally almost forgot! Umetani San agreed to be baptized!! For now the baptism will be on the 12th of July! We've got a bit of reviewing to do, but she is so close!!!

It's Raining and Pouring

2009-06-22T23:28:00.000-07:00

Tsuyu (or the Rainy Season) technically started last week, but the downpour didn't start until last night. It's been dreadfully hot and muggy of late, but looks like it's going to be a little cooler with all the rain that's expected; just about every day this week I think.

Teaching this week went pretty well. We're seeing a bit of progress with Nanba-san, a single mother of three. Her heart's been opening up wider and wider, especially as we work with the members with her. Cross your fingers, I'm hoping she'll be coming to church soon!

Umetani San... drumroll please! ... ... ... ... ... Okay, maybe it's not all that exciting, but still! We've officially taught her all of the pre-baptism doctrine, so now we just have to work up to her baptism. She was in church again yesterday, for the third time!! We drove with some members to visit her yesterday afternoon and to meet her husband. Awesome!! I felt absolutely no animosity from him, he was very kind, not opposed to the church at all, and even seemed a bit familiar. He doesn't want to hear our message at this time, but he has no qualms whatsoever about his wife joining the church. Well, we'll see what happens and if we can't start to meet with him sometime soon!

Well, hopefully these emails haven't been too boring. I'm trying to think of ways to spice them up... I’m working hard and trying not to get discouraged. It seems that now that my companion and I are out and about a lot more than last transfer, I've once again started to get those feelings that I'm not doing enough. I know that negative feelings don't come from the Lord, but it just gets to me a little sometimes.

One thing I'm a little confused about, but will hopefully be resolved at Zone Conference this week, is "effective" missionary work. Recently - and I've said this before - our leaders have been making a big emphasis on "Natural Conversation"; avoiding the tendency to stop people on the street by asking "Do you have a moment" but talk with them in a more natural way. Also, to not spend all your time housing, but to find the proper place for it... But then I read Elder Palmer's emails, and see that he's still having cool experiences with street tracting... Maybe I just need to not compare. I'm sure I shouldn’t compare! I just really want to know what I should be doing -- what kind of Missionary Work is the most effective, and I'm running out of "New" or "Different" ideas. Don't worry, I'm still trying to keep my face to the Son (thanks for those encouraging words, Dad). I know that He knows what I'm going through, and that I can find peace in Him. So from here I'm going to try to trust in Him a lot more and make sure to have a constant positive attitude.

Oh by the way, I have learned that you can make your own yogurt by opening a carton of milk, covering it with tissue and a rubber band, and leaving it out for a day. . . I haven't tried any yet (Lacey, you KNOW how paranoid I am about these kinds of things), but I was making a cake for a dinner yesterday... You see we ran out of milk the other day, and I had already added all the other ingredients not realizing I needed milk. Well... pulling up my sleeves, puttin' my game face on, and mustering all the courage from within my senkyoshi (gut), I valorously opened the homemade yogurt and poured some in the batter!

It actually turned out okay... And looks like no one's gotten sick yet. Tee hee.

Anyway, last night's dinner was at the church: Hayashi Rice, potato salad, Sou Mein Salad, Tempura Beans (can't remember the kind of bean, but they were way Japanese), and my little Cinnamon Dessert Cake! It was with the Yamane Family (Branch President, his wife, Mother, and son), Brother Satou, some of the Young Adults, and Katsumi Yoshioka - a 20 year old investigator who seems to "only want knowledge"...

Hmm, we might be dropping some investigators soon -- it's been either really hard or impossible to meet with some of them, but we'll see.

Wow, Kajiuchi Choro made a superbulous Beef Stroganof-esque pasta dish the other night. I'm hoping to learn a lot of cuisine tricks from him!

Well, this week we have Zone Conference again at Okayama. This time I get to see Sister Condie from my MTC district, and Elder Uemura (from my "Honbu Doki" - or same-time group at the Mission Home)! Woot!

Don't hesitate to write any snail mail letters. Our mail box has been quite hungry lately, and he seems to have a pretty big appetite.

New Comp; into 3rd transfer

2009-06-15T14:05:00.001-07:00

Wow, my second transfer is officially over! I am no longer a "bean chan" (well, technically I'd say I still am, but according to the mission norm, I guess I'm not.)

Last week we had two lessons on the day before transfers after we received our call from Isa Kaicho. First we met with Gana San and Branch President Yamane at the Church. Gana San is our Potential Investigator from Mongolia. The lesson went really well and she really wants to come to church. She wasn't able to make it yesterday, but we're going to offer the help of some church members to provide rides for her and her children. We've spoken with her husband over the phone a little bit, and I detect absolutely no opposition from him. It appears that they're both from a Christian background. I'm excited to see where this goes.

UMETANI SAN! She came to Church with Haruna Chan! I wasn't sure if she was going to come because she had been trying to gain the courage to talk with her husband about this religious stuff. But, sure enough, she asked him and he easily said it was okay for her to come to church! Now we'll have to see about whether or not he'll give her permission to be baptized, but then again, maybe Mr. Umetani will be willing to start meeting with us as well.

Wednesday, after our second lesson (with Yoshioka san) Yamane Kaicho drove us by the Umetani residence for Atkin Choro to say goodbye. Haruna-chan was so sad. It was heartbreaking; Atkin Choro was a really good big-brother figure for her. Umetani san herself even shed a few tears while they waved as we drove away. It's hard, but they're doing okay now.

Kajiuchi Choro is awesome! He's a very patient, open, enthusiastic companion. He really wants to learn English and has been working hard on it thus far over the year he's been on the mission. Wow, he even PRAYS in English every once in a while. This is so cool!

I still think it's amazing that I have my second Japanese companion already, but that's okay. I want to learn a lot from him, not only missionarily, but with Japanese and cooking too! Sugoi!

Our lesson with Umetani san on Friday morning went really well. We had prepared to teach her about the law of tithing (complete with the giving-of-cookies-and-requesting-10%-back example [thank you peanut butter chocolate chip truffles!]) but, as missionary work usually goes, you make your plan and then something else happens. She wanted to hear some scriptures that could help her find courage. So we talked and shared scriptures. Little by little, I'm understanding more and more... Not quite there yet, but I think it's close! I hope!

We did a bit of Area Book Dendo; we have a LOT of former investigator records, and many without any reason for why the person was dropped. So, we're going to be working with it a lot... Oh, and after Kajiuchi choro tried to call one to no avail, the person called back, and we have an appointment with him this Saturday at the church! AMAZING!

Question: when a recipe calls for one packet of yeast, approximately how many tablespoons is that? It works a bit different here in Japan -- no packets, just big amounts.

Ooh, while waiting for Kajiuchi choro, I warmed up the oven again and made an Apple pie!! Atkin Choro's recipe was a bit Japanese-itized, sweet but not too sweet. But wow, following the recipe from the old Okayama Mission cookbook, it's like American apple pie! And I made it without help! Ooh, then I did peanut butter truffles again. . . ;)

By the way, next time I send home a memory card, you'll be able to see my video tour of the apartment, complete with a showcase of my Apple pie. . . Tee hee. . .

I will email you next week! I'm getting over a bit of a cold, but I'm doing great!

Crazy Things, Amazing Places

2009-06-08T11:30:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd start this week's email with a little Elder-Peterson moment (a name for goofy / clumsy / Elder-Peterson-esque things that I happen to do, accidentally, etc.)

So I requested the biscuits recipe, etc, saying that the oven would only go up to 250 degrees. . . Tee hee. That is true, honestly it is. . . But, 4 minutes after inserting the pan of Peanut Butter Cookies, I smelled the burn. . . I rushed to try and rescue them, but alas many of the company had been wounded in battle with the fearce flames of cuisine. "What on earth could have possibly happened!?" I asked myself as I stammared in unbelief at the dreadful scene.

"Oh yeah. . . It's Japan. . . Not only do they use the metrics system here, but they go by Celsius, not Fahrenheight. . ."

So, with a wave of my magic wand (aka the cellular phone's conversion tool), I figured it out. Brilliant. . . I know, no no, hold the applause, please ;)

Oh, and concerning the biscuits, they almost flopped, dreadfully. First of all, we couldn't find actual shortening, so we went with "Fat Spread". Second, we couldn't figure out the Japanese name for "Buttermilk" and couldn't find it, so we went with "Yogurt Milk". Third, the yeast only came in one big pouch, not individual packets, so I poured about half of it in, and it might have been way too much.

Well, as much of a hassle as the process was, I finally got the beasties into the oven, and they turned out surprisingly well. Almost the same as Angel Biscuits. . . almost.

Yeah, the Swedish Meatballs almost flopped too. . . But, enough of the cooking scene, and on to the Dendo News.

Umetani San did not come to church this week. We had two lessons with her this last week, and a Cooking Activity at the church on Saturday where Atkin Choro taught how to make apple pie. It seems like she's still struggling with telling her husband about us, church, and everything. But, we got a call from her this morning. Atkin choro was talking with her for a while. We prayed with her, and she said a prayer too. She felt really bad about not coming to church, and was having a hard time. But the spirit was there, even though it was a phone call. Things are going to work out, I know they are. She has a testimony, and is just going through another trial of faith.

I probably mentioned this before, but Pres. Isa keeps talking about creating whirlpools. I keep realizing more and more what this means. We've had a member with us at just about every lesson we've had with Umetani San this transfer. The difference is AMAZING! Wow. . .

Transfers are this week. We find out on Wednesday whether one of us, both of us, or neither of us are transfering, and then the transfer will happen on Thursday. I don't really want to leave. I want to see other areas of the mission, to be able to see more and more of Japan, but I suppose that it's a slightly selfish desire.

Miracles keep happening here, like our Potential Investigator from Mongolia who speaks perfect Japanese, and has a Christian background, wants to come to church, and has an appointment with us at the church building on Wednesday this week! I want to see the results of the seeds that have been planted. If I am blessed with the opportunity of staying in Izumo for another transfer, I think I'm going to see a baptism, and hopefully, help a few others onto the road to Baptism as well.

As far as my companion relationship goes, things are pretty well. I keep learning the importance of just loving him and working together in unity with him.

On Sunday, we got to drive with the Branch President and another Member (Sister Hori) to visit some less active members. We drove by the sea! So beautiful! Hopefully, some of the people we visited will be able to come to activities, and even better to church. The area is kind of spread out though, it takes a while to get to the building from some of the houses we visited, but we'll see. What a good time.

Oh, and we got to go with some of Atkin Choro's Former investigators to the Hinomisaki Lighthouse [to learn more about that click here, here, and/or here] on Thursday. Wow, that drive was AMAZING! Classic Japanese rolling mountainside, with the sea right next to you, with little clusters of houses and large shinto shrines nestled right down in the midst of brilliant greenery... It's amazing here!

There Can Be Miracles

2009-06-01T17:27:00.000-07:00

I am in quite a good mood this week. I received Mom's package this week and I am so excited to make those brownies (and the BBQ Pringles are almost gone. . . :) we found an old cook book from the Okayama mission that has a brownie recipe in it, and it works out great too, but I am SOOOO excited to try those Duncan Hines brownies!!! MMMMM!! I love you! Thank you again for your sacrifices for me! I love you so much! I'm thankful for all the help you've given me. I'm thankful that you have supported me in my decisions and have trusted me to make them. My one year anniversary of actually starting Basic Training (ROTC/National Guard) is on the 6th of June. That was the beginning of a journey I needed to take. And it has all led to the here and now.

Thank you for the taco seasoning!!!! I made taco stuff twice this week. The first time I put in way too much water, but we had it over rice, topped with Doritos and salsa, and it was okay. But then we pulled out the tortillas that Kobayashi Choro left and we had real taco/burritos -- even with Taco Bell sauce left by a former missionary. Delicious! The oven in our apato (apartment) actually works, but just barely! It's pretty ancient and limited to 250 degrees.

Mom, I'm glad you liked my little package. I'm guessing this year's birthday was a lot better than last year's ... It's hard to believe a year has already passed since I left you all and headed to Missouri for Basic Training! Time seems to fly right by. I don't think I was able to adequately express my thanks for your last letter. Thank you for your words. When I received your letter, I was going through some rough times and your letter really helped a lot. I want to talk about a couple of things that have changed for me. One is doing dishes a lot. Yeah, back when I was home, I didn't like to do dishes at all. It might just be that if I don't do dishes, we won't have clean dishes... but I have no problem doing them sow. So I'll make sure to help out a lot more when I'm home.

Last week's Zone Meeting and Interview with President Isa were both very good. I'm slowly understanding a little more of what Pres. Isa says in Japanese. . . but I did need some help from Atkin Choro for translation. Yeah, Pres. Isa is fluent in English, but there are a lot of Japanese Missionaries in the Zone, and not all of them speak English. But that's okay! It's hard to understand sometimes, but when I do understand parts and things start to click together, it's awesome!

Remember that we had to take dessert to the Zone meeting: Well, my Cinnamon Cake and Apple Crisp desserts worked out okay, but I forgot the cinnamon in the apple crisp, oh well. . . :)

Things in Izumo are doing quite well! Umetani San CAME TO CHURCH on Sunday!!!! It was the first time I've had an investigator at church with me! Her daughter Haruna came too. Elder Atkin went with her to Primary, and I *"ganbaro"'d with Umetani San in Sunday School with Brother Hamamura (he is such an awesome, fun, enthusiastic teacher!) *Ganbaru is a Japanese word which here means "to hang in there" or "try hard" etc. Sometimes it's easier even in our English conversations to still use the Japanese words, because sometimes, the translations in Japanese are easier than the English way of saying things. . . ;)

Umetani san loved church! And she understood things for the most part. She wants to be baptized; now we're praying for her to gain the courage to tell her husband. . . But hey, one of the miracles from this last week is that she was way nervous to ask her husband if she could go to church. She finally asked him and . . . He said "Yeah, no problem"!

And Haruna was amazing in Primary! She was the first person to raise her hand when the teacher asked, "Okay, who knows who God is?" She was also the first person to volunteer for prayer, and gave both the opening and closing prayers! And this was her first time at church!!

Things are just working out -- with our investigators, with contacting people who showed interest in being taught, and such. We must be doing something right. When I get those down notions that "I'm not doing enough" and “I need to be doing more" . . . Maybe for the current situation, I am doing enough.

One of our Zone Goals is to find something new from Preach My Gospel every week that we're not doing and to try doing it. I've been experimenting with Praying in Faith. I think Sundy told me about that activity from Chapter 4 about having prayers led by the spirit. I tried to work on my prayers a while ago, but I kind of slipped back into a little routine. Well, anyway, I've been really focusing on avoiding the whole "pick up the phone, order groceries, and hang up" style of prayer. I've been trying harder to pray in faith for things like my relationship with Elder Atkin, our Investigators, being able to meet with people, etc.. I'm not saying it's just because of MY prayers, but I think it's been having an effect. Prayer really is powerful when it is offered with a sincere heart. It seems like sometimes we fall into these little ruts of praying to God, but not really thinking about how he can actually hear us, and about how he actually cares about us. Try it out, look at that Evaluate your Prayers activity from Chapter 4 of PMG.

I'm glad I get to be working with Atkin Choro. We are pretty different; we share some similar interests but our senses of humor are completely different. And, I get the feeling that he thinks I'm a stick in the mud when I don't laugh at all of his jokes. Don't worry -- things are fine. We just both need to appreciate and understand each other better.

Well, transfers are coming up soon. It's crazy how time has flown by! And here I am in the start of my 6th month of the Mission. Wow. . . Well, obviously, we can't know ahead of time if we'll be transferred or not. . . But I would love to stay in Izumo another transfer! Elder Kobayashi got three transfers here, so maybe I will too! We'll see!

The Field Is Changing...

2009-05-25T16:57:00.000-07:00

As always, thank you for your love, prayers, and support. I think for a little while, I had the "prayer receptors" plugged up, but I realized it this last week and now they're open and working fine again.

For District Preparation Day last week, we met up with the other four elders in our district at Matsue. We got on a bus to head to Matsue Jo (Matsue Castle). We spotted some foreigners (a husband and wife) getting on the same bus and went to talk to them. Well, they weren't American, but they were from Switzerland, on a three week vacation all over Japan. They actually spoke English quite well. It was fun getting to know them a little bit.

So we got off the bus, as did they, but we went up over to the castle. We waited to meet up with Elders Mahoney and Fukuyama (the Zone leaders that live in Matsue), and then headed up to the castle. However, we noticed that the Swiss man was climbing the stairs alone; his wife's back was hurting pretty badly from all the walking they had been doing. We offered to go with him to the Top of the castle. His name was J. Francios.

The castle was amazing! It was so ancient-japanese-poi (poi = a word here which means -ish, -y, or -esque). I was on cloud nine the whole time. Don't worry, I took plenty of pictures. Speaking of pictures, when we were up in a room at the very top of the castle overlooking almost the entire surrounding city (what a view!), J. Francois told us he had better go back to meet his wife. I got a little idea to ask if we could take a group picture. So, this nice Japanese man took a picture of our district, PLUS the man from Switzerland. THEN, J. Francois asked for a picture with his camera!

It might not seem like a big deal, but here's what I think. Here you have this random couple from a different country, meeting a group of foreigners from America in Japan. We spoke to them naturally, just getting to know them and befriending them. We even offered to help them get in contact with some missionaries at their next destination to help translate for them. Anyway - then you have this nice man from Switzerland taking a picture with the group of missionaries! He has a copy of the picture, so he's going to remember this interaction. I hope someday he sees Missionaries in Switzerland and thinks, "Oh hey, I met some of you in Japan!" What a neat experience!

Afterward, we tossed around a football on this big sand near a park below the castle. It was pretty fun. When the time came to go, we walked back to the station to see everyone off. I got to chat with Elder Tanaka, a "bean-chan" in his first transfer from Chiba, Japan. I'm still by no means anywhere near fluent, but I was somehow able to understand most of what we were talking about! Well, then the Zone Leader exchange started. I stayed in Matsue with Elder Mahoney (from Heber, UT). So, preparation time ends at 6:00. . . we had a lesson right at 6:00 at the church right by the Matsue elders' apartment. It was fun! I was able to share some of my experiences as we tried to help this young man try to see how adversity can help us, and that God isn't cruel.

We ended the day by walking the streets trying to talk to people naturally. Here's where this week's title comes in. Recently, there has been a big emphasis on not just trying to "contact" people and tell them about the gospel, but to just speak with them naturally. So, we don't have to spend hours upon hours knocking on doors just to get rejected a billion times and develop a severe case of "kekko byo" ("That's okay"- sickness, derived from so many rejections, something I suffered a bit from last transfer). Elder Mahoney told me that the field has changed so much since he got here. Walking around on the streets when there aren't very many people around seemed "wanpaku" (lazy, not productive, etc) back in the day. But now, it's all about having the right motives, having faith, and just talking with people - not the old way of "Excuse me, do you have a moment?"

The next day however, I learned that there still is a place for housing! We had some extra time while waiting for a member to return home, so we went housing for a few minutes, and then BOOM! After turning the doorstep scene into a natural conversation somehow, the young man invited us in, gave us something to drink, and listened to us as we taught about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Let me tell you, I have been seeing miracles! Big and small, in Matsue and Izumo!

No investigators have come to church with us yet, but one is really close!! Umetani san!!! Every time we meet here, she's keeping commitments, reading from the Book of Mormon, and praying (every day!). She's even praying with her daughter! She wants to come to church really badly, she's just afraid to tell her husband. So we're working on meeting her husband (don't worry, he knows that she's been meeting with us, we're not trying to go behind the back at all) and helping him to be okay with her coming to church.

I thought I'd let you know that Atkin Choro and I are getting along just fine. We keep having these good, needed conversations. I've realized that I've been a little too uptight, judgmental, and critical. BUT, things are okay right now. The hills and valleys will always continue, but things will always work out!

We haven't had too many people show up at our Kid's English class (Eikaiwa), partially because early Thursday evening was a bad time, but we moved it to Saturday afternoon and anticipate a lot better attendance - even Umetani san with her daughter Haruna!!!!

I love you all, and am so grateful for all that you have given me, physical and spiritual!

Oh by the way, I spoke in Church yesterday, on D&C 121: 7-9.

Over the River and Through the Wood, Hills, Valleys, etc.

2009-05-18T15:46:00.000-07:00

Sorry this will be short. We're having a District P-Day in Matsue today, and then I stay there for an Exchange with Elder Mahoney, one of my Zone Leaders.

I really needed that [Mother's Day] phone call. Wow. I was so at peace, and so happy! Then Zone Conference was just amazing, all about talking to people naturally (things in this mission are changing; no more "Excuse me, do you have a few moments, we're Missionaries, yada yada yada") --, and unity and love in companionships. They had me be the bansosha (pianist), and it was okay, but wow I had to do a bit of practice beforehand.

On the way back from Okayama, we started a District Exchange. Elder Gatchell from Saint George came back to Izumo with me. He's quite the character. He's this massive American football player that towers above everybody in Japan. And there he was riding elder Atkin's bike (and Elder Atkin is a few inches shorter than me). . . yeah, it was funny ;)

During the exchange, we went to this Rest Home where Elder Kobayashi and I had been giving service just about every week last transfer. Atkin Choro and I haven't been yet this transfer because we're looking into other service activities. . . Gatchell Choro and I were talking with one of the staff members, I guess we have some kind of agreement - especially since I signed something back when I went the first time with Kobayashi Choro. . . That was a really awkward conversation: the man we talked with couldn't understand why we wanted to stop coming to the rest home to serve. He thought we just didn't want to be around the elderly anymore. I felt some interesting vibes; obviously this is something Atkin Choro and I need to pray about and figure out, but the man obviously didn't want us to stop coming. And then it turns out the missionaries in Izumo have been going to this place almost every week for a LONG time, years, maybe even ten or so. The man said he wouldn't "let" us stop coming unless President Isa gave him the okay.

Anyway. . . Yeah, I'm a little nervous about that. I like serving the elderly, I really do, and I don't want to stop. But even in our guidelines, it talks about not doing service that would be hard to discontinue, or would cause problems should we need to.

Hmm. . . .

So, after the exchange, it kind of seemed like things started going downhill for some reason. It culminated on Sunday into what was probably the first completely open conversation Atkin Choro and I have had so far. We didn't yell, it didn't feel contentious (although I started feeling that it could have easily turned contentious). . . but wow. He told me things that I was doing that were bugging him and I told him things that he was doing that were buggin me. . . And in the end, I felt more at peace than I have ever felt so far.

You know how sometimes you think you know a person, their motives, what's going on in their heads? Well I have a problem with that, a problem with assumption. And it turns out that I have been doing some things without even noticing they were causing problems. And if we hadn't had this conversation, I could have easily continued without even realizing what the problems were. . .

Don't worry, everything is going fine right now.

I'd say probably the biggest thing I've learned so far this transfer is the need for communication. You can't just hold things in or eventually you're going to burst. Keeping an open link is essential for any kind of relationship. You can't just assume you know someone completely, you need to talk with them often, ask them questions, and try to see their views.... Wow, I don't know if that big shpeel made any sense, but that was what was on my mind.

Thank you all so much for the goodies! We are totally making tacos and/or taco rice this week! And swedish meatballs sometime soon! I love you so much, thank you for your prayers, love and support. It helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky. . . (as cheezy as that was ;)

Love you always,

Elder Peterson

I've Got Sunshine... On a Cloudy Day

2009-05-11T23:37:00.000-07:00

Wow I needed that phone call this morning! It was so good getting to hear and talk with you all! Sundy, like you said: I'm starting to feel that I'm closer to all of you now than I was at the MTC. It's funny, I was there ten minutes away but it felt a whole world away. And now that I am actually a whole world away, I don't feel so far anymore!

I still have things to talk about even after that wonderful phone call, so I'll start with last week.

Last week's email probably seemed a little down because I was feeling down. . . Probably more than a little. Part of it might have just been the "Second Companion Syndrome" but something was tearing me up inside. And then I figured things out. Things clicked. . .

Here's what happened: I realized that I was dwelling on the things I thought my companion was doing wrong, his imperfections, and judging him without really realizing it. I was having a hard time giving him the brotherly love that companionships need because I wouldn't let go of those thoughts and feelings that were giving me grief. But then I made a resolve and became determined to love him somehow! Ever since then -- when I decided to just love him -- it has been like the cloud of inner turmoil just dispersed and whisked away. . .
So I'm doing fine! Yeah, sometimes he says a few things that bug me a little but then I think about Christ's example; how he loved everyone even though some people spit upon him, beat him, rejected him, and crucified him. If he was still able to keep perfect love for all men in spite of all of those things then there must be a way for me to love my companions, even if it's hard.

Don't get me wrong, my companion is amazing! Just listening to him teach has taught me a lot. Elder Atkin is smart, quick, and is able to tie things together and keep the people we're teaching entertained. I have been learning a lot from him, and have been able to realize once again that the Lord is in the work; that every missionary is where they are for a reason. The Lord has specific tasks for us.

Looking back, Kobayashi Choro and I really did work hard, even though I got those thoughts that I wasn't doing enough. However, it wasn't until Atkin Choro came that one of our investigators finally started progressing. It was like she just needed the right elder to come along with the right personality. Umetani-san -- we had two lessons with her last week! The first was a little unexpected because she thought we were coming on Thursday, but she let us meet with her anyway. Atkin choro asked her to read from the Restoration Pamphlet he had given her and to pray, ... lo and behold, the next day she had done what we had asked! AWESOME!!

Well, I am now the proud (in a good way ;) owner of a new bicycle! After the tire from the hand-me-down bike I had at the start was punctured, walking over an hour to get back home, and borrowing a ward member's mama chatti (a granny style bike with a basket in the front...) I finally have a bike that fits me. Can you picture it? Elder Peterson wearing a big white helmet on a granny bike with a basket in the front. . . Very stylish. . . Hah, I got some weird looks; if the looks could be translated into English they would have been something like:

"Whoah. . . who's that weird American riding a granny bike. .. HA!"

But, everything is fine!! A new bike! Hopefully it will last me all the way through the end of the mission here in Japan!

This week is Zone Conference at Okayama again. Then Atkin Choro will be riding back with a Japanese Bean-Chan (Tanaka Choro, from Chiba, Tokyo - he is really cool, I talked with him a lot before and after district meeting last week!) to Yonago for District Leader Exchange. Elder Gatchell from St. George will be riding with me back to Izumo. And then next week, we're doing Zone Leader exchanges, so I'll be headed back up to Matsue with Elder Mahoney this time. Sweet!

I'm looking forward to the packages that are on their way! Mmmm. . . Taco seasoning! And Kobayashi Choro left his tortillas in the freezer so we'll really be able to have tacos; this is exciting!

Hey, have you heard anymore news about Elder De Menezes? His companion after me in the MTC wrote to me and said he got put in the Salt Lake City South Mission. If that is the case, can you tell the Leatherwoods / Petersons / Aunt Sylvia to keep their eyes open for him and to give him baked goods if they see him! (Okay I guess you don't have to tell them about the baked goods, but it would be cool if you could send a little home-baked love to Elder De Menezes for me :)

Ooh, could someone try to find some cool stickers to send to me? Umetani san's 9 year old daughter saw the cool scripture stickers that Kobayashi Choro and I had and wants some. I gave her a few and I don't want you to buy her that particular kind because it is expensive, I hear. But if you can find any other type of sticker that is similar (slightly see-through. . . if possible. If not that's okay too) and mail them here so I can give them to her? I imagine she'd just like any kind of sticker that 9 year old girls would like, maybe disney or princesses. . . Thank you! Sorry for the trouble :)

Wow, it's just so funny to see how much a person can learn from serving a mission. I mean I still don't know a lot (at least that's what it feels like), but I'm constantly having new insights! I even found a new appreciation for washing the dishes. It's good thinking time, maybe that's why Dad does the dishes so much (or maybe just that I wasn't as willing to do chores as I should have been. . .)

I can't think of a better place to be! I need to be here right now. This mission really is something that I needed to do. And it seems like the more time that passes, the more I lose those slight feelings of wanting to go home. "To lose is to find, and to find is to lose" (a concept from the scriptures that was actually used in one of my favorite video games. . . tee hee).

Just know that I really do love all of you, and that I'm doing okay! Life is beautiful! Every day is a gift, that's why "today" is called "the present" :)

A Whole New Transfer ...

2009-05-04T19:19:00.000-07:00

... a dazzling place I never knew ;)

Dear Family,
I love you and miss you!

Yes, as the subject line suggested, a new transfer started today. My new companion, Elder Atkin came on Thursday. Wow, watching Elder Kobayashi ride off in a bus was another one of those really weird experiences! I then rode back to the apartment with a ward member where I stayed alone for a whopping 10 hours till Elder Atkin arrived. It was long, but I survived.

Oh yeah, I'd like to set up the phone call that's coming this week. Make sure you get everything figured out so we can enjoy a nice conversation, up to an hour I believe. :) I am SOOOOO excited! Oooh, and I'm going to be sending out a little mother's day package today, with a few of my favorite Japanese goodies (Hi-Chews and Black Thunder) and the tape I'm just about done with. It probably won't get there in time for Mother's Day, but hopefully not too long after.

Okay, onto the week's events:
Wednesday night, Elder Kobayashi and I went out for sushi before FHE. I actually tried the raw squid, and it wasn't too bad. I'm getting more and more used to raw fish. Sushi bar trips are so much fun!

At FHE we watched Labor of Love, followed by a powerful testimony from Elder Kobayashi. I couldn't understand everything but as with most spiritual experiences, I guess spoken language doesn't always matter very much. And we had three non-members there, including one of our investigators that we had lost touch with, Miura-san. Our last lesson with her was at the end of March, but she has appeared again, so hopefully we'll start up with her again soon.

Well as Elder Atkin and I walked back to the apartment with his luggage we were talking a bit. He looks really familiar. I told him that and he said he was famous. I know he was probably just joking, but I guess his family lives in Oklahoma and has an Atkin line of beef or something. Maybe. . . Hah, anyway.

I can tell that this transfer is going to be completely different from the last one. For one thing, even though I'm the junior companion, I'm the area senior so that means I have to know where I'm going. . . And like yesterday, I got us a little lost trying to find Miura-san's apartment, which we never did find. Yes, we found it on the map, but the map is really hard to read, especially since the helpful over view map was ripped out of the book and we can only find half of it. . .

So, looks like Elder Atkin and I are going to be starting up a Kid's Eikaiwa class this week, (Eikaiwa = English Conversation). It's supposed to be one of the most effective activities to find people to teach here. Izumo's Eikaiwa kind of died back when there was a Brazilian and a Japanese elder, and then two Japanese elders in the area. Yeah, they had one Friday night a month for Eikaiwa, which I taught last month, but I think I was a little boring. Anyway, Elder Atkin loves kids, and he's a pretty "genki" (upbeat or energetic) person, so this Kid's Eikaiwa thing should work out pretty well. We even got a couple of our investigator families interested in the class, so this could lead to more interaction with them!

For our weekly service, we had been going to a rest home to talk with the obaachans and ojiichans (grandmas and grandpas), but it looks like that's probably going to change. I feel a little bad, because there were a couple of people in particular that Elder Kobayashi and I had a pretty good relationship with. Kuruma-san, this nice old grandma was even a little sad to think that Kobayashi choro would be transferred.

But, I guess as far as people to teach from service efforts goes, it wasn't all that effective. Looks like we're going to try and start working more with some of the schools around here, like English tutoring and such. We'll see how it all works out.

Wow, we did a lot of walking this weekend -- especially when my tire popped on the way back from a far-investigator's house. . . Hah, I'll tell you more about that when you call.

Well my dear family, I am greatly looking forward to talking with you this coming weekend. I need a phone call, it'll be a nice emotional relaxer for me. Even though this whole experience can be a big emotional stress every once in a while, I'm glad to be here. I'm undergoing a lot of valuable training and learning a lot of things that I know will help me later on in life. I'm learning more about how to rely on the Lord, and how to let him really take your pains and worries.

My study is improving, it feels a lot better!

Thank you for your prayers and love, I need them so much!!
Hear you on Sunday!!

Some Scary, Some Miracles, Still Loving Japan

2009-04-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

Good news, we're at the Science Center! So that means more email time. I had a chance to read through emails for once! Please send my love to the Greens. I am so thankful for this gospel. Losing loved ones is still hard, but we know where we're from, why we're here, and where we're going! This life is not all there is. This knowledge has kept me going. I remember one night back when I was in elementary school. I couldn't sleep, thinking about death. I was so scared, so afraid of dying. . . So sad about the ones I loved dying. . . I don't know why, I was only in elementary school but still. . . I guess the Plan of Salvation just hadn't clicked with me yet. But now it has. Now, I'm not deathly afraid of death. Now I know that I will see the ones I love again.

Last week started with a "District" Preparation Day, a trip to Izumo Taisha. Yeah, Elder Kobayashi and I had been there before, but this was the first time that everyone was able to come to Izumo. And we got to go to the museum this time; there is a lot of rich history here. Oh, and we were crossing this small bridge to get to the main Taisha area, and it was just so. . . so JAPAN! Green everywhere, a little river/canal running north and south in between a tunnel created with humongous trees on the sides, leaves everywhere. . . mystical!!!

That night at FHE, we had the same non-member who's been coming every week for quite a few weeks! She's one of the ward member's friends. We watched Testaments. I hope she felt the spirit, because I did - every time I watch that movie. Now we just have to find a good way to invite her to be taught.

Tuesday, while coming back from a member's house (who fed us a truly cultural lunch; look up daikon and renkon, see if you can find some pictures. Slightly interesting, but delicious, ooh takenoko (bamboo shoots) too.

I had a slightly scary experience. We were biking down this hill. On the way up, it was like the hill of death. SO steep, but we kept biking and overcame. . . Anyway, we were going maybe a little fast. . . But suddenly, from my upper peripheral vision, I saw a shape break loose from the branches over my head. I thought it was a branch, and ducked for some reason, but looked up to see that it was a bird, a big hawk or something. I had this. . . prompting(?) to pay attention to the road, which snapped my head instantly downward in time to see a car speeding around the bend, hidden seconds before. I slammed on the breaks, as did they I hope, and didn't make contact. Don't worry, I'm usually safe but I have been making a more controlled effort to not go too fast since. . . Scary.

So, it's not really a ghost story. BUT, kind of freaky (yeah, this week was filled with interesting experiences). I think I told you about Tony (the man from China) a few weeks ago. He told us he was moving, and had given us the address of his friend's house where he would be living. On Tuesday, during the exchange, Elder Kobayashi and Elder Mahoney went to try to find the new place. They found it, but no one was home. They found a man before hand that had said something like "Yeah, you should probably get headed home, before it gets dark." So yes, maybe I went in with a pre-conceived notion that it would be scary. . . But on Saturday, after biking 30 minutes to get to this awesome, mountain-side country area (it had been raining hard earlier in the day, by the way). We biked under this huge, tall train track bridge, sweet. . . Oh, and it was dark the whole time. We get to the hill by Tony's new residence. Too steep to bike, so we walked our bikes up. Perhaps it was the noise of dogs barking in the distance, the abundance of Japanese grave sites, or the creepy far-from-civilization feeling, but I started to get a little nervous. We got to the house, the light suddenly turned on (making me jump a little). And then I jumped again when I saw two figures behind us, only to realize it was just our reflection in one of the street mirrors that are everywhere here in Japan. Yeah, I felt as if I was in one of those horror films or something. Thankfully someone was home - Tony's friend. He let us know that Tony hadn't moved yet. Getting back to our bikes, I looked a bit further up the hill to this tall building. Elder Kobayashi said they had handed out a book of Mormon at a house near the building last time. He also said the building was some kind of factory. Part of me wanted to check it out. . . But the bigger part was saying "GET OUT OF HERE!" So yeah, maybe I'm dramatizing things a bit. . . But it kind of felt like there were eyes following us as we rode down the hill, I didn't feel comfortable until we had gotten back to the main road. . . Whoah. . . Creepy.

Onto more happy subjects! Yesterday we had Branch Conference. The Stake Presidency was there. Stake President Swaysey! He's an American! He looked familiar too. His Japanese was flawless though. He's probably in his late 50's. As usual, I couldn't understand a lot of what was being said, but I picked up parts. And there was a prior Izumo-serving Missionary in the congregation, Sister Utsumi. She lives in Kobe, and it turns out that Elder Everts, my first district leader at the MTC, is serving in her area, and home ward. Small world!

After the meeting, they had a Branch lunch. Awesome! I was able to chat a bit with some of the various visitors from Okayama who were there (Izumo Branch is in the Okayama Stake). I mean, I'm still not very good conversationally, but I am actually able to talk with people! Like this nice Stake Presidency Member that went to UVSC ten years ago. I'm still not very skilled at contacting though. I'm trying to look for ways to be better, and speak more naturally. To not try to just force some repetitious schpeel out, but to really try to talk to people. I don't know how, but I made a resolve to just have faith and say "I can" in my head as opposed to "I can't".

So, we went housing afterward. We found a 16 year old boy named Hirai, who just happens to have the same birthday as me. AWESOME!! He had interest in learning about Christianity, he had studied a bit in school before. We gave him a Book of Mormon. It might be a little difficult because of possible opposition from the parents, but I will go forward with faith!

Then the miralce! After an awesome contact which ended with handing out a Plan of Salvation pamphlet to an interested woman, we housed along the complex with not too much success. But then we found Sakioka san. We asked her if missionaries had ever come by before. She said yes. It turns out that quite some time ago, she was an investigator. The Missionaries had given her a Book of Mormon, but then had returned to America. She wasn't in the area book, it must have been a LONG time ago. She was a little busy, but honestly said that we could come back later. Then, on our way down the stairs, her daughter came running out to give us a bag of fruit and wish us good luck! AWESOME!!

I am happy to be here. Yes, I get a little down at times but then I pick myself back up. Please pray for me as I try to work on my contacting skills. I love you so much!!

Birthday and Zone Conference

2009-04-20T18:25:00.000-07:00

My dear marvelous, spectacular loved ones!

I got the birthday packages on Thursday April 16th, the morning after we got back from Zone Conference. Thank you soooooo much! It's fine that I didn't get them on the 14th because technically it wasn't really the 14th yet on the American Timeline anyway, so it's all good.

Last Monday night, we had a little birthday dinner at a nice Japanese Family restaurant "Joyful". Kobayashi Choro payed for my meal!! What a swell companion!

Okay, Zone Conference was AMAZING! Even the 4-hour bus ride was spectacular. I sat there staring out the window almost the whole time, drinking in the beautiful Japanese scenery. I think I'm over the dream phase, but still, I'm living my dream every day.

So we get to Okayama, it was nice to be back in the big city scene. Not as big as Hiroshima but lots of tall buildings. We stopped at a little imported foods store and bought some goodies. I selected BBQ Pringles. . . mmmm. . . :)

We met up at the church in Okayama and had a meeting about General Conference. It was so much fun! There were three zones there, I think. We split up into groups of 6. Some of the groups talked in English, but I was the only "bean chan" in my group so it was in Japanese. BUT I did pick up some of it. Still, the hardest part is listening, but I'm getting better, slowly.

That night was so much fun. There were so many elders in one apartment. . . don't worry, in spite of all the fun I still made it to bed on time. . . But I had forgotten my pajamas, but that's okay. I ALWAYS forget something whenever I go on camp-outs or overnighters.

The next morning, Elder Evans gave an awesome conference. He talked a lot about referrals, especially working with recently baptized members. Well, we don't have any recently baptized members in Izumo, but that will change soon. I left the conference with a new resolve to be better and try harder; life is good!

I wish I could remember more from the conference to say. I did take notes, but they're at home. Just know that I am starting to gain a greater testimony that the leaders in our Church really are inspired with what to say to us, and how to help us.

Yes, thank you for those DVD's, I was SOOOO excited. And the CD's are amazing. Really, holy cow. Those Birthday packages were so wonderful, and I am very thankful and appreciative!

I loved the tape. Thank you for your love, and know that I have nothing but love for you!

Okay, so a bit more about the sights and sounds, descriptive stuffs, etc. On Saturday, we went with the branch president to take invitations for Branch Conference to less-active members. Some of them lived DEEP in the Japanese mountain side. What a blessing it was. Oh my goodness, the mountain air, the little mountain villages nestled among all the lush green trees and rivers, wedged up into the mountain sides. And we had to travel through a really long tunnel to get there. I got so excited as we neared the end of the tunnel for some reason. And then we exited; it was breathtaking. I am in paradise. My mind was brimming with story ideas. I just have to write them down, and save them for use after the mission I guess.

Sorry for the short length of this email. The science center was closed today and out of the thirty minutes the library gave us, ten were spent waiting for the connection to the LDS mail service to go through. I really will send more in the future. I love you, and I promise that next week's email will be brimming with color, sight, sound, smell, and description.

Thank you my dear family, and please let Sister Green know that I love her!

Love,
Elder Peterson

Snail Mail; April 6th

2009-04-17T10:36:00.000-07:00

Dear Family,
This morning a really nice lady, Fukushira San, paid for our lunch at a nice hotel buffet. She's an Eikaiwa (English Class student) and has been, for about 20 years -- still not a member. But she's really kind and loves the missionaries. It was so nice of her, and so nice to eat while overlooking some of Izumo's only Sakura trees in full bloom.

So, I got a letter from Grandma and Grandpa. Jared got called to Guatemala??!! Awesome!

Something happened at Family Home Evening that gave me a little boost. While we were packing up on our bicycles, one of the members -- Aiko Yamato, started talking to a fellow member, probably not knowing that I could understand her. Something to the effect of, "Wow, most bean-chans (greenies) don't talk very much at first. He's pretty smart." I don't talk a lot; my conversational skills still aren't very good. But I'm trying, and someone making a comment like that made me really happy!

I'm really going to kick into gear. The Lord is preparing people to talk with us. He's just waiting for me to step up and prove that I'm willing to talk with everyone. So I will. I have had some amazing experiences when I have opened my mouth. Wow. The power is real. I just have to be bold and open my mouth.

Love you!
Elder Peterson

It's All Good!

2009-04-13T10:25:00.000-07:00

This week has been so wonderful. Not the least of which was getting to watch General Conference yesterday and the day before in English! I hope you paid special attention to Elder Holland's talk on the Savior and His atonement, what a power house. Oh and Dad, President Uchtdorf's and President Eyring's talks from the Priesthood Session were my favorites. I felt as if they were directed at me.

So this week has been filled with a lot of bugs in my eye, brought on by the recent increase in temperature. Along with the bugs, the local politicians got out and about, broadcasting their positions over loud speakers as they drove around town. Really, it was quite funny. I've never seen or heard anything like it in Utah. I don't mean this in a negative way at all. I love Japan! The loud speakers did kind of remind me of Big Brother (from the book Nineteen Eighty-Four) though. Heh. . . And in some of the Politician Pictures the candidates had a fist along with their face, "determined" or something. I love it! I love these people! I love being in Japan! And when that adversary with his myriad of sinner's tricks tries to fool me into focusing on "burnt-out light bulbs" or think that I'm not good enough to be here, I just say a prayer, look around and remember where I am, and why I'm here.

Miracles. So remember how I wanted to start talking to more people? Well, Tuesday I set a goal. I had just been passing by a lot of people, so I decided to try and stop just two people who would have been difficult to try and talk to. So I did it, and no, they didn't talk to us. But then we found Tony - yes, it was in the night, and might be seen as unconnected, but I think it might be because I started making more of an effort. Tony is from China, here at the local Shimane University working on some doctorate research. He speaks English really well, and just about as much Japanese as I do, so we talked in English. Looks like he remembers some missionaries from about two years before. He was really friendly, and seemed to be interested in what we had to say. He said they had given him a book, but he couldn't find it. So we went last night to give him a new copy of the book of Mormon. . . And it looks like he's moving. . . BUT! The good new is, that it's only about 30 minutes away by bike. And, he seemed interested in coming to church! So who knows!

The next day I upped my goal to six people. Then BOOM. That night we were housing and spoke with Mr. Miura, a former investigator from six years ago. He had taken the discussions, loved the missionaries and ward parties, but upon being challenged to be baptized, stopped meeting with them for some reason. He was really nice, so we're going to try to meet with him some more. We went back to try and visit with him last night but he wasn't home. His wife came out, but didn't roll back the door (sliding doors in Japan by the way, usually). "Who is it?" Elder Kobayashi started to say, "We're Missionaries from the Church. . ." She responded with "Ii desu," which literally means "I'm good," but which can be translated to mean, "I'm not interested, please go away." So. .. we don't really know how this is all going to work out, but it will.

I fought a little bit with despair. Satan would love for me to give in to despair, but I won't. I know that if we do the best we can, the Lord will provide a way. These precious people will be able to come unto the Savior, if they are ready, and if they want to.

Tomorrow, we're taking a four-hour bus ride to Okayama for a Zone Conference on Wednesday. I'm excited, I love the meetings here! And I love President Isa. Every time I meet with him, he prays with such power. He prays in Japanese, so I can't always understand what he's saying, but he's always filled with the spirit and love for me and for this work.

I was having a problem with my debit card. . . hah. . . turns out the only problem was that I was inserting the card in upside down, because that's the way you do it in most machines. A big panic for nothing. . . . Heh, it's all good!

Oh, family, can you snail mail me some info about George Albert Smith? Some stories? Knowing some stories about ancestors is a big deal here. Ooh, and sometime in the future, send some taco seasoning packets?

Till next week, I hope you all have a wonderful time enjoying the spring that has sprung upon us (at least in Izumo anyway).

Sharing the Gospel: No More Comfort Zone

2009-04-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

I was very excited Thursday afternoon after a lesson with Umetani san when she agreed to come to Church with her daughter on Sunday! Alas, the opposition that seems to never cease from the adversary got in the way. It looks like her husband doesn't really like religion, and she didn't want to cause any problems. We tried calling again later to see if she could come, but alas this week was no good. The good thing: she wants to come to church! So, we're still praying that the way will be opened for her, and I know it will!

Wednesday was a Zone Meeting and interview session with President Isa. They did most of the meeting in Japanese, and most of it flew by me. However, I did get some of the gist of it, and there were parts that they did in English too, so that's good. It made me so excited. I keep hearing of miracles, and coming up soon, there are six people in the Kure area about to be baptised. SIX, in the same area, it is possible!!!

However, I haven't been giving it as much as I should be. There was an article from March's Ensign from Elder Don R.Clarke, Learning to Share the Gospel. The article was talking about people being placed in the Missionaries' path because they were striving to talk to everyone. The Lord knew that he could trust them to talk with everyone, so that's why He was placing the people there. I want this to be fulfilled in my mission, and for some reason, I've been hiding behind some kind of comfort zone barrier. I've resolved to stop. I want the blessings. I want to help these people, I want my mission to mean something. And if I can just step up to the bat to do my part in really talking with everyone, I'm going to start seeing a lot more miracles.

From March's presidency message, near the end, Pres. Monson talked about a story where he made a promise to one of his missionaries that would be fulfilled if he honestly and diligently served God in proclaiming His message. Well, the first night at the Mission Home, I received a promise too. It wasn't a real formal one. After a lot of awesome Japanese conversation that I didn't understand, President Isa asked us new Missionaries: "Did you understand that?" Obviously we hadn't. "You will."

So there I have it. I have received a promise from my mission president that I will understand this language, and that I will be able to communicate with these wonderful, kind, amazing people. He didn't talk about the underlying sacrifice/commitment to do my best that's involved, but I know it's there.

So please pray for me that I can just burst out of my comfort zone. I know, I've done scarier things, but at Ft. Leonard Wood (ROTC/National Guard) the consequences for lack of action were a lot more obvious and painful. These consequences are subtle and spiritually painful. I can do this. I know I can, but only with divine help. I will do my part.

I love you. I am so blessed. The lord's tender mercies are so evident sometimes.

Still Dreaming? Maybe.

2009-03-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

I got your package, family! Thank you SOOOO MUCH! I love snickers!

We used both the snickers and puzzle yesterday in our lesson with the Nishimura family. We had a little Plan of Salvation game drawn on a piece of paper, and used the puzzle as each player advanced. And then at the end, they received "the reward."

I am still loving life in Izumo! It is so wonderful here! I think the adversary has been trying to work on me a lot this week. But don't worry, I'm not going to let him get me down.

Thank you for all the wonderful emails! We ran out of time today, so I don't have much left, but I will email lots next week.

We went with Miura San (an investigator) and Yoneda Kyodai (Brother Yoneda) to Izumo Taisha. It's a famous locale with a lot of really cool, ancient Japanese buildings. I was in paradise the whole time. Then we ate at a famous Soba resturant. It was very interesting. . . Traditional japanese food and Soba Cha tea :) Look up Izumo Taisha on google for some pictures.

Then we drove to Gunnan to see the Sakura blossoms and walk through this wonderful little matsuri (street carnival). Ah, what a wonderful day! I will send pictures as soon as I can.

Till next week,
Elder Peterson

1st E-mail From Japan: Pinch Me

2009-03-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

My Dearest family, loved ones, friends, and whoever else might read this:
こんいちは！！！　（Ｋｏｎｎｉｃｈｉ　ｗａ）
(sorry if there are repeats - writing English on this keyboard is a little tricky. Yes, it has English letters, but it's designed for Japanese.)
So much has happened in the last week, so many awesome and crazy Japanese adventures that it's hard for me to believe that this is real. Please, pinch me, I must still be dreaming.

Well, I'll start off with a request: Please write! Every letter I get is like a Christmas present. Family, you're exempt because of the email thing :).

Here's my current address:
Elder Paul Gregory Peterson
Izumo-shi, Watarihashi-cho,
469 Loftee KS 202
693-0004 Japan

So, we arrived at the Tokyo Narita airport a little after 3:00PM. We had a little layover before boarding the flight to Hiroshima. There were a lot of marines on our flight. I guess there's a military base near Iwakuni/Yanai. I'll let you know if I ever get transfered there.

I had my first contacting experience while we were waiting for the Hiroshima flight. There was a teenager sitting next to me, so I started up a conversation using my "Kikuchi Card" (they pick the most important item on the card, and we relate it to the gospel). It's still hard for me to express myself as much as I want to, but it was a good experience. I gave her a pamphlet for the Plan of Salvation. Sugoi!

So, we got to Hiroshima, and I smelled the poignant sea air as we walked from the plane to the airport's interior. I love that smell, it brings me back to those wonderful Ft. Monroe days.

We approached the baggage claim and saw our welcoming party - a group of Elders holding a "Welcome to the Japan Hiroshima Mission" sign. We couldn't talk to them because they were beyond the point-of-no-return glass doors, and we had point-of-no-return glass doors, and we had to wait for our luggage. That part was kind of awkward, but then all was good, and we proceeded. They were the Assistants to the Mission President. One who was heading home a couple of days later (whom I later found out was from Brazil) spoke almost no Japanese or English at the start of his mission, but then became fluent! The same will happen for Elder De Menezes! I know it!

President Isa is amazing. Wow, he is a spiritual rock. I wish you could meet him. I really am so lucky to be here. And to be here at this time. Everyone keeps saying that miracles are happening all over the mission. They don't know what it is, but that now is a good time to be here.

Sister Isa got your email mom, she told me to say Hello. Wow, she's like my new mom. My Japanese mom.

Ah! We got to go to the Hiroshima Peace Park. That hadn't been done with new missionaries before. Again, I got lucky! The feeling there was, wow ... It was very solemn. It made me think about the atonement in a different light. It made me think a bit more about how much Christ suffered for us, and how he felt all of the pain that those at Hiroshima felt.

Here's my spiritual thought portion: There is no pain, no fear, no worry, no grief, no heartache, and no struggle that the atonement cannot heal. Yes, some things might be more difficult to overcome, might take a little bit more time, but in the end, through Christ, all can be made whole.

That night we found out about our new areas and trainers. (After doing a little streeting, I went with one of the AP's - Elder Nielsen. We found two people who gave us numbers!!!! No way! One of them from me pulling out the kikuchi card semi-randomly, and then the other was a former investigator from a different area, but he moved to Hiroshima. AWESOME!

The next morning, I was accompanied to the station and rode the bus by myself to Izumo. Funny story: we took a pit stop somewhere. I thought the driver said that we would be taking a 33 minute break. It was actually that we'd be leaving at 9:33. haha good thing I went back to the bus anyway.

I talked with a nice man next to me. I was so afraid for some reason. It seemed like he would be kind of gruff or unfriendly. Nope, quite friendly. I gave him a pass-along card after talking a bit about families.

The Branch President was there (Yamane Kaicho - kaicho is the title for branch president) with Elder Kobayashi to pick me up! Elder Kobayashi is so cool! Sister Isa said he doesn't speak very much English, and yes, we mostly speak Japanese, and sometimes I understand ... but that's ok. I want to immerse myself! Even though I can't completely understand everything that's been said.

Yesterday at church, I felt as if I had come home. Wow, the people are so amazing. The branch is a little small, but the saints here are rock solid. They're all so familiar, and I feel their love. I'll try to send pictures of these beautiful people sometime: Hamamura, Sasaki, Sato, Kozumi, Maniwa, Maejima, Yoneda, they are all so warm and welcoming! (those are just a few names)

There's no way that I'll be able to tell you everything that's happening here. That'll have to wait for when I get back. But don't worry, I made a goal to write in my journal everyday, and I'll keep it!

Really, every day feels like a dream. I'm living in a Japanese apartment, sleeping on a futon on the floor, eating real Japanese food, seeing real Japanese scenery, and interacting with real Japanese people. I don't want this to end. I have never been happier. I am home.

Love, your son who just might be turning Japanese

P.S. Feel free to send packages of cookies or goodies to Elder De Menezes. He hardly ever got any mail, and he would love that!

JAPAN!! At last!

2009-03-19T18:09:00.000-07:00

Paul arrived in Japan on Monday, March 16. Here are two pictures and an email from Paul's Mission President's wife sent yesterday, March 18 {I'm leaving the email exactly as it was written - the spelling typos make it sweeter} :

Dear Parents of Elder Peterson,
Elder Peterson has arrived Japan safely, and now is having a second day in Japan. He will serve in Izumo, a town on the ocian side.
All the members of the group seem very wonderful.
As there is a sick Elder downstairs, I, sister Isa couldn't go to see them at the airport. But APs and President Isa went. The followings are the photos taken yesterday. He already speaks good Japanese!

This is not a formal notice, but Sister Isa just wanted to say, "Thank you," and Elder Peterson is doing well here.

With Love,
Sister Isa at Hiroshima Mission from her kitchen

P.S. If I had time I'll send you more photos.

Isn't that great? Yay!!! He's doing well! Stay tuned for more updates!

MTC #10: Ready to Run

2009-03-10T23:02:00.000-07:00

Thank you for your love and support. It's hard to believe that I've been here for just under ten weeks! I leave for Japan on Monday. Am I dreaming? I have been wanting to go to Japan for quite some time now, and it is just about to happen! Hontou ni waku waku shi te imasu!

Well, we are STILL waiting to find out whether or not Elder De Menezes will be getting surgery. The consultation with the doctor went well, and the surgery would be very beneficial, so now we wait, some more.

Thursday last week was SO awesome! We got our Flight Plans. We'll fly from SLC to Los Angeles, and from there to the Narita Airport in Tokyo. I'm not too worried about packing, because it looks like I don't have as much stuff as I thought I did.

Ooh, part of last Thursday wasn't so good. . . Well, it was, just interesting: While Elder De Menezes went up to Salt Lake with a service missionary/interpreter for the consultation, I stayed with my class, and joined Elders Everts and Sheffield to teach in the TRC. It was actually really cool, being able to switch between three people. The flow was really fun. However, the "investigator" was a little rude in my opinion. We were constantly searching for ways to keep the investigator involved, asking questions, trying to relate it to him (well, maybe we could have done more of that), and etc. However, quite a few times throughout the lesson, he would pretend to nod off to sleep. Even when I was in the middle of doing my best to give the Joseph Smith experience with real testimony, he nodded off right then and there! I almost got a bit frustrated, but instead took a chill pill and tried to remain calm.

That's one thing I'm still working on though, focusing on the investigator. I'm getting better, but I kept sticking to the weird idea that I had to start at the beginning every time. Like yesterday, we taught Sister Woo at the Teaching Evaluation Center, and it went pretty well, but we could have taught toward her needs a bit better. Good experience, nevertheless.

The Referral Center on Saturday was awesome. I spoke with a man named Roy Wright. He had ordered a Book of Mormon a while ago, and had read a little bit of it, but it had been a while. I challenged him to read the introduction, and more of the Book of Mormon, and he accepted. I then offered to send the missionaries by, and he almost declined - but I said they would call first to set an appointment, and he agreed! Awesome!!!

Sadly, I still haven't been able to get a hold of Amy D. again, but I called and left a message about how she can go to LDS.org to read the Book of Mormon. Oh well.

Oh, I bought a new set of scriptures. I had been wanting to for a while, my old set is so beat up and worn out, and marked way too much (it's hard to read some of the pages because I was so careless). Elder De Menezes gave me the advice that he heard from a General Authority: on the mission, you have a new life. New life = new scriptures. So I did it. I will most likely send my old quad home, after searching through to find the items I would like to transfer over.

Ooh! Thank you SOOOOOO much for the package. Elder De Menezes was so happy when he saw that you bought him a 4 gig memory card (ME TOO!) And all that EFY music made me so happy - hearing music from my childhood! Thank you so much for the cinnamon sugar pop-tarts. They really hit the spot. ooh, and the Japanese snacks! Good stuff! Perfect ties, I'm trading them up! :)

Thank you for everything! I love you!

MTC #9: No Proof, Just Faith

2009-03-03T23:13:00.000-08:00

I thought I'd start off with a little spiritual thought this week. This morning I read Hebrews 11:1 - "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." I had heard this scripture before, but for some reason, it meant a bit more to me today. If you remember, I chatted with a person named Jesse Cattell a week ago in the referral center. She wanted proof - "Tell me one thing that will make be believe in religion, that there's a God." Oh wow - we watched Testaments on Sunday Night, and the scene of the Trial with Kohor and Helam is very applicable to this thought. Kohor goes about using logic, reason, and cunning intellect to try to win over the governor. He said, "There is no cause, there is no guilt, and there is no Messiah." But then Helam steps in and talks about how he is not a man of clever speaking, and a stranger to lawyers and the artifice of law. He bears sincere, simple, powerful testimony of the messiah! This concept is amazing!

I've said it before, but religion cannot be proved by logic or physical evidence. This church is true, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is real, but we're not going to convince anyone using hard facts. Faith is our evidence. It is after the trial of our faith that we receive the witness, proof, and confirmation that we need (Book of Mormon, Ether 12:6). Once you soften your heart, let go of your fears and concerns, and pray in faith, truly and sincerely desiring an answer, THEN you will receive. You have to have faith. We have it, and it is ALL the evidence we need.

Well, still no word on whether Elder de Menezes will stay longer or not. Thursday is the day; he will be going with an interpreter up to Salt Lake City for a consultation with the surgeon. He thinks it's going to go through. I want it to, I want him to be happy. If I could just have all of you meet him and have him bear testimony to you, you would feel his spirit, and the power of his testimony. I hope he gets this, he deserves it. Please pray hard for him. I'll let you know next Tuesday what the verdict is.

Today we took a little trip off of the MTC campus - down to BYU Laundry services to get Elder D's suit coat altered (too long). It was kind of nice! Walking on the sidewalk, seeing cars and people pass by. Wow. Oh, and the weather was SO wonderful today. Perfect Preparation Day weather! Someone even pulled over to ask if we needed a ride, but we politely declined - the Laundry building is a few hundred yards south of the MTC gym, I don't think MTC missionaries are allowed to accept unauthorized rides anyway. So we had the seamstress pin up his sleeves, and all will be well. But, check this out: I noticed a few green Army ROTC Class A uniforms lying around. I even brought my ROTC uniform in way back in the day. I asked the seamstress if they got a lot of ROTC uniforms in. She told me that the supply man from BYU's ROTC had just come in this morning. (Now, remember, BYU and UVU share the same over-all ROTC battalion). He said that the Cougar Battalion is now the largest. At UVU, there are now about 300 cadets signed up! Holy cow, when I was there we only had like 50 or 60! I don't know if you'll think that's cool or not, but I sure thought so!

So, I had a really good interview with Jacobson Sensei on Thursday night. I had been kind of down for some reason, and the talk really helped. I had been letting concerns about classroom behavior, attitudes of other missionaries, and other things tear at my thoughts. I was encouraged to just let those concerns go. If I don't want to deal with them, I can give them to the Savior. The atonement can cover these types of feelings as well. Amazing!

Dad, could you possible send 3 or 4 of those ties that I left with you. I might be sending some back - yes I probably will, but there's this whole tie-exchange craze happening, and I want to trade with a few elders, just for memory's sake of course. I'm even trading one with Durney Sensei tomorrow, and I already traded with Elder D.

Oh, Yoshihiko Kikuchi of the 70 spoke tonight! Awesome! He talked about how our bodies are temples, and then on self mastery. Amazing!
I love you so much! Hope to hear from you soon.

MTC #8: It's Not About Arguments

2009-02-24T23:02:00.000-08:00

So on Wednesday, my district went to the Referral Center to take some chats. So, my first and only chat that day was rather difficult. Jesse C. She started off by saying, "So, tell me one thing that will make me believe in God or religion." From our discussion, I learned that she came from a religious family, but she was quite anti-religious. She said that she had tried to pray when she was younger and never received an answer. The chat lasted for probably 45 minutes or an hour. It seemed like all she wanted was an argument. I kept telling her that nothing I would say would prove God's existence, because religion is about faith. I think she was trying to make me mad, because she would write things like, "Oh, so when you pray, you get an answer? God talks to you? Sends an email? Writes a message in the clouds?" She then tried to bring up the big bang argument "Here's where Science is on my side. The big bang created the world, not God." Part of me wanted to retort, saying something like, "Well, even scientists are starting to admit that some greater force had to have activated the big bang." But, i didn't. This isn't about argument. It's about letting go of your concerns and asking in faith. I challenged her to pray again. "Okay, Paul. I'll try one more lousy time to pray, and hopefully God will give you an answer and tell you that it didn't work." Please pray for her. I wasn't really mad, I was more sad for her, sad that her heart was so hard that she wouldn't even try to hope or exercise any faith. Please, pray hard for her that she will have a softened heart and recognize the gentle voice that will answer. The spirit speaks so softly sometimes, that if you are so set in your ways, you won't hear an answer.

Oh, and then on Saturday, I called this woman named Shel S. to ask about her ordering a copy of "Finding Faith in Christ". She hadn't received it yet, so I re-sent the item, but then talked to her a bit about Christ, and shared from the Book of Mormon. She seemed very interested until I told her that we couldn't mail her the copy because she already ordered the DVD - she would have to receive it along with a visit from the Missionaries. She kindly declined, and said not at this time. Please pray for her too. I'm going to call back this week and tell her about the online lds.org scripture library, so she can at least start to read it.

I called Amy D. back, but again, she was busy, but seemed very kind and said I could try back later. I just have to find the right time! This is so exciting!

So at the Temple this morning, just as we were walking downstairs, I ran into Robert Bennett from LDC. That was so awesome! It seems like I run into someone I know almost every time we leave the MTC!

Oh, by the way Mom, please tell Laurie and Brianna thank you and much gratitude from myself and Elder De Menezes. And please tell everyone about http://www.dearelder.com because they can write an e-mail to me and it gets printed out and delivered to my mailbox here. You have to open an account, but it's free to the Provo MTC. You have to tell them the following: MTC Mailbox #82, mission code: JPN-HIR and date I'm leaving : Mar16.

Well, I'm off to the devotional. Love you!

MTC #7: Teaching with the Spirit

2009-02-17T23:01:00.000-08:00

Well, there's no verdict yet about Elder D. We found out some time last week that Elder de Menezes will have to wait for a consultation with the surgeon on March 5th (11 days before our scheduled departure date). It looks like the surgery to reconnect the severed nerve is quite expensive - VERY expensive. The only way Elder de Menezes will get to have the surgery performed is if the surgeon will offer a discount - something that has happened in the past. Please pray extra hard for this whole situation. As I thought about it a few weeks ago, I got a good feeling about Elder de Menezes serving in Utah for a few months before Japan, but who knows. . . Only the Lord.

Wow, last night was amazing. We practiced teaching Lesson 2 in Japanese with another district. We were all really worried, because our district didn't have all of our outlines finished yet, and hadn't gone over all of the topics in Japanese yet. Oh, and we had just barely learned about the Atonement in Japanese. Yeah, it was a little frightening. Anyway, Elder D and I started teaching Elders Allen and Dadivas. At first, I had my outline notebook out, flipping through it to try and find ideas. I got the feeling to just close it and not worry about it. So I did. I started focusing more on what Elder de Menezes was saying, I started praying harder for him. It was taking us quite a bit of time to explain some of the doctrine, and then Bro. Durney popped his head through the door saying that we had three minutes left.

At that point, I moved into teaching about the atonement, or testifying about it, or both. . . I can't remember exactly what I said, I just remember how it felt. Yeah, Elder De Menezes and I have taught with the spirit before, but never quite like it was last night. I can't really describe what it felt like, just that it was so amazing. I wasn't saying anything profound, they were little, simple statements - but they came from my heart. Wow. . . I hope and pray that we will be able to have that spirit every time we teach.

Hey, can you remember Elder Rea (Ray) and Elder Childs in your prayers. Last night after we got done teaching, Elder Rea wasn't doing too well, he was really frustrated. I was talking a bit with Elder Childs after and he's having some hard times with patience and loving. Please think about them. I think sometimes we get caught up in not knowing what exactly to say, or how to say it in Japanese. But that's not what matters. As Elder Allen said last night, "The investigators won't remember what you said, they'll remember how they felt."

Thank you for the packages and goodies. I'm going to make a confession. . . At first, I tried to give up sweets. It lasted for a few weeks, but then people kept sending me cookies and goodies and sweets. There is NOTHING wrong with that, however, as I have decided to give up my anti-sweet crusade. I figure that when I get to Japan, goodies won't be as readily available, and the food will usually come in really small proportions. I'm sure I'll be able to stay healthy. Although I do have a request. . . Maybe sometime, like at my half-way mark in Japan, you could look up this service Bro. Jacobson told us about. I think it's called Flying Pig (search for it), it's a service that will send actual Costco Food to Missionaries in Japan (yes, they have Costco in Japan). It might be a little pricey, so if so, don't worry about it. But wow, it'd be nice to get something like a nice Costco Apple Pie, chicken bakes, or tortillas - items they don't normally have in Japan, but which do exist at Costco. Again, if it's too pricey, don't worry about it :)

Hey! I just remembered some tender mercies I'd like to share.

Last week, as we were walking up to the temple early morning, we passed some ROTC cadets from BYU. I didn't know any of them, but I called out "ROTC, Hooah!" They responded with "Missionaries, Hooah!" That was pretty cool. THen, on my way back from the temple, I ran into Chris Dunning from my math class, the one we ran into at the Distribution Center that day. Okay, and this morning, my alarm didn't wake me up! But, someone pounded on our door when I needed to wake up. It woke me up, they pounded again. "Oh, sorry, wrong floor". They had unintentionally gone to the wrong room, but it was awesome! We wouldn't have made it to the temple on time if they hadn't made that mistake.

I want you to know how much I love you, and how much I love this Gospel. My testimony of the atonement has grown quite a bit since I've been here. Sometimes, I think the adversary wants me to forget, and those are the times when I get a little down. But then I just get back on my feet and head on upward, remembering that this isn't about me. I know I've got to focus. There is a lot I still have to work on and learn here, so I will.

MTC #6: Medical Drama

2009-02-10T23:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,

Thanks for your prayers, love, and packages. I'm sending a picture CD, hopefully to be delivered by Ellen Amatangelo.

Okay, a little bit of Drama this week. Elder De Menezes went in for a follow up with the ear doctor last week. It was kind of cool, I got to see the inside of his ear (a really tiny camera), but here's the not so good part: there's a tiny hole in his ear drum. He can't get any water inside or there will be an infection that could potentially do a lot of damage. The hole is there because when his tumor was being removed years ago, the Brazilian doctors grafted an artificial eardrum, and it has ripped a little. In the surgery, they accidentally cut the nerve that runs through the ear and branches to the right side of the face - that's what's caused the numbness and lack of use on the right side of his face. Elder D was asked by the doctors at the MTC - if they could get authorization for the surgery - if he would want the surgery to reconnect the nerve. It would mean staying in Utah for another 4 or 5 months and then going to Japan. He said yes, so we'll see what happens. He would be serving in the Provo Mission, so who knows, if it happens, you might get to meet him.

Love you!

MTC #5: Agency

2009-02-03T23:01:00.000-08:00

My first request is for you to start enlisting more people to write me. I hardly get any letters any more. I got a whole bunch the first week, and then it's kind of plummeted into nonexistence. Thanks for the packages though, and letters, they are much appreciated.

Okay, so concerning Elder DeMenezes, I can't remember what all I told you last week, but here's a recap:
On Monday last week, Elder D had a Lumbar Puncture done to test for MS related causes for his face pain (part of which is due to a tumor in his ear from 3 years ago, smashing the three branches of nerves on the right side of his face). So yeah, he had the LP on Monday, and I didn't know that he was supposed to be IN BED for 24 hours. The paper he brought back said that 24 hours of bed rest was recommended. I won't make that kind of mistake again. He did rest for a while, but he came with me to do laundry and such, and go to the temple. The next few days, he had some really bad headaches. We took him to the clinic, and he went back for more tests. It looks like the hole from the LP didn't seal properly, meaning a leakage of brain fluid; less brain fluid, meaning less cushioning for the brain = really bad migraines. So, on Friday, I went with Elder D to the Imaging center place down in Provo by the Hospital. I think I passed Sister Brimhall by the front Desk, but I couldn't remember her name at first. They performed a patch on the LP site, which followed with 24 hours of bed rest. We did some exchanges to swap out staying with him so that no one would have to miss all of class.

I'll tell you though, while he was laying in bed, we had a really good Companion Study. We discussed agency quite a bit. Before coming here, I never really grasped how important exactly agency is. Here's your spiritual message from me for the week:

The church is true, that is certain. But we can't prove its truth using logic. Yes, there is proof, but we're going to get nowhere by trying to argue (I learned that with my little talk with Private Davis at Basic Training - as he tried to share some scripture proving that our church was false, and I - even though not bible bashingly - tried to counter. He wouldn't listen). People must use their agency to choose whether or not to accept the church. I remember mom talking to me forever ago, saying that the spirit works based on knowledge, and I didn't quite understand it, but then I found a scripture - I wrote it down, but can't remember it off of the top of my head. Basically, the spirit speaketh unto men by knowledge, according to their understanding. God can't just inspire men right off the bat saying that the church is true - if he did, that would take away their agency. That's why missionary work is so important. We have to take this message to everyone so they can have the chance to hear it, and the chance to choose whether or not to accept it. Once the knowledge is presented to them, the spirit can then act, and then they must choose.

The great battle before this earth was all about agency, as the adversary fought to take it away from us. That war continues today, as the agency of man is still fought for. I think just about every major conflict has its root in forcing someone to think a certain way. Agency is critical!!! That's part of my schpeel, I can't remember the rest.

I just got the package, thank you so much!!!

Music is good, especially since the other companionship doesn't really like church music/hymns, and their music is a little less (well, not bad, just not stuff from the music list - like Disney music - although the Brother Bear music actually does help me feel the spirit sometimes "Take a look through my eyes, everything changes, you'll be amazed what you'll find" Ooh, and "Tell everybody I'm on my way, and loving every step I take".

Love you! More to come later!

MTC #4: So Little Time

2009-01-27T23:00:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I have run out of time again!! not on the email time, but today was just full. Elder De Menezes had a Lumbar Puncture (ouch!) yesterday. The neurologist thinks that his problem might be rooted in Multiple Sclerosis or something stroke-related. I'm hoping it's nothing that serious. He had a tumor a few years ago that squashed the nerves on the right side of his face. All this information!! So little time to write it!

Anyway, I came to an awesome realization this week. I've been thinking way too much about myself and what I want. The hardest moments were when I was consumed with myself. Then all of a sudden, I started trying to stop focusing on myself and life was BEAUTIFUL! I'm still kind of nervous for teaching on Thursday, but I think this week will be better!

Thank you so much for the prayers, packages, letters, and that AWESOME article!!! It made me so excited for my after-mission career pursuit!!

More coming next week, sorry!! I love you!

MTC #3: More Communication

2009-01-20T23:49:00.000-08:00

This week was pretty good. My companion and I are getting better at being on time. I've been trying to urge Elder D to wake up just a little bit earlier so we wouldn't have to rush as much to be on-time, but he was saying "Preach my gospel says 6:30". Well, after meeting with one of the Portuguese/Japanese teachers, he decided that he wants to start waking up at 6:00 and use the extra time to study. I usually wake up at 6:10 anyway, so I'm fine with the earlier wake up.

So, I can't remember if I said anything about this last week, but Elder D made a request to possibly transfer to a different district - one with a Portuguese/Japanese teacher. It's funny, there are about two or three Port/Japanese teachers, and none of them teach our class. Well, Branch Pres. Bird hasn't switched him yet, and doesn't want to switch him. Elder D doesn't really want to switch either, and I don't want him to. Communication is a little hard, as always, but it's okay. We're getting used to it.

Plus, Amorim Sensei (another person that knows Col. Fischer, by the way) has been coming twice a week to tutor Elder D. And now, Texiera Sensei is going to be meeting with him a bit to help him too. The Translation Game between Elder Everts and Elder D works a bit, but I think with all this extra tutoring help, Elder D should be okay.

I'm getting kind of nervous for Thursday, we're teaching lesson two. Elder D and I have read through it a few times, but I'm still working on my outlines and lesson plans. Hopefully, it'll all work out.

Ooh, and some exciting news for Elder D - tomorrow, we're teaching lesson 2 in Portuguese (Jacobson sensei's recomendation), to give elder D a chance to teach in his native language. I'm going to try and learn how to bear my testimony in Portuguese so I can participate a little.

Thanks for the packages! Everything is looking great! We went to the Devotional tonight - Elder Dickson of the seventy spoke and it was pretty good! BTW Elder Holland spoke last week! AMAZING!!!

Love you!

MTC #2: Companions and Teaching

2009-01-13T23:26:00.000-08:00

Tuesday night was wonderful, my district went to the temple with Elder De Menezes (hereby abbreviated as Elder D) as he went through for the first time. It was a wonderful experience. I got to serve as one of his escorts, the other was a Portuguese interpreter.

On Thursday night, we taught some "pretend" investigators. I was kind of nervous, but I thought it went okay. Then I realized all the things I did wrong. I was so worried about Elder D's language barrier that I completely forgot that it's not all about following a structured lesson pattern. We're supposed to teach based on the investigator's needs and interests. I was afraid that Elder D wouldn't know quite what to say, so I wrote some phrases down for him to use. We both agreed in Companion Study the next day that we wouldn't do that again. As long as we put enough effort into our studies, we will be able to go in there next time without anything written down.

That companion study on Friday last week was amazing. It was the first time pretty much that we were able to have an actual companion study session. Every other day almost, we were too busy with trying to figure out the problems with Elder D's bank card, and what not, but we've finally started a good flow of companion studies. I think we'll be a lot better off now. I'm still kind of nervous; we're teaching lesson one in English again on Thursday (with a 15 minute time period before hand using our get-to-know-you-in-Japanese skills). Egh, I'm even more nervous about three weeks almost from now when we have to teach lesson one in Japanese. Oh well, it will all work out.

I love my companion, and I'm trying to communicate with him to go to bed earlier, but he keeps staying up late. It keeps me up later because the light is so bright, even though it's just from the desk.

My Japanese is coming along quite well. I'm enjoying learning all this religious lingo. I have the basics pretty well covered, and it's helping me to pick up prayer and testimony stuff quite well. We got challenged to always pray in Japanese after we learned how, and so I have been. Even on Sunday, when I saw Bro. Eggett at MTC choir and he asked me to pray: I said it in Japanese. No, I wasn't just trying to grab attention. Okay, that might have been a small . . . NO! Really, I wasn't! I'm still working on obedience. I'm trying to keep my commitments! I can do this! Oh, and I saw Ellen Amatangelo, she took a picture for you, Lacey. That was kind of cool.

Well, my dear family, I love you so much! Next week, I'll bring my journal with me so I can remember a bit more to say. Ah, the stories, the memories, the people, it's all wonderful. Love you!

MTC #1: So Much to Say, Not Enough Time

2009-01-06T23:17:00.000-08:00

I had a pleasant surprise last night when I found out that we would actually be able to email you while at the MTC (contrary to what I thought the mission handbook said).

Unless you are a Peterson or are living the Peterson home, please please please include a return address on letters. On normal days, yes, I have NO time to write letters. However, Tuesdays will be my preparation days and I will have enough time to respond to some letters then. So please! Return addresses!

My companion's name is Elder De Menezes, and he is from Salvador Brazil. He's going to the Hiroshima mission as well, but speaking Portuguese, Spanish, English, and Japanese. I love him to death! He is so funny! "I don't-a-baleev it!" "Waaaaght!!??" "Elder Fart, you stink" Through my interaction with him so far, I have started to realize some of the reasons why we are companions. It has strengthened my testimony concerning our Heavenly Father's mindfulness of us and what we need. I got a little discouraged Thursday night, when we started teaching little pieces of the first lesson with our companion. Elder D is still learning English, so communication is a bit difficult sometimes. We play translation game just about every day in class. Thankfully, there's an elder from California (Elder Everts) who took three years of Spanish and speaks it very well. Elder D speaks Portuguese, but is very very skilled in Spanish as well, so it works out. I started thinking things like, "Why wouldn't H.F. call Elder D with Elder Everts?" and as I saw how good the other companionships were at teaching, "If I were with another companion, this wouldn't be nearly as difficult." But don't worry, it's all good. My last thoughts thursday night as I went to sleep were directed toward my Heavenly Father: "Tasukete onegaishimasu. . . Tasukete onegaishimasu!" ("Please, Please help me!")

Thankfully, another testament of H.F.'s love came through a series of events. Elder D was having a lot of difficulties trying to learn English, so we went to the bookstore looking for a Portuguese-Japanese dictionary. We couldn't find one, so we went and talked with a sister in the back. We found out that they forgot to give Elder D the books he needed. She then gave him a whole bunch of Portuguese-Japanese books, A LOT! I was so relieved, and as the days go by, more relief comes. I know that we are companions for certain reasons, ones that I'm discovering, and ones that I have yet to find out. The church is true!!!!

One thing that I was a little worried about was the teaching. In school, we're used to Teacher-directed teaching. However, here, a lot of the teaching is "Self-Directed" teaching. We get three hours a day of Missionary Directed Time. I have resolved to be better, to work on my planning skills so that I can be so effective. Elders Jemmet and Ward (some of the elders that taught me at the TRC) had only been here for a week when they taught me, and did an amazing job. Please pray for me to be able to be better at planning, and more obedient as well (I'm still working on that 10:30 bed time. . . Well, the other three elders in my Residence Hall are working on it as well ;)

Okay, in our room, there's also Elder Childs from Vernal (and Arizona, and West Virginia, and everywhere in-between) and his companion Elder Rea (the first Elder I interacted with after the meeting on Wednesday; miraculously, he's going to Hiroshima as well!) They both seem so familiar, in fact so does Elder D. Like before with the army, when things just click together, when the people I interact with are so familiar, I don't take it as coincidence. This is all meant to be.

I have had soooo many tender mercies, and chances to run into Elders I've known before. Elders Carter and Heath from the TRC, I was so blessed to see them, they taught with such a strong spirit. They left for the mission field today. I'm sad that I won't see them any more, but am so thankful for their examples, and am excited for them!

Ooh, and I saw Elder Patrick Walton for the first time Sunday night!!!! So cool! My high school buddy Elder Jonathan Horan (who has the same meal schedule with me!). This happens so much! I can't even say how many people that I have run into in this manner!!

I LOVE the MTC. It's kind of like a vacation like dad said. Compared to basic!! OH! Some Elders complain about how long the days are, and waking up at 6:30. I'm not being prideful about it, but for me, it's no big deal. Yes, I have some hard experiences, like communicating with my companion, but it's all good, because of the mountainous spiritual blessings I receive. Maybe this is like the Celestial kingdom. . . Hard work, but never-ending happiness. . . More to come next week!

I know this is where I'm supposed to be, and I don't really feel homesick.

My prayers and love to you!

-Pitason Choro ;)

Hisashiburi desu ne!

2008-11-09T17:25:00.000-08:00

(The preceding text was Japanese for "It's been a while!")
Greetings fellow earthlings; my apologies for the lack of posts over the last few weeks. Life is just as busy as ever (if not even more so). School has been going well, except for the fact that I always procrastinate my homework and leave it till the very last second (curses!!!). . .

Anyhoo, I thought I would give an update on my current plans and happenings:

The mission papers are in and "Ready for Assignment"! I had my final interview with the Stake President a few weeks ago, and he finally got the papers submitted to Salt Lake City on Thursday. I should hopefully have a mission call within the next couple of weeks. Feel free to comment and post a guess as to where I'll get sent. Whoever has the closest guess gets a candy bar (or something else a bit more exciting, we'll see. . .)

For those of you who don't know, I am in the Hale Center Theater Orem's production of A Christmas Carol, as a Tenor in the caroling choir. It's been pretty nice so far, and the show is going to be awesome! There are a lot of talented people involved this year. Reserve your tickets now! ;)

Battle Buddies

2008-10-12T18:19:00.000-07:00

So I just got a call from one of my battle buddies from training, Private Hammond. It made me miss the Army life even more than I already do. It's hard to describe, but there's just something wonderful about it- mostly the relationships you form with those you serve with. It probably has to do with the fact that I'm the youngest in my family with three older sisters, NO brothers. So when I was put into an environment with 69 other guys living in the same room, it was like my need for brotherhood was finally filled. Yeah, I've gained brothers through other venues, but there's something different and special about the ones I gained in the Army. Maybe it's our purpose, maybe it's the hardships we endured and overcame with each other. I'm guessing it's both. No matter what the case may be, I am so grateful for my brothers. No one ever has to be alone, and this is especially true in my case (even though I was one of three active members of the church, and felt alone at times.) Life is good.

By the way, I've updated my music player. You can now choose which songs you want to listen to. I hope you take time to listen to the track that inspired all of this "Life in Technicolor". You might not find it amazing, but really, it's exactly how I feel. I'm still living in technicolor. . . :)

Homecoming

2008-09-26T15:34:00.000-07:00

Well, this will be my umpteenth time starting a new blog, but I hope this one will stick. I just barely graduated from training for the Army, and am a Combat Engineer in the National Guard. Training was pretty tough, and I don't think I'd ever go through something like that again, but it changed me a bit. I'm home now and suddenly life seems a lot more vivid. I just barely purchased the new Coldplay album, and the opening track describes it perfectly: "Life in Technicolor"

So yeah, now that I'm living in technicolor, I might as well try to keep a better record of my thoughts and experiences. I've got plenty of experiences from training that I can share, and I'll probably get around to that sometime, but for now I'll just end with this:

Appreciate everything that you have, everything that you're going through, and everything that you've been through. No matter how empty or crazy your life might feel, everything happens for a reason, and every trial you go through is meant to teach you something- if you let it.