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!
Showing posts with label forgetful moment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label forgetful moment. Show all posts
Monday, November 2, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
The Rainy Season
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.
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.
. . . 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.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Crazy Things, Amazing Places
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!
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!
Monday, June 1, 2009
There Can Be Miracles
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!
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!
Monday, April 20, 2009
Birthday and Zone Conference
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
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
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