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!

The Field Is Changing...

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.

Some Scary, Some Miracles, Still Loving Japan

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

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

Sharing the Gospel: No More Comfort Zone

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.

1st E-mail From Japan: Pinch Me

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!