Deck Za Harrs wis boughs of Horry FA-RA-RA-RA-RA....‏

So this week was crazy and I don`t know where to start. I LOVED TALKING TO YOU ALL ON *CHRISTMAS! (*26th) Probably the fastest hour of my mission yet. This week was great, the ward is so awesome here and I love them so much.

Monday I was not feeling well, everything seemed to just make me disappointed and sad and miss Christmas at home, but I really poured out my heart to heavenly father that day wishing that I could just stop feeling so down. (if this is a surprise to anyone yes there are times on your mission when you hate it, when you feel useless, stupid, worthless, and you want to come home). We had the ward Christmas party where the kids in the ward wrote a play of the Nightmare Before Christmas which I really didn`t understand because I haven`t seen the movie and it was a in Japanese. The ward had a very nice program about Christmas and had various songs, bell ringers, it was a very nice evening and Yoshinaga came too. Then at the ward party we met a very strange fellow from Abeno (in Osaka) he took a bus for 2 hours to come to the ward party and gave all the missionaries bread, and then told us a story about a sister on his mission that had a moustache. Anyway he looked ridiculous! I snapped and had to go the bathroom I was laughing so hard. He had maybe the world`s worst haircut, and had a hat that made him look like Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh. I can`t adequately describe him but he was soo interesting.

Christmas eve we spent buying and assembling christmas presents to take to all of our investigators and it really did help the lack of Christmas Spirit to be wrapping presents and Shopping for others. That night we went to the Fujikawa Family`s for dinner and their family is so adorable! I really just felt like I was with my own family and it was so nice to be with them. I have started to think of more the Ward here as my family, to think in a grander sense of Family. I say this because as I was praying and wishing I was home and saying how much I miss my family and all, I felt as if Heavenly Father was saying to me, `I miss my family too` That has carried me through this week along with Jacob 4:7 and various other things. I just love everyone!

Christmas day the Ward gave us presents and were so nice to us I just love them so much. We delivered our Christmas presents to our investigators and it was great. Then that night we had a dinner with the Tanaka Family and Yoshinaga and it was great. A different Christmas, but it was cool to be a part of Christmas, to live the meaning of Christmas and not just celebrate it.

Since Christmas not much has happened. Everyone is gearing up for the New Year and so EVERYONE is busy! I am staying here in Kitarokko for next transfer as well along with Elder Wilson. This is hard, but there is a satisfaction that comes from doing the Lord`s work.

I love you all! I want to call again every day, but oh well. I miss all of you and wish you a Happy New Year! 2014? It can`t be. Anyway I love you all!

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace

Knock on Wood

So you know how I said that bike wrecks seemed like a transferly thing, WRONG, two more this week, with two pairs of holy (holes in them) suit pants to go with! I am fine, the bicycle I was riding has been since deemed unsafe and I am now riding a different one until the dangerous one is either fixed or replaced. I really am just so done with bikes and hills but oh well.

Home life seems as hectick as it ever was in December. I have received both the Christmas packages you sent although the element of surprise has been ruined by customs declarations... I tried not to look I promise! haha anyway. Everyone here in Japan is really busy, or at least they love to tell the missionaries they are because it`s a super easy way to not be direct (which can also be interpreted as offensive in Japanese) and so everyone just claims `busy` as their cop-out excuse. Once on an exchange with Elder Kemp in Yonago we even had a gaggle of High School age kids ride past on their bikes in unison shouting at us in English, `I`M BUSY!` We were quite surprised to say the least, laughed about it for a bit and then chased them down and invited them to English Class. But yes everyone here is very busy, especially witht the semester ending for all those in the rigorous schools over here which aren`t quite as `user friendly` as American schools.

So details on the call home. I don`t call you family, you get to call me! And so you call me on YOUR Christmas Day so I will actually be talking to you on the 26th. (my exact 6th month mark) so about that I am either 15 or 16 hours ahead I`m not really sure which sadly, but you make an international call to the companionship cell phone and we can talk to each other! MERRY CHRISTMAS, hee-haw, -Sam.  So yes I don`t know how that works with Abby but no I cannot skype and a 3 way call would be almost impossible so sorry Abby I can`t talk to you til next year.

This week being Papa`s Birthday and the christmas season and other significant days and memories running through my mind I really had more trouble with homesickness this week than I have had for a while but I am fine don`t worry.

My companion has started a bad habit of pulling out food so it looks like he is going to cook for the both of us (like I do for him when I cook) but then he eats it all and doesn`t tell me he isn`t going to share! lame, lame, lame, lame, LAME! but anyway I am doing fine. My companion has one of those `know it all` attitudes which doesn`t exactly help him personally or as a missionary. Although I do love doctrinally proving him wrong as terrible as that may be. (Just because I may not seem like it in Japanese I am not stupid pal!) He loves to think that his way is best and doesn`t take well to advice or correction from me or our mission leaders. 

I BEAT A REAL JAPANESE PERSON AT PING-PONG!!! I`m so proud of myself. They all hold the paddle upside down like it`s chopsticks and it`s not a paddle its a `ラケットraketto` Every church here in Japan has at least two ping pong tables. It`s the equivalent of a ward gym in the USA. But yeah every Saturday the ward has a sports activity which is usually Baseball (Boo) but it became too cold so now it is Ping Pong which is more fun anyway.

Abby that`s awesome with Roberto! I laughed when I read about `Roberto the Beautiful` because basically all Japanese names have a direct meaning from their Kanji which is sometimes quite interesting. For example Elder Sekiguchi`s name, Sekiguchi means `mouth relationship` and he didn`t think it was very funny when I called him elder kiss once haha.

Yoshinaga San this week we taught about focusing on the spiritual aspects of life because he understands all the doctrine perfectly, and he understands the Gospel logically, but doesn`t really believe it and so he doesn`t really want to be baptized and yeah. So we talked to him about how we are half spirit and no matter how smart we might be, if we don`t accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, that we can`t progress to know the mysteries of God. He likes meeting with us and realizes that we have something of value for him, but he is too blind to notice that it`s just right in front of him. He always comes to chruch but he comes late (after the sacrament) wearing some warm up suit type thing and studies mechanical physics during sacrament meeting! GRR, he missed the entire purpose of the lesson! People just don`t get that if it`s true they should get baptized and follow Christ`s example. We`re working with Yoshinaga so he can gain that confirmation, but it`s a process.

People here in Japan just don`t have a concept of truth regarding religion. They don`t see a need for it and so whether or not our church is true has no importance to them. They just don`t see the big picture. And they often don`t care to which breaks my heart. I just want to be like don`t you get it?! but sadly it is a completely foreign concept to these people and we have to start from square -1. We can`t teach lesson one straight off because they don`t have any idea who god is, they probably think he`s a rock for all we know, so to them returning to live with god and our families forever doesn`t make any sense. They don`t know who Jesus Christ is, they`ve never heard of scriptures before and even if they have they probably have never read them. This is hard for these people to accept. But nonetheless it is the truth.

I am excited to talk with y`all in a few short days! Have a Merry Christmas!

Love,

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out!

So I know you`re all wondering, no I did not get in any bike wrecks this week #christmasmiracle

So I don`t know if this is just me or what but I read everyone elses emails whether they are on a mission or at college or whatever they may be doing, and I just feel like I`m missing something. I`m enjoying my mission and I really like being on a mission, but I don`t know. Is it this hard for everyone? They sure don`t make it sound like it. I don`t know I feel like I just doubt myself and everything else way too much.

This week started off with us taking that cursed bicycle in to the shop in hopes that is was wrecked bad enough that I would never have to ride it again. The deal was if the bike repair cost more than ￥10000 then I could get a new bicycle, but no! I was ￥300 yen short so now I have to ride that same darn bike, but hopefully it`s problems are over.

Every saturday the ward has their sports activity which we go to for an hour and lately I`ve been getting hooked on Ping Pong I`m pretty sure. I never want to leave and even though I usually get destroyed by all of the Japanese who must be born with some kind of inherent table tennis skill gene, I still have a good time and it`s a great way to build relationship among the ward and investigators.

We finally found a new investigator! We found the Sakamoto Family who we taught briefly about eternal families and they loved it and after not having any new investigators since the first week of October I was very excited and so Elder Wilson and I went to celebrate by going to Esquerre, which is this burger place, one of the very few in Japan that actually knows how to make american food. Oh it was so good. Although it is funny to hear people order `Supaa Dainomaito Baagaa` Gotta Love Katakana...

Japanese Members love the missionaries, largely because they are almost all converts! And so they are all super helpful and incredibly nice, and I love it! I swear Japanese people are just the greatest, they are just so humble and respectful and nice and probably more `christian` than most christian people. But yes they are the greatest.

On Sunday we watched the First Presidency Christmas devotional (in English on a member`s iPad) and I LOVED Elder Nelson`s Talk. I am excited for Christmas and to be able to talk to you all but along with it being Christmas and all I have been battling homesickness more than usual. Also after church on sunday the ward did a caroling activity in which we went to the elderly homes nearby and sang them christmas songs and the primary kids made them christmas cards. When they say elderly in Japan they mean ELDERLY, these people were ancient! I thought they would fall apart if I were to touch any of them, one woman was so amazed that I spoke Japanese to her and wouldn`t let go of my hand when we went to shake their hands and wish them merry christmas, It was just a small thing that really meant a lot to me. On that same note I shared a thought in Elder`s Quorum the other day and one of the Members who is fluent in English after the lesson made a point to congratulate me on how he`s seen my Japanese become much better just since coming here. I know these aren`t big things, but they mean more to me than most big things do. So never forget the little things, share the kind thought, no good deed goes unwanted.

So as for Christmas, calling at about 5:00 your time works great. President Zinke says 1 hour which I think is awfully cruel. But I look forward to talking with you. Maybe I`ll even speak some Japanese. I look forward to talking with each of you and have some things in mind to talk about because I don`t have as long as I want to talk.

I don`t know how I would make it without all you back at home and all your love and support!

Merry Christmas!

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace

Cutify‏

So this week quite a bit happened I suppose. So after last week being bothered and what not we did what any sensible missionaries did and we went to work. And yep that`s about the result of our efforts so far. But as for the exciting things this week there are a few.

First, Baikingu.(yes this is how they say Viking in Japanese) It`s an all you can eat yakiniku so of course we had far too much teriyaki beef, pork, chicken (mmmm) and loved every morsel of it. I think we had about 3 pounds each, it was delicious, but made biking a little bit more difficult after.

Second, two of the youth in the Kitarokko ward have decided to serve missions and we are so excitied for them! they both really want to serve in America and learn English and it`s so cool to see the opposite side of things. They thanked us for our example and really making them want to serve and right now I sometimes wonder if that was the whole purpose of me being in this area, but I hope there is more for me to do. I`m just glad I could inspire someone all the way over here and to see the effects missionary service can have　even immediately.

Third, I got in my transferly bike wreck this week. We were riding down this tiny little country road through the woods downhill with bamboo all around on both sides of the road, when my brakes decide to not work and I quickly bail into the ditch on the side of the road, tuck and roll to little or no damage to me or the bike amazingly. we then walked the bike the 35 minutes back to the apartment to fix the brakes... I miss cars. I am excused from every family bike ride for the rest of my life after these two years. I promise I am careful riding my bike, but yeah, I don`t know if I want to keep up this habit of a bike wreck every transfer.

Fourth, I learned this week that the elect know the voice of the shepherd, and this week while we were housing a large apartment complex about 4 stories up we came across Yamamoto San, who upon hearing we were missionaries said `Morumon san desu ka?` which basically means `is it/are you the mormons?` and had been waiting for the mormon missionaries to visit, she had learned from them when she was very young and had lost contact with them as time went on, she couldn`t come to church because she had no way to get there, but it just goes to show that people are waiting for us, they recognize us as servants of the Lord and will respond to his call through us. Sadly she will probably become the sister`s investigator though...

Fifth, it was weird being in Japan on Pearl Harbor Day.

So Japanese people are very non-confrontational. their houses usually have gates, with a little doorbell on the gate sometimes with a video camera and they don`t want to talk face to face usually, so you end up talking to a box in most your contacts and can people feel the spirit through a box? usually not! and then if they do come outside to talk to you, they will stand on their porch which is usually much higher than where you are and address you from there while you in your low valley addresses the high and mighty Lord of the House on his high mountain.

Also, everything is Cutified. Japanese people love to make things cute or in Japanese `Kawaii!` which you hear far too often. everything is just shrunken, little cute things. I don`t really know how better to explain it but think of everything with a bit of a hello kitty-ness added in to it. They love that stuff.

I hope all is well back at home, the Holidays are hard because it`s cold, and you miss things from home, but either way everything is good. I am really hoping my Japanese picks up a lot soon, but I guess the Lord doesn`t need me to be fluent, he just needs me to do my best. I love and miss all of you! I`m excited to hear about the World Cup Groupings, Japan is looking to have a pretty solid path to the next round, the Yanks will most likely lose to Ghana for the third consecutive world cup, and once again let the nation down. I have been enjoying the advent calendar and the christmas spirit although Christmas here is just simply commercial it seems which saddens me. I am excited to hear from all of you in a few weeks! I swear I haven`t been gone that long! I miss you all and wish you a Merry Christmas!

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace

Subject.

What to say... Okay so last week a few interesting things happened.

Zone Conference. My first one and it was nice to get together with all the missionaries in the neighboring zones of whom I know like zero people... I enjoy getting together with the other missionaries because one, it is a chance to learn how other people do missionary work, and two, because it beats biking endlessly with no success in Kitarokko. As great as it all is to talk about the most successful ways to do missionary work and how to really help your investigators, it doesn`t make a difference when you can`t talk to them! I set a goal to be fluent by six months (Christmas Day) and I am realizing how impossible that goal is with this ridiculous language. I still want to reach it, but my problem is I haven`t had an experience yet where I`ve been surprised with my Japanese, or that I have felt like things have gotten easier, I just feel like I will never learn this language. I try really hard, I do everything people tell me to to more effectively learn and remember what I learn, and comprehend, but I just feel like the only reason that my mission is two years long is because I will be so helpless with this language for the first 18 months or however long it takes me to master this.

So I haven`t had a necessarily bad week, but I just don`t feel all that great. I was able to celebrate thanksgiving complete with pie, potatoes, stuffing, the works and it was delicious. (thank you for the package I finally got it on Wednesday, just in time, and I also got the dictionary and the christmas advent calendar package thank you for being amazing family!) but I just don`t really feel good. I feel like I am working hard, and doing what I am supposed to do for the right reasons, but basically I just am feeling down. I feel like the Holidays are just going to be the worst time ever, thanksgiving was incredibly bittersweet, and I don`t even want to think about Christmas, I try to listen to christmas music to boost my spirits sometimes and then it just makes me think of home and AHHH!!! anyway, I hope all is well and it sounds like y`all had a great thanksgiving which is great.

We aren`t really teaching many people here, and the only people that will meet with us are people who are super old investigators who don`t progress well if at all, or mentally ill people. Anyone who is decently smart it seems, unless they know English, doesn`t want to waste their valuable time with two americans trying to talk to them about God and Christ who they don`t care about and have gotten along fine without for thousands of years. As junior companion my `responsibility` is new investigators and of course we struggle to find anyone who will meet with us for the sake of religion and not just because we`re Americans. Then our zone leader gives me a call being like well why don`t you have any new investigators in your area the past two weeks, and I want to ask him, if two japanese guys came to your door and in awful english asked if they could meet with you and discuss Buddhism would you listen to them for more than 5 minutes? That is really how people see us I feel and I know I shouldn`t be cynical or negative but I just get frustrated as you can imagine.

I don`t mean to rant, but this week has been hard. I love you all and I will try and share more happy, fun news about this place I now have to call home and the people here. I love and miss you all! (Rebecca I am writing you a letter about your current situation.)

Mom, I would love to write a letter to all my pals and buds on missions, but I don`t even have enough time to write my family! so I will see what I can do, but email time is very short! People like to imagine that you have all this time to write letters, but really I have about 2-3 hours to email and write everyone that emails and writes me because I have to do things like Study and Shop and Clean the apartment on P-Day which is only about 6 hours long. I would LOVE to write every member of our family and all my friends every week, but there isn`t time.

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace

Kitarokko‏

So I have a lot to say and not a lot of time.

 

1- Heat Tech. It`s like a Japanese under armour thing and it is basically essential in keeping me warm in this weather.

 

2- I got hit by a car! not dangerously, but the driver was so horrified that I was hurt and I was truly just fine and I thought it was cool to say I had been hit by a car. Me and my bike were fine, I flew only a few feet and was totally fine clothes and all. But havig done it once it doesn`t need to happen again.

 

3- Transfers, they are super hectic and not very fun at all. for some it is a chance to see all their buddies in the misison, but I don`t have a whole lot of those so yeah. My carry on wheel broke... so lugging around a 60ish pound bag the whole time from train station to bus stop to the Okayama apartment, back the the bus stop to the train station to the other bus stop to the other train station to the kittarokko apartment was quite the expedition. I envy the missions with cars.

 

4- Kitarokko. Kitarokko is north of kobe and it means north rokko, rokko is the mountain separating us from kobe and yes, so I am in perhaps the most mountainous region of the misison which means I have quite a fun time biking everywhere... But the ward here is incredible and the bishop knew Uncle Grant!?! How I have no clue!

 

5- my new companion is elder jordan wilson from oregon and he is good. he studied japanese for 11 years before his mission (cheater) and is pretty skilled for only a fourth transfer missionary. We are pretty different people, he is a `LAX BRO` and I am not one of those people so that probably says enough. He looks like Spencer Randall, Josh Oldroyd, and Zach Rosander all morphed into one being.

 

6- E.J.  he is our philippino investigator we teach in english, but somehow found on youtube a video of an endowment session someone had taken... and had lots of questions about that... However, he is very interested in the message and seems to be pretty golden and I am glad to have an english investigator.

 

7- The Primary Program. The Japanese primary program was a little different from the american ones, much more professional and I must say very well done. However the primary is about one fifth the size of ours so that may have something to do with it.

 

8- I said goodbye to all the Yonago investigators and it was far more sad that I had imagined. You really do learn to love those you serve. I hope I develop that same love here in Kitarokko as well.

 

So other than that I really am just having a good time and I`m happy, not because I am necessarily having success in the way of baptisms, but in the Lord`s way. I feel like I have found myself here in Japan even though I can`t speak the language I know I am just where the Lord wants me. I really am looking forward to the packages and I hope all of you know how grateful I am for such a wonderful family. The best one in the world. Everyone who isn`t a Pace wishes they were. I will try and celebrate thanksgiving the best I can. I don`t know if I can find Turkey anywhere, but I did find, corn, mashed potatoes and I am trying to make a makeshift apple and chocolate cream pie in our toaster oven. I love and miss you all! I`ll be thinking of you all on thursday and I wish I could be watching home alone and college football with you, but just know I am doing something better.

 

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace, ぺース長老

(No Subject)

Well this week I transfer to Kitarokko which is in the Kobe Zone and I`m pretty excited but totally scared out of my mind! At least I`m not training! This will be my third companion in three transfers in Japan so we`ll see what challenges and adventures this presents.

This week I had my first dream in Japanese and I don`t remember what was happening really, other than in my dream I was teaching Yamaguchi and he was being difficult (as usual) about not being able to come to church because it`s cold. Anyway apparently I was sleeptalking/sleeptestifying but either way I hope that this is a sign of progression in the language that will come shortly. Let`s cross our fingers! Anyway I will miss Yonago and the good people and all that has happened here. I`m officially done being trained as a missionary and so obviously I know everything there is to know about how to do missionary work in Japan... If only. I really like doing missionary work and I know it`s what the Lord wants me to be doing, but sometimes a little more help could be nice. I know Japanese fluency isn`t what will convert these people, but it sure wouldn`t hurt to have that weapon in my arsenal so to speak.

So this week we lost contact with Miyake, our investigator who has to come to church more before he can be baptized, but he has work on sunday and blah blah... anyway so we went nearly two weeks without contact from him, and then decided to turn our companionship into Elder Holmes and Elder Watson and did some detective work, went to his work, tracked down his bicycle among like the hundred or so that were there (which is no easy task mind you) and left him a sketchy note telling him to meet us at the church. Anyway he saw our number on the note and gave us a call and he is once again ready to be baptized if he could just come to church! Also, he is a very studious person and searches all over the internet and everywhere to find information about the church and developed a big problem regarding the Mountain Meadows Massacre. Now some people may think of that as an obstacle, but to me it was evidence that I, Elder Jonathan Pace, have a part to play in this work. I can`t speak Japanese very well, but I could explain to him from my own research (which I had to do on P-Day and is a boring use of P-Day time) and knowledge of Church History and I was able to resolve his concern about one of the darkest chapters of church history. I know it probably doesn`t sound like much, but I have a strong feeling that this was something that I was meant to do to help Miyake come unto Christ. Now if only he would literally come to church! 

I find I get discouraged and let down sometimes by my missing my own expectations and impatience. This morning I was expressing frustration on how few members of the church there are and how I wish the pace at which the work was moving forward was as much of a testimony builder as seeing the progress of individuals. I feel like I say a lot of things and I express my thoughts, doubts, etc. more than most people. Obviously I have faith and my resolve is strong enough in that faith that it isn`t shaken, but sometimes I feel like I have more doubts out here than I did before. I have turned to my patriarchal blessing a lot lately and just wondering how I can be who I`m told I can be. I am growing stronger everyday, and I`m grateful for the opportunity I have to serve these people and bring them the joy that only the gospel can bring. But I am sure I feel as many people often feel, that a little more divine help would be quite beneficial. I was thinking a lot about why I want to be great, what drives me to improve, and I still can`t quite put a finger on it exactly, but I just have this inner ambition to achieve greatness. And sometimes I think because of that, I will never reach my desired destination of perfection. I don`t think I am alone in feeling this way, but I know I`m not alone along the way.

I really love hearing from everyone! I wish I could read all the emails during the week and then accordingly respond to everyone that writes me, but alas I don`t ever have the time. P-Day would be so great if you didn`t have all the things you have to do on P-Day. I am learning and progressing a lot, but I also have a lot of struggles, many of which I bring upon myself. I appreciate all the support and the love from everyone! Mom I would give you my street address but it`s all in Kanji so 1) I can`t read it and/or type it. and 2) there are like no street signs in Japan. there are for like the major roads, but there are a million little alleyway roads that are crazy tiny and super hard to navigate! Also Rebecca, many of the `yards` here are like giant zen gardens and you would really like the style of them. I`m going to miss Yonago and being in a (yon-nin) 四人 (four people) though. All of you are probably reading this thinking `man he takes himself way to seriously` maybe true. Anyhow things are good, I`m happy and enjoying missionary life, taking on Japanese one word at a time, and trying to take in the experience that I have in front of me. I love and miss you all! Hope all is well! I love hearing from you!

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace ペース長老

ハッピーハロウィーン!!! (Happy Halloween!) (I know I`m a week late)‏

Okay so I feel like I didn`t email much last week which is kind of true, but I never have time to say everything or to really respond to all the great support I get from such an amazing family! I Love you! It really is the greatest to know that no matter how crumby things get around the world, that there is always someone looking out for you. That help is just around the corner so to speak. So yes mom and dad I ate the sugar cookies on Halloween and they were great! We don`t really have counterspace here so we cleared off the table the four of us eat at, (a little smaller than the average card table) and rolled out and cut our pumpkin shaped sugar cookies and frosted them with Nucrema which is basically Nutella, but not quite the same. We had to cook them one by one in the toaster oven here because nobody has real ovens that I know of. We then ate them while listening to Big Pumpkin and life was a little happier. Throughout October I put a Halloween sticker on each day in my planner about the size of my thumbnail, and Elder George told me I wasn`t focusing on the work and I told him to Rub a Monkey`s Tummy with his Head. Missionaries can be normal people who look forward to Holidays and can celebrate them too! 

So I found the joy of Ramen this week. Not that cheap instant crap, but REAL ramen. I don`t think I will ever go back. It was delicious, I have had chinese style ramen with pork and other deliciousness, and then after district meeting I had a spicy ramen that burned the back of the throat just enough to warm your whole being, but not too hot that I didn`t want to eat more. Basically they need Ramen in America. Also one of the members of the Bishopric here owns a ramen and a tempura restaurant and gave us a `free meal pass` that we can use whenever we want as many times as we want! I am so happy about it! 

Rebecca it`s crazy that all of your friends are starting to come home! I`m sad I miss it. That`s so exciting though!

Yes in case anyone was wondering I am too hard on myself. I don`t know why but I just am. I just expect myself to be better than people around me and that competitive spirit is really motivating, but also frustrating. I have decided to measure my own success rather than let other people tell me what I am good or bad at. I know what I have to do, but if I don`t do it for myself, I will just be bothered because I don`t like other people telling me things I already know I`m bad at. I am almost finished with my `training` on the mission which is pretty exciting, but I will miss that extra hour of companion study. I just am really scared I will have to train next transfer and that is not exactly something I feel capable of doing. I finally got some rain pants and as goofy as they may be, I love them because now I am not soaked all day! So since in our apartment are two companionships and both Elder Kemp and mine`s companion are zone leaders, they go on exchanges fairly frequently, meaning Elder Kemp and I are here in Yonago doing the real work. 2 second transfer missionaries yay! So friday was that way, after district meeting we had two lessons to teach, first to Yamaguchi and second to Brother Tanaka, so we survived the first lesson, Yamaguchi San is extremely kind, and old, so we can teach very slowly and simply and it just makes sense to him and it isn`t awkward because he`s old. However we were afraid our lesson with Tanaka San would not be as good. We taught him about God, why we are here and why we need a savior. As we taught him about Jesus Christ his eyes began to fill with tears. He felt the spirit so strongly and began to read the book of mormon again. He has come to church the past two weeks and yesterday he and his wife came together and it was great! the hymns were the best part, first was Rejoice the Lord is King, then I Stand All Amazed, and to close I Know that My Redeemer Lives. It was just an answer to my prayers that 1) those hymns sung by the whole congregation testified of the exact same thing that had pricked his heart earlier this week. and 2) that they sang my favorite hymns in sacrament meeting. Later that day we taught him and his wife and answered all their questions about church and they both could not deny the spirit they had felt. So please make sacrament meeting a spiritual oasis from the world, it makes all the difference. If you remember this is the same Tanaka that had been really frustrating earlier until I nearly barked at him in our lesson on prayer. The Lord is helping him. I wish I could say more about all the cool and not so cool things I`m doing, but alas...

Thank you for all the letters and support! I love all of you! Is Olympus in the State Championship for Football!?! I told a recent convert in our ward who is a futsal player about my soccer experience and how Olympus took State my junior year (hoping I would get a chance to play, but alas) I see high school teams practicing all the time and I just really miss soccer and sports in general sometimes. I wish I could write everyone individually and thank them for everything but for now THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND LOVE AND PRAYERS!!!

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace

Someday...Great

So this week nothing great really happened. We had some lessons, had lots of rain as usual. (If anyone else goes anywhere in Japan on their mission they will want to buy a rain suit, one of those completely waterproof coat and pants) because it rains ALL THE TIME! And when the clouds aren`t raining, my eyes are. I don`t think I have cried so much before my mission. It`s my own fault for being a more sentimental, nostalgic(?) personality but it`s true, I miss a lot of things. Not that I don`t understand the importance of what I am doing, just it`s hard not to let my mind wander to previous memories or even just daydreaming. So I think I kind of hit a wall this week emotionally. I just was so bugged when Halloween came and went and nobody really did anything about it. We had a ward Halloween party, but it was just like all the ward members dropped off their kids and I was bugged because it turned out to be a complete waste of time from a missionary work standpoint. I concluded this week that someday had become today. Lots of things in life we view as someday things. I`ll go on a mission someday, I`ll repent someday, I`ll grow up someday, I`ll learn Japanese someday, I`ll graduate someday, and so on. But since in our mind these things are categorized as `someday`, we have a hard time adjusting to the reality that no you wont be a missionary SOMEDAY, you`re a missionary TODAY. I`ve just had a hard time when I want to be a great missionary who The Lord can use to touch the hearts of these people, but I just struggle. I feel stupid every time I open my mouth. I am exhausted, and I feel alone. I struggle because I want to be the Champion. I want to be great. But I`m not. I want to as Nephi did, have the strength to burst the cords which bind me, but no, the cords are loosed just enough for it to work out. I really have a hard time with this blasted language because there is not a way for me to look up a word in english, and have the Japanese pronunciation, because the dictionary I have is only from Japanese to English. So unless I know the Japanese word I want to learn, I can`t very effectively translate from English to Japanese unless Elder Sekiguchi happens to know that English word. (If anyone really loves me, they would send me a English to Japanese Dictionary either with Romanized Japanese, or Furigana, because I can`t read 99% of the chinese characters and Pres. Zinke has advised us not to study them until the second half of our mission) I feel like my language ability is increasing, but not fast enough. I don`t want to be okay, I want to be great. I am working on being a friend to those I am in contact with because even if I can`t tell them very much, I can show them by what I do, and what kind of person I am even if I can`t show them by what I say. Eliza I got your letter from September 11th that you forgot to send off. I look forward to receiving the rest of your letters. Mom I really enjoyed your letter thank you so much for that. Caroline I LOVED your letter! I`ll write you back really soon! It`s crazy to think that I`ve been here as long as I have, yesterday was my fifth fast sunday. I wish I wan`t so tired all the time. I love and miss all of you! I hope to hear from you all soon!

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace

WE GOT THE ROCK!

Okay so this week has been full of rain, rain, frustration, disappointment, and more rain. I really just am doing fine and all my `whining` is just the dullness of life which will always exist. This week was wet every single day. It is getting colder here but we haven`t seen any snow yet. But the thing I am worried about is when it is cold, and wet. The day is not far off. And I will freeze indefinitely.

Miyake was supposed to be baptized this week but he has a hard situation with his job and church and so we have to move his baptismal date back until he can come to church 2 more times. In Japan people have crazy work hours! Honda Kazuya (my first baptism) had work everyday but sunday from 8 AM until 8 PM or something close to that. People in Japan are such hard workers and almost to the point where they become robotic. Also tonight Sekiguchi and George Chourou are going to Kobe for Mission Leadership Conference which means Kemp Chourou and I have two lessons to teach  on our own two 2nd transfer missionaries who can`t speak Japanese... Well that will be interesting. I really wish I could get emails everyday like letters and just respond once a week, that way I wouldn`t have to spend all my time on P-Day reading everyone`s emails and I could better respond. As much as letters are slow and inconvinient, I LOVE GETTING LETTERS. So please either continue to write me, or begin to write me hahaha. I am trying to convince the other Missionaries in Yonago to let me teach `Big Pumpkin` at our English Class on Halloween. I am like the only person excited for Halloween and it`s great. I am determined to celebrate every holiday. So I know people are probably wondering if I have lots of cool Japanese Maple leaves and if it`s just super beautiful here in the Fall. From what I hear, that is mostly in Kyoto, but maybe I will get to be there next year this time. But for now I love Yonago. (It literally means Rice Child) but it`s not the coolest place, but the people here are amazing.

I love our English Class Students. (We give all of our English Class students American names and it`s really fun!)

• Nancy, she was Baptized in July and is a sweet little quiet lady and suffered a stroke a few years back and has clearly slowed down. 
• Rick, (Yasui Kyoudai) he is one of our investigators and is a guardman for his job. He loves american things and always wears a shirt that either says California in big letters, or something to that same extent. He looks like he is a man who never grew out of the 70s 80s and occasionally wear the shorts of that decade. to complete the ensemble he usually has some sort of sparkly sunglasses which usually look very feminine. He is so funny, He loves music and so he has lots of interesting english words he has picked up from his music listening which are fun to explain...
• Tony, He is awesome and hilarious, he is a big Philadelphia Eagles fan and so he will talk to us about the NFL sometimes randomly and he HATES the New England Patriots like I hate Manchester United. (I contacted into a high school age kid and talked to him about soccer because he was going home from practice, he told me he was a Manchester United fan and I told him we couldn`t be friends anymore-somewhat jokingly) 
• Luke, He has only been coming for a week or so (Honda Kazuya) and his english isn`t there but he had fun.
• Joe, the class clown who is the member running English Class. He is very funny and always tries to make jokes in English that just don`t really work and are awkward.
• Elvis, He is older, and has impossible to understand Japanese and from what I can understand he`s usually talking about space or something with America and Russia and World peace or something. He always cries when we sing, and his favorite word is FIGHT, I don`t know why.
• Matt, is Tony`s son. He`s a priest in the ward and one of the coolest kids I have met in Japan.
• Ken, Looks like Ghandi and is always super concerned about my happiness and the pronunciation of the words, he is so funny and I am his favorite teacher.
• Stacey, she speaks this jibberish that isn`t even Japanese and then she is always laughing to herself and none of us know what about, but she also will drop anything to be a member at our lessons and is super great as a member misisonary.

Oh man there is so much I want to say but I never have time.

WE GOT THE ROCK! (Well that`s nothing new, but hey!) 

I miss sports. As Andrew put it yeah sports are fun and all but it`s the gospel that saves us. The whole thing with twitter and the student section just brought back so many memories of high school sports. Hail Olympus!

I`ve completed 1/6th of my mission. That is weird. 5 more of those and I`ll be home. Sad. It`s interesting because you always think of going on a mission as a someday thing when you`re growing up, and then when it becomes a TODAY thing it messes with your mind.

Well I love and miss you all! I hope everything is well at home! I love you!

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace

大会 (taikai)

So this week has brought challenges and what not but really I am always frustrated emailing because I 1) don`t have near enough time to say everything I want to say and 2) because I want to do things outside and experience Japan but I don`t ever have time! solution: make preparation day go until 9 o`clock! it`d be brilliant! I could accomplish so much more!

anyway so this week I had some interesting experiences. So my companion makes me do all the phone calls. and it is helping my Japanese, but it is so weird! so when Japanese people use the phone they answer and say `moshi moshi ______ desu` but it`s weird because they never use moshi moshi anywhere else but on the phone! they also take forever to say goodbye, and it`s courteous to wait for the other person to hang up so phone calls usually end in an awkward silence of neither person hanging up and it`s weird. Also Japanese people take forever to say goodbye. I don`t know why but they are just really awkward about leaving or something. My Japanese is improving, but I feel like I don`t know enough to really take advantage of having a native companion and sometimes it just makes it difficult. Also, no one in my Apartment writes letters but me and I get bothered because they don`t want to write and I do so it`s an issue.

MISSION GOAL:

Do not become a freak. You may laugh at this, but I am not going to become weird(er than I must to be effective in this culture) which isn`t hard. I just can`t stand when people tell me that I need to repent for having Halloween stickers in my planner, or that I was humming a worldly song, or that I should be studying during lunch and not reading the letter that I got from my sister. I have a firm belief that you can fully represent The Lord, and consecrate these two years of your life to him without being a psycho robot misisonary! It`s okay to have fun on your mission! Missionary work should be fun! Elder George is basically my example of what not to be, he does yoga every morning to a cd that drives away the spirit becuase of the flamer on the recording, he eats all of our food, he plays the ukelele ALL DAY and basically just annoys me to death. I refuse to be like that.

I want a couch. we don`t have any chairs in our apartment but the desk chairs, which are usually taken by george choro and sekiguchi choro doing zone leader things, but then there are just folding chairs from the church which are extremely uncomfortable and basically I want a comfortable chair. at stake conference this week, I sat in a comfy auditorium chair and it was wonderful! 

Things here in yonago aren`t cold yet, today is actually very nice weather. but it is supposed to be one of the coldest areas in the mission and it is expected to get about a foot or two of snow during the winter! so I went out and bought some sweaters, scarves and gloves to hopefully deal with it.

I cut my hair today, by myself, for the first and last time. it doesn`t look that bad, but I think it is worth it to pay the 1500¥ and save myself the humiliation. I could cut someone elses hair very well though I feel. 

Andrew thank you for an update from the real world! The local soccer team here is Gainare Tottori from the J-League, I don`t know if they`re any good or not but you could look them up if you want. I almost bought a Japan national team jersey the other day, but it was really not my size, and I figured I would wait until the world cup anyway! I wish I could see it. Our ward mission leader played soccer in brazil and so we talked about that as much as I can talk which isn`t a lot.

I really wish I could write individual letters to everyone everyday because so much is happening and I want to share the experiences I`m having with all of you.

This week my experience is about being bold. So Brother Tanaka (my investigator) has been very frustrating in the past and he has a problem where he has lots of confidence, but nothing to back it up really. this week we reviewed prayer with him because he wasn`t praying effectively/at all/correctly (in the name of Jesus Christ) anyway so after a frustrating discussion, I stopped him and asked him as directly as I could with all the spirit and Japanese I could muster `why he even met with us if he didn`t believe what we have to say` he sat for a second and said that he wanted to learn doctrine, to which I replied, `if you don`t believe the doctrine, why do you want to learn? will you apply in your own life the doctrine we teach you? will you pray everyday to your heavenly father?` to which he was touched by the spirit and the boldness of the message and accepted the commitment. This experience showed me that sometimes we wait for the spirit to do the teaching when really we need to follow it`s promptings, but not just be bashful, this is salvation we`re talking about! Basically I felt like for me to teach with the spirit, I had to reach beyond myself, and step outside of my comfort zone to rely on the Lord. That`s what this work is all about. 

Okay so the coolest thing about Japan this week is that their dollar stores have ties! What missionary wouldn`t love that?! It`s awesome! super cheap ties! and Japan has more pens, stationery, etc. than anywhere I have ever seen! it`s great for the pen lover like me! 

THINGS I MISS:

being able to contact anyone, anytime, anywhere.

doing something for myself, (selfish I know but hey, I need to be honest)

TAYLOR SWIFT, `Love Story` came on while I was buying my sweaters and gloves and what not and as much as you may laugh I felt like that was God just reminding me that he knows I`m here and is aware of me.

Family interaction. I feel like that one will be with me my whole mission, but I love all of you!

games, we never play any games at english class or ever really. I want to play a game! there is a cool Japanese Chess kind of game I have seen but I don`t know what it is really.

I love and miss all of you! All your examples, support, and prayers lift me every single day. I just want you to know that I can`t wait to be together forever with you!

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace

Sekiguchi‏

Okay so transfers happened, and so far neither my companion nor I have killed each other. I am learning A LOT of Japanese, or rather I`m getting better at what I already know. He grew up about 20 minutes from Disney Tokyo (which isn`t actually in Tokyo!) and we`ve talked about that. We`re both the organized type and we get along pretty well so far. Conference was great! send me a english and a japanese Ensign when you get the chance! I loved the Halloween package mom! I`m trying to figure out how we`ll make sugar cookies in our lack of oven (toaster oven) so we`ll see how that goes. Next package you send it would be cool if you could compile a bunch of letters for me! That would be awesome! 

So Conference was Amazing!!! it never ceases to amaze me when these elderly men who some of which have trouble to walk, or get up while skiing, deliver these messages directly from God himself. Elder Oaks, Holland and Uchtdorf`s talks really struck me and pierced my soul it seemed. I have been reading a conference talk every day for a while and it has really blessed me. Oh I wish I could watch it again and again.

The night of conference we had the elders from Matsue and Kurayoshi staying at our apartment so we had eight elders in one apartment. It was fun until we had to clean up today. I missed our family so much during conference. Priesthood meeting especially! William I wish I could`ve been there with you! I hope conference was as powerful to all of you as it was to me.

I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat or however the quote goes, but If looked at that way I now have nothing left to give. I got in a bit of a bike accident and it tore a large chunk of skin off my right hand and it isn`t the most pleasant thing but it could have been much worse so I`m very grateful. The members were very kind and bandaged me up when I arrived to the saturday session and they acted as if I was dying when really I just had a hand with substantially missing skin and a fairly gruesome amount of road rash and blood. sadly I didn`t take a picture sorry. It did look pretty nasty.

I`ve developed a problem with feeling lonely lately not because I am literally alone, but just because I feel like sometimes as long as nothing terrible happens, that people aren`t overly concerned with my well being and just me in general. From this I have learned to turn outward and be concerned about others. In turn, you will get the desired care and attention you wanted in the first place. basically the golden rule, but it`s true. It is true in all things. If you are lonely, reach out. If you are shy, approach people, etc. We don`t solve our problems by hiding or running from them. You just have to go through it as Mom would likely say. Well I have so much to say and so little time, I always wish I could share more with you! It`s pretty crazy how much happens when you are busy ALL THE TIME! but it`s good, I`m progressing a lot. I`m still me, just a wiser me. And I also really like stickers now and I have to be careful so I don`t waste my money on all the cool things that Japan has to offer! I`m starting into some origami so we`ll see how that goes... 

Mom, Congrats on the `Mom of the Year` award. Dad, I`m still waiting for that letter. Andrew, I almost bought a Japan National Team jersey, but they didn`t have my size, I`ll find it eventually. Abby, Eat some good pasta and convert a catholic. Rebecca, I wish I could respond to all the emails and letters you send me more, I`m working on it. (She`s the best at writing me btw.) Eliza, don`t get destroyed by the Musical(s) William, you wouldn`t be so fast if I didn`t beat on you. Caroline, I see some cool frogs everyday by my apartment. We named one Yoshi the other day.

I LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL! 

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace

P.S. To all of you who said you would write me all the time and haven`t... do so.

First Transfer Down

Okay, so I have been in Japan for an entire transfer. Does it feel like it, not at all. But I am staying in Yonago for at the remainder of my training, but Elder Baker is being transferred. My new companion will be Elder Sekiguchi, who is native Japanese. I am terrified. I will find out more about him and let you know.

Dad, you requested that I give you my investigators names, here they are:

Miyake - he is 24 and golden, he researches everything, we gave him the restoration pamphlet and he read it 10 times the night before we taught it. he says his greatest desire in life is to find the truth. he works on sundays and we`ve been fasting that he can get sundays off from work. his baptismal date is 11/3

Kajiyama - He is 26 and pretty trendy (wears crocs... somehow some people in Japan think those are cool...) He came to church for the first time yesterday and seemed to like it. his baptismal date is 11/17

Tanaka (Sister) - she came to church last week and stayed all 3 hours, she is pretty involved with buddhism and doesn`t know how to handle the religious differences.

Tanaka (Brother) - he thinks he is really smart and always tries to get us to join Amway when we meet and we always refuse obviously.

Yasui - he is 55 he comes to english class every week and LOVES American stuff especially music. he knows weird movie quotes and said he loves British english music. I talked to him about One Direction of all things and we have an appointment with him next week, who knew that One Direction could be used to spread the work of god? 

Yamaguchi - he is like 79 years old and can`t walk, he sits seza all day and is too scared to come to church.

Sakamoto - I don`t really remember or understand him very well...

There are more but I don`t have time to talk about everyone.

I always love the reaction I get when I tell people I`m 18. In Japan people often wait until they are finished with college to go on a mission because differing is difficult, so to them an 18 year old missionary is crazy! also, Elder Baker turns 22 and is basically 4 years older than me. that`s weird. I have lots of issues with him but we won`t discuss them.

This week Elders George and Baker went to Kobe for Mission Training thingy and Elder Kemp and I were companions for a day. two 1st transfer missionaries roaming the streets of Yonago... but we found 6 potential investigators! well I found 5 and he found 1, but hey, we did something useful! One man named Kenya Hamamoto, I biked alongside him for about 15 minutes and I felt decently competent in what I was saying! We still haven`t met with him, but I feel like it was The Lord patting me on the back and saying `you can do this` it really seemed like a simple miracle to me.

So last week was bad and I was feeling down, so I decided that I needed to be happier, I bought some cool pens, some Halloween stickers, and then some chocolate to lift my spirits and it has helped throughout the week for sure. I also now have my own stamps so writing real letters will be easier because I won`t have to go to the post office every time anymore.

In Japan they have MILLIONS of pens, the favorite seems to be the multi-color pens where there are like 3 or 4 colors in one pen and the little slide-y thing on the side to switch colors. But yes, they love their pens over here, and there are lots of them.

Andrew and Rebecca, thank you for all the loving advice you gave me last week when I was feeling a bit more down than usual. Mom I got your letter, Rebecca you too. Letters take longer to get here than I thought, because of forwarding and all that, but I DO GET THEM EVENTUALLY! I am really excited for conference this week!!! But I will definitely miss the Priesthood Meeting outing with the Paces, that was one of my favorite times each year. It is always great to hear from family so please don`t hesitate to write me.

I have great challenges ahead of me and I`m really scared, excited and every emotion in between at least once every day. I don`t think I have ever cried so often as I do on a mission. I am being blessed though everyday, I can feel the prayers and support of everyone. I love and miss you all!

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace

I WANT MORE TIME!

SO basically my companion is bothering me right now because as a missionary the precious p-day time you have is like gold and so what does he do? he schedules an appointment at 12 with a guy who I told him wasnt interested in the gospel, and then he had to register in Kobe instead o Yonago and that took 3 HOURS THIS MORNING! and we were supposed to do it on friday! Lame, Lame, Lame, Lame, LAME! also he tells me I can`t listen to my music because he can`t feel the spirit and I want to say to him, GO RUB A MONKEYS TUMMY WITH YOUR HEAD! okay so that is the mood I am in right now. Pretty frustrating. Oh, and to add to it all, He is going to Kobe at 4:25 so my p-day is cut like 2 hours short! Basically my favorite thing to do all week is to talk to everyone that I care about, and he just tells me that he would rather watch the district at the apartment. He is Lame and Anti-Fun. I try to joke and make the most of this super depressing time out here and all he does is chastise me for things that arent rules that bug him, well you know what, he is more disobedient than I am! and he is always burping and passing fancies and it is disgusting!

anyway a lot actually happened this week but i don`t know if I`ll have time to share it thanks to my lack of time management skills companion. Anyhow. So aside from being in a state of endless depression and frustration, I actually had a pretty decent week. we 3 investigators with a baptismal date, and we taught 6 lessons yesterday. None of you are allowed to spoil general conference for me because I get to see it a week later than you do, but I still get to see it in English thank goodness! 

so I think the real source of my problems is that I desire too much. (for that moment at least) I don`t want to improve a tiny bit each day, I want to become fluent TODAY! even though I know I can`t do it, I still want to and it turn hold myself responsible for it. I am not satisfied unless I think something couldn`t have been better, I get frustrated if it`s not good enough for my own standards, which means I am going to be frustrated for quite a while it seems. I just feel like patience is so difficult for me. sometimes I think oh if I could speak Japanese then I will be effective and I`ll have fun then, but then I realize that even if I spoke fluent Japanese I would find something else to become bothered with. I am just that way, I have too much ambition for my own good. I`m driven, and not just to the point where I feel like I work hard, I`m going to work hard whatever I am doing, But I just am not easily satisfied with myself. I am too much of a perfectionist. 

The highlight of this week is the Trainer, Trainee, Training Meeting. It was just cool to see the rest of my MTC group and to talk about our different experiences so far and such. President Zinke is great, I`m sad I only get him until May, but then I get to see two different takes on the work which is cool. Keep an eye out for my next Mission President. Also, pray that the Kansai region (basically my mission area) of Japan will get a Temple. I pray for that every single day. 

We had a Pizza Party on Saturday for our English Class `Students` and Investigators and Members and everyone, and it is so funny because Japanese people don`t like it that much. They don`t like the cheese, and they don`t have pepperoni and if it were up to them they would put raw fish on it, or corn, they love corn on pizza I am not really sure why, it tastes pretty good actually, but it is just weird. But the party was a success and it led to more investigators coming to church sunday which was good!

Thursday there was a problem because once again my companion scheduled two appointments at the same time, so we got two members and I had to teach 安い  Yasui, by myself. I handled it fine and the Lord really helped me. I haven`t felt that much power from the Lord before it was a cool experience. Earlier that day however my companion during weekly planning decided to chastise me for rules that don`t exist... anyway There is a man in our english class named 高川 (takagawa) who we call Ken at English Class, and he seems to really like me.

so I was really stressed on Thursday during English Class because I was really worried about the Lesson with Yasui after English Class, anyway. On Sunday, Ken came to church to check on how I was doing and to invite us to dinner at his house, and the best part is he is a non-member! so basically all of you who got mad at me and told me that stress doesn`t help, I was able to find an Investigator through it and help him come to christ, it was really the first time I felt like I specifically was needed in this mission at this time! cool huh!!! Takagawa/Ken is my favorite person I`ve met, He looks like Ghandi and is hilarious in his cute little old man way. one week he gave us all rubber band guns made with chopsticks at english class for his show and tell! I love that man. Anyhow my time is up. I`ll talk to y`all next week.

Love,

Elder Pace

Yakiniku!‏

Okay, the one word that everyone understands and uses frequently even in japan even though they have their own word for it. there are lots of japanese words that get overrun by the english word which is cool and all, but they dont say it right! in english when we take a foreign word we pronounce it the same, but they take self, and make is se-ru-fu. and stuff like that, and its just weird and causes further language confusion.

anyway here is what happened this week. so we discovered the mcdonalds in yonago and since they had a buy one get one free deal, elder baker and i both got 4 big macs and possibly regretted it later... but mcdonalds is like classy over here compared to the USA. it is like the cool american place to eat. and yes we proved every american stereotype when we went there by ordering 4 sandwiches each... I just find it so funny when they try to be americans or do things the american way.

so here is what is going on with our investigators, well some of them, Ikeda is a man we met on the street and he contacted us after we gave him a flyer which was cool. Miyake we found just on the street and he told us at our first lesson with him that he thinks his purpose in life is to find the truth, he is super cool and I have a really good feeling about him. Tanaka is super weird and I think he is autistic, he is like a 24 year old smart alack (sp?) and he twists words of the scriptures and loves to be difficult. He doesnt get it basically but he still wants to meet. Nobu is 35 and he is really heavy, which is much more rare in Japan than in the USA. some of the chairs in Japan, Americans would not fit in it`s kind of sad. Nobu is pretty open to the message and is just super nice.

I went on an exchange to Matsue this week and that was good, that night we taught a less active family and their son asked me when I decided to come on a mission, I had not really thought of that before. I came to the conclusion that I didn`t, Rather, I decided to keep the commandments when I was baptized, and that I came on a mission because The Lord has asked that I go on a mission. I didnt go because I thought it would be cool, or that I wanted to learn a new language or travel to Japan, but because The Lord has asked me to go, and every other worthy young man in the church. I said this to try and touch the family`s son who was a few months older than me. it was a cool experience.

Also on my exchange, the Matsue elders have films of every general conference since 2004 and they watch them during lunch, dinner, any free time they have really, and I love it! I am so excited for conference! (and secretly wishing they extend the length of sister`s missions to 2 years...) I really can`t wait to hear the words of the prophets! but don`t spoil it for me because I think I get conference a week later than you all do in the states.

After district meeting on Friday we went to the Yakiniku, it is a rodizio grill kind of thing with all kinds of meat and sushi and stuff and in the middle of the table is a big grill and you just cook all of your own food and it`s all you can eat so we all just went crazy and ate way to much. I also had Takoyaki, which is Octopus in like a hush-puppy kind of breading and isnt bad, along with all sorts of meat, sushi and ice cream.

There is an elder in our district who we call `the sage` because he has been in the area FOREVER, and he is interesting, he memorized the testaments in Japanese and is always quoting it. he also wears biking gloves whenever he bikes, and has a disgusting glove tan line which is kind of yucky. 

anyway all is good here I guess, I am still struggling with Japanese, and what else, but I am good.

I Love and Miss you all!

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace