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

Yo yo yo it's LUNCHTIME!

As always it was fantastic to hear from home!!! I really miss all of you so much and I am really really homesick sometimes. I miss home, it`s just like the whole atmosphere of  home and everything. I feel like I know I`m doing the right thing here, but I struggle with missing our family. probably because you`re all so amazing and I love you so much! 

So this week was great statistically I had my first baptism! Honda Kyoudai was baptized and confirmed and I was able to participate in the confirmation. It was awesome to see how he changed and his outlook and how much confidence and how proud he was of himself. It reminded me of when I was baptized and how that week in primary I was so set on being perfect and being the best little 8 year old boy I could, and I looked at Honda Kyoudai and that he had that same transformation. 

I look up to my trainer for his Japanese ability and such, but he makes me worried that I`ll become weird while I`m out here. I hope I remain normal and personable.

So a few interesting things about Japan. They never toss things to each other. They like super humbly hand things to one another and it`s interesting. Also, when buying something, you don`t hand money to one another, you set it down and they pick it up. it`s a bit odd. There are a lot of interesting things, but I can never remember them all when I am trying to email. 

Eliza the gala sounded like it was really fun and a cool experience for everyone, good luck in a christmas carol! William, Congrats on cross-country that`s awesome! Soccer sounds rough, nice to see Toby is still the same old ..... Andrew, good luck in Chicago! I know you`ll be the best! I`m praying for you! Mom and Dad, you never say much about yourselves but I hope you`re doing great! Mimi and Papa, today is Respect Elders Day in Japan, a national holiday, so I want you to know that from 5,000 miles away I am respecting you!

Andrew and Dad, I want to thank you for the great examples you have been to me. Sometimes when things get really hard, I just think to myself, `What would Andrew do? or What would Dad have done?` and I work even harder after that. The Lord just wants me to give him my all, and there`s nothing more that I can give him. I`m so blessed to have such great examples in my life, I love you so much!

One thing that I have come to appreciate out here is that there`s always tomorrow. Even if I have the worst day I have ever had, that in less than 24 hours, It`ll be a new day, and I can try again! Each day is an opportunity to learn and grow. The problem I have is patience! Waiting for that new day is really hard sometimes. I really want to learn this language, and accomplish a lot, but I have to wait because it can`t come all at once. Line upon line, precept upon precept. 

I miss you and Love you all!

Love,

Jonathan, Elder Pace

Eliza's Passport and Continuation from Last Letter

so I went through my bag after a very rainy day this week to find that someone had never removed their passport after coming home from a certain central american vacation... so I have Eliza`s passport here in Japan, I`m not sure what really I should do about it... I don`t think you`re leaving the country anytime soon but I have it if you are ever looking for it. I can send it home or whatever would be best, I`m not really sure what to do, but yeah. so let me know what you think I should do in regards to that.

IN ADDITION TO MY OTHER LETTER

I just can`t help but wonder if this is all really real. am I really on my mission? I feel like I should be at the high school football games with Eliza, or at BYU or in the MUSS or something, I just feel like I`m doing all the right things to be a missionary, but I still feel out of place I guess. I suppose that`ll just come but I don`t know. I do enjoy it here in Japan like I always enjoyed life, just it`s a different kind of hard than I could`ve ever prepared for. I really long to just make everything perfect. I know it`s bad I organize all the time, I am becoming more meticulous than ever, and I just want everything to be perfect and everyone to be happy in the gospel and they just don`t get how great it could be! I love reading my patriarchal blessing. I encourage everyone to read theirs this week and focus on the inspiration it gives you. I ALWAYS want more study time in the scriptures or PMG or whatever I`m studying just because I cannot get enough of feasting on the words of christ. They WILL tell you all things that ye should do. I have strived so hard to be perfect because the goal of life is to become like god so I need to be as clean and unspotted as possible from sin these worldly things that make me lose focus on the real purpose of life. Family, and the Gospel. Those are the things that are important to me and I love it! I know I wasn`t perfect before leaving and I`m not perfect now, but I`m trying every day to be the best that Jonathan Mark Pace can be. I ask sincerely for forgiveness for all the times where I have wronged any of you in the past. I wish to discard these incidents and move forward becoming a saint and putting off the natural man. Please, pray to heavenly father and forgive me for all that I have done wrong if there be anything. The power of forgiveness is freedom. True cleansing freedom, forgive all who have trespassed and the bother will cease. I know this to be true in my own life. I am growing so much here in Japan and I`m not just learning a language. I am just crying my eyes out at the computer here because I am so filled with love for all of you and I love you all so much! I don`t know what I would do without all of your prayers, love and constant care and support. I can feel it everyday. I LOVE YOU ALL! and I miss you even more!

Konnichiwa Kobe!

Okay, so this last week or so has been pretty insane. So first off it was wonderful to call all of you at the airport! I would`ve been more exciting and full of life if I hadn`t been scared out of my mind to go to Japan! But really it was great to hear from all of you! You all seem to be doing absolutely great! So here is what happened since I left off with ya`ll.

So from Salt Lake we flew to Seattle, had a bit of a layover during which I had my last American Hamburger, I called rebecca and talked to her and then flew the 11-12 hours to Osaka. On the flight I mostly slept, and tried to study what Japanese I could. I would`ve tried to convert someone, or speak Japanese, but just my luck I sit next to a man from Minnesota... lame.... he didn`t even want to hear about the gospel the bum. 

Anyway so then we arrived in Osaka, went through customs where everyone looked at us weird because we were 33 americans wearing suits and nametags, none of which spoke Japanese... Anyhow then we met Pres. and Sisiter Zinke, (Zing-key) and then we rode the hour long bus to the mission home in Kobe. There we did a little training about mission specifics until friday afternoon when we were assigned our trainers and off we went. oh friday morning we went on a short hike up aways and looked out over all of Osaka bay which was pretty cool. Kobe is very hilly and Japan is a volcanic island which means the middle of the islands is very mountainous. The clouds roll over the mountains like San Francisco fog and it looks all mystical as if it was something out of a movie it`s really cool to look at. 

Anyway my first area is 米子 (yonago) and my companion is Elder Baker. He is on his fifteenth transfer and is about 6`7`` and has red hair. He is very good and kind and helpful to a useless new companion like me. He reminds me of Ichabod Crane from the Disney legend of sleepy hollow video and it`s pretty funny. He really is great to be so patient with me. I am in a ４人 which is two companionships in the same apartment, like in the best two years. The other two elders are Elder George, and Elder Kemp who was in my MTC district. we both have half of the area of Yonago and it`s fun to be able to report and share stories with each other.

Friday night we taught our first lesson to 藤本きょだい and I invited him to be baptized on 9-27 and he accepted! In Japanese too! The next day we taught 梶山きょだい and he is now a progressing investigator. I am trying to give myself as much of a part in the lessons as possible even though it`s not much just so I can speak as much as possible. Saturday night we had dinner at a members home who I don`t even know their name. And in Japan they love to drink tea, but as members to keep the word of wisdom they only have herbal tea. anyhow there is a kind of wheat tea type thing they call Mugicha, and it is served either hot or at about room temperature. well anyway they had it at the dinner and it tastes like someone doused their cigarettes in your water. It is pretty nasty. But the family is very nice and the rest of the food was good. 

Sunday I went to my first sacrament meeting. The whole ward had to come meet me and I had to tell them that I have only been in Japan for 4 days and I can`t speak or understand very well, but they didn`t care! The members LOVE the missionaries, and their children are very entertaining during sacrament meeting. during the meeting, I introduced myself and bore my testimony in Japanese to the ward and they thought I was good at Japanese?!?!? biggest lie I had ever heard! 

after sacrament meeting we taught 本田　きょだい the word of wisdom and the law of chastity and he commited to keep both and he will be baptized on the 15th! 

I honestly don`t know what to say about the mission, sometimes it`s great and sometimes I just wish I was home. I feel like as my Japanese gets better I`ll like it more, but I don`t know. For now I have Elder Baker to help me but I just don`t like feeling useless! I really am a smart person I promise! I just can`t talk to anyone longer than 3 seconds. I know I`ll get better but I just don`t like it. Why couldn`t I have been called to Macon, Georgia? I`d be a great missionary there from day 1 as opposed to day 250 here. I don`t know it`s just frustrating. I mean I love Japan and I love the people and all, it`s just hard. anyway I love you all and hope you have a fabulous week!

Love, 

Jonathan, Elder Pace