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