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