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