Monday, October 28, 2024

Sister Peterson Week 34

Hi everyone!!


🚞On Tuesday we got told if we were transferring or not! Guess what?!? I get to stay in Gokiso!! I anticipate this will be my last transfer here because typically missionaries stay in 1 area for not much more than 3 transfers, but we will see what happens in the future!

🥷On Tuesday we got to go to institute with our friend and did a Tae Kwondo activity! I swear I am going to come home as a Samurai Ninja. 

🎃We also had a little Halloween party on Friday at institute too which was fun! I got my cheeks painted us pumpkins hehe.

🏐We found some high schoolers playing volleyball in a park and joined them. It was really fun. Haha

💤The season is changing and outside is my perfect temperature! Where you can get away with a short sleeve or a long sleeve. It is so nice. Unfortunately with the season change comes exhaustion. I am so tired all the time, it's killing me. I promise I am going to bed and waking up on time!! I just cannot make it through the day without a 15 minute nap during lunchtime!

😚That is really all I have for you this week. We have been busy, everything is kind of blurring into one. This week we are going to do a Halloween party for our English class which I am excited about!

👼Okay the scripture I have been lovingg these past couple days is Alma 18:32

32 And Ammon said: Yea, and he looketh down upon all the children of men; and he knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart; for by his hand were they all created from the beginning.

I get to teach people everyday about God our loving Heavenly Father, and us being his children. I think it is so powerful to not only know that he created us, but because of that, he knows us perfectly. He is always watching over us and cheering us on. If nothing else gives you courage, please let that.
God loves you.
I love you!
Make it a good week!

<3 Sister Peterson
10/28/2024









Monday, October 21, 2024

Sister Peterson Week 33

Happy New week!


🤒I absolutely died on Tuesday. I randomly got really sick and basically slept all day, but on Wednesday we had a lesson in the morning so by God's grace I was okay enough by then. My voice is still a little dead, but I don't have "the fevers" anymore!

😒Also I keep getting in trouble because I keep saying "like" when I am speaking Japanese. It's really bad. 2 different elders have already told me I should not do that. ITS A HARD HABIT TO BREAK! 

🕊BAPTISM #3 WHATTTT WOOP WOOP!
Our friend Yagisan was baptized and it was amazing! Everything went super smoothly and she seemed very happy. My and my companion sang in the program while Elder Spillet played the violin and it is another miracle my voice did not crack during the song. Because remember, she is still recovering!

🏰Last Pday we went to the Nagoya Castle and it was so cool! Unfortunatly we can't go in the big castle due to construction things, but there was this other building we went in with all the history and stuff in it. It was super cool! The artwork was beautiful!

🎃Japan does not celebrate Halloween like we do in America, but everyone knows what it is and some people still decorate for it! Our ward threw a halloween party for the kids and it was so fun! We taught them how to say "trick or treat" and the way they all pronounce it is "tooricko treato" haha so cute!

❤Japan Tips!!❤
- For some reason, Shawn the Sheep and Lotso are kind of popular. You know, Lotso the bear from Toy Story.
- I was asked again what my blood type was, people love to know that information for some reason. They think it has to do with personalities.
- In front of a lot of restaurants or to show what food looks like, they have really real looking representations. It took me a long time to realize that it was fake food.
❤Thats all!❤

🐻I recently have been loving the word Brave. I feel like it is such a powerful word. I think if we want to get anywhere in life we need to be brave. Take those first steps and be brave enough to keep going even if you cannot see the end goal. To be brave enough to choose to trust in something we cannot fully understand. Brave enough to say the words that seem scary to say.  As a missionary it is almost required to be brave very day. It is hard, but so important. 
I love you all!
God loves you!
Make it a good week!
BE BRAVE

<3 Sister Peterson
10/21/2024








Monday, October 14, 2024

Sister Peterson Week 32

Hi!


This weekend we got to watch General Conference with our ward! We watched in Japanese and I was able to pick up on a lot of words, but totally missed the overall message. I will be "reviewing" and watching in English throughout the week! Yay I love Conference! 

This week was not very eventful, I am sorry. I will try and think of the exciting things.

🍀 Yagisan is progressing really well towards baptism! Her baptism will be NEXT WEEK!!! AHHH! Right now we are figuring out how the baptism will work because she is in a wheelchair. We have a plan that will hopefully work. I will update everyone next week on what happens. I anticipate and really hope it will be a spirit filled experience!!

The weather is getting so nice! We did a lot of our studies outside in the fresh air. Luckily I am not suffocating by the humidity anymore! Riding bikes around used to be the worst thing ever, but I really enjoy it now. I am just a little nervous for when it gets cold. I think I actually might die. 

I know there were other fun things that happened this week, but I really cannot remember right now! Oops!

A couple things I missed from last week:

7️⃣ I hit my 7 months!! Woah crazyyyy. It is weird to think that this time next year I WILL BE HOME!! This time last year I though the same thing but that I WOULD BE IN JAPAN! Well here I am. I know the time is going to go so fast, so I really have to be careful as to what I take for granted. For example:  the amazingly cheap ice cream you can find everywhere!

🎙Basically I record music now. For real! After zone conference a handful of missionaries were recording music for a mission video and someone must have forgotten to send me the music in advance to practice or something... but I happily joined and surprised myself by my sight reading. Just don't tell the people in charge that I snuck my voice in there. 

❤Japan Tips❤
- in just about every apartment/house I have been to there is a little square in the top right corner of the bathroom door. It is like a piece of plastic that you cannot see through, but you can see light through. This makes it easy to tell if the light is on indicating someone is using the bathroom! I hope that made sense. I will attach a photo!
- 1$ equals roughly 150¥! I carry around bills that say 1000 and coins that say 100. Wild
- the water cups they give you at restaurants are TINY. I am talking like Dixie cup sizes!
- 面倒くさい- Mendokusai (pronounced men-dock-sigh) means "too much work" I love this word!
❤Happy Japanese❤

The current hot topic on my mind is how perfect God‘s timing is. I see it with the people I meet and looking back on my life, the way things have worked out. I had a lot of worries at the beginning of this transfer, but as it has played out, my testimony of the perfectness of God has immensely strengthened. My companion is one example. She is fearless and has such a huge desire to help everyone around her. If I was training a missionary that did not have this courage, I would be in the gutter for sure. I know God is perfect and so is His plan. Trust in Him even when it gets hard. I love you all! God loves you! 
Make it a good week!!

<3 Sister Peterson
10/14/24

Photos!
- I became a samurai in training!!!
- some firefighter asked if we wanted a picture in front of the firetrucks haha we were like okay!









Monday, October 7, 2024

Sister Peterson Week 31

Hi everyone!! 

😄I talked about a woman last week, the one who is getting baptized October 20th. Her name is Yagisan! Well, we have been having lessons with her everyday and she is doing good! She seems really excited every time she sees me on the video call! She says "ahhhh Peterson shimai?!?!". Haha. I feel super happy when we teach her!

🍛Last night we went to a members house and had an AMAZING meal. You will see the picture below! It was funny, she kept saying it's good right? And taking pictures of us eating her food. It sounds weird, but it was cute and funny. 

🏀Last Monday we had a sports activity with a bunch of missionaries and friends. For some reason I was SO GOOD at basketball. We were playing a little 4 v 4 game WITH ELDERS and I was making hoops like no other. I think after the mission I will work on becoming a professional because I can't waste this hidden talent of mine!

💚We got to do exchanges in Meito this week!! It is the area where our mission office is, so it was very fun to hang around there a bit. That also means I got to see President and Sister McConkie! They are my mission president's and truly some of the best humans I have ever met. 

❤Japan Tips!❤
- always assume people know more English than you think... you never know when you say something and people will understand... 😔
- the bread here js really fluffy and has a slightly different taste than America! It is yummy
- it is like impossible to find anything in bulk here unless you go to Costco. Another reason Japanese people are probably so skinny
- 大丈夫, daijyobu, (die-jyo-boo) means it's okay/alright. It is a very useful word!
❤hip hip hooray for Japan!❤

💗We also had zone conference which never fails to be amazing! One of my favorite parts was when a clip out of the Jesus TV show the Chosen was shared. It is a part after Jesus calls his apostles to serve missions. Little James (who has a walking problem) goes up to Jesus and asks why he was called. He feels less than everyone else who was called. "the others, they are so much more." Jesus tells him, "I love you, but I don't ever want to hear that again". This touched my heart because I can relate to Little James a lot especially right now. It is so so so easy to compare myself to others. There are more equipped people to train, to teach, to speak Japanese. "But those are not things the Father cares about". We are called to do hard things in life that we may not believe we can based off the apparent strengths we have. But we cannot see the potential that Heavenly Father sees in us. He gave this trial specifically for you, because He knows your heart can handle it. Because you have something to offer this specific situation needs!
I am trying my best right now to believe my own words, but I know deep down they are true!
I love you all and God loves you!
Make it a good week!!

<3 Sister Peterson
10/07/24