Hello everyone and helloooo rainy season!
When it rains... IT POURS. I am not even exaggerating! Luckily it does not get very humid here in Matsumoto, so it definitely could be worse. I was not prepared for this rain though, that is for sure.
Remember that lady (Matsui Shimai) who hasn't been to church in like 40 years, but last time we visited her she said she would come to church? (This was a couple weeks ago) Well, her son wouldn't let her go to church. BUT yesterday we went to her house and brought her the sacrament. The spirit was so strong. I could not understand what she was saying, but she seemed super grateful.
You guys ny right hip is like killing me, super random, but if anyone has hip problems advice send it my way!! Might have to get hips of steel ifykyk haha.
On Saturday a member took us on this beautiful hike that had a great view! It was so pretty. It just made me so grateful for this beautiful earth God created for all of us. Something I think we all should appreciate a lil more!!
There is a choir here in Matsumoto that consists of about 30 people. They have a concert twice every year. Well guess what, I am a valued member of this choir. Not really, but I am part of it. We had a concert on Saturday!!!! I only sang half the songs haha because some were too fast for my Japanese skills, but it was fun. There was an old lady in the crowd who had her eyes closed the whole time and nodded her head with the music. I loved it. The right kind of music really does soothe the soul!
Japan tips!- Last week I said I want to marry the 7/11s here... I want to marry the Familymarts too!
- Literally everyone eats rice with EVERYTHING. RICE IS EVERYWHERE.
-the gardens/yards here are no joke. Some of the most beautiful scenes of nature I have witnessed have been right in front of someone's house. I want to talk about this more in the future, but I am trying not to make this email 10 years long!
hehe
Me being a very visual person I have thought of what it feels like with my Japanese. You ready? It feels like I get pushed into water, drown a bit, struggle to get up. But right when I get up and find my balance, I take a couple steps of confidence then I get pushed right back into the water. Can anyone relate? Haha sounds brutal and honestly it is. God has not ceased to keep me humble. It's a journey that I am still trying to figure out. I got some really good advice from a missionary friend of mine I have made. She said:
"Something that helped me a lot was keeping my mind on Christ. Keeping Him at the center of my thoughts and as my why! Every time it got hard, I would remember Him and try to think of what Christ did when it was hard for him. He loved people, despite them hating Him. He went out and performed the Atonement, despite knowing how hard and painful it would be. He submitted to the Father's will, despite it being the hardest thing He ever had to do. Jesus Christ is so amazing!! Think of Him and I promise you will receive so much strength!"
So powerful. I am not going to add much because I want you to read this and think about it for yourself and how you can apply this into your life. Jesus Christ is our anchor, if we rely on Him, we will not be moved!
God loves you
I love you
Have a great week everyone!
<3 Sister Peterson
*I am a gyoza (a japanese food) making expert
*okay I look stupid in the choir picture, but whatever
*I LOVE LIL KITTIES
On Monday we went to Matsumoto Castle!!! So cool inside. The stairs were SUPER steep and there were 5 stories. I really am not sure how the old people did it. But it was lots of fun seeing a Japanese castle that was built like 400 years agoish.
On Tuesday, Takahashi Shimai and I knocked on houses for what seemed like forever with no luck. We came across a house with a cross on the door!! VERY rare in Japan. We really wanted to talk to them, but they weren't home 
very sad. So we kept going house to house. When we were walking back to our bikes we went past the house again and I was like mmm let's just try again, why not. As we were walking up this lady pulled in the drivewayyyyy. I was super excited. Even more excited when we got out of the car and spoke ENGLISH TO US AHHHHH!!!! We found out she is from the Philippines. She is Catholic and was confused on what the differences of our religions were. Testifying to her in English was one of the most satisfying things ever oh my goodness. We gave her a Pamphlet and asked if we could visit again with an English Book of Mormon and she agreed. Oh I just loved her so much. I really hope she will let us teach her.
We visited an inactive member on Wednesday and she was sooooo sweeeet. Gave us a whole bag of food and told us how much she loves the missionaries. She said she also loves the gospel, but she has been so busy and tired. We are going to try to work with her to get her active again because wow she was amazing.
On Friday we had zone conference!! It was so fun! We are the smallest zone and the last Zone Conference ever for President and Sister Chidester. We get a new mission president next month! Absolutely crazy, but I had such a good time. It was unfortunate that we were the only sisters there, the elders were kind enough though which was good.
Saturday we found another English speaking Catholic Filipino!! So exciting. We have free japanese classes at the church taught by a member and he said we would definitely come! The class consists of us 4 missionaries and another Filipino member haha. Hopefully this new guy enjoys it.
I gave a talk in church yesterday! I first wrote it all in English then translated to Japanese. It was pretty short but I felt good about it. The members were all very kind and smiled real big at me, so even if I did do bad, I would not know.
Anyways, recently I have been loving the name "good shepherd" for Jesus Christ. We are his sheep, his little lambs, and he loves us so much. He knows each of us personally and by name. He bore ALL our burdens. That's how well he knows you. That's crazy. Imagine your best friend who can relate so well to you but times like 100,000! Imagine being able to talk to him. Oh but wait, you can!!! Prayyyy. Haha I liked that. But seriously, he can help you if you reach out to him for help. 
to the sisters in Takabata. I spent a day with one of the sisters and my companion spent the day with the other, then we switched the next day! It was soooo much fun! The first day I was with Ferraz ใใพใ and we went streeting and talked to so many people in the craziest of windy rain. Something crazy was when we were able to talk to the majority of people, the rain STOPPED. Then when we were done, it started again. Amazing. Anyways, I was really proud of myself because I approached a lot of people using the small Japanese I know. We had some goals and one of them was to hand out the Book of Mormon. We never got the chance, so we were walking back to the church at the end of the day. No one was on the street, then we saw this woman. We approached her and after talking for a bit we pulled out the Book of Mormon. Each of us testified of its truth and the entire time her eyes were locked on it. We gave it to her and we hope she reads it. That was just one of the many miracles we saw that day.
I love you all and hope you have a miracle filled week!!
