Dear Homer Family,

Well first off, thanks for all that you did for me, sending all the emails out. If you find out from any of the guys parents that they want me to send letters instead just let me know. Also I got one of your letters a few days ago it looks like it takes about 10 days to get here.

It's so weird that I have been in Japan for three weeks coming upon a month. It has gone by so fast I can't believe it. We did a lot of finding this week and were able to get a few phone numbers and we have an appointment for tomorrow. His name is Aki and is from the Congo but has lived in Japan since he was 2 or 3. He only speaks Japanese and French. I hope he shows up to the appointment. We get stood up a lot but I think he will show. The people are really nice, but not a lot of them are interested in what we have to say but we just keep on trying.

We also taught Daniel again this week (the gang guy). He really likes to focus on deep doctrine and not the things that really matter for all of us. We will try to help him continue to progress.

Japanese is still Japanese, I don't really understand any of it but I am trying my best and am learning more and more. They speak a different dialect than what I learned at the MTC. There are times when I do get something, but not alot. Church is way crazy. I don't ever understand anything but its fun. All the members are really nice to us and try and help me understand.

Morgan asked about the food. The pizza is really expensive $20 - $30 for a medium and they put fish, octopus, corn, mayo, and other gross things on there, its not even like real pizza. We did go to a hamburger place and it was better than most places back home. Hair cuts are expensive too so I just had one of the guys in our apartment cut my hair and he did a pretty good job.

I forgot my camera today but I will try to send you some pictures next week. We have the whole tatame mats and a few sliding doors (not paper) going on in our apartment. I'm sure Morgan will get a kick out of it. I also have a few other pictures of Japan but I will try to take a few more this week.

It sounds like everyone back home is doing good. I don't know if I can imagine Derrick without his long hair, he should keep it short. I am going to write letters and send them to everyone at home so they can see my weird stationary, it's hard to find envelopes. Tell Whitney to hang in there and good luck to Muff with swimming.

I am doing well out here. It's alot of fun, we just need to find more people to teach. Hopefully we will find some soon.

Love you guys,

Cameron

P.S. We actually have a costco in our area, the only one in the mission so I am good on treats and all that stuff, but I'll let you know if I need something.

Dear Family,

That is so cool about Joe going to El Salvador. He will be awesome down there. Let him know that I say hi and congrats to him, he will love serving a mission.

So yeah, Japan is Japan, it's crazy. We eat a lot of rice, I have learned to cook a few things to put on top of rice, it's really not too hard. Tonight we are going to have gyoza (potstickers) so that will be good. The food here is really good, and yes, I am learning to cook somethings, imagine that. The drinks here are amazing, one is pronounced like cow piss, no joke, it tastes sooo good, but I think you know why they don't sell it in the States.

No real sucess this week. We did have one appointment with a big black guy from L.A. that used to be a gang banger as he put it. He overdosed on acid and other drugs like 6 or 7 times, was involved in gang activity and all that, but joined the military and became religious. The discussion went really, really deep, too deep for missionary lessons and I'm afraid he is too tied up in things that really don't matter, we will see how it goes with him.

We also contacted one guy that already had scheduled in his phone to go to church from 10 to 1 on Sunday. He said that he just wanted to go to a christian church, so we invited him and he accepted. We were surprised but it was really cool. We will hopefully see him this Sunday. Hopefully we will have some more lessons.

Yesterday was Zone Conference and we had alot of great talks and other instructions to help us know how to go out and be better missionaries and work hard everyday. The language is tough, but Iam working hard on it. I have no idea what people are saying so I am trying hard to understand.


Today I got my dictionary and got it on sale, so I picked it up at $240, not bad.

Hope everyone is doing well back home. Let me know of anymore mission calls. I am going to send you and email for Trent, so please forward it to him for me. I don't think he ever got my letters. Also I am going to write one for Spencer and Drew if you could forward them to the MTC that would be great. I just got Burns's letter that he wrote 6 weeks ago, so please forward his email as well.

Thanks for all you do, I love you.

Cam

We've arrived in Japan

Homer Family,

Alright, so here I am in Japan. The plane ride went well. I sent a letter from the Mission Home out to you all about the plane ride and stuff. The plane was huge and had two decks on it. We were shoved in there pretty tight for around 14 hours. I slept for a lot of it but there were some long parts. They gave us two meals that were good. Some guy on the plane asked if my comp and I had the same first name, guess I need to get used to that kind of stuff.

So we got into Tokyo and were a little late so we had to hustle. They told us in SLC that we wouldn't get our bags until Osaka, but when we were going down the stairs we saw them unloading our bags so we got lucky. We got through customs and practically ran but made it with 10 minutes to spare. The flight to Osaka was only about an hour. We met the President, his wife and the assistants outside and from there we headed to the mission home. Ate food there and went to bed. I was jet lagged for about two days, but I'm over it now.

Lots of training over the next day. It was fun trying to talk to the new Japanese Elders. I have ALOT to learn, but am ready to tackle the challenge. It will take awhile but I am excited. The next day we got our trainers. My trainer is Elder Swartz. He is from Florida and is on his last transfer. We headed out to our apt. from there. Took trains which was a new experience and talked to some college aged guys and gave them English class pamphlets (we hand out alot of those.) We got to the apt., which ic cool. Sliding doors (not paper) and tatami mats, I will send some pictures to you when I can. We are with 2 other Elders also, Elder Murphy and Stinton, both are great Elders. We had a lesson after that so we rode more trains to meet someone in front of McDonalds, but he never showed up which was a disappointment. While I was standing there some girl rode by on a bike and when she saw me she turned around and yelled Akai, which means red, and looked pretty amazed. I get a ton of funny looks and stares from everyone, it makes me chuckle. Anyways we just contacted for the rest of the day.

The next day we went and got me registered so I can get my Gajin or foreigner card and also got my bike. It cost me around $580 for the bike, light, basket on the back and insurance, which is average. It's a good one. Giant is the brand. After that we went and did transfer planning and contacted again. We had 2 appointments that day both fell through. Sunday was great getting to meet all of the members. They all tried to speak simply to me but I still had no idea what was going on half of the time, but I will get it sooner or later...I hope. After church we ate then went out and tried to contact but it was a bad evening. We only got one decent one.

So here we are, its P day, next week it will be on Tuesday because of Zone Conference. We cleaned the apartment and planned for shopping. Hopefully we get some good contacts tonight and can do some lessons soon.

So that's Japan. It's really crazy in this area. Iam in Nishinomia. It is near Kobe and is pretty much part of Kobe. Straight up city. I haven't seen any fields or grass like at home, it's all city. Alot of fun getting to see new stuff. I just can't wait until I know what people are saying and when I can read the Kanji all over, it will be better. It's exciting and I am glad to be here.

I need to get Burns's address, Drew's and Spencers, Trents, Bishop Burr and Brandon's addresses too. Oh and say hi to Cami for me. She wrote to me every week, it was awesome, send me her address too.

Alright, I think that's it for this email. Crazy week. It is fun seeing all sorts of stuff and getting to do actual missionary work. I am excited for our first baptism and we are going to have to work hard to get it but I think we will.

Love you tons.

Cam

New Address

As far as we know Cameron made it to Japan. Thought I'd update his address.

Elder Cameron Homer
Japan Kobe Mission
4-6-28 Shinohara Honcho
Nada-ku
Kobe-shi, Hyogo
657-0067 Japan

You can still send emails to chomer@myldsmail.net

Just kidding

We got another phone call today, Saturday. The flight plans are going as originally planned. Cam said they leave Monday from the MTC at 6 am. In their zone 5 are in quarentine for the flu but there are 5 of them in his district and all of them get to leave.

New Travel Plans

Hey, I just wanted to update everyone on Cameron's travel plans. Yesterday Cam called us from the MTC, nice surprise, and they are scheduled to leave on Wednesday, 10th. They will be leaving the MTC at 6 a.m. He flies out at 9:45 from SLC. Unfortunately he won't get to see Spencer and Andrew. It was really cool to hear from him, he is really happy and ready to get out of the MTC. You can still e-mail him at chomer@myldsmail.net. I'll post his address after he gets to Japan.

Departure delayed

Well as of right now I don't know my flight plans because we are staying at least one extra week because of this swine flu stuff. This was going to be our last week, but now we aren't sure. The soonest we could leave is June 15. About 20 people have been quarentined. A lot of people are sick with all kinds of stuff. I had a cough and all that got checked out and I am just fine. If you have any symptoms they make you stay in your room until you can get checked out. This whole thing is crazy. But they are taking good care of everyone so you don't need to be worried.

It is disappointing getting flight plans and stuff last Friday then getting told that we can't leave. We were headed to LA, then Tokyo, then to Osaka. I'm sure it will still be the same when we leave.

The people coming into the MTC will not be allowed to come in with their families. Districts have been assigned to escort people in and ours is one of them, so I will get to bring newbies in. Good news is that I will get to see Spencer and Drew, let them know if you can.

Dad, I hate computers too, I've had my email deleted a few times and we only get a half hour, don't know what the deal is.

Not much has happened this week, class, gym and meetings. Thanks for the cookies and the pictures they were great. Now people won't stop bugging me about Whitney after they saw her picture. The only thing I need right now is to make sure both of my cards will work in Japan. I am worried that I will get there and they won't work. Also could you send me my belt that I used for jeans.

Hmmm...sorry I am boring, not alot goes on here. The language is coming along, but I am sure once I hit Japan it will be a whole different story. I hope Whitney is doing ok, I am sure that she will be fine, it will just be a tough road. I saw Brother Priest the other day, very cool.

Well in some ways it was a disappointing week, but we know we will get to Japan....eventually. As of right now we are planning on the 15, but if the flu thing doesn't clear up they won't let us go, so we'll see what happens.

Love you all,

Cam