Six month and 1 pair shoes

Hey how is everyone doing? We just got back from going to Himeji Castle it was really awesome. I am going to wait to send pictures until I get the memory stick thing because when I send pictures it sometimes screws them up on my camera. Anyways it was really awesome the place is huge. It is going to be closed for the rest of my mission starting in October and a year or so after I go home too I think. They are really going to do a lot of work on it. If I ever come back and visit it will be place for sure I will go to again. It was great.

Ok this week.
Monday - After P-day not much happened we went streeting but didn't find anybody to teach.

Tuesday - We went knocking on doors that morning for around 2 hours then we headed back to lunch. After lunch we went to Akashi Eki to street. Maeno Choro had been a little under the weather and he had to take a break so we did that and then went back out looking for people. We were also suppose to meet our new investigator but unfortunately he did not come. We didn't get his phone number either so we had no way of contacting him so we were pretty disappointed that night.

Wednesday - In the morning we went to a place called Nishi Akashi and did some street contacting there. We got a few people to stop but we couldn't get any return appointments. After lunch we went out streeting again until Iwamura's lesson. His lesson was the same as all the others. He just wants to Bible bash and really isn't open to anything. I think we will give him one or two more chances then drop him. He is just wasting our time.

We headed home afterwords around 7:30 and on the way I saw our investigator we were suppose to meet with the day before. It was dark and I have no idea how I spotted him or how we could cross paths but we did. We stopped turned around and went and talked to him. He said something had come up and he couldn't make it but we got his phone number. Hopefully we can get an appointment with him soon.

Thursday -
We had district meeting in the morning. Afterwords we went to lunch as a district. We went housing for around 5 1/2 hours after lunch but didn't find anybody that was interested. A few were excited about Eikaiwa but that was about it. After all the housing we went back home.

Friday -
We had service this day. I always look forward to service we always seem to have a good time. After service we ate and did our weekly planning. We rode out to Okubo station and did housing and streeting out there but couldn't find anyone but we did talk with a lot of people.

Saturday -
This was a fun day. We had Eikaiwa in the morning. Every last Eikaiwa of the month Elder Fukui likes to do a little party after the class. It was fun. Did I say anything about the guy that was a little crazy that ended up coming to Eikaiwa last week? Anyways, he came this week too. He actually came the church a little late last week. He poked his head into the chapel and saw that it was full and went back home. Man, I wish I would have seen him poke his head in. When I told him about that he said he would come the next day. We started talking and he told me about how he doesn't believe god exists because his 5 year old son died. It was really sad he started to cry, but he kept saying he has no interest but still came to church the next day. He is looking for something more and i hope it all works out for him. We are trying to get a lesson with him but he is kind of crazy so its tough.

After Eikaiwa we went to Kobe with one of our investigators. They do YSA activities all the time and if you bring an investigator with you, you are allowed to go. It was suppose to be a hawaiin party. For some reason Japanese people love hawaiin stuff anyways it ended up being fun and we had a good time. Our investigator we took was Shinkuma. He is 31 and we are trying to teach him slowly. He says he has no interest but wants to meet with us. We will see what happens I guess.

Sunday -
This was the craziest Sunday of my mission so far. Elder Fukui really wanted to get a lot of people to church this do so we tried hard. We got 2 of our investigators to come Nicholas and Marou the one from Eikaiwa. Fukui choro and Shinozaki choro got around 8 people to come no joke. So we had around 10 non members there it was great. We had a potluck lunch afterwords and talked to everyone in the ward and got the members involved it was really great. After Church it was around 4:30ish. We had been invited by the ward mission leader over for dinner, he lives pretty far so we headed out to his house and had a really great dinner. After that we headed back home.

Today -
We went to Himeji Castle it was really cool. It is huge with 6 stories a moat and all sorts of other stuff. I will send you some pictures once I can back them up to the memory stick. I definately want to go there again.

The rest of this week should be a lot better than this one. We have Interviews with president tomorrow. I also have an exchange coming up too. We have a few appointments this week also. It is a weird feeling hitting my 6 month mark. I feel like I just left but it also feels like forever ago too. It's weird to explain but it has gone by fast. I have already gone through my black slip on pair of shoes the sole of the right basically fell apart. The insides of both were really torn up. I am fine though, still have the other 2 and they are a lot nicer and should hold up well.

It sounds like everyone is busy back home and having a good time for the most part. Sounds like Joe had a good farewell and I am sure he will be a great missionary. It will be fun writing him.

Thank you for everything,
Love you,
Cam

I am going to talk to president tomorrow about other books from home for study tomorrow in the interview. I will let you know next week. Also did you send that t-shirt I talked about in the last email. That would be awesome. Thanks for everything.

Love you Cam

Hi,

I don't have very much time at all today so this email will end up being short. Tell Muff and the others I am sorry I can't email them I just don't have time today.

Wednesday -

I had an exchange with a new elder from Miki. His name is Ishihara Choro and is from Okinawa. He is only on his first transfer but knows Japanese so it really wasn't that big of a deal. We went out streeting and things the first day. We were suppose to have a lesson with Iwamura but he didn't show up. Probably a good thing because it would have been a terrible first lesson for Ishihara Choro. We streeted some more after that but no luck we headed back home afterwords. On our way home at a stoplight on my bike some crazy guy came up to me and asked if I was American in English I told him yes and gave him a chirashi he was really weird. He actually came on that Saturday I was way surprised. He was still crazy but maybe he will start coming every week.

Thursday -

We ended the Kokan around lunch time and streeted at the nearby train station before it ended. We didn't have much time so we didn't really get any good contacts but we got one had interest in Eikaiwa maybe he will come. We had gotten a new investigator the day before. He is a friend of the other comp's investigator came to the ward festival, and to eikaiwa. We both were really excited but he told us he had no interest in the gospel when we got there. He just wanted to talk about why we came and are missionaries. We will still teach him I think hopefully along the way we can peak some interest in the gospel from him.

Friday

One of the AP's came down to do a Kokan (exchange) with Elder Fukui because they do them with the ZL's all the time. We were suppose to do one with him this day but they ended up being late and we had to do it the next day. We had service in the morning and just tracted all day without much luck.

Saturday

We did our Exchange with Ito Choro on this day. We really learned a lot and how to make our streeting approach much better than it actually was. We didn't actually find a new investigator but we really learned a lot Sunday After Church we went out streeting. There was a younger guy that I saw so I stopped him, introduced my self and started talking. I let Maeno Choro introduce himself and they started talking and found out he is christian. We asked if he would like to meet again and he said sure. We have an appointment with him tomorrow I really hope that he comes soon. It would be really great to have someone new to teach.

Today

So the reason I am so late writing today is that we went with some members and Ichigawa san to a Grape Vineyard. You go there and pay 500 yen (Around 5 bucks) and you get to eat as many grapes as you want to. Yeah it was cool it was kind of far away and on the way back traffic was bad but it was fun. I got a picture that I will try to send next week. Anyways that has been the week. This week also should be busy and hopefully we get some new people to teach we really need it.

It sounds like everyone is really busy back home. Sorry, I think I am going to cut it short right here we don't have anytime left but I love you all. I will be going to Himeji Castle next week so the email will be late again I am sure. I should have some great pictures in the next email. sorry its short and I will try to email everyone next week.

Love you all
Cam

Hey Everyone,

Time is flying by isn't it? This week felt a little longer than normal but September is halfway over already and I can't believe it. It's crazy stuff.

Sounds like dad is going crazy in the house with the bedrooms. When he wants to get it done he just goes for it makes me laugh hearing about it all. Sounds like all of the kids are really busy with school, basketball and dances. Hope they have fun and all of that.

Ok this week

Wednesday we had District Mtg. but we wanted to meet as a zone so we took the train for around an hour to the mid point in our zone. We had our individual District Mtg. and then went to lunch. All you can eat restuarants are a big thing in Japan. Get 10 missionaries together and you can bet where they are going to want to eat. We went to a yaki niku place where you get a bunch of meat then cook it at your table on a little bbq thing that is built into the table. It was a ton of fun and really good too. I got to talk to a bunch of missionaries that I hadn't seen and that is always a blast.

After DM we taught Iwamura but it went about the same as usual, I think we may have to drop him soon but we will see what happens with him. I hope he starts to make some more progress soon.

Thursday was an open day. We went out housing in the morning then did weekly planning. Afterwords we went to a part members house and visited with them. The dad was baptized around 2 or 3 years ago I think but the mom thinks baptism is weird and she won't be baptized or let the kids be baptized either. It's difficult and we have been working with them but they don't seem to have any motivation to be baptized. After that short lesson we went back to the apt.

Friday I had service which is always fun and an english class that we teach at once a month. The class was my first time and it was a good time. We did a lesson on cooking in english and gave them some cinnamon rolls that Elder Fukui had made. They were really good, but Mom's are still the best I think. We went out contacting afterwords but no luck.

Saturday we had Eikaiwa. It was a way good class because we got around 4 new students it was awesome. Some of them will be coming back for sure too. Hopefully some of them can turn into investigators. Afterwords we went housing for awhile but didn't get anything

Sunday was Kobe's stake conference so we went to that. Nicholas came along too. It went well and the conference was great. President McIntyre spoke, it was great to hear from him. We came back after that and went out to Tarumi. They had this big dance festival going on. It was really cool and some of the groups were pretty good. We tried to go contacting during it but people were too busy to stop and talk. We went back and watched for a little bit right before we went home then left for the apt.

Monday was Zone Conference and it was really great. We all gave little presentations of things we wanted to teach. Our's wasn't very creative but some of them were really funny. I am sure you will see some pictures on his blog in the next few days. It was alot of fun. I also got to see some old friends and all of that. Zone Conference is always a blast I love it. We headed home and only had an hour left so we housed for a bit and went home.

That was the week, we were going to go to Himeji Castle today but it was raining so we are planning for the 28th of Sept. It should be a lot of fun. I think you should still get an email from me that day. I will take a lot of pictures I promise. It will be sweet. This next week will be busy too. I am doing well with my new comp. there are definatley times where I don't understand what all he is saying but I understand most of what he says. I get alot more opportunities to speak Japanese now and I am trying my best to get better everyday, but there is still lots of work to do. It should be fun

Thanks for everything,
Love you,
Cam

Hey sorry our P-day changed this week to Tuesday. Elder Fukui had some Zone leader stuff and we wanted to shop all four of us together.

So yeah, thats right, Akashi has turned into a 4 man area. My new comp is Maeno Choro he is from some of the southern Islands of Japan and speaks no english :). Needless to say, I am learning Japanese quickly. Elder Fukui's new comp. is Elder Shinozaki Choro. He is from Sapporro but can speak pretty good english. He actually went to UVU for a semester, lived right by the mall. This is the first time president has put 3 Japanese elders all in the same apt. I am going to be learning Japanese quickly and its already helped me out. Shinozaki Choro and I have study sessions every night. I answer and help him with all his english and he helps me with all my Japanese. It's way fun.

Alright so since last week whats happenened?

Ok Monday last week was crazy I told you about Osaka and all of that it was cool. Everything worked out he got his visa this week and should be good to go.
Tuesday we got our transfer calls. We found out that we both would have new companions but still be in Akashi area. Good things are happening and it should get better I hope. I am really excited for this transfer my Japanese skill should get much, much, better from having 3 Japanese in the apt. and speaking Japanese all the time. I thought it would be tough but, I guess my Japanese is better than I thought it was. I can understand a lot now and can say what I want, in a broken sort of way. Anyways after calls we went out and contacted but not much success.

Wednesday was a busy day. We had to get the apt. ready for the 2 new guys coming in so we got cleaned up and did all that. After that, we went out and contacted for a few hours then came back to the apt. Fukui Choro has a meeting with Stake leaders once a month with another zone so he had to get ready for that, then we headed down to Kobe to the mtg. After the mtg. was over we headed back home.

Thursday was transfer day. We woke up and headed back out to Kobe where transfer take place. I got to see some of the Elders from my old area which was fun. I also got to see McBurney Choro. He is staying in Ako and getting a new Comp. that was in my old district. They should do well out there. After we met our new companions we headed to the Mission Home to get some more Futons (Japanese Beds) for the 2 that just came in then we headed back out to Akashi. Transfer day is usually crazy because they have to unpack an get everything ready. That took awhile and afterwords we did transfer planning. We went to Tarumi and did the first tracking of the transfer. Afterwords, we went and visited the Bishop all together and let him know what was going on.

Friday was service day. I will still go with Elder Fukui to this because they like Gaijin and I am the only one here. It's usually pretty fun. I like it. After Service we came back ate lunch, then headed back out. We went and tracked for the rest of the day but didn't have much luck.

Saturday we had the Ward Matsuri (Japanese Festival) They had music and lots of food. I got to try some new food that I really liked. My favorite was okonomiyaki, It is kind of like a pancake but tastes totally different I will have to get the recipe and make it when I get back. It was a lot of fun there. After we went out and dendoed but not luck.

Sunday was church. The lady I gave the Book of Mormon to came that was great to see. She is really busy but wants to hear the lessons. I hope something good comes of it. Nicholas the man from Ghana came also. He had some things he had to do so we couldn't teach him but he said he will be there next week and we will teach him there. After church we went housing for quite awhile. Housing in Japan is hard because they have the little intercom boxes on every house with cameras in them sometimes. We call the Kekko boxes (kekko usually means I am good). Sometimes they come to the door but usually just kekko us through the box. Anyways, thats what we did for the rest of that day.

Monday we had a totally open day. We went and housed for around 6 hours but didn't get to talk to anyone for more than 3 or 5 minutes. We went street contacting too but, same deal there also. Hopefully we get some better luck in finding soon. We need some new investigators a lot of the ones we have right now are a little shaky.

Its been a great week lots of good changes that are really good for Akashi. I am really excited because I know my Japanese will really improve especially if I try my best. It sounds like everyone is busy back home. Whit with 2 dances, Derrick with fishing,Muff with school and well just being Muff. You with all the painting and carpet stuff, Dad with work. Man it's crazy how fast time is flying by.
Oh for the Package, could you send me some white notecards? They don't have them here for some can't find any. Other than that I am fine. One thing the states definately has over Japan is the junk food. Gotta love it.

Next week I will email on Tuesday also we have zone conference on Monday. We will either go next week or the next to Himeji Castle so if you don't get an email next week from me its because we went. I have some pictures I will send in another email, hope you like them. Well everything is going good out here hope you are having fun too.

Love you,
Cam