So Phil is finally out now huh? Man thats crazy I bet he was really excited. It sounded like a lot of fun, man I would die for some enchiladas right now. I think that is the food I miss the most. Mexcian Food. Trent is in the Branch Presidency? Thats awesome. The area in our district that is 3 hours away is the same. They have One active member so on Sunday it is usually just the 3 of them sometimes if he can't come its just the missionaries.

Sounds like Thanksgiving is going to be fun. I have been wondering what we should do on Thanksgiving. Maybe we will just go to a nice restaurant or something. Some elders did that last year here in Tanabe and ended up baptizing the lady that works there. She is way cool and a strong member and helps us out a lot.
It looks like Whit had a good time at the dance. They can be a ton of fun or really bad but I am glad she had a lot of fun. The pictures turned out really good. Dad did a good job. I will remember her next Sunday in my fast.

So everyday I am in Tanabe I like it more and more. It is an awesome place. It's really green and we can see mountains and things its pretty sweet.

Monday - After P-day we went back to the apt and ate and rested until it was time to head back out. We went out housing and hadn't really had much luck. We walked up to a house and 2 dogs came out barking at us. We went up and started to pet them and stuff when a car came flying into the driveway and kind of surprised us. We hurried and knocked on the door so it looked like we were doing something and the guy came out of the car and we started talking to him. He was really nice and we told him we were missionaries and he told us to wait for a bit and ran inside. He told us his wife was really interested but had just gotten into the bath so we made an appointment to come back another day. It was really great.

Tuesday - We went and walked around Tanabe and talked to people most of the day. We actually handed out a Book of Mormon to a girl that was working at a phone store. Hopefully we can turn her into an investigator soon. We also had Eikaiwa this night which is always fun.

Wednesday - We did some more walking around Tanabe in the morning and then we had to go to Gobo the area next to us to teach Eikaiwa and visit a member. It use to have missionaries in it but got closed down so it is our responsibility now. We visited a member named Azuma and he is way crazy but needs to be visited. He is way funny and does some crazy stuff but its fun. We taught Eikaiwa then took the 50 min train back home and the day was over.

Thursday -Today was our weekly planning session. After planning we went back out housing and went back to meet that guys wife that had interest. We ended up giving her a book of mormon and got a return appointment to teach her on sunday. It was really exciting. We did a bunch of housing after planning and didn't find anyone but may get a few new Eikaiwa students.

Friday - In the morning we visited with a sort of less active member. She teaches dance and does tons of volunteer work but is too busy sometimes to come to church. She also wants her daughter to be baptized so we are working with her to help her with that. She is awesome and we should be able to baptize her daughter soon it seems like. After that we ate lunch and looked up a bunch of names in the area book to go visit and hopefully get some new investigators. We went way way out into the middle of no where to get some of them and were really only able to contact one of them. She knows some members better and we will have to talk to them about her. Hopefully we can start teaching her soon. After that we went back and had our so called "District Meeting" that we do over the phone for around 20 min because we are too far away from the other area to actually meet. After that we went out and talked with some people and came back home.

Saturday - We did contacting in the morning and around dinner time we had an appointment that Elder Payne had made with a guy around a month ago. Suprisingly enough he remembered and had made sushi and stuff for us. It was really cool. We are going to teach him again this coming week. He is a really nice guy and has a small family also so it could turn out to be really great.

Sunday - This was a way good day. We went to church and had a good time there. It is still surprising to me how small our branch is. We only have around 4 priesthood holders. Definately different from Utah. After church we ate and went and did a little lesson with a member. After that we went to Risa (the lady we gave a bom to and made an appointment with) to teach her with the branch president. The lesson went really great and she really wants to know about the church and said she plans on reading the BOM cover to cover which was way cool. We will be meeting with her again this week. After that we headed home and the day was over.

It was a great week and we have some really good potential right now. We just have to keep trying our best. Tanabe is an awesome place I really like it out here. I hope I get to stay out here a little longer than my last 2 areas.

Anyways it sounds like everyone is doing good back home. I hit my 7 month mark yesterday which is way crazy. Its gone by really fast and at the same time it feels like forever ago its a weird feeling. Thanks for everything i can't wait for the package.

Love you tons Cam

Tanabe

Hey how is it going back home? Sounds like you are all busy and have alot of stuff going on with school and all of that.
My new comp. Elder Payne is really great and We get along well. Tanabe is a cool place. It is way Inaka (Country) and I really like it. I thought it would be tough being in countryside because most missionaries don't like it but so far it has been great. It's really funny because people don't see foreigners much, hardly at all actually, so its a blast. They always look at us and say Hello and other things. The other day we rode by some kids playing soccer and they said "We soccer together?" We played soccer with them for 15 min. or so and it was a blast. Its a way cool place and all the members are awesome.

Ok so last week

Wednesday
Not much really happened this day because we had to get ready for transfers. Almost the whole morning was spent packing and getting ready to go. It was a little weird it felt like I had just gotten there. After packing and all of that we went out housing. The investigator we dropped called us and wanted to meet again. I told him about me transferring and he said he would buy us dinner so we went. We didn't really bible bash this time but I think they will probably keep him dropped. He isn't going anywhere.

Thursday
Transfer Day. We woke up and met in Kobe with the other missionaries I rode trains all day for around 8 hours until we got to Tanabe. It is really far away from everywhere else in the mission. The next area to us that has missionaries in it is around 2 hours away. The area in our district is 3 hours away and we do district mtg. over the phone. Its pretty crazy but it's fun. By the time we got to the apt. The day was over so we did our planning and called it a night.

Friday
Friday we did alot of planning for the transfer, unpacking, and just getting things ready. We went to a place to eat to kick off the transfer. A recent convert works there and it was fun to get to know her. We came back and unpacked, planned for the transfer and put my bike together. At 5:00 we had service for a less active in our ward. She teaches dance and does it for some handicapped kids for free. They bang on the mirrors and things so we go and wipe it down for her. It didn't take long but it was fun and we got to know her better and got an appointment with her. After words we did some more planning and that was it.

Saturday
We finished up all our weekly and transfer planning in the morning and headed out. We went out to a place called the Big U. It is like a giant study hall and we talked to some people there. We did a practice lesson with a member there too. We practice with them and they help us with our Japanese and how we can improve. It's really useful and we are planning to do it with Less Actives in our ward as a way to reactivate them and it helps us become better teachers too. We did some talking to people out there until it was time to come home.

Sunday
I was excited to see how the branch was and how big it was in Tanabe since the Akashi and Nishinomiya both were pretty big wards. We had around 15 people there so it will be easy to get to know everyone. It was a good meeting and I got to know some of the members. Since it is small most people have 2 or 3 callings it's amazing how hard they work. They are going to be great to work with. After church we came back and ate, then we visited a Less Active and talked to her. She was doing well and praying everyday. We challenged her to read also and she said she would. Hopefully we can get her back to church soon.

We went to this giant park to do some contacting at afterwards. It was gigantic I have never seen one in the states even close to how big this one was it was really cool. Not very many people were there so we went back to the Big U place and talked again to some people we knew. We were able to give out a Book of Mormon but unable to get a new investigator which is sad but it will happen soon. After that we had to go home and our day was over.

Tanabe is a way cool place I like it here. Its pretty small but it reminds me of home and Springville being the little hick town it is :). All the members and people here are really nice to us and try to help us out in any way that they can. Its going to be a way fun transfer I am sure.

The flu thing isn't much of a problem I don't think over here but you see people wearing masks all the time because its Japan. It might be Im not quite sure to tell you the truth. I know some missionaries have gotten sick. Whats it like back home right now?

How was the new ward? You go to our old building now? Thats kind of a weird change too I bet. How is everyone adjusting to it all? I hope whit is ok let me know what happens with her. She is being watched over thats one thing I am sure of.
Thanks for Joe's address I will send him a letter sometime when I get the chance. When does he leave for the field?

For the Christmas package the only thing I could think of would be gloves. Something I could wear while riding a bike that keeps my hands warm but not like way hot sweaty ones. Other than that I think I am fine. It has gotten a little colder so winter is coming.

Tanabe is great, I really like it out and and am having a fun time. I hope everything is going well back home. Have fun Love you tons.

Cam

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for all the pictures they were all really great. It was a lot of fun to see pictures of everyone.

So today we got our transfer calls and..... I am transferring again! I am going to a place called Tanabe and it is way way far away almost as far as you can get in the mission. It is really really countryside, I am pretty excited. It sounds like it will be a fun place.I am way excited to go to my new area it should be a lot of fun. My comp is Payne Choro. He is the one that was Renae Olivas business partner's son right? All the crazy stories come from the countryside areas so it should be awesome. I know its just a small branch. The other area in our district that is the farthest in the mission has 3 members in their branch and 2 of them are missionaries so I am sure ours is small also.

Anyways this week not a lot really happened Tuesday - We went tracting all day nothing really happened at all. We biked really far and did some housing but nothing really special.

Wednesday - same story here. Lots of contacting but nothing really happened. We taught Iwamurasan but he just bible bashed really hard and I told him we were not going to teach him anymore so we dropped him.

Thursday-
We had District mtg. for the last time in Miki. It was fun we went and ate afterwords. Later that night we had baptismal interviews. Elder Fukui and Shinozaki actually got 2 baptisms this week. It was really great. After the interviews we didn't have much time so we went back and did weekly planning.

Friday -
I had service and it ended up turning into an exchange with elder Fukui. It was fun I enjoyed it. We did our normal service but we also did service at an english club with a bunch of old ladies. I taught about Halloween and brought some of that candy you sent me. I think they liked it, but the candy was really sweet for them. It was a blast.

Saturday -We got to watch conference this day. We went down the the Mission Home with our zone and the one next to us and watched conference all day. It was great I really like a lot of the talks but my favorite was elder Hollands on Sunday. Man he is a bold guy.

Sunday -Another busy day. We went back to Kobe and watched conference. We had a baptismal service for 2 of Elder Fukui and Shinozaki's investigators. It was a really spiritual service and really great. Everyone was really happy and I am sure they both are going to be great members.

Monday -We went out tracting all day but nothing happened. P-day got switched because it was a holiday I guess.

Tuesday (today) -Today we got transfer calls and I found out I was transferring I am pretty excited. Anyways after that we went to Kyoto. There we went to 2 way cool places. One was Kinkakojin a golden building shrine place and to Nijo castle both were way cool. I will send you pictures next week if I can. Both were really awesome I loved it.

The Typhoon missed us so it didn't do much. We just had a lot of rain. It has started to get cold here also. It's nice not being so hot all of the time.
I would love to get Joe's address in the MTC I would love to write him sometime. If you could send it to me that would be great. That is too bad about Matt Prawitt. I hope he gets better soon, will keep him in my prayers.

Thanks for everything,
Love you tons
Cam

Sweets Paradise

Snow already? It's still hot out here for the most part but it is slowly starting to cool down, which is way nice it was so hot. It has been raining a bit the last few days too.

Sounds like you all had fun with Jason over there. That was a way cool story about the guy's in Sapporo. I don't think we will run into that anytime soon but if we get desperate enough I will start taking matches around with me.

Yeah I will send Joe a letter soon, today I have a bunch to write so I will get him one. I am sure that you have his address. Could you send it to me please. I got your package this week. It was really great thanks for everything I will be sending pictures back this week I hope you like them and those USB keys were awesome now I don't have to worry about losing my pictures like before.

Eggrolls? I have yet to eat those over here yet. They are actually Chinese food so we don't see a lot of them but they do eat a lot of chinese food. Its good stuff.

Ok anyways, here is my week:

Tuesday - We had interviews with president in Kobe. We ate as a zone at a place called Sweets Paradise. It is an all you can eat dessert place. Tons of cake, Ice cream and all sorts of other stuff. It was really good even though we pretty much ate until we all felt sick. It was a blast. The all you can eat places seem to be a big thing in Japan there are a lot of them and it usually is pretty good food. Afterwards we had interviews with president and district meeting. We also had an exchange planned so I was with my old District Leader Muai choro. We went back to Akashi and the day was over. We also had the Elders from Akou over too. So we had 6 people in the Apt. that night. McBurney (From my MTC Group) is in Akou right now so he was there. It was a blast, maybe a little too crazy but we had a ton of fun. It was a really nice break for me. Man, it was a crazy night but it was way fun.

Wednesday - It rained all day so Muai choro and I went housing. Not much luck there. After housing we went to teach Iwamura, the bible basher guy. Same old story there. I think we are going to drop him this week. He isn't making any sort of progress at all. It is nice to have a lesson each week but he just wants to argue. After that lesson we went back switched comps. and the day was over.

Thursday - We went out contacting most of the day but we didn't have any luck. We were suppose to meet Nicholas and have a lesson but he didn't show up. I talked to him on the phone last night. He said he has been super busy and kind of sick so we won't be able to meet with him for awhile. He really is the only decent investigator we have at the moment. It's a little disappointing.

Friday - We had service in the morning nothing different there. After service I had another exchange with an elder in Kakogawa. It was fun, I like going to the different areas and seeing how other missionaries do things. It was a good exchange. We went housing and found a potential investigator that was really nice but nothing really solid.

Saturday -We went out for a little bit in the morning and then the exchange was over. Went back to Akashi and ate lunch and streeted for around an hour. Afterwords we went back to Kakogawa for this big activity for the YSA in our stake. It was mostly missionaries there but it was still a blast. We played this sport called Kinball. Its a sport from Canada it was pretty crazy. You play with a HUGE ball, 3 teams of 4 people and you have to hit it to other teams and they catch it. If they miss you get points its hard to explain but it was a lot of fun. We got to see all of the missionaries from the zone, it was a blast.

Sunday - We didn't have any of our investigators come this week. Fukui and Shinozaki are doing really great right now though. They should have at least 2 baptisms next week with the possibility of 4. They had a few people come to church. Hopefully all of their baptisms go through. Do you remember that lady I gave a BOM to at church that the member brought. She and her 2 kids are scheduled for next week hopefully it all works out. Also another guy is probabely going to be baptized next week too. They are doing great. Anyways we just went to church and afterwords we went out tracting all day but no luck.

Thanks for the Package it was great. We will get to listen to conference the coming saturday and sunday one week after everyone back home does. I am excited for it. I heard that they are building a temple in Sapporo, Japan. All the members yesterday were excited.

Next week we are going to go to Kyoto. It is where all the big temples and shrines and things are. I am not sure how much of an email if any I will be able to send you but I think you will get one. I am going to send some pictures too today let me know what you think. Tell everyone I love them.
Love
Cam