Well it sounds like everyone had fun except for whit. Man I could kill right now for some Turkey and Stuffing. It sounds really good. I actually forgot that it was Thanksgiving until we started planning. Its a little weird being in a place where people don't celebrate it and kind of ignore Christmas too. I hope that everyone had fun. It sounds like most of the family had a good time.

Wednesday - I was still in Wakayama with the other 2 elders. In the morning we went out and talked to some investigators and did a bit of streeting. We headed back and ate while Magleby Choro packed his stuff up and got it ready to send it off for transfers. After lunch we headed out to meet their new convert. He was a really great guy. He really has been converted and is going to be a strong member. It was cool to see how fast he became such a strong member in such short of time. After that we headed back and on the way we ate at a Ramen Place. It is famous for this really bad smelling ramen but it tasted pretty good. A fun experience that's for sure. After dinner we taught Eikaiwa which is always fun.

Thursday - Man this was a long day. Because my new comp is a new missionary I had to go all the way back to the Mission Home in Kobe. We woke up at 5:45 and started off. We got to the Honbu and got some training from President and the AP's then they brought in the new missionaries. They assigned us all our new comp.s and then we took pictures and ate lunch. My new comp is Enta Choro. He is from Japan, a place just above Tokyo. He is already a great missionary and we are going to have fun even if we don't understand each other sometimes. He speaks no english. After that we all headed out to our areas. We got to Wakayama and had to stop there so we could buy a bike for him because there isn't a decent place in Tanabe to do it. Once we got that done we took it on the train with us and headed home and got to the apt. around 8:50. Man it was a long day.

Friday - Ok it was Enta Choro's first day as a missionary. We did all of our transfer planning in the morning, ate lunch and then headed out. We first went to the beach but no one was there so we headed out to go housing. He did a really good job for his first time and we were even able to talk to a few people. They didn't have interest at the moment but are decent Potential Investigators. Hopefully they can become real investigators soon. After housing we headed to the church to prep. Eikaiwa. We got that all finished up and I taught Eikaiwa which is always fun. We have a really good, fun Eikaiwa class that I really like.

Sat. - In the morning after study we decided to go out near the beach and train station and try to street. We actually were able to find a new investigator at the beach which was awesome. He was kind of dodgy and I am not sure if he will actually show up to the appointment or not but it was great for us to see I think. After the beach and train station we went back to the apt., ate and headed out to do some housing. We housed for around 4 hours but didn't have much luck. We went back and did our district meeting before planning. We are so far apart we do it over the phone. I thought I had preped and gotten ready but man I was wrong. I failed pretty hard and man it was embarrassing. I hope i can do it, maybe next time will be better. I got some tips from one of the Elders in Shingu that has been a DL before. He is the branch president right now or he would be DL i think. After the call we ate and called it a day.

Sunday - We had our study in the morning and then headed to church. We had asked a past investigator that was at eikaiwa that has interest again to come to church and she did. That was good but when we tried to do a lesson man....I failed pretty hard here too. I couldn't speak any Japanese or really give a good lesson.I felt really bad and the members that were helping just kind of took over. After words i got some words of advice from them, but I am still feeling down about it. I hope I can become a good teacher and fast because man, we need it. After church we went out to a place called Shirahama its pretty far but way pretty place. We had a good bike ride out there and when we got there it was pretty dead. We talked to some people but no one with real interest which was disappointing. After that we headed back home ate, planned, and called it a day.

So yeah its been already pretty crazy. I have a lot of learning and practice to do. I get lots of Japanese practice with my comp because he speaks no english at all so thats a good opportunity for me. Hopefully I can get better soon. Its going to be a fun transfer we just need to make sure we work hard. I hope I can do it. Thanks for the package i got one of them already, be careful sending too much, I don't want my brand new comp to get trunky in his first transfer haha.
Love you
Cam

Hey well crazy stuff has been going on this week so far. After Payne Choro left I had to head up to Wakayama to spend these 3 days with 2 other missionaries. We actually weren't able to do email because it was a holiday so I probably won't have a lot of time to do it today. Anyways we had transfer calls and well its pretty crazy. I am of course staying in Tanabe but I am going to be a Trainer and also am going to be District Leader. I was pretty shocked to say the least. It is exciting and scary at the same time. I know that if we work hard we will be just fine. I won't find out who my new Comp. is until this Thursday when I go to pick him up. Its going to be a lot of fun.

Ok anyways here is our week.

Monday - We had just a normal P-day but afterwords right before we headed out we got a call from the Enamoto's. They invited us over for Sukiyaki. It has got to be one of my favorite things to eat in Japan so far. It is a pot with a mix of soy sauce sugar and a few other things and they put a bunch of Meat, Veggies and tofu and stuff in it and boil it up. You then grab whatever you want dip it in raw egg and eat it. It is way, way good. I love it. It was a ton of fun.

Tuesday - We were suppose to have a lesson with Risa but she cancelled on us again. She said she would come to church on sunday but didn't show up. She started out with so much potential but kind of has dropped off of the map. Its a little disappointing. Instead of meeting with her we went housing I think. We went to see if we could find any service activities at the community center but we couldn't find any that didn't involve kids (we can't do service with kids). We also got together our Eikaiwa class and went out to eat that night. It was a ton of fun and we ate a ton of food.

Wendsday - We had interviews with president this day. After interviews we went to a Yaki Niku all you can eat restuarant. Yaki Niku is one of my favorites also. You go and get a plate fill it with a bunch of raw meat and then cook it at your table over an open grill that is built into the table. Its really good, I wish they had them in the states but oh well. It was a 3 hour ride one way so we went back and taught the Gobo Eikaiwa and the day was over.

Thursday - We had a totally open day so we went housing most of the day. We went and contacted a bunch of old Former and Potential investigators but none of them had any interest anymore. It was a little disappointing that we couldn't find anyone but it happens.

Friday - We had to wait for the Airport people to come pick up Payne's luggage so we waited for that for 3 hours or so. After that we went housing then to service and then ate dinner. We did some more housing afterwords but didn't have much luck this day either.

Sat. - In the morning we headed out and started to dendo. We were able to talk to a guy Payne has met before. He is a guitar teacher that studied in the U.S. A really cool guy, has a family and all that. He is a good potential investigator and hopefully we can get him to change into a real investigator soon. After that we went back and ate lunch. While eating payne choro started cleaning up his stuff and we ended up cleaning the apt. I didn't realize how disgusting it actually was until we started doing it man it was bad. We got it all cleaned up though and man it looks half decent now. After all of that we went out and housed for the rest of the night without much luck.

Sunday - We had 2 people come to church which was awesome. One girl is the daughter of a member that we need to start teaching once she gets some free time. Her mom is really great and helps us out with some of our new converts. Hopefully we can get the ball rolling on her soon. She said she would give us a call when she has some time. The other girl that came was an old investigator that is friends with the girl Payne choro baptized last transfer. When she was committed to be baptized she kind of fell off. She said this time though that if she finds it to be true she will be baptized. We are really excited to start to teach her and hopefully will make a date for her next time we teach her. For the rest of the day we talked to members did a little bit of contacting and got Payne choro ready to head home.
Monday - We had to get up a little early and took the bus to Wakayama. On our way we got a call from President McIntyre and i found out that I will be training and also be the new District Leader. We dropped Payne Choro off in Osaka with another elder that is headed home and I left with the Wakayama Elders. I will be with them until Thursday morning then I have to head back to Kobe and get my new comp. It should be fun

Thanks for all of the emails this week. I want to try to make that bread for people in the ward as christmas presents we will see how it goes. I will try to get some of those questions answered I hope i have time.

love you tons thank you for everything.

Love you
Cam

Hey how is it going? Sounds like it is starting to get cold out there. It is here too but I don't think we will be having snow or anything like that.
Springville is actually good at football? Maybe getting that new coach was a good idea I guess. I am sure they will get destroyed by Timpview but you never know. Hopefully they pull it off. Sounds like Morgan is going to have fun at basketball. I hope she scores some baskets this year. Thanks for the Package stuff. I have interviews this week so I can ask president for permission. One thing you sent in the last package that you actually are not suppose to send is beef jerky. Some weird thing in Japan about it I am not sure but don't send any please. Thanks for the info on the ward. It was weird getting their newsletter and having a bunch of names I didn't know.

Ok this week wasn't the most exciting week ever but we tried.

Tuesday - We had made Brownies and some Pumpkin bread from some stuff that Payne Choro's mom sent to him on P-day. We went around and delivered a bunch of it to investigators, Less Actives, and other people. While we were doing that we visited some Potential Investigators and housed but didn't find anyone new. We did have a lesson right before Eikaiwa with an older man named Sengo. He said he has interest but it isn't really very big at the moment so we will see what happens with him over the next few weeks. Hopefully it turns out right. We taught Eikaiwa after that nothing really special happened there. After the class we got a ride home from a member because it was pouring rain like crazy.

Wendsday - Before we could start we had to walk back to the church in the morning to grab our bikes. After that we grabbed some lunch and went out for a bit before we went to Gobo for Eikaiwa. We went to Gobo and visited Azuma again for Payne choro's last time. He was still crazy as ever. Afterwords we taught Eikaiwa which is starting to get old. We ride a train way out to Gobo just to teach 2 or 3 people. If it ends up being a waste of time we might not do it anymore in the coming transfer. After Eikaiwa we headed home.

Thursday - We had an exchange scheduled this day with the other 2 elders in our district. We went to Shingu and it is 3 hours by train...yeah way out there. So we left in the morning and headed out there. They are in an interesting situation out in Shingu. They have only 1 active member and the senior comp is the branch president. It is a little smaller than Tanabe. I can't imagine trying to work without a branch. It has to be really hard. Can you imagine going to church on Sunday and having 3 people at church and 2 are missionaries? Man its crazy. Anyways we went out and did contacting for awhile then we went to a sushi place. My first time eating sushi in Japan actually. It was really good but pretty expensive. Afterwords we taught Eikaiwa and the day was over.

Friday - We headed back home and didn't get back until around 2:00. We did service for the dance place and did Weekly Planning. We did visit a Less Active Sister Okemoto. She was baptized around 20 years ago but did it for the missionaries and didn't really know what was going on. She doesn't have a testimony and we are trying to help her get one. Hopefully we can help her.

Sat. - We had lunch with the 4 other Gajin in Tanabe on Saturday. We went and ate hoping that we would have a chance to talk about religion and stuff but one of the ladies at the start kind of shut us down by talking about her pastor and stuff back home. It was kind of weird because they all talked about movies, tv, and things on the internet that we had no idea about. It kind of made me laugh how much is going on and we have no idea about it. It was fun to eat lunch with them. After that we rode way out to Shirahama and I saw a little more of the area. We talked to one guy that is a photographer that Payne has met before. He has talked to missionaries in the past and hopefully we will be able to get a lesson again with him sometime.

Sunday - We went to church and had lunch with members afterwords. I actually had to give a 15 min talk in Japanese which isn't the easiest thing in the world. I did alright. After church we went out looking for some Former Investigators but they moved away which was way frusterating. We were able to Visit Risa which was great. Her son got the flu also so we couldn't do a lesson and she couldn't come to church but we have a lesson for tomorrow. She will try to come to church next Sunday too. Hopefully it all works out.

Other than that not a lot really happened so hopefully this coming week is a better one. I guess we will see what happens.

Ok so tons of missionaries keep asking me about the mini PMG so could you tell me the story behind that and where you got it so I can tell them where they could get it and stuff. Thanks. Also your Banana Bread recipe is something I want to try to make when we make things for members and things. Is it hard to make? Could you send that to me also? Thanks

Love you tons Thanks for everything
Cam

Hey how is it going back home for everyone? Having fun?
Sounds like everyone is having a good time teaching the dog how to sit and all that made me laugh. Think sage will still be around when I get back home?

I've been thinking about Joe and Phil. The MTC is a hard place to be at sometimes. It is a great spiritual place but it can be really stressful, the food sucks, and other things too but you learn a lot and grow a lot too so its all worth it. I'm sure they are both doing great and will be awesome missionaries.

I was thinking about how some of the guys I know are hitting their year marks which is way weird. I will hit my 1/3 mark in 2 weeks which is pretty crazy too. It feels like I just left but it also feels like forever ago that I was home so its a weird feeling.

So the new ward is good? I have to admit it will be weird coming home to a new ward. The Peterson's are in our ward now? I didn't know that. Oh before i forget could you send me the information for our new ward so I can tell the honbu that my stuff has changed. I bet dad is way fun in YM with Craig too its gotta be a blast.

Christmas package already? Ok well somethings I thought of are Sweaters for sure. Could you send me my under armor leg things in the next package sometimes it gets cold enough you will want them I guess. I can get gloves and things out here. I think I am fine on shirts and all that. Things I want would be that Kansai Ben book I talked about earlier. Other than that surprise me!

This week was alright but not as successful as the last 2 weeks.

Tuesday we had an exchange with the elders in Wakayama. We were suppose to have a lesson with Risa but she had to cancel or something like that so we weren't able to teach her. We spent most of the day walking around because we only had 2 bikes and the other 2 took them. I was with Elder Magleby a way cool guy and we walked around for awhile when we saw this festival thing going on. We walked over and there were these guys carrying this golden shrine thing on their shoulders that looked a lot like the ark of the covenant. Then there were some guys carrying a guy that was dressed up like a monkey. The guys with the gold thing had to get past the monkey guys without dropping it. It was pretty crazy but kind of cool too. Once they got in we watched some guys pretend to fight each other then they threw free mochi (Rice stuff) at everyone it was awesome and totally crazy at the same time. After that we did Eikaiwa and called it a day.

Wednesday- We finished up our kokan and ate at a tabehodai (all you can eat) which was way good. We tried to dendo at a small mall in our area but we didn't find anyone interested. We left to Gobo and visited a member over there and then taught eikaiwa. Only 2 people came so it's a little frustrating because we have to go all the way out there spend money and time to teach hardly anyone. After class the day was over.

Thursday - We started the day off by doing our weekly planning. Elder Payne got permission from president to register for his BYU classes so we came back to the email place and he registered for all of his stuff. Afterwords we went out housing but didn't have much luck.

Friday - We did a practice lesson with a member in the morning. It helps our Japanese a lot, and we get good feedback so its been something we have been trying to do lately to become better teachers. After teaching we decided to go way out into the countryside area and try it out and let me see some parts of the area I hadn't been to yet. We got all the way out there and of course we have bike troubles. Something happened to Elder Payne's bike and his gear got stuck in the very highest one because the wire just snapped randomly. We tried to find a shop around that could fix his bike but no one had the parts. We headed back to the apt. so we could get it fixed. Just bad luck. We were suppose to have a lesson with Risa but we couldn't get a male member to come with us. That is one thing that isn't fun about the country side is only have around 4 or 5 priesthood holders and when all of them are tied up we can't do much about it. After getting back we went out for a bit and then headed back home.

Saturday- We went and got his bike fixed first thing in the morning and after that we had a lesson with Kinoshita. We taught him lesson one and showed him part of the restoration video. It went well but we think that the Joseph Smith experience kind of freaked him out. He was definatley different after the lesson. He really likes to cook and made us apple pie. It was totally awesome and tasted like the stuff back home. He is really cool I hope we can help him out. After that lesson we went around and housed for a bit. It was Elder Payne's 2 year mark as a missionary so we ate with some members. That was pretty fun. After eating the day was over.

Sunday - We were really excited because we had called Risa and asked her to come to church earlier and she said she would come but she never did. We tried calling her twice but she didn't answer so we are a little worried. Hopefully it all works out. After church we went out and contacted some old investigators and some potentials and didn't have much luck there.

I still really like Tanabe its an awesome place. I can't believe how fast the transfer has gone by. It only has 2 weeks left which is way crazy I can't believe it. Its a lot of fun and we are trying our best. These next 2 weeks are going to be busy and this transfer will be over before I know it. Its been a lot of fun so far out here.
Love you so much thanks for everything
Cam

Hey how are you doing? Sounds like you have been really busy with all of the Halloween stuff going on. It is kind of weird, it didn't really feel like October at all because I didn't see any Halloween stuff anywhere. It sounds like all the kids had fun. I remember all the little parties I use to do fun times.

Sounds like everyone is doing good. I am glad he is playing my guitar and keeping it in good shape. I want to take real lessons when I get back home and get good. Sounds like YM is going to be a blast with dad and Craig in there. I bet it will be a ton of fun.

Alright so this has been a super super fast week. I can't believe how fast it went by. It was way crazy this transfer is already half over. Ok anyways...

Tuesday - So we have been talking to this lady at a Cell phone store and we were walking by and decided to talk to her. We ended up talking for around an hour and a half about life and the gospel and stuff. She isn't super solid but we are going to teach her tomorrow again. Hopefully it goes well. We have given her a BOM and challenged her to pray. After talking with her we went and ate lunch and went out contacting some Potential Investigators but nothing really came from it. We got ready for Eikaiwa and taught it after that. The day went by really quick.

Wednesday - In the morning we actually came back to the place where we do email because Elder Payne had gotten permission from president to register for his BYU classes but the date got moved back or something. That took most of our morning and went and ate lunch. Afterwards we went out and walked around town trying to find people to talk to but didn't have much luck. We headed out to Gobo the area next to us that has been closed, to teach the eikaiwa that is still going on there. We visited a member named Azuma and he took us out to eat. We ate Sukiyaki and man it has to be one of my new favorites. You cook a bunch of meat and veggies in this sauce right on the table then pick out the stuff dip it in egg, and eat it. Man it was so good. Afterwards we taught Eikaiwa and headed back home.

Thursday - Today was Zone Conference. We actually had to wake up around 5:15 to get there on time and ride the train for 3 hours. Not too fun. We got there and learned from president and the zone leaders about using the spirit in our work. It was really great, zone conference is always really spiritual and tons of fun. After Zone Conference we headed back and took the 3 hour train back to our area. We were able to stop by our branch's Halloween party for a few minutes and then went back to the apt. and finished the day.

Friday - We had 3 appointments scheduled for this day but all of them fell through. Our first one was with a member that was baptized a few years ago. We are working with her to get her daughter baptized but her daughter caught the flu so we couldn't meet with her this week. She is really great and hopefully we can help her daughter also. We had a lesson with Risa the lady we found the other week. She totally forgot about our appointment but we were able to get another one for this week. She is reading and praying right now and we plan on talking to her about baptism at the next appointment. It should go really well I hope. While we were eating lunch we got a call from a guy we call Taxi man. I guess Elder Payne gave him a BOM awhile ago but he doesn't have a phone so he is really hard to get a hold of. Anyways he wanted to meet at the church so we finished up really quick and ran over there. He is really hard to teach and is kind of all over the place but it went alright. Hopefully we get another chance soon. We also had an appointment with someone we found earlier that week housing but they didn't show up which was a little disappointing. We went by again last night but they wouldn't come to the door. After that we headed back and called it a day.

Sat. - In the morning we did a part of our weekly planning and then headed out to meet with Kinoshta. He is a dad and is a really cool guy. We taught him the plan of salvation and he is really interested. He said he really is going to think hard about what he believes in now and wants to read the Book of Mormon. We are pretty excited about him and are hoping for the best. We have an appointment with him this week but after that he is going to be away with work. Hopefully everything works out. After the appointment we headed to a Halloween party that one of the sisters in the ward asked us to go to. It was for a bunch of little kids at school. It was pretty funny, they were all dressed up as witches and that's about it. We did a costume contest, we taught them our style of Rock,Paper,Scissors which for some reason is a big thing out here, and a few other things. It was fun, but totally different than back home, it kind of made me laugh. We took them trick or treating to 2 houses then came back. After that it was over and we were able to talk to the parents and hand out a lot of flyers about church and english class. Hopefully something good comes of it.

Sunday - My 3rd Sunday in Tanabe. It has gone so fast I can't believe it. Anyways this week we didn't have a lot of people come. Only around 13 I think. After Church we finished our weekly planning and went out housing. We didn't find anyone interested but talked to a lot of nice people and got chewed out by one lady because it was dark.

This week just flew by I couldn't believe it. The transfer is half over and man it feels like I just got to Tanabe. I still really like it here and the people are great. For Utah it would be a really big city (Provo and Orem area put together) but for Japan it is really small. I think the population is around 60,000 so while it is Inaka it still feels big sometimes. I like it a lot and members are awesome and really great. We are staying busy and having a good time, we have appointments for this coming week so we should be busy next week too.

Thanks for the Package I got it this week. I handed out some of the smarties at the party. They loved them thanks a ton.

Love you,
Cam