Elder Homer

2011-03-13T22:12:00.001-06:00

Hey

So yeah I guess it sounds like everyone is up in arms about the whole earthquake thing. Wasn't really that big of a deal for us, didn't even feel it in our area but I guess some did in other parts of the mission. My back bike tire had exploded and we were in a dept. store getting it fixed when we got the call from pres. telling us to stay away from the ocean since our island had a really big tsunami warning. We live on the 5th floor of our apt so no worries but we just housed closed to the apt in case we had to head back. One of the sisters in my district is actually from Sendai but she was able to get a hold of her family and everyone is safe and accounted for and no damage to their house so no worries but it took a few days until she could call them so it was scary for a bit and we did a fast but things all worked out.

So yeah it was an interesting week with all of the earthquake stuff. This week we had a lot of finding time. I mean honestly, I think we spent at least 4 to 6 hours a day doing finding but it payed off and we were able to find 7 new investigators. We had a few lessons but they were 30 min away and the only way to get there was to ride our bikes along the coast which we figured probably wasn't the best idea in the world due to the tsunami warning so we had to cancel a lot of our lessons this week. Also the Tachibana's got sick and ended up canceling their lesson too.

On Sunday we had a bit of a miracle and we had 4 people come to church. The Tachibana's ended up getting well again and all 3 of them were able to come to church. Also Hashimoto finally made it to church. After church he gave me a call and told me that he wants to start up the lessons again. Guess he has some friends up by the earthquake and it made him think a bit so it had a positive side for us also. He has some major problems but hopefully we can help him with it and he can get baptized in the next few weeks. We are going to try to set a date with him tomorrow.

Um well other than that not a lot really happened. Everyone is talking about the earthquake stuff so its a good way to start up contacts and get people thinking about their families and stuff. I am way glad that all the missionaries up there are safe and sound. Sounds like it was a pretty big one. This next coming week should be pretty good. We have a lot of lessons and will be pretty busy. Thanks for the email and I hope that you didn't worry about me too much.

Love you tons
Cam

2011-03-07T07:41:00.001-07:00

Hey

Well it was another great week with a lot of miracles.

Monday - We had a good prep. day. Not a lot of stuff really but when we went out and dendoed we were able to find 2 investigators. and also taught a lesson to an eternal investigators. that we will probably give a break for the next transfer. pretty good night.

Tuesday- Found out that me and Schramm were getting split up. My new comp. is Elder Moffatt he is a cool guy and is from Washington. I think that we will get along well this last transfer. We were suppose to have 2 appointments and both of them fell through which was disappointing but it worked out. We had English class that night which was pretty normal.

Wednesday - Most of this day was spent packing and visiting members. Later that night we had a lesson with the Tachibana family. We had decided to try to get the kids with a baptismal date because they seemed to be so interested in baptism. We both were pretty nervous and didn't want to come off pressuring them or anything but felt like it was the right thing to do and wanted to get a date for them. We taught about fasting and connected it to the Gift of the Holy Ghost and how it can guide us in our lives. We then committed the kids and they both said yes to a date. When we asked the mom if that was ok she said that she had been on facebook talking to her nephew and found out he was a member and he really gave a great testimony. She said she has been feeling that this church is the right one for her and said that she wanted to be baptized on that day too! They ended up not being able to do it on the day we committed them too and moved it to April 24 to get baptized as a family. Sadly, I probably won't be there but I don't care as long as they get baptized. The spirit was totally in the lesson and really strong. I was really nervous when I started the lesson but when I committed them to baptism it just felt like the right thing and I was able to do it really smoothly and it felt like the spirit guided everything I said. I really hope we can get them baptized soon. It was a great way to end the transfer.

Thursday - We got our new comps and spent most of the day planning. Did some finding but not a lot of luck

Friday - Had a member visit and lots of finding but not much luck again.

Sat - We were able to find one new investigator who actually did a home stay in Utah. She knows all about the church and we are hoping to get a few good lessons with her next week. We tried to do game night but only one member showed up this week. Better than last week where no one showed up but I don't know if we can keep doing it or not.

Sun - Good day at church. We had a really good day finding and were able to find 3 new investigators through housing which was a surprise. Turned out to be a really good day.

This transfer is starting off great and I am sure that we will see tons of miracles. I can already tell its going to go by fast because we have tons of meeting and events and good investigators to teach. Still can't believe that its my last transfer but I plan to work my hardest and see some miracles.

Love you all
Cam

2011-02-28T07:43:00.001-07:00

Hey

Sounds like everyone had a pretty busy week. We actually had a pretty busy week ourselves with lessons and things. I left my old planner at the apt. so I will try to remember as much as a I can from what happened this past week but it just went so fast.

Monday was a blast. We went out to eat with a bunch of Elders from our zone and started an exchange that night with the Zone leaders.

Tuesday - I was with one of the ZL's who actually served in Sumoto for around 3 transfers. We went around and visited some of his old investigators and stuff but didn't have a whole lot of luck getting any new lessons started. We had one recent convert who got sick and the branch made him dinner and asked us to take it so we did that and got him to bring his son (Not baptized) to english class.

Wednesday - We had district meeting and I had asked every companionship to prep a little thing and they all did a good job so I was pretty happy about that. We headed home pretty excited to teach a lesson to the Tachibana family but they ended up canceling on us which was a bit of a disappointment. We went out housing and were able to find 2 new investigators which was great. One of them met with missionaries quite awhile ago and even remembered some of the stuff they taught him including the word of wisdom. We are pretty excited to teach him.

Thursday - We had another exchange with the other elders in our district. I went to an area called miki and dendoed with Elder Hale. Really good missionary and we had alot of fun. They are in a really countryside area so we spent most of our time housing but were able to find one investigator which was nice.

Friday - We had a lesson with Hashimoto which we were excited about but it didn't go as well as we had hoped. He said that he just couldn't belive in Jesus christ and has his own personal god. Doesn't really seem to want to keep committments either so we might have to take a break with him for a bit which is a little disappointing. We did our weekly planning session and also took another dinner over to that recent convert.

Sat - It was a really great day. We went over to Hosoda (The lady we just baptized) house and had dinner with them. Her daughter has been a member for 10 years and is honestly one of the best members I have ever met and is trying super hard to share the gospel with her family. 10 years later a week ago we were able to baptize her mom and we had a celebration dinner with sushi and everything. It was really really good. She is already trying to spread the gospel to her other family members and brought her 17 year old nephew Ryo along too. We shared a message and did a small lesson with him but he doesn't really have the desire at the moment but hopefully we can see that change soon. It was alot of fun and we had a great time.
We did alot of finding after that but not alot of luck.

Sun - it was another great day. While earlier in the week the Tachibana's canceled on us they came as a family to church all 4 of them! It was really great to see them all there. The sons are already asking where they can get baptized we just have to get permission from the mom and set a date for them which hopefully we can do this coming week if they don't cancel. They seemed to have a really great time. Also the recent converts son also came to church so we had around 5 people there. We pretty much double the branch numbers this week so it felt really good. I had to give a talk which made me a bit nervous. I don't remember if I told you or not but in Sumoto since its really small they only have church for 2 hours and sacrament meeting is around 45 min. Since its short like that they only have one speaker that goes for 20 min or so. I got through it and last for 20 min.

After church while riding out to the area we were going to house we stopped one guy and he agreed to come to church. Went out housing in a neighboorhood for 2 1/2 hours with not a single ounce of luck then on the way home we found another investigator. Kind of interesting how missionary work goes sometimes but we were blessed and found 2 new people.

So it was another great week. I am way excited for this next transfer were are going to see some great miracles i am sure. Transfers are actually this week and sadly my comp. could end up transfering but we will see what happens. Kind of weird to think that I will be going on to my last transfer.

I am going to send the bap. pic in another email.

Thanks for everything, Love you tons
Cam

2011-02-22T21:13:00.001-07:00

Hey

It was a pretty good week for us.

Tuesday - We had zone conference which was great like always but what was kind of weird is that it was my last one. On a missionaries last conference they always give time at the end for all the returning missionaries to give their last testimony (dying testimony is what we call it) and most of my MTC district was there cept for Mcburney. It was way cool to hear everyone give their last testimony and the spirit was way strong. It was really weird to think that it was my turn because at every ZC you always see elders go up and give their testimonies and always think that that moment will never come but I guess that it did. Pretty crazy.

Wednesday - We had a pretty long day of housing without tons of luck but found one person which was nice. Afterwords we had a lesson with the tachibana family. The mom still feels like she is not sure about the church but said that if the kids want to get baptized she isn't going to stop them. The kids said they want to but we weren't able to get a date at the lesson but we are going to try again this coming week. Hopefully it goes pretty good.

Thursday - Kind of the same as the day before. Did some housing and found one new investigator. We taught Hashimoto which went alright. Turns out he found an old Bom in his storage and remembered that he use to be an investigator around 20 years ago and has been to church in Kobe. He still wants to get baptized but quiting smoking is really tough for him. We are trying to come up with different ways to help him quit. Other than that nothing is really holding him back.

Friday - We had a great baptism in Akashi. We went out and spent most of our time there. President and Sister Mcintyre came out which got all the members super excited. My comp. did the baptism but since sister Hosoda is pretty old (75) it was pretty hard to get her under and took around 4 tries but finally got her under the water. We were all pretty nervous but she got baptized in the end. He daugther was so happy to finally see her mom join the chruch after 10 years to the day she got baptized. Pretty special baptism. I forgot my camera today so I will try to get the pictures to you next week.

Sat. - We had a bunch of lessons but none of them really turned out to be anything special. We have gotten a bit tired of housing so we decided to go up to the castle and try to do some contacting up there. It will be really good in a few weeks when the cherry blosoms come out but it was pretty scarce and we didn't talk with alot of people but it was still pretty fun. Afterwrods we did some housing without much luck.

Sun. - We had one inv. come to church and later Kensho came to sunday school. Turns out he is going to be really busy and won't be able to continue investigating the church which is too bad. He had a bap. date but we are going to have to drop him now sadly. After church we worked hard but for some reason just couldn't seem to get any good contacts in.

So it was great week with an awesome baptism and ZC. Also I got the package thanks so much. You didn't have to give me so much money but thanks. I think I might buy a new camera before I head home they are pretty sweet out here.

Thank you so much for everything
Love you tons
Cam

2011-02-13T19:56:00.001-07:00

Hey

We had another good week out on the island.

So it was an interesting week. We had a really tough time at the start of the week. We spent tons of time out finding and finding and just couldn't seem to have any luck at all it was pretty frustrating. We had a lot of lessons fall through on us which made it a bit harder but the end of the week made up for it.

On Saturday we went to Kobe to meet Elder Cook of the 12. It was really amazing to meet another apostle. He talked about the importance of missions and really testified powerfully about it. The spirit was super strong. He also talked a lot about charity and loving people. It was a really good meeting and we even got to go up and shake his hand and introduce ourselves. It was pretty dang awesome. We are pretty luck to have visits from apostles and I think that everyone really felt the spirit and learned a lot.

Sunday was probably the busiest Sunday of my entire mission. We were at the church from 9 am to 6 pm. We had 5 people at church and taught them all lessons. One guy named Kensho Okabayashi came and after teaching him the restoration and doctrine of Christ he decided to make a goal to be baptized on the 19th of march. We met him around 2 or 3 weeks ago and exchanged numbers. I gave him a call a night before and he ended up coming to church. We are meeting him again this Tuesday and we have a lot of hope for him he should turn out to be a great investigator. We also had Hosoda's baptismal interview done and she passed so she will be baptized this coming Friday which is her daughters 10 year mark of being baptized. Its going to be a really special baptism for everyone.

We only had 8 members at church this week so with all of our investigators there we almost doubled it so it was pretty fun. We are really being blessed right now and I am way thankful to be here. I saw McBurney at the big mission meeting and we realized that the next time we would meet will be when we go home. Its pretty crazy. I can't believe that Trent will be home this week. Make sure you let him know I say Hi. Maybe I will write a letter or something.

After this we are going to go out for sushi for my birthday which should be pretty fun. I will take some pictures for you.

Thanks for everything
Love you tons
Cam

2011-02-07T07:40:00.002-07:00

Well it was another pretty good week on the island. I am loving this area and am pretty glad I get to finish here.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we had an exchange with some of the elders in our district. It ended up being pretty fun. I went over to an area called Miki and had a good time there but we didn't have too much luck finding or teaching anyone. At their english class there was a member(Ami)who had just gotten back from her mission in Sapporo and turns out she knew Brandon. Said he was a way good missionary and was her Zl/DL at some point that he was a ton of fun. Man I swear the church in Japan is tiny.
On Wednesday night we had a lesson with our Yakusokusha Hashimoto and taught him about the Restoration which went really well. He still wants to be baptized and is trying his best to get ready.

Thursday we had another lesson with Hashimoto and taught tithing which went alright but he has some major concerns. He said that he wants to talk to a church member that has a family so he can get some advice on how they are able to support their family and pay tithing at the same time. He has a good relationship with the branch pres. so we are going to set that up for him. He hasn't said he wouldn't follow it yet just that it would be really hard and wants to talk to someone else about it.

We also had a lesson with another Yakusokusha Jindai. He hadn't been keeping any of his commitments and we asked him if he wanted to get baptized. He said no and then asked if he could leave so he ended up being a drop which was kind of disappointing. Hopefully we can help him get that desire and strengthen his faith over the next few weeks.

Friday - So we had one of the most memorable lessons of my mission this day. They have been teaching this guy named Johnny for the last 3 transfers or so maybe a bit longer he is Japanese but really likes English a lot and they always taught him in English. After doing one lesson with him where he refused to come to church and would only read a little out of the BOM I didn't have too great of an impression of him as an investigator. Also his teaching record pretty much says that's what he is like in all the lessons. We planned and decided if he doesn't accept the commitment to be baptized we were going to drop him. Before the lesson we had him read 3 Ne 11 which talks about baptism and the correct way and stuff. We read over it together with him and started talking about priesthood authority and the correct manner of baptism and stuff. He was actually baptized into the Greek orthodox church and has a bit of background there. Anyways, he said that it doesn't matter how you get baptized or by the right authority just as long as we follow christ. I agreed that we need to follow Christ and that its really important that we follow him but that Christ himself said in 3 ne 11 to be baptized by the right authority in the manner he taught. I felt like I had to correct him and not agree with the false doctrine. Yeah, he didn't like it to much... we started into a thing about authority and he said he believes the BOM to be the word of god and that Nephi got the priesthood but wasn't sure about Joseph Smith. We tried to use the logic that if the BOM is true then JS is a prophet but it took forever for him to figure it out. He then said the only way he would get baptized is if he went to SLC and got baptized by the prophet because only he has the authority. We tried to explain that we have it but he wouldn't listen. During all of this he was trying to prove us wrong using the BOM against us but it didn't work out too well for him. After that we explained to him that we couldn't keep meeting because we are too busy but if he would like to learn more he is more than welcome to come on Sundays or Tuesday nights to practice his English. He pretty much exploded on me after that one. Started yelling at me about how rude and unchrist like I was. How he hated my attitude and how I was threatening him with baptism and stuff. He kept on quoting the BOM about how contention is of the devil but he yelled and told me how much he disliked me for about 10 min. We had another appointment so we had to go but he refused to leave the church. He also asked for our mission homes number so he could complain. So we gave him that and opened the door to let him out which he still refused to leave. Finally after getting him out he said that he would be coming back the next week for another lesson and let me know how bad of a person he thought I was. Pretty crazy lesson. I think he was just using us for English and got upset when he lost that chance to practice. Also turns out I get a call from the Mission home this morning and he actually called and complained today. I guess he complained that we stopped meeting him because he didn't want to be baptized and talked about how bad I was. He only would speak in English when he called so they figured he was just using us for our English but called us to see what was going on anyways. We both laughed about it and I guess he even pulled out the scripture on how contention is of the devil and shared it with them while he was complaining about me and saying bad stuff.
Definatley a lesson I won't forget.

Sat. We worked way hard and were able to find 2 new investigators.

Sun - We finished up our lessons with Hosoda. She is pretty much ready to go on the 18th for baptism. Its really going to be great and everyone is really excited for her.
Also found a new investigator and did a few member visits

This next week is going to be pretty busy. We also have Elder Cook of the 12 coming to visit our mission so everyone is pretty excited about it. Should be alot of fun.

Thanks for everything
Love you tons
Cam

2011-01-30T20:32:00.002-07:00

Hey

After prep. on Monday we had a lesson with a guy named Yamano. He is an older guy and has read the Bom all the way through. Problem is that he has no confidence in himself and doesn't really have the faith that he can be cleaned of his sins through baptism. It was a really sad lesson. No matter how much we testified to him about the atonement and promised/committed about baptism he just refused to go through with it. they have been teaching him for a little while but we decided it would be best to give him a break since he doesn't really seem like he is going anywhere.

Tuesday - We had lessons with our 2 investigators that have dates. The first one Jindai went alright. He has problems with commandments especially word of wisdom at the moment so we taught about why god has given us commandments and why we have the word of wisdom. He committed to try this week to stop drinking tea and coffee. He has a few mental problems (kind of what you would call slow i guess?) but hopefully he can cope with it and overcome his problems.

Our other investigator was with a man named Hashimoto. He really just wants to be cleaned of his sins and be baptized. He said that a bunch of times and we are helping him prepare for it. He is having a really tough time with some family issues and also smoking but is trying his best to stop. He looks pretty solid right now but might have a few problems with commandments we haven't taught yet but his desire is really strong so hopefully he can overcome those.

We also had Eikaiwa later that night which was pretty fun.

Wednesday - We had district meeting which went ok. Its a little different being DL again but fun. Turns out that alot of ZL's got released this transfer and put as DL's. About half of the ZL's were transferred and 5 were released McBurney was too and put as a DL in Osaka. I think pres. is just trying to prep the mission for when some of the older groups of missionaries go home. Anyways after DM my comp went on an exchange and I stayed with the ZL's for Leadership training. I got to have a temp. comp. that turned out to be Elder Novak who was in my MTC district. It was way fun catching up with him and talking to him about how his mission has been. Out of everyone that was in my MTC District he is the one that I haven't really had a chance to catch up with so it was a lot of fun. We were in Okayama for 3 days but it was a blast. Actually the place where Andrews dad served a mission. I took a pic outside of the mission home and you can send him a copy I am sure it will bring back some good memories for him.

Sat. - We got back to our area sat. morning and started working again. We were able to find 3 investigators and have one lesson with a new investigator named Sakamoto. We taught about the restoration and committed him to read the BOM. Looks like he could turn out to be a pretty good investigator.

Sun - We got a call earlier in the week from a member named Sister Hosoda. She has been a member for around 10 years and has been bringing her mom for quite awhile. Her mom hasn't been baptized but said she would once it warmed up. She had a goal for her to be baptized on the 18th of Feb. and asked for our help. We set up a lesson and taught her mom about temples and how it connects to baptism and how families can be together forever. She said she believed it all and accepted her daughters commitment to be baptized on the 18th. They are already planning the baptismal service and stuff so she looks really solid for that date. We are really excited and have a lot of support from the members. We should see her go through in a few weeks.

After church we went out housing and after an hour of nothing I figured I should say a quick prayer. After saying one, 2 doors later we found a really cool mom that had a lot of interest in families and how Christ can help her make her family stronger. Gave me a pretty good testimony boost of the power of prayer. Also on the way home we were able to find one more guy who is going to try to come to church in 2 weeks. Turned out to be a really good day.

Things are going really well and we are having a great time. I can't believe that we are already 2 weeks into the transfer it just seems to be flying by. We are seeing a lot of success and are really being blessed a lot and I can't wait to see what happens in the next few weeks.

Thanks for everything
Love you tons
Cam

2011-01-23T20:16:00.001-07:00

Hey

Well, I am no longer in freezing Toyooka but ended up transferring. I am in an area called Sumoto which is a city on the island of Awajima. The Island is off of the coast of Akashi my 2nd area. Do you remember the pictures I sent of that giant bridge forever ago? Well that bridge goes to my area. We are the only missionaries on the entire island so its kind of a cool feeling. Its a way cool place and I am really loving it so far. It has recently been opened around 8 months ago so its still a pretty new area. The branch is really small this last Sunday we only had around 8 people there but they are really excited to have missionaries back after not having them for around 8 years and they are trying their best to help us as much as possible. My new comp. is Elder Schram he is from Midvale UT. He has been in Japan for around 6 months but his Japanese is way better than mine. His mom is Japanese and spoke it to him since he was little so he is way good. We have gotten along really well so far and are going to have a great transfer together. I am no longer a Zone Leader but am back to District Leader. It will be fun doing something different again and I feel like I can focus on the area's a little better as DL so it should be fun.

We have seen so many miracles so far just in the last few days its been way awesome. They had a really good transfer this past one and we have lots of people to teach which makes it really nice. We have been able to find around 4 investigators these past few days and hopefully we can get them to progress.

One of them was a way cool experience. We were out housing and this older lady came out of her house. She didn't say much to us but asked us to come inside, so we walked up to the door step and waited for a bit while she went and talked to someone. When she came back she invited us in and asked us to come into the family room where a man was sitting. He talked to us for a bit and it seemed like he had been or lived in Utah for a bit and knew a lot about it. He knew about the Book of Mormon and word of wisdom and stuff like that. He then told us that he knew he could trust us because we were Mormons and said he wanted to talk to us. He told us his life story about how he got addicted to gambling and pretty much lost his job, and soon will be losing his wife and kids. It was way sad. When he was finished he asked us if we thought that the gospel would help. We were pretty surprised and just testified really strongly about Christ and his atonement and baptism. The spirit was super strong and it totally guided our lesson. We committed him to baptism which he wasn't sure on but he accepted the Book of Mormon and agreed to pray about it. We are going to try to go back next Sunday and talk to him more about it. It was actually the first time on my mission I have ever been let into a house and been able to do a lesson so it was a great experience. The spirit totally guided us to him and helped us teach it was awesome.

We were also able to commit one of our investigators to baptism after church for the 12th of Feb. and he accepted. Right now we have 2 people with dates for the 12th so things are really picking up well. I am really excited to finish my mission here. Its pretty crazy to think that I am now on transfer 15, and that my next one will be my last. I am way excited to be here in Sumoto and can't wait to see what other miracles the Lord has in store for us this transfer.

Love you all tons
Cam

2011-01-16T21:49:00.000-07:00

Hey

Well, I am sorry about last week. I actually caught the flu...yeah it wasn't too much fun. It took me 3 days to get over it probably the 3 most boring days of my entire mission but anyways I feel 100% fine now so no worries.

Well over the last 2 weeks we had a meetings and lots of different stuff going on.

We had an exchange with the AP's out in Kobe which ended up being a blast. I went with one of them for the first half of the day and while we were out streeting we found a couple that was super nice and fun to talk to. They didn't have any time to meet later that week so we decided to set one up for that night. I ended up going with the other Assistant for the appointment. It went super well and the lady said that she really wanted to be baptized and feel clean again and all this stuff. It was pretty great lesson except for when I committed them to be baptized the lady said she had one question. She then asked us why is Christianity against Gays and Lesbians because she was bisexual and wanted to know. Yeah I was pretty floored on the spot along with my comp. We explained the importance of families and why God has taught that to us. She still felt that it wasn't right but that it made sense. They were suppose to come to church this week hopefully they did. Since stuff like that in Japan is super taboo we were way surprised and on the way home we were talking about how there are alot of people who really need the gospel and stuff.

We were waiting for the bus when this old drunk as all get out old guy sees us and walks up and saw Elder Nielson (The assistant) and his name tag and then asked if we were Gods servants. We told him yes and then he decided to yell at the top of his lungs and tell everyone else around us. He saw that one guy standing behind us was looking at us kind of weird so he decided to get up in his face and tell him as loud as possible that he should respect us more because we are servants of God. We grabbed him and told him to leave the guy alone which he did. He then put his arms around us while talking about how great we are when he decided to take us out for Kobe Beef. We told him no and that we had to catch our bus when it pulled up. The bus was jammed pack full of people and we could barely step on. The buses here are a bit different and the entrance is in the back and we just stepped in and stood there cause it was way full. The guy followed us and stood in the entrance and kept the doors from shutting while yelling in to everyone in the bus that we were angels of god and to never forget it. The driver got up to get him off and he jumped off while yelling that we were servants/angels and to never forget..then the bus took off. We pretty much laughed the whole way home it was awesome. A pretty memorable night.

We took the branch president to a lesson with Kawami on sat. Kawami pretty much freaked out on us and yelled at us for 1 hour straight telling the branch president that we were too pushy and bad teachers and stuff. He was usually way nice but did a 180. Pretty much admitted that he had been lying to us the whole time and just wanted someone to talk to because he is inside taking care of his wife all day. So he is dropped which was pretty sad but oh well. We don't really have anyone to teach now so we need to do some finding.

After those few days we went to Kobe for ZLC which would have been fun but I had the Flu so it was pretty hard to concentrate and learn but it was good anyways. One thing pres. said was that in the next 3 transfers 3/4 of the ZL's will be going home so he will have to release some to be DL and trainers. I think it could happen to me so we will see what happens it would be way fun to be a normal missionary again but we will see what happens.

So for the next 3 days we just sat in the apt. while I was sick. I hadn't been that sick for a really long time threw up and everything but I got better so its all good now.

I had to go out to a place called Maizuru to do a baptismal interview which went great. She passed and was totally prepared and was baptized and confirmed yesterday.
After that we had to do an emergency exchange with one of the companionships. One of the elders has some major depression problems and they needed a switch so we ended up doing that. One of the elders and I have gotten to be really good friends so it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Later after switching our comps back we had a lesson with 2 high school kids. They both accepted a BOM and a baptismal date for 2/20 but wouldn't make a return apt. which was way disappointing we have their phone number and stuff but we will see what happens.

Kind of had some crazy stuff on Sunday too. So one thing that is a bit different about Japanese and American culture is that Japanese people take being sick WAY more seriously than we do. They freak out about a small cold and stuff like that and are really afraid of the flu. We had to cancel some appointments with members cause I was sick and they knew I had the flu. A few days later I got a call from one of the brothers saying that none of the sisters in the branch wanted me to come to church that week. He had lived in America for a year or so and understood the culture difference and told me that Japanese are way scared of the flu like some people think that they will die from it. He said he knew that it wasn't a big deal and to come to church anyways but had to show them that I was being careful not to spread it. So we didn't teach any of the classes and just sat in the back and I wore one of those stupid mask things that doctors wear in the hospital (They wear them all the time here in Japan) What made me really laugh though is that everyone except for 4 or 5 members came to church wearing those masks because of me. Also one girl sat in a different room and took the sacrament and then took off to take one of her tests for high school but wouldn't even come to the same room as me. Made me laugh pretty hard.

That was pretty much my last 2 weeks. I can't believe I will be going on to my 15th transfer this week its crazy (16 is the last one) I got all those letters this week thanks a ton they were great.

Love you tons
Cam

2011-01-02T21:12:00.001-07:00

Hey

Well, its 2011 isn't it crazy how fast its all flown by? I can't believe I went all of 2010 as a missionary it went by super fast. It was tons of fun talking to you all on Christmas day. I didn't really know what to talk about but it was a ton of fun.

So yeah we got a TON of snow. On Friday we woke up to around 8 inches of snow. We had an exchange planned that day and started off trying to ride our bikes in the snow. It just didn't work out so we headed back home and canceled the exchange and ended up walking around all day but I got some pictures and will send it to you. It ended up snowing for 2 more days and we got around a foot and a half but it rained right after so alot of it melted but its still pretty crazy. I am staying plenty warm though so don't worry.

It feels like I haven't emailed in forever and have a bunch of stuff to talk about. After the phone calls on christmas my comp was still feeling a bit sick so we didn't get to go out and do some of the fun stuff we had planned but its alright. We ended up having a lesson that night with an investigator and eating Japanese Okonomiyaki (nothing like it in the states) pretty much the most interesting Christmas dinner I have ever had but it was good. It was a little sad that no one celebrates it but a good thing at the same time because you don't get caught up in it all and its easy to forget about it. Way good Christmas though thanks so much for all the candy and presents.

During the rest of the week we didn't really have a ton of stuff going on. We had a LA call us and need help moving some stuff out of her old house. We thought it would be like a 3 hour job and it ended up taking up a ton of time so we spent a bunch of time doing that with her son. Her kids are not baptized so we are hoping that we can help them get baptized once the dad gets a better image of the missionaries and stuff.

We also had a few lessons here and there with Kawami. We were able to set a date with him for 2/13 to be baptized. Hopefully we can find ways to get him to church by then and get him baptized. He is a good guy and wants to be baptized he just has the problem with his wife being so sick and not being able to leave the little 2 room apt. they have.

We also had the sports mtg. which was tons of fun. The whole Kobe side came so around 100 missionaries. I didn't get to see everyone in my mtc group because some are out on the Hiroshima side but I got to talk to Akina and Bureger so it was pretty fun. I played soccer for a good hour or so and man I am feeling it now. It took a few hours to get to Ibaraki and back but it was fun playing sports and seeing my old area.

Man thats crazy to think that Brandon is back home. I would get letters from him usually twice a transfer. It was alot of fun hearing from him and I am excited to see him when i get back. Weird to think that Trent goes home next month and a few other guys too. Man its crazy. I was thinking the other day and I realized that my comp and I are the oldest companionship in the mission. (He is one older than me).

All the Christmas presents were awesome i loved them. I think I will probably gain some weight but oh well. Thanks it was a great Christmas

Love you tons thanks for everything
Cam

2010-12-19T22:32:00.001-07:00

Hey how is everyone?

Well, I had the craziest phone call ever this morning. I got a call from the mission office telling me they were buying my tickets and wanted to know where I wanted to fly into. Yeah crazy huh. I told them SLC of course and that our ward had split and some other info but yeah it was pretty weird. Once Christmas is over I only have around 3 months so I guess they have to get that stuff started pretty early but its still just weird to think about.

Anyways this week was a bit better. Last P-day we ended up running around almost all day getting stuff. I actually found a place where I can get that Protein powder. If you already got some don't worry about it but if you haven't don't worry about sending it or anything. Also got some weights too and am trying to work our 30 to 40 min a day. If I keep it up for the next 2 transfers I think I will get into pretty good shape. We also found 2 investigators after p day so that was pretty exciting.

Tuesday - We headed out in the morning for an exchange with the District Leader. I went with him in his area he is from New Zealand and way fun guy. We had a blast and were able to find a new investigator which was pretty sweet.

Wednesday - We had District Mtg. and were suppose to head back home to my area but one of their investigators needed to be interviewed for baptism. We had a lesson back in our area so we just extended our exchange for another day. The guy ended up canceling and moving it to the next day. It worked out and we found another guy that night which was awesome.

Thursday - We were suppose to have his interview at 10:00am but he ended up having some problems coming from Osaka and didn't get there until around 3:00 in the afternoon. It was pretty annoying but I interviewed him and had a great interview. He really just wanted to be clean and free from his sins and mistakes. I felt that he was ready to be baptized and passed him. We were able to get back to my area that night to it snowing. It didn't stick but it was coming down like crazy.

Friday - We had a pretty normal day. We taught a guy named Kawami. My comp found him last transfer and has taught him everything but he can't come to church because he has to take care of his wife everyday. He doesn't really listen to us and just talks about a bunch of random stuff. Its really tough and frustrating teaching him. If we could get him to church we probably could baptize him but right now it looks pretty tough. We will see what happens. We also found another guy later that day who agreed to meet with us.

Sat. - We did another lesson with Kawami with a member that ended up being a waste of an hour. The member was pretty frustrated too. Hopefully things can turn around for him but we will see what happens. Other than that it was a pretty boring day. We went out and were able to get one kid to make an appointment for the next day but he ended up not coming which was a disappointing.

Sun - Church was good. The branch is pretty small and only around 20-25 people but they are all really nice. I gave a talk about Christ and his gospel that turned out alright. We were able to talk to one kid later that day and he made an iffy appointment that hopefully will go through.

So it was an alright week. Hopefully we can get some stuff going soon we don't have anyone that looks like they are going to baptized but hopefully we can find them in the next few days. I got both of your Christmas packages thanks a ton! We have a Christmas tree in the house and I got it out and put all the presents underneath it. I am even going to wait all the way until Saturday you gotta be proud of me.

For Christmas calls just give me a call at 11:00 my time. I will just wait for you if you can't figure it out because I don't think we are allowed to call. They are only allowing one hour this year which is sad but it will have to do.

Well I will talk to you all on Saturday I am way excited. Thanks for all the presents

Love you tons
Cam

2010-12-12T21:04:00.001-07:00

Hey

So I am sending you this email from a new area called Toyooka. Its a pretty interesting place, really different than anywhere I have served before. Its probably the 2nd most countryside area in the mission. We can't street or really do tracting in the city part at all so its different than what I am use to. It is also the coldest area in the entire mission and is right by the Japan Sea. It apparently snows like 1 1/2 feet of snow around the middle of January until the middle of march. Yeah pretty crazy huh. I guess the elders that serve here end up just walking around alot or crashing on the bikes. They have giant snow boots in the apt so I should be ok when the snow comes. My new comp is Elder Hoffman he is from the Layton area. We are zone leaders for our zone which is doing really good. He is only one transfer above me and goes home next transfer. My guess is that I will be his last comp.

Anyways the last few days in Wakayama were good. We were able to get a few lessons with some people that I am sad to let go but I know my past comp. is a great missionary and will take care of them well I am sure. Other than that not a lot really happened there.

I transferred to Toyooka on Thursday and got here in the afternoon. I was way surprised at how countryside it was. Definately not the Japan I am use to. We actually live in a house which is kind of cool. On the down side its way too big. Japanese houses don't have central heating or air and the insulation is really bad so we only stay on the first floor but its a nice change from living in an apt. building for once.

The area is struggling it seems. We only have 2 investigators right now and both have a lot of problems that we need to help them work out. One is a high school kid and his parents don't want him to go to church. We had a lesson with him that went alright. He has a date for 12/26 but its going to be pretty hard for him to meet that goal. Another one of our investigators is named kawami. He was found last transfer and is pretty much ready to get baptized except that he is caring for his wife that has Parkinson and he can't leave his house. He stays inside all day and can't come to church so we can't baptize him. Kind of frustrating but nothing we can really do. We are trying to find a way to help him out but it seems pretty helpless at the moment but we will see how it goes.

We have a lot of work to do. Hopefully we can get things going again here but with winter coming and it getting colder and colder it will be a big job that's for sure. I know that I told you that I didn't need any new clothes which if I went to any area besides Toyooka would have been right but yeah didn't expect it at all. I need some big warm gloves that are water proof. It rains pretty much every other day here so they need to be water proof. Also if I could get some big winter socks that would be awesome too. Other than that I have all the other stuff, coats, long johns, scarf, hat, etc. I went to the mission home and grabbed a bunch of stuff that missionaries left when they went home so no worries other than those things. I think thats all i need. Sorry i wish i would have told you all this before you sent all of those packages.

Oh yeah Christmas calls are coming up aren't they, if you could give me a call around 11:00 my time that would work out with my comps family and their time. If something changes I will let you know next week. I will find more about the whole number thing and how it works but you all seemed to figure out how it works last time. I think the number you need to type in before is 81 and leave the first 0 out of 080 or something like that but I am sure you can figure it out.

Anyways thanks for everything. I am excited to be in my new area, a little worried but I think it will all work out.

Love you tons
Cam

2010-12-05T20:57:00.002-07:00

Hey

Man, I can't believe that it is already December. Honestly doesn't feel like Christmas at all around here except for the music they play in the super markets but other than that its a weird feeling.

So we had an amazing baptism on Sunday. Everything went really well with Brother Horimoto and we got him baptized. I had the wonderful chance to baptism him which was great. He gave a really good testimony about how if he didn't meet the missionaries he would never have been able to come back to God. He also bore a great testimony about how Christ is his savior and how he knows he can be saved through his atonement and stuff. It was way cool. I had always wanted to find someone and see them go all the way from meeting them on the street up until the waters of baptism and I was blessed to see it. He just got the Aronic (SP?) priesthood yesterday and is really doing great. I can't wait to see him grow. Great guy.

After his baptism we had an amazing Sunday. We had 4 other investigators there and they all made a lot of good friends there. We were also able to find a guy who agreed to let us teach his family the next Sunday which we were super excited about.

Anyways after Sunday we headed out on the 6:10 train to Kobe and spent the next 4 days out there. Man it was a long 4 days but I learned a ton and my testimony grew a lot. I got to see Elder Bureger my MTC comp which was a ton of fun. He is doing good and is serving in Kyoto a way cool place. Later at Zone Leader Conference I got to meet Elder Mcburney which is fun like always he was pretty excited about the package he got and says thanks. I got to stay overnight for 2 nights in Akashi apt. my 2nd area so it was fun getting to do some streeting and go back and see the apt. there. Brought back a lot of memories.

After being in Kobe for most of the week we headed back home and started up again on Friday and we had a lesson with a guy named Didy. His parents are from the Congo but has grown up in Japan and France most of his life. Way cool guy and has lots of questions about god and why we are here and stuff. He was amazed that we can have a relationship with god through prayer and stuff. We were able to set a date for his baptism on the 25th of December hopefully he does well.

We had a few lessons the next day but they got canceled so we did finding most of the day. In Japan we are not allowed to contact women or try to introduce them to the gospel on the street and stuff so we only contact guys but anyways I went up and contacted this guy and started talking to him. I thought that his voice sounded really girly but the way he spoke didn't sound like a girl so I kept going but my comp. kept acting a little different and then I realized that I had just contacted a girl....yeah she was wearing guy clothes and had a guy haircut and was purposly talking like a guy normally would but was a girl. Yeah pretty embarrassing but it made us laugh.

Later we went out to this park/beach place and met a few fishermen. They were way cool and let us throw a few casts into the ocean. Sorry to disappoint you dad didn't catch anything but it was fun. After that we headed back home and had dinner with one of our english students and his kids which was a blast. He fed us sushi and pizza which was way way good. He is super into buddhism and talked about it straight for like 15 min. using tons of hard japanese that neither of us could understand. Loves the missionaries and his family was great.

Sunday was good too. We had planned for 9 people to come to church and were pretty excited but not a single one showed up. Crazy huh. Then out of the blue some little old lady that we always say hi to on the way from the apt showed up. We had invited her to church 2 weeks ago and she said she would go. To tell you the truth we had forgotten about her but she had a great time and said she would come next week. Afterwords we were able to teach the Manago family. They don't have tons of interest but the lesson went alright The dad is a policeman and they are really discouraged in Japan to join religion which is stupid so we will have to work around that. The wife seems to have alot of interest and wants to hear more so hopefully it goes well. We will be going back this week.

So getting that letter from Austen was crazy. I only have a little over 4 months and today is Brandons last Pday. Man its so crazy. Things have just flown by. This week is transfers sorry if there was any confusion but I will find out if I am transferring tomorrow but my bet is that I am. We will see what happens.

Thanks for everything Love you
Cam

2010-11-21T21:25:00.001-07:00

So it was another good week.

Last Prep.day we headed out to a nearby temple and took some pictures.
My comp is way into photography and is way good so we got some pretty good ones I will try to send a few to you today. Hope you like them.

We were way busy this week with all sorts of splits and lessons and stuff I think I will just go over the main stuff.

We had 3 lessons with Horimoto this week and he is going to be baptized next week! Yeah way excited for him. He has a problem with tobacco and we had lesson with him about it and the spirit was super strong. He wanted to follow god and his teachings but said it would be really hard for him to quit so we took a few minutes and all prayed together and when we were done he looked up and said he had made his decision. To quit and follow what god wants him to do. A way spiritual lesson and it was way cool to see one of our investigators so determined to follow what the Lord wants him to do. This week we will have his interview which he should do just fine getting through and then have his service on Sunday.

I went on a few splits around Osaka which was fun. Able to find some investigators in different areas which hopefully will help them. One of the districts is having a lot of problems hopefully we can help them out this coming week.

One of the families we found Yamamoto we were suppose to have a lesson with. We got to meet the husband and he tried to tell us that he didn't have interest but we started talking with him and he ended up having some interest after all and we were able to set up another appointment that is a little shaky. We will see what happens I guess this coming week hopefully it all works out.

Anyways other than that this week was pretty normal. I was out of the area quite a bit and next week we will only be in our area for around 2 days. We have a Leadership training mtg and zone leader council so we will be in Kobe for 4 days. I will not be having prep day on Monday next week but Sat. the 4th of Dec. So yeah I wont be sending you and email next Monday but on sat.

Anyways thanks for all the stuff with school its way awesome that you did that for me. As for the Christmas package I don't need much. I would rather you put money in my account so I can buy stuff to take home or things when I get back to tell you the truth but candy and maybe a CD or two that is on the list that i sent you would be great. Don't worry about any clothes or anything. Oh and I do need toothpaste just one tube should be fine. Can't believe its already that time again. Transfer will be over in 2 weeks way crazy.

Love you tons
Cam

2010-11-14T20:57:00.003-07:00

Hey

Another great week down in Wakayama. It has got to be one of my favorite
if not my favorite area so far. People are way nice and it just seems to be easy to find people.

On Monday night after Prep. we headed out to do some housing. During most of my mission I haven't had much luck with housing but for some reason here in Wakayama we are doing really well with it. We were able to find 2 Families! Way cool. Teaching families in our mission is super rare so we are way excited. It was a great way to start the week off.

Tuesday - We ran around a lot doing different stuff and it wasn't the most productive day in the world. We went back to one of the families to see if her husband said it would be ok for us to come over the next day. Turns out he has work but said it would be fine for us to come the next week. She also gave us a bunch of Mandrin Oranges because she felt bad. Way nice. I can't wait to teach them. They have a daughter that looks like she is one or two years old so we are pretty excited.
The lesson will be this Wednesday.

Wednesday - We had District Mtg. and then went out streeting. We tried hard but didn't have a ton of luck unfortunately.

Thursday - We headed out to Tanabe first thing in the morning. It was a ton of fun going back to see one of my old areas. It really brought back a ton of memories and I even got to meet some of the members and random people I knew back when I was there. One of the members brought some sushi over to the apt. later that night which was way nice of him. We were able to find around 7 new investigators with all 4 missionaries so it was way awesome. I did a split with Elder Chappell's comp. who is a great missionary. Elder Chappell is an awesome missionary and it was way fun to see him.

Friday - We headed out to the area below Tanabe, Shingu. It's way far away about 3 hours from Tanabe and 5 from Wakayama. It was fun to go down there and see those elders. We didn't have as much luck as in Tanabe and were not able to find but we were able to improve on some of the things we focused on which was nice.

Sat. - We took the 5 hour train back home and got back in time to teach Horimoto a lesson. We taught Tithing, Fasting and Lesson 3 (Christs Gospel) and he accepted it all. He is looking really solid and will most likely be baptized on the 28th from what it looks like.

He really believes that we found him through Gods guidance and that God reached out to him again which is totally true. I love the guy a ton and am way grateful that I have had this chance to teach him.

We also went out to eat with Shinta. He has been feeling alot of pressure lately so we decided to just go out to eat as friends and not pressure him so much with a lesson. We got to be better friends and invited him to come to church the next day.

Sunday - Horimoto was suppose to come to church but felt sick or something like that so he couldn't make it. Hopefully he is ok and nothing is wrong. We will meet him on Tuesday. Shinta came to church and it seemed like he had a good time. After church we went out streeting and were able to get 2 there. We also did some housing afterwords and got one new investigator there.

Later that night we didn't have much time and were waiting for an investigator to show up and we got a call from the AP. He had a few questions for us and told us that he had just gotten done doing a baptismal interview for a family of 4 and that they were all going to be baptized the next week. We honestly were way jealous and after the call said a prayer so that we could find a family in the last 15 min.
we had. We hopped on our bikes and took off down a street near the church to knock on a few doors. Of course the road I took turned out to be dead end so we just decided to do it because we only had a few minutes. We started and got rejected a few times and then we knocked on one door that was way awesome. We told her who we were through the intercom and she came running outside and said she knew who we were and stuff and said we could come back some time. She has 2 kids and a husband. Of course she has to check with her husband but we are way excited. Our prayer was totally answered and we were guided down a street that seemed like a waste of time but turned out to be where we needed to be. Great way to end the week.

So it was a good busy week. This next week is pretty open. We have 2 splits but they will be in our area so it will be a nice break. We should be getting Horimoto's interview done so we can hopefully see if he is ready or not.
Things are going awesome and I love Wakayama its the best

Tell whit thanks for the letter and I will try to get one off soon as a I can.

Love you tons
Cam

2010-11-07T20:36:00.002-07:00

Hey

Sounds like a crazy week. Good for springville beating Timpview and humbling them a bit. I bet its nice to see springville with a nice team for once.

So this was a way crazy, busy, awesome week.

Tuesday we had Zone Leader Conference in Kobe which is always a blast.
We had a lot of big discussions and talked about how we can make the mission better and what direction we need to go. We were in Kobe all day and didn't get any time to do any work in our area.

Wednesday we headed back and had an exchange with the elders in the next area to us. We had an alright time and were able to find one investigator which was cool.

Thursday - We had District Meeting which is always a blast. One of my comps from when I was in Habikino Elder Draper is in my district again so it was a ton of fun to see him and talk about being in Habikino together. He of course wanted to know what happened to all the investigators we had together and stuff so it was fun.
We also had a lesson that night with one of our investigators that is committed to baptism named Shotaro. We taught him The plan of Salvation and it went really well. We also taught him the Word of Wisdom and he is going to keep it from now on. He really had tons of good questions during the lesson and is reading the BOM and Praying everyday. Really prepared and we are excited to see where he goes.

Friday - We had another exchange this time in Osaka in an area called Senboku we both went down and worked with the 2 other missionaries in their area. It was pretty fun and we had a good time. We were able to find some new investigators for them to teach so we felt good about the exchange.

Sat. - I woke up on time and the first thing my comp. said to me was `we have a problem` turns out he had been throwing up since 2 in the morning until 6:30. We ate at a Chinese place the day before after District Mtg. and he had something bad and got way bad food poising. We had 4 lessons that day so we took our time going back home and had the Elders in the area next to us come back over and help us get them done.

I taught while 1 elder and my comp stayed in the apt. The first lesson we had to cancel but we made it in time for the 2nd.
We taught Horimoto again and it went way well. We started the Plan of Salvation and also the Wow. He said the WOW would be hard but he is going to do it. He has a way strong testimony of Christ and is saying that he really feels like this is god reaching out to him and bringing him back to church. He really loves church and talking to us and is doing amazing. We totally were lead to him and he is way prepared. Later that night we taught another lesson but he didn't have much interest and decided to stop after that.

Sunday - Way good day. My comp had gotten mostly better so we headed over to church and taught Horimoto again. Finished up plan of salvation and just kind of talked. He is way golden. We had Sunday school with him where we learned about tithing which he is fine with.

We have Sacrament last in this ward and it was testimony mtg. We were able to get 2 other investigators there for sac. mtg. so we were pretty happy about that. (Shinta and Shotaro came). Since it was Shotaros first time we sat with him and had members sit with Shinta and Horimoto. About halfway through sac. mtg. I heard some get up and go up and it was our investigator Horimoto. Yeah i was pretty scared but he bore a way awesome testimony about Jesus Christ and how he is his savior. Man you should have seen the faces of the members as he got up there it was the best. Everyone was way impressed and really warmed up to him after that. He should if he doesn't have any problems get baptized in 2 or 3 weeks.

Shotaro and Shinta both liked it and had a good time. After sac. mtg.
there was a baptism for a 8 year old girl and Shotaro went. At the end they have everyone go up and congratulate her and shake her hand and when Shotaro shook her hand he said `I want to get baptized like you and even though your only 8 you are my sempi (Means like senior kind of if you translate it) way cool. He is looking really good but is way busy so it might take him a little longer.
We were able to find 1 more investigator that day so it was good.

So a way good week. My poor comp. puked his guts out but is doing fine now that its all out of him. Yeah he is a half his mom is full Japanese. We get along way good and are having a good time. This next week I get to go back to Tanabe on an exchange so I am way excited.
Its going to be a ton of fun.

Thanks for everything Love you tons
Cam

2010-11-01T08:58:00.000-06:00

It was a way good week to start off the transfer. I have a new comp and his name is Elder Everett. A really good missionary from Syracuse, Utah. He actually use to live on the Duplex street around the same time we were there too.

Anyways I don't have a ton of time but I will write down some of the highpoints of the week.

So last week Elder Muraoka and I found this guy named Horimoto and set up an appointment with him. It was a little iffy if he would come or not but he showed up. Elder Everett and I took him to the church and started our lesson and tour. We found out that he had gone to church for around 8 or 9 years when he was younger and was feeling like he needed to go back lately and since we invited him he decided to go. It was pretty easy to teach him and we hit pretty hard on the restoration and the need for authority that was restored through Joseph Smith. We committed him to be baptized by someone holding that authority for 11/28 and he accepted. He also came the church the next day and hit off great with the members. He is looking really good and we can't wait to keep on teaching him.

We also had a first lesson with a 21 year old guy named Shotaro. He showed up to his lesson in a suit so we were pretty surprised and when we started teaching he asked us what we talked about. We told him we talk about God and how we can learn if he is there or not and he replied I really really want to know please tell me… yeah pretty awesome way to start off a lesson. Anyways he asked tons of good question and is really really prepared for the gospel. He just needs faith and the experience now. We also committed him for the 28th and he accepted. He is doing great and already reading and praying.

Wha’ts crazy is that both of those lessons happened in the same day and during that day we found 6 new investigators. It was probably one of the most successful days of my mission easy.

We had a really good starting week and were able to find 12 new investigators and up our people that are committed to baptism to 6 so we are pretty happy with how its going at the moment but we should see some more good stuff this week.

This next transfer is going to fly by and be just as busy as the last I think. We have alot of exchanges planned and we have a few meetings that we have to go to so we should stay pretty busy.
I got your package this week which was awesome. Thanks so much. Did Derrick and Whit get my letters? Hopefully they write me back soon.

Love you tons thanks for everything
Cam

2010-10-24T23:08:00.000-06:00

Hey

Thanks for doing that BYU stuff for me. I will try to figure out the whole print out stuff hopefully we can get this all done in time. I will try to print it out today. Man, I need to find time for the essays too. Crazy, I don't have time.

So it was a pretty good week.

Our zone has been having a tough time so we took 3 days out of the week and did a bunch of different exchanges which helped a ton. We are going to try to take a new route with the zone and hopefully things get better. We will be having transfers this week so that should help things change a bit also but we were able to see more success in the zone.

We were able to get 2 more people committed to baptism this week which was pretty cool. Shinta didn't go through but we re committed him and he came to church he should get baptized this next coming month pretty easy.

I can't believe that this transfer is already over. I will be saying good bye to Elder Muraoka which is way sad. I really have had a good time being his comp and he is an amazing missionary. One of the best I have ever been with, I will miss him for sure. I obviously won't be transferring but someone will come and take his spot this thursday. Its kind of weird sending someone home again did the same thing a year ago.

Sorry this is so short, but I'm running out of time. Oh yeah as for Kaori I do know the Yabutani's. One of their sons Kou is letting us teach his girlfriend he is way cool. I actually did an exchange in Sennan this week. I didn't get to visit Sister Fujita's house but I plan on doing it this next coming transfer sometime. It will be a lot of fun. I have been writing Brandon my whole mission and he seems to be doing pretty good.

I am excited for the package, I am sure that it will be great. I sent both Whit and Derrick letters last week so they should get their sometime this week. It is always tons of fun getting them from them.

Love you all tons
Cam

2010-10-17T21:25:00.001-06:00

Hey,

We had a pretty good week this week. Got some new people and also had a cool meeting with Elder Aoyagi from the seventy.

Monday - We had P-day nothing really special had some fun. Afterwords we went out streeting and tried real hard and found 3 investigators which was way sweet. Pretty excited about it.

Tuesday - We had another busy day. We had to go to a Stake meeting an hour away for our Zone and report on how the Zone is doing and whats going on. We did that at night and before then we did a bunch of finding and were able to make appointments with 2 other people. We also visited the Sawamura family we baptized their son this transfer and talked to them about visiting him while he is in the hospital. We are really hoping that we can start teaching them the lessons and get them interested in the gospel. They said sometime they really want to come so we just need to get it done.

Wednesday - I had an exchange with an elder in our zone. We had a good time and were able to find one investigator. We also taught a lesson to a guy that didn't have a lot of interest and didn't want to meet again but oh well I guess it happens sometimes.

Thursday - We were able to visit Brother Sawamura in the hospital and finally get the confirmation done. We were pretty worried about not being able to get it done so its a pretty big relief now that its all done and over with. He should be getting out around the first of Nov. so hopefully around then he can start actively coming to church more.

We also had a lesson with Shinta which went pretty well. He is still thinking about being baptized and if everything goes well he should go through this next coming Sunday. We are pretty excited for him.

Friday - We had a really cool zone conference where Elder Aoyagi came and talked to us. Before the meeting he wanted to interview as many missionaries as possible. I happened to be one of them, and was pretty nervous but it only ended up being like 4 or 5 min. long and just asked me to talk about my mission. It was a great meeting and awesome to hear from a general authority. It was pretty fun.
After that I went out to Osaka to do another exchange.

Sat. - Spent most of the day in Osaka doing an exchange and after that we headed home and had a lesson with a guy named Onishi. He was kind of weird and did some weird stuff during the lesson like go to the bathroom 3 times but he accepted to be baptized on the 14th of Nov. He says he wants to change his life and stuff so hopefully it all works out with him.

Sun. - Sunday was awesome. One of the members brought his G/F to conference last week and she really liked it so she came again and we did a lesson. We taught her about Christ and baptism and she accepted to be baptized on the 14th of Nov. She even teared up and cried a bit so we are pretty excited about her.

We also had Shinta come to church and it just so happened that his G/F had a talk that day so it was a good chance for him to hear her testimony. She talked about missionary work and all about how she referred him to us and stuff so it was pretty good. After church we went out finding and were able to find 3 people so it was a way good day.

It was a good week for our area but our zone is having a tough time at the moment so this next coming week we will probably be spending most of our time outside of our own area trying to help them. Its pretty crazy that this is the last full week of the transfer its gone by so fast. Next week we have transfer calls, I will for sure stay because my comp. is headed home. I can't believe that Rob Day is already home thats way crazy. Before you know it so will Austen. Its gone by so fast.

Thanks for everything
Love you
Cam

2010-10-11T19:09:00.002-06:00

Hey,

So this was a pretty good week but we had some disappointments too at the same time.

Tuesday - We spent most of our day going to a new spot to try some streeting at a college we had never been too. We figured out pretty quick why it hadn't been done by missionaries much... it was on top of a mountain basically but we decided to try it out anyways and we were able to find 2 investigators there which was pretty cool.

Wednesday - We didn't have too great of a morning. We got a call from Kakaichi's friend telling us that he up and moved back to China out of no where. We were pretty surprised by it to say the least. Not much we can do about it but its a little bit of a disappointment he was suppose to be baptized yesterday. The rest of the day was pretty awesome though.

The Tanabe elders came up and I got to do a split with elder Chappel. It was a ton of fun to see him again. He is already a way good missionary and spent a lot of time studying Japanese when he was back at home so he was pretty good. I am sure that he will be a great missionary. We were able to find one investigator which was nice.

Thursday - We had interviews with president which went well. We had to organize it and stuff and our zone is the biggest in the mission so it was a little crazy but our schedule worked out and everything went pretty smooth. Its always great talking with president and getting to learn from him. Our zone is having a tough time at the moment so hopefully we can find a way to help them out. We baptized Sawamura a few weeks ago but he got sick and we haven't been able to confirm him. We were going to go over to his house to do it but found out he was hospitalized so we are way worried when we can get him confirmed now. Hopefully we can do it soon.

Friday - We worked hard and were able to find 2 more people to teach. We also had some members feed us dinner which was pretty great.

Sat. - We spent most of the day watching conference which is always awesome. I really liked the priesthood session it was really great. Anyways conference is awesome.

Sunday - spent most of the day watching conference and then we went out streeting afterwords. We found 4 people bringing the week total to 11 the most so far in my mission. Pretty cool. It was a good week.

Man, Robert Day's homecoming is next week? Crazy. I was thinking during conference and the next time we have conference will be the week I come home. How crazy is that? I got a letter from Brandon and he is headed home soon too it sounds like. Crazy stuff it goes by so fast.

As far as the package just candy chocolate and stuff like that is fine. Not a big fan of hard candy so you can hold back on that. By the time I get the package my comp will be gone so don't worry about shirts or anything like that. Throw a couple letters in too its always fun to read.

Thanks for the BYU stuff I will try to get that Email address to you.

Love you
Cam

2010-10-03T23:17:00.001-06:00

Hey,

Sounds like everyone is pretty busy. Since we are ZL's we are always super busy and its probably the most busy I have ever been on my mission so far. I can't believe its already the 3rd P-day of the transfer and it just keeps on going faster and faster.

Wait Rob Day comes home this month? Wow thats crazy fast. Its going to be way weird with people starting to come home and stuff. My comp goes home this transfer too so its a little weird being around someone who is going home when I am on the last 1/4 of my mission. Its fast thats for sure.

Yeah Elder Chappel came back and guess what... He is in Tanabe in my zone! I served in that area last year at this time so I am pretty excited for him. I have an exchange with him this Wednesday so it will be a blast.

This was a pretty good week.
Monday - We had FHE with the bishop which was way fun. They fed us some pretty good food which is always nice. Shared a message about the BOM with them.

Tuesday - We had an exchange with the elders in an area called Hashimoto. Headed out there and on the way back the train broke down so we had to take a bus to another station and stuff. Took forever.

After that we went out streeting and were able to find 2 people which was pretty cool. We also had a lesson with Shinta who is doing pretty good. We committed him to the Word Of Wisdom and he accepted it. He is a little worried if he can live the gospel well or not and it kept him from coming to church this week which was too bad but I think he will get baptized. He just is comparing himself with other members and doesn't realize they make as many mistakes as he does. Hopefully he can get over it and that we can help him.

Wednesday - We finished up the kokan and dendoed for the rest of the day and were able to find 2 more people.

Thursday - We woke up bright and early at 5:00am and headed out to Kobe for Zone Leader Conference. It was my first time so I was pretty excited. We learned about leadership and it was really great. I got to see a bunch of friends including McBurney which was fun. We stayed overnight in the Mission Home that night.

Friday - President had a bunch of activities which was way fun. We did yard work for the first 2 hours cleaning up the Mission home and stuff. Its been awhile since I have done anything close to yard work so it was pretty fun. Afterwords we went and hiked up a mountain and had a hot dog roast and stuff. Felt like we went back into America away from everything else. It was a blast and we had a fireside up there with the AP's and ZL's and got pretty fired up. We headed home and had a lesson with another investigator who is committed to baptism named Tsuji. We taught Word of wisdom and Lesson 2. He accepted and it went pretty well.

Sat. - We worked hard and found 2 more people.

Sun. - We were expecting 3 people to come to church but not a single one came. A member invited 2 friends but when we tried to set up another appointment with them they said they would call us and wouldn't set a solid appointment or give us their phone number which was disappointing. Afterwords we went out streeting for awhile but didn't have much luck.

It was a good week overall. Had a good time and it went by way fast.
Hopefully we can get some people to church this next week and give them a chance to see general conference. I am pretty excited for GC and it will be fun to watch.

Thanks for all of your support
Love you
Cam

2010-09-27T10:43:00.002-06:00

Hey how is everyone?

So it was another good week man we are so busy its hard to believe sometimes. The days are really flying by and we are already going into the 2nd week of the transfer.

Monday - After email we headed out to that guys house to see if he wanted to be baptized. To tell you the truth Elder Muraoka and I didn't have a lot of faith that he would actually want to be baptized but we were proved wrong. When we pulled up to his house he was waiting in Sunday clothes and ready to go. we were pretty surprised needless to say. From there we rode our bikes together to the church and had a little baptism with him and the bishopric. I actually got to baptize him. When they asked who was going to do the baptism my comp pointed at me and said him so i did it. I only got to teach him maybe 2 times so I didn't do much but it was a great experience and pretty cool.

Tuesday - We had a bunch of lessons planned for this day but they all got canceled except for one. The one lesson we had was with a guy we had found the previous Sunday. His name is tachibana and when we met him we were really excited to teach him. He had read some of the bible which is pretty hard to find out here in Japan. When we met him at the station he seemed a little weird and wouldn't shake my comps hand or the members but he seemed fine with me. He didn't really talk with the other 2 while we walked to the church and just with me. He used a ton of really hard words and a bunch of stuff that I didn't understand at all so it made it kind of hard to talk with him. We got to the church and started the lesson. During the lesson I had no Idea what was going on at all. His Japanese was really weird and I couldn't figure out what was really going on but I just tried to do my best. During one point during the lesson the member asked him what he was saying and that he didn't understand the words he was using then I realized I wasn't the only one having a tough time understanding. I just thought he was weird or something and kept on teaching. Afterwords we tried to get him to pray about the BOM and to say the closing prayer but he refused so we ended the lesson and started for the door and got outside of the church. We started to wave goodbye and he turned around and said that he had one last thing to ask me. I said ok and go ahead and he said he wanted to tell me so the other couldn't hear so he put his hand up to my ear like a he was telling me a secret and told me to be really careful of the girls in Japan because there is a women like a snake after me and that in America there are 2 special people waiting for me and I have to be careful. I promised him that I wasn't married and no one was waiting but he was 100 percent sure. My comp asked him why he only would tell me and he told him it was because he could see that I was pure and then told us goodbye and went home. I found out afterwords from my comp and the member that he was absolutely crazy and saying all sorts of crazy stuff during the lesson. Things like how he had talked to a raccoon in the forest. Trained and gotten 3 names from the emperor of Japan and a bunch of crazy stuff. His Japanese was so hard that my comp and the member only understood about 1/4 of it so yeah it was pretty tough. Pretty funny stuff. Gotta love the crazies in Japan.

Wednesday -
I had a split with an elder from another area that came to mine. It was fun we were able to find one investigator.

Thursday- We had District Mtg. Its nice not having to get it all planned and ready anymore. It was about the BOM and i really felt like i need t use it in my work more often. After that we had a big planning session for the week and the zone. We also had a lesson with an investigator named Shinta. He is a referal from a member and is her BF. He is reading the BOM and praying and really progressing well. We taught about Joseph Smith and the restoration and showed him the DVD. It was way strong and he felt the spirit for sure. We asked him to give the closing prayer and he said in his prayer thank you for teaching me the truthfulness of the BOM and Joseph smith and some other great stuff. We are pretty sure that he will get baptized.

Friday - We went to another Districts District meeting and then another split afterwords. Since we are ZL's we are suppose to go as much as we can and do splits with everyone. Our zone is the biggest in the mission with around 20 elders to split with so we are going to be doing around 2 every week and still not be able to fit everyone in. I went to a different area and worked with another elder. We were able to find 1 but i hoped to be able to find one more but we didn't get another.

Sat. -
We we worked hard but didn't have much luck and couldn't find anyone.

Sun. - It was a good Sunday and we had one person come to church. We have taught him everything and finished up tithing and fasting on this Sunday. He accepted it and is ready to be baptized but he still doesn't feel like he has prepared enough. We set a new date for Oct. 10th and hopefully he will feel ready by then. He is from china and is pretty awesome. He can't really speak Japanese so I teach him in english which he understands pretty well. We also were able to make up for the day before not finding anyone and found 3 new investigators.

It was a way good week and hopefully this coming week will be just as good. We have Zone leader council which is going to be a lot of fun. One day they have just a bunch of activities planned like hiking and a campfire and stuff and the next day is training so we are pretty excited for it.

Thank you for all your support.

Love you
Cam

2010-09-19T22:07:00.002-06:00

Hey,

Well our 2 Baptisms went through perfect. They both were really nervous but did a good job bearing their testimonies afterwords and a lot of good members showed up and were able to encourage them. It was really cool. I got to baptize Rei (The bigger one) and Suzuki, Shun the skinner guy with long hair and a bad mustache. Man it was pretty awesome and felt way cool to finally get some baptisms again. I actually transferred so I didn't get to be there for their confirmation but hopefully it all worked out yesterday.

Well yeah I transferred. I am now in Wakayama actually the place where I spent Christmas last year when I was in Tanabe. Its a Zone Leader area so yeah I guess I am a ZL now. Our Zone is the biggest in the mission so its kind of crazy with Phone calls and we will be doing at least 2 splits a week with all the other areas while trying to keep our area up and running. My comp. is an amazing missionary from Okinawa (The Island way below Japan with a bunch of American bases on it) He is on his last transfer and is pretty pumped to work hard these last few weeks. He is a really really good missionary and I am going to learn from him. I feel like a new missionary again when I dendo with him because the gap is so big on skills and teaching but he is patient and puts up with it. I am pretty excited for this transfer. We have at the moment 9 people committed to baptism that have a date. Its pretty crazy insane how hard they have been working in this area, hopefully I can keep it going and not let it all go to waste.

Monday - The baptism went great. Members came and even president came to see it. Hope you like the pics. they didn't turn out as good as I hoped.

Tuesday - We got the call for transfers and spent most of the day packing. We had Eikaiwa that night but not too many people came.

Wednesday - We spent most of the day visiting friends and old investigators people that I had met while in Habikino. Also met with Rei and Shun got their addresses and said goodbye. Kind of weird thinking I only met them like 2-3 weeks go but we got to be pretty good friends in that short space of time.

Thursday - So it was transfer day. Hauled all my bags out to Wakayama which is a decent ways away. Its actually in the same stake as Brandon's Grandma so when I go on a split over to that area I might have time to visit her which would be awesome. We did planning and then later that night we had 2 lessons. One was with a guy who has a date already and we taught about lesson 1. He seemed to think it was good and said he would read and pray.

Then next lesson was with Shimada. He had a pretty crazy story. I guess he showed up to church last week on Sunday and wanted to talk to the missionaries. Turns out he was contacted 2 years ago by them out by some train crossings. They talked about some stuff and whats important in life and gave him a flier and parted ways. Turns out when he got contacted by the missionaries he was waiting for a train to come by so he could jump in front of it. Yeah so they pretty much saved his life. We were able to set a date in the lesson for baptism and also set up another appointment. He said he was going to come on Sunday but he never showed up unfortunately.

Friday - We had a day full of finding and streeting and were able to make 3 appointments which was pretty cool. Elder Muraoka is really good at streeting so hopefully I can learn from him this transfer.

Sat. - We had Finding time and found 2 investigators. We also visited a guy who was suppose to get baptized but got scared and didn't show to the baptism last week. We scheduled him again for yesterday but he didn't show again. He said he is going to do it today but we will see what happens. We also tried to visit a guy they baptized 3 or 4 weeks ago who has stopped coming to church and won't answer their calls but he wasn't home

Sun. - We had a lesson with a Chinese guy named Kakaichi. His date is for next week. We taught Word of wisdom, Law of chastity lesson 2 and a few other commandments which he accepted. He is looking good but just is really busy so it will be hard to meet with him before Sunday hopefully we can do it.

Also we had a lesson after church with a member and her boyfriend and set a date for him to get baptized and work towards. He doesn't know if its true or not or if its what he wants to do but we are going to be teaching him from here on out. We were able to find 1 more investigator after church.

So yeah its pretty dang busy. I feel a little overwhelmed but am excited to be here and hopefully help my zone out. I am glad that I got a way good comp and am excited that I will get to work with him. It should be a fun fast transfer.
Sounds like everyone is busy back home.

Love you
Cam

2010-09-12T20:38:00.003-06:00

Hey,

So uh yeah we have a double baptism scheduled for today at 7:00!

Rei and Shun are their names and we met with them 4 times this past week and got everything taught and they are following all the commandments and everything. They passed their interviews on Saturday and came to church yesterday so they are 100% good to go. We are way excited for them and it should be a really good service. President and Sister McIntyre are coming also so we are a little nervous but it should go ok. I will get to baptize Rei and Suzuki will baptize Shun. It should be really great.

Monday - We had a lesson with Shun and Rei this night. We taught the last half of Lesson 2 and Tithing. The lesson didn't go as well as I hoped it would have but they accepted the commitment to pay tithing after being baptized. We did it at a members house and they fed us some way good food and did a good job in the lesson and helped us out.

Tuesday - We had a training mtg. for the District Leaders in the zone which was about working with members. We are going to try our best to get them to work with us a little better so we can get referrals. Hopefully it all works out and we can work together better since at the moment its pretty much just the missionaries but I think we can change that if we focus on it. Other than the mtg. we didn't have anything else.

Wednesday - We had a lesson in the morning with Hashimoto and taught about faith and desire. It went pretty well but he still isn't changing which is too bad. We had an appointment with Rei and Shun. We taught about The Gospel of Jesus Christ, 10 Commandments, Law of Chastity, Sabbath Day and Obeying and Honoring the Law. Yeah, it was pretty dang big lesson. They accepted it all which was pretty cool and the family we taught with fed us a bunch of Sushi and were great in the lesson.

Thursday - We worked hard all day but didn't have a lot of luck unfortunately.

Friday - Had an exchange with the ZL's. I got to go to an area called Sekime. Its right in Downtown Osaka and man.... IT IS HUGE. So many people there its crazy. It was a fun exchange and nice to get a break. I learned a lot from it.

Sat. - We had Rei and Shun's interviews for baptism and they both went through. After getting stuff planned with them we went out to dendo but not a lot of luck.

Sun - both Rei and Shun came to church which made it so they could be baptized the next day. They seemed pretty excited and the members were happy too. After church we had a meal with members which was pretty fun.

So yeah miracles happen. Even with this crazy stuff going on all transfer the Lord really decided to bless us here in Habikino. I am way thankful that I was able to teach these 2 awesome guys. They were so prepared and I didn't really do anything except for teach they accepted it all so quick. I just hope they stay strong after being baptized. It definately strengthened my testimony if we just work hard through tough times with faith and desire stuff will happen even if its the last P-day of the transfer. :) Our baptism is from 7:00 tonight and I will make sure to get pictures and send them to you next week.

For sure one of us is going to transfer but I have no idea who is going to go so I might be somewhere else next week.

Thanks for everything
Love you tons
Cam

2010-09-06T20:12:00.002-06:00

Hey,

How is everyone doing? We went out to down town Osaka and ate out with a bunch of missionaries so this email is a bit later than normal. Akina, Murphy and a few other really good friends were there so it was a lot of fun and a good break.

It was both a good and bad week

Tuesday - We went in the morning to teach our 15 year old investigator Chihiro who was committed to the 12th for baptism. We were about half way through our lesson when he started to look really sick and his face went all pale and stuff. He said he wasn't feeling good so we just decided to end it right there and give him a break and come back another day. We called later that night to see if he was ok and to try to set up another appointment with him. His mom answered the phone and she said he was ok but she asked us to stop coming over and to quit teaching him. Pretty frustrating. What makes it worse is that his mom is a member and a RM but pretty against the church at the moment. No one in the ward really knows why so its a bit crazy.

Wednesday -
We rode our bikes way out to a more country side area that we had never been to before and visited our bishops house. Only his wife was there but we shared a quick message with her on the doorstep and went back. Other than that we tried really hard but didn't have any luck.

Thursday - Pretty much the same as Wednesday not much happened, streeted housed etc no luck.

Friday - We had zone conference which is always fun. We talked alot about finding and make natural conversations out on the street. Hopefully we can apply that in our own area so we can find more people.

Sat. - We got 2 referrals from the elders in the area next to us. They found these 2 college guys named Rei and Shun. They both went to church in their area once and accepted a date to be baptized. They lived in our area so they had to refer them over to us. We met up with the elders and Rei and Shun and went out to eat. We went to this pretty well known chain restaurant in Japan called sukiya. They have different dishes the one we got is called gyudon its rice with meat and onions pretty good. They have different sizes and one elder knew about a size called the King size that isn't even listed on the menu and we all decided to give it a try. IT WAS HUGE. I almost threw up but it was way fun. I didn't have my camera on me but I will try to get the pic from the other elders. Afterwords we went to the church and taught the 2 guys about plan of salv. and also Word of Wisdom. They both accepted to follow it even though they both love beer and Rei smokes but they are going to try to stop. Their date is next Monday so its way fast. Hopefully we can get everything taught and finished up before then so we are pretty excited. We have another lesson tonight at a members house and are going to teach Tithing. I really hope it all goes good.

Sun - We had normal church and then afterwords we got to go to our bishops house which was a ton of fun. We ate dinner over there and shared a message. The bishop here is one of my fav. so far. He is way nice and seems concerned about what is going on.

So yeah it was a pretty good week. Sad that we lost one person who was committed to baptism but we got 2 more. Who knows by this time next week we could be having a baptismal mtg.

Love you tons
Cam

2010-08-29T21:08:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone,

It was a way crazy week here in japan too. Lots of different things going on back home it sounds like. A little girl got hit by lightning? Thats way crazy. We had a big thunderstorm last night that we got caught in. Not to much fun when you don't have your rain jacket and stuff.

Anyways here was my week.

Tuesday - we had another lesson with the crazy old guy that was committed to baptism. His name is Tatsumi. So he would call me all the time and told me all this weird stuff. We knew he was crazy because he told us he was taking medicine but we figured he could still get baptized so we decided to keep teaching him. We taught him again on Tuesday and he went off on how he can hear voices in his head and stuff. Apparently he normally hears his dads voice but lately he has been able to hear my voice too. Telling him to go to the church at like 3 AM and stuff like that which he obeys. We were pretty floored. Anyways the lesson went alright but I think the member that was there was pretty freaked out because of it all. We laughed about it later. After that we had Eikaiwa which people showed up to this time which was nice.

Wednesday - We had one lesson with a investigator who we committed to baptism and he accepted for the 12th of Sept.

Thursday - We somehow were still able to find investigator but it was pretty crazy. We Also had a lesson with a guy from California that is teaching English. pretty cool guy with a lot of interesting ideas. Its pretty different teaching someone from America.

Friday - We had DM went pretty good and we had lunch afterwords. I don't know if I told you but in my district is a couple missionary and they are way fun. They told us these stories about how they met and got married. After one date the brother proposed to her which is crazy in Utah but in Japan its like unheard of. Anyways it was way funny.

Sat.
We had a lesson with Hashimoto. Kind of getting old with him he is refusing to change which is frustrating but he did agree to show his dad some pamphlets so hopefully that helps his dad calm down. Other than that not much. Tatsumi did give me a call and told me he couldn't be baptized because of his family which was too bad. He was pretty crazy so it didn't come as too much of a surprise but maybe we can figure something out.

Sun
We were suppose to have one investigator at church but he had to cancel on us. The bishop asked us to visit some LA and so we spent most of our day doing that.

Anyways it was a good week we got another person committed to baptism and hopefully we can see him go through. We will see what happens this week.
Thanks for everything.

love you
cam

2010-08-23T07:39:00.001-06:00

Hey

Man, it is crazy hot. I think this week has been by far the hottest yet and probably the one where I have been the most tired but we had another good week which was great.

Tuesday - It was a long hot, hard day and we didn't have much luck to start our week off. While we worked hard we didn't have much luck and then no one, not a single person came to english class which is a mission first.

Wednesday - We spent the morning going out and visiting LA and old investigators. We decided to go meet one younger investigator whose parents are members but LA. We met with him and were able to make another appointment. When we told the members they all got pretty excited and think that we will have a good chance of baptizing him so we are excited about that. we are going to meet with him this Wednesday.

Also later that night we were out by a train station doing some streeting and as we were headed home i talked to a guy i was standing by while at a stop light. Turns out he was going to church that night and we talked for a bit and introduced the BOM. We were able to set up another appointment for the next week which was way awesome.

Thursday - We were able to meet with Isham at his restaurant which was cool. We were hoping to do a lesson with him but he had a few people eating at his place and his daughter was really loud and stuff so we just ate and invited him to church. He didn't show up which was a bit of a disappointment. We had a lot of hope for him but not much really going on with him and it seems like his desire is not as strong as we thought it might be.

Friday - we found a guy that is from California. His name is Qamar and he agreed to meet with us next Thursday. He is way smart and we talked in english for about 30 min on the side of the street. I am excited to teach him but I think it will be pretty tough the guy is super smart and has really studied a lot about religion and things like that so we will see how it goes.

Sat. - We had a lesson with the random old guy that came to church the week before named tatsumi. He is really weird and we thought that he might be crazy but after the lesson we figured out he isn't handicapped or anything just really weird. So we tried to teach him but he kept taking things off subject and stuff like that which was hard. We were only able to teach the first 2 principles of the first lesson. He agreed to come to church the next day and read the Bom

Sun. - Tatsumi came to church which was cool but i was a little disappointed that Isham didn't show. While we were waiting for the meeting to start I was talking to tatsumi and showed him some pictures in the front of the BOM. One is of baptism so I decided to comitt him on the spot and was able to get a date out of him. So Sept. 12 is his date for baptism. He has a long ways to go and we have so much to teach him but he seems pretty interested and hopefully we can help him out. We ended up going out to do some home teaching with a member later that night which was pretty fun

So yeah it was a pretty good week, just blazing hot. This next coming week is full of lessons and things like that so we are pretty happy to see what happens. hopefully everything goes well. I do have one question for you. Could you try to find a talk called: The 4th Missionary by Lawrence C. Corbridge done in 2002. if you can find it just send it over email to me please

Thank you for everything

Love
cam

2010-08-15T23:51:00.003-06:00

Hey

Thanks for the email. Its great to hear from you and sounds like you had a pretty busy week with all of the cousins over to visit.

I am glad that you had a good time giving your talk. I wish I was as good of a writer as dad is and could write good talks like him. In this ward the bishop has the missionaries give a talk every week about missionary experiences so we switch on and off. I gave mine yesterday not too big of a deal, we are pretty use to it but its only around 35 people so not too bad.

This was a pretty good week.

Tuesday - We had a decent day. We spent the morning out trying to visit old investigators and LA members. We didn't actually get to meet any of them but left notes and one of the LA's came to church which was pretty cool. While we were out we met an old investigator and made an appointment which was cool. We had english class later that night but it rained super hard and no one came which was a first so far. For some reason the Habikino english class is really weak and something we really need to work on and strengthen. Hopefully its some thing we can do this transfer.

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday -
We had the leadership conference in Kobe for 3 full days. I stayed in Kobe with around 12 other missionaries and man it was probably the funnest 3 days of my mission so far. We really learned a lot of great stuff from president McIntyre. My fav. part was learning about the Doctrine of Christ and really getting down to the purpose of missionary work and then working up from there. Its kind of sad sometimes how we forget about it but the doctrine of Christ is really the center of the gospel and we just build on it from there. Its something I really want to learn and understand better then teach it to my investigators and hopefully see them change.
It was a ton of fun to see a bunch of friends and make new ones. 12 missionaries in one apt makes it pretty crazy and a ton of fun. I can't wait for the next one and hope that I am still in a leadership position so I can go again

Sat.
We were able to find one new investigator. He was kind of weird but agreed to meet again on Tuesday so hopefully that works out. Other than that not much luck. We spent most of our time out trying to find people because I had been in Kobe for 3 days and my comp went to a different area so our numbers were pretty bad at that point. At the end of the day we met Ishams wife randomly and found out that he didn't go to Nagoya which was cool. We called him up that night and invited him to church which he said he was going to go to but never showed up.

Sunday -
In the middle of sacrament one guy that is from canada in our ward waved to us to come out and there was some old guy standing outside the church with a Jehovahs Witness bible in his hand talking about religion and stuff. Somehow we managed to get him into the last half of sacrament meeting. He is researching lots of different religions and is interested but doesn't believe that just one is correct. Hopefully we can change that. We didn't get to do a lesson because he had to leave right after sacrament mtg but we should be able to meet with him sometime this week.

After church I headed out to Abeno (Downtown Osaka) to interview the sisters baptismal canidate. She is 7 years old and he grandparents are helping her get baptized. Since both of her parents are not members its considered a convert baptism and I had to do the interview. She was pretty nervous but did a good job and is going to be baptized this coming Sunday. Afterwords we headed back ate some food and went out streeting, we only had an hour and didn't have much finding but for only being in the area for 3 days it was a pretty good week I would say.

Thanks for the package it was really great. I think that this coming week is going to be really good and we should be able to get a few people committed to baptism and hopefully get dates set up.

Thanks for everything
Love you tons
Cam

2010-08-10T18:52:00.002-06:00

Hey, how is everyone?

I got your package thanks a ton everything is way great and should be awesome.

So we had transfer calls this week. Elder Draper got transferred to Shikoku a new part of the mission to a place called Marugame lucky guy. I got a new companion and his name is Elder Suzuki. He is transfer 9 and we are Co senior. I am also back to being a DL so my nights are busy again. In my district its just 2 sisters and the senior couple so its kind of boring but oh well it will work. They pulled the elders out of the area due to some problems with members not working with them hopefully they will learn and can get elders back soon.

Tuesday - We spent most of the day getting ready for transfers and getting elder Draper all packed up and his stuff shipped off. We also had Eikaiwa which was normal nothing really special. The one in Habikino is really weak and I would love for it to get stronger but it really isn't moving along too great.

Wednesday - We spent a lot of time running around meeting people. We had a lesson in the morning with Hashimoto so he could say goodbye to Draper. He gets weirder and weirder every time we meet with him it seems like. I don't know if we will be able to do much with him this next transfer or not but we will see I guess. We also met with another guy named Yuta who is a friend of ours we take to activities but he doesn't really have a lot of interest in the gospel. We also met with Isham and said goodbye to him also. We found out that he is going to Nagoya which is way too bad but may be coming back so we still have hope for him. He said he wants to look up the church out there and was going to give me a call but I haven't gotten one from him yet.

Thursday - We went out and got our new comps in the morning. I brought Suzuki back to the apt and we planned for awhile and waited for his luggage to show up. Both of the companies were late and we didn't get out till later and didn't have much luck finding anyone. Suzuki is pretty cool. Something that is driving me crazy though is that since he has come my Japanese has turned into crap. Something I have noticed on my mission is that there is sometimes people you just can't understand or talk to well no matter how hard you try and my comp ended up being one of those people so we are having some communication problems. I haven't been this stressed out about Japanese since my 5th transfer so its way annoying hopefully I can get over it soon. He hasn't had too much luck on his mission so far so hopefully we can see some good stuff this transfer.

Friday - We visited a LA in the morning whose kids have yet to be baptized. The father wasn't home but one of the sons were and we talked with him for a bit. Hopefully we can get a hold of him later. After that we ate and headed out to dendo near a college. Its summer break right now so its pretty barren but we were able to find one new investigator there. After that we went to Fujidera eki and streeted and found one person there which was nice.

Sat. - We met with Hashimoto in the morning and had a decent lesson. We committed him to have some more specific prayers and try to find a way to get baptized. He accepted but was pretty concerned about it we will see how it goes with him the rest of this transfer.

Sun. Pretty normal chuch. Afterwords we visited some people and talked with one LA. He is pretty busy and says he can't come to church but hopefully he changes soon. We streeted at Fujidera like always and it was pretty bad. Some guy freaked out on Suzuki and got up in his face like he was going to fight him so that was pretty random. Not much happened other than that.

So yeah its been alright so far. Hopefully I can get over this weird Japanese wall thing that just popped up soon too its way frustrating. This next week should be fun. I have a 3 day meeting in Kobe where we stay there overnight for all the DL and ZL and Trainers in the east side of the mission. first time they are doing it so everyone is pretty excited. Should be a lot of fun.

Love you tons
Cam

2010-08-01T22:04:00.001-06:00

Hey

Hey how is everyone? Sounds like some sad stuff happened back home. I am sorry but well I am sure things will turn out for him and he will be able to be with his family forever.

Anyways I got the package kind of... We got the slip at the apt that the post office has it and we just haven't had a time where we have been in the apt long enough to get it we have been super busy so we don't really have time to wait and get it so hopefully tomorrow we should have time. Also tomorrow is Transfer calls so we will see what happens we are both excited for it.

So this was a pretty good week. Numbers wise actually the worst of the transfer but we had a lot of good stuff happen.

Tuesday - We had District Meeting in Abeno. So the other Elders and Sisters in our district are in a place called Abeno which is the heart of Osaka and its pretty much the most city area in our entire mission. There are people everywhere, lots of crazies, homeless people, and pretty iffy people so its always an adventure going out there. We did a split there later in the week that I will talk about. Anyways we had DM and it was our DL's last time. He is from Payson and is a great guy. It will be sad to see him go he is by far the funnest DL i have had on the mission. After DM we had a mtg with Hashimoto to say ``Good Bye`` I tried to be really bold and commit him to baptism and stuff but it just won't get through. We are going to get some members to help us now because as missionaries I don't think we can do much. Afterwords we had Eikaiwa which was alright then headed back out to Abeno for the exchange and spent the night there.

Wednesday - I got to dendo with my son Elder Enta! (If you train someone you become their dad and they your son... yeah i know missionaries are losers but whatever) We went around Abeno and did some dendo but its really hard because its almost too city and no one will listen to you which is frustrating sometimes but you make it work. We went to a bunch of famous places in Osaka and then ate out at an all you can eat Chinese place which was pretty good.

Thursday - We got stood up for a lesson and then just dendoed all day but it was raining so it wasn't too good.

Friday - We had a tour of the church for a friend of ours in the morning that went alright. He doesn't have tons of interest but I think that it was good for him. Right in the middle of the tour I got a call from hashimoto saying he wanted to meet with us so we met him at the church after the tour. He just wanted to get all of our contact information so after we transfer we can still stay in contact. He says he can't meet with us but its not true. He still wants to meet and keeps coming up with excuses i Think. This Wednesday we will have a lesson I think so hopefully things can get better. We went out later that day and did some dendo and only got 1 investigator.

Sat. - We had a lesson with Yuki in the morning and he stood us up for the 3rd time so needless to say I was a little unhappy. We had a lesson with a guy named Isham at his restaurant later that day too. He is from Morocco and is looking for something new. We got an Arabic BOM and went there but of course he wasn't there. We met his wife and ate some food and left a note in the BOM about church. Our 3rd lesson went through with a guy named Hiromichi. We met him the week before. He has interest but is really into hip hop and rap and stuff so he has more interest in the american lifestyle. I don't know if I have told you or not but everyone over here thinks that america is like the most dangerous place in the world. I can't tell you how many times I have been asked on the street if we carry guns with us every where we go and stuff like that. He was asking us questions like that and we found out he does weed and stuff so its going to be a little harder to baptize him but we will work on it. He is a good guy and hopefully things work out with him. He was suppose to come to church but went out late that night and couldn't wake up.

Sun.- So right after sacrament meeting I looked out into the foyer and I couldn't believe who was standing there. It was Isham the guy we visited before he apologized a ton and stuff and we took him upstairs to do a lesson. It went really good. The day before he met us he decided to quit smoking and drinking and to get away from his bad friends. He is looking really good right now and is a great guy. I guess he has met missionaries before and really thinks alot about our church and wants to join a Christan one. He thinks the word of wisdom is great. I committed him to baptism and he said he would get baptized if he feels its right. The spirit was way strong and I am excited to teach him. He is a way cool guy and can speak Arabic,French,Spanish,English, and Japanese so its pretty crazy.

After church we went to the Kato family`s house. It was our 2nd time and they are the coolest family ever. They don't have a ton of interest right now but like talking and feeding us. They gave us Sushi, and a bunch of other good stuff. Afterwords we went to a park near there house and watched some fireworks show that they do ever year. Some religion does it and man it totally owns americas fireworks hands down way cool.

So yeah it was a good week. Thanks for everything your awesome mom I can't wait to get my package tomorrow. I will let you know what happens with transfers next week.
Love you
Cam

2010-07-25T22:32:00.002-06:00

So this was a pretty good week.

Monday - so after P-day we went to a place called Nara. So here some Japanese history for you but right now the capital is Tokyo right? Before Tokyo it was a place called Kyoto, I have been there 2 or 3 times and sent you pictures and before Kyoto was Nara so they have a bunch of cool stuff there and its all way, way old. One of the building we visited was the oldest wooden building in the world or something crazy like that. Also we went to another park that have deer EVERYWHERE and you can go up and pet them and feed them and stuff. I will make sure I send you some pictures. It was pretty fun. We went as a district and had a good time.

Tuesday - We had District Mtg and went to eat out afterwords. After that we had some streeting time but didn't have much luck and did Eikaiwa which was normal.

Wednesday - We had an exchange with the other elders in our district. They both came down to Habikino and we did a 4 man in our area for this day. I was with Elder Jones, he is our DL and will be leaving for home next week. He is from Payson so we live pretty close. Way cool guy, really funny, and a good missionary, I was able to learn a lot from him. All together we were able to find 3 investigators for our area and somehow met 2 others from there area and set up appointments so both companion ships got new investigators which is cool. Also we taught Sho the guy that learned english in Australia I don't remember if I told you about him. Anyways he believes in this religion called kofuku no kagaku (Happy Science is the direct translation). They believe that their leader had part of god in him and has been born 7 times on the earth. Each time he was born he started a new religion so our church was already started by him and stuff. Yeah it was a tough lesson but not much came of it. We probably will drop him but we will see what happens

Thursday - We had a lot of dendo time but for lunch we got invited over to a members house. Her name is Tachibana and she is way nice and makes way good food. Apparently Elder Fukui knows her really well (He was in this area) and told her to invite us over which was way nice. Hopefully we can make a better relationship with her over the next few weeks. We were able to find 3 new investigators this day which was cool. One of them is from Morocco and seems pretty promising. He just quit drinking and smoking and says that he misses religion in his life so we will see how his lessons go we are meeting him on sat.

Friday - We had a lesson with a highschool kid but went a little hard and scared him away I think. We couldn't make a new appointment but maybe later when we give him a call. We also found a new investigator that is already christian so hopefully we can help him out

Sat - We had 2 really great lessons. The first one was with a new investigator named Azuma, hiromichi. Way cool guy with pretty good english. He wants to go over to america and work and stuff but anyways he has alot of interest and is one of our progressing investigators at the moment. We were able to teach all of lesson one and committed him to read and pray about it. I think he has some strong desire so he should be able to get an answer pretty easily. We are going to meet him on sat.
The next guy is named daisuke. He actually believes in budism which most people don't. He has an open mind which makes it easy to teach him. We taught lesson 1 and gave him a tour of the church. Hopefully we can baptize him also.

Sunday - We were suppose to have Yuki come to church but he stood us up for the 2nd time in a row now which is frustrating. We did streeting afterwords but not much luck.

So it was another good week. Hopefully we can get these new people to progress a little better and get someone committed to baptism soon.

Thanks for the package i haven't gotten it yet but I am excited I am sure that it will be great. We only have one more p day before transfers which is weird. Its going by pretty fast.

Thank you for everything
Love you tons
cam

2010-07-18T23:04:00.002-06:00

Hey

Hey how is everyone? It sounds like the trip out to Oregon was a fun one. I remember going there when we were all pretty little. It was fun and we got to see all that underwater reef stuff. Yeah we have heard all about Spain winning the world cup sounds pretty cool. Wish I could have seen it. Oh well I guess there is always the next one.

So this week was pretty good.

Tuesday - We had a TON of rain all day. We spent a lot of time housing and walking around in the rain but its pretty tough to do missionary work during the rain. We were able to teach Hashimoto again this week. We went over the Plan of Salvation and had him teach it to us to review. He did a way good job and understood almost all of it. He is still working on his parents but during the lesson he pretty much said that we were going to have to wait until he gets a job. After the lesson we did english class which is pretty weak in this area and we are hoping that we can strengthen it over the next few weeks.

Wednesday - It rained all day again. We were lucky enough to stop a guy in the morning when it stopped raining for about 10 min and set up an appointment with him. We also got another by walking around in the rain and I think the guy felt sorry for us so he decided to make an appointment. Other than that just a lot of rain but 2 investigators is really good in the rain.

Thursday - We did a lot of streeting again and were able to find 2 investigators. Also later that night I kind of had a crazy phone call with Hashimoto. While I was talking to him and answering his questions I could hear his mom yelling at him in the background and stuff and he had to hang up on me. I later found out from a member he texted that his mom went crazy on him and said he couldn't go to church at all and stuff, that they were going to disown him and all this other crazy stuff. Its all cleared up now and but it was pretty scary at the time, we thought we were going to lose a way solid investigator because of it. Pretty good day

Friday - We had interviews with president. They have now changed how they do interviews and ZC for all the missions around the world. Interviews and ZC are only once a a quarter now and they have other trainings that the mission president can do and stuff so we won't have another until October which is kind of weird. My interview went good, sounds like I might train again next transfer but its still too early to tell so we will see what happens. After interviews we took an investigator to a YSA activity. They have them every week and the missionary couple that ran it went home and since they left it slowly has been getting worse and worse kind of falling apart so its not as good as it use to be but its still pretty fun. There is a new Japanese couple in the mission running it and hopefully they can pick it back up.

Sat. We got stood up by one of our solid investigators which was way frustrating. I was really hoping to get him a baptismal date at the lesson. I guess he isn't as serious as we thought he was but we were able to make another appointment with him on the phone and we will see what happens next week. We also got a call from Hashimoto telling us that he couldn't come to church this week but that his parents are not going to throw him out and stuff and that his mom is going to come to church next week! So we are way excited, hopefully she will come and the members will do a good job and his mom will let him be baptized. I really hope it all works out, its been almost a year since my last one so I really hope he goes through. We were able to find one other investigator that night which was nice.

Sun. - We didn't get anyone to church this week which was a bit of a let down but next week should be good. After church we went to that weird ladies house that knew all the missionaries which was a giant waste of time. We were only over there for one hour thankfully. She has no interest in the gospel, just in fooling around with missionaries which she has done for 30 years kind of crazy but we probably won't visit her again. After that we did some streeting but it was pretty dead.

So yeah a decent week with some progress with Hashimoto. I really hope he can be baptized he is really prepared and so ready to get baptized he just needs the go from his parents. Hopefully this week turns out good for him.

Thank you for getting that package ready its going to be great I am sure. I am way excited for the books and stuff.

Thanks for everything
Love you
Cam

So yeah I just got a phone call from Hashimoto and he totally dropped us. Yeah so his dad supposedly got sick because of him wanting to join the church. His dad stopped eating, sleeping, talking and just was sitting in a chair and all this bull crap. So he decided to drop us and wait until his dad dies to get baptized. I was super super bold with him and straight up told him that he getting baptized is more important than his dad. That he knows its true through the spirit and he has to act on that and stuff but he wouldn't change his mind. His dad is pretty good I won't lie I didn't expect that but man its so frustrating.

I guess we did what we were suppose to by giving him the chance to enter the waters of baptism but he obviously doesn't have as strong of a desire as we had hoped. I am going to try to do kind of a low move by asking him for his address so I can write him and then visit his family by surprise sometime. He said he still wanted to be friends and get my address and stuff and come visit if he was in America and stuff. I don't want to fully give up yet but we will see how it goes. Looks pretty bad right now I pretty much told him straight up that this is his chance to accept the gospel and if he doesn't he will not be saved but he still refused. Man I am pretty frustrated but I guess we just have to work hard and find some other people to teach now. Maybe it will all work out some how.

2010-07-15T10:16:00.002-06:00

Hey, how is everyone?

So this was an alright week. We had a really good week but kind of a disappointing sunday but anyways.

Tuesday - We met with a few new investigators and the lessons went pretty well. One is now progressing but it will take him a long time to get baptized. He is pretty set in his ways and is the first japanese person I have met that does drugs but is way cool and a really nice guy. We also met with Hashimoto again and taught him the word of wisdom which he said he would have no problems with and would keep. We had Eikaiwa later that night and had some fun.

Wendsday - We had another lesson with Hashimoto and taught him the rest of the commandments and he said he would keept them all. It was interesting that he said that they really weren't hard to keep and they just made sense. It was the first time I had heard a Non member say that and not just look at us like we were crazy so it was pretty cool. It rained for the rest of the day and while we worked hard we had a tough time talking to people in the rain.

Thursday - It was the all mission meeting which was way fun. I got to see all the guys from my MTC district that went to Hiroshima which was a ton of fun. It was weird to think that we have been in Japan for over a year now. Everyone was pretty excited about the mission joining and we are all ready work hard together. We know have around 130 missionaries in our mission so its pretty big. The meeting was great and a ton of fun. We didn't get home until around 7:30 so we didn't really get any time in for missionary work that day.

Friday - We ended up having a lesson with a guy that we thought for sure wasn't going to show up. It turned out alright but he didn't seem to take it too seriously. Hopefully we can help him progress a little better. Later that night we went to a YSA activity with an investigator. It was ping pong night. It was fun but wasn't planned too well so we kind of had to make it a little more fun. One thing that is great about Habikino is that we are in the outreach area so we can go every friday if we have someone to take. Its usually alot of fun and good for fellowshiping the investigator. Hopefully we can keep going.

Sat. - We decided that we were getting kind of bored of doing streeting all day so we tried some new ways to dendo. First we went to the rec center and they didn't have Bball but had ping pong so we figured we would give it a try. I have been playing a bit out here on p-days and thought i had gotten pretty good but man the old ladies there could have wiped us all over the floor if we had played them. There weren't any young people to talk with so we didn't stay for long but its something we want to try again sometime. We also tried going to a park but it was pretty dead.

Sunday - We had 2 investigators come to church which we were way excited about but had a few problems. It was Hashimotos 3rd time so we didn't really worry about him but the other investigator we had high hopes for if he liked church. He wasn't really able to make friends and the first sunday school lesson he went to was on the Law of Chasity... yeah so he left after that but we were still able to get another appointment. After church we went out streeting and this lady walked up to us and said follow me elders i want to talk to you but I am busy so walk with me. After following her around for a bit she took us to her house and showed us this box of pictures and business cards of missionaries from 30 years ago till about 2 or 3 years ago. It was insane, she has known missionaries forever. We got an appointment for next sunday and hopefully it goes well.

After the day was over and we were eating dinner we got a call from Hashimoto. His parents found out about him wanting to get baptized and stuff and told him if he did they would throw him out of the house. So for now we don't really have a solid date for him. He can still meet and come to church but being baptized might be a little tough. We don't have any really good prospects besides him so hopefully it all works out and we can still baptize him. There is still hope and we don't intend to give up but man it was pretty disappointing to get that phone call from him. Hopefully it all works out.

How was the trip to Oregon? Was Aunt Cami still as funny as ever? I am sure she was. Who won the world cup? Let me know how everything is going
Love you
Cam

2010-07-04T21:22:00.002-06:00

Hey

Sounds like its really hot out there. Man I can't believe how hot it is right now. The humidity is killing me and my comp way bad and it only gets worse from here.

Thats cool about Brandons Bro. They will all be able to speak Japanese when they get home. Hopefully I can study it at school. Thanks for looking at those books for me. I don't know what is good I just need something to help me progress now. I can speak and understand almost everything I just need to work on my vocab., I feel like my grammer is doing ok because I have focused on it most of my mission. But, I feel like I am in a rut at the moment and it would be nice to get out and make some more progress. Maybe the books would help me get out of it. Thanks a ton.

So yeah I am starting to get more use to Habikino. You asked about the apt. its actually one of the bigger ones I have had so far. Not as nice as the Akashi one but its pretty big which is nice. Also has 2 couches which surprisingly makes a big difference.

We had another really good week.

Mon - We had a lesson with a kind of less active family. They fed us dinner it was way good. We get to go every Monday so its way fun and they always feed us which is great.

Tuesday - We had a zone meeting which we planned our goals for the transfer as a zone and ate food together it was pretty fun. I got to talk to Elder Buerger and he sounds like he is doing good. Also Elder Enta is in my district so its fun to see and talk with him. Afterwords we had a lesson with Hashimoto and we were able to set a baptismal date with him for the 25th of July. He is really progressing well and understands everything. Hopefully we can help him along until then. His biggest problem would be that he is trying to hide it from his parents which is ok because he is 25 but i can see it turning into a problem later on so I am not sure what we will do at the moment.

Wednesday - It was a long day of dendo but we were able to find 2 people so we were excited about that.

Thursday - Same deal as Wednesday we had a lot of finding time and were able to find 3 people so things are going good.

Friday - We had 3 appointments set up from the people we had last week but not a single person came which is way frustrating. While we were waiting for them we were able to find 2 more people which made it a little better.

Sat. - We were suppose to meet a investigator at Mcdonalds but he didn't show. while we were waiting i noticed the older man next to us was studying english so that was a pretty easy contact and we were able to make an appointment with him for next week. Later on that day we had a lesson with a new investigator named Yuki. He is really interested and we committed him to be baptized if he finds out it is true and he said yes. We don't have a date yet but he is going to come to church next week and we have another appointment for sat. We have a lot of hope for him.

Sunday - It was a good Sunday. Hashimoto came to church and we were able to do a few lessons with him. In one of the lessons he told us he was doing 3 prayers a day. At first I thought it sounded a little weird the way he worded it so I asked him how his prayers were and how he prays. He told me that he does 3 a day and that he prays first to Heavenly Father then he prays to Jesus Christ and last but not least he prays to Joseph Smith. I was pretty much floored to the ground and tried not to laugh. We had to explain to him again who we pray to and stuff like that. He understood his mistake and said he won't do it that way any more. I guess you have to have that mission experience of someone praying to Joseph Smith some time. He also stood up in the lesson and did a deep bow and apologized about WW2 and the bad things Japan did. He is a bit different than most people but really wants to believe and I think he is going to be baptized.

Later that night we had an appointment with an older guy who just walked up to us on the street and said he wanted us to come over to his house later and talk with his family. He said he just wanted to talk about America and not religion because he doesn't like it. So we headed over and they were way super nice. They fed us this pizza that was dang good, the best I have had in Japan so far and talked to us about all sorts of things. America, Our church, families, culture, missionary work, etc. It was a ton of fun. He had a friend in college that was a RM and I guess has been to church once. He doesn't have much interest but they were nice so we hope there is some way we could help them.

So we found 9 people this week, got an investigator with a baptismal date and a few other progressing investigators so we are really excited at the moment and I am sure this next week is going to be great too. We also have a big meeting with the entire mission on Thursday to kind of meet all the new missionaries from Hiroshima so it should be a lot of fun to see everyone.

Thanks for the package, I can't wait for the books and music. I can't think of anything else but thanks a ton.
Love you tons
Cam

2010-06-28T09:11:00.002-06:00

Hey its great to hear from you.

Well I did transfer to a new area, I am in a place called Habikino its in Osaka about an hour away from where I was last transfer so not too far. Its one of if not the smallest area in the mission so we don't have to ride bikes that much which is nice. My new comp. is Elder Draper he is just going on to his 2nd transfer so I am still doing a bit of training with him. He is a cool guy.

I was really sad to leave Ibaraki, Akina has been one of my Fav. comps in the mission so far and Elder Murphy was awesome too. I heard from them yesterday and I guess some Part member mom showed up to church and asked them to baptize their 2 kids who are 8 and 10 in the next few weeks. Of course that happens right after I leave but I guess thats how it goes. Since we lost a lot of missionaries this last transfer all of the 4 man apts. went to 2 mans except for one that is a special assignment spanish speakers so the area got combined for the next few transfers. I will miss those guys but am excited to start here.

Anyways I got here on Thursday and we had a big planning session. After planning we went out to do some dendo and were able to find 2 people which was an exciting way to start the transfer off. My comp. is new so I have to do most of the talking but I was impressed with how well he could dendo still and how much faith he has. I think we will see some success this transfer hopefully.

Friday - We got stood up at an appointment but while we were waiting we talked to a few people and got 3 investigators right off the bat which was way cool. I will take one for 3 any day. We dendoed for the rest of the day and I unpacked my stuff.

Saturday it rained all day which was no fun. We were able to find one guy which was cool.

Sunday - We had one investigator come to church. His name is Hashimoto and it was his first time coming. He really had a good time and I think that he is our best bet for a baptism this transfer. He stayed for all 3 hours and we were able to make an appointment with him for Tuesday. We are going to try to nail down a solid date for baptism with him. Hopefully we can pull it off.

I also got to meet a lot of members. They were all pretty cool but I was impressed with the bishop. He really seems willing to work with us and wants to see some more baptisms in the area. The last 2 transfer they have had 1 each but one of them is already less active. We are planning on visiting him soon.

After church we headed out and found 2 more investigators which made 8 in 4 days, most I have found on my mission so far. We have 5 progressing too so I am pretty happy with how the area is doing I just hope that we can see some of them get baptized we will see what happens I guess.

So yeah Its a good area for the most part, Ibaraki had a lot better places to street but I am finding more people here which is awesome. I hope we can keep it up on this pace. Thank you for all of your prayers I can feel them out here.

Oh and for the package I was thinking about a few things. I am no longer district leader, Pres. said they were going to give me a break so i have a lot of free time at night now and want some more study stuff. Could I get a Kansai Ben book? I will get it passed by so I am good to have it. Also if you see a book on amazon or something that you think looks interesting or is suppose to be good to help study japanese grab one (Just one). I am really tired of studying the same stuff over and over. Make sure that it isn't a basic book because I have most of that down but if nothing looks interesting don't worry about it but i do want the kansai ben book if you can find one. (Mark or Dave do you have any suggestions?)

Also I sent you that list of music do you remember? Could I get one or 2 cd's please that are on the list. Thanks a ton. As for shoes I am ok if i need new ones i will buy them out here. i do want some new toothbrushes though that would be nice. Thats all I can think of thanks a ton

Love Cam

2010-06-21T23:16:00.005-06:00

Hey I am way sorry I have no time today to write a proper email. We had a sports meet today a lot of fun but we got back a bit late and don't have a lot of time.

I have been on my mission for around a year and 3 months now. I have around 10 months left and it seems like the closer it gets to the end the more and more I want to stay and am loving the work more each day. I have really had a lot of great experiences in Japan so far, from eating food that I didn't know what it was to getting lost in train stations and not being able to speak Japanese.

I have made a lot friends among missionaries and also the members here are great and alot of fun.

While I have had a lot of these experiences there is one thing that I have learned and that it is we will all receive happiness from the gospel. While the people in japan may be halfway across the world, with a culture completely opposite to ours back home we really are not that different. We have the same worries and problems which can be solved through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I have seen it change my Investigators, Less Actives, Members, and myself. I know that through the gospel and this great work we truly can find lasting happiness for ourselves and our families.

We truly are all Gods children and we all have that same common trait among us. We can all benefit from the gospel in ways that can and surely will bless our lives. I love being able to go out on the streets and talk to people to tell them about our great message. I have learned that there really are people out here waiting for us, and I have been able to see quite a few miracles that I cannot deny that it was the Lords help. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of god. Joseph Smith was a prophet and truly did meet God the Father and the Son. I gained that witness through the Holy Ghost multiple times and I have seen others do the same. Christ did die for us because he loves us. Through him we can change if we are willing and can become clean again.

I am so thankful to be here in Japan sharing this message with the people. I have ten months left still and I can't wait to see what the lord has in store for me. Thank you all for your support it helps a lot.

Love

Elder Homer

2010-06-14T10:29:00.001-06:00

Hey,

Hey how are you doing? Sounds like everyone back home is having a good time during the summer doing all sorts of fun things. Morgan with softball, EFY, and Art city days.

So this week wasn't quite as good as last week but still pretty good.

Monday night we were able to talk to a guy named Matsushima and he had heard of Mormons before. He tutors a guy who did a home stay in the US and stayed with a mormon family. He knew who we were and at first didn't seem to have much interest but after talking to him for a bit he warmed up to us and decided to meet again next monday (Today) at the closest Mcdonalds so that we could introduce our stuff to him. I really hope that he shows up tonight.

Tuesday - We were able to meet one of our new investigators that we met the last week. He was from China and we had high hopes for him but it turns out all he really wanted to do was to try to speak english. Both Japanese and English was really tough for him so we ended up talking to each other by writing Kanji back and forth which he could understand but it didn't work out too great. He said he didn't have interest besides english so we invited him to come to Eikaiwa and couldn't set up another appointment. We talked to alot of people but we just couldn't seem to get anyone to stick which was a little frustrating.

Wednesday - I had an exchange with Elder Murphy. It was really fun, we headed out to another college where we were suppose to meet a new investigator but he didn't show and wouldn't answer his phone. While he didn't show up we were able to find 2 more new people so that was good. Hopefully they will come to their appointments but we will have to see what happens with them. We headed back to the church and taught Eikaiwa which was pretty normal.

Thursday - We had interviews and District Meeting. My interview with Pres. went pretty well. 4 Transfers ago Ibaraki had 4 baptisms and the only one that is still around is one that moved to Takatsuki ward so Pres. is pretty worried about whats going on over here with the members and fellowshipping. Its been a major problem that we have had here trying to work with people who aren't too interested. It sounds like takatsuki and Ibaraki might merge into 1 area for 1 or 2 transfers while the missions merge. If it does happen it will be a little sad but we will see what happens. From what pres. told me I should expect to transfer out this coming week. He said he was going to put me in a place where I could see miracles so I am pretty excited. Who knows I could end up staying too so we will see what happens in the next week. After Interviews we had a bball night which ended up being pretty fun.

Friday - We worked all day but just had a day where we didn't have much luck and didn't find anyone.

Sat - I had another Kokan with Elder Kudo this time. It went alright we got stood up on another lesson and weren't able to find anyone.

Sunday - We had a mtg in the morning that is just starting up so that we can get some more communication with the members going. I just am afraid it took too long to get going and that we might be gone next transfer. No one came to church unfortunatly. Rainy season has started and it rained all day so we didn't have much luck dendoing.

So it was a pretty good week. We were able to find 3 more people but not as many lessons as I was hoping for. We just seem to be having a problem getting people to stick. My good friend Elder Mcburney had a baptism this last week which was pretty cool. It sounds like things are going pretty well for him.
Anyways say hi to everyone for me, Thanks for everything
Love you
Cam

2010-06-07T08:50:00.002-06:00

Hey

Well, it sounds like everyone had a really good week. Morgan had a softball game that actually had a hit in it? Sounds like big news. Sounds like everyone is staying busy and having fun back home. Is it as hot out there as it is back here?

Anyways we had a good week this week.

Tuesday -
We just went out and dendoed but didn't have much luck.

Wednesday -

We had District mtg. in the morning which went pretty well we had a good time. Afterwords there is usually this hamburger place that we go to that has really good burgers but its really expensive so we decided to try to make our own this week. We bought all the hamburger and toppings and headed home and made our own. Man they were way good and only cost around 5 bucks. Ton of fun. After words we did some streeting then had Eikaiwa.

We have had this new lady come to Eikaiwa for the last 3 or 4 weeks and every time she comes she brings a new friend and she did the same thing this week. Its way cool and is really making our Eikaiwa a lot stronger now so its a little exciting considering most Eikaiwas I have been to just have old people who have been coming for 5 plus years or so.

Thursday -
We had a Split with Elder Monson. He is a new AP and is actually Elder Akina's trainer. He is a really really great missionary and we decided to take him out to a really big college area. We ate lunch out there (All you can eat Indian curry) and started to street. By the time we were done we were able to find 2 people and set up appointments. We came back and ate dinner and headed back out again to find 2 more investigators. I was really impressed and felt like it really wasn't that hard. We just needed to talk to more people and Elder Monson really kind of showed us new ways to dendo and got us really pumped up. 4 investigators in one day was the most I had ever found in one day so we were pretty excited.

Friday -
We woke up in the morning and realized we were out of TP so before study we went out to grab some. We walked out of the apt and started to get on our bikes but we couldn't find Elder Akina's bike. After looking around the area for a bit (theres a ton of bikes) we realized it had been stolen overnight. I was pretty lucky considering mine was right next to his unlocked. After study we had to go to the police station and report it which took forever and ended up renting him a bike so we could get around. We headed out to a far place called kamishinjo and streeted out there. After talking to alot of people the last guy we contacted ended up becoming an investigator. He is from China and we will be teaching him tomorrow hopefully he shows up. Elder Monson and the Takatsuki Elders did a split and they also ended up finding 4 new investigators.

Sat - We were invited to go to an ice cream party with the primary in the morning and answer their questions they had prepped to ask us before hand. Things like whats your fav. food, stuff like that. It was a lot of fun and a lot of them were really funny. We did a little lesson with them afterwords and finished up. Afterwords we went out with our ward mission leader to hand out fliers at the train station. As we were handing them out 2 older ladies came up and started talking to us in english. Turns out they have interest and we were able to set up an appointment with them in a few weeks. I hope they come they seemed to have a lot of interest.

Sun -
After I got out of my Ward missionary meeting a member came up to me and said 'Elder Homer I have something for you and I think your going to be really surprised' He walked me down the hall towards one of the rooms and when I walked in I saw Brother Deardon! Man, I was blown out of the water. To tell you the truth I thought something might happen because you asked me that stuff last week but still I was way surprised. It was really great to see them all. Sister Dearden is still funny as ever and gave me a great big hug from you. We got a picture together (Of course Sister Dearden and I have our eyes closed) out in front of the church. Mine didn't turn out too well so you will have to get one of the ones they took. They went to the other wards sacrament meeting and then had to leave a little early to get to Nara on time. It was awesome seeing them and really fun.

After church we ended up going to a members house for a FHE with some of the widow sisters in the ward. There is this one old lady that is 81 but the most energetic, funniest lady I have ever met in Japan. She had everyone go around the room telling her when we thought she was going to die and stuff. Man it was funny. After dinner we went out and did some dendo but were not able to find anyone.

At then end of the week we were able to find 7 new people to teach, the most I have ever found in one week. We were pretty happy and can't wait to see how many more we can find this coming week.

So it was a great week. As a zone we were able to find 49 new people and as a mission over 200 when our goal is around 125 a week. Everyone is really excited and trying hard. Hopefully we can keep it up like this every single week because I don't see why we can't. This next coming week is going to be busy with new people to teach and dendo time. Everyone is excited to get going and its really great. Oh and I also got your package this week. Thanks a ton everything was really great. Its weird to think that this next week I am going to be in Japan for 1 year. Its gone by really fast and keeps going faster and faster.

One thing I was hoping I could get from you would be the Norway mission homes adress. I don't know how they do it out there but if i could get the address so I could just send it there then they forward it to burns and drew and spence I would love it. If you could get that for me it would be great.

Thanks a ton
Love you
Cam

2010-05-24T14:07:00.001-06:00

Hey

So it was an alright week nothing super special. We actually didn't find anyone out on the streets which was a bit of a disappointment. We did have a lot of lessons though which was pretty cool. We had a good time with those and was able to have one investigator become a progressing investigator which is something that we have been struggling with lately.

His name is warren and is from California. He has been in Japan for 16 years and is still here because he wants to stay close to his family. He had a really nasty divorce with his wife and doesn't get to see them much but he tries. We will have a big problem with the Word of Wisdom with him so hopefully we can change that around. Other than that he is great guy and hopefully something comes of it.

We had a sports night on Saturday and it was our best one yet. We had a lot of fun and got quite a few people there. All the missionaries played like we use to before the mission only to find out that we are super out of shape and could barely move the next day but everyone had a good time and it was good for our investigators too.
We didn't get any investigators to church but we did get a LA to come back which was pretty cool. We are hoping that we can keep him to stay active from here on out. We will see what happens with him I guess.

We visited a lot of members and gave them banana bread and told them thanks for helping us all last transfer. Hopefully it helps us get a little more involved with working with them this next coming transfer we are going to need the help.

So I guess the rainy season has started out here. It has rained the last 2 days straight without letting up and looks like it will keep going on through tomorrow too. Its starting to get pretty hot and humid too.

Anyways thats about our week, not a ton really happened. This next week we are pretty busy, we have an exchange with the Zone Leaders and one of the traveling APs and Zone conference so its going to be a bit crazy. Maybe we will find someone that we can baptize this next week.

Love you, thanks for sending the package cant wait,
Cam

2010-05-16T22:24:00.002-06:00

Hey how is everyone?

Sounds like the trip was fun, and a little interesting also. Brad and Jesse were dressed up as cowboys? Man thats even better. Sounds like the yard was pretty amazing. If you have any pictures you should send me some. I hope that shellie is happy and all that.

Sorry, I didn't email you last week. We went to the hospital right after we got done eating but they had already closed the skin part of the hospital so we had to go the next day. We went and they just gave me cream and stuff and its already clearing up and feels way better so yeah no worries. I think it was either a summer rash thing or exzema but either way its pretty much already cleared up on my knees and arms so I am not too worried about it. I should be fine.

Well this week was transfer week even though it didn't really feel like it. Nothing changed in the apt. We all ended up staying which was pretty surprising. Neither area is really doing that great but we will keep trying. I am happy to stay with Akina but the other companionship wanted a change I think. The Japanese elder in there is really hard to get along with and I think his comp wanted a change but he is a good elder and will learn how to work with him.

This week was kind of slow. We didn't have a lot of anything happen. We worked hard to find someone but it was pretty tough to even get people to talk to us. On Sunday night we were able to get one investigator. He is a Christan and he works at a surf shop. Akina was a surfer back home so they got along real well and we were able to make a return appointment. Other than that nothing really happened this week at all. I wish I had more to tell you but we just did a lot of streeting, some housing, visited some LA's and that was about it. Uno our investigator that can't be baptized because of his father came to church which was pretty cool. It got some members excited I guess. We just don't have anyone to fellowship him which makes it a lot tougher. Most of the people in the ward here are 35 or older. There is one Active YM that is 12 years old and the rest are pretty old and on so its frustrating that we don't have any friends for him. Hopefully we can help him. He will be baptized after he turns 18 but until then it looks pretty tough.

Anyways I am trying to think of a cool story since Derrick and Whit keep asking and this is one I remembered. It was about 2 weeks ago and I was on a split with the Elder from New Zealand his name is Elder Murphy way cool guy love him to death. So we saw these 2 guys one on a bike and the other off it yelling at each other at the top of their lungs just screaming some stuff in Japanese. They start to walk away and we see one group of kids that looked around 16, 17 years old run after one guy. After around 15 seconds we see them come back laughing and running away and the old dude chasing after them and then the old guy stopped and yelled some stuff and walked off. We thought it was cool whatever and started walking away then all of a sudden the old dude passes us BOOKING it on a mamachari (a certain kind of bike you see in old movies, its the main kind of bike they use here in japan) after those kids. Elder Murphy and I stopped, looked at each other and Elder Murphy said `we never get exciment like this we gotta follow them`. So we did and eventually we caught up and saw the guy chasing one 17 year old kid on his bike yelling Kuroso (I am going to kill you) and the kid turned around to face him down. The old dude jumps off his bike and starts trying to open his backpack but the kid grabs the bag and fights him for it and decides to give up on getting the backpack from him and just punches him square in the face knocking him on his butt. The kid ran off and while the guy was getting back up he opened his backpack and pulled out some monster hedge clippers and started walking after the kid yelling his was going to kill him but the kid got away. The old guy looked way mad then just got on his bike and rode away with the clippers. We were pretty much right in the middle of it all. Crazy stuff but exciting.

Other than that it was kind of a slow week this time. I don't know how we are going to be able to see a baptism this transfer but hopefully something will come up and we can have a miracle or something.

So isn't school going to be out pretty soon? Any big plans for summer? Its weird to think in what 3 weeks I will have been in Japan for 1 year. Man, its gone by pretty fast.

Let me know how everyone is doing. Love you
Cam

PS You will love the bus I got my picture next too, so will Burns and Drew.

2010-05-03T11:47:00.000-06:00

No emails this week, they went to Kyoto. Can't wait to talk to our boys next Sunday!!

2010-04-25T22:35:00.002-06:00

Hey how are you all?

This was a pretty good week for us, sounds like everyone is busy and having a good time back home at the moment too. I bet you that it is Sister Mai that Elder Payne wants to bring over. She is the lady that I gave you her email address. She is way cool and her english is perfect so yeah she won't have any problem talking to you. If you can I would love for you to meet her. Let me know if you do meet them or not she is awesome. Could you get her address for me? I would love to write her a letter. If you email her you should be able to get the address do you still have the email address? Anyways have fun

So yeah this was a pretty good and kind of crazy week with a church meeting I will never forget but hey I guess thats missionary work right?

Monday -

We had the Sports meet after email and it was a ton of fun. Around 40 missionaries showed up and we had a big football tourny which was a blast. My team actually won it all and I surprised myself on a few plays. It was a blast seeing a bunch of different guys from around that I hadn't seen in a while and making new friends. We got home and ate some food and headed back out. We had promised a member the week before that we would stop by his house sometime so we decided to do it after p-day. We headed out and shared a message with his son who is less active and him. It went alright he seemed to be happy that we came. The only problem was that I did a seiza (Sezia is when you kneel down and sit down on the back of your calfs, usually when they see you do that they tell you to relax but I guess they didn't notice) for around 45 min and when I tried to stand up I couldn't feel my legs at all and almost fell over. I had to grab on to the table so I wouldn't fall. I was pretty embarrassed but I honestly couldn't feel my legs at all. It was a way fun P-day.

Tuesday -

We had a lesson with a new investigator named Okada. He was a way cool guy and when we taught the plan of salvation he was answering our questions with all of the right answers. We committed him to read the BOM and pray about it. Right now he is busy so we can't get another appointment but he wants to meet again and already has read the assignment we have given him. Other than the lesson not a lot really happened.

Wednesday -

We went out to do work and did some streeting but not a lot really happened. On the way home we got stopped by a lady that was deaf. She could hear a little bit and read lips and respond in pretty hard to understand Japanese/English. From what we could understand from what she was trying to say that she had met missionaries in Australia and lived there. I thought she was kind of weird and maybe crazy but figured because she was deaf she came off that way, so we invited her to church and headed on our way. We had Eikaiwa after and we were able to invite 2 people to heard the lessons and both accepted which we were excited about.

Thursday

We had Japanese class in the morning which is always way fun. Lots of people ask us why we are in Japan and what we are doing so its really easy to introduce the church. I am pretty sure we will keep going. After that we had an exchange with the ZL's I went with Elder Matsuoka and Elder Akina went with Elder Cutler. It rained all day and elder Matsuoka and I just streeted but its hard to do in the rain.

Friday

We got done with the Exchange and elder Akina and I got back together in Ibaraki. We had District Mtg. which went pretty good. Better than last week so I was pretty happy about that. We went out streeting but had a hard time getting people to listen which was too bad.

Sat.

I had an Exchange with Elder Kudo in the morning for a lesson that I thought he could help with. On our way to the lesson we talked with a guy and were able to setup an appointment which made our 3rd new investigator that week. We had our lesson with Otsuchi again. We talked for awhile and found out that he believes the church is true and has no problems with the commandments he is just scared to make the final step of being baptized. We just need to help him get over that fear. We committed him to pray and choose a date before our next lesson. Hopefully it works. Elder Akina and I got back together after the lesson and did some streeting but not much luck.

Sunday

We got to church and had our first meeting with our ward mission leader and afterwords went outside to greet members as they came in. Out of no where that deaf lady we met the other week shows up and starts talking to us in broken english that I couldn't understand.

We took her inside and she started dancing and singing a song at the top of her lungs and that was when we figured out she was 100% crazy and not just deaf, and at that point I realized it was probably going to be the best Sunday of my life. We got her into a different room with the help of our ward mission leader and his wife and tried to teach a lesson but she kept singing and dancing and telling us about the 3 boys she met in Australia over and over again. She stood up on her chair and started doing the whole song thing and I tried not to laugh but it just came out. Anyways, after trying to teach the plan of salvation by writing thing back and forth with her on the white board we gave up and just took her outside and when we waved good bye she got up and headed home. I won't ever forget some of the looks the members had.

Anyways after that we went to sacrament meeting and had a good meeting there.
After church we got home and made a game for the family we were going to visit for a lesson that night. They fed us Gyoza (Pot stickers) and it was super good. We played the game and the little kids loved it and then committed them to invite someone to the next ward sports night. Hopefully they can do it, they are a great family and super nice. We called a potential investigator after we got home and were able to set up an appointment with him. That made 5 investigators in one week the most I have had on my mission so far so we were pretty excited. Now we just need to get some progressors and we will be set.

So yeah that was our week. it was pretty fun and full of crazy stuff but we had a good time. Mothers day is coming up and our number is 080-2149-6238
If you could call me at 8:00 AM our time over here that would be great. You will call Sunday night Mothers day over there, Monday 8:00 AM over here. Here is what the mission home sent us about calling when calling to Japan remember that after dialing the country code the first “0” in our area code should be omitted. Ex: Country Code + 80 2149 6112.You figured it out last time but maybe it will help I dunno. Anyways if you have any questions or anything let me know.

Thanks for everything
love you
Cam

2010-04-18T22:46:00.002-06:00

Hey

Well again another week without a ton of time. Sorry, we have this sports meet we are going to go to down in Abeno, Osaka I don't think I will have time to email dad or derrick but I will try to get something out.

Mon
Right after email I got a call from Uno the guy that was suppose to be baptized. He talked to his parents and his dad doesn't want him coming to church or to get baptized. We can't really do anything about it so its a little disappointing but oh well. I guess we will have to move on. We can have him come to activities and stuff and if he really has faith he can join once he is 18.

Tuesday -
We had service with the handicapped people again. They really like Akina Choro and this one lady give him hugs every time she sees him. Its way funny I just about die laughing everytime. Anyways, after service we had tracting time but not alot came of it.

Wednesday -
The night before Elder Murphy (Elder Buergers replacement who went to a place called Yamotokoriyama) got into a bike crash and thought he might have sprained his arm. It still hurt the next day so he figured it would be better if he went to the doctor rather than tough it out. They had a lesson so I did an exchange with his comp. while they went to the hospital. Turns out that he busted his elbow and has to have a hard cast for 4 weeks. President gave him the option of staying at the mission home and our 2 areas becoming one for 4 weeks and being a 3some or him staying. He chose to stay but can't ride a bike so its kind of crazy for him. They are still working as hard as they can though. Elder Kudo and I went out and dendoed and also had a lesson but it got canceled at the last minute. Later that night elder Akina and I taught eikaiwa which went well.

Thursday -
One thing we have been trying to do is find more places where it isn't so unnatural to do missionary work. Knocking on someones door or stopping them on the street can be great but...normal people don't do that sort of stuff so we decided to go to the city hall to see what activities they have there. We found that they have some free classes for foreigners to learn Japanese so we went to one. It turned out to be pretty fun and I think we will go every Thursday we can. Hopefully we can become friends with the people and try do bring them into the church. Also it turns out that one of the teachers is a member which surprised us. We later had District Mtg (I am District leader again btw). It went alright nothing real special and we had our weekly planning.

Friday -
It poured rain all day not stopping once. Elder Akina and I decided to ride our bikes around the area trying out different places to see if we could find somewhere new to street. We found a college that should be really great to try when it isn't raining We found a few other places that we want to try out. While it wasn't the best day for contacting and work like that it was a good day and we were able to lay out our plans for the transfer.

Sat.
We had a lesson with Otsuchi again. He has been an investigator for around 4 transfers with no progress so we decided that we have been too nice to him in the last few lessons and to push him hard and make him decided to either join or stop the lessons. We had a member join us and he had been praying a lot before the lesson on how he could help. He prepared a bunch of stuff before the lesson and when we got together a few minutes before it turns out what we had planned to teach fit perfectly with what he had prepared. It was pretty cool. We taught alright and were really bold with him. He wants to join the church but won't say why he won't be baptized. I am guessing its a commandment but he won't say. We got him to go home and pray about a date for him to get baptized and to come back to the next lesson with that date. Hopefully it happens, if not we will probably drop him soon.
After the lesson we had Sports night which was a ton of fun. We got one investigator there which was good.

Sun-
Pretty normal Sunday. After church we had dinner with a member which was super good. We shared a message afterwords that we kind of killed but I think they understood what we were trying to say. We also got a referral from some elders in a different area and were able to get an appointment for Tuesday so that was a nice blessing.

It was a really fast week and we had a good time. We are planning on doing finding really hard this coming week and working the new college we found. Hopefully we can meet some cool people that have some interest. We will see what happens.

I will think about the package and let you know next week.
Sorry this email is kind of short and all over the place I will try to make it a little better next week.

love you tons
Cam

2010-04-12T13:33:00.002-06:00

Hey,

So you didn't get my email last week? Too bad a lot has happened in these last 2 weeks. Anyways we did end up having a transfer and I got a new comp. My new Comp. is Elder Akina and we were in the same MTC district together. Its pretty fun you hardly ever see a companionship that was together in the MTC (called doki) so being a comp with one of your doki is a ton of fun. We are doing pretty well and having a blast. Elder Buerger also transferred and Elder Murphy moved in. I lived with him my first transfer and so it was fun to see him again. He is a great missionary and I have always looked up to him my entire mission, way fun guy too so its been a blast.

We had that lesson with the referral from the zone leaders and we were able to set up a baptismal date with him for next week but at the moment it doesn't quite look like its going to go through. We can hope but we will see what happens. He got permission from his parents to talk and hear the lessons from us but didn't quite get the permission to be baptized yet so we will see what happens. He is 16 years old and went to church all by himself looked it up on the website and everything so its pretty cool. He has been prepared and its been great teaching him so far. We have taught lesson 1 and 2 and some big commandments so far so no problems yet. We will see what happens.

We have also had a big change with finding people. We have found a bunch of new people but no real solid investigators yet which is a little frustrating sometimes but at least we are setting up appointments. We also had a great zone conference this last week probably the best up until now I think. President was the CEO of Japan Franklin Covey when he was called and has stayed away from really using much of that stuff with us but this time he taught us the first 3 habits of the 7 habits of highly effective people backing it up with scriptures and PMG and it was super awesome. Everyone got really pumped up and is really excited again to get doing missionary work. For sure the best Zone Conference so far in my mission it was really great.

You all watched Conference right? (You better have) It was pretty good this time. I really liked the talk about the bibles history and also the talk about patience that President Uchtdorf gave. They were all great and it was fun to watch. Its kind of like the super bowl for missionaries so we get kind of excited when it comes around I guess.

So last week we went out to Kyoto again because the Sakura (Cherry Blossoms) Were in full bloom. It only happens once a year and who knows what area we will be in next year so we decided to go while we still could. We went to a place called kiyomizudera pretty cool and way old. I will send you some pictures.

It sounds like everyone had fun out at grandma and grandpa's house. I definately miss all those fun times out there. Man you will have to send me a picture of Brad. Three hours at the gym a day? Man thats a ton. I bet it was kind of weird without Jake there for everyone.

Um I think thats everything I can't think of much else that has gone on. this week is pretty open for us so hopefully some good things happen and we get some more solid investigators. I will be sending a bunch of pictures out to you hope you like them.

Love you tons
Cam

2010-03-28T22:15:00.001-06:00

Hey

We had a little time right before we head out to Kyoto so I figured I would send you a short email.

This was a fun week. We had interviews with President and it sounds like I will probably still be here in Ibaraki. We have transfer calls tomorrow so we will know more then. Other than that he didn't really say a lot. Pretty normal interview.

My year mark has come and gone and its pretty crazy to think about. Elder Buerger and I ended up doing a Split on our year mark which was pretty cool to think we were made comps one year ago to the day. At the end of the day we went out to eat at a yaki niku my fav so it was way fun.

We did a ton of contacting this week but not much came of it but on Sunday we got a call from the ZL's and they had a referral for us. He came to their church and went to the whole meeting. We are going to teach him tomorrow he is 16 so hopefully it works out. He doesn't want to come to our ward because in the other ward we share a building with is his girlfriend or something like that so it would be awkward but I think we can talk him out of it hopefully. We will see what happens.

Thank you for the package it was great. Everything was awesome thanks a ton. I will have some cool picture for you hopefully next week from Kyoto that should be good. Sorry its a little short this week. Oh yeah do you remember that member I talked about that was coming to Utah from Tanabe? I think she will be going this week. You should email her and ask her if she wants any help or wants to visit or anything her is her email.
mai-4-leaf-clover@hotmail.co.jp
Let me know if you get a hold of her.

I will let you know what happens for transfers next week. I expect everything to be the same but you never know.

Anyways thanks for everything

Love you all
Cam

2010-03-22T08:14:00.001-06:00

Hey,

Sounds like you had a pretty busy week. I haven't gotten the package yet but I am sure it will come soon. Pancake mix? I didn't ask for any Pancake mix did I? We can buy plenty of it here for cheap don't worry about it. My comp and Burgers comp hit their year mark next transfer after the first week. They have been in the field longer but we are older by 2 or 3 weeks I think.

The language is coming along good. I can say whatever I want now and not stumble as much as I use to but its not where I want to be yet. I still have lots of work to do but I really like studying it and am planning studying after the mission for sure as either as a minor or double major if I could pull that off. I am trying to get some Kanji down right now but its pretty tough for me. I have around 120 memorized but can only read most of them. Still working on the writing part. Anyways, I still have tons and tons of work to do with the language but I have come along way from this time last year.

It has started to get warm over here also. We don't have to wear coats and gloves so its nice and it makes it a little easier to talk with people. More people getting married? Thats pretty crazy stuff. Weird to think that I could be old enough to get married. Japanese people seem to think we are crazy when we tell them　we get married around 20. They wait until they are older so its a bit different.

Well it was kind of a bland week . . . again. I don't know why we can't seem to get anyone to meet with us. We street really close to our church so we give a few tours a day to people but after seeing the church they don't want to meet again which is getting frustrating.This transfer has flown by even though we haven't had alot of success which is good. Transfers are next week and we have interviews this week so we will most likely know what is going on after interviews. I would love to stay with Honma 長老 for another transfer but I think he will be gone but never know.

Tuesday - we had lots of dendo time in the morning but no luck. We had District Mtg. and went out to eat afterwords. There is a really good hamburger place that sells burgers that are just as good if not better than American ones. We got alot ;) Speaking of food I am afraid that I am getting fat now. In the city we don't really ride our bike much and no hills. There are stores and restaurants everywhere so we can get stuff alot easier and cheaper too. We also don't have a scale in this apt. so I am getting scared. Who knows, maybe I will come home and you won't recognize me.

Wednesday - Elder Honma had some problem with his stomach so we stayed in the apt until around 5:00 then Elder Buerger and i went out to teach eikaiwa.

Thursday - Elder Kudo caught a nasty cold but Elder Honma was ok so we went out dendoing until 4:00. After 4:00 Elder Honma went with Elder Bureger so they could teach a guy they found and I stayed at the apt with elder Kudo and got a good nap in and some extra study. They didn't get back until 9:00 so my day was over.

Friday - It was contacting time all day but we didn't really have any good luck. Not very fun but we did give a tour to a guy that was really cool. Maybe he will come to our sports night but was pretty busy. We will see what happens.

Sat. - We had our lesson with Otsuchi. We have decided to start from the very first principle in the first lesson and go from there. He doesn't understand the gospel well and we are going to try to reteach it all. Our bishop helped us teach and did an amazing job and bore a great testimony that really brought the spirit in well. He invited him to stay for all of sacrament mtg. (He leaves after the sacrament is passed) Otsuchi said he would try. We were pretty excited after the lesson, because he finally seemed like he was going to make some progress. After the lesson we went out dendoing and gave a tour of the church but he didn't really get enough interest to meet again.

Sunday - Otsuchi came to church but left again half way through sacrament. We both were really disappointed about it and surprised when he got up and left. He is 30 years old and lives with his family still. His job is on the computer every day so he basically has no social skills period. We are really trying to get members to fellowship him but when he only stays half way through the mtg its kind of tough for them. I am not sure how to help him but we are going to keep trying.
After church we had a dinner appointment with a few members. It was really good food. The brother that invited us over had rootbeer and gave us some which was a nice treat. (You can't buy it here unless you go to an import store) We helped them make their own Missionary plan after eating and hopefully they will be able to help their friends and family learn about the gospel. After the lesson we headed back to the apt and turns out that Kudo choro got sick again so Burger and I headed out and grabbed some food that a member had ready for us and after that the day was over.

So yeah kind of another week that we didn't find anyone but we are trying hard. The other guys are having a hard time finding at the moment too so its not just us. I really hope it picks up soon. I really like the area its a great place and the members are pretty cool for the most part. I just wish we had some more people to teach. We have interviews with president this week and we will probably find out what is going to happen next transfer but he might not give us any hints so its hard to say.

I am excited to get the package I am sure that it is going to be great. Thank you for everything love you
Cam

2010-03-15T08:39:00.002-06:00

Hey
How are you?

Well this week might be a little short I only have a couple of minutes, we found that some zone leader in somewhere else decided to plan a sports meeting at our church a week ago and decided to wait until 9:30 last night to tell us that 15 missionaries would be coming to our church at 1:00 the next day. Needless to say we weren't very excited about it.

This was another slow week but we had a good time.
Monday night was a bit interesting. After P-day we went out to go streeting, after around 10 min. we saw this guy on the ground with 2 girls trying to help him get up. When I first saw him I thought he was drunk or something but he ended up just been super tired or weak or something. We tried to help him get on his feet but he couldn't do it. He eventually got up and tried to ride off on his bike but fell over so we decide to walk him a bit and ended up walking him all the way back to his house. It took us forever and he almost fell over a few times. While walking we found out he hadn't eaten for a week. When we got to his apt. we helped him get inside and it was a tiny one room place with absolutely nothing inside except a dresser, radio, and a Futon (mattress that you sleep on that lays on the ground). It was pretty sad. We don't see alot of that kind of stuff here in a Japan but it was a humbling experience. Needless to say I was alot more grateful for what I had after that.

Tuesday we had service again and we went to a party with our group. They sang a bunch of songs and we had a bunch of crazy things happen that I don't have time to write about but man it was a blast. It rained the rest of the day and we didn't have much luck housing.

Wednesday we had District meeting and went to a burger place that was super good afterwords. Red Robin worthy for sure which is way hard to find here in Japan. After that not much luck but we went streeting.

Thursday and Friday it rained off and on and killed most of our dendo. Not alot of luck but we did find a new area that is super big with people all over the place that could end up being a place we head out to quite a bit now.

Sat. We had a lesson with Otsuchi but not a lot changed. We have decided to try to reteach him the lessons and see how it goes. He really wants to learn but has a hard time actually committing to anything which gets a bit frustrating but we will keep trying. Anyways, after that we went out but not much luck.

Sunday we had a good day but we didn't find anyone. We were able to talk with one guy that was super super close but not quite there.

A little frustrating that we haven't found anyone lately but we will just keep trying our best to see what happens. Hopefully we can get things to turn around soon.

Love you tons
Cam

2010-03-08T07:52:00.002-07:00

Hey!

How is everyone?

Things are going good over here in Ibaraki Japan. We didn't have any success finding but we had a fun week.

Monday
After P-day we went out to do some streeting but not alot of luck there maybe next time I guess.

Tuesday
We had zone conference in Kyoto. Kyoto use to be Japan's capital along time ago so its where all the really cool temples and shrines are. The pictures I sent that have the gold building in it (Kinkakujin) is there. We will go this transfer when the Cherry Blossoms bloom. It was a great zone conference. We focused again on working with members and increasing our teaching skills. Everytime we hear from President McIntyre I just admire him more and more. He truly is the lords servent here in Japan. We also found out what areas we will be getting from Hiroshima mission. We will be getting a big Island called Shikoku and about half of the main land part of their area. We will be almost doubling the size of our mission and getting around 35 to 40 missionaries. It all happens in July so we have some time left but its going to be great. I hope that it all works out well.

Wednesday

We had service again. After the funny experience last time I was pretty excited to go again and it didn't disappoint. Turns out some other volunteers came to help. We sang songs, made some doll things for a festival that was going on, and ate some food with them. There were a lot of funny moments that you just had to be there for but right before we were leaving one lady shook my hand and held it for a good 20 sec. or so. Honma Choro couldn't hold it in and put his head in the locker next to him and started to laugh. Man, I'm not sure how I did it but I held the laugh in somehow until we got out. We are going again this week and they have another party. i am sure we will get some good stories from it. After service we did dendo and had eikaiwa both were pretty normal.

Thursday

We did our weekly planning and I got my brake pads replaced. After 9 months of everyday use they were pretty much gone especially after Tanabe which is just full of hills. It ended up raining which really kills us and we didn't have a whole lot of luck talking to people which is always frusterating. We don't get snow where I am at but in the top 2 areas of the mission they get enough that they can't ride bikes. Its been really crazy weather getting hot and then back to freezing cold kind of like Utah. Just lots of rain the last few days which is never fun.

Friday

We had our first split of the transfer with the elders in our apt. I went with Kudo Choro and we dendoed in their area. We were able to find one investigator which was cool. He was kind of iffy so we aren't sure if he will show up to the appointment or not but we are hoping. We had a lesson with a member that night that went alright. We got some good feedback and called it a day

Saturday

We had Otsuchi's lesson first thing. It went pretty well but he isn't moving forward very well. We just can't get him to commit to anything. We are trying to get more members involved which we think will help but we will see what happens. He is really the only chance we have for a baptism this transfer.

After the lesson we had the chance to go to a concert with one of our Eikaiwa students and her family. The concert was put on by Janice Kapp Perry who came out from America to Osaka and also to Sapporro. There was also a Japanese Pop group that is famous but members. It was pretty good, the Pop group was kind of dodgy for missionaries but president gave people permission to go if they had investigators and he was there. At the end they had all the missionaries that were there (14 of us maybe) to sing our mission song. It was fun and something that we don't get to do a lot. I also saw Brandons Grandma, Sister Fujita there again. I forgot my camera and we took a quick picture with my comps camera but something happened and it didn't turn out. She tried to give us 1000 yen each (around $10) but we wouldn't take it from her. She is super nice and from what I heard from the missionaries in her area quite the missionary too that brings friends to church and even has helped some of them be converted. It would be pretty cool to serve in her ward sometime.

Sunday

Otsuchi came to church but he only comes and takes the sacrament then leaves. We can't get him to come to classes or the whole meeting so we are going to work on it with him. Other than that it was a pretty normal sunday. It rained all day so we just went housing but in the city its pretty tough. Almost everyone has the little intercom things and just say no thanks through that so it makes it frusterating.

It was a fun week though. We have a lot of finding time this coming week so we are going to work really hard to find some new people to teach. We are having a really good time together and getting along great. We just have to find someone to teach now.

As for the package I can't think of anything else at the moment. Thanks for everything.

I got the video of the dog playing dead and laughed pretty hard. Honma thought it was pretty funny too. I am excited to meet her.

I will send an email to grandma and grandpa to see how they are doing. It feels like they just met me in the MTC doesn't it? Man, its going by so fast and everyone says once you hit your year mark it goes even faster. Its crazy to think about. Its already the 3rd p-day of this transfer which is crazy.

Thank you for everything
Love you
Cam

2010-02-28T21:52:00.002-07:00

Hey,
How is everyone?

Yeah, another week has passed by super fast and I can't believe it. Its weird to think that this month I am going to hit my year mark! It's crazy isn't it? I kind of have 2 feelings about it. It feels like life before the mission was just kind of a dream and forever ago but when I think back to the MTC it feels just like a few weeks ago. I am surprised at how fast its gone and most of the older missionaries say that once you go over your year mark it speeds up alot. It's gone by super fast.

Earthquakes? Whats going on out there? We haven't heard anything or felt anything about any earthquakes. We are honestly completely oblivious to anything outside of our little apt. here so yeah, we haven't heard anything.

The new area is good and Honma Choro and I are getting along well. We joke around and have a good time. I have gotten to know the members a bit better and they are always super nice. A lot of them are wanting to help us out and dendo too which is great.

Thats great news about whit! Let me know what the test says hopefully it all works out I will keep her in my prayers. Thats way sad about Rachel. I will make sure I remember her. Hopefully it will all turn out ok.

So it wasn't the best week in the world for missionary work. We tried really hard to find some new people to teach but it just didn't quite seem to work out for us. Streeting out here is pretty different than it was in Tanabe. We have tons of chances to talk with people its just getting them to stop and listen is the problem. We will keep working on it and hopefully find some new people this coming week.

I got to go to our service place this week for the first time. It is a place for handicapped people to work. There were a bunch of older handicapped ladies there and we teach them english and help them with their work. After being there for awhile the lady sitting next to me decided to tell the entire class that I was so good looking that I could get married even if I didn't have any talents. Needless to say it took Honma choro and I all the power we had not to burst out laughing. I thought you might like that story.

One thing that Osaka is kind of known for in the mission is the amount of crazy people that are all over the place. I had heard it and thought it was just exaggeration but it is 100% true. They are all over the place it seems like. People standing on bridges talking to the sky. Some old dude walked up and asked us a bunch of weird questions and then just walked off while making a way crazy noise. It always makes the day a little more interesting I guess.

We had a sports night with our church which was fun. One new member brought a friend which was great. I hope that we can teach her later on. It was pretty fun to get out and move around. We played volleyball, basketball, and badminton it wasn't very competitive but it was fun anyways.

We were able to teach Otsuchi on sat. We watched the Joseph Smith DVD with him and asked him why he wanted to listen to us (He doesn't want to join at the moment but wants to hear the lessons still) He said he wants to learn the word of god. He reads the BOM quite a bit and he said that he felt that Charity was important. We tried to set some goals to help him develop charity but he is super super sensitive for some reason and when we put a little pressure on him he said he was going to quite coming. We backed off and he was fine but its a little frustrating. hopefully we can help him realize that he needs to be baptized.

That was pretty much the week. We did lots of streeting and other things but not a lot happened. This next week is busy and should be better I hope.
So package stuff. I will send you a picture of the journal today. Also do you remember those silver and black pens you sent me in a package awhile ago. They said zebra on them? They are super nice for planners. Yeah, I know it sounds nerdy but when you use one everyday its nice to have. If I could get some more of those that would be great. Anything else is fine I love almond joys and snickers and goldfish whatever else you feel like putting in is fine.

Thank you so much for everything
Love you
Cam

2010-02-21T21:37:00.005-07:00

Hey,

Well, I did transfer this last week. I am now in Ibaraki, Osaka and man its really crazy. My new comp. is Elder Honma (Japanese, my name is pronounce Homa so it's funny cause our names are so close, I'm sure President McIntyre was laughin a bit about that) and he is one transfer ahead of me but I have been a missionary longer by around 1 1/2 weeks due to the MTC. We are Co senior together. We are actually living with 2 other Missionaries Burger Choro and Kudo Choro. So yeah I am living with my MTC comp again. It will be interesting to hit our year marks together which will happen this transfer. Crazy huh.

Monday (Tanabe still)

So after email we went out and did normal P-day stuff and afterwords we went back to the hunting shop we had found 2 weeks before. They were really nice and talked to us for a bit and I invited them to listen to our lessons and they accepted! It was really cool and they took a book of mormon. We got another appointment with them for today I hope everything goes well over there for them. Who would have thought that going into a Hunting store in the middle of no where Tanabe Japan would be so effective. Makes me laugh.

Tuesday

We got transfer calls in the morning and I found out that I was headed out to Ibaraki. Enta Choro is staying but an older missionary is coming down to Tanabe. I am sure that they will do great. We went out dendoing and had a lesson with a member. Her family are not members, but one of the daughters comes to church when she can and we were able to set up an appointment with her for Sunday (yesterday). I hope that they are able to baptize her. After doing some dendo we went to Eikaiwa. Tanabe's eikaiwa was pretty fun and I liked a lot of the students there. It was sad seeing them go.

Wednesday -

I packed all my stuff off and shipped it so we didn't have bikes all day. It was a little frusterating just walking around we didn't get much done but its hard without bikes in a countryside area like Tanabe. The Shingu elders came down later that night because one of them was also transferring.

Thursday

We had to wake up at 5:00 am to get to the transfer point on time. One part of Tanabe that I will not miss for sure. Some members were really great and met me outside of the Train Station which was really awesome. I will miss them a ton. It was the first area I really made some good relationships with the members because I could finally speak Japanese so its sad to say goodbye but so far Ibaraki's members seem great. We got out to Ibaraki and did some dendo which is really different than Tanabe. Its all city, like crazy Osaka city which is hard to describe but yeah...its crazy. Anyways I still am not use to it and need to practice. We went back when the shipping guy showed up and put my bike together and did a bit more dendo and called it a day.

Friday -

We went to a lot of different places and I got to know the area a little bit better. Its a great place with lots of people to talk to. I am excited to be here. The difference though is while there are lots of people to talk to its hard getting them to stop and listen. In Tanabe most people were way surprised to be talking to some crazy white kid with red hair. People are still surprised here but its a lot less. Tanabe people would almost die on the spot it was kind of funny actually but anyways its hard to get people to stop and something I need to work on.

Sat.

We had a lesson with one of our investigators (we have 3) Otuschi is his name and he once had a baptismal date but when he was interviewed the elder who did it felt like he didn't qualify yet. Anyways the guy is cool I guess but super sensitive and we have to be really careful about what we say or do. Hopefully we can baptize him this transfer. After the lesson we had some big stake mtg to go to that was about member missionary work that went really well. Hopefully we can get members more involved.

Sun.

Around 50 people came to church which was crazy. I wasn't use to it and have a bunch of names to remember now instead of around 15. It went good and Otsuchi came to sacrament mtg. our church is the biggest one in the mission (building size) and we are the only ones that have gym. we are pretty luck and hopefully can use it some time. After church we had dinner with some members and did a bit of dendo with the time we had left. It was a good day and everyone was super nice.

The new area is great and I like my new comp as well. He is way funny and a good missionary. He is also Japanese so I get more practice which is awesome. He speaks pretty good english too which helps a lot if I have questions. I would be lying if i said i didn't miss Tanabe and the members already but i am sure the people here are just as great.

As for a package the snickers and Almond Joys were awesome. Also the journal you sent me is great but I am hoping to get the same one as I have now that is almost full. Just for my everyday writing I would like to have them all be the same. Its from deseret book, bigger than the one you sent me and brown with Journal written on the front in gold. If you want I can send you a picture next week. Btw thanks for the Card it made me laugh.

Sounds like everyone is having fun watching the olympics and we see signs for it all over the place. people are pretty proud of the figure skater dude that is Japanese. He won bronze or something? Anyways say hi to everyone for me. Thats crazy about everyone getting married it will be weird to come back to all of that. I am going to hit my year mark this transfer. how weird is that? Its gone by fast some days but at the same time it feels like life before the mission was forever ago. Everyone says that after the year mark everything goes faster so I will be home before you know it.

Love you all,
Cam

2010-02-14T23:06:00.002-07:00

Hey,

Sorry about last week, we ended up going hiking on some famous trail with some members that we decided to do half way through the week. It was a lot of fun and to make up for not writing last week I will send you pictures of it all.

Anyways highlights of last week.

We had interviews with President and it sounds like I will be transferring out of Tanabe this coming transfer. Calls are tomorrow so I will probably be in a different place next P-day but you never know. We also went down to Shingu to do an exchange with the other elders in our district.

I challenged the district to try new ways to dendo in their areas since we are pretty inaka and housing in Japan is pretty ineffective. Enta Choro wanted to try picking up garbage at a beach that is kind of like a park and see if we could start conversations with that somehow. About 10 min after picking up trash I wanted to go but decided to keep trying. Right before we were about to leave a girl got out of her car and asked if we were volunteers. Anyways we got her phone number and address and have yet to get in contact with her but it was a humbling experience for sure.
Other than that I can't remember anything super big. We taught Kinoshita san again and it went well. He is super nice but it will take a long time for him to get baptized.

This past week

We had an exchange with the Zone Leaders and I learned a lot from Elder Cutler. He is a really great missionary and we had a good time dendoing together.

So we got to go to Kobe to hear Elder Oaks speak. It was amazing and a great experience. When he was called to the apostleship he was a Gospel Doctrine teacher in his ward. He had never been a bishop, stake president etc. I thought being DL was hard! He just got a call from President Hinkley and was called the day before conference. Crazy story. It was really really great and I learned a lot. It was a lot of fun. He shook hands with everyone before the meeting and did a little chat for maybe 30 sec. He knows Springville and has played football there before and that was about all we talked about for 10 seconds but it was way cool. He is a Huge guy and its hard to see on T.V. but it was something I won't forget. We also found out that we will be merging with half of the Hiroshima mission in July. It will be a big change but President McyIntyre is the man for it and will do great. It will be hard I am sure but it will all work out.

Saturday night we went out to eat at a members restuarant because they are closed on my B-day. Sister Mai (The one going to Utah soon) made me a cake and gave me a tie which was super nice. I have picture I will send to you. It was a lot of fun. I have already told her she has to visit my family and have dinner over there. She is already fluent in English and is going down for some extra study so you could talk just fine with her.

Sunday was a good day. We were able to get new investigator and taught him about the Bom and Prayer. He is a little crazy so whether or not he is actually teachable is something we are trying to figure out but maybe it will work out. Also we had a lesson at the Enomotos house with Myuki that went well. Then we had dinner afterwards. It was pretty fun.

Thank you tons for the package it was way awesome. The CD's are great and the one CD with the one guy is really great. I loved all his songs on the CD's about Christ. The other one is great too. Thanks tons. Whitney's shirt made me laugh out loud and I am sure all my comps will be surprised when they see it. The Ring was great and everything else. Thanks so much.

Well that's all about it for these last two weeks. I may be in a new place next week never know.
Thank you for everything
Love you all
Cam

2010-02-03T07:54:00.002-07:00

Hey

I can't really say anything about your email you sent because for some reason it didn't work. Anyways I hope eveything is going well back home.

Nothing really happened this week and we didn't have many appointments but it went by really fast for some reason. Not sure why but it did.

Monday
After p-day we went out and were able to hand out one Bom to a lady that had studied the bible before. She didn't know when she could meet which was too bad but we are going to go back soon. While we were riding our bikes I saw a hunting shop which you never ever seen in Japan so I figured why not go in. We ended up talking to the store owner and his wife for around 30 min. They didn't have alot of interest but were really nice and gave us some mikans (mandrin oranges) and told us to come back sometime maybe they can become investigators down the road.

Tuesday
We had a lesson in the morning with a member that is trying to get ready to go to the temple. She has been a member for around 5 years but comes to church off and on and is a bit less active but a great person. She really has a good desire to go and hopefully can soon. We committed her to talk to the branch president so he can help her get prepared. Hopefully she does soon. After that we went out dendoing and had eikaiwa later that night.

Wednesday
We have a bunch of small train stations in between ours and Gobo's and we decided why not go to some of them and try it out. So we went and man it was way countryside. Some of the looks I got from people were pretty funny. We didn't find anyone but it was fun to see some new parts of the area that I hadn't been to before. We had the last Gobo Eikaiwa that night. I felt bad telling the students that it was over and we couldn't go anymore but it was just a waste of time and not worth doing. We got their phone numbers so that when missionaries go back they can get in contact with them and start it up again. Hopefully they put missionaries in there soon. (just as long as it isn't me:)

Thursday
We went dendoing up until around 6:00 and didn't have much luck. At 6;00 we had a lesson with a the Sugimoto family. We had ran into them the day before while we were out housing and they invited us over. They are really great and a lot of fun. Their youngest daughter isn't baptized yet because she doesn't want to be so we are hoping that we can help her to have that desire to receive baptism soon.

Friday

We went out to Minabe and actually found someone. He was around 16 and I think we woke him up but he took a BOM and we are going back tonight. To be honest I don't think he knew what was really going on and just agreed to everything but you never know. I really hope that it works out because we have no investigators at the moment and its getting really old. Other than him not much happened that day but it felt good to finally write a 1 in my planner in the new investigator section.

Sat.
We had gotten a letter for Tsubasa from Sister Hirota (the lady we taught earlier in the week about the temple). She was her dance teacher and has a good relationship with her. We went all the way out and delivered it to her but she didn't seem to happy to see us. We went and dendoed out there but didn't see anything from it.

Sun.
It was a normal Sunday, all the normal people came to church. After we left apparantly someone came to church that we had talked to or something and wanted to talk. They talked to the branch president for a bit then left. He only got their name and it would of been great if he could have gotten some contact information but he didn't. Oh well hopefully he comes again. We went out housing for the rest of the day because it rained super hard all day.

That was our week I wish it could have been better but we tried hard. oh well.
Oh I got your card thanks a ton it made me laugh and helped give me a boost. I have kind of a weird question for ya but could I get a Walmart gift card from you? There is a member here that is going to go to BYU's english school next month and has been to Utah once before. She loves Walmart and thinks its the best thing ever (I do have to say I miss it too). As a present I think it would be way funny to give it to her. She is a way awesome member and helps us out all of the time. I told her that you would give her dinner sometime because she will be living in Provo. You could send it in an envelope or something and it doesn't need to be a big expensive card or anything I can pay you back. It would be great Other than that thank you all for everything.

Love you Cam

2010-01-24T20:08:00.002-07:00

Hey,
How is everyone doing? Is it pretty cold out there? Its gotten a little warmer here which is nice.

Thats cool about everyone getting their calls. I am sure that Riley will be great. Let me know where the other guys end up going.

Man, I can see everyone playing rock band. That makes me laugh I am sure that Morgan is quite the singer. I bet our family makes quite the band even if it is just in front of the T.V.

The new stake presidency sounds great. Brother Hilton was my Physics teacher in HS he was a great teacher and a great guy. He will be good as well as the other 2 I am sure.

So not much luck again this week. We tried hard but nothing really happened.

Tuesday

We taught Sister Hirota a lesson and tried to figure out how we can help our new convert who is currently leaving the church. Sister Hirota was her dance teacher when she was little so they have a good relationship and probably can help us out quite a bit. After the lesson we went out contacting but we didn't have any luck at all.

Wensday

It was zone conference and since we had eikaiwa (English Class) the day before we had to wake up at 5 Am to make it on time the next day which wasn't too fun. It was a really good conference though and I learned a lot. President is awesome and always gets everyone pumped up to be good missionaries and all of that so its always fun. It took us the rest of the day to get home afterwords so we didn't have time to do anything else that day.

Thursday

We had an appointment with the Kashiyama's to do a home teaching lesson in the morning. It went well and they were really nice to us. They gave us some Mikans (Mandrin Oranges) which I am now addicted to. Where we live is famous for them so we eat quite a few of them and they are way good. Afterwords we contacted for awhile and housed but no interest. We also had another appointment with the Sugimoto family later that night for another Home teaching appointment. It went well and they fed us dinner which was great. After the lesson we headed home.

Friday

We went contacting all morning and housed too but didn't find anyone. We had an appointment that night with the Enamotos and they fed us Sukiyaki. Its really really good and something I will try to make once I get home. Its a pot filled with sugar and soy sauce and you boil different veggies and meat and man its good stuff. After the lesson/dinner we headed home.

Saturday

We had a totally open day and were hoping to find someone but no luck at all. We did get one phone number from a guy but I don't think he really has that much interest so...yeah. That was pretty much our day.

Sunday

We went to stake conference. The Branch President took us there. I got to meet Fujita Shimai (Brandons Grandma) it was really cool and she was super nice and even gave me a bag with some treats in it. I don't know what I was thinking but I didn't get a picture with her. Man I am kicking my self way hard for that. Man dang. Oh well she was really cool and who would have thought I would have met Brandon's grandma crazy huh. The conference was good and we had a good time. We didn't get home until around 5 Pm so we didn't have a lot of time to go out. We did some housing but no luck there. We visited some investigators that we have been trying to get a hold of. The family that we taught once but went on vacation. They weren't home and we called too and couldn't get a hold of them. We are wondering if they went to the phillipeans or something (the wife is from there). After that we went back to the apt and called all of our investigators and couldn't get appointments with any of them. None of them are really very solid and I think we might have to wipe the board down and start over I dunno.

So yeah another disappointing week. I wish things would pick up but I dunno what to do anymore. I guess we just keep trying but I don't know how we are going to find anyone. Hopefully something good happens this week.

As for the birthday package I can't think of anything special. Maybe one or 2 more CD's? President changed the music rule at ZC so now we can listen to it anytime we want to instead of just before study which is way awesome. I have plenty of Mormon tab. but whatever you feel like. Other than that I can't really think of anything. Thank you for doing that and thinking of me.

Thanks for everything
Love you
Cam

2010-01-17T20:18:00.002-07:00

Thank you so much for the package. I got it yesterday and it was great. All the music is awesome and I actually was going to ask you for Goldfish but I forgot to in the last email but you knew anyways so that was awesome. Thanks a ton. Oh and the Triple was perfect its going to make things so much easier.

Thats cool that you got to take Jake to the MTC and all that. I am sure that he will be a great missionary and have an awesome time in Brazil. Yeah I think that the curbside drop off thing is a lot better than the meeting and makes it a lot easier. We actually got to help with it in the MTC the first time they did it. It was pretty ackward but it's a lot better and easier I think.

Anyways another kind of boring week for us. We tried our very best to find someone to teach but things just are not working out for some reason.

Monday thru Thursday were all finding days and we tried our best and worked hard but no one seems to want to listen at the moment. I am not sure what we are doing wrong but it isn't effort that's for sure. Thursday night we had the branch family home evening and one of our investigators came. Turns out that one of the 2 families in our ward is friends of his family and some how found out that he is investigating or has some interest. We haven't been able to get a hold of him because he hasn't paid his phone bill but they invited him and he came which was really great. He is really busy with work right now so he can't meet but hopefully soon.

Friday was the same as Monday thru Thurs. We are trying lots of different kinds of methods from housing to doing it off of our bikes to going to gyms and community centers to see if they have activities we could go to. We have tried music dendo where Elder Enta plays his trumpet (He is super good) and other things but I dunno what we are doing wrong at the moment. Its really frustrating.

Saturday -
We had an appointment with Kinoshita who is the nicest guy I have ever met I swear. He always feeds us and likes to talk about religion. The truth is I don't see him getting baptized anytime soon but he really likes talking about it and finding new ways of thinking I guess and is really nice. After the lesson he gave us a New Years (Shogatsu) Dinner. I had told him in the lesson we had around a month ago that I was excited for it and had never had the shogatus food and stuff. So he decided to give us it. We had Ebi (Looks like lobster without the claws) really nice tuna which is way expensive, and a bunch of other special new years foods. It was really great and a lot of fun. We are going to teach him again in 2 weeks.

Sunday
A less active brought her daughter to church that is not baptized. We have been working with her to get her baptized but she has been busy and all that stuff so we haven't really had a chance. They only were staying for sacrament and left after so we didn't have a chance to teach her but it was a step forward for her I think. Hopefully we can get her moving soon. Other than that we went out housing in a pretty countryside area that was filled with old people who didn't want to be bothered. I was really hoping to find someone that night but oh well.

Not a lot really happened this week. I really am hoping things will pick up soon. We just have to increase our faith and get excited again I think. We are following all the rules and working hard and I hope the blessings come soon.
Thank you so much for the package it was great.
Love you
Cam

Whitney - Ok so the Frog Bridge is in a place called Inami. A family from our branch lives there and when we went to do Home Teaching I just had to take a pic. for you. Inami is TINY, there is absolutely nothing there and it's just houses with a school and post office. They don't even have a Konbinin (7-11) which they are everywhere in Japan. Every city in Japan seems like they have to have something to be famous for and make a big deal out of it. I guess Inami needed something to make them special or have something to brag about so they built this crazy bridge.

2010-01-10T22:00:00.002-07:00

This might be a short email this week. Its actually a holiday today so we had to go to a place that is a bit more expensive so I can't spend a lot of time sorry.
Thanks for sending the package I am excited to get it. Its going to be way nice to have that triple again and some new music. We have a CD player and almost every apt. has one. No worries there.

All right this week was again a little disappointing. We have been trying to recover after the new years and get in contact with all of our investigators but it isn't working too well. Most of them won't answer our phone calls or anything so we may have to start from the bottom and work our way back up again. Frustrating.

Monday
We went housing after P-day and didn't have too much luck. After housing we called a bunch of our investigators and was able to get one appointment with one of them which was nice. We also tried Bike dendo which is something I really like doing now. Its where you just stop people on your bike instead of walking around and it seems like we can talk to a ton more people that way. We are going to keep doing it for the rest of the transfer.

Tuesday
We went looking for service activities, sports activities anything that we could go to where we could maybe have a little more natural conversation but were unable to find any. Most of the service things they had going on were with children which we can't do. Bummer. We went housing and did Eikaiwa later that night. Not much really happened. We have our meeting with the branch presidency every week after eikaiwa so we did that and headed back to the apt.

Wednesday
We had a bunch of finding time and visited some Potential Investigators but none of them were home. We went housing and contacting but no one seemed interested. I started feeling sick so I took a 30 min nap after lunch hoping I would get better but it didn't help much. The elders from Shingu came down and stayed the night because the next day was transfer day.

Thursday
I got sick! Not fun at all, I had a really nasty cold and headache so we stayed in the apt most of the day. We got out at night but trying to contact while being sick isn't the best idea in the world but we tried our best. Iam feeling fine now but it wasn't a very fun day.

Friday
Enta Choro got sick! yeah I think this usually happens in a companionship. If one gets sick the other is bound to get sick. we stayed inside most of the morning until he felt ready to go out and we headed out but didn't have any luck. we had a lesson with Myuki later that night that went alright. We had a couple that had been couple missionaries in the area a few years ago but the lesson went a little too deep and I think she was pretty confused. She is progressing at the moment and I hope we get another lesson with her soon. She is really the only investigator we have at the moment.

Sat.
We have been wanting to visit Sister Tsubasa for quite awhile now. She is the girl that Payne Choro baptized before I got here. 2 weeks after he left she stopped coming to church, Eikaiwa, and we had called her a million times but she never answered so we decided to take the hour long bike ride out to her work and visit her. She wasn't as happy to see us as I hoped and could tell something was wrong after the visit. We went to talk to another sister that is good friends from her and we found out that she is at the moment really lost. Her mom is against the church and Tsubasa doesn't believe anymore. We are going to be working with the branch to help her get back to church soon. I really hope that we can help her out. She seemed so strong just a few weeks ago when Payne was here but she is in a tough spot. Definately a sad day. Sunday no one came to church this week but we were able to help the branch put together their ward mission plan. We will have a lot of less actives and part members to visit and hopefully we can help them get their kids baptized soon. We went contacting at night but no luck there.

So not a very fun week. It kind of feels like everything fell apart with us getting sick, our investigators, Tsubasa, and not finding anyone but we just have to keep working and I am sure that the blessings will come soon. We just have to make sure that we keep our chins up and work hard right? Thank you for all the support and for everything else.
Love you
Cam

2010-01-03T20:41:00.002-07:00

Well we just got our transfer calls this morning and everything is staying the same for Enta Choro and I. We will be in Tanabe again for another transfer. Our district and zone changed but we are still here. I am excited and I really hope that things pick up soon.

Thanks for getting that triple and stuff. CD's work best for the music stuff. I just need something to listen to in the morning and the same stuff over and over gets old really quick so its nice to have a variety. I stole some Mormon Tabernacle Choir from Payne Choro that I am burning today so I should be ok. Thanks for everything. Oh, I got a letter from Phil this week. Can I get his address please? Thanks.

I got the letter from Brandon's mom. I have been to Shirohama twice we are planning on going back this week sometime maybe we will give them a visit. It could be a lot of fun. The Sennan elders are in my zone. I will have to say something for them. What is her moms name? I got a letter from Brandon this week and it sounds like he is doing good. I wish I could speak Japanese like he could man it would be awesome.

This last week was fun but a little disappointing. We really haven't found anyone new to teach for a long time and we really need to find someone new fast. All of the investigators that we did have kind have fallen off the map during the holidays. We are going to try our best this week to get back in contact with them all but we will see what happens with it. Hopefully it changes soon.

Monday we went out and dendoed after p-day but didn't really have any luck and didn't get to talk to anyone that had much interest.

Tuesday we went out tried our best to find someone new but we didn't have any luck. We have been trying some new ways to do contacting but we didn't really have a lot of luck with any of it.

Wendsday we had to go home teaching. I recently found out that we are apparently suppose to home teach around half of the branch. We went out to go teach one family and they lived in the middle of no where. We got out there ate some food and taught them. By the time we were done we didn't have time to go back to Tanabe and make it to Gobo for Eikaiwa. So we stayed in the tiny little town and tried to get some stuff done there but it was pretty tough. It was great to meet with the family and to get to know them better but it felt kind of like we wasted a day.

Thursday - It was super cold this day and that made it a little harder to contact outside. It was the day before new years so there were lots of people at stores and things so we did a bunch of contacting by stores and places like that. We also had a big Sports Meet for all the missionaries in our mission this week on Friday so we had to go to Wakayama to stay the night. We left Tanabe a little early and headed out there to stay the night.

Friday - we had our annual Sports meet for the Kobe mission of Friday. It was a blast and we even got to watch Kung Fu Panda which is an awesome show and has some application to missionaries. I got to play soccer, which brought back a ton of good memories and reminded me of how much I love it. I was pretty rusty but it was fun. We also had a huge dodge ball game which was a blast. I got to see a lot of missionaries I hadn't seen for awhile and it was a ton of fun. We stayed in Wakayama again this night. We didn't have enough time to make it all the way back home.

Saturday - We rode the bus back to Tanabe and did our Weekly planning. We had a dinner with the Enamotos that night which was really good. We had Nabe. Its like a pot with a broth on the table and they cook all sorts of different meat,fish, and veggies in it. Its super good and was a lot of fun. A missionary who served in Tanabe around 3 years ago came with his wife. It was fun talking to him and what the area was like back then. Tanabe was actually part of the Nagoya mission when he was around so its changed quite a bit.

Sunday - An investigator was suppose to come to church but he never showed up. His phone is broken at the moment so we can't call him which is frustrating. We went out that day really hoping we could find someone but it is still holidays so its tough. Housing is really hard to do right now. We almost had a new investigator and as I was trying to find a day we could meet he just said he would read on his own and didn't want to meet. I really hope things change soon we really need some new people to teach bad.

It was a fun week but we need to find people and teach more lessons. I hope I can get it going again this week. I am excited to be here for another transfer it should be fun. Sounds like Christmas and New years was fun I wish I could have been there but I am where I am suppose to be.
Love you
Cam

2009-12-28T09:06:00.001-07:00

Hey
Man, it was great talking with everyone. I think that was the fastest hour of my life. It went by way fast. I can't believe how much Derricks voice has change it made me laugh. It was a ton of fun talking to you all, I thought after I was done I would be way trunkee but I wasn't which suprised me a bit. I do have to admit that it was hard to hang up but it was great talking to you all.

How was Christmas? What did everyone get? Did you have fun? I have to say that Christmas as a missionary in a place that does not celebrate Christmas at all was very different but was still fun. I will talk about it later.

So its been a long time since I last emailed, but we haven't had a whole lot of success lately. All of our investigators at the moment are too busy to meet because of Shogatsu (New Years). Its basically like Christmas and everyone goes out and shops and gets together with family and goes on trips and stuff so its kind of frustrating.

Anyways last week we went out and dendoed a lot but couldn't find anyone. We found a potential investigator which was cool but of course he can't meet until after Christmas. We were outside a store after buying some treats and I felt like I should talk to a guy standing outside the door. I said hey its really cold huh, and the conversation started from there. He said he has a lot of interest in learning english and about the bible. We got his phone number and said we would call him after the new year. Hopefully something works out.

We also had an appointment that night with an investigator but he never showed up. He hasn't payed his phone bill and won't be able to use it until after the new year so we couldn't get a hold of him. His name is Kosei and is a pretty big punk. He has dyed hair and wears gangster clothes and stuff but has come to church before and likes to read the Book of Mormon so we are teaching him. Once we get to the commandments it might get a little hard but we have hope for him. We just need to find a way to meet with him.

We had Zone Conference on Thursday and since it was in Kobe we had to head out to Wakayama to spend the night there. We got there and had rootbeer floats which was awesome. Rootbeer is way hard to find out here and you can only get it at import places. Some member bought them a ton (around 3 12 packs). It was a ton of fun.

Zone Conference was great. We are really going to try to start getting the members fired up and have them help us out a lot more with missionary work. We learned a lot about that and how to work with them more effectively. I got to see some old friends including Akina Choro who was in the MTC with me who I hadn't seen since then which was awesome. After Zone Conference we had a Christmas program which was pretty fun. We heard all these Christmas stories and a few musical numbers. It was really great. Then everyone went and got their mail and packages and headed back. We went back to Wakayama and stayed the night there. We all opened one present and read from the bible. It made me laugh and reminded me of home.

Christmas day was a lot of fun. We all woke up and opened all our stuff. We made Eggs, French Toast (and our own maple syrup) and bacon. it had been a long time since I had had any of that. Everyone talked to their families then we went to Shingu's baptism. It was a great service and awesome to see them get a baptism. After that we headed back home to Tanabe. We rushed to a Yaki Niku place and had the closest thing you can get in Japan to a steak. It was super good. We headed home and Enta Choro talked to his family and Christmas was over. It was really weird, everyone was still working, had school and all that stuff. There was no celebrating of it all which actually made it a little easier I think. I did miss it and it came super fast and didn't really feel like Christmas because well no one had lights or anything up. I had a good time though and it was a blast with the other missionaries.

Yesterday we were able to go to some members house and have a meal with them. It was super good and we had a good time. This week flew by I can't believe it. This week during the New Year we have a big sports meeting for all of the missionaries in the mission. It is going to be a ton of fun. We also found out that Elder Oaks is going to be coming to our mission in February. It should be way cool.

I hope you all had a good Christmas, thank you for the packages they were awesome.

Love you
Cam

Side Note from Lisa

2009-12-14T13:52:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to share a quick experience we had yesterday. Our home teachers came to visit and had a young man with him. We just assumed he was one of our new home teachers. He had just recently returned from his mission in Japan and wanted to show us some of his pictures. The last picture he showed us was of him and Cameron. Cameron was his last companion. Elder Payne has been home for 3 weeks. Our home teacher's business partner is Elder Payne's father. It was a great surprise!! It was great to hear about Cameron and how he is doing. Before he left he prayed in Japanese (Morgan giggled through it because she thought it was very funny sounding). It was a great Christmas gift.

2009-12-13T22:32:00.002-07:00

Sounds like everyone is busy like normal. Man I would love to eat a thanksgiving dinner it sounds way good. I would kill for Grandma's stuffing right now.
I got another one of your packages they are pretty fun, I think there is still one more on the way. Thanks for all of them they are way fun. I actually need a few things I swear I always think of them way too late. So we had a way crazy rain storm this week and I forgot to take out my mini Triple out of my Backpack that I bought in the MTC and it totally got ruined. I will send you some pictures but its a Triple (BOM,DC,PoGP) that is way small and has a nice leather binding and stuff. I think you can get it from anywhere but I would love to get another one. I will send you some pictures of it so you kind of know what to look for. Also this is weird but will you send me my retainers if they are still around? I want to see if I can fit them in my mouth still. Yes I know, I know its all my fault but Im just curious. Ok anyways thanks for everything the packages are awesome.

Ok this week

Monday - After P-day we had a lesson with our new investigator Maruyama that we found while we were housing. We were pretty excited to go and got all ready and met our member at the church to head off. He was a bit late which was frustrating so we were late to the lesson by 5 min. We taught the first lesson and it went alright, when I committed her to read and pray about the BOM, she said something along the lines of `I will read and pray when I feel like it not because you ask me to` Kind of weird but whatever. The problem was that our member did not like that answer at all, and he actually kind of got into an argument with her right there at the lesson. Not good. Anyways after that we kind of had to try to smooth things out but the damage had already been done. We got another appointment with her for today but she called and canceled on us and said she didn't know when she could meet again. Kind of disappointing but we couldn't really do much about it. After that lesson our day was over. Hopefully we can get a lesson with her soon.

Tuesday - It was a long day. We headed out and housed for most of the day but didn't really get to talk to anyone. After housing we ate dinner and got ready for Eikaiwa. Eikaiwa was way crazy. We had some people come from a halloween party that Payne Choro and I went to and they were all way little kids. So I taught 2 different lessons at the same time. It was nuts but pretty fun. After that the day was over not a lot really happened.

Wednesday -We did the same thing in the morning as the day before. We went housing and had no real luck. We had to go to Gobo to teach Eikaiwa so we got ready and headed out there. Only 2 people came this week, I think we might have to stop going soon. I am going to talk to president at our interviews to see what he has to say. I would feel bad just totally leaving the Gobo Branch with no missionaries at all but its a waste of our time and mission money. We will see what happens.

Thursday - We had an exchange with the Zone Leaders. They came down and we had a 4 man day in Tanabe. Burton and I went out and tried to do some different things besides just housing. We went to a park, a big study hall, some stores (Including a fishing one) and a few other things. We found one good Potential but other than that not much luck. Cutler and Enta on the other hand found 3 new people to teach. They found a wife and a husband housing and another guy outside the train station. It was pretty awesome and something we really need at the moment. We taught the family last night and it went pretty well. It was my first time teaching a family and is like a missionaries dream. It was awesome. After going out contacting we went to our wards Family Home Evening and had pizza there. Yoshi Nobu came and it was great to see him.

Friday - It was a crazy day. It POURED rain all day and we headed out in the morning in it. There was no one out so we didn't have much luck and I totally forgot about my small Triple so it got ruined. I was way sad about that. We had to be back at the apt. by 3 because our roof started leaking and some people were coming by to fix it. We were in the apt most of the day while they were there and we did DKK (weekly Planning) while they were there. After that we went to service and walked around but didn't really get a chance to talk with anyone promising.

Saturday - We decided to go to a place called Shirahama. Its about an hour away on bike and is really the only other city in our area. We rode all the way out there to find it totally dead. Its pretty much a beach tourist town. Most of the shops were closed and no one was around. It was pretty frustrating because no one was there and we went all the way out there but oh well we know now. After exploring out there we headed back did some housing, streeting, and called it a day Sunday - Yoshi Nobu was suppose to come to church but he never showed up. We called him and he called us back during our lesson so I couldn't answer and haven't been able to get a hold of him yet. Church was pretty normal. Afterwords we did some streeting and housing then headed to our lesson with the Yamanaka family. The husband is Japanese and the wife is from the Philippeans. They are both really great and have a little boy that is around 1 or 2 years old. We taught about the BOM and prayer and we will be teaching them the Plan of Salvation next time. Its really exciting to teach a family and they also have a little bit of a Christan background too. Its really weird teaching someone who already knows what prophets are and who Jesus is and we will have to change our teaching style a little bit but we will figure it out. We have another appointment with them for next week. It should be great.

It was a good week. I wish we could of had more lessons but we found quite few people this week so we are pretty happy. Oh also about phone calls, P-day is being moved to Christmas day so I won't be emailing you next Monday. You will be calling me when it is Christmas day in Japan so I'm guessing the 24th in the States. If you could call me around 12:00 my time it would be a good time I think. Our number is 080-2149-6209. They really haven't told us much about it yet and I just found out this morning. I am not sure what time it will be over there but 12:00 - 12:30ish my time would work out best. Sorry that's probably pretty late over there. I can't wait to talk to you all and will be waiting for your call. It will be great. I am guessing it can only be 45 min to an hour but I am way excited.

Things are going great we just have to keep working hard and we will see miracles.
Thanks for everything
love you tons

2009-12-06T22:16:00.002-07:00

Wow sounds like you guys are getting a ton of snow right now. We won't see any snow down here I don't think but it really has gotten pretty cold. In your last package could you send me my Underarmor top also? I think I have a white one that should work just fine. Also a sweater if you haven't sent one yet already. Other than that I am pretty much good to go.

The present thing is way fun. Its always something I look forward to in the morning. I opened the 3 musketeers bar this morning and the scripture that went with it made me laugh. It was pretty clever.

Sounds like the soccer dinner was fun. Sorry my letter was so lame, I just haven't had enough email time for the last few weeks to think of something good. I am excited to read them all. Its weird thinking that it is Christmas time. You don't really see it that much out here which is nice because it doesn't make me trunkee.
Sounds like everyone is having fun back home, Morgan scoring baskets derrick fishin, Whit doin her stuff hopefully it all works out with this new doc.

So this week was a lot better than last.

Monday - After P-day we went housing like normal. Our last door we talked to this guy who has a bunch of interest about religion and stuff. He was more interested in the thinking part of it and not really the feeling part which was disappointing. We invited him to come to church but he didn't show up yesterday. Hopefully we can get in contact with him.

Tuesday -This was a pretty boring day. We went out and got stood up by our investigator we found the previous week which wasn't that big of a surprise. He was pretty iffy when we talked to him the first time so it wasn't too big of a let down. We went housing for the rest of the day until Eikaiwa. I taught the Eikaiwa classes and called it a day.

Wednesday-We went housing in the morning before going to Gobo for eikaiwa out there. I am thinking of asking president if we can stop going. Its kind of turning into a waste of time with no missionaries out in Gobo advertising it and we won't really ever get someone that wants to hear the gospel out of it so I think I am drop it soon. We didn't have much luck during our housing but when we got home that night we got a call from the Elders in Wakayama. Actually one of the Elder Cutler is the Mosses cousin. He has been to our ward a few times crazy huh. Anyways they found a guy that had interest and he lived in Tanabe. We called him and set an appointment with him for Friday. We were pretty excited and couldn't wait to meet with him.

Thursday - This was a long rainy day. We headed out in the morning and did some contacting but no real luck there. After that we went to a members restuarant called Hachi Ju Hachia. It is a way way good all you can eat restuarant. I love it. It was super good and she made us a dessert (SP?) that was really good. After that we went to a pretty countrysideish area and housed out there but didn't really get a chance to talk to anyone. We headed back home after housing without much luck.

Friday -We decided to try to do some more creative things for contacting so we went out by the train station to try to contact even though its a little town but no one was there. So we went out to the beach hoping to talk to someone but it was dead there too. We went to this giant, awesome park to see if we could find someone but again it was dead, we even went to an art gallery but no one. So we gave up and just went housing again. We had service and after that we got ready for the lesson we had with our new investigator. His name is Yoshi Nobu and is 23 years old. We met with him and talked about the BOM and prayer and it went really great. We invited him to read and pray about it and he accepted. We also invited him to come to church on sunday and he accepted that also. It was a great way to end the day.

Sat.- We housed a bit before our lesson with Kinoshita san. Kinoshita is an awesome family man but we found out this last lesson he doesn't really have any desire to change what he is doing at the moment. He is well off has a small family and is happy. He is always super nice to us and gives us food. It was a little disappointing, we were hoping to be able to have some progress with him but it doesn't look like he really intends to go anywhere. He invited us to come back around the new year and he was going to feed us. It should be way good because new years is the big thing out here. Should be fun.

After that there was a little festival that we went to but couldn't really talk to anyone. We headed out to do more housing and about an hour into it we knocked on a door and a girl answered it. When we talked about our message she started to smile and when I asked if I could share it she said yes. It was the first yes we had gotten in a few days so I was a bit surprised but went on and talked about the BOM. She accepted it and wanted to meet again. We are going to meet tonight and hopefully the lesson goes well. We headed back to the apt. had our district mtg. on the phone and called it a night.

Sun. - We had church and Yoshi Nobu came! It was pretty awesome, we were able to teach him lesson one. When I asked him what he thought God was like he said that he thought we lived with Him before earth and he made earth for us to learn and grow, Then after we die we go back to live with him. Needless to saw we were pretty surprised. The lesson went great, I actually felt like I should talk about Baptism with him and president has been asking us to commit people to it in the first lesson, so I brought it up and committed him to it and he accepted it. I tried to get a date set for it, but it was a bit too much for him but he said he would be baptized when I committed him to it. He has already read parts of the BOM and we are way excited to teach him more. After church and his lesson we went out and did housing for around 4 hours but didn't get to share our message with anyone which was a little disappointing.

So things are starting to look up for Tanabe. We have some new people to teach that look like they have real interest and hopefully we can help them out. This coming week will be busy and should fly by. I can't believe it is already almost 9 months. I haven't heard anything yet about the whole calling on Christmas thing but I will let you know when I find out about it. Have fun during this Christmas time, I am going to miss it but we are doing good.

Thanks
Love you tons
Cam

2009-11-30T07:53:00.002-07:00

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

2009-11-23T22:57:00.002-07:00

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

2009-11-18T17:19:00.002-07:00

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

2009-11-08T21:21:00.002-07:00

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

2009-11-01T21:25:00.002-07:00

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

2009-10-25T20:07:00.002-06:00

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

2009-10-18T22:00:00.003-06:00

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

2009-10-13T09:07:00.002-06:00

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

2009-10-04T22:56:00.004-06:00

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

Six month and 1 pair shoes

2009-09-28T07:34:00.004-06:00

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

2009-09-21T08:24:00.003-06:00

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

2009-09-15T07:30:00.001-06:00

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

2009-09-07T21:28:00.003-06:00

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

Answering all your questions

2009-08-31T07:08:00.002-06:00

Another busy week, I can't believe this transfer is over already.

Monday was p-day. P-day lasts from 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM During that time we usually come do email first, then go shopping, then back to the apt. to write letters or my favorite take a nap. Then after 6:00 we go out and do missionary work for the rest of the day. I can't remember what we did last week, nothing special I don't think.

Tuesday was a day full of contacting. No real luck there, it was a super hot day I remember that. We had an appointment with a guy later that night. I think he was from Australia? Anyways we went to his place and he wasn't there. We went out contacting again and do you remember the big guy I talked about that we met 2 times and spoke way good english? Well we met him again. He is really nice but refused to take a book of mormon and said he would try to come to eikaiwa but never did. I think he feels like he isn't good enough or something. I am sure we will see him again soon.

Wednesday we had an exchange with The Kakogawa elders. It went well, I and my new comp. for the day went and taught Iwamura again. It went the same as usual. I asked him to read the book of mormon this week and come up with something to talk about next week. I hope that it gets him reading.

Thursday we had district meeting. During District Meeting we got a call from one of our investigators and he wanted to go to outreach in Kobe. Outreach is ran by Elder and Sister Wade. It is for YSA and is a great place to take investigators to make friends that are in the church. We made Japanese doughnuts. Good stuff. Our investigators name is Ichigawa, he seems interested but we are not 100 percent sure or not so we are going to ask him next time if he really is or just wants to make friends at english class and things. He is a great guy, I hope it all works out with him.

Friday we had another exchange with the elders in our district. Not a lot really happened we went out contacting but no luck. It's always fun to see different styles of contacting from different missionaries and get new ideas.

Saturday we had eikaiwa. Afterwords we went out to a Gajin (forigner) Matsuri (Festival) It was fun but not a very effective place to do missionary work. We got out there went around a bit and went back home.

Sunday was another way busy day. I had to give a talk, I talked about the restoration and what it does for us. I think I made sense, it went better than I thought it would. After that since it was the 5th Sunday they do a big potluck dinner. A member brought a friend with her and I talked with her there at the dinner and gave her a book of mormon. I hope she comes again she was really nice. After Church we went to Nicholas' house. The guy from Ghana, he is a way nice guy and always cooks for us. He gives us food they eat in Ghana its not bad I like it. We taught him about some of the commandments. He told us that he has been praying a lot but received no confirmation and that's why he doesn't believe or want to be baptized but knows that it will come in god's time. I guess we just need to be patient. I hope he get's and answer soon he is a really great person.

Today already has been a little crazy. Usually we study from 8 until 9:30 on p-day then clean until 10:30 but, Elder Fukui had to go to the American embassy in Osaka to get his student visa stuff started up. So we left pretty early and got out there and got it all finished. I thought my area had a lot of people. Osaka is huge there were people everywhere, I couldn't believe it. I hope I get to serve out there some time.

This transfer is over it went by so fast I can't believe it. Tomorrow phone calls go out for transfers. I could end up moving out of Akashi again, there is a decent chance of it. We will see what happens though I like Akashi but I will go where I need to go right? I will let you know what happens next week.

I have been eating well, Elder Fukui is a way good cook and I am trying to learn from him. Haven't been sick yet but, everyone out here is way scared of the flu they all wear masks its kind of funny lookin. We do see little kids walking to and from school. In my last area we had some follow us once, it was funny. I will have more pictures for you all next week. Thanks for sending all the emails to me.

Love you
Cam

2009-08-24T11:26:00.002-06:00

Ok so talk about a busy week this week. It was crazy.

Tuesday we went up to Himeji for an exchange. One of the elders is hurt right now and can't go out so I stayed with him in the apt. while elder Fukui went out and contacted a few of their investigators that they hadn't met with in awhile. That took the whole day.

Wednesday we helped a less active family move out of their house. We did that until around 1:00 afterwords we went contacting and taught Iwamura again. He likes to argue a lot and really isn't going anywhere still. I sometimes wonder if he is trying to convert us but it's fun talking to him he is a nice guy and has good intentions. I just need to learn more about the bible he knows it through and through its crazy.

Thursday was really busy too. We had a lesson in the morning with one of our investigators named Lelia. She has been investigating for awhile now and been committed to baptism twice but rejected both times. We had 2 members with us and they really helped us out. We talked about the Word of Wisdom and the Restoration again with her. We committed her to baptism again and she had a lot of concerns but the members jumped in and helped us out a lot. They shared a lot of experiences they had when they were investigators and she accepted for the 27th of Sept. We will have to keep working with her but it was really good.

After that we went to District Meeting which is always good. Then we took the bus back again and had a lesson with the Kondo family. They are a part member family. The father is a member but the wife and 2 kids are not. The wife thinks that baptism is weird and doesn't want the kids or her self to be baptized. I don't know why the dad doesn't push harder but we tried. It is hard with her, I am not quite sure what will happen. We ended the day after the lesson. Way busy day.

Friday was a little more open. We had service like usual. After that we did study and weekly planning. We looked through the area book and called up old investigators and was able to get an appointment with one of them on Tuesday it should be good. We went out and handed out English class flyers for a good 2 or 3 hours hoping to get some new students for class the next day.

Saturday we had english class but no new students sadly enough. After class we went out and did a lot of finding but didn't have any luck there.

Sunday was a great day. Yoshidasan's baptism went really great. He has been coming to church for 20 years but never been baptized.He had a hard time with some commandments and everyone had given up on him except for Fukui choro. He got him all ready and good to go, it took a few months but it happened. A member baptied him it went great he had a lot of support there which is always good too. I will send a picture to you in a separate email I remembered today. He is the older one.
We also had a lesson with a member and her daughter. Her daughter is not baptised because the father doesn't want her to be but we talked with her about it and she also has a date now for baptism in Sept.

We did a short lesson with Arima and he is doing well too. After church and stuff we went out finding didn't find anyone but there was this group of break dancers by the station it was awesome. I couldn't believe some of the stuff they were doing it was really cool.

One of the busiest weeks I have had in Japan so far. It went by fast and the transfer is almost already over. Sounds like everyone is doing well back home too. This week will be busy too we have a lot of exchanges planned to finish off the transfer. I am not sure where I will be after this transfer but we will find out next week.

Love you,
Cam

2009-08-19T22:37:00.002-06:00

Haha (Mom..No I am not joking it really is haha)

Sounds like a busy trip. The plane ride was really long but I just slept most of the time I think a good 7 or 8 hours. I took some dramamine so I would fall asleep or else I wouldn't have been able to do it. Sounds like they are trying really hard to find out what is wrong and its going to all work out. Let me know what happens with everything.

I got an email from Burns this week sounds like he is having a good time in Norway. I can't wait until we all get back and I get to hang out with the guys again those were fun times.

School shopping, no I can say I don't really miss that but this week during our exchange the day was over and Elder Fukui needed a shirt so we went into this mall. One store had pretty good Ingrish (Terrible english what we call it) on them and I found a shirt that has a hand on it that says Index Finger on it and below it it say's "Even Homer sometimes nods" I had to buy it maybe I will get you a picture some time.

This has been a pretty good week.

Tuesday we had a really open day so we went around trying to talk to people but no one was really interested in what we had to say.

Wednesday was open as well and same situation, no one really wanted to listen. We had a lesson with a guy named Iwamura who is christan. He really knows the bible well and we are trying to show him why need prophets and the book of mormon but it's difficult to get it through to him sometimes. I hope it gets better with him. He is a really good person, if he was baptized he would be a very strong member, we just have to get him there.

Thursday we went up to Miki for district meeting and then came back to Akashi and did Weekly Planning. We only had around 1 1/2 hours for contacting. We were walking down the street and this really big guy, big for back home huge over here walks up and says "Hey Elders how are you doing" All in english. I was surprised to say the least. He has lived in the states and I think heard the lessons but doesn't want to take them again. He said all this stuff how he really respects us and stuff, but didn't want to meet. He was a great guy.

Friday we went out to Himeji and went to their District Mtg. and then had an exchange and I got to see McBurney again. We had a lot of fun trying to talk to people even with our broken Japanese but we got a Potential Investigator. After wards we were going to cold stone when we saw that Huge Guy again. We talked to him again for awhile and he still didn't want to meet but was really nice and friendly.

Saturday we had English class and finished up our exchange. We went out the rest of the day but couldn't find anyone with any promise.

Sunday was super busy. We were at church for 8 hours, and I thought 3 was bad! Anyways, we had a lesson with Armia and committed him to baptism and set a goal with him. He has a problem with coffee but, we will try to help him work it out. I don't think I will be here in Akashi when he is baptized but, he will be baptized this year. I also met another one of our investigators on Sunday. His name is Nicholas Attigah and is from Ghana. Really cool guy, he fed us some Ghana food that night it was good. I am not sure how close he is to baptism but hopefully he will be soon. He is a really great nice guy. Miki the other elders in our district also had a baptism in our building because they don't have a font. Their investigator actually asked Elder Fukui to baptize her so he did that and everything went really well. It's the second baptism I have seen so far and next week that should change to 3. We also planned Yoshida's baptism program and got him all ready I am excited for next week it should be great.

That's the week. It was a good one. I can't believe that I am already 4 weeks in to this transfer and its almost over. It's gone by really quick. I got the package this week. Thanks for the coat it looks like it will get the Job done. The food and treats were great too. Thanks

Thanks for everything,
Love you,
Cam

2009-08-11T23:55:00.002-06:00

Hey I got your email from Minnesota. Sounds like you both are running around like crazy out there. I am glad they are taking it seriously and are going to try their hardest to find out whats wrong with her. I got her letter this week the 10 pg one with the pictures. She makes me laugh. Did you say another one was coming? I hope so her letters are always alot of fun.

Sounds like a big mall. In my last area it had the biggest mall in the Kan Sei area. (KanSei area is basically the Kobe mission) it was 5 stories with a garden on the top with a fountain and an area where they do concerts no joke. I have some crappy pictures I will try to send to you sometime. I am sure you both would love it.

Wow, school starts next week for everyone? That is weird. It's gone by fast for me out here, what about everyone back home? I hope everything works out at school for everyone.

Yeah, it will be nice to get the jacket. Actually a typhoon is coming through here this week and its been raining like crazy. It will be nice to get a new one. It's way humid out here I can't believe it half of the time, especially since we are so close to the ocean. It will be bad through august but after it won't be so bad...hopefully.

This week was really busy. On Tuesday we went up to Miki the other 2 elders in our district and went around with them for a bit. Afterword's Elder Fukui interviewed their investigator and she will be baptized this coming Sunday. Really cool, it will be great for them to get a baptism. Miki is countryside Japan it was really weird for me since i am so use to just city. It was nice to see some green and some mountains. After the interview we stayed and helped with their Eikaiwa class (English class) and then went home after that.

Wednesday was interviews with president so we went out to Kobe and did those which are always good. Afterwords we all went to a place called brazilianos just like
Tucano's style. It was really good we also had one of our investigators there so we got to talk to her but, not a lot of progress. After that we went back to Akashi to teach Iwamurasan. He likes to talk a lot so it didn't go as well as we hoped it was all in English so I could understand. Hopefully it goes better next time but we gave him a BOM and committed him to read it and got another appointment. Then we had to go back to Kobe for SMCC some stake meeting Elder Fukui had to go to. I ended up going out with one of the AP's to contact. We ended up staying the night there, way busy day.

Thursday we took Yoshidasan out to outreach where all the YSA people have activities and stuff. So we went back to Kobe again and did that. It was a lot of fun.
Friday we had service and an exchange. For service we go to a place that provides work for handicapped people. We help them package food or make Nabari or Sushi. Its fun and they feed us afterwords so that's a plus for sure. The exchange went well, its always fun getting to know other guys from the mission most of the time.
Saturday we finished up the exchange, had Eikaiwa and went out to visit 5 old investigators that we found in the area book. None of them were interested so we just went contacting after that, but no luck.

Sunday we had a new investigator come to church, we taught him the first lesson and gave him a BOM. Hopefully it goes well with him, I think he liked it hopefully he comes again. Yoshidasan's interview went well and he will be baptized in 2 weeks. He is really excited and can't wait. I don't think I can either.

A super busy week and this one should be too. We are doing exchanges again, and it will be with Elder McBurney a way good friend from the MTC it will be a ton of fun.
The Language is still tough if not tougher because my Comp. is Japanese.They talk a lot faster and more complicated because of it so I am lost 80 percent of the time. When I talk they look at me then look at him and wait for him to talk it makes me laugh. It's a slow process so I am just trying to learn patience, but I hope it comes soon. I just wish I could speak Nihongo (Japanese) but if we have the spirit it doesn't really matter what I say, the spirit is really the only thing that converts people not language or lessons.

Elder Fukui is a really good missionary and knows what he is doing out here. I am learning a lot from him. He is a way good cook too and likes to cook so that's always a plus too :). We are getting along just fine and its nice to have some success.

Anyway's long email this week, everything is going well out here, time is just flying by I can't believe it. Thanks for everything
Love you,
Cam

2009-08-02T21:29:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone,

Thanks for Brian's address. I want to send a letter off to him and see how he is doing. I sent off another letter today to Brandon. From his last letter it sounded like he was having a good time and trying hard. He said that all his Japanese he learned when he was little has come back to him and can say whatever he wants basically. I am way jealous.

I hope everything goes good up at this new place. Hopefully they can find something new about whit. If you can let me know if you get back in time to send me an email. School starts in just 3 weeks? Man that’s pretty crazy. I left when they were still in school so I guess summer is almost over. July went by really fast and this month is going to be just as if not more busy so I am sure it will go just as fast if not faster.

Jake has sent in his papers? Man that’s weird too. Cross your fingers for Japan. Especially Kobe man that would be way sweet. I would laugh so hard if he went to Norway that would be awesome.

Is everyone excited about going back to school? Has anything really big happened back home?

Well this week had a bit of a rocky start but a good ending.

Right after we got done emailing last p-day we went out finished up shopping and were on our way back to the apt. when we got a phone call. It was Enkh's brother and it turns out that Enkh (our investigator that had a baptismal date) up and moved back to Mongolia. It was really weird, we had met with him 2 nights before and he seemed to be doing just fine. He didn't mention anything about moving or anything like that. We aren't sure why he moved but I guess it was an emergency or something because he got out of there really quickly. It was really too bad because he was so close to baptism and wanted it really badly. Hopefully he will look up the missionaries back in Mongolia. That’s all we can really hope for with him, who knows maybe he will move back that would be sweet.

We had Zone Conference this week which is always a lot of fun. I got to see the guys from back in Nishinomiya and talk to them a little bit. It sounds like it might pick up a little bit over there. One guy that we found while Elder Hinton and I were on an exchange has become an investgator and I gave him a Book of Mormon at the Open house we had. Asked him to read and pray about it. Turns out when they asked him if he had read any and he said just a little bit. Turns out he had read from the start to Mosiah crazy stuff huh. I hope he ends up getting baptized that would be kind of cool because I was a part of finding him. I hope things pick up for them.

I also got to see Elder McBurney my best buddy from back in the MTC. Turns out he transferred too, and is in my Zone and we will be doing an exchange because Elder Fukui wants to do one with their area so I will get to do some work with him. I am way excited it will be a ton of fun.

During Zone conference President really focused on this new Study plan that he came out with to help everyone focus both their gospel and Language study. Everyone was really excited about it and it really should help us all out so that we can become better Japanese speakers and know the gospel a lot better. Zone Conference is always good and something I think I will look forward to throughout my mission.

After Zone Conference we had a lessons and things throughout the next few days but nothing really big. On Sunday we were able to meet with Yoshida who also has a baptismal date. He has been coming to church for like 18 or 20 years something like that but has never been baptized. He has had some problems with some of the commandments but is trying really hard and after meeting with him yesterday and going over the baptismal interview questions with him, we are both confident that he will be baptized on his scheduled day (Aug. 23). His interview for baptism is next Sunday. We also taught Arima and committed him to the word of wisdom. He thinks it will be hard and really likes coffee but is going to try to stop or at least cut down on how much he drinks. Hopefully we can get him baptized soon too.

That’s pretty much it for this week. This coming week is going to be way busy. We have to go to another area so Elder Fukui can interview a lady that is going to be baptized by the 2 other elders in our district. We have interviews with president. A few lessons scheduled and an exchange scheduled. It should be way fun I am excited for it all. I like the new area it’s a good place. I will try to get a picture of the bridge and other things to send to you. Sorry I am terrible about sending pictures maybe next week.

Love you,

Cam

Akashi

2009-07-27T20:44:00.004-06:00

I think I was just as surprised as you were when we got transfer calls and I found out I was leaving. I had mixed emotions but I am just excited now. My trainer was going home in 4 weeks and told me that he had no more desire to do missionary work a few days before transfers. I think that it was a blessing because personally I was worried about what we were going to do. I hope he does ok with the time that he has left.

My new comp. is Elder Fukui and is a really good missionary (and an awesome cook). I will learn alot from him. He is a Zone Leader and is from Japan but went to BYU Idaho so he has really good English. He only has 1 transfer left after this one so he is almost done.

Akashi is a really cool place. It is on the ocean and has the biggest or 2nd biggest bridge in the world you will have to look it up. It is gigantic. It looked big from the train but when we rode our bikes under it, man I couldn't believe how big it was. It has around 1 million people here so we will always have someone to talk to it seems.

Elder Fukui has been working really hard and we already have 2 people committed to baptism with a baptismal date and a ton of investigators here. Its really great. One of them we taught Prayer, Scripture study and Sabbath day (the commandments). His name is Enkh and is from Mongolia. His brother is actually an RM that went to Mississippi but has gone inactive. When we met with his brother he was smoking and drinking ( a little drunk) He talked about how much he loved his mission and stuff. He was actually and AP and everything but when he got back to Mongolia he had a lot of family problems and stuff just happened. I hope we can help him come back to church. I think Enkh will be baptized he is really excited about it.

We have lots of people to teach, it should be a lot of fun. It is nice to have people to teach and watch them progress towards being baptized. I hope that it all works out well for us.

Since Elder Fukui is a ZL we had to go down to Kobe so he could go to a big ZL meeting and I got to go out with some other missionaries for the day. That was alot of fun getting to know some different guys. Alot of them knew Brandon from the MTC and one of the older ones said that Elder Peterson wanted him to say hi to me for him. Could I get Brians Address from you? I would love to hear from him.

I got the Package this week it was way awesome. The corn nuts, junior mints, chexmix and candy bars and everything were all perfect picks. Thank you so much. I ended up finding a way cheap clock so I bought it but having both is nice so i can put one on my desk. For the rain jacket just get a normal one the long one gets in the way sometimes with the bike. The smaller it packs the better but you don’t need to buy an expensive one. If you send another package all the candy was good and I would love some ranch corn nuts.

Man good news about going to the place up in Minnesota. What is that place for? I hope everything goes well for whit up there. Let me know how it goes. I hope she does ok. Have fun in St. George!

Anyways its been a way busy week which is always good when you are on a mission. Tell Whit,Derrick, and muff that I want to hear from them all. I will have more time to email the place in Akashi is alot cheaper so I can fit alot more in.

Ok thank you for everything
Love you tons
Cam

PS. Derrick - funny story for you. So when I was in Nishinomiya there was this really big park that we liked to talk to people in. We were finished and were headed back home to eat. I was riding my bike just looking around and I looked to my left and there is some old dude standing there completely butt naked, no pants, nothing. No Joke. Luckily his back was facing me, but it was weird. I laughed pretty hard, I couldn't believe it. You see some crazy things over here, but so far this is the craziest.

Trasferred already....

2009-07-20T22:14:00.002-06:00

Hey, so we didn't end up going to Himeji Castle because the Zone leaders changed our P-day to Tuesday. Yesterday was a holiday out here so they wanted us out and about contacting and doing stuff.

Today we got transfer calls and guess what....I am transferring already! I am headed out to a place called Akashi not too far from Nishinomiya. My new comp. will be Fukui Choro and he is Japanese but can speak English. I am really excited about it because it will help my Japanese quite a bit with him being a native and all. It's really surprising because most missionaries stay in one area for at least 2 transfers, but the President felt something else should happen. It should be good. The AP's on the phone said that they have 2 investigators committed to baptism over there so we should get some soon. I have mixed feelings about leaving. I like this area of Japan, its all city and we can street and don't have to house unless it rains. I like all they guys in the apartment and district but I guess this is what happens. I was just way surprised, didn't expect that I would be transferred at all right now.

This week was a decent week for us. We had 2 lessons. Did I tell you about the lady we found housing? Her name is Sakurai and we found her housing. We got an appointment, I don't think she thought we would actually come back, but we did! When we showed up she said she didn't have an interest in religion, but one of the members with us saved it and got us another appointment. Way cool. We taught her about families because she is a mom and she really liked it a lot. We are teaching her today. At the end of the lesson last time, she said the reason she didn't have an interest in religion is because of how many there are. She asked how she could know which one is true, Pretty much the Golden Question. She also asked what baptism was when looking at the pamphlet. Its great stuff.

Our other one was with a girl named Mameko, an 18 year old college student. We taught her the first lesson. She will read and pray, I hope it all goes well with her. We went finding a lot this week, but just couldn't find anyone. Summer break is coming up and the college feeds this aera and so its hard to find people. We can't contact women at all, it's a rule for all of Japan. Old people don't care so we couldn't find anyone but it was ok.

Last night we took a potential investigator out to a YSA outreach program. We walked up to him and talked to him about a week ago, and asked him if he had any problems with life and as missionaries we would like to help. We had talked to him about his job and stuff before. He told us he wanted a girlfriend, that made us laugh, so we took him to the YSA thing. He got to know some people and became an investigator last night. He's really a great guy, I hope it all works out for him.

I heard about Elder McBurney's baptism. I am writing him and it sounds like he is having a great time out there.

I haven't got your package yet, but I am excited for it. It has been raining the last few days and I found out that my rain jacket thing doesn't like rain. My arms up to my shoulders get wet. If you could find a new one for me and send it out inthe next package that would be great. Just wait until the next month or whenever, I don't need it right now so please don't worry about it until next month.

Well that's it for now. I guess the next time I email you I will send you the pictures of the apartment and the guys that were with mee. Sorry it's taking so long. I will be in a new area so it should be cool.

Alright, I love you all,

Cam

PS - Morgan

The apartment we live in is small, especially for 4 people. I will send you pictures next week. The weirdest thing I have eaten is the tacoyaki. I do the dishes all the time and we try to keep our apartment clean, but sometimes it's hard with 4 people in such a small apartment.

Tacoyaki ....

2009-07-12T21:40:00.003-06:00

Dear family,

Man I was really hoping I would find out where Phil is going, hopefully next week, right?! Cool that Colton's going to Brazil, its the place to go. They don't even tract there, just get referrals and baptisms, but we all know that Japan is the best mission so its all good. Let me know where Jake goes too.

It sounds like the trip was fun. I would love to see the redwoods, the sound cool. The jet boats were cool too. I'm sure everyone loved it.

Sounds like Bishop Prawitt will be great. I hope that it all works out, but I will really miss Bishop Burr, he is just an amazing person. I really need to write him a letter, but I never have time on P-day cause it's so crazy.

Morgan's softball games were always fun, I'm glad she did so well. How much longer until they are back in school? I'm loving the emails from Derrick, it sounds like he is having a fun summer and is doing good. Ran into a tree on a four wheeler? Sounds like Derrick! How is Whitney doing. I have been a little worried about her lately, is she going to be okay? I got a letter from her and she sounded alright.

Dad, thanks for your message in the last email, it was great. Usually when we contact people we just talk to them about their lives and stuff. Every single time they ask what we are doing we lead into the gospel from there. People do notice what we are doing and I think they respect us for it. We always try to leave a good impression behind because most of the time it's the only thing that we can do. We have met a few people recently that were promising, we might get some lessons with them. I sure hope so.

The language is rough, but I am starting to understand more and can talk better. It just takes time I guess, but youknow me and how impatient I am. I want to know Japanese NOW. I am trying my best to learn all that I can. I do flashcards every day with 20 words and it seems to help I just need to speak instead of letting my senior do it all. Derrick you should totally keep practicing Japanese. It would be cool if you came here on your mission then we could talk in Japanese to each other. The Japanese people are really surprised when they hear white people talk in Japanese. They think its great even if you speak as poorly as I do.

This week we did a lot of tracting. We had 3 lessons but they all fell through, but we were able to find some people that were interested and we got phone numbers from them. We will give them a call. We also had an open house that we invited people to. We were hoping that the members would invite their friends but they didn't so we didn't have a lot of people but they were really excited. Afterwords we had tacoyagi which is a batter ball with octopus in the middle. It's not quite calamarie but it wasn't bad. It's fun getting to know the members better. My first transfer is pretty much over next week. It's crazy how fast time is flying.

Sorry I don't have an apartment address, just send packages to the mission home through the USPS. The only things I can use is a small flat alarm clock. My comp has one, it folds up and is really small, They are nice. Also a tide pen for stains. Oh and I have no idea what happened to my hankerchiefs. I had one and used it all the time, but I lost it and can't find my others and man we sweat alot over here. Just send it when its convenient or when you want to send some treats:)

Well thanks for everything. I am not sure if you will get an email from me next week. We are going to Himeji castle in Osaka and might not have time to email, but I promise to take some awesome pictures for you.

Love you tons,

Cam

Week 4 in Japan

2009-07-07T16:18:00.002-06:00

Dear Family,

Alright so this week I am a little pressed on time so I'm going to make this short, sorry.

So Aki never showed up to the appointment and won't answer his phone when we call, so that's pretty disappointing. I still haven't had a lesson in Japanese yet, but we did get a new investigator a few days ago. We met her housing. Usually they just talk through the little intercom thing and just say they are good, but her daughter opened the door and it made it a lot easier. We should be teaching them next Friday. I hope it goes well. We did a lot of streeting and stuff this week but didn't really find anyone new.

We taught Daniel again but he really isn't going anywhere. It's frusterating. He really likes to focus on deep stuff and we can't ever seem to get him away from it. We will see what happens with him I guess, but if it doesn't get better we will have to drop him.

The rainy season has started and it rains ALOT. The stuff we bought works well most of the time. The backpack is kind of waterproof, but I use ziplock bags so nothing has been ruined. I have been in Japan a month, can you believe it? I can't believe how fast it's going by.

Japanese is still crazy and I don't understand a lot of it, but i am studying hard and hopefully I will be able to speak and understand more in the coming weeks.

Mom, could you please check on my balance. We actually have to use our personal money for our email and its kind of expensive, let me know where I'm at in my accounts. Thanks. Sorry this is short, hope to hear from you next week. I think I will have pics too.

Love you,

Cam

2009-06-29T13:47:00.002-06:00

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.

2009-06-23T11:44:00.002-06:00

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

2009-06-14T22:56:00.003-06:00

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

2009-06-10T13:21:00.001-06:00

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

2009-06-06T21:07:00.001-06:00

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

2009-06-05T13:23:00.001-06:00

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

2009-06-02T13:46:00.002-06:00

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

Week 9 but whose counting

2009-05-27T07:18:00.004-06:00

Well my email that I was just writing just got deleted for some reason so this might be short cause I'm running out of time. Not a lot has happened in the last week except that we did have a seventy come and sit in during our classes. It was way cool and scary at the same time. His name is Aoyagi Choro (Elder). He is a convert from Japan and shared his story with us. It was really cool and inspiring. He gave us some great advise.

How are Burns and Trent doing? I got an email from Trent that was funny, but I can't email him back, so when I get to Japan I will send him a bunch of stuff. I don't think he's gotten any of my letters. Haven't heard from Burns for a while, hope I do before I leave. If you get a chance tell Drew hi, and good luck, I'm happy that he finally gets to come to the MTC.

I saw Brother Smith (the artist) at the doctor's office that my companion had to go to. It was neat seeing him. He's a great guy. Did you get that video? I think I said Hi how are you and I'm excited to go to Kobe, probably some other funny stuff. That was fun.

Tell Whitney that God does know her. That He hasn't forgotten her. She has a lot of people praying for her in here. She will be okay, but it might be a hard time.

Thanks for the package last week. The cookies were great and so was the box cover. The only other thing I need are the pictures and I think I am set. Thanks for all of the packages you have sent while I've been here. Oh could I get some foot powder, my shoes already smell and I'm not even walking a ton or riding a bike.

Well not much else to tell you. We are all excited and pumped to go to Japan. My time here has kind of turned into a big blur. Even though I'm tired of seeing the same walls, my desire to be here and keep learning is through the roof. I love it.

Thanks for everything you do, I couldn't have done this without you guys.

Love you tons,
Cam

2009-05-20T11:46:00.002-06:00

Sorry this is a quick one, but I don't have much time.

Man the story about Boyer's mission call made me really laugh. He really surprises people like that because it seems so out of character for him. Gotta love Boyer. He's a good guy, I'm sure he will do well in Germany.

All of the mission calls are pretty cool. I'm sure Cook will like Washington and do great. Graves is going to Columbia? That does sound scary. Let me know when Joe gets his call. I can't wait to hear from him. I actually got a letter from Bear this week and it sounds like he is excited to go, it will be great to hear from him.

Gotta love that summer yard work. I think that Dad has always hated the wee wacker, I know I hated it too, it never seemed to work, but I haven't seen one that does. Can't say that I miss that too much.

I hope everything goes ok for Whitney. That story about her appendix and surgery is crazy. Man, thats crazy how all this weird stuff is happening to her. I'm glad you went to the emergency room. Sounds like Ralph and Brother Rose helped her out a lot. I'm glad we have such great neighbors that can do things like that for us. I will definately keep her in my prayers.

The doctor went well. He will be okay but we get to go out again because he needs more tests done. Its weird being off campus and kind of fun at the same time.

I'm glad you got the e-mail of the pictures. The guys that are in our room are actually in a seperate class than we are. This has actually been a hard week. One of the Elder's had to go home this week. He said that he had some health problems. He left yesterday. He is just a great guy and it was rough on everyone, including me. I hope that he will be okay.

The MTC is starting to get old. Lots of class everyday and everyone is kind of getting burned out. We did get to have an apostle last week again that was way cool. That makes three apostles while I've been here.

Thanks for all the ties you sent. There were a ton of good ones in there that I plan on keeping. Some of dads made me laugh. Where did he get some of those?

Thank you for all the updates and stuff, it is good hearing about home. I love you tons and thanks for all of your support.

Love you,
Cam

Week 7 at the MTC

2009-05-14T20:25:00.002-06:00

Hey this is going to be a short email, sorry, but I'm out of time. I will send a letter as well tomorrow. Thanks for your letters they were great.

This week was the same not much different going on. Lots of new missionaries which is cool it's really fun being sempi and helping them along. Ours weren't so nice to us so we are trying our best to be nice to them and help them along. One of my new roommates played soccer with Easton Folster and Cameron Brink, weird huh. Japanese is a lot of fun, I am loving it. I'm trying to work hard so I can communicate better with people.

We had an apostle come talk to us, Elder Ballard. His talk was pretty amazing, the spirit was so strong, at least for me it was. It's cool to get to hear the leaders of the church speak in person.

This Friday I get to go off base!! Elder Buerger has had some health problems and is going to get them taken care of at the health center. When he exercises he has problems. We will see what they find out, it will just be weird to be outside of the MTC even if it's not that far. I'll let you know how it goes.

Derrick sent me a picture of the dogs, man that puppy is pretty cut. Some of the sisters saw me looking at it and well you know how girls like puppies...it made me laugh. Sounds like everyone is having a good time back at home. That's cool about Bear, let me know when he gets his call. Sounds like Grandma & Grandpa are working hard. I got a letter from them and it was alot of fun to read.

Thank you for the package. I'm not sure how it all worked out but I got the breadsticks, but not the sandwich. There was an orange letter from the MTC, so they must have opened it. It was great to get some real food. I do really miss your cooking.

Ok, just a few things I'd like to get if you have time. I would like a skinny tie just pure black if you can find one. If you can't don't worry about it. My other black skinny one is apparently too small so I can't wear it, so make sure it isn't too skinny. Do you remember the red one? That one is perfect. Also any ties in my closet that I didn't bring just send so I can trade them. Tie trades are the best every Sunday night.

As for the pictures, just send me ones of our family, house, dogs, or whatever you think would work. One last thing, in the letter I'm sending you I will write down what kind of memory card my camera takes and would like another one so I can send you the one I have and you can get my pictures and videos I have now. I will send it to you before I leave for Japan.

I want you to know that I am doing the best I can. I know that we have to work hard, but if we do with the help of the Lord, we can accomplish great things.

Thanks for everything

Love you tons
Cam

2009-05-05T13:58:00.002-06:00

Hey, how's it going back in Springville? I didn't get an email from you or dad this week. Dad told me in his last one that your e-mail was messed up when he upgraded something, so I hope you get this and got my last one. I still get your dear elder ones so that works.

We taught our first lesson in Japanese this week. It was pretty intense, but we did a good job. It was alot of fun, they were real Japanese people too. They could understand alot of what we were saying so that we pretty cool. We are given scenarios we have to talk about also, and this week it was food. My companion said he liked to eat poisonous food. It was so funny the look they gave us was priceless. We can practice teaching the teachers before we teach the actual volunteers and I said I was Christ's savior, that was embarrassing, so we are both making mistakes, but learning and hanging in there.

Tomorrow we get new missionaries and we'll be sempi. It's weird thinking I have been here for over half my time and am on the home stretch of finishing the MTC. I am really ready to get out of here and excited to get on with it in Japan.

Well not alot has changed here, just trying to learn as much Japanese as I can. It sounds like they speak a different kind than what we are learning in here, in the area I'm going to be serving in, so it will take some time to adjust to when I get there.

Thanks for the cookies they were great. I love those they are one of my favorites.

I remember you saying something about my UCCU card would work in Japan. I think I will keep both just to make sure I have one that works, and if it does work I will just use it all the time instead of the W.F. one.

How is everyone back home? Anything new going on. We keep hearing about some swine flu scare. They won't let us shake hands anymore so that's a little weird. It sounds like they are making a bigger deal out of it than it actually is.

How are the other guys doing that are out on their missions, do you hear from their parents? Any news on Joe's call? I got a letter from Burn's which was way awesome I can't wait to get another one from him.

Thanks for all that you do.

Love you Tons
Cam