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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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