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
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Akashi
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.
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.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Trasferred already....
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.
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.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Tacoyaki ....
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
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
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Week 4 in Japan
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
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
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