Sunday, October 24, 2010

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

Sunday, October 17, 2010

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

Monday, October 11, 2010

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

Sunday, October 3, 2010

Hey,

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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thanks for all of your support
Love you
Cam

Monday, September 27, 2010

Hey how is everyone?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thank you for all your support.

Love you
Cam