Hello family and others. I am here in Japan right now and it is
getting Hot! The rainy season is pretty much all finished here now and
we had some pretty crazy days in the pouring rain. But now it's
switching over to heat and humidity. And of course, me being from Utah
in the super dryness, it's quite a bit different. I don't necessarily
hate it or anything, but I'm just amazed how much I sweat and how it
just chills on my body all day, haha. I realize now that in Utah, your
sweat normally dries out eventually and you kinda just wipe it off to
get it away. But here in Japan the sweat just kind of turns into
"oils" on your face and it's just really different, hhah. Kind of
funny sometimes. Normally you sweat when you get tired but here you
could sweat just going on a slow bike ride for 10 minutes. And like,
dripping sweat. Anyways that's just a totally random fact about
lately.

So first I want to talk about the last couple weeks and the
reason for my email being so bland and quickly describing that I am
not enjoying the mission at that point kind of feel. Wow I can't speak
English well. Hopefully you get the point. (And if your not family
then I didn't send an email last week, sorry). Yeah so I haven't been
having terribly rough times or anything lately. Just having/seeing no
real success. We have a goal in the mission to have 70 meaningful
contacts a week which means 10 a day, per companionship. And with
Elder Nishidome in this new area, we haven't even been close. Normally
around 25-35 and hardly any lessons. We just can't find anyone right
now. But I'm starting to forget about what I can't exactly control and
just focus on going outside and starting conversations. Obviously
we're all trying to improve and do our best, but nobody's perfect. It
makes you think about your goal and duty as a missionary when there
isn't any success, but I know that whatever I can do is going to make
some slight difference and it can affect someone's life someday.
Anyways, that's just the crappier part. Feeling like a terrible
trainer to Nishidome 長老 and not feeling like I'm accomplishing my
purpose. But the heck with it. If I'm not doing anything bad and I
know I'm doing all I can, then it's just a waiting game to see success
happen. Unfortunately I'm impatient.

So recently the language has just been feeling normal'ish. I have
been able to speak to ward members a bit and answer questions/tell
them about myself. And obviously we talk to people on the street a lot
and I can generally communicate to them. The hard part is just
understanding sometimes. I hate how it switches though because one
moment I'll feel like I understood everything but then can't hardly
respond. And then the next person, I don't know a word they're saying
and I just wanna try to explain who I am so I hopefully can lead some
kind of followable conversation. But yeah, trying to be patient with
myself. Language is the most annoyingly slow thing we can learn
sometimes I feel like, haha. Oh yeah, and I gave a talk in sacrament
yesterday. That was crazy. I was way nervous but luckily it's not too
hard introducing yourself/saying hobbies and what your family is like.
And then I talked about baptism and since that uses a lot of church
words (which get drilled into you in the MTC of course) it wasn't too
bad, probably 5-7 minutes or so. So I guess that's some progress.

Hmm, so this last weeks main thing I remember (and Dad is gonna
like this), was playing Tennis!! I got to play with a student from
English class who isn't a member and it was way fun! It's been a long
time so it felt really nice to get a racket back into my hand. He is a
super nice guy too so he took us to the courts, payed for us (10 bucks
per person) and bought me and the companion a big sports drink called
Pocari Sweat. It's way good. We had a lot of fun playing and I got
some good pics and vids. He is actually really good for an older guy
and he has a ton of energy! He just kept on going. And he whooped me
6-1 6-1. So that makes me pretty sad but I'll get him next time
hopefully, haha. I also tried inviting him to hear lessons afterward
but right now he's pretty closed off to that. Still super nice, but he
only comes to the church for Eikaiwa (English class) and has no real
interest in another religion. So that was a really fun day. It was way
hot to so we were sweating up a storm. Feeling like a sauna, even in
the shade, haha. Sorry that's all I have for now. Thanks for any and
all support you give me! Byeee

愛してる

Elder Carlini
カーリニ長老