From: Elder Conner Carlini‬
Date: Nov 25, 2014
Subject: This week. In Japan.

Heyyy, so another week has gone by and it went by quick. But I'm
gonna try my best to remember the moments I had. And holy heck, it's
almost the end of another transfer. I will soon find out where and who
with I will spend my 1 year mark and Christmas in Japan. Crazy stuff.
So, on Wednesday I got to go on a split to Tokorozawa with Elder
Young. It was a fun time and we got to workout with a potential
investigator who likes to hang out with missionaries. We went to the
park and beat our legs up a bit using a flight of stairs. It was
great. Then we had English class that night and it was cool to see the
students of Tokorozawa. There's just awesome people anywhere you go ya
know? Then on Thursday, we finished up splits and me and Elder Aoki
went to classic, Shakujikoen station and met with our Progressing
Investigator, Nakai Yuuta. He's doing well and it was good to talk
with him. We showed him some scriptures and discussed them. He's a
deep thinker and his attitude towards life has changed significantly
since we first met him. Yeahhhhh
Then on Friday we had a zone meeting in Tokorozawa actually. I was
supposed to do a training on getting something called S.O.S.
contacts, but because of time, I didn't get to. So now I have a sweet
presentation (just notes written down on what to say) and no audience.
Anyways, after we got back from that, we had been invited to dinner by
one of my favorite Ward members, the Fukuda's. So since we only had a
little time to get there, I threw in an address with "Fukuda" in it
that I had written down, then we rode our bikes there. After about a
45 minute bike ride to "their house," we realized it was a different
Fukuda's home that we went to....and when we looked on the map to
where they actually lived, it was the opposite direction from where we
started. So unfortunately we didn't get to go enjoy a nice dinner and
give them a message that night. But, because they are so awesome, they
drove over later that night to our apartment and gave us some
leftovers that were great! Awesome people.
Then Saturday we had a Zone Family History Blitz in Kichijoji! It
was the first zone blitz I had done too. We had a Family History focus
and got to do some missionary work in that area for a few hours. I
realize now how amazing Kichijoji park is and want to bring the family
there someday. And if I ever move to the Kichijoji area, I'll probably
be broke from buying all this cool stuff they sell there. Tons of
people too. We talked to some really cool mates.
Lastly, Sunday! We had the Baptism of Hibarigaoka's favorite
stubborn investigator, Nakamura さん. He has been coming to church and
rigorously investigating the church for over a year now. I'm certain
he knows more information in the scriptures and whatnot than me. He
has always had tons of questions and he was never fully satisfied with
the responses. We have taught him about faith multiple times and how
sometimes we just don't know. But he felt for quite a while that if
you just tell yourself you don't know and you accept everything as
correct, then your just kind of brainwashing yourself. But he was
finally moved by our man Elder Scott and he looks quite happy now. It
was a great baptism. The ward already loved him, and now he's a part
of it. Pretty great guy.
So yeah, that was my week as far as I mostly remember. Too many little
things happen in a day on a mission, haha. Good thing there are
journals. Talk to you next week. I have pictures.,.,./;&

Elder Carlini
カーリニ長老

Subject: This week
From: Conner Carlini‬
Date: Nov 16 at 9:09 PM
Heyyy, this week went by quick! And just like most weeks, I can't
remember much of what happened, but I do remember a few things. So, me
and Elder Aoki have been doing all we can to talk to everyone we see,
including when riding on bikes somewhere (unless we can't be late) and
it is working well! We finally hit the mission standard on contacts
and because President Wada changed the requirements to specific "Will
you come to church" or "Will you hear our message" commitments, we are
being Bold as fools. It feels nice at the end of the day when you
really just go for it and do what you can. And obviously it's a bit
hard because we get rejected so often. You'd be amazed at how many
people are Buddhist. Or at least claim to be so you'll stop talking
religion. They are all fantastic people though and rejection and
failure is only a starting point for success. The Japanese people are
great.
Next little thing we got to do this week was go to an all you can
eat place with an Investigator. His name is Nakai Yuuta and he is
progressing quite well. He wants to be baptized but only has a problem
with church because of his job. And going out drinking with friends.
However, he has desire and all we need to do is test his faith. He
loves tennis too and his Favorite player is actually Roger Federer,
haha. I know Dad will love that. He told me how his form is fantastic
and I'm sure my dad would agree hah. He is doing well. We got all you
can eat ice cream with our meal set and we pounded. It was fun.
And on another note about food, we went with the ward to have a
BBQ in Hanno! It was a lot of fun and quite a beautiful area. I have
some good pictures of that and I'll be sure to send them. I expected
it to be quite Japanese and have a lot of random fish stuff (because
they call that a BBQ sometimes). However, besides the Yakisoba, it was
all meat! (and rice)... Chicken, Beef, Steak, you name it. It was
quite manly. The missionaries and Elders Quorum enjoyed it quite a
bit, haha. I loved it. We also, skipped rocks with the little kids and
tossed a football around for a bit. Besides being in a full suit and
nametag, it felt like a sweet regular, man Barbeque. And Yuuta was
able to come and visit with members! It was really good for him. We
all enjoyed it. And that is basically all I have for the week. Talk to
you later

Elder Carlini
カーリニ長老


Me and Elder Hunsaker on a bridge above where we had the BBQ

Subject: Short email
From: Elder ‪Conner Carlini‬‬
Date: ‪Nov 9 at 8:27 PM‬‬
‪‬
‪ Hey, remember how I said to expect 2 sentence emails before I‬‬
‪became a missionary? Hah, yeah it's one of those days. Basically we‬‬
‪had President Interviews and other Missionary stuff this week. Stake‬‬
‪Conference was in Kichijoji so we went there yesterday and the day‬‬
‪before. Got to ride our bikes there in the rain. Pretty fun. And cold.‬‬
‪It's starting to get cold here! How is Utah by the way? Let me know‬‬
‪when the snow starts dumping down haha. Go enjoy some snowboarding! By‬‬
‪the way, something pretty cool is that me and Elder Inagaki are‬‬
‪hitting our 11 Month mark on 11/11. How crazy is that. 11 on 11 11.‬‬
‪Nice.‬‬
‪That's it for now. All is well. Me and Aoki 長老 are seeking more‬‬
‪success each day!‬‬

‪Elder Carlini‬‬
‪カーリニ長老‬‬
‪ed":‬‬

From: Elder ‪Conner Carlini‬
Date: ‪Nov 9 at 8:11 PM‬
Subject: Japanese sneak peak

‪See video part 1 of 2
‪Elder Carlini‬
‪カーリニ長老‬

Conner Carlini
Nov 2 at 11:07 PM
Hey. I'm 21. Pretty crazy how fast life can go by sometimes. Heck,
I still remember looking up to seniors in High School being older and
now I'm on my mission and into my 20's. Anyways, last p day was "the
day" and it went pretty decently. The 6 Elders in this area all met up
and we ate at a little place near the station with hamburger, steak,
and all you can eat rice. It was tasty. Also, I bought some super soft
and comfortable sweats as pajamas, for the winter that's coming up
soon. It's starting to get cold here in Japan as I'm sure Utah is too.
And it's weird to think how when I first came to Japan, it was cold
too! Christmas is just around the corner it seems. And so is my year
mark as a missionary. Dang! Anyways, the unfortunate part of this last
week would have to be that I got sick pretty bad Monday night. I was
fine most all day, but then I got a random burst of a headache and a
sore throat started coming on. So, I ended up being pretty much on my
Futon for the next 3 days. And if you may not know, Japanese medicine
is really weak, haha. They don't have Niquil, and they don't have
Ibuprofen!! So essentially, I didn't get to leave the apartment much
and do a lot of missionary work. However, I did leave for a few key
lessons we had planned this week which went really well! My good man
Nakai Yuuta is wanting to get baptized soon! We're going to have to
help him through keeping some commandments, but he has progressed a
ton since I first met him with Elder Brown. He has truly changed the
way he thinks and his life is starting to change right before his
eyes. It's awesome to be a part of. He also got me a present for my
birthday! He happens to be a huge fan of the brand "Lacoste" and wears
it everytime I've seen him. I've mentioned to him several times how he
looks way cool with his fancy Lacoste stuff. So he got me a Lacoste
wallet that's pretty sweet! He's a good man.
Also, I had the great chance to teach Jamn. He's the guy I
mentioned last week from Bangladesh. He's doing swell. He wanted to
get a Book of Mormon in English from us, and when we gave him it, he
said "alright, before I read this, you gotta tell me what it's all
about." So, we gladly explained the prophets that wrote in the book
and how Christs church was established on the earth. Also, we talked
about the Restoration of course. It was a really great talk and I
think he has sincere desire to find the truth. And he loves Mormons,
so that's a plus. He invited us over next Saturday for homemade Curry
too! Me and Elder Hunsaker are quite excited.
Thanks for the 21st b day story by the way. Good stuff, haha. And
keep on sending the Tony Robbins quotes! I gotta listen to him again
once I'm back. Gotta live up to that potential ya know? Anyways,
that's all I got for now. I'm gonna throw in some Japanese for style
points now.

私は伝道からたくさんを学んでいます。毎週私の人生を助けてくれる何かも学んでいます。
もう私は伝道から祝福を見えるし将来に対してすごく楽しみにしています。
私の家族に感謝して神様からくれたことにも感謝しています。
日本語は超難しいのに一生懸命勉強して頑張りますね。
いつも通り愛していますよ！また来週

Elder Carlini
カーリニ長老