Yooooo, what's up family and friends. Sorry about last weeks
email. The time goes by too dang quick here. And speaking of that, I
only have about 30 minutes to explain my week and send a bunch of
pictures! So let's get started shall we?
So yeah, me and Elder Brown moved into the newer apartment last
Monday which was fun. We moved in with our Zone Leader and District
Leader because President Wada wants them to live with the normal
missionaries too, instead of just a 2 man. SO, we now live with the
Great Elder Scott and An Elder Huntsman. They are both awesome. I've
known them both a bit for some time now but living with them is a
whole new experience....And I love it! All 4 of us have been having a
great time together and really going out to do Missionary Work
hardcore. It puts a whole new spin on Missionary life when you really
enjoy living with all the Elders in an apartment. Not saying my other
apartments were bad....but just a lot more...un talkative. So now
we're having a blast eating "Fancy" (Missionary) Dinners together and
talking about the world and our thoughts. It really is a fantastic
change. The apartment is really nice too. It was the sisters old
apartment, which means they got an even nicer one, but it still rocks.
Nice and cool inside. And speaking of that, it is quite hot here in
Japan. Not even so much of a burning heat, but a sweltering one.
Sweating for days in white shirts and ties my friends. Spreading the
Gospel to anyone crazy enough to walk around out here. And we're
having fun doing it!
Alrighty, let's go over the weeks stuffs real quick. I got to go
on a split with Elder Huntsman this week and it was great. We get
along well and had a good amount of success in the day. It's also just
nice to talk to different people sometimes too. On that split we did a
thing called a 模擬 (Mogi), which just means that we practiced a lesson
to someone who isn't taking lessons (and is usually a Member), so that
was fun. He played a really hard type of Investigator by telling us
that he was fine with his life and that he didn't see any need for God
or religion. He was happy, and didn't see a reason to pray to a God
for any help. So this got me thinking a bit. Sometimes, our lives are
fine. We're happy, and because we're human, we like to do whatever we
want sometimes. We start to lose sight of why we need god, and how he
can help us if we don't feel like we need help. The reason to follow
gods teachings should not always be to get yourself out of a rut when
you're down, or push you through he hard times when they come. But it
should be to live a better life then you would be without following
any commandments. Or just Gods teachings for that matter. For example,
Charity. Without knowing how incredible of an attribute it is, and
seeing how much God wants us to have Charity, we may never desire or
strive to have any. But through the things we learn about God, we can
become better people and strive to improve our lives in a way that's
pleasing to both Us and God. We can be happier with the Teachings of
God and I know that. Don't follow things because you have to. Follow
it because you know you're a better person with it. Constantly improve
and step up your game. I've learned a lot on the mission that goals
and progression is what makes life worth living. And when we set out
to achieve those goals, we become better people and can find that
happiness within us. It's in all of us. We just have to choose to have
it. Be Happier this week, mates. You can create yourself. Annnnnd,
picture time. Love You

Elder Carlini
カーリニ長老

I have a total of Zero time to write today! I'm quite sorrowful. But
yeah, we had a kind of sudden move into a new apartment today so that
took a lot of time! It's really awesome though! We just moved in with
the District and Zone Leader (who are both great) and didn't know it
was happening till Saturday night. Yup, sorry no more time! Love you
all! I'm doing fine!
Sorry Brookie, this email will be better next week! Haha, Byeee

King Elder Carlini
カーリニ長老様です。。

Hello mates. It's good to have friends to write to because
sometimes it's easy to feel alone in little Tokyo. But besides that I
had a week full of, well not really full of, but I had some new
experiences. Let's jump right in. First of all, as I said in my last
email, I am training this transfer. It's totally different and even
though I was the Senior companion last transfer as well, it's got a
different feeling when you're with someone who is experiencing Japan
and the mission lifestyle for the first time ever. My last companion
was Japanese and he was transfer 2 so just a little different feeling
to it.

So, I got to go to the Honbu (our mission headquarters) and
have a couple delightful meals made by sister Wada. She is fantastic.
And she made French toast and pancakes for breakfast so it was quite
tasty. It was crazy being a legit trainer for the first time because
when you walk in and see all these new Elders, you have no idea which
one could be your companion. And they all look up to you because they
think you know exactly what you're doing. Which is pretty funny, haha.
So it was a way cool experience going in and talking to friends from
other areas that are training as well, and getting a feel of some of
the Bean-chans (transfer 1 missionaries). Anyways, we went with the
trainees to all the regular introduction meetings and before long, we
had the big "who's your trainer" announcement. It gets pretty intense
because the trainer (which was me this time) gets there face put up on
the screen first, and then the companion gets placed with them. So I
stood tall, acting like I was ready to hit the streets of Japan. And
the verdict was....an Elder Brown! He is a cool guy and is from
Spanish Fork Utah (which is way close). So that was cool. We talked
for a bit about missionary work and hobbies, and then had lunch. It
was rice with some kind of stew and some fancy toppings. It was great
because since I like that now, I ate it and "surprised" a bunch of
people who knew how bad I was at eating before. Even President and
Sister Wada were excited that I was eating. So that was funny.

Hmmm, it's been really stressful teaching this new Missionary all
he needs to know about the Mission field because even though I'm only
transfer 5, I can't remember what I didn't know back then, hah. So
sometimes I might assume he knows something because basically everyone
does. But I have to remember that almost everything he does with me in
missionary work, it's his first time ever doing that. Crazy
responsibility. I can't leave him hangin. Hehe.

Yeahh, so the other thing that happened this week was my first
Matsuri! That is, a festival. And more specifically, a summer festival!
Cause it's way hot. Luckily I snagged a quick video because it really was
a cool experience. Don't you worry, I'll send it right over. And that's all I
have time for for now. That movie you said that came out (with Tom
Cruise!) sounds way sweet. I'll have to add it to my list..don't ask
too many questions. But that will be way fun watching all these movies
with you guys when I get home! I love my family. Good set of people
right there. Bye

もし映画を絶対見たければぜひ尋ねて行こう！

- Carlini

Yup, so I only have about 15 minutes so I'll try to write quickly.
I am Training a fresh missionary this next transfer. I'm pretty
nervous to be quite honest, because I have no idea what to expect.
He could be a super good guy or an unbearable companion. I don't
know whether he'll be Japanese or American either. All I know is
that he has no real experience as a missionary in the field, and I
have to hopefully teach him well. And since I've been in the area
for only one transfer and honestly didn't see much success,
I'm gonna have to pray I can lead him well.

So, since I don't have much time, I'll try to answer some questions.
First off all....this wasn't a good week. A lot of feeling down and
not much success. Although we did have a baptism, I didn't feel like
I did much, and I put some stress on the ward by not preparing them
all that well for it. I won't go into much detail but yeah, I've been
down lately. The mission really puts you through a lot. I just hope
to come out better on the other side.

I'm glad you liked the rainy video and I actually have another
one. We had a little river outside our apartment basically haha. So
that was a kind of a funny night. Oh, so the baptism we had was
started by other Elders, but Kiyu didn't exactly have any interest in
doing lessons so he kind of got switched to a "love him and not teach
yet" kind of area. Until we got to teach him. And since Elder
Nishidome is Japanese, we had the flawless communication on our side.
Kiyu is a way crazy kid, but we were able to get around to him and he
was baptized just yesterday. I'm glad you see progression cause it's
near impossible to see in the midst of things out here. I've been in a
big slump for the transfer but I'm going to let it all fly and leave
my worries behind to get out of it. I'm sick of feeling sorry for my
weaknesses. So I'm gonna make this transfer good.

I plan on going wild with enthusiasm next transfer and leaving my mark
on the places I go (in a good way). I don't want to fall into the
background and be "just another Missionary". It's time to Shine. Talk
to you next week.

Carlini 長老日本語の勉強することは難しい。泣きたいだよ

Hey! Transfer Calls are next week!

Always a crazy time in the mission field when you get a new transfer
call. Even though I could be staying in the same place with the same
comp, I also could be moving to Kofu (most South of mission) and
training a brand new missionary. So yeah, I should have the news next
p day. Hmm, to be honest not too much happened that I can remember. I
went on splits with our District Leader and that was a lot of fun. We
did really well together and it helped get my spirits up a bit. It was
also just really nice talking about whatever. The "downside" to having
a native Japanese speaker as a companion is that you can't really
express your thoughts well enough to them, and they haven't seen
movies, listened to music, or been to the same places as you usually.
So it's kind of hard to relate sometimes. However, we've also had the
great opportunity of teaching a kid named Kiyu recently. And things
with him progressed quickly. He has now been taught everything, had
his interview, and should be getting baptized this Sunday, so that's
exciting. He's a wayy crazy kid and in a pretty "different" situation
because he's only 9 years old. His guardian (His Grandpa) is a member
but not all there if ya know what I mean. And Kiyu's parents have kind
of a really unfortunate story behind it so I won't go into that now.
He's a very happy kid actually and he is as wild and energetic as
Cosmo (our dog). He also kicked me in the nuts if you wanted to know
that. It hurt pretty dang bad.

But anyways, the other cool thing you could say we had was a
District Lunch. So after our district meeting we all went together for
some Indonesian Curry which is my favorite now. That and the giant Nan
it comes with (all you can eat). So that was fun.. So I've been
thinking a lot about getting motivated and trying to be a great
missionary while I'm out here. It's not so much about just doing the
work and succeeding or failing. But it's being happy with what you're
doing regardless, I feel like. Usually not too much of a problem when
there's a lot of success, but when you Fail a bunch and have no
success, it makes you not even want to go out to find. Also, this is a
hard place to find anyone. Even the District Leader said it was the
hardest place he's done missionary work in. So yeah, just gotta keep
trying and improving. Yup, so, sorry there's not too much to report
on. I got a funny but random video of the rain that comes sometimes.
It's normally like this all rainy season but now it's supposed to be
switching to the heat. Which is hot. I sweat. A bunch. Bye bye!

Carlini 長老日本語の勉強することは難しい。泣きたいだよ

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

Sorry I don't have any more time today. I hope you like the videos. I
send them so you can see the good times. As you probably know, there
are a lot of rough times on the mission. So it's good to enjoy the
happy times! Remember when things get you down, it'll eventually get
better. Just rely on The Lord and do whatever you can to improve
yourself rather then digging a deeper hole. I love you and sorry I
don't talk about investigators a lot Mom. We actually have none right
now. Kind of in a slump. We're doing what we can.

Carlini 長老