FROM: ELDER CONNER CARLINI
DATE: SEPT. 14, 2015
SUBJECT: AN ACTUAL EMAIL THIS TIME!!

Hello wonderful family and friends! Sorry it's been a couple weeks of not so much emailing, hah. I'll make sure to fill you in on this last week and give you just a quick peek into the missionary life of Elder Carlini. Welcome

(Last) Monday - On this fine day, me and the man Elder Nakamoto went out and hit up some parks and talked with people! We found some great people, but some from not around here, and the others not interested. So unfortunately, things are still a bit dry here in terms of people wanting to learn more. But we are doing our best and trying to find someone new!! Good stuff.
We also went out and did some visits to less active members, inviting them to the special Ward conference we had this Sunday. Wooooh

Tuesday - This is when I sent my "email" last week, but i didn't really give you any information besides that we went to the temple. Yeah! Temple P-day. It was good. We went to TGI Fridays with some fellow missionaries and then at night, me and Elder Nakamoto did some more less active visits and Housing in the area.

Wednesday - On Wednesday we were supposed to have a Zone Blitz with all the missionaries in the Yokohama South zone. BUT we had some straight up Typhoon action coming in and it was cancelled. However, we were still able to go outside and try finding people to talk to, which we did for a bit! We talked with some people for a while, but as you'd expect, people didn't want tostay outside too long, haha. I got some crazy rain videos. Well it's not too crazy...just a lot of big rain, haha. We then had a lesson with Nakamotoさん, the king of Cool. It went well and we finished off the night with English Class. Less people came than usual because of the Typhoon, but it was still a lot of fun!

Thursday - On this fine day, we had only a slight chance to go out and talk with new people, but we found them! It was only a couple down at the bottom of the hill near our apartment, but they were really cool! One was from Cuba and the other was Japanese. We started the conversation in English but then when the Japanese girl asked if we spoke Japanese, we switched right over to that, haha. She was quite surprised. It was a fun conversation. And then we had the long haul of doing Weekly Planning over at the church. Made it through almost all of it, then had a dinner appointment with the new family in our Ward, the Larsens!! The father is American and he's married to a woman from Taiwan. They both speak/can speak Chinese and they're really nice people. It was great to get to know them and we had a delicious meal!

Friday - On Friday, we went to the ever-so-classic, Negishi Park again and had some great weather this time! It's nearing the end of the heat and beginning the slight descent into the Winter season. It's great weather right now. Still Humid, but not so dang hot anymore. Anyways, we started our regular route around Negishi Park and talked with whomever would stop to talk with us. There weren't too many people in the park this day, but then we found this young mate sitting on a bench and reading a book. So we said "hello!" and asked if he came to this park often. That started a nice conversation and we ended up sitting down with him and talking for a good while. He's a really nice kid and he laughed at my jokes. So I like him, haha! Anyways, he said he had some free time that same day, so we scheduled to meet up with him again at the church later in the day. We then proceeded on and did some more housing until District Meeting! We had a nice little District Meeting, and then our boy from the Park (his name is Muuto by the way) showed up at the church! He was able to meet all the missionaries of Yamate and our Zone Leaders from down in Kamiooka. And after we finished up the meeting, we were able to show him around the church and got the chance to teach him the restoration! We weren't really planning on teaching, but after we showed him around and mentioned the Book of Mormon, he said he wouldn't mind if we taught him more about the book. So we taught and testified, and I felt good about it. We then went out and had a little dinner with him nearby. It was a good time. Kind of like the miracle for the week.

Saturday - Unfortunately, on this night, when calling lots of people to invite to the Ward conference and also checking up on some other potentially interested friends, we called up Muuto and it wasn't as I had hoped. I forgot to mention that we gave Muuto a Book of Mormon and also left him with the commitment to try praying, both of which he agreed to and seemed excited about. However, after a nice conversation and asking about what he did today and whatnot, I mentioned/asked about the Book of Mormon and prayer. I wasn't expecting a resounding yes or anything, heck it was only a day later, haha. But, he told me that he hadn't tried and that he doesn't want to learn any more about the church or Jesus Christ...Noooo! The Famine continues... Hah, it made me way sad because I feel like I'm pretty good at at least being friends with the people I meet and through that, help them want to learn more. But he just said that he's alright and that he is "declining" learning more about the church. But he's down to meet again. Hah, dang. We'll see what we can do.
Anyways, that was at the end of the day, but what the most part of the day was me and Elder Lobaccaro being together for splits! It was fun. I had some forms I had to put together and fill out to send to the ward as District Leader, and then we went to do yet another Less Active visit. It was a way creepy place and there were tons of old people drinking beer and smoking, just walking around staring at us as we walked into an almost institution like outdoor building to find the apartment. Haha, it was interesting. We found the apartment, but no one home. Then we had an unexpected but solid visit with our man Kurata at Yamashita Park that ended up with a lesson at the church with the bishop too. As for now...he's back! And hopefully we can teach him till he can help himself out of the hard situation he's in right now. He's having a hard time... Let's get the Gospel to help him!

Sunday - Alright, so this was the Ward Conference, special Sunday I've been mentioning in this letter, and it went great! There were a lot more people at church than usual and the food/meal we had after church was great! We had lots of opportunities to talk with various members and non members, and it went swell. I'm really growing to love a lot more people in this ward. Fantastic. The Missionaries also sang with several ward members during sacrament and that was a cool little musical number. Besides being at the church most of the day and talking with lots of people, that was pretty much it. It was good!

And that's the week!
I have several pictures to send as well so be on the lookout for that too.
Love you all! Byeeee
愛してます！
じゃねー

Elder Carlini
カーリ二長老

FROM: ELDER CONNER CARLINI
DATE: JUNE 21, 2015
SUBJECT: Crazy Week

Shoot. I don't have a whole lot of time, because I'm spending this
fine P-Day with my man Elder Scott who will be leaving next week for
America. Dang does the time fly.
Yeah, so this week was really up and down. I haven't had a week like
this in a while but it slightly reminds me of the early time I had on
the mission. Hahaha, that was hard. Really hard. So yeah.
Anyways, Tuesday was a rough day. I'm not gonna go into much
detail. But sometimes, you just don't want to be a missionary all that
much and the missionary life gets to you. Haha, but it always goes
away. I'm good now.
Wednesday was a lot of fun. I got to go to Kichijoji for an
interpreter training I was invited to, along with Elder Kennedy. That
was awesome. We had lots of fun, learned a lot, and I got to see Elder
Lobaccaro and Elder Moua!! We had a great talk!
Friday, we had a Zone Conference where I got to see my good man
Elder Bates as the new AP!! It was great. Learned a lot and got to
hear Testimonies from some Sisters from my MTC district, and also
Elder Scott.
Saturday. We got to meet with my man from Fujisawa, Toguchi! We
had a nice meal and talked about lots of stuff.
We also met with Kurata several times this week and he is progressing.
He is an awesome guy!

That's it! Byeee
-Elder Carlini

FROM: ELDER CONNER CARLINI
DATE: JUNE 15, 2015
SUBJECT: Yeahhh. Yamate

Alright, I'll try keeping just to the main points here.
We got to meet with our new man Kurata three times this week which was great. He wants to improve his life and is pretty unhappy right now. We have been trying to give him the hope he needs through the Gospel. He seems relatively willing to change. He's just having difficulties with the Book of Mormon and other new information to him. He's a great guy and we love being his friend!
We also met with Kenny this last week!! He is improving bit by bit and said that he could see him "going Mormon" as he put it. Sweet. We just have to help him implement the good of the Gospel teachings and change his life for the better. He is a good guy.
I also happened to hit my 1 Year and a Half mark this Thursday by the way. Today (the 15th) is the "6 months before I return home" mark, but dang, how crazy it is too have already been a full time missionary for now 18 full months. If I was a sister missionary, I would be home in a few weeks...WOW that's too fast!! It's time to go Hard and leave all the good behind that I can here in Japan. I love the Japanese people more than I can explain, and it will be a sad day to leave this great country. Anyways for now, we're doing our best everyday!!
On Friday, I got the awesome opportunity to go back to Kamiooka (my first area) AGAIN and do some missionary work with Elder Murakami on splits. It was great. We met up with and had a great chat with one of my friends throughout the mission, that lives in Kamiooka, and we were happy to see each other. He also told us several times that we have changed the way he looks at the church and Mormons in general. He said his image wasn't all that good before, but now he thinks really good of the church. Sweet! We took a picture to commemorate the good. His name is Toru by the way. Toru!!! I also got to see the Ogawa family again for a nice dinner. They are way funny. I love them. As well as everyone else that knows them loves them, haha.
And on Saturday, me and Elder Belnap had an opportunity to go out, eat, and talk with some new friends that we made while out and about doing the good work. A lot of times when you meet people that don't have much interest, even if you exchange numbers, you don't see them again too often...but these two were different! The Miyura's! They are a way nice couple and they wanted to take us out. So we went, had a way good time, and shared a scripture as well as our testimonies with them. They didn't have like a huge change of heart and desire to hear about the Gospel, but they respected our beliefs and enjoyed hearing them. "Through small and simple things are great works brought to pass" right? Good people nonetheless. Hopefully we can meet again soon!
And lastly, we went over to the Bishops daughters house for a dinner and to give a message to her husband who isn't a member of the church. He was a way cool and funny guy. Pretty quiet, but funny. He said he was happy to have us over and always loves to have missionaries over to talk. Then he asked us if we knew why and we said, hmmm, no, why? Then he told us that because when the missionaries come over, his wife always makes delicious food! Haha, good line. Niiiiiiice. We then shared a simple message with him. He has faith. He'll be alright.
So yeah, that's the visits of the week!
Cool stuff right? There's so much that happens in a week that I hardly believe it. Lots of good people and lots of tough trials. But it all creates an overall great experience for my life from here on out. We can learn from Mistakes just as well as from our success'. And probably even more from mistakes and trials to be honest, haha. Good week overall. Couple of bad days. But yeah! That's it for now. Byeeee

Elder Carlini
カーリ二長老


Me and my man Toru!! He's on the right...not wearing the missionary tag haha

Pictures of the Week... don't think I sent this yet...the sweet glasses


Standing on "The Road of Lights" that lead to Yamate station. And
basically our apartment.

FROM: ELDER CONNER CARLINI
DATE: MAY 31, 2015
SUBJECT: Simple email

Sorry mates, I'm tired and don't want to write a big email today.
Haha, so this is the just of the week.
We were able to meet with Noguchi, a new person we met named
Yoshida, Kenny, Once more again with Kenny and also Jenny, and then
Kambayashi and his 2 co workers.
We are planning to meet more with Kenny and Jenny this week and
change Kennys life around for the best. He's met with missionaries for
quite a while now and we are really good friends with him. He likes
Mormons and he likes what we do. It all depends on his self
commitment. So our plan is to PUMP him UP! And get him motivated for
life. In the picture I'll send wih him he looks way sad and old but I
promise he's a happy guy most of the time, haha. He just doesn't smile
as much in pictures, haha. Anyways, we will help create Kenny 2.0 this
week!!
Also, we got to go,to Questions of the Soul at Kamiooka church this
week. It was way awesome and I got to see the beloved members of my
first area. So nice. So great. And Kambayashi brought his friend to
that so I was able to give him a Book of Mormon and challenge him to
read it! Hopefully we'll see him again. Good man.
And yeah, we had a decent amount of people come to church yesterday
and that was great. Apparently getting people to church has one of the
highest correlation to Baptisms. So we go hard. And yup. Me and Elder
Belnap are doing well. We get along and we love Yamate!!
Hope you have a great week and we'll see ha later. Byeeee

Elder Carlini
カーリ二長老

We offered Mr. Macdonald, who we met randomly sitting on a bench, a
Book of Mormon. He just gave us a blank stare....but better luck next
time

Pictures!! Yamate is just too good.
Me and my companion got a quick pic by the Harbor.


More pictures! P-Day
Me and Elder Scott. The Kings of Landmark Tower...haha


FROM: ELDER CONNER CARLINI
DATE: MAY 25, 2015
SUBJECT: This Week. In Yamate～～～

Shoot! So I actually don't have a lot of time left but I wanna
write the main "goods" of the week. Me and Elder Belnap are working
hard and trying our best to improve hardcore this transfer. We've got
great goals and our sights are set high for this transfer here in
Yamate. The mission just goes by too fast to not have an awesome
transfer!
So yeah, we were able to meet with Kenny, Yuuki Matsuoka, and
Noguchi さん this week and they each went pretty well! Kenny is still a
bit stubborn but it was nice meeting him along with Sister Jenny from
the Ward whom is his good friend. We went out to Sushi and then had a
good talk at his place. I got to explain my story of coming out on a
mission and the little things that lead up to it. It felt good and
Kenny said he really liked what I said because it "came from the
heart". Yeahhhh. Good game.
We also had a great After Baptism lesson with Brother Matsuoka who
was baptized a few months ago (before I got here) and that went well.
Brother Oba joined in with us and we had a really awesome chat about
service. It's really important to serve others because it helps us to
forgot about our problems a little bit and feel more worth as we give
our talents and use our strengths for good use. So yeah, since he's
been going through some tough stuff lately, we invited him to try and
serve others and that through that he could feel more peace.
Alright I have like no time left but on Saturday we had the great
chance to finally get out there and talk with lots of different people
in the parks around here with the beautiful views! We talked with an
older man by himself sitting on a kind of bench, and then his son in
law came over and we talked with him too! Eventually, the older mans
wife and daughter showed up and we had a great yet unexpected chat
with 4 people! They were all really nice. I love the people here in
Japan. We ended up getting the guys phone number and hopefully plan to
meet again for at least a dinner outing or something. They said they
weren't too interested in the church but they really liked us so it
was a good chance to leave them with a good impression of the church!
Yup.
Then lastly, we found that there was a "Belgium Beer Festival"
going on in one of the parks we were walking through and there were
tons of people! Haha, we couldn't tell if it was a terrible place to
talk with people or just the right place. Anyways, we stayed on the
outside edge of it as we walked towards the other end of the park and
actually met a couple of cool guys. One was American and the other was
Swedish but yeah, it was good talking to them. Funny people. There's a
lot of foreigners here actually so we get our fair share of chances to
talk with them.
Yeah, so I gotta go now but that was some of the good points of the
week! We'll talk to you later friends! Enjoy the week!!

バイバイ〜
愛してます！

Elder Carlini
カーリ二長老

I can't remember if I already sent these 2 but this shirt is way
sweet! Donkey Kong!!

Toru is a bro for life, haha

FROM: ELDER CONNER CARLINI
DATE: MAY 18, 2015
SUBJECT: Transfers?!?!

Hahah, don't worry I'm staying in Yamate.
Yeahhh, so they changed up the Transfer schedule and we got our
transfer announcement on Saturday, and then the changes all happened
on Monday (yesterday for us). So it's crazy stuff yo. Luckily I am
remaining in this great area of Yamate, and actually I got a new
companion for this transfer. His name is Elder Belnap and he is a
young buck. Straight Sent from my iPad
And as for this last week, to be honest, the only thing I'm
remembering is going on splits in Kamiooka!! I got to go back down to
the first area I lived in in Japan and have a great time with Zone
Leader, Elder Shurilla, proselyting. It was fantastic. I was able to
call old friends from there and actually be able to speak with them
and we set up appointments! So I got to meet with my good man Toru and
Peace at Basketball, and also the Awesome Ogawa family! It was so good
to see them again. Of course, it's still great to be in Yamate and the
Ward here is really great as well. So yeah, I have pictures of the fun
events down there. Oh and I got to see my Ward Mission Leader from
Kamiooka who is the greatest guy ever! He got married and had a kid
while I was away, haha, so I got to see his new little baby boy while
I was there. Good stuff.
Anyways, we had the chance to meet with some more great people on
Yamate like Edward and Kenny (both of whom are Japanese...but speak
fluent English as well). And also our main man Nakamoto! He is a
really nice older gentleman that doesn't understand the concept of a
God, but thinks it really is better to believe in God because it helps
us in life. Perfect mind set. What a great guy! I'll have to snag a
picture with him this next week. Also, I'll send a quick picture of me
and my new companion.

Well, that's about all I got. I have pictures so I'll send those too, hah.
Love you!

「もっと簡単な生活をできるように祈らず、もっと強い人間になれるように祈りなさい。」

-ジェイ エフ ケイーだね
Elder Carlini
カーリ二長老


Me and my new companion.


From my Split in Kamiooka! The Basketball crew!

Pictures from this week

FROM: ELDER CONNER CARLINI
DATE: MAY 6, 2015
SUBJECT: A Great Week

Heyyyy, how about that Wednesday P-Day!! Yeah, so I think I mentioned it in my last e mail...but we had a big "Yamate Open House" of the church pretty much all day on Monday and Tuesday (yesterday), so we got our P-day switched to Wednesday so we could get some things done. Anyways, this last week was truly a great week and we had the opportunity to meet with some great people! So let's jump into the good!
First off, we were pretty busy with a few things (including setting up for the Open House event) and almost weren't able to meet with our man Kenny. However, we found just a little bit of time and he wanted to take us out to see a sweet view from where he worked! He works with exporting cars on ships and so it was a really cool view from off the main land of Yokohama that not many people get to see. We had a nice chat with him there and we ended of with a great prayer by him. He has known of the church for a pretty long time and I wouldn't say he's progressing by leaps and bounds. But little by little, we hope to increase his faith.
The next cool happening was on Thursday right at the end of our weekly planning at the church. We left the doors wide open to the church just in case any one wanted to come inside and check it out! (Because it's right along a road and looks like a really nice building/has a monument) so, no one really came in for most all of the time we were there, however, right before we cleaned up our stuff to head out, a couple came in and asked if they could check out upstairs. We said, "Yeah of course! Let's go check it out!" So we first talked with them for a while and got to know each other and explained what we do as missionaries. They had only been in a church once before and it was during the Christmas season. So we showed them around a bit and then all went to the chapel. It's pretty quiet up there and it really helps to feel the peace that can be felt there. We explained what goes on each week at church and how it's really helped us out in lives, and invited them to come. Unfortunately they don't live around here and can't come every week all the way out to Yamate. But, I'm glad we got to meet them and I believe we've at least left them with a better image of missionaries and religion in general. It was a way good time just talking and loving these great people! Japan is a good place.
Also, we had the chance to take Narusawaさん to Hakuraku this Friday for an event called "Questions of the Soul" that President Wada does a couple times a month throughout the mission. This one was on Seizing the Day and taking a chance on the Gospel essentially. I've seen the little video clips he showed before but this time it really got to me. I learned from what we watched, that we really only have a short amount of time on earth and in each phase of our life. Heck, I'm 21 right now (which feels old for me) and I'm sure I'll think that's young in just the blink of an eye. So it really comes down to "Seizing the Day" everyday, and going for what we really want in life because if we don't do it right now, then the chance will be gone before we know it. And I testify that God doesn't want us to hold back and be comfortable with where we are, but rather, wants us to go for our dreams and be the best that we can be. I'm gonna do my best to improve and be happy with each day of my mission, and I can not wait to get home and go for my dreams and accomplish more of the Potential, that I have within me. I hope you all do the same. 😄
Yeahhh! And this week I had a first of my mission. And that would be, the first person I Baptized! I've been a part of a few baptisms and have taught some people who end up being baptized but I never had the opportunity to be the person doing the baptism. So even though it really doesn't matter who does the actual ordinance...I'm still glad I got to do one! My man Toguchi got baptized this last Saturday and it was a great program. I hadn't seen him in a while and he's from Fujisawa by the way. I only got to stay there for 1 transfer, but in that transfer we met and taught him several times, as well as when I left the area, we talked on the phone about things. So finally the day came when he decided he would be baptized and it was great. I got to see several people I met in Fujisawa area and we all had a good time. However, because the Yokohama Stake had "Stake Conference" this weekend, we had to leave soon after the Baptismal service and train over to Hakuraku where the next fantastic event happened!
So, the stake conference itself wasn't totally mind-blowing or anything. Although President Wada (My Mission President) spoke and had some funny words to say. It wasn't until after the meeting ended that I realized that because I am in the same stake as my first area Kamiooka, that there were a bunch of Ward members from the Ward there!!! Oh my gosh I don't know if I've been that happy to see other Ward members that much in my life. It was wonderful! I got to see wonderful families and great people that I knew, but could hardly talk to at the time I was there. And it was amazing being able to finally communicate so much better with them now that I've lived in Japan for over a year! I got to see the awesome Ogawa family and for the first time ever, I understood words that came out of their 11 year old daughters mouth....haha! She's way funny and speaks super fast all the time so I never knew what the heck she was saying. But this time, I could actually understand. I'm no where near awesome at Japanese, and I have a long way to go before reaching where I truly want to be....but that was a moment that really let me know how far I've come. What a wonderful experience!
So yeah, that was probably the best day of the week right there. Like I said, these last two days we had the open house of Yamate church and we handed out a whole ton of flyers to people all over Yamate. Everyone who helped and was stationed outside got pretty sunburnt, but it was great weather I'd say! No pain, no success. We walked along the harbor and talked with a whole bunch of people from all over. And we also had the chance to stay in the church building yesterday and lead people through/talk with them about the church. It was pretty fun. I'm glad I got to be a part of it.
Annnnnd yeah that's the highlight of this last week.
You have a good one now.
Byeeee

Elder Carlini
カーリ二長老

By the way, our p day next week will be on Wednesday here in Japan
because we are doing an Open House of the Church during most of the
day on Monday and Tuesday. Also, Mother's Day calls are coming up on
the 10th!!

Heyyyy, not much time to write/I can't remember much of last week!
But yeah, we met with 3 NEW people this week and 2 of them we have
plans with to continue meeting!!! We also had a zone meeting this week
and it's good to be in Yokohama! I got to return to the area I was
born in (as a missionary) and we had the meeting inside the church! It
was crazy to be there again because it had been a full year since
entering that church and as a very young missionary.
Also, we visited Less Actives this week and plan to do several
more throughout the week! We haven't had any great success yet, but we
know that we'll find the less actives that need our help the most and
help them in someway! I've had plenty of less active visits where they
weren't home or didn't live where we thought they did, but I've also
had several great ones that make up for it all! We're seeking that
success with one of these great ward members! We just gotta find them!
Anyways, things are going pretty good. We went to the temple and that
was nice. It's crazy how fast the transfer time flies because we're
already half-way through this one! No time to waste. Time just doesn't
stop for us, haha. Yup, so have a good week and send a quick email
when you have a second. I will cherish your words....haha, yeah bye!

Elder Carlini
カーリ二長老

この人生は全ての日が貴重であるべきだ。
なぜこういうことを書いているか…😐😐😐


The Yokohama Crew. Zone Meeting

MORE PICS


Awesome view from our apartment of Landmark Tower. The clouds looked fantastic.



View from Osanbashi 大桟橋


America



We had a nice chat with Solomon over here and decided we needed a picture to commemorate. He's a funny guy

FROM: ELDER CONNER CARLINI
DATE: APRIL 20, 2015
SUBJECT: Yamate Life

Hello everyone! This week had its ups and downs, but overall I had
a pretty solid week full of new experiences and living in beautiful
Yamate! So let's just jump into the main things and see what happened.
So to start off the week (last Monday night), I got to talk on the
phone with my man Toguchi!! If you don't remember, me and my companion
Elder Fenton met him in Fujisawa when I was there a few months ago. He
was an awesome guy from Okinawa and he wanted to learn about the
Gospel from us, so we met with him each week. Anyways, since I moved
away from Fujisawa so quickly, we had talked on the phone several
times and I've been checking in to see how he's doing and if he has
any questions about the church for me. He has always been progressing
bit by bit, but then in our latest call, he told me he wanted to be
baptized! And he wanted to call and ask if I could be there, and to
maybe baptize him! So that was a great phone call and I'm excited to
find out when he officially decides to receive baptism. We had a
little chat about all of that, and then we were just able to talk
about life and what he's been up to for like 45 minutes. It was a
great way to end a day. And I've finally realized that I can speak
just a bit of Japanese, and be able to have a solid conversation with
a good friend of mine in Japan. The language struggle is real. But I'm
so happy for how far I've come since entering the MTC over a year ago.
Dang.
Next, I had my interview with the Mission Pres himself, President
Wada. It's my first in Yamate and I told him how happy I was to be
hear and asked for how I could help out both my companion and the
area. I was given some very specific instructions on what he wants
done and I am ready to make this transfer and all coming transfers
better than ever before. The thing that stuck out in my mind the most
were the words "Lift up Yamate" and then he explained how it could be
done. So I'm quite excited to do my best while here and hopefully in
the end, be able to "Lift up Yamate". Good stuff.
And actually on that same day, I got the great opportunity to work
with one of our "Traveling Assistants" in the mission, Elder Connell!!
We lived in the same apartment in Fujisawa and he's a good guy. We
were able to talk to lots of people and meet up with a former
investigator and make him into an active investigator again! His name
is Kenny and he's crazy. But I love him. He is 3/4ths Japanese but is
completely fluent in English, as well as Japanese. He is good friends
with lots of the missionaries, and is also very, very, Christian. He
just loves the fact of being a non-denominational church kind of guy
and doesn't really want to believe in "one church". He's a really nice
guy and he's had some wild experiences in his life, but from here we
are planning to hunker down on the importance of the Restoration and
Prophet Joseph Smith. Of course along with the Book of Mormon. Through
that, we think he can find himself a testimony and understand that
it's not a set-back to believing only in one church, but a way to
discover his true purpose in this life and stuff. Yeah, deep right?
Yeahhhh, so on Wenesday we had a fun little District Leader
training in Kichijoji which is where our mission headquarters are. It
holds a dear place in all of the missionaries hearts here, because
that is where we are all "born" as missionaries, haha. It's like our
home in Japan essentially. So yeah, the District Leader conference
went well and I got to see some friends that were also invited to it.
Only about 10-15 people in total. But yeah, I'm not a District Leader
at the moment, so maybe I will become one again soon since I have been
"trained" again, haha. Good stuff. And also because we were all hungry
afterwards and it was lunch time, we went to a restaurant on the ever
so famous "Sun Road". But this time we went to a place I had never
been too, but just knew about. It's a little Hawaiian restaurant that
has a Huge Burger along with a Kilo of French fries on the side that
you can order....yeah...I got that. I ate it. And I was in pain...but
hey! That's what missionaries do! Or at least 21 year old Men. Haha
Next! I got a call from my last area, Machida, and was asked about
an investigator that we had there named Suzuki. I didn't feel like I
helped a ton, but apparently he was very sad to find out that I was
gone. So I gave him a call, and in the end, I got to do a lesson
through Skype along with the Machida Elders teaching him! It was fun,
and good to see that Suzuki was doing well! Also good to know that I
was missed in Machida even though I was only there for about a month
and a half too! Yeahhh, good man.
Lastly, me and Elder Taylor got to go on a little American Base
here in Yamate! It was funny because we heard there was something
going on in a nearby park the other day and figured we would go check
it out and try to talk with some people there. So we started this
conversation with a guy right as we were entering the park and he said
that this American base was opening up to the public for the day so
that they could walk around and see what's inside. They called it
"Friendship Day". It was a kind of event to help build relations
between the people on base and Japan. Cool cool. We ended up talking
with that guy for a bit and he jumped in line to enter the base, so we
joined right in and walked around a bit! He was a real nice guy and he
was taking some sweet pictures with a real nice camera, haha. We
exchanged emails and he said he'd send us the pictures he took. We
told him he should come to the church sometime and check it out, cause
it's a beautiful building. And the teachings are great too, haha.
Yooooo
Anyways, that's my best attempt of putting this week into words.
There's so many things that go on as a missionary that you'll just
have to ask me when I get home, haha. Yeah, so I'm still loving
Yokohama, and I've been having a blast talking with all the wonderful
people here. We truly are blessed to be in this area. Good stuff!! And
that's it!
Have a Good week friends

神様はいいよ。いつでも。
- ケニー さん

Elder Carlini
カーリ二長老


The Huge Burger and fries from "Pupukea"
The "Kiloaia"