Subject: "Round 2"
You may or may not understand the meaning of this title, so let
me enlighten you my good friends and family. I am TRAINING again!! So
now that I just finished up the first 6 weeks of my companions Mission
experience, I'm doing it again. So let's hope he enjoys the heck out
of it, cause I sure will! I have been trying to take on a whole new
light to the mission life, and regular life for that matter. I'm only
about 9 months into my mission (wow that goes fast.) but I'm already
incredibly grateful for the things I've learned out here. And the
crazy thing is that it's mostly not even spiritual stuff or things you
only do on a mission, but straight up life habits and views that I can
use to live even happier when I return. Exciting stuff.
Well, there's not too much to write about for this week except
for the fact that, yup, I am going to be Training a Brand New
Missionary starting this Thursday. Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention
that I will be staying in Hibarigaoka with the awesome roommates that
are Elder Scott and Elder Huntsman (who are staying together this
transfer). Also, Elder Brown will be moving to Kanagawa in the
Yokohama North zone. I loved Yokohama. But of course I'm still excited
to stay here with our great zone as well. Hmm, from there I will
quickly talk about Nakai Yuuta, who is our main Investigator at the
moment. He has been doing very well and he really wants to improve his
life which is awesome. He has been working at a Sushi Place near
Shakujikoen that he doesn't really like. And he works every Sunday
because it's the busiest day. However, he has an interview TONIGHT for
a new job that could get work off Sundays and he could come to church!
And he is very interested in church. He loved seeing it for his first
time ever and getting to go inside was great he said. I think he will
really love church once he meets the members and sees exactly what
it's like because I think it's perfect for him. He wants to help
people out in his career too and says that he thinks about religion a
good amount now. He is a very deep thinker. We got to play ping pong
today with him and I love showing him how happy we can be just because
we want to. Good man.
And that's about it for the week. I'll have a new companion fresh
off the plane by next P day and it'll be another little journey this
transfer. And the best thing is that I get to have Sister Wada's great
cooking again at the Mission Office! That's the great thing about
training, haha.

Have a Great week. That was a command.
Haha

Elder Carlini
カーリニ長老

Subject:久しぶりですね


Hello family and friends! Sorry I haven't written a letter for a
bit now. I ran out of time last week and this week was Temple P day so
I am writing it on Tuesday over here. Well let's see, first of all,
this transfer has gone by incredibly fast. Next Monday we will be
receiving our transfer calls and I could be staying or transferring to
anywhere in the mission. It's always crazy to think about the goals
and thoughts about a transfer right when it begins, and then seeing it
end so quickly. Although the transfer isn't over yet, I am pretty
happy with it. Me and Elder Brown have had some fun and it's been
awesome living in the apartment with Elder Scott and Elder Huntsman.
Fun talks and fun missionary work. Although this area has been a
little rough on me on account of the lack of people we find, I have
been Happy and looking forward to improvement in my life. It's truly
an eye opening experience out on the mission because there are so many
things that you could never really feel anywhere else. But I think
I've grown immensely because of it and am glad to have learned the
things I have so far. And it's not over yet! More terrible times to
come, and more knowledge to obtain through those experiences.
So, even though I can't remember a lot of details of what's
happened the last couple weeks (because it goes by so quickly) I'll
just try to say the things I do remember. The main thing me and Elder
Brown have done would have to be finding an actual investigator. He's
not blooming up in the Gospel or ready with a baptismal date yet, but
he is a genuinely good guy and I feel for him. I see him and where he
is in his life now, and I just wanna make him a happier person. His
name is Nakai 中井 Yuuta 勇太 and he is a pretty average 22 year old
Japanese guy. He just moved to an area pretty near us (Shakujikoen)
and he has a job making/serving sushi. He works quite a lot and
doesn't like his job much. He just has the basic struggles of what
could make him happy in life and doesn't seem to have a ton of
direction. He hasn't told us about any specifically hard trials in his
life but he realizes that there are people that get so depressed about
life that they do bad things to themselves. Obviously he doesn't want
that, and so he wants to make sure he doesn't get to unhappy about his
situation. And we've talked quite a bit about that with him and how
it's terrible how life can just take us down sometimes. He doesn't
believe in a God right now and says that he has never really though
about it before. He has also told us that he can't believe in
something he cannot see. However, we taught him about prayer and being
thankful for the things we do have and he's told us it makes him a lot
happier. We told him to ask God for help when he needs it too, and
hope that he can feel the spirit and feel more comfort in a time of
need.
So that's who we've been trying to work with lately but he's a
super busy guy. I am excited for what the future brings though, and I
hope to at least improve his happiness/direction in life because joy
is the eternal goal right? "men are, that they might have joy". That's
a good little scripture. Anyways, I think that's all I'll say for now.
We did some service in the pouring rain yesterday and that was fun.
Haha.

And just remember that even when we make a big mistake or fall into a
terrible situation, we have two options. We can let it keep us down
and fail to improve. Or we can realize that it's now happened and we
cannot change the past, so live to improve from where you are.

Until next week!
Elder Carlini
カーリニ長老

Talked to some really cool kids on the train for like 25 minutes on
our way back from Presidents Interviews! Talked about how I was happy
and loving Japan, then how they could come to the church to see what's
it's all about. Really fun Conversation

I bought and gave a Root Beer to an English Class student who hadn't
had it for 30 years! He used to live in America a long time ago and
remembered it tasting really good. So when he had it again he said he
loved it! Converting people one Delicious soda at a time, right?

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