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

Hello Family and friends! Hope you're all having an awesome time doing
whatever you're doing. So even though this email is going to many
people, it'll be responding to the questions that Papa Carlini sent in
his email to me. Anyways, as you know, I got a new companion and moved
int a new area. My companion is Japanese and doesn't speak much
English. So that being said, questions.

Yeah so my first week has been slightly dull actually. Not too
much going on and just living the missionary life. This place is so
much different from my last area that I'm not sure what to think.
Anyways, having a Japanese companion is good but also really
difficult. I always thought it would be the best for my Japanese to be
with someone 24 7 that speaks fluently. And although I still believe
this to be the case, it's also very discouraging. There are many ups
and downs in a mission and one specifically is the language. Some days
you feel great and really love how much you can speak to someone. And
then the next second you can't put a solid sentence together to save
your life. So being with a Japanese person has just made those
intervals even shorter. Sometimes I can say a bunch of things in a row
that make sense to him and get my point across. But then many more
times, I realize that I can hardly say anything that I really want to,
and it makes me feel terrible that I can't even communicate with my
own companion. So the struggle is real, but it's basically 仕方がない
(can't be helped) at this point. I study whenever I have some time and
I wake up earlier then the normal 6:30 everyday to study some more. It
really gets me down when I can't speak.. It's terrible. But as time
goes on, I'm sure I'll improve.

Hmm, new area is just okay for now, but the Elders I live with
are cool guys. We are in another 4 man apartment and we have the
Privelege of living with a total of 2 Japanese Elders. So it's my
Companion, and then Elder Crandalls companion. Me and elder Crandall
are the Senpai and are both training right now. The last Elder is
Menzawa 長老. He is fresh off the train at Transfer 1 and he's a cool
guy. He's still wanting to go back home at this point though so we're
trying to push him through it. He'll be alright. Also, we as a
District are teaching a lot of people right now and have 3 baptisms
coming up soon! I'm not sure if that sounds crazy or not but in Japan,
it's pretty insane. Me and Elder Nishidome just opened up the new
Hibarigaoka C Elders slot so technically we have nothing yet. Just
trying to find and teach at this point. However, we like to teach the
other Investigators we have right now too because the District Leader
thinks it's a great opportunity to meet more People of the Church.

That's way sweet that Dimitrov is doing well. He always had such
a cool name and playstyle. I pass by these nice indoor tennis courts
now and then here and it makes me want to play tennis way bad! It'll
be a good thing to get back into when I return right? Also Raquetball,
because that is awesome. Speaking of sports with Raquet type things,
we played some ping pong with non members and soon to be members the
other night at the church. As expected, most people play ping pong
here and are pretty dang good. There's a guy called Nakamura-San here
that has like a $100 paddle. He's pretty good, but I've actually been
able to beat up on him a bit. My skills have not yet faded my friends.
I was basically beating every one I played so that was cool. Haha, the
Japan vibe just automatically enhances ping pong skills I guess.

Alright so I have hardly any time now but real quick, no, the
bike with the huge tires wasn't an Elders. We just found it outside
Costco and thought it was sweet. Then the Scanners! Yeah I'm gonna
send a quick video about that too just to slightly explain it. They
are way sweet. They have them in every single train station to scan
your Suica card. So yeah. Not much else to put. I'll send a couple
extra pics too so until next week. またね！

- Carlini 長老

What's up my mates. I hope everyone is doing swell in the states.
So yeah, I got kicked out of good old Kamiooka and put into
Hibarigaoka this week. It was a big change seeing as Kamiooka is the
land of hills in the Yokohama Zone, and Hibarigaoka is allll flat and
up north in the Musashino Zone. I miss Yokohama and the awesome people
I met there, but hopefully new and great things await me here in the
North. It was more sad then I thought leaving everything behind in
Yokohama. Last transfer was for sure my best one yet. I left the
hills, the people, and The Bunks (Elder Bunker, my last companion).
And on the last day at 英会話 (English Class) I took a lot of pictures
with students and a couple ward members that made me realize that I
may actually be missed as I left. They thanked me a lot for being
their teacher and a friend. It was a great experience and I love the
Japanese people.
Anyways, I've only been here in Hibarigaoka for a few days now
and it's very different. The apartment isn't bad and we have a couple
cool places around here. But it's not like Yokohama. Our Futons are
nice and fluffy and that's definitely a good change from the Kamiooka
apartment. Also, the new companion is a big change. Having someone
who is Japanese and doesn't speak much English is already showing how
tough the transfer may become. But it's a good thing for sure. It just
makes me realize even more so how much there is to this language that
I can't communicate yet. But on the contrary, I'm definitely speaking
more Japanese in a day then I ever had before. Crazy crazy. Hmm, so
far I've only met a few ward members but they are all incredibly nice.
I think that will be one thing that I can rely on in each area. It's
that you can always find incredible people in the ward, and good
friends outside of it too. I hope to improve a lot this transfer and
hopefully do a decent job training Elder Nishidome. He is a good man.
Not much else this week except pictures and a video I think. Got a
little apartment tour for ya, hah

いつも神様があなたを助けってくれると覚えて下さい。悪い気持ちを持っていっても祈ることが出来て彼から導きを受けられます。
Trans. - Always remember that God will help you. Even if you feel bad,
you can pray and receive guidance from him.

Love from Japan, Carlini 長老

Alright, so here is the jist of this week. First off, I can't
even believe that this transfer is over now because it was sooo fast!
Also, I'm going to be a transfer 4. That is a fourth of the way done
with my mission friends. I have been out for just over 6 months now
and dang does time fly! Usually...

Unfortunately I got a bit sick this week and I've been pushing through
it for the most part. My throat has been killing me and my body
doesn't want to do a whole lot. But at least I made it to the last
P-Day of the transfer and it was well worth it as you can see.
However, I'm going to be resting up a bit for the next couple of days
(with permission from the President of course) and...packing? Yup,
that's right, I'm getting transferred! This will be the first time
moving to another area. It has been a great time here in Kamiooka and
I will really really miss the ward here. Another crazy thing about me
transferring is that I'm going to be follow up training someone. So
I'm going to be transfer 4, and I'll be senior companion to a Transfer
2..Woahhh, was not expecting that. Oh yeah and he's also 日本人
(Japanese) so this is gonna be crazy! I hope he's nice to me because I
am gonna be asking a lot of questions and he'll have to put up with my
low level Japanese skill. I just hope I can use this opportunity to
help progress mine and his growth as a missionary. It should be
interesting!

So yeah, the new place I will be transferring to is called
"Hibarigaoka" and it's in the Musashino North zone. Sooo, hopefully I
don't get lost on the train ride over there, cause I've never been
there before. I'm excited and nervous at the same time. The actual
transfer day is on Thursday so we'll see what it brings! Crazy crazy.

Oh yeah, and I was able to grow some more friendships in the ward
yesterday with Elder Bunker. We first had a Mogi (a practice lesson,
to members usually) at the Inoue family's house, and that was a lot of
fun. I was sitting in legit Japanese style position the whole time to
so right afterwards, my legs were totally numb and I was in Pain.
Lying on the floor.. But, I gotta give it all for the word members
right! Haha. Also, after the lesson we went over to the Ogawa family's
house and had a dinner! It was awesome! I tried a thing or two, and
then they had chicken...sooo good. Welp, that's about all I can type
for now. Hopefully you liked all the pictures and vids. Talk to you
next week when I'm in a different ZONE. Bye bye

じゃ心配しないでね。がんばっています！また来週ね？

私に愛しなさい！
- Carlini 長老