Email #9 (First from Japan!)   Sent Monday, December 22, 2014

Dearest Family and Friends,

I'm in Japan!!! So crazy. It's been a crazy week. I'll just start from
the beginning. Nothing really happened the Friday or Saturday after p
day, but on Sunday the BYU Men's Choir came and sang. They were super
good and Elder Madsen was in it! I kept waving at him after songs and
he had no idea who I was but i ran down afterwards to say hi to him
and it was super sweet. He's doing really well and says hi to everyone
back home. We took off at 3 in the morning and took a bus to the
frontrunner and took it to the SLC airport. We flew through Seattle
and the flight was 10 hours to Tokyo. I thought it was going to be way
longer. I sat by all missionaries which was kind of nice because I
didn't feel bad about sleeping. We arrived and went through customs
and I got a gaikokujin card, or foreigners card. It looks pretty
sweet, except they used my awful visa picture. The visa looks pretty
sweet too. It lasts for three years so I might as well stay an extra
year. We met President Budge and the APs at the airport. President
Budge is super nice and way younger and shorter than he looks online.
We took a train to the Mission Home and had dinner there then went to
the church just down the road and slept on futons. I was out in 3
seconds. We woke ip the next morning and got ready in the office
missionaries apartment, then went over to the Mission Home and had
breakfast. It was super good. I'm definitely appreciating Bradley's
emails way more because good food is worth talking about now. We had
French Toast and it was amazing. I had my first interview with
President Budge that lasted literally 2 minutes, but it was good. We
then had training which was really sweet, they told us about the
vision and the framework of the mission. We then had lunch and they
announced all the trainers and areas! I was so nervous that I couldn't
eat. Rare. I was the last person they called! It was so nerve
wracking. There's an area in the mission called Niigata that's so far
away that all the trainers there had to Skype in. That's where I am!
We had to take off right away to catch a 5 hour bus ride to Niigata. I
didn't get to say goodbye to some of the people in my district which
is kind of a bummer especially because i can't email them. Daijoubu
desu. Niigata is more north in the mission and super cold. There was
so much snow on the way up that the 5 hour bus ride actually took 10
hours! We weren't allowed to dendo on the bus so I slept and talked
and it was sweet. We got into Niigata at around 2 in the morning and
we had to take taxis to the apartment because we had so much stuff and
it was so cold and windy. It was super windy. All my winter stuff was
packed away in my suitcases and they were getting shipped over so I
wasn't able to grab anything warm. It was brutal but also surprisingly
fun. We all slept at the Niigata Elder's apartment and then got up in
the morning and took a bullet train to our area, Sanjo. Taking a
bullet train here is a big deal and the Elders in Sanjo were way
jealous. We arrived after like 20 minutes, it was super fast. I met my
trainer, Elder Mobley at the train station! He's super cool. I'm
running out of time, it takes me forever to type on this iPad, I'll
write my email in notes this week so I can write a longer letter. This
picture is from my first lesson! I'll tell you guys all about my
investigators and the people here next week! Or just on our Skype call
this week. I love you all, thank you so much for the Christmas
package! You all rock!

Love,
Elder Calhoun

These photos are in reverse chronological order:

 View from window of church in Nigata

 Map drawn by James of USA at the church???

James with his trainer, Elder Mobley at a teaching appointment in Sanjo--James's first area!

Elder Calhoun in Tokyo

We (James's family) were able to talk to James on the morning of Monday, December 15th as he was about to board the plane for Japan!  He sounded wonderful and so excited.  We can't wait to get our first email from him, and to hear where he is and with whom! :)



Tuesday, December 16th, we received the following from the Tokyo mission:

Dear Parents,

We just want to send you a quick note to let you know that your missionary arrived safely in Japan last evening.  President met them at the airport, fed them, visited shortly, and then sent them all to bed for a much needed rest.

Today they will receive training and will soon meet their new companions who have been chosen to train them.  We will take pictures at that time, and within a few days you will receive another email with these pictures attached, and our mailing address.

Thank you for entrusting your missionary to us in the great Japan Tokyo Mission.  We so appreciate all you have done to get these missionaries to this point in their lives!

Sister Rosemarie Evans

Japan Tokyo Mission Secretary

On Thursday, December 18th we received the following 2 photographs from the mission home, but there were no accompanying explanations.  I believe the quilt was made by Sister Budge, and every one of their missionaries signs it.  James is, I believe, pointing to his signature on the quilt.  The other photo includes James in the center of the very back row.  The Budges are in the front row, center.  We have no idea who everyone else is.  We are guessing the new missionaries and their companions.  This makes us wonder if James might be in a threesome right now?  We can't wait to know details! :)

We love you Calhoun Choro!!

 James and his districe

Elders Erickson and Calhoun, Sisters Kennedy and Reber

The Elders in James's district

Email #8-Last one from the Provo, MTC

Dearest Mother,

Hello hello! Thank you so much for the cookies, they are delicious! I also loved getting all of your letters, they made my day so much better! I will be sure to keep the pocket luck angel with me. You guys are the best. Hayden is doing well, he's loving it here and I got to orient him and it was awesome! He won't be able to email until next Wednesday, so maybe you could tell his family he's doing great? I got to show his district around and bare my testimony to them in Japanese and it was way fun.

This week was pretty normal. We got released as zone leaders so the new elders can have a week or two of experience before their kohai arrive. It was such a blessing to be able to get to know everyone better through being zone leader. The new elders are going to be awesome! This is our last p day in the MTC! Next time I email you, it'll be from Japan! So wild. I probably won't be able to email until next Monday, because we fly out this Monday and we'll miss that P day. I'm so excited to get to Japan and teach the people there! Christmas there is going to be awesome. Oh, also, I get to call at the airport, so be expecting a call sometime on Monday! 

The highlights of this week were probably our devotionals and orienting the new Italians and singing for our branch presidencies. On Sunday we had mission conference because it was fast Sunday. Everyone gets together and the MTC presidency talks to us all. It was pretty good, they shared a lot about the new Church video, "He is the Gift." You should watch it, it's really good! This Sunday, my testimony about faith really grew. Ever since we had the devotional in which Elder Golden said that faith is personal righteousness, I've been really praying and working to know if I really do have as much faith as I thought I did. Faith for me really grew in importance after that and I have been thinking about it all the time. James 2:20 has also really changed a lot in meaning for me. Before, I thought that it meant that unless you follow your faith with works, by acting upon your faith, you might as well not have faith. But now I think it also means that you can't have faith without works, because if faith is personal righteousness, you have to act and make sure that you are doing everything you can to be as righteous as you can, and that for sure includes working. My testimony of faith has also grown a lot because of the people in my district. I have learned so much about becoming better and progressing and just being a better person because of all of them. They all have traits that I need to improve on, and I know that Heavenly Father put me with them so that I can progress. I really have the best district and companion and zone ever. They are all such hard workers and such great examples to me on how I can be better. We bare our testimonies a lot, after devotionals and on Sundays, and I don't think I've ever cried more often than I have here. I feel like I'm cried out and then I bare my testimony again and I can't help it! It's awesome because I'm feeling the Spirit so strongly so often but also the worst because it's crying. 

On Friday, we went and sang to all the branch presidencies. They were having a big thank you dinner in the gym because of all the hard work they do, and as a surprise, the MTC Presidency arranged to have the choir come and sing to them. We sang, "Silent Night" and it was incredible. The Spirit was so strong and really testified to me that Jesus Christ really is my Savior! It was an amazing experience. Sunday was also really neat because President Butler interviewed me, and as we were talking, he answered all the questions that I had been struggling with that I hadn't told anyone or even prayed about. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus know me individually and love me individually and care about me. It was a really powerful, sweet experience that I'm incredibly thankful for. I think that the two things I have come to love the most here are prayer and the scriptures. I have become genially more thankful for the blessing that I have received and for all the things that Heavenly Father blesses me with. I remember there was a challenge sometime early in my young men's where a leader challenged us to pray for 5 minutes. I tried and didn't even come close! Now it's really hard to say one less than 5 or 10 minutes, I have so much to be thankful for and so much I need Heavenly Father to bless me with every day that it takes at least that long! I have also really learned to love scripture study. I am going through the Book of Mormon and really trying to get as much as I can out of it, and because of that I am reading incredibly slowly, but I am also learning so much. There is so much to learn from the scriptures and the Book of Mormon really answers so many of the questions I have. 

I'm out of time for the week, but that's about it for this week. I forgot to bring my journal and my devotional notebook with me, but the devotionals this week were really great. We listened to the First Presidency Christmas devotional on Sunday, and had the Zwick's come on Tuesday. Both were really good. On Tuesday we also heard this little 12 year old girl sing who was amazing. I forget her name, but she has been to Carnegie Hall and is really talented. She sang I Know That My Redeemer Lives, and it was so powerful. Really neat. The MTC is wonderful, and I'm going to miss it. I love all you guys and am so thankful for all of you! Next time I email you, I'm going to be in Japan! So crazy.

Love,

Calhoun Choro

カラフン

                                                      Email #7 from Provo, MTC, sent 12/4/14



Hello Family!

How are you guys? I miss and love each and every one of you! Thanks for the update on the Buckeyes, that's such a bummer he's out for the season. Good thing I'm in the MTC and can't watch the games! My one request/beg for the week is to please send Dear Elders and emails! I didn't get the family update this week and I'm only the MTC for 11 more days and would love to know how you guys are doing! (Also, can you please stop filtering the pictures on the blog? It looks a little ridiculous haha. Thank you so much for your work with it!)

This week was pretty normal. We had a big Thanksgiving hangover for the first few days, everyone was so tired because we didn't get a p day but we're all basically recovered now. There were a few cool things that happened this week. On Sunday, Vocal Point came and sang at our devotional, and they're basically superstars here in the MTC. Everyone was going nuts over them and I had no idea who they were. They were good though! They gave some good advice and sang some good songs. The coolest thing this week though is that Oozeki Son agreed to get baptized! Her mother in law really doesn't want her to but she knows it's the best thing for her and that God will help her with her mother in law. So awesome! Our other investigator, Iwamotto Son, is also doing really well. He is reading the Book of Mormon and praying and is working on quitting coffee and smoking. They are both such good people and it's going to be a bummer to leave them! The other exciting thing is that we got Kohai, or a new district younger than us. We got to bare (bear?) our testimonies to them in Japanese and it was awesome to see how blown away they were but in like 2 weeks they'll realize how little we know! They seem like great people and I'm really excited to get to know them! That's about it for this week, I'll keep describing the people in my district!

Elder Mutz: He's probably 5'10, has black hair, and always wears sweaters! He's from Australia and had never left his home state until he came here so he's always freezing. He's great! He's going to Tokyo and works really hard to prepare lessons and learn Japanese and increase his testimony. He is always singing songs from home, like the Australian National Anthem. He's awesome and I'm glad we're both going to the same mission!

The Shimaitachi:

Sister Jurado: Sister Jurado is from Las Vegas and is fluent in Spanish. She's older than anyone in the district and is really awesome. She works super hard to learn the language, and she sits next to Elder Hamilton in class and they have so hilarious interactions. She's super funny and a great story teller and really fun to be around. She was a temple worker before she came and is a great example to me of perseverance and faith!

Sister Goldberry; She's the one with the curly hair. She's incredibly nice and is always smiling and keeps everyone cheerful. She wrote home and described us all on the second or third week. She said I had a comb-over that I'm always touching and preening. Glad I got some of dad's genes. She has the Goldberry curse, which means whenever people look at her they tell her their life story and it's true! She has these super expressive eyebrows and when she looks at you they go up and you want to her something. It's funny. She's really awesome and humble and has learned a ton of Nihongo and is also fluent in Spanish!

Sister Bullock: Sister Bullock is shorter and blonde and super shy and really awesome! She's the only sister not going to Tokyo, she's going to Sendai with Elders Erickson, Diderickson, and Hamilton. She is a really example to me of quiet focus and how you can learn something from everyone! She is really observant and picks up on things we do and tells us how she has learned something from every one of us. She's great!

Sister Gotfredson: She's a genius! She has curly blonde hair and is super nice and grew up in Japan from the ages of 6 to 9. She already did 2 years at BYU. She picks up Nihongo like no one else in the class and is super talented. She's super good at focusing and has great stories and is really nice about helping people and translating what our teachers are saying when no one else understands it. Everyone in her family who has served missions has gone to Japan! Crazy.

Sister Frazier: Sister Frazier is so incredibly happy and cheerful! She has dark brown hair and is incredible at learning Nihongo and memorizing flashcards and scriptures and laughing at my jokes which I appreciate. She is amazing at the song game we play, I'll say a topic and they think of a song that either has that word in it or is about that topic as fast as they can. Kind of like the one we play with Sarah and Marcus expect it's about speed, not endurance. She's really awesome!

That's my district! I'm really grateful for every single one of them and all that they have taught me and how well they are doing and wonderful they are as human beings and as missionaries. I know everyone in our district is going to crush it in Japan! Seriously so great. Next week I'll describe our teachers. They're seriously so amazing. I love you guys and am so thankful for all that you do for me and I miss you all!

Love,

Calhoun Choro

P.S. Please thank Liz for me BIG TIME, getting those family names was seriously so awesome. Her weekly letter is a highlight and everyone in my district is so jealous! Also, please thank the Pickards for me, they have sent me two letters and they mean a ton. Liza, you haven't taught me any Spanish words yet!!!! Also, since I'm leaving in less than two weeks, Dear Elders and emails are probably the way to go because it takes a while for letters to get here and I don't know what they do with letters that come after I'm going. I'll send pictures and then I'm done! Love you all!

 An elder from New Zealand in the room next to James's has the talent of being able to turn any Japanese character into a beaver in a matter of seconds.  Who knew, right?

 Elder Calhoun ran into Sister Hendricks with whom he went to EFY some years back.

 Elder Calhoun and Elder Seagle

 Elders Calhoun, Seagle and Fletcher

 Elder Calhoun with the Shutlesses (he is 1st counselor in the MTC branch presidency)

 Elders Calhoun and DeSpain

James's district's classroom

6th email sent from Provo, MTC  11/28/14 Hello Family! Sorry this is a day late, but I promise it won't be a dollar short. How are you guys doing? How was your Thanksgiving? Did you stay at home? I miss you all! That's so awesome about Sammy. I want Adley to know there's absolutely no way he can win as many trophies as me. You should put Sammy to sleep in Dad's office next time. Dad would love that. This week was really awesome, mostly because of yesterday! I'll give the big Thanksgiving update and the highlights from the rest of the week and then I'll tell you guys about everyone in my district because I haven't yet.  Thanksgiving was seriously so awesome. Our Senpei came in at 5:45 and did Christmas for us. Christmas is this tradition where the older missionaries pass down all the things they have from their Senpei and all the stuff they don't want to us. It's fun but also the worst because our room is tiny and so we have like 20 boxes of random items we have to put away and we have zero room. Some of the highlights of the things we got: 4 nerf basketball hoops, a large blue suitcase, a small foosball table, a Napoleon Dynamite wig, 2 things of peanut butter, a pink rat punch balloon (those ones that you inflate and then have the handle you hold and punch as fast as you can), and sooooooo much candy. Seriously so much stuff. We can't wait to get rid of it, that's the best part. You wake up early and bang on their door and then bust in when they open it and wish them a Merry Christmas and then you go to the lounge area and we have a little Christmas tree that you put all the boxes around. Each person chooses who they want to give their stuff to and what they are going to give. One person also dresses up like Santa and puts on a shaving cream beard. We don't mess around with Christmas.  After that, we went and did laundry and had breakfast. I had one bowl of cereal so I could pound the Thanksgiving lunch we had. We then went to the devotional. The choir sang Come Thou Fount and absolutely crushed it. We weren't allowed to sing because zone leaders had to leave early which was a bummer, but it's ok. It all worked out super well! Elder Bednar came and spoke! It was awesome, he's so awesome. He brought his wife and one of his sons and his family, but it wasn't Eric! I was really hoping I would get the chance to see him or at least tell his younger brother I say hi, but I didn't get to. Can you do me a big favor and please say hi to Eric and his family for me? He really had a great influence on me and was so awesome, I miss them a lot! Elder Bednar did a cool thing with his devotional, he did a question and answer session. He passed out cell phones and you could text your questions to a number and he would choose which to reply to. We had gotten there early and had good seats right down the middle in the front. While people were typing their questions (Elder Bednar said we were rusty from not texting for a few weeks) he said we could raise our hands and he would choose one. I shot my hand up and he chose me! I asked him, "As a member of the 12, you have to be tired all the time. What do you do to fight through it?" He talked about the spiritually invigorating aspect of this work, and how that should motivate and energize us. It was awesome because I actually got to ask him, and he addressed me the whole time, as opposed to the anonymous text questions. It was a super great devotional and I learned tons.  We then had Thanksgiving lunch. It was much better than I thought it was going to be! They had cranberry sauce which was awesome. I really hope they have the leftovers today. After lunch, we went and helped set up the service project. It was exactly the same one we did in Chapel Hill a few years ago, where you make the assembly lines and make meals for children who need them. We then went to a Thanksgiving presentation. It was so weird. The first part was legit because they had a guy play the violin and he played it like a fiddle and he was a BEAST. He was killing it and everyone was getting so into it. It was one of the highlights of the day for sure. The second part was so weird. They did a skit where they tried to explain the origin of Thanksgiving to foreigners in a funny way, but it was really just awful. They had people go up and be Indians and Puritans and all the Indians were brown and it was just weird. We were watching the Nihonjin (Japanese people) the whole time and they had this wide eyed look on their face the whole time. After the awful skit, we went and did the service project. I was in charge of a line. We crushed it! We were only supposed to do 8 boxes worth of meals, but my table did 13! We did the most of any table all day. The all time record was 16, but we ran out of boxes and couldn't do anymore or we for sure would have smashed it. President Hackney, the first counselor of the MTC Presidency, even admitted it. They were so awesome, they were singing hymns and getting our whole section to sing along. After we cleaned up, we went and watched Meet the Mormons. It was really fun to watch it with a bunch of missionaries. We got popcorn and it was sweet because one of the guys is the Navy coach so we got to watch clips of football. You take what you can get in here. After the movie was over, the MTC Presidency said they had a surprise for us out in the courtyard, and they had set up Christmas lights everywhere! It was super cool. We got to chill there and talk for a while. I got to talk to Sister Kennedy for a little while, it was awesome. She's so great. We're the lone Irvine survivors now. She's also the only person I know from before the MTC now. That was my Thanksgiving! It was so different from all my previous ones and I missed a lot of good food and I probably wouldn't want to do it again but I really loved it!  Early in the week, on Tuesday, Elder Oaks came and spoke to us. It was pretty good, he gave a lot of great instruction.  He gave a really great analogy about being the Lord's instrument. He compared us to a pen. He said that a pen doesn't say, "I can't write, I'm tired. Oh, it's my P day, I don't need to work today." We need to be like a pen and work whenever and however the Lord needs us to work. I liked his talk. Plus, we got to listen to 2 members of the 12 this week, which was awesome!  Ok, the people in my district. I might not be able to finish this week, but I'll try. You already know about me and Elder Erickson, he's awesome as always.  Elder Diderickson: He looks a lot like me. He's 6'2, brown hair, athletic. He's just better at doing everything I do. He's a super good basketball player, he was on Pleasant Groves' team when they made it to the State Championship against Lone Peak. He is a good example for me of patience and keeping a good attitude and working hard. He's going to BYU after which will be super awesome. Plus, after I ate his pumpkin bread, I wrote his family apologizing and thanking them for all the packages they send him that I eat. It was funny. They said I can be adopted into their family, so we're basically brothers now. Elder Hamilton: He's the tall blonde one. He's from Mesa, but doesn't know the Richins. He's a really good guy, and is getting better and better at focusing. He wonders off a lot and Elder Diderickson has to go find him. He's a good storyteller and is really forgiving and smart, I'm liking him more and more the longer we are here. He is a very good letter writer, a much better one than me. He is also good at coming up with puns, kind of like Greg. He's a really great missionary! Elder Nielson: He's from Boise. He's really awesome. He's really good at seeing the best in people and not focusing on the worst. He is also a great leader, he was district leader and did a really good job. He also has the best laugh out of all of us. He gets this big smile on his face and gives this big hearty laugh that's awesome. He is also really nice about helping all of us with our Japanese, he took 4 years of it in high school. He's really a kind person and I really like him. Elder Mutzelburg: I'll start with him next week!  I'm running out of time and still need to send pictures. I still need to do all of the Sisters as well. They're all great. I really, really love my district. I am loving it here at the MTC and am learning so much. I love and miss you all so much! You all rock! With Love, Calhoun Choro  James's Sempai, leaving Monday will be much missed!  James with President (MTC branch president) & Sister Butler