Email #54          November 9, 2015

Dearest Family and Friends,

This past week was truly incredible, and the week before it was also
good. I'll start from two weeks ago. Sorry for not sending any emails
last week, I had no emailing time. We had a pretty normal week two
weeks ago. We did a lot of service for Saotomi Shimai, one of the
members here in the ward. She's older and her back is hurt, and her
husband has cancer and is in the hospital, so we go over with some
ward members to help her with her farming. It's been pretty fun, she
doesn't do rice but we got to dig up sweet potatoes and also whack
seeds out of this plant called egoma or something I think. I went on
exchanges during Halloween. It was fun to be in Urawa, a bigger city
than Kasukabe. It was my first exchange for the transfer. I was with
Elder Hansen, one of the zone leaders here. He's a great guy, and
emanates Christlike love. We set a goal together a few days before our
exchange to handout three copies of the Book of Mormon to people. We
only had about an hour and half to do it, and we were able to do so in
45 minutes! We got back to the apartment at 7:55 for dinner. We
decided to go out finding for 5 more minutes, as we had to either to 5
more minutes of dendo before dinner or after. We went and tried to
give away one more Book of Mormon, and weren't able to, so we decided
to head home. At the last light before the apartment, we talked to a
guy on his bike sitting at the light. He was super kind and we were
able to talk to him about why we are in Japan and give him a copy of
the Book of Mormon! It was super cool. On Saturday, Halloween, we had
stake conference. It was kind of weird having stake conference on
Halloween, they wouldn't ever do that in America. I thought that not
celebrating holidays would be a lot harder than it is. It's
surprisingly easy to just keep on working and not worry about anything
when it's a holiday. We got to listen to Elder Choi, one of the 70
from Korea. He was a beast. He was super interactive, walking around
the room and calling on people and making sure people were involved. I
learned a lot from him. He talked a lot about following up on
President Nelson's talk, "Ask the Missionaries." He just told the
members that they could ask us for help with anything, no matter what
it is. No pressure. On Sunday, we had more stake conference and then
we were able to have a meal with the Takahashi Family. They're
awesome. They have a son who is a little less active who the bishop
wants us to work with. We were able to talk with them and then set up
a time to go bowling with the son so that we could become better
friends. On Monday, we had zone p day in Urawa. It went pretty long
and so we got back late and I didn't have time to email. This past
week was amazing. I went on exchanges on Tuesday, so I was in Urawa
for 5 days in a row. While in Urawa on exchanges, we ate at President
Dorff's house, the stake president here. He's a great man. He's from
America and his wife is Japanese, and all his kids grew up in Japan.
He's fluent at Japanese. He's also super dendo fired and incredibly
kind. He knows all the names of the missionaries in his stake, their
birthdays, and has a very specific report we send to him weekly so he
knows what is going on in the stake in terms of dendo. On Wednesday,
we had a pretty good lesson with Seichi San, one of our Eikaiwa
students. Nakazawa Kyoudai, a recent convert, jointed for us. The next
day, we taught Nakazawa Kyoudai one of the after baptism lessons. He's
a beast. Elder Mobley taught him and baptized him, so it's sweet to
have that connection. He was a hard core Buddhist priest for 20 years
who basically lived the law of consecration and gave everything he had
to it. He knew that something was missing though so he left, and kept
looking for the truth. One of the members in Japan has this Book of
Mormon Magna, or like anime book that tells the Book of Mormon
stories, and Nakazawa Kyoudai was reading it and felt something and
knew that was what was missing. He walked into church and said that he
wanted to be baptized, had no issues with anything because he had
incredibly strong faith, and was baptized within three weeks I think.
On Friday we had a pretty good district meeting and then a good
district lunch. We went to indo curry. I'm going to miss endo curry so
much when I leave Japan. It's just this out of this world curry with
all you can eat nan. We also had a pretty sweet experience on Friday
night. We called someone from our area book named Ogawa and set up an
appointment. We went out to eat, and we told him that Elder Unsworth
had never had Japanese sushi. He took us out to sashimi, and it was
out of this world. It was just straight up fish, no rice or anything,
but it was super high quality. We were at a nice restaurant and he
just kept ordering and ordering more food. He kept ordering
traditional Japanese food for us so that we could try it. I think in
total we had squid, octopus, salmon, tuna, yellowback (all of those
were the raw sashimi), and then yakitori (friend chicken or chicken
skin on a stick), squid mouth, chicken gizzard (it had the weirdest
texture ever), a straight up whole garlic clove plain, fried puffer
fish, eel, and traditional Japanese pickled vegetables. We were
getting worried because it was not cheap, but he was incredibly kind
and paid for all of it. We had a really good lesson about finding
happiness. He was really curious about who Jesus is and what his role
is, so we are going to meet him again this week. Saturday was one of
the most miracle filled days of my mission, if not my life. I'm just
going to copy and paste my journal entry because it's long and I don't
have a ton of time:

Today was an absolutely incredible day. We were so blessed to see so
many miracles. We went to Nakasato's English class today, and right
when we got there, a woman called who wanted to learn English. She is
going to come to Eikaiwa on Wednesday! After class, we ate with
Nakasato San and were able to have a pretty good lesson with him about
the gospel of Jesus Christ and justice and mercy. We set up an
appointment with him to teach him at church. Teaching him in a more
spiritual atmosphere will be really good. After that, we went to
Japanese class at the community center here in Kasukabe. When we first
got there, we got a call from someone named Bell. He asked if we were
playing basketball tonight and said that he would come. We had no idea
who he was, but it was a miracle to get called by someone and have
them set up a meeting! Lucy then talked to us before class started.
She told us that she wants to visit a family together that wants to
learn English. The mom is Indonesian, the dad is Japanese, and they
have three kids, one of which is a son. She basically referred us a
family! After class started, I was able to talk to one of the people
who was helping me about the church and what I'm doing as a
missionary. She wanted to come to Eikaiwa! Hopefully she will come and
we will be able to talk to her about church then. After class, we had
a good conversation with Maki and Chiami, the half Nigerian half
Japanese brother and sister from Indiana. They're super nice and are
probably really lonely. Every time I see Maki, I feel like he is
prepared to hear the gospel. We tried to get their contact information
but weren't able to, they didn't have Facebook and took off before I
could ask for their numbers. Next time! Another super crazy miracle
happened after class. This woman walked up to me and said that she
knew me from somewhere, and asked where I was from. I told her I was
from North Carolina, and she asked me if I had ever been to Irvine,
California. What! She recognized me from something three years ago,
and I still have no idea what. She is from China, but lived in Irvine
for a few years. She lived with a roommate named Jing, and Jing
converted to Mormonism while they were living together. She went to a
church study group and actual church a few times. Maybe she saw me at
church there. What a miracle! I really don't think that that was a
coincidence that she recognized me from Irvine, and then the next
place we met was in a Japanese class in Kasukabe, Japan. Heavenly
Father must have preserved that memory or something because I'm still
in shock that she remembers me when we were never really around each
other. We became Facebook friends and I'm excited and interested to
see if Facebook can give some more information. I'm super excited to
see where things go with her and her family! After dinner, we had
basketball. One of the members forgot the key, so we couldn't get into
the building. One of the Ankyuu sons brought a nonmember friend with
him. The friend asked us to teach him how to pray so that he could
pray that someone with the key would come. We taught him and he said a
prayer, and 10 minutes later a guy with the key came! So many miracles
today! After basketball, we were able to teach Bell and the friend
really quickly. We showed them "Because of Him" and testified. After
that, we went home. It was truly an incredible day chalk-full of
amazing miracles. We are so blessed!

It was seriously one of the most amazing days ever. I know that I have
not seen the last of Yulan, the woman from Irvine. I'm super excited
to see where things go with her and her family. Please pray that we
will be able to meet with her and teach her and her family! Sunday was
also great. We had a really good church and were able to set up some
appointments to visit members, get help with working with the less
actives and non members here in Kasukabe, report to some families
about the miracles we have been seeing, and follow up on a referral.
That night, we went to the Hosaya family's house and had dinner with
them. President Nagano has really been pushing for us to start a
tutoring service where we teach the youth in the ward English or other
subjects, and then have them bring their friends and introduce the
gospel through that. The Hosayas have two kids who are in high school,
so we were able to get the tutoring thing going with them. The dad
really reminds me of Sam Wilson. He's an amazing man. I think that our
relationship with the ward is getting stronger and stronger, and that
we are going to see good things this transfer as we work closely with
them. Today, we went fishing for p day. We made a trap and bought some
hooks and stuff. We pass this bridge every day on the way to church
and there are always turtles and carp around it. We went kind of late
in the day, and the turtles and carp were much smarter than we
thought, so we weren't able to catch any. Yet. The battle is not over.
We were, however, able to catch a minnow. So not a complete defeat.
I'll include some pictures. We are planning on going back and nabbing
those carp and maybe a turtle sometime in the relatively near future.
I'll end with a spiritual thought and a favor. I know that there is a
good spiritual thought in the carp and minnow fishing, but I haven't
completely gathered my thoughts, so I will have that be my spiritual
thought next week. This weeks is very simple: God is a God of
miracles. As we have faith, work our hardest, and know that things
happen according to God's timing, we will be blessed to see miracles
in our lives. I have been trying to make gratitude more of a focus
lately, and as I have done so, I have been able to see God's hand in
my life more and more. I am so grateful to know that we have a God who
loves and and cares about us and blesses us. Lastly, a favor. In the
mission, we have a big goal that every companionship sees a baptism
before the end of the year. We are all working our hardest and seeing
many miracles, but I am worried that it is not enough. Will you please
pray that Elder Unsworth and I, the missionaries here in Kasukabe, in
our district, in the zone, and in the mission will be able to see this
miracle before the end of the year? Please tell other family members
about it to and ask them to pray. Thank you so much! I love you all,
have a wonderful week!

Love,
Elder Calhoun

 We live next to an amusement park.

 I was Nori Kun for Halloween before I left Nakano.  I love that guy.

 Ogawa and our mostly eaten traditional Japanese food.  He pounded 6 cigarettes during our meal.

 Elder Unsworth and I got to play these cool Japanese guitar things after Japanese class.

 Kyoura, the girl next to me, is the cutest little girl ever.  She reminds me a lot of Liza when Liza was younger.  She's super smart and funny and energetic and thinks she's an adult.  She's my favorite.

Kato Kyoudai, the brother of the group leader in my last area.  

He's a stud and straight up looks like a Japanese Boromir.

Email #53                October 26, 2015

Dearest Family and Friends,

This past week went really well. We saw tons of miracles and had a blast. I'm going to keep this short so I can have more time to send individual emails, but I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Calhoun

P.S. I have pictures but they aren't sending from 7-11 for some reason, so I'll send them tomorrow from church

Email #52           October 26, 2015

Dearest Family and Friends,

Here is my email from last week. I will send it again because no one got it:

Here it is. The email. I'll start by giving an update about this past week. I also want to talk a little bit about the things that I have learned this past year, as I have now, to my great sadness, been on my mission for over a year. I had a long debate with myself whether or not I wanted to write this email, as I made a commitment to myself to never talk about time, but I think that I might be good to talk about a few of the things that I have learned over these past 12 months. 

So, to begin, this past week went well. President Nagano came into our room Sunday night and gave us our transfer calls. To my great surprise, he told me that I was transferring to Kasukabe, a city in Saitama Prefecture pretty close to Tokyo. Elder Yoshino was also transferring , so we decided to live it up in Tokyo for the last time together while everyone went on a hike with the ward. We went shopping and I bought a suit. It's pretty cool. I'll take a picture in it next week to show you. I bought some ties as well and can say that I am done shopping for the next year. Once a year is plenty as missionary, but I couldn't take wearing the baggy suits I have now any longer. It's for sure something I'll keep wearing after the mission too. Anyway, after shopping we went bowling with Takada Kyoudai and Nori Kun. It was pretty fun, despite the fact that I lost all three games. I have no idea what's up with bowling in Japan, but I just can't seem to get the hang of it. Thankfully my friends back home are so bad at bowling (Lindsey, Shelby, and Jacob) that it will be easy for me to adjust and whoop them. We went to family home evening that night. It was halloween themed, so I dressed up like Nori. I'll explain more when I send pictures. I'm going to miss him and Takada Kyoudai. I got really close to the YSA ward and am really grateful for the friendships I was able to form with them. I felt really frustrated that I was leaving. I feel like my first three areas, but especially Nakano, were like how I used to play dominion. I would spend the whole game prepping my hand, and as soon as I was ready to go and just destroy, the game was over. I've been spending a lot of time building good relationships with the members, making big plans and setting up for big things, and then as soon as things are ready to go, I get transferred. The good thing about this is that I know exactly what I need to do from the get go here in Kasukabe. I'm ready to dendo Kasukabe the right way, so that no matter when I leave I will be satisfied with the work I have done here. Saying goodbye to the YSA's was really good though, because it made me feel like I had done something good while I was there. Nori told me that I was one of the best and his favorite missionary in the area. I know that that isn't the best measure of success, but it was good to know that I was loved and that I made some eternal friends while I was there. On Tuesday, Elder Yoshino and I spent a lot of time together doing everything we needed to get ready to go the next day. Wednesday was transfer day. Elder Yoshino and I left together after saying goodbye to everyone and playing dodgeball for the last time that morning. It was sad to leave everyone. There were a lot of people there in Nakano that changed my life for the better. Sad goodbyes are good though. It remind me of that Winnie the Pooh phrase (I think), "How lucky I am to have someone that makes saying goodbye so hard." Something along those lines. Elder Yoshino and I hauled to the Eki after saying goodbye to Yuichi. My relationship with Yuichi improved a lot my last few weeks. We barely made our train. I said goodbye to him at my stop and met up with the zone leaders and Elder Unsworth. Elder Unsworth is a new missionary, transfer 2, so I'm like his step dad, still his trainer. He's from West Valley, Utah, did theatre and singing in high school, has 4 older brothers, and is a good kid. It will be a good transfer. The past few days we've been working hard, visiting members, finding, and a lot of biking. Our apartment is a 35 minute bike ride away from the church. That doesn't sound too bad, but it adds up. It's good to get to talk to Elder Unsworth and enjoy the scenery though. The route we talk is not direct. It's the most direct route there is to the church, but it isn't straight. It's also out in the country, so there aren't many people to talk to. It's good though, biking is awesome. I'm so glad our mission is a biking mission. Yesterday was awesome. I got to meet the ward for the first time, and they're incredible. There are a ton of young families with lots of super cute kids. Tons of people are return missionaries. Lots of the members speak English and my Japanese is for sure going to finally start improving. That's something I'm excited about. In Nakano, literally all of our investigators and most of the members spoke English and wanted to speak in English, so I didn't have nearly as many opportunities to use my Japanese and it didn't really improve. I'm excited to be back out in the field and get to use my Japanese a lot more! Kasukabe is a great area and our district and zone are also awesome. It's going to be an awesome transfer! 

Switching gears.

As I think about this past year, I can say without a doubt that it has been the best year of my life. I have never felt more satisfied with my life, with the person that I am and the person I'm becoming, with the work I'm doing, with the effort I am expending, with the things I am learning, with the friendships I have made, with the testimony I have deepened and strengthened and developed, and with the happiness I have felt. Life is good. I have learned so much from the past year, more than I could succinctly say in this email, but I will talk about a few of the biggest things. I've learned so much from so many people, but some of the people that have influenced my life the most this past year have been my companions. I have learned so much from every one of them. 

Elder Erickson - I couldn't have asked for a better companion to start my mission with. Elder Erickson was everything I wanted and needed to become: kind, loving, gentle, caring, hard working, focused, charismatic, cheerful, funny, a wonderful leader, reverent, in tune with the Spirit, outward focused, pretty much as Christlike as anyone could possibly be during the first few weeks of their mission. Elder Erickson was a wonderful example to me of all of those things. He worked when it was time to work, he had fun when we had break times, he lead with maturity and responsibility, was flexible and patient with his oftentimes tiresome companion, and boy could he eat. I'll be eternally grateful for Elder Erickson and the things he taught me, and the friendship we share. 

Elder Mobley - I learned so so much from Elder Mobley, but one of the things that sticks out to me is patience. Elder Mobley was so incredibly patient and kind with me. As I look back on my first couple transfers, I can see how dumb I was and how much room I had to improve. I still have a long way to go, but I've come a little way. Elder Mobley is an eternal friend, and I owe him more than I could ever pay back. I'll be eternally grateful for Elder Mobley and the love he showed to me no matter what, how he patiently led by example, and the friendship we share.

Elder Barnes - Elder Barnes is an animal. I learned a lot about being a man from Elder Barnes. He was an amazing example of faith and self-discipline. I was able to learn much about self control, especially about controlling my body, from Elder Barnes. He forced himself to workout like crazy and to eat healthily, and I was able to see that I could do the same thing. Kind of a weird thought, but it was really freeing to see that I have complete control over my body, that I can be disciplined enough to really have complete control over myself. Elder Barnes was an amazing missionary and example to me. I'll be eternally grateful for Elder Barnes and the the things he taught me, and the friendship we share. 

Elder Shimoji - Elder Shimoji was a work horse. I learned a ton from him. A lot of the things I learned from him were really practical, like Japanese,  how to stop and talk to people, how to work with the ward, how to teach in unity, how to study effectively, how to do lots of things. Elder Shimoji was also a wonderful example to me of including those who are worse at things than you so that they can grow and become. Despite my terrible Japanese and lack of many other things, Elder Shimoji let me teach and talk to people and learn. He was a wonderful example to me of effective, productive, faithful missionary work, and how it can influence our own lives and the lives of others for good. I'll be eternally grateful for Elder Shimoji and the things he taught me, and the friendship we share. 

Elder Alder - Elder Alder was the most patient, chill person ever. He taught me a lot about love and how to help people and teach to their needs. He also taught me not to judge a book by its cover. I thought he was kind of a computer nerd or something, but he was an athletic, genius, man's man. Elder Alder was super patient with me and my frequent naps, with our investigators, and a great example of consistency. I love Elder Alder. I'll be eternally grateful for Elder Alder and the things he taught me, and the friendship we share.

Elder Harrison - Elder Harrison is one of the most genuinely good people I know. Every bone in his body is just filled with pure, Christlike love. He was an amazing example to me of how, if we turn to Christ, our trials and hardships can make us stronger and better. He had a hard childhood and growing up, but instead of becoming bitter and angry at the world, he decided to learn from the hard things and to grow from them. I have met very few people filled with more Christlike love than Elder Harrison. He reminds me a lot of Abbie in that way. I will be eternally grateful for Elder Harrison and the things he taught me, and the friendship we share. 

Elder Unsworth - Elder Unsworth is a great example to me of faith. He works with faith, has faith about the future, has faith that we can see miracles, is just filled with faith. I am loving working with and learning from Elder Unsworth and am grateful for the friendship that we have and are deepening (I'm sure it will become eternal, but I still have lots of time to learn from him!)

I love all of my companions. They are all amazing people who have helped me and others come unto Christ. I have learned much from my mission, and a considerable chunk of that has come from my companions. I also think that our friendship is deeper than friendship. The Book of Mormon says it much better than I ever could in Alma 17:

2 ...Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of God.

3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God.

My companions have been my brethren in the Lord, we have worked together, studied together, taught together, learned together, grown together, become together, and brought people closer to Christ together. Through the experiences we have had together, they have become more than friends. I am truly eternally grateful for each and every one of my companions. My mission has changed me fundamentally. I have found that there is not a happier, more fulfilling, peaceful way to live than to follow Jesus Christ and His teachings. I have been exposed to people who's lives have been nothing but heartbreak, sadness, loneliness, and misery. I've seen how truly bad mankind can be. But I have also seen so much good. I have seen how all of the bad in the world can be healed and changed through Christ's Atonement. I've experienced it myself. My testimony of this gospel has been deepened and strengthened. My love for my family and friends has been increased. I love the people of Japan. I love my mission. I love my family. And above all, I love the Lord. I'm grateful for this past year and the experiences in it that have allowed me to truly learn about Christ and His character. 

Love,

Elder Calhoun