Email #75 May 3, 2016
Dearest Family and Friends,
This last week went really well. Things are going well with our area,
and we are working hard and having a blast. Last Monday, we played a
ton of basketball. We played with one of our new investigators and
then played again with some potential investigators. It was lots of
fun and really tiring. On Tuesday, I had exchanges with Elder Crosby.
It went well, we were able to talk to a lot of people and use our time
effectively. On Wednesday, we had a normal day and a good Eikaiwa.
Thursday, we had district meeting. It went well. I also had the
biggest epiphany of my entire mission, which I'll share at the end of
this email. Friday was a blast. We had an ιεδΌ, which is basically a
field day. It was tons of fun. The weather was perfect, which was a
huge miracle because it was forecasted to rain. It was a stake
activity, with the northern three wards going against the southern
three wards. We were on the northern wards team, which apparently has
never lost. We did a lot of different activities, some of which we
have in America, and some we don't. We had relay races, this tunnel
tag game, sack races, a huge tug of war, this weird game where one
person runs around with a hoop and people try to throw bean bags into
the hoop, freeze tag, a game that I can't describe but will attach a
video of, and lots of other goodness. In the end, we won! It felt good
to keep up the undefeated streak. We also had Family Home Evening,
which was good. Kosuke, our new investigator, came. He's so cool. We
were knackered out of our minds, but it went well. We were able to
teach both him and Fuma. Fuma is praying by himself, which is a huge
miracle! On Saturday we were ravaged beyond all description, sunburnt
and sun sick. We had a good day though, pretty normal. Sunday was
good, we had a great church with a good fast and testimony meeting.
Today went well. We played basketball with those same five guys again.
We were able to talk about the gospel quite a bit and a few of them
might have some good interest. We also went fishing and CAUGHT A HUGE
CARP. It was great. We cornered it in this little outlet and then
caught it in our net. I'll include a video. I was so hype. After
trying and failing in Kasukabe to catch a fish, we finally succeeded.
I'll tell you how it tastes next week. It was a good week.
I feel like missionary work really just clicked for me this past week.
I was thinking about faith a lot, trying to figure out how I can make
my faith a principle of power. I emailed Elder Burgin, an Elder who
served here a little bit before my time, but who all the missionaries
I was around my first few transfers really loved and respected and
talked a lot about. They especially talked a lot about his faith. He
emailed me back, and as I read his response, one of the emails my mom
sent me, and the Ricardi letter (a letter/paper about this beast
Italian missionary from years ago), something really just clicked for
me. As I was thinking about the mission of the moment, I realized that
if I always follow the Spirit, I will always know what my mission of
the moment should be. When I realized this, it was so enlightening. As
long as I follow the Spirit, no matter what happens will be for my
benefit and growth and good. If we get a day full of rejection while
following the Spirit, it means that we can learn and grow from that
day's rejection, instead of it being hard or depressing. We will also
be led to more of those that the Lord has prepared, as we will be
following the Holy Ghost and going where we are supposed to go.
Realizing this was amazing because now I know that no matter what
happens, as long as I follow the Holy Ghost, it will be for my good!
The same thing applies to everyone, even those who aren't
missionaries. As long as we follow the promptings of the Spirit,
everything will work together for the good of us and others.
Life is so good! I am loving the work and am working at becoming a
better missionary and disciple of Jesus Christ. There's not a happier
way to live! I love you all, have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Calhoun
I don't have time for the pictures, but I'll send them next week!
This last week went really well. Things are going well with our area,
and we are working hard and having a blast. Last Monday, we played a
ton of basketball. We played with one of our new investigators and
then played again with some potential investigators. It was lots of
fun and really tiring. On Tuesday, I had exchanges with Elder Crosby.
It went well, we were able to talk to a lot of people and use our time
effectively. On Wednesday, we had a normal day and a good Eikaiwa.
Thursday, we had district meeting. It went well. I also had the
biggest epiphany of my entire mission, which I'll share at the end of
this email. Friday was a blast. We had an ιεδΌ, which is basically a
field day. It was tons of fun. The weather was perfect, which was a
huge miracle because it was forecasted to rain. It was a stake
activity, with the northern three wards going against the southern
three wards. We were on the northern wards team, which apparently has
never lost. We did a lot of different activities, some of which we
have in America, and some we don't. We had relay races, this tunnel
tag game, sack races, a huge tug of war, this weird game where one
person runs around with a hoop and people try to throw bean bags into
the hoop, freeze tag, a game that I can't describe but will attach a
video of, and lots of other goodness. In the end, we won! It felt good
to keep up the undefeated streak. We also had Family Home Evening,
which was good. Kosuke, our new investigator, came. He's so cool. We
were knackered out of our minds, but it went well. We were able to
teach both him and Fuma. Fuma is praying by himself, which is a huge
miracle! On Saturday we were ravaged beyond all description, sunburnt
and sun sick. We had a good day though, pretty normal. Sunday was
good, we had a great church with a good fast and testimony meeting.
Today went well. We played basketball with those same five guys again.
We were able to talk about the gospel quite a bit and a few of them
might have some good interest. We also went fishing and CAUGHT A HUGE
CARP. It was great. We cornered it in this little outlet and then
caught it in our net. I'll include a video. I was so hype. After
trying and failing in Kasukabe to catch a fish, we finally succeeded.
I'll tell you how it tastes next week. It was a good week.
I feel like missionary work really just clicked for me this past week.
I was thinking about faith a lot, trying to figure out how I can make
my faith a principle of power. I emailed Elder Burgin, an Elder who
served here a little bit before my time, but who all the missionaries
I was around my first few transfers really loved and respected and
talked a lot about. They especially talked a lot about his faith. He
emailed me back, and as I read his response, one of the emails my mom
sent me, and the Ricardi letter (a letter/paper about this beast
Italian missionary from years ago), something really just clicked for
me. As I was thinking about the mission of the moment, I realized that
if I always follow the Spirit, I will always know what my mission of
the moment should be. When I realized this, it was so enlightening. As
long as I follow the Spirit, no matter what happens will be for my
benefit and growth and good. If we get a day full of rejection while
following the Spirit, it means that we can learn and grow from that
day's rejection, instead of it being hard or depressing. We will also
be led to more of those that the Lord has prepared, as we will be
following the Holy Ghost and going where we are supposed to go.
Realizing this was amazing because now I know that no matter what
happens, as long as I follow the Holy Ghost, it will be for my good!
The same thing applies to everyone, even those who aren't
missionaries. As long as we follow the promptings of the Spirit,
everything will work together for the good of us and others.
Life is so good! I am loving the work and am working at becoming a
better missionary and disciple of Jesus Christ. There's not a happier
way to live! I love you all, have a wonderful week!
Love,
Elder Calhoun
I don't have time for the pictures, but I'll send them next week!
