Travel Plans are on the way!-Week 6

November 19, 2013

Finding Out About The Philippines 

I'm doing good, I think just about everyone in my district has had a turn being sick, germs spread here like wildfire. L. Tom Perry talked about a lot of things, I think he spoke for like an hour, he mainly talked about the importance of missionary work and why it is being quickened. He also shared us a cool story about the missionaries in the Philippians during this huge hurricane that happened a few weeks ago, no one told us about it so the only reason we even heard about it is because one of the Elders in our district has a friend over there, and he emailed him saying that he didn't know if he was even going to survive the storm. I guess when news of the hurricane got out everyone was trying to get out of the country, and even though all of the missionaries had plane tickets people were paying large amounts of money to take their seats so they were stranded in the airport, anyways he then went on to say that a military commander saw them and gave them a personal flight in one of the ships off of the island. We're looking forward to Thanksgiving because there is usually an apostle that comes during holidays like that, and its basically an extra P-Day for us.

We get our travel plans next week so I can let you know exactly when I'll be leaving, it will probably be at like 3 am though, we will either be going to LAX or San Fran, then we have a 10 hour flight over the ocean to the Tokyo airport, then I have like an 6 hour train to Sendai, I'll be staying at the mission home there for the first 2 days, that's all I know so far, also I believe I get to make a 5 or 10 minute phone call to you guys when I'm in the airport in California I think it will be on a Monday morning though, so if no one will be around I can just leave a message, but hopefully someone will be home.

I heard that Ender's Game was good, I'm hoping it followed the book but I don't think you read that one, its a really great series though. Good to know that Gravity was good, I saw a trailer for it at Comic Con and it looked really weird, Bret and Brian both told me about Star Wars, so I'm really glad I'll be back before that comes out, we don't get much information on anything going on out in the world including world news, but I guess that's probably for the best, we have like 6 hours of study time everyday so we get a lot done, anyways I've gotta go get ready for tonight's devotional, I just got back from the temple, sadly it closes tomorrow until sometime next year so I wont be able to do anymore sessions while I'm here, oh and tell River that I sent him an email last week, and I was disappointed to see that I haven't gotten a response, I'm sure he doesn't check his email very often though of course, I'm going to try and send out some actual hand written letters this week, if I get a chance.

あいしてます。(love you)

ーカネパリチョロ (Elder Canepari)






It looks like this email will have to do for everyone else also because I gotta go, bye.

Thanks for the Packages!-Week 5

November 12, 2013

No time for writing L. Tom Parry is on the way!

Thanks for the packages! I really appreciate them! And for the CD's, unfortunately I can't listen to them in the resident halls so I wont be able to listen to them until I'm actually in the field. We have L. Tom Parry coming to speak tomorrow so we are all super excited about that, the 日本語 and everything is going well, we had TRC again yesterday and got to talk to a really cool guy he took that picture of us. Anyways I've got to go, I'll email again next week!

Konbanwa (good evening)-Week 4

Let It Snow!

こんばんわ (konbanwa/good evening)
November 5, 2013

The weeks all feel the same right now so I don't really know whats new to really talk about, our district gets to go to the temple every P-Day, we actually just got back from a sealing session. We now have 3 "investigators" that we are teaching here, to are our teachers and the other one is a district member. Once a week we do this thing called TRC (training resource center) where we teach/talk to actual 日本人 (nihonjin/Japanese people) that are members of the church. Most of them are just college students at BYU, but there are a few older native 日本人 but when you teach them they just start talking to you in 英語 (eigo/English) and correct your 日本語 (nihongo/Japanese). The guy looks just like Mr. Miagi from the Karate Kid which is really funny. Also its started snowing last week, which is really weird because I'm not used to that kind of てんき (tenki/weather) it should be completely covered in snow here at the MTC before we leave for 日本 (nihon/Japan). The senior group of missionaries (Dai senpai/ダイセンパイ) left last week so we moved up from こはい(kohai) to センパリ(senpai) we're almost half way done here, the new こはい got here last すいよおび (getsuyobi/Wednesday).

Anyways, あいしてます (aishitemasu/love you)

-カネパリチョロ

Good Morning-Week 3

October 29, 2013
おは世ございます。(good morning)

                        The Majority of the Elders in my district (except the guy on the right)

Not much has really changed over this week, and time seems to be going much faster now the senior group of 日本語 (Japanese) missionaries just left and knew ones are coming in tomorrow, so we are about a third of the way done here. Last week I stopped saying prayers in 英語 (English) and I wont say another English prayer again on my mission, if there is something I really need to say then I have to learn how in 日本語。 I'm now focusing on learning how to bear my testimony in 日本語。 Learning now the grammar structure works comes a lot faster when you are learning how to do things like pray and testify, a few weeks in I realized I was going about everything all wrong, I hadn't been working with all my heart, might, mind, and strength like I told President Treadway I would. I said a prayer for like 10 minutes (in English) asking for help, and

everything became very clear and I was able to say a prayer in 日本語 almost perfectly immediately after, last にちよび (Sunday) we watched the Joseph Smith Restoration movie in 日本語 and I was able to understand a lot of it. I'm looking forward to getting that package!

-カネパリチョロ
(Elder Canepari)

Dorio (Companion), Shimai (Sisters) and Nihonjin (Japanese people)-Week 2

October 22, 2013

Dorio, why do you only want to hang with the Shimai?

Well, a few days ago I got sick as a dog, I've had a really bad cold, but there's no such thing as a day of at the MTC, even on P-Day. So I have still been getting up at 6:30 and going to class and everything, I just haven't been as effective.

Nihongo (Japanese) has been coming along pretty good. We learned how to pray and say our testimonies in the first few days, I was having some trouble with the language even though we have mostly just gone over things I already new, but I understand it a lot better, we SYL every new word we learn, we also have some missionaries in our district that have been living in Japan for a few years and they speak really good Nihongo which is very helpful. I've been having lots of issues with my dorio (companion, the R is a cross between L and D). He is the only one in my district that I haven't really gotten along with, he hates socializing with the elders, he always just wants to go off and talk to the shimai (sisters), but we're working on it, we have companionship inventories every few days and those are really helpful.

Every few weeks we have native Nihonjin (Japanese people) come for a few weeks to learn about how to teach the gospel, and then they go back to Nihon. We play 4-square with them during Gym time, and its fun trying to talk with them with the little Nihongo we know. One of my friends in my district likes to learn random stuff and he tells them things like "I like to eat people some times" or "I am an elephant" , he was winning in 4-square and he tried to tell them that he was very skilled, but the word for skilled and the word for juice are very similar so he actually told them that he was very juiced, and they all started laughing. I was talking with one of the Nihonjin and I was asking her where she was from and what she liked to do (in Japanese obviously because they know almost no English) I was telling her I liked to play Yugioh and stuff and where I was from, and then my friend (the same friend I was just talking about) told me to tell her something, I shouldn't have listened but I did and When I told her she gave me a weird look, and he started laughing and he told me I told her she was very beautiful, if we were't in the MTC I probably would have punched him, but we mess around a lot when we can, it makes the time go by faster, anyway I'll email again next week!

-Canepari Choro

My first day of class

Me and my companion, Choro Jonathon Pierson

Ohayoo Gozaimasu! From Canepari Choro (Elder Canepari) Week #1

The MTC-Week Number One

Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 9:06 AM,

 Ohayoo Gozaimasu! (good morning)  Found out that P-day is actually on Tuesday.  Even though its only been a week I feel like I have been here for months.  Everyone in my district is Subarashi! (awesome)  And guess what, Jonathon Pierson is my companion...Which has actually been a challenge, we're very different and we have had some issues, but god clearly had a plan for us, we are the only 2 in our district going to Sendai, everyone else is going to Tokyo.  Our teacher is awesome, we have like an 8 hour class of Nihongo (Japanese) everyday, the first 4 days he only spoke Nihongo, but then a few days ago he started speaking Eigo to us so he switches between the 2.  My time here has been the most spiritual and difficult time of my life, a week in and we have learned almost everything I learned in the first semester of Nihongo.  By the second day we already knew how to say our prayers in Japanese and bear our testimonies, the only time we can only speak N

Anyways, I hope everything is going well.  

ihongo is during sacrament meeting, we all have to write talks in Nihongo each week and 2 people get picked on the spot to give their talk.  My first day here we were having a devotional and they asked if anyone could play the piano, no one said anything and then my companion looked at me, so I have played the piano everyday so far.  I've never spent so much time focusing on just reading the Morumon Sho (Book of Mormon).  Our third day we started teaching an "investigator" (he is a member of the church)  But each day we give him a 30 minute lesson and he only speaks Nihongo to us so that all we can speak to him also.

And you can send mail to
Elder Ashton Blake Canepari
Provo Missionary Training Center
2005 N. 900 E. unit 6
Provo, UT 84604

-Canepari Choro (Elder Canepari)