Casey's Letters to His Family
May 15, 2002
Well, I must say! Getting my first package in Japan was a real treat! The jellybeans were tasty, the deoderent is always appreciated, and that magic powder is amazing! That stuff really works and I am really thankful for it. It's really awesome stuff. Thanks a ton for the great package. It made me feel loved. :)
This past Sunday was Mother's Day. So, on Monday morning at about 7:30 I was going to call home, only they called me! It was about 4:30 over there at the time. Then I talked to everyone for about 2 minutes each and suddenly it was "'time to go." I was expecting at least 30 minutes, but I only got 20. I guess he got instructions from President [Grames?] to not talk too long. I asked how long people got to talke on the phone with their families and most missionaried were like "2 hours or so." My companion talked for 3. I guess the first time he called it was cut short liek that so his mom had a word with the mission president. The rule is 5 minutes a sibling, 10 minutes a parent. That makes it 35 minutes for me. it was okay, I suppose. It was great to talk to them and wish mom a 'Happy Mother's Day.' I do know now (it being my firs time away from home) that I love my family very much. I feel the result of your prayers. There is no reason why I should be as healthy as I am with some of the foods I eat, but we are putting in 70-80 hour weeks and it is paying off!
It's good to ear that my letters are making it home! I won't get rebuked anymore for "not writing any letters" which I have done every week. I'm glad that a link has been established.
As for Elder Kennington, once again the language has taken a new level. With prayer and faith, I am able to pick up more vocabulary and understand people better. I am even speaking way better. I'm loving this work more and more. Yesterday we got back from Sado Island. That is the small island that is straight north of Joetsu. It's a small, but beautiful island. While there, we proselyted with the missionaries that were there and I had a new revival of desire to do the work. Part of it was because I understood the language better. The part, hoever, was that it felt like home. In Ontario, when the sun goes down, there are the mountains to the west that it crosses over. It was just like that in Sado. Also, there were fields everywhere. They may have been rice fields, but it felt like home to me and my desire to work tripled. A new love for the Lord came in but also a new love for the people.
I am working hard and learning lots. I am reading and [??] and learnding Japanese and even a little bit of Portugese. I love it here more all the time. Thanks again for your package! I loved it. Elder Kennington is doing well here int he land of the Rising Sun.
Love,
Elder Casey Kennington
"No
love in all the world can equal the love of a true mother."
- Joseph F. Smith
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Received May 1, 2002
Mark, Vanessa, and Amber -
Howdy, Howdy! It's nice to know that there is a link between the states and the boondocks of Joetsu. It's great to know how things are going and how time is flying for all of us!
Congrats, Mark, on all your acheivements. Forgive me for not knowing excatly the extent of their nature, but I'll say congratulations anyway.
Okay, since I've been here for three weeks, I'll recap a few things for you if you didn't already know them. First, the trip to Japan was LONG. Salt Lake City to San Jose was about 2 hours, with a 4 hour layover in San Jose. I got to call my mom there, so it was nice. Then, the 12 hour flight to Japan. I went with 3 other Elders and one sister. It was pretty fun. We were all separated. I sat by a nice Japanese lady who spoke Enlglish. I gave you a Book of Mormon and we talked about religion and graphology for a while. We landed in Tokyo - Na[?] airport and took a train to another bullet train that took us to Sendai. we met the Dendobucho and others and stayed at the mission home (Hombu) for a day. They then sent me as far away as possible: Joetsu. My companion is great. He's the zone leader at the Niigata zone and works extrememly hard. He is a good example, a great teacher, and easy to get along with. He's a tall Hawaiian who is going home in August.
The language is coming along well. With my new electronic Japanese-English dictionary, I can learn about 20 or 30 words a day. I study about 30 minutes a day of just the language. There are tons of books and I'm not even half-way through the first one. I can function just find, though it's not as hard as everyone says it is, you just have to change your thinking. I'm also working on a little bit of Portugese because there are plent of Brazilians in Japan. I have already met 2.
We didn't get to watch conference, I left the week before an they didn't get it in Japan for a few weeks after the translating is done. And yes, it will be in Japanese when I get to see it. Thank goodness for the Ensign which we do get in English.
Anyway, things are well with me. We are flooding this place with the Book of Mormon and have 4 people committed to baptism. How great is that for the first 3 weeks?
Love Elder Casey Redd Kennington
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March 22, 2002
Mark, Vanessa, and Amber -
Well, you said the magic word! Let's see...what would I like.... acutally, I don't need any candy. I've got a 5lb bag of gummy bears I am yet to open. What I really need is deoderent and hair gel. Yup, that's about it. Do what you feel is right and I love you all even if you don't send anything.
Thank you for your letters. Hearing about hospital realations and hurt people is a good break from MTC live. The cafeteria food here isn't too bad, so long as they keep getting their milk from the BYU dairy. My companion and I are getting along pretty well, too. He's gotten a little more trunky ever since be became district leader. I want to go [?] it, but we all have work to do, don't we?
This language is tough, but that's what makes it more worth it. I've been here almost 2 months now, which is quite crazy. The more I speak it the more I learn. My district is awesome and my teachers are wonderful. I'm loving it here.
Love, Elder Kennington.
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February 5, 2002
Vanessa & Mark,
So.....everything is kosher? I knew that church ball was fatal, but this is ridiculous. I hope things are good with ya'll. Tell Amber thanks for the sweet picture.
Well, Mark, I'm not entirely sure what to say about your dr. stuff, that is way over my head. After living on a dairy farm, I try to stay away from things that have to do with expelling bodily fluids.
Things at the MTC are going well. It's funny that many people, including you, told me to love my companion. The companion I got has about 90% of the characteristics that bother the [hair?] off of me, but the 10% that I can get along with sticks out. I won't go into any detail except that he is a good guy and I got to exercise patience. We get along well, actually.
As for the language, after only 3 weeks at it I can do about 75% of my normal daily talking with it. It is very difficult to memorize the vocabulary, but the grammar principles come to me very easily.
I get to study the gospel for an hour everyday and the Book of Mormon for another half an hour. How great is that? I love it here. It feels like my home away from home now.
Love Elder Kennington
