Martin's District at the MTC

(Click on picture to view larger.)

(Click on picture to view larger.)

MTC Week 4

Another week goes by, and it's almost been a month!

The older group of missionaries (Senpai) are about to leave, next monday.  They have a donation box, where they put all the stuff they're not taking to the mission field.  By the end of the week, it should be filled with tons of food and books. 

 My district has 11 people.  One of them is leaving next week with the Senpai, because she already knows a lot of the language.  8 of us are going to Tokyo, and 3 of us are going to Sapporo.  Sapporo is the very northernmost Mission, and they are called the 'Frozen Chosen'.

 So far, the MTC field is open each gym.  Gym is at a different time each day, but so far the weather has been alright, so we go out to the field nearly every time.  I normally just run around the field, and most people play soccer or sand volleyball.

Anyways, my laundry is nearly done.  Thanks for all the letters!  I'll be sending a few more by mail, but I think this concludes this Tuesday Email!

-Elder Mumford

-Ja, Matta Ne!  (See ya later)

Martin's Room In The MTC

Companion and MTC Roommies

Martin's Companion- Elder Jaysen Draney from Wilsonville, OR

Martin's Roommate- Elder Tangren from Utah

Martin's Roommate- Elder Petersen from Kelso, WA

NO FOOD PLEASE!

Excerpts from a letter dated September 15, 2008

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE LETTERS AND PACKAGES!!!   It's always wonderful to get them.

Also, Thanks so much for not sending food.  Every one of the missionaries in my district is getting HUGE tubs of cookies and bags of candy every week. People are constantly trying to give away food because no one can eat it all.

If you want to send something, please send pens and mechanical pencils.  I can always use those and the bookstore does not have those in large quantities.

Thanks!

-Elder Martin Mumford

3rd Week in the MTC

Last Tuesday night, we got to hear from Elder Uchtdorf!

All the Japanese missionaries in my district are either from the Northwest, or from Utah, and they either have lots of Japanese experience, or none at all.

All missionaries, no matter how much they have taken before, learn together.  There is only one person in the entire Japanese area that is being pushed ahead, but only because she lived in Japan for 10 years and is nearly fluent.  Everyone else follows the schedule, so those 10-weekers are actually part of a seperate district.

It's impressive, because throuought the week, at all times of day, there are people leaving for the airport.  It's also cool to be greeted in so many different languages each day.

(In this Picture, Elder Mumford is imagining what it will be like to ride a bike in Japan) RUN FOR YOUR LIFE  EVERYONE!

Also, the stories of bike accidents are starting to scare me.  It seems that every single missionary who went to Japan has been hit by a car while riding their bike.

I hear the hospitals are very strict, in that they won't let you leave for a very long time.

So, it sounds like the things I really need there are:

1) A good bike

2) An electronic dictionary (Every student in Japan has one of these.  They would always whip them out whenever I talked)

3) Waterproof everything (It rains HARD, even in the middle of summer)

Anyways, you have probably spent more on postage for me this past month, than in my whole life combined.  

Thanks for all the great mail!  

-Elder Martin Mumford

-MTC

Typical Day In The MTC

Not much to report, because the schedule is pretty much the same every week... just learn, learn, and learn some more.  However, my Japanese is rapidly improving.

Thanks for all the letters everyone!  Even if it's just a few words, letters make people's day here.

Typical day at the MTC:

6:30-7:00 Get ready

7:00-7:45 Personal Study

7:45-8:15 Breakfast

8:15-12:30 Classroom Instruction                                                                                                      

12:30-1:00 Lunch

1:00-5:30 Classroom Instruction

5:30-6:00 Dinner

6:00-9:00 Classroom Instruction

9:00-10:30 Planning and get ready for bed

So the VAST majority of our day is in the classroom.

P-Day is the same thing, but substitute laundry + temple for the classroom instruction times.

We have an all-Japanese speaking ward of about 30, and all talks, testimonies, prayers and hymns are in Japanese.  Next week, we all will prepare a short talk for Sunday.

My Companion is Jaysen Draney, from Portland, OR.

First Letter From The MTC

Dear family,

Everything is going well at the MTC.  We are learning a lot of Japanese here, and I'm really glad I took some in college before coming here.

There are 1600 missionaries here right now, but by the end of September there are supposed to be around 2500.  It's amazing, every Wednesday, about 500 new missionaries arrive.  I arrived with 20 other new Japanese-speaking missionaries, and we're all studying together.

There's a bit of a 

competition between the Japanese-speaking and Korean-speaking missionaries.  Each Saturday night, we all sing the same song, and see who can sing the loudest in our respective languages.

And just so Mallory knows, the Cannon Center serves the leftovers from the MTC.  It's the exact same food, but here it tastes amazing.  So, whenever Mallory goes to dinner, she can think to herself, "Martin almost ate that, but decided not to." :)

I saw Jacob Hill here, I think he's going to SLC, and there are a ton of people here from May Hall.

It's difficult, but fun.  I miss the cats, and of course you too.  You're probably enjoying the quiet time at home without me and Mallory, and I'm sure Madison is thrilled to do all of our chores.

Just so dad knows, they don't do the sticker dots anymore, but just about everything else he said is still the same.

So, I'll write next Tuesday!  Make sure to write me here!   martindm@myldsmail.net

-Elder Martin Mumford

Excerpts from the first letter he sent by mail. (Written the first night in the MTC)

They provided an overwhelming amount of study materials, providing all the standard works and a Japanese "Preach My Gospel"

I'll be sending home most of the Japanese books I brought, as the MTC ones are way better.

Sorry Mom, there was no "secret pizza party" behind the Missionary Exit, but the food here is extremely good!

Oh, and they have guitar hymn music playing in the laundry room.

I am enjoying every minute of it here, and my companion is extremely nice. *Pictures soon to follow*

Sorry for the brevity of my communication, I am trying to fit everything in before 10:30. (they let us write the first night.)

Also, this maybe the last few chances to sound intelligent (with English) before I begin at a 1st grade level of Japanese.

Thank you for all your support!

-Love 

Mumford-Choro 

(Elder Mumford)

Checking in to the MTC

On Wednesday, August 27th, 2008, Martin checked in to the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah.     Time to say "Goodbye"!

          

 This volunteer's job is to un-pick the top pocket on all the  missionaries new suits, to make room for the name tag.

                                        

Check in and final instructions.    

It's official!  He's a real missionary now!

Last Time Together

One last family picture together at the Provo Temple.  

This is the last time we will be together as a family for at least two years.

Everything Martin will need for the next two years 

must fit into 2 suitcases, and be under 50 lbs.

Farewell Address

Martin gave his farewell address to the Grass Valley Ward on August 24, 2008

Here is the talk he gave:

When I was at BYU, the first things I noticed was that the textbooks were really expensive.  And so, thinking to outsmart the BYU bookstore, I searched online until I found the same book, but at a quarter of the price.  After two weeks of waiting, the package finally arrived.  By then, the semester had already begun, and I was desperately in need of the textbook, which contained the principles I needed to pass my first test in the class.

 And so, I eagerly tore through the packaging … and saw that the cover was in Chinese.  Panicking, I checked the first few pages.  They were also in Chinese.  I was crushed.  Here I was with only a few days before a major test, and a textbook that I couldn’t understand.  All the answers were there, but I didn’t know how to access them!

About to give up, I searched deeper in the book, and struck English.  Fortunately for me, while the cover and introduction were Chinese, all of the chapters, and the answers that I needed were written in a language I could understand.

 In a similar way, the scriptures can sometimes seem confusing.  Even though we might not understand them at first glance, if we truly search them, we will find the answers that we need, whether they are the great questions of the soul, or just out everyday needs.

 The Book of Mormon specifically can provide these answers.

 Someone who wants to understand the purpose of life, can turn to Alma 34, where Amulek describes the plan of salvation, through which we can return to out Heavenly Father.

 King Benjamin’s speech on the tower can direct us on how to unite our families and protect them from the influences of the world.

 If someone struggles with repentance, they can recall the situation of Alma the Younger, one of the most powerful and inspiring repentance stories in the Book of Mormon.

Richard G. Scott shared an experience he once had as a mission president:

 “On one occasion, a missionary came to my office with a problem that troubled him greatly.  As he spoke, I began to formulate in my mind specific comments to help him resolve his challenge.  When he concluded, I said, ‘I know just how to help you.’  He looked eagerly toward me, and suddenly my mind went blank.  I could not remember anything I had prepared to tell him.

 In anxiety, I began to thumb through the Book of Mormon I held in my hand until my attention was drawn to a very significant scripture.  This occurred three times.  Each scripture applied perfectly to his situation.  Then, as though a curtain were raised in my mind, I recalled the advice I had planned to give him.  Now it had far greater meaning, for it was based on a foundation of valuable scripture.  As I concluded, he said, “I know that the council that you have given me has been inspired because you have repeated the same three scriptures that were given me when I was set apart as a missionary.

 This treasured experience is one of many that demonstrates how the Lord respects words recorded by His servants in scripture, and how He expects us to use them often to find the kernels of truth that we need to resolve difficulties in our own lives.”

 My stake president at BYU warned me that between the time of my mission call and my mission, there would be a lot of temptation.  And in that time, there has been a lot of temptation not to go.  But while at college, I was able to have a memorable experience with the scriptures.

 As part of a Book of Mormon class, we were assigned to read 30 minutes a day.  I was extremely busy with my other classes, so at first I felt that reading was a low priority.  However, in my daily reading, I read in Alma about the Nephites fortifying their cities.  They made the weakest places Strong, so that when an attack came, they would be more fully prepared.  I realized that in order to resist temptation, I needed to prepare myself, and keep the spirit with me through out the day as a constant defense.

 When I read that, I was shocked that the answer to my prayers was in the chapter I had happened to read that day, and I knew that it was the spirit that had prompted me.

 Even if you don’t get an answer directly from the text of what you read, it will be given to you by the spirit.

 In ( 2 Nephi 32:3 ), Nephi tells us that,

 “Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore they speak the words of Christ; wherefore, I say unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.”

 The Book of Mormon is an inspired source of guidance, and we should take every opportunity to obtain the blessings of studying it.

President Ezra Taft Benson told us that,

 “The Book of Mormon was written for out day.  God is the author of the Book.  It is a record of a fallen people, compiled by inspired men for our blessing today.  Those people never had the book – it was meant for us.  Mormon, the ancient prophet after whom the book is named, abridged centuries of Records.  God, who knows the end from the beginning, told him what to include in his abridgement that we would need for our day.”

 These scriptures are not accounts of old and irrelevant people.  They are directly applicable to the challenges that each of us is facing now.  All problems, whether it is a major crisis, or important life decisions, or the desire to understand doctrine, can be met with sound council from the Book of Mormon.

 There is a saying, that we should “Teach our children scripture, and the scriptures will teach our children.”

 President Boyd K. Packer noted the same thing, saying,

 “True doctrine, understood changes attitudes and behavior.  The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.”

 And it’s true.  While at college, there was a notable difference between days when I read the scriptures, and days when I did not.  No matter how busy or overwhelmed I was, if I read my scriptures that day, I could always complete my work on time.  Even when there was no time to spare, choosing to read would always ensure that everything would work out by the end of the day.

 And in addition to receiving answers and gaining blessings, Nephi promised that reading scripture would serve as a protection to us.  We have been told to “hold to the rod,” which Nephi describes as, “the Word of God, and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, the would never perish; neither could the temptations and fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away unto destruction.”

 This is the kind of power and protection we should be seeking every day.  But we need to make the effort in order to gain it.  Sincere prayer, and diligent searching is required for us to have the blessings of the Book of Mormon.

 One of our Hymns, “As I Search the Holy Scriptures,” has an interesting, and humbling history.  “Our Latter-Day Hymns” notes that,

 “It was a conscious decision on the part of author-composer Marianne Fisher to use the word search instead of read.  To her, searching involves being able to read and reread, ponder and pause in meditation, search for other related passages, and underline.

 Marianne Fisher’s method of underlining is to copy a particularly meaningful passage in Braille, since she has no way of marking passages in her Braille scriptures, which total 32 large volumes.  Blind since birth, she commented:

 ‘How fortunate for those who read the ink-print edition to have their scriptures always at hand.  Those of us who are blind cannot always have our scriptures literally ‘at our fingertips.’”

 The prophets have warned us not to take the Book of Mormon for granted.  The early church members experience great trials and sacrificed much to allow the Book of Mormon to be so readily available today.  It gives us daily strength, invites the Holy Ghost, answers our questions, and strengthens our testimony of Joseph Smith, and of the restored gospel.

 M. Russell Ballard shared an experience he had as a mission president, about a young missionary who had read some anti-Mormon literature, and felt like he was losing his testimony.

 Elder Ballard gave the missionary an assignment to read from the Book of Mormon for at least an hour each day, for two weeks.  In two weeks, Elder Ballard promised to have an answer for every question that was raised by the anti-Mormon literature.

 When the missionary returned two weeks later, Elder Ballard began to give the answers, but the missionary stopped him.  He said that the answers were unnecessary.  Through reading the Book of Mormon, he had regained his testimony.

 I’d like to leave you with my favorite quote from President Ezra Taft Benson.  He said,

 “There is power in the book which begins to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book.  You will find greater power to resist temptation, you will find the power to avoid deception, you will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path… When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.”

 

Setting Apart

On August 24th, 2008, Elder Mumford was set apart by President Shafer.

As an official missionary, he can no longer watch movies or play computer games for the next two years.  WHAT A SACRIFICE!

Mission Prep.

Opening and removing pins on 14 new white shirts takes a lot of time.  Also, unwrapping 12 pairs of socks, unpicking the pockets on two new suits, and essentially packing everything needed for the next two years into two suitcases, and keeping it all under 50 lbs.  Wow!

Martin's Mission Call

In April 2008, Martin was called to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in the Tokyo Japan Mission.  Play the movie to see his and our excitement!