Dear Family,On monday I dropped off Elder Cook at the honbu for his final interview. I went to Kohoku with Elder Matsuhashi (his companion also went home) for a day. It was kind of crazy because I still cant quite speak or understand enough to carry on a casual conversation, but I had to call a bunch of the ward members about the Christmas Party, and it was extremely difficult. Elder Cook generally made all the Japanese phone calls before, so it was a terrifying experience for me.
Tuesday was the busiest day of my life so far. I was making phone calls in english and japanese all morning at the train stations on the way to pick up Elder Frank, my new companion. I needed to set up Brother Torrez's baptism details for this Saturday, and figure out how we could help with the Japanese Christmas Party so I was really stressed. As soon as we picked up Elder Frank, we had to leave immediately to get back to Yokosuka in time to make a cardboard fireplace for the Party, through which Santa could come.
At the party there were three non-members, and we were spread pretty thin trying to talk to them all, set up appointments and such. While there we got more calls, one from our main investigator, Ujihara-san, who wanted to come to church right away for a lesson. We had to quickly cancel a dinner appointment, grab a member for a joint lesson, and rush to a quiet room where we could teach.
It turned out to be the best lesson I have ever been in. The member we had over was able to explain anything that we couldnt and offer sound advice. We had a powerful lesson on the Atonement and forgiveness, and while I was talking I had to stop because the spirit was too strong to continue. He really appreciated the lesson and his questions were answered. It was a perfect way to end a stressful day. We walked with him home, and it turns out he lives really close to our apartment. We planned to visit him again.
This has been an amazing week.
Im really bad with directions, and always have been. So this transfer has been a real struggle, because I need to remember where everything is to show Elder Frank. Im always guessing and getting a little lost, but so far we have made it where we are trying to go most of the time.
Elder Frank is loving it here, though. He's been deep in Japan his entire mission, so being here in Yokosuka, he is surprised to see so many American elements. We walked down Blue Street (the center of Yokosuka), and he was confused because every third person was American. Right after that, we had dinner with the Nuttals and some new families he had invited. About half-way through the dinner, several more families came in to visit and sing Christmas songs. He looked kind of overwhelmed.
He learned some cool magic card tricks from his previous companion, and is now teaching them to me. The Japanese absolutely love that kind of stuff, whereas the Americans arent very impressed.
Also, he showed me how to play Shogi, or the Japanese Chess. Its a bit more complicated than normal Chess, but way fun. Ill keep my eye out for a good quality Shogi set for Dad, he would really love this game.
My first Christmas in Japan was actually pretty American.
We were invited to the Fry's home for a real Christmas Turkey dinner, which you probably wont get in any other area of the mission, except maybe for Shibuya. It was extremely cool. I enjoyed it a lot, but I think that Elder Frank enjoyed it much much more, since he probably hasnt had a meal like that for his entire mission. They went out of their way to give us a real Christmas, and gave us presents! Not just some, but a lot of presents! And a lot of things we needed in the apartment, and a LOT of food.
Yup, we now have some cheeze, and also some hamburger meat, so we can use that taco seasoning.
Lots of cleaning supplies/laundry supplies, and cool scarves and ties!
Sister Fry also set it up so that Elder Cook signed the Sayanora doll for me before he left. I was wondering what that was for, he just randomly signed it for Sister Fry, but now I realize she set it up for me!
Also, a goodie bag of candy and some extra Candy canes they had.
We used the candy canes to make little Christmas envelopes for our neighbors, so you can let Sister Fry know they went to good use. We talked to a lot of people last night with those, and visited a less active to give him some of the candy.
Right now, we are extremely well stocked in terms of food at the apartment. The fridge is just about ready to burst with good American foods. It will be a feast for us for a long while.
Anyways, just wanted to thank everyone for their support and prayers.
Have a good time in the snow in Washington!
Enjoy the rest of the holidays!
-Elder Martin Mumford
-Tokyo, Japan
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