Elder Martin D Mumford: Week 4 Letter Has Arrived!

Thursday, December 18, 2008

Week 4 Letter Has Arrived!

Dear Family,

The tiny tree and decorations you sent were really cool! I got Aunt Anita's family Christmas card, which was lots of fun. I also got cards from John and Cheryl, Grandma Mary Ann, and The First Presidency.

Sister Fry, here, also gave us a book of 25 Christmas (missionary related) stories, to read one each night in December, till Christmas. I just got the i-pod full of Christmas Music! We are listening to it all the time in the apartment.

You are all probably preparing for Christmas at home (and Mallory will be flying home soon too!) I can imagine how our house is, with all our family (including cats) Be sure to enjoy it! Have a great Christmas!

Over here, halfway around the world, we'll be having our own celebrations! Sister Fry was sure to sign up for a Christmas Day meal, so that will be lots of fun. Also, we will be able to make our phone calls home!

This week I went to my first zone conference and I got to experience a really crowded train. We woke up nice and early to catch the 6:05

train, which I guess is Japanese rush hour, because it was PACKED! I couldn't move.

I am practicing my Kanji recently, so that I can get around the train stations once Elder Cook leaves. We use the trains a lot, and it's still kind of confusing. (See map above)

Zone Conference was great! We had some good discussions, and ate "casserole a la death" which is essentially loaded with stuffing and butter. (Pictured: Zone leader, Elder Matsuhashi, and Elder Jessord.)

In other news, they are creating a NEW Book of Mormon in Japanese, which we will have in March! If you don't know, the Book of Mormon has had some history here.

1- Mormon-"ke"-Literally means "Mormon Buddhist Scripture." It was very archaic language and hard to understand.

2. Mormon-"sho"- (Came out about 15 years ago) This is what we use now. It is much more understandable, and easier to read.

3. The new and improved Mormon-"sho"- which comes out next March. I have no idea what it is like.

Now to answer Mallory's Questions:

1. What's the weather like there? The weather here is nice. It's a LOT like Washington right now, actually. Kind of cold with lots of rain!

2. How's the language coming? I'm always learning more language here, I guess it's just part of being in Japan, you pick up a lot. What I'm surprised about is how easy it is becoming to read the Book of Mormon in Japanese. Elder Cook is helping me out a lot, and I know this isn't just me getting good this fast alone. There is definitely some spiritual help here.

3. Are you glad you went to Japan once before your mission? It was helpful for me to come to Japan before. Most of the big surprises and shocks were discovered then, so it's not near as intimidating for me now.

4. Are people nice to you? The people are extremely nice. Even if they hate your guts they would probably still be outwardly polite about it.