Japan Week 10- I'm Still in Japan!

(Elder Mumford displays an impressive collection of tango (Japanese vocabulary flash cards)- on a key ring to rival that of any Janitor.) (Click on picture to enlarge)

Dear Family, 

I'm still in Japan!  Sometimes I wake up and it just hits me that I'm in a different country, speaking a foreign language.  At this point, when I get into a conversation with a Japanese Person, Im starting to think in Japanese.  I still can't understand much, but I can comprehend the structure, the words, and the ideas behind them when people talk.  Its becoming much, much easier to follow.

Recently we have been trying some new activities, we visited a City Japanese class, which was interesting.  There, we met Gen-san, a young Chinese person who is just hanging around Yokosuka until he goes back to China.  We became instant friends, and he says he wants to teach us Chinese sometime.  Strangely, we are the first Christians he has ever met.  He said he had never heard of a Christian church before.

Also, today we just tried a Shuwa Circle (Japanese Sign Language).  Elder Frank knows quite a bit of American Sign Language, and he already knows Japanese much better than me.  However, it was amazing learning a new language through a new language.  Having never even done American Sign Language before, and knowing so little Japanese, I was surprised when I learned some JSL words that I didnt even know in Japanese.  I sort of just figured out what they meant.  Sometimes in JSL, the signs make a lot more sense than the actual language behind it.

In other news...  we have the Baptism this week!  Yamaguchi-san is ready to go!  We are having a little celebration with him and some members afterwards, and we are making a cake.  Kind of a scary idea, Elders cooking food, but Im sure it will taste OK.  A member from Elder Frank's previous area is actually moving to Yokosuka soon.  I guess he just can't seem to escape his last area, they come to him!

This week has been full of random happenings;

- On the way home by train one night, we were packed like sardines, and these three ladies started to talk to us.  It turns out that all three didnt know eachother, and were getting off at different stations, but somehow the conversation (though rather one-sided, they just kept talking!) turned to the Bible.  So, for about 15 minutes these three talked to us about the Bible and religion, and then got off.  That really took us by surprise, because in Japan, (1) no one talks on the trains, and (2) even if they did it would NOT be about religion.

- There is a homeless man in central Yokosuka that roams the streets asking for money.  One of the rules as a missionary is that we cant give money to homeless people, but when he came up, we felt so bad.  We couldnt give money, and all we had was a couple packs of Elder Frank's skittles, so we gave him that.  He was kind of surprised, but thanked us and went on his way.

(It's good to see that Martin has not lost his creativity.  Even when doing something simple, like eating an mandarin, he incorporates an artistic touch.)

- In Yokosuka, they have a lot of American restraunts.  However, in Japan they put employees right outside them to hand out packs of napkins with ads on them for the restrant.  As we passed, the person offered us napkins as usual, and because we like napkins we took them as usual.  However, Elder Frank has this thing with restraunts.  He always wants to get a paper menu that we can take back to the apartment and look at.  Most restraunts carry these, but some don't.

When he asked her for the menu, she ran inside and asked someone, who then ran farther inside and asked someone else.  Normally, at this point the restraunts would try and call the manager or the Franchise company, because this kind of request doesnt come up very often.  (Kind of strange, because even if they have a stack of them right where we can see them, they have to check with the highest possible authority to do anything out of the ordinary.  Its very rigid and unchangeable in Japanese restraunts).  A minute later, she comes back out of the restraunt with one of the big, normal menus (the hard-copy that they give you when you sit down).  She runs up, hands it to Elder Frank, and then makes the 'shhhh' sign and goes back to handing out napkins.   :)  That was pretty funny.

Anyways, we're doing a lot of work in Yokosuka.  It seems like there are never enough hours in the day to get everything done.  There is always something that needs doing, and I dont think it will ever run out these next 1 1/2 years.  However, that is very satisfying, knowing you are doing a lot of work.  After a long day, its so easy to just collapse each night and not even move until the next morning, especially if you know that you did well.

Thanks everyone for your support.  Good luck to everyone in their endeavors; school, home, church, WoW...

Love you,

-Elder Martin Mumford

-Tokyo, Japan