Konichiwa Kawasaki!

Dear Family,

I transferred!  I am now in Kawasaki, and my new companion is Elder Fukuda.  (He's Japanese).  He's from Hokkaido, (The red part on the map) and jokes around a lot.  He doesn't speak any English, so I am going to get lots of Japanese practice!

The apartment is great, and so is the ward.  Just looking through the ward book is exiting.  We have almost 90 active members here, and a LOT of the members are returned missionaries with families.   We live right next to an elementary school, so you can always hear the kids playing in the playground. :)  The area used to be a 4-man, but right now its just me and Elder Fukuda.  Since Im the gaijin, I teach Eikaiwa (English class) alone! 

Here's how

transfers work:  You pack 2 bags and call Sagawa (the shipping company).  They take your bags and deliver them to the new area the next day. 

You then disassemble your bike, put it in a bike bag, and carry it on the train to your new area.  The Zone leaders figure out where  everyone needs to go in order to meet everyone else and get where they have to be.

Its a very confusing process, and was really stressful.  Because I bought a military bike, It requires a wrench to take off the back wheel, unlike all Japanese bikes, which just need the little Japanese toolset.  So, we got to the station, and took it all apart, and when we got to the back wheel we realized we didnt have a wrench.  So, I had to lock all the disassembled parts together and run back to the apartment.  Fortunately it turned out all right, and we stuffed it in the back and went on our way, but we were kind of late.

Ill keep my eye out for an Okonomiyaki restraunt out here.  I actually had some at the baptism party, from the Inoue family.  It was homemade, and it tasted exactly the same as the ones we made at home (that is: delicious).

Elder Frank performed the baptism, and the program turned out great, even though it was on short notice.  Yamaguchi-san is 19, so after the baptism, the Single Adults women made sure to congratulate him and let him know  "We're with the single adults program". :)

Good luck in the school play!  Wow, I didnt know that Madison liked theatre so much!  Go Madison!

I got the "wake up" music you sent.  It is PERFECT!  Especially the Scottish bagpipe one is good for waking up.

I cant remember if I have already told you about the 90-year old that took us to Mister Donuts.  If not, tell me so I can explain next week!

Sorry for the pitiful email, but transfer/p-day is always hectic and short.  Ive got to go to Eikaiwa really soon.  Good luck everyone!  Ill be sure to give a huge detailed explainiation of Kawasaki next week!

Love,

-Elder Mumford

-Tokyo, Japan!