Shibuya!

Elder Mumford stands by a statue of HOCHIKO; Japan's famous Akita dog.  The story goes as follows:  Hochiko the loyal  dog,  would walk with his master every day to the train station in Shibuya, where his master would board the train to the University where he taught.  At the end of each day when his master returned, Hochiko would always be at the train station, waiting for him.  One day the Professor suffered a stroke while at the University, and died.  Hochiko waited for his master to come home, but he never did.  Each day, for the next 11 years, until his death, Hochiko would be at the train station, in the evenings, still faithfully awaiting his master's return.  This statue of Hochiko was erected just outside of the train station in honor of his loyalty and devotion.  Today it is one of the most popular meeting places in all of Tokyo.
This week, Martin was transferred to Shibuya (pronounced "she-BOO-Yah")  the most densely populated section of Tokyo.  (It also has the smallest missionary apartment in the entire mission.)  Shibuya is sometimes called the "Times Square" of Japan.  The Hochiko crossing in Shibuya (shown above and below) claims to be the busiest intersection in the entire world!

VIDEO: Click "Play" to view.

And now, Here is Martin's e-mail, dated June 11th, 2009:

Dear Everyone,

Alright just to let you know the email place in my new area is ONLY 30 MINUTES.  Barely enough time to read an email and scratch out a short message.  So sorry if this week is a bit short.  Ill just give you the important stuff first in case I run out of time.

I am now located in SHIBUYA, the craziest, busiest area in the mission.  Literally I can see hundreds of people pouring by from the email place window.  You walk out of your door in the morning and there are a few dozen people within sight.  It is insane.  There are gaijin (foreigners) everywhere, and pretty much every single person speaks english somehow.  It is amazing, fun, and I think this is going to be an exciting transfer here.

We cover 2 wards, 1 Japanese and 1 Gaijin (much like Yokosuka).  On the 21st, they are actually combining all 3 Gaijin wards into one (because all the families go back to America for the summer, and all the guys stay in Japan for work).

My companion is Elder Morris, from Salt Lake City, UT.  He likes movies a lot.

The other two Elders in the apartment are;

Elder Gerber (he was my Kohai in the MTC), from Ohio, and

Elder Haight (he also really likes movies), from South Jordan, UT.

The Elders happened to walk by a movie trailer.  The look on their face says it all!  (Trunky)

This is going to be lots of fun.  Our first night here, we found out just how much Elder Morris and Elder Haight like movies.  They have seen just about every movie ever made, and probably 90% of them I have never heard of before.  Its amazing.  Me and Elder Gerber just write all of the names down so that we can watch them after the mission, but just in 2 days, I have filled 2 pages with movies, so I dont think I will be watching quite ALL of them.

Shibuya is lots of fun.  We teach English class on Wednesdays, and JAPANESE class on tuesdays.  Every monday night, we go into a Catholic church and make Onigiri (rice balls) for homeless people!  Lots of fun!

Onigiri- or rice balls.  One of the most popular "grab-n-go" food items in Japan.  Each week the LDS missionaries join with members of other religions in Japan,  for a community service project- making onigiri for the homeless.

Just one more thing, then I have ta wrap up already!

In Kanagawa-ken and some parts of Tokyo, they say 'Jyan' at the end of sentences.  Its just slang, and it really doesnt have much meaning, but the funny thing is that it sounds just like 'John'.  Uncle John might find that amusing were he to come to Japan sometime!

Were going to look for a better email place, so I think next week will be better.  Sorry for the shortness, Ill have LOTS of crazy stories next week!  Shibuya is famous for rediculous and crazy people.  This should be fun.

VIDEO: Click "Play" to view some of the fun, craziness of Shibuya!

Anyways, good luck, have fun, thanks everyone for the amaizng support, prayers and letters.  I really appreciated all the help this last week with transfers and everything.  

THANK YOU SO MUCH,

Love,

Elder Mumford

Shibuya, Tokyo, JAPAN.