The Last Transfer!

Excerpts from Elder Mumford's e-mail, dated June 21, 2010:

Dear Everyone,

Happy Fathers Day!

First of all, the transfer information;

1. I will be staying in Koiwa.

2. Elder Williams went to Kisarazu with Elder Bryant.

3. My new companion is Elder Merrell, from California. He also spent a little bit of time at BYU before his mission. He is on his 2nd transfer right now.

So this is it! Just me and Elder Merrell in Koiwa. It should be a great one!

(Mount Fuji on a clear day, as seen from the window of the Shonan, Japan Apartment)

So far so good, the rain hasn't really started yet. Im really suprised, we are supposed to be getting buckets of rain every day, and although it has been cloudy and very humid, nothing's really happened yet. So fortunately, we are still enjoying being out on the streets without getting wet. :)

Elder Merrell is also planning on going into media/games after his mission, so I think that we will get along very well.

Also, some other random news, I now have completed package installment 1 of 2. (It's a smaller one). I will send part 2 in a few weeks, which will contain some more of the heavier items (including Nicholas the bear!). So you can expect a lot of fun things coming your way. In terms of a package coming to Japan, we will always welcome cheese, but in fact at the moment we already have a lot of peanut butter. Thank you though. If I had to think of a request, maybe reese's bits or cups. Elder Merrell is actually allregic to nuts, so anything without nuts should be fine :)

(Nicholas The Bear- an ancient Ainu relic, inherited by Elder Mumford, will soon make his way home to America)

(This bear has made an appearance in every set of pictures that Elder Mumford has sent home. Each time he is sporting a different look. Here, he is shown wearing one of the "stick-on" mustaches that have been so popular with the Japan missionaries.)

Alright, so on to the best part---

Some highlights of the past week;

1. We met with a few people last week, one of which was a little late. So we were just waiting for him at the station, next to the big Sumo statue (where most people meet in Koiwa). As we were waiting, this old, bearded homeless man comes over to us, and asked us for some money. Unfortunately, as missionaries we (1) don't even have much money, and (2) aren't allowed to give money to anyone (It's not even ours). So we had to explain that to him. He saw that we weren't going to give him anything so he was about to leave. Then he reached over, and grabbed my hand and kissed it, which was really wierd, but then he went over to Elder Williams as well, did the same, then dived over and gave him a big wet smacker right on the cheek! Then he laughed and walked away. And while we were just sitting there in shock, our investigator showed up (probably only 2-3 seconds later), and we didnt even have time to laugh about it or figure out what just happened. So that was a rather suprising experience. :)

(This Sumo statue is a popular meeting place in the Koiwa train station. It is common to hear someone say "Just meet me at the Sumo!")

2. We met with Yoshida, our main investigator. We taught him about the plan of salvation, which he thought was nice. And from now on he will try to read and pray to know that it is true. He really does want to know.

VIDEO:

Click "Play" to view Elder Mumford and Elder Williams on a recent Homemade Taco Night.

3. Me and Elder Williams were getting seriously Taco-ed out after a while (w were having them nearly every day), and so we bought tons of vegetables and figured out how to make a really good stir fry to put on rice. So now we have all those ingredients and are doing pretty good. We still have yet to try out the steel-cut oats, but I want to do it soon.

(Jiru Ramen Shop in Tokyo. This is where the locals eat!)

4. Speaking of food, we have the best Ramen in the entire mission in Koiwa (I know everyone says that, but I've tried a LOT of different ramens, and this one is the best one so far!). It's called 'Jiro', and there's a LOT of food that they give you. If we visit Japan agian as a family, that would be a very good place to come.

(Famous garlic, pork ramen dish, served at the Jiru Ramen Shop)

5. This transfer, we are going to stop trying to focus on EVERYONE at once. That just hasn't worked really all that well. We are going to prayerfully select only a few of the top people in the Ward, our Investigators, people that we really can help right now if we focus on them.

At the moment, we have;

a. Yoshida (our investigator)

b. Sekino (another investigator)

c. Shinobu (a less active who has been considering coming back, but still doesnt know if it is true)

There are others, but that is our primary concern right now. Im sure that they would benefit from your prayers.

(Activity at the Shonan Ward Campout)

I just wanted to leave you with a quick thought. Got will never allow us to be tempted beyond what we are able. Our choices are always in our power. He will never allow us to be forced to chose wrong, nor will he force us to make the right choice, but He will always ensure that we are capable of making a choice. One thing that we have been speaking about recently is how God is our heavenly father. He really is in every way. Like a father, he doesnt want his kids to hang around the house and just live purely off of his guidance and help for their entire lives, he desires their independance. We are still weak, unsure, like children, but he is preparing us to become independant, to be able more and more to survive on our own. As we get stronger, we understand more about how to recognize the spirit. We have a long way to go, but we all decide to progress or degress baced on our choices. It's a very simple plan that he has for us, but a powerful one, because our eventual goal is to become like Him. And what an incredible goal that is!

When you think about life with that goal in mind, it becomes very clear what is important and what is not important.

(Scenery from the Shonan Ward Campout)

One quote (I forgot who said this), is 'When you put the Lord first, all other things will fall into place, or drop out of our lives.'

When we truly dedicate ourselves to what is best for us (the plan that he gave us), I think our priorities will become less grey. It is difficult to keep an eternal perspective, but if we do we can make the right decisions, for the right reasons! Anyways, just a thought for today.

I love you all, I will see you soon. good luck and have fun,

Elder Martin D Mumford,

TOKYO, JAPAN.