Welcome Home President and Sister Hill!

(President and Sister Hill just returned from 3 years of service as president of the Japan Tokyo Mission.  They were well loved by all the missionaries, and we honor them for their sacrifice, dedication and leadership.)

Hello, it's Karen here, aka: Missionary Mom.  We happened to be in Utah this past week for a family party, when the Hill's reported their mission in Sacrament Meeting.  We felt fortunate to be able to attend, and hear from this wonderful couple, who Martin respected greatly!  

Also in attendance was Btother and Sister Morris, the parents of Martin's current companion, Elder Elliot Morris.  It was a privlidge to meet them and their wonderful family.

(Bruce Mumford, Karen Mumford, Cathy Morris, Mark Morris)

I also had a chance to visit briefly with Martin's first trainer and companion, Elder Cook, who completed his service in December 2008.  It wasn't hard to spot him... I just looked for the tallest person in the building!

(Elder Benjamin Cook, with Karen Mumford)

I also chatted a bit with Elder Frank, Martin's follow-up trainer and 2nd companion, who completed his service in April 2009.   It was so fun to meet in person, these amazing young men, whom we have come to know so well through Martin's letters, pictures, and video clips.  

(Elder Anthony Frank with Karen Mumford)

Can you believe we also ran into Elder Jacob Meline, from our home ward in Camas, Washington.  Elder Meline also served fathfully in the Japan, Tokyo Mission, completing his service in March, 2009.

(Karen Mumford with Jacob Meline)

Earlier that week, Bruce was able to re-connect with Mike and Debbie Evans.  Mike was one of Bruce's best friends from high shcool, and Mike's wife Debbie, is the sister of his other best friend in high shcool.  Bruce had lost touch with Mike and had not seen him in 25 years.  I recently became aquatinted  with Debbie through the missionary mom's group, since we both have a son currently serving in the Japan, Tokyo Mission, and as we chatted, we soon discovered the connection.  Martin and their son Nathan have yet to meet each other in the mission, but we hope they will have an opportunity to do so soon.  The Evans' also attended the Hill's Sacrament Meeting Report.

(Bruce and Karen Mumford, with Debbie and Mike Evans in Utah)

BEFORE: (Here is Mike and Bruce during one of the last times they would see each other for 25 years.

 Mike is on the far left, and Bruce is on the far right.)

AFTER: (And here is Mike and Bruce now.  Who knew 25 years ago, that they would both end up having a son serve in the Japan, Tokyo mission.)

Happy New P-Day

(While these beautiful girls were busy taking pictures of the Tokyo LDS Temple, Martin was busy taking pictures of the beautiful girls!)

Dear Everyone,

Well, not much has really happened since last Thursday :p

As far as postage, I may very well have to take out another 100 today.  Im still putting everything in the box and sorting all the pictures and things, so Ill try to get it sent by this Friday at the latest (sorry, it will probably arrive after masidon's and possibly after mom's birthday.  I might just throw in Mallory's things too and ship it off before the end of July).

Dont worry too much about money, Im still doing great on the mission money alone, haven't really needed to use personal money much.  Dad would be proud how Im managing my finances and such.

Well, things have started to pick up again in missionary work.  We are meeting some cool people, namely...

1. Takamori - he is still stuggling with smoking.  Its the only thing holding him back.

2. Kamada - still trying to find out if its true.

and that's just about it.

Also 1 more, just recently,

3. Mizusawa - interested in learning about other religions, has trouble understanding the Book of Mormon (why Nephi killed Laban... etc).

Not really that much happened so far.  However one fun story,

So apparently every Sunday at Yoyogi park they have this giant 50's dancing competition, with all these greasy guys in jeans and leather coats dancing around.  So funny, I got some pictures.

Well, thats about it.  You're going to enjoy the big load of pictures coming up soon.  Theres quite a lot of videos too.

Hope everyone is doing well, good luck and dont forget to have fun!

-Love,

Elder Mumford

TtoOKkyYOo, JjaAPpaANn

愛してるよ from an e-mail dated July 8, 2009

Dear Everyone,

This has been a notable week for me, namely because I am no longer a teenager, but am now officially an adult!  Yay!

Thank you everyone for that incredible birthday package.  I almost didnt get it, because the post office tried to deliver it TWICE in 3 days when we werent home, but I finally got it last night!

It is so good to hear from everyone, and the american food was so beautiful.  I pulled out the bricks of cheese and everyone in the apartment was in tears.  This is a big deal.  We'll definitely be making that pizza soon.  Also the peanut butter was a super rare treat.  Thank you for the incredible gifts, they made our day (and probably our month too).

So another week goes by and Im a year older.  Im still the same old me.  It was a good week full of experiences though.  Some of the highlights;

(Martin's New Mission President- Steve and LeAnn Albrecht, former associate dean of the Marriott School of Business)

1.  We got to meet President and Sister Albrecht!  They introduced themselves to us and explained some of the new changes.  One is, P-day is now going to be on Monday instead of Thursday (in effect starting next week).  Which means that This next monday Ill be sending the next email, so dont be surprised.

They are extremely nice, very spiritual and have strong plans for the mission.  This is going to be an excellent finishing year of my mission with them.

2.  We met a guy on the street who was going to propose to his girlfriend that day.  Way cool!

3.  We got a Laotian Book Of Mormon, for that one guy we met last week, the secretary to the ambassador of Laos.  Its HUGE, takes up the whole desk, and has a coloring-book-esque picture section.  Very cool.  If we get in contact with him again well have to give it to him.

(The missionaries are able to obtain Books of Mormon, in any of 106  languages.)

Information on Investigators;

- Kamada - interested in the gospel, wants to know more is reading/praying a little to find out.  He'll continue to learn and hopefully get answers to his questions via the spirit, but what he needs is to come to church on Sundays.  His part-time job is right durring church so he can never come.  Perhaps just pray that an opportunity to come might happen soon

- Takamori - He is so nice.  He loves the gospel, tries so hard to do everything.  The hard thing is quitting cigarrettes.  Maybe pray that he might have the strength to quit.  It is so hard for him.

And beyond that there's not really anyone else we're working with too much.

Some funny stories from Shibuya;

1.  There was a man inside this little red wheeled robot capsule thing, that was playing music and rolling around the sidewalks.  Wierd.  I got videos.

2.  Elder Haight and Morris are big on movies, so over this 5 weeks together they have prepared a list of 300 movies that they recommend.  Insane.

Im sure there's more but I seem to have forgotten.  Ill have to write them down when I think of them on my new cool 'hand-tatoo to-do list'.  Its really handy.  Anyways,

Hope everyone is enjoying it up wherever you may be!  Have fun, good luck!

-Thank you!

-Love,

Elder Mumford

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Happy 4th Of July!

(Elder Mumford Says: "Peace Out Everybody!")

Here's Elder Mumford's e-mail dated July 2, 2009

Dear Everyone,

Another crazy week, some highlights;

1. We picked up Elder Imai (he just entered the JMTC), but he got to spend 4 days with us in Shibuya while he was waiting to get in!  It was lots of fun :)

2.  Michael Jackson died?  Thats weird.  We heard about it from some guy on the train, so we didnt believe it at first, but then everyone kept telling us the same.  Wow.

3.  Some advertising person called us.  He said that his company has this stage in the middle of a train station where people preform.  He wants to give us several hours on the stage to do whatever we want!  Way nice! :)

4.  As for visiting NHK Studio Park, its actually not open right now (I think).  They closed it off to people because there is a huge mob protesting outside.  I cant figure out what theyre protesting, but they all look really angry.  We will try to visit it another day, when the angry mob is gone.

(The tallest building in Japan- The Landmark Building.)

Anyways, Shibuya is as amazing as ever.  Im sorry this is going to be a short one, because nothing out of the ordinary happened this week.

But, Im doing well here.  All 4 of us get along really well and are having lots of fun.  Its definitely harder to talk to people here than other places Ive been in though.  Biking is out of the picture, because there are so many people on the streets that your bike doesnt even fit sometimes.  In Yokosuka and Kawasaki, if we stopped 3 people, usually at least one of them would listen to us for a while, but here you get lucky if 1 out of 10 even stops for you, let alone listen.  Every single person is busy.

By far the most common response is 'Im in a hurry', because seriously, everyone is.  Every single person here is rushing to get to work or get somewhere else and they dont have time to talk.  Most people dont even have 1 minute to spare, so recently we've been asking people if they have just 10 seconds to listen.  Most of the time they dont, but sometimes people will listen.  Then we give a REALLY quick 10-second message and hand them a flyer or something, then they look at their watch and say 'Oh, 10 seconds is up, bye'.

Its ultra-fast paced.  Kind of scary and Im still adjusting.  Its so hard just to get people to stop at all, sometimes its frustrating.  We'll keep trying.

(Elder Mumford came across this giant robot spider that gets up and walks around.  However, it was "sleeping" at the time he snapped this picture.)

We also have some of the anti-mormon sentiment from the Americans/Gaijin here.  We get yelled at sometimes, which surprisingly is a first for me.  In all the other areas, people know absolutely 0 about christianity, let alone our church, so there are no angry people telling us to go home.  But here we get it occasionally.  It really makes me appreciate the missionaries in America, Europe, and pretty much the rest of the entire world who already start out with a bad image of us.  At least here you have sort of a clean slate.

(Visiting The Shrine of a Million Dogs)

Well sorry for my rant, it was a little negative, but it feels good to let it out. :)  Thats basically our situation now, finding anyone who will listen.  Well keep on keeping on.

Thanks everyone for the support!  Have a happy 4th of July!

Elder Martin D Mumford

-T-o--k---y----o-----J----a---p--a-n-

"Miss" List And "Wish" List

(Elder Mumford shows off his cool new hair cut. )

Excerpts from Elder Mumford's e-mail, dated June 24, 2009

Dear Everyone,

Im still in Shibuya, the coolest place in the world.  First off, every week that I email I remember something that I should have said, usually right when its too late.  So, here's all the forgotten stuff!

1.  Our apartment building is called Samaria Buraun Hausu.  (yes you spell 'Brown House' as 'Buraun Hausu').

2.  It is RAINING!  We're starting to feel the humidity rolling in like huge crushing waves.  Just a word of advice to mission moms.  avoid sending your missionaries chapstick.  The air is our chapstick here, we literally do not need it, but we all appreciate the thought!  :)

(Another fun "Engrish" sign, captured by the camera of Elder Mumford.)

And thats all!  I forgot the rest, but Ill probably remember it for next time.

This week has been interesting, and extremely short.  There is literally no time.  We wake up, immediately study, immediately work, immediately eat, immediately go to bed.  There is quite honestly 0 minutes in a week for 'free time', which makes sense though, because we gave away ALL of our time to be here.  Still, it makes me appreciate college where no matter what, I had an hour or so of free time each day, and if nessecary I could wake up earlier or stay up later to complete work.

Here you have the boundaries of time.  6:30 to 10:30 is your absolute limit, and the time between must be spent on specific activities.  Now I don't want to be trunky here, I still have a nice, full year ahead of me to look forward to.  This time is the most fun I've had in my life (seriously).  It is an amazing experience, so with that said here is some things I miss about home;

Miss list:

1. Cheap food.  Everything, EVERYTHING here, no matter how small is always at least 100yen (1 dollar).  A pack of gum, a single pretzel, a 100ml water bottle, a single mini-fun size candy bar.  EVERYTHING is rediculously expensive.  I cant wait to get back and buy a jar of peanut butter for less than 35$.

2. Big food.  The tiny portions, coupled with the elevated prices start to get a little bit old after a while.

(One order of octopus sushi with a raw egg on top. No wonder Elder Mumford had to cut another notch on the inner part of his belt.) (Click on image to enlarge)

3. People who actually say 'Hi' back if you greet them on the street.  Quite literally no one will greet you, even if you greet them.  It is sometimes considered rude to greet someone that you dont know as well.

4.  Not having to separate trash.  At a Japanese McDonalds, you must take off the lid and straw of your drink and throw it in a seperate can, then dump the ice out in a separate can, then separate the plastics from the papers within your meal wrappers, and put all of those in separate cans.   :(

Anyways, just some things that I miss.  Now here are some things I am going to miss when I return.

Wish List:

1. Clean.  Japan is spotless.  The food is clean, the floors are constantly being swept and mopped all day long.  The streets are completely litter-free.  There is a huge emphasis on cleanliness.

2.  Public Transportation.  Not exactly cheap, but extremely convenient.

3.  People are about as tall as me.  I will feel very small when I come home.

Im sure I can think of more in both catagories.

Anyways, as far as packages, Im still in the process of sending it (sorry!)  This Fathers day one is going to be a little late.  I found a nice glass chess set, as well as a nice glass shogi (japanese chess) set, but they are all kind of cheapie still.  None of that cool, jade and ruby style carved ancient looking set.  Just a normal, uninteresting glass suqare.

Ill be sending home a really huge SD card, and Ill be sure to take lots of pictures of everyone in the apartment, and the apartment itself before I send it off.

VIDEO: Panoramic view of Tokyo Bay (and Elder Kendall)

VIDEO: Click "play" to view.

As far as birthday items, any variety of food is good.  Of course, ties are welcome as well (Im a missionary :).  Perhaps a couple more pairs of those good socks.  Every missionary reaches this dillemma at his first in-Japan birthday.  Pretty much, its going to have to be all missionary stuff, because we cant use normal stuff.

Ill tell you what though, good ideas are (mission-related -- clothes 'n' stuff), and lost of pictures from home, perhaps some good food/candy (snickers :), That book of Japanese idioms that I had before.

Sorry, not much specific, but holidays, events and birthdays sort of whoosh by as a missionary without us noticing.

Anyways, thanks everyone for the love and supoprt and the prayers and the reading of the blog (so craftily constructed by mom).  I hope the best for all of you!  Good luck, have fun!

-Elder Martin D Mumford

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HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

In honor of Father's Day, I thought it would be fun to show some pictures of Elder Martin Mumford's Father, Bruce,  who served a mission to Curitiba, Brazil almost 30 years ago.  (Click on any image to enlarge)

Portuguese, is the official language spoken in Brazil.

When I first saw this picture, I thought it was a joke, but then I found out that this really was Bruce's official missionary bike, that he rode EVERYWHERE in Brazil; and mostly on dirt roads like this one.

And this was the official mode of transportation for the people in the larger Brazilian cities.

'Waiting for the plane that will take him home.

These were the baptism clothes that they wore back then.  Fortunately, the styles have since changed.

Sao Paulo Brazil Temple-1981

Tracting the Tracks.

"Go ye into all the world and preach my gospel unto every creature"

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Another Fantastic Week In Shibuya!

Elder Mumford enjoys drinking coconut milk, straight from a coconut that he bought from a street vendor in Okachimachi- (Tokyo's largest permanent open air street market.)

Here is Martin's e-mail dated June 18th, 2009:

Dear Everyone,

It is another fantastic week in SHIBUYA.

(by the way, speaking of packages...  I will try and ship off mine soon.  It has a bunch of cool (but irrelevant) things I have gotten from Investigators.  (A cool fan, an ancient abaccus, a wierd hand-drum thingie), plus the letters you all have sent while Ive been in Japan).

Ok, so Shibuya.  It's the most incredible place I've ever been in.  First of all there are a lot of different challenges and benefits for serving here.  Elder Haight and Gerber are working with the Gaijin ward, which means that they get American Food for us all.

We're looking for a better email place, but there doesnt seem to be anything that is (1) clean, no bad posters, you can see your companion and (2) cheap to email at, except the one we have.  So forgive me if these are a little shorter than normal.  I'll try to consider the best stories to tell before I write the email, and if anything else cool happens, I'll just send a supplement letter.

VIDEO: Click the "PLAY" arrow to view.

So here is our schedule of some interesting events that happen each week:

1. Monday- Service: we make Onigiri (sushi) for homeless people, at the Catholic Church in Roppongi. (Apparently, we havent missed a Monday in 20 years, so it's pretty permanent)

2. Tuesday -Teach JKaiwa (Japanese Class)

3. Wednesday- Teach Eikaiwa, (English Class)

So those are certainly some blessings.  Lots of fun, interesting, productive activites.  Another amazing thing is that there are people EVERYWHERE!  From the second you step out of the apartment there are people to talk to, so that is never an issue.

The tough thing, is that everyone is in a hurry.  A rediculous percentage of the people we stop are in a hurry, or busy.  It's kind of sad.  Especially in the heavy city areas, people are almost 100% unable to talk to you.  We still try when we pass through those areas, but it's extremely difficult.

(Martin and his companion made coconut rice pudding, then served it in the coconut shell!)

We also meet a lot of crazy people.  I dont know if more people here are crazy than other places, but it seems they certainly show up a lot more frequently.  The other day we met Captain Mickey, a 'retired captain' of the navy, who was on his bike dragging some garbage around the city. He came up to us and asked if we were the missionaries, and of course we wanted to talk.  But after a while he started rambling off about the most random things in broken english/japanese... haircuts, california, strange movies, the war... and it became clear he wasn't altogether there.  So we eventually had to leave.  Then he gestured to the garbage on his bike and talked about raising his 'kids'.  We hoped that his kids werent in those bags (yikes).  But the entire time there was this crazy electric Polka band playing in the park next to us.  These kind of experiences are becoming sort of normal. 

There's always incredible things going on.  There was a Bangladesh festival the other day, right next to the Calpis Headquarters (that famous Japanese drink).  Very interesting,  we met some strange people there too.  :)

 

(Missionary Zone Conference)

Also, the one thing you dont realize is just how little time you have in a 4-man apartment.  You get home and within 10 minutes it is 10:30 somehow and time to go to bed.  Likewise the morning time sort of evaporates.  I have absolutely no time, it seems.

It's rainy season.  Two days ago we had the most violent rain storm I have ever been in in my life.  We had raingear, but we both were completely 100% soaked through.  The roads were rivers, and water was blasting in fountains UP out of the drains.  Then the next day it was beautiful and there was not a drop on the ground.  The rivers didn't even go up at all.  Japan has the #1 drainage system, I think.  I'm sure us two missionaries looked really cool just wading through the streets, not even trying to avoid it because we were already so wet.

(Pictures with the zone)

Anyways, it's been a good week, the next one should be even better!

Good luck everyone, have fun, and work hard... if you feel like it!

Love,

Elder Martin Mumford,

[n[a[p[a[J][T]o]k]y]o]

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.

Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Syrup

Elder Mumford and Elder Kowalk are coveting the precious maple flavored syrup that was sent to Elder Saunders as a birthday present.

Fortunately, Elder Saunders was willing to share his syrup with the district.  Click "Play" below to see their special Conference/Easter/Birthday breakfast.

VIDEO: Click Play

Now here is Martin's e-mail dated June 4, 2009:

Dear Everyone,

As always, it has been an eventful and crazy week in Kawasaki.  We have had a lot of experiences, from rediculous, to creepy, to amazing, to miraculous.  Ill share a few;

1. Ishitani, Kazu had a lesson this week.  We are still learning about the commandments, and this time we talked about the law of tithing.  We werent planning on it, but he was asking questions about it and we felt it was the right time to explain tithing to him.  One cool thing that helped - He was having a hard time imagining why people would give up their money to a church, and said some of these commandments sound too strict.  We told him it isn't about finding the religion that is the least/most strict, its about what is TRUE and right.  If God commands us to pay 10% we pay 10%.  If he commands us to pay 100% we pay 100%.  Then I shared a story that really helped.  It was one that Mom told us a few times at home, about when you and Dad stopped paying tithing for a little while, and fell into some hard times.  Then when you began again everything eventually turned out ok again.  That helped him understand a little bit about why we do what God wants.  Because we are blessed.

2.  We had another lesson with our favorite grandpa, Urushizako-san.  Once again, Brother Hata helped us out (with translation).  All I can say though, is that the two of them are like those two Muppet grandpas.  All they do is just sit and laugh and tell jokes and stories and laugh some more.  They are both super nice, and Urushizako-san is learning a little bit at a time, so we keep meeting.  Each time it just cracks me up, because theyre just the genkiest old fellers you ever did see.  Reminds me of the muppets every time. 

For example we were talking about commandments and how they are like the laws of the land:  If you dont keep the commandments (laws) you might be arrested.  Then Urushizako went off on a random story about how he was arrested when he was young.  Then it turned into a big old discourse on how nice it was in the detention center thing, 'They give you free food, and a free place to sleep, it really wasnt that bad at all!'  The hard thing is that he doesn't even seem to take a pause for breath, let alone a pause in the conversation.  Its so hard to stop him once he starts a story, and each story goes for 15-20 minutes. :p  Oh well.  He has a good, spiritual time whenever he comes, so at least there's that.  

Good news is, it turns out he has been keeping all of the word of wisdom (including eating meat sparingly and fruits in season) for several decades before we met him!  We read it and he agrees with everything.  Way crazy.

3. We met with some nice SGI people, they took us out to a really nice restraunt.  They want to know our opinions on EVERYTHING, including the big bang, evolution and whether people can change their destiny and stuff.  I have no idea, so I just kept telling them 'I have no idea'.

We did have a really good conversation about religion though.  I think they might want to meet us again sometime too.  Way nice.

4.  Really rare... someone actually gave us a referral off the street. He didnt have much interest so we asked if any of his friends did.  He said, 'Yeah, hold on I know a guy' and immediately pulled out his cell phone and called him up... 'Hey, its me...  I'm with these missionary people, do you want to meet them sometime?'  It was amazing.  Just so you know, in Japan, when you ask someone 'Do you know anyone with interest in any religion?'  99.99% chance they will say 'Um.... um.... no, not really.'  But we got lucky.  Basically, the saying is, 'You must ask 1000 people before it happens'.  Really cool experience.

Also, We went to Asakusa today, looking for Dad's chess set, but it wasnt there either.  That thing is so hard to find!  Not even the antique/souvenier shops (in the souvenier capital of Tokyo) had it.  So I may very well NOT be sending a package quite yet.  Theres a bunch of things I need to send home, so Ill do that within the next 2 weeks.  (Gifts Ive recieved but dont want destroyed by the moving company [curse you SAGAWA!], all the letters Ive gotten out here and want to read when I return...etct...)

Also, through the wonderfully accurate missionary grapevine (My companion was told in his Mission President Interview), I have heard that I will be leaving Kawasaki, and I have not the slightest idea where.  This Saturday (June 6) I will find out where and with who I will be going.  The following Wednesday (possibly Thursday) (10th or 11th)  I will send an email with all the new info.  (so just hang tight until then!)

Elder Kowalk, Elder Saunders, Elder Mumford, and Elder Kendall, touring China Town in Yokahama, Japan. (Click on picture to enlarge)

Aaaah!  Its almost time to go!  Today was extremely crazy, we went to Asakusa and while we were there we got all these phone calls from half the ward and half our investigators about lessons/cancelling/just wanting to say hi/crazy things they wanted us to do/other missionaries...  so now we are hoping no one calls us for this one hour, but we got to go soon to a lesson (which may or may no longer be happening, but we dont have the joint's phone number so we have to go anyways just to meet him and tell him there is no lesson and aaaargh there is a lot of stress right now!)

anyways...

today was busy.

But I wish everyone good luck, have fun and keep on keeping on.  Hope everyone can last another week without hearing my sweet words :)  Enjoy!

-Elder Martin Mumford

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