Christmas With The Fry Family-And Newly Added Videos

Elder Mumford and Elder Frank Enjoy a traditional American Christmas dinner at the home of the Fry family- a wonderful American family who is currently living in Japan. (Click on any picture to view larger)

Click "Play" above to view video.

Elder Mumford and Elder Frank, being spoiled by the Fry family- Here they are opening presents-scarves, new ties, shoe polish, and many American food items, not usually found in Japan.

Click "Play" to view video.

American cereal!  is a luxury for Japan missionaries.  The usual Japanese breakfast is Miso soup, so getting American cereal is a real treat!

Elders Mumford and Frank, enjoying Christmas Day with the Fry family.

Japan Week 6.5

May the force be with you!

Dear Family,

Sorry about the wierd schedule.  With transfers being on Christmas eve, and Elder Cook dying, the week has been unimaginably busy.

On monday I dropped off Elder Cook at the honbu for his final interview.  I went to Kohoku with Elder Matsuhashi (his companion also went home) for a day.  It was kind of crazy because I still cant quite speak or understand enough to carry on a casual conversation, but I had to call a bunch of the ward members about the Christmas Party, and it was extremely difficult.  Elder Cook generally made all the Japanese phone calls before, so it was a terrifying experience for me.

Tuesday was the busiest day of my life so far.  I was making phone calls in english and japanese all morning at the train stations on the way to pick up Elder Frank, my new companion.  I needed to set up Brother Torrez's baptism details for this Saturday, and figure out how we could help with the Japanese Christmas Party so I was really stressed.  As soon as we picked up Elder Frank, we had to leave immediately to get back to Yokosuka in time to make a cardboard fireplace for the Party, through which Santa could come.

At the party there were three non-members, and we were spread pretty thin trying to talk to them all, set up appointments and such.  While there we got more calls, one from our main investigator, Ujihara-san, who wanted to come to church right away for a lesson.  We had to quickly cancel a dinner appointment, grab a member for a joint lesson, and rush to a quiet room where we could teach.

It turned out to be the best lesson I have ever been in.  The member we had over was able to explain anything that we couldnt and offer sound advice.  We had a powerful lesson on the Atonement and forgiveness, and while I was talking I had to stop because the spirit was too strong to continue.  He really appreciated the lesson and his questions were answered.  It was a perfect way to end a stressful day.  We walked with him home, and it turns out he lives really close to our apartment.  We planned to visit him again.

This has been an amazing week.

Im really bad with directions, and always have been.  So this transfer has been a real struggle, because I need to remember where everything is to show Elder Frank.  Im always guessing and getting a little lost, but so far we have made it where we are trying to go most of the time.

Elder Frank is loving it here, though.  He's been deep in Japan his entire mission, so being here in Yokosuka, he is surprised to see so many American elements.  We walked down Blue Street (the center of Yokosuka), and he was confused because every third person was American.  Right after that, we had dinner with the Nuttals and some new families he had invited.  About half-way through the dinner, several more families came in to visit and sing Christmas songs.  He looked kind of overwhelmed.

He learned some cool magic card tricks from his previous companion, and is now teaching them to me.  The Japanese absolutely love that kind of stuff, whereas the Americans arent very impressed.

Also, he showed me how to play Shogi, or the Japanese Chess.  Its a bit more complicated than normal Chess, but way fun.  Ill keep my eye out for a good quality Shogi set for Dad, he would really love this game.

My first Christmas in Japan was actually pretty American.

We were invited to the Fry's home for a real Christmas Turkey dinner, which you probably wont get in any other area of the mission, except maybe for Shibuya.  It was extremely cool.  I enjoyed it a lot, but I think that Elder Frank enjoyed it much much more, since he probably hasnt had a meal like that for his entire mission.  They went out of their way to give us a real Christmas, and gave us presents!  Not just some, but a lot of presents!  And a lot of things we needed in the apartment, and a LOT of food.

Yup, we now have some cheeze, and also some hamburger meat, so we can use that taco seasoning.

Lots of cleaning supplies/laundry supplies, and cool scarves and ties!

Sister Fry also set it up so that Elder Cook signed the Sayanora doll for me before he left.  I was wondering what that was for, he just randomly signed it for Sister Fry, but now I realize she set it up for me!

Also, a goodie bag of candy and some extra Candy canes they had.

We used the candy canes to make little Christmas envelopes for our neighbors, so you can let Sister Fry know they went to good use.  We talked to a lot of people last night with those, and visited a less active to give him some of the candy.

Right now, we are extremely well stocked in terms of food at the apartment.  The fridge is just about ready to burst with good American foods.  It will be a feast for us for a long while.

Anyways, just wanted to thank everyone for their support and prayers.

Have a good time in the snow in Washington!

Enjoy the rest of the holidays!

-Elder Martin Mumford

-Tokyo, Japan

NEW- Week 4 letter and Pictures Here Now!

I've heard that Elder Cook is a very big guy, compared to Elder Mumford, but I had no idea he was that big!

The Week 4 letter finally arrived.  

Scroll down past week 5 to read it and see the pictures.

Japan Week 5

This picture is from the recent mission conference.  All are missionaries currently serving in the Japan, Tokyo mission. (Click on Picture to enlarge)

Dear Family,

 Sorry about the delay, and also for this one being a day late.  (All dying missionaries went to the Tokyo Temple on thursday, and its a LONG train ride there and back, so we email today). (See definition of "dying" below)

So, to answer some of your questions:

1. Are the trains as crowded as we saw in that movie? (Click here to see movie)  Yes.  The trains get very, very full.  Now imagine me with a backpack and a huge box in the very back of the train, with all those people being squezed in.  Rather akward and painful.

2. How do you normally get around...Bike? Train? Feet?  Can you take your bikes on the train/bus?  If we are going around Yokosuka-chuo, we walk.  Anywhere else in Yokosuka and we ride our bikes.  Anything out of our area, we take the train.  The train sort of dead-ends in Yokosuka.  Yes, we can take our bikes on the train, we take them apart and put them in bike bags when we transfer to a new area.  People probably dont look to kindly on it when the trains are full though :)

3. How are your investigators doing?  Investigators are progressing.  Slowly.  Yamaguchi-san is completely ready to get baptized, is OK with everything 100% and just needs to find a day when his military school will allow him.  Ujihara-san, we dont know about, because we havent been able to meet with him since last time.  He comes to eikaiwa though.

4. What will happen when Elder Cook's parents get there.  Dying transfers - Elder Cook and I will head on down to the honbu, where I will pick up my new companion, and Elder Cook will stay until his family comes.  It will probably be me and Elder Matsuhashi for a day or two, because he is the only other Elder with a dying companion.

5. Are you able to get milk for your cereal.  They have lots of regurlar 'ol milk here.  Just like home. (at least in this area)

6. Sister Fry said that you are teaching an english class every week.  What is that like, and how is it going.  Eikaiwa (English Class):  Yup, every Thursday we teach it, and its usually pretty fun.  Its primarily a finding method, so most times, we discuss anything we want.  For example, last time we taught prepositions and played a game where the students had to guess where something was (Is it on the chair?  Is it between the books?).  English class in Japan is notorious for having eternal students; people who have come every week for several years unfailingly.  Although it is usually way fun to hear everyone trying to pronounce english words.  English pronunciation is extremely difficult coming from Japanese.

7. How are packages delivered if there is not a place for them in the mailbox. They deliver packages to the door, but if you are not home you have to go to the post office to pick it up.  Its ok though, the post office is 5 minutes away.

8. Did you get your sonicare?  Also, please give feedback on the food items that you liked from the package, so I will know what to include in future packages.  Oh ya, I got my sonicare just fine.  All OK. And I figured out, if you ever feel like sending something, Hot Chocolate is always good.  I really liked the ones you sent.  Elder Cooks mom sent him a huge thing of HC packets and we drink it as much as we can, and mix candy canes and other treats in it.

The language is coming along well.  Suddenly I can understand a lot of what people say, and reading is beoming far easier.  Thanks everyone for praying for me, this really wouldnt be possible without you.

One of our english class students told us that president Bush had a SHOE thrown at his head at a press conference.  What the heck?  Did the secret service 'take a shoe' for him?

I should tell you all the terms here, so my letters arent confusing;

1. Dying, to Die - when a missionary goes home

2. to Kill - to be companions with a dying missionary

3. Bean - a new missionary

4. Womp (short for Wanpaku) - a slacker, lazy missionary

5. Maj (short for Majime) - a strict missionary who follows all the rules

6. Dad/Son - a trainer and bean.  I am Elder Cook's 'son'.

7. Mom - a followup trainer (second transfer).

8. Trunky - a missionary who is ready to go home (bags packed) early.

And speaking of trunky, its fun to be with Elder Cook.  We did all the end of the transfer stuff together like Purikuras (photo booths with sort of an on-the-spot photoshop station on it).  Those are extremely popular with missionaries.  Also, Elder Cook has amassed a collection of the 7 harry potter books in Japanese over the years (but never read them of course, that would be Womp) from members and such, so he will have something to do to keep up his Japanese afterwards.

The temple trip was great yesterday also.  I actually did it in Japanese and understood a bunch.  I had a english headset, but decided to turn it off halfway through because I was picking up what they were saying.  Very cool.

Anyways, Im out of time.  I wish you all a great Christmas, hope everyone is doing well.  Enjoy!

Thanks,

-Elder Martin Mumford

-Tokyo, Japan!

Week 4 Letter Has Arrived!

Dear Family,

The tiny tree and decorations  you sent were really cool!  I got Aunt Anita's family Christmas card, which was lots of fun.  I also got cards from John and Cheryl, Grandma Mary Ann, and The First Presidency.

Sister Fry, here, also gave us a book of 25 Christmas (missionary related) stories, to read one each night in December, till Christmas.   I just got the i-pod full of Christmas Music!  We are listening to it all the time in the apartment.    

You are all probably preparing for Christmas at home (and Mallory will be flying home soon too!) I can imagine how our house is, with all our family (including cats)  Be sure to enjoy it!  Have a great Christmas!

Over here, halfway around the world, we'll be having our own celebrations!  Sister Fry was sure to sign up for a Christmas Day meal, so that will be lots of fun.  Also, we will be able to make our phone calls home!  

This week I went to my first zone conference and I got to experience a really crowded train.  We woke up nice and early to catch the 6:05 

train, which I guess is Japanese rush hour, because it was PACKED!  I couldn't move.

I am practicing my Kanji recently, so that I can get around the train stations once Elder Cook leaves.  We use the trains a lot, and it's still kind of confusing. (See map above)  

Zone Conference was great!  We had some good discussions, and ate "casserole a la death"  which is essentially loaded with stuffing and butter.  (Pictured: Zone leader, Elder Matsuhashi, and Elder Jessord.)

In other news, they are creating a NEW Book of Mormon in Japanese, which we will have in March!  If you don't know, the Book of Mormon has had some history here.

1- Mormon-"ke"-Literally means "Mormon Buddhist Scripture."  It was very archaic language and hard to understand.

2. Mormon-"sho"- (Came out about 15 years ago)  This is what we use now.  It is much more understandable, and easier to read.

3.  The new and improved Mormon-"sho"- which comes out next March.  I have no idea what it is like.  

Now to answer Mallory's Questions:

1. What's the weather like there?  The weather here is nice.  It's a LOT like Washington right now, actually.  Kind of cold with lots of rain!

2. How's the language coming?  I'm always learning more language here, I guess it's just part of being in Japan, you pick up a lot.  What I'm surprised about is how easy it is becoming to read the Book of Mormon in Japanese.  Elder Cook is helping me out a lot, and I know this isn't just me getting good this fast alone.  There is definitely some spiritual help here.  

3. Are you glad you went to Japan once before your mission?  It was helpful for me to come to Japan before.  Most of the big surprises and shocks were discovered then, so it's not near as intimidating for me now.  

4. Are people nice to you?  The people are extremely nice.  Even if they hate your guts they would probably still be outwardly polite about it.

Pictured above- (View from apartment window.  Their apartment is on the 4th floor)  

Anyways, I'll be writing regular e-mails again soon.  Sorry for the wait. 

I love you !

Thanks Everyone.

Elder Martin Mumford

Japan, Tokyo-Yokosuka

Pictured below: Elder Mumford practicing writing his testimony in Japanese.  (Sent in a letter a couple of weeks ago.) (Click on image to enlarge)

President and Sister Hill

Elder Mumford with the Mission President-President Hill and Sister Hill.

Arrrrgh!

Oh no!  I sent a HUGE, and I mean HUGE e-mail just now, and it deleted it.  It was not saved.

It's part of the myldsmail service here.  If you are loged in for more than 30 minutes it will allow you to keep typing, when in reality it has already logged you off.

It is pretty infuriating, and it turns out Elder Cook has had that happen a bunch as well.

I'm sorry about that, I might just send you a real letter this week, along with my SD card and some other stuff (sort of a Japanese goody bag).

However, so you don't go empty handed this week, I'll at least answer your questions (again), but much simpler and quicker (I only have about 10 minutes left before they kick me out!)

1. What kind of cooking appliances do you have in your appartment?   We have a microwave and a toaster oven, but no stove. And we have one of those nifty rice cookers, just put it in with some water and it makes it all for you.

2. Satomi said that Christmas in Japan is a lot different than here.  More like Valentines Day, but everyone also eats Kentucky Fired Chicken (KFC)   Yup, its not a big holiday here, and usually just for couples and people dating.  True, they always eat chicken on Christmas, and also little Christmas cakes.  Some people here were SHOCKED to find out that we don't eat Chicken and Christmas cakes in America for Christmas!

3. What do you usually have for breakfast?   Breakfast is usually cereal, when we can get it from the base.

4. What do you do for exercise? (Besides biking everywhere)  Sit ups/Push ups kind of thing.  It's getting way cold to go running in the morning.

5. Do you have to conserve water during showers, etc? Water is not an issue in our apartment.  For some areas it is, but here it's cheap.  No regulations on shower/laundry/sink use.

6. How do transfers work.  Do you know ahead of time when and where you will go next?  A few days before the transfer, we get a call about which area and which missionary.  It would be a good idea to address your letters and stuff to the Honbu, (Mission Home) because If I change areas, they will forward it to my new area.   But it is very, very likely I will stay here this next transfer.

Sorry I couldnt re-write more, I'll send the real one by regular mail so that you don't miss out.  You should get it some time before next Wednesday I think.  It's way expensive to e-mail here, and if thats alright I'm using personal funds for this and for postage.

Thanks!

I love you all!

Sorry for the situation!

AAAAAAAA!

-Elder Martin Mumford

-Tokyo, Japan

Week 3 in Japan

Dear Family,

Another week has gone by.  It goes so fast!

I just got back from Costco!  Surprisingly they have it here, and one of the Elders from Kamiooka had a membership card.  So we tried the samples and ate a satisfying American-style pizza.  However we missed the train back, and as a result we dont have as much time now for email.

About 5 minutes before this, we got a text from some of the Elders about Elder Wirthlin passing away.  I really enjoyed his talk in General Conference, and its sad to hear the news.

But I do have some good stories from this week.  Recently we taught our main investigator, Ujihara-san.  He said he believes the Book of Mormon is true and all its teachings, and is reading from it a bunch, however he feels that by joining the church, he would offend his ancestors.  It is hard to schedule appointments because he doesnt know when he has days off.  He seems very interested in the church and well have to see what happens.

While on the street, we got into a converstation with a guy who seemed interested, but turned out to be pretty drunk.  I think his friend was a member, but he kept talking about the little fish flakes that dance on Okonomiyaki, and eventually stumbled off.

This Sunday we got to see the Primary Program in Japanese sacrament meeting.  I couldnt understand anything they said, but then again I can hardly understand a primary program in english.

The language is still tough.  I usually have to get a summary of what just happened from Elder Cook after everything we do.  However Im learning a lot, and getting a little better at understanding.

 In a few days our land lines will be discontinued and everything will be done on cell phones.  YAY!

Ill be sure to write a nice long letter next week.  I was a bit rushed this time.

Thanks everyone!

-Elder Martin Mumford

-Tokyo, Japan

Happy Elephant Sour Sour!

Martin found this stationary at the "100 yen store" (The Japanese equivilent of the "dollar store".)  The translation was so funny, that he couldn't resist writing us a letter.  (Click on picture to view larger)

Surprise From Japan

The Frys are an American family currently living in Yokosuka Japan.  They recently had Elder Mumford and Elder Cook over to their home for Sunday dinner.  The next day, Sister Fry e-mailed us this photo and video, taken in their home that evening.  (She knows how to make a missionary mom smile!)

Elder Cook regains his thumb skills as the worlds fastest text messager, by practicing on the new mission cell phone.  Elder Mumford looks on in awe!

Hello from Japan!

(Click "Play")