Let There Be Shonan!

(Strawberry "mission" fields forever)

Elder Mumford's E-mail, dated January 25, 2010:

Dear Everyone,

I would like to share a quote off of a notebook cover in japan. Normally they always have some funny, poorly written english on them, but for some reason this one had a really deep quote on it.

"You can't do much about the length of your life, but you can do a lot about its depth and breadth."

:)

(Elder Mumford ponders "depth" and "breadth" and the general meaning of life.)

Anyways we had an amazing week in Shonan. We saw a lot of changes.

First of all there are some interesting things happening here:

1. Manabu-san is still a way funny guy, comes to church and enjoys meeting with us and learning more about the church. However it's really hard for him to try to pray. If you could pray for him that he might get the courage to try. It's a really difficult point.

2. Higuchi family. We met them twice this week, and they are doing great. She used to be Jehova's Witness, but because of some ill treatment she left. Her husband has a mental sickness - you know the movie, '50 first dates'? He essentially has that. It makes lessons very interesting, but he is always kind and friendly and excited to learn, its just that he always forgets. He tried to read the Book of Mormon, but he always forgot what he read the day before, so its hard for him. They are both wonderful, kind people, and she especially enjoys learning about the gospel. She says when we pray it always makes her feel better.

3. Monica and Marcos - a Brazillian couple that we ran into recently. She has been looking for truth her whole life, reading all religious books searching for what is best for her life. She accepted the Book of Mormon and loves our message. He also wants to hear more. It's in portuguese, so I dont have a whole lot to contribute, but at the very least I can always have Elder Matias translate my English for them, and that way I can be useful. They are a very warm family.

So these people we are the most excited about right now. There are great things happening in Shonan at the moment. The ward has used that Ward Mission Plan (which unfortunately I forgot to bring again, but those 8 things I mentioned last week were essentially the gist of it) to really boost Ward Missionary Work. One member asked us for some pass-along cards to give to a friend at work. Also, President Albrecht's hope is that with the new websites, mormon.jp and goeigo.org members will be able to share information about the church and english classes more easily with their friends (via email instead of face-to-face).

I remember recently hearing another quote from (I forgot):

'If you want results you've never seen, you have to do things you've never done'.

And that is absolutely true, I think. I want to think really hard every day, to find new ideas that might work. Helping people to share what they know with their friends. I want really bad to help the ward here, even if that is my only impact, I hope that I can make it a better place when I leave then when I started, and that's why I want to stay here as long as possible.

(Eating LIVE octopus? Hmmmm.)

(Speaking of "doing things you have never done before," click here see a video of Japan missionaries doing something they had definitely never done before.(Eating LIVE octopus) - Video is from the Japan, Sapporo Mission.)

(OK, It's missionary mom here, and I have to say that this is truly the freakiest thing I have ever seen Japan missionaries do!)

We are having many great experiences recently. Here are a few;

1. We met an old man on the street, named Akira. He loves the bible and his favorite part is 'revelations' because "it's exciting, lots of drama!" and his favorite author is Isaiah. Wow. Anyways, he is going on a trip to Indonesia starting today, but is coming back February 2, and really wants to hear our message and have the Book of Mormon. But unfortunately we tried exchanging phone numbers and couldnt do it be infa-red (its kind of tricky to do it), so he got our number but it didn't give us his. So pray that he will remember to call us when he returns to Japan on the 2nd. He would LOVE the Book of Mormon.

2. 1 minute after saying goodbye to Akira, we ran into Tatsuya, a man from Bolivia. He is a new father, and he sais he doesn't really know how to be a father (he's 24). He would love to hear our message about families this week sometime.

So there are lots of people out there that are ready to hear what we have to say. However, finding them seems to be a matter of attitude. If we think, ah, that person probably doesn't care about church or family or life... and we skip them, then we may have just passed a great chance to share. However, if we talk to everyone that we can, there starts to be more and more people in our path who are ready.

(Elders and from Martin's MTC zone reunite at a Burger King, to enjoy some much appreciated, good ol' American food- 'Such a rare treat in Japan, that it is worth taking pictures. You might recognize Elder Draney on the left, Martin's former companion from the MTC.)

Also, I've been thinking, and usually the only reason that any one person would willingly stop a complete stranger and start talking to them would be if they want something from them. That's the way it usually is. Even missionaries sometimes get trapped in that attitude, that when they talk to someone on the street they are asking something FROM the people, to listen to them. However that attitude should change:

1. If you met a stranger on the street, who came up to you and began talking, there is a big difference in your reaction if they want YOU to give THEM something (like listening to them, money, directions... etc) than if THEY want to give something to YOU (a present, help, the gospel). If you can tell that they want to GIVE something instead of TAKE something, it feels so much better.

I need to work on that. Sometimes I worry that people automatically think that because I stopped them, I WANT something from them. And occasionally I get caught in the same thought process - I want them to listen to me, even only for 5 minutes. However, they need to know that we are GIVING something to people, we dont want their money. We're not selling anything. We are giving something immensley valuable to everyone that will take it, like handing out free cakes. Anyone who has the courage to listen for a few moments will be able to tell it's a good thing, and if they take it it will make them happy.

We get no tangible benefits for giving someone the gospel, but they get innumerable benefits for their entire lives. That is the attitude that we need to have, and especially SHOW that we have.

('Not sure what this sign is trying to tell us, but be careful anyway!)

Anyways, thank you so much everyone for the kind support in every way. I hope that this last 1/4 of my mission Ill be able to accomplish even more than the rest of the 3/4 so far. I think it will be very good.

Thanks so much! (Ill remember to keep track of all the dates when I recieve letters)

Have a great week!

Love,

-Elder Martin Mumford

-T o K y O, j A p A n

A Man on a Mission!

(Special Agent Mumford reveals his ingenious 12 part plan to increase member missionary work in the Shonan, Japan Ward.)

The secret details of this plan were uncovered in a recent e-mail, dated 1/19/10, and posted below:

Dear Everyone,

It's been an exciting week.

As for the 12 points that the ward is challenging everyone to do, Ill try to name them off the top of my head,

1. Give a Book of Mormon to a friend

2. Write your testimony about the Book of Mormon and give it to the missionaries

3. Invite the missionaries over for a meal/message

4. Invite a friend to Family Home Evening

5. Invite a friend to Church

6. Invite a friend to Other Church Activity

7. Give a passalong card to a friend

8. Introduce yourself to new people or non-members at church

Hmm... I can only remember 8, but next week Ill write them down so I can email all of them to you. Anyways, its just sort of along those lines. Everyone will pick one thing to work on each month. Some things are relatively easy, some things are much harder, but because you have 1 entire year to do them all, it seems a lot more reasonable. Everyone can probably find 1 person among all the people they know sometime in 2010 that would like a Book of Mormon. I think the difficult part is not many people know how to talk to their friends about it.

(When Elder Mumford went to his calendar to schedule one goal per month from the new ward mission plan, he found these curious words, written in the mysterious "ENGRISH" language. (Japanese English) Hmmm... more clues to be solved by Special Agent Mumford.)

However, there is one thing for sure.

1. The better friends you are with someone, the EASIER it will be for them to listen to you when you talk about the gospel. The better relationship you have with someone, the more seriously they will take you when you talk about your beliefs. They will be more likely to seriously consider what you say.

2. Don't ever think that 'If I talk about it with them, they will stop being friends with me'. Someone that you know closely will know you as a person, and already know you are not crazy or wierd, and won't think badly of you if you try to explain to them something that is important to you. They will continue to be your friend even if they have no interest in the gospel, so it's always good to see :)

3. Sometimes I think that the nervous or akward feelings are put into our hearts unnessecarily. Explaining what is important to you, and what you think is only as akward as you make it :) Sharing the gospel is like sharing your opinions on something else, explaingin why you think the way you do. There are probably many opportunities that will come up naturally - friends asking you questions about the church, clarifying what we believe. People will be curious.

4. Finally, know that it is true. :) We have nothing to fear, because we know that what we believe is true, and it will always do good for us. Because it's not just a mere belief or opinion, it is something that we have recieved an answer about. We can know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, beyond just hoping that it's true (or believing because that's what someone told us to believe), we can take assurance in the fact that we can know for ourselves, completely unrelated to the influences from others, by asking God, and he will tell us. Everyone can do this. That's why there is no reason to fear, because we know it's true.

"The field is white, already to harvest!"

(Japanese homes stacked on a hillside, overlooking fields of rice.)

Some may want to learn about it, some may not. That's OK. We all have choices and we're not going to force anything on anyone. That's a critical point. However, everyone needs to be offered a chance at least. So, find one person this year who you want to give that chance to. If they dont accept, they will still be your friend. They will respect you for having strong beliefs and reasons for believing them.

The view from Elder Mumford's apartment window in Shonan.

(Talk about tight parking! How do you suppose that little white van is going to get out?)

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful letters and packages. I just got in the mail, the camera, cheese, and posters, and everything else. I've already taken a LOT of pictures and I still have space for about 1000 more, but Ill take a lot of pictures of Elder Matias and send it home right away so you can give them to his mom. Elder Matias also is about ready to send home a very full SD card, with pictures of his whole mission.

We have been making lots of good omlets with the sharp cheese :)

Elder Matias' mom asked him to tell me to tell you thank you so much for praying for her. She loves having you as a friend. I was also very touched by her letter. It sounds like she is having a very hard time right now, but is still so strong in the gospel and extremely grateful.

Elder Matias is also a great person, we are having so much fun here, and he loves being a missionary. He plans on going back to Brazil after the mission, working for a few months, then coming to BYU for college. So maybe we'll be able to see each other again :). Elder Maitas has been out for about 1 year now, this is his 6th transfer in Japan. His brother recently finished his mission in Nagoya. He is now back in Brazil. His city (Guaruja) is a surfing city, its actually a small island right next to the capital. Its kind of cool because, Elder Matias' brother actually served in Shizuoka, which is actually pretty close to Shonan, but in a different mission.

Hamamatsu is probably only a 1 or 1/2 hour drive from here. (Hamamatsu is where Ryosuke Kato lives.)

(By the way, tell Seth thank you for trying to secure that apartment for me. I really appreciate it. Also I got the cat calendar from Madison! It arrived the day after Seth's birthday, so sorry for missing it, but go ahead and wish him a happy birthday from me).

Scene from the OTHER window of the Shonan Apartment. What a great view of Mt. Fuji!

Anyways, I think you will enjoy the pictures, we had lots of fun with the new camera. We have to cut it a bit short today, because we got to the email place a bit late, but thank you everyone for the great support!

Keep up the great work wherever you are. Make sure to have fun!

Enjoy it, you only get one life!

-Elder Martin D Mumford

-AAJKN, OOPTY

Shonan Times.

(What's this? The missionary version of the movie "Avatar"? No, it's just two Japanese sister missionaries meeting two American Elders!)

(Pictures from the Japan, Sapporo Mission)

Now here is Elder Mumford's e-mail, dated January 12, 2010:

Dear Everyone,

We had a great first week in Shonan! Elder Matias is way cool and has been teaching me a lot of Portuguese. I know about 400 words* now. :)

* OK, actually, he taught me a trick with Portuguese where there are about 400 words that are spelled almost the same as english. Anything that ends with "TION" turn into "CION" and that's the only difference. Im not actually so good that I could learn 400 words in 1 week :) Maybe Dad remembers that trick too?

(One of Martin's Brazilian companions taught him to cook authentic Brazilian food!)

Some cool things that are happening in Tokyo. We had a huge Zone conference yesterday in Kichikoji. It took about 2 hours by train, so we essentially woke up, went to conference, and then went home and straight to bed. But it was really good. They talked a lot about setting goals this year, and just how powerful goal-setting and planning can be, and that they can really make a huge difference. So this year I've been thinking a lot about my own personal goals. I want to do a lot better and finish off stronger than ever before.

As a mission we are reading the Book of Mormon in English, and personally I want to try and read it one more time in Japanese before I go home. That goal is a lot more achievable than last year, because I can read a LOT more fluently now. A long time ago (4th transfer), I tried to read the Bible in Japanese, and while I was able to make some progress, I stopped because it wasn't worth it for the time it took. I made it to about page 40. I want to read the whole thing once I'm back, but for now there are more important things to focus on in our limited study time.

(Elder Mumford completed reading the Book of Mormon in Japanese last July.)

Which reminds me, I think I will have a lot of fun at BYU, because they have a pretty good-sized Japanese library that I can go to and study. Speaking of BYU though, I think the best sounding option is Montecello Apartments. I think that being close to campus (especially the computer lab) is going to be even more valuable than being close to the store. Also, I remember that duck pond. I used to pass it every day when I ran in the mornings. Sometimes the ducks get out and wander around campus, and sometimes some wampaku students catch the ducks and put them places. (To be honest, I never really used the wireless internet much, simply because the wall-plug in was more reliable, and there wasnt ever really a need to use wireless - the Library also has plug-in places).

About the pictures, I apologize for the long deay. I had them in an envelope ready to go, and I barely missed the deadline for Shogatsu mail (they started messing up the mail schedule around December 25, and they eventually stopped delivering outgoing mail. Instead of the normal mail-slot, they replaced it with a special slot only for sending money to family members).

Actually a funny story, because every single person stops working durring Shogatsu, (including all the mail people), they hired a whole ton of 14-16 year old kids on part time jobs to deliver everything on bikes. So durring Shogatsu we DID recieve mail (which was very happy) and they were all delivered by really young kids. I thought that was interesting. But now everything is completely back to normal. I sent the SD card last week on Wednesday, so it might arrive today or tomorrow).

Japanese mail delivery bikes, set out to deliver the day's mail. (I now understand why the mission office asks us not to send large boxes.)

Im going to take TONS of pictures of everything as soon as the camera arrives. I feel bad about not being able to take pictures of Shogatsu and everything, so Ill make up for it soon. Thanks so much for the quick response and generosity.

Kind of interesting, but Elder Matias' brother recently returned from a mission in Nagoya mission. In fact, he served very close to where we are now! Both Elder Matias and Elder Matias served close to Mt. Fuji, but on different sides. Mt. Fuji is actually really huge (I was suprised), and we can see it very clearly durring the winter. Ill send you some good pictures.

(This picture of Mt. Fuji is from the camera of Elder Goes, taken from their apartment.)

As for our experiences this week, some new things have happened:

1. We were housing a building, and after talking to a few people, we ran into a really old lady who turned us down immediately. Later, she came out and down the stairs, and asked us if we were the ones who knocked on her door. She was so confused at why in the world two gaijin from a different city would come all the way to introduce themselves to random people here. She said that sort of thing is simply not done, and that at first she thought that we must be bad people, but when she came out and talked to us she felt like we were good people, but were 'too innocent'. It was a really funny conversation, and eventually she went back in here house. Just one of those things that makes us laugh and brightens our day. We had to go after that, but we later found out that had we kept on housing, we would have accidentally ran into one of the members who it turns out lived in the same building complex. That would have been wierd. :)

2. Manabu-san is really the only person left that we are still meeting with. He comes to Eikaiwa, and we were able to meet him and have another lesson. He likes it a lot, but he's not sure if he really wants to know whether God exists or not. We talked a lot about that, and eventually gave him the 'Testaments' which might put a bit more background on what the Book of Mormon is about. He's such a cool guy though.

3. Our ward met together and we put together a new mission plan. This is really cool, because some members took some of the ideas and really ran with it, and now people are getting excited about it.

We're trying a program where everyone has 1 year - 2010, to try and do 12 things. Each month we pick a thing to work on (i.e. greet new people at church, give a book of mormon to a friend, invite someone to an activity...) so that by the end everyone has done everything once. I think it will really help. We've also been visiting a lot more people recently. We went to the bishop's house on Saturday (which is REALLY far away, but it was worth it), we wanted to introduce Elder Matias and show that we care, because I dont think they get visited often (because it's so far away). Im glad we went.

More Funny Engrish: That's a pretty big expectation from a simple notebook!

Oh and also this transfer, the last of the Shimai in our Doki are going home, its sad to see all the people that we know leaving now. This transfer there are 21 people returning, and very few coming in, so I think the mission is going to change a little bit. President Albrecht is very stressed trying to deal with it, so Im sure he would also appreciate your prayers for him.

Anyways, thank you everyone for the wonderful stories and support. I love being in Japan, and I cant wait till you can all come back with me :) Im excited to see what will happen in the last quarter of my mission.

I hope everyone is having a great day, and a great year so far. Best of luck with all your personal endeavors. Remember that this church is true, and that everyone can know that for themselves. I hope that all of you determine to become a little bit better this year.

Love,

Elder Martin Mumford

TOKYO, JAPAN

Happy 2010!

Japanese Mormons get creative with their Stake Activity:

VIDEO: Tachikawa Stake Sports Day

Click "Play" to view

VIDEO: Even More difficult Sports Day

Click "Play" to view.

Here is Elder Mumford's e-mail from 1/4/10:

Dear Everyone,

We were a little worried about email today, because all the places are still closed, but eventually we were able to email in Fujisawa church in the Family History Center. So here we are.

Its a new year! On the first day, all the missionaries in the Zone woke up at 4:00 to go see the first sunrise of the year. It was amazing.

Also, I have transfer Information!

I will be staying in Shonan, and my new companion is Elder Matias from Guaruja, Brazil! :) This will be my third Brazillian companion now. So Im excited to learn some more Portuguese. If Dad could send that list of places he served again, I think Elder Matias would know all of them.

New years was very exiting, and also very difficult. On the first 3 days of new years, the streets essentially empty. On the 1st, there were literally no people on any of the streets in the biggest city in our area. It was completely 100% deserted. We were also advised not to visit people in their homes on those days, because people get extremely upset and angry. We met more drunk people than we wanted to. So... we felt kind of useless during that time. Fortunately we were able to visit a few members, and once with an investigator.

But now Shogatsu is over so everyone is starting to get back to work and normal life, the streets are slowly starting to fill up again, and by next week all the banks and stores should be open.

(There are only 6 Brazilians serving in Tokyo, and Martin has been companions to 3 of them now. Here, Elder Goes, one of his former Brazilian companions, gets a sudden urge to scratch his nose while knocking on the door of the "ee-chee- no-seh" family)

Some cool things though, that are happening this year:

1. The new English website is up, called www.goeigo.org. Its really funny. (Click HERE to see this site in ENGLISH or HERE to see this site in JAPANESE.) The Missionary who looks like OBAMA, is Elder Furgueson. He is still here. He goes home in March/April and probably has the best Japanese out of all of us.

2. Our ward met together to discuss ward missionary work, and we came up with a few ideas.

Really, we only have a few people we are working with:

1. Manabu-san, he has lots of questions about the gospel.

2. Higuchi family, we are going to introduce the book of mormon to them this week.

(View of Mount Fuji from Fujisawa.)

By the way thanks for the packages! I just got the one with the cheese, and we enjoyed it a lot! Also, out of all the Book of Mormon poster things, I think Samuel the Lamanite was the coolest. Maybe a poster of that would be nice. Thanks for all the interesting things that you send me. Once the Post Office opens again, Im going to send the journal and SD card (I missed the gap, so I have to wait till then), and some other things.

As for the day of going home, Transfers are on August 2 (Monday). Then we spend monday in the Hombu, and get on the plane early morning August 3 (Tuesday) and arrive in America on August 3 also.　　I think the church arranges for all the travel, so Im not sure that you need to buy tickets or anything.

(Pardon me Elder, do you have any Grey Poupon?)

Well, thank you everyone for the prayers, the letters and the support. I am loving being a missionary here in Japan. Elder Matias is extremely enthusiastic. This should be a great transfer here in Shonan. It's good to hear about everyone at home, it sounds like fun! HAve a great year!

Love,

-Elder Martin Mumford

TOKYO JAPAN.

Merry Kurisumasu!

(Elder Mumford and Elder Goes wishing everyone a Merry Kurisumasu! (That's how you would spell it out in Japanese. The "U's" are written out, but not pronounced.)

Here is Elder Mumford's e-mail dated Dec. 28, 2009:

Dear Everyone,

Well, this is the last week of the transfer, and we had a lot of fun together. Elder Goes thinks that he is transfering somewhere, and that I will stay. Anyways, It has been a great Christmas, and now it will be a great New Year.

This week fits perfectly into Shogatsu - from Monday, December 28 to Sunday January 3 everyone gets off work. We've already started to see it. Which is actually really good for us because there are so many more people outside on the streets, even on the weekdays. Yesterday, we went on exchanges with Fujisawa, so Elder Allen came to HIratsuka and Elder Goes went to Fujisawa with Elder Reynolds. It was actually a really fun day. We met two really cool people playing basketball in the park, one of which is the owner of a accupuncure clinic. In Fujisawa we have basketball night every friday, so they wanted to come. We also talked to a whole lot of people on our bikes, and one of them accepted the Book of Mormon, and was very interested in it. One young man was on his way to a cram school, and had no time, but after listening for a little while, he said 'I've only heard a little bit, but I'm very interested in it. It sounds amazing'...

Right now the people we know are:

1. Manabu - He just got back from Florida, and he speaks really good english. He's 28 and has a lot of free time now, so he's been coming to sports night and other events. He's a really cool guy.

2. Higuchi - Amazing family, has a lot of interest. The husband has a mental sickness, and so it's actually really hard to meet with them again, because they go to the hospital sometimes. But when we do meet next, we are going to explain the Book of Mormon, which we gave them last week.

(A portion of the long roll of paper signed by each and every one of Elder Mumford's cousins, aunt's uncles, and other immediate and extended family, and sent to him for Christmas.)

Also, thank you everyone for the amazing Christmas. I especially enjoyed the really long roll of paper that was signed by everyone in the family. It actually took quite a while to read. I think someone wrote in 'reformed Japanese' which I thought was pretty cool.

Also, one of the cousins wrote a cool looking symbol and asked if I knew what it meant. Unfortuanetely I dont, but maybe you could explain? It looked like an M with two lines through it.

Thanks for the great presents, we had an amazing Christmas. It was especially good because that night we were able to talk about the Book of Mormon with the Higuchi family. So we were able to help someone that Christmas. We still have lots of Christmas candy left and we are doing our best to finish it :)

(Another one of Martin's Christmas Presents- Book of Mormon heros that are designed to look like an avatar from a computer game.)

(Click here to see some of the other designs.)

In Japan Christmas is actually a very small holiday. The stores put up Christmas sales. Its more of a couple holiday, where you buy some things for eachother, and eat Christmas cake and chicken. Always cake and chicken. But New Years completely blows Christmas out of the water. There's a whole lot of traditional foods and events that are had around this time.

- Mochi - sticky goo made of pounded rice.

- Zouni - a kind of vegetable soup, but what is funny is that if you mix it up and say NiruZou instead, it means 'boiled elephant' which everyone here finds very amusing.

- Daifuku/Anman - basically bread or mochi filled with ANKO (bean mush)

Well, I think this week is going to be full of miracles. Everyone is out and about, and at night everyone is home. So we should be able to find someone with interest. Im looking forward to 2010 and the new year. Ill have to come up with some new year's resolutions as well. I hope everyone at home, wherever you may be has a great year. The best of luck to all of you.

Happy 2010!

-Love, Elder Mumford

TOKYOJAPANTO

N~~~~~~~~~~~K

A ~~~~~~~~~~~Y

P~~~~~~~~~~~O

AJOYKOTNAPAJ

Season's Greetings!

KFC for Christmas dinner? Yes, it's a Christmas tradition in Japan!

Christmas in Japan is celebrated very differently than in the U.S. For example, it is traditional to order Kentucky Fried Chicken, weeks in advance and then stand in long lines to pick it up on Christmas day. The Christmas meal of fried chicken is followed by the eating of a Christmas cake- which is a sponge cake topped with whipped cream and strawberries. Many Japanese people are shocked to learn that Americans don't usually eat KFC and Christmas cake on Christmas day as they do. Next comes the gift exchange with your sweetheart, much like our Valentine's day.

(Traditional Japanese Christmas Cake)

Here is Martin's e-mail dated December 21, 2009

Dear Everyone,

We are here on an icy december morning at 'Let's Fujisawa'. Yesterday, we caroled as a zone, and it actually went really well. We had 3 people handing out flyers and trying to get everyone to sing with us, and several people acutally did!

One couple stopped and sang with us, and then because it was his birthday we all sang happy birthday to him and gave him high-fives. He was way happy (turning 22). Also a few professional singers came to join us randomly, one lady directed us like a music conductor, and another one sang some prretty intense opera version of Silent Night.

Also a very drunk man came running by, shook all of our hands and thanked us profusely for singing. Then 20 minutes later he came back with a massive box of orange juices, and gave it to Elder Huntsman, saying 'I ,.. overdrank... but this... NO Alcohol!' Then staggered off as we thanked him. Fun!

We passed out new flyers with the 'who is Jesus Christ' website in Japanese. (Click here to see the new website) It was a test to see how that goes. There's a lot of technology-related updates to the mission now, the flyers all have 'QR' codes on them that cell-phones can scan and see the website right away.

A QR Code (Quick Response Code) found on Japanese flyers, newspaper adds, etc. This is scanned by the camera on a Japanese cell phone, and it takes your phone directly to a website, where you can find more detailed information about the product or service.

Ok, for some questions...

1. Christmas Phone Call! 10:00 is still just fine here. Elder Goes is planning on having his call at 10:00 on the Church Phone, which is fine because they are separate phones in different places. And both you and his parents are in the same time zone, it works really well.

2. Have you tried putting your camera into a bag of dry rice to absorb the moisture? Ill have to try the rice thing and the camera. Ive never heard of it before, but I dont have much to loose :) ALso I think it may be a few weeks (1-2... 3) before I can make my way to Akihabara (Shibuya) to buy a camera. Its probably the best possible place to buy it, so Ill wait till I can go there. In the meantime Im having Elder Goes take double the pictures so when he sends it home his mom can share it. Ill send the SD card really soon, and you can check it.

3. I did get the Christmas package with the last of the music (Volume 4, right?) It was way good! We're going to enjoy this christmas!

In Japan since we always have to be together within sight/sound 24.7, its kind of hard to suprise your companion with presents. So what we did was we went to a cheap candy store, and took turns standing just outside the store while the other one bought candy. I think its going to be lots of fun to open them up! :)

Alright, we have kind of hit a block with investigarors recently, but if you want to pray for someone, we have many people we are trying to meet, but cant yet:

1. Edgar - his life is really hard right now, busy/other problems at work.

2. Jason - american, had a paycheck taken away mysteriously and is having a really hard time finding a job.

3. Vanessa - former investigator, still has the book of mormon

4. Erick - Really cool parent who makes RC cars for a hobby. Invited us in to see them.

5. Lee - Chinese, he loves the missionaries and has been meeting them for many years for 'English class' with a short message at the end. He needs gospel interest though, right now he doesnt really see how it could apply to his life.

And another fun story, I have become the 'mikan nushi' or the 'Lord of Mikans' because we havent had to buy any this transfer, but we keep getting them. We were late for an apointment and really lost one day, and so we stopped by this shop in the middle of nowhere, to ask an old man for directions. It was an alcohol shop but we needed to get there fast. So after the appointment we came back to thank the old man, and he was so touched that he came out with a six-pack of beer and wanted to give it to us. Unfortunately we had to explain that we couldnt drink, but he really wanted to give it to us. He turned around and gave us a bag of mikans instead :) Which we definitely can eat, so we thanked him a bunch.

In America, we know them as SATSUMA Mandarin Oranges. But in Japan, they are called "MIKAN"

Anyways, thanks for all the prayers and support,

I hope everyone has a warm, enjoyable Christmas! Congratulations to all those in the family who are recently married, I wish you the best. Im excited to see everyone this summer!

Have a great week!

-Love

-Elder Mumford,

T oo K yy O jj A pp A nn.

December 14, 2009

Dear Everyone,

Another great week in Shonan. Just so you know, I really dont have that much time here today, we are actually in Shibuya, at the Church PBO Office. So while there are computers here that we can use, there is also a huge mob of missionaries waiting to use them, so Ill keep this rather short.

1. Thank you so much for the Christmas package! I loved the music and all the gifts.

2. Im here with Elder Draney, we are having a Doki Temple Trip today, so all the people I was in the MTC with are going to the temple today after this.

3. Not so good news, My trusty camera finally broke. It lasted a really long time but it had to go someday. I double bagged it, but it got really wet and cold durring a hurricane-esque storm and now it simply died. Ill be sending the SD card home as soon as possible, to see if the pictures are still on it. Im still not sure on what to do about it, if I should buy one here, or if you could use my personal money to buy one in the US. Oh well, in the meantime, Ill just have to send you drawings of what I would normally take pictures of. :)

4. Phone calls at 10:00 on the 25th is still OK. I'll email next week if anything changes. Do you still remember how to make the call from America?

Alright, I dont have a whole lot of time, but just be sure to remind me to tell you the Korean Grandma story next time. It's really funny.

We were able to see a lot of miracles with some new people that we can meet this coming week. If you could continue to pray for;

1. Miyashita-san. We cant get in contact with him. He doesnt have a phone and we dont have his address, so if you could pray that he will have the courage to contact us someday.

2. Tada-san, that she will be able to feel the spirit and have interest. Right now she is interested in the history of the church, but that's about it.

Oh, and me and Elder Goes sent eachother'(s parents a letter. :)

Thank you,

Well, time's up!

Love you, Got to go!! Thanks bye!

-Elder Mumford

TOKYO, JAPAN

The Weather Outside Is Frightful!

(Mount Fuji in all her snowy glory!)

Here is Elder Mumford's Letter dated December 7, 2009:

Dear Everyone,

We're having a great week out here in Shonan. Come to think of it, Im not really even sure why this area is called shonan, there's no city or place around here by that name. But its still lots of fun.

Anyways, as winter approaches, the rain is finally stopping, and I have to bring a jacket in case the weather turns cool. We also both bought cheap 1$ scarfs, but because neither of us knew how to wear them we just put them on and tried to figure it out by trial and error.

VIDEO:

Click on the PLAY arrow to view.

We also had a great mission conference with President Albrecht and Elder Aoyagi of the 70. He gave us a really good talk and a powerful testimony. They talked a lot about working with the members to try and get people's courage up. They discussed how missionaries should be encouraging and not pushy, not constantly demanding members to talk to their friends.

(This is the BIG church where the recent mission conference was held. Yes, it is an LDS church! They don't make them like they used to.)

The hardest part is helping people have the courage to talk to their friends. At times, it almost seems impossible. Some people simply are so terrified and horrified at the idea that they dont want to even tell their closest friends that they are christian, let alone mormon. That fear has been the greatest stumbling block so far. I cant figure out how to help them.

I know that someday that will change, and that widespread fear and hesitation will eventually go away. I want to help NOW but it feels really slow. However, I know that this is the Lord's work and eventually it will change. There is progress, even if it is extremely slow, so that we will one day see the result. I am exited to do it though, because it actually requires us to be creative. The ward has been challenged by the missionaries many many times before in the same way, so now we have to think of something different to figure out what will work.

Anywyas, that's what Ive been thinking and planning about recently. Its much more of a wall than I expected, but if we try our best, be creative, and ask for the Lord to help us, we'll find away over.

All right, now for the questions;

1. Are you still the district leader in your new zone? Its usually for 1 transfer only. I actually stopped being district leader last transfer already. It changes usually every transfer.

The missionaries get to know each other at a district meeting, with an activity on the white board.

2. Would you like us to send you any Christmas decorations? Christmas decorations are always welcome! We actually already have a few nativity sets, however. Also I dont know how possible this is, but do you remember that really good cinnamon milk mix stuff that we had in previous winters? A small bag of that would be amazing. (By the way we still have lots of hot chocolate left, so we're still alright on that front). Also I seem to have misplaced my egg nogg recipie. If you could email it back to me at some point, we'll enjoy some good homemade egg nog this winter.

3. What would you and your companion like for Christmas? Hm... Im trying to think of things that are fun and still missionary-appropriate...

1. Once agian, another calendar. That was a really cool gift last year.

2. Teeth whitening strips. (I should probalby start doing that again). Im doing just fine on everything else medical related.

3. A new Journal. Im actually very close to finishing my one I have now. If it's ok Ill probably send it home for Christmas present, or if you want I can wait till Mother's day.

4. Candy! We love candy. It helps so that I dont have to keep cutting holes in my belt. Like I said, I think we should have gotten the 'reverse-thanksgiving waisband' instead :)

4. The best thing - pictures!

5. There were 2 number 4's. Gomen. (sorry)

6. Completely random, but I just remembered. Elder Goes recommends 2 resuraounts in California as the 'best stuff ever'. These are (1) In and Out burger, and (2) Rubios.

7. Elder Goes says he doesnt really know as far as gifts. However I doubt that he would turn down candy of any sort. :)

And a partrige in a pear tree, if it's OK.

5. How is your Japanese coming. Are you able to understand almost everything now? Japanese is better, always better. Never perfect. I can understand a lot of what people say on the street and in lessons, but the real test is always sacrament meeting. When I first arrived, I could understand about 1% of sacrament meeting. Now I can get about 35%. Ususally missionaries get up to nearly 50% by the end of their mission. However there are always certain speakers (particularly old women who speak really fast and super 'dripping with thick politeness') who I get absolutely 0% of their talk. So I've still got a long way to go.

But in general, with the exception of old people, I can understand maybe 75% of what people say to us on the street. Im learning lots of new words and phrases and grammar just by talking to people on the street.

Also Elder Goes had bike issues this week. We were riding out at the beginnign of the day, and all the sudden he says 'Elder Mumford, my tire is shaking!', and it turns out he had a flat. Well, we couldnt help that, and the town we were going to was REALLY far away, so we took it back to the city, bought a tube, and went back to the apartment real quick. Problem - as we took off the back tire to replace the tube, a lot of stuff started falling out of the middle section. Things that looked like they shouldnt fall out. Very broken things. They were followed by about 18 small ball bearings which immediately siezed the opportunity to scatter in every direction. It was a little problematic, because I being the wonderful bike expert that I am, didnt actually know that those things were in there in the first place. Thus I wasnt sure how to go about putting them back...

The bike shop said they couldnt fix it, and it would take (once again) 3-7 weeks for them to order new parts. So back we went, hoping for the same result as last time.

So we tinkered with it for a while, trying to line up all the little steel balls in a circle inside the tire, but no luck, they just fell out again. Also I got very greasy (see pictures later). We eventually concluded that we couldnt fix it (seing as the main inner chamber thing was actually broken in half), and gave up.

Its OK though, we eventually remembered that one of our investigators, Edgar, has a bike that a missionary gave him a while back, and doesnt really use it. So we are now borrowing that one until we can get the whole situation resolved. Phew.

We actually have a lesson with Edgar tonight. I will be trying to speak spanish a little bit. That's going to be really interesting.

Anyways, that's just some of the things going on around Shonan recently. Its going to be another fun week! Thanks everyone for the support and prayers.

Hope everyone enjoys their Tuesday (or wednsday or whatever it is over there). Thanks!

Love,

- Elder Martin Mumford