The Elder Has Landed

Dear Parents,

We are happy to inform you that your missionary has arrived safely here in Korea. They were picked up at the airport by President Christensen and his wife this evening and everything went as planned. We are so happy and excited to have them here. Thank you for your sacrifice and for everything you have done to help them prepare for this new mission experience.

Korea Seoul Mission

A Day in the Life of Elder Mumford

[Note: Last week in my email, I (Julia) requested that Zach tell us what a typical day in the MTC is like.  He responded with two pages!  If you want to read this week's actual letter, it follows this post. It's been a looong time since I was in the MTC--some of this sounds familiar, but I think we had class in the morning as well, and three teachers.]

6:29 am.  Alarm goes off. (My comp is an "extra mile" kinda guy.)  I sit up, pray, and shower.  I get the handicapped shower because, well, I'm handicapped.  I shower and brush my teeth.  Throw on a suit and tie and hop down the stairs to...

7:20 Breakfast.  Usually hash browns, eggs, and sausage or ham.  Milk and AJ accompany.  We try to speak Korean.  Usually it's pretty quiet.

7:30 Scoot to personal study.  I study out of one chapter of the NT, BoM, and D & C respectively.  I plan lessons and study PMG and other interesting [indecipherable]. Move into...

8:30 Comp study/Free study  We study Korean and start to put together lessons.

9:20 Gym!  I usually stay with Elder Hale and he writes letters while I do 300 bicycle sit-ups, some pull ups, and scoot around the residence.  It's an okay workout.  I've lost weight! Also I don't drink pop. Super good.  We leave to go to...

11:00 TALL or Technology Assisted Language Learning.  Super helpful.  I learn loads.  Elder Westbrook only has 2 volume levels, ON and OFF.  It's pretty funny.  He has helped me memorize a lot of unintended Korean though! :) We finish up and...

12:00 Lunch! We chow down and talk about everything.  We see people we know in the cafeteria! Super fun! We scoot over to...

12:45 Language study! Studying Korean is tough but rewarding.  Me and my comp study grammar and read Korean.  We practice our vocab of the day and write sentences.  Smooth transition to...

2:00 pm CLASS! Brother Sung or Sister Baek come in to hugs or handshakes and much [Korean words--means "anyanghaseyo-ing].  We love them a lot.  We spend class teaching our teachers, learning Korean, learning how to teach with the Spirit of the Lord, being inspired, and having a fun and hard- working time. We then go to...

5:00 Dinner!  Something yummy like steak or burgers and some ice cream or [looks like "weansdy"] or cake.  Milk and juice accompany.  Elder Westbrook and I snag the mail and...

5:45 Class! We do the same with our other teacher.  we are learning Korean fast.  It's lots of fun. And work. But work is fun.  Then on to...

9:00 Planning! We go over our day and see how we did on goals and how we did teaching.  We plan for our investigating teachers who act as investigators and see how we can help them.  We find our new vocab and finish up to...

9:30 personal time!  We write letters, tell stories, and get to know each other.  It's a good break.  But missionary work is the best.  On to...

10:15 quiet time. We pray, write in journals, and settle in. Elder Westbrook and I pray in Korean.  He's way good.  He did it in spanish the other day.  On to...

10:30 BED! We say goodnight [Korean words--translation "Dream of pigs"] and thoughts race as I drop off to sleep.  Stoked for a new day.

That's about it.  I love you all lots.  Thank you for your letters! I don't always get to answer all of them but they inspire me!

Love, Elder Mumford

The AYFT Championship

2/27 Wednesday

We had a good day today. Learned lots of crazy new Korean.  Elder BIngham is gonna teach with us tomorrow.  I've been thinking a lot about agency and fore-ordinagtion and how they relate lately.  Your thoughts would be much appreciated.  Dad should look up Richard Himmer!  he does research on effective communication.  I've heard some of his thoughts from Elder Himmer (it's his dad).  It sounds like he's really articulated what makes dad such an interesting and wonderful person to be around.  check him out! He teaches at education week and stuff.  So cool.  We get to teach Brother [korean character] tomorrow. He's ready for the plan of salvation! I'm way excited to get to Korea.  Quote of the day: "Small minds discuss people, average minds discuss events, and great minds discuss ideas." Hyman Rickover.  Just random. I love you all tons.

2/28 Thursday

Had a good day today. The theme was "be the change you wish to see in the world."  I relayed that all the things that bug me about my companion and my district don't matter.  I can't change that.  All I can change is myself. I realized that deeply. So that's my message.

D&C 11: 21 Seek not to ^adeclare my word, but first seek to ^bobtain my^cword, and then shall your tongue be loosed; then, if you desire, you shall have my ^dSpirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the ^econvincing of men.

There's a lot to learn there that I didn't see before.  Also, Alex, 42:54 Thou shalt not take thy brother’s ^agarment; thou shalt ^bpay for that which thou shalt receive of thy brother.

Bam.

Today was pretty funny too. We play a game called, "Are you feelin' tense?" to practice verb tenses.  3 people at the board race to get the right forma nd points are gained of the first and second place.  Then there are bonus rounds.  The announcer...me...says, "Are you feelin' tense?" in appropriate game chime sing song.  Then as we announce the tense, participants race to achieve.  Tonight Elder Westbrook was down 17-15-2 when he made an insane comeback with two bonus round clinchers. The score was then 18 -15- 16 with Elder Shaw winning.   The final round approached, the tension was palpable.  I cried, "Are you feelin' tense?" in an enraptured and serious manner.  Elder Hale proclaimed, "I like to read the Book of Mormon."

Whiteboard ink flew as Elders Westbrook, Bingham, and Shaw anxiously scrambled for honor.  Elder Shaw finished first but woefully spelled incorrectly.  Elder Bingham was next but he had an incorrect marker.  Elder Westbrook committed the same error.  After an incorrect judge ruling, Elder Bingham miraculously pulled out the spelling of the century and clinched the title of AYFT Champ.  The room erupted into cheers and high fives were exchanged.  Elder Shaw, the defending champ, sat sullenly in the corner and Elder Westbrook was satisfied with his miracle comeback.  After some most likely needed chastisement from the Sisters, we planned our next amazing adventure.  I love you all. The church is restored. We can always be happy.

3/1

Had a good day. Taugh a good spiritual lesson. Felt the love. Totally fell asleep for 2 hours during gym time. Gotta figure that out. Gimme your thoughts on the law of consecration! I love you tons.

3/3

Had a pretty interesting Saturday. We taught a Korean exchange student in TRC that go baptized a month ago.  her testimony of Jesus Christ was really strong.  We were truly taught BY her.

Elder Westbrook had some abdominal pain during gym and got sent to the ER to get hernia surgery if he needed it. he was OK but I went on splits with Elder Himmer. I stayed up til 1:30 waiting/talking with Elder Evans.  He loves music and has an awesome story of how he came on his mission.  Elder Westbrook got back at 1:30 AM from the ER and we all got like 4 hours of sleep.  I'm beat. I've found that if I read the BoM I get revitalized.  Super cool.

Elder Bednar's address "Recognizing the Spirit"is amazing. Please read it.  It answered so many of my questions.

Today I had a bit of a hard time. I'm still trying to just get into the work. It's tough. Korean is hard and putting in all the time to get good is going to be rough. I guess I've realized that this is going to be hard.

I set a goal not to talk about anything home-related until 9:30 every night.  We'll see how that goes this week.  I'm struggling to be a good missionary.  Every time a doubt creeps in about whether I really believe, I think of all the good people and times and wonderful things I've learned and found through the Church. I think of all the times I felt the Spirit of the Lord.  I KNOW it's true.  I cannot deny it. And as I work to strengthen my testimony of Christ, i come to know deeper every day that He is my savior.  I love you all.

PS Tell Mel and Dave thanks for the muddy buddies and the cards.  Super delish!

P-Day Update!

I've been in the boot for 3 weeks today.  Still not allowed to walk on it.  Hope I'll be good to leave the MTC on time! My calf's pretty weak compared to my other one.  I do those weird bicycle sit-ups every day to try to keep it from being nonexistent.  Also I started doing pull ups and made a goal to do 10 pull ups a day.  I'm getting it too!  I also have the best single and 5 lap times on the scooter at 16.19s and 1:25 respectively.

I'm sitting in the laundry room with Elder Westbrook.  He's typing away as we wait for our laundry to finish.  It's been a long week but a good one.  I love you all tons.

Guinea Pigs of the Chosen Generation

Feb 20 Wednesday

Its been a wonderful day.  We had a good lesson with Brother Baek, super fun.  He is thinking about baptism and praying and reading the BoM.  I love it.  I cant wait to be in Korea.  Today my companion caught 5 gummy bears in his mouth in 5 seconds while counting them in Korean.  It was incredible. We got to be the class that gets demonstrated on by a supervisor for other teachers.  It was a sweet lesson. The spirit was there.  Also, Elder Mills and Elder Brewer and going to be my homies when I get home.  Both love good music and skiing.  Plus they have strong testimonies. I love you tons. Your letters mean tons to me.

Feb 21^st Thursday

So today I was very happy to know that my Mom isn’t blind but is actually OK.  Thanks Momma.  Tell me what you learn.  I feel super bad for you and I’m praying for you!  Today produced such gems as “You are the guinea pigs of the chosen generation.” --Bro Sung and “I’m gonna be brother Sung’s oppa” –Elder Westbrook.  Also Elder Westbrook screaming with agony as his chalk burst in half in the middle of a [something indecipherable] tense match.  Also questioning the authenticity of Sister Baek’s Korean race when he beat her at a game of it. We had a beautiful day. D&C 50:13-22 is awesome.  Teach and be taught.  We are only facilitators of learning.

Feb 22 Friday

I had a super fun day today. Class was good. I learned how to adjectivize verbs. Also I practiced street contacting in Korean. It’s a tad sketchy.  So today Elder Westbrook gave Brother Sung a hug, but before you hear what he said you must understand the love that he has for that man. His favorite phrase is, “How money is Brother Sung?” So then as he was hugging Bro Sung, he said “This just feels so right!”  His love for Brother Sung is pretty hilarious.  Also as we were making fun of him because girls sisters say hi to him all the time. He kept denying the fact and then a sister walks around the corner and says, “Hola!” in a very happy way, pointedly directed at Elder Westbrook.  No comeback after that.  Also Brother Sung accidentally called Elder Richardson Elder Rice.  Which is funny because his companion is Elder Eccles.  So Rice-Eccles stadium.  And then he accidentally called me Elder Westbrook and got sad and wanted to go home.  But we love him lots. He is way spiritual.  I love all your letters and all of you! 1^st Nephi 11 – 13 is some of the greatest of the Book fo Mormon.  I love Jesus Christ and I love all of you.

2/23

The month is upon us.  Pretty weird.  I feel like I should know a lot more and yet I’ve learned a lot.  I fell tons of love from my district.  Me and my companion went through a little rough patch today and we’re still figuring it out.  We taught an amazing TRC lesson today.  TRC is where you teach volunteers.  We taught a Master’s degree student from the Y.  We asked if he’d ever read the BoM and how he’d been blessed.  He told us that he wasn’t LDS and that he had never read the BoM.  We shared our favorite scriptures and testified of the truth of the BoM.  We then invited him to read and pray about it every day and promised he would be blessed.  He said he would and we closed with a prayer.  He told us he was actually LDS but that the spirit had been strong and he was recommitted to reading and praying.  It was a sweet experience. I love you all lots. Read pray obey.

2/24

So today the older transfer leaves.  I love them! And I’m going to miss them. They are way cool Elders.  I’ll see some soon.  I inherited the inspiring quote board and a beautiful nativity scene.  I am stoked to go.  Now is when things feel more and more real.  Devotional was wonderful.  I felt that I can be a more loving leader.  I love all of you.  I know I’m doing what I need to be doing.  Just took pics with all the Koreans.

2/26

Some of my letters may be longer than others.  Tonight Elder M. Russell Ballard spoke to us.  His conviction and humility were very apparent.  I know Jesus is the Christ.  I know that this is His restored church.  The scriptures are true. God loves us.  Eternal happiness now and forever is attainable through faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the End.  Everything we need is right here for us.  We need only to look to Christ and be saved.  I love him with all my heart.  I will serve Him until I die.  I testify that there is no other way back to God than Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.