Good Thing Elder Pemberton Forgot His Coat

To quickly catch you up to date, in the last month Zach has had two different companions and is now training Elder Van Orden. He is in a suburb of Seoul called DoBong.

Kid is on fire, as you will see from the latest letter.

8/5

Well, I'm starting off on a new foot. I'll start writing letters again. But keep in mind that my investigators and being obedient are more important than letters. :)

So! Today we had a nice relaxing p-day. Got up, exercised, ate a little, had an awesome study of 2 Nephi 9. Good companionship study, awesome language study, and emailed. Looked at glasses. Korean have some crazies. Bought popsicles, soda, and a carrot (for health). It was a fun day.  At home we cleaned and marinated the meat and made scripture cases. Arts and crafts! Wrote letters. Then we went out to contact! We met some good people but it was raining hard and we had no umbrellas so maybe just nice people. Then we got a random call to help with English and did that. Then we came home, planned, and slept. Party on!

We had a great day today. It started off with almost no plans, only some attempted finding of old addresses, and ended up with 3 appointments, a new investigator, and an hour of walking in a monsoon delivering food to the poor/elderly for the Red Cross. So it started with morning exercise which reallydesn't get easier. Im at 42 sit-ups and 30 push ups and 7 pull ups in sets of 2 with lots of other cardo stuff. Thank you soooo much for Take 6. They are my exercise power. love it. Come on! Anyway. We ate meat for brekkie and studied away. Then we got a call from a 20 year old member who needed our help on a service project and could meet us with his friends later that night. Right as we went to help him it turned into a torrential downpour and we got soaked. After that we went to the church to make some English flyers and make calls. The first call Elder Van Orden made said he could meet right then. So we did and he liked the first lesson and the Book of Mormon. Then we ate dinner or Kimbab with a member and his friends played a little ping pong and talked about life's purpose. Then we met Bro J who is super rad. We taught about prayer. We teach him in English. Then we literally ran home to make it on time.  It was way fun. Super great spiritual day. Love in it!

8/7

We had  a good day today. We had zone training which was good and slightly crazy. Everyone in our entire Zone is training. We got two new districts and even the zone leaders are training in a threesome. Super nutty. Today we talked about the Spirit and the importance of it. It's such an oft discussed topic that it can feel vague and we can repeat answers without having assimilated them into our souls. But! The spirit makes up the difference between what we have and what is needed. That's why I believe that in a teaching situation the president of the Church is no better a teacher than the humblest missionary if they both have done their best to bring the spirit. I don't have any problem with my greenie teaching because he is just as qualified as me for the Spirit. And if our investigator is receptive he'll be  in the heart. That's my thought of the day.

8/8

Tired. Me and Elder Van decided to exercise better today. We went outside and I did my in place workout while Elder Van ran around the parking lot in circles. There were old ladies fanning me while I did push-ups. Super weird but much appreciated. i'm up to 44 sit-ups 34 push ups 7 pull ups. Add 2 a day! Except pull ups. It works! Took a cold shower after and had a great study where I taught about how all the good examples I have got there by good habits, habits I have now and really! don't want to lose. Then e did a red cross service project with my favorite kid ever (Park). We packaged up food for people and delivered it. It took a couple of hours. Bro Park's little brother likes to call me Elder Mammoth and then tickles me. i can't get away. Then we made a new English flyer, made a few (60) phone calls, and did some home teaching with this awesome member from our ward. Bro Choi. We had some great lessons on the restoration with some sick folks in our ward and visited some cool members. Then we ate together and he fed us ice cream. We also had to save the young adults who had no key to the building. It was super nice to have a member helping us, and a car. So unbelievably amazing. Plus I was with his son i the MTC and have pics to prove it! Then we ran back to the church to lock up.  It's weird, I talked to som any people, but it's getting harder, now I can feel the rejection and apathy sometimes. But the golden nuggets are so much more beautiful if you search! Love and serve. Be diligent.

8/9

We had a pretty crazy day. We got up and exercised. I meditated, and Elder Van ran.  Then I read Grandpa Campbell's book which is about the coolest thing I've ever read.  It's been so inspiring to me.  Then we studied. I read the emissary, which apparently Mom you showed to tons of people.  I feel such a kinship with that mand. he and I have a lot in common. Sometimes I teach these Korean less active members and investigators and I'm blown away by their kindness and love. It's really super amazing. They're so much more Christlike than me, yet I have this new knowledge to give them. It's quite an interesting problem. I have a lot more thinking to do. Anyway after study we smelled this super nasty smell so we tried to figure out what it was. We found that one of our spam cans got sold to us with no lid and was full of maggots. Super gross. Elder Van almost threw up, and he was in the Army for four years. So we spent an hour bleaching and cleaning out all our food. It was super nasty.  We had to take 15 minutes before our planning to get through it. We're still cleaning. ugh. Super nasty.  Anyway then we panned for the week and went out to work.  Elder Pemberton flies home tomorrow to recover so we took him his suit coat that he forgot. And bought language study books. And a new journal! :) with no lines :(  On the way there we met this guy who had known missionaries a few years ago. He loves the Book of Mormon and believes it. All we gotta do is get him baptized! It was so cool.  Good thing Elder Pemberton forgot his coat.  Also on the way  back i got to teach the whole first lesson to a guy who listened super well.  it was way cool.  he asked good questions and was engaged. I loved it. We're tired and happy. I guess the weight of a 400,000 eternal soul in jeopardy area weighs heavily on one's soul. Just keep swimming. Work is now, play is later, when I figure out that they're the same. :)  Love you much. Stay faithful. Alma 34:32, somebody needs that.

[For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors…do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given to us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.]

8/10

Had a good fun day.  Exercised but I'm so tired in the morning I just sit down and don't eat breakfast. kinda sad. Now that I can cook I don't.  We had a good study.  I'm trying to learn to rely more on the Lord. Ideas would be appreciated. We're also trying to figure out a simple way to teach the fall and agency. It's hard to be simple, concise, and not confusing. We're getting there. So it was so hot today that when we went out to work, there was no one there. So we just went back in and called people that expressed interes earlier. That's always super fun. Then this super nice lady in our ward took us out to eat. She was sooo nice. We were going to eat with an investigator but he cancelled because video games are too cool. (I've sworn to never touch one again, poisonous). So we went and she bought us this delicious buffet. I'm beginning to be able to carry on a pretty complex conversation in korean. So we had a great one. She was baptized when she was 20 and her parents kicked her out of the house She served a mission and eventually most of her siblings joined the church. She teaches Gospel Essentials at church and dues a killer job. her kids are around my age. I think I found my ward momma. Though Sister Kim's english name is Julia Booth so there goes two of my other moms. In Korean it's not weird to call other ladies mom and grandma. And that's the Kind of relationship you have if they like you. Super dope. Anyway. Then she told us how she used to spend from 12 am to 12 pm on P-day and they had all sorts of fun activities. Pics at church tomorrow. Then she bought us a cheesecake and some meat. She is super nice. So kind. And a flame of faith and testimony. One fire dup member makes all the difference for missionaries.

8/11

We had a good sunday. No one came to church :(. Brother J is in Japan visiting his girlfirend so we didn't have anyone today but it's super sweet to see the ward get stoked about missionary work. I told about Grandpa Mumford in priesthood today. Also we're getting help from everyone. It's so cool. Then as we were leaving a member's house this afternoon a (something) like apartment manager stopped us and told us to call this lady. She used to attend church and so we're going to do family English with her. 30 min English, 30 min gospel. Yep. Got a referral from an apartment manager. Don't see that one every day.  Then we met a few people who all had the same question: "If God loves us then why are there so many religions? Can't I just be a good person and turn out OK?" So that's my question to you this week. Why are things like baptism and church attendance important? I will study too:) Crazy day planned for tomorrow. Ties and the like. Man, I love missionary work. So hard, so fun, so satisfying.

Love, Elder Mumford

Asian Superstar

With Elder Van Orden

Skating with the Zone

Oppa Chandler Style

Dear Momma,

You just got a 7 page letter so don't expect too much! Today we went to a [korean] or baseball hitting cage.  It was way fun except my wrist is still kinda sketchy, so I couldn't hit super hard.  It turns out I'm a pretty good basketball player! We play every morning for exercise. Lindsay Weldon gave me some awesome advice today. She said that the missionaries that have continued to feel the joy of the gospel are the ones who really gave 100% and never made excuses.  Great Grandpa's advice, "Don't just do your best, get the job done." is getting super meaningful to me.  It's only through Christ that we can, but with Him we can! I love it. I'm relying hard on Him.  But I know that the really tough times are ahead.  I'll keep working no matter what.

OK.  Now on to Korean Kulture Konnection.

There are these familial relationships that aren't actual, but are kinda the same.  So, for guys, if there's a kid older than you, if you like him you call him [korean] hyeung and he buys you food and you hang out.  If you're a girl and there's a guy older than you, you call him "Oppa," which is literally "girl's older brother."  He has to buy you food and hinda take care of you. It's way cool.  But I'm totally the Chandler girls' Oppa and Simon's hyeung. Also like if there's a girl older than you and you're close she's called your nuna.  So Keyaira is Alex's nuna. And Tim's nuna. It's not like romantic, just kinda is a relationship describer.  And everyone young is dong seng.All of this however is dependent on jeung, which is like mutual likingness. It's kind of like a deep human connection.  Dad is the ULTIMATE jeung builder. He just connects, that's jeung. Anyway if there is jeung then these relationships take place. It's so cool.

So one of the very first things you've gotta do when you start to teach is to build jeung with your investigator. That way you have trust and can speak frankly.  Be happy. Stay strong. Work hard. I'll try to do the same.

Love, Elder Mumford.

6/11 Jon Schmidt is in the background.  We dig the tunes though Elder Clawson is still a  touch skeptical of Bela Fleck and Take 6, but he's coming around. :)  So today was a little rough.  We got way lost and ended up in the 2nd most [something?? starts with an a, looks like althoey?] area of Korea, SeoCho. We tried to visit a bunch of less active members, but none were home. Accidentally saw a guy who was in his underwear. Elder Clawson thought he was naked. We got soaked in the rain. It was a good day to prove my discipleship. Sucked it up and worked hard! The Koreans say, "Sweat!"

6/13
Had a bit of a funny the other day. We were teaching Bro Kim about baptism and we were teaching him in the room where the baptismal font is. So we showed him it, and then asked him if he would be baptized. He looked slightly freaked out and asked, "What, like right now?!?" We quickly told him that it would be later and he was okay but it was pretty funny. The lesson was spiritual and he is steadily moving toward being baptized. [follows a whole line in Korean characters.] Also monsoon season starts next week. I'm not super stoked. Apparently it's crazy, like a constant downpour. I really need to send you guys stuff...

Miracle today! We were walking home super tired, just got rejected a bunch. It was right before dinner and we were pretty hungry.  As we got to the crosswalk a slightly awkward man waked up to the crosswalk and stopped.  Being exhausted, i didn't really want to talk, just get home and eat, but I did anyway.  he tured out to be from England and spoke English. We walked with him for 45 minutes and talked about the Atonement and the purpose of religion.  He said he really appreciated it. We got his number and maybe we will meet again!  Also I want to talk about KAS or Korean Awkwardness Syndrome.

I am slowly becoming inundated.  Basically Koreans are such a well put together culture that anything that fazes them just freaks them out. like when a 6'4" white guy starts talking in Korean about church. It causes an abrupt rise in heart rate and instant uncontrolled twitching.  Then they slowly remove headphones whilst twitching or sprinting away as fast as you can.  It happens lots. But I'm way twitchy now, and I run really awkwardly.

6/16 Sunday

It's a nice sunny day in Anyang.  One of my last as it turns out.  I'm getting transferred to Dobong.  It's in Dong Zone in Seoul mission.  Everyone else I know is staying in the Soul South mission. It will be like going all [hen] again! I'm a little apprehensive and nervous, but I committed to work and truly give myself to the Lord so I will.  I am going to be serving with a Korean companion named Park Sung Hyeun.  He knows my zone leader Elder Cho and he says that Elder Park is super funny.  I'm pretty stoked! It'll be good.  So there's that.  Last night was just everyone calling each other to find out what was going on.  I'm going to miss Anyang! I love the ward, I love the people.  I met
so many wonderful people.  I have a Korean spanish speaking mom in  our ward.  I call her Omma.  She is the best.  It'll be tough.  Good thing I can experience the peace that comes from knowing that I'll see these people in the next life.  The gospel brings peace no matter what.

The last couple days have been adventurous.  W met Brother You with his girlfriend.  They brought us dinner and we chatted and invited them to come to church.  It was way good but super spicy.  Then we found a homeless guy that I felt I really helped.  Then we tried to visit a less active member and talked to people to and from.  I've been pretty sick lately in the stomach region so I'm going on the BRAT diet.  Only we won't have bananas, applesauce, or toast, so it's RICE for me!

Anyway, it's really amazing to look back on these last two transfers and see all the miracles that we witnessed.  None of them have led to a baptism yet but they are moving.  We have definitely left our stamp on An

The Lost Letter

5/9 Thursday 2013 

It's been a few days since I wrote. Life has been a touch crazy.  I got a buzz from my comp. It's super short. 
As I pen these words I am eating some 덴항히게 deng chang chi-ge. It's super good, and it was made by Elder Cho, our new Korean ZL.  He's super awesome and doesn't speak that much English.  It's an adventure.  Today we had a finding activity in San bon (dang, it's hard to write Korean in English) [note: the letter is covered with Korean characters. I remember feeling this way about Chinese, too, but it doesn't make the letters easier to read.] and me and Elder Newton talked to this really awesome guy for about an hour.  he's an American who has lived all over, kind of a vagabond wanderer, so a little like what I wanna do.  But not really after listening to Elder Holland's talks [korean…]  Anyway we talked about why religion is important and materialism and hopefully we can meet with him next week.  Super cool.  And he speaks Mandarin, Mom!  and was in Taiwan about the same time as you. So you might have seen him :).  He loves missionaries.


Also, we got a text today that said: "Hey! I want to know about Mormon!" So we were super stoked and met her that night, we didn't know she was a gril though so we had to meet outside because no men.  She is way cool.  Asked to come to church and loved the Book of Mormon.  We'll probably see her on Sunday! Stoked! It was a tiring but satisfying day.  Ate a whole pizza for lunch.  Still not chubby...

I love you. The gospel is TRUE! Stick with it and it will stick with you. Remember, blessings are received through obedience to laws so obey the law so you can get the blessing. [lots of Korean.]

5/10 Friday
OK, so today is a compilation of goofy things that happened this week. So: as we were riding the elevator up to go home a little family got on and the girl asleep in her mom's arms proceeded to pee her pants.  It got all over the elevator and the family semi-awkwardly got off without saying a word. it wasn't until later that we realized that it wasn't an odd occurrence for us. It was just normal missionary goofiness. Shenanigans happen all the time and so it doesn't ever phase me. Weird. Also a lady told me my fly was down the the middle of English class.  Later as we were walking Elder Clawson taught me how to say that in korean. So we're just walking don the street practicing away when it hit me. It would be so weird to be walking along in Bellingham and seeing a Korean saying in broken English, "My fly is down. MY fly is down. My FLY, no… my fly is DOWN!" No wonder Koreans think we're wacky.

Also we've been practicing for the Law of Chastity lately (Draw the lines) […? It really says this. Guesses? Anyone?] Also we have an investigator that loves to rub Elder Clawson's head. So there's that.

Today I realized that we set baptism as this huge goal but that its really the way to align yourself to keep the rest of God's commandments. Through baptism we commit to Christ and prepare to follow Him for the rest of our lives. Baptism is incidental. If you have real intent, its the enduring to the end that matters. So Endure!

5/11 Saturday

So I think you liked a day in the life at the MTC so here it goes again. For Thursday.

6:30 Get up and pray. House is super quiet.

6:35 Get up and get things ready to go play some b-ball.  Moaningly [?] putting shoes and socks on.

6:40 Snag a ball and the other Elders go hoop it up. We play two on two and run around a lot to get exercise. I'm kinda tall so no one likes me :9 I can kinda score whenever I want to so I try to pass a lot. Elder Woodford is getting way better. Oh and I can dunk on Korean sized hoops. So it's pretty fun.

7:10 Run home across the ninja bridge. There are these little pads that look like [he drew a picture] across the river. We see who can do all of them two at a time.  The Korean joggers look at us skeptically.

7:15 Shower, shave, eat, play guitar. Most mornings we'll eat oatmeal or a smoothie. Sometimes rice and [Korean] dried seaweed.  Elder Clawson plays guitar, we listen to the neighborhood trumpet player.

7:59 Realize that it's 7:59, frantically get ready to start study.

8:00 Start study! One of my favorite parts of the day. I usually read a chapter from the BoM, NT, and D&C. Go more in depth. Then PMG and investigator's questions if there are any.

9:00 move on to comp study, role play, study PMG and do training reme [?] together.

11:00 Lunch! Kim chi soup, Donkas or spaghetti, or one of Elder Clawson's concoctions. Always delicious. We play guitar and swap stories. Lots of fun.

12:00 Language study! Read PMG in Korean, read BoM in Korean, read and practice grammar and to keep the house good and spiffy, Elder Clawson quizzes me on vocab while I clean the kitchen. I mostly work on lessons.

1:00 time to make some calls! We call off of old investigator records and potential sheets. Talk to tons of cool people, Koreans will like sigh in agony and hang up. Throws me for a loop ever time. They will go  "Aaaaaargh!" when I say, "Hey! It's the missionaries!" and then…click.

2:00 Time to go to a district finding activity. We talk to some cool people on the subway and then I go with Elder Newton. We found a random guy from Chicago and after a 5 minute Korean convo, told us in perfect Chicago accent that he's from Chicago.  He wasn't super into it so we gave him our cards and left. Then cool guy from Taiwan.

4:30 Travel home, talking all the while

5:00 Dinner! Elder Cho made his special soup and it was delicious. Chatted and ate. Elder Clawson plays some more guitar.

6:00 went out and talked to people for a couple of hours. We do almost all street contacting. Just talking to people, lots of college kids. Suddenly, a text! "Hey! I want to know Mormon!" "OK, let's meet at 8," replyed us. (Sorry for the bad grammar, Korean has killed my brain…)

Keep talking to people, then go to meet her at E-mart (giant everything store, think Fred Meyer but more so and 9 flavors of it). Help a guy with his groceries while Elder Clawson finds her and gets some small talk going. Because she turns out to be a woman and we need a man to meet inside, we met outside the church. Turns out the bishopric had a meeting that night so she met all of them! And we got some quizzical glances. Lesson went great and we hurried home.

9:00 Rush into the house and plop down to plan. A very operatic version of True to the Faith is sung in Korean. We plan and after Elder Woodford yells, "There's someone coming! Probably to inspect!" We frantically whip the home into shape only to find that one of the member's little daughters brought us pizza and some delicious beef.  They're so nice. We finish and I give Elder Clawson a haircut while we chow down on pizza.  We write in our journals and spread out on our beds. Then pray and sleep. Very busy and totally awesome.

Oh, we had peanut butter and jelly rice today. It's exactly what it sounds like.

5/13 P-day

Didn't do anything special today. Just cleaned and went to Costco. We bought 3 12-packs of muffins so we're pretty set. It's gonna be a gain weight week. I'm at 88 kg and about steady. I'm getting stronger from working out every morning though! You'd be surprised. So funny story of the day is that a week ago a little kid who we're befriending came and gave us a bunch of coffee which we couldn't drink (duh) and that same day the APs came and saw it as our apartment got inspected. So everyone probably thinks we drink coffee now.

Also we found a hunting knife in the couch. And a thousand pens. And some really old consecrated oil. It was really good to talk to you today! I miss all of you but in a good way.

I feel the power of your prayers. you kind of live on the extremes. You work your guts out and the joy of success is so great, when you see someone who has really seen the savior work his marvelous healing power. But to see people turn away from it and reject it is so sad. Uncle Colin talked about how hard it is not to take that rejection personally.  It is hard. But if you are working hard and really desiring people's salvation and eternal happiness what more can you do? That's where you must find joy, in fulfilling your purpose wherever you are.

I love all of you! Read Matthew 11:28-30. He will heal you.

Tweed Pants and a Wedgie

5/15

Update. We don’t have that many investigators. But we met a really cool guy today! He asked to be taught right there and he’s coming to church Sunday! Super stoked.  Just met him randomly.  We’ve been focusing lately, not on getting tons of contacts but really helping people see how the Gospel can bless them.  It’s made me think of myself and how I’ve been blessed lots. Super good.  Also we had exchanges yesterday.  I went with Elder Newton from holiday, UTAH. Super cool Elder.  On the way to get him we introduced the Book of Mormon to a pastor and he really dug it.  On the way back we met a guy who said he was a prophet and could fly.  Also he kept saying, “I am the way” in English about Jesus, but he thought that anyone’s way is good.  Tonight we had a really good combo English class/pizza party.  Super legit. Grace taught me how to write my name in traditional Korean (Chinese) characters, so I did learn.  She’s the lady who I ate a million different things with.  She’s super nice.  We had a very hilarious English class all about how we should or shouldn’t have smart phones.

Lately in English class we’ve been talking about  things and got good debates going. Sometimes it gets a little heated and debates in Korea on the good use of hybrid cars comes up. Mostly it’s okay though. It’s a good time. OK, here’s a little Korean saying and my name in Chinese.

Korean saying: five minutes hurry, 50 years dead. [rough translation]

[can’t write the characters in this program. Romanized it says “Jeung Soo Chan”]

5/16 Thursday

So we’ve been talking a lot about how other missionaries always write home about their phenomenal spiritual experiences and I write about funny old Korean guys.  The truth of it is it’s a different kind of spiritual than I expected, like realizing how much you need personal study, you NEED prayer to sustain you.  You have to learn to always talk to people and to view them the way Father in heaven views them. And even if they let you down to still hope.  I feel like right now is when I make the choice to be a diligent disciple of Christ or not. And it’s in really small things. Like really talking to everyone even when all I want to do is take a 5 minute rest on the bust.  It’s getting up at 6:30 and going to bed at 10:30, even following rules when I don’t want to.  The differences between truly great missionaries seem small but it takes a herculean effort to get the last 5% out.

But the days I do, I feel more fulfilled than I ever have. It’s unbelievable. Miracles happen too! Like we had a guy ask us if we could tell him about our church and then ask to come to church on Sunday. He’s amazing! But the funnies are still there. Like 70 year old me biking around blasting techno music. J

5/17 Quickie Update

We have a stake sports activity today. So we’ve been inviting people all week. And now it is time to play soccer! And maybe basketball! I’m way excited.

K. Home now.  It was totally wicked! Elder Clawson and I won a dance contest against some other missionaries.  We got some strawberry wafers and the approval of our entire stake J  I did some pretty atrocious cartwheels. Also we saw our bishop and a lady from our ward, [unintelligible] gentleman. PSY! Very enthusiastically. Super funny. Elder Clawson, I and the Young Men’s president from our ward won the relay race. Also our ward won! There wasn’t soccer though. L Elder Newton was bummed. OK rewind a little.

So Koreans have a holiday that basically celebrates Buddha’s birthday. And also on that day they have a sports conference thing.  There’s a bunch of funny games and everyone eats together and it’s way fun and cute. So we had tons of fun. Also tonight we had a cool revelation moment. We had an investigator cancel today so we had some extra time. We prayed to know where to go. Then I got pulled over one way and so we went! We ran into a group of kids going to a Karaoke bar and got their numbers. We might play bball with them tomorrow. Super cool! Man, I love you so MUCH! Thank you for being the best. Cheesy, I know. But.

5/18 Saturday.

I’m in a bit of a goofy mood. [much Korean follows].  K, well, now that I have written terrible secrets right under your nose, I will relate the events of the day. So we studied and I learned about some of the early hardships of the church and how important optimism is. Then we called people and then had a meeting with Brother Yong, a 21 year old guy who’s about to go into the army. He’s way cool, rides a motorcycle everywhere, and dates Danish women. Quite debonair.  We just have to wake him up in time for church! He’s always sleeping when we call him. Super cool though. He has a hello kitty right and maybe some gospel interest. Also an investigator, Brother Kim, invited us to dinner outside the mission and reserved and paid for it and everything. It was a little awkward when we couldn’t go. Had a good conversation though. Okay. No time.

5/19

Sooo… had a killer day today. Church was really good. We had a little bit of a miracle. We met a guy named Luke at Anyang station and he asked if he could help us. W taught him about the restoration right there and he said he would come to church. That was on Wednesday. We’ve kept in contact with him over thaw eek and he totally came to church today! He wore very stylish tweek pants, tie and sweater vest. He really liked church and during the sacrament he said he felt cleaner. He told us he wants to quit smoking and drinking so we taught him the full restoration and word of wisdom. He really liked it and we’re helping him on his way toward being happier! He has so much real intent and is a true seeker of truth. He’s super bomb. We’ll keep working with him. Then we had a pretty crazy lunch of rice-ramen-jiaijang (curry-ish) and bacon stuff. Very good but very funky. Elder Cho got sick. But he recovered. Then we went out and got rejected a bunch/found maybe a new investigator. Then! We met a member of the bishopric for dinner. It was super delicious, duck, [Korean], and all sorts of good eats. Then we practiced teaching an investigator with them. Their kids are super cute and make fun of us a lot. But we love them. It was a good week, tired but happy. It is nice to see some hard work paying off.

5/20

Had kind of a goofy day. We emailed in the morning but it wasn’t pday. We went and did flyers for the English class. It was way funny actually. There were some other ladies flyering there and they left to get more and we swooped in! It’s way fun. You just compliment people and speak English and do other funny stuff. Super fun.  My favorite is when a bunch of school kids walk by and say Hello really timidly and giggle and run away. Also when we got back to the house today my companion totally attacked me when we got home for dinner. He went for the wedgie but I countered with the long arms and totally wedgied him first. I unfortunately sort of ripped his pants. He spent dinner sewing up his pants. He thought it was funny though.

5/21 Tuesday

So just a quick update today. Hopefully the package will be on its way soon. And as missionaries we have to commit people to do things, so you’ve got two choices.  Either read the Book of Mormon all the way though or refer someone to the missionaries. So yeah. Or do both. But only after that can you wear your ties.

Stay happy. Much love!

You Be Quiet, Mum-grapes

Monday, P-day 4/22

Had a good day.  Picked up my foreigner card and bought a bag! Super dope.  We had an investigator skip a lesson. :(  Talked to lots of people. We got told we were handsome a bunch.  Now we're switching all of the Zone Leader's stuff to the other one's desk.  They're in Ansan tonight.  Super good! Love you!

4/23 Wednesday...Awkward.  Tuesday.

So we had a pretty adventurous day today.  In personal study today I tried to break down Mark 4.  The parable of the sower.  I came to the conclusion that what it all means is that for a plant to grow it must at first be protected by others and nourished with all the [?] a plant needs, sun, nutrients, water, etc.  Then it must be placed in the right place to let it grow strong until it bears fruit.  Also I think it's interesting that plants don't bear fruit until the final stage of growth.  Coincidence...?  I'll let you puzzle that out. :)

We visited a less-active today and taught English during which I learned that the [korean characters] part of [Mumford in Korean] means GRAPES!  So I got called Mum-grapes for the rest of that ordeal.  And I quote, "You be quiet, mum-grapes!" My companion is still having spasmodic convulsions of unrestrained mirth.  

The funny story for today: We are carefully weaving our way to the subway to go to visit a less active member. The rain sprinkles lightly.  The scene is much like a dreary October day in Bellingham, except Korea has been enlightened by the umbrella.  Not Underarmour yet, though. Sorry Dad.  Anyway, as we briskly walk on, we are accosted by a 4 year old Korean man who the Zone Leaders had talked to the day before.  He points at my companion and yells, "Tom Cruise!"

My companion, unfazed, says, "Yeah! We're missionaries!"  He then offers to buy us pizza and though we protest he drags us into a nearby pizza school   We are excited to have a gospel discussion via free pizza, but it soon becomes clear that the man is less than sober.  Korea and English flow uninhibited from his lips as he professes his deep love for Mormons, us, Elder Witt, black women, Israel, pizza, and Catholics.  Then he expresses deep doubt of Mormons, black women, and Catholics.  Also Israel, I think.

He then orders us a coke and gives us the bottle.  We slowly get up and trick him into leaving, thanking him and saying goodbye.  As we walk away, I casually mention to my companion that there are likely few times in this life when a drunk man will spontaneously buy us pizza. He nods in agreement and we set off, plodding through the grey scene dotted with bright umbrellas, crusading on in the best two years of our lives.

That's all I got. Love you!

[written sideways in the margins: Oh sorry, but our water didn't work today. We shaved at the church. :)]

4/24 Wednesday

Elder Witt just finished his PB&J rice. He says it's pretty good.  We had a good district meeting today and talked to everyone!  I read in 2 Nephi 30 super amazing. So faith promoting.  We just talked to a  few people and went to English class. We taught K--- afterward. He is having his test right now so we shared Matt 11:28-30. Super good comfort.  Every day is an adventure! My testimony grows daily.  I am coming to a sure knowledge that this is the true church. And I'm learning lots.

Love you!

PS Elder Witt jumped on his knees.

4/25 Thursday

So I got kissed by a drunk guy today.  On the  hand but still, pretty sloppy.  It took a while to escape from that one.  Today we contacted for 6 hours.  Kind of a rough day, but as we work it gets happier.  Our search for Happiness is a rad book.  We visited L---- and we talked about faith and action.  We are going to try to get him to church.  Love you!

4/26 Friday

Had an adventure today.  So after weekly planning I tried to pass off, which is where you teach the Zone Leaders and they see if you can teach in Korean, and if you're getting ready to be senior companion.  I didn't totally make it but I'm getting close.

Also there was this huge explosion and Elder Woodford thought North Korea was attaching.  Turns out it was a power transformer.  But we're ok.  Also we taught a good lesson to a guy who made me hold his hand and take a picture.  And we met a member in English. We were super awkward.  Already getting used to Korea.  I love you lots!

4/27 Saturday

Had a fun day today.  We didn't have any appointments so we tracted for 7 hours.  We probably walked about 10 - 15 miles. And talked to tons of people!  We were talking to a couple of students and this one guy walked past.  He said "**KOREAN**" which means "satan's house" and pointed to a buddhist school.  He waled past and then we finished talking to the students and I felt like we should really talk to him.  It had been 5 mintues so we had to chase him down for a quarter mile or so. We finally caught up to him and then talked for 70 minutes about how there are lots of religions and how sometimes people are hypocritical.  We [???] and answered his questions, but then he said he couldn't meet with us and left.  Wouldn't even give us his phone number :(.  Super cool though.  Then we walked around this neighborhood and met a really giggly drunk man.  Super fun!

I love being a missionary.  I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ can help people more than anything else.  It's true! Test it out!

4/28 Sunday

We had a good/crazy day today.  Our investigator came to church, Brother K---.  Super cool!  He came for sacrament meeting, met a bunch of members, ate, then we taught him the restoration.  he has real potential.  He's about 50 years old and we started teaching him a couple of weeks ago.  We talked about the plan of salvation for an hour and a half.  he really wonders where we came from and has sincere desires to learn.  he buys us ice cream too.  Miracle of the day!  

So we came back from visiting a member tonight and only had 90 minutes.  We couldn't decide what to do next so we prayed.  Then I felt like we needed to be at Anyang subway station.  We went there and couldn't find anyone to talk to.  Then Elder Clawson made me talk to a man on a bench.  He was sitting there with his headphones in looking disconnected.  We talked to him and he was super stoked to meet!  We are meeting him next sunday.  We received totally straight revelation.  it was a killer night.  The gospel is true! I love you all!

4/29 Missionary Morning Update!

Tomorrow is temple day/P-day so today i just get to email and tomorrow it will be super awesome.  Also next thursday I'm going to see the rest of my MTC buddies at a midpoint training fireside thing.  I'm pretty stoked.  My comp so far has gotten Tom Cruise, Elvis, Superman, and of course Edward.  Last night while we were talking to a super cool guy, we were trying to set an appointment.  he asked if he could bring his girlfriend, and we said, yeah! Totally! But then he said he was afraid that his girlfriend would go after Elder Clawson instead of him.  So we told him that we can't date during missions anyway. And then in the middle of it, this homeless guy showed up and started stuttering about US gun policy in Korean for a while.  The guy we were talking to translated for us and then my comp told the guy that Obama had it under control so he would leave.  Then we set up an appointment with the cool guy with the girlfriend and departed.  Adventures indeed.  Oh! And someone gave us root beer last night. I love you!

4/29 Monday

Today we talked to a guy for an hour about his religion and the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and the awesomeness therein.  He seemed interested. But at the end he wouldn't meet again and wouldn't even take a Book of Mormon.  I wanted him so bad to meet again.  We could have helped him so much.  It took a lot out of me.  Then later we tried to talk to some less active member s and met this cool guy who bought us burger and coke and told us to go away.  Super nice! Being a white missionary in Korea is kinda hard because lots of people just like you for no reason.  It's tough realizing who wants you and who wants the gospel.  We were talking about if when people sin they do it knowing or on accident.  What do you think? Bed time. Love you.

4/30 Tuesday

My first month as a missionary is over.  We had an awesome day going to the temple, seeing people we know, meeting new people, and of course the temple itself.  The South Korea temple is gorgeous.  We went and bought ties today and hopefully this letter goes out in a box with ties.  The pink one is for Alex, the Teddy bear one is for Tim and the blue one is for dad. To accentuate his eyes.  I'll wear all of them for a day so they can be authentic Korean missionary ties. We then found out that my size doesn't exist in korean footwear.  Then some college kids bought us  Hot Cocoa and practiced English.  We taught some English and contacted home.  It was a nutty day.  I'm actually pretty good at cutting hair. I cut all three of the people in my house's hair.  And they like it.  If only I could cut my own... If I work I'm happy, if I don't I am tired and depressed.  So my only option is to work and be happy.  I'm glad I figured that one out.  I love you!

5/1-5/2 Wednesday Thursday

We had district meeting yesterday. Super fun.  Then we taught a Chinese lady! She's way awesome.  She has no religion but is super open. She has awesome potential.  Taught in really simple english.  She is way smart.  Speaks English and Chinese and Korean.  But English second best.  We shall see... We went to training thing.  I saw all my old buddies!  Super fun. No time.  I love you.

5/3  Friday

We had a bit of a crazy day today.  We spoke only in Korean for an hour or so and found some cook peeps to talk to!  Elder Witt, the Zone leader who I live with got called as AP!  He's stoked and nervous.  He will be awesome.  he's so nice and diligent and faithful and most of all Christ-like.  I want to be more like him when I get to be an older missionary.  He's the best. We traded ties so we can remember each other.  The first transfer approaches! My fate shall be decided!  I love you!

Saturday Morning Update!

We climbed a mountain for exercise this morning.  Super cool   Took some final pics w/ Elder Witt.  We're gonna miss him.  I finally got MAIL! I was pretty stoked.

Saturday

Had a crazy day.  Because Elder Witt got called as AP we had to wait with him and now we're in a threesome with Elder Clawson/Elder Woodland.  We did well today.  Taught a lesson.  Super busy.  We were late to meet a recent convert and had another appointment right after so we did splits with the recent convert and me and Elder Woodford ran a half mile to our appt.  It went well, but we were super sweaty.  I'll write more tomorrow.

Sunday 5/5

It's crazy, my first transfer comes to a close.  As I haven't had too many funny things of late (except saying thank you for the trees instead of thank you very much), I will related what happened to the Zone leaders the other day.  hem, hem... (Told from the perspective of Elder Woodford)

It was a nice sunny day in Anyang.  We were meeting with a nice old Grandma and eating ice cream.  As we finished, we asked if we could meet again.  She declined.  We asked for her phone number and she again declined.  Devastated!  She then started to leave and we bid goodbye, frantically searching for a way to find her again! She then got on a bus, and a brilliant idea came.  Follow her home! So we suavely waked toward the bus just as the doors closed and left. We then decided that the only course of action was to chase the bus down.  We ran and the bus looked as if it was going straight, but then a prompting came, go left. So I did! I turned left, and sure enough we barely caught the bus.  As I triumphantly began to step on, I cast my eyes round about for my companion and he was nowhere to be found.  He then pops his head out of the bus and says, "Yo! You comin?"  I hop on and we make our way to the back waiting for the Grandma to press the stop button.  She does, and we smoothly get up and get off, high  each other.  As the bus pulls away, we look for the old Grandma and she smiles at us from the inside of the bus, a twinkle of merriment in her eye.  Curses! Foiled again. On to the next yearning soul.

That's all I got.  Love you!

Elder Mumford

Tell Bro Jones I love him

OH! I totally scored a beautiful lefty over-the-keeper corner goal at soccer today!

5/6 Monday

Had a nutty week.  On Saturday we taught 9 lessons. Super busy, had to go on splits with the ward missionaries.  Barely snagged Elder Clawson before 9 and ran home.  Super crazy.  

I know that missionary work is the most fulfilling of all work.  I know Jesus Christ is my Savior.  i know that this is His true church.  Through the gospel we can gain more joy and lasting peace and happiness than anything else.  I testify of it every day.  I love you!  Stay strong. :)

A Dope Korean Two-Block

4/9/2013

Good day today.  We talked to lots of people and worked hard.

Here is the haircut incident.

It's a Saturday night in Anyang.  The missionaries ain't got much going on. They worked hard and are relaxing a little before bed.  One of them casually remarks that he could use a haircut.  having nothing better to do, clippers are procured and a chair set up.

"Gimme one of them dope Korean two-blocks," says Elder Clawson.

Elder Mumford volunteers.

He, having never cut hair before, is mildly stoked and a little apprehensive.  he gingerly begins the two-block, a korean cut where the inch around the edge is short and the rest is long, by diving in the back.  It looks good!  He proceeds to give a beautiful hair cut, rivaling those sported by Korean men everywhere.

Elder Mumford, stoked by his own performance, eagerly hops into the chair, somehow thinking that his skill will migrate to his companion.  His face slowly falls as all three elders watching fall to the ground, tears of uproarious laughter streaming freely.

Elder Mumford arises, showers, and goes to bed, pretty self-conscious.  There is no time to fix it.  His faith in his companion's haircutting skills is gone.  He spends a very self-conscious day at church.

K.  All done.  Bed time.  I'm okay!

4/10 Wednesday

It's morning time and it's just before we start study.  I've been doing ski workouts recently and my legs are killing.  I could feel it really bad yesterday.

4/11 Thursday

We had a super adventurous day yesterday.  We accidentally got on a Kukpeng (fast train_) to the De-jeon mission.  So we ended up outside our mission boundaries, called President, and headed back the other way.  We made it to district meeting 10 minutes early.  We had a good training called "really Big Krill and You Can Too."  by my trainer/district leader.  Then we went home and met a crazy guy who wanted to talk to people with us.  he hugged Elder Clawson.  When he went to grab his backpack we felt super sketched out and ran away.  Elder Clawson is still a little twitchy.  We taught English Class and Mr. Son told us about how he went to America once and ordered dog but instead it turned out to be a hot dog.  Much laughter ensued.  Also i got a bunch of good recipes to try.  We talked to lots of cool people and went home.  This missionary work stuff is fun :)  The church is true and I'm happy to be a missionary.

4/11/2013

So today was an adventure.  We studied and then went out to contact.  we met some cool peeps and then went to San Bon to contact with the sisters there. On the way we met a super cool Buddhist who we're meeting soon.  We ate so so-long-tong and then went to teach Brother Jung who punked on us.  We went back home and grabbed stuff.  Then we taught Brother Park.  He's the best.  Super sincere and really awesome.  he always says heend-itch instead of headache.  Super funny.  He really likes the BoM. Stoked to teach him more!  Also the other day my companion saw a guy walking his dog down the street and said, "O mari mashisoiyo" instead of  "mari moshisoyo", ie., instead of saying "Your dog is very stylish" he said "your dog is very delicious."  And Koreans eat dog, so...

Oh, and I've developed an acute fear of bugs.  Love you!

PS  Elder Woodford accidentally texted his investigator and asked for 2 fans, some water filters, and a 12 week addiction recovery program.  She texted back that she wanted to do the program!  So awesome.

4/12

So today was weekly planning.  We planned for the week and then went out and talked to people.  We got told we were handsome by a bunch of students.  My companion looks like Edward from Twilight.  So that helps us start a lot of good conversations.  We talked to a guy about the [impossible to decipher] and he gave us Doritos.  Hope we can meet him later.

4/13  Saturday

General Conference!  Had a really fun day today. We studied and then went to Sanbon for conference. We watched it with the other missionaries in our zone, ate snacks, kim-bab, and watched all 3 sessions. They were awesome.  I felt like I need to get to know the  word well.  I'll work on it.  We had a blast.  When we travelled home we talked to a dude who was a preacher from another church.  It was kinda awkward.  he yelled at us for a while and we couldn't understand so when someone's bike fell over we helped and he went away.  We always buy waffles from this one guy on the way home.  He says North Korea is sketch.  Also a guy told us he had no religion, but I thought he said he was buddhist, so I told him he had a cool belief.  He laughed and it was ok.  We might meet him later. He offered to buy us food.

Sunday 4/14

More conference!  Super good.  We went and picked up a really cool British guy who watched a session with us. Confused about faith, but cool  Also I bought a huge pack of seaweed.  My comp made fun of me.  Elder Witt is now benching more reps with one hand than I can with two.  He's an awesome ZL.  i love him. Elder Woodford too.  They're both dope.  We walked around and talked to people tonight.  Met a cool kid that we'll talk to later.

I really liked Elder Holland's talk on faith.  I feel like that happened to me.  I never knew for sure but I always wanted to believe and acted on it.  Not even close to perfectly, but it grew until i realized that I knew it was true.  I can never deny that knowledge now.  I challenge anyone who reads this if they struggle to put it to the test.  Then the day will come when you know for yourself.  it is truly amazing. Give Alma 32 a read.  So good.  This work is true and I know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to permanent peace and happiness.  Take joy in that!  I love you.

4/16 Tuesday

So today someone asked me when Jesus would come again and I told him I was 21 years old.  Good thing my comp was on top of things.  He saved me.  Also we met a Korean who spoke spanish and lived in South America for 11 years.  Also, we went to meet a guy who never showed and we found an investigator for the sisters!

4/17

Today was awesome. We had district meeting and I got my suit pants skinnied up.  I like 'em.  I made lots of fried rice and cleaned the kitchen. Oh yeah!  There's this homeless man that really likes us and Elder Clawson is super afraid of him because he always stops us and hugs Elder Clawson a bunch.  He gave us donuts and bought Elder Clawson some green tea.  We ran for our train with him chasing us.  It was pretty awkward.  We barely escaped.

4/18

So we went on splits with Elder Witt and Elder Woodford today.  i was with Elder Witt and we had a great day.  We ran everywhere and taught a good lesson.  We saw a shirt yesterday that said "pointless sh*t."  Elder Clawson and I laughed so hard after we passed it.  Also, I decided that Koreans are super nice but somehow awkward.  I made a friend today and we took a picture together.  He's kinda punk but way funny. He has stitches from punching someone.  I like him.  Elder Clawson and Woodford met a random guy who totally loves Elder Clawson.  He bought them a bunch of food.  We had cornmeal pancakes for dinner.  I'm really finding out how awesomely applicable the scriptures are.  Everyone needs them! I love you! Don't forget to study them!

4/19 Friday

Had a crazy awesome day today.  it started as not super promising.  We only had one appointment with a guy we met on the bus.  The rest of the day was empty.  We did weekly planning and then afterward I called Brother Kim, a guy who had English interest.  he said we could meet that night.  We went to meet the guy from the bus and we met him.  He bought us food and brought a friend!  He was so cool.  He really liked the Book of Mormon and asked to come to church and was super happy when we gave him a BoM.  His friend was interested too.  he hugged us and shook our hands and it was awesome.  I had the kimchi fried rice too and it totally burned my mouth.  The inside of my mouth was all cut up from sucking mints.  It was super good though.  Then we met Bro Kim.  he was awesome!  Bought us ice cream and then we talked about the Plan of Salvation for an hour and a half.  he's coming to church too.  Two new investigators in a day.  They're both so awesome.  I'm stoked to teach them more!  I love you all!

Also, funny story, we saw a shirt that said, "Rock Sctssors flesh" spelled just like that.  K! Bed time.  Love you!

4/20 Saturday

Fun day today.  Ironically I'm the cleanest one in the house.  I clean lots.  If any of you are looking for a good, possibly life chaing talk, listen to W. Cleon Skousen "The Meaning of the Atonement." I have it on my computer. Listen to it!

Today we went to meet a less active member of our ward on the outskirts of our area.  She had moved, but we found a lady who spoke English and chinese.  She said we could meet with her and we're excited.  Also talked to lots of cool people.  We met a man tonight who really likes the Book of Mormon and says when he knows it's true he will be baptized!  Super cool.  Then we got waffles and went home.

4/21

Fun day today. Super gorgeous out, good temperature.  Reminded me of beautiful Sunday walks in Bellingham.  Awesome. We walked around and talked to lots of people.  We had an awesome sacrament meeting and Brother Park came! The Lord is blessing us majorly.  I love you lots!

Pictures Only

 View from the apartment

 Zach in his new tailored suit

 Red horse seeing some action...? For Uncle Nigel.

Zach's study desk.