Hi!

Well just a crazy busy week this week but it has been alot of fun! The works flying both in my area and my district and I don't think I could be more happy or busy! The Island life is the good life! Also I had some octopus for the first time and it was way nice!

Anyways Monday and Tuesday were way busy with district meeting and all that. Its definitely been a big learning curve how to conduct meetings and stuff but I've learned alot. Now that I'm getting the hang of things we are expecting big things out of this district for August and I'm pumped! The rest of the week was essentially preparing our 4 baptisms for their baptisms this week so I'll tell you a little about them!

Penna is an awesome guy. He is actually a leader in the village he lives in.  So in Fiji there are chiefs for each village and then their are their assistants and he is one of the chiefs assistants so it's been pretty awesome to teach someone that high up. He is about 75 years old and is just such a funny old guy. He also used to be a pastor so he is way on with everything about the bible. We have been able to answer all his questions and he really has felt the spirit testify to him that this work is true! So we are excited for his baptism! We are also baptizing his 40 year old daughter Va who is great too!

Then in the other village there is one member but his wife and kid aren't members yet so we were able to get to the village and bring the sacrament to reactivate the member and also teach the lessons to his wife and kid. It's all just been such an adventure trying to go all these different villages and teach all these different people, but we love it! As for my Fijian, miracles really do happen! hahah But really I've been so blessed on my mission gift of tongues wise. Since I have been able to learn two different languages I have been able to see the gift of tongues work two different times in not even a year and its amazing! This week we took the sacrament to one of our villages. There was ten people there (Which is actually alot for this village. It was just because everyone wanted to see the white guy lol) but both me and my companion have to give a talk to make it count as a sacrament meeting. So to my surprise I started speaking and just kept speaking and gave a 5 or so minute talk in Fijian, the language I started speaking again just two weeks ago. Man I have been so blessed by my h

Heavenly Father and it's because he loves his children and wants them all to hear this amazing gospel in their own language! This work is true and I love it so much! Thanks for all your support have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Mumford

Picture of the octopus

Some kids playing on a beach we found

A cool river that we may do the baptisms in this week!

Me and my companion Elder De Moors #swag

Th

The girl in the pink is named Livia.  She lives in one of the villages we proselyte in.  She isn't a member or anything but she just follows me around to every house we visit in the village, and then as we are teaching she likes to sit as close to me as possible and always tries to hold my hand.  Wow! She is so cute!

 

Also MOST FIRE DISTRICT OF ALL TIME

Kind of almost out of time so will send kind of a short email today but it was such a great week out here in our area. I've been blessed out in this area to have alot of good solid investigators and returning members which has been such a blessing. We are scheduled to have 4 or 5 baptisms in this next coming week which will just be awesome. I'm so excited too be able to help these people make covenants with Jesus Christ. The power of the Atonement is real and does amazing things in people's lives. I just love this work so much. As for the new language, it can be discouraging at times. I kind of thought I've had enough looking stupid in speaking Gilbertese but nope, I have plenty more now in Fijian. But its coming back pretty fast, just refreshing what I learned in my training. I can pretty much understand everything people say which is nice, but I'm mainly working on being able to speak because when I speak I always end up thinking in Gilbertese not Fijian which is annoying. hahah but whatever. Saturday we had a Mission leadership training meeting which was awesome. I've been given a incredible opportunity to be a leader and I plan on learning so much from it! I just love the opportunity to be able to serve those in my district. But while there I got to see some members from Rabi and I haven't lost my Gilbertese yet which was a relief;) hahah I just love this work and this mission. Thanks for all your love and support.  Have a great weak everyone!

Love Elder Mumford

Selfie of me with some peach cobbler a missionary in my district made!

Some kids

Apicture of our first district meeting potluck!

Bula Vinaka FAM!

Well honestly I feel pretty cool being able to actually email you guys all two weeks in a row since this hasn't happened in forever.. maybe I'll even send good mass emails again with like what I do everyday but we will see what happens. As for this week man it was such a crazy week. I'm just still a little confused and trying to catch up which is a feeling I never like but I'm going to have to get used to it here in this area!

This week was transfers, so I had to say goodbye to my companion as well as my old district.(Pictures attached.) I'm going to miss my companion and my whole district down in Savusavu because I've been with them for such a long time, but at the same time it was pretty exciting to have a new adventure. So anyways we got our calls from president on Tuesday and he told me that I was going to Seaqaqa to be a district leader over the Lobasa district. Man I was pretty stoked because I didn't think there was any chance of me being able to stay up here in the northern island but man I'm pumped! My companions name is Elder De Moors. He's a black guy from Atlanta and I'll be honest he's probably the funniest guy I've ever met. We are going to have a blast together!! As for the work wise I'll be honest. I'm pretty overwhelmed. I've lived on an island that only has one road for 9 months and now I'm being transferred to the biggest area in the mission. Its nice that we have a car but man its a big place  And on top of that I have to switch my language again back to Fijian, which I don't know at all and I have to lead this district.... but it's alright because I know that the Lord will help me. This week has just been a blur, but I'm excited to be able to serve a lot of people here. It sounds like we will have a lot of future success so be ready for the baptismal pictures! I love this area already and I love you all!!

Me and my new companion

 

Me and my companion and the zone leaders!

And me and the ocean!

Leaving Rabi

Well I had to say goodbye to my beautiful island of Rabi today and I feel so sad. Since I've been on my island for 9 months now, away from all the others, and just my companion these people have literally become my family. I literally feel like I'm leaving my family and its pretty sad. But I had one of the best weeks of my life this last week so I'll try to show it with some pictures!

First off I hit my year mark, two weeks ago, so I celebrated by burning a shirt outside our house. Time seriously flies so unbelievably fast I don't know how I've been in Fiji so long. This year has just been amazing and I've learned so much, and I just cant wait to go even harder and learn even more this next year! Needless to say I've been so blessed to be able to spend almost 9 of these months here on the amazing island of Rabi!

Some views of Rabi

MY SON Elder Nabaruru!!! Man probably at this point one of my bestfriends in the mission. It doesn't matter that my first language is English and his is Kiribati. That never stopped us. We just worked hard and absolutely loved our time together. He's been such an amazing son on the mission and has been so ready to train. He's just the most amazing Elder with the strongest testimony. Man I love him so much!! I'm going to miss our heated ping pong games (I usually win hahah) and just the jokes, literally just non stop jokes all the time with him. Its because of him that I've been able to truly learn the Kiribati language and fully embrace the culture. I love it all so much!!

You can catch me driving your local bus to heaven! For tickets please contact the missionaries... Lol (Please love me) hahaha oh and this is me studying the scriptures in the jungle. #swag Being out on Rabi has really built my relationship so strongly with God. I have had the lowest of lows and the highest of highs out here but one thing has always been there for me....my scriptures!

So this last Saturday our branch had this huge branch farewell party for me and Umutolu (who behind Elder Nabaruru, is my second best friend on the island) who is going on his mission! Also pardon the p-day clothes we were playing volleyball and other games and stuff! hahah But right before the big lunch they crowned us with these big special flower crowns and me with this huge necklace as well which was so cool, and then alot of members shared how they don't think of me as a visitor anymore but as one of them! Man that was so special to hear them say that. Since I've been on Rabi that has been my favorite compliment, that I talk like a Rabian or eat like a Rabian but they told me I AM A RABIAN!  Man it was amazing! Me, Elder Nabaruru and Umutolu also had the chance to talk yesterday as like a farewell Sunday and man it was a powerful sacrament meeting. Needless to say it was way emotional. I was brought to tears in my final testimony to these people. I'm just so overwhelmed with love for them and my companion!

Ok So here are pictured some of our investigators.  First Utiai (with horse) he is the man.  He is a referral (which are pretty rare in Rabi) but we just started teaching him and I have high hopes he will baptized!  There are some other investigators. I got to baptize the one on the left! And a picture with two cute Rabian girls! :)

This one goes out to my favorite old ladies. Man they are all probably the most hilarious people on this earth and I love them so much!! The first one (with the family) is our investigator that we found in the area book. We started visiting her house and she really was not willing to listen to what we had to say. But jokes on her she can't walk very well, so she couldn't leave the house so we knew we could always see her;) haha but after alot of lessons I just kept joking with her and she opened up so fully to us and has become so converted to the gospel. It's amazing the power of Christ's Atonement that allows people to go from not wanting to listen to fully converted. I love it!! But now she is ready to be baptized but the problem is because she is a stubborn old lady she won't ride a wheelchair to church, she says she is going to walk. That used to be a big problem because when we first came she couldn't walk at all. BUT now after much prayer and fasting and practice she can walk around her house without grabbing onto anything, and should be at church this week or so!!! Miracles happen and this church is true! The other two are people we bring the sacrament too!

The first picture is of me and our whole branch after church yesterday! I love them all so much. Then there's me and Umutolu again, my bestfriend who saw us off at the dock this morning! And the final is me and our two boat drivers. Man I've had so many boat rides on this little fishing boat out to my island. Some on rough seas and some pretty nice days as well, and I can't wait to ride it again some day!! I think that's it for my pictures. I love you all and you can now plan on getting weekly emails! (I hope) hahah