Confirmation of Missionary Release Date - Saturday, 29 July 2017

Dear Elders and Sisters,

The end of your mission is just over the horizon. This notice serves as official confirmation that your release date from the Fiji Suva Mission will be Saturday, 29 July 2017. Your outtake group will consist of the following missionaries:

·        Elder Amisone

·        Elder Babcock

·        Elder Bond

·        Elder Chugg

·        Elder Cobabe

·        Elder Fitisemanu

·        Elder Howard, T

·        Elder Jones

·        Elder Levasa

·        Elder Miller, J

·        Elder Mokie

·        Elder Mumford

·        Elder Ruwhiu, E

·        Elder Sieverts

·        Elder Stock

·        Sister Sateki

During these last few months of your mission you will set the pattern for the rest of your life. As in a long distance race it is the last lap that determines the winners. You are a winner and will want to sprint to the finish line.

As a missionary you develop skills in communicating with others, getting along with a companion, public speaking, discipline by following a set daily routine, budgeting, planning, study habits and how to take responsibility for yourself. These are all benefits from missionary service that will bless your life when you return home. Now is the time to make sure these attributes and skills are well ingrained in you as a person.

You are at the prime of your mission. You know more, have more experience, and are most effective as a missionary right now. As you finish up strong you will find this to be the most productive time of your mission; with your consecrated service to the Lord at its full potential!!

You will be invited to the mission home the day prior to your release date for an interview, a wonderful dinner and testimony meeting. These are always special occasions because the spirit is so strong and we witness what you have become as a missionary. Sister Layton and I look forward to sharing this special occasion with you. We welcome parents, if they are here in Fiji, to join with us for dinner and the testimony meeting. Please let me know as soon as possible if they plan to attend.

Remember what Sister Layton has taught us “No regrets”. May the Lord bless you through these last few months.

With warm regards,

President Layton

SAVUSAVU WOOOOO

WOW what a week this has been. Just when I thought my mission couldn't get any crazier BOOM this week happens. I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT LIFE. SO we got the transfer call on Tuesday and President told me that I was called to be a zone leader on the north island! Up here in Vanua Levu. I'll be serving in Savusavu, which I actually know super well because this is the town that we would always come off to to email once a month in Rabi, so I'm decently familiar with the place. But then he informed me that my companion would be Elder Grimaud, who came with me here to Fiji! I was so excited. I love that guy so much! BUT that meant that we were going to whitewash the area. Both of the old missionaries are out and we are both coming in new into the area. This is a pretty common thing but the thing is we are doing it in a Zone leader area, which has never been done before, at least with this mission president. So we are like the guinea pigs I guess? WAY COOL. It's been a lot of work this week trying to learn the area but it's coming along way well. Savusavu is soooooo beautiful.. just a little town right on the ocean. It's a pretty big tourist place, and man I'm just so in love with it up here. I seriously want you to see it someday:) Most likely going to be my last area so I'm going out with a bang! I LOVE LIFE SO MUCH AND THIS CHURCH IS SO TRUE Love you guys!

Elder Mumford

random pics of new area

Said goodbye to Diva and some of the other less actives we have helped back to church. When I was saying goodbye to Brother Vulaono he was just like, "Hey that's a nice jacket" and then he asked for it.  And in the culture that's a kerekere so you just give it to them! So ya I'm rain jacketless now but honestly who cares. I love these people so much!

Hi Sister Mumford,

To start with, we love your son. He has been around the office for several weeks and are very close to him. Second he said I could tell you he is transferred to be a ZL with Elder Grimaud in Labasa. The garden islands area. He is doing great and we talk BYU sports all the time. Our son played football there. They will make a good team up there.

You should be very proud, a great missionary!
Your in the work,
 Elda Edmunds

WOW what a week. I can't even explain my happiness this week. This is what missionary work is really all about...helping people change their lives! So we started this week having a goal to get Diva baptized. She had showed the desire so we worked hard visiting her everyday preparing her for her baptism. There were so many things that we had to help her through. Wow she has had a tough life..so many bad things have happened to such a good girl but throughout the week we helped her through all of them, and throughout each and every lesson she was just excited to be baptized and put all of it behind her. Saturday came and she asked me to baptize her. The font was a bit dirty because it's an outdoor font, the water was cold, and she had to be baptized twice because her foot came up the first time. To an outsider it may have looked like an imperfect moment, but actually it was quite the opposite. She was made perfect in that moment. Later that night we visited her after the baptism and we asked how she felt. All she said was "free." It was just a powerful moment. This gospel is amazing. I have still yet to see someone live by its precepts and not change their lives completely. That's exactly what happened with Diva. Although her journey isn't over, she still has a lot to do in this life, it was a great first step on her path to eternal life!

This last transfer has been great. I've been with one of my best friends Elder Forbush and I have learned so much. It's also been one of the hardest transfers I've ever had. I've had some of the lowest of lows and I think that's why I've had so many learning moments and so many happy moments as well. Just like Lehi, there is no way he could have known the sweetness of the fruit without knowing the darkness of the path. This church is true everyone, and I love it!

Elder Mumford

Baptism of Diva

Doing some baptismal interviews in the bush!

And another pic with a member

We have our district meeting at a little primary school and I wanted a snack so catch me being the biggest kid in the lunch line hahah

 And #doublechinfitlife

SUP FAMILY,

So its been a great week over here in Fiji. Finally after like two weeks of straight rain the sun has been out which is pretty much all you can ask for. #SunsOutGunsOut hahaha but great week just working hard. Me and Elder Forbush are pretty much just like best friends, which is making the work so much fun. This transfer has been filled with fall throughs, which can sometimes be discouraging but this week we put it all behind us and just went hard trying to find those that want to hear the message. We have this one investigator, her names Diva. She has been coming to church and really opening up to us about her life. She is half Tongan and half Samoan but adopted into a Fijian family. She's had heart problems all growing up and just kind of a crazy life, but through it all she really is the sweetest person ever. Just so great. But this last week her adopted mom got admitted into the hospital for surgery on a boil on her lung as well as her kidney. She had surgery and was just in a really bad state and I think that kind of really had her think more of the Plan of Salvation that we taught her. This week she had to take over care for all her adopted siblings and basically just be a mom and go to school at 17. She was coming home late one night just crying and one of our members was at the bus stop when she got off. Our member doesn't even know her but she just got her to open up and Diva just opened up to our member, and ended up just staying at their house because she needed a place to stay for a few days. So amazing. but anyways Saturday night she told us the terrible news that she would be moving in the next few days. We were heartbroken because she was making such big progress. But we just kept praying for her. Sunday she went to church and felt the spirit so strong in all the classes. After church she asked us for a blessing for the things she has been going through and then after the blessing we taught her a small lesson. During the lesson she just stopped us and was like "Elders I have something I want to say. I've been thinking about it and I really want to be baptized before I move." We were just shocked. We hadn't recommended that she do that but the spirit drove her to make that choice. She has become literaly a changed person in the past week all because of her just living the gospel. Holy cow this church is so true. We will see what happens but hopefully she will be baptized on Saturday! It's just been such a testimony builder to just keep going. The Lord has his own timing and the Lord in the end is the one that gives us success in the work. The key is whether or not we will continually do the right things whether we have success or not! SO ya that's what's going on here! Life's great. I hope its going well for you all as well! Love you guys!

Elder Mumford

Pics- The first time the sun came out we decided to sun bathe while doing language study.... hahaha

me and my boy Elder Amisone on exchanges

Elder Forbush was a little sick and a little tired this week so I figured I would take a good pic hahah

The elderly couple gave us brownies and movie theatre popcorn

Me drinking chocolate milk out of the carton #Health

I found a cactus

And me and our investigator, Diva, who is wearing a pistons jersey #swag

Well fam great week. The mission is great and I'm just trying to keep improving and keep pushing the work. We had zone conference and man I learned so much. Really just working to humble myself and get out of the way of the spirit when I teach. Got some pics for you guys as well.

WOOOOOO......

FISH ON CHIPS

Me whipping it in the ten passenger van #SWAG

And me with a cute little kid!

Milk ice blocks #Wonderful

 Curry night with our ward mission leader!

#under armour

Hung up the new pics I got in the most recent package #FAMILIESAREFOREVER