Think....think.....think

"When I was about four, my sister had this little laptop. You know, one of those cheap toys that have the little kid's games on them?" Said Elder Barker as he responded to the question.

We were in Elder's Quorum and had been talking about the difference between the titles Savior and Redeemer. Of course, the subject of sins and transgressions came up, and we needed to distinguish the difference. 

"I remember looking at it and having an idea pop into my head." He continued as everyone listened intently. "Being that young you just have strange things come into your head that make perfect sense at the time.

"The computer had a little mouse to go with it, and so I took some scissors and thought it was a great idea to cut the cord."

At least, that's what was meant to be said. The room erupted with laughter, but not because they found the story funny. You see, in Cantonese there are so many different transliterations, or, English words that get changed so they sound chinesey. Because the Chinese language never ends a syllable with the S sound, whenever there is an English word that ends in the S sound, they put a "si" on the end. So, the transliteration for mouse is "mau-si." Middle tone and then Low tone. But Elder Barker said it with a High tone and a Mid-rising tone. A high tone "mau" is Cat, and a Mid-rising "si" is poop. Thus;

"The computer had a little cat poop to go with it, and so I took some scissors and thought it was a great idea to...."

You know the rest of the story.

It was a good laugh and everyone loved it. Elder Barker told me that he's actually grateful that it happened because now he has a good experience to look back on. I, as of yet, have not had a goof up with language, but, time will tell.

Well, of course I must apologize now. I promised that I would remember to tell you when it was Temple week, but, alas, I have forgotten again. I still don't get how I can digest words in another language like corn dogs, but can't remember some important things which you would think would be easy. Half the time I forget who the people we contacted during the day were, even though I have the name and their phone number and their email and the dogs name and their neighbors phone number and.... Ah, well, guess you can't be perfect in all things.

In any case, the week was good and every week things get a little easier and the language becomes more fluent. I'm starting to develop a Chinese accent, which helps a lot. But don't worry, I won't speak English like a Chinese person when I come home. 

No pictures again this week, unfortunately, because we are once again in the Apple Store. But, a great upside is that we are going to the Museum that A-Cheung works at (and practically runs.) We've been planning this for a long time and are very excited to go. Of course, it's a Medical Sciences museum so, even though his English is better than ours, we're not going to understand anything that's being talked about. But, still glad that we get to go, and I know it's going to mean a lot to him.

So, a ton of pictures next week.

3-16-15

Think, think, think....

That's what I'm doing right now, but it's a little difficult. We're back in the Apple Store because Elder Barker picked up his suit today. It's very, very noisy and kind of weird because there's a bazillion people around you watching you type. Kind of weird.

In any case, we're in Central right now, which is on the Hong Kong Island. It's a huge business place with tons of American like malls. There are a lot of white people here, which is pretty strange. "White people? Eww, gross." is the response that we usually give. In some ways it's true, though. Here most of the old people dress like old people and everything is normal. It's rare that we see a fat flabby person wearing shorty-shorts and a tank top and letting it all hang out. So, yah..."eww, gross."

The best part about it is that they all look at us and have no idea. They probably don't even think we speak Chinese, but, PSYCH! 

Speaking of Chinese, I had a few great experiences this last week where the language was no barrier at all. Up until a few days ago I've had to spend much of our time during less or finding translating everything in my head and trying to make it all make sense. Then, of course, you have to spit it out. One thing that I've struggle with, simply because the language has tones, is the fact that, while we teach, I like to "get into it," meaning, I like to speak with emotion and laugh and joke and such. But, it's really hard to do that in Cantonese. So, Elder Barker has been telling me to try to stop and just build my base. Speak flat and speak well, and then it will come. But then, of course, there's times where I go to contact someone and they're turned off because I'm speaking in a really weird way, (according to them,) with no emotion or anything. So, there's been a bit of a conflict as of late.

But, this last week I was able to experience teaching as if we were speaking English. Of course, there's still a lot that I don't know or understand, but I finally know what it's like, and I have something to shoot for. Which doesn't have much to say for my English because, as I type, I can feel it going down the drain. Good thing I don't have to teach in English, right?

One super cool thing that happened this week was that we got to meet this guy named Walter. He's pretty awesome.

We were finding in a park in one of our areas, Mei Foo. Elder Barker is a really good role model on how to find because he's not shy in any way, and will do just about anything to talk to someone. So, it was no surprise to me when he ran off and sat down on a bench next to someone without asking if it was alright. I just shrugged my shoulders and sat on the other side. It took us a few moments to figure out that the guy wasn't Chinese, which is funny because we try to avoid the non-Chinese people, as we were called to speak Chinese. 

In any case, we start talking to him. Turns out he's a Latino from Argentina, who spent most of his life in California and Utah and was in Hong Kong because his girlfriend is Chinese. He has the classic Latino accent and is extremely friendly. We talked with him for quite a long time just about random things. But, of course, the subject of religion came up. Turns out, he's had tons of contact with Mormons before, and even been to our church several times. He has a very good view of us and what we do, and has some amazing stories of how God has helped him and his family in the past.

 One such is this; He lived in California for quite a few years, but decided to move to Utah for a while. But when he moved, he couldn't find any work for the longest time. It came to the point where he had no job, and no money. So, he spent two weeks living off of five dollars. Two weeks, five dollars. He told us that the Dollar Tree saved his life, as he went there and bought a bag of chips, a can of dip, and a bottle of soda. And that's what he ate everyday. He would wake up, and just to stay sane ask himself, "What am I going to eat today? Hmm, chips and dip sounds nice." Then at lunch, "What am I going to eat? Ahh, chips and dip wouldn't be bad." That's what he did for the first week. The second week, he only had two dollars left, so he skipped the road, and just ate the chips and dip again. 

Finally, he was accepted onto a construction crew and began work, but the day that he went to work was the day that he ran out of food, and pay-day wasn't until the end of the week. And so, he prayed, and asked God to provide for him.

At the end of the work day he was prepared to go home when one of the other workers stopped him.

"You seem like a really nice guy." He said. "How about you come over for dinner tonight."

And like that, prayer answered. He told us quite a few stories similar to this, and I'm super excited that he now has the chance to truly learn about God and the truth. I'm praying hard that he will have the desire to attend church and take it farther than just a belief. But, in any case, he's super awesome.

Long story short because I don't have much time, we turned him over to the international Elders, but we're going to keep in contact and play Soccer with him on some P-Day. 

I'm doing fine and though things are difficult, (such as when you wake up and feel less rested than you did when you first went to sleep,) the work shall go on and I'm going with it.

It was super great to hear from you all and I'm so glad that I have such an awesome family back at home. Thanks, and keep on keeping' on.

P.S. sorry, no pictures again. Next week XD

3-9-15


Pachebel's Cannonballs and Third Time's the Charm

Closely related, right?

 

Actually, they kind of are. Here's the lowdown on the showdown....

 

So Saturday we were out finding, like normal. Things were going okay and we were talking to some people. Then Elder Barker stops a normal, middle aged Chinese man and we start talking to him. About halfway through, it gets a little heated.

 

"I know what I'm saying is true." The man says.

 

"Well I do to." Comes elder Barker's rebuttal.

 

"No, you don't understand. I know what I'm saying is true, and you can't understand. I could talk all day, but you won't understand."

 

"Well, we could talk for three years and you also won't understand."

 

The man's face grew stern, and he leaned in a little, staring Elder Barker down, like a Wyatt and some bacon. (I was going to say Sig, but this guy was more like Wyatt. You know, small and thinks he's super tough.) "No, you really don't understand. You can't understand, because you haven't died three times like me." He looked at us a little longer. "Three times."

 

He then proceeded to explain, very quickly and without pausing, that he had been sick as a child, and poof, died, but somehow miraculously came back to life. Then, as a young boy, he had no home and no food and no family, and died of starvation, but somehow miraculously came back to life. Then, as an adult, he was hit by a moving car, (moving being the keyword,) and died of being hit by a car, because that's what happens when you get hit by a car. And he was really dead. But somehow, he managed to come back to life.

 

So now he knows all about everything and we're just young and stupid :D

 

We shook hands and said our good-byes and walked off, laughing about it and shaking our heads. I wouldn't say that there are more sickly-minded people in Hong Kong than there are in America, but here, because everything is so crowded and there's no space for those people, they all just wander around on the streets and make a lot of noise.

 

In any case, we went only a few steps, when we ran into a guy who we'd met before. He's Chinese, but has been to England and looks like the classic Posh-English drunkard, but with squinty eyes and a funny accent.

 

"Ahh, the fishers of men!" He exclaimed upon seeing us, walking up to shake our hands. His English is quite good, and he refuses to speak Chinese, which is a bit annoying.

 

"Yep, that's us."

 

"Very good that! Fishers of men! Like cannonballs!"

 

"Cannonballs?" I asked tentatively, not sure if I'd heard right.

 

"Yes, cannonballs!"

 

"Cannonballs?" I still wasn't sure if he was speaking English or Chinglish or some form of Arabic. My mind wheeled trying to call back any similar words I'd learned in the past few months, but nothing was coming.

 

"Yes, cannonballs! You are fishers of men! You catch men, so you can eat them!" He erupted in a bout of goofy laughter which tumbled from his posh belly and blubbered around in his posh boots as he walked off, leaving us in a dazed stupor for a bit. Still not exactly sure what had just transpired.

 

It took us a few moments to realize that he wasn't speaking of cannonballs.

 

In any case, that was our funny story for the week.

 

I'm doing good and the work is progressing. Though, at the moment, our teaching pool is down to not a single soul, which is weird because we had quite a few investigators before New Years, things are still happening. We were able to participate in A-Cheung's confirmation on Sunday, which was a great experience. I could, quite literally, feel the power of God in my hands, and I was amazed, not for the first time, that this is the same power which was used to create the worlds and everything in them.

 

God has put more than a little trust in us.

 

A-Cheung is a stud of studs. I've already noticed small changes in his behaviors and countenance, and I'm very excited to see him grow in the church, and have a good friend for the rest of my life.

 

We also continue to have the opportunity to work with Brother Hung. He's a less-active that's been less-active for quite sometime. His mind works a little differently, and I don't foresee him ever being an extremely strong member of the church, but he is fun to teach. At first, it was rough because he doesn't focus well and doesn't learn well, but Elder Barker and I have devised a system of teaching which seems to work quite well with him, and it's fun.

 

He's a super silly guy, and is always giving Elder Barker crosses, and giving me toys from McDonald's Happy Meals. I have like seven of them now :)

 

Our ward is good, and despite all of the strange people and the awkward little bits, we have had and are having will continue to have lots of success. I'm enjoying it a lot.

 

You guys are all so awesome. I pray everyday that God will continue to help and bless, and make life fun. I'm doing fine, and loving all the spices!

 

Thanks, and love Da Smoe. And never forget Da Smoe.

3-2-15

This week was pretty darn good. Which is to say, Sunday was amazing. The rest of the week was a bit of a struggle, but, one event made it all worth it in the end. 

The past week was really weird in the way that we had so few lessons, and so little finding time. A big part of it is that Elder Ballard came to speak to us. It was amazing.

On Wednesday he spoke to the mission. We got to take a picture before that, which translated into standing on a bunch of chairs for an hour to take a thirty second picture, but it was well worth it in the end. But the picture wasn't what I went for, as you all probably know. 

President Hawks himself said, paraphrasing, "I've never been taught so much by word or by the spirit in my life." Imagine how the rest of us missionaries felt. The entire time that Elder Ballard, as well as Bishop Gary E. Stevens and Elder Ronald A. Rasband were speaking, the spirit was pounding us as we got taught about all the things we weren't doing in the mission. It was crazy.

There's no disobedience problem in this mission. We all work hard. We all strive to do our best and to bring others unto Christ. We're all worthy. But in the end, we're not perfect. The first thing that Elder Ballard said was, "We're a little bit too shy here." Then we got schooled on how to be bold and really use the full power and authority of our calling. I suppose we might say that we are past the Good and the Better stage and are striving for the Best, but we all felt so small for those two hours. But all of it was true, and all of it will improve this mission. I'm excited to see what happens as we, as a mission, apply this things and make some changes.

Then on Thursday we had much more of an uplifting meeting. It was super fun to hear from all of the speakers, especially because we got to hear it in two different languages as each speaker had a translator. I was able to understand most of it, (sweet,) and it was interesting to think of it in two different ways. 

Elder Ballard said what I've always wanted to say, though, which is, "God either exists, or He doesn't. Joseph Smith was either a true prophet, or he wasn't. And everything this church teaches is either correct, or it's not." 

He spoke directly to the investigators at that point, and I'm sure that it made many people think hard, including myself. In the end, there's only those two options, and we can only make one decision. I wish everyone would just slow down long enough and be humble enough to grasp that concept and really think about it, because, when you do, you realize how true it is and you realize that there's only one intelligent decision. I'm very grateful that we've all made that one decision.

Besides being humbled and taught that meeting was able to help our investigator, A-Cheung, really think about the decision he was making at the time. He's having some opposition from family and friends, and there are other factors at play which make it a difficult decision, but he's making it, and it's amazing to see how much resolve he has. Needless to say, he did get baptized on Sunday, which was a most amazing and gratifying experience. Simple, sweet, and very powerful. He's a champion among men. Only fifteen million other people in the world, .002% of the population, have made the decision he's made. Have taken the time and made the sacrifices to ask himself the hard questions, to develop the faith, and to ultimately decide to turn his life over to God. It's probably the scariest thing he's ever done in his life. But he's going to stick with it, and I'm very grateful that I get the chance to continue to help him.

The title of your last email caused me to reflect back on a memory from the MTC. Our first teacher, Sister Chan, was super funny and was the classic Chinese person. She was short, small, and made a lot of funny noises. She would get on us all the time and speak super yappy Chinese because we'd lose focus or we'd be making random noises or just being a bunch of teenagers in the same room. Sometimes we couldn't help but laugh. But she herself was the worst at focusing. 

There was one day, when we stood up to sing a hymn. Yat = 1. Yih = 2. Saam = 3. So, yat, yih, saam, is 1, 2, 3. We were all focused, ready to start class. She starts to lead, "Yat...Yih...." We take a deep breath. 

"Snow!"

In English.

It was probably one of the funniest moments in the MTC, and words cannot convey how hysterical her expression and her voice was. Needless to say, it took us awhile to simmer down and actually start class. I laughed when I thought of it.

You guys are all so amazing and thank you so much for supporting me. I'm having a whirl of a time, (whatever that means) and know that this is God's work, and that I could be doing no better job. Can't wait to see you all.

A-Cheung's Baptism!

2-23-2015

So on Thursday we spent the whole day in our apartment cleaning. On this day of Chinese New Year most people do the same. It's called Daaihsoucheuih. It was quite a lot of fun and we goofed off a little and now our apartment is sparkling and looks brand new. Okay, maybe not, but yah.

 Me and Myself and I. Oh, and plus Elder Barker.

2-23-15

主曰快樂

SanLihn Faailohk!

This last week was a good week. I learned a lot, and despite it being the New Year, we were able to make success out of it. Of course, people were busy and we weren't able to meet with many and most of our investigators. They're all in mainland or just not very free, and we didn't want to push them too much. I hope and pray and plan that we will be able to get them all involved again in this next week or so.

But, this week we had the opportunity to meet with A-Cheung once again. He's just such an amazing person. Very rational, smart, down-to-earth and the kind of person who ponders on things. The kind of person that is a good investigator. I can never be thankful enough for the opportunity I've had, and will continue to have to work with him and be friends with him.

This last week we recommitted him to being baptized on March 1st. He's ready. And he knows he's ready. The thought of him actually being baptized, and the thought that I've actually been a part of his conversion has made me very happy. I think back to the Vision of the Tree of Life.

"And as I partook of the fruit thereof

it filled my soul

with exceedingly great joy;

wherefore,

I began to be desirous

that my family should partake of it also;

for I knew

that it was desirable above

all other fruit."

I'm beginning to understand the scripture and gain a testimony of it. Before, I did not know what it meant to have a desire to bring others to Christ. I mean, I knew what it meant, and I knew that it would happen, but I had never truly experienced it. I've always talked to others about Christ becuase it's the right and the good thing to do. Because that's what I've been taught. But now it's beginning to make sense. It was a very sweet experience, and I cannot express how excited I am that A-Cheung is getting baptized.

On top of that great experience, I was able to really feel what it was like to be struggling with the work. I know now that I've been blessed to live in an area that has had existed investigators, and been blessed to have a continuous flow of people to work with. But, being Chinese New Year, we had so few lessons and so few Potential Investigators, even though we worked as hard as we have been all along. Though it's not exactly a good thing, it has helped to give me a stronger desire to go out finding and invite others to come unto Christ. I can't stand the thought of not being able to teach lesson(s) every day. Which just goes to show that good things can and always will come of situations such as this.

We also were able to enjoy the New Year. We had a great activity with the Mandarin Elders and Sisters, as well as the Cheung Sha Wan Sisters. It started out as just a normal banner find. We took a Mormon.org banner, covered it in white paper and decorated it with some chinesey stuff and some little sheeps; this year being the Year of the Sheep.

In most traditional Chinese homes, they place a diamond shaped piece of paper with the character for "Juk," which means blessings, upside down on their front door. This signifies that blessings will pour out on their home. Then they take these strings of firecrackers, which look kind of like the Mexican strings of red chili peppers, (a pretty accurate representation if I do say so myself,) and place them on either side of the door. The firecrackers signify something that I I really don't know because no one's ever explained it to me but I've never really asked so, yah. Anyways, we adopted the same style for our banner, but instead of using firecrackers, which would probably not be okay, we drew a string, cut out a bunch of red pieces of paper, and had people write what their dreams or wishes for the New Year are. We then arranged the papers so they look like they were firecrackers. Pretty nifty huh?

But it was windy and the banner was going to keep falling over. For the first half hour or so we really didn't get anywhere. Then Elder Barker picked up the banner and started to carry it around.

What it turned into was us all running around like crazy white peoples. We would all go up to groups of people walking down the street, with the running banner right behind us, and pretty much mob the people into writing on the pieces of paper. It was very fun. It was crazy and everyone was laughing and the people had a great time talking with a bunch of non-chinesey people from American who can sort of speak their language. All-in-all, it was good.

喬長老

Kiuh Jeunglouh

- Elder George 

 I love you all. Happy New Year! (Sort of.) I'm doing great and learning lots. I wish I had more time to email and such, but I do what I can. Thank you so much for all of the support and don't stop being weird.

Entrance to 10,000 Buddhas

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