Well, I trust that things are going well. I'll check my email later to see if you've sent me one.

In any case, things are going well. We just hit our six week mark, which means, we only have three left. I'm freaking out a bit because I don't know if I'm physically ready for Hong Kong. Mentally and spiritually, though, I'm prepared. We asked our teachers if they thought we knew enough Cantonese yet to go, and they told us that we didn't need to worry. We could be shipped out now and we'd be just fine.

I feel like I've been speaking Cantonese all my life.

I had a dream just the other night in which I was speaking to someone in Cantonese. He kept saying a word that I didn't recognize, because I've never heard it before. Dongwu. After I woke up I went and looked the word up. Turns out it's a real word and it means animal. A bit of Gift of Tongues there or something. Definitely a cool experience, though.

We've been having a lot of fun here recently. Elder Shipp has been building forts for his bed instead of sleeping. (I'll have to get some pictures of it.) He and Elder Powell-now Zone Leaders-are setting great examples ;)

My comp, Elder Beresford, has been struggling with the language as of late. Part of it is that he's not as "intelligent" as the rest of us. I don't mean that in a bad way, just that, his brain works differently. We pick new concepts up a little quicker. We had a fast for him on Wednesday, and I know it helped. He's doing better now, and when he applies himself, he speaks just fine.

Speaking about speaking languages. We had TRC on Saturday, as usual, and man was it good. I took virtually no notes, and was able to ask questions, understand the answers, teach by the spirit and help resolve the "investigators" needs, all in Cantonese. It shocked me, to say the least. That was when I really realized the extent of what we've all learned. I know I've worked hard, and I've applied myself day in and day out to learning the language, but I also know that there is no possible way I've remembered this much without God's help.

I only have two requests. 1) Apparently, in Hong Kong, when we talk to the people about our families, they're going to want to see pictures. Our teachers actually told us to take pictures of family with us, because it's a great teaching tool. Would you mind printing some that actually look half good? (I know, we're so photogenic.)

2) Would you mind sending some knee pads :D They will be put to good use. 

P.S. Just kidding. Seriously, though. I pray a lot now.

P.P.S. HAHAHAHAHAHA! That's how one of our teachers, Chan Jimuih, laughs. We're pretty sure she invented "hahaha."

P.P.S. I'll send pictures right after this.

My comp and I, Oh, and Elder Anderson

10-19-14

Hello peoples,

So, this is a little late because the time I typed it all before it didn't send it because the internet went out and the draft wouldn't save. But, got it anyways, so, here goes.

The MTC is pretty awesome. There's a lot of really good things about it, and I love that we get to learn all the time. We, that is, District 30 C, have learned so much in the last six days, both about the Gospel and Cantonese. Honestly, from speaking with other language speakers and the older Cantos, I feel that we've learned more, and faster, than just about any other group. We can already pray and bear our testimonies without the book, and they aren't just short memorized one liners. Hopefully we'll learn all of the greetings and such soon, so that our meetings with Yihp Jimuih, our "investigator," won't be so awkward.

Speaking of Yihp, we just met with her for the third time and...yah, it was pretty crazy. I felt we did good in answering her questions, until she asked one that I just couldn't understand. I tried so hard, and thought she kept asking what God's name was, but that wasn't it, of course, so after a while I managed to discern that she was asking what God's commandments are. It was pretty dang hard to answer because the book we use doesn't have any answer for that. Then we made the mistake of opening a Cantonese hymn book and reading "I Stand All Amazed" as out testimonies. She asked us to sing it. After half a verse, she said "Mh hou!" which is "not good" and laughed and said we should just pray. Other than that, though, it went well. 

So, being District leader has been fun. I get to organize meetings and such, which I'm good at. We'll set some District goals soon, but I have no fear that it will be easy to complete them together, as we all get along. And I continue to realize that, even though my calling is simple and not really that "important," it is of the most importance to the other eleven people in the District. A District Leader can help their District do good and be good. A dedicated District Leader will help their District to go above and beyond. That's what I want to do, so, we'll see. 

Us four Elders that stay in the same room are easily the most obnoxious on the campus. Others will be goofy and crazy, but we definitely take the cake with our wild singing and screaming, trying to hit our heads against the lights, animal noise making and movie quoting. We find it a bit hard to sit still for a long time and to get to bed on time, but we do the work, and I feel that's what's important. I know we need to follow every rule here at the MTC, being that exact obedience brings miracles, but I don't feel like we've done anything bad or wrong. I really do know that God is allowing us the blessings we earn, not because we're the most exact or the most humble, but because we're the most dedicated to the work. I know that just about every other missionary here is a good person and has a testimony and will be a good missionary, but, to be honest, we twelve who are going to Hong Kong are something special. We really do have the power to change the world.

And that's what we'll do.