Welcome to Butterfly! June 10, 2013

Well this week has been jam-packed with changes. Transfers were earlier this week so I am no longer in ShaTin. I got moved to the New Territories! My new area is WuhDihp, which means Butterfly! My new companion is Elder Fong. He is a Hong Kong native who doesn't speak English... It has been quite an adjustment. He is awesome though. We both started our missions at the same time, so we are a really young companionship. Hopefully our time together will help my Chinese and him to learn a little English!

So my new are is really nice. The New T's are weird. By that I mean that they aren't stereotypical HK. It is a lot more forresty (that a word?) with huge buildings just coming out of the jungle. Butterfly is on the ocean, so we go to the pier to make new friends. It is beautiful! The salt in the air, the ocean breeze, and the sound of the waves make everything so much more pleasant in the heat of the Summer. I haven't been here for long, but I already love our area!

Since my companion is a native, that has resulted in a few funny things. His old companion forgot to update records before the transfer. So it was up to Elder Fong and I to get the job done. Its hard enough trying to record information about lessons and people when you weren't there, but this time it is even rougher. Elder Fong would tell me what he needed me to write down because he has almost no base in English. So I would listen to him explain the meetings and I would try and record what was important. This is all in Chinese may I remind you, so hopefully I got the gist of things. I wear many hats, and this week I was not only a missionary, but a translator! haha. Having Elder Fong is already helping my language a ton! He is a solid missionary. I have a ton to learn from him. He is a convert himself when he was a teenager. He is now 25! Serving a mission. Talk about an example!

Another thing that happened is there was a bit of a mishap when we had transfers. My suitcases wheels broke so we just ended up having to drag them to our new apartment. Turns out that will burn a whole in your bag pretty quick! I was unpacking and settling in when I noticed not only did my bags disintegrate, but a few white shirts as well! That's what P-days are for I guess. I am now in the market for some baggage and shirts... haha.

Our new apartment is really nice! Word in the mission is that it is one of the nicest apartments. We live on the 31st floor so we have quite the view. Luckily the air conditioner here works just fine, so no more miserable nights without it!

Butterfly is in a different stage of missionary work than in ShaTin. In Shatin, we always had people to meet with and teach. Not a ton, but enough that we stayed pretty busy. Here in Butterfly, the teaching pool is so small. That means that we spend almost our whole day out on the streets trying to meet new people. This can be exhausting, but it is also so rewarding. The last few days we haven't had a ton of luck trying to teach. One thing that does stick out is that even when people don't want to talk, they always make a remark about how happy we are. I think that's success. If people don't know anything else about our church other than that they have missionaries that are really happy, that is success. It can be hard, but smiles make all the difference.

All is well with all the changes that have taken place. There is a lot to do and a lot to learn. Hopefully by next week I will be able to tell you all about the people we meet!

Remember to always do the simple things. Little things lead to big things, whether positive or negative. Just some food for thought.

I think of you all often!

Love,

Elder Woodburn