September 2, 2013

Well another week. I don't know where the time is going. Weeks come and go. Crazy how time works, huh? I really hope all is going well with school and things. The kids are back to school here in HK as well. Seeing all of them in their uniforms made me think of you all back home. Crazy how different things are, yet how a lot is the same. Talking with a ton of kids, saying how they don't want to go back to school. Stuff I was just saying a few Septembers ago!

Well this week Mother Nature was pretty brutal. We walked out of the apartment one day with a day full of finding a head of us. Not a cloud in the sky. An hour later it was dumping buckets like you wouldn't believe. Luckily Elder Phillips had his small umbrella with him. So we both walked under that together. haha, but we still got drenched. I think Elder Phillips even hummed some "There is sunshine in my Soul today." haha really pulled us through.

Funny things that happened while finding:

1. A really old guy said in the most broken english that I looked like Tom Cruise. Then repeatedly yelled how beautiful I was in Chinese. Not only do the old ladies love me, but the old guys do too. haha.

2. I stopped and said hello to a guy in the park and he stopped, looked directly into my eyes, then burped. It was possibly one of the most awkward exchanges I have taken part with another human being. ever. haha

Since school started this week, we had a difficult time scheduling a lot of our investigators. They just were too busy. And when they say they are busy, they arent kidding. Hearing about their homework and projects and stuff sounds insane. Moral of the story: Dont go to school in Hong Kong. haha. But we were able to meet a lot of people that wanted to check out our English class. We were able to talk to a few people about the gospel after the class. Lots of people are curious to hear about our life and why we are doing what we are doing. They are very curious. We have had the hardest time helping people understand that we are volunteers who pay to come to HK, not the Church paying us. Money is what HK go round. haha.

So we have been meeting with lots of Less Active members lately. The members have really been helping us with that. We are really starting to earn the trust of the ward as we visit them and they see us bringing people to church through our own finding efforts. So things are really going great, even though we have spent a lot of our time finding with not a ton of immediate success. Not everything happens at once, just doing evrything we need to do to see growth over time. Real growth.

So a few members had us over for dinner this week. Elder Phillips was able to eat chicken feet for the first time. The kid has an iron stomach. He munched a few down like a champ. I still don't think I have adjusted to the chinese food. Trying. haha Good news is we found an americanish grocery store near our house. Everything is super expensive, but I did buy a few Dr.Peppers and tortillas and salsa. Nothing has ever tasted so good! haha.

All is well out in Butterfly. We are putting the work in. A friend told me last week to just work harder than anyone else. I think we did that this week. It wasn't easy. It was exhausting. It was worth it. Learning that things take time and consistency. Thats what we are doing in Butterfly.

So my advice is try that. Work harder than anyone else. Work like that and I promise you will have Divine help as you live to fulfill your potential.

Love you all,

Elder Woodburn