So much has happened this week! Hopefully someday I'll be better at writing letters, but for now it's pretty much stream of consciousness.

First!! My amazing language mistakes for the week.

So. Tones are fun. 

Instead of saying "Heavenly Father gave us the plan of happiness so we could become like him (keui, low tone)"

I said ""Heavenly Father gave us the plan of happiness so we could become like poop (keui, high tone)"

And then instead of saying "I promise that when you are baptized, you will feel so clean"

I said "I promise that when you are baptized, you will feel so sexually passionate."

Both of those were in lessons with our investigator, and I didn't know till later why she thought what I was saying was so funny. Cantonese is so much fun. Think of all of the puns I can make!

I'm doing so well with Cantonese though. I'm no good at memorizing sentences, but I'm pretty good at memorizing words individually and putting them into sentences. My goal is 25 words a day, with Sunday reserved just for review. So far, I seem to be pretty much on track. It means that I have flash cards on me at all times though.

There was one day though that was really frustrating. I have been counting the first Wed-Sun as one week, which mean that 2 days ago we were in week 3 despite only being here for 13 days. I was having a hard time because I was just stuck in the mindset of "I've been here 3 weeks and I feel like I know nothing!". But then one of the Elders in my district reminded me "Yui Ji Muih, we've only been here like 10 days." I'm doing much better since then.

Last Thursday was our last lesson with A-Fish. We had talked about baptism at least a little bit every lesson, but we decided that this lesson we wanted to get a hard commitment out of her. And she's getting baptized! I mean, the fictional character A-Fish, is getting baptized in a month. But it was still so exciting!! It's cool how excited I get even though I know that it's a fake investigator. We have the Balm of Gilead, the miracle pill. The love and guidance of our Heavenly Father! I can't wait till I get to share this glad message with the people of Hong Kong.

The next day A-Fish came to class as our new teacher. I new all about this charade since I have what seems like 20 friends on missions who wrote me about it. I tried to tell my district but they didn't believe me. Lao Ji Muih is so much fun though. She speaks more English than Jong Hendai, but she also makes us speak more Canto, so I'm not too sad.

Working out is one of my favorite parts of the day. Since we are sitting for about 13 hours a day, we get a full hour of exercise. I do a game, cardio, lifting, and stretching everyday. I never thought 4-Square could get this competitive, but every game is treated like life or death. Our goal is to one day have all 4 people be from our district, but it has yet to happen. Technically we're not supposed to work out enough to get sore. But I feel like that is directed more at missionaries outside the MTC who do less sitting. So I am sore pretty much everyday, but I love it. 

One district in our zone left to go all over the world to preach the gospel in Mandarin. We miss them, but are so excited for them! The sisters who left wrote all the other sisters these beautiful notes about things that they have noticed about us, and the gifts and talents we have, and about how much they love us. The Elders in our district woke up to 5 boxes of candy outside their door. Which pretty much sums up our Sisters and Elders.

Yesterday we got 2 new investigators. A-gwan is Lao Ji Muih again. She speaks a little bit faster, but I seem to understand most of what she says. Walter on the other hand.... I have a lot to learn. He speaks ridiculously fast, with a different word set than what we learn in class. And he gets so distracted by everything!! It's a good thing I have two companions now. One of us will distract him while the other two look up some of the words that he's saying. My companions So Ji Muih and Dai Ji Muih were pretty mortified after the lesson, but mostly I thought that it was hilarious. 

(Left to right, Gok Ji Muih, Tong Ji Muih, Bak Ji Muih, So Ji Muih, Dai Ji Muih, Me (Yu Ji Muih)) 

Oh, I forgot. I have two companions now. Because Bak Ji Muih is getting married! She had a boy waiting for her, and after being here for a week and a half she decided that this was not where she needed to be. It's not my path, but I'm so happy for her. So much fasting and prayer went into this decision, and I'm so happy and proud of her. Some of the Elders in a different district were making fun of her, and so I chewed them out. Someday I'll learn how to reprimand people without being so intense, but... for now... I tend to just go mama bear.

I've always wanted to be 6', so I joked that the Lord would bless me with the 3 extra inches on my mission. I think instead of that, he gave me a short district, which I'm fine with.

I love getting your letters so much! They always come at the end of long days, and they make my day. Seriously, even when they're short, or you don't know what to say.KEEP WRITING PLEASE! I'm trying to get better at writing actual hand written letters back, but it's been a process. Mostly I just think "This will get there next week. Might as well send it tomorrow so I can tell them what happened then too."

I feel like there's been a theme of dealing with death in all of the Devotion So no one die on me okay

Tong Ji Muih loved my green skirt so much that I let her wear the matching scarf and we were twin watermelons for the day.

I found out that Tong Ji Muih and I have the same sense of humor! And all of the same references. My favorite this week was when I started humming that Paint song about Harry Potter. It goes "Harry goes to Hogwarts, he meets Ron and Hermione, McGonnagal requires he play for Gryffindor." Spontaneously we both starting singing it, and we both have the whole thing memorized. When we got to the end, we realized that we had acquired a small crowd who clapped for us. 

On a similar note, most of the time there is a lot of singing going on in the MTC showers. Mostly hymns, but sometimes not. Yesterday a sister said "I wish I knew Bohemian Rhapsody." So I sang her the entirety of the song. It meant I had to stay in the shower longer than was probably needed, but it was definitely worth it.

As for the subject line of this week's email.

Most people when they look at the Hong Kong flag, see a beautiful white flower with red negative space. Gok Ji Muih sees 5 creepy dolphins. The stars are their eyes, and the lines are their mouths. She told us, and we've been scarred, so now we have to tell everyone about it. Jong Hendai's reaction was definitely the best.

Spiritual thought:

The Lord blesses us so much. I made a list one day and it was amazing. The gift of tongues. The gift of waking up on time. The gift of patience. The gift of a wonderful companion. The gift of peace. The gift of trials to stretch us. The gift of humor. Once I started, it seemed like the list went on and on. I know that he blesses us all more than we know, but as a missionary I especially feel  his blessings. Jacob 5 :72, And it came to pass that the servants did go and labor with their might  and the Lord of the vineyard labored also with them. He and I are on the same team. The winning team. This fight that we're in is interesting, because we already know the outcome. We KNOW who is going to win. So why would I ever switch sides?  I'm so very grateful for the opportunity to invite others to come unto Christ, and experience the same joy that I have. 

 

 

Editors Note:  Joanna's email address is joanna.hugo@myldsmail.net  It appears she only gets to check this account once a week.  If you send her a letter using dearelder.com, it is free and she gets them daily.