Emailing in the MAC store

I'm emailing this from inside a GIANT Mac Store. So apparently that's a thing.

Sorry Mom! I took a ton of pictures......but I left the camera at home. But that means next week there will be an overload!!

Also, I have much less time than I'm used to, so this email will probably be short and rushed. 

The plan ride was a tolerable hell. It really was a miracle. What made the difference I think was sitting next to a very talkative Elder. Don't tell him, but I pretended to be sleeping a lot to get out of talking with him. Just Kidding of course. What made the difference were my constant prayers that I wouldn't die of boredom or give into temptation to watch Guardians of the Galaxy. Or peak at the hilariously overdramatic drama the man in front of me was watching.

We got off the plane, and it took us about 2 hours to go through security, customs, and baggage claim because we needed to stay together and everything went wrong. We left bags on the plane, they sent some bags to Bangkok, and they lost other bags inside the airport somehow. But we came out alive and finally got to meet our mission president! Present Lam is amazing. His English is perfect, which actually relieve a lot of stress. What relieved more stress was when I tried to talk with him in Cantonese and he just said "Sister, you've been a plane ride for 16 hours. You're brain dead. You can talk in English." YES! Sister Lam is my new favorite person. How do I say this without sounding rude. She's very bossy. But in the good way, where she always takes charge and just tells it how it is. :)

In the airport, the Assistants to the Presidents (who hereafter will be referred to as they because I can't say AP and I don't even want to type out the full thing again) asked us how we felt about the weather. Everyone else said "So good" "I think it's really nice actually" and I said "I'm melting." Which is bad news because it was night time. And Hong Kong is having a cold spell. 

Tinfuh, ngoh keihkauh leih. Bong ngoh

It's been better though. I drink a lot of water, and I'm so glad I was smart when I bought all my mission clothes.

The first day here, we got our Hong Kong ID's. I wrote out my full name for the official who immediately starting laughing. "Why did someone name you after rain? That is the st--- Why did someone name you after rain?" He's one to judge. Hong Kong people pick their English names, and they're hilarious. In our ward we have Salad, Jello, and Purple. 

Anyway, when we were waiting for our ID's, we contacted every person in the waiting room. We handed out maybe 4 BoM. It wasn't just me though, there were about 10 missionaries there.

My Cantonese isn't at 0. Maybe 2 out of 100, but NOT ZERO. Which is a miracle in itself. I was prepared to understand nothing anyone said, so every time I catch even a really basic word I'm excited.

Sunday I bore my testimony at church and it felt awesome. My theory was "Enthusiasm can make up for anything" so I just spoke what I know how to say with fervor. But at the same time remembering not to change the tones. I'll ask the members later (when my Cantonese is passable) if it came off well. But I'm proud of myself. Heavenly Father just wants me to be doing my best, and I'm definitely doing that :D

My trainer is Sister Kessen and she's a rockstar. She has only been out of 4 months, but her Cantonese is amazing. She's taking good care of me. We're "out in the boonies" of Hong Kong. Which means our apartment complex only has 30 floors. Our area does have some actual houses though. This week we're going to try and help a grandma with her garden. But here, when people have a garden it's less like a garden and more like a small farm.  I'm so excited.

Street contacting is terrifying, but getting less and less so. I'm getting better at it, and now I feel awkward if I DON'T talk to people. Which I'm taking for a good sign. 

Our members here are amazing. All of church I would focus really hard and get a couple of word. Then during the song, I would ask my trainer about it. I would get like "She talked about prophets" and it would actually be an experience worthy of a general Conference Talk. Like I said, they're all superstars.

I was talking with a member, and they kept talking about excited they were to see "American Captain" eventually everyone started talking about it and I was just like "Who is this soldier, and why is everyone so obsessed with meeting him? He must be an amazing person" Turns out they were talking about Captain America! No spoilers anyone, or so help me....

Teaching lessons to real people has been amazing. I can feel the spirit so strongly when everyone is being open. And even when our investigators aren't listening and it's obvious they don't care (not yet), I can feel the spirit testify to me that what I'm saying is true. This church is true. This church is SO true. It's nothing but the truth. It's all the truth. I'm so grateful for the gift of tongues (whenever I do a silent prayer to understand people, it always happens), for Jesus Chris's everlasting an infinite Atonement (which turns even me, into an instrument for good), and for the Love of our Heavenly Father. One thing I've learned it that he doesn't care who we've been. He cares who we are. And when we humble ourselves unto repentance, that's enough. In this gospel, we get blessed for trying. 

I love you all

Gaa yauh

--

Love

Sister Hugo

Yui Ji Muih

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