Dearest best family and friends in the world,
Wow, it seems like every week I hear someone new that reads my blog and then emails me. I feel SO MUCH love and support from back home! I am seriously so blessed. Thank you thank you thank you! I love you all!
ALSO.. oh my goodness Michael and Kacie! You guys sent me the best package EVER! Thank you so, so much! Wow! Whit, thanks for helping :) haha. I loved everything! That was so nice and you spoiled me! And your baby is BEAUTIFUL! ahhhh :)
Okay so it's Thursday today... gahhh it's been a loooong week and a half without a P-day. Haha P-day is seriously inspired. So glad we have them once a week :) But oh my goodness! Today the temple made everything worth it! The temple is BEAUTIFUL. And you know? It's the same :) Different languages, different faces, but the same feeling, the same gospel, the same Heavenly Father. It's so neat that even clear over here across the world, the Church is true. We worship in the same way. It's so wonderful :) btw if you were wondering, the session was in English and they had translating headphones for everyone that needed it in Cantonese, or Thai, or Mandarin, or Tagalog, or whatever. So many different languages, it's crazy!
I'm trying to think what happened this week... so many things, I don't know what to write! I do have a cold... boo. How does that happen in the heat?! I'm not sure. Right now I can't breathe AT ALL. Hoping to get better soon! One of our less actives that we always visit gave me this huge thing of ginger and a lemon and told me to roast the ginger over the burner, and then boil the roasted ginger and lemon slices in Coke. Maybe I'll try it! It's worth a shot!
Mom and Dad, you'll appreciate this one. We went LA finding last Friday. We were looking for a lady named C... yes, she's from Japan! But she married a man from Hong Kong. Anyway, we usually don't have very much success LA finding because the guards for the building hardly ever let us in. But this time, he did! So we go up to C's apartment and we can hear a bunch of little dogs barking inside. Ring the doorbell, blah blah.... k she actually invites us IN. When does that happen?! Never, I tell you. Never. It was great! So we were sitting there talking to her, and then she said, "Why don't you stay for dinner?" so we stayed for dinner. The greatest part was that her sister-in-law was there, her non-member husband, and her husband's friend. That's 3 CONTACTED REFERRALS IN ONE DAY! Can't tell you how excited we were. Her husband was so funny. He spoke pretty fluent English but he was just hilarious. He told us about 10 times, "I'm a retired policeman! Retired!" I mean what are you supposed to say to that after the 10th time. "Wow, that's so great! Good for you!"? It was awesome. It was the best LA visit ever. We stayed like 2 hours. When C said the closing prayer at the end, she cried and we almost cried. Then she gave us each a box of crackers and said, "Come back anytime!" The only thing is, she can't come to church because she works. So we'll be working pretty closely with her. Stay tuned!
Some things you should all know about Chinese culture:
1. Talking with your mouth full is TOTALLY appropriate. Everyone does it. And if you don't do it, you're weird.
2. However acceptable talking with your mouth full is, picking your teeth with a toothpick without covering your mouth with your hand is NOT. I'm not really sure why, but it's very rude to just pick your teeth without covering it up.
3. Burping. ALL. THE. TIME. Like, in the middle of a conversation, when you're giving a talk in church, literally all the time. It's so gross. haha, I'm used to it now though. But at first I thought it was sick.
4. You HAVE to eat what people give you. So if they make too much food, there's no saving it. Eat it. Even if it's nasty.
5. Stand on the right side of the escalator if you just want to stand. If you want to run up the escalator, go up the left side. If you want to walk.... that's just not an option. Everyone is in too big a hurry.
Okay I can't think of anymore right now. There are some good ones :)
Sister Aldana and I are getting along great! We laugh A LOT, which is so good. I'm so happy that all of my companions and I can laugh together. We had the funniest thing happen. We were paak muhning (knocking doors... we have a few places where we can do that here!) and we knocked on this one door and this little bald Chinese man answered... wearing NOTHING but purple polka dotted panties. Panties. Not boxers. Panties. He saw us, screamed bloody murder and then yelled, "Dang a dang!" (wait a second!) and slammed the door. OH MY GOSH. Sis Aldana and I couldn't hold it in. We busted up laughing sooooo hard. It was so funny! We barely got it together by the time he answered the door wearing clothes. Anyway, he is so great! He came to ward FHE the other night, we turned him over to the elders to teach, and now he wants to get baptized! What a miracle! Yay! :)
OH YEAH! I SAW MY OLD TUHNGBUHN! I saw Sister Morgan, my comp from the MTC! It was like the greatest reunion ever. We were walking up the road to the church and they were coming out of the church and we saw each other and ran to each other screaming. Probably all the Chinese people thought we were nuts :) Soooo happy! I love being able to see all my old friends! I love being here!!
In English class last week, a new older man came. He spoke NO Engish at all. His name was Gwok too, so he was like "Yatyeuhng! Yatyeuhng!" (same! same!) ha. So I sat by him to help him with his English. The whole time, he was being really creepy and scooting closer to me. At one point, he says in Chinese, "Are you married yet?" I was like, "Um, no, let's listen to Elder Allen! Let's learn some English!" A little later he says, "Have you eaten dinner yet? Want to go together after?" I was like, "No, I don't." and then he writes down his number on a piece of paper and gives it to me. hahahahahaha soooo creepy. Gotta love it.
In my personal study this week, I read this scripture, "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). That made me think about the hard things we've endured this week. SO MUCH finding time with very few people interested. People not showing up to appointments. People not answering our phone calls anymore. Hours of being on the street, sweating like crazy. But you know? Jesus Christ overcame ALL of these things so He would know how it felt for us. He has lifted me up in the times when I thought I couldn't make it. He has brought me comfort and peace when I feel discouraged and doubtful. I am so thankful for His infinite sacrifice that makes it possible for Him to help me like this. I love Him. I want to be more like Him.
Well, I have to get off now. I will be back on Monday (Sunday night for all of you!) Thank you all for your ever present support. I feel it! I feel your prayers! Keep them coming! I love being a missionary. It's the greatest thing ever!
Love always,
Shay
xoxo
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