August 24, 2013
I have felt so much strength this week! I am so grateful for your support. Thank you. really, I can feel the difference in my life. I hope to be that Bright Spot in someone's life. And YES! I am becoming Chinese and FAST. It is a pretty rough transition. And this may seem mean but I am SO glad that other missionaries are having the same struggles I am! It is nice to know that I am not the only weak one that the Lord needs to strengthen! Again, thank you so much for the prayers and fasting and everything you do. I love you!
Yes I know Camrie! Sister Smith haha. She was in my MTC group! We are great friends and I love her. We loved talking about Round Valley and Snowflake together :) We have planned to see each other at Christmas next year! HOW COOL IS THAT?! She is such a sweet girl! That is so cool that you met her aunt :)
You send letters and everything to that address! I got one of Dad's letters last week! We only get mail once a week....maybe. The mission office is so far away for missionaries so whoever decides to go to Kowloon will pick up the mail.
Ok, we have a great normal toilet and shower in our apt. So that is a blessing! But Hong Kong does have a lot of squaters haha so I'll probably be using one soon :) our apt. is a high rise! I'll send a picture! But we are only on the 17th floor. That is such a blessing because the elevators are SO HOT! Everything is so stinking hot and HUMID! I know I say that every week haha but it is so true. And We have a washer and a dryer in our apt. Really we are blessed.
The food is NOT like American Chinese food. I ordered some sweet and sour chicken the other day and let me just tell you that it was sketchy. We have this market called the gaasih. And boy does it stink!!!!!!!!!! It is just a bunch of raw meat sitting out in the heat and humidity. The smell fills up the streets and I have to hold my breath for like 5 minutes. I'm surprised I haven't passed out yet haha.
Everyone speaks Cantonese and no one really speaks that much Mandarin...well, they know it and they know English but they don't speak it! Sister Lee loves the food! Chicken feet and all!
Charlie is so cute! I'll get a pic of that too.
This week Our mission president let us go to a concert!!!! YEAH A REAL ONE! It was a boy band by the name of Beyond 5! haha They are all members of the church and the church sponsored their Asia tour so it was cool! But it was so weird....music is weird to me now. How sad is that? Anyway at the concert we were supposed to get as many emails as we could for our online elders. So I just asked everyone! I got quite a few. Then I asked one boy and he asked me on a date. I told him that I could not date while on a mission and he said oh I know, I'm a member. He gave me his email and told me that we could start after my mission. hahahaha It cracked me up!
So hey, I still have hope after my mission!
I do love this gospel with all of my heart! It is the most amazing thing on this earth. If I preach this gospel, Heavenly Father will take care of my family. He will take care of me.
Another amazing experience! Yesterday at church I was welcoming the members. Then A WHITE MAN CAME INTO THE ROOM! (I never ever ever see white people) and he was a member of the Asia 70! He shook my hand and talked to me a little bit about my experience and how long I had been in China. Then, later he talked in sacrament meeting. And during his talk he made me stand up and wave to the members. Then he told the members to support ME and to help ME. He said, "Sister Hamblin may not be good at this language, but her testimony and the spirit will convert the people". I thought that was such an answer to my prayers. Then my comp and I traveled to another city for a turnover lesson and I saw the same man coming out of the elevator! He came to me, shook my hand, looked into my eyes, and said " You are in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing". and then he walked away. I love the confirmations I get daily and the blessings I get from missionary work. I love you all so much! STAY STRONG!
Oh and what do I eat normally?
rice....chicken...noodles...and other stuff I am not sure of. OH AND CEREAL! It is so expensive...but yes i am gaining weight! haha sad sad.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
Monday, August 12, 2013
MOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hi Mom and Dad :) and others. China is......crazy. really. Like I don't think one thing is the same but the Church. The city is huuuuggggeeee and EVERYTHING is Chinese. Yeah you would have thought that haha. Anyway, I can't understand ANYTHING. Yes it is true what they say "that wasn't the language I learned in the MTC". I was called to bear my testimony in church and boy was that a scary moment. There are actually a lot of members in my ward. I am serving in the Kwun Tong area. It is known as the "miracle area". haha I am going to need a miracle to do this. Anyway, the members are very nice. I am eating cereal for breakfast and a tooonnnnn of rice and noodles for everything else. These people literally SHOVE food into their mouths with their chopsticks and it is crazy how well they use them. And then I am just this little American girl who can't even keep the chopsticks in her hands. Oh, and surprisingly enough, President and Sister Hawks are amazing. They are so supportive and kind. I don't get to talk to them a lot actually. There has been a crazy influx of missionaries. They are going from 80-150 very quickly!!!!!!!! So they don't have much time for us. hmmmm, I am still the shortest person in China. I haven't seen one person shorter than me. Actually, yes, but she was 10. hmmm, what else. Oh, my companion is Sister Lee. She is from Hong Kong and doesn't speak english very well. It is so hard for us to communicate. I don't know what to do about it other than speak Cantonese better. It is rough. And our apartment is the size of the reading room. no joke. And there are 5 of us living in it. It is SOOOOOOO HUMID! I have never been more wet in my entire life. Not even in the shower...or swimming. It is crazy. And oh so hot. I came at the hottest time of the year. There is no use in trying to stay dry. Our apartment also does not have air conditioning so we just have a fan that blows hooooot air. But enough of the not so good things. We have about 10 investigators but about 4 progressing. People don't want to come to church or just feel like it is too much work. Everyone here is Buddist and it is real. I didn't think that people actually practiced Buddism. They do. There are shrines...or I don't know what they are called, but they are EVERYWHERE! I would take a picture but I don't know if that is allowed. Anyway, I don't know exactly what they do but it is so hard to teach them because they don't want anything to do with us. Something weird. Mormon religion in Cantonese sounds a lot like "the devil's door". Yeah. since Mormon is an English translation it sounds devilish. So when people ask about us they hear "devils door". That is so hard because people will be interested and then they ask if we are the "moyimungaau" and then all interest is gone! So sad. Anyway, we did have a miracle this week. One girl, A-Yih, has been investigating the church for over a year. She wanted to be baptized but her dad would not let her. Then this past week her dad signed the papers and so my first Sunday we had a baptism! It was way cool. Of course I couldn't understand anything but I could sure feel the spirit. I have had a very hard time this week adjusting to the time and the culture and the language and my companion. I was really down in the dumps, but when I pray and read my scriptures it gives me hope. It gives me the strength to keep my head high and push on. This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life and I am sure that it will just get harder, but I will succeed in the Lord. I can and will do everything He needs me to do. I just need to have faith, HOPE, and charity. Forget about myself and go to work. Like Dad told me on the phone. Yes, this work is hard. It is SO hard, but it is a mountain to climb. Climbing the mountain is so hard but it only makes me stronger. When I get to the top of this mountain I will be able to look at the success that the Lord blessed me with. I CAN DO THIS! Sorry this is like a motivational email to myself but I just want you all to remember and have hope. Have hope that what the Lord wants can be accomplished. Have hope to obtain eternal life and FOREVER HAPPINESS! I am so grateful to have my amazing family and their support. I am so grateful to you, Mom and Dad. Without you I couldn't do any of this. Thank you for your strong testimonies and your examples. You give me so much strength to carry on. I love you so so so much. Thank you for the motivation you give me. -LOVE LOVE LOVE XOXOXOXO Sister hamblin
MOMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hi Mom and Dad :) and others. China is......crazy. really. Like I don't think one thing is the same but the Church. The city is huuuuggggeeee and EVERYTHING is Chinese. Yeah you would have thought that haha. Anyway, I can't understand ANYTHING. Yes it is true what they say "that wasn't the language I learned in the MTC". I was called to bear my testimony in church and boy was that a scary moment. There are actually a lot of members in my ward. I am serving in the Kwun Tong area. It is known as the "miracle area". haha I am going to need a miracle to do this. Anyway, the members are very nice. I am eating cereal for breakfast and a tooonnnnn of rice and noodles for everything else. These people literally SHOVE food into their mouths with their chopsticks and it is crazy how well they use them. And then I am just this little American girl who can't even keep the chopsticks in her hands. Oh, and surprisingly enough, President and Sister Hawks are amazing. They are so supportive and kind. I don't get to talk to them a lot actually. There has been a crazy influx of missionaries. They are going from 80-150 very quickly!!!!!!!! So they don't have much time for us. hmmmm, I am still the shortest person in China. I haven't seen one person shorter than me. Actually, yes, but she was 10. hmmm, what else. Oh, my companion is Sister Lee. She is from Hong Kong and doesn't speak english very well. It is so hard for us to communicate. I don't know what to do about it other than speak Cantonese better. It is rough. And our apartment is the size of the reading room. no joke. And there are 5 of us living in it. It is SOOOOOOO HUMID! I have never been more wet in my entire life. Not even in the shower...or swimming. It is crazy. And oh so hot. I came at the hottest time of the year. There is no use in trying to stay dry. Our apartment also does not have air conditioning so we just have a fan that blows hooooot air. But enough of the not so good things. We have about 10 investigators but about 4 progressing. People don't want to come to church or just feel like it is too much work. Everyone here is Buddist and it is real. I didn't think that people actually practiced Buddism. They do. There are shrines...or I don't know what they are called, but they are EVERYWHERE! I would take a picture but I don't know if that is allowed. Anyway, I don't know exactly what they do but it is so hard to teach them because they don't want anything to do with us. Something weird. Mormon religion in Cantonese sounds a lot like "the devil's door". Yeah. since Mormon is an English translation it sounds devilish. So when people ask about us they hear "devils door". That is so hard because people will be interested and then they ask if we are the "moyimungaau" and then all interest is gone! So sad. Anyway, we did have a miracle this week. One girl, A-Yih, has been investigating the church for over a year. She wanted to be baptized but her dad would not let her. Then this past week her dad signed the papers and so my first Sunday we had a baptism! It was way cool. Of course I couldn't understand anything but I could sure feel the spirit. I have had a very hard time this week adjusting to the time and the culture and the language and my companion. I was really down in the dumps, but when I pray and read my scriptures it gives me hope. It gives me the strength to keep my head high and push on. This is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life and I am sure that it will just get harder, but I will succeed in the Lord. I can and will do everything He needs me to do. I just need to have faith, HOPE, and charity. Forget about myself and go to work. Like Dad told me on the phone. Yes, this work is hard. It is SO hard, but it is a mountain to climb. Climbing the mountain is so hard but it only makes me stronger. When I get to the top of this mountain I will be able to look at the success that the Lord blessed me with. I CAN DO THIS! Sorry this is like a motivational email to myself but I just want you all to remember and have hope. Have hope that what the Lord wants can be accomplished. Have hope to obtain eternal life and FOREVER HAPPINESS! I am so grateful to have my amazing family and their support. I am so grateful to you, Mom and Dad. Without you I couldn't do any of this. Thank you for your strong testimonies and your examples. You give me so much strength to carry on. I love you so so so much. Thank you for the motivation you give me. -LOVE LOVE LOVE XOXOXOXO Sister hamblin
Monday, August 19 2013
Hello Mommy! This week has been SO HARD! I had been having so many doubts and struggles. I can't understand anything so my thoughts just go home. They go to how easy I had it before and how this is so tough. I just want you all to be so so thankful for EVERYTHING that you have. There are little po po's (grandmas) out on the streets everyday with their little hunched backs just cleaning and sweeping. They are so old and fragile but still work hard. People in Hong Kong have houses the size of our reading room and it is normal. No one has a car unless they are super rich and the people live in such humble circumstances. We are just so so blessed to live in America. And we are so blessed to have our amazing family. So many families have members who reject them because they are part of the church. I am just so grateful for you all. I think about you all the time. I just hope you are doing well! I love you so much.
Ok, so I haven't gotten any letters or dear elders yet. Someone told me that it takes 3 weeks...and I don't know how to send letters yet so I'm sorry in advance! And, yes, the other 2 sisters in the apt. speak English so that is a blessing!
Our apartment has two little tiny rooms, a small kitchen, and a room with a couple desks. Luckily, we don't sleep on the floor! We have 2 bunk beds. They take up an entire room. Like we don't have an inch of space between them or between the wall. It is a miracle that anyone fit one in there and we have two :) It is kind of funny. We do exercise everyday. We have a little basketball court right by our place so we go there. But it is usually raining so we don't really go there a lot. The church does have air conditioning, so that is GREAT. The heat does bother sister Lee. Everyone has little fans they take around. Like the legit folding fans in the Chinese movies. It is pretty cool! But there is not really any way to deal with the heat. You just deal with it. I hear that it should be a little better next month. Crossing my fingers!
My companion and I have been able to communicate a little bit better this week. We got three new member referrals this week so that was a miracle! And two of them are families. I hope and pray that they will listen to our message. Every day we go for hours and hours trying to find people who are prepared and want the gospel. It is so hard to be rejected time after time because I know how much EVERYONE NEEDS this gospel. I know how much it has blessed my life and I so desperately want others to feel the comfort and eternal happiness it will bring!
I don't know if this is mean or not but I LOVED hearing about Aunt Blanche and Justin :) hehe oh, our family! I just love them so much! And tell Kara congrats! I also want that job when I get home. So you didn't ask me enough questions this week so I'll just start rambling now.
Oh, hmmmm, ok, guess what I ate? Chicken feet, chicken liver, pig nose, and pig tongues. We ate at the bishops house! Yep. His wife made about 12 different Chinese dishes and made me try them all! It was pretty nasty haha. They knew it too. Bishop had to tell me that my Chinese would get better if I ate the chicken feet. He is so great. The members in the ward are so nice. There is one man that brings the missionaries treats every Sunday...and by treats I mean little hotel soaps or condensed milk or oatmeal :) He is such a cute little Chinese man. Oh and I have some pictures here. The apartments here have huge metal doors on them. They are kind of like little prison cells. I'll get a picture on here.
I also went to Monkok today to shop with my companion! It was great and I love Hong Kong shopping. CLOTHES ARE SO CHEAP. really. Mom, you will LOVE it.
So we have one investigator named Charlie. She looks like a little minion on despicable me. I don't know if I already told you, but she is just so cute. She has a baptismal date for September...I think. I hope she will be ready! We have so many investigators but none seem to want to progress. People in Hong Kong are so busy and they just say mh dahaan. No time. Not available. It is rough on the missionaries. But we will make it! Tell the family that I love them. And I wish I was there for the maternity clothes fitting!!!! I think about you and pray for you every single day. I love you so much and thank you for everything! You are the greatest parents on earth. XOXOXOXO
-Sister Bug
Hello Mommy! This week has been SO HARD! I had been having so many doubts and struggles. I can't understand anything so my thoughts just go home. They go to how easy I had it before and how this is so tough. I just want you all to be so so thankful for EVERYTHING that you have. There are little po po's (grandmas) out on the streets everyday with their little hunched backs just cleaning and sweeping. They are so old and fragile but still work hard. People in Hong Kong have houses the size of our reading room and it is normal. No one has a car unless they are super rich and the people live in such humble circumstances. We are just so so blessed to live in America. And we are so blessed to have our amazing family. So many families have members who reject them because they are part of the church. I am just so grateful for you all. I think about you all the time. I just hope you are doing well! I love you so much.
Ok, so I haven't gotten any letters or dear elders yet. Someone told me that it takes 3 weeks...and I don't know how to send letters yet so I'm sorry in advance! And, yes, the other 2 sisters in the apt. speak English so that is a blessing!
Our apartment has two little tiny rooms, a small kitchen, and a room with a couple desks. Luckily, we don't sleep on the floor! We have 2 bunk beds. They take up an entire room. Like we don't have an inch of space between them or between the wall. It is a miracle that anyone fit one in there and we have two :) It is kind of funny. We do exercise everyday. We have a little basketball court right by our place so we go there. But it is usually raining so we don't really go there a lot. The church does have air conditioning, so that is GREAT. The heat does bother sister Lee. Everyone has little fans they take around. Like the legit folding fans in the Chinese movies. It is pretty cool! But there is not really any way to deal with the heat. You just deal with it. I hear that it should be a little better next month. Crossing my fingers!
My companion and I have been able to communicate a little bit better this week. We got three new member referrals this week so that was a miracle! And two of them are families. I hope and pray that they will listen to our message. Every day we go for hours and hours trying to find people who are prepared and want the gospel. It is so hard to be rejected time after time because I know how much EVERYONE NEEDS this gospel. I know how much it has blessed my life and I so desperately want others to feel the comfort and eternal happiness it will bring!
I don't know if this is mean or not but I LOVED hearing about Aunt Blanche and Justin :) hehe oh, our family! I just love them so much! And tell Kara congrats! I also want that job when I get home. So you didn't ask me enough questions this week so I'll just start rambling now.
Oh, hmmmm, ok, guess what I ate? Chicken feet, chicken liver, pig nose, and pig tongues. We ate at the bishops house! Yep. His wife made about 12 different Chinese dishes and made me try them all! It was pretty nasty haha. They knew it too. Bishop had to tell me that my Chinese would get better if I ate the chicken feet. He is so great. The members in the ward are so nice. There is one man that brings the missionaries treats every Sunday...and by treats I mean little hotel soaps or condensed milk or oatmeal :) He is such a cute little Chinese man. Oh and I have some pictures here. The apartments here have huge metal doors on them. They are kind of like little prison cells. I'll get a picture on here.
So we have one investigator named Charlie. She looks like a little minion on despicable me. I don't know if I already told you, but she is just so cute. She has a baptismal date for September...I think. I hope she will be ready! We have so many investigators but none seem to want to progress. People in Hong Kong are so busy and they just say mh dahaan. No time. Not available. It is rough on the missionaries. But we will make it! Tell the family that I love them. And I wish I was there for the maternity clothes fitting!!!! I think about you and pray for you every single day. I love you so much and thank you for everything! You are the greatest parents on earth. XOXOXOXO
-Sister Bug
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Monday, July 29, 2013
MUMSIE!!!!!! HELLLOOOOOOOO!!!!! I am totally ok with you asking a lot of questions :) Ok now for the answers! I DO HAVE MY FLIGHT PLANS!!! WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I will send them in a picture to you :) I sure hope that you get it because I never know if these computers send a blasted thing! Ok hmmmmmm I can probably call you around 8;00 on Monday morning! You can look at the flight plans too to see what would work. I don't really know because I don't know how long it will take my district to get through security and out of country luggage stuff. JUST BE HOME ALL MORNING!!!! :) WOOOO HOOOOOO ILL BE IN CHINA THIS TIME NEXT WEEK!!!!! or on my way at least! And ok, calling card, I hear that collect is super expensive. So I will try to get another phone card so I can call ya :) think of questions to ask me on the phone!
haha and yes I have a visa! as far as I know. We are all set to leave on Monday morning! I hope you can see the flight plan picture. sister May is already gone. so I don't get to see them anymore! OH and there is a sister in my district and her parents are both from SNOWFLAKE ARIZONA! and my zone leader is from Thatcher. Wow. Everyone knows about Eagar Arizona! I LOVE IT!
So I hear it has been raining a lot! how cool! I love to hear that :) I am so excited and would love to see a picture of the green Round Valley! AND I WANT TO SEE A PICTURE OF MY SISTER WITH A BABY IN HER STOMACH! just saying :) and I have had a few people email me and tell me how wonderful Rachel's talk was! So RACHEL SEND ME A COPY:) I AM SO EXCITED FOR RACHEL TO GO ON HER MISSION! IT IS GOING TO BE SO COOL! although I was hoping that she would have to come here :( its ok though. ANd I hear that a lot of missionaries have to do that weird visa thing. Like for the phillinesesese (however you spell that) they have to come to Hong Kong every 3 months so they can do that same visa thingy. That will be so much fun. I am so excited for her.
Language.....oh the language. It is.....coming haha. Wow it is sure a hard one! but I bet I can get around haha. I am going to be in for a big surprise when I get on that airiplane and they start speaking in a language that I did not learn at the MTC! It is definitely time to leave. I feel like the only way I can learn more is to actually experience it! I want to experience the bamboo mats as beds and eating with chopsticks and eating fish brains! yes I'm even excited for that!
oh and I just need the regular colored pencils. Just to color with. and as with the hair stuff...i just need some oil or something! Anything that will help it hold a curl and keep frizz down. It doesn't have to be that exact stuff. I just need something that will help me haha. My hair is already crazy here. I don't know how crazy it will be in the old hk. oh and about my skirt. I think I'll be able to fix it! no worries! I can't wait for the package!!! I LOVE PACKAGE :) and hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
ok story time So I was just teaching a lesson with my companion this week. Our investigator asked us to tell him a little bit about President Monson! So we said that he was sweet and a great story teller and ladie dadie dadie. Then we decided to tell him that he was a little older. When we said the word "old" our investigator got so red and just started to like cry.....and then laugh....and then didn't stop for well over 5 minutes. He told us that we should never ever say that word! He later explained that if we use that word for old as an adjective for a person...then it meant equivalent to the "F" word in English. I was so embarrassed!!!!! Oh my goodness I felt so bad!
So I learned that Cantonese gets harder and harder everyday! haha I just need to watch what I say. It turns out that that word has 47 different meanings depending on how you use it. So I learned a lesson there. So today we got to clean the temple. It has been closed down for 6 weeks now. It was just my district. A lady took the sisters to the celestial room and we got to clean the chandeleire....don't know how to spell that. We took it apart and cleaned pieces and then put them on. It had taken the ladies over a week to do most of it. We were just there for the finishing touches and putting it back together. It was amazing. I felt such happiness cleaning the Lord's house. The temple is the most amazing place on Earth. I just want to have every single person to have the opportunity to enter the temple and make covenants. It is the greatest thing we will do! A lady then took us to the bride's room. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! everything was coated in gold. I am so excited to go to the temple ( at the right time. not soon of course) and realize that I will be with my husband forever! Wow it is just so amazing. I hope that we can all realize the amazing blessing we have. Please go to the temple as much as you can! I won't be able to go much in Hong Kong so do it for me! :) The temple is really the House of the Lord.
I am loving being a missionary and I can only imagine it getting better and better every day! Everyday i learn more and more about the gospel. Study the scriptures and PRAY ALWAYS! prayer is so powerful. I have received so many answers and promptings in these short 9 weeks of being a missionary. I have felt the presence of the spirit with me daily. It is the best feeling in the world! I invite you all to do whatever it takes to have the spirit with you always. We have so much in this life that can distract us from our real purpose! Take a little extra time in your day and thank God for everything! I love you all!!!!! cant wait to talk on Monday!!!!
MUMSIE!!!!!! HELLLOOOOOOOO!!!!! I am totally ok with you asking a lot of questions :) Ok now for the answers! I DO HAVE MY FLIGHT PLANS!!! WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!! I will send them in a picture to you :) I sure hope that you get it because I never know if these computers send a blasted thing! Ok hmmmmmm I can probably call you around 8;00 on Monday morning! You can look at the flight plans too to see what would work. I don't really know because I don't know how long it will take my district to get through security and out of country luggage stuff. JUST BE HOME ALL MORNING!!!! :) WOOOO HOOOOOO ILL BE IN CHINA THIS TIME NEXT WEEK!!!!! or on my way at least! And ok, calling card, I hear that collect is super expensive. So I will try to get another phone card so I can call ya :) think of questions to ask me on the phone!
haha and yes I have a visa! as far as I know. We are all set to leave on Monday morning! I hope you can see the flight plan picture. sister May is already gone. so I don't get to see them anymore! OH and there is a sister in my district and her parents are both from SNOWFLAKE ARIZONA! and my zone leader is from Thatcher. Wow. Everyone knows about Eagar Arizona! I LOVE IT!
So I hear it has been raining a lot! how cool! I love to hear that :) I am so excited and would love to see a picture of the green Round Valley! AND I WANT TO SEE A PICTURE OF MY SISTER WITH A BABY IN HER STOMACH! just saying :) and I have had a few people email me and tell me how wonderful Rachel's talk was! So RACHEL SEND ME A COPY:) I AM SO EXCITED FOR RACHEL TO GO ON HER MISSION! IT IS GOING TO BE SO COOL! although I was hoping that she would have to come here :( its ok though. ANd I hear that a lot of missionaries have to do that weird visa thing. Like for the phillinesesese (however you spell that) they have to come to Hong Kong every 3 months so they can do that same visa thingy. That will be so much fun. I am so excited for her.
Language.....oh the language. It is.....coming haha. Wow it is sure a hard one! but I bet I can get around haha. I am going to be in for a big surprise when I get on that airiplane and they start speaking in a language that I did not learn at the MTC! It is definitely time to leave. I feel like the only way I can learn more is to actually experience it! I want to experience the bamboo mats as beds and eating with chopsticks and eating fish brains! yes I'm even excited for that!
oh and I just need the regular colored pencils. Just to color with. and as with the hair stuff...i just need some oil or something! Anything that will help it hold a curl and keep frizz down. It doesn't have to be that exact stuff. I just need something that will help me haha. My hair is already crazy here. I don't know how crazy it will be in the old hk. oh and about my skirt. I think I'll be able to fix it! no worries! I can't wait for the package!!! I LOVE PACKAGE :) and hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
ok story time So I was just teaching a lesson with my companion this week. Our investigator asked us to tell him a little bit about President Monson! So we said that he was sweet and a great story teller and ladie dadie dadie. Then we decided to tell him that he was a little older. When we said the word "old" our investigator got so red and just started to like cry.....and then laugh....and then didn't stop for well over 5 minutes. He told us that we should never ever say that word! He later explained that if we use that word for old as an adjective for a person...then it meant equivalent to the "F" word in English. I was so embarrassed!!!!! Oh my goodness I felt so bad!
So I learned that Cantonese gets harder and harder everyday! haha I just need to watch what I say. It turns out that that word has 47 different meanings depending on how you use it. So I learned a lesson there. So today we got to clean the temple. It has been closed down for 6 weeks now. It was just my district. A lady took the sisters to the celestial room and we got to clean the chandeleire....don't know how to spell that. We took it apart and cleaned pieces and then put them on. It had taken the ladies over a week to do most of it. We were just there for the finishing touches and putting it back together. It was amazing. I felt such happiness cleaning the Lord's house. The temple is the most amazing place on Earth. I just want to have every single person to have the opportunity to enter the temple and make covenants. It is the greatest thing we will do! A lady then took us to the bride's room. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! everything was coated in gold. I am so excited to go to the temple ( at the right time. not soon of course) and realize that I will be with my husband forever! Wow it is just so amazing. I hope that we can all realize the amazing blessing we have. Please go to the temple as much as you can! I won't be able to go much in Hong Kong so do it for me! :) The temple is really the House of the Lord.
I am loving being a missionary and I can only imagine it getting better and better every day! Everyday i learn more and more about the gospel. Study the scriptures and PRAY ALWAYS! prayer is so powerful. I have received so many answers and promptings in these short 9 weeks of being a missionary. I have felt the presence of the spirit with me daily. It is the best feeling in the world! I invite you all to do whatever it takes to have the spirit with you always. We have so much in this life that can distract us from our real purpose! Take a little extra time in your day and thank God for everything! I love you all!!!!! cant wait to talk on Monday!!!!
Sunday, July 21, 2013
On Mon, Jul 15, 2013
MUMSIE!!!!!
I'm so glad that you got the letter from last week...that is sad that it didn't send because now you have 2 long emails to read today! haha but THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE PACKAGE!!!!!!! Everyone loved it. But there were no brownies......odd. haha that's ok. I eat enough anyway!
I AM SO READY TO GO TO CHINA! I cant wait to meet my mission president and just get out there and teach REAL people. Actually that part is just plain scary. I don't know how to talk to them and I have to speak in Cantonese. They don't understand English very well like I thought they would. But i am trying!
I am getting nervous about the 8 new wards thing! But we can do it! I know we can. I have the best district. they are ALL better teachers than I am. I need to step it up haha. But they all studied Chinese before they came. I am definitely the odd man out. I just hope and pray that the gift of tongues is not what I am experiencing now haha. I tried to tell someone that they looked nice today and it came out ""you look tasty". My teacher definitely let me know about that one. You know what they say, everyone who learns a new language will make mistakes,,.I am definitely making mistakes!!!!! But it is fun and it is worth it!
Anyway I love to hear from you and hear about the rain! and dads calling and Rachel and Jess and Andy and JAXON!!! :) keep it coming! so hmmmm what happened this week... well I have 6 investigators now when normal missionaries have 2. We are so stressed out because we don't know the language and we have at least 2 lessons a day. It is terrifying but somehow we seem to get everything done everyday! It is a miracle from Heavenly Father. I can now bear my testimony better and say a prayer and give the first 2 lessons without notes. I am not supposed to use notes anymore either. Our teacher told us that and we are all a little scared but we will be ok!
hahah I would love to hear about Rachel's babysitting story!!! Tell her to dear elder me or something!!!! and I wrote you a letter just in case this doesn't send so that will tell you about the temple.....I don't really know what to say in this letter. Maybe ask me some more questions haha. the MTC is the same......the teachers are the same....my district is the same.....and my companion is the same. Sorry I don't have that much information!
I LOVE YOU ALL! I hope that you are all doing well. Remember that I love you and I am away on the Lord''s work. It is I got the rest of my CHINESE NAME! buuut I can't read it haha so I dont know what it means. someone tried to help me and we think it means like ""Rare/Valuable _______(something something) rushing rivers"" haha So all the love from the rare valuable something something rushing river sister who loves you all very much!!!!
I LOVE YOU
love you
love
love
love! xoxoxoxoxoxo
Date: Mon, 8 Jul 2013
MUMSIE!!!!!! So, first of all, I love to get your dear elder leters! Keep them coming! :):) And would you tell your daughter Jessica to write me or something? I want to know about Jaxon! And about the blog! Just please correct any mispelling mistakes and you can share whatever you want on it! But make sure that it is uplifting. I noticed that my first letter was all about homesickness and no one wants to hear about that. So just whatever you think would be good! And you can share the pictures :) NOW for question answering :) I hope mum mum likes my letters :) (vilma) I hope you are sending these to Aunt Nancy and Kara too! I would love to know how they are doing! Do Kara and Kale still want to serve missions? 3. The time is weird here. I have been here for a month but it feels like a year and then like 2 days. Maybe a year because we do the same thing every day and maybe 2 days because thats how much chinese i know! haha 4. My mouth is doing great! until I yawn or somthing. then it hurts! but dont worry :) it is not keeping me from eating thats for sure! haha I figure that I won't have food I like in Hong Kong so I can eat whatever I want here :) even though I don't like the food. I do eat the food you sent me though! THE COOKIES ARE YUMMMY! of course they are. 5. The 4th was a great day! We watched 17 miracles. Mom please watch it, so sad but so good! The faith of the pioneers was amazing! I hope to have that much faith my whole life! We also got to watch the fireworks (yingfaah) through a fence...through a tree.....through another tree.....but the sound was fantastic! my 2 favorite sounds in the world are fireworks and thunder. Anyway it was really fun :) then they gave us ice cream. I love this country and the independence and freedom we have! A sister in my room got a letter from her dad and he said, " I love the 4th of July and all the freedoms we celebrate, but don't you think it is amazing that we get to celebrate our freedom every Sunday when we take the sacrament?" I thought that was just so good! Every week we get to be free from our sins! Every day we can be! That is definitely something to celebrate. 6. RACHEL GET CROCS!!!!!!! get crocs get crocs. do it get crocs. And really. the clothes you wear dont matter. Well just get clothes that will last you. My clothes are great! other than I already broke a zipper. Make sure that doesnt happen. You really won't know until you get there. I dont know how to help there. sorry! 7. My companion is doing great and My other sister training leader is leaving me next week. So I get to start all over with another sister and then probably another one. I am at the MTC for like a decade according to "MTC time" haha but hey it is a great place. ICHIRO is there? awe man! I always seem to miss him! I haven't heard from my foreigns yet so please tell them to write me! I am good friends with the Dutch district and I am giving them her as a referral so uhhhh she better be ready!!!!!! hehehehehe :) They are coming for her! and I'll find some German ones too (this can go on the blog. they should be prepared) haha. yeah yeah Brandon told me about his visa! That is so cool that he is with elder Edwards!!!!!!! wow. What an awesome experience! I think they were friends. they were in sports together. and they are both great elders so I am so excited for them!!!! And again, JESSICA DAWN! WRITE ME A LETTER! Jaxon needs to know about me and I need to know about him. And still want one of those creepy ultrasound picture things. My journal is longing for it. OK so cool experience! My district went on a temple walk yesterday and gues what? We ran in to some Cantonese speakers! One was from HONG KONG!!! yeah so cool! So I decided to be smart and talk to him in Cantonese. I mean I have been here for a month. of course I would be able to understand him. ....not so..... I tried to say hello and they looked at me like "what the heck is that little white girl trying to say". Yeah. Then I was like....ok well I can share my testimony then right? But before I could, the elders from my district came over and started talking! One tried to say that he liked Cantonese and it came out "I want to kill you". But of course we didn't know that until one of the cute chinese girls almost started to cry! She just turned to me and said "he scares me". then she told us what he said. It was so funny but NOT at the same time. It was so hard to understand them and alllllll of our tones were wrong. haha That humbled me for sure! Then the elder told us that these girls were all investigating the church. They came from mainland China to hear about the church. One of them even had a baptismal date!!!! We were so excited! Then one of my fellow sisters and I bore our testimonies of the book of mormon to her. I don't know if she understood but it was our FIRST real missionary experience! It was so amazing. The spirit was so strong. Even though they couldn't understand us, she knew what we were saying. It was so amazing. The picture here is with her and the others :) wow I just love the Chinese people! The Hong Kong boy that was there told me what ward his parents were in and told us to say hello to them! So I am pumped for that! Then he said "I dont want to scare you missionaries but guess what you get to do?" " My parents said that the mission president wants 8 new wards in the next 18 months!" THOSE 18 MONTHS ARE MY MONTHS! I will be a part of this amazing work in Hong KONg and I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!! They also said that it's ok if our Cantonese is not too good. We can always speak Mandarin to the people! haahah OK, so another surprise! We will also be learning some Mandarin on our mission! Wow I need the Lord so bad! But I know I can do it!!!!! I will do what the Lord wants me to do. He will make it all possible! Anyway, I love you all and hope you are having a fantastic day! Ngoh Jidouh ligo gaawui haid jansatge. gnoh jidouh yurksat simaaht haid singi jansatge. ngoh jidouh thomas s monson haigh jansatge sinji. ngoh jidouh taugwa moyimoungihn ngohdeig hoyih jipsauh kaisih! (I know that this church is the true church. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and that Thomas S Monson is our prophet today. I know through the book of mormon we can recieve our own revelation) ps. watch the Joseph Smith movie and also read 2nd Nephi ch 4!!!!! LOVE YOU! LOVE THIS GOSPEL! LOVE MISSIONARY WORK! ONLY ONE MONTH AND I WILL BE IN CHINA!!!! WOOOOHOOOOOOOO
MUMSIE!!!!!! So, first of all, I love to get your dear elder leters! Keep them coming! :):) And would you tell your daughter Jessica to write me or something? I want to know about Jaxon! And about the blog! Just please correct any mispelling mistakes and you can share whatever you want on it! But make sure that it is uplifting. I noticed that my first letter was all about homesickness and no one wants to hear about that. So just whatever you think would be good! And you can share the pictures :) NOW for question answering :) I hope mum mum likes my letters :) (vilma) I hope you are sending these to Aunt Nancy and Kara too! I would love to know how they are doing! Do Kara and Kale still want to serve missions? 3. The time is weird here. I have been here for a month but it feels like a year and then like 2 days. Maybe a year because we do the same thing every day and maybe 2 days because thats how much chinese i know! haha 4. My mouth is doing great! until I yawn or somthing. then it hurts! but dont worry :) it is not keeping me from eating thats for sure! haha I figure that I won't have food I like in Hong Kong so I can eat whatever I want here :) even though I don't like the food. I do eat the food you sent me though! THE COOKIES ARE YUMMMY! of course they are. 5. The 4th was a great day! We watched 17 miracles. Mom please watch it, so sad but so good! The faith of the pioneers was amazing! I hope to have that much faith my whole life! We also got to watch the fireworks (yingfaah) through a fence...through a tree.....through another tree.....but the sound was fantastic! my 2 favorite sounds in the world are fireworks and thunder. Anyway it was really fun :) then they gave us ice cream. I love this country and the independence and freedom we have! A sister in my room got a letter from her dad and he said, " I love the 4th of July and all the freedoms we celebrate, but don't you think it is amazing that we get to celebrate our freedom every Sunday when we take the sacrament?" I thought that was just so good! Every week we get to be free from our sins! Every day we can be! That is definitely something to celebrate. 6. RACHEL GET CROCS!!!!!!! get crocs get crocs. do it get crocs. And really. the clothes you wear dont matter. Well just get clothes that will last you. My clothes are great! other than I already broke a zipper. Make sure that doesnt happen. You really won't know until you get there. I dont know how to help there. sorry! 7. My companion is doing great and My other sister training leader is leaving me next week. So I get to start all over with another sister and then probably another one. I am at the MTC for like a decade according to "MTC time" haha but hey it is a great place. ICHIRO is there? awe man! I always seem to miss him! I haven't heard from my foreigns yet so please tell them to write me! I am good friends with the Dutch district and I am giving them her as a referral so uhhhh she better be ready!!!!!! hehehehehe :) They are coming for her! and I'll find some German ones too (this can go on the blog. they should be prepared) haha. yeah yeah Brandon told me about his visa! That is so cool that he is with elder Edwards!!!!!!! wow. What an awesome experience! I think they were friends. they were in sports together. and they are both great elders so I am so excited for them!!!! And again, JESSICA DAWN! WRITE ME A LETTER! Jaxon needs to know about me and I need to know about him. And still want one of those creepy ultrasound picture things. My journal is longing for it. OK so cool experience! My district went on a temple walk yesterday and gues what? We ran in to some Cantonese speakers! One was from HONG KONG!!! yeah so cool! So I decided to be smart and talk to him in Cantonese. I mean I have been here for a month. of course I would be able to understand him. ....not so..... I tried to say hello and they looked at me like "what the heck is that little white girl trying to say". Yeah. Then I was like....ok well I can share my testimony then right? But before I could, the elders from my district came over and started talking! One tried to say that he liked Cantonese and it came out "I want to kill you". But of course we didn't know that until one of the cute chinese girls almost started to cry! She just turned to me and said "he scares me". then she told us what he said. It was so funny but NOT at the same time. It was so hard to understand them and alllllll of our tones were wrong. haha That humbled me for sure! Then the elder told us that these girls were all investigating the church. They came from mainland China to hear about the church. One of them even had a baptismal date!!!! We were so excited! Then one of my fellow sisters and I bore our testimonies of the book of mormon to her. I don't know if she understood but it was our FIRST real missionary experience! It was so amazing. The spirit was so strong. Even though they couldn't understand us, she knew what we were saying. It was so amazing. The picture here is with her and the others :) wow I just love the Chinese people! The Hong Kong boy that was there told me what ward his parents were in and told us to say hello to them! So I am pumped for that! Then he said "I dont want to scare you missionaries but guess what you get to do?" " My parents said that the mission president wants 8 new wards in the next 18 months!" THOSE 18 MONTHS ARE MY MONTHS! I will be a part of this amazing work in Hong KONg and I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!! They also said that it's ok if our Cantonese is not too good. We can always speak Mandarin to the people! haahah OK, so another surprise! We will also be learning some Mandarin on our mission! Wow I need the Lord so bad! But I know I can do it!!!!! I will do what the Lord wants me to do. He will make it all possible! Anyway, I love you all and hope you are having a fantastic day! Ngoh Jidouh ligo gaawui haid jansatge. gnoh jidouh yurksat simaaht haid singi jansatge. ngoh jidouh thomas s monson haigh jansatge sinji. ngoh jidouh taugwa moyimoungihn ngohdeig hoyih jipsauh kaisih! (I know that this church is the true church. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and that Thomas S Monson is our prophet today. I know through the book of mormon we can recieve our own revelation) ps. watch the Joseph Smith movie and also read 2nd Nephi ch 4!!!!! LOVE YOU! LOVE THIS GOSPEL! LOVE MISSIONARY WORK! ONLY ONE MONTH AND I WILL BE IN CHINA!!!! WOOOOHOOOOOOOO
On Mon, Jul 1, 2013 at 3:03 PM Emily Hamblin wrote:
Good Afternoon Mumsie and others!
My mouth is doing great. It doesnt hurt. Well a little bit but I am doing fine!! I was so surprised that I had to get them out.Iit was all so sudden haha. Anyway the dentist was awesome and the office was super nice. And I am with Jess when she says that the wisdom teeth drugs are the greatest!!! It was so funny. My comp told me all that I had said when i got out. First, I just want to say that my dentist told me that I woke up speaking Chinese!!! How cool is that? Super cool! Who knows if I was even speaking gwondongwa or just saying whatever Chinese I thought I knew. All I know is that I had the gift of tongues at that moment! haha. Anway here are the funny or not so funny things I did and said.
First of all I cried 4 times. Once because I wanted my bed and I thought someone was stealing it.
Twice for my mumsie :) see I love you!
And once for an elder in my district that I guess I have subconcious feelings for. I was asking why he wasnt there and why he didnt care about me!
My dentist love is not just for you know who! I also fell in love with my wisdom teeth dentist! I confessed my undying love. How embarrassing am I? Yeah, super embarrassing!
I also told my nurse that I would set her up with Ray. I forgot to mention that he is married. Whatever.
So to get to the dentists office I had to get a ride from a security person from the MTC. I definitely told him that he was super cute. I also told him that he was God's Miracle several times. Needless to say, he liked me a lot at that moment. He told me that he would get me a frosty but was denied permission.
I told everyone that they were jerks and punks, then I would express my love for the temple.
One missionary I saw told me I looked like a chipmunk so I told him "cut your head off".
haha I was so embarrassed because then when I was no longer out from the drugs I had to go back with that same driver because he had to take me to get my medicine. He just kept on reminding me that I said he was God's miracle.
The best part of that day was getting out of the MTC twice! yeah, I felt pretty good :)
Tthe not so good part was that since i was the mission president seminar, the health clinic was not open. I didn't have medicine for 3 hours after my surgery. That hurt like you know what but it is all good now! I didnt even swell up that bad!
So mom, I allow you to put that on the blog! How is that going by the way? Nothing embarrassing right?
My companion took great care of me :)
Now to answer your questions. On sundays I just have a lot of meetings and then church and fun things like that. It is a full day of super spiritual things......like every other day! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know that he is supposed to be named Jaxon..........
please send me a picture of Jess and her fat litle belly :) :)
Tell Jaxon I love him tooo
I don't get to go to the 4th celebrations but we do get to watch the fireworks! That should be fun! :) Tell Jess and Andy to go to the field and see me! Just kidding. Not allowed.
The pictures are of me and my district and my comp and i!
So i just wanted to say that I love you all so much! I am sad that I am going to miss the 4th AGAIN, but I am in the right place. I love America! I appreciate it more and more every day. The difference between here and China is huge. I am so gratefull for religious freedom and all our freedoms. This is the greatest country! I love you all and I know that this gospel is Christ's gospel. I know that the atonement can heal our sins, our weaknesses, our pains, and our brokenhearts. Study the scriptures! Pray sincerely. Be a missionary in the way you act, speak, and go about your lives. We have something amazing that ALL of God's children should know about!
I sent you letters because I don't have enough time now.
Anyway you asked if I would like another package...yes :) I love banana bread :) and A FAMILY PICTURE!
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