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
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