When The Going Gets Tough....

This was a great week. Most of our investigators are going back to China for new year.

Celine, our recent convert, went back to Malaysia yesterday. We had hotpot with her and another investigator before she left. Hotpot is the best. I do not know why I never saw it in the US. We also played a little Ma Jiang. 

We have been praying for Celine's parents not to worry about her joining the church. Her mother is still quite worried, but we hope that when she goes back home, they will see that her daughter is perfectly normal, and will relax a little. Help us pray for Celine and her parents.

We had interviews with president this week. I enjoy interviews with president. We discussed our area and some things that I have been studying lately in personal study.

Today a member was going to take us to a place called Skywalk in their RV, but the RV had problems. Skywalk is basically a place that you can walk on top of the forest on these tall bridges. We will probably go next week. 

Super glad to have the opportunity to serve in Tasmania through another transfer. I anticipate things will get a little harder with all of the people going back to China (hence the title) but we will find people!

Christmas Week

Christmas was really great. We went to 4 people's homes. For breakfast we went to the Thayer's home. They have a ton of little kids and there was so much excitement. They were all opening their presents, and comparing them, and laughing. They made a huge breakfast and we all ate English muffins with bacon and eggs, and I ate a lot of fruit. 

Then we had a gap of time, so we took the English missionaries to another member's home to Skype. The members ended up inviting us in too because we were just waiting in the car for them. Their family is the "musical family", and there were guitars and other instruments in their living room, so I got a chance to play a little guitar. I have not played for a very long time, so I am not that good. 

That afternoon, we drove out to the farmlands, and taught a lesson at another member's house. The Sister missionaries were also there. They invited us because there are 3 Taiwanese people who are living at this member's house and working on the farm. They also had a lot of kids, and a lot of good food. They had Lamb with mint jelly, an Australian favorite.

I wish we could teach those people, and do more finding and teaching in those rural areas, but unfortunately we are the only Chinese companionship on this island. We do what we can do, but usually the English missionaries teach the Chinese people who live too far away. 

Then at about 4pm we went to the Stewarts house. They are the ones who invite us over often, and have a large plot of land with a pony. When we came, they were having a water fight (It was really hot on Christmas), so we joined them. It was a little silly having a water fight in our proselyting clothes, but it was either soak other people, or get soaked. The time passed so quickly. Before we knew it, we had to return home. We made the long drive home, and when we got home, we discovered that members had left some presents at our door. This ward is very good to us. They gave us some Christmas treats, and toys.

We actually ended up opening most of our Christmas gifts on Christmas eve because we knew that we were completely booked on Christmas. I want to thank my family for the gifts they sent. The gift guessing game was a lot of fun. Thanks for the watch! I like it! And all of the other things. In the end I won the gift guessing game. Some of them were puns, so it was harder for my Chinese companion to guess, but we shared the grand prize. 

I look forward to hearing how your Christmas was.

Our car is really beat. Yesterday the side mirror fell off, and the dealership is closed for a couple more days. 

I like my companion. He tells me some crazy stories about his old area and life back in China. Unlike most Chinese people I have run into, he is from the countryside. The people there are more poor. he is not poor, but he basically lived in the ghetto all his life. To be honest I feel like I have gotten a little lazy, especially with all of the fun things we have had recently. But now that that is mostly over, I am looking forward to getting back to work, especially since Celine is getting baptized soon. 

Celine is super keen. She came to church today. She is the girl whose' best friend is serving a mission right now. 

Right now I can hear my companion telling his family about how the cars here will let you enter their lane and let other people in front of them. haha

Last week one of our investigators got a 2 week old kitten. It is super cute, and she has a sock that she often puts it in.

Until next week.