I made it through my first full week in Hong Kong!  And I’m still alive!

Happy Mothers Day, everyone (it was technically yesterday for us, but I’m still counting it)! Yesterday in church I definitely got loaded up with all kinds of sweets and then spent the rest of the day regretting my decisions. But would I do it again? Probably.

I also got to Skype my family and it was so good to talk to them!! This is an official reminder to thank your families for all that they have done for you. Families are so amazing and inspired!!! I can never thank my family enough for all that they have done for me. So if you can, give yours a hug!

There has definitely been a lot of adjusting to the culture of everything–it’s definitely different than anything that I’ve experienced before. We live in the second most city-dense district in all of the mission, so it’s pretty crazy and busy!

We have a really nice ward who loves to give us food every once in a while, which I will never complain about! The other day we were going to have a member teach a lesson with us to one of our investigators, but the investigator never showed up :(But the member took us out to lunch at an Indian restaurant instead which was super good, so that made things a little better!)
Also the other day we were at the church doing some planning when a member brought us some Chinese food. One of the things that she brought was some sort of soup with meat in it. Upon further examination, I came to realize that the meat was cow tongue! The next five minutes were spent with everyone pressuring me to eat some of it and I finally broke and took a bite. And it actually wasn’t too bad. It’s really more of a mental thing that’s hard to get past, especially when you can still see the taste buds on the meat….

In Hong Kong, there are no houses and you can’t go knocking on apartment doors because there are security guards in every building, so we have been doing a lot of street contacting. This means going up to random people and just talking to them–definitely one of my weaknesses. I have concluded that there are only two types of people in Hong Kong: those who have absolutely no time or interest in talking to you, and those who would talk to you for 10 hours straight if you gave them the chance. I’m still not quite sure which one I like better. We literally spent 40 minutes talking with a lady in the park yesterday (it was really just her talking at us) about her abhorrence of Western medicine and her recent back pain. I’m really awkward and have no idea how to end conversations so we just kind of listened and talked a little then gave her a Restoration pamphlet and made a run for it!

One of our investigators, Floren, has a baptismal date for the end of May and I’m really hoping that she will be able to make it! She has problems coming to church because she works a lot and is always tired, but I have faith that she will find the strength and willpower through her faith in the Lord to do what she knows is right.

I still don’t understand almost everything that people say to me, but I think that I’ve improved at least a little, and that’s really all I can ask for! And I always make it a point to tell people that I’ve only been out for about a week so that they have a little pity on me and my scanty Cantonese;)

One thing that I tell myself every day is remember to have faith. If you have faith, there truly isn’t anything that you can’t do. Anything. When I feel myself start to doubt, I push away my fears and remember in whom I have put my trust. Because after all, faith and fear cannot exist in the same person at the same time. Go forward with faith in all that you do!

Have a great week, I love you all!