This week was one of the craziest weeks of my life thus far!

On Wednesday we went to Pehng Chau which is a little tiny area in our mission with a less-active member on it that we will visit every now and then. It’s really inconvenient to get there (it is an island after all) and we have to take different buses and then a boat to get there which is a big chunk of the day! Also, it was my first time being on an actual boat and I found out that I do indeed get seasick. It is such a cute island and the people there are so friendly–it just has such a different vibe to it than Hong Kong island which I’m used to! There are no cars because it’s so small and the biggest buildings are like a grocery store and a library. The seasickness was worth it just for the view alone! And the sister that we visited hadn’t been to church in years, like 20+, and when we taught her we invited her to go this Sunday and she did! Hopefully we can find enough time to keep visiting her!

One of the weirdest experiences of my mission also happened this week. We had met an older lady last week (probably in her 70s) and had given her a Restoration pamphlet to read as well as our phone number in case she had any questions. She actually ended up calling us the very next night wanting to meet us in the park to discuss it with her. My companion and I were surprised because not many people actually call us when we give them our number! We met her the next day and then she requested that we walk to a restaurant because she was really hungry, so we did. After we got there she requested that we eat something as well and she would pay for it. Normally this is the opposite of a problem, but we had just gotten done eating a ton of food for dinner right before we met with her so I wasn’t too inclined to accept any more at the moment. My comp and I agreed to share a dish and then went to sit down. When they brought out the food it turned out that she had ordered us each a plate of food as well as a soup! The next little bit was spent with me trying to stuff as much food as I could into myself without looking too sick and trying to catch what she was saying to me in Cantonese, mostly responding with nervous laughs and continued eating. She also kept giving us some of the food from her own plate and insisting that we eat that as well! It was like torture in the kindest way possible! And to top it all off, the only thing that I had to drink was a glass of literally boiling hot water which only added to my uneasiness. After the meal she finally let us discuss the pamphlet but ended up Bible bashing us for the next hour! She literally wouldn’t let me and my companion say a word so we just sat there listening to her as best we could. Needless to say, we won’t be seeing her again.

My companion had been having some pains so we took her to the hospital on Thursday night and it turned out that she had some sort of kidney/bladder problem and had to be admitted immediately! I spent the next day as part of a trio with some other sisters which turned out to be an adventure of its own sort. We got lost on multiple occasions and one of the sisters dropped our phone battery down an elevator shaft. Yeah, it was a pretty weird day. My companion was in the hospital and we no longer had any form of communication! We eventually got it all figured out and that day I went to bed more tired than I’ve ever been! My companion came home from the hospital the next day and is doing well, she luckily just has to take some antibiotics for the next couple weeks!

It was a crazy week, but I learned from so many great experiences! I learned how important it is to have faith and keep moving forward despite the challenges that get in your way. You can either let your trials get the best of you or you can use them as a stepping stone to become someone even greater than you were before!

Have a great week!

Love,