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| At the beach in Tuen Muhn. |
19 January 2012
Hello Family dearest, family sublime!
I hope
you're all doing well and dandy. I love you all so much. Thank you for
your constant support and your emails. Oh how I love your emails. You
are all very funny and wonderful people.
Well, as for me and Hong Kong, I am fairly certain it
is real. And I am certain that I am enjoying it. Every once in a while I
have a sudden realization that in a year and a half this place will
eventually be a memory to me, which of course freaks me out. So I have
vowed to keep Hong Kong in my heart - to celebrate it in the past, the
present, and the future. You know. Because despite how hard a mission
is, it is also the most amazing opportunity, too. I still have surreal
moments where I realize that I am really a missionary and that we are
teaching real people who are Heavenly Father's children and that they
are really changing their lives. It's always wonderful but surreal. I'm
very lucky.
Let's see, this week was not full of earth-shattering
events, but contained several lovely things. We got to go contacting a
lot more this week, which is always full of miracles and courage. I
mean, despite the bad things that people often say about our church,
lots of people are still willing to listen to you and hear about this
gospel. We've also been going with the young women in our wards to go
finding together. It really helps, actually, to have a member right
there so that they can see right away that this gospel can help them. We
will probably keep finding a lot in the next week because that's
Chinese New Year and everyone goes to mainland, etc, and is not
available (mh dak haahn). This also means, though, that mission-wide
they will give us some activities to do since everyone is otherwise
occupied. We will have a full day to deep clean our apartments and
another day we are going on a trip to Big Buddha (this large statue of
Buddha). So yay! I'm excited. Also, don't worry, we have still been able
to teach lessons and do work, so this time of year really isn't that
bad.
Actually, speaking of trips, today we are in Tuen Muhn,
on a little companion excursion to the beach here. This is actually my
companion's home area, but she of course will not see her family. We are
here to relax a bit since my comp has still been a little over
stressed. President Chan actually saw us yesterday to talk with her, but
she's really doing a lot better. President Chan and Sister Chan are
such humble, wise people, and I really value their advice and service.
And yes, my companion and I are becoming good friends and I think we've
been able to help each other more lately.
Also today, we are fasting with this amazing
investigator of ours named Jasmine. I don't know if I've told you about
her, but she's very smart, very logical, and very much in need of some
truth. Her dad is in the hospital right now, so we're fasting with her.
She has a baptismal date of Feb 26th right now, and I really think that
she's amazing and strong. Speaking of baptisms, one of our
investigators, Yeung Jimuih, had her baptismal interview this past
Sunday and will be baptized on the 29th! We're very excited. She is the
elderly mother of a recent convert, and they both want to have this
gospel together. This mother really trusts her daughter. It's cool. Yes,
families are a big thing here.
Oh, speaking of that, I attended a funeral here this
past week. It was a very new cultural experience. It was a Church-run
funeral (which made it suprisingly like other funerals I've been to) for
a member who passed away (he was in his 90s). But it was held at this
funeral parlor with lots of other funerals going on. These other
funerals were mostly Buddhist-ish, so they involved lots of incense and
special costumes/garb, and special ceremonies and this cymbal/timbre
music that suppposedly welcomes the spirit into the afterlife. It was
culturally enlightening. Ancestors are a deeply important thing here and
not to be taken lightly. You're supposed to remember them in every step
you take. Something to that,really.
Lastly, you'll be happy to hear that the Cantonese is
coming a lot better lately. Even if it's just because I'm more confident
to try and say things. It makes me happier in general. Also, I know
that Heavenly Father is helping us in very real ways. I'm very ,lucky to
have a native companion to help me learn that much faster. Lately she
has been putting in a bigger effort to speak some English, and I think
she's realizing how hard this is and has more understanding. She told me
that she only spoke Cantonese to me before because she didn't need to
speak English with me, which I took as a compliment :)
Well, I have lots to learn, but I'm very grateful for
this opportunity to be here. Really, this mission is the opportunity of a
life-time, and these people here are amazing.
I know that this gospel is true and that it can change your life too.
Love you all! So much!
Love,
Sister Nielsen
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