Hotdog Oatmeal with Barbeque Sauce?

Dear family, I just watched other side of heaven and pretty jealous of Kolipoki. My missionary experience could never make an interesting movie. Maybe that is why I don't write in my journal. We will be having a pretty big typhoon on Saturday though. Its all on the news and we got a special letter from the mission telling us about what precautions to take and stuff:

Elder Rickertsen,

Please give me the latest weather report of this typhoon Megi.

Please alert all missionaries to secure all windows in their apartments. They should have identified a safe place in their apartments in case the windows are broken by the strong wind. They should ensure that they have sufficient food and water storage. They should remain indoor if Typhoon Signal No. 8 or above is hoisted.

Warm Regards,
President Chan

So its kind of like a terrifying storm will come and destroy the village of Hong Kong. Its supposed to be the biggest one to hit Hong Kong since the 70's. I am so excited. If my windows break, I will get a video of it.

Wow mom, you sound like you are working your tail off (literally). My goodness you guys. First you say how Jerrica is so small then you say how much you have lost. You are all little people now. Laura has almost lost an entire Jerrica. I am finally back down to 220 where I started my mission at.

The other day I was eating oatmeal with hot dogs and barbaque sauce in it. It was way good but gave me gas. My companion is constantly amaized at American food. Then I tell him that nobody would eat barbeque sauce and hotdog oatmeal but a missionary.

I definately need to talk to my companion in Mandarin more. He is so bright eventhough he is just eighteen. Quite mature; more than me. He is way ready to get up and go to do the work. He tells me to hurry up at least fifty times a day. fireball. I tease him about him not shaving, I tell him he needs to be obedient and shave everyday. He probably will never need to shave his entire life.

We don't have many good investigators right now, except this old dude named Brother Xia who is here looking after his college student daughter. Also a Lady named Susan and her daughter Jessie. Her daughter is twelve and attends school here in Hong Kong, but can't speak Cantonese and almost definately has no friends. She simply MUST go back to Shen Zhen every weekend to look at her huge collection of pets. I wish she could just see that if she came to church she could make friends with girls her age who speak Mandarin. We are praying that she will get the desire to make friends with people. Other than that, she is way good. Jessie and Susan are totally willing and ready to follow Jesus and read the Book of Mormon and pray. I just need them to forget their pets on sunday morning and come to church. I guess we do have pretty good investigators. Its a shame church attendance seems to be whats holding people back.

I want to do something amaizing, like Kolipoki, but that will take alot of faith and effort. I wish I could do that. Maybe I will just start writing a really embellished journal instead.

I love you all,

Hua Zhanglao

10/7/2010

So there is always so much that I cannot remember to tell you. Our apartment has a ton of roaches and two guitars, I have been trying to figure out how to play the melody to "la cucaracha" and I got it stuck in my Taiwanese companion's head, I don't even know the words myself but it is the funniest thing to hear him sing and try and pronounce the word "cucaracha". I think someone must write me the lyrics so that I can sing it properly and serenade all the creatures that share our abode with us. I just remember about the roach being drunk and cant walk and how it doesn't have marijuana to smoke. Burracha? he zui jiu? caminar? zou?

I am kind of jealous of how Mexican the family is. There are legit Mexican food places here actually, but what I really crave is the fake Mexican food, give me some Taco Bell and grade D meat. It will probably be one of the first things I will eat when I get back. That and Panda Express or some Chinese buffet. I need the fake Americanized stuff. But KFC is so awesome here. I eat it way too much, they always have the best deals and special offers and the bucket is so cheap. I think I have eaten KFC maybe twice in America and like a million times over here.

Mooncake? Yeah I have eaten my fair share of that. What an experience. egg yolks surrounded by a thick paste that can only be eaten in the smallest of portions. It is also way expensive, so there is almost no point other than for the experience of trying something new.

I have baptised maybe ten people from Chengdu Sichuan. They like to eat way spicy stuff, usually boiled in a pot in front of you. I also hear that the most pretty Chinese girls are form Sichuan. They call them "la mei" or "spicy little sisters" in reference to the unnecessarily hot food that they eat. Does the lady who lives in Grandma's basement cook well?

I am so jealous of the world's missionaries. I bet half of the investigators in the world are Chinese people. Everyone can baptise one, except me; someone who is actually in China. The training videos we watched had a Chinese student baptism too. Tatiana can baptise one in Lithuana of all places.

We have taught alot of visitors that we baptise in one day, but I really don't get any satisfaction out of it. Me and my companion had to do it twice this week because everyone else has real investigators with scheduled appointments. This gives me stress because everything that can go wrong does just like Brother Murphey said. I always jack up the paper work forget a signature, write unclearly, don't fill up the font, and about a hundred other things. Its not as easy as you think, you should see how bald I am now, all thanks to mainland baptisms. The one we taught yesterday was a girl who got baptised in England who brought her mom over to hear the gospel and get baptised. Those England elders baptise Chinese investigators too.

Anyway, sorry to be so negative. I know the gospel is true and everyone is a child of God even if they are also a baptismal statistic. I am so glad that I have a chance to repent and get better everyday. The atonement of Jesus Christ is truly the best thing ever.

I love you all,

Hua Zhanglao