November 11, 2010

We went to 10,000 Buddhas (if that's how you spell it). there were way funky buddhas, like one with super long eyebrows and one with a super long arm just like that dude on street fighter who is really stretchy, I think his name is Dhalsim "yoga fire!". So anyways also there is this leprechaun looking buddha see if you can spot him on the hill. he has a red beard. After we went there we ate Ikea food and got to drink soda at the only place in Hong Kong with free refills - all for ten bucks although I think that Costco wins hands down. The Ikea dog was lame. I hope to maybe experience this with my family perhaps depending on how long you want to visit.

Actually I think that I wouldn't necessarily want to visit Hong Kong myself if I didn't serve here. It is just way to hot and sweaty all the time.

So everything is going pretty well. Our investigator Xia has completed the no smoking plan and has quit his addiction of forty years. Now all we have to do is get him off his dependancy of alcohol. He says he needs it to go to sleep and that's because his daughter gives him so much to worry and stress about. His daughter seems to have the opposite problem and is able to sleep through everything, including really important exams. We still haven't met her but Xia tells us that we are probably her only hope and that Jesus is what can help her if she would give Him a try. He is so powerful. He has like no Christian background and he still has so much faith. He totally relied on God the entire time he was quitting smoking.

I have a good chance to train next move because two new Mandarins are coming in. I don't want to, I wish to remain with Elder Yu and selfishly improve my Mandarin and rely on his language strength. Mandarin numbers don't look too good this year and President Chan seems worried about adding two more to the Mandarin pack. I found out something really upsetting today, I feel slightly betrayed. AP Auduong, who is a great friend and mentor of mine, quite inspiring really, is actually a dirty rotten no good Mandarin stealer. Not even the APs respect us enough to give us their investigators whose mother tongue is Mandarin. Not to play the blame game, but I think the declining success in Mandarin work is because of people who are number hungry and don't want to do what's best for their investigators.

Sorry to tell you that, but I really need someone to understand and feel the frustration I have had pretty much my whole mission.

On a lighter note we just had a mission tour and It was so great. Elder Perkins the Asia area president who speaks Mandarin and frequently attends our branch talked with us. I really love that guy. I received alot of personal revelation on how I can change and better myself and how I can utilize Mandarin after my mission.

So there's this really cool electronic dictionary, that has touch screen so you can write characters into it and study radicals and pronounciation and a dictionary in like 13 languages including Hakka Shanghainese Cantonese Sichuanese and taiwanese that I think I really want. it has a whole ton of dictionaries on it including the oxford advanced learners Chinese-English dictionary. I think I want this really bad. The best part about it is that it has no internet acess so I can have it on my mission. I have looked into it for some time and I have come to the conclusion that if I hadn't bought a airsoft gun and so many language learning books I would have enough to purchase it. Maybe I can get it for my birhday slash christmas or something. I should probably get the brand name so my father the linguist can look into it. its like four hundred fifty US dollars and I have 388 in my account right. But I have probably never wanted any physical object more. After Christmas it will probably be way cheaper, I can wait patiently though.

Yeah, that's my way of begging.

I love you all and hope that this letter wasn't me sounding like a spoiled brat who complains. I really have changed alot that way on my mission, I promise. The gospel of Jesus Christ has been doing its work on changing my heart. I love you again.

Wall Zhanglao