Chinese New Years

2/22/10
So Chinese New year wasn't as special as I thought it would be, everybody seems to leave Hong Kong to party somewhere in the Mainland or Taiwan. I did get a lot of Red Pocket money, which kind of weirds me out when I think about it. It seems pretty strange to me to hand out cash for a holiday. We got treated to several meals by the few members who stayed. We didn't see the fireworks. The whole mission went to the largest outside buddha in the world named "Big Buddha" or "Da Fo" in mandarin or "Dai Fut" in Cantonese which I think is pretty funny. It was super cold.

I got zero pictures because my battery was dead. I guess there's always next year. I heard the package is at the temple but I haven't picked it up.

I thank my mother for the letter on hymns. I enjoy hymns and that method of singing a hymn mentally to ward off bad thoughts works pretty well. I just actually feel my mind melting from all the Mormon Tabernacle choir and EFY. But it is great incentive to leave the apartment as soon as possible, maybe even early.

So there are three Mandarins coming in now; one missionary is moving up early because his parents are Chinese. There are at least two Mandarins now that will go into International work. I have a not so secret desire to go.

The work was pretty slow during the holiday but it will pick up here pretty soon with a baptism next Sunday and another two weeks later into the branch.

My Mandarin is not progressing much and an elder who came in with me who had no Mandarin background before the mission seems to understand and say a whole lot more than me. I'm not jealous, I just know that I could definitely be doing a whole lot better especially with about five years under my belt. It kind of seems like band all over again. I had an advantage of playing the trumpet since fifth grade and by the time I was a senior I was last chair trumpet with about three freshman above me. At first, because I could work less and obtain the same results as everyone else, I did. Eventually people who were working harder than me who were not as blessed initially started passing me up. Don't fall into that trap, especially if you have the advantage of being born into the only true church on the face of the planet. Work hard, strain yourself in all that the Lord has blessed you with.

I don't wish to harrow up any body's soul now. I know what I have to do. All I have to do is do it. Its a whole lot better than not knowing what to do or only knowing sort of what to do. And that is why I’m a missionary.

That is my message for the day, I hope James can get something out of it.

Hua Zhanglao

Hulk with Green Skin

2/11/10
Actually, I have my camera and cord but I can't reach the USB hole because its with the CPU several feet above my head. Do you know what kind of chip I have for my camera; its kind of a special one that nobody really has I fear you purchased the wrong one over there. Plus all things computer are way cheaper here than in America.

Do I still have to pray for Ezra or is he okay? That really scares me. He is pretty much adorable. I definitely have to pray for Peter right? I guess Kevin as well. I learned tricks in the MTC to avoid the time limit. One is through notepad; just write your letters in the notepad application and when you're done, log in to the email and copy and paste the letters. This saves all the time spent on writing letters and then gives you a ton of time to read letters. Another way is to type the days date as a password instead of your birthday, for some reason the time limit never pops up. I incorporated a strategy of both while in the MTC, which is the only way I could avoid my mom calling leadership to scold me.

I wish I could do that now, I only have twenty minutes left after reading all the traumatizing (if that's how you spell it) letters about Ezra. I also enjoyed deciphering the Spanish letter that was sent to me, about mocos in a nariz aftecting respirar. Kind of scary though.

Right now is the holidays so the work is pretty much slow, especially for Mandarins, everybody is back in the mainland with family. So on Sunday I predict only missionaries being at church. I hear pretty soon Hong Kong becomes a ghost town on the streets and nobody is out trying to receive the gospel. But I heard that in International zone, all the domestic workers get off and so they just roam the streets on Hong Kong Island and a ton of missionary work gets done over there with Filipinas, Indonesians and Thai ladies. I think I might get sent there next transfer.

My breakfast always includes an egg ham and cheese sandwich and a high potency multi vitamin. When I eat ramen I place "choy" or "cai" (in mandarin) in my noodles, which is just like vegetables and sometimes I place awesome frozen dumplings in the water too while its boiling. I am pretty dang healthy, although still obese, and one day I will come back looking like the hulk with green skin from all the choy that I eat every day. And we actually do pretty well with members and investigators feeding us, we call this occurrence a "chang out" or "qing out" in Mandarin. And I have only been sick twice, probably food poisoning both times because of the suspicious way in which they handle and prepare their chicken over here. But that which doesn't kill me only makes me stronger right?

I just doesn't really know what to write one. That's the way my trainer spoke English although his English was pretty dang powerful.

Maybe that’s all I have to say,

I love you guys

Dear loved ones,
I spent half an hour reading all the emails that I received so it might be hard to write a good letter or even make an effort to respond to them.

I just got back from my temple, which I still haven’t taken a picture of. I couldn't think to bring camera attachments to the temple with me so no pictures today. Sorry.

I actually really want to go do international work, when the new Mandarins come in. International work is basically for the domestic helpers who live in Hong Kong who are almost exclusively all Filipina and Thai ladies. And they go to church like every day.

I don't recognize the Elder Gu, but I bet I'll be friends with him one day. All the mainlander missionaries pass through these parts so I saw some who went to Vancouver too. Did I tell you that before?

A temple missionary that used to be father's coworker is going to feed me and my companion on Monday. Elder Bishop. I like him, he speaks Mandarin well too. He knows Elder Ngai's father. Elder Ngai's father is the Branch President of the Calgary Mandarin Branch and Calgary Canada Mandrin speaking is where my MTC companion Elder Stewart is. I don't think I told you this yet. I just am not really good at talking about anyone else but myself. Did I even tell you my companion's name when I was in the MTC.

I have a list of people to send snail mail to that include Katy Seely and my cousin Kevin Wall who is in the MTC on his way to Madagascar.

I actually am still not that good at being social with strangers yet. Those new investigators that I found took about ten minutes of my companion urging me before I sat by them and offered to help the boy do homework.

Actually mainland people are way nice. A ton of Cantonese missionaries' baptisms are just mainland people that they should have turned over, I would say probably a majority of the Cantonese baptisms are. Hong Kong culture is just not so receptive to enthusiastic foreigners trying to talk you about God on the street.

One day the patience and persistence of my parents will pay off with my little brothers and sisters. I know one day it will pay off for me too.

I can't wait to talk Chinese with my one brother and see him go to China on his mission.

I am almost out of time so I will wrap up with some righteous thoughts I guess. Families can be together forever. I guess I like my family more on my mission than before. It's actually not because of the usually reasons; I am not homesick one bit, this is my new home now. There is a quote from one prophet that they really like over here and put all over ties and bumper stickers, it says "No success can compensate for failure in the family" or "Meiyou renhe chenggong keyi mibu jiating the shibai". It's true, I hope to be able to be a better family member when I get back home and finally move out of the house.

I love you all,

(Hua Zhanglao)

"Stephen is Awesome" - so says his mom

1/28/10
Hello family,

I am doing pretty well. Me and my companion did the impossible, we found a new investigator on our very own, she brought her almost eight year old son with her to English class. The boy, named Benson wants to come to English class next week as well. He is a genius and says that his favorite subject is math. However his least favorite subject is English. We found them when I noticed them struggling through his English homework together. I offered to help them after a whole lot of encouragement by my companion. We gave them a Book of Mormon after English class. To be honest, I feel it is very likely that they will both get baptized. That is the way with our Mandarin English class, about a 90% baptizing rate - if they come.

I am just actually a really shy person when it comes to talking to strangers and adults. I like children much better. They are just so receptive and patient, and it’s okay to make faces at them and tell them that you can run faster than them. I hope to be able to over come my fear that I have been developing for the past few years.

I brought my camera, but the USB cord that I brought was the wrong one. I like the recipes, actually Gyoza, or Jiao zi in Mandarin, is probably my favorite Chinese food now. We just went to a members house who just got back from the mainland and seriously ate probably like a hundred that she made. I am totally going to learn at New Years or Valentines activity that our branch will put on.

I got a letter back from Daoqi Zhanglao (Elder Dodge). He said that his Cantonese is slowly improving. Man! I thought I could like brag about how I learned too languages or something on my mission and he just got to brush up on one that he already knew. Oh well, we are going to tour the world together after the mission though. I can't wait to have conversations with him in Chinese.

I am improving really slowly. Probably at my own pace. I am satisfied, but I’m sure that if I improved at the level that the Lord knows that I can, I would have been as powerful as I am now back in the MTC. I am definitely not saying that I am powerful or anything, but I bet my language could be pretty good if I had worked my hardest the entire time. I probably would have really good social skills too.

I still don't really have any crazy miracles or super hilarious stories that have happened yet. This makes it really hard for me to write a journal.

Maybe this was the longest letter I have ever written. It sure feels like it. I have learned about families on my mission, I really love you guys. I am really blessed to have a powerful family. I can't wait to have all the nieces and nephews become endeared to me. I have decided that I will probably adopt a Chinese girl when I get home. My reasons are that one, adopting a girl makes you feel better than if you adopt a boy because they don't like them up there in mainland and two, they are a couple thousand dollars cheaper. Its a win win situation. I have also learned the value of women on my mission. Here in Hong Kong there is so much pornography and prostitution and as a Mandarin a large portion of all of our investigators and branch members are single mothers who were mistreated by some dirt-bag. It makes me sick, I’m glad that I know that women are daughters of God. Also basically all of our turnovers and new investigators are given to us by sister missionaries. I also really like the “please mind the gap” talk by that one single sister during conference, it hit me because we have that at our subways too. They also say queue up, and rubbish bin and chips instead of fries. Britain really jacked this place up.

I love you, Hua Zhanglao

Baptizing Mainlanders on P-Day

1/25/10
Dear Family,

I was baptizing mainland visitors last p-day - which explains a late letter. I would totally love to show pictures but I think I fried my camera battery in much the same way I fried both my electric razors. I really love teaching all the lessons one after another. It saves so much hassle of having people come to church and investigate for months.

I decided that I can't really recall stories with very much accuracy. I just will be patient and show you the video of my mission when we're in the Celestial Kingdom.

I can totally still beat James in a race. Yeah, you could probably send me recipes, but there are only toaster ovens in our apartments. Actually Elder Kershisnik is kinda getting a reputation as a chef. I really would love receiving a Matis Yahu cd in a package. I don't really need much besides money. I got Peter's letter and a whole bunch from ward people.

I am pretty much same old same old over here. I really want to get sent to do English work in the International zone when all the new Mandarins come in. I feel my Mandarin is not horrible, so it could take a hit like that.

I wouldn't mind hearing mission stories from my father, brother or sister so I could know what kind of story I should probably share. I need advice on how to deal with atheists and people who say that Buddhism and Christianity are both right and are pretty much the same. Polar opposites: people who believe everything and people who believe nothing.

One time I was upset when a leader's wife had the audacity to say that her mission in Mexico was probably harder than over here because we get to start at square one and we don't have to deal will catholic misconceptions. False! The Catholic church is actually pretty big over here. You can Bible bash if you want.

Starting at square one is hard. I can't explain the Abrahamic Covenant or the gathering of Israel with nothing to go off of. I was also trying to explain what it meant to baptize the earth with fire when Jesus comes again to one of our investigators and I tried to bring up Noah and the flood but she had never even heard that story, let alone Israel and Joseph getting sold into Egypt. There is a large attraction/amusement place that is called Noah's ark in Hong Kong by the way. Surprisingly that investigator just tore up the Isaiah chapters no problem.

So I could probably use my father relating with me how he slammed people who said "There are many paths to the top of Fuji".

My testimony is growing and my life is getting happier and happier, I want other people to have that too.

I love you all

(Hua Zhanglao)

1/6/10 and 1/13/10 "A Two for One"

1/6/09

I apologize for not writing last week, actually I did but I recently had to change my email as some sort of church procedure so I sent your email not too my mom.

I am excited for all the baptisms, although I think I’m winning the numbers game over here.

I brought my camera but I didn't bring the cord to attach to the computer, plus I don't have very many photos anyways.

We are having a mandarin zone chess tournament today, I will win. I think maybe my mandarin is improving. I am definitely getting better at making friends with people I have never seen before. Many people read my "Wo hui Putonghua" badge and start conversations because they think its hilarious or probably impossible that I can speak mandarin. I pretty much can't speak mandarin, but I can fake it and people think that I’m a genius if I don't try to say too many things.

Chinese New Years is on Valentines Day.

Funny names: I can't think of very many, Im pretty sure I already told you Coco, Angel, Candy and Ocean right?

A typical day is like wake up and eat, exercise somewhat, shower, study for forever, get dressed eat again and then go to appointments and do some finding when there are no appointments. I have heard that no Mandarin has ever "found" a person that became a progressing investigator who got baptized. There are plenty of referrals from Cantonese missionaries that turn into baptisms though.

I feel my Savior's love every day. I planted the seed and it grew, it is beginning to be delicious unto me. I am so glad that this life has a purpose and meaning and that I was fortunate enough to get to know that my whole life.

I love you guys and hope that this letter was okay even without any interesting photos.

Hua Zhanglao (Elder Wall)


1/13/10
I feel just like Daniel. I can't keep up good habits for more than three days. Any sort of new years resolution that I attempted was definitely killed by the first week of the year. I don't exercise very regularly, study consistently or bring my camera around or write in my journal. You know that I have been this way all my life. I thought that somehow the mission would automatically do that for me. But no, God still gives me the gift of agency everyday.

I am happy for dad, I brag about him all the time. My mother can definitely learn Spanish. After my mission I think I might pick it up in a day or two.

I threw up this morning, then I went to the temple. I think it was food poisoning. I like to see my temple. I might get a picture of it someday.

I just wonder why the Lord wants to send in four more mandarin missionaries so soon. All of our experience and natives who can also speak Cantonese are probably toast and are going to canto work. I secretly hope to go to the international zone when the new ones come. I can mess my English up really well over there (not to mention my Mandarin). If not, I could be training pretty soon.

All I know is that I need to do my best, or at least strain myself and put forth a bigger effort. I love missionary work and love my mission.

I am so upset that I miss all the babies. I am starting to appreciate them a lot more. Elderly people too. I recently helped an old lady walk around and she sang like three songs in Mandarin to me, the old lady also spoke Russian which was way tight. She is sister Zhang, we probably can't baptize her though because her hip prevents her from going to church. We also have an investigator who is going to get baptized in march, she has a really cute daughter who is really shy and only really opens up around me. The daughter is three and a half and talks half mandarin and half Cantonese (all of our primary is that way). In fact our branch president's two year old son speaks Japanese all the time with his mom and speaks mandarin to the members but his best language is English. Musashi is a genius.

I didn't see any picture of Thomas.

I love you guys,

Hua Zhanglao (Elder Wall)

Adorable Chinese Children

I asked Stephen, who drew his name for Christmas and what he got. He didn't say who he got and what he bought that person. I also closed telling him that I pray for him everyday and often pray that he will marry in the temple and raise righteous children etc, etc, etc.

Here is his response:

I got Elder Elia's (a senior missionary who checks our apartments) chopsticks. He thought it was a great gift and will probably remember me for the rest of my mission. He is a pretty humorous man from Hawaii - just like the previous senior couple was. I like his wife too.

I wish that you didn't write me about finding a wife and having babies. My kidnapping list is growing bigger everyday you know. Pretty much a whole lot of our investigators and less actives and home teaching people have adorable children who all know that I was Santa. I can't wait to grow up, geez mom get me all trunky.

I thought I had answered all of your questions. I really wish that I could write home super righteous things home to you guys like Elder Dodge does with his family. I think I might write him back today as well as a few other people. There are a lot of people that come through Hong Kong who also live in Vancouver, in fact I have also met some people going to Vancouver on their missions speaking Mandarin.

I am growing spiritually too. I feel the Spirit and enjoy my companion. I love scriptures and want to read the Bible in Chinese even though that's probably not the best use of my time. In the back of my copy there is a plan that tells you what to read every day in order to read the bible in one whole year and it is a huge temptation to make finishing the Chinese Bible a new year's resolution.

Today I am going to a really expensive buffet.

I love you all

Hua Zhanglao (Elder Wall)