Aug 11, 2010

Dear my family,

I am so jealous that you got to see a whole lot of things that are historically significant to my life as an American and as a member of God's latter-day church. I also wish I could have gone to those relatives' house and rode on their vehicles and modes of transportation. I enjoy it over here pretty well though, there just isn't the amazingness of America here, no free refills, customer service and you have to queue up for McDonalds instead of lining up. I'm working on an American translation of "Please mind the platform gap" I think that "watch out for that hole dude" would be accurate.

I have discovered that I have been making progress. Ever since I went to Macau I don't get mad or flip out at people anymore. Others have noticed it too, particularly my previous companions. I don't really get embarassed or fear "losing face" like a real missionary now. I am pretty happy. See? look how happy. I'm now longer one of these things .

Wow google mail has like a billion smilies. I do wish I could get in contact with old family and family friends (in person via vacation) like you guys.

How are everyones body parts after the trip? I am way suprised that my mom let those two in particular ride an ATV together. What was she thinking? ATV's are at least a thousand times more dangerous than bikes. I hope they at least didn't have their casts on still.

I enjoy teaching lessons, too bad I don't do that often, only a couple of times a week to be honest and a lot of less active work. Most of the time is spent trying to obtain investigators trough creative measures and through uncreative street contacting. Street contacting for a mandarin is particlularly tedious. I'm sure that I have explained it to you before. Next transfer though, which is very soon, I feel that we will have so much success that we will baptise somehow.

The work satisfies, even when there is not much to show for it but personal growth of the missionary.

Thanks for your support, love and vacation information that makes me trunky.

I love you all,

Hua Zhanglao (Elder Wall)

August 4, 2010

Man, I wish I could have gone on the vactation just on like a pday or something. America is way more interesting than Hong Kong. I really want to eat chilie, that is something that I miss. I remember the chilie cookoff the ward in Provo used to do. trunky.

I don't really know what to say but I am so glad that I have a family that loves me and stuff.

To laura, whitewash means to have two new missionaries in an area and they both have to familiarize themselves with all the investigators of that area as well as the terrain of the new area with out really anyone being able to introduce the missionaries to them. Thanks for writing me about journals and keeping up routines or projects.

I think we will get a baptism of the investigator that Ngai and I had eventually. We helped her move a little yesterday. She tried to feed us, but we know she is isnt that well off. so we both ran a way blaming it on being worried we wouldn't get home on time.

Elder Ngai goes home in two weeks. I am going to miss him. Elder Bendall the next transfer will go. I feel alot like my mission is almost over, and I have hardly anything to show for it. If I had a chance to do it over again...

Anyways, I really liked reading about the vacation. I think experiencing it would have been more fun though. I wish that I could say I was from DC, but I have to tell everyone that I am from Provo Ut instead. Even though I was born in Germany and lived in Japan and only spent seven or so years in Utah. People say that I am sheltered from living in Utah. There is a Chinese idiom that has something to do with a frog at the bottom of a well that I can relate to. I kind of liked being in a city with relitively amaizing moral standards. It is really disturbing passing all the freaky ladies on the way home that are just one street over from the Wanchai Chapel. I hate the worldliness of Hong Kong, I think it will be sunk or disintegrated or rent in Twaiwan. People honestly think that the meaning of life is money. The way to wish someone a happy new years is by saying "congradulations, get rich" and solicit red envelopes with money from them. That part of Chinese Culture seems disgusting to me.

Man, am I always so negative? I really do love it here and am having the best time of my life. I kind of don't want to come home, since the city I would be coming home to isn't really my home. My soul is just starting to quake at all the sin I come acrossed over here.

I exhort you all to pray for charity. I need alot more of this personally. Charity can work miracles and get things done. I like it.

Thats about all I can say with only an hours time. I love you all,

Hua Zhanglao

Only Elder Kevin Wall Wrote to me :(

Hey Elder Wall,

Thanks for writing me, if you hadn't I wouldn't have received a single email. I did get your letter in the MTC. I just figured that I would write you an email one day because snail mail sucks. I am doing alright I just don't have much visible work being done. You can use your hotmail? Elder Sexywall huh?

Thanks for telling me about the Atonement and how Christ didn't really get anything in return from us for doing it. I am a pretty selfish person who needs to learn to do things for free.

It was so great to hear from you. You really are an example to me and I wish I could be your companion, or at least be your roomate again. I wonder how many chinese people live in Madagascar. When you read your call letter was the first thing you said "I like to move it move it"? I am almost positive it was. Tell me about the lemours man.
You can stop reading if you wan't the rest of the letter might be just like a waste of time. I love you dude. You are powerful.

We have a pregnant lady who can't probably be baptised until after she gives birth, she is way powerful for not having any religious background. She repeats what we say in a more simple and concise way to make sure that she is understanding what we are teaching. Her doctrine is way more thorough than ours. She totally knew that there was an apostasy after christ died, she said so before we taught her about it. She has a son who is twenty as well, kinda weird to have children twenty years apart but that's mainland chinese people for you. I wonder how big the gap is between Tatiana and Daniel. We are gonna jam with her older son one day.

The whole family is from Inner Mongolia. They aren't mongolians though and they don't ride horses or drink yaks blood or fermented mare's milk. I bet they don't even know who Ghengis Khan is. Disapointment. Even if they were that awesome, I dont think pregnant ladies can or should ride horses while shooting arrows at villigers.

I get to go to the temple today. I am excited. Initiatories are not that meaningful because the workers do it all in Cantonese at a billion miles an hour while mumbling. I feel the spirit there though. I am so extremely lucky to have a temple for my own. I am still working on a photo of it but my camera battery is dead and of course I can't find the charger.

You are all on vacation anyway and can't write me, so I dont mind not sending photos or writing a really lame letter mainly addressed to my cousin Elder Wall

I love you all,

Elder Cuz (Hua Zhanglao)

23 June 2010 & Who is My Neighbor?

Dear family,

I just finished going through a temple session. The temple here is way awesome because all of the crazy languages going on. Now we are in a net cafe with juveniles who have colorful language going on. They are so adorable.

I am progressing in my studies and am attempting to read Jesus the Christ. I am starting to get hungry for the mysteries of God. I am at page 170 which is a little more than an eighth done with it. I feel James E Talmage is pretty powerful. The language in that book oftimes bewilders me. Way complex for me. I feel like Talmage beat the Bible in complexity and length when he wrote that one.

I had noticed that Sister Reneer was in the new Gospel Principles book. When it first came out I was shocked and ran around telling everybody that my bishops wife was in the book. Then Elder Kershisnik said something like, "Hey! Thats my next door neighbor". Elder Kershisnik is always topping what I do. I wont be suprised when his Mandarin gets better. I am working on not being prideful so that it won't upset me.

I really dislike being asked how long I have been studying Mandarin. Because then I have to shamefully reply that I have been studying for six years. Then my companion who has been studying for only a couple months blows everyones mind.

I want to go back to Macau speaking Indonesian this time. I should still be there but the stupid government had to be disagreeable.

Man. I really love the gospel. I am growing spritually if not mentally.

That Zhu family didn't show up on Saturday because the little girl was sick. Man! Instead on Saturday we got treated to dinner in the police station next door to the Wanchai Chapel and there was this dude from Camaroon who lived in mainland for two years who ate with us. His Mandarin was easily a thousand times better than mine. Only two years of study! I wish I could be that powerful by the time I'm done with seven years of study. He also spoke Sichuanhua the local dialect where he stayed. He wouldnt beleive me when I said I can understand it. He's Methodist but wants to play bball with us sometime. It would be so rad to baptise a black man into the Mandarin branch.

Our numbers don't look good on paper, but pretty soon people are gonna get baptised. It will probably be next move though. I hope to stay with Elder Reber one more transfer.

I think too much about my future in a selfish way. I need to focus more on others eternal salvation and what I can be doing right now to help people. Instead I think about exploring the Mainland and becoming a peasant and learning good Chinese and then going back to BYU and then getting a job sitting at a computer typing junk all day.

I look forward to the future, especially because I will be a way better person by then at everything I do. I will also have a six pack and adorable children.

So anyway, I am sure the content of this letter was less than uplifting.

I love you all and can't wait to have a forever family one day. I also miss Fourth of July barbeques.

Hua Zhanglao

Various Rice Toppers Called Cai

Family,

That family that we found was pretty awesome. A family is so rare to come acrossed in mandarin work , so our new branch president offered to fellowship for us after I complained about not having very many people who could fellowship for us. I really think that we can eventually baptise them. Mainlanders are kinda like that. They are pretty humble and willing to accept and follow what the Lord asks of them. They do what it takes. In Hong Kong, we have a saying: If anyone stops, they are either crazy, or mainland. To be honest sometimes I don't like hong kong culture, very rude and very subborn, It's also really hot and humid all the time. Sometimes I wish I was in the mainland in the freezing cold north; then I could study russian as well and just be loved by everyone I came in contact with.

I am pretty content with my mission still. I was more content with Macau, but that's over with.

I am going to be tempted to quit once I baptise a family. That's the ultimate goal. No other Mandarin has done that before, at least not for several years. I would feel so satisfied if we got the Zhu family, my mission would be complete, at only a little over one year!

I bet there are more families out there though. I just don't know if I have the faith to do the impossible twice before anybody else.

James keep holding in there. One day you can realize and put everything into perspective. I am in the process of doing that. Having fun is like the opposite if the meaning of life.

Man, I don't have much to say.

What do you eat? Mostly rice with various toppers called cai
Who does the cooking? usually the owners of the little chinese resturants called fanguan thas is where we eat most often
What kind of eating out do you do? that is pretty much every single lunch we have and occasionally dinners as well
What are your favorite native meals? cambells new england clam chowder with a chinese label on the can
What is a typical day like? wasting time going around talking to cantonese people who reject you and teaching one or two lessons
What is your favorite scripture as a missionary? probably ether 12
What kind of wildlife to you see there monkeys, roaches, vermin
How do you pronounce a 'Y" in Mandarin? before an"i" or just a "u" its doesnt make a sound but normally just like english.
What city are you in?Wanchai on hongkong island
Are you working in wards or branches? victoria third branch (putonghua)

Love,

Hua Zhanglao

A New Pillow June 10, 2010

Hello family,

I am so happy of the success we are having. We could probably get seven baptisms next transfer period. Seven investigators baptised is way better than most get their whole mission. In fact an awesome miracle happened.

So my companion was inspired to have us go to the japan home center to buy me a pillow so that I can sleep good. I couldn't fit a pillow in my bag when I left Macau and the sisters took everything when they left the apartment. So, being the responsible junior companion that he is, he reminded me that I needed a pillow. Its wasn't p-day mind you, but it was pretty much an emergency; just like the necessity of getting a slurpee throughout that sweltering hot day. So we went to the store and found a really good pillow (one that didn't have green tea inside of it) but it didn't have a price tag so I went up front and asked the lady how much it costed. The thing is, I could have chosen to ask her in English or even Cantonese. But for some reason I asked her Duo shao qian? instead of Gei do chin? and this one dude in the store over heard me and exclaimed "wow very good! mandarin is well", We talked to him after I bought this extremely cheap pillow which provides excellent comfort while I sleep. He was in the store with his wife and ten year old daughter. They are all from shanghai. So anyway, I told him that we had a free English class and he started practically having a seizure. Then I said that we could even tutor his daughter and help her with English homework. I think it was a miracle because nobody ever finds a mandarin family, especially not a mandarin missionary. most investigators are single mothers or students (female students). We scheduled them for Saturday and I hope we can schedule them for pretty much every week and set up a regular "English tudor day" and we will proceed to convert them by degrees. HAHAHA. They'll never see it coming...

What we can learn from this miracle is that we need to follow the spirit where we should be led. And we always need to be speaking our mission language. I would probably give up our other awesome investigators who are students and single mothers just to baptise a fully functional family. Is this sin? If that's what it took I would do it in a heartbeat.

The gospel blesses families. Families are forever. If we do what we are supposed to do in this life, we can see our family again. Relationships are strengthened and disagreements are resolved when true doctrine is applied in the home. Of course you all know this, but nobody outside the church does. I really hope we wont blow this one. I have high hopes for the zhu family. The reason is because the father practically scheduled us and was so jittery and shivered so much when we told him about teaching his daughter English. Apparently he must love his daughter, which is better than most of china who only want sons. I really hope that they can become a forever family.

Of course I am totally counting my chickens before they hatch. I really feel like we can harvest soon though. Last transfer period no mandarins baptised an investigator, so the mandarins were downsized. Did I tell you this already? It really upsets me. Anyway we will show them how fruitful the mandarin work can be.

I will for sure write Elder Dodge this week. I have only wrote him once. Poor guy.

i like how my older brother can speak Chinese now. I only really know like 1000 characters myself. I really think that the twenty questions game in Chinese is helpful I should purchase it for gifts. I cant write to save my life, my awful English handwriting carries over into Chinese and its pretty frustrating.

What are some of your favorite scriptures as a missionary? Ether 12
When you did international work, did you do service if so what kind? Cleaned mold off out of the Fely's restaurant and painted a house
Did Elder Oaks go to Macau?I dont know
Did you know your way around Macau?Not really
Are you a senior missionary?Yeah
What was a typical daily routine in Macau? Wake up, study, proselyte, eat some time, baptise, sleep.
What is a new typical daily routine where you are now?Study, eat, leave, fruitless finding attempt, decide the most effective way to waste our time, maybe teach a lesson that day, eat, return home.
Can you send some pictures? I'll see what I can do.

I love you all,

Hua Zhanglao

Keep asking questions and Mandarin Woes

June 2 2010

Hi folks,
It’s good to hear from you. I am enjoying my new area, I think I am the Mandarin missionary who is the least familiar with the island. All the others, including greenies know it better than me. I remember in Macau the large amount of Nepalese (or Nepali?) people there. We even had an eternal investigator who faithfully came to all three hours of church every Sunday for about two years. For some reason I feel if we spoke Nepalese he would get baptized. For some reason he was reading the Hindi Book of Mormon, but I thought I saw a Nepali copy in the church basement? Anyway, I really hope that my fathers effort could eventually help brother Sen get baptized. (Stephen is referring to a new assignment Dion has translating Nepali scriptures)

I really want to make a triumphant return to Macau. I know exactly how to do it, and that is by learning Cantonese. I love the Mandarin branch, but it is just not cutting it missionary wise. The Mandarins made zero baptisms last transfer and so President Chan cut another Mandarin companionship. Out of the thirteen Mandarins now, five are in international work, including Elder Kershisnik and Elder Ngai. I am told that me going to international work was the first time that ever happened to a Mandarin. Now we all have the threat of going to teach Indonesians and Filipinas hanging over our heads to motivate us to baptize more. I thought that love was enough to motivate me.

I feel like this companionship will baptize. Have I ever told you that I have a blessing of baptizing with every companionship; even the companionships that only lasted one transfer.

Having baptized quite a few people, I can say that baptisms aren't everything and by no means proves if a companionship or missionary is successful. I just wish some people out here knew that... I miss my mandarin brethren who are in international bondage. that missionary who went home was my friend and Elder Kershisniks MTC comp, I think that psychology is a stupid science and that Satan is attacking Mandarin work. The brethren likely know this because they keep sending more and more mandarin missionaries. Too bad only four companionships are open to receive them.

I love the work and think that my companion and I teach well together. I found out that I probably played in football games against him, he is from Springville. My Mandarin didn't suffer a huge blow by being in English work. I hope that I am still improving daily, although sometimes it’s hard to tell.

I think that I will write my best friend and Katy Seely today. They both have written to me tons of letters and I have only written Elder Dodge once and Seely maybe twice. I have receive a letter about one every week from both of them. I am such a terrible friend. I also love my sisters who write me emails and snail mails. I hate snail mail and wish I could just email Elder Dodge and Seely. And I wish that just casually mentioning my beloved older sisters Tatiana and Laura could count as writing them back personalized letters. I type so slowly and struggle to think of subjects to talk about, please forgive me, this letter alone took almost my whole hour to write.

God is good. I like how he sent his son to the earth to atone for our sins. The ability to repent as a result of Jesus Christ's atonement is really comforting and amazing. I am glad that it is basically never to late for me to improve myself, and while I will miss out on certain opportunities and receive the consequences of my poor choices, I am not hopeless as long as I don't give up. I still have one whole year on my mission to push myself and get better and a whole lifetime to work on being like Christ.

I am sorry to hear that some of my brothers and sisters are having a hard time learning sometimes, but I know that they will eventually get the point because of their goodly parents and their Father in Heaven.

Thanks for being so supportive and being such a good family that I can show you off to everybody.

I love you all,

Hua Zhanglao, Wah Jeunglouh, Elder DingDing, Elder Wall

Please continue to ask questions and constructively criticize me.