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Saturday, March 31, 2012

Woohoo!

Well I am happy to report that this last week we broke the Tai Po
curse and had Hugo's baptism.
He was really nervous but really excited. Our correlator is an old guy
who is really funny. During church he went to go fill up the baptismal
font. Hugos biggest fear was that the water would be cold.
Well, when we opened the door that goes into the baptismal font room,
a huge cloud of steam billowed out of it. But I didnt really think
that much of it.
The meeting went well and it came time for Hugo and I to step into the water.
I took a few steps in, then quickly ran right back out. It was SUPER
hot. Everyone was confused at why I ran out so I just started saying,
"Wo, taai yiht, taai yiht." Which just means too hot.

So then we went back and sat down and they turned on the cold water
and we sang hyms for a little while waiting for it to cool off. It
still felt pretty hot when we got in the next time. It was pretty much
like baptizing in a hot tub. But Hugo said he didnt care because he
just wanted to get baptized, so we did it.

After we changed our clothes he was sooo happy. He was saying he just
felt like laughing and couldnt stop smilling because of the feeling in
side of him. He didnt really know how to explain it but he said it was
so strong. He kept asking us, "Why dont you do this more often??" So
hopefully now we can talk to him about inviting all of his friends to
church with him so that we CAN do it more often.

The rest of the meeting went well. A member of the bishopric stood up
and spoke about how it is the result of us missionaries working so
hard, and how he feels like this is the beginning of many baptisms.
I am happy to say that I think he is right. One of our investigators,
Wayne, is so solid. He is 23ish, comes to church every week, goes to
every activity, and last night when we walked by the institute room,
he was in there by himself going to institute. Nobody tells him to,
nobody makes him, he just goes. He has a really powerful personality
and will be one of the most powerful members ever once he is baptised.
He just wants to finish the BoM and be baptised afterwards in May. I
am really excited for him. We also have some other new investigators
that have a lot of potential.

Our area is known for being pretty rough in some ways. Everyone is
antied, and that has been a huge obstacle for us.
We have two new investigators who one day in school approached one of
the young women in our ward and asked if they could meet with us to
learn about the church. She introduced them to us and we gave them
Book of Mormons.
Well the other day this young women was talking to us at the church
and she said that she had a problem. She said that she was eating
lunch and one of the boys approached her and started asking her
questions he had after reading a pamphlet we gave him. She started
answering his questions and then he pulled out the pamphlet. That
attracted a LOT of attention. I guess all of the students started
surrounding them and telling them that we are evil and a cult and
stuff. One of the investigators was telling them he knows we are not
because the things hes been learning have been so good. The other one
brought his Book of Mormon to school and was just busy reading it
during lunch.
The member said she got scared and so she just left. It was really sad
but kind of funny. She said not to worry though because one of them
was sticking up for us and the other one was paying too much attention
to the BoM to notice the kids around them.
Luckily we called them last night and they are still good and will
come to church on Sunday, but it is kind of sad that all of their
friends were attacking everything like that.

I have been trying to read and write in characters lately and it is
HARD. Mandarin missionaries are lucky because they read and write in
their language. In cantonese we read and write different words in a
different order and grammatic structure that we speak. For example, if
you wanted to say "He gave her's that." In spoken we would say "Keuih
bei go go keuih ge." If you were to write that and read it out it
would be "Ta kap Ta dik laah go". It is completely different. Needless
to say, i am struggling a little bit. About half of the mission or
more has iPod touches because they have programs to help learn this
stuff. I have been doing it the hard way. So I am hoping for my
birthday I can maybe finally get money for that so that haha... But it
is pretty fun studying characters. There is so much meaning in some of
them.

Last night I walked in the door from a long day and just said, "It
feels so good to be a missionary." It is so true. I know I am doing
what I am supposed to. I am learning and growing everyday. I am
helping people everyday. I dont have to worry about so many things
that I will have to worry about after my mission. It is really
peaceful. Even if we were to have a long period with no success, as
long as we are worknig hard and being obedient, we know we are doing
all that we can.

Well, I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Jordan

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