So I would like to share a little thing that I have been
able to apply in the missionary work. Lately I am beginning to develop a
craving to learn about the culture of Hong Kong. Buddhism, Taoism, Bai San,
languages, wars, stories, and most importantly, FOOD! You don't just go about
this just willy nilly as a missionary though. There is strategy to it. The
example of this strategy is in this weeks example:
We have a brother 唐 in our ward. He is the only member
of his family that has been baptized. The rest actually are very against the
church and even the bishop of the ward has not had the opportunity to meet his
family members.
However, this is a very TRADITIONAL chinese family. In this
context, that means that if you ask them to teach YOU something, they are VERY
willing to impart of this knowledge that they have, especially when you place
the request the way that we missionaries have been taught here.
I want to learn how to make Tong Shui (糖水) a
dessert soup that is AMAZING! I will make some for y'all when I get back...
I came to Brother Tong in one of our lessons and mournfully
brought up my dilemma. My companion is not knowledgeable about cooking arts (though
I still love him nonetheless). Moreover, I REALLY want to show everyone in
america upon my return that Hong Kong culture and food is just undoubtedly
better than americas. To prove it, I will use this Tong Shui. I begged him to
ask his wife if she would be willing to teach us uncultured missionaries how to
make this surprisingly simple dish the way that only a traditional Hong Kong
mother knows how.
Long story short, she has accepted the invitation, and we
are going to their house this week. YES!
I know that God will continue his work in ANY WAY POSSIBLE!
Even if it means he has to teach missionaries how to cook at the same time. I
would encourage all people to never give up, even in the face of all the
resistance that we are facing. God will fight for you.
Notes from Mom: I sent a screen shot to Ian and some of the other missionaries from our ward. I thought they'd get a kick out of it.
"Today I got an email from Jesus. We know he speaks to us in language we will understand, right?! I haven't opened yet. I'll just assume it's a call to repentance."
Ian said, "Elder Lee and I both got a kick out of that one! You should just send it to the first presidency to record as direct revelation;)"
I also sent him a meme of scuba diving:
"As 唐兄弟 would say: "mh,mh,mhmhmhmhmhmhmhmh!" In Cantonese, that actually is just a statement of agreement or confirming that
something is correct."
I also sent Ian some pictures from Simon's musical that finishes Monday, November 21. I told him that we've really enjoyed it. He said, "I need to see that VERY desperately. I will be in my room
for about three full days just catching up on all the 'records of the
people of Taylor'."
I also mentioned Christmas to Ian. He's looking forward to the Christmas call, and so are we. I asked him what he wants and asked if his other new suits have come in. His response:
"Suits won't be ready until the beginning of December. Thank
you for all the pictures. I'm excited about the christmas call! Adam is looking
tall. I don't see many pictures of him though...How is he doing? He and Owen
are really the only ones that regularly email me (other than you). I'm actually
thinking that I don't want anything for Christmas other than pictures. I could
buy clothes at Uniclo or Baleno for SO cheap, and I literally have to walk for
just 3 minutes out of my house to either of those stores. Food I am learning to
LOVE here even more! Thank you for your prayers! 我愛你地! (That probably won't make as
much sense in Mandarin...)"
From last week's emails there was something he mentioned that I googled and asked if the translation was correct.
"I hope that you can
get a translation of this somehow that actually makes sense, but get this: 欲速則不達."
The google translation was "Haste makes waste."
He replied that it is close. "It means 'no shortcuts to success'. It's not too
far off, but not the same either." I forgot to ask more about his companion's conversion story. Until next week!
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