RICE...

Herro!!!!!

Well another week went by and..... WE HAD A BAPTISM!!! It was so great!! So exciting. the ward was very excited because it had been 4 years since the last baptism and now, we had a baptism! Why? Because the ward's faith is rocking and due to the help they have been giving us missionaries, the Lord blessed them. We were able to baptize a girl named Cheuk Hou Ling aka Zoe. (she IS the asian version of my friend Zoe Hart. Pretty Hilarious and same name too! haha) She is great, her dad is less-active and her mom isn't a member but her grandmother is and as well as her uncle who baptized her. The spirit was definitely there yesterday and her parents came! and they want us to come by sometime! So many blessings from the Lord! Well it is exciting because this week, Patrick will be baptized!

Well Hong Kong is great! Want to know what  McDonald's is like here? Alright, 1st you can get a cup of corn. Second, they just added the rice bowl. It is getting pretty crazy. Oh what's that? Yep, they clean your table for you. So if you come to Hong Kong and eat at McDonald's, get up and leave your tray on the table.  They have workers to clean up after you. So if you don't want to look like a newb or a tourist, leave the tray. Yes, I always quietly laugh when I see these white people pick up there trays and throw their stuff away. McDonald's is classy here, welcome to the land of Ritz.

Another thing I learned is not to hope for clear skies here. I asked my comp why we don't ever have clear skies and he told me don't you even think about hoping for them. Well I kind of did, so one morning when I looked out and saw it was sunny I was excited. bad mistake. He blamed that day for the clear skies. When it is clear skies here, it is like walking in a sauna. Right now though, the sauna is on lowish. But I am told, come July, you will die. My comp tells me he is so grateful he wont be here come July. and then on hot days he always says, "elder guess what? or did i tell you? did you know?.... then always ends IT"S HOT!" He is pretty hilarious.

So I am now just starting getting to the Right, left, right look before crossing streets. It still throws me off that the cars drive on the WRONG side of the road. The worst is when I am sitting up top on a double decker and it takes a turn and I'm freaking out in the inside thinking we are going to nail oncoming traffic. Also the bus drivers like to stop as close as they can to cars in front of them so basically you never know if you are going to crash into their tail.

Hmmm for food this week.... Patrick, our investigator, is a vegan! so on Saturday we went to dinner with him. Well we wanted to see what he eats, so he took us to a little shop. I have no idea what we ate but it was good! haha very healthy, very vegan. But it was good! I know there was rice, tofu, lotus thing?  and egg plant and other stuff oh aand lettuce. One thing that is really good is called da fu faan or something in that matter. It is this warm tofu that is in like sesame sauce or other stuff and then (being americans) put a lot of sugar with it, haha its good though, my companion has been addicted to it this week.

This week was also exciting because Sister Black, now Sara, my MTC teacher is in Hong Kong! We were able to see her and go eat the mentioned above tofu stuff haha It is so crazy seeing her here for some reason! Pretty great!

To conclude my letter, I just want everyone to know HOW THANKFUL i am for the Lord. This Saturday, I was somewhat hating my life for a second (being a little baby dude) Well while in the lesson that night, I couldn't understand what was being said. Then when I was to teach, I had nothing. So my companion went on. Well that was when I leaned back in my chair and just let my little heart out to Heavenly Father and let Him know what I was feeling.
Well I was like seriously, I am done trying so hard. So I went back to focus on the lesson. This time I decided I would just pretend I knew what was being said rather than try so hard, I just relaxed and had a "whatever" type of attitude. I think from trying to have faith this past while the Lord decided to let me earns be tuned. And that's when I understood a large part of the lesson. When I shared, I was able to speak as if I were in English (limited grammar though). But it was incredible. The Tender Mercies of the Lord are incredible. It truly is His work. I am so thankful for that. What I learned was that I was too focused on the not important. I was focused on the language and not the spirit. So when I relaxed, the spirit was able to help me. One of my favorite quotes this week is from the book "Drawing on the powers of Heaven" it is "when you encounter a situation that causes you to doubt your ability to achieve your desire, request the Lord's help in maintaining an attitude of faith." I really liked that because it doesn't say to ask on achieving your desire, but to just have the faith.

Well I am so happy right now and happy here. It may be because I am on my way to monkey mountain or the fact I am in a wolf shirt. Yes, I got one last monday at lady street. (such a touristy spot with SO MANY shopping place things.) But I know I am happy because this gospel is pretty much awesome. I love the Lord. That is why I am here.

Until next time pangyauh,

mau mau,

Elder Tohng.

Ward Mission Leader and the Elders

Zoe!

Man's best friend