Ni Hao May 26, 2013

Hello, hello!

Well its been another week!! This week was a new one! I got a new comp, his name is Elder O'Gara. From Washington and Idaho. He will one day either marry an Asian lady or a Ginger who likes extreme couponing. They will have 10 sons and then buy Vader Washington and take over and start his own colony. He is also a good cook and likes Karate. So transfers here are 9 weeks now. So I shouldn't have gotten a new comp yet, but with some things occuring, I did. I still see Elder Goodrich everyday, in fact he still sleeps on the bunk beneath me.

 

Well this Friday I had my 1st trip to Hong Kong Island! It is definitely the cd! so much busy. Lots of cars, people, pigeons, and rice. We went to Won Chai to the building. Which in fact is the church's second most expensive building that they own. neat. 

So i bet you are wondering why i would go there on a Friday. If you're not, alright.  I went there because an elderly man came to visit. Elder Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve came!! Yep he did. We got a big picture and then he spoke to us. He is actually quite hilarious. I laughed a lot and then he rocked us with the spirit. He is truly an apostle of the Lord. 

He first spoke regarding the passing of Sister Monson. He said President Monson will be sad but not have sorrow. "there is no sorrow for the righteous, for there only is sadness." 

Reminds me of the scripture that says something like the sting of death is taken away in Christ.

 He continued to teach on Christ and His Atonement. To fully understand the Atonement, we must use it though. Then we will become anchored on Christ. and we know when we are anchored upon Him, we will not fall for He is the rock we must stay on. 

He also shared on how it doesn't matter where you go in life, the only thing that matters is that you have a testimony of  Christ. He said some of the most important things to do is to believe  Christ, want to always believe in Christ, try to know all you can of Christ, and to love Christ.

 I really enjoyed that because I sometimes forget to remember Him always. When I am in trials, I will forget to rememeber my Savior. I have noticed that when things have been hard for me, when I try to think of how our Savior would react, things are more tolerable and even become good. I am just realizing that the only reason why trials become easier is because Christ really is helping us. 

There is a quote by a rabbi, Rabbi Black?, that my mum sent me that says something like "God forgives our failures and sees successes in us where no one else can, not even ourselves. So we must give the credit to God for harsh words not said and things not done." 

I know for a fact now that even when I try to act like my Savior, and think of Him, that is the reason why I can keep going. He truly is helping me. Ahh He is so amazing.

Alright well thats all i got for today. Oh I ate a really good hot dog here! yep thats pretty American! pretty much the only American food here is McD's and yeah. But the Island had the Hot Dog place. It was called HD1. yep pretty creative, hotdog 1. We also had a ward party for celebrating 30 years of Tai Po branch and now ward! It was funny and great to be there. They sure know how to have a good time! Lots of super random stuff like charades and then relays where you had to get stuff and then spirtual notes and food. 

Oh and here since it is humid and hot, when you pull a can out of the freezer it looks like snow. but dont put your tongue on it, itll freeze just like A Christmas Story. I made that mistakes. It was cool though.

Alright Love you all!

Elder Connor McInnes Townsend

1. I am getting close with nature

2. Poopy Pants!!! Everyone here has got a pair and so we threw on the pair for a pic we bought that p-day!

Cold Showers! May 19, 2013

Hello.

Yep, I like cold showers now. Yep, I never know how to start emails. Yep, I am enjoying the mission. Yep.

Well been a long time since I last wrote. haha But this is how it goes.

We went on a pretty rad hike! It took us to a point on a mountain that we had a good view of Tolo Harbour. Tolo Harbour is the place where my area is. The hike was super fun and so great to be in nature and just feel the peace of it. The best part of the hike is that is was sunny outside! Which meant is was beyond humid and hot. 

Yep, just like being in a shower. haha But that's why you drink Pocari Sweat. Keep you hydrated and sweating like Pocari? It is the best drink here. It tastes like white powerade but Asian version. I like it. hmmm, well the chicken feet are good, if they are cooked right. But its just like eating a thing with bones. The funniest thing is eating anything with bones. OR mainly watching people. You throw it all in your mouth and go to town. Then you take the bones out with your chopsticks and put them on the table. Pretty smart. haha Oh and this week we had a cheng out and the member kept giving me so much squid. It was like could I have some noodles with my squid? haha but it was good. Kind of fun looking at its tentacles.

 

Ahhh these past weeks have been hard. We have been non-stop finding. Walking the streets everyday and constantly being told No time! The days can be pretty long when no one is willing to stop. The worst is when I try speaking to someone and they don't understand me. The dang tones are such a pain. But its all good, it can also help stop the people because they are like what did that white guy just say?? Then I'm like i said How is your day? You ever seen missionaries? You like to eat rice? it works 60% of the time, every time.

We were able to baptize Roy!. This was very exciting especially because of his testimony he shared. He shared on how he had prayed to the Lord for the faith to follow the commandments and be baptized. On the morning of his baptism, he had been at work until 3:30 am. That morning he was super tired and thought about being baptized the next week after. Well, instead he knew the Lord wanted him to be baptized and that Satan did not. So he once again prayed for the faith and strength.

 I thought this was amazing especially because how much I am like my investigators. Everyday I am praying for strength and for the faith to carry on. I can truly testify that the Lord is willing to help whoever calls upon him. This week I focused on what it is in having a "broken heart and contrite spirit."  While in my studying i read on how we must sacrifice these to the Lord. I thought that was very interesting. I sometimes forget that we must always work on having humility. It is so very hard! now I understand why we must sacrifice. I can't go through my mission with pride, it won't work. So when I try to give up my pride to the Lord and sacrifice that, then He can truly teach me. I thought that was really cool. I also really liked how not only am I sacrificing for my Heavenly Father, but that he has sacrificed so much for me. He has given me so many blessings as well. I just am very thankful for the just and fair Father that we have in Heaven. He is so awesome.

 Ah like the other day we were out finding in this random mountain thing and all of a sudden this english chinese man appeared. He spoke both languages but could only read english. well I was going to give him a Restoration pamphlet, but i only carry chinese. Well I had the feeling to just check out my satchel (not a man purse) as I looked through all my chinese stuff, I found an english one!!! It was pretty great. I dont know when or if I put it in my bag, but I do know the Lord wanted him to have one! 

Alright, I am tired of typing. goodbye until next week.

Loves

Elder Townsend

Roy's baptism

Elders on an adventure

The Look and Behold

Cheung fam fam

Happy Mother's Day!

What a wonderful day! Spent with my Asian missionaries...one in Hong Kong and one recently returned from Taiwan. It was fun to listen to their shared Chinese language. Of course I did not understand a word...

Connor is doing great! Feeling the love of those whom he is serving and meeting so many great members and investigators in Hong Kong.

We got roaches!!! May 6, 2013

Hey ohh!

Well I have like 20 minutes to write an email, so I will hurry and get the good parts out.

 Oh and we got roaches.. :( they are a pain. Elder Chan is terrified of them haha so at night before bed he looks for them to kill them. haha

We are going to the temple today so pday is on wednesday and not monday this week. I am stoked and we have to email before temple and library just opended

.

This week was super rad. Last tue or wednesday, Elder Falk and I were companions for a day! Yep, fresh out of the MTC homies were companions! It was the funnest time with him. Spitting out cantonese like fire. maybe a baby dragon fire, but it was good! haha we actually taught some lessons and it was so great! Elder Falk is the sickest elder. Definitely one of the best days here!

I went on my 1st exchange as well! I went with Elder Brennan. He is an Aussie. Super awesome and a master at finding!! Yesterday with him was so rad because the miracle stream was on and we were swimming. hahaha nah, it was just awesome how when we are obedient to the Lord he provides! 

Just like it says (my scripts of week) in 1 Nephi 17:3 and D&C 100:4-7!  We were going around finding and then we left to go find a less active. While we left to go find a less active, we ran into a former investigator. She had lost contact and also the elders! It was great, we just sat down on a bench and taught her a lesson and had a great experience. 

Well while we were teaching her, the Less active member was walking by!! He stopped and talked to us and is going to come to church on sunday again and that we could meet with him! He was a super fly guy.Then while teaching the investigator, one of their other investigators walked by and chatted with us! It was pretty awesome.

 I was just thinking, what if we had decided to not be obedient and took longer at dinner, or if we decided we didn't want to go find a less active member?  We would have never of seen them! It is so awesome how the Lord truly provides. Yesterday was a great day!

 Man this week was pretty great! we did have a bummer of our investigator deciding not to be baptized . False doctrines are running like crazy. Hopefully one day he'll remember how much his Heavenly Father loves him. I also gave my 1st priesthood blessing in the Cantonese! I was pretty dang nervous because how was I supposed to do this! Then I just tried my hardest to have complete trust. It worked out! :)

Well about out of time so.... Pihng!

Loves,

Elder Tohng

Elder Falk and I to MonkeyMountain

Got muh new shirt

Terrified of the monkey

Turtle boy

MTC homie Elder Falk

Evil Monkey!

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

mh, mh, mh, mh, haih...April 21,2013

Hello, hello.

Yes the title is my language as of right now. I am barely starting to separate words that the people say. So there for, what I say keeps them talking and then they turn it into a haihmhhaih question and i say haih or mhhaih. haha 

Well this week was a  goody and a toughy. We have been working very hard to find a new investigator to teach and still trying. The only bummer is that on days when it is raining, there is no one on the streets. they all disappear. Well we went out a little farther this week and went to little tin huts/ concrete homes. We can actually "knock" on these doors. It is crazy to go from skyscrapers to little tiny homes. This week has been two types of weather... BUCKETS of rain and then hot, humid, sunny weather. Well I guess it is always hot and humid. It is just either raining or sunny. 

Well this week I haven't had anything to crazy to eat. When we had dinner at the pohpos home, there was a ton of fish. Its pretty interesting to have to eat around bones. the funny part is when you spit them out into the chopsticks and put the bones on the table. Oh, my chopstick skills lack hardcore. Other than that, I am just the foreigner who makes a fool of himself. Like the "funnest" thing is when my companion says talk to them! then i try and yep. haha he always says, at least you mentioned Jesus. That may be the most they ever thought of him. I like how he is always pointing out positives. also that he puts me in awkward situations and laughs at me afterwards. ahaha

So we have two baptisms this week!! which is very exciting because Tai Po supposedly hasn't had any for almost 4 years. nuts town. We have Patrick and he is this 19 year old guy that is so great! He is super cool and very spiritual. He is huge into music and wants to maybe go to BYU! He is great. 

We also have this girl who is pretty awesome too. The work here is going to be set on fire. I am excited, hopefully the baptisms will make members want to give us referrals!!

 Alright so I am terrible at phone calls. They are so hard. I always call one of our investigators. Well the call goes from me keep saying uh umm wait oh shoot ahh waith thats not cantonese blah blah. Well he always dies laughing and now we are pals. haha so now he just laughs at me.

Well events of this week. We went to Bride's Pool on monday. It was cool, it was just a hike up to a waterfall. It was pretty fun on the journey there though. On the way we saw a HUGE buddha. The size of the Jesus in Buenos Aires. So we hopped off the bus (double decker!) and attempted to hike to it. The only bummer was that the rode to it was closed and we weren't able to get close to it. But the journey there was entertaining. Sweating like pigs, going through random weird paths and sets of stairs that lead to practically nowhere.

Then this week we met with the elderly couple. they are so great and cute. The old man used to not like the missionaries and wouldn't listen to their messages, but he told us he really likes us. It was funny, when we were talking with the pohpo (word for old ladies, like grandma) he randomly sttod up and said, teach me to pray! so we did. He would just follow along and repeat.  He last fall had hit his head really bad and has had bad effects on him. such as he doesn't have a great memory on occassions and bad health. So we gave him a blessing. It was great. he was very happy about it. Well then later that week we met up with the family again. He wanted to pray again. Well when we were saying the prayer and he was following, sister cheung said "thank you for my wife" and he stopped and was like what?? haha why?? then the pohpo was laughing so hard at that she was tearing up. it was so funny. But after the funny part, he was able to pray. It is really cool to see a man who told us, He didn't like the gospel at all to wanting to learn. If only he would have started when he was healthier and could remember more.

I really have no idea what I am writing about and what not because my mind is pretty scatterbrained today...

But I can say this week has been a testimony builder. Not because of success or anything. this week was rough because the language is a killer and I want so bad to be able to help people.

 Well this just makes it hard. It has been a big faith tester. I have had to really rely on the Lord for help. As I was doing some studying, I came across a quote, as of right now all I remember is it said that faith is a reward for our righteous desires. and as I started thinking what my desires were, I realized they weren't all the best. yes, itd be cool to be fluent, but I think it is more important that I bring someone to Christ. 

That kind of drove me crazy because how am I supposed to do that without talking. Well I am still not sure. One thing I know is that the Lord knows how and it is very hard having to completely trust Him in this. I want so bad to know what I can do, but for now I just know that as long as I smile and bear my little testimony it'll add up. Because if righteous desires brings faith and faith brings miracles, well I am going to start at the beginning. One thing that faith is a lot of is patience. I have been like, I have the faith to learn this! but then The next day I think that I haven't progressed. It can be hard to remember there is time between the success. That is the time for mistakes.

Well I am sorry this letter isn't too good. For some reason I have nothing in my brain right now. absolutely nothing. I will try to make next weeks better. Hopefully I will be able to type something. This week just went by very fast!!

Well I wish the best to everyone, for now I think I'll go try to teach in Cantonese. haha

(sat for 10 minutes thinking) Well I really have nothing. My mind is a dud. I am out of time.

Love you all,

Elder Townsend

The thunder is rolling and the suits are off!!

Jousahn!!!! 

Well yes I am in week 2 and i am now fluent! fluent at saying mh hm mh hm. My trainer said that is a good technique to do. haha well This week was an adventure!

 First off, I love my companion! Elder Goodrich is the man! He is always keeping the mood up, always making this fun aka when we are teaching he does signs to let me know where we are at and what to share. Adjust the tie knot? I say 1st vision. Touch tie pin? I teach about Book of Mormon. and so on. Well Elder Goodrich is a wise man. He knows the good food and he also knows where to get the good deals. He is on his last seven weeks so he dies with me! One is born as the other dies. He is from North Ogden. 

Well the weather is so nice now!! The past week it has been raining non-stop and  the rain storms are insane! all the people are like scared of the rain so it is imposibble to find and they will cancel a lesson because it is raining. haha But now the sun is out and the humidity is up and the suit coats are off! Today we are going on a hike to "brides pool" with Elder Denos and Elder Falk! He is my homie from the mtc and elder denos is from home!

Well the work. All the work here is contacting, contacting, and you guess it, CONTACTING. All this contacting is done of the concrete streets. The reason why is you cant go in to apartment buildings and that is all there is. unless you're in the jungle and have little homes to knock on. Where I am is all skyscrapers and cities. I live in the concrete jungle or so i thought! Just on friday we were going to meet with former investigators. they are these 80 year old people. (i swear 80 is much younger here than America.) 

Well, as we adventured to their home, we found we were in the real jungle. I will send pictures. their home was this little concrete place. They had turtles because she didn't want to release them because someone might kill them. She had fish and then she had DOGS!!!! not just one or two either. a ton of them! I took a picture of this little adorable puppy.  Actually tonight we are going to their place tonight to cook dinner with them! so it'll be interesting! haha Hong Kong sure is amazing! Beautiful and a LOT OF PEOPLE. The best part is, practically no one speaks english. if they do they say, "my English no good la" haha

Well my ward is fantastic, they are always helping us and the fellowshipping is excellent. 

The food here is crazy. always noodles or rice. or mcdonalds. McD's is so cheap here and I think it is more asian than american because asians love it! haha But we had a soup that had pig skin, pig stomach, and it will have pig blood. pretty dope. haha

Well this week we had general conference!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhh it was so good!!!! I loved it. They seemed to talk so much on obedience! That was so good. Missionary work really all depends on obedience. The Lord blesses those who are obedient. That doesn't mean just following the rules. Exact obedience is working for it, having faith in the Lord. I love the Stripling Warriors because of how great they were. the reason why was because they were exactly obedient. We can read that they were in the Book of Mormon. 

Since the prophet and apostles were talking about obedience and faith it made me really look at myself. Have I been trying to demostrate faith through my obedience? Well not knowing the language can be very frustrating and can try to shake my faith. 

Well this past week, I had made a deal with the Lord that I will try to talk to everyone i could and try my hardest. I told Him i didn't care anymore at looking like a fool, just as long as I continue doing this, he would bless and help me. Well it's been working!! and then to hear the messages at conference, I know that the Lord is truly going to help me.

 It is pretty amusing talking to people and being like "leih houh! Leih heui gon bindouh?? and so on." they always look at me like, who is this gwaailou?? (crazy white boy) But hey, if they listen, Im sure the spirit will touch them. I know that even though I can't speak to well the spirit can. 

So even though I am slaughtering the 1st vision, just them looking at the picture can speak to them on just the last line can."je sih ngoh dik ngoi ji, ting ta syut" "this is my beloved son, hear him"

 I know this gospel is true. I know it's true whereever it may spread throughout the world. Just as Christ said he has "other sheep not of this fold" I know he loves his "sheep" here in Hong Kong. Why? because the love i feel for them  testifies to me of Christ's love for them. Oh how great is He, willing to send me here to these people. I am so glad that I get to serve with him. 

Well I'm off to my hike and must leave!

remember that the fish is always swimming in the grocery store before you buy it. good luck my friends and family.

Loves always,

Elder Tohng.

Elder Goodrich, Elder T, Elder Denos and Elder Falk