It just deleted 30 minutes of writing.
I am really upset right now.
Okay, it wasn't that great of a letter anyway.
30 minutes left.
Helllo family. We had a Thanksgiving meal with our whole zone, which was good, but we wasted a lot of time, I think. Elder O'Gara made a 7 kilo turkey, which involved buying, brining, baking, bathing, and bisecting the poultry. It wasn't a huge waste of time but it did throw off a lot of schedule stuff and the like. I feel like partially because of this our numbers were very poor this week. I had a really cool paragraph written about how numbers aren't success but they help us work harder, but oh well.
I felt kind of frustrated this week because finding is still extremely difficult, and I don't have very good finding methods or success. I've been trying to humble myself and learn from other missionaries more, but it is really just hard. I don't know who is most effective to talk to or how to do it. I used to stop a ton of people, but I realized once I humbled myself a bit that Elder O'Gara was right and it was sort of a waste of time. Not that you don't want to find people, but just telling someone to stop if they obviously have no interest is not really putting in the effort needed for success. Working hard, not smart and hard. And a lot of people just aren't interested. I know that I wouldn't want to stop to talk to weird religious nuts unless I had a good reason, and I don't really blame the Hong Kong people for being uninterested. But I do know that if I put in the effort, I can improve my finding skills and make it more effective. When I get down on my finding or teaching skills, I am comforted by the fact that the scriptures say specifically many time that he who prays for help and is worthy can have the spirit teach through them. I have also been reading in the book of Acts recently, about Paul, and he is a great example of being bold and hard working, and the power of the Holy Ghost that results because of it. SO I carry on.
Abby and Becca,
Because you have still not read together every night, (and because I have such little time) you will be one email this week. You two sound pretty great. I'm really glad you got to hang out with the Emerys. I miss doing things with them like we used to when we were younger. Hopefully you gave them a good example, but you probably just pulled each other's hair. Oh well. I like the idea of the Ward Christmas Party performance thing on 3 instruments (violin, flute, piano). You should make Joseph sing, that would be hilarious. Becca, of course your ballet teacher complimented you. She's probably been jealous the whole time, but now she realizes that she's sinned, so she'll make you the head of the level 5 class soon. Abby, his hat did smell good. Don't be silly. Read together. make a plan on when you will each night. Please. Or I won't come home.
Dear Daddio
Hong Kong actually has gotten pretty cold. It is down to about 14 or 13 degrees celsius, which is pretty warm for December but cold for Hong Kong. And, none of our buildings have central heating, and most apartments have open air hallways, so it's a bit chilly. E.O'G hates it, he's too jaap gwan (accustomed) to the warm, but I think it's really nice. We are going to find out who the new AP's are today or tomorrow, so everyone is excited for big changes. It made me realize that you were an AP, which hadn't meant much to me until now. Interesting.
I wish working hard was easier, but then it wouldn't really be hard, would it? I've been trying a lot this week to focus my desires on missionary work instead of daydreaming or being homesick or thinking about physics, which is always a temptation. Oh, I had a thought. If you have a wire like this
------------------------------
l____a____l
with that loop touching but not connencted so that it can slide along the top wire (as in an electirc train) is there anyway to use a magnet at position a to generate a little back current or somthing to increase the resistance of the part of the top wire that the loop is bypassing so as to divert current through the loop even if it had a lot of resistance, as in a train motor? I'm not sure how the MTR trains work, but I think it flows from the top down through to an electric rail.
Joseph,
Group 4 (IB project in Science) was very stressful for me for that same reason (given very little direction). I did some weird experiment about lasers and leaves, and basically did the whole thing myself. How was it for you? Group hou m hou? Ask Eva.
Elder O'Gara is actually a writer, amateurishly at least, and was telling us about some of his story ideas. He said solid outlines are essential, I said my brother's outline was like 50 pages long. SO there.
I also have seen ads for "Ender's Game" here. I was afraid it would be horrible. It's just not the type of book that translates over to a movie very well. Turns out all my companions and roommates so far think that I'm way too critical on movies, and other things in general. I think they just have poor taste. And they should focus on missionary work more. Oh, how was the Stake Youth Rep thing?
I look forward to your package and story. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to send anything back. OH ALMOST FORGOT, you guys need to tell me when to call for our Christmas call, the day before, the day of, or the day after, 45 minutes. Figure out when everyone will be there, and remember our weird time schedule. Christmas Eve for you guys and Chrismas day for me is probably best.
David,
You should know, I'm always flattered, always.
Play that klavier, mein silo, gogo haih yatgo hou ge sihou.
I miss Amnesia (a computer game). I still haven't finished it. It's actually really hard not to talk about video games, so I will try not to sabotoge myself.
MOM,
You might be last, but your letter is always biggest, so you love me the most. The suits were used, from the sister's husband, but still pretty good. It rains violently every now and then, so it's nice to know that the suit is free if it gets ruined. Speaking of which, it already got pooped on by a bird, so yeah, good thing it was free.
Tell Eva thank you for the advice, I actually really like it. I like the idea of testifying and teaching quickly without being super awkward, though no matter how you do it, finding is, as Elder O'gara says, 90% awkward 10% miracle. I for one find it really easy to not argue, I just don't feel like arguing with people. Maybe I'm just still new, but I don't get annoyed at them very often. Elder O'Gara does very easily. Sometimes it irritates me, but I've learned a lesson I should have learned years ago, which is that criticising often just doesn't help.
One of the things that bugs him a lot is bureaucracy, like the guards at the chyuhns where our members live that won't let us in because they hate missionaries and Jehovah's Witnesses, even though it's illegal. So I sympathize with your efforts to get my paycheck stubs from the Salt Lake County bureaucracy.
I'm really happy about Grandpa's medical report. That actually made me kind of worried, though he's such a good guy that everyone knows he'll be fine no matter what happens. Oh, by the way, tell Grandma and Grandpa and the Relief Society that I loved their letters, they were awesome. Morris Matthews' as well. I'm trying to get around to sending some back but it is just inconvenient and I'm really bad at stuff like that anyway. I really do love it.
Thank you for your advice from your mission. It is comforting to know that it might just take time. I'm still loving it, it's just hard to work hard. I think this month is going to be a good one. Love you all.
Triads say hi.
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