June 2, 2014 - 17 Lessons Taught this Week!

Sorry, I have failed in that time is very short. This letter will not be as good as the letter it is replying to.

Nice to hear you all back together again. Some things from this week (which was lovely).

The weather is hot, but I kind of like it. Yes, we sweat a ridiculous amount, and yes I fear that my clothes will mold, but it is really pretty, nice and sunny. I like experiencing some real weather too.

We taught a total of 17 lessons this week, half with members. Very great. We had a zone conference this week. It is difficult to describe how much respect there is towards President Hawks. The whole mission really just respects him, no other way to say it. He is a really funny guy, says a lot of jokes, but he's also very exacting. Very punctual. Every missionary shows up at least 20 minutes early to zone conference so that we can be 5 minutes early to his request to be 15 minutes early.

I cooked a lot of really good food this week. I think that I am finally starting to understand a bit more of the fundamentals of cooking, so that now I can actually take all raw ingredients and make homemade spaghetti (really, tomato paste for the sauce, onions, ground pork) today I bought a ton of ingredients at this sort of sketchy but really local and cheap market called Kai Po, then went to the street markets and haggled for mushrooms. I feel so cool.

Having 3 people together is really tricky in some ways. Finding is weird, and we have to be really careful to not dominate in lessons (I particularly need to do that). But it's fun. Elder Yim is a really cool guy.

I wanted to mention my scripture marking. It has gone through stages. Before mission: very sporadic, rare, usually badly done, highlighters that bled through a lot, etc. First part of mission, using actual markers, but way too excessive. Not a lot of meaning, just marking. Now, pretty darn good. Nowadays I use pen more often because I am really analyzing things a lot. I feel like recently I've gained much deeper understanding of a lot of principles. Hard to explain, they're more personal understanding. I think that you can compare it to some sort of large puzzle with a ton of wooden blocks that need to slot together in certain ways to be solved but get stuck all the time. Sometimes you just need time to shake it up. Ex. in Zone Conference we were talking about planning, and I randomly understood covenants more.

Dad,

The Apple store is playing “More than a Feeling” right now. Rough.

I think that is a very good way to look at things. I'll have to discuss that with Elder Barker. He and I really like talking through these things. I have a question for you and mom. Elder Barker and I were talking about this today, but Elder Tong's original return date was Dec 26, which got switched to Dec. 23 for obvious reasons. Do you think if you could choose, you would stay an extra 2 days and miss Christmas, or go home on the 23rd? Grammar is poor, I know, but I'm curious. I would like to think that I would become so =devoted I would stay, but Mom'd kill me.

Abby,

I have a ton of dreams these days, but in all of them I am a missionary and sometimes I just do calls in my sleep. Pretty weird. I know what you mean about being scared. Too much too fast. Don't worry, when I get back we'll talk a lot. But for now just keep writing those emails.

Rebecca,

Congrats, Genesis has some important stuff in it. Take my advice and be ready to skip stuff in Leviticus, Numbers, etc. Honestly, the Book of Mormon will be the most rewarding thing you ever read. Or the Pearl of Great Price. That's got some weird stuff in it. :) You haven't seen the shirts I’m talking about. They are silk, traditional, super cool.

NO time.

David, you’r e cool, play Civ 5.

Joseph, I too have been working out a bit recently, as in more than before. I'm trying to bulk up my arms a bit because I look all small and puny. I'm also really curious how far I could run; I think 5k's would be okay now. We'll see later. Whenever I see movies I think of you critiquing them.

Mom, I love you the most (obviously) but I really have no time. Showers are essential. I feel like a pig if I go to bed without showering. I think that the best parts of the war chapters are the parts by Helaman. There is a lot to be learned about faith, hope, planning, and obedience in them. I love the war chapters one because they're interesting and two because they talk a lot about goals and planning, useful stuff.