July 14, 2014 - KK was Baptized!

Hello mine dear family.

This was a pretty great week. Why, you ask? Because a person was submerged in water for a second or two. And not by me, though that was what I was expecting last week. In our mission we really try to have a member do the baptism, because the missionaries obviously will leave but the member can stay there and have that good connection with the convert for the rest of their lives. KK really wanted me to do the baptism, because I had been there at the very beginning, and last week we sort of planned on having me do it, despite my protests. Then on her baptismal interview (which she passed easily. She came out and said "wow, so easy") we talked again and I explained a bit more. I was feeling guilty because that morning President Hawks had texted us about how we should have members baptize people. KK decided that would be fine, so I got the assignment to do the talk in the baptismal service instead. It was really great. KK has worked really hard, changed a lot, and really become more happy. She wouldn't really do much at all before, and now she has the self motivation to read scriptures, go to church, pray, etc. And she brought her husband to the baptismal service. He is a bit reluctant, largely because he went to Christian schools and found them very boring. But KK said she'd work on him, and Ida (who was at the lesson) shared about her experience. Ida had been attending a Catholic Investigator class for over a year before she ran into missionaries, and though she believed in God didn't feel anything from it. So her sharing was perfect. Andrew may become an investigator soon. We'll see...

Aside from that this week has been pretty cool. We have some investigators who are just super prepared for the gospel. There's one guy with a date in August who works in construction, which typically has a lot of word of wisdom or law of chastity problems, but when we taught him he had absolutely no conflicts at all. Miracle.

Our numbers this week were actually very low, but it was because of the baptism and something called the Peak Service, commemorating the dedication of Hong Kong to the preaching of the gospel. That was pretty cool, we had some investigators there, and I could understand the Chinese better than the English translation for the most part. The last time it was held was in 1993, and who do you think was Area President at that time? I forget, someone whose name begins with a C, maybe about cars, I don't know.

One cool experience I had this week was while on an exchange with the soon to return home Zone Leader, Elder Staehli. We saw a guy sitting on a bench, so we talked to him. I'm pretty bad at guessing ages. He looked about 20 or 30 years old, but he was probably 14 or 15. A form 4 student. Usually we wouldn't contact kids that age, just not the most useful use of time. But he was okay, and his two friends came up a bit later, then we taught them all, and scheduled them for church. 3 new investigators. None of them came, but I contacted all of them later and they all had legit excuses, and we are rescheduling them. Church was a bit optimistic anyway.

Elder Ferrar had a fun time learning how to do phone calls last night. I made him call potential investigator sheets a couple times, but last night we used a lot of language study time practicing (harshly) and then I made him alternate with me doing calls for 1.5 hours. I don't think he liked it but it was pretty useful. Calls were ridiculously hard for me at the beginning. I would just hope that every call would ring for a minute but not pick up so that I wouldn't have to talk to people. That's where Elder Ferrar is now. But he's a great Elder, learning fast.

I have to send this one right now and then re-check in, continuing shortly.

Mom,

I do a pretty good job of keeping a journal. Most missionaries are not great, but I write basically every day. Sometimes I'm short on time but usually I am pretty great. It was easy, already having that habit before my mission. Thank you Miss Rickart. One of the missionaries in our mission got attacked by a fighting dog and apparently has been in the hospital for a while. But he is okay, just has to recover. As far as acne goes, I am doing much better. There is still acne on my face, but this is the hottest and most humid time of year, I have more stress as a trainer, and I'm still pretty under control. We don't need the pills anymore so should be cheaper. I saw the guy today so will try to send the bills to you soon.

Sounds like things have been pretty cool back home. I really have been happy recently. It is a good place to be. My half way mark is in a month. That's super weird.

David,

I would love some time to do some death rides. I have only ridden a bike once on my mission, a P-day back in Tai Wai. I think I mentioned it.

Joseph will be interested to hear that before doing emails Elder Ferrar and I toured this BMW showcase place next to the chapel. Pretty expensive place. They had one that was a concept car turned commercial, hybrid with a full electric option, sports car, about 250,000 USD. Pretty cool. Elder Ferrar really likes cars, much more than I do. Electric is the future man, look at what the components of an internal engine are, then an electric one. Duh. Occum's Razor, that which is simplest is often right. We just need batteries.

Tell Abby that 500 yards is a great distance for a warm up swim.

ABBY!

I wasn't going to mention this but I have a sore throat and a cold too. Don't worry mom, it's not bad at all. But sometimes on a mission you wish you could just rest for a day. But I'm grateful; I think it's a test to see how diligent I've really become. You can do it Abby. I'm happy to hear you talking about getting in shape. Keep it up!

Love you all,

Elder Morrell