Dear Family,
Thank you for sending me so many happy final emails. I figured I'd take a second and say that I love you and I'm looking forward to see you tomorrow.
It's bitter-sweet, leaving the mission. It mostly feels bitter right now. But I'm sure I'll be a lot happer tomorrow once the flight is over.
I've come up with a new slogan - The journey is over but the adventure has just begun. I'm ready for a lot of new, amazing adventures in England. It should be fun.
Sister Dawson is next to me right now and is also checking her email. She just got one from Louise Roberts! I'm going to go read it.
Lots of love,
Elder Loffhagen
Saturday, 8 August 2009
Thursday, 30 July 2009
My Blaze of Glory
Dear Family,
So much has happened this week. It's been one of the best weeks of my life.
This will be my last email while on a mission - my "ultimate" email. So last week was the penultimate one - right? Or am I not remembering the rules of English clearly? I couldn't remember how to say "guidance" the other day in a prayer, and I'm seriously concerned about what two years of American companions has done to my language. Please give me some time to adjust.
I won't really get much of a chance to send one next week, so you'll have to wait an extra day to hear from me. I hope you can take consolation in the fact that you'll be hearing from me in person instead of at a distance.
Several Family Home Evening lessons have been planned for a long time already; just leave it to me. I'm looking forward to sharing all about my mission adventures with you, but hopefully not boring you to death by making you look at every single picture I took over two years.
I've had a few particularly interesting adventures this week. Last Sunday was the Macau fireside, which was the best night of my life. But before getting there, we found out that I had a few little visa problems. It turns out that for whatever reason, there was a mishap with renewing the visas of my entire group. While most of my group have left now, so it doesn't matter, everyone who stayed past our two year mark and took our late date to come home have apparently overstayed our welcome - when the Church renewed our visas, they accidentally only renewed them until our date entering the MTC.
So I was given my passport to travel back to Macau, and went to the ferry. Before you get on the ferry, you have to go through immigrations, because you're leaving the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. There's a really cool machine that checks you out - you put your Hong Kong ID in a kind of ticket reader, and then put your thumb on a thumb print reader. Then you walk through without a problem - unless you've overstayed your visa, like me. So a man came over and took me to an interrogation room. Ultimately, I had to pay $160HK to extend my visa until that day, when I was allowed to leave, and when I came back to Hong Kong I had to apply for a visitor's visa instead of using my convenient work visa. Right now, Sister Kau who works in the Mission Office is at the Immigration Office applying for a new work visa for everyone in my group who is still left. It's actually kind of lucky that this happened, otherwise we would never have known our visas were expired, and leaving Hong Kong to return home would have been difficult.
So when I'd finally arrived in Macau, I was thrilled. I was so happy to be walking the streets again, and was even more thrilled when I arrived at the church and saw so many old friends. Since I've left, many of our investigators have been baptised and many members of the International Branch, who I was also really good friends with, have been to the Temple, been endowed and one family was even sealed in the Temple!
I was so happy to be back with my family. That's what Macau really is for me - my family. As I saw several of my recent converts again, like the W Family and A-B, I was so thrilled for them. As I saw the missionaries, many of whom had just started serving in Macau around the time I'd left, I was thrilled to renew my friendships with them as well. It was the happiest moment of my life.
In the fireside, one of the Sister Missionaries currently serving in Macau sang a Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief better than I think I've ever heard it sung before. As she sang the last verse, "He spoke and my poor name He named; Of me thou hast not been ashamed. These deeds shall thy memorial be; fear not! Thou didst them unto me", I felt such a wave of the Spirit, probably stronger than I've ever felt it on my mission, comparative only to the time I sat in the Nauvoo Temple dedication. Only this time was all the more special, because I felt the love that my Saviour has, not only for me, but for the people I've worked with throughout my mission. And I felt that He was well pleased with the work I had done and the service I had given.
I was to speak directly after the musical number, and as I arose and walked to the pulpit, I felt the Spirit follow me there. I poured out my heart as I spoke of my love for the people of Macau and my thanks that God had given me the chance to get to know them. I shared Alma 17:2, which talks about Alma's joy when he met with the sons of Mosiah, because they were still his brethren in the Lord. I bore testimony of the Saviour's love and how I saw it reflected in the faces of the members in Macau.
I've been thinking a lot about my plan to go out in a blaze of glory - I was never quite sure what that meant until last Sunday night. That fireside, and that testimony WAS my blaze of glory. I don't know that anyone felt the blaze quite as strongly as I did, and it was only witnessed by a few dozen people in a little chapel in the grimy, sin infested tail end of China, but I felt that blaze and I knew the Lord has accepted my mission.
So as that Sister sang "These deeds shall thy memorial be," I finally felt ready to go home. No more fear or doubt of the unknown. I'm okay with ending my mission now. I left Macau with the joy that, no matter what heartache at leaving I may go through in the next week of my mission, it's worth it, because I had one last day in Macau. And no matter what hard times may follow after I return to England, it's worth it, because I got to serve in Hong Kong and give everything I had in the service of God for two years.
That said, I still have one week to do the best I can, and I'm going to work until I drop.
I got back to Hong Kong on Monday, and Tuesday and Wednesday was the infamous career workshop - a senior couple on a mission here taught us how exactly to go about getting a job and competing in the workplace. A lot of missionaries have been and had given me the impression that it's a really painful two days that leaves you completely trunky once it's gone, but I'm still feeling fine.
Coming up on Friday is our last Zone Conference, then my companion leaves for the Temple (he's been called as the new Assistant to the President, which means I'll be spending my last week in a threesome with Elder Bagley, my trainee; and his companion Elder Bloomfield) and Sunday is my Hong Kong Why I Believe Fireside, which should also be fun - but probably not as fun as the Macau fireside was. Tuesday is my exit interview with President Chan, and on Thursday I'll go through the Temple, visit the Peak where Hong Kong was dedicated and have dinner with the Chans. Then I'll stay overnight in the Temple with four of my old companions, as next Move the entire office staff will be my former companions - Elder Liu, Elder Fisher, Elder Kwok and Elder Clark. Then early Friday morning we'll go to the airport and I'll say goodbye to Hong Kong for a while.
Then I'll ask the person sitting next to me if he's ever heard of the Latter-day Saint church.
Then maybe a little later I'll ask the stewardess what my chances of getting a free upgrade to first class is, if there happen to be any spaces free. After all, if you don't ask, you don't get!
I don't think there's much else to say. I'm looking forward to seeing you next week. Don't worry about me too much if I seem distant or sad, or even a little weird. Missions do strange things to people. And don't make fun of my accent, just gently correct me when I say a word wrong. Tell Tim I'm looking forward to losing to him at Halo (because I've played Halo all of four times before in my life, and it'll be nice to build up his confidence by letting him win at something after I finish smashing him at Mariokart).
I love you all. I'm so thankful for your many sacrifices on my behalf. It's strange to end this chapter of my life, but I'm okay with it now. I know that God is guiding my path, whether or not I can see where I'm going.
I know with all my heart that this Church is true. If it weren't, I wouldn't have wasted two years in China trying to convince people to change their lives when they'd really, for the most part, rather not. I know God lives and loves each of us.
See you on Friday,
Elder Matthew Loffhagen
So much has happened this week. It's been one of the best weeks of my life.
This will be my last email while on a mission - my "ultimate" email. So last week was the penultimate one - right? Or am I not remembering the rules of English clearly? I couldn't remember how to say "guidance" the other day in a prayer, and I'm seriously concerned about what two years of American companions has done to my language. Please give me some time to adjust.
I won't really get much of a chance to send one next week, so you'll have to wait an extra day to hear from me. I hope you can take consolation in the fact that you'll be hearing from me in person instead of at a distance.
Several Family Home Evening lessons have been planned for a long time already; just leave it to me. I'm looking forward to sharing all about my mission adventures with you, but hopefully not boring you to death by making you look at every single picture I took over two years.
I've had a few particularly interesting adventures this week. Last Sunday was the Macau fireside, which was the best night of my life. But before getting there, we found out that I had a few little visa problems. It turns out that for whatever reason, there was a mishap with renewing the visas of my entire group. While most of my group have left now, so it doesn't matter, everyone who stayed past our two year mark and took our late date to come home have apparently overstayed our welcome - when the Church renewed our visas, they accidentally only renewed them until our date entering the MTC.
So I was given my passport to travel back to Macau, and went to the ferry. Before you get on the ferry, you have to go through immigrations, because you're leaving the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. There's a really cool machine that checks you out - you put your Hong Kong ID in a kind of ticket reader, and then put your thumb on a thumb print reader. Then you walk through without a problem - unless you've overstayed your visa, like me. So a man came over and took me to an interrogation room. Ultimately, I had to pay $160HK to extend my visa until that day, when I was allowed to leave, and when I came back to Hong Kong I had to apply for a visitor's visa instead of using my convenient work visa. Right now, Sister Kau who works in the Mission Office is at the Immigration Office applying for a new work visa for everyone in my group who is still left. It's actually kind of lucky that this happened, otherwise we would never have known our visas were expired, and leaving Hong Kong to return home would have been difficult.
So when I'd finally arrived in Macau, I was thrilled. I was so happy to be walking the streets again, and was even more thrilled when I arrived at the church and saw so many old friends. Since I've left, many of our investigators have been baptised and many members of the International Branch, who I was also really good friends with, have been to the Temple, been endowed and one family was even sealed in the Temple!
I was so happy to be back with my family. That's what Macau really is for me - my family. As I saw several of my recent converts again, like the W Family and A-B, I was so thrilled for them. As I saw the missionaries, many of whom had just started serving in Macau around the time I'd left, I was thrilled to renew my friendships with them as well. It was the happiest moment of my life.
In the fireside, one of the Sister Missionaries currently serving in Macau sang a Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief better than I think I've ever heard it sung before. As she sang the last verse, "He spoke and my poor name He named; Of me thou hast not been ashamed. These deeds shall thy memorial be; fear not! Thou didst them unto me", I felt such a wave of the Spirit, probably stronger than I've ever felt it on my mission, comparative only to the time I sat in the Nauvoo Temple dedication. Only this time was all the more special, because I felt the love that my Saviour has, not only for me, but for the people I've worked with throughout my mission. And I felt that He was well pleased with the work I had done and the service I had given.
I was to speak directly after the musical number, and as I arose and walked to the pulpit, I felt the Spirit follow me there. I poured out my heart as I spoke of my love for the people of Macau and my thanks that God had given me the chance to get to know them. I shared Alma 17:2, which talks about Alma's joy when he met with the sons of Mosiah, because they were still his brethren in the Lord. I bore testimony of the Saviour's love and how I saw it reflected in the faces of the members in Macau.
I've been thinking a lot about my plan to go out in a blaze of glory - I was never quite sure what that meant until last Sunday night. That fireside, and that testimony WAS my blaze of glory. I don't know that anyone felt the blaze quite as strongly as I did, and it was only witnessed by a few dozen people in a little chapel in the grimy, sin infested tail end of China, but I felt that blaze and I knew the Lord has accepted my mission.
So as that Sister sang "These deeds shall thy memorial be," I finally felt ready to go home. No more fear or doubt of the unknown. I'm okay with ending my mission now. I left Macau with the joy that, no matter what heartache at leaving I may go through in the next week of my mission, it's worth it, because I had one last day in Macau. And no matter what hard times may follow after I return to England, it's worth it, because I got to serve in Hong Kong and give everything I had in the service of God for two years.
That said, I still have one week to do the best I can, and I'm going to work until I drop.
I got back to Hong Kong on Monday, and Tuesday and Wednesday was the infamous career workshop - a senior couple on a mission here taught us how exactly to go about getting a job and competing in the workplace. A lot of missionaries have been and had given me the impression that it's a really painful two days that leaves you completely trunky once it's gone, but I'm still feeling fine.
Coming up on Friday is our last Zone Conference, then my companion leaves for the Temple (he's been called as the new Assistant to the President, which means I'll be spending my last week in a threesome with Elder Bagley, my trainee; and his companion Elder Bloomfield) and Sunday is my Hong Kong Why I Believe Fireside, which should also be fun - but probably not as fun as the Macau fireside was. Tuesday is my exit interview with President Chan, and on Thursday I'll go through the Temple, visit the Peak where Hong Kong was dedicated and have dinner with the Chans. Then I'll stay overnight in the Temple with four of my old companions, as next Move the entire office staff will be my former companions - Elder Liu, Elder Fisher, Elder Kwok and Elder Clark. Then early Friday morning we'll go to the airport and I'll say goodbye to Hong Kong for a while.
Then I'll ask the person sitting next to me if he's ever heard of the Latter-day Saint church.
Then maybe a little later I'll ask the stewardess what my chances of getting a free upgrade to first class is, if there happen to be any spaces free. After all, if you don't ask, you don't get!
I don't think there's much else to say. I'm looking forward to seeing you next week. Don't worry about me too much if I seem distant or sad, or even a little weird. Missions do strange things to people. And don't make fun of my accent, just gently correct me when I say a word wrong. Tell Tim I'm looking forward to losing to him at Halo (because I've played Halo all of four times before in my life, and it'll be nice to build up his confidence by letting him win at something after I finish smashing him at Mariokart).
I love you all. I'm so thankful for your many sacrifices on my behalf. It's strange to end this chapter of my life, but I'm okay with it now. I know that God is guiding my path, whether or not I can see where I'm going.
I know with all my heart that this Church is true. If it weren't, I wouldn't have wasted two years in China trying to convince people to change their lives when they'd really, for the most part, rather not. I know God lives and loves each of us.
See you on Friday,
Elder Matthew Loffhagen
Thursday, 23 July 2009
My Penultimate Email
Dear Mum and Dad,
I did hear about the Solar eclipse. But I didn't see it. It was similar to the last time there was an eclipse in Britain - the sky got darker a little, but there was nothing too special unless you were looking directly at the sun, which I didn't do.
I ultimately decided not to ask President Chan for permission to read Harry Potter - as you said, when does my mission end? Not until President Aitchinson releases me. But he did give me permission to use headphones to listen to General Conference on the way home, which is certainly a better use of the time. He also pointed out that as I travel home, it will be good to have the companionship of such uplifting messages, but I should make sure to let people around me know what I'm listening to.
This past Friday and Saturday I had the wonderful pleasure of exchanging with the Assistants to the President - I got to be companions for the day with Elder Liu, my old companion from Macau. It was a lot of fun, because he's an amazing missionary and really in tune with the spirit. We stopped people on the street and taught them the Gospel, and tried to contact a referral, but we couldn't quite find his address. On Saturday, there was a lot of AP things to do which I assisted in slightly, like giving people tours of the Mission Office and assigning Summer Missionaries to companionships.
I now have my flight plans, which were a little disappointing. Because my flight leaves at 9:40 in the morning, they want me to be at the airport by 7:00, which means I won't be able to attend the breakfast with all the other "dying" missionaries and their parents - so I won't get to see the Dawsons after all. That's sad. I also don't get to stay with all the other missionaries in a hotel overnight the night before, but will be with the Office Elders in the Temple instead, so that it's more convenient to leave early in the morning for the flight.
Also, it turns out that my entire baggage allowance is a mere 44lb which I believe is under 20kg. The mission says they'll pay for a second bag but want me to post all heavy books home on the slow boat. So I'll have to organize that - probably next Preparation Day. I'm going to do my best not to spend that £200.
Proms in the park sounds like fun, even if it's just the three of us. I believe the last time I went was 2001, because I remember them making us sing the American National Anthem and there not being any fireworks in memory of the Trade Center bombings.
I don't really have anything else to say this week. I love you and pray for you often. Enjoy the Summer Holiday.
Lots of Love,
Elder Matthew Loffhagen
I did hear about the Solar eclipse. But I didn't see it. It was similar to the last time there was an eclipse in Britain - the sky got darker a little, but there was nothing too special unless you were looking directly at the sun, which I didn't do.
I ultimately decided not to ask President Chan for permission to read Harry Potter - as you said, when does my mission end? Not until President Aitchinson releases me. But he did give me permission to use headphones to listen to General Conference on the way home, which is certainly a better use of the time. He also pointed out that as I travel home, it will be good to have the companionship of such uplifting messages, but I should make sure to let people around me know what I'm listening to.
This past Friday and Saturday I had the wonderful pleasure of exchanging with the Assistants to the President - I got to be companions for the day with Elder Liu, my old companion from Macau. It was a lot of fun, because he's an amazing missionary and really in tune with the spirit. We stopped people on the street and taught them the Gospel, and tried to contact a referral, but we couldn't quite find his address. On Saturday, there was a lot of AP things to do which I assisted in slightly, like giving people tours of the Mission Office and assigning Summer Missionaries to companionships.
I now have my flight plans, which were a little disappointing. Because my flight leaves at 9:40 in the morning, they want me to be at the airport by 7:00, which means I won't be able to attend the breakfast with all the other "dying" missionaries and their parents - so I won't get to see the Dawsons after all. That's sad. I also don't get to stay with all the other missionaries in a hotel overnight the night before, but will be with the Office Elders in the Temple instead, so that it's more convenient to leave early in the morning for the flight.
Also, it turns out that my entire baggage allowance is a mere 44lb which I believe is under 20kg. The mission says they'll pay for a second bag but want me to post all heavy books home on the slow boat. So I'll have to organize that - probably next Preparation Day. I'm going to do my best not to spend that £200.
Proms in the park sounds like fun, even if it's just the three of us. I believe the last time I went was 2001, because I remember them making us sing the American National Anthem and there not being any fireworks in memory of the Trade Center bombings.
I don't really have anything else to say this week. I love you and pray for you often. Enjoy the Summer Holiday.
Lots of Love,
Elder Matthew Loffhagen
Thursday, 16 July 2009
My final Mission Conference
Dear Mum and Dad,
First off, no, the blog doesn't bother me - I'm fine with it. :)
This has been yet another busy week, as every week seems to be now. Today was a trip with the Zone to the Hong Kong History Museum, which was very interesting. It started at the formation of the planet and went all the way through to the turnover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule. I get the feeling it was built after the turnover, because it seemed to point out every natural disaster and war in Hong Kong up until 1997, at which point, life became much better. The British were shown as being horrible Opium barons who failed many times at communicating with the locals, so we started taking things by force. Apparently our only contribution to Hong Kong was opium and gas powered streetlamps.
I found out something interesting - Hong Kong is the world's largest shipping container port, with most of the containers being stationed in Kwai Chung, my area. That's nice.
Another highlight of this past week has been Mission Conference. It was held this past Tuesday 14th July, which happens to be the 60th anniversary of Elder Matthew Cowley dedicating the land of Hong Kong to the preaching of the Gospel, atop Victoria Peak. As such, mission conference was very special - it was also held atop the peak. It was President Chan's first conference, and was a little different to President Van Dam's style, but it was also really enjoyable. As a missionary soon to return home, I was asked to give a departing testimony. I spoke of how God loves us, and said, "God loves the Chinese people. He loves the Philipinas...He even loves the Americans sometimes." I hadn't meant to say it quite like that, but it was said. Thankfully, the Americans of the mission (a good 95% of the missionaries) have already gotten used to my sarcastic comments about their homeland.
As far as Harry Potter goes, everybody in China loves it too. As per usual, I'm trying desperately to avoid posters and adverts on busses and trains, and trying desperately to steer all conversations away from the topic, for fear that a younger missionary will blurt out the ending and ruin my two years of successfully avoiding finding out what happens in the final book. Right now I am blessed to not know anything. I'm considering asking President Chan for permission to begin reading the final book on the flight home, but I don't know if I will. After all, just because I'll be done with the mission by that point doesn't mean I'm released yet.
Ivan's case has become more complicated - or, more rightly, we now understand his situation better. We went over to his house last Saturday to ask his mother's permission. It turns out that she's not 100% sane. Elder Fisher tried for a good 20-30 minutes to get her to calm down enough just to stop screaming and listen to us for a second, but no such luck. Eventually we left defeated. So now we're working on a new attack strategy. But it might be a while.
So what exactly is a Merlin season pass? Is that just a regular season pass with a picture of Merlin on it, or is that the name for the lifetime pass you can buy? :P Legoland sounds like a lot of fun - I'm sure we can arrange a trip when I get home. Proms in the park sounds like fun too. As does the next Harry Potter. But you know what's interesting? Thinking about all the things I used to do when I was at home, like watching films, listening to music, playing computer games, reading books and comics - none of that stuff really seems very important right now. Perhaps that'll change once I'm surrounded by it again, but right now it doesn't have a great appeal for me. The time in every Move after Mission Conference is always the fastest, and we already have some kind of Zone Leader meeting schedualed for every day for the rest of the Move. We'll see how things go.
At Mission Conference, we were privileged to hear from President and Sister Goo, who are the current China Hong Kong Temple President and Matron. 20 years ago President Goo was the Hong Kong Mission President, and another 30 years before that he was one of the first missionaries in the Southern Far East Mission. This mission has gone through a lot of changes in a relatively short period of time. It was interesting to learn that when President Goo first started his mission, they didn't even have the Book of Mormon in Chinese yet! It's interesting to think just how new the Gospel is here. Sister Goo spoke to us and told us of her trials growing up as a pioneer in Hong Kong - one of the first members back when she was in her early teens. She said that her mother refused to let her go to all of her church meetings on a Sunday, so she would wake up extra early and do every possible chore around the house before everyone woke up, to kind of "guilt" her mother into letting her go - but she was only to go to the first meeting, and then should come home. She wouldn't come back. She'd stay for Sacrament meeting, and when she got home, the house would be locked. She'd wait there on the doorstep until dusk, when her older brother would open the door for her. All because her mother's minister told her every week how evil the Mormons are.
Then one day she and her best friend (who had introduced her to the church) were called into her headteacher's office at the Lutheran school she was attending. They were both expelled on the spot with no explanation. It was only later that they found out that this was because they'd been inviting schoolfriends to church activities and the Lutheran church's activities had been losing attendance.
This was a great disgrace to her and her family, and many family members would tell her again and again how worthless she was for being expelled and joining some horrid cult. But Sister Goo wasn't going to take that lying down, and stuck to her dream of graduating from University and becoming a teacher, even when everybody around her told her that she could never do it. She said that on the day she graduated from BYU Provo, her family members thought that she was crying because she was graduating, but she was really crying because she was so happy to have finally achieved her dream, despite such hard opposition throughout her life. Both she as President Goo (who was raised in Hawaii) are amazing examples of Chinese pioneers.
And do you know who else are great examples of pioneers? Neil and Debbie Loffhagen. Thank you so much for your sacrifices on my behalf. I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with such wonderful parents. Two weeks ago, you gave me a quote from Marcos A. Aidukaitis' Conference talk, "Because My Father Read the Book of Mormon". I agree with what he said. Because the two of you read the Book of Mormon and walked against the wind, I've been abundantly blessed throughout my life.
I love you lots and pray for all of you often,
Elder Matthew Loffhagen
First off, no, the blog doesn't bother me - I'm fine with it. :)
This has been yet another busy week, as every week seems to be now. Today was a trip with the Zone to the Hong Kong History Museum, which was very interesting. It started at the formation of the planet and went all the way through to the turnover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule. I get the feeling it was built after the turnover, because it seemed to point out every natural disaster and war in Hong Kong up until 1997, at which point, life became much better. The British were shown as being horrible Opium barons who failed many times at communicating with the locals, so we started taking things by force. Apparently our only contribution to Hong Kong was opium and gas powered streetlamps.
I found out something interesting - Hong Kong is the world's largest shipping container port, with most of the containers being stationed in Kwai Chung, my area. That's nice.
Another highlight of this past week has been Mission Conference. It was held this past Tuesday 14th July, which happens to be the 60th anniversary of Elder Matthew Cowley dedicating the land of Hong Kong to the preaching of the Gospel, atop Victoria Peak. As such, mission conference was very special - it was also held atop the peak. It was President Chan's first conference, and was a little different to President Van Dam's style, but it was also really enjoyable. As a missionary soon to return home, I was asked to give a departing testimony. I spoke of how God loves us, and said, "God loves the Chinese people. He loves the Philipinas...He even loves the Americans sometimes." I hadn't meant to say it quite like that, but it was said. Thankfully, the Americans of the mission (a good 95% of the missionaries) have already gotten used to my sarcastic comments about their homeland.
As far as Harry Potter goes, everybody in China loves it too. As per usual, I'm trying desperately to avoid posters and adverts on busses and trains, and trying desperately to steer all conversations away from the topic, for fear that a younger missionary will blurt out the ending and ruin my two years of successfully avoiding finding out what happens in the final book. Right now I am blessed to not know anything. I'm considering asking President Chan for permission to begin reading the final book on the flight home, but I don't know if I will. After all, just because I'll be done with the mission by that point doesn't mean I'm released yet.
Ivan's case has become more complicated - or, more rightly, we now understand his situation better. We went over to his house last Saturday to ask his mother's permission. It turns out that she's not 100% sane. Elder Fisher tried for a good 20-30 minutes to get her to calm down enough just to stop screaming and listen to us for a second, but no such luck. Eventually we left defeated. So now we're working on a new attack strategy. But it might be a while.
So what exactly is a Merlin season pass? Is that just a regular season pass with a picture of Merlin on it, or is that the name for the lifetime pass you can buy? :P Legoland sounds like a lot of fun - I'm sure we can arrange a trip when I get home. Proms in the park sounds like fun too. As does the next Harry Potter. But you know what's interesting? Thinking about all the things I used to do when I was at home, like watching films, listening to music, playing computer games, reading books and comics - none of that stuff really seems very important right now. Perhaps that'll change once I'm surrounded by it again, but right now it doesn't have a great appeal for me. The time in every Move after Mission Conference is always the fastest, and we already have some kind of Zone Leader meeting schedualed for every day for the rest of the Move. We'll see how things go.
At Mission Conference, we were privileged to hear from President and Sister Goo, who are the current China Hong Kong Temple President and Matron. 20 years ago President Goo was the Hong Kong Mission President, and another 30 years before that he was one of the first missionaries in the Southern Far East Mission. This mission has gone through a lot of changes in a relatively short period of time. It was interesting to learn that when President Goo first started his mission, they didn't even have the Book of Mormon in Chinese yet! It's interesting to think just how new the Gospel is here. Sister Goo spoke to us and told us of her trials growing up as a pioneer in Hong Kong - one of the first members back when she was in her early teens. She said that her mother refused to let her go to all of her church meetings on a Sunday, so she would wake up extra early and do every possible chore around the house before everyone woke up, to kind of "guilt" her mother into letting her go - but she was only to go to the first meeting, and then should come home. She wouldn't come back. She'd stay for Sacrament meeting, and when she got home, the house would be locked. She'd wait there on the doorstep until dusk, when her older brother would open the door for her. All because her mother's minister told her every week how evil the Mormons are.
Then one day she and her best friend (who had introduced her to the church) were called into her headteacher's office at the Lutheran school she was attending. They were both expelled on the spot with no explanation. It was only later that they found out that this was because they'd been inviting schoolfriends to church activities and the Lutheran church's activities had been losing attendance.
This was a great disgrace to her and her family, and many family members would tell her again and again how worthless she was for being expelled and joining some horrid cult. But Sister Goo wasn't going to take that lying down, and stuck to her dream of graduating from University and becoming a teacher, even when everybody around her told her that she could never do it. She said that on the day she graduated from BYU Provo, her family members thought that she was crying because she was graduating, but she was really crying because she was so happy to have finally achieved her dream, despite such hard opposition throughout her life. Both she as President Goo (who was raised in Hawaii) are amazing examples of Chinese pioneers.
And do you know who else are great examples of pioneers? Neil and Debbie Loffhagen. Thank you so much for your sacrifices on my behalf. I'm so thankful that God has blessed me with such wonderful parents. Two weeks ago, you gave me a quote from Marcos A. Aidukaitis' Conference talk, "Because My Father Read the Book of Mormon". I agree with what he said. Because the two of you read the Book of Mormon and walked against the wind, I've been abundantly blessed throughout my life.
I love you lots and pray for all of you often,
Elder Matthew Loffhagen
Friday, 10 July 2009
Fighting to the bitter end
Dear family,
Wow! It sounds like a busy week!
I got a letter from someone yesterday. Somebody needs to talk to them about the exact content of the letters they send to Missionaries. The main bulk of the letter was describing the beautiful English countryside, which is a sensitive subject with me. While Hong Kong nature is somewhat more exotic than back home, it's not quite as peaceful as that of the British Isles. While it's nice to look at, if you stare too closely it might bite your face off - poisonous spiders and insects, more moquitos than you can shake a can of bug spray at, angry wild monkeys and dogs, and even the occasional cobra (Elder Marshall found one, but not in the jungle - in the High Street!).
At the end of the letter was a handwritten note that said "You must be counting down the days now! See you at camp." Yes, I will see you at camp. But I'm trying my best NOT to count down the days. It just gets more depressing every time I look at the calendar.
It has occurred to me recently that I am really scared to go home. I'm not just nervous - it actually does scare me. It's harder to come home than it was to leave. So for the moment I'll put it out of my mind and just work as hard as I can.
A brief note on the blog - a Sister missionary called Sister Wilson moved into our neighbouring district a few weeks ago. She told me that before my mission, she read the entire blog. She specifically remembers me wanting money to buy a new watch, and the fact that Immigrations into America was kinder to me than to the other Elders on the flight from Heathrow. It's put me in an awkward situation in that she has already heard all of my best mission stories. I have to wonder exactly what effect my blog is having on people with connections to the China Hong Kong Mission...
Anyway, this week has been interesting. Ivan has his baptismal date set for this coming Sunday. Both he and Elder Fisher have received a strong personal witness that it will definitely come to pass (I guess I'm just not in tune with the Spirit enough and I wasn't paying attention), but his mother has yet to be convinced. Elder Fisher is pushing forward with complete faith - I had his baptismal interview yesterday and passed. I feel that while prayers of faith are good, God also wants us to do everything in our power to make this goal come to pass. So we're going to try and arrange a time to go over to their house and make the case ourselves - explain all of the good things that come from membership of the Church and counter some Anti-Mormon lies she's heard.
In addition to meeting with investigators, we've been preparing for Zone Conference, which was held last Friday, and went rather well. Our theme for the Moves period is "Find Your Fire" so we gave everyone a candle and a piece of "sacred paper", promising them that provided they review it every day, any goal they write on the paper will be achieved. I've recently been thinking a lot about my goals for after the mission. I've felt that I really should devote the time spent at University should be totally devoted to studies, not to play. So I'm going to try my best to find a job, but as you've said, the world isn't doing too well right now. If the case is that I can't find part time work, I'll just live as poor as possible and devote everything I have to developing my time and talents. Outside of the subject of Communications, things I want to develop is my Chinese, including Mandarin, and my drawing. I can't remember if I've said this yet or not, but there was an Elder with me in the MTC, Elder Hamon, who will one day work for Pixar - that's his dream and I can see it happen. If I could draw like him, I'd draw for Marvel comics. The other week I was thinking about how I'm nowhere near as talented as him, and I said to myself, 'I'd give my left hand if my right hand could draw as well as Elder Hamon'. Then I answered myself - 'Elder Hamon's ability came from lots and lots of practice and learning. If you're willing to mutilate yourself for his gift, why can't you just put in the practice and effort to learn? If your desire is strong enough, you should be willing to do anything in your power to make it happen.' So after I finished talking to myself, I decided to take my own advice on board. I've come to the conclusion that the trick to being extraordinary at something is not to put in effort when you've set aside time to practice - everybody does that - the trick is to work on it in the idle moments when you're waiting for the bus, outside the toilet waiting for your companion, or just have a second with nothing to do. That's the time I've learned to pull out the flashcards and study - if I had relied only on the hour of language study a day, I would never have made it to language legend.
I've decided that the same principle applies in my drawing - the trick will be to do it in the few spare seconds I have, and to just practice and practice and practice. Yesterday while I was waiting outside I's baptismal interview, I pulled out a pen and my planner and just drew pictures of hands for a good half and hour. There is now a page of hands in my planner, in a bunch of different poses, and I'm a little better at drawing hands now.
By the way - no I never did find my lost money. Oh well, money doesn't bring you happiness anyway. I assume I must have thrown it away when I moved from West Point to Tai Po by accident. In this case, it has gone to a better cause - in Hong Kong, little old ladies who are retired try to grab some extra cash by rifling through rubbish bins and pulling out the recyclables to sell. I enjoy thinking of the look on one little old lady's face as she pulls an envelope out of a black plastic sack and discovers $400! That ought to make her day.
Yesterday was our District Leader/Zone Leader meeting, where we got to see the new President Chan in action. While Sister Chan chose to address us in Chinese (which was fine because everyone in the meeting has been in Hong Kong for quite a while, although she was throwing around some rather complex car vocabulary that perhaps not everyone got), President Chan spoke in English. His English is pretty good, but I'm fairly certain he hasn't needed to speak it much in recent years. I don't know if I mentioned that they're Hong Kong natives, and that up until his call he's been a Sealer in the Temple. They're both very excited and a little nervous. I'm making it my goal to do everything I can to support them.
Well, time is running out fast. I love you all. If there's anything I can do for you, let me know.
Lots of love,
Elder Matthew Loffhagen
Wow! It sounds like a busy week!
I got a letter from someone yesterday. Somebody needs to talk to them about the exact content of the letters they send to Missionaries. The main bulk of the letter was describing the beautiful English countryside, which is a sensitive subject with me. While Hong Kong nature is somewhat more exotic than back home, it's not quite as peaceful as that of the British Isles. While it's nice to look at, if you stare too closely it might bite your face off - poisonous spiders and insects, more moquitos than you can shake a can of bug spray at, angry wild monkeys and dogs, and even the occasional cobra (Elder Marshall found one, but not in the jungle - in the High Street!).
At the end of the letter was a handwritten note that said "You must be counting down the days now! See you at camp." Yes, I will see you at camp. But I'm trying my best NOT to count down the days. It just gets more depressing every time I look at the calendar.
It has occurred to me recently that I am really scared to go home. I'm not just nervous - it actually does scare me. It's harder to come home than it was to leave. So for the moment I'll put it out of my mind and just work as hard as I can.
A brief note on the blog - a Sister missionary called Sister Wilson moved into our neighbouring district a few weeks ago. She told me that before my mission, she read the entire blog. She specifically remembers me wanting money to buy a new watch, and the fact that Immigrations into America was kinder to me than to the other Elders on the flight from Heathrow. It's put me in an awkward situation in that she has already heard all of my best mission stories. I have to wonder exactly what effect my blog is having on people with connections to the China Hong Kong Mission...
Anyway, this week has been interesting. Ivan has his baptismal date set for this coming Sunday. Both he and Elder Fisher have received a strong personal witness that it will definitely come to pass (I guess I'm just not in tune with the Spirit enough and I wasn't paying attention), but his mother has yet to be convinced. Elder Fisher is pushing forward with complete faith - I had his baptismal interview yesterday and passed. I feel that while prayers of faith are good, God also wants us to do everything in our power to make this goal come to pass. So we're going to try and arrange a time to go over to their house and make the case ourselves - explain all of the good things that come from membership of the Church and counter some Anti-Mormon lies she's heard.
In addition to meeting with investigators, we've been preparing for Zone Conference, which was held last Friday, and went rather well. Our theme for the Moves period is "Find Your Fire" so we gave everyone a candle and a piece of "sacred paper", promising them that provided they review it every day, any goal they write on the paper will be achieved. I've recently been thinking a lot about my goals for after the mission. I've felt that I really should devote the time spent at University should be totally devoted to studies, not to play. So I'm going to try my best to find a job, but as you've said, the world isn't doing too well right now. If the case is that I can't find part time work, I'll just live as poor as possible and devote everything I have to developing my time and talents. Outside of the subject of Communications, things I want to develop is my Chinese, including Mandarin, and my drawing. I can't remember if I've said this yet or not, but there was an Elder with me in the MTC, Elder Hamon, who will one day work for Pixar - that's his dream and I can see it happen. If I could draw like him, I'd draw for Marvel comics. The other week I was thinking about how I'm nowhere near as talented as him, and I said to myself, 'I'd give my left hand if my right hand could draw as well as Elder Hamon'. Then I answered myself - 'Elder Hamon's ability came from lots and lots of practice and learning. If you're willing to mutilate yourself for his gift, why can't you just put in the practice and effort to learn? If your desire is strong enough, you should be willing to do anything in your power to make it happen.' So after I finished talking to myself, I decided to take my own advice on board. I've come to the conclusion that the trick to being extraordinary at something is not to put in effort when you've set aside time to practice - everybody does that - the trick is to work on it in the idle moments when you're waiting for the bus, outside the toilet waiting for your companion, or just have a second with nothing to do. That's the time I've learned to pull out the flashcards and study - if I had relied only on the hour of language study a day, I would never have made it to language legend.
I've decided that the same principle applies in my drawing - the trick will be to do it in the few spare seconds I have, and to just practice and practice and practice. Yesterday while I was waiting outside I's baptismal interview, I pulled out a pen and my planner and just drew pictures of hands for a good half and hour. There is now a page of hands in my planner, in a bunch of different poses, and I'm a little better at drawing hands now.
By the way - no I never did find my lost money. Oh well, money doesn't bring you happiness anyway. I assume I must have thrown it away when I moved from West Point to Tai Po by accident. In this case, it has gone to a better cause - in Hong Kong, little old ladies who are retired try to grab some extra cash by rifling through rubbish bins and pulling out the recyclables to sell. I enjoy thinking of the look on one little old lady's face as she pulls an envelope out of a black plastic sack and discovers $400! That ought to make her day.
Yesterday was our District Leader/Zone Leader meeting, where we got to see the new President Chan in action. While Sister Chan chose to address us in Chinese (which was fine because everyone in the meeting has been in Hong Kong for quite a while, although she was throwing around some rather complex car vocabulary that perhaps not everyone got), President Chan spoke in English. His English is pretty good, but I'm fairly certain he hasn't needed to speak it much in recent years. I don't know if I mentioned that they're Hong Kong natives, and that up until his call he's been a Sealer in the Temple. They're both very excited and a little nervous. I'm making it my goal to do everything I can to support them.
Well, time is running out fast. I love you all. If there's anything I can do for you, let me know.
Lots of love,
Elder Matthew Loffhagen
Friday, 3 July 2009
Happy Hong Kong Return to China Day!
Dear family,
It's been a busy week. We've had a lot of miracles and a lot of memorable experiences.
Yesterday was a very interesting day here in Hong Kong - it was the twelfth anniversary of Hong Kong returning to Chinese rule. There are mixed opinions on whether or not that was a good thing here. For us missionaries, it just ended up being really annoying.
Every Wednesday we send a District to a regular service project at a charity called Crossroads - I think I've mentioned it before? We normally go and dig trenches or prepare shipments of cargo to third world countries. This week, our district went. It took us about an hour on the bus to get there, but when we arrived, the entire place was empty. Confused, we explored around a bit, and Elder Bagley mentioned that this had happened once before, on Christmas Eve, because the charity was closed. I suddenly remembered that it was a national holiday, and at that moment we spotted a passing staff member who lives on site, who was heading home with a bag of shopping. When he saw us he said, "I'm so sorry! We tried to contact you and tell you not to come today!" Well, all we could do was laugh, then hop on the bus and go home.
Later in the evening, everyone was anticipating a huge firework display that was going to go off in the middle of the Hong Kong harbour. A lot of missionaries had gotten special permission to go, but we'd had a better plan - after hiking up the infamous "Monkey Mountain" (so named because it has a lot of wild monkeys) with our ward last month, we'd found a large rock on the top of the mountain with a wonderful view of all of Hong Kong. Having been to the fireworks before, I knew that finding a good view is incredibly difficult, and we determined to hike up Monkey Mountain last night with the ward again to watch the fireworks. It was a missionary organized activity, but unlike the last time when we only had Young Men, this time we had a wide range of ages and genders - including an elderly lady, affectionately called "Paw Paw" (Grandma) but the locals.
We hiked most of the way up the hill and Paw Paw was getting tired, so half the group stayed to watch the fireworks at a bridge over a dam we found, which gave an excellent view, while the rest of us continued up the hill for an even more excellent view. We got there in time for the fireworks and watched the flashing lights of Hong Kong below us. We waited. And waited. And waited. I called one of the Mandarin Elders who was down among the crowds to see if the fireworks had started yet, and he said no. About half an hour after the fireworks were schedualed to start, he phoned me back and said that because of a protest on Hong Kong island, the police had cancelled the fireworks. Well, it seemed that everything we were trying to do that day had been cancelled, and again, I couldn't help but laugh. We all made our way back down the mountain and back home.
This week we sat down with an investigator, I, and set a baptismal date. Ivan's situation is interesting - he told us of his great desire to keep all the commandments and be baptised, but unfortunately his mother is very much against him doing so. She's threatened to burn down the church is he comes back. Every now and then, he would sneak out on Sunday morning to come to church, but for the most point he'd been cut off from us - until about two weeks ago. I'm not sure why, but two weeks ago he started attending church regularly again, plus many of the activities we have during the week. I asked if his mother knows where he is when he comes to church, and he said that she probably suspects.
So on Tuesday we sat down with him. Elder Fisher laid down a few options for baptismal dates with him, and promised him that if we set a date and pray and fast, God will provide the way for him to be baptised. The only question in the matter is when. I prayed to know when he should be baptized, and immediately after the prayer, he got up off his knees and sat back in his chair. "Wow," he said, "wow. I just heard a really clear voice say 'three weeks' time'." As we looked at the calendar, he again felt very strongly about the 12th of July, which at the time was three weeks away (now it's more like two). The three of us committed to make it happen. We will fast, pray, and Ivan will ask his mother for permission. We're about to see a great miracle take place.
I think I would indeed like to go to the Manchester Conference, and if Julian and Chris are going, that makes things even better. Tell Jess I'd really like her to go too.
I do not know a Jessica Gray, but I do know this - One time when Julian went down from his school to visit Sally Ann, he was in the process of writing a letter to me, and she and her flatmates saw it. So I imagine that might be the connection there.
Everyone here has heard about Michael Jackson's death - what a surprise! Oh well.
Thank you for the extra money. I don't think it'll be necessary, but thank you anyway. I don't have much of anything I need to buy, apart from Dad's Buddha statue. A while ago I decided to buy some Hong Kong films to watch when I get home, but didn't want to have to go into those film shops while I'm still serving here. So I got a member by the name of Joe to help me out. For $150 he got me six DVDs which have all, at one point or another, been on the bus stop ads while I've been here. That should be fun. So now I'm done in that respect and probably won't be buying very much else before I come home - it's when I get back home that I'll be needing money. School, driving lessons, a car, a computer, new clothes...oh dear. So much to buy and no money to do it with.
In the meantime, if there's anything else anyone wants me to get, let me know. My time is up for today.
Love you lots,
Elder Matthew Loffhagen
It's been a busy week. We've had a lot of miracles and a lot of memorable experiences.
Yesterday was a very interesting day here in Hong Kong - it was the twelfth anniversary of Hong Kong returning to Chinese rule. There are mixed opinions on whether or not that was a good thing here. For us missionaries, it just ended up being really annoying.
Every Wednesday we send a District to a regular service project at a charity called Crossroads - I think I've mentioned it before? We normally go and dig trenches or prepare shipments of cargo to third world countries. This week, our district went. It took us about an hour on the bus to get there, but when we arrived, the entire place was empty. Confused, we explored around a bit, and Elder Bagley mentioned that this had happened once before, on Christmas Eve, because the charity was closed. I suddenly remembered that it was a national holiday, and at that moment we spotted a passing staff member who lives on site, who was heading home with a bag of shopping. When he saw us he said, "I'm so sorry! We tried to contact you and tell you not to come today!" Well, all we could do was laugh, then hop on the bus and go home.
Later in the evening, everyone was anticipating a huge firework display that was going to go off in the middle of the Hong Kong harbour. A lot of missionaries had gotten special permission to go, but we'd had a better plan - after hiking up the infamous "Monkey Mountain" (so named because it has a lot of wild monkeys) with our ward last month, we'd found a large rock on the top of the mountain with a wonderful view of all of Hong Kong. Having been to the fireworks before, I knew that finding a good view is incredibly difficult, and we determined to hike up Monkey Mountain last night with the ward again to watch the fireworks. It was a missionary organized activity, but unlike the last time when we only had Young Men, this time we had a wide range of ages and genders - including an elderly lady, affectionately called "Paw Paw" (Grandma) but the locals.
We hiked most of the way up the hill and Paw Paw was getting tired, so half the group stayed to watch the fireworks at a bridge over a dam we found, which gave an excellent view, while the rest of us continued up the hill for an even more excellent view. We got there in time for the fireworks and watched the flashing lights of Hong Kong below us. We waited. And waited. And waited. I called one of the Mandarin Elders who was down among the crowds to see if the fireworks had started yet, and he said no. About half an hour after the fireworks were schedualed to start, he phoned me back and said that because of a protest on Hong Kong island, the police had cancelled the fireworks. Well, it seemed that everything we were trying to do that day had been cancelled, and again, I couldn't help but laugh. We all made our way back down the mountain and back home.
This week we sat down with an investigator, I, and set a baptismal date. Ivan's situation is interesting - he told us of his great desire to keep all the commandments and be baptised, but unfortunately his mother is very much against him doing so. She's threatened to burn down the church is he comes back. Every now and then, he would sneak out on Sunday morning to come to church, but for the most point he'd been cut off from us - until about two weeks ago. I'm not sure why, but two weeks ago he started attending church regularly again, plus many of the activities we have during the week. I asked if his mother knows where he is when he comes to church, and he said that she probably suspects.
So on Tuesday we sat down with him. Elder Fisher laid down a few options for baptismal dates with him, and promised him that if we set a date and pray and fast, God will provide the way for him to be baptised. The only question in the matter is when. I prayed to know when he should be baptized, and immediately after the prayer, he got up off his knees and sat back in his chair. "Wow," he said, "wow. I just heard a really clear voice say 'three weeks' time'." As we looked at the calendar, he again felt very strongly about the 12th of July, which at the time was three weeks away (now it's more like two). The three of us committed to make it happen. We will fast, pray, and Ivan will ask his mother for permission. We're about to see a great miracle take place.
I think I would indeed like to go to the Manchester Conference, and if Julian and Chris are going, that makes things even better. Tell Jess I'd really like her to go too.
I do not know a Jessica Gray, but I do know this - One time when Julian went down from his school to visit Sally Ann, he was in the process of writing a letter to me, and she and her flatmates saw it. So I imagine that might be the connection there.
Everyone here has heard about Michael Jackson's death - what a surprise! Oh well.
Thank you for the extra money. I don't think it'll be necessary, but thank you anyway. I don't have much of anything I need to buy, apart from Dad's Buddha statue. A while ago I decided to buy some Hong Kong films to watch when I get home, but didn't want to have to go into those film shops while I'm still serving here. So I got a member by the name of Joe to help me out. For $150 he got me six DVDs which have all, at one point or another, been on the bus stop ads while I've been here. That should be fun. So now I'm done in that respect and probably won't be buying very much else before I come home - it's when I get back home that I'll be needing money. School, driving lessons, a car, a computer, new clothes...oh dear. So much to buy and no money to do it with.
In the meantime, if there's anything else anyone wants me to get, let me know. My time is up for today.
Love you lots,
Elder Matthew Loffhagen
Thursday, 25 June 2009
Blaze of Glory
Dear Mum and Dad,
I just dropped Elder Marshall off at the Temple and picked up my new companion, Elder Fisher. He is a really good, hard working Elder who has been finding some excellent alternatives to street contacting which he's been telling me have seriously blessed his previous area. He said that in the last three Moves, he's never scheduled a block of finding time and instead finds while they travel from one appointment to another. It sounds like fun, and a lot more effective than street contacting, so I'm looking forward to trying another style of missionary work.
My old companion from Macau, Elder Liu, has been called to be the new Assistant to the President. I'm thrilled for him, but he seems a little nervous in the role for now. Last Sunday was the Why I Believe Fireside, where "dying" missionaries bear their testimonies before going home. I was asked to translate for the meeting, alongside Elder Liu. It felt like being back in Macau again, because we always had to translate Church for the International branch members who couldn't attend in the evening.
Last week I dropped my iPod off with Elder Matt Chan, the other British Elder in the mission, who was up until today serving as the distribution manager. I had asked him to put the mission's Cantonese Sounds and Tones tape on it, which he has recorded to MP3. When I got it back, I discovered that he's taken the liberty of filling it with tons of EFY music and speeches, which I'm looking forward to listening to. Earlier today he mentioned a YSA convention in Manchester that apparently is going on in August, and asked if I was going to be there. I told him I didn't know anything about it - maybe you could look into it for me?
It's good to hear that Chris is getting back into the swing of things. I love him and can imagine how hard it must be for him now. Today at the Temple a native RM who served with me in Macau dropped by just to say hi to all the missionaries, and told me how much he misses being on a mission. I pointed out that when I go home, I won't be seeing anyone for a while because I live so far away, and that he is lucky he can just drop by the Temple every once in a while.
As I am now in my final Move as a missionary, I have given myself a theme for the Move: Blaze of Glory. I want to go out in style, working as hard as I possibly can - not that I've not been doing so thus far, but I just don't want to slow down now that my time is running out, and I certainly don't want to get trunky. This being the case, I was wondering if you could go on the internet and find a quote for me. One time Winston Churchill said that if the British Empire were to last for a thousand years, people would still look back and say that winning World War II was our finest hour. I'd like the exact quote because it might be nice to share in Zone Conference next week. I want to look back on my mission and say that this Move was my finest hour, because it was the time I Endured to the End and fought to the very last minute.
I hope your hand feels better soon. I wonder if anyone has thought about giving Grandad a Priesthood blessing for his memory loss? Perhaps it might help.
Please congratulate Tim for me. I really am very proud of him and all that he's doing. Tell him to work hard and stay worthy.
This past few days have been very interesting. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Elder Marshall took care of his packing. I was bored out of my skull. But Tuesday evening, we had English Class and a lesson with an investigator from Indonesia who speaks fluent Chinese and whose husband in a Hong Kong local. Just as we were about to leave for it, a man walked in and asked for the times of the meetings. He said that before he'd been really busy, but now that he has more time, he wants to learn about God. So things got shuffled around a little bit. The Threesome of Elders that we had (up until today) in Kwai Fong split up, one going with Elder Marshall to his appointment and the other two going to an appointment that they had. I grabbed a recent convert called S and we exchanged to teach this man, J, about the Restoration. I asked J why he had come to this church, and he told me that it's the most convenient, because it's close to his home. Well, I don't care why people come in so long as they stay for the right reason. So S and I taught a very good Restoration lesson. It was particularly good because I could say things like, "S, how do prophets help us," and "what happened when Joseph Smith prayed in the grove of trees?" and he would answer as if reading from Preach My Gospel. Half way through, S's friend J (who refered S to the church) came in and shared his testimony of the Book of Mormon. J will come to church on Sunday, unless he can't wake up, which he's afraid of, in which case he'll come to our ward FHE.
Yesterday because of a falling through of an arrangement for Elder Bloomfield, one of the Elders in the threesome which split up this morning, I got the chance to accompany him to the Temple. He has a Recent Convert from over a year ago, who recieved his Endowment yesterday. Elder Bloomfield was given permission to go and support him, and I tagged along as his companion. It was a wonderful experience as I saw this man enjoy the simple beauty of the Temple for the first time.
So in summary, this has been a very busy week. What with packing, translating for the Why I Believe, teaching walk-ins, going to the Temple and doing everything else we've done, we've been very busy and VERY blessed. I'm really excited for this next move and am looking forward to seeing what Elder Fisher and I can do together. In our flat this Move is the two of us, plus Elder Bloomfield and Elder Bagley, who was my trainee about a year ago.
I love you all very, very much. You can trust me to do my best as I serve in my finest hour and go out in a blaze of glory.
Love,
Elder Matthew Loffhagen
I just dropped Elder Marshall off at the Temple and picked up my new companion, Elder Fisher. He is a really good, hard working Elder who has been finding some excellent alternatives to street contacting which he's been telling me have seriously blessed his previous area. He said that in the last three Moves, he's never scheduled a block of finding time and instead finds while they travel from one appointment to another. It sounds like fun, and a lot more effective than street contacting, so I'm looking forward to trying another style of missionary work.
My old companion from Macau, Elder Liu, has been called to be the new Assistant to the President. I'm thrilled for him, but he seems a little nervous in the role for now. Last Sunday was the Why I Believe Fireside, where "dying" missionaries bear their testimonies before going home. I was asked to translate for the meeting, alongside Elder Liu. It felt like being back in Macau again, because we always had to translate Church for the International branch members who couldn't attend in the evening.
Last week I dropped my iPod off with Elder Matt Chan, the other British Elder in the mission, who was up until today serving as the distribution manager. I had asked him to put the mission's Cantonese Sounds and Tones tape on it, which he has recorded to MP3. When I got it back, I discovered that he's taken the liberty of filling it with tons of EFY music and speeches, which I'm looking forward to listening to. Earlier today he mentioned a YSA convention in Manchester that apparently is going on in August, and asked if I was going to be there. I told him I didn't know anything about it - maybe you could look into it for me?
It's good to hear that Chris is getting back into the swing of things. I love him and can imagine how hard it must be for him now. Today at the Temple a native RM who served with me in Macau dropped by just to say hi to all the missionaries, and told me how much he misses being on a mission. I pointed out that when I go home, I won't be seeing anyone for a while because I live so far away, and that he is lucky he can just drop by the Temple every once in a while.
As I am now in my final Move as a missionary, I have given myself a theme for the Move: Blaze of Glory. I want to go out in style, working as hard as I possibly can - not that I've not been doing so thus far, but I just don't want to slow down now that my time is running out, and I certainly don't want to get trunky. This being the case, I was wondering if you could go on the internet and find a quote for me. One time Winston Churchill said that if the British Empire were to last for a thousand years, people would still look back and say that winning World War II was our finest hour. I'd like the exact quote because it might be nice to share in Zone Conference next week. I want to look back on my mission and say that this Move was my finest hour, because it was the time I Endured to the End and fought to the very last minute.
I hope your hand feels better soon. I wonder if anyone has thought about giving Grandad a Priesthood blessing for his memory loss? Perhaps it might help.
Please congratulate Tim for me. I really am very proud of him and all that he's doing. Tell him to work hard and stay worthy.
This past few days have been very interesting. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Elder Marshall took care of his packing. I was bored out of my skull. But Tuesday evening, we had English Class and a lesson with an investigator from Indonesia who speaks fluent Chinese and whose husband in a Hong Kong local. Just as we were about to leave for it, a man walked in and asked for the times of the meetings. He said that before he'd been really busy, but now that he has more time, he wants to learn about God. So things got shuffled around a little bit. The Threesome of Elders that we had (up until today) in Kwai Fong split up, one going with Elder Marshall to his appointment and the other two going to an appointment that they had. I grabbed a recent convert called S and we exchanged to teach this man, J, about the Restoration. I asked J why he had come to this church, and he told me that it's the most convenient, because it's close to his home. Well, I don't care why people come in so long as they stay for the right reason. So S and I taught a very good Restoration lesson. It was particularly good because I could say things like, "S, how do prophets help us," and "what happened when Joseph Smith prayed in the grove of trees?" and he would answer as if reading from Preach My Gospel. Half way through, S's friend J (who refered S to the church) came in and shared his testimony of the Book of Mormon. J will come to church on Sunday, unless he can't wake up, which he's afraid of, in which case he'll come to our ward FHE.
Yesterday because of a falling through of an arrangement for Elder Bloomfield, one of the Elders in the threesome which split up this morning, I got the chance to accompany him to the Temple. He has a Recent Convert from over a year ago, who recieved his Endowment yesterday. Elder Bloomfield was given permission to go and support him, and I tagged along as his companion. It was a wonderful experience as I saw this man enjoy the simple beauty of the Temple for the first time.
So in summary, this has been a very busy week. What with packing, translating for the Why I Believe, teaching walk-ins, going to the Temple and doing everything else we've done, we've been very busy and VERY blessed. I'm really excited for this next move and am looking forward to seeing what Elder Fisher and I can do together. In our flat this Move is the two of us, plus Elder Bloomfield and Elder Bagley, who was my trainee about a year ago.
I love you all very, very much. You can trust me to do my best as I serve in my finest hour and go out in a blaze of glory.
Love,
Elder Matthew Loffhagen
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