3rd email from Hong Kong

Hello family!
I'm getting more and more into the swing of things here. The place is not quite so overwhelming any more - I still can't understand what is going on most of the time, but at least it's getting to be a familiar kind of incomprehension.
My companion and I have discovered a wonderful technique to finding people through the spirit - planning! All that time spent in the MTC with all that weekly planning time that seemed so wasteful - but prayerfully planning out our day and then telling our Heavenly Father what we plan to do the next day in prayer, is something we've been implementing this week, and it's amazing the difference it has made. We asked where to go on Monday, as we had a lot of finding time, and while there, we found so many people to teach, a new investigator, and, while teaching one man on a park bench, a woman came over to us and asked when church services were, as she wanted to attend! It's not exactly run of the mill to get people asking you about the church! However, like many of the humble people of Hong Kong, she was Filipino (not sure if that's the right spelling; I thought it was ph at the beginning, but that's how I've seen it spelt while here), and so after receiving her contact details, we passed them over to missionaries who are assigned to work with international people, from all over the world - very, very many Filipinos, mostly women, come to the area for work, mostly as maids, and are very often very ready for the Gospel. There is a very large number of missionaries just working in English, teaching them. They have church sessions in English for them almost every day of the week, because, as maids, their days off are all very different, unpredictable, and sometimes sporadic.

Another group of people in Hong Kong who are very ready to hear the message are, of course, those from Mainland China. I knew a little about the so-called "Miracle conversions" that happen - people will hear about the Gospel in China, and will travel to Hong Kong to get taught the lessons, baptised and have the Priesthood conferred upon them all in the same day - what I didn't know beforehand is the sheer scale of this - the law in China is that you [i]can[/i] be baptised, but only by a member of your family. So when each of these people come from Mainland to be baptised, they are generally the father of the family, and they go back with the power of the Priesthood, and baptise their entire families. And they have big families - grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc, all living together. Each of these baptisms in Hong Kong counts for a far larger number in Mainland. And many, many people come to Hong Kong from Mainland for school and are by far the most willing of the Chinese people to hear our message. They all speak Mandarin, though, and are taught by Mandarin Elders. To give you somewhat of the ratio between Cantonese and Mandarin missionaries, let me tell you about our group travelling over here - there were 13 Cantonese missionaries; my District, although somewhat diminished in numbers from our original 16, as one had gone to Hong Kong already (she already spoke Cantonese, so she went with the District before us), Elder Dallin had gone to Australia, and one Elder had some worthiness issues and is waiting a while before being allowed out; and one Mandarin Elder who joined us in Hong Kong that first day. Taking into account the number that would have been there barring transgression or fluency, that would be a 15 to 1 ratio. The Mandarin Elders are always busy.

Tuesday of this week was a very interesting day - we were implementing our new improved planning system for the second day in a row, and after we taught a man we'd met on Monday, the doorbell to the chapel rang. "That's probably a miracle," Elder Alspaugh said jokingly, "someone who wants to hear the Gospel." Then we heard someone wandering around the chapel, asking "Hello? I want to know who the prophet is?"

For the second time in two days, an investigator had found us. This man, in his sixties, but with incredible English - yet his native tongue is Cantonese - told us that a friend of his had told him to find out who the prophet is. We taught him a little of the first lesson, about prophets and apostacies, and gave him President Hinckley's name. He asked us to write it down; both in Chinese and English, so he could share it with his friend, and we set up an appointment to teach him more. He was so willing to listen, and we even prayed with him. Afterwards, he asked (in English), "Er, I don't mean to trouble you...but where is the John?" I laughed out loud and we directed him to the toilet. We're also going to get his friend's information and contact him/her too.

Yesterday, Wednesday, we had Trainer/Trainee meeting; a meeting of all the Elders and Sisters who were in my old MTC district. It was so great to find out where everyone was serving, what they'd been up to, share funny stories and whatnot. It was great. There are such different areas in our missions - some Elders and Sisters are out in the New Territories, where it's still very rural and classic Chinese. Others, like myself, are on Hong Kong Island itself, the bustling heart of the city, and others still are in even stranger places - one Elder now has pictures of Mainland China, as his area runs along the border and they saw over into it while up a mountain.

We watched the first part of the DVD Elder Ng sent me, and what a different experience it was - instead of "Wow, that looks amazing!" I was saying to myself, "Hey! I recognise that!" "I know him!" It was great watching it again and recognising faces of people I now know; my MTC teacher, my trainer, various of the office Elders, etc.

And I had something explained to me, Dad - "If it's good enough for Bill Gates, it's good enough for me!" It's a quote from the old Mission President. His daughter was dating a Microsoft Employee!

Later that day, we taught an investigator about a lot of different things - prayer, the Restoration, and baptism. My companion later explained to me that the investigator had committed to be baptised in December! We also had a very interesting English class (well, all English classes are interesting) which featured a little boy named Jason who is obsessed with Batman and Lego - and love playing Hangman with me. He's very boisterous, often to the point of annoyance, but still fun if you can put up with him :P

Well, I'm just about out of time - sorry, I didn't get to reply to any of the questions in your email - but just to let you know, my P-Day is Thursday. Any thank you so much for your Dear Elder, that was wonderful. When we picked up our mail yesterday, I didn't have anything from England - presumably due to postal strikes - but 3 from America. One from you, one from my MTC teacher - and one from that girl who likes my website and keeps sending me Babylon. This time she was very thoughtful - print-outs from the comments page on my website, so I got to see how my comics are being received!

Anyway, got to go!

Love,
羅 (Elder Loh)