16th email from Hong Kong

Hi all!

Well, yesterday was Mission Conference, and I learnt so MUCH! And I've been really inspired by one of the other missionaries in my group. Elder Weagel has already passed off all of the lessons and is on to learning characters! Let me point out just how significant that is.

We're supposed to aim for passing off all the lessons within the first six months of our time in Hong Kong. Elder Weagel has managed it in three. Not only is he the first Elder to pass-off from our group; he also beat the group ahead as well!

So now I've got my work cut out for me. Having only passed off one lesson in the time it took Elder Weagel to pass off all of them, I'm determined to achieve my goal and complete them all by the end of next moves - that's about months away. I'm going to pass off Lesson 2 tomorrow (or else!) and I've scheduled a time to meet with one of our Zone Leaders on the first of February - we have to have a Zone Leader pass us off half way through and at the end. That means that between now and February, I have to pass off the 3rd Lesson too. Then by the end of February, I'll need to have done lesson 4, and then in March I'll do lesson 5 and my final Zone Leader pass-off! I've got my work cut out for me!

In other news, it's got a little bit colder again. I'm still in a short sleeved shirt, mostly out of stubborness, and partially because I'm washing all my other shirts - it is Preparation Day, after all. Thankfully, we have washing machines in our apartments, so that's easy enough to deal with.

Yesterday I was talking with our new area doctor at Conference, and as his name is Dr Jones, I asked him if he ever gets any Indiana jokes. Then we got onto the subject of the new film they're making, and I was quick to point out that I know about these things only because I'm new in the mission, and learned them beforehand. He asked me just how new I was here, and I realised - yesterday was the six month anniversary of the day I boarded the plane to the MTC! So now, yes, I've been here for a quarter of my mission. I know I shouldn't dwell on such things, as it'll only make time go faster, but I'm enjoying this so much that it's amazing to think that I'm so far through already. I don't ever want to leave! There's another Elder in our district at the moment who loves to point out that he only has a few months left, while I have all this time left to go. It doesn't bother me all that much though, certainly not as much as he wants it to!

One of the fun things from Mission Conference was something called a "Referal Rock". President Van Dam gave us each a little stone that came from the Peak, and each had a little certificate of authenticity signed by him proving that it was an official Preach My Gospel Referal Rock. We are to keep it in our left pocket, and while talking with someone, when we ask for a referal, we get to switch it to our right pocket. I'm not sure how to manage this yet, as I generally keep my glasses in my left pocket, but I'll work something out.

We then had some demonstrations of how to ask for referral. First a sister companionship was chosen to share, impromptu, how to get a referal, and then President Van Dam chose Elder Chan, the new English missionary. Guess who was sitting next to him? Yup, me. So in front of everyone there, I asked for a referal from "Brother Chan". I first pretended I wanted to schedule some time with him to go tracting, and asked if it sounded like fun. He said "no", and I agreed, saying that it's a very ineffective way to spread the Gospel. Then I told him that if he gives us referrals, we're able to teach his friends, and he will get great blessings from doing so, as his friends accept the Gospel. He couldn't think of anyone to give us at that time, so I committed him to think about it and then that we could talk next week.

I'm not sure why I shared that with you - so assume that actually, I was talking with you! The missionaries spend a lot of time in Bracknell high street without much success. Inviting friends to hear the Gospel is the way that Chris, Julian and countless others in our ward first found the church. So go to it and give the missionaries a hand! :D

Lots of love,

Elder Loffhagen