Now in my last area -

Dear Mum and Dad,

This past week has been rather bittersweet. On Saturday I got a call from President Van Dam, who called me to be a Zone Leader and pointed out that I had been in Macau for quite a while and was definitely leaving. It hurt a lot to leave Macau behind, but I was willing to follow what the Lord had planned for me. This morning I boarded the ferry by myself and traveled back all alone, to Hong Kong to meet with Elder Marshall, my new companion.

This week has had a lot of very special moments. As we wrapped up the final lesson I would have with the Wong family, 10 year old J G offered the prayer. The family was quiet and calm throughout the prayer (sometimes a challenge for the little J Y) and I felt the Spirit as I saw the joy that had come to this little family. The past few weeks have proven that Brother Wong's passing really has been a blessing to the family. The Branch has poured out love upon them, strengthened them and even begun an extensive cleaning project in their home. It's been wonderful to see this miracle in action.

Many people have expressed their sadness at seeing me go. Our Branch Mission Leader, Brother Chuck, bought me two boxes of famous Portuguese Egg Tarts, one of the famous local delicacies of Macau, to say goodbye. Another Sister in the Branch, Esther, arranged to have us over for dinner. Because she lives with her two little sisters and one little brother, she wanted to make sure that we would have enough males with us to balance out the numbers. We overcompensated and brought two recent converts, J and C B, as well as an investigator, A-F, who will be baptised next month. It turned out unnecessary, as neither Esther nor one of her sisters, Sabrina were home. We found ourselves instead having dinner with the youngest sister, fifteen year old Celestia, their brother A-K and our guests. It was a very interesting meal, and a nice end to my stay in Macau.

So now I find myself in what will likely (but not 100% certainly) be my last area on my mission - Kwai Fong. This seems like a nice enough place, although I've not seen that much of it yet. It's in the heart of Kowloon, which constitutes all of the busy parts of Hong Kong that aren't on Hong Kong island itself. It's interesting to discover that I suddenly find myself Zone Leader over a lot of missionaries I've served around before - something that hasn't happened to me too often - as I find former companions like Elder Liu and Elder Clark here, as well as old District friends like Elder Burk, Elder McAllister, Elder Nelson, Elder Hyde, Sister Au, Elder Kinghorn and many more. I know those names probably don't mean much to you, but they do to me. It's nice to come into a Zone and already know a large percentage of the missionaries here, which ought to make my responsibilities here a little easier.

My new companion, Elder Marshall, is very cool. I wonder if I'll be able to keep up with him. He's from somewhere in America, but breaks the trend I've had with Utah companions - he's one of three companions I've had who aren't from Utah. I couldn't say where he IS from, though. He was my older group in the MTC, so it'll be interesting to serve as companions with him now. He also used to serve in Macau - he left right before I got there - so we've had a good time chatting about our old area.

It's nice to hear that Tim Ng made such a big splash with the ward. Don't hold your breath for me being quite so incredible when I return home - and there's also no need for him to hold his breath for my visit - I'll have a lot of other things to worry about when I finish. I'd long known that he was hoping for BYU; he talked about it when he was here. I also knew he'd been having visa problems because he sent me a Christmas newsletter.

As far as the phone call home goes, I'm also allowed to call the day before and the day after the American Mothers' Day - that's necessary for the American missionaries who are over twelve hours ahead of home, rather than the convenient 7 hours we enjoy. If it would be easier, I could call on Saturday or on Monday - or on Sunday morning. I'm sure we'll be able to work it out, but if it's really inconvenient, I might be able to ask President Van Dam for a more convenient time, like the week before or after. No guarantees that he'll give permission though.

As far as money goes, with the current exchange rate, the money in my account is not enough for a new camera. I also need to invest in some new shirts, because my old ones weren't very white anymore, so I left the worst ones in Macau. I'm thinking of trying to open up the camera myself and see if I can find the problem, but I couldn't find a small enough screwdriver. That said, I'm right by what is rumoured to be the best place to buy electronics in Hong Kong, Sam Sui Po, so I might try having a look there over the next few Preparation Days.

I'm looking forward to General Conference next week. I can't believe it's been six months already! But such is life, and time in Macau flew by particularly fast. Now I'm ready to do what God wants me to do in Kwai Fong, even if it's a little different to the things I've been doing thus far.

Lots of love,

Elder Loffhagen