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