From the Land of cell phones and taxis

although this is NOT as exciting as NATALIE GETTING MARRIED, it's still pretty high up there on the excitingness scale. so, for the last 7 or so months of living in Hong Kong, surrounded by some of the latest technology design and the fast paced lifestyle of the chinese business mindset, we missionaries have existed in our own little happy bubble of non-cell phone life. we are mocked to scorn when people ask for our cell phone number and we have to tell them we don't have one. and as we say this, a 5 year old walks by on her own cell phone...or something embarrassing like that. anyways, that exciting news is that my companionship received a CELL PHONE today!!!!!! this is such a big deal. we can now actually communicate with our investigators and call them if we can't find them or a member who forgets to come fellowship or when we are on splits we can call the church and tell them we'll be late and a million more extremely convenient things like that will cause a lot of wasted time, stress and worry to disappear! halleluja!! praise the lord and sing inthe waste places of israel, we have a cell phone!

something overwhelming and amazing all at once!:

so, the reason my companionship has a cell phone is because we are so busy that we don't have time to eat, study or even call and teach all our investigators. yes, an amazing blessing that i have not until now experienced on my mission, but also an overwhelming task that causes all 3 of us to collapse at the end of every day from spiritual, emotional and physical exhaustion.... and hunger....:) we met with the AP's after our session at the temple today and discussed our situation, which is why we now have a cell phone and extra money to take TAXIS when we need to to save on travel time. one of the wards we serve is about 40 minutes away in terms of travel, which takes time and money, especially if you are on splits and trying to meet back up with companions. the wards we serve are both amazing and the three of us are feeling pretty stretched between the two with the amount of investigators and activities and meetings. craziness. i love being so busy, but there are some days that we don't have time to plan in lunch or dinner or any study time at all. if there is anything that i have learned so far these last 3 weeks, it's that the Lord is aware of our sacrifices. i haven't enjoyed much personal time at all lately, but the lord has rewarded us with so much because of it. we currently have 5 investigators with baptismal dates and at least another 10 that we are teaching and prepping. i wish i could go in to detail about each of them but there isn't the time or space to. ahhh! the lord blesses me far more than i deserve. so many experiences and people to be grateful for, i can't even tell you. most of all, my companions, who run around with me like crazy to get it all done. they are my strength and example in so many ways.

something unlike me:

so mom and dad, you will enjoy this. yesterday our bishop invited us and some investigators to go bowling because he knew we were stressed and overwhelmed. you know how much i hate bowling, right? well, guess who won? waha!i did! i don't think i've been bowling in ten years. it was actually ok and not as painful as i thought it would be. mostly because our bishop is hilarious and so entertaining. anyways, thought you would appreciate that.



ok,that's all for now. have fun at the wedding! i am there in spirit as much as i can be!!!! love you all!!!! everyone give natalie a group hug and say something embarassing and sarcastic to John for me...hee hee hee...cheerio!