I Made It to Hong Kong! Wahoo!!!

Leih deih hou! (hello everyone!)

So this is going to test my typing skills because i have just 15 minutes to write this! (I'm in a cafe with a timer...:( ready, set, go!

Trainer: Sister Vance - amazing, from California, i call her a "calm rock," she is solid in the gospel and has a such a strong testimony and wants to tell everyone about it, i love her! she is bold and inspires to be more so and to use what i know.

Area: Tai Wai - my teacher predicted i would go here! Nice one Sister Slade!!!

Apartment: i live with 3 other sisters: sister Kong, Varner and Townley. Yes there are 5 of us in this tiny tiny little apartment! i though the mtc was small, haha! i love it though. very cozy and everyone is very considerate of each other.I actually live in Sha Tin area, but my area boundary is just right across the street. i love my ward and the area. we go running toget more familiar with it....which is such a blessing! God sent me a trainer that likes to run! so many blessings!

so, here in Hong Kong we have this weird terminology. when you first come to the mission you are "born" and your trainer isyour mom and you are here baby. yes, it's strange but i like it. when you are done with the mission you "die"and go back home...:) hee hee. so sister Vance is my momma and she is a very good one. i am one lucky baby!

Ok, so on to the good stuff. MIRACLES!! they happened the very first day i got here. I got to take an investigator To listen to Elder Nelson Speak. Her name is Mandy and we actually just set a baptism date for her yesterday! Wahoo! March 22nd! She is golden. My first night on the way home, i taught someone how to pray on the MTR (subway). it was so cool, kind of awkward as it got all quiet and there were so many people squished in there and they were all listening to me teach this girl how to pray. i loved it!...:) it's crazy when you actually get to use the stuff you've been learning for real! my first Sunday at church they had me get up and bear my testimony to the ward. also amazing. i got to express my love and tell them how excited i was to be there and help them. i had been praying that heavenly father would give me an opportunity to do that and now i just have to live up to my word!

the weather here is crazy warm already and at the end of the day i come home pretty sweaty and gross, but i don't care too much. we do a lot of finding right now, which can be grueling sometimes, but it's always worth it when we find that one person who wants to listen to us!the Lord helps me to know what to say and to just say what i know. I usually have to just open my mouth first and then he fills it. I get discouraged sometimes, well at least frustrated because i don't like not being able to understand what they are saying, but i am learning to be more patient with myself. i want to push myself with the language as much as i can so i can converse more fluently with people. they have what they call language pass-offs here and i am doing my first lesson pass off this week. we will see how it goes. if i don't pass they just have you keep doing it and it's just good practice.

thank you for all your prayers and emails! we are going to schedule time at the library next time so i have a full hour for email and then i won't be so stressed trying to type this. OK, i love you all so much!

(if you are reading this sister Slade and sister Burby,here's a shout out to you all and tell sister Peck, Lemmon and Elder Stringham i love them and to keep working hard!)

Hong Kong is pretty much amazing! Even though i'm more of a mountain , countryside kind of girl and not really a city girl, this place has already captured my heart. You are all in my heart as well. cheerio! b-bye!

THE MTC: A PLACE OF MIRACLES!

First of all, I have to publicly thank my sister for posting these e-mails for me. She is amazing and keeps me in connection with all of you since I don't have enough time to write all of you and don't really have access to my blog at this point in time.

I am down to 12 days left here at the Provo, Utah Missionary Training Center! I have been here 10 weeks now, and I am definitely ready to go to Hong Kong. However, I will miss this sacred place and all the experiences I have had here. So many that I cannot recount them all to you, but want you to know that I have never seen so many miracles and blessings in all my life! There is just a incredible feeling here that can only be experienced in the flesh. I especially love when all 2,000+ missionaries gather together for meetings and sing songs like "Called to Serve." There are so many of us, learning 52 different languages and traveling to all over the world to share the same message, a message of happiness and salvation that fills me with so much joy and vigor that I sometimes cannot contain myself. There is nothing I would rather be doing with my life right now.

I just want you all to know that learning a language is the most hilarious thing I have ever done, especially Cantonese. I am learning quickly, but still make lots of mistakes. I've decided you just have to laugh at yourself, otherwise you would get really frustrated and cry. We've said a lot of ridiculous things when we practice teaching, like "God eats you," instead of "God knows you." The difference comes with the tone of the word, so if you use the wrong tone, you are saying something completely different than you mean. It's fabulous, let me tell ya! Or very humbling at the least. There are about five levels to learning one word in Chinese: the sound/tone, pronunciation, ping yam/romanization, character, and the actual meaning of the word. It's challenging, but with the hardest challenges come the greatest blessings and rewards! The LORD is truly helping me with this work I am in and I am forever grateful for his love in my life. May you feel it also in your own lives and know that I pray for all of you each night!

Joi gin!

Sister Bird (Bat Ji Muih)