Handsome Devil

Hi again Family!!!

Well, another week down! I still can't decide if time is going by fast or slow! Nevertheless, time is passing. On Friday (Thursday for you) I was 1/6 through my mission. It's going by!

It turns out Y D X (the potential golden investigator) isn't too interested in Gospel stuff; just hanging out with the handsome devil that is I. ;) So we've dropped him. But we will be inviting him to a Christmas activity we will be having this month and we'll start trying with him again in a few weeks. Our only other investigator is a tour guide and works a TON. He makes 1/4 of his income on Sundays and he provides for 2 families so it is very hard for him to come to church. He's been taught all the lessons and knows its true and comes to church whenever he can. We are hoping to baptize him on Christmas! We need to review some things with him, but he's pretty solid otherwise.

Looking happy and healthy, thank goodness!

I'm doing great recovering from my surgery. I'm pretty much 100% back to normal. using my abs a lot (as in working out) still in a bit sore, but I don't really use them that heavily ever. Other than that, all is normal. My scars are disappearing quickly and don't hurt to touch, so showering is normal again, too! I got my stitches out on Tuesday and the doctor said I could ride my bike again, so I immediately did so! I haven't had any problem at all. I can also eat a normal diet again with no side effects, but I'm still not eating quite as much fat when I can avoid it just to be safe. Nothing bad so far! ;) I feel totally normal and healed. Elder Ferrell and I were talking about how Satan is mad when we do well as missionaries and he'll do all he can to stop the work. I then said that "He can take my gall bladder, but he can never take my heart! So suck my gall bladder Satan!" We got a good laugh from that...yeah... :D

I weighed myself on Tuesday too. Since I left home, I've lost 24 pounds. And don't worry, my clothes still fit just fine! :) Elder F is telling me I look skinnier/more fit as well. That's good! He notices a difference after just 6 weeks! 

Elliott, the squirrel

I got your Christmas packages on Friday! Thanks so much! I'm looking forward to opening all the gifts that customs didn't unwrap for me! :) Yeah, they went through them, but whatever ;) The snowflakes are super awesome! Tell everyone thank you for me! Who's idea was that? The presents are all under the tree we put up last week! I also sent a small package to you guys last week as well as some cards to people. If you haven't got them yet (pretty sure you haven't) look forward to it! I spent SO much money on all of you! It added up to just under 1 USD each! you better enjoy that stuff! lol. :D So we've decorated our apartment with some Christmas stuff and we're listening to Christmas music a lot, so it feels a bit more like Christmas now :) 

I went on another exchange this week. This time it was with the District Leader, Elder B in the Bei Tun area. It was fun. We went tracting and this short guy invited us into his house and talked our ears off for an hour, but he's willing to meet again! We also taught the Law of Chastity to a man in his mid 30's and he was chuckling the whole time...go figure...Elder B wanted to go to McDonald's, so we did. He ordered a McChicken and a McDouble. He then separated the patties in the McDouble and put the McChicken sandwich inside the McDouble. This is called a McGhetto (for missionaries) but the real name is a McB****'n. People did that at BK once in a while. 

On Tuesday we had "specialized training" for half the new missionaries. We all just got together and discussed how our training is going. I got to see Elder V again! He's doing really well and was happy to see me too. I also saw Elder W and Elder K and Elder S (different MTC district). It was cool to hear all their stories and stuff.

Food update this week: At Stacie's she fed us something strange. It looked like a pig ear but it was attached to thick bones, so no idea what it actually was. It was really soft and melted when you ate it but it was just a weird texture and was just...weird in general.

As far as animals go, I've seen freaking scary mosquitoes, TONS of cute dogs (I wrote about them in the letter I sent to her last week), the monkeys on the mountain, and this big, weird exotic bird that lives at the mission home and doesn't make any noise. It looks like a Kiwi with a shorter beak and fatter and gray feathers.   

We were eating dinner in a FamilyMart (a convenience store) and a white guy started talking to us. Remember the DaKeng Mountain with the monkeys? He was telling us a bit about it. Apparently there's 10 trails on the mountain and trail number 4 has over 150 monkies and you can see them a TON and can even pay 60 quai to watch them be fed. We'll be doing that soon and I'll bring my camera. Elder B also told me he went with some other elders once and one of them bought a bunch of bananas and got the monkeys to chase him down the trail and he threw bananas to them...pretty awesome. I might try it. lol. 

a picture he bought

(In response to being told his girlfriend watched some episodes of "The District", which airs on KBYU and follows real missionaries in the field - she was a little nervous after watching them...). "The District" is super important. Those are the episodes I had to watch before the MTC too. The District 2 is better and more realistic. You'll watch them in the MTC a lot too. We watch them out here for companionship study sometimes too. Oh, and you'll get used to the boldness. We seriously do that stuff. If you're not bold, straightforward and simple, people find ways to get around your questions. If you think the baptism question is bold, wait until you commit people to live the Word of Wisdom and Law of Chastity principals. But really, don't be afraid. It's really not scary at all. It's a lot different to watch than to actually do it. I'm not scared of any aspect of being a missionary anymore. You get over it all really fast. Talking to someone who is obviously high and hung over on a scooter is nothing now. Seriously. don't worry about it. It's easy. :)

It's good to be back to normal. I am so happy I get to see/hear all of you soon! I'm even happier that I don't have to smell you! LOLOLOLOL! JK. This is always the highlight of my week ;)

I'm about to leave and do grocery shopping. I hope you all have a good night and sleep well! 

I love you all and I'm praying for you and thinking of you!

Here's to another fast week!

Wo ai Nimen! ByeBye!

-Wu Zhang Lao

-Elder Wolf

-Handsome Devil