Yeah, that's a thing.
Monday was pretty crazy. I was informed that my house FINALLY sold, so dearest friends, I'll be returning home to... Idaho? what the heck. Guess that's real. Haha. pretty weird, I must say. But I'm grateful for the opportunities that it will create for my family. Missionary miracles are a true thing. So Monday's AWKWARD moment. We were finding and it was hot and humid and dark and I was just done. We hadn't had any success. I asked Sis Lubeck if it was a rule that we don't talk to men, or if that was just a personal preference. She said it was a preference. So we keep walking and probably five minutes later we found this guy on a staircase with his head in his hands, looking like he had a really bad day. So of course we wanted to give him something that could make him eternally happy- the gospel. We started talking and shared a message and then he was saying something about wanting to visit us in America. Now I can't understand hardly ANYTHING anyone says to me. Ever. But this dude was totally flirting with us (I mean, how many blonde and red-headed Americans are there in China? ha. not many.) and we were both freaking out not knowing what to do. He has our number though, and I think a Book of Mormon? so if he reads it and wants the gospel, you know. he can have it. It was just way awkward, but whatevs. Then we visited a less active, Ng Jimuih. She was baptized a few years ago but stopped going to church because when she prays, she hears voices. Not sure how to handle that one, but...yeah. we'll work with her. She's way nice.
Tuesday was fun. We went less active finding (we have a lot of less actives. like I can't even explain.) with a member, so that was way fun. I had a pretty rough morning (it's really easy to be frustrated with the fact that I cannot speak nor understand ANYTHING) and was pretty upset with myself (patience is a hard virtue to obtain) but it ended nicely. We actually found one of the less actives and she invited us back for dinner! We took a recent convert, Jamie, with us, so it was really nice to have her spirit there. She's super cute.
Wednesday we went LA visiting with a member, Tai Jimuih. She's adorable- olderish (like... 50s or 60s? maybe? Chinese don't look old like, ever, so who knows) but the sister wasn't home. Then we did a banner find, where we set up a table with big banners and pictures of Christ and stuff. Then we just talked to people as they walked past. We stopped a young couple and the girl said that she was having a hard time in her life and that maybe this was what she needed, but her boyfriend kept pulling her away. We gave her a card with our number on it and pray that she calls us- she didn't have a chance to give us her number. We also stopped an older lady named Kiwi who had like a thousand questions. We taught basically most of the first lesson on the street and prayed and hope that she'll call us too. Then we talked to a 17ish year old girl and gave her a B of M. We got her number, but when I called the next day some dude got on the phone and told us he was police, and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember. so that was sketchy, even though he probably wasn't. I really hate making phone calls. We then visited a LA sister who's older and her husband is retired. We're going to try to help her come back to church, but she takes care of her mom on Sundays so that'll be hard.
Thursday was good. We taught Kelly again (her baptism is scheduled for this month) and Lam Lam, our fellowshipper who is also a recent convert, brought two friends with her who aren't members. It was a good lesson. I made a mistake and when talking about the Word of Wisdom tried to explain that we don't drink beer and ended up saying "we don't eat full" which was just pretty weird, but the words are similar, so whatever.
Friday I went on an adventure to Cheung Sha Wan, the area the other sisters I live with serve in. My trainer and one of the other sisters are sister training leaders, so I went on a split with sis Tu-Avao. It was so fun. she's adorable. We got some contact information, so hopefully she gets a hold of them. We taught a street lesson to a lady from... Indonesia? and she wanted a picture with us, so she has one with us and one of sis tu-avao's nametag which is pretty cool. We went to English class and the Elders taught, and Katie Chan (her english i sway good!) gave us a mooncake........... let the mooncakes begin. Ew.
Saturday we made mooncakes. So mooncakes are a flour, sticky outside skin type thing called pei with stuff inside. Usually typical mooncakes have like... red bean, green bean, or sweet potato in them which is pretty good, and then inside that it's a salted duck egg yolk (EW). they're just really sweet and not exactly the best thing ever. But the ones we made were a lot smaller and you freeze them. Sister Lau (Lau Hingdaaih's wife- so cute) is going to translate the recipe into something we can understand and give it to us. She also bought us mooncake molds, so I can make them for you when I come home. (: she's the best. so cute. wouldn't even let us pay her for them. We had dinner with Wong Jimuih (the LA we visited Monday or Tuesday, can't remember) and she fed us all sorts of traditional Chinese food- rice, nasty nasty nasty chewy mushrooms, fish that still had half the skin and eyeballs... you know. the typical stuff. The fish wasn't too bad- just picked the meat off with my chopsticks. the mushrooms I had to gag down but that's alright. I ate some other kind of weird fungus that's supposedly good for your skin- tasted okay but the texture was... uber weird. Didnt' know it was a fungus till later. That's the rule here- just eat it and don't ask questions unless you like it. Wong JM's husband died 6 years ago of cancer, and she has a desire to go to the temple to be able to do his work. I'm really excited to start helping her. Church is hard because she has a lot of health problems and can't sit or stand for very long, but it's all good. We'll work with her.
Sunday was good. After church we had lunch with a member and shared about missionary work. We were in a hurry to leave, so afterwards Lau Hingdaaih (coordinator) told us "go get on that bus and it'll take you to Tsing Yi Sing!" that's the stop right across from our church building. It made a stop at Cheung...on? I think. just another stop. And then it drove right past Tsing Yi Sing. And Sister Lubeck was talking to this old guy. Yeah needless to say we accidentally left our area because by the time she realized where we were (I still don't have a clue) we were on a bridge to Cheung Wan. So that was crazy. We jumped back on a bus to come back and do some finding. I talked to two old ladies and we taught them how to pray which was fun, but then they went off about how our church is a devil church. Beauty of not knowing the language is you don't know when people are insulting you or what you believe. So that was....fun. but it's whatever.
So we have about 80ish members in our ward. We keep their names and records in a binder. the less active binder is probably 3 times the size. I guess they recently renovated the chapel here, meaning the members had to go about 30 minutes train ride for 2 years to get to church. So tons of people went less active, because that's a ton of time and money. We're going to work SUPER hard to have that book of less actives a ton smaller. IF they were all active, we could have a second ward here. our goal is to have tons of reactivations here by the time I leave Tsing Yi and my trainer goes home.
Love you all. It's been a hard week and I'm really frustrated with the language, but it'll come. I'm struggling to have patience with myself, but I have to remember that my savior loves me and these people and he'll provide a way to have me teach them. I love the Chinese people. (: ngoh ngoi leihdeih!
-Kuk Jimuih
P.S.Monday was pretty crazy. I was informed that my house FINALLY sold, so dearest friends, I'll be returning home to... Idaho? what the heck. Guess that's real. Haha. pretty weird, I must say. But I'm grateful for the opportunities that it will create for my family. Missionary miracles are a true thing. So Monday's AWKWARD moment. We were finding and it was hot and humid and dark and I was just done. We hadn't had any success. I asked Sis Lubeck if it was a rule that we don't talk to men, or if that was just a personal preference. She said it was a preference. So we keep walking and probably five minutes later we found this guy on a staircase with his head in his hands, looking like he had a really bad day. So of course we wanted to give him something that could make him eternally happy- the gospel. We started talking and shared a message and then he was saying something about wanting to visit us in America. Now I can't understand hardly ANYTHING anyone says to me. Ever. But this dude was totally flirting with us (I mean, how many blonde and red-headed Americans are there in China? ha. not many.) and we were both freaking out not knowing what to do. He has our number though, and I think a Book of Mormon? so if he reads it and wants the gospel, you know. he can have it. It was just way awkward, but whatevs. Then we visited a less active, Ng Jimuih. She was baptized a few years ago but stopped going to church because when she prays, she hears voices. Not sure how to handle that one, but...yeah. we'll work with her. She's way nice.
Tuesday was fun. We went less active finding (we have a lot of less actives. like I can't even explain.) with a member, so that was way fun. I had a pretty rough morning (it's really easy to be frustrated with the fact that I cannot speak nor understand ANYTHING) and was pretty upset with myself (patience is a hard virtue to obtain) but it ended nicely. We actually found one of the less actives and she invited us back for dinner! We took a recent convert, Jamie, with us, so it was really nice to have her spirit there. She's super cute.
Wednesday we went LA visiting with a member, Tai Jimuih. She's adorable- olderish (like... 50s or 60s? maybe? Chinese don't look old like, ever, so who knows) but the sister wasn't home. Then we did a banner find, where we set up a table with big banners and pictures of Christ and stuff. Then we just talked to people as they walked past. We stopped a young couple and the girl said that she was having a hard time in her life and that maybe this was what she needed, but her boyfriend kept pulling her away. We gave her a card with our number on it and pray that she calls us- she didn't have a chance to give us her number. We also stopped an older lady named Kiwi who had like a thousand questions. We taught basically most of the first lesson on the street and prayed and hope that she'll call us too. Then we talked to a 17ish year old girl and gave her a B of M. We got her number, but when I called the next day some dude got on the phone and told us he was police, and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember. so that was sketchy, even though he probably wasn't. I really hate making phone calls. We then visited a LA sister who's older and her husband is retired. We're going to try to help her come back to church, but she takes care of her mom on Sundays so that'll be hard.
Thursday was good. We taught Kelly again (her baptism is scheduled for this month) and Lam Lam, our fellowshipper who is also a recent convert, brought two friends with her who aren't members. It was a good lesson. I made a mistake and when talking about the Word of Wisdom tried to explain that we don't drink beer and ended up saying "we don't eat full" which was just pretty weird, but the words are similar, so whatever.
Friday I went on an adventure to Cheung Sha Wan, the area the other sisters I live with serve in. My trainer and one of the other sisters are sister training leaders, so I went on a split with sis Tu-Avao. It was so fun. she's adorable. We got some contact information, so hopefully she gets a hold of them. We taught a street lesson to a lady from... Indonesia? and she wanted a picture with us, so she has one with us and one of sis tu-avao's nametag which is pretty cool. We went to English class and the Elders taught, and Katie Chan (her english i sway good!) gave us a mooncake........... let the mooncakes begin. Ew.
Saturday we made mooncakes. So mooncakes are a flour, sticky outside skin type thing called pei with stuff inside. Usually typical mooncakes have like... red bean, green bean, or sweet potato in them which is pretty good, and then inside that it's a salted duck egg yolk (EW). they're just really sweet and not exactly the best thing ever. But the ones we made were a lot smaller and you freeze them. Sister Lau (Lau Hingdaaih's wife- so cute) is going to translate the recipe into something we can understand and give it to us. She also bought us mooncake molds, so I can make them for you when I come home. (: she's the best. so cute. wouldn't even let us pay her for them. We had dinner with Wong Jimuih (the LA we visited Monday or Tuesday, can't remember) and she fed us all sorts of traditional Chinese food- rice, nasty nasty nasty chewy mushrooms, fish that still had half the skin and eyeballs... you know. the typical stuff. The fish wasn't too bad- just picked the meat off with my chopsticks. the mushrooms I had to gag down but that's alright. I ate some other kind of weird fungus that's supposedly good for your skin- tasted okay but the texture was... uber weird. Didnt' know it was a fungus till later. That's the rule here- just eat it and don't ask questions unless you like it. Wong JM's husband died 6 years ago of cancer, and she has a desire to go to the temple to be able to do his work. I'm really excited to start helping her. Church is hard because she has a lot of health problems and can't sit or stand for very long, but it's all good. We'll work with her.
Sunday was good. After church we had lunch with a member and shared about missionary work. We were in a hurry to leave, so afterwards Lau Hingdaaih (coordinator) told us "go get on that bus and it'll take you to Tsing Yi Sing!" that's the stop right across from our church building. It made a stop at Cheung...on? I think. just another stop. And then it drove right past Tsing Yi Sing. And Sister Lubeck was talking to this old guy. Yeah needless to say we accidentally left our area because by the time she realized where we were (I still don't have a clue) we were on a bridge to Cheung Wan. So that was crazy. We jumped back on a bus to come back and do some finding. I talked to two old ladies and we taught them how to pray which was fun, but then they went off about how our church is a devil church. Beauty of not knowing the language is you don't know when people are insulting you or what you believe. So that was....fun. but it's whatever.
So we have about 80ish members in our ward. We keep their names and records in a binder. the less active binder is probably 3 times the size. I guess they recently renovated the chapel here, meaning the members had to go about 30 minutes train ride for 2 years to get to church. So tons of people went less active, because that's a ton of time and money. We're going to work SUPER hard to have that book of less actives a ton smaller. IF they were all active, we could have a second ward here. our goal is to have tons of reactivations here by the time I leave Tsing Yi and my trainer goes home.
Love you all. It's been a hard week and I'm really frustrated with the language, but it'll come. I'm struggling to have patience with myself, but I have to remember that my savior loves me and these people and he'll provide a way to have me teach them. I love the Chinese people. (: ngoh ngoi leihdeih!
-Kuk Jimuih
I got permission from President Hawks to do dropbox- just wanted to be sure that it's okay with him...he's a stickler on obedience. Do me a favor and please please CALL him. He needs to know of the address change and I don't know if I have time to give him a call (sad life, right?) So if you could do that that would be awesome. I'll be sure to go visit the Utah ward when I come home- most of them are the reason I'm on my mission in the first place. I'll get that big email written in just a few.
(In reference to a story about Sister Crook's great grandmothers at Hawns Mill and Battle of Crooked River): I may not have been shot, but I've been run away from, got told I worship devils, and spat and probably peed on (people do all sorts of weird stuff out the windows here....) so I guess my trials are just different.
Before I forget. Not next week but the NEXT my P day will be different- it's like... wednesday or thursday. I just remembered. so don't panic when you don't get an email that Monday. just kidding. Thursday, sept 18th.
It's TEMPLE DAY. woo. so yeah, that's a thing. so it'll be probably Tuesday night that you get my email that week. should know more by next week when it gets closer- not positive though. so don't panic. yep.
Mom's note about the photos: There was little explanation about these. I know this was primarily an activity to learn to make mooncakes but other than that...I have no idea.
It may not taste good but it really is pretty
Our fair-blue eyed missionary just doesn't fit with these tiny little Chinese people.
Way in the back
.JPG)
The is Sister Crook and Sister Lubeck and Sister somebody
Churches in China look almost the same as they do here!
Mooncake molds
Random ingredients to make mooncakes
Maybe the recipe?
?
another recipe?
Maybe they don't tast good but they are really pretty
Mickey Mouse!
Another Sister Missionary we don't have the name of.
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