March 11, 2013 First Move!

Well the rash is gone but I don't know what it was so if it comes back that will be a problem. I did find my ring when I was packing last Thursday... The bed bug are gone becasue I moved hahah. Poor missionary who gets my bed. Yeah mom was  right I moved... WHY ARE MUMS ALWAYS RIGHT!!!

It was really sad leaving CWB, my investigators and member were pretty sad (which made me kind of happy to know they cared that much becasue I don't think I ever cared that much about a missionary). Melody wrote me a note and she was really vconcerned I was going to forget her, she wrote it in English becasue she was afraid I wouldn't understand it in Chinese. It was really sad but heart warming to know I helped someone that much! Her, Kiko and Felix are amazing I hope I can find/help more people like them in Aberdeen!

 I moved to an area called Aberdeen it is still on Hong Kong Island so I didn't really move far (about a 20 minute bus ride away from CWB). MY new companion is Elder Tse and he is a native so...he speaks decent English but we basically communicate through Chinese... So my Chinese is probably going to get really good this move. About the area: well the ward is AMAZING. I think I just got really blessed with the two best wards in Hong Kong because they are both pro mission work and LOVE missionaries. It's awesome! MY only complaint is the finding here is really hard... In CWB we had a couple parks that were quite so you could sit people down and talk to them. Not in Aberdeen its all busy everywhere with no big parks like CWB. So I need to change my finding up its pretty different and I haven't been doing to well recently.

Sunday me, Elder Tse, and the new sister companionship (they just opened a sister companionship this move here and she is training so its a year old missionary and a baby...) were all asked to speak on how members could help missionaries with the work. I was honestly a little scared of this because I found out Friday evening so I had one day to prepare with no time to prepare because we were doing stuff all day... So I talked about President Hinkley's talk "Find the Sheep, Feed the Lambs," I attempted to translate one part and talk about it. It went some thing like this, "In 1998 we had 300,000 baptisms, that its tremendous! But we could do better, I'm not being unrealistic when I say we could have double that if we all put forth more effort. Us and the missionaries." I translated more but that's basically the point that matters. I talked for about 7 minutes or so only in Chinese .. I was scared and wasn't sure if I made sense but people stared at me and watched with attention and laughed at my jokes I made about being a "scared white boy" trying to find people in Hong Kong... Surprisingly the talk went pretty well. Members came up to me and said a lot of stuff I honestly didn't understand but they were compliments of some sort... The best one was Brother Chan he said something along the lines of when I speak in Cantonese it was very "smoothly" and that I was pretty clever.He then went on to tell me Elder Tse will probably leave soon so we need you to carry on a great legacy (yeah I knew that word in Chinese haha) in this area! It's going to be an interesting move especially when next moves calls come around....

Right now we have 5 investigators and 2 of them are progressing and then we go finding for 3 to 5 hours a day...ya that's rough coming from CWB where I did finding for 2 hours a day.

 This is a funny picture of me and Elder Woods last week on top of a mountain up in Tung Chung

GOOD BYE to Causeway Bay...for now.

 Me and Kiko

 Me and Melody

Elikaii and Enoch - Two of the best members in all of Hong Kong! 

 Johnny, Felix, me and Joyce! They bought me a soccer ball for going away gift because someone told them that another missionary got my soccer ball popped....

Hello to Aberdeen!!!             This is my new companion Elder Tse

艾長老 -- Elder Arrington

March 4, 2013

Haha so to start my letter let me tell you this last week has been like my week as Job... It stunk ha. Last Thursday I had this weird scab thing on my ear, spread to my hand (turned to blister like things) then spread on to my lips... I have no idea what it is (still don't). I got some "medication." -- We send pictures to a dermatologist in SLC and then I got a prescription.  Then to make it better, my bed bugs came back Tuesday... It got soooo bad I had to sleep on the couch. Next day, Wednesday I killed them (cooked the bed with an iron),  they came back Friday and I got owned again... THEN to top it off I lost my Joseph Smith ring I've had since we went to the Sacred Garden and I can't find it  anywhere... Oh wait that's not the best part WE HAD ZERO SUCCESS this week... we met only crazy people... When I mean crazy I seriously mean not all there... I would like to share a story of my find... This was Thursday (last week) we were in Victoria Park (where we go finding most often) ....

Well Sister Wong "dies" this Thursday (She goes home), we have move calls this Tuesday and today is P-DAY yaya! Well things have been interesting... My Chinese isn't that hot but my investigators are doing great! I joked with Melody, Kiko (investigator) and Amy (LA we brought back who is friends with Melody and Kiko now) about me leaving this Thursday and they got mad and said, "That's not funny to joke about!" Haha it's going to be sad if I do leave this area but I think I have one more move here. This next move is a short move preparing for the new 9 week moves starting in April. So this next move is 4 weeks long but we will see what will happen. I could be totally wrong. 

My understanding is okay not great. Speaking is a lot better than my listening and no I don't have any trouble with English. This mission is really international, I use a lot of English. It's kind of like a Latino being called to Texas English speaking. He will probably use more English but there will be A LOT of opportunities to use Spanish. I have talked in my sleep in Cantonese (and randomly in Mandarin). I also can text in Chinese, read a bit in Chinese  and I know roughly around 250 characters (that is nothing you need AT LEAST 3000 to read the Book of Mormon fluently). Honestly I'm mad with learning Cantonese because its not easy and I think I would do A LOT better with Mandarin because Cantonese speaks one language and read differently. Mandarin you read and speak the same so you can learn characters and you can learn the language. I learn SOOO much easier with the pictures (just to let you know I learned 50 characters on a 40 minute train ride today). Ugh I don't know it's whatever. I have success but my Chinese is bleehhh.

Right now in my scripture study I am just getting into the war chapters in Alma, I think I am starting 51 tomorrow not sure exactly but always a good read. Learn a lot about being humble, preparation, and trusting in Heavenly Father. (Sounds like a mission) Really have to apply these chapters and see what they can be read as not just the story.

Investigators are still doing well. Still teaching Kiko, Anson, Mr. Shum, Mr. Wong, and Steven (our main investigators). Kiko has decided she wants to get baptized May 12th; which is sad but she is really confident about that being her day because she prayed about March 24th and said she didn't get feeling about it. She is really progressing a lot and honestly that is due to her own desire and such a good support from Melody.

I feel pretty bad about how lazy I was before my mission with missionary work because I could name a couple of friends I should have brought to church and I could have helped fellowship with the missionaries more. Honestly, I would invite you to see how you can help the missionaries and follow through with it. I HATE FINDING AND CONTACTING but NO ONE ever gives us referrals so all I can do is find.... If someone gives the missionaries a referral (like Kiko) the missionaries treat them like gold. I don't know just try to help the missionaries more then just making the food.

On Thursday I visited these "little piggies," Scarlett and Sara, they are absolutely my favorite thing about my mission! E. Krainock, Me, Sister Wong and Sister Law went to their house for dinner and after dinner I let them play with my camera which really turned into "ATTACK ELDER ARRINGTON AND TAKE A TON CRAZY PHOTOS"

Me about to get punched in the face by Scarlett (Sara is taking the picture; they took turns attacking me and the other one was taking pictures)

Sara hitting me in the face with a pillow (Scarlett taking the picture)

Not a very good picture but one of my favorites! Scarlett jumped on me and she was just being a crazy little 8 year old haha

Can you see the patients haha

Then Scarlett jumped behind me and started playing with my face/hair which led to the next picture

 Everyone was laughing at the face I made... She was like pulling back my eyelids and the twins lost it haha

                                                                    She was a little monkey! 

Today for p-day we hiked a huge mountain it took all day and we spent a lot of time up there exploring random things... We found newts, abandoned homes, and a lot of other weird stuff... However I am out of time to email you all those pictures so I will end with this one of us missionaries! YUH HIKES!

January 29, 2013

Things have been pretty slow in Hong Kong right now, its right after the New Years (Chinese) and so  its sluggish Its been really hard to find new people and bring them to church. Right now we have four really great investigators Kiko (18 yrs old, melody's friend), Anson (27 a guy I found on the street, met missionaries once 2 to 3 years ago), Jacky Shum (62 yrs old E. Krainock found him, he LOVES missionaries. He is one of the few old people who actually progress in the gospel in China) and Mr. Wong (5X yrs old, E. Krainock found him, he is divorced and has a pretty hard life and hopes the gospel can help). They are all doing pretty great; we do have other investigators but these are the ones that are actually progressing. 

Kiko chose a baptismal date for May 12, 2013 but we (last Friday)  met with her and talked about waiting for any reason really isn't a good enough reason. She is thinking about getting baptized at the end of the month (the 24th) she is praying about it to make sure. 

Anson is progressing pretty well he comes to church and meets with us twice a week maybe more. He has a lot of interest but still needs to show a bit more commitment to read and come to church. He is a great guy and he will be an awesome member soon! (He doesn't have a date but we plan to give him on soon)

Jacky Shum is doing pretty well he has accepted everything about the church just fine, the lessons, commandments, etc... The only problem is work on Sunday -  his job is pretty strict because he works at a Navel Base and so its hard for him to come to church other than that he is golden. 

Mr Wong is a great man but has a lot of problems in his life not that I need to name them but they have caused him to have a hard life. He sees the gospel as a possible help and we are trying really hard to help him. He is a smart man and he really is starting to get a grasp on the gospel.

 

Story... Well I got sad news! So with all the new things happening to missionaries our mission has been hit pretty hard... with the new people coming in and the MTC time change our mission has some WEIRD move-in's. Elder Bradley (basically my brother now) just got moved this morning to Macau! Which is awesome but he is gone. 

As you know we have regular moves for in-coming missionaries now to be every nine weeks from the Provo MTC BUT natives come every 3 weeks, Mandarins come every 6 weeks, Filipinos come every 5 weeks and Cantonese people come every 9 weeks now... So we have mini moves INSIDE our regular 9 week moves...  Its a freaking mess. President Hawks and the AP's have it under control I'm not worried but its super weird. I don't know if many missions will have such a hard time with this like us... We currently have just over 100 missionaries (like 112?) but at the end of August we will be up to 150ish... With a 50% increase we better start seeing A LOT more success...

Hong Kong is staying pretty warm right now 20 to 25 C so its kind of warm. It SUCKS we have to wear our suits still on days where its like 23 C+. I start sweating and I feel like I look stupid wearing a suit and sweating...I hate that rule...Whatever though it's okay.

Hong Kong has 10C, 20C, 50C, $1,$2, $5, $10 coins and they have different shapes and junk. I need to send pictures of the money, I forgot to do that a long time ago. I assume it's similar to the UK's money system because the UK owned them and all.

 Today on our p-day we got to go to the temple so I took a cool picture of course :)

Me and Elder Krainock