We found a dead lizard in our apartment the other day...

Ahhhh. . . We got to go to the temple today!!! It was AMAZING! There was at least one sister from each of our wards there. It was so neat to see. I don't realize how overwhelmed and stressed I am until after the temple when I feel sooooo light and happy! Since I will be hitting half-way soon! (Yikes!) I really took some time today to contemplate my mission and where I wanted to go in the next 9 months. I really felt a strong love for these people. Especially the sisters that were sitting next to me in the temple. I remembered that I really am making friends for eternity here. We really are sisters in Zion and that power is incredible! Every time I go to the temple, they always pray for the missionaries. That touches me every time because I know that there are over 100 temples across the world so every hour there is at least 1 if not many more prayers in the temple for the missionaries. It means so much to me.

Good news Y's Dad went to church last week!  Y. is in my previous area.  What a miracle!!! I often think if my whole mission were just for Y. it would be totally worth it!! I love her so much!!! But it's so much better because I have A., AM, AH and so many other wonderful people too!   As I go on with my mission I realize more and more how incredible our reunion is going to be in the Celestial Kingdom and there is no way I'm going to miss it!!!

We found a dead lizard in our apartment the other day, I found it under a skirt I had set on the couch! blech!

This Satuday is our music program in Tai Wai! I was freaking out a bit when our Bishop's counselor started talking to me about "dress rehearsals," dressing rooms, "being on standby 20 minutes early" "Costumes" and such. I was even more nervous when I realized we can't be at dress rehearsal because of English class and lessons and then I heard the first time we sang “A Child's Prayer” in Chinese. . . hahaha but after our 10th time through it didn't sound too bad. Whew!! They've put us very last, I don't know what they were thinking! I'm praying for the angels to sing with us and for everything to work out because I don't want to let our ward down! I feel like the expectations are a bit high!!! (Several people have told us how excited they are to hear "the missionaries perform" hahaha) I am actually really excited though!!!

Questions:

1 – Why were you so down on your 6 month anniversary?

I don't remember exactly. . . those days happen, but there is a quote from this General Conference that says, "Most of what we worry about is not of eternal significance." I'm learning that more and more while I'm out here. I'm learning that whatever uncomfortable happens in the next hour usually doesn't even affect tomorrow, and that trials and discomforts that I face most definitely won't affect eternity. It's got to end eventually and the reward is always worth it.

2 – What have you noticed about the culture?

People don't like to touch food with their hands! We had cookies at FHE last night and every youth used a paper towel to pick up the cookie and then eat it. They use so much paper for wrappers here! They even put drinks at McDonalds in special plastic bags with handles!

3 – Will you have another interview with President Chen before he leaves?

No, probably not.

4 – Does he speak English or Cantonese when he meets with you?

English! His English is pretty good, but it makes for some funny moments when we can understand/express ourselves, but it works. It really shows his love for us for him to learn English so well to communicate with us.

5 – What do you generally do in the evenings?

If we don't have a Chang-out (which is about half the time) we have a lesson. On the rare occasions that we don't have either of those, we do finding until about 6:30 or 7 then we come home and eat dinner (1 hour) and then do calls and update our records about the lessons we taught that day. Sometimes we finish our studies if we haven't gotten them done yet. Usually the list of people we need to call and things we need to write down piles up, so those evening are pretty busy! We just hooked up our home line so it makes calls a LOT easier!!!

Love,

Kasey