Week 15: Thanksgiving, Exchanges, Dragoon Center, and Derek

Lieh Hou Ngohge Pahngyauh!!!

So here is what happened on this weeks episode of Stan Theman Mission Impossible Hong Kong!

Thanksgiving was so good here! I was so glad that we had it and had a grand time with the other missionaries in our zone. We played some games and shared some pictures from our families and friends. SO in a way you all where there having Thanksgiving with me! The Fire Chicken was so good and I got to snag the legs hahahaa. President and Sister Lam came and said I was very Wise on getting the legs. We talked and sang and had so much fun there. Cleaning was a nightmare and as you can guess, mashed potatoes are a true enemy to the world in a big pot! hahaha. I hope you all had a wonder full day of Thanks as well!!!

I went on Exchanges with Elder Egen this week on Wednsday. He is our district leader and he lives in my apartment so that was a bonus that I didn't have to bounce around for the exchange. We went to the other side of my area in Tai Po where it is actually really similar to Tai Wo. The people are the same and they are all super busy. I had to go and use the restroom while we were out and the bathroom I found literally was a Squatty Potty! I laughed so hard and They don't have toilet papers in the bathrooms! So that was an experience hahahaha, I got to know more about elder Egen and all he likes to do and such and such. I like going on exchanges to see what other people are like and there areas! 

So for P-Day this week we went to a place called the Dragon center! It was a super Giant mall here and there was so much Jazz inside it. It was 9 Stories tall and there were so many little stores that had some interesting things. Anime is every where here and games and such so I am more or less in Heaven!! There was also a really cool music store that had really cheap instruments! They had Chinese flutes for like 50 american dollars and the chinese Violin thingy that you hear all the time in like chinese movies for like 150! Things are a really cheap here when you think about the conversion rate of things in Hong Kong.

One night this week after we had gotten a little down on ourselves for not having a new investigator in a while we had some weekly planning and some jazz on how to find some new investigators. Right when we finished weekly planning we got a phone call from a former named Derek. Elder Beeson and his trainer found him a while ago and he had to drop the missionaries because he failed some school stuff and his mom wouldn't help him out with the cost. So he had to get a job and school at the same time. So he called us and we met him and he said that he has completely changed his schedule and that he has free time a lot and that he has nothing on Sundays! He loves video games and his favorite game is Battlefield 1 which is my favorite game! I know I was called here for a reason and that's because all the people here love the things I did at home!! We talked for an 1 1/2 hours and he wants to meet this Saturday! So lets hope that he will want to be taught again and that we can have a new investigator. 

That is just some of the things that happened this week. We also had ward conference where I had to share my testimony in third hour. I shared it on Joseph Smith and The gift of Tongues is so real! I cant even describe it! I just started to speak and everything just started to flow with ease! 

I finished the Book of Mormon and I have a new study plan I am trying out with it. There are countless things that you can do to help you learn from the Book of Mormon! You just have to pray about the new plan you want or make one and ask if it is right! You get so much more meaning and fun out of the Book of Mormon when you have a truly effective study plan!

I have an unshakable testimony of the Book of Mormon and I love to read it every day! I would encourage you all to read it every day and Disect it and Feast on it. Those were the words of our prophet today!

Well I gots to get back to saving Hong Kong hahahah.

LOVE YOU ALL STAY SAFE AND WEIRD!!!

Yours in Fellowship and Love,󾓭🐲🐼✌🍜

鄧 長 老

Elder Duersch

Dahng Jeunglouh

Stan Theman

Lieh Hou!!!!

Thanks Giving! We get to have it this Thursday at the Ma On Shan church. Each companionship has to bring food for the feast and we all get to eat a nice big Turkey. Fun fact, Turkey in Cantonese is Fei Gei I think.translated it means "Fire Chicken" hahahahaha!

Here is the top stories for Elder Stan Theman  - Hong Kong Survivalist

We had the opportunity this week to go and talk with a Less Active that Elder Beeson has been working with for quite some time. Elder Beeson has been in this area for almost a year now and his trainer was the same way. So that will probably be the case for me unless something happens. Anyway, he was baptized a while ago and he is 60 years old. He has a job as a taxi driver and that is where the problem comes into play. He doesn't work on Sundays but he works late hours so he gets home like at 4 in the morning and sleeps through church. There was a time he didn't have work on Saturday and he came to church willingly. We taught him the Plan of Salvation and how god wants us all to be happy and learn in this life. I bore my testimony on how families are key to our happiness and god wants us to be happy. I bought a 16 dollar sleeve book and put all my pictures you sent me in there. He loved seeing you guys (Family and Friends) and all the Chinese people here love seeing families. We have two ideas that could help him out with his situation. 

1. He either changes his work Schedule or quits his job. I that is the case we can share experiences from church members who quit there jobs and get better ones that pay more and make them more happy if they come to church and do what they are supposed to do.
2. There is a ward on Ma On Shan that has church at 2:00 that he could get some sleep and still go to which would be a better option if he is up for it.

We decided this week to also go to a new area that Elder Beeson (Yih Jeunglouh) has never gone to. We bought a map book of Hong Kong and found our area. There was a big spot past water front park that he had never checked out before. So we waddled on over there and this place was so sketchy man! It would easily fit the qualifications for a zombie apocalypse movie! There were factories everywhere and buildings that looked like they had been bombed or something. There was no one there either! It was just like the factories ran themselves and just cars everywhere. We later went up north of that area a bit and there in the middle of this jungle was this 5 star hotel. Literally in the Middle of nowhere. That is kinda how Hong Kong is: there was once upon a time a huge jungle and forest and then WHAMMOO they threw a City in the middle of it all! We took a bus back near our home and went to another area called "Wonder Land". Well it wasn't that wonderful hahahaha. It was just apartments and a train.

Some time this week we went to the area with the Tai Wo Hostpital is. There was not a lot of people there wanting to talk to us so we made our way back home. We went through this huge tunnel for bikes and walking and there was this old man sitting in a rocking chair playing some guitar. Elder Besson asked if he could play some songs for him. The old man said yes and Elder Beeson just went on for like 30 minuets and this old man was so happy to hear the music he was playing. He asked us some questions and we talked with him for a long while. He wasn't that interested in religion stuff but told us his wife and kids were religious but that was the extent of that adventure.

We had the opportunity of taking the sacrament to the Ng Gatihng! They are the Sweetest people ever! She is like in her 80 or 90's and her husband had a stroke years ago and is permanently in his bed and cant talk. But he can still eat and understand what people say to him.

She talked to us for a while and talked about her family. Trying to understand the older generation in Hong Kong is pretty tricky since everyone talks a little different. She was so grateful and gave us some Chocolate filled bread! The bread here is by far one of my favorite things to eat. It is always fresh and is so tasty and  so many varieties of it as well!

Connor our investigator is doing well as far as we know. He is just 16 and wants to be baptized but his family is not wanting any of that at all. We are going to try and have Bishop Wohng Help us out with our next lesson and see if we can help his family. If not he is just gonna get baptized when he is 18 so it is great he still wants to receive baptism. 

Trying to find new investigators is pretty challenging here in Hong Kong. No one wants to give you the time of day and they all don't think they need a religion in there lives. Their schools here teach some religions and they have days where they do seminars about why other religions are bad and not true and Mormons is on there number one list dang it! Oh well, we will keep trying and praying we will get a new investigator soon.

Well that is all the highlights from this week. I have the feeling that you all need to read Ether Chapter 12 and really dissect what is in that chapter. It is probably my new favorite chapter in all of the Book of Mormon. READ IT IT IS SO GOOD!!!

Love you all and I pray for you all every day! 

Stay Weird and Awesome!!!

Yours in Fellowship and Love,🍜✌🐼🐲󾓭 

Dahng Jeunglouh

Elder Duersch

Stan Theman

Week 13: BBQ, Dinner with Roy, and Connor

Lieh Hou Ngohge Pahng Yauh!!!!!!

Hope things are going super well for you all! I have had some pretty interesting things happen to me this week so here is what went down and some Highlights.

We had a really cool activity with the Elders Quorum in our ward. They took us to a BBQ place. But it isn't like the BBQ place you are thinking of. They literally bring a TON of meat that you just throw on a fire and grill or Char in my case. We tried so many different meats there and they tasted so good! Bishop Wohng brought some interesting looking stuff and I asked him what it was. It was the Skin from Squid. So we threw that on the fire and it was like eating a balloon that you chucked in the fire with some sweet and sour honey syrup sauce on it. Not bad actually.

Later in the week we had dinner at a place called 101 with a man named Roy. He worked in the Navy in the US for a while and got married and is living in Hong Kong. He has lived here for the past 10 years so he knows his way around. We found him when we were passing out English class pamphlets to some people on a bridge. He stopped and started talking to Elder Beeson for like 10 min. So I waddled over and we talked for like 40 min. He wanted to talk with us again and so we went to dinner the next week. The restaurant was so GOOOD!! 68 HK dollars for a big meal, fried chicken, and a huge strawberry shake Mug. We got to know him more and he really wants to talk with us more. So we will see what will happen with him.

Finally, I got to meet Connor!!!! He literally looks like an Chinese Harry Potter and is the coolest guy ever! We asked him how things have been going with his family. For those of you who forgot, Connors family was against him being baptized and eventually Elder Beeson and his old companion softened them up and right when he was about to be baptized, his older brother was against it and changed his parents minds. So they wont let him read the Book of Mormon at home or go to Church. But he can come to ward activities. We got to know him a bit more and then shared the story in Mosiah 24 about how the prisoners would be killed if they were caught praying. We compared it to his family situation and told him if he read and prayed every day with a sincere heart his family would let him get baptized! So he found an app on his phone of the Book of Mormon and we followed up yesterday and he said we was reading and praying every day. I was so glad to hear that from him. We just need to keep being his friend and supporting him in all he does. He wants to be baptized and we are planning on having the bishop come with us to our next lesson this Tuesday hopefully if he cant come we will just teach about Fasting and the blessings from that.

So that was just some of my weekly WOWS and I will for sure have more here as time goes on.

I was reading in 3 Nehpi with the Chapters of Christ and I would encourage you all to read them and not just read, but GORGE your self's and feast one every little word and dissect each chapter, verse, and sentence! Hold fast to what you know is true and read and Pray every day. It will bless you and I can promise you that for I have seen it bless me out here!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!! Stay safe and Weird!

Yours in Fellowship and Love,󾓭🐲🐼✌🍜

Dahng Jeunglouh 登 長老 (Our Computers have character drawing pads hahaha) the first character is Duersch Dahng.

Elder Duersch 

Stan Theman