Week 68: 8 ball Corner Pocket, X-Roads, Awesome Members, Transfers, Welcome Brother Lo!!!!

Elder Connor R. Duersch(Stan Theman鄧長老) Ministering to Hong Kong 1 by 1! Chapter 68 
你好!!! 

Good Evening everyone!!! Wow I can't wait to tell you all about this week and what things have happened. Real quick though, I have got some questions that people want answered. The weather has now dropped to freezing cold!!!!! Yup it is now super cold and we are now getting ready to head out in the humid cold. It sinks literally to your bones.

So for the Choir and how I am the conductor. We got a text that asked people who wanted to be in it and so I said I would. The person in charge is Elder Finch and he was in the Zone when I conducted a little choir so he knows I knew how to do it so instead of singing I am leading hahahaha. I am conducting 3 songs and there are 9 total with solos and small groups.

The Store shopping last week was super fun at the sports outlet and Elder Day also bought some nice Air Jordon shorts and some Christmas socks. They are pretty dope!!!

Also at Cross roads there are a few people who would have some interest and we are talking to a guy named Paul who i talked about a while ago. If he does have interest he would have to go to far place to go to an English ward. and we would have to bring the English elders all the way up here. We will keep working and seeing if he would like to learn more.'

Now onto the week!!!! Hope that answered all of your questions and if you have more please let me know I would love to answer them!!!

So far Games night we had A come and he is so awesome!! he loved it so much and I was going under the stage to find some games and found a mini Pool table! So we set it up and it was so much fun for them to play. Elder Graff told us of a fun game called assassin where you pic a ball number and don't tell any one what it is and you have to try and hit the other peoples number in before they get yours. Super Fun!!!

X-Roads was super fun this week as well!!! We were assigned to be with a lady named MIMI and she is from south Africa and is super funny! We had to move more beds and stuff and then we had to go pick a couch for a family room and the sisters were there as well. So me and Elder Day found a couch and sat down and let the sisters take over cause......well.......cough. hahahaha never mind I don"t want to be mean hahahaha. We founds one and then put it into the new house for a family to move in. They had a lot of stuff decorated for Christmas and it was super cool looking. Hong Kong loves Christmas and they love all the Decorations that come with it.

We had some members invite us over for some meals this week and it was super cool!!! We had lunch with a sister named Sister Gwok and she mad us mashed potatoes!!! Some super good meat and so much more vegetables so good!!! Then we had a meeting with Bishop for the missionaries in Tin Shui Wai and he wanted to talk about how we were doing and then we had the Mandarins there, the Tagalog sisters, and the Sisters. The meeting was really short and then he said OK lets go get food. So we went to a Yum Cha and it was super good!!! They brought out a goose and then cut it up and then we had some tortillas and put some meat and Veggies in them so Good! I also ate Chicken feet again. Not to much of a fan hahaha. it is just literally Skin hahaha. I like Phoenix Claws better!!! Then We were running a little late to get home and then a sister called named Sister Lok and she said I have KFC to give you. We were just like Crap!!! WE had to book it home with a bag full of KFC to make it home on time and it was super funny!!! We made it don't worry!!!

Now for the BIG ONE!!!! Welcome our new member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, Low Yee Long (AKA) Stephen!!!!!! Yup he got baptized this week!!! He came to church in this nice suit and tie and he looked so amazing!!!! The members were so excited and he was so excited to! It was also the Primary Program and it was so stinking cute!!! Stephen absolutely loved it and loved the little kids singing! During the meeting he leans over to Elder Day and says I forgot extra Underwear. SO he got up real quick and came right back to the church. During that time we started to fill the font. Then he came to Elders Quorum and then when it was over we talked for a bit and then we came out and there were people mopping the hall way. We were just like ok they are cleaning. But then we went into the bathroom and then found out that the Font Flooded!!!!! TO MUCH BLESSSINGS hahahaha. I had the honor of Baptizing Stephen and it was truly one of the best and greatest things to happen in my life! Stephen was so happy and he was so glad. He said that this was the most beautiful moments in his life and he will print out a picture to remember it forever! This all goes to the Missionaries and everyone who helped Stephen make it to this point cause it was everyone that made this possible. Seeds were planted, found, and then Harvested and now we get to see the fruit!!!!! Absolutely amazing!

The last thing for this week was our transfer calls!!!! So to get to it Elder Day is leaving to TST. Now for me I am in a trio with Elder Long and Robinson. Now the thing is we are combining Tin Shui Wai and Tin Sau. Because 2 Elders are coming in late. One for Visa Issues from the MTC and the other is Elder Allen. So we will see what happens cause like 15 missionaries are leaving Hong Kong and some areas had to be closed so trios are being made. That is all the news I got for now but I am also staying in Tin Shui Wai and that is nice. Elder Day is excited to go and be with Elder Francom in TST.

Super Amazing week everyone and I am so glad to be a missionary!!! This week was full of miracles and Fun and it was all because of the Lord!!!!! Have a great week love you all so much and so does the Lord!!!

Yours in Fellowship and Love,󾓭🐲🐼✌🍜

鄧 長 老

Elder Connor R.Duersch

Dahng Jeunglouh

Stan Theman  

week 67: Kangaroo Coat, Not you Again!!!!, An Old Friend, Light The World. Stephen You are so close!

Elder Connor R. Duersch(Stan Theman鄧長老) Ministering to Hong Kong 1 by 1! Chapter 67 
你好!!!  

The weather here is getting super interesting. It is now December as well which is also really strange!!! It honestly felt like Christmas was a couple months ago and I was still back in Tai Wo hahaha. Good times! The weather is now rising in temperature due to the world warming and all that fun Sciencey type of Jazz so it is really throwing off Hong Kongs Weather Pattern. But, if it was anything like last year, January is gong to be absolutely perfect and then it will be deathly freezing to the bones hahahaha. It is getting warm. I saw pictures of American Fork and how it is all white ready for the good o'l man himself coming in red and white to help us feel the Christmas Spirit!!!

So for this week we went to a sports outlet where a good friend of ours Stanley gave us a 30% off coupon for stuff. So the catch was we all had to use it in one store so we all had to find something that we like in one store. There was a super cool hoodie from Addidas that turned inside out that was nice. Then we went to Nike and then we found some good stuff. I found an Airforce 1 air jordan sweater thing that has a Kangaroo pouch!!! I saw it and was just like,"I need that in my life! I can get so much stuff in that pouch and to movies hahaha! I got a blue one and elder Van Leeuwen got a white one. We went to Kowloon and talked to some friends. 

Also in the mission there is a Hong Kong Choir that is being made for the Christmas season. I said I had interest in it and then I was told that I would be the Conductor for the Choir!!! Oh boy, I guess I have to dust of my baton and get to work hahaha. Then I say an old friend coming through the door to the Choir Practice. Sister Lambert from home was there to be in the choir!!! Turns out she has some solo's and such and it was super crazy seeing someone from home. I almost cried because of the memories that came flooding back to me. She also spoke Cantonese and that was also one of the weirdest parts!!!

At Cross Roads a while ago we had to move some super heavy dressers into a storage container and they was super hard. So this week we got assigned to shed and Jaxon was like come follow me and so we followed him and he said he needed help with something.......we had to take those bad boys out of storage ahhhhhhh!!!! But it wasn't all of them so that was a breather. Last time it was wth 4 people and it was just me and Elder day!!! We got it though and it was super funny! Then we had to move some chairs and set up some table and chair sets to be wrapped and then sent to the shed. Last was talking some chairs out of this truck and putting em in a tent. I love X-Roads so much! It really makes my week when we get to go and serve. We also do missionary work there as well and it is fun to see people from across the world with there different beliefs and views!

This Month is light the world and Saturday was the world wide day of Service. So we had a super fun ward activity as a stake to wrap some little presents and give them to those who are in need of some Christmas love. We wore some hats and also Elder Hommer of the 70 came to help out as well. It went really quick with all the people and it was planned for like an hour and a half was actually only about a half and hour!!! The other thing this week was we did some caroling and hot chocolate to see if people wanted to come to the church for a chapel tour. We had the zone there and some people came but it was super fun. We had a ward member named Andrew come with his guitar and he played while we sang! So much Fun!

So now onto the biggest part of this week! We met with Stephen for his lesson on what to do for baptism and we went through the questions and he is so ready!!! HE is getting Baptized on the 9th!!!! He said he is going to get some nice cloths for it. I am so blessed to have him in my life and to see the Gospel change him!!! He is such a great friend and will be for the rest of my life!!!

Love you all so much and I can't wait to tell you all about next week!!! Keep the Christmas spirit of Service and love everyone!!!

Yours in Fellowship and Love,󾓭🐲🐼✌🍜

鄧 長 老

Elder Connor R.Duersch

Dahng Jeunglouh

Stan Theman  

Week 66: ThanksGiving(GamYanJit), Puhn Choi, What do I need to do for Baptism?

Elder Connor R. Duersch(Stan Theman鄧長老) Ministering to Hong Kong 1 by 1! Chapter 66 
你好!!!    

First off, GamYanJit Faailohk!!!! Ya i have no idea how to write that in Chinese hahaha. But that means Happy Thanksgiving!!! Hope you all had a super great holiday and ate so much food that you just hit the couch and feel right asleep! Man I am so excited to tell you all about this thanksgiving we had here in Hong Kong!

So in Hong Kong they don't celebrate thanksgiving. So we did the same as last year and got together as a zone and bought food to prepare for all of us to eat for a little 4 hour party. Elder Day and I were in charge of Mashed potatoes hahaha. Everyone was just like you know how to make it right? I was just like of course! Water and mash it then call it good...........they all were about to kill me hahahhaa. So we got the MILK in it and then we added some seasoning and it turned out super good. The ZL's made honey pineapple ham with turkey, some of the sisters made Apple pie, oreo pie, and cheesecake. The Manderin elders made a super good fruit punch. And so much more food! We had so much fun and I took so many pictures. Elder Van Leeuwen took my camera for a bit and took some snipe shots of people and he got a pic of me right before I smiled so when you see it, it will look like I am doing a death stare hahaha. We played some games and just had a fun time as a zone! Really wasn't that sad at all not being home. Probably sad for some of you to hear but it was very great out here and I loved it so much. The after math of it all was we went out and did finding in the streets so we had to lug around a feast in our belly's hahahaha. Such good times!

The other cool thing this week was we had a super good lesson with Stephen! Elder Day had to go on a split with our ward mission leader and I was with Bishop lam to teach Stephen. The lesson was one of the best ones yet!!!! We taught about Service and then I felt Prompted to move it into callings and how that helps the church grow and help Heavenly Father and Bishop took off and made the lesson so good and then it transitioned into a super good topic about missionary work. The coolest thing during the lesson was he kept asking,"What do I need to do to prepare for Baptism?!" It made my heart feel so good and during a moment when Bishop was teaching  I took a second to look at Stephen and something was different. I noticed a new light. From the first time I met him a while ago up till now there is a huge change in his countenance and it was truly amazing to behold.

After the lesson we went to a Elders Quorum activity and it was a traditional Chinese dish that they do around New Years with friends when they go out to eat. It is called Puhn Choi. There is no translation and it means Huge Serving Platter of Food!!! And it was literally that!!! They came out with a massive bowl of MEAT in a pot on top of a fire!!! It is meant for 15 people to eat and it was so much food!!! We tried so hard to eat as much as possible and it was so hard!! They were all just like get the elders to go and eat it all and since I have lost weight I was just like, Oh Crap my stomach has shrunk and I can't eat that much anymore, and Elder Day is really skinny so that was another thing. But Stephen ate a good amount and saved the day hahaha. 

We also went to Cross Roads this week and we were in charge of medical but it was just us moving a bunch of Wheel Chairs around and such. So not to much exciting there. We did talk to a guy named Paul who is from New Zealand and talked about the bible. He knows some super deep doctrine stuff and it is super fun to talk to him. We gave him an English book of Mormon and such and he said he had a couple and would read it again. So i will follow up next week with him.

Well all that pretty much does it for this week! thank you all again so much for keeping us Missionaries in your prayers!!! But also remember that you can also pray for yourselves each day to stand as a witness of our church and share what you know is true and help a friend have the joy that we feel and the knowledge that we have about the savior and this work in life! 

Keep marching on valiant soldiers of Zion!!! Bring the Knowledge to all the world and it will bring you so much Joy and I can testify that it is true! 

Have a super good week and stay happy and strong through all aspects of life!

Yours in Fellowship and Love,󾓭🐲🐼✌🍜

鄧 長 老

Elder Connor R.Duersch

Dahng Jeunglouh

Stan Theman  

Week 65: E.T!!!!, Zone Conference, Stephen is so close!!!!!!, snif snif.

Elder Connor R. Duersch(Stan Theman鄧長老) Ministering to Hong Kong 1 by 1! Chapter 65 
你好!!!    

I will apologize now for in my video i call it chapter 64 but it is 65........sorry hahahaha. I also have put a lesson that was a role play in this email of the restoration. It was good for the first part then it got funny and then it got good again. Just watch it and you will see. I thought it would be nice for you guys to hear what a lesson sounds like in Cantonese!!!

This week was another hot one hahaha. We now got permission if it is to hot during the night when we can't sleep to use the AC even though AC season is off. So that could save us a little down the road. Not sure when it will get cold, but if it was like last year it should get cold around here late in December into January. So when that times comes time for sweaters and for scarfs!!!

I will not take up to much more of your time this morning, evening? what ever time it is or day for you lovely people!

E.T:

Ok so this would take to long to type out if I had like an hour, but in the video i talk about our Pday this week and it was one of the funnest yet!! We planned on going bowling with the Hung SHui Kiu elders and then we got invited to go on a biking trip and so we were like ok. I was in Jeans and a Pink Polo shirt for this............ya this is where it gets intense hahaha. Basically there was so much laughs and my body was so soar!!!!! It was a total of 22 miles!!!!!! A Broken seat here, cramps there, and soar butts for days!!!!!! I haven't done that in a long time to ride a bike! I tip my hat to all of you who have biking missions!!!!! SO much Biking!!! I also had to wear a fun helmet cause we were out of them so I got to use a construction hat hahaha. You will see in the photos.

Zone Conference:

So Zone conference was this week and it was the best one on my mission yet!!! President Phillips gave a super good talk on the 5 saving ordinances and how we can draw the power from Christ when we keep them. Covenants are super big and we learned so much about how we can get so much power from them out here on a mission and later on in our lives. We also have new things coming and revelation about "White Christmas". This is so that every Companionship will get a baptism in December and we can do it!!!

Stephen:

We met with Stephen again this week and he hasn't bought a pack in 5 days!!!! He is doing so good and we are really so excited for him this December 9. Keep him in your prayers if you can. He wants to be baptized so bad and he is so close to braking his addiction! He told us that people here worship Buddha and Gunyam and he said, "But I don't, cause I want to follow Jesus!" Gets me right in the feels!

Snif Snif: 

Oh ya I also got sick this week but prayer and drugs really help you out hahahaha. So I am better now!

Love you all so much and I am looking forward to this week for Thanksgiving. Go around during that time and talk about how much you appreciate something. It could be anything, but also think about your family the most and the Gospel! 

Have a greeeaaaattt WEEEKKKK!!! Love ya!

Yours in Fellowship and Love,󾓭🐲🐼✌🍜

鄧 長 老

Elder Connor R.Duersch

Dahng Jeunglouh

Stan Theman