LETTER #18

> HEY HEY HEY!
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> Well, another great week in the big apple! I have not talked to you all year!! haha! A lot of big things that are sooo close to happening but are just not quite there yet! People have been out of town for the holidays, and busy with work so it has been hard to find time to meet with all of them! I am excited that the holidays are taking a break for a while, hopefully peoples lives will start to calm down a little bit!
> My companion got very sick this week, so we had to stay inside one day! Not going to lie that got a little boring! I studied so much chinese and scriptures I think my head almost fell off! But it was a great, really terrific feeling! My companion had a horrible sore throat, and head ache! He seems to be doing better now though which is great! I really hope that I will not catch the same thing!
> Chinese people are still hilarious! I am really enjoying talking with them! It is always such a surprise to see what you will get when you start talking to someone! Sometimes they will start running, this is my favorite response because I will usually start running with them! It is so funny to see what reaction they will give you! Usually they think it is funny and will take a card! sometimes they will just yell! what?!?!? what?!?!? those people it is just best to assume that they are not having a good day!! some time you will get no use!! no use!! as they wave their hand about two inches from your face! this is not a fun response to get.. but sometimes they will stop walking and talk with you.. this is the best response to get! It might not come often, but when it does, it makes the whole entire day worth it! I am loving missionary work. It is not an easy work, it takes a lot of time and dedication, but when something actually follows through, someone tells you they will come to church, they will try praying, they want to learn about Jesus Christ, it is so amazing!
> So we have transfers tomorrow! da da da da! I am not leaving! But elder Faulkner is leaving! (aka Chad) I am super bummed! But we are having someone new come in now! And china town is getting a new companionship of elders in china town! So now we will have six elders there! That is kind of exciting! I really like the new companionship too so that is a plus! Now me and my comp are the only white missionaries in china town! This will be cool! Hopefully we will not be speaking a lot of english! It helps so much talking with native chinese people and having them help you! It is the best language study ever! Speaking of me and my comp, we have been giving two of our investigators english lessons! And usually after we will teach them a lesson! It seems to be working out pretty well for us!
> Chinese is still really hard, but it slowly continues to get better! I will feel like I have not gotten any better, then all of the sudden, my mouth will just start moving, and I have no idea what is going on! Then I kind of just say.... WOAH!!!! Haha! I will probably get made fun of for that one! It really does seem to be getting better though! I am kinda starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel! A very small amount of light… maybe like a little christmas light bulb. But hey it is still light!!
> OH new years was fun! We had to be in by 6, but we celebrated with lord of the rings monopoly and sushi! It was a good time! Unfortunately, I did not win, but it is ok!
> Well, Thank you all so much for your love and support!! It so nice to hear from you all! I am so sorry if I have not responded to some of you yet! I hope you know though that I am so grateful! Letters and pictures make me so happy! Love you guys!
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> Bao zhang lao