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| Moon cakes to celebrate the full moon with Elders Young and Chen. |
Happy October to all of you! Another great week in the mission field. Approaching the end of my first transfer out here - I can't believe I've been a missionary for more than 3 months already. Seems like just a few weeks ago I was sitting at home alone, drinking orange juice and waiting to leave for the MTC. If that isn't a reminder to make the most of every day, I don't know what is.
I may have a little less time in the coming weeks to email on P Day, so if my emails aren't quite up to expectations, forgive me. I really do appreciate all of the kind responses from all of you. I'm doing my best.
This last week, we were a little short on lessons. Which is fine, so we talked to / were ignored by lots of people. Which is alright - our role is simply to offer and invite, and those who are ready will listen. My Chinese is still pretty abysmal, but my street approach is getting a lot better. There's this thing the Asian missionaries refer to as "White Charm", which is pretty much the idea that because I'm American but I can speak Chinese, even just a little bit, lots of people want to talk with me. That's the only reason anyone listens to me, I swear.
General Conference was such a blessing. For all those of you who sent me your thoughts and impressions, thank you so much. There was so much good to be found in the words of our dear apostles. How blessed we are to have their counsel. It was quite the different experience listening as a missionary than before - there's a whole new mindset when you hear the talks. I'd just like to mention the message Elder Andersen closed conference with. There is so much inspiration and guidance to be found from their words. Go, do something with the promptings you felt. Don't wait for another sign. If you know the things you need to do, go and do. The Lord will make more with you than you ever imagined you could.
On a less serious note, I found my first Australian spider this week. With all of the talk beforehand, I'm disappointed in Australia for not trying to kill me faster. The scariest thing I've dealt with so far is my own cooking. Anyway. Our flat is on the third floor of this tiny building. In the stairwell on the way up is this big web with a spider. We pass him every day. We named him Peter.
Our branch had a game night last week, so Elder Hu and I got to play Settlers of Catan with a bunch of the members and our new investigator, John. They all spoke in Chinese the whole time so I was pretty lost most of the time. No one wanted to trade with me, mostly because I didn't know the Chinese words for "brick" and "wheat" and "ore". I did know "sheep", however, so I mostly just traded that for whatever they offered. I lost pretty terribly. But that's alright.
We're driving out to the Williamstown after I send this email. For all you weirdos who like looking up where I am, I'll be at the very very bottom-most point of the peninsula.
Have a lovely week, everyone. I miss you all lots. There are miracles all around us - I can testify of that. The Lord will guide us and bless us and lead us to where we need to go. We just need have the faith to follow them. Have courage, my friends. Keep on doing good.
Elder Blackhurst
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