Well everything is going well here in Liverpool. We had a great New Years Eve and Day. Wow that seems so far away. On New Years Eve we stayed in our flat and wrote letters and just relaxed and boy was that relaxation needed. On New Years Day we went to the Church at 11:00 am and stayed there most of the day. We were blessed with the opportunity to attend a baptism of yet another Chinese Student. Her name is Fiona and she is the most energetic Chinese person I have ever seen!! The baptism was wonderful and full of the spirit. Two recent converts gave talks on the importance of baptism and it was so touching to see the strength of their testimonies in inviting another member into the church.
The rest of the day we played basketball in the Gym, Football afterwords and then of course we ate. That night we relaxed as well knowing it would be the last time in a long time. Missionary work is hard, fun, but most of all it is tiring. You get in bed, fall asleep and the next thing you know it is 6:30 and time to get up. The same thing happens every night and I don’t understand how. I am sure I will get more and more used to it as time goes on. Sometimes the hardest part is Sacrament meeting, sitting down for three hours in a nice heated building. I have to keep reminding myself of what Dad says about maintaining the trust of the members and not looking like a bum.
I really don’t know what to say now, it has only been half a week and one and a half of those days were not much. Let me think of some interesting things that have happened recently. Oh yes! Funny story #1: We were at a members home for Christmas and we were introducing ourselves and Elder Jin was saying he was from China. A 16 or so year old boy asked what part and Elder Jin told him. The boy then replied, “hmm, I don’t know where that is, the only city in China that I know is Tokyo, how far away is it from there?” Haha, one of the funniest things I have ever heard. J
Also the other day we were returning to our flat and we were about to open our outside door but a lady opened it up from the inside looked at us with a puzzled expression on her face. So we tried to walk in but she held up her hand and said, "no want". So we tried to explain to her that we lived there but she didn't speak any English. So we stood there for a couple of minutes explaining we were residents there. We ended up pointing to the top floor and then back to us saying we LIVE here. Basically we almost had our own door shut in our faces while on a mission. Fun times.
Everything is going well here, we have been having a hard time finding new people to teach because all the Chinese went back to China for the long break and everyone else didn't want to schedule something during the break. But last night we were able to find 4 new investigators which meant we met the standard on the first night of the new week. I am looking forward to doubling that number hopefully. All I know is God blesses those who try their bests.
Elder Eliason is a great missionary and I am learning every day. I have good relationship with him now and I hope to strenghten it. Unfortunately me and Elder Jin are not getting along at all which mostly stems from the not speaking Chinese. This is seriously one of the most frustrating situations of my life. My Chinese has gotten worse since I have gotten here in England. One Chinese Recent Convert looked at me puzzled and said, "why has your Chinese gotten worse?" Those blunt words hit me hard and I didn't have a very good response to his question.
Truthfully the reason is I have no constant use of Chinese and we have not taught a Chinese lesson in a while except two last night. I knew my Chinese was worse but I didn't know how bad it was until last night. I truly don't know what to do, I feel like I am not fulfilling my calling but I don't know how to change anything with the situation as it is. If there is any advice you could think of giving me that would be great. :)
I hope everyone is having a great week, I know I will because I am on the Lords errand and I know he will bless me as long as I let him. Also this week we have a Zone Conference that will lay out the new goals and expectations for the new year. I am very excited to find out what we will be striving for as a mission. I love you all and good luck with starting the new year!!
Elder Fawcett
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