Emergency Transfer (moved to new area and apartment)

Hello all,

Well the major news this week is that we were transferred from where we were in NTK to Sha Tin. That means completely new zone and area and I had to pack up and take everything I had just unpacked and move again. This means that we had to leave all of our investigators and less actives behind. One was very sad and gave my companion and i crosses. oops haha. I am going to keep it though because she was the first lesson that I ever taught in the field.

An Elder, in the area where Gordon was just sent, had to be moved (we don't know why) so he and his companion traded places with Gordon and his companion.

To explain the cross comment....

President Gordon B. Hinckley explained the reason in a talk delivered in general conference. He told about talking to a Protestant minister following a temple open house. The minister had asked why there were no crosses anywhere if we say we believe in Jesus Christ. President Hinckley answered, “‘I do not wish to give offense to any of my Christian brethren who use the cross on the steeples of their cathedrals and at the altars of their chapels, who wear it on their vestments, and imprint it on their books and other literature. But for us, the cross is the symbol of the dying Christ, while our message is a declaration of the living Christ.’

Even though we do not believe in using the cross as a symbol in our Church, we do not criticize others for wearing or using the cross in their religions. We should understand that the cross is significant and sacred to them. In fact, the 11th article of faith says, “We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.”

We focus on the great atonement of our Savior, his sacrifice for us that makes eternal life possible. We think of his life and sacrifice every Sunday during the sacrament. Our testimonies become the precious things that we bear, along with our obedience, to show we are true followers of Christ.

So a little bit about the new area. There is a river that runs through it and it is not as crowded as NTK so it feels a lot like Portland. My apartment is now even smaller. I am living with one of the other guys from the other Canto. District in the MTC. His trainer is from the UK so he is cool and we make fun of each others accents a bit. So the un-spoken protocol for moving is that when you move leave your food behind so life is just easier. However Elder Hill (he was in the same district that I was in at the MTC) left me corn flakes and that was it I had to make it from Thursday to today with just that. Also I left him a lot of food so I was annoyed about that.

Also the apartment has some cockroaches in it which is not the greatest thing. Also there is no power that goes to the bathroom so there is no light and no exhaust fan so it smells pretty bad in there. Add to that the fact that the water heater is broken so you either seriously burn yourself or freeze. So I am going to call the office later this week and see if we can get rid of any of those things. Our apartment is also in a mall so that is a new experience for me. It is right above a restaurant and we smell the food all the time.

Our teaching pool took a serious hit to. We left behind 8 progressing investigators and 2 less actives that were finally being reactivated and came to an area with 1 investigator and no less-actives that are willing to meet with us so that was a bummer. Oh well I guess that meas we will walk a few extra miles every day.

Last p-day we went bowling. I have never played with people who are good before. I didn't do too bad though I got a 122 with 4 strikes so that was cool.

Last night we were able to meet with a member family just to start introducing ourselves to the new ward and the husband only speaks English and his wife speaks it really good so we visited and taught in English it was so nice! That is all the major news this week.

Love you all,

Elder Walker

we got another letter right after this one......

Almost forgot we are going to the Temple text week which means that my Wednesday will be my p day so I will write then and send you my exact address!

Love you,

Elder Walker

So excited to have a new name tag on the left