Happy Father's Day! Fu Chan Ji Faai Lohk!

Dear Family,

I'm thinking I'm gonna sell my ipod touch to Sister C when I "move to my new area" in August (the area where I won't need any missionary clothes... where they won't have mango pudding packets so I'm packing 100... where I won't need an Ipod ...where it's OK to swim and hold babies).   

This deluded idea of going to a new area is to help me wrap my brain around the fact that "I'm not dying, I'm just moving to a weird new area".  The thought that "It's not June right now, it's May" mentalities so far have saved my mental stress so much! Denial: everybody's NOT doing it! ha ha, I joke. Oh, so let me know if that's OK if I sell it to her.

Anyway. Good afternoon from the Far, Far, Far East or Maybe It's Just Even Further West Orient. We're loving, loving the work and the area and seeing tons of miracles. You've probably heard that my extension request was denied... phooey... so I guess I'll just ... refuse to pack until the very last minute and then take off on the fastest bike I can find to mainland! ha haaaa! Renegade RMs, not a pretty image.

oR... I'll come quietly. I guess. I don't know how so I won't think about it.

[Mom is getting first indicators of the return of Dia from Sister Darcey-dom with the next paragraphs.]

Sunday I did have a battle of wills with the member in the pew ahead of us. Brother Dang---He actually used to live in Yuen Long--he was the 2nd counselor and made me eat ginger pig's foot at his house when his wife just barely had her baby (my companion was a native and able to politely refuse and it's especially good for WOMEN so the Elders were off the hook.  SO, it was basically just an evening of everyone else sniggering while the poh poh (grandmother) forced Sister Darcey to suck down pig's foot after pig's foot).

As pay back I asked him EVERY SUNDAY after that if he had prayed for missionary work that week... so we go way back. He's so awesome, served his mission in HK and really has tons of advice and wisdom about the area. But also thinks it's funny to place his UNFAIRLY ADORABLE BABY at EXACTLY THE RIGHT POSITION where bb's gorgeous ALMOND EYES are just gazing into mine and his little toothless mouth is chewing on his little toys and he's GIGGLING through the talk and I'm trying simultaneously to focus on the speaker and translate hard words for my companion while impossible-to-deny Asian baby power is melting my frozen Sister missionary locked heart... and... my... focus.. is... failing... noooo! 

Fei Fei, A's daughter back in Yuen Long

Fingers... itching... to hold... baby... DON'T coo at the baby, Sister Darcey! (The ward members behind us are starting to snigger, too, they've totally figured out Brother D's plan)  :D The speaker eventually saved me by quoting D&C 4:2--see that ye serve him with ALL YOUR HEART, MIGHT, MIND AND STRENGTH and I came back to sister missionary-dom. It was a close call! ;)

Anyway. Happy Father's Day, all! 

I realized how I could get Dad's card to him in time when I was taking a group up to the YSA FHE at a member's apartment on Sunday night--someone said, "It's Father's Day next week! You missionaries aren't going to be able to get mail home in time!" and then I realized the beauty of email and ipods! Ha ha! So here's my awesome card, Dad. Please don't have anyone who speaks Chinese read it... ;) The inside is going to be even more awesome. But it's not done yet!

We've had neat miraculous referrals--one of our "conscripted ward missionaries/mercenaries" (our 2 ward missionaries are both MIA--in Utah and China--and we need help, so we found those awesome no-job quirky people in the ward and call them all ALL the time--and I pay for their help in mochi!) 

A. brought her friend S. to church (you're still changing names to initials, right mom?) and she turned out to have such great desire. She needs the gospel so much! Her English is almost perfect and she's had lots of hard, hard experiences in life, but you can see the glimmer of a really happy, beautiful woman underneath all the worry and pain she's gone through. I hope we can help her find Christ, and find herself again.

A's also been helping us with T, who is showing great signs of emotional and spiritual healing, too! She's stopped telling the same three stories over and over (she was just too lonely before.. and too heart hurt).  One day,  walking from our appointment with her back to church I told Sis C. the storyline of "Lars and the Real Girl".  It reminds me of Tracy and what can happen to us when we are just too lonely... but she's doing so much better! and she smiles and even BEAMS sometimes when she sees us. I hope we can help her get a testimony, too, but I really believe it will come. (so far she just doesn't understand the RESTORED part of the restored gospel--she thinks she already learned it all in Sunday School when she was little). 

Another "ward mercenary" F. is on FIRE for missionary work. She took the mochi we made together last Thursday home to her mom and her mom liked it so much she invited us over for dinner! (F.--super dramatic, super hilarious, almost 20, used to be a PUNK before she was baptized and is now somewhat of a... righteous punk--was like, "LOOK! Sacrificing my beloved mochi actually brought blessings!!! But now I have a big problem... no mochi" :).  She also went to Y. (another sweet investigator)'s school and put right the teacher who was teaching scary lies about our church to the classes---just by sharing "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet. SO amazing.

Please pray for me to have patience, I need it so so so much. God really is so merciful to us and gives us so much help.

I love you all my sweet family! Be safe and happy and smile. And seriously pray for me and Sister C.

Love Sister Darcey