Week 3

Hey everybody!

MTC life is still not too shabby. Some days I feel at the end of the day, my Chinese skills have doubled and other days I feel like they've gotten worse but I am improving. I think by the time Sean gets here in January, I'll be able to talk with him comfortably in Chinese which is pretty awesome. And Ben gets here tomorrow! Hopefully I can see him, though are schedules will be very different. Actually, I met a cool elder, Elder Mcfierson, who has the same gym schedule as me who I always play basketball with and he's going to Florida so maybe Ben's gym schedule will be the same, that would be far out. Schedules are according to zones here. By either area or langauge. Me and Sean will be in the same Chinese Mandarin zone!

So maybe a little over a week ago we had something really funny happen. The zone leaders come visit us every night just to ask how we are doing and stuff. At the end of their visit they would always ask "is there anything I can do for you elders?" to which we would always reply "tiaowu" which means dance. And they would always say I can't, because I'm a missionary and then leave. It was really funny for some reason. So one night, after saying this to them every night when they would come, we decided to hide our whole district (9 guys) in our room, under the bed, in the closet, behind the door, etc. When the visiting zone leaders asked what they could do for us everyone slowly came out of their hiding spots chanting "tiaowu, tiaowu..." and the zone leaders had no idea what to do and actually looked a little scared for a second. It was so funny! Coincidentally our branch president was right outside in the hall and heard so he came in and lectured us about "social gatherings" which is mentioned specifically in our handbook. Luckily I wasn't any part of this because while everyone was chanting I went into the bathroom to get ready for bed and stuff. So the branch president probably thinks I'm an angel in my district or something because I was the only Elder in my district who wasn't there. Also my district is probably the worst in our zone haha. Also the chessboard we made is apparently against the rules as well. I haven't played myself because to watch them play is really fun. My companion and another elder in my district play each other all the time, in all their free time really. Their records are Elder Cheung 16 and Elder Collard 17, they only play each other. Word got out that our district had a chessboard and the branch president once again lectured us on games and "competitions and such" which he also gave a specific page reference in our handbook. Luckily, I was once again absent because I was at the doctor getting my ingrown toenail taken care of. Somehow, I've maintained a clean slate despite my district's notoriety. It's kind of funny actually.

Anyway, about the chessboard, my companion and the other elder hide the chessboard in their sock drawer and play whenever they can, they are becoming very passionate about their chess. We write in our journals, write letters and stuff and they play chess in the corner insisting we create a secret knock to avoid another surprise visit by our branch president (he's very good at those somehow). Anyway, my district is very entertaining and we have good times. There was another night where my room of 4 elders were having story time, we do that every night, and we had just finished the last story and were all in very comical moods. As we knelt to say our prayer, Elder Weech could not seem to say the right words in Chinese and was switching around bless, heavenly father, love, thankful, etc. I could not for the life of me stop laughing. I was trying so hard to stifle my laughter but it just made it worse. For a few seconds, everyone would settle down and we would be quiet for a second. But then someone would make a tiny little squeak trying to stop their laughter and it would break out again. It was so stinking funny! Me and my companion Elder Cheung were cracking up! His prayer did not make any sense hahaha. It was so funny. It was also on kind of a down day of mine, I think the 23rd, so it was it made me feel a lot happier and cheerful. It had been a long day and that night made everything better. So stinking funny. Anyway family and friends, I love you all and I am doing so well out here. I'm so excited to go out in Taiwan and help some people out who need it. Man I am so thankful for this opportunity! Thank you all for the support you've given me. I love you all very very much. Hopefully I can help some people out in Taiwan and they can have awesome families like we do. Oh and also I do NOT need anymore packages! Thank you all so much for the many packages but I am overflowing with food. So if you're sending me a Christmas package, maybe make it small. Also, Heather, the watch you gave me like broke or something again and I'm not sure what to do with it. The warranty isn't covered anymore because a month ago I took it to a store to get the battery replaced and once the back is taken off, the warranty goes away. Lame I know. So maybe if any of you send me a Christmas present, an awesome watch would be most appreciated. Also ties are always awesome :) oh ya Caroline, did you get my letter about possibly sending me a tie? A tie from you would be awesome and it would become my go-to/lucky/Caroline tie.

Anyway again, family and friends I love you all so so much. You're all great. I would write more but I haven't much time and there are a line of elders who need to use this computer while we still can. Love you all! I'm doing well, I pray for all of you everyday.

Love,

Elder Hagedorn