Importance of prayer!

Leih hou ma?

Well this week has been crazy of course! I've loved every minute of it! The first day I walked into my class and the teacher would only speak Cantonese. He only speaks in Cantonese even though he knows like 7 languages! He has got to be one of the smartest people i know! So on the first day I eventually figured out what he was trying to have me do (by basically playing charades) the language is sooo hard and it has been really tough! We have 1 but mostly 2 three hour sessions of Cantonese class. And then on top of that we have a computer program called T.A.L.L. which helps you learn Cantonese and additional study time and language study and devotionals and soo much more! I'm basically always doing something. Now I fully understand what Colter said about always being exhausted! I am always tired! Not always physically but mentally sometimes. After focusing for hours and hours on Cantonese and only hearing Cantonese your mind overheats but somehow everyone manages to keep going! I know this gospel is true and on Thursday i believe, we were in class and I had no idea what foohng Hin dei (teacher foohng) was saying. I was praying constantly for the gift of tongues and he then asked me a question and I fully understood and gave him an answer in Cantonese. I was shocked. There is no doubt in my mind that the Holy Ghost is real and does help testify as well as speak different languages! The lesson of the week is the importance of prayer. Now I literally pray 15-20 times a day or more. Sometimes I’m almost always continually praying. And I can feel a huge difference when I do so.

My new companion is awesome! His name is Elder Cordon, we get along so well! We both have the same types of goals and we both have fun personalities! You definitely won't have to worry about me losing my fun personality anymore! But more importantly we know how to work together and work hard. We just make sure that we also have fun when the time is appropriate.  We've already taught an "investigator" in Cantonese. Well we tried at least... Friday our teacher told us about this Chinese lady named Judy (actor) and we've been teaching her and practicing talking in Cantonese and teaching lessons. I felt like for only being in the MTC for 2 days we did pretty good. We managed to give her a book of Mormon and get her contact information so that we could teach her Saturday. We taught her how to pray. She was asking a lot about the Holy Ghost so for our next together we tried to focus on that. It’s very hard to explain to someone what the Holy Ghost is when all they say is gahmyet (why) and diimgai (why) we tried to explain to her what it was but she kept asking why. We told her that the Holy Ghost gives you a warm feeling in your heart and helps you to know truth. And by the end of the lesson we asked her to pray about the book of Mormon but she said it felt like we were forcing her so we backed off a little. We have another appointment with her today so we'll see how that goes. (And remember she only talks Cantonese)

Oh and thanks for the letters everyone! Thursday we were all joking about who would get the most letters and I told everyone I just wanted one so I could say I got my first letter! I got 4 and I think elder Williams got 3 or 4 and other people got letters too but it was still funny.

Like I mentioned before it’s a lot of hard work but it's definitely worth it. I can’t wait to actually teach the people of Hong Kong. One important thing I think Justin needs to know is that he should not expect to come to the mtc and never have fun. Having fun is just as important as working hard. If you never have fun here there is no way you'll make it through (especially when you're here for 9 weeks) and if you do make it through you would have been absolutely miserable and it'll be hard to feel the spirit when you're miserable. Obviously this needs to be kept in balance because if all you're doing is having fun and you're not working then you're wasting your time here. But having fun is definitely important. It is a different kind of fun though. For example we have fun just by talking and hanging out. Everyone in my room is my best friend. I seriously scored when it came to roommates. Everyone likes to enjoy each other’s company and most of us are funny or at least try to be! We’ve all slowly noticed that we laugh at things that if we would've said a week ago we would've thought it was really dumb. But here it's funny. Mom, don't worry, this is my home for 9ish weeks and I’m in good hands. In fact, I’m in just about the best hands possible, the Lord's.

The food here is really good but it's pretty rough on your stomach. I haven't gotten used to it and so I haven't felt the best.

The missionary badges are sweet to wear around and I still can't believe this is happening. I’ve literally been dreaming about this for as long as I can remember and it's even better than I’ve ever imagined. I love it here. My roommates are my family.

Mom I miss you and I’m glad I know how to iron my shirts really good now.

Dad thanks for telling me to go to the temple a lot, we went to the temple and some of the people didn't know what to do and you were right, it's nice to not be confused about that stuff.

Justin I can't wait to see you here and you're going to love it. Bring medicine to help you get used to the food

Landon, I miss waking up and playing with you or playing sports or Xbox or whatever!

Melissa I wish I was going to be here for your birthday but I’m going to bring you home some sweet presents from china in a couple!

I’m sorry if I forgot anything. I’m not really used to sending email and so much goes on that it's kind of hard to remember everything since I left my journal in the room! Keep having fun everyone and don't do drugs.

Before I forget can you please send some face wash, another "missionary" belt. (don't even send Justin with a belt with holes), a cd player with speakers so you can play a cd without headphones (not required but would help with the language study) and something that'll help me stop feeling sick! I’m not adjusting to the food very good and I’ve felt sick since day 1. Luckily it's not terrible so I’ve been fine and can still focus on learning.

Love, Elder Zach Cederlof