Awesome Week

This was an awesome week! One of our many awesome investigators (Alec) got baptized, and Elder Holland came to Hong Kong and had a fireside for all the members here. He is now the apostle in charge of Asia too. I'm not sure what that means, but it seems really cool. I got to sit in the same hall he talked in. Super cool. I wish you could have seen the people there, Everyone was so happy. The members are super diverse here too. Chinese, whites, Filipinos, Indonesians, and all sorts of other kinds of people too. That was one of the coolest sundays ever. 

 We missionaries will go to a big meeting with Elder Holland tomorrow as well, so we'll see how that goes. I'm super exited. There are some really cool things going on here in HK. Kwun Tong is doing good. I'm getting to know stuff better here. The area is super cool We have spots that we can see Hong Kong Island and the ocean, it's super cool. Things are going really good, we have a lot of really great investigators:) 

 I'm still getting used to new things here, but it's awesome here. I hope things for everyone back home are going good, I love you all, keep up the good work!

 Best thing this week: Alec getting baptized and Elder Holland coming to HK! 

For P-day we are: going to a really cool museum thing. 

My companion: Elder Williams is really cool. He likes Avatar, Coldplay, and Jack Johnson just like me. 

New food: We made some crazy noodle dinner last night cause we had no time to eat, it was good. Color tie today: black and blue 

I am feeling: Happy and Awesome 

Investigators: a ton. 

Story: Alec, our baptism, decided to believe in God the day before missionaries(Elder Williams and his last comp) found him on the street. They met with him a bit and then he came across tons of anti stuff, but he talked to the missionaries instead of thinking we were evil and he was awesome after that. He then felt he was ready faster than his baptismal date(he totally was) to get dunked, so we baptized him yesterday instead of like 3 weeks later.

Tell us about your new area: Kwun Tong is awesome! It's got a little bit of everything, and a lot of hills and stairs. I'll tell ya more later

Love,

Elder Osborne

 Kwun Tong at night.

Me and my best friends, Elder Peterson and Elder Durham

First Transfer

It sounds like a good week for you guys, I'm glad Grandma's funeral went good. I'm doing good too. Yeah I got moved. I'm now in the Kwun Tong area and it's awesome. I'm not sure where to start describing it. I'm kind of to the east of Kowloon area. The whole mission calls Kwun Tong "the promised land" because it's crazy successful on average. Hopefully I can keep the streak going. Kwun Tong is also famous for all the crazy people there too so I'm sure I'll have some stories to tell this move. Really this is crazy, I never thought that I would go here, at least until last Monday. Last Monday I saw the Kwun Tong elders at Kong Kok shopping for pday. As we were walking away I looked back at Elder Williams (my new companion) and I felt like we were going to be comps and now we are. It was pretty cool. So now I'm here. I'm gonna miss Sheung Shui, but I already love Kwun Tong too so I'll be ok. By the way, Elder Williams is a boss, he is an exceptional missionary for only being out for 4 months so far, he's from SLC and went to East High. Also, Elder Staheli is living in our apartment too. He's just as funny and hickish as ever. His companionship are zone leaders and I'm now district leader, so that's a bit stressful, but I'm learning and getting good help. So that's my news.

Best thing this week: Making a ton of new friends:)
Investigators: A ton, Alec, Ben, Jensen, 明－, Frodo, peter leung, and tons
of others.
Story: One day I got moved. Now I am here. The End
Color tie I'm wearing today: maroon
Transferred? yes
If yes, where to? Kwun Tong
New comp? yes, he is Elder Williams from Utah. He is really cool
if yes, tell us about him: he is cool and is a boss missionary
What are you doing for pday? Celebrating Elder Petersons birthday by
playing board games and stuff in their apartment.
Tell me something: You are going to love my crazy people stories. My new
area is full of them, such as the Kwun tong Grabber, The Kwun tong Dancer,
The Monk, The Sam wo ping Screamer, all sorts of other crazy funny people.
Also kwun tong is pronounced like goon tong.

 Tell Lori and Delene Thank You for the flowers from me. They treat us way too good. Also tell them that they can email me any time. They're awesome. Home sounds busy as ever, keep up the good work, I'll do my best over here too. ¥[ ªo!

 Love,

Elder Osborne

Ãe ªø¦Ñ

Here's the new view out my window.

                                                                               
And Also Elder Staheli teaching little kid english class.

New comp, elder Williams

Moves???

 I got the news about Grandma on Saturday. I hope everyone is doing ok, I think it was her time to go, she had a good run. Hopefully everything goes alright with the funeral and stuff. How's the rest of the family doing with that? I'll pray for everyone back home. I'm doing alright, Hong Kong is good, the work is good, things are all right. Moves are on Tuesday and I'm probably leaving, but we'll see. 

 I'm glad things are busy at Lori's, Valentines was an awesome time to work for her. Maybe if Jug keeps doing a good job for her he'll steal my job. Keep up the good work, It's sounds like you're up to your eyeballs in busy. We'll see how things go. 

Best thing this week: My conversion story fireside and Ivan's confirmation

New food: sea snail, actually really good!

How are you? I'm doing good, kinda sad about Grandma, but it's not affecting the work. Other than that things are awesome.

Next temple day is: not sure yet

Do you think you'll be transferred? Probably

Story: At the fireside there was a convert who only got a flier from the missionaries(which always always means they throw it away or forget about it. Later, she felt like she really needed to call the missionaries(the Spirit!) and she did and now she's a super awesome member!

Pictures: I'll see what I can do.

Anything else: Not much else, things are going pretty good over here.

 Anyway, keep on keeping on, I'll keep all of you in my prayers.

Love,

Elder Osborne

 This is when Elder Van Orman and I forgot the keys to our apartment this week and were locked out for a while.

We did a murder mystery english class this week. There's Officer Osborne and Deputy Dy examining the crime scene.

 

 Here's me, Leo, Nephew, and Ivan! (all boys he baptized!)

Also sheung shui ward has a super awesome preists quorum. We're boss.

 

Lots of Food

 Home sounds good right now, especially with the super bowl. China is doing awesome too, Chinese new year was pretty crazy. We couldn't get a lot of work done cause everyone was visiting family and doing stuff, but the members invited us to a TON of dinners and food and stuff. It's ridiculous here. I'll try and send some pics if I have them. I learned a ton of Chinese culture vocal and stuff this last week, Elder Lau in our apartment helps us out with that. 

 Dad just said Matt Carr is bishop. It's so weird! I feel like I only left like a month ago. I thought dad was for sure going to be a counselor. He got lucky this time. Things are going pretty good still work wise. Moves are next week so we'll see how that goes. 

 P day today was really good, sorry I'm emailing late, but we had a ton of stuff. First we went to our ward activity hiking up a mountain in our area, which kinda led to a Buddhist temple thingy where we hung out for a bit. Then we made our way like halfway across Hong Kong to Elder Lau's birthday lunch that some members in one of his old areas invited us all to. It was mostly Shang Hai style food, which is really good. After, we took pictures at a really cool park and now we're here in the Kowloon Apple store mooching off their computers for the umpteenth time. Awesome day.

 

I'll shall now fill out this weeks thingy promptly.
Best thing this week: Tons of food and a mountain hike!   Worst thing: Couldn't schedule anyone for lessons this week cause new years! New food: 小笼包 siu lung bao, dumplings with soup in them! super cool! Investigators: are doing good, just couldn't see harpy any this week cause new years Story: Chinese new year is crazy and filled with food.

I'm really blessed to have a good family that helps me and helps other people too. Keep an eye on the missionaries. We're all trouble;) 

 Love,

Elder Osborne

heres the dumplings and i'll add another pic too cause I can

Happy New Year!

 This week was really good! Ivan got baptized! It was really good! Not much other news besides that. Things are going good. Moves calls is in a couple weeks(feb 13th) It should be interesting to see what happens.   People go to mainland for new year to visit their hometowns and families. It's like going on a trip to grandma's house for Christmas. Hong Kong gets pretty deserted for a few days for new year, especially where I am cause I can see Mainland from our apartment, literally. Despite all the odds though, our companionship is doing really good right now. By the numbers, Elder Van Orman and I are doing better than we've ever done before so far. So yeah, stuff is pretty good:)  How are Scott and Tracy doing with the baby? whats the name? Is Deloy getting better?   Yeah, I'm doing really good on lemon heads, probably don't need them so much, If your sending a package soon make sure to send some photos of new stuff, like football Jug and Indian wedding. Things are pretty good in HK, workin' hard or hardly working. jk on the hardly working part.   I'll just fill in the thingy now. The best thing this week was: Ivan's baptism:)   The worst thing: getting friend zoned by investigators, funny and sad at the same time. New food: chicken testes. Really. Next transfers are: Feb. 13 Things I bought recently: I'm going shopping to buy Ivan some ties today and looking for some chinese books with elder Lau Investigators: are crocodiles with vests. Toy Story 4?   Picture: ok. Anything you wanna tell me: Missions are awesome! Baptisms are really cool!  Love, Elder Osborne  龐 長老    Ivans baptism:)          Here's us right after Ivan passed his baptismal interview!

More Ivan

 This was pretty good week, Ivan passed his baptismal interview really well! He'll be getting bapized this sunday. He chose me to baptize him too, this will be 3 out of 4 convert baptisms in Sheung Shui baptized by me while I've been here. 

 By the way, Elder Liu is out of Macau right now and is in Kowloon, I actually taught a lesson with him once. He's super cool! Elder Liu is going home at the end of this move in about 3 weeks. Also does his sister and brother in law speak Cantonese? If so that would be awesome. I'll also probably be able to speak a some ok mandarin by the time I get back too so I can talk to the Taiwanese family and practice:) Yay! Chinese speakers in the ward!! It's so weird how missions connect people like that.

 I didn't end up buying poopy pants yet, Elder Van Orman did. But we found them! Apparently they're seasonal for summer, so I'm gonna wait a bit for a better selection. This p-day we're just gonna hang out with some other missionaries. Next week we're taking Ivan to buy a suit cause he wants one. I think I might chip in a bit for his birthday. He's funny. 

 There's a lot of candy in HK, but the only stuff I can think of that they don't have is your cookies, lemonheads, and starburst, So I'm not sure what else:/

 I'm glad things at home are doing good, keep up the good work! ¥[ ªo! keep up the good work.I'll keep working hard here in HK. I love you all and I'll hear from you soon.

Love,

Elder Osborne  Ãe ªø¦Ñ

Ivan

 AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! They finally got a kid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Tell Scott and Tracy I said congratulations!! That'S SO GOOD!!!!!!!! I'm so glad things finally worked out! Other home stuff sounds good too. Winter sounds pretty ok this year. 

Sorry I forgot to tell you this week is our temple day:/ oh well. 

Anyway, things are going really good right now. I'll tell you a bit about Ivan too. I first found him on the street when Elder Arrington was off talking to another person. I just went up to him as he was walking and said hi, talked about how I was a missionary and something about English class. The whole conversation was like 40 seconds, neither of us really remember what I said except for something about English class. After that I scheduled him to meet us at a park where I taught him the whole restoration cause I sat next to him and Elder Arrington and the member we brought were sitting too far away. It was one of the more awkward lessons I've had so far. All he did was just sit there and listen. He hardly talked and he wouldn't  really look at us. It was weird. We didn't meet with him for a while after that, just called and texted a bit about the Book of Mormon, which he seemed to like. Once Elder Arrington moved and Elder Van Orman came in, we were able to get him to English class and after we read the first chapter of the BoM with him to show him how it applies to him more, he really seemed to like it. He also saw Salad at eng. class too. Apparently they were classmates in primary school. Btw, Salad was pretty much a recent convert by then, just not quite baptized. So Salad fellowshipped him a bit and we were able to get to teach him some more and get him to church. His first time at church was Nephews baptism, so that was really cool that he got to see that. He also got to see Salads baptism too. He took getting baptized really seriously, so he wouldn't accept a date for a while, but he finally did decide to get baptized when we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. He started out so shy, now he's progressively just gotten so golden! His baptismal interview is this week! also he's 15 and he got his parents permission so everything is good! He's getting baptized on 

his 16th birthday!

 Thing are going good up here, can't complain besides testing is going on right now, super mafaan to schedule students. Ugh. School is evil here, well, eviler. Other than that, things are going pretty good. Hopefully home stays good fer yallls too:) that's about it this week, the work is moving on and we're working hard. 

Love,

Elder Osborne

Chinese Bakeries

 San Francisco sounds awesome, everyone sounds like they're doing pretty good too. Yeah, you wouldn't expect China to have such good bakeries since they eat so much rice and noodle stuff, but they got some good stuff. Did you find cha siu faahn there? We're doing really good here too:) What was hearing Chinese and not understanding it like? I still get that sometimes. Also, I didn't even know Dad had a cousin named Brian in California. Do they keep in touch? What was the Christmas Eve party like? Any interesting family stuff going on? Keep up the good work back home:)

 Things here are really good right now, we recently got us an awesome investigator that's gonna get baptized! His name is Ivan and he's awesome! He is getting baptized on Jan. 26 on his birthday and he just got his parents permission too. It is so true that there are prepared people out there to accept the gospel. I just did something weird to this Chinese keyboard so now i can't use period and stuff  sorry.
 I love love you all and and hope that things at home stay good.

Love
Elder Osborne 

Herro Famiry

Dear Family,

Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Happy San Francisco! 

 Calling home was way weirder than I thought it would be, don't get me wrong, it was awesome to hear from ya'll, but I never really use just English anymore. We use a ton of chinglish here. so I'm gonna teach ya'lls some chinglish we use all the time here:

Mafaahn: like annoying but deeperish "that guy is so Mafaahn!"

chaam: like sad and suck at the same time. Sorry Mom. "that's super chaam."

Leng jai: handsome boy, stud "Jug is way leng jai"

Chisin: crazy. just like english. "chisin!" 

Wat leih gei: I owned you. literally "dominate the machine"

Watgei: boss. like our slang boss. 

That's just a bit of what we use. Hopefully this helps you understand me next time I call cause chinglish is the best. Calling was good. The christmas pics look super good:) everyone seemed pretty happy and stuff. Christmas here was super awesome here too:)

 I'm gonna start trying to tell a story a week from now on too. New Years resolutions I guess. So here it goes. last last Saturday we were out finding like normal and Elder Van Orman started talking to this young mom waiting at a street light next to us. we just talked about normal missionary stuff, about her family, how old her kid was. Invited her to church the next day and then she came! Her name is Lily and she's super nice and cool. She wants to raise her son in a good church and stuff. Her son is 2 years old, adorable, and already super well behaved. Anyway, we gave her to the sisters to teach and she already has a baptismal date and everything! She's awesome! She came to the Christmas party and church this week too!

 So that's one story. I'll keep working on making more:) Yeah so far that's about it. things are going really good right now. The work is booming and I'm a happy elder:) Thanks for being an awesome family and supporting me and everything. Have fun in San Fran! Say Hello to China town for me!

Love,

Elder Osborne

Merry Christmas

We had a really good week this week, good stuff is happening and we're working hard. The weather lately has been awesome, a little bit cool but way better than last week. Last week was humid cold. humid cold is evil. As soon as you get out the door you start freezing, even if it looks super nice outside. Btw, I bought me a scarf this week for 30 HK dollars, which is about 4 US bucks, super nice.

Also, the package was awesome! Thanks for all the cool stuff, I liked the ties. The cookies made really good snacks and breakfasts:) Thanks to you and grandma I have enough lemonheads to last my entire mission. I sometimes sneak them in Elder Lau's pockets and stuff. It's hilarious cause when he finds them he always finds me and says "You!" super sneary and hilarious. I'm kinda the trickster of the apartment right now.

As for calls let me know what time it is a at home ASAP so I can figure it out, we're kinda planning on calling you christmas night your time but we'll see.

I'll email ya more in a bit, have fun in the snow!

I think we're just gonna call, we're not smart enough to face time or anything else:( Which episodes of Dr. Who did you watch? From what Mom said it sounds like you watched the dinosaur one in the 7th season. Try showing her one that's simpler like the weeping angels or somthing. Time goes way too fast here. yesterday was like 10 days till Christmas, it hardly even feels real. That's about it for me, tell mom to email back fast!
Best thing this week: got lots of people to come to church this week
I'm looking forward to doing more missionary stuff!
New food this week Don't remember, but we ate dinner at an old member ladies super old chinese boonie house this week. Imagine eating in like an tiny old farm shack with some furniture and stuff and that's what it's like :)
Christmas plans: Work, call you guys, ward christmas party
Story:
Investigators: Ivan, A-louh, Samuel, bro. Wong, lots of others and stuff
How Chinese celebrate Christmas: not entirely sure, go shopping more?
Anything else (maybe make me laugh): Here's me being a goof with QQ. Enjoy.

Love,

Elder Osborne