The Lone Man Standing

Dear Friends and Family,

Another good week here in the mission! The longer I am here the more convinced I become that this is exactly where I should be and what I should be doing; I wouldn't want to spend my time any other way. Congratulations to everyone celebrating birthdays or other significant milestones (like missionary work!). I think that's so awesome that Ashley P is coming here! There has been a lot of talk in the mission recently about missionaries because the first wave of 18 year old elders and 19 year old sisters come in in March (they are in the MTC right now). But biggest of all is about Sisters getting called to do Mandarin work! Forever and ever Sisters have only been Cantonese. But in March we have our first Mandarin Sister coming in and we're assuming that one of these Hong Kong native sisters will switch over from Cantonese to Mandarin. So I can pretty well predict who her trainer will be right now (There are only like 3 Hong Kong Sister Missionaries right now who could). OK...I just stopped typing to go tell the Mandarin Elders that are using the computers next to me--they're super stoked!

Hmmm...like this?

Its been another warm week here in Hong Kong with a lot of sunshine so I'm trying to make the best and tan my neck and face as I go finding on the streets:) I also got a nice spring Chinese haircut this morning. It's OK looking, but the Chinese style is to shave the sides pretty close, leave it kinda long on top and the bangs are at a 45 degree slant one way-- It pretty much makes it so that you have to do somewhat of a comb-over. But I'll eat or do anything to become just a little more Chinese:)

Elder W left on Thursday this week. It was weird to see him pack up all his things and junk everything else that he will never use again. It was also a good time for me to get anything he didn't want; I got a watch and some picture flashcards that I can use whenever I teach the Plan of Salvation or the 10 Commandments. The Mandarin Elders also packed up all their things since they will be moving to a different apartment. So for the second time in 7 weeks I watched as the 3 other people in my apartment left and I was the lone man standing. Happily, I learned that they will be reopening the second Elders companionship in this area, Chaiwan. I also get a new companion named Elder C. He's been out for almost 1 year and just got out of Macau where he had been serving since August.

Since Elder W was leaving the mission and my companion was not yet to the mission office when I dropped him off, I went with another Elder to the Ferry Pier to put him on a boat out to Macau. I was informed that I would have 1 or 2 hours to wait at the pier by myself before my new companion was to arrive, so I needed to be on my best behavior. After the allotted two hours were up I still hadn't seen my new companion so I was getting a little anxious. After 3 hours I got a call from him on a pay phone asking where I was. We tried to find the best place to meet but he kept having to call me since we weren't seeing each other.  After an hour of this we figured out that the Ferry where I had dropped this other elder off was not the same as the one he was at. He was on Hong Kong Island and I was in Kowloon. So we made a hasty plan to meet at a central meeting point on the Hong Kong side. I called the AP's and told them the situation. Since there was no other alternative and they had no means of contacting him, I got on trains and spent the next half hour getting to him. It was my first taste of what life after the mission will be like with no companion, and I must say, it was strange. I just felt weird by myself. It will probably feel more natural when I'm not a set-apart missionary though.

To my disappointment, during A's baptismal interview, it was decided that he needed to wait for his baptism and develop a stronger testimony of tithing. So yesterday we didn't have any baptisms, but still it was an awesome day since the ward was pumped up about having 3 new missionaries in their ward, as well as my companionship was excited because we worked really hard all week trying to contact our investigators and get them to church, and miraculously we confirmed that 4 would come. When church started 1 of them hadn't shown up (he never did). However, we had 4 additional people show up who had previously not answered calls or texts! It was wonderful to have 7 investigators there!

Also yesterday we had a special zone meeting to prepare for a Stake Missionary Conference that will happen next week. At this conference the Bishops and leaders of every ward in our Hong Kong Island stake will come to get training on missionary work and tools. The hope is that through this concentrated effort, our stake can achieve 100 baptisms this year. (last year they got 38). Nevertheless, this goal was set in faith and the missionaries and stake leaders are pumped!

I've been thinking a lot about cooperation this week. Missionaries, here in Hong Kong at least, are BEGGING to have the members help with missionary work. Hours are painstakingly used to plan and help members understand their responsibility in missionary work. It's been the hardest thing of my mission so far besides baptisms. It's easier to find and teach people on the street than it is to meet with and talk with members. So I guess my encouragement this week is for you to think about what more you can do to help the missionaries in your ward. And it's not meals. We can eat without people giving us food (I'm proof). But think about making time to teach with missionaries. Understand their concerns, voice your concerns and help them stay motivated. It's so much easier for me to stay motivated if I feel like I have member support and enthusiam backing me up. Also think about friends that you could help the missionaries teach. These kinds of things create miracles in areas.

Anyway, I love you all. Hope you all are safe and are reading and praying!

Love,

Elder Siebach

P.S. Congrats to Sterling on getting into Texas A&M and on getting his Patriarchal Blessing! That's awesome!

P.S.S. One year older dad, make sure you're getting wiser and not wider too. :) Just kidding.