Week 34: Don't eat 4 raw oysters back to back

 大家好！


Our Stake President took us and the Sisters to this place called MoMo Cafe which is part of a Marriott hotel in the downtown area. It was $880 HKD per person, over $100 USD per person. All you can eat buffet style. I ate a rediculous amount of food, including 4 raw oysters. The Stake President asked if we were allowed to eat raw seafood by our Mission President and we said yeah cause we thought he would order sushi or something. 10 minutes later they come out with a giant tray of raw oysters. My first thought was "Hey cool new food!" Cause I love trying new stuff. I ate one and it was good. I ate two and that one didn't feel great so I was like "maybe that'll be all for me." And then all three of the other missionaries at the meal wimped out and I had to eat the last two big ones. Not a fun time. But the rest of the food was amazing

Highlights:
- Update on our miracle friend Andy who's 13 and his parents won't let him meet with us when he gets bad grades in school: His parents are letting us tutor him so he can get better grades! So hopefully we'll be able to meet with him more this week
- We met this dude named John who immediately recognized us as "Mormons" and we had a 15 minute conversation with him. He's also from Southern California, and he was the nicest old guy. He gave Elder Yip and I his phone number and told us to hit him up after the mission. He also told us we should go to this Baptist church nearby to try to "flip them," because as he said "Protestants are weak, you can flip them no problem" 
- Had my first Zone Leadership Council since I'm a District Leader now. So much fun cause my trainer Elder Chuy is one of the Zone Leaders. So lit
- On Tuesday we found a taco place with a deal for Taco Tuesday: $15 a taco. So we pulled up and I had my first taco in over 6 months. It was heavenly. But also pretty small. We may go back because we are both from Southern California and are weak willed when it comes to Mexican food.

Spiritual Thought
Something I noticed a lot this week was the impact that turning outwards can have. I had a lot of moments this week where I felt really discouraged and down because of the difficulty of my area, my companion and I having a hard time getting along, and new responsibilities as District Leader. But I found that the more I turned outwards to serve the missionaries in my district and my companion, the less down on myself I felt, the more joy I had, and the more capable I felt to keep pushing forward. I know that serving others and turning outwards can strengthen us and help us to feel happier and more capable! 

Love you all!!
Elder Blankenbiller

Google Photos

Pictures
1. Cool statue from a Buddhist temple we went to
2. The Buddhist temple
3. Shake Shack
4. Raw oyster
5. Crazy Skull King hand







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