Original article posted by Greg:

‘Movecalls’ came in last friday. I’m still in Jian with elder Taylor. Elder Demske, who I’ve been following around the island, moved to a place called Danshui. We joked that I’ll be moving there in another movecall in order to keep the pattern. Also in keeping with the pattern, elder Smith has moved down here to be one of the Zone Leaders on the coast. So once again everybody is saying “Wow, don’t you think it will be weird to see your trainer all the time?” To which I say, “no.”

Did your brain just tune out reading that? Mine did.

I guess there are some things that nobody really cares about. Hmm.

I’ve actually had the chance to see, in portion, some ‘new’ movies. A few weeks ago, for instance, I saw the first half hour of Terminator 3. We were teaching a nice lady and there was a TV directly behind her right ear from where I was sitting. Lots of eye candy, I believe I mentioned before. Last night I got to see the first 10 or 15 minutes of Harry Potter 3 due to similar circumstances. Looks a lot better than the first 2, as far as filmmaking, but pretty cartoony. I’ll have to check it out sometime.

Another highpoint of the week, as I indicated, was meeting the man with the metal teeth. Just like the big guy called Jaws from Moonraker. Like dead on. This is a guy who has his life figured out and that life includes denim, cigarettes, motorcycles, Buddhism, and metal teeth.

Cool.

And not just a little creepy.

There’s a train that runs through the town here. I always like to watch it go by. There’s a movie called “Spirited Away” where the train is a recurring theme, and it always makes me think of that. Specifically the part where the train pulls away from some platform somewhere, leaving behind some ghost girl who just seems to be staring at the train. Waiting for something.

I guess in my head it’s like a kind of symbol of change. Or unrealized dreams. Like there’s all these things that a person can do – all these life changes that can be made – and the first step is to get on to the train and get away from the old life. The old world. The old place.

Anyway. My time is nearly up.

As far as the actually missionary work here, it goes okay. We’ve met a couple nice young men who have interest in learning about God. I have a lot of hope for them as they are both openminded and willing to make efforts – which is about all it takes to begin to have spiritual experiences.

Thank you for the card with the cartoon nurse,
-Elder Hamblin