Hello everybody!!
This week has been amazing as always! This week we got back in touch with a former investigator and we had the opportunity of teaching him and his son! We had to stay in one day for a little bit to let my body have rest because I was still pretty sick, but now we are all healthier and doing much better. On Thursday we woke up to an early Christmas surprise...we had ants everywhere in our apartment. They were crawling over the couch, our clothes, the carpet, my companions Christmas packages (they were inside all of them as well because of the sugar and candy). We spent the entire morning vacuuming and killing all the ants we could find and getting them off of all of our things. Apparently it is very common when it rains here for all of the ants to go inside because they are not used to all the rain that we have been having. We bought some ant killer and we thought the problem was finally over until I found ants crawling on my bed and I followed the trail to see them coming through the power outlet. We got that all fixed and we are pretty sure the problem is gone, but it was one of the most hectic and just plain crazy mornings I have ever had out here. We did a lot of teaching new investigators this week and we have two investigators with baptismal dates!! My first Christmas out in the field was great! It was definitely different than any other Christmas I have had, and I was excited to talk to the family on the phone! I can't believe how fast time has gone by and I am way excited for this new year! I hope everybody had a great Christmas!! And I hope you all have a happy new year as well!! Sorry this one is so short, but I will write next week! Zaijian!
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
December 20, 2010
HELLO!!!!!
Ok, so this week has been absolutely fantastic out here in the beautiful California, Anaheim mission!! I have so many experiences to talk about....Well, I will start talking about our tracting this past week. So being the Chinese speaking elders in this mission, it is our job to find the chinese people. However tracting we meet mostly Americans and find few Chinese people. So lately we have been trying to figure out a new method to find these Chinese people, and as a companionship we had an amazing idea come to mind! We call it "Phonebooking". We look up a common Chinese last name and then go visit all those people that live in Irvine with a Chinese last name! We have found so many people already!! This week our numbers were higher than this mission has seen! We had over 20 people say that they want to come to church and said that we could meet with them again. This Sunday we had 12 investigators at church!!!!! It was actually quite overwhelming because there are so many people to talk to and only three of us in our companionship. I have made a goal with myself to just try and speak to every Chinese person around me, whether they be in a line next to me or at the store, and my Chinese has been improving a lot, but it is still very difficult. This week got especially difficult because I got sick with a fever of 100.2 and had to stay at our apartment, I am still a little sick and my voice is almost gone but it isn't stopping me because we have to much work for us to do, so I have faith the Lord will help me get better. I love the atmosphere of Christmas time because people just tend to be happier and nicer, although down here in California it does tend to get extremely materialistic. We recently found a family of 5 that is from shanghai china (I have picked up a couple Shanghainese phrases), they are so amazing!! And our investigator Guo Jiemei (that I have been working with since I got here) has now said she wants to see the baptismal font and next week will set a date!!!! I am just so amazed at the blessings the Lord has given us! Some days out in the field are very tough and it seems like nothing is really happening but one thing I have learned on my mission is that if a day is going slow and seems like nothing is happening "MAKE IT HAPPEN!", we just get out there and do the work, find those people, and if we don't find any people that day, well at least we made one person smile that day :). i am really excited to be out and working on Christmas Day and be out and about finding people, although my companions are reluctant to go proselyte, but I know there will be people that need the Gospel, especially on Christmas! The weather has been a little strange lately and raining quite a bit. One thing about Chinese people is that they hate the rain, they won't even go outside if it is raining, so I am hoping the rain will leave soon. Well I love you all and hope all is well wherever you are! Merry Christmas!!! Remember the true meaning of Christmas and go help others have the happiest holiday :) until next week, Zaijian!!
Ok, so this week has been absolutely fantastic out here in the beautiful California, Anaheim mission!! I have so many experiences to talk about....Well, I will start talking about our tracting this past week. So being the Chinese speaking elders in this mission, it is our job to find the chinese people. However tracting we meet mostly Americans and find few Chinese people. So lately we have been trying to figure out a new method to find these Chinese people, and as a companionship we had an amazing idea come to mind! We call it "Phonebooking". We look up a common Chinese last name and then go visit all those people that live in Irvine with a Chinese last name! We have found so many people already!! This week our numbers were higher than this mission has seen! We had over 20 people say that they want to come to church and said that we could meet with them again. This Sunday we had 12 investigators at church!!!!! It was actually quite overwhelming because there are so many people to talk to and only three of us in our companionship. I have made a goal with myself to just try and speak to every Chinese person around me, whether they be in a line next to me or at the store, and my Chinese has been improving a lot, but it is still very difficult. This week got especially difficult because I got sick with a fever of 100.2 and had to stay at our apartment, I am still a little sick and my voice is almost gone but it isn't stopping me because we have to much work for us to do, so I have faith the Lord will help me get better. I love the atmosphere of Christmas time because people just tend to be happier and nicer, although down here in California it does tend to get extremely materialistic. We recently found a family of 5 that is from shanghai china (I have picked up a couple Shanghainese phrases), they are so amazing!! And our investigator Guo Jiemei (that I have been working with since I got here) has now said she wants to see the baptismal font and next week will set a date!!!! I am just so amazed at the blessings the Lord has given us! Some days out in the field are very tough and it seems like nothing is really happening but one thing I have learned on my mission is that if a day is going slow and seems like nothing is happening "MAKE IT HAPPEN!", we just get out there and do the work, find those people, and if we don't find any people that day, well at least we made one person smile that day :). i am really excited to be out and working on Christmas Day and be out and about finding people, although my companions are reluctant to go proselyte, but I know there will be people that need the Gospel, especially on Christmas! The weather has been a little strange lately and raining quite a bit. One thing about Chinese people is that they hate the rain, they won't even go outside if it is raining, so I am hoping the rain will leave soon. Well I love you all and hope all is well wherever you are! Merry Christmas!!! Remember the true meaning of Christmas and go help others have the happiest holiday :) until next week, Zaijian!!
December 13, 2010
No Letter for this week as someone accidentally deleted the email. We hope to recover the email and post it as soon as possible (fingers crossed).
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
December 6, 2010
Hello!
Okay, well this new transfer has been going pretty well so far! We have our new companion Elder Bray and he is from Connecticut. He served in the Taiwan mission for about 5 months but had to have surgery so he went home to recover and is now reassigned here. His Chinese is very good. So we have been trying to find a lot of Chinese people here, and pretty much every Chinese person we see we go talk to. This week with the language has been pretty tough, because I always feel that it is such a barrier at times and makes me feel like i am not really doing much to help in the work. But I have been trying to change that mindset because the reality is that it isn't me who is helping them, it is the spirit, so as long as I can help them feel the spirit, than that is all that is really needed. We went to visit a man named Chad that we had scheduled an appointment to teach him. When we got to his house, his roommate Will answered the door and said that Chad had a class that randomly came up and he had to go. So as we were talking to Will we were about to say "Well let him know we stopped by and will contact him later"...but I had a slight feeling that came to my mind, that we can't leave until we teach Will, so I told him we have a very important message we would like to share with him and he said he would love to hear. We taught him and the spirit was so strong! He is now a new investigator and we are meeting with him again! We had the opportunity of teaching an investigator we have had for a long time, her name is Gou Feng Zhu and we started teaching her when I first got here, our lesson her went very well and she told me that if I get transferred out that she will be very sad, and that I have to come back and visit. I love these people I am serving and I love all of the members here! We had another interesting experience this week. We got a call from some elders in our zone and they gave us a referral for a lady that they said spoke Chinese. So we decided we would go visit her, so I put her address in the GPS and followed where it took us. A miracle happened that we didn't even realize until afterward. So we followed the directions the GPS gave us and it took us to a street called monarch and we were looking for number 5, the GPS told us that we arrived at our destination so we got out and knocked on the door. An older lady answered and she was not Chinese, we continued to speak to her and she asked what church we were from so we told her and asked her some questions to find out more about her, just as we were about to leave I had a feeling to ask her if she needed help, because I sensed something was wrong and she said "Actually, I need a lot of help. My daughter is a quadriplegic, I am a photographer and my camera was recently stolen, I got laid off, and my husband is dead", then she started to cry and said goodbye and shut the door before we could say anything. We gave her as a referral to the other missionaries in that area and they went to visit her and her helping her now. The thing that is a miracle is that the original address we were going to was on Leda street, not monarch....the GPS changed the street and address and led us to her house. All I can say about that is the Lord knows his children and he can and will do anything to help them. I know this work is true and I thank you all for your support and prayers. I challenge those of you who are members to find missionary opportunities!! This work is too important for us to pass by opportunities to share the Gospel. For those of you that read this that are not members, please look into the church. Read the Book of Mormon, meet with the missionaries. It is the most important and best decision you will ever make. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church on this earth. The Book of Mormon is true. God speaks, not spoke! He speaks through his prophet Thomas S. Monson. I know through the power of God Joseph Smith restored the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all!!! Until next week, Zaijian!
Okay, well this new transfer has been going pretty well so far! We have our new companion Elder Bray and he is from Connecticut. He served in the Taiwan mission for about 5 months but had to have surgery so he went home to recover and is now reassigned here. His Chinese is very good. So we have been trying to find a lot of Chinese people here, and pretty much every Chinese person we see we go talk to. This week with the language has been pretty tough, because I always feel that it is such a barrier at times and makes me feel like i am not really doing much to help in the work. But I have been trying to change that mindset because the reality is that it isn't me who is helping them, it is the spirit, so as long as I can help them feel the spirit, than that is all that is really needed. We went to visit a man named Chad that we had scheduled an appointment to teach him. When we got to his house, his roommate Will answered the door and said that Chad had a class that randomly came up and he had to go. So as we were talking to Will we were about to say "Well let him know we stopped by and will contact him later"...but I had a slight feeling that came to my mind, that we can't leave until we teach Will, so I told him we have a very important message we would like to share with him and he said he would love to hear. We taught him and the spirit was so strong! He is now a new investigator and we are meeting with him again! We had the opportunity of teaching an investigator we have had for a long time, her name is Gou Feng Zhu and we started teaching her when I first got here, our lesson her went very well and she told me that if I get transferred out that she will be very sad, and that I have to come back and visit. I love these people I am serving and I love all of the members here! We had another interesting experience this week. We got a call from some elders in our zone and they gave us a referral for a lady that they said spoke Chinese. So we decided we would go visit her, so I put her address in the GPS and followed where it took us. A miracle happened that we didn't even realize until afterward. So we followed the directions the GPS gave us and it took us to a street called monarch and we were looking for number 5, the GPS told us that we arrived at our destination so we got out and knocked on the door. An older lady answered and she was not Chinese, we continued to speak to her and she asked what church we were from so we told her and asked her some questions to find out more about her, just as we were about to leave I had a feeling to ask her if she needed help, because I sensed something was wrong and she said "Actually, I need a lot of help. My daughter is a quadriplegic, I am a photographer and my camera was recently stolen, I got laid off, and my husband is dead", then she started to cry and said goodbye and shut the door before we could say anything. We gave her as a referral to the other missionaries in that area and they went to visit her and her helping her now. The thing that is a miracle is that the original address we were going to was on Leda street, not monarch....the GPS changed the street and address and led us to her house. All I can say about that is the Lord knows his children and he can and will do anything to help them. I know this work is true and I thank you all for your support and prayers. I challenge those of you who are members to find missionary opportunities!! This work is too important for us to pass by opportunities to share the Gospel. For those of you that read this that are not members, please look into the church. Read the Book of Mormon, meet with the missionaries. It is the most important and best decision you will ever make. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church on this earth. The Book of Mormon is true. God speaks, not spoke! He speaks through his prophet Thomas S. Monson. I know through the power of God Joseph Smith restored the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love you all!!! Until next week, Zaijian!
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