March 14, 2011

Hello everyone!!

Well it has been another fantastic week!! This week we did a lot of exchanges with all of the district leaders in my zone. I worked in my area alone for the first time with Elder Kato for two days! We had so many amazing experiences! I'll give one very good experience in particular. OK, so, since i have been in this new area, every time we drive down to UCI (University of California Irvine) we pass by this certain apartment complex, and we have never tracted there before so I always asked my companion has anybody ever tracted there and he said no, I asked why and he said he doesn't really know. But we would never seem to go there. So on this exchange I had the feeling that I needed to satisfy my curiosity and go to that complex and tract. When we got there we talked to a couple people outside and they were very nice and we had good conversations with them. Then as we walked in further to the complex we realized that every apartment building was highly secured and there was no way that we could get in. So we started to walk out but I saw a boy and went and talked to him, after talking to him I found out that he just recently moved out to UCI and he comes from a part-member family, that is slightly less active in the church. He was excited about meeting with us and coming to church, but after the whole experience I knew that the reason I have been so curious about that complex is because we were supposed to meet him there on that day at that time. I have had so many experiences like that on my mission! I also went on an exchange with the elders that work in Newport beach! So i got to work in Newport Beach for a day, it is so expensive and beautiful down there! However despite the perfectness of it, there are a lot of rich people there that aren't the nicest of people to missionaries, but I love them to death! Back in my area the other day we knocked a door and a rude younger man opened the door and was being pretty insulting but as we continued to share our testimonies, his friend told him to stop being rude and he came out and talked to us. He told us how he has had a very rough life so far and has made some pretty bad decisions in his life. He told us that he was kind of amazed that we had come to his door because not more than 10 minutes prior to our knocking on his door he had gone to their back porch and said a prayer for the first time in his life, asking God for help. I know the Lord is in this work. He leads and guides it! I am so happy to be able to be a part of this missionary work! Another experience when I was on exchanges with one of the assistants to the president, we went to an area we had planned and we decided to park in a spot where we usually don't park. When we got out of the car a young man was walking by so we walked up to him and started talking to him, he said he would love to sit down and talk with us so we went to a nearby table and we taught him about the restoration of the gospel and about the book of Mormon. He loved it. Then he told us that he thinks we were meant to meet with him, because he explained how everyday he gets a ride home from school from his cousin, but for some reason the night before he felt he should take the bus and so he told his cousin that he would take the bus. That day as he was walking to the bus we found him, he told us he has been trying to learn more about God but didn't really know how, and then we met him :). There are many more experiences that I have had just in this past week but I am sharing these because I do know that this gospel is true. More importantly, I know that God has a plan for each and every one of us. He knows us better than ourselves. He is there for us. If we pray to him he will answer us. To close with one final experience of this week. My companion and I were knocking on doors in an apartment complex we had been to before. At one door we met a Chinese man, and i was able to talk to him and bear my testimony and I asked him if we could come in and share a message with him. He said yes so we went in and my companion used the phrases and words I had taught him in mandarin but I mainly taught him about the Book of Mormon. I felt the spirit very strongly and even though it was the first time he has ever met missionaries I decided to follow the counsel given in Preach My Gospel and by the first presidency of the church which is to commit people to be baptized on the first lesson. So I committed him to be baptized, and he said yes. Then committed him to prepare for the 26th of march and he said he will!!!! I am so glad that the Lord has been helping me keep up my Chinese, I know it is all because of the Lord that I can do this. That night we gave him as a referral to the Chinese speaking elders and they were extremely excited :). I love this work! I still love the Chinese people even though I am in an English area ;). I have seen so many blessings from the Lord and I know he lives. I hope all is well! Until next week!!