Hello everyone!!
This week has been fantastic!! my new companion is great, the ward is helping out a ton and we have been seeing all sorts of miracles throughout our zone! I can say it was a little intimidating to have this much responsibility this soon in my mission but it has helped me grow so much! I find the best way to get through tough times is to read the scriptures and without fail I always find help and counsel on the specific things I have been thinking about or going through! my new companion Elder Coons is probably the coolest elder I have met on my mission, he is a powerful teacher and he and i get along very very well. We work super hard and smile all day long! We taught so many lessons this week for our area, 11 other lessons with 3 member present lessons!! We have about 3 amazing investigators right now that are progressing very well. I love seeing the change in investigators lives as they keep the commitments we extend. This week our apartment is being renovated, so there are plastic sheets hanging everywhere, we literally have no kitchen. They tore all the walls down! There is wood everywhere. I am so excited for when it is over though because we will have all new appliances and a washer and dryer for us!!! We wont have to pay for them anymore!!!! I say it over and over again but i know this church is true! It really is! The Gospel of Jesus Christ needed to be restored, not changed and reformed to a good enough version, it needed to be literally brought back by the hand of God in its purity. And my testimony is that it has. I love you all and the amazing examples that have been set for me! I hope to hear from all of you! Until next week! ( sorry I am in a hurry again this week...got more things to do)!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, June 20, 2011
June 20, 2011
Hello everyone!!
I will have to make this a quick one this week! We had transfers today! I am now Zone Leader 1 in the Newport and Irvine zones! There are 28 elders and sisters in our zone and 5 districts! I have a new companion named Elder Coons and he is awesome! I am so excited for this transfer, it will be great! This week we found two new investigators and they both came to church this Sunday and loved it!! Our current Mission President and his wife are leaving on July 1st when we receive our new mission president, President Bowen from IDAHO FALLS ;)!!!! This mission is the greatest thing I ever decided to do in my entire life. I love being out here and serving other people. I have really found, that when you are feeling bad about yourself or if your mind starts to dwell on your own concerns a little much, then think of how you can help someone else, and get up and go serve others and you will find that you will be happy. Your problems will seem less important. It works! I thank you all so much for the support you have given me and I only wish to show my appreciation by working my hardest and enjoying the opportunities I have out in the mission field. Sorry this week is so short, but I will catch everything up next Monday! i love you all!!!! Until next week!
I will have to make this a quick one this week! We had transfers today! I am now Zone Leader 1 in the Newport and Irvine zones! There are 28 elders and sisters in our zone and 5 districts! I have a new companion named Elder Coons and he is awesome! I am so excited for this transfer, it will be great! This week we found two new investigators and they both came to church this Sunday and loved it!! Our current Mission President and his wife are leaving on July 1st when we receive our new mission president, President Bowen from IDAHO FALLS ;)!!!! This mission is the greatest thing I ever decided to do in my entire life. I love being out here and serving other people. I have really found, that when you are feeling bad about yourself or if your mind starts to dwell on your own concerns a little much, then think of how you can help someone else, and get up and go serve others and you will find that you will be happy. Your problems will seem less important. It works! I thank you all so much for the support you have given me and I only wish to show my appreciation by working my hardest and enjoying the opportunities I have out in the mission field. Sorry this week is so short, but I will catch everything up next Monday! i love you all!!!! Until next week!
Monday, June 13, 2011
June 13, 2011
Hello Everyone!!!
This week was a very very good week! We had the last Zone Conference I will have with this mission president, President Watrous and Sister Watrous. On July 1st we will be getting our new mission president, President and Sister Bowen from Idaho Falls, Idaho(which is pretty darn cool if you ask me...them being from my birthplace and all ;). It is definitely crazy how fast time has flown by during my mission! Well this week all of the colleges ended school and so everyone went back home, so the work has been a little slower and tougher because not as many young single adults are around but we have been finding some great ones that are sticking around for the summer! This week I had one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission that I want to share, hoping to inspire anyone reading this.
I was on a companion exchange with my old companion and trainer Elder Chang again. He and I felt impressed to go to a certain apartment complex. We knocked on a door and a girl answered the door, we asked her if she had talked to Mormons before and she said "Yeah, he is one" and pointed to a guy that was on the other side of the room. When he saw us he immediately invited us in. We went and sat on their back porch with him and he told us that he is a member and had served a mission, but he has been less active for a very long time. We found that he has had some very rough experiences since he kind of fell away and he has been thinking about it all a lot more just in the recent past. He told us that it is funny we came that day because the night before he had decided in his mind that he wanted to go back to church and try to change his life around. I felt impressed to share very specific scriptures with him that I really have never shared before. Then I felt impressed to say to him "This is your second chance. I know you can overcome this, I have full faith in you. You can get yourself out of this rut that you have fallen into. I have faith in you and I know the Lord has given you this opportunity to get out." He got really quiet and then started to cry very hard. After a minute or two he looked at me and said "How did you know that?.....How did you know that?", I was a little confused at what he was meaning but then he said "I have been praying to God a lot lately, specifically to send someone into my life that has faith and trust in me and can tell me I can get out of this rut I am stuck in...and you just said that. You don't even know me....how did you know? You answered my prayers" and he continued to cry. It was a very spiritually strong experience that I have been thinking a lot about. The Lord knows his children and he will use others as the angels on earth that can pick us up when we are down or need help. I believe that when we make the right choices and live our lives according to the Gospel we will be in the position where God can use us as a tool in his hands to bless the lives of others. I love this Gospel and I know it is true with all of my heart! I love you all and hope all is going well! Until next week!
This week was a very very good week! We had the last Zone Conference I will have with this mission president, President Watrous and Sister Watrous. On July 1st we will be getting our new mission president, President and Sister Bowen from Idaho Falls, Idaho(which is pretty darn cool if you ask me...them being from my birthplace and all ;). It is definitely crazy how fast time has flown by during my mission! Well this week all of the colleges ended school and so everyone went back home, so the work has been a little slower and tougher because not as many young single adults are around but we have been finding some great ones that are sticking around for the summer! This week I had one of the most spiritual experiences of my mission that I want to share, hoping to inspire anyone reading this.
I was on a companion exchange with my old companion and trainer Elder Chang again. He and I felt impressed to go to a certain apartment complex. We knocked on a door and a girl answered the door, we asked her if she had talked to Mormons before and she said "Yeah, he is one" and pointed to a guy that was on the other side of the room. When he saw us he immediately invited us in. We went and sat on their back porch with him and he told us that he is a member and had served a mission, but he has been less active for a very long time. We found that he has had some very rough experiences since he kind of fell away and he has been thinking about it all a lot more just in the recent past. He told us that it is funny we came that day because the night before he had decided in his mind that he wanted to go back to church and try to change his life around. I felt impressed to share very specific scriptures with him that I really have never shared before. Then I felt impressed to say to him "This is your second chance. I know you can overcome this, I have full faith in you. You can get yourself out of this rut that you have fallen into. I have faith in you and I know the Lord has given you this opportunity to get out." He got really quiet and then started to cry very hard. After a minute or two he looked at me and said "How did you know that?.....How did you know that?", I was a little confused at what he was meaning but then he said "I have been praying to God a lot lately, specifically to send someone into my life that has faith and trust in me and can tell me I can get out of this rut I am stuck in...and you just said that. You don't even know me....how did you know? You answered my prayers" and he continued to cry. It was a very spiritually strong experience that I have been thinking a lot about. The Lord knows his children and he will use others as the angels on earth that can pick us up when we are down or need help. I believe that when we make the right choices and live our lives according to the Gospel we will be in the position where God can use us as a tool in his hands to bless the lives of others. I love this Gospel and I know it is true with all of my heart! I love you all and hope all is going well! Until next week!
June 6, 2011
Hello everyone!! (Dajia hao!)
This week has been a really good week! Our mission has a special theme this month called "walk with the spirit month". We have decided to cut our mileage on our cars to half this month, so that we can spend much more time out on the streets and in neighborhoods trying to find people to teach! my companion and I planned to go to a specific neighborhood just because we felt like it. When we got there we felt we should go knock on the apartments in the middle of the complex, and something amazing happened...to give background to this story...we used to teach a Brazilian investigator, his name is Davi. He was one of my favorite people to teach ever! He used to come to church every Sunday and was progressing really well, however he ended up moving and he never told us where he went and we were never able to get a hold of him again. It made us sad because he was doing really well and he just kind of disappeared, but we did know he moved to somewhere else still within Orange County......but then again, that isn't saying much because thee are so many people in orange county it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. BUT we knocked on this door and we talked to a man for a while, he wasn't interested but after we asked him if he knew where college age people lived and he said his neighbors are and they are Brazilian. So we went and knocked on that door, and jokingly said to each other while waiting "what if Davi was to answer the door?" and guess what DAVI ANSWERED THE DOOR! We found him!! It was so great! We taught him a lesson and he is getting back on track. I enjoy so much working with the people here in Southern California, and the weather is just always amazing! I can't believe what my life would ever be like without the experience of what I am doing now. It is preparing me in so many ways. This Sunday our recent convert Andrew blessed the sacrament!!!!!! He also asked me at church what I did to prepare for my mission because he wants to prepare fully for his mission when he can go in a year! There is no greater thing to hear than that! I love this work. It is true! God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, they called him as a prophet. The church and Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored in its fullness!! And that is something I cannot keep to myself, no should you. Tell the people around you! I love you all! Until next week!
This week has been a really good week! Our mission has a special theme this month called "walk with the spirit month". We have decided to cut our mileage on our cars to half this month, so that we can spend much more time out on the streets and in neighborhoods trying to find people to teach! my companion and I planned to go to a specific neighborhood just because we felt like it. When we got there we felt we should go knock on the apartments in the middle of the complex, and something amazing happened...to give background to this story...we used to teach a Brazilian investigator, his name is Davi. He was one of my favorite people to teach ever! He used to come to church every Sunday and was progressing really well, however he ended up moving and he never told us where he went and we were never able to get a hold of him again. It made us sad because he was doing really well and he just kind of disappeared, but we did know he moved to somewhere else still within Orange County......but then again, that isn't saying much because thee are so many people in orange county it would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. BUT we knocked on this door and we talked to a man for a while, he wasn't interested but after we asked him if he knew where college age people lived and he said his neighbors are and they are Brazilian. So we went and knocked on that door, and jokingly said to each other while waiting "what if Davi was to answer the door?" and guess what DAVI ANSWERED THE DOOR! We found him!! It was so great! We taught him a lesson and he is getting back on track. I enjoy so much working with the people here in Southern California, and the weather is just always amazing! I can't believe what my life would ever be like without the experience of what I am doing now. It is preparing me in so many ways. This Sunday our recent convert Andrew blessed the sacrament!!!!!! He also asked me at church what I did to prepare for my mission because he wants to prepare fully for his mission when he can go in a year! There is no greater thing to hear than that! I love this work. It is true! God and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith, they called him as a prophet. The church and Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored in its fullness!! And that is something I cannot keep to myself, no should you. Tell the people around you! I love you all! Until next week!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
May 30, 2011
Hello Everyone!!
Well this week was a bit harder for us, we had to do a lot of finding and good ol' knocking. We met a man named Matt and he goes to a christian university down here, he was a very open and nice man, we taught him about the Book of Mormon and he was very interested. We had to end the lesson kind of abruptly because he got a call from a client that he works with and he had to go into work, but we set up another time to meet and the second lesson went well, I was not there though, we were on exchanges because I got to go serve in the Chinese branch with my old companion Elder Bray for a day! I miss that branch a lot, we got to have authentic Chinese food (I honestly didn't think when I got out here I would ever get used to some of that food, but now it has really grown on me!). We taught a lesson with a recent convert that had just been baptized in the Chinese branch, he has a very strong testimony and he is already trying to share the Gospel with his family and friends! When I was in my old area I found out the a member of the Chinese branch that I worked with was asked to have a Mormon.org video profile made of her. Her name is Shu Chih, you may see her profile and video on there soon. While Elder Bray and I were tracting in a neighborhood we saw a security guard walking around patrolling the area so I walked straight up to him and started talking to him. He was a very nice man and we had a conversation about how beautiful temple square in Salt Lake is and about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He said he has always liked our church the most out of any he has seen, we invited him to meet with the missionaries and he requested that we send the missionaries that live by him to his house to teach him! In one of the neighborhoods I saw a younger kid who looked Chinese out playing basketball so we talked to him and he told us he has been trying to find the right church for him, he said he has been waiting to be baptized because he has always felt that he should wait until he found just the right church! So we taught him about Joseph Smith's experience and bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and we set up anther time to come and meet with him again!!! I love this work! I have learned so much that really anything is possible when we put our faith in the Lord and then just plain ol' work hard! I have come to know that serving a mission definitely has it's challenges but the good things of it all far out weigh the unpleasant moments. This Gospel is true! I love you all!! Until next week!
Well this week was a bit harder for us, we had to do a lot of finding and good ol' knocking. We met a man named Matt and he goes to a christian university down here, he was a very open and nice man, we taught him about the Book of Mormon and he was very interested. We had to end the lesson kind of abruptly because he got a call from a client that he works with and he had to go into work, but we set up another time to meet and the second lesson went well, I was not there though, we were on exchanges because I got to go serve in the Chinese branch with my old companion Elder Bray for a day! I miss that branch a lot, we got to have authentic Chinese food (I honestly didn't think when I got out here I would ever get used to some of that food, but now it has really grown on me!). We taught a lesson with a recent convert that had just been baptized in the Chinese branch, he has a very strong testimony and he is already trying to share the Gospel with his family and friends! When I was in my old area I found out the a member of the Chinese branch that I worked with was asked to have a Mormon.org video profile made of her. Her name is Shu Chih, you may see her profile and video on there soon. While Elder Bray and I were tracting in a neighborhood we saw a security guard walking around patrolling the area so I walked straight up to him and started talking to him. He was a very nice man and we had a conversation about how beautiful temple square in Salt Lake is and about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. He said he has always liked our church the most out of any he has seen, we invited him to meet with the missionaries and he requested that we send the missionaries that live by him to his house to teach him! In one of the neighborhoods I saw a younger kid who looked Chinese out playing basketball so we talked to him and he told us he has been trying to find the right church for him, he said he has been waiting to be baptized because he has always felt that he should wait until he found just the right church! So we taught him about Joseph Smith's experience and bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and we set up anther time to come and meet with him again!!! I love this work! I have learned so much that really anything is possible when we put our faith in the Lord and then just plain ol' work hard! I have come to know that serving a mission definitely has it's challenges but the good things of it all far out weigh the unpleasant moments. This Gospel is true! I love you all!! Until next week!
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