November 8, 2010

Alright!! Well, this past week has been amazing!! We have been working pretty hard and we are starting to see a lot more success through our faith and efforts to find and teach those people that the Lord has prepared! This last Tuesday we had 4 lessons and English Class!!! We were running and teaching all day! It was amazing! This week has been really tough in the language aspect of things, because it is hard wanting so much to talk to these people and help them but then having a huge language barrier, that makes it pretty tough sometimes. But I am continuing to work on my outlook and realize how much the Lord has helped me learn just in a little over 6 months! I have been studying really hard and trying more and more to use Chinese more in my daily conversations. This week we got to go do service for sister King in our branch. We helped her clean up her garden and weed it and take down her possum trap (which elder Kim and I were sad there was no possum caught!). Elder Kim tells me that he is very much a city boy and he really doesn't like to get his hands dirty and I tease him a little bit ;). We had the opportunity of taking an 18 year old boy in our branch named Keoki tracting with us! He wanted to go with us to get prepared for his mission (It is something I wish I would have done!!!!), we talked to a lot of people and got some referrals for the other missionaries and then we were going to leave but as we were about to leave I had the feeling just to knock one more house, I didn't know which but I knew we needed to knock one more. So we kept walking down the street and we walked past a certain house and I had a huge feeling to turn around and knock on that door, so I quickly turned around and told my companion and Keoki that we needed to knock that one. We did and a lady answered the door, she is from Iran and her name was Shela. We started to talk to her and she was an amazing lady and I think it was the first contact I have ever had where I wasn't thinking or worrying about what to say, the words were literally just coming out of my mouth. We ended up giving her a Book of Mormon and committing her to read and pray about it and then we set up a time for the other elders in our district to go back and teach her! The spirit was so strong and I am still amazed at how the spirit really is what does this work, not us missionaries. We are just lucky to ride along ;). We had three investigators call this week and tell us they no longer want to meet with us, that made us very sad but it helped me to know that the Lord is still blessing and preparing them, maybe now is not their time but it will be some day. I want you all to know I love you all and there is always so much I could say in these emails but I can't fit it all or even explain it all. But suffice it to say that I know this work is true. I know that God and Jesus Christ LIVE. I know they know each of us personally and they love us more than we could imagine. They have restored their true church on this earth. We once again have the blessing and power of the Priesthood Authority back on the earth that can seal families together forever. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and was written specifically for us in this day and generation. Everyone needs to hear this Gospel and know and understand the Plan that God has given us. I know we have a living prophet of God on the earth today that helps to know how we can live in accordance with Jesus Christ's gospel and lets us know the new guidance from Jesus Christ and our heavenly Father. It is all true! Once again I love you all!! Hope all is well! Zaijian!

November 1, 2010

Hello!!
Another beautiful amazing missionary week in California!!! To start off, I believe in the last email I mentioned that we taught a man named Fang (pronounced Fawn with a g). This week we had the blessed opportunity to go back and teach him! He is quite hard to understand, one because he is old and has a thick accent, and two because he had surgery on his mouth not too long ago so it makes it really hard to understand. But we taught him about the restoration of the gospel and he told us in the middle of our lesson that he could no longer speak to us because he didnt believe in God or Jesus Christ. So we went by the spirit and asked some inspired questions to find out more of his concern and we found out that he doesn't believe because everyone that believes always say they have seen these huge miracles and amazing blessings in their lives and he has never seen any. So we taught him more about who Jesus Christ is and helped resolve the concern that he had. The spirit was so strong in the lesson and he was very excited to read the Book of Mormon he almost couldn't wait till we finished hah. As we were leaving he looked at me and said in chinese, "you speak chinese, I really like you", then he looked at Elder Kim and said "I like you but I like the chinese speaking american more". haha. After we left we realzied that we forgot to give him a specific part to read out of the Book of Mormon, so an hour later we went back to give him that part and when we went back he said he was already reading! We were teaching another lady this week and her father and mother joined us in this lesson, it is very different teaching 3 people at once because you have to make sure to include all of them and make it personal for each but the spirit was there and the lesson went very well. After the lesson the mom asked if we would like water, so we said we would love some. She came back a minute later with hot water in each cup (chinese people love drinking just plain hot water). She told us to be careful because it was very hot, so I carefully sipped the water, however Elder Kim didn't hear that she said it was hot so he grabbed the glass and took a huge gulp of water, and nearly spit the water everywhere haha. I had my first interview with the Mission President this week! It felt funny not having my interview until now, the president said he considers me a veteran out here now. This week when tracting on saturday, it was very very hard becuase there was some football game going on and everyone and their dog was watching it. Yesterday was my first Halloween in the field! We tried to be creative while tracting and at one door we said "Happy Halloween, usually people ask for treats on halloween but we have a treat for you!" it was kind of cheesy but it worked! I am learning and growing so much out here! I have found that when i place my focus on others and there concerns and how I can help them and stop worrying and thinking about myself, then I am so much happier! It gives me no time to be upset or dscouraged because I am focusing on something more important! I love this work so much!!! I love you all so very much!! I hope everything is going very well! Write me letters! ;) Zaijian!

October 25, 2010

Hello everybody!

Alright, so this past week has gone very well! We had our transfers and I got my new companion Elder Kim from Korea. I am the senior companion and it has been a lot different for me with a lot of added responsibility. I was also chosen as the driver for our companionship! It is nice to drive again, but I have got to say that driving down here in California and more specifically Irvine, is crazy! Roads that in Oregon would normally be 25 or 15 mph, down here are marked as 55mph, and the freeways are even more ridiculous, everyone drives way above the speed limit (including cops) and there are exits on the left and the right and if you aren't paying attention you end up going in all sorts of directions. So the driving has been very interesting down here, and don't worry mom, I am driving the speed limit and I am driving safe :). Well, this week elder Kim and I found 3 new investigators all with a lot of potential, the Lord has blessed us greatly!! One of those investigators is an eighty something year old man named Fang (pronounced "Fawn-with a g at the end). When he first answered the door he looked at me and said in Chinese "I will only speak to you if you speak Chinese!" and so I said back in Chinese "That's good! Because I love speaking Chinese!", it caught him off guard but he stepped outside and started talking to us. He eventually invited us in and we taught him a little bit and then he told us that he is from Taiwan and he loved seeing missionaries there riding there bikes! We set up a time to meet with him again! We are very excited to teach him!! A funny thing about my companion: he is still learning English so sometimes I help re correct his sentences, but one night this week we were making dinner and I decided to make pancakes for both of us, after I made them I gave him some on a plate and we started to eat, then Elder Kim turned to me and said "This is very good, thank you chief", I started to laugh and he was really confused but then I explained to him that it would be chef and not chief, he realized what he said and then we were both laughing pretty good. Every morning before we go out the door he says "Let's kick this thing off" in his accent and it cracks me up every time ha ha. I am blessed to have a great companion. The language this week has been tough. It is really hard to see how much I have learned because there is always more to learn, so sometimes I get a little frustrated with myself because of the language barrier, but it is coming along day by day. This Sunday I had the opportunity to say my first sacrament prayer in Chinese!!!! That was an awesome experience. I actually ended up saying it twice because we ran out of cups at the last person who was taking it, so I said it again for one cup :). The work is going well and I am happy but I would be lying if I said this work isn't hard. It is a very very tough work, but I love it, even when it gets hard! I hope all of you are doing well! I also want everyone to know that I know that the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church on this earth, I know that we have a living prophet that speaks to god and receives the guidance that we and our families need for this day and generation. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It truly has power. Power to change lives. Power to change our character. And Power to help us know that God has once again given us his true Gospel. I love you all! Until next week!

October 18, 2010

Alright

Well, first, I hope this letter will be a little longer than last weeks unless another missionary opportunity pops up ;). This week has been the last week of this transfer, we have been working quite hard and trying to find as many people as possible. My companion recieved an email from an Elder we knew at the MTC that went to Taiwan, he said that in Taiwan they are teaching over 20 lessons a week and more........California is definitely not an easy place to serve and we don't have near as many as that many lessons. The Lord sent me here for many many reasons that I realize more and more every day. I have been learning so much about this work and myself. This week had a couple of bumps in the road and it got a little difficult, but I don't let that bother me because I know that with faith anything can happen, and even if it looks like no success, if I made one person smile during the day, then I did my job. Today we have transfers! My companions Elder Mensink and Elder Chang are both leaving to different areas. One goes to Yorba Linda and the other goes to Placentia. I am staying as senior companion in the Yale Branch (chinese branch), with my new companion Elder Kim. Elder Kim is from Korea and he went to BYU for about a year. He studied chinese for about 5 years, so his chinese is phenomonal, I am so excited because he will help learn chinese and I will help him learn more english! I am a little nervous because I have a lot of responsibilty on my shoulders now, but I am so excited for what the Lord has planned for me! It almost feels weird to have a new companion because I have now had Elder Mensink as a companion for a total of 18 weeks and Elder Chang for a total of 14 weeks. I don't have much more time with writing this because we have to go to the mission office and transfer but I want you all to know the work is going great and I thank you all for your constant support! Until next week!

October 12, 2010

Well these past few days have been absolutely crazy and I don't have much time to write this, so I hope I can express my feelings and the things that have happened this week in a way that makes sense. This week I had my first baptism! Her name is Xiao Yue Hu, she has been such a strong example to me and she has such a strong testimony! She is from mainland China and she has been so prepared for the gospel, it is amazing! I will send pictures next week because I forgot my camera in my backpack in the car. This week it was kind of rough with my companionship and we actually had a moment where my two other companions kind of exploded on each other it took quite a while to bring the spirit back but in the end it has brought us a lot closer and it helped me to see just how easily Satan will set contention in our hearts. That is one thing I have been trying to keep away from me, because I have learned that even with the slightest bit of contention, there will be no spirit. We taught a man this week that gave us only about 15 minutes to teach him the 1st Lesson, even within that short little time the spirit was so strong! Well, I started to write this email but I have some people next to me asking about the Book of Mormon and what message I am sharing. Got to go share the most important message! I love you all!

October 4, 2010

Alright!

This week has been an amazing week! The weather down here in Irvine California is absolutely amazing! The city is so well kept and everything is just amazing. This week I got to have the pleasure of eating shrimp and chicken feet.....I hope I don't have to eat those again, but I know I most likely will ha ha. This week we had our my first Zone Conference! We had President Watrous teach us for quite a few hours on teaching about the Doctrine of Christ. I am still amazed at no matter how much we read the scriptures, there is ALWAYS more to find and understand out of them! President Watrous is such an amazing example of always exemplifying the Savior through his actions. At the zone conference we were counseled that we needed to do more and try harder to talk to everyone we come in contact with. I can honestly say talking to people on the streets or knocking door to door is not the easiest or most comfortable thing to do, but when he told us this I decided that no matter how I felt I was going to do it! We went on an exchange with our Zone Leader, his name is Elder Soffe. Elder Soffe showed me soooooo much about talking to everyone! We were literally running to catch up to people, and he had such a sense of urgency to talk to these people. It motivated me to put that into practice in my own companionship. So this past week I do not let anyone pass by me without me at least trying to talk to them. I have noticed since I have done that, the Lord has been putting more and more prepared people in our path. I believe that the Lord will not put those people in your path unless we are out there always pushing ourselves to do more. I think it is much easier for the Lord to guide us where we need to go when our feet are already moving, not when we are sitting down or just standing there. This upcoming week I will have my first baptism! Her name is Xiao Yue Hu and she is completely prepared and has such a strong testimony! We taught one of our investigators this week (she is actually our neighbor). We taught her more about the Restoration and watched the Restoration video with her and her two children (who are the funniest and cutest kids ever!). As we were watching it, at the part where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ came down during Joseph Smith's prayer the little girl paused the movie and said "We pray all the time!! Why doesn't God ever come down to us!?!?". I am so happy that the Lord prepares people for the Gospel. And that through our faith we will find them. I know this work is true with all my heart! This is the ONE and ONLY true church, the same gospel and church Jesus Christ established himself when he came to the world (with the foundation of Prophets and apostles with Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone as is written in Ephesians). He used the power and authority of God to do so. Without that Power and Authority we cannot have his true Gospel. I know that Power and Authority has been restored through a Prophet called of God. The way that one can know this is true is only through the Book of Mormon. Read it. Study it. Pray about it. Ponder about it. All with a sincere heart, and you will know it is true. I love you all and hope all is going well! Until next week Zaijian!

September 27, 2010

Well this week has been a rough week. We have been working extremely hard but it is just one of those weeks that tries your patience and faith. Despite our best efforts everything has been falling through and we lost investigators and it has just been pretty tough. However I am not letting myself get to distracted by it because I know the Lord has his plans and I will just continue to work hard and help those people he has prepared. This week we did have one investigator that we needed to visit, so we arranged a time and came to visit. When we got there she was waiting at her doorstep and we got to talk to her for a little bit. She doesn't have any beliefs but she is extremely interested! The spirit was so strong while we were talking to her, I am excited for our return appointment! We had the opportunity of helping an older lady in our ward named Sister King, she has Lou Gehrig's disease, so she can't do any of the yard work or things around her house. She had us remove a lot of plants and then we went to her backyard, and she asked us to remove a certain vine plant. As we started to remove this vine plant she asked us to close her glass sliding door, so she went inside and we closed her door, we didn't know why she wanted it closed but we soon found out. The minute we started to take down the vine we noticed a ton of wasps that were on it, they started to get angry and were flying around like crazy, we were jumping around swatting and then we could here her laughing from inside! Hah she is such an amazing lady, and very smart ;). We also picked her ripe dragon fruit and she gave some to us, I have never had dragon fruit before but it is delicious! Later this week we went to a very nice chinese resturaunt and there I got to try Octopus for the first time....it wasn't the greatest but at least I can say I have tried it now! A lady in our ward has been in the hospital so we were able to go this sunday and give her the sacrament, it was a very spiritual experience. I had a very interesting/intense experience this week. I was on exchanges with another area and this area was on bike, so i got to ride bike all day (which I prefer way more than riding in a car!). Well, it was late and time to go back to the apratment, so we were riding home and Elder Earl was about 30 feet ahead of me. As we were driving down this street I noticed a car sound very close behind me. Then the lights started to get much closer, I didn't really pay much attention to it, but it kept getting closer and louder, so I quickly looked over my shoulder and the car was coming directly at me and picking up speed, so I swerved to get out of the road but was going to hit the curb so I hit the brakes and in consequence flew over the handle bars and got beat up pretty bad on my hands, knee, and right arm. I tried to see the car, but it took off very fast. I realized I was run off the road on purpose, but I am glad that the Lord protected me. There are apparently some people around here that do that to missionaries. So I can easily say it has been a rough week. But I found a bunch of comfort in a scripture in 2 Nephi 9:39 especially the line "To be spiritually minded is life eternal", so as I was thinking about that, I thought, Satan gives us hard times and temptations every day, it is easy to be upset and feel down and get annoyed withourselves, BUT this scripture gives us the recipe to overcome those feelings! In that line if you take the first letter of each word it says SMILE. When we are thinking spiritually we will smile! WIth the Lord we can always get through tough days and trials. I know this work is true! I know the Lord is constantly blessing each and every one of us. I challenge each of you reading this to go read that scripture and do what it says! Smile! I love you all! Hope all is well! Until next week! Zaijian!