Tuesday, December 28, 2010

December 27, 2010

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 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!!

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!

Monday, November 29, 2010

November 29, 2010

Continued...

Ok so this is my continuation from the last email on Friday! So lately my companion has been asking me a lot more questions about english grammar so he could learn more english. He was looking at random idioms on his dictionary and he found a couple that he really likes that just crack me up. His favorite new idiom to say is "Put up your dukes" haha. I love my companion and things are going so well out here. We have been cleaning up our area book by visiting a lot of former investigators and potential investigators. We were able to reconnect with a couple formers and taught some of the potential investigators! So not yesterday but then Sunday before that, it was the Chinese branch's one year anniversary! We had an overwhelming amount of non members come (enough to where elder Kim and I didn't even get a chance to meet all of them!) There is one food that the members make a lot out here and I really haven't had it before but it has pretty much become my favorite! Almond Jello! AMAZING! We went on exchanges this week and I got to work with Elder Brown in our district while Elder Kim went to work in his area with Elder Bannister. Elder Brown is an awesome elder. He and I decided to go tracting in a certain area, and as we were tracting we saw two girls on the opposite side of the street also going door to door. At first we didn't really notice but then as we made it to the cul-de-sac (or however you spell it....I have never actually written that word before now that I think about it), we saw the two girls at the door right next to us, then I realized they were Jehovah witnesses. It was pretty funny that we were both tracting the same street and then we both ended up overlapping each others sides that had already been knocked. It was pretty funny, we tried to talk to them but they really didn't want anything to do with us. We had thanksgiving dinner at the Branch Presidents house (President Bayers). I absolutely love the Bayers, I am pretty sure I was completely meant to come serve in the same branch with them! They have a funny tradition where while we eat, everyone in the house has to wear little turkey hats that their kids make. I will send some pictures later. There was one thing that happened recently that I think was better than all of that. We got back in contact with David Ong!!!!!!! He was the man we found while tracting when I first got here, and he had a baptismal date set and was progressing so well and then he just disappeared. It made me really sad, but we finally found him and his son again and I am so happy! We also recently had the privilege of going to the temple!! I feel like it has been so long since I had the last opportunity to go, but it has completely revamped me spiritually and I am ready to get out there and go find more people!! Today is transfer day! Elder Kim and I are staying in the same place but we are getting a new third companion! Presdient Watrous called me as a trainer. I am excited and hope I can do well as a trainer given I have only been out for 4 transfers. This new elder actually served in Taiwan for 4 months and then had a health problem and had to come home and is now being reassigned here. His name is Elder Brae and we will pick him up tomorrow. There are so many things to talk about and so much to say but all I can really say is everything is amazing!! The work is moving forward and I can't believe about 8 months have passed by. The language seems like it is starting to pick up again! It is tough but I can definitely see the improvement and I take absolutely no credit for it. The Lord has given me the help and strength to do it. I love you all and I hope everything is going so well! This is the time of year where the weather is a perfect 70 or high 60's and sunny, while everywhere else is cold and snowy and freezing :). I do miss the cold but I can live with this weather too ;). I love you all!! Please write me! I would love to hear from all of you! Zaijian!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

November 27, 2010

Nihao!!

Well I am writing today because our P-Day was moved to Friday because we had the opportunity of going to the temple!! However, since Friday was the day after thanksgiving, the library was closed. So today is the day I can read the emails and reply! I will also get to on Monday of next week because it goes back to our normal P-Day. Well , so much has happened in the past weeks!! So we teach an English class every Tuesday night at one of the church buildings here and it is usually only 2 people that are there. So we decided to make fliers and get them translated and give them to everybody to try and have more students! Well, it just so happens that the night we had English class we still hadn't got any fliers out, but we had 6 Chinese people show up!!! We still have no idea how they knew about this class, but I say it is an answer to prayers! There is a man in our Chinese branch named Morgan Ying. He is so amazing, and such a great example. However he is really funny and is known to say things that catch people off guard. Well......we were in a lesson and we brought brother Ying with us. We were teaching our investigator Kin Tran about the Plan of Salvation and the spirit was really strong and it was a great lesson. I turned to Bro Ying and I asked him "Since you know the Plan of Salvation and you know that you can truly live with your family together forever, what kind of feelings does that give you?" He waited a little bit and then replied saying "Mafan" which in English means about the equivalent of bothersome! I thought he was only joking and then was going to say his real answer but he said nothing else...haha it was definitely not what Elder Kim and I were expecting from him, but later he bore strong testimony and the lesson ended very well. the rest of the weeks having been going so well and the work is amazing. there is so much more to talk about but since the Library closes at 5 I only have 9 minutes left and way too much to still talk about, so this letter will have to be continued on Monday. I love you all!!

Monday, November 15, 2010

November 15, 2010

Another fantastic week!!!!!
Ok, well this week has been amazing! I don't know where to begin. So to start out the week we had a general authority "Elder Larry Gibbons" and his wife come speak to us for a mission conference! My companion played the piano in a mission choir they made and I was chosen to sing in it. I can say that I miss singing, but I was glad to have the opportunity to sing in this choir! Elder Gibbons taught us a lot on how to work with members to help them fulfill their missionary work responsibilities! It was amazing and I took so many notes! All of my companions have commented on the many notes I take of things and all the post it notes of quotes and scriptures all around our apartment. It is something I love doing so that I can always keep the right attitude and remember important things while I am on my mission. We also had our companion exchange this week and I got to go work with our new district leader Elder Bannister, he is from Boise Idaho and he and I get along really well! We talked to so many people that day! I have learned a lot of patience with other missionaries and my companion, and especially the language. On Friday Elder Kim and I made some awesome burritos!!....however, they gave both of us the worst heart burn we have ever had and we have both decided we will not eat burritos again on our mission, haha. We went tracting quite a bit this week and I think I am finally learning to love it! It no longer makes me uncomfortable to go up to peoples doors or talk to them on the street. I know how important this is and by all means I will let them know about it! Within in an hour we found 3 new people that we have appointments with to teach! And speaking of "by all means I will share it"....this week we had a Jehovah's Witness come to our door, I got up, grabbed a Book of Mormon and answered the door like I always do when someone knocks on our door. There was a man and a little boy, they talked to me for a little bit and then I asked the man a question that came to my mind and said "What has your religious background been?"....I don't know why I asked that question because it wasn't something I would normally say in that situation but he responded with he has been in pretty much every religion, but he said except The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I asked him if he has ever read the Book of Mormon and he told me he had one a while ago but never had the opportunity to read it. So I bore testimony of it to him and gave him the Book of Mormon, he took it and committed to read and pray about it. I don't think that's what he was expecting coming to our door but the Lord works in many ways ;). I love this work and this Gospel, it is all true! I love you all and hope all is well and invite you to all do your member missionary work!!!! And for those who read this and are not members of the church, I invite you to sincerely read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I promise you it is true and will bring more blessings and happiness and peace into your life than you know. I love you all!!