Week 12.5 Finding Happiness at the Temple 9/26/2016

3 months!!!! that is crazy... like really crazy

HAPPINESS!!!!!!!!

in this world we are all seeking for happiness, but how do we get it that is the real question.

1. Foundation

first and foremost we must have that foundation in Christ

How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!

What more can he say than to you he hath said,

Who unto the Savior, who unto the Savior,

Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

In ev'ry condition--in sickness, in health,
In poverty's vale or abounding in wealth,

At home or abroad, on the land or the sea--

As thy days may demand, as thy days may demand,

As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be...

2. you choose

you choose everything, whether to take the easy path or god's path.

You can choose to break you habit

It will be hard but it will be worth it. whenever you have a bad thought, think that its a bad thought then change it!

3. look toward perfection

if you look to the rules, and what are the limits, you will never be happy because you will never have the peace of mind and be free from guilt. Rules are not what we look to it is the mark to know when we have gone too far. If you always aim for perfection, you may end up short but you will be a lot closer then the person who aims for the rules.

4. ponder

put the phone down!. We all need to know and understand the Gospel. We have to take time to be able to understand what we have read. I know that as we connect all aspects of the gospel together and we make the gospel one single thing instead of lots of strings, our testimony will be strengthened because it is all bonded together.

5. Pray

Talk to you Heavenly Father. He wants to here from you. Thank him for all he does. And ask him about the things you have ponder and that you have thought about. Its like in Ether 12:27 that we can know our weaknesses through him and by praying we draw upon the infinent power of God. and if we do all these things. and if we do not boast (alma 38:11) and like ammon give all the glory to god

6. God will bless us

He will bless you to know what you have to do to become happier and tell you how you can have your happiness in him.

The Gospel is the only thing that can make us truly happy. And if we turn to god and have him do it for us, we will new able to conquer any challenges that do come our way, in his name Amen.

harbor

Church Administration Building & China Hong Kong Temple

Week 11.5 Mid-Autumn Festival 9/19/2016

First I hope everyone had a great week and hope that everyone received a spiritual experience along the way. I learned a lot this week

The first is 

1. let him have your heart

in "come thou fount" it says

"O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee
Prone to wander Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above"

I think the last verse of this hymn is so important because like it says in D&C we must serve with all our heart, might, mind, and strength.

If we follow all the commandments with our hearts, because we love him then "it benefits us" if we do things that way (scriptures somewhere). We have to believe that it can happen even if we don't understand how it does work (Alma 33:12)

2. daily strength

It benefits us nothing if we do not apply the atonement over and over again. Sometimes we might find that we are embarrassed because we made another mistake, and we have to use it again, but the great thing about the atonement is that it is infinite. it is by small and simple things that great things come to pass. it is reading our scriptures every day, pouring out our hearts, that we get a personal relationship with him. https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-09-016-flecks-of-gold?lang=eng

"the patient accumulation of these little flecks has given me great wealth." and we have to daily remember him. It starts with our thoughts. We have to choose where our thoughts are and in turn where our heart will be. It will not be easy but eventually you will see that thinking what God wants us to think will be so much easier and worth it because it brings us so much more happiness. We have to follow the commandments daily, and make it a choice, something more than a habit, then it will mean something and you will get something from it

If you are seeking an answer. I don't know how you expect one if you don't read and pray and put forth your best effort, you will never be sensitive enough to the spirit to get the answer that will change your life.

3. glory

finally we give all the glory to God (alma 26:11-12, 26:16,) We give all the Glory to him. He made everything happen, and gave us all the experiences so that we could touch people in the certain way that they needed to be touched. it is all because of him we don't deserve any credit at all

4. Really??

yes all of these things are true like in "a poor wayfaring man of grief" it says

Then in a moment to my view

The stranger started from disguise.

The tokens in his hands I knew;

The Savior stood before mine eyes.

He spake, and my poor name he named,

"Of me thou hast not been ashamed.

These deeds shall thy memorial be;

Fear not, thou didst them unto me."

I know that these things are true, and that “You never know. You never know whether you do any good. You never know how much good you do.” (press Hinkley https://www.lds.org/liahona/2003/11/to-the-women-of-the-church?lang=eng)

I know that these things are true, that we do have a prophet today. I know that hymns do touch our lives and like nothing else can. Let us be humble seekers of happiness and as Pres Eyring says "love is a gift" so let us seek to love and touch those that we have been sent by God to touch in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Elder Chou's first mid-autumn festival in Hong Kong.
Enjoyed wonderful dinner with members in Kowloon City.

Enjoyed hiking with members and investigators on p-day. Hiking 1.5 hour on Tsing Yi.

enjoying dim sum

Week 10.5 Serving in Kowloon City 9/12/2016

Elder Joseph Chou is serving in Kowloon City, near the old airport, about 2 wards over from where his Auntie Grace lives.
His daily schedule includes being up by 7 AM each morning and then going to bed at 11 PM.
He is serving in the Kowloon City ward, and he said:

there is a chapel and there are like 70 active members. My companion, elder McGrath is from Kaysville. There is also Elder Smith and Elder Stober that we live with [4 elder apartment].
We cook a lot... that's good. I've been trying to figure out my mission card... and its easier to save money here [than it was in California]
The mission is great and I know that I am blessed from all the tender mercies that I see.

We are one with the Savior in doing the will of the Father was my old mission statement, and it has changed my life. I know that if we are humble enough to do the will of the Father that we can never go wrong, that we can always have the peace of mind that we are good with god.

The things I studied this week

Humility

be wise yet harmless (alma 18:22)

alma 16:22

unconditional love

alma 17:2

love them even if they don't do what you want

enduring to the end

if it seems to take forever remember (happiness is meant to last forever) Elder Utchdorf

real intent

alma 22:14

Additional

Alma 20:27

Alma 17:22

Where is your heart is something that I studied a lot this week. Is my heart really into serving or is it to fulfill something else to make myself feel good. A scripture that came up again is Ether 12:27 and I have realized that Aaron, Ammons brother, "was patient in his afflictions." I know if we can learn the eternal principal of patience and doing the will of God and waiting for it to happen, we can have the tender mercies that are so prevalent in our lives revealed to us. I know that people won't change unless they know that you love them. So I love the people of HK.

Sorry this is short, but standing and typing is not fun haha :)

Some lessons can't be taught they have to be learned and the atonement, the greatest gift provides a way to learn from our mistakes without being condemned for them. That is the greatest gift that God, our loving heavenly father has given us. I know that God love me, in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Elder Joseph Chou and his companion in the small apartments in Hong Kong

Week 9.5 First Week in the China Hong Kong Mission 9/5/2016

First Week in the China Hong Kong Mission

New Companion and New Area

well...... I made it!!!!! to the one and only mission in China!!...

There are a lot of changes from my last mission. there are music restrictions :( There are also 4 elders in our apartment. The apartments are a little smaller. I have not died. We go to bed at 11 and its not super sketchy at 8 at night! which is completely different. Planes are absolutely horrible, but I haven't experienced jet lag yet so that's good.

Our ward is super cool, and one of the sisters knows my mom and so I think I am pretty close to where my family live. I hope they will follow my example in being diligent and having faith.

My favorite scripture this week is the last verse of Alma 16 which talks about having victory over Satan and receiving blessings from God.

I studied a lot about pride. Things are harder in Hong Kong then in Modesto because people don't even stop to talk to you on the streets when you say hi. So I know that I have to be humble and patient, and people eventually (maybe not in my mission time) will become humble enough to listen, and I hope I can participate in that process.

I really liked the talk by Elder Renlund from last general conference and it talks about if we are far from God, we feel entitled to blessings (like Laman and Lemuel). Some say that life is not fair. It was the most unfair for our Savior Jesus Christ. He says if life was fair, then we would never receive resurrection and we would never be in the presence of God. So I am grateful for life being merciful and not fair.

My trainer is Elder McGrath, he is from parson, and we both came into a new area so we are still figuring things out. [serving in Kowloon City]

Modesto updates goes as I was called on Sunday to go out to the airport on Monday morning. We got a few investigators the week I left, and I really hope they all come unto God.

Last of All my testimony has grown and I know that through Jesus, my Christ, I can be perfected. I can use his atonement, and I will. I know He lives loves me, and will be patient with me because he has gone through all the trials that I have gone through. I can't read the Church websites online yet and I am working on putting pictures up, but for now be patient with me and the pictures. My purpose is to help others to come unto Christ. I will be held accountable for my efforts. I hope I don't mess this up. I go forward with Faith in my savior, because he is never Changing. In the name of Jesus, my Christ, Amen.