Week 30.5 Chinese New Year with Family in Hong Kong 1/30/2017

This week has been great because of Chinese New Year!!!!!!!! but before I get into the china stuff we for preparation day went to Sai Gung and had like an actual legit american burger (all ingredients imported from the states) so it was a really nice slice of america right there

We did a lot this week first I went on exchanges with Elder Stober super fun. There were 7 people we got phone numbers from... all from china... but studying in poly tech haha but we got no cantonese! :( so that was interesting haha. We were also coming home from buying Mcdonalds (cause that is everywhere in hk) and we bumped into Elder Wong (the first person to speak in his native language in general conference) it was super cool! and luckily we were not doing anything we were not suppose to haha :)

We also had 1 hr of church because it was chinese new year haha :) and it was pretty good. I was also able to visit my family for chinese new year and they are super great! (dont worry I got permission) Then afterwards we went singing finding in a tunnel which was great and fun and attracted a lot of attention haha, and the funny thing was that this lady passed by and we said hi and she said hi back, but then she came back and gave us chinese red pockets! it was super funny and proved that there are nice people everywhere! So we earned 40 hk dollars for the LORD that day haha :)

We also were able to teach Andrew and set a baptismal date. He actually lives in Kwun Tong and I think he has special permission to be baptized in TKO but we will see. He is doing well :) I love how the lord works through us because he wants us to learn.

The lord definitely shows his hand in our lives in tender mercies :) This gospel is true and apparently the missionary schedule will change and we shall see on Thursday!!!! 

The Wu family also asked us over to eat and it was really good haha there were like 10 missionaries there and the daughter is going on a mission to Korea I think? but it was super fun :)

Insights

pride is diminishing or elevating what we see in ourselves and others

misunderstanding is the prelude to offense - James E Talmage

Christ is sad when we sin because we are hurting ourselves

the spirit can only testify of truth. If we say we know something but we don't actually know, the spirit will not be with us

we as missionaries are throwing seeds into the wind, to sow, so many fail but a lot will succeed. The ground can always be soften. (parable of the sower)

spirit is a light switch to help you remember but it is not to give you new knowledge you have never heard of before

It was only when I found God that i was truly happy -sis Ho

-- 

D&C 50:24 that which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.

Week 29.5 Families are Forever - Visit Aunt, Uncle, Cousins & Grandpa 1/24/2017

This week has been pretty great!!! first my personal study has been better because I review what I read the last day so its like a continuous flow instead of just a new session every day! We also had a really cool thing that one of our investigators said in English class. We were talking about true happiness and she lives in LOHAS park which is pretty rich. Anyway she said "I had cars, a nice flat, family, all these different things that people think make them happy, but I was not happy until I found God." 

We went to the temple and I absolutely loved it! I have only gone to do a session 3 other times but this week was different. I don’t know why but I felt something that was spectacular and awe inspiring. The Temple is the House of God where God's spirit is strongest on this earth!! :)

I am also very happy that we were able to visit my aunt [and counsins, uncle, and grandfather]. She is super nice and I am glad that she was receptive to hearing at least a little bit about the gospel. So I was really nervous to visit my family because I thought maybe they just did it cause I was their family but it wasn’t, They love me :), but I felt like why am I not this nervous and serious for all the other people that we teach, so I am hoping to apply that thinking into my missionary work!

 

We also had more people than usual come to church (usual is like 1 if we are lucky but we had 2!!) and we may be seeing Andrew progress a lot during the next little bit.

We had a recent convert that was baptized in Utah come back to Hong Kong. His name was Wilson and he is super cool. We are excited to teach him. He was actually found in sports night and he didn’t accept it then, but he has accepted it now!!!!

This week has been short but great exhausting and exciting. I know that my Redeemer lives what comfort this sweet sentence gives. There is a book called the Book of Mormon. Many people knew and know the importance of it. It was so important that they died for it, men like Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith. Men like the prophets in it. I know how important it is. It is the book that can get us closest to God. I know that God lives, and if we humbly allow him to change us, He will. He also gives us miracles because he loves us, In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Week 28.5 A Really Good Week 1/16/2017

This week has been pretty fun :) first off Elder Love and I started compiling music for music finding! so I wrote the chords for love one another and while Elder Love was practicing he made a song about... Elder Kim! after his mission haha :) but yes i will start at the beginning of the week haha :) I am glad I have Elder Love as a companion because we both really like music and it is super fun!

Monday we rearranged the apartment

Tuesday we had district meeting and we all bore our testimonies and it was very very powerful. Elder Mcgrath is also training Elder Nielson from Nephi Utah! I also think they are downsizing the mission because with Elder Mcgrath I think I heard something like 37 people are leaving. and a lot right before that (august) so that will be fun to deal with haha :)

Wednesday we taught many people for hk standards haha :) and funny moment of the week Elder Love while trying to walk into the elevator ran into it because he was talking to one of the people we were teaching it was just a laugh moment of the day.

Friday was pretty fun because we had sports night and that is always fun also Heidi in the Po Lam ward asked if I was a bou jap (tutor) I was like nope I am an elder and she was like "no like tutor people before because Jerry said you did" and I was like "oh yea there was Jerry its been a while" yep its interesting having people know you

Saturday I went on exchanges with Elder Kim and we were going finding and this old grandma was stuck in the middle of the street because she was carrying cardboard and the cart tipped over so we went over and helped here even though she didn't want it :) anyway we helped her and this other guy who was going to school in Australia too helped her and it was super cool cause that guy was like "yea if i see missionaries in Australia I will talk to them" it was super cool he was training to be a pilot I think. I cant believe Elder Kim is going home in February :( he is a super cool guy and actually him and I are very similar (both had Asian parents) I am just a little bit more american culture than him but yea it was great! he will be going to byu if I didn't hear him wrong haha :) We also taught a lesson that was super powerful but the person didn't want to accept it and though he was smarter then God. having power to confound people like it says in the book of Mormon does not mean that they will be converted :( it was super sad

Sunday was really great because we had 2 people we are teaching come to church and we had 3 less actives come to church, they are all super nice. We also went finding later that day and we talked to this guy named Mason (yes he is Chinese) and he was super cool and we would have gotten his number if his girlfriend didn't show up and went running with him :/ oh well he will find us one day

But all in all a really good week I actually feel like I am doing something important and not just for me but something important to God! ging chi dou dai (persevere to the end :) ) missions are the best if you let it be! if you are humble enough to learn from it!

Insights

You should never do things for the glory of men but getting caught doing good is not a bad thing

          -Elder Peterson

Sometimes we have trials so we can know how much faith we have

who you are right now is ok for this instant but you just need to be better for the next

I cannot do anything for what matters most to me "I of myself am nothing." Honestly I don't know how to help these people and that is why I especially need God.

Week 27.5 New Area & New Companion, Tseung Kwan O (TSO) & Elder Love 1/9/2017

Well this week was fun :) Elder Mcgrath is now training and I am now in Tseung Kwan O [TSO]! very different from actual Kowloon, that's for sure.

Elder Love [my new companion] is awesome haha :) we are planning on going singing finding because that's what works for us I guess. We also cleaned up the apartment, its amazing how the spirit can work in an actually clean place!!!
I was just having flash backs to when I was in TKO getting the priesthood and it was super cool. (lots of people know me so that's not the most normal thing haha :) )
The ward is good! They are awesome and very friendly and we also have sports night that is super fun and cool!
Its great in HK! Our chapel looks funny though... the steeple covered with trees and the gym [is] almost higher then the steeple, but its good!! a lot less crowded haha :) yes elder love likes a lot of utah music people too :) (he was one haha :) )

Elder Chou doing great!

Week 26.5 Transfer from Kowloon City to Tseung Kwan O. 1/2/2017

Every so often, missionaries receive "transfers" or are assigned to serve with a new missionary companion and/or to serve in a new city. After 4 months with Elder McGrath in Kowloon City, Elder Chou is being transferred to Tseung Kwan O to serve with a new companion, Elder Love. Elder Chou's grandfather, aunt/uncle and cousins live in Tseung Kwan O. See Elder Chou's weekly email below:

well first I am being transferred :( but its good because I won't be district leader any more :) 

but the other really 特別 is that I am moving to Tseung Kwan O where my family/relatives are :) (my aunt), and where I received the priesthood of God. I will be companions with Elder Love, who is a super cool guy and likes music as much or even more then I do. Elder McGrath will be training :) 

I was sick all week!!! :( and I felt bad that I couldn't do missionary work. It was really one of those times where I was like : "God, I did all I could and it wasn't enough" and I just felt  that that wasn't the most important thing, but the most important thing is he loves me. I am still trying to understand how he does love me because I don't know. As Nephi says something along the lines of... I do not know all things but I do know that God loves his children. I understand now more of what it really means to be a child of God. 

I also realized that people who deny the Book of Mormon (because I did watch that news report on some people's opinions of the church in hong kong) [also] deny Christ. They deny scriptures like 2 Nephi 25:29 "And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out."

so if someone totally blows us off in street contacting, or gets mad at us and calls us a cult, That's ok. Christ was never accepted by 100% of people and I know " my afflictions will be for my good :)"

You did me good Kowloon City in teaching me that I couldn't do missionary work without God and that all our strength should be [to] acknowledge that God gave it to us

Have a good week you all!!!!

insight

as we study the scriptures we learn to trust God more because to trust means we completely forfeit our will, but the hard thing is knowing what he will do with it. That is why we must study the scriptures to know what God will do with our will, how he will make it better, and as we do that we will trust him more and be happier

Kowloon City Zone & English class

missionaries don't get to watch movies, but certainly can take lots of pictures