Week 55.5 Transfer Call, Moving to Sheung Shui & Fan Ling 7/24/2017

Well I am moving again to Sheung Shui and Fan Ling. with Elder Havell. this 3 week transfer will be weird. I am going to have to grow more.

ok first this week then transfers
First this week was pretty weird. Our schedule was thrown off because of the temple, and the typhoon. 

I was happy for the changes for the music rule which was nice. 

We did a lot of finding and Elder Beeson and I are doing well. We taught 1 person this week but we did the surveys for English class and there is a family that we found that has interest! :) so I hope that elder Beeson and elder Knight can capitalize on that.

Well transfers was interesting. I am moving again, I always wonder why and if I have fulfilled my purpose.

One phrase I learned from my last mission really sticks out to me. it says "we are one with the Savior in doing the will of the Father." I think about how I don't know exactly what [is] his will is, but I know the outline, to preach repentance and baptize converts.

I guess only God can tell me what his specific will is for me.

time to hit this 5th area!

week 54.5 Exchanges, Finding, & Teaching English 7/17/2017

sorry I am so bad at taking pictures!! but yea so this week I went on exchanges with Elder Chan on Wed. I think. We had a full day of finding but the Lord through his Grace helped us fill it up. We called through some potentials and one said he could meet! so that was exciting. He is very catholic so we will see but we were able to meet with him. 

We then were fed by the yeung family. they were fun and it was good to get to know them. 

Nothing else really happened. 

yep see ya next week! I love you all! 

Also Elder Beeson and I are doing well, just finding and teaching English to billions of little kids haha :)

week 53.5 Language & Spirituality 7/12/2017

this week has been an interesting one. first what happened second feelings.

Tai wo ward started up like 2 English classes and the stake added another one so we are up to like 6 English classes now. so yay!!! 

we went finding and We had Mrs. Leung even though we forgot to call her last week. 

Sister Lam got after people in interview for their language ability, but luckily I passed! I would not be surprised if she just tells everyone that is under 7 months to not even touch characters haha. 

They set the goal of having 150 more baptisms at the end of the year. we have had 92 so far so that should be interesting, but we will need a lot of miracles 

in Doctrine and Covenants 121 it teaches us that when we satisfy our pride, we loose the priesthood, the power of god on earth. We need that power to be connected to God and to have miracles in our area, our mission and our lives. we need an increase of that power in our mission if we are to hit the mission goal by the end of this year. 

So language, spirituality will be the two things I work on for now!! Good Luck!!!!!

Week 52.5 A Year into My Mission 7/5/2017

This week we have taught Derek and Ching hd. We hope that they will be able to come to church soon. They only cannot come because of work conflicts.

We have been finding a lot. This is week 2 that we have not had a ward mission leader.

Elder Beeson are having fun haha

we went finding a lot. we have one investigator haha. I am feeling good. It is hard but it is good.  We hope to have good things soon. 

Dispite seeing miracles every day, it is still super hard, it is comforting to know that God is there for me, he loves me, and he will always be there for me. Friends leave on missions, family stay at home but "the Lord will [always] be on my left and my right"

As I sit here and ponder my mission, and this week but my mission because it has been a year I think... "What have I done." I have not seen much success, I have not baptized that much, all these different things, but I have worked my butt off. the words finding and summer should not exist in the same sentence but they do in my life right now haha.

 

I also got Share "tea" for my hump day. no worries it was a strawberry milkshake haha :)

Week 51.5 My Year Mark - the Book of Mormon will change your life! 6/25/2017

so this week will be short we basically did a lot of finding and had one really really big miracle, but first off we had zone conference and that came with a commitment.

The commitment was to read the Book of Mormon in 3 months and highlight everything that mentions Christ. I have been reading the Book of Mormon like that and I have learned a lot! I have realized that when Laman and Lemuel are complaining, it talks nothing about Christ, but Nephi when correcting them mentions Christ a lot. I just thought that was interesting. I thought about how when I am complaining I am not following my covenant of "remembering him always" and I know that when we are not connected to Christ we don't see the good of the things that are in our lives.

I think about how we as missionaries always say "the Book of Mormon will change your life", but I am starting to actually find a very deep testimony of that truth. Thank you President Lam for that commitment! 

also if you read last email the lady that we found in the rain last time came to English class! it was a really big miracle that we happily accepted from the Lord. She came with her 2 kids and her husband! it was really cool that we had that miracle that even if it is in the rain people are willing to stop and listen.

I am also at my year mark this week so that is kinda weird. I still feel super young haha :)

 

Insights

your testimony is a process with many landmarks in it. a process is a lot easier to remember because it is a lot longer than 1 single event. That is how we stay in the gospel. it is not having an angle appear to us but it is doing the little things that will help us be able to get that testimony

Week 50.5 Finding in the Rain 6/23/2017

So these last few days have been really good with Elder Beeson! I am learning a lot. It is really good that he wants to work hard.

Most exciting thing we did this week. WE WENT FINDING IN THE RAIN!!!! if you want to know something about HK people and rain is THEY ABSOLUTELY HATE IT. so usually lessons cancel when it is raining. We planned for it in the day and was hoping it would stop raining. It did not. We were nonetheless disappointed but we thought "well God helped us plan today, so lets go out" we did and we talked to a lot of people and there was this lady we me and she has English class interest for her kids! the conversation went like this

sat the 17th of June time 2:35

"hey how are you?"

"hi" she walks past

"actually can we give you a flyer?"

she stops "yea sure"

"so are you going home right now?"

"no we (she and 2 kids) are actually going to a piano lesson"

"oh ok, we don't want to take too much of your time but we just wanted to invite you to our FREE kids english class."

"oh when is it"

"oh it is today"

"oh sorry that doesn't work because we have piano lessons"

"actually it is already done. it starts at 12:30"

"that actually works!"

"could we exchange phone numbers and we can call you back on friday to remind you?"

"yea sure"

missionary frantically tries to juggle pulling out his planner and pencil while holding an umbrella and flyers. mission companion steps in and helps hold his umbrella for companionship unity purposes.

It was such a big miracle for me, knowing that there are people who are actually nice haha :) and have genuine interest. my shoes were soaked after that finding though haha :)

Sunday was also very good! we got to meet a lot of members and they are all either bro/sis leung or lau, with a few that is not haha :)

So until next week! God be with you!

Week 50.5 Blessed by the Faith of My Parents 6/20/2017

it is good! 太和 or Tai Wo is fun! there is more people than HSK which I like.

… Elder Quentin Cook said that because we face so much hardship in Hong Kong, he gave us a blessing that the things we do now will bless us and our families for a lot longer than 2 years. I know I am getting blessed.

I have been studying Alma 13-17 [in the Book of Mormon] and I think it has a lot of application to my mission specifically (and probably to others as well) because the Lord promises us as missionaries success, but it comes at the cost of a lot of suffering and hardship as described in the scriptures so it was interesting how …God has blessed us.

Elder Beeson also really likes to work hard so it is good to have a companion that is not just comfortable with where we are right now but want to improve :) he is from Arizona 

and yes we have taught a lesson since last email so that is good.

Pres. Jeung wui jeung is the stake president and it was funny because he was talking and he was like "I know Elder chou's parents, and they are a righteous example of what a family unit should be like" or something along those lines, so I guess I got a good introduction to the ward :) 

I am very glad that [my parents] are faithful in the gospel, and have influenced so many people's lives in Hong Kong making it easier for me, a lot easier for me to work with members :)

Elders Chou and Beeson with President Jeung's family

I think back to my patriarchal blessing where is says something like "you will be able to work with leaders in your mission, elders your mission president calls as leaders in your mission and ..." I can’t remember the rest, but I was always confused until I realized that leaders in your mission could be local leaders, and I do have to say a lot of that is because [my parents] did what [they] were supposed to when [they] were in Hong Kong.