Monday, January 11, 2016

#11 A week of "ers"

Leihdeih hou!!!

I say every week is a good one, and it's no different this week. Tin Sau is an area full of miracles, and I fall more and more in love with the people here everyday. I am so grateful for the privilege I have to meet and teach these wonderful people!

Okay, I wanted to share a few of my favorite things about HK! Or at least in my little nook of Tin Sau.

-Hong Kongese are very honest people, almost all of the time. It actually makes missionary work really nice, because if they're really not interested in what you have to say, they'll straight-up tell you or walk away and you just move on with talking to other people. It also makes me glad I don't get offended very easily, because they'll tell you some pretty blunt things to you sometimes. They're definitely things people wouldn't tell you in America.... However, they're very kind, sincere people. 
- Anything from anywhere in the world you want to find, you could probably find in Hong Kong. People, restaurants/food, companies, anything really. It's one of the most international places in the world, and it's so fun to experience all kinds of different cultures here in the gateway to the Orient! It's pretty great.

So some amazing experiences for the week! So I have mentioned how much I LOVE English class before, but this week my love for it definitely increased! One way we talk to people is by inviting them to come to our free English class, and this week a ton of people showed up and loved it! We have a few teenage girls who really like the missionaries and English class, but are super skeptical about taking lessons with missionaries and coming to church because of all the weird things they've heard about our church from other people. However, we have one investigator named Jessica whom we've been meeting with for a while is 18 years old and LOVES English class! These girls asked her about what taking lessons were like and Jessica totally bore her testimony about how much meeting with missionaries has helped her and how much she's learned about God and the great friends she's made in our ward and encouraged them to take lessons. What?!?! She really wants to wait a year before she gets baptized, but she's already doing such awesome missionary work and progresses so much in our lessons. And a lot of those girls are in our proselyting area. So we're excited to meet with them this week!

So the title of my email comes from a thought I've had all week. As I have reflected on the last few weeks in Hong Kong, it's amazing how much I've been stretched and changed, all for the better. This last almost month has helped me understand a principle a good friend of mine taught me as a teenager. The Lord doesn't expect us to be perfect at keeping commandments or doing His will all at once. This life is a time for us to learn, grow, and become like Jesus Christ. It wouldn't be fair if the Lord gave us the impossible commandment to be perfect as Christ is in the state we are in on this Earth without any help. He doesn't expect us to be perfect, but he does expect us to progress and put forth our effort, and then be humble enough to allow the atonement of Jesus Christ to take care of the rest. This week I've seen a lot of progress in our church members, in our work in Tin Sau in our investigators, in our recent converts and less actives, and in myself in so many different ways, and I am so excited to see where this area will go compared to where it was.

I am so grateful for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. The restoration is evidence of God's love for everyone in all points in time, and I am so grateful I get to share the joy and love that comes from the restoration of Christ's gospel and His church on the Earth.

Keep doing hou yeh (good things), and I'll talk to y'all next week!  (And hopefully share more about Hong Kong with y'all. Sorry y'all, mouh sihgaan (no time))

Ga yauh!

Sister Leonard

#10 You Can't Have a Rainbow Without a Little Rain

Sanlihng Faailohk!! (Happy New Year!)

So my email this week is super short since I am running out of time. 

Working in Tin Shui Wai continues to be such a privilege and this week we found many potential people to teach. Our area is super tiny, but we are teaching so much and I am so amazed by how prepared this densely populated area is for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ!!

Quick experience I want to share before I have to go:

So Wednesday and Thursday I seemed to be having one humbling experience after another (mostly with the language) that made me wonder when I was going to get any relief. Thursday night I prayed the hardest I think I have ever prayed that we would find people who are prepared and that I would have the courage to open my mouth, even when my language skills seemed less than adequate. The next day, we experienced so many miracles that helped me understand that sometimes the Lord knocks you down to your knees so you'll learn to rely on Him when times get hard.

I am so eternally grateful for the love our Savior has for each of His children. I am so humbled by the opportunity to share the restored gospel of Jesus Christ with the people of the Tin Sau area and I know the Lord will continue to work miracles in this area as we rely on Him.

Love you all! Talk to you next week!!

Sister Leonard