"Sister Gwok, you remind me of my girlfriend's mom!"

Leih hou my amazing, wonderful family!

How is everyone this week? I hope you're doing great! I love you all so, so, so, very much. I can't even express it. Dad, thanks for your dearelders! I love hearing from you! Mom, you too! Thank you! I love you so much. I LOVE LOVE LOVE hearing about what you do everyday. It makes home seem not so far away :) Whit Twit! I was crying laughing over your dear elder. Seriously. I loved it so much - it made me week. You are awesome and I love you to pieces! Parker brother, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I wish I could be there today so you could take me for a spin in Carlos.... legal now! :) haha. I love you bro! Jaren Cade! You only have 2 weeks left to send me a letter mister! I better be getting one soon! For real though. I miss hearing from you :) Love you!

My heart breaks for Ben this week :( I know, though, that through the Savior everything will be made right. Ben, I love you and my district is and has been praying for you! I hope there are no complications with your eye and everything is okay there! That is so scary! Please keep me updated!

The craziest thing about this coming week is that WE GET OUR TRAVEL PLANS ON FRIDAY. ohmygoodness. I can't even believe it! I'm hoping that we all get to travel together. But that never happens :( so I'm hoping I get to travel with some of the Cantos at least! I love em all. Only 2 weeks left in this special, special place! Gotta make the most of it!

This week was really hard at the beginning because Elder Black went home. Honestly, it was probably the most difficult thing I've ever been through. It was a really tough time for our district. Monday night I couldn't stop sobbing, and neither could Sister Morgan or Elder Barker or Elder Black. We've become so close to our district... I really love these elders. To see one of them go home was so tough. Tuesday was also tough, but I prayed on my own too many times to count during the day, and our district prayed together a lot. Through the Savior's infinite, intimate, all encompassing Atonement, we were able to overcome this challenge. My heart goes out to Elder Black. We have been keeping him in our prayers and we love him so much. This experience was such a testimony to me, though, that the Savior heals our broken hearts. He knows how we feel. He understands. Oh, I know He does. The only way I was able to get through Tuesday was to lean on my Savior, my Brother, my best friend, Jesus Christ. I am so incredibly thankful for Him!

Our district is PSYCHED to get to Hong Kong! We practiced "street contacting" with Yeung Hing Daih... oh my gosh it was so much fun! He pretended to be at the train station waiting for a train and we got to go street contact with him like 4 times in a row. I LOVED it. I thought I wouldn't, that I would be too scared or too shy or not know enough Cantonese, but it was seriously awesome. One of the times, we walked up to him and told him who we were and that we had an important message about Jesus Christ. He said he wasn't interested, he was Buddhist. So I just started asking him about his family and his friends. He was pretty open about that, then he asked us where we were from. When we told him Utah, he said he had a Mormon friend in Utah. We explained that we were Mormons! Then he was really open. But then his "train" came. So I quickly asked him if we could get his number. He said he didn't think so, he needed to get to work. So all of a sudden (I don't even know where this came from) I said, "Please? We need friends! We don't have any friends in Hong Kong yet!" And then he gave us his number :) It was so awesome! It made me so excited to get to Hong Kong. The fact that I could actually communicate in Cantonese was great!! I know it'll be different when we get to Hk but STILL! I have this glad, wonderful message to share with people! I WANT TO SHARE IT WITH THEM RIGHT NOW!!! I'm so excited!

This week Elder Smith told me I remind him of his girlfriend's mom..........

.... uh..... thank you?

Haha. Our district was laughing so hard. What a compliment! ;)

Elder Martinez got these little plastic ninjas in the mail from his family. There are 8 of them, and we've been hiding them around the room every week for Jeung Jimuih to find. She loves it. It's so funny. This week, we were running out of hiding spots in our classroom so we taped a blue ninja to Elder Nestman's waterbottle, a red one to Elder Barker's waterbottle, a purple one to Sister Morgan's waterbottle, and a green one to the back to Jeung Jimuih's hymn book. She found all the ninjas right off besides the green one. She was laughing and loving it, then she wanted to start class. So she picked up her hymn book to sing and all of us were trying so hard not to laugh. She didn't suspect a thing. She asked us what song we wanted to sing, opened her hymn book, felt the ninja, and started laughing SO hard. We were all cracking up. It was so fun! I am convinced I have THE BEST district in the MTC. I love them all so much! We are all so close and feel like a little family away from our own families. It's awesome :) I want to be friends with these people for the rest of my life! They are all such great examples to me and I love learning from them. I wish some of these elders' mothers knew what incredible missionaries her sons are.

Tuesday's devo this week was ELDER RUSSELL M. NELSON! Two apostles! How lucky are we?? It was so awesome! He talked a LOT about the other side of the veil and how our ancestors are helping us on this mission. I believe that with allllllll my heart. I have felt so close especially to Papa while I've been a missionary. I feel like he wants to be with me since he didn't have the opportunity to serve a mission like this. I feel him with me all the time, and I know that what Elder Nelson said is true. Having these sacred experiences with loved ones on the other side of the veil is so special and wonderful.

Sister Morgan and I during our weekly planning session on Saturday night had an interesting experience. She was feeling REALLY down. She said that she didn't feel like a good teacher and she didn't know how to convey to our mouhdouhje (investigators) the doctrine. I felt the Spirit prompt me to share a scripture with her. Now I can't even remember the exact reference. Dang it. But it's in Ether, and it's scripture mastery (sorry Bishop Woodruff...) and it's the one that says contention is of the devil and he stirs up our hearts to anger and doubt and frustration. Anyway, I told her that all bad things come from the devil - including doubt, discouragement, fear, competition. I told her how grateful I was to her as a companion and how glad I was that she was there to help me teach. I told her what a fantastic teacher I think she is and that she conveys things wonderfully and I know she has the Spirit with her. It was a really neat experience. We were both in tears by the end. I'm so grateful for a good companion and how we strengthen each other. She truly is such a blessing! I love her so much!

Our branch president told us earlier in the week that he was going to send the district president (who is over a bunch of different branches and was going to visit our branch yesterday) to our district's district meeting on Sunday. He told us that was a great compliment to our district and he was proud to send the district president to us out of every district in our branch. That was really nice. Our district meeting went great! President Hemert (the district pres) is awesome. He told us how proud he was of us. He said, "Imagine yourselves 6 months ago. You were not here, crammed into this tiny classroom, wearing clothes you're not used to wearing, sharing things with strangers that are very dear to your heart, praying more than you thought possible, and studying the scriptures and a different language every waking moment. You were not here. But you are now. And that took a lot of faith. I'm so proud of you. I know you'll do great things." It was really neat. A lot of elders were teary at the end of district meeting. And of course I was. It did take a lot of faith to be here. And my faith is growing every single day. I would never trade it! This experience is shaping me into the woman I will be for eternity. I hope and pray that I can be humble enough to let the Lord do what He wants to do with me. I want to be a good servant of His. Not just a good one. The BEST one I can be!

I gotta go, I'm out of time :( I'll get on later and send some pictures! I love you all so much! I know with all my heart that this work is GOD'S. It's so mighty. I love, love, love being a part of it. It is the best decision I have ever made in my entire life. I know my Savior - YOUR Savior - lives. He lives! He loves us! All we have to do is believe in Him and act. I will never doubt again. This work, this knowledge, has been burned into my soul. Jesus Christ is the reason for everything. Because of His Atonement - the crowning moment in all of eternity - we can do all things. How grateful I am. How grateful we all should be!

I love you so much! Keep your letters coming. I love your support. I pray for you all every single day!

With all the love I have,
Shay Bay

aka Gwok!

xoxoxoxo