HELLOOOOOO!!! I loved hearing about all your weeks! I love getting your emails and your letters! I really have the best family and friends on earth. Hands DOWN.
This week was FULL of miracles. They came all at once and I feel so humbled that the Lord is pouring His blessings upon us right now. Ah, so many good things to tell you! I hope I have time to write them all!!
Monday: After P-day we went to see one of our members, J. We had pizza over at her house... pizza with octopus legs and shrimp. Mmm ;) ha. We were hoping her parents (who are non members) would be there too but they weren't. Oh well. It was still good to get to know our members. This ward is amazing. Have I said that yet? I absolutely LOVE it. They are so willing to work with missionaries here and soooo amazing. It feels like a big family, literally. I love love love it!! I never want to leave!
Tuesday: We had district meeting as usal and talked all about finding and having faith to find. After the meeting I was SO PUMPED UP! I just wanted to get out there and FIND these prepared people! So we did! We went out and found an 89 year old less active named C Popo. She's really sweet! After that we went out finding and let me tell you, it was amazing. I don't even know why... this week EVERYONE has been so prepared. It's like the two weeks previous to this one there was something holding everyone back. Seriously on Tuesday we had people giving us their numbers.... giving US their numbers! Usually we have to drag numbers out of people! At one point, we were street contacting, and I saw this lady and said, "Leih hou!" and she walked past me and said in Cantonese, "Sorry I don't know English!" so I let her get like 10 steps away and half-heartedly called after her in Cantonese, "But I know Cantonese!" Well, then she stopped and turned around and came back to talk to me! Biggest miracle!!! Her name is L....
Wednesday: We went with C Popo to the doctor, just because she asked us to. She wanted us to help her get a taxi. It felt good to just SERVE. Serve as the Savior would serve, not out of obligation or out of a desire to get their number or to teach them a lesson. I need to be better about looking for opportunities to do service out of love and a desire just to serve people. And in the waiting room, all the little popos were asking us about the church and stuff! It was great! They were all blown away by our Cantonese :) I love when that happens. Anyway, after the doctor, we ran back to the church to have interviews with President Hawks! BEST THING OF MY LIFE. I wish I could have talked to him for hours, but we only had 15 minutes. I learned SO much though. I felt like I was instructed, edified, comforted.... everything I needed to hear. And then while Sis Aldana was in her interview, I got to chat with Sister Hawks. I love them so much. I feel so blessed to have them as mission president/mission mom. They are incredible! After our interviews we went and had a lesson with C. C has been seeing missionaries for a long time.... it's hard to help her progress. We watched "The Testaments" with her and then bore our testimonies of Christ. It was a really good lesson. The Spirit was so strong. She said she feels bad seeing Christ crucified, and can't believe He did all those things for HER. It was an awesome lesson! So good!
Thursday: We went finding alllllll day with one of our YW. Actually, she's not even a member yet! Her name is A-P and she is incredible. She's 16 and she's been coming to church for like 2 years but her parents won't let her get baptized yet. So sad. She is amazing though. She's such a good little missionary and fellowshipper. She got pretty tired going finding with us, but she was so upbeat and positive about it! We love her! After that we were able to see L!!! The one I contacted on Tuesday! She's great! We went to her Herbal Life store. She helps people lose weight or gain weight (gain weight?? only in CHina....) and she made us a health smoothie! I TOTALLY thought of you, Mom haha. It had aloe vera and oatmeal and celery in it... it wasn't as good as your green smoothies. Not even close. But it was a little taste of home for me :) then we taught her the Restoration right there in her tiny little store. I hope we can teach her again soon!
Friday: We went finding again.... kept on finding the most amazingly prepared people... one lady and her cute 7 year old son named S said they would try to come to church on Sunday!! AND!! Y J came back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When our phone rang and it said "Y J" we both freaked out. Jumping up and down in our office and hugging. She said she wanted to take us out to breakfast the next morning!
Saturday: BREAKFAST WITH Y J!! It was so awesome. I wish I could express how much I love her. She met us in the MTR station and right when she saw us, she ran up to us and gave us the biggest hugs and said, "I missed you so much!" Ahh and her son King is SO cute. We had such a good time with them! Even though breakfast was yam chaah (like dim sum... you know what that is??) like appetizers... but Chinese ones. and like a bazillion of them. Shrimp, dumplings, all this other stuff I have no idea what the names are in english.... sorry. :) After breakfast Y J gave us the biggest hugs again and said, "I love you." AHHHH she's so amazing!!
Sunday: SUCH A GREAT DAY AT CHURCH! Y J and K were there, along with H J and S. K and S became friends, it was the cutest thing ever :) And C Popo came! She's 89!!!! It was great! AND the elders investigator, SL, got baptized yesterday! I love him. He's going to be a bishop someday, I swear. His testimony after his baptism was incredible. He really gets it. He bore his testimony on the Atonement and I about cried. Funny story. He's never worn a white shirt and tie to church before. But after his baptism, he came back in wearing a SUIT! and a white shirt and tie! Awesome!! :)
Okay that's like maybe an eighth of the miracles that happened this week. I can't type fast enough dang it! I absolutely, postively, 300% LOVE THIS WORK!!! I love love love what I'm doing. The Lord loves me, I'm positive of that. He is blessing us with so many miracles. I LOVE this area. I LOVE this ward. I LOVE this mission. I LOVE my companion, the sisters I live with, my mission president, EVERYTHING!! I love the ways I've changed. I feel like a whole different person. I love everything about being a missionary. I love you all so much!! Thank you for everything you do for me! I feel your prayers!
Check this out! I'm writing this on a touch pad:
加 油! 我愛你門!
With ALL my love,
Shay Bay Bay
xoxoxoxoxo
9.30.2013
9.23.2013
The biggest typhoon in 30 years.....?
Well HEY! How is everyone this week?? I have to start out by saying... I'm really, really glad that I got on my email and heard you were all happy and healthy. I had the scariest dream the other night after we spent all day with one of our less actives whose leg was amputated. Okay here's the dream:
So there was this giant snake that was going to attack. And for some reason I knew about it but no one else did. So I grabbed Mom and Jaren and we ran for shelter. Couldn't find Whit. Then after a while we were like "oh no! Where's Dad and Park?!!" so I ran back by myself to see if I could find them and..... they were laying there with no legs. It was horrible. Dad didn't remember who we were either :( it was the worst dream ever and I couldn't shake the feeling that Dad and Park were legless. So, I'm glad to hear that Parker had a XC meet and he did just fine with both of his legs :) haha.
ANYWAY! today was going to be exciting! We had been hearing about some GIGANTIC typhoon that was headed straight for Hong Kong. It was supposed to be equal to the biggest hurricane.... we kept getting texts from President Hawks: "Stay inside. Stay away from the windows. Follow the safety procedures for typhoons. You may not be able to email on Monday" etc. And our neighbors across from us taped their windows. So we're thinking, man this is gonna be HUGE! Yesterday we had to come inside at 6:30 pm. We had to cancel an appointment with a less active, closed all our windows, battened down the hatches... we were getting ready. We were all kind of excited to see a huge typhoon. So we keep waiting for cool stuff to happen.... it rained a little bit... yep. Nothing exciting AT ALL. What a bummer ;)
Here's a Y JM update! (since she's basically our only investigator right now).... she's in Mainland for 2 weeks. :( Mainland is like a black hole that sucks people away. It's terrible. But she's SO good still. She's excited about baptism. We wish we could call her and do lessons over the phone... or even just chat! But it's too risky in Mainland. Boooo. Oh well. We know when she gets back she'll still be GOLDEN!
Oh yeah! so this week was mission tour! Mission tour is when one of the members of the 70 comes and goes around to different areas of the mission. So that was on Wednesday from 9-5. It was SO GOOD! I looooooove being spiritually fed. The Seventy was Elder Larry Y. Wilson and his wife. It was so awesome! It was all about the Fall and the Atonement. I learned so much. I love being fed at the feet of great men and women, like Elder and Sister Wilson and President and Sister Hawks. I love President and Sister Hawks. They are so wise and have so much love for the missionaries and for each other and for the Lord. Anyway, we had to travel up to the New Territories for mission tour and I GOT TO SEE SISTER MORGAN again! We had a great time :) I love that girl to death. So glad she was my first comp :) It was such a good day. And then at the end of the day, President and Sister Hawks gave us a ride back to Kowloon Tong in their CAR! That was cool. :)
Hmm... what else. Oh Mid-Autumn festival was a BLAST! There were sooooooooooooooooo many families out! It was a finding-dream-come-true! We contacted some really good families! Yay! :) And then on Friday night this family in our ward had us and the elders over for dinner. It was fun :) and we had A TON of mooncakes. Mooncakes are gross.
At mission tour, one part of it was a sisters' meeting where we all went around and said one thing we'd learned since being a missionary. I said that of all the tings I've learned, maybe one of the biggest ones is that the Lord gives us trials because He trusts us. He loves us and He wants us to grow. So, when a trial comes my way, I should look at it as a blessing. When I had lice, my first thought was "why me?" But I've come to realize that I've learned SO much from that trial. I'm so thankful for the things the Lord teaches me through my trials. I love this mission! I love what I'm doing :)
Thank you for all the support. I love you all SO much. Keep us in your prayers! We could use some more investigators! :) I love you I love you I love you!
Love always,
Shay
Gwok
xoxo
So there was this giant snake that was going to attack. And for some reason I knew about it but no one else did. So I grabbed Mom and Jaren and we ran for shelter. Couldn't find Whit. Then after a while we were like "oh no! Where's Dad and Park?!!" so I ran back by myself to see if I could find them and..... they were laying there with no legs. It was horrible. Dad didn't remember who we were either :( it was the worst dream ever and I couldn't shake the feeling that Dad and Park were legless. So, I'm glad to hear that Parker had a XC meet and he did just fine with both of his legs :) haha.
ANYWAY! today was going to be exciting! We had been hearing about some GIGANTIC typhoon that was headed straight for Hong Kong. It was supposed to be equal to the biggest hurricane.... we kept getting texts from President Hawks: "Stay inside. Stay away from the windows. Follow the safety procedures for typhoons. You may not be able to email on Monday" etc. And our neighbors across from us taped their windows. So we're thinking, man this is gonna be HUGE! Yesterday we had to come inside at 6:30 pm. We had to cancel an appointment with a less active, closed all our windows, battened down the hatches... we were getting ready. We were all kind of excited to see a huge typhoon. So we keep waiting for cool stuff to happen.... it rained a little bit... yep. Nothing exciting AT ALL. What a bummer ;)
Here's a Y JM update! (since she's basically our only investigator right now).... she's in Mainland for 2 weeks. :( Mainland is like a black hole that sucks people away. It's terrible. But she's SO good still. She's excited about baptism. We wish we could call her and do lessons over the phone... or even just chat! But it's too risky in Mainland. Boooo. Oh well. We know when she gets back she'll still be GOLDEN!
Oh yeah! so this week was mission tour! Mission tour is when one of the members of the 70 comes and goes around to different areas of the mission. So that was on Wednesday from 9-5. It was SO GOOD! I looooooove being spiritually fed. The Seventy was Elder Larry Y. Wilson and his wife. It was so awesome! It was all about the Fall and the Atonement. I learned so much. I love being fed at the feet of great men and women, like Elder and Sister Wilson and President and Sister Hawks. I love President and Sister Hawks. They are so wise and have so much love for the missionaries and for each other and for the Lord. Anyway, we had to travel up to the New Territories for mission tour and I GOT TO SEE SISTER MORGAN again! We had a great time :) I love that girl to death. So glad she was my first comp :) It was such a good day. And then at the end of the day, President and Sister Hawks gave us a ride back to Kowloon Tong in their CAR! That was cool. :)
Hmm... what else. Oh Mid-Autumn festival was a BLAST! There were sooooooooooooooooo many families out! It was a finding-dream-come-true! We contacted some really good families! Yay! :) And then on Friday night this family in our ward had us and the elders over for dinner. It was fun :) and we had A TON of mooncakes. Mooncakes are gross.
At mission tour, one part of it was a sisters' meeting where we all went around and said one thing we'd learned since being a missionary. I said that of all the tings I've learned, maybe one of the biggest ones is that the Lord gives us trials because He trusts us. He loves us and He wants us to grow. So, when a trial comes my way, I should look at it as a blessing. When I had lice, my first thought was "why me?" But I've come to realize that I've learned SO much from that trial. I'm so thankful for the things the Lord teaches me through my trials. I love this mission! I love what I'm doing :)
Thank you for all the support. I love you all SO much. Keep us in your prayers! We could use some more investigators! :) I love you I love you I love you!
Love always,
Shay
Gwok
xoxo
9.17.2013
Up to our Knees in Moon Cakes!
HAPPY AUTUMN FESTIVAL everyone!!
Okay it's technically not till Thursday but holy cow everyone and their mother has been giving us moon cakes these days. Our fridge is stuffed full of them! And for those of you who aren't sure what a moon cake is...... it's not that great. It's got like a salted egg yolk in the middle surrounded by lotus paste. It's sweet, but I'm not a huge fan of them. Everyone is obsessed with them though! Not sure what else autumn festival entails besides moon cakes and lanterns everywhere..... guess we'll see!
ANYWAY. How is everyone this week?! I miss you all like crazy but this week's been amazing. It didn't really start out that way, though....
On Monday after P-day, we went finding. We had NO success. Everyone we talked to rejected us. After a while, rejection starts to hurt. We have the truth and no one in interested?! Whyyyyy??? Anyway, we got on the train to go home. (Everytime we get on the train, we split up and talk to different people.) So anyway, I start talking to this lady. She doesn't respond at all. Doesn't say a word. So after a while of me talking to her and her saying nothing, I asked her if she spoke Cantonese. She said she did. So then I started asking her more questions about religion and such. No response. Then a man came up behind me and said in English, "She doesn't understand you." I responded back in Cantonese, "Well, I'm speaking Cantonese, and she said she understands Cantonese. I'm sharing about Jesus Christ." He said back in Cantonese, "Don't talk about Him! Nobody in China believes these things! No one will believe you! Why are you doing this? What are you doing? STOP trying to talk to us. We don't believe those things. We believe Buddha. Go back to America!" He was really mean. And it was the last straw. They got off the train and I started crying. I don't even know what was wrong with me. Usually I shake it off like it's nothing and move on to the next person. But he was really mean. We got off the train and Sis Aldana had to comfort me for a minute and then I was fine. But man. Talk about discouragement!!!
But that is when Heavenly Father stepped in. After we got home that night, we were making some calls and we tried Y JM. SHE ANSWERED. Oh my goodness, you guys, she is the most golden investigator of all golden investigators. I feel so incredibly humbled to be teaching her! She is sooo wonderful. She'd been in mainland last week! that's why she hadn't responded to our calls/texts! Of course! Why did we even doubt?! I was so grateful. Heavenly Father truly has things in control. Why do I allow myself to doubt Him and His plan?
A few days later, we got another call from Y JM. She told us the most amazing story. One of her friends that she hasn't had contact with for 10+ years called her up. They were chatting and catching up and then her friend randomly started talking about Christ and how she'd come to Christ in the past few years. Y JM said, "She didn't even know I'd been looking into religion!" She thought it was the biggest miracle. She just kept saying how "sahn keih" (miraculous) she thought it was. When Sister Aldana got off the phone with her and told me the story, I just started crying. We dropped down right there and said a thank you prayer.... Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us Y JM. She is so wonderful! She is so prepared! Amidst the other uninterested people, there ARE people that God has prepared for us to teach. We just have to keep having faith that we can find them. And we can. I know we can. Heavenly Father is on our side. He goes before our faces, on our right hand and on our left, and His angels bear us up. I feel His support every single day.
On Sunday Y JM came to church and we were THRILLED. Sunday was the best day of my entire life. She was the only investigator we had at church, but she's so good she counts for like 50. Ahhh I love her SO much!! After church she stayed for a baptism and she loved it. The baptism was amazing. She kept asking if that's how her baptism would be and we said yes. She's so wonderful. I feel sooo grateful I have the chance to know her. She's taught me so much about faith and trusting in God. We want to get her baptized in the next few weeks!!!
um hello WHITNEY!!! Where are you?! are you alive? I'm sitting over here in China thinking about you in college!! Can't believe it. How is it? how are the roomies? how is BYU-I? what classes are you taking? SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS! i wrote you a letter but don't have your address. i miss you and love you sooo much!
Well fam. I have to get off. My hour is up. I love you more than I could say. Thank you for your continued love and support and prayers! I absolutely LOVE what I'm doing. I'm learning and growing so much, and I get to help other people come unto our Savior, Jesus Christ. There couldn't be anything better in the entire world. I love it. I love this mission. I love my Savior. I love my life. I LOVE all of you!!
Keep the faith! Love you always!
Love,
Shay
Gwok
xoxoxoxo
Okay it's technically not till Thursday but holy cow everyone and their mother has been giving us moon cakes these days. Our fridge is stuffed full of them! And for those of you who aren't sure what a moon cake is...... it's not that great. It's got like a salted egg yolk in the middle surrounded by lotus paste. It's sweet, but I'm not a huge fan of them. Everyone is obsessed with them though! Not sure what else autumn festival entails besides moon cakes and lanterns everywhere..... guess we'll see!
ANYWAY. How is everyone this week?! I miss you all like crazy but this week's been amazing. It didn't really start out that way, though....
On Monday after P-day, we went finding. We had NO success. Everyone we talked to rejected us. After a while, rejection starts to hurt. We have the truth and no one in interested?! Whyyyyy??? Anyway, we got on the train to go home. (Everytime we get on the train, we split up and talk to different people.) So anyway, I start talking to this lady. She doesn't respond at all. Doesn't say a word. So after a while of me talking to her and her saying nothing, I asked her if she spoke Cantonese. She said she did. So then I started asking her more questions about religion and such. No response. Then a man came up behind me and said in English, "She doesn't understand you." I responded back in Cantonese, "Well, I'm speaking Cantonese, and she said she understands Cantonese. I'm sharing about Jesus Christ." He said back in Cantonese, "Don't talk about Him! Nobody in China believes these things! No one will believe you! Why are you doing this? What are you doing? STOP trying to talk to us. We don't believe those things. We believe Buddha. Go back to America!" He was really mean. And it was the last straw. They got off the train and I started crying. I don't even know what was wrong with me. Usually I shake it off like it's nothing and move on to the next person. But he was really mean. We got off the train and Sis Aldana had to comfort me for a minute and then I was fine. But man. Talk about discouragement!!!
But that is when Heavenly Father stepped in. After we got home that night, we were making some calls and we tried Y JM. SHE ANSWERED. Oh my goodness, you guys, she is the most golden investigator of all golden investigators. I feel so incredibly humbled to be teaching her! She is sooo wonderful. She'd been in mainland last week! that's why she hadn't responded to our calls/texts! Of course! Why did we even doubt?! I was so grateful. Heavenly Father truly has things in control. Why do I allow myself to doubt Him and His plan?
A few days later, we got another call from Y JM. She told us the most amazing story. One of her friends that she hasn't had contact with for 10+ years called her up. They were chatting and catching up and then her friend randomly started talking about Christ and how she'd come to Christ in the past few years. Y JM said, "She didn't even know I'd been looking into religion!" She thought it was the biggest miracle. She just kept saying how "sahn keih" (miraculous) she thought it was. When Sister Aldana got off the phone with her and told me the story, I just started crying. We dropped down right there and said a thank you prayer.... Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us Y JM. She is so wonderful! She is so prepared! Amidst the other uninterested people, there ARE people that God has prepared for us to teach. We just have to keep having faith that we can find them. And we can. I know we can. Heavenly Father is on our side. He goes before our faces, on our right hand and on our left, and His angels bear us up. I feel His support every single day.
On Sunday Y JM came to church and we were THRILLED. Sunday was the best day of my entire life. She was the only investigator we had at church, but she's so good she counts for like 50. Ahhh I love her SO much!! After church she stayed for a baptism and she loved it. The baptism was amazing. She kept asking if that's how her baptism would be and we said yes. She's so wonderful. I feel sooo grateful I have the chance to know her. She's taught me so much about faith and trusting in God. We want to get her baptized in the next few weeks!!!
um hello WHITNEY!!! Where are you?! are you alive? I'm sitting over here in China thinking about you in college!! Can't believe it. How is it? how are the roomies? how is BYU-I? what classes are you taking? SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS! i wrote you a letter but don't have your address. i miss you and love you sooo much!
Well fam. I have to get off. My hour is up. I love you more than I could say. Thank you for your continued love and support and prayers! I absolutely LOVE what I'm doing. I'm learning and growing so much, and I get to help other people come unto our Savior, Jesus Christ. There couldn't be anything better in the entire world. I love it. I love this mission. I love my Savior. I love my life. I LOVE all of you!!
Keep the faith! Love you always!
Love,
Shay
Gwok
xoxoxoxo
9.09.2013
Monkeys and Faith
FAMILY! and FRIENDS!
4 days later and you get to hear from me again! Yay! It's been a great 4 days since the last time I emailed you! So much has happened! I'll give you the rundown:
Friday was our Zone Training Meeting. It was a lot different here because in Macau, our district is our zone and there are only 10 missionaries, so ZTM feels exactly like district meeting. But here, our zone is really big! I am in the Kowloon zone and we have the biggest zone in the mission. It's awesome! Elders Nestman and Howell from my district in the MTC are in my zone too, so that's cool. It's always fun to see people from the MTC and know that we are all doing this for real now!
Saturday nothing really cool to report. We have been doing turnover lessons like nobody's business these days. Since we live out of our area and our church is out of our area, we find a TON of people that we can't teach because they live in different areas. So we do a lot of turnover lessons, which kind of stinks. We're working on finding new investigators, but it's hard. This big city has so many uninterested people!
I have been thinking about faith lately and how it works. I have an assignment for all of you reading this letter. I want you to write me what you think faith is and how it works. How do we use faith to make miracles happen in our lives? Some of the ways I've been implementing in my life are:
Sacrifice. I'm giving up sugar and praying in my bed so that Yip JM can get baptized. She hasn't responded to our calls and texts for a week now :( I'm really hoping that sacrificing will show the Lord my willingness to have these blessings.
Obedience. Self evaluating my obedience has been really great. Ever since Zone Training, I've looked at the little things I'm doing that haven't been exactly obedient. I really want to be 100% exact so that the Lord will see I'm willing to do what He asks.
What do you think? :)
This week I saw a MONKEY! A real live monkey! We were in our apartment doing studies and we looked out the window (we live on the 7th floor) and we saw a monkey running on the railing of the highway! It was the coolest thing EVER! We were like freaking out and I wanted to take a picture but my camera was dead! Dang it. Next time. I hope I see another one!!
Whit, I can't believe you're going to COLLEGE this week. I literally can't believe it. Send me your address first thing so I can get a letter sent to you. Mail is so fun to get when you're away from home :) I love you so much! Don't be scared. The Lord goes with you! I wish I was there so bad! I love you sooooooooooo much!
I've got to get off already :( poo. I love you all with all of my heart. I was reading in the BOM in Jacob this week and I read these words:
"For, for this intent have we written thse things, that they may know that we knew of Christ."
That's why I'm writing these emails. So that you can know that I know of Christ. He is my brother, my Savior, my best friend. He lifts me up in times of discouragement and trial. He is the "author and finisher of my faith" and my reason for this mission. I love Him and want to make Him proud.
I love you all so much. Write me good emails for next week on FAITH! ;) I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you!
From China to Utah, love always,
Shay
Gwok
xoxo
4 days later and you get to hear from me again! Yay! It's been a great 4 days since the last time I emailed you! So much has happened! I'll give you the rundown:
Friday was our Zone Training Meeting. It was a lot different here because in Macau, our district is our zone and there are only 10 missionaries, so ZTM feels exactly like district meeting. But here, our zone is really big! I am in the Kowloon zone and we have the biggest zone in the mission. It's awesome! Elders Nestman and Howell from my district in the MTC are in my zone too, so that's cool. It's always fun to see people from the MTC and know that we are all doing this for real now!
Saturday nothing really cool to report. We have been doing turnover lessons like nobody's business these days. Since we live out of our area and our church is out of our area, we find a TON of people that we can't teach because they live in different areas. So we do a lot of turnover lessons, which kind of stinks. We're working on finding new investigators, but it's hard. This big city has so many uninterested people!
I have been thinking about faith lately and how it works. I have an assignment for all of you reading this letter. I want you to write me what you think faith is and how it works. How do we use faith to make miracles happen in our lives? Some of the ways I've been implementing in my life are:
Sacrifice. I'm giving up sugar and praying in my bed so that Yip JM can get baptized. She hasn't responded to our calls and texts for a week now :( I'm really hoping that sacrificing will show the Lord my willingness to have these blessings.
Obedience. Self evaluating my obedience has been really great. Ever since Zone Training, I've looked at the little things I'm doing that haven't been exactly obedient. I really want to be 100% exact so that the Lord will see I'm willing to do what He asks.
What do you think? :)
This week I saw a MONKEY! A real live monkey! We were in our apartment doing studies and we looked out the window (we live on the 7th floor) and we saw a monkey running on the railing of the highway! It was the coolest thing EVER! We were like freaking out and I wanted to take a picture but my camera was dead! Dang it. Next time. I hope I see another one!!
Whit, I can't believe you're going to COLLEGE this week. I literally can't believe it. Send me your address first thing so I can get a letter sent to you. Mail is so fun to get when you're away from home :) I love you so much! Don't be scared. The Lord goes with you! I wish I was there so bad! I love you sooooooooooo much!
I've got to get off already :( poo. I love you all with all of my heart. I was reading in the BOM in Jacob this week and I read these words:
"For, for this intent have we written thse things, that they may know that we knew of Christ."
That's why I'm writing these emails. So that you can know that I know of Christ. He is my brother, my Savior, my best friend. He lifts me up in times of discouragement and trial. He is the "author and finisher of my faith" and my reason for this mission. I love Him and want to make Him proud.
I love you all so much. Write me good emails for next week on FAITH! ;) I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you!
From China to Utah, love always,
Shay
Gwok
xoxo
9.05.2013
C..., Colds, and Purple Polka Dotted Panties
Dearest best family and friends in the world,
Wow, it seems like every week I hear someone new that reads my blog and then emails me. I feel SO MUCH love and support from back home! I am seriously so blessed. Thank you thank you thank you! I love you all!
ALSO.. oh my goodness Michael and Kacie! You guys sent me the best package EVER! Thank you so, so much! Wow! Whit, thanks for helping :) haha. I loved everything! That was so nice and you spoiled me! And your baby is BEAUTIFUL! ahhhh :)
Okay so it's Thursday today... gahhh it's been a loooong week and a half without a P-day. Haha P-day is seriously inspired. So glad we have them once a week :) But oh my goodness! Today the temple made everything worth it! The temple is BEAUTIFUL. And you know? It's the same :) Different languages, different faces, but the same feeling, the same gospel, the same Heavenly Father. It's so neat that even clear over here across the world, the Church is true. We worship in the same way. It's so wonderful :) btw if you were wondering, the session was in English and they had translating headphones for everyone that needed it in Cantonese, or Thai, or Mandarin, or Tagalog, or whatever. So many different languages, it's crazy!
I'm trying to think what happened this week... so many things, I don't know what to write! I do have a cold... boo. How does that happen in the heat?! I'm not sure. Right now I can't breathe AT ALL. Hoping to get better soon! One of our less actives that we always visit gave me this huge thing of ginger and a lemon and told me to roast the ginger over the burner, and then boil the roasted ginger and lemon slices in Coke. Maybe I'll try it! It's worth a shot!
Mom and Dad, you'll appreciate this one. We went LA finding last Friday. We were looking for a lady named C... yes, she's from Japan! But she married a man from Hong Kong. Anyway, we usually don't have very much success LA finding because the guards for the building hardly ever let us in. But this time, he did! So we go up to C's apartment and we can hear a bunch of little dogs barking inside. Ring the doorbell, blah blah.... k she actually invites us IN. When does that happen?! Never, I tell you. Never. It was great! So we were sitting there talking to her, and then she said, "Why don't you stay for dinner?" so we stayed for dinner. The greatest part was that her sister-in-law was there, her non-member husband, and her husband's friend. That's 3 CONTACTED REFERRALS IN ONE DAY! Can't tell you how excited we were. Her husband was so funny. He spoke pretty fluent English but he was just hilarious. He told us about 10 times, "I'm a retired policeman! Retired!" I mean what are you supposed to say to that after the 10th time. "Wow, that's so great! Good for you!"? It was awesome. It was the best LA visit ever. We stayed like 2 hours. When C said the closing prayer at the end, she cried and we almost cried. Then she gave us each a box of crackers and said, "Come back anytime!" The only thing is, she can't come to church because she works. So we'll be working pretty closely with her. Stay tuned!
Some things you should all know about Chinese culture:
1. Talking with your mouth full is TOTALLY appropriate. Everyone does it. And if you don't do it, you're weird.
2. However acceptable talking with your mouth full is, picking your teeth with a toothpick without covering your mouth with your hand is NOT. I'm not really sure why, but it's very rude to just pick your teeth without covering it up.
3. Burping. ALL. THE. TIME. Like, in the middle of a conversation, when you're giving a talk in church, literally all the time. It's so gross. haha, I'm used to it now though. But at first I thought it was sick.
4. You HAVE to eat what people give you. So if they make too much food, there's no saving it. Eat it. Even if it's nasty.
5. Stand on the right side of the escalator if you just want to stand. If you want to run up the escalator, go up the left side. If you want to walk.... that's just not an option. Everyone is in too big a hurry.
Okay I can't think of anymore right now. There are some good ones :)
Sister Aldana and I are getting along great! We laugh A LOT, which is so good. I'm so happy that all of my companions and I can laugh together. We had the funniest thing happen. We were paak muhning (knocking doors... we have a few places where we can do that here!) and we knocked on this one door and this little bald Chinese man answered... wearing NOTHING but purple polka dotted panties. Panties. Not boxers. Panties. He saw us, screamed bloody murder and then yelled, "Dang a dang!" (wait a second!) and slammed the door. OH MY GOSH. Sis Aldana and I couldn't hold it in. We busted up laughing sooooo hard. It was so funny! We barely got it together by the time he answered the door wearing clothes. Anyway, he is so great! He came to ward FHE the other night, we turned him over to the elders to teach, and now he wants to get baptized! What a miracle! Yay! :)
OH YEAH! I SAW MY OLD TUHNGBUHN! I saw Sister Morgan, my comp from the MTC! It was like the greatest reunion ever. We were walking up the road to the church and they were coming out of the church and we saw each other and ran to each other screaming. Probably all the Chinese people thought we were nuts :) Soooo happy! I love being able to see all my old friends! I love being here!!
In English class last week, a new older man came. He spoke NO Engish at all. His name was Gwok too, so he was like "Yatyeuhng! Yatyeuhng!" (same! same!) ha. So I sat by him to help him with his English. The whole time, he was being really creepy and scooting closer to me. At one point, he says in Chinese, "Are you married yet?" I was like, "Um, no, let's listen to Elder Allen! Let's learn some English!" A little later he says, "Have you eaten dinner yet? Want to go together after?" I was like, "No, I don't." and then he writes down his number on a piece of paper and gives it to me. hahahahahaha soooo creepy. Gotta love it.
In my personal study this week, I read this scripture, "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). That made me think about the hard things we've endured this week. SO MUCH finding time with very few people interested. People not showing up to appointments. People not answering our phone calls anymore. Hours of being on the street, sweating like crazy. But you know? Jesus Christ overcame ALL of these things so He would know how it felt for us. He has lifted me up in the times when I thought I couldn't make it. He has brought me comfort and peace when I feel discouraged and doubtful. I am so thankful for His infinite sacrifice that makes it possible for Him to help me like this. I love Him. I want to be more like Him.
Well, I have to get off now. I will be back on Monday (Sunday night for all of you!) Thank you all for your ever present support. I feel it! I feel your prayers! Keep them coming! I love being a missionary. It's the greatest thing ever!
Love always,
Shay
xoxo
Wow, it seems like every week I hear someone new that reads my blog and then emails me. I feel SO MUCH love and support from back home! I am seriously so blessed. Thank you thank you thank you! I love you all!
ALSO.. oh my goodness Michael and Kacie! You guys sent me the best package EVER! Thank you so, so much! Wow! Whit, thanks for helping :) haha. I loved everything! That was so nice and you spoiled me! And your baby is BEAUTIFUL! ahhhh :)
Okay so it's Thursday today... gahhh it's been a loooong week and a half without a P-day. Haha P-day is seriously inspired. So glad we have them once a week :) But oh my goodness! Today the temple made everything worth it! The temple is BEAUTIFUL. And you know? It's the same :) Different languages, different faces, but the same feeling, the same gospel, the same Heavenly Father. It's so neat that even clear over here across the world, the Church is true. We worship in the same way. It's so wonderful :) btw if you were wondering, the session was in English and they had translating headphones for everyone that needed it in Cantonese, or Thai, or Mandarin, or Tagalog, or whatever. So many different languages, it's crazy!
I'm trying to think what happened this week... so many things, I don't know what to write! I do have a cold... boo. How does that happen in the heat?! I'm not sure. Right now I can't breathe AT ALL. Hoping to get better soon! One of our less actives that we always visit gave me this huge thing of ginger and a lemon and told me to roast the ginger over the burner, and then boil the roasted ginger and lemon slices in Coke. Maybe I'll try it! It's worth a shot!
Mom and Dad, you'll appreciate this one. We went LA finding last Friday. We were looking for a lady named C... yes, she's from Japan! But she married a man from Hong Kong. Anyway, we usually don't have very much success LA finding because the guards for the building hardly ever let us in. But this time, he did! So we go up to C's apartment and we can hear a bunch of little dogs barking inside. Ring the doorbell, blah blah.... k she actually invites us IN. When does that happen?! Never, I tell you. Never. It was great! So we were sitting there talking to her, and then she said, "Why don't you stay for dinner?" so we stayed for dinner. The greatest part was that her sister-in-law was there, her non-member husband, and her husband's friend. That's 3 CONTACTED REFERRALS IN ONE DAY! Can't tell you how excited we were. Her husband was so funny. He spoke pretty fluent English but he was just hilarious. He told us about 10 times, "I'm a retired policeman! Retired!" I mean what are you supposed to say to that after the 10th time. "Wow, that's so great! Good for you!"? It was awesome. It was the best LA visit ever. We stayed like 2 hours. When C said the closing prayer at the end, she cried and we almost cried. Then she gave us each a box of crackers and said, "Come back anytime!" The only thing is, she can't come to church because she works. So we'll be working pretty closely with her. Stay tuned!
Some things you should all know about Chinese culture:
1. Talking with your mouth full is TOTALLY appropriate. Everyone does it. And if you don't do it, you're weird.
2. However acceptable talking with your mouth full is, picking your teeth with a toothpick without covering your mouth with your hand is NOT. I'm not really sure why, but it's very rude to just pick your teeth without covering it up.
3. Burping. ALL. THE. TIME. Like, in the middle of a conversation, when you're giving a talk in church, literally all the time. It's so gross. haha, I'm used to it now though. But at first I thought it was sick.
4. You HAVE to eat what people give you. So if they make too much food, there's no saving it. Eat it. Even if it's nasty.
5. Stand on the right side of the escalator if you just want to stand. If you want to run up the escalator, go up the left side. If you want to walk.... that's just not an option. Everyone is in too big a hurry.
Okay I can't think of anymore right now. There are some good ones :)
Sister Aldana and I are getting along great! We laugh A LOT, which is so good. I'm so happy that all of my companions and I can laugh together. We had the funniest thing happen. We were paak muhning (knocking doors... we have a few places where we can do that here!) and we knocked on this one door and this little bald Chinese man answered... wearing NOTHING but purple polka dotted panties. Panties. Not boxers. Panties. He saw us, screamed bloody murder and then yelled, "Dang a dang!" (wait a second!) and slammed the door. OH MY GOSH. Sis Aldana and I couldn't hold it in. We busted up laughing sooooo hard. It was so funny! We barely got it together by the time he answered the door wearing clothes. Anyway, he is so great! He came to ward FHE the other night, we turned him over to the elders to teach, and now he wants to get baptized! What a miracle! Yay! :)
OH YEAH! I SAW MY OLD TUHNGBUHN! I saw Sister Morgan, my comp from the MTC! It was like the greatest reunion ever. We were walking up the road to the church and they were coming out of the church and we saw each other and ran to each other screaming. Probably all the Chinese people thought we were nuts :) Soooo happy! I love being able to see all my old friends! I love being here!!
In English class last week, a new older man came. He spoke NO Engish at all. His name was Gwok too, so he was like "Yatyeuhng! Yatyeuhng!" (same! same!) ha. So I sat by him to help him with his English. The whole time, he was being really creepy and scooting closer to me. At one point, he says in Chinese, "Are you married yet?" I was like, "Um, no, let's listen to Elder Allen! Let's learn some English!" A little later he says, "Have you eaten dinner yet? Want to go together after?" I was like, "No, I don't." and then he writes down his number on a piece of paper and gives it to me. hahahahahaha soooo creepy. Gotta love it.
In my personal study this week, I read this scripture, "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). That made me think about the hard things we've endured this week. SO MUCH finding time with very few people interested. People not showing up to appointments. People not answering our phone calls anymore. Hours of being on the street, sweating like crazy. But you know? Jesus Christ overcame ALL of these things so He would know how it felt for us. He has lifted me up in the times when I thought I couldn't make it. He has brought me comfort and peace when I feel discouraged and doubtful. I am so thankful for His infinite sacrifice that makes it possible for Him to help me like this. I love Him. I want to be more like Him.
Well, I have to get off now. I will be back on Monday (Sunday night for all of you!) Thank you all for your ever present support. I feel it! I feel your prayers! Keep them coming! I love being a missionary. It's the greatest thing ever!
Love always,
Shay
xoxo
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