聖誕快樂!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Singdaan Faailohk! 聖誕快樂!!

First of all, I'm STOKED to talk to you on Christmas! Yippeeeeeeeee! It will be so fun! Everyone else is calling their families on the 26th, but I'm happy I get to talk to you on actual Christmas. What a great present! :)

Mom. I have to tell you how much we all LOVED and DIED over your package. Cutest thing ever! I was feeling pretty bad last week and then I went home from emailing and opened up your package, and it was like the Christmas spirit just flew out of the package and into my heart. Instantly. It was pretty cool :) Everything in there was wrapped up SO CUTE and you made everything so happy! I LOVE those mints, and they made our office smell deliciously like Christmas! It was the best thing ever. I decorated our apartment, I remembered what Christmas is really about, and I felt so much better. Ah, I love you. You are incredible.

This week was so great! Christmas is Christmas, be it China or Utah or Antarctica! It's so happy. Everyone is sooooo happy! Everyone has been giving us SO MANY PRESENTS! It's been fun. We have a good pile going around the Christmas tree you sent, Mom. So fun :)

Okay gosh I'm like already out of time... but that's okay cause I get to talk to you soon! :)

This week:

F thought that Heavenly Father was a demon because he punished her for not coming to church last Sunday (she had a bunch of problems at work). We helped resolve her concern, read the BOM with her, and gave her a Christmas card we had written for her. The next day, she had posted a picture of the card on Facebook {hey, did you know I use Facebook now? :)} and she told us she knows Heavenly Father loves her. CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!

W called us on Friday night freaking out about every problem in the book -- fasting, tithing, drinking tea, going to church for 3 hours, on and on and on. I talked to her for a long time but at the end of the conversation, she said she was going to go back to her old church and never come back to ours. I was so frustrated and sad and overwhelmed and devastated that I just started bawling when I got off the phone. But right when I hit "end", I hit my knees and prayed so hard that Heavenly Father would soften her heart. Right after I got done with my prayer, our elders sent us a scripture text and it was PERFECT for W. I sent it to her, and she showed up at church on Sunday. She walked into Sunday School and Sister Tidwell and I were like grabbing each other like we couldn't believe it. CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!

Sorry I only have time to share two. But those are the miracles that make up my days lately. Every day there are more and more, and I am amazed and humbled by the things my Father is giving me for Christmas. He's already given me the most wonderful opportunity, to be here in China and be learning and growing so much! I love it SO much!

I know that Jesus Christ lives. Sometimes it randomly hits me in the middle of personal study or out in the street or during a lesson. He LIVES. Which means He didn't just come to earth and perform the Atonement and say it was done. He lives, right now, and in our hardest moments, I know He is there. That knowledge gets me through the tough times. I am so incredibly grateful to have the chance to serve Him -- really, truly serve Him, with all that I am and all that I have. It's the most sacred privilege. He was born so that He could save us all. It really is Joy to the World!

Glory to God in the HIGHEST! I love you all! Merry Christmas!

Love,
Sister Gwok (so apparently in British pingyam it's spelled Kwok... but I like Gwok better. And you pronounce it Gwok... soooo. Yeah. and stuff ;)
xoxo

Surprise!!

HEY FAM!

So... you know how Sister Aldana and I got called to be Sister Training Leaders? And we thought we were staying together for another transfer and we were stoked out of our minds? Yup.

Surprise!!

Sister Aldana moved away to the New Territories... and they decided to make me SENIOR COMPANION with Sister Tidwell! Yes, Sister Tidwell! The same one that lived with us 2 months ago and the same one that I was in the MTC with. So now we are here in Cheung Sha Wan together! Crazy! I will miss Sister Aldana and the awesome missionary she is, but I'm happy I get to stay here. I love this area and this ward. It's weird and crazy being senior... I'm still getting used to it and it's stretching me a lot... but hey. With the Lord, we can't fail. I feel His help and I know that without it, I would have failed miserably already. So this will be a fun new adventure!

I'm getting really lazy/I don't have ANY time.... so I'm stealing this part of Sister Aldana's letter to tell you about a gigantic miracle that happened to us this week!

"I was really torn up that I wouldnt get a chance to see Yip JM again. {This is me now... Remember Yip JM and her son King? She had like 2 baptismal dates a few months ago and we LOVE her to death, but she went to mainland and disappeared! Haven't been able to contact her for months!} She should have been back from Mainland by then, but hadnt been answering her phone and everytime we went to stalk her and King, she didnt come by. As soon as District meeting was over, we decided to go out and stalk them one last time in hopes that she would come by. 3:30 came and passed. I was super bummed. I had been praying in my heart with all my might that I might be able to see her one last time. We sat down for a second and Sister Wilcox made some calls while I just sat there for a sec. ...... and then......

there she was. with King. walking down the path. I jumped up and ran over and gave her a gigantic bear hug. She was so surprized! I was crying again. This time out of happyness that my prayers were answered. She was like, "Why are you crying?!" I just said how much I missed her and how I was afraid that I wouldnt ever see her again. She was so touched. She said no one has ever missed her so much. Apparently her phone had gotten stolen and she hasnt felt like calling us cause she has been really sad lately. She looked sad. Her hair got darker and longer. Before she was quick to smile and laugh. But by the time we left she was happier and we were able to schedule her to see her the next day.

It was one of the BIGGEST miracles of my life. Heavenly father MUST hear and answer our prayers. I dont think that I will ever forget that day. It made me feel SO much better about leaving the area. Now that I know she wont be forgotten about I feel so much better."

It was one of the most incredible things of my life :) It was so amazing. We're so excited about her! She came to church yesterday with King and loved it, and she's coming to the Primary activity on Saturday.... ahhhh. So so so so good :)

So the rest of our investigators:

We met with Fantasy this week after not seeing her for 2. It was really good because we found out that she's been avoiding us because she heard that once she gets baptized, she can't drink or drink tea or "have any fun." She said that she's young and wants to have fun! We told her that, it's true, after baptism you can't do any of those things, but really, it's a blessing. We do it because we love Heavenly Father. She told us she doesn't even know if He exists yet, so we told her she needs to find out if He exists first. She's progressing but she has a lot of things that will need to change about her first. I'm happy I get to be a part of her changing process :)

Jeung JM is our BEST investigator.... but she can't come to church!! Her daughter has dance every Sunday morning. We're working on her though.... we want to tell her that she needs to decide which means more... the gospel or Hoi Yee going to dance. She is amazing. She has so many friends in the ward already (because our ward is AMAZING) and she loves everything we teach her. She loves the BOM, she loves the MoTab CD we gave her (thanks, Mom!).... she's so good. So prepared.

Chan JM is leaving for the rest of the month to go back to mainland for Christmas :( darn it mainland!! It's like a giant black hole that sucks people away.... where we can't call/contact them/see how they're doing/keep teaching them the gospel. It's rough. But when she gets back, we'll pick up right where we left off. I hope she keeps praying and reading. She needs it. Her cute little family needs it.

Yesterday we went to a Christmas devo that reminded me of the Handel's Messiah thing they do in Heber. But it was different. It was AWESOME. There was a choir that was dressed up in suits and red MoTab dresses and they sang a bajillion different Christmas songs. It was awesome and sometimes it was funny. Because they sang like some gospel soul music and clapped and danced. I love Christmas :)

I wish I had time to write everything about everything. But I don't. I love this work. Right now it's kinda hard, but I can do hard things. There is no doubt about it. The Lord helps us in every single way... when we're discouraged, stressed, lonely, sad, scared, tired, feeling inadequate, forgetful... He makes up for all of these things. I'm so incredibly grateful for Him. This Christmas season is THE BEST. I love it so much! Merry merry Christmas! Send me lots of pictures! I miss seeing your faces! :)

Love you always,
Shay
xoxo

Learning so much!!

My dearest family and friends,

This week has been crazy and I feel like I've learned SO much. So instead of giving you a play-by-play of what we've done, I'm giving you a play-by-play of my feelings/the many things I've learned.

On Wednesday, Sis Aldana and I went to our first ever Mission Leadership Council. I learned a TON. I loved it. I love being around President and Sister Hawks. They are so wonderfully wise... and also so wonderfully strict. {I know what you're thinking... wonderfully strict?} That was one of the biggest things I learned while at that meeting. There are a lot of rules and I honestly think this mission is one of the strictest out there. But at MLC this week, I received a hugely strong spiritual confirmation that President Hawks is called of God. He receives revelation on how to best direct the work here. And I'm so thankful to be in this mission with him. I'm thankful to have had strict parents growing up :) M&D, you really helped me realize what's THE most important. And I'm learning it more and more here.... it's soooo wonderful! I'm here to bring people unto Christ. That's it. That is my purpose. And i want it forever rooted in my heart.

On Sunday, I felt soooo spiritually uplifted. Our bishop's son came home from his mission in San Fran this past week so Sunday he gave his talk. He did such a great job! He also sang a song and had his sister accompany him on the piano, and then at the end bore a powerful testimony. He took his nametag out of his pocket... and right then, it hit me in the face:

This mission means everything to me.

I sat there, bawling, as he was testifying of how amazing it was to wear Jesus Christ's name for 2 years. I realized right then -- more than ever before -- how much I love what I'm doing and how much I don't ever want to stop. I didn't realize before, when other missionaries talked about how hard it was to "take off the tag", that it really will be hard. I don't want to ever do it. This is such a short period of time we have to be our best and represent Him well. I want to wear His name for others to see forever and always. And then I realized, I still can. I can wear His name on my heart for the rest of my life. But right now is going wayyyy too fast! I don't want it to end!

We had a "my conversion fireside" last night. Basically all the missionaries that are going home ask their recent converts to come and bear their testimonies. And we invite our investigators! :) So we invited J JM and her 8 year old daughter H Y. I hope they liked it as much as I did. It was so good. President Hawks bore his testimony in Cantonese at the end.... ahhhhh I got the chillllls. He is a powerful speaker. Even in Canto! He was saying that, in his opinion, everyone there has a "conversion story." even if you're just starting to investigate the church. It was really cool and it made me reflect a lot about how I came to know this church is true.

I'm so thankful for the chance to serve a mission. Sorry you get to just read all about my feelings this week ;) but I want you all to learn and grow as much as I am! There's no other place in the WORLD I'd rather be right now. Not even in Heber where it's -17 degrees ;) I'd rather be spreading the gospel over here in Hong Kong. I'd rather be a missionary, wearing the name of my Savior over my heart. I LOVE what I'm doing. I don't think I could adequately express how meaningful it is.

I love you all so much! Have a great week! Remember the reason for the season: our Savior, Jesus Christ, and His infinite love for us. It's because of Him that I'm even worthy to represent Him. What a blessing.

Love always,
Shay
xoxo

Sister Training Leader, COLD WEATHER WHAT?!, and more miracles :)

Leih hou my favorite gatihng and pahngyauh! How were all of your weeks? :) I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! But there's no way it was as good as mine! :)

But let's back up:

Monday: We taught L JM. It was actually her birthday so she made us dinner. It was.... pretty gross.... but we choked it down ;) we bought her a cake so we sang and then our message was from general conference. We watched Elder Holland's talk because we felt like that was what she needed. It was pretty disappointing because afterwards, we asked, "so what was he talking about?" and she said, "I don't know. I don't remember." We pushed and pushed and she still wouldn't say anything. She needs bigger desire....

Tuesday: EXCHANGES! Sister Foong and Sister Ainge aren't even in our zone anymore, they're the sister training leaders of the other zone, but we don't have any STLs so we still go on exchanges with them. I went to Sister Ainge's area, Tsim Sha Tsui, and it was CRAZY. Coolest thing happened. She was telling me about this potential investigator she found that works in Tsim Sha Tsui but lives in our area -- her name is C. So C is a jeweler, and Sister Ainge had a ring she wanted resized so she took it in to C. They ended up getting her number and everything and she was super nice. So Sister Ainge is like, "let's go pick up my ring and then you can meet C, since you'll be the one teaching her because she lives in your area." So we go to the jewelry shop. We walk in, and this lady from my ward, C JM is there! She's like, "Gwok JM!" and I'm like, "C JM!" ..... haha so come to find out, C is a LA! She's been LA for like 40 years and she's super good friends with C JM! It was just SO AMAZING. Heavenly Father has a plan for all of these LA to come back. It just so happened to be on the day we were doing exchanges that C JM visited her friend C, and we went by the shop too. It was so cool. I love seeing the little miracles and the way Heavenly Father guides us to certain people. It's awesome.

Wednesday: We taught English class. It was really fun! We watched "Create" mormon message beforehand and picked out some vocabulary they should know. Then during class we gave them the new vocab words and watched the mormon message a few times so that they could practice listening for the words. Played some games, had them create something with just a piece of paper.... it was fun and I felt very creative :)

Thursday: THANKSGIVING! Such a great day! W took us out for yam chah (dim sum) that morning. It was delicious and expensive and there was SO MUCH FOOD. {Then on Sunday she was telling us we needed to lose weight. Well if you want us to lose weight, stop taking us out to eat! haha Side note: people here are soooo blunt about the world "fat." they say it all the time. In Chinese, it's "feih." And I'm called feih on a regular basis. I want to say "I'm not that fat in America!" but they just think all Americans are really fat. haha} anyway, right after that we went to the church to teach C JM. It was SUCH A GOOD LESSON. Okay okay, back up. Gosh there's too much to write! So she was a little late. So before the lesson we decided to watch some mormon messages. The first one on the DVD was "mountains to climb." Have you seen it? It's SO GOOD. Sis Aldana and I started BAWLING. After it was over, we looked at each other and said, "Why did we do that??!" with tears streaming down our faces haha. But I know why we did it. We had a great lesson, and then felt prompted to show C JM that same mormon message. Afterwards, she started crying and opened up. She said she has breast cancer! It was so sad but also so good. She said she's so thankful to be learning about these things because at the church she really feels peace. It's the one thing in her life that brings peace. It was SO GOOD. Our member there was amazing too. Again, such a testimony that Heavenly Father cares! It was no coincidence we found C JM and C C and Y Y in the park that day! I'm so glad we can help them learn of Christ and come unto Him. It's such a humbling privilege.

Thanksgiving dinner was a blast. Everyone was assigned something (by Sister Pearl, she got put in charge of it because she likes to cook ha) and we had EVERYTHING American! It was awesome! Turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy and corn and stuffing and jello and somebody even found a can of cranberry sauce in the cupboard from last Thanksgiving haha! Plus Sister Pearl made apple and pumpkin pie for dessert. It was awesome and delicious and we played thankful games and it was probably one of the best Thanksgivings I've ever had :) it was hilarious to see elders make mashed potatoes. Ah, missions. Oh how I love them :)

Friday: YES. We got called to be the Kowloon West Sister Training Leaders! Sister Aldana and I both. WHICH MEANS WE ARE STAYING TOGETHER FOR THE NEXT TRANSFER! (we're pretty sure) WHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!! That'll be 6 months of us being together! Obviously we still have things to learn together :) so happy and excited! But also feeling very inadequate about being STL. I haven't even been a senior companion yet! Haven't trained! Barely been in HK 6 months! But the Lord makes weak things strong. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to serve. I hope I can do it well and help the other sisters in our zone.

GAH. There's like a bajillion more things to tell you but I'm out of time. I've gotta send pics still! It's been COLD lately! Weiiiiird!!!

I love you all with everything I am. I love Hong Kong with everything I am. I get on my knees every single night with the biggest smile on my face and my heart overflowing with gratitude that I am a missionary in Hong Kong. I absolutely love what I'm doing. It's hard, but nothing in my life has ever been more worth it.

Until next week! Merry Christmas month! Remember the Savior -- it's because He came into the world that we have hope and happiness. One of my favorite quotes from Elder Marcus B. Nash, "My life has color and meaning and light and flavor and hope because of Jesus Christ." Mine does, too.

I love you so much!

Love always,
Gwok Jimuih :)
xoxoxo