I am an awful daughter for not writing anything about your birthday last week. But I DEFINITELY remembered! I love you so much! I hope your day was great. You are the best mother in the world. I couldn't put into words how much you mean to me. Thanks for being my best friend. :) I can't wait to see you in....... a little while! ;)
I love you all so much! I love hearing from you and feeling of your love and encouragement. I have the best family on the earth! Do you all know that?!
This week... I don't even know where to start. So many wonderful miracles! I LOVE THIS AREA!
Monday: We saw Sister Yeung's mom! It was awesome! I was so nervous because I just want to help her SO much. She is so sweet. She chenged us to dinner and gave us a big bag of food to give Sister Yeung and a big bag of food to keep for ourselves! She has a really strong Mandarin accent that made it really hard for me to understand her.... for instance, she told us that her mom had died, but I didn't know what she said, so I said, "Hou hou." (very good!) It was humiliating. But, it was fine. We're working on how to help her have more gospel interest because right now, she just doesn't understand. It'll come, though. Miracles are given to those who seek and expect them.
Tuesday AKA ELDER HOLLAND DAY!!! Elder Holland. He CAME to THIS mission to speak to ME! I feel incredibly blessed. It was the most wonderful meeting. We got a big group picture with him! So I'll forever have proof that I met him in person (besides at the Store in Midway, of course haha). I know you want all the details, so here they are:
We rode a $35 bus down to Wan Chai from the New T's. I love riding buses in HK. Everything is so beautiful. When we got to the Wan Chai chapel, all the missionaries were there! Like 45 minutes early. I loved seeing everyone from our mission. I love these people SO much. It's weird I've only known them this long, I feel like I've known them forever and we've been best friends forever. I got to see all my MTC groupies which was a blast. Man I miss and love them :)
Elder and Sister Hallstrom spoke to us first. I was looking so forward to Elder Holland, I forgot that I would enjoy their talks as well! They were amazing. I learned a lot about pondering. Sister Hallstrom said, "Entrances to holiness are everywhere." I've thought about that a lot since then and realized that it's so true. Entrances to holiness for me include the MTC, personal study every morning, a classroom in the church where the sun pours in, every night before bed when I'm on my knees..... I could go on. I love finding these holy places and feeling the Spirit. I'm growing like I never would have believed.
Then, Sister Holland spoke to us. What a lady. Her talk was INCREDIBLE. I loved it as much as I loved Elder Holland's. She spoke about prayer and when Christ visited the Nephites in 3 Nephi 19. She spoke of how they prayed to Him, and how they never stopped praying. She told of how Christ felt when He prayed to the Father for them, and how His countenance shown upon them. He was so proud of them and loved them so much. Sister Holland brought that experience to life for me. What a magnificent privilege it is for us to pray to our Father. He's our FATHER. I was thinking, if I called up my dad right now, I'd have 70 billion things I'd want to talk to him about. I'd never want to get off the phone. Am I like that when I pray? Do I have 70 billion things to talk to my Father in Heaven about? Do I never want to get off my knees? Sometimes. But I want that feeling more often.
Okay. Now. Elder Holland. His talk was incredible. He told us that he loved us. He told us how much our missions should mean to each of us. He said, VERY emphatically: "The Lord has already lost enough sheep. Don't you EVER let Him lose the shepherds." He talked about how all of us need to make sure that we are forever changed and converted by this mission experience. I sat there thinking, how am I going to do that? How am I going to make SURE that I never change back to the person I once was? I never want to be that Shaylee again. I want to come home a completely new person -- changed from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet (and not just fatter). I want to be able to say, like Elder Holland said to us, "I know this gospel is true more than I know you sit there and I stand here." I want to be converted with everything I am and everything I have. I love Elder Holland. He is such a powerful speaker. When the meeting was over , I never wanted to leave. I never wanted him to leave. I could have sat there for days, eating up his words and feeling the Spirit stronger than ever.
Wow, this email is already super long and I'm only on Tuesday....
Skipping to Sunday:
Connie got BAPTIZED! She is converted, man. Her testimony was INCREDIBLE. She is so much better of a person than I am. She wants to do what's right! Later she was telling us about her sister. She said she's been trying to share the gospel with her. She said, "it's not that I want to persuade her to join the church, it's that I want THIS happiness for her." It was such a sweet and tender testimony. You can tell she has truly been changed.
Okay I'm out of time. Gahhhhh!!!!! I love you all! Most of all, I love the Lord. I LOVE this work. There is so much to be done and I'm so glad I can assist in the doing. I am changing every single day and I love it. I couldn't be in a better place.
I love you all SO much! You're my inspiration! :) "You bring meaning to my life... you're my inspiration!" Okay wow enough worldly songs. ;)
Love always and forever,
Sister Shay
xoxoxxoxo
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