Dear Mom,

New York is starting to get cold. I can't wait for summer! Thank you for sending the boots to me and the blender. They both are working good!
 

On Thursday we didn't have any hot water in our apartment. I really needed to shower but didn't want a cold shower so I went back to the olden days- the pioneer days haha! If you ever get cold in the house or the heater is not working, here is what you can do:

All you need is: Pot, Bucket, Heater (can be stove or fire), measuring cup or any kind of cup.

1. Pour water into the pot and boil

2. After boiling put it in the bucket

3. If you feel the water is enough for you to clean yourself, take it to the bathtub 

4. Get the measuring cup and pour on yourself. Don't burn yourself. Wash your body and hair and you're all clean :)

Do you know what is sad? The hot water came back right after I finished my boil water theory. But hey, I am not that blonde :)

 

 On Friday, we had our interview with our mission president... That man..... I honestly love him. He has such a big heart and he gave me great advice. He knows my struggles with Sister Wang. He said, "Sometimes we try and find a weakness in someone, how about trying to see the best in her." And later he said, "Sister Moore, be bold but loving toward her." Afterward he was explaining that I have the gift of charity and love. If I am in the room with him, the whole environment changes and he feels such great love. He looked into my eyes and said, "Never ever let anyone take advantage of you with your gift of love and charity." I was taken aback and it was like Wow!
 

I have decided to continue to try my best with Sister Wang by letting her help me when I know I am capable enough, by complimenting her, by trying my best to be kind to her, and etc. so far so good. Whenever she gets too close to me I will tell her to stop a little bit more bold. She has admitted to me that she does not like me talking to other missionaries and she gets super jealous when I talk with other missionaries so I feel super bad. I also feel like she doesn't like getting referrals from certain missionaries and she would say rude things and I would normally clean up the mess and thank the missionaries for their awesome work and try to make them smile. It's ok, I am definitely learning a lot from Sister Wang. I need her as my companion.
 

I am not sure if I ever told you about Tina Chen and Ray Chen. They are the missionaries' grandparents. I absolutely love those two so much! Ray and Tina met on their mission. They liked each other but didn't want people to know but somehow they knew. On the mission for Tina's birthday, the elders wrapped Ray in wrapping paper with a  bow and showed up at Tina and her companion's apartment and knocked. Tina answered and the elders said, "Happy Birthday!" Awkward loving birthday on the mission! Ray is such an awesome guy, very strong and healthy! He is very intelligenct but not a doctor... He explained how eating more fruits and vegetables can cure anything. He said we don't need to eat protein from meat, we can eat protein from certain kinds of vegetables. He doesn't eat meat, or any kind of diary. He is a healthy strong guy.

 

On Friday, Elder Wutrich, Elder Johnson, Sister Wang, and I were on our way to street sweep. We saw a lady running with her cart (here, we call it chino-cart) toward me. Elder Johnson pushed me out of the way and I almost fell. Elder Johnson and the lady started to laugh. Then I realized who the lady was.... Tina! Here is our conversation:

 

Me: 为什么你要杀害我？(Why do you want to kill me?)

Tina:因为我很爱你 (Because I love you!)

Me: 好的。(Fine)

I almost died....
 

The next day Tina came with us to help out with our lesson with Sister Li. On our way to the lesson, Tina was talking about whenever the elders have their bikes, she would hang them on a tree... Are you kidding me? She is awesome! Tina is shorter than me but really strong! Before I arrived to New York, Tina had arm wrestle competitions with everyone in the branch and beat them all. Now that I showed up, she and I did arm wrestles and I beat her. She wants to do the competition again so she can try and best me. Tina and Ray have such a strong testimony! I absolutely adore them and can't wait for you to meet them!
 

Earlier this week, I felt like I wasn't useful enough in the mission. I wasn't seeing any changes. I asked myself why I am here.

 

I am going to tell you about Sister Li. She always wears a green sweater. We meet with her every week, and every Sunday and she wears the same green sweater. Sister Wang and I call her Li Green Sweater. (Don't put that in the blog haha.) I was very lucky to be able to see the changes in her. Part of her testimony comes from meeting me. Everyone she sees.... She telsl about her testimony. She said she was very grateful to have known me. She explained that I was passing out flyers and she grabbed my flyer. If I had not been there she wouldn't have grabbed anyone's flyer. She then has the desire to come to church and learned the gospel. She read her BOM and straightforward told her testimony. It was amazing. She had a baptismal date for February 15. Now she has a baptismal date for January 25. She is so ready!!

 

On Sunday, Nicole Wu taught Relief Society about God's greatest commandment is to love the lord. Sister Wang commented on it, "Sister Moore is deaf and the Lord could have called her to ASL mission but he sent her here because He knew she can love the people here and she can speak Chinese because she loves God." Nicole then bore her testimony of how much she loves me and how I helped her, she was getting teary eyes that made me want to cry. I felt at that moment I was needed there. 

 

Jenny and Gao are doing alright. Remember Jenny, I found her the first week I was here. She was in a terrible bus accident but survived. I have been praying she and Gao will get baptized. We had to keep pushing her date back because she hasn't been coming to church but has been meeting with us. Jenny and Gao are struggling financially  and because Gao is not use to the American lifestyle so they had an argument. Pray for Jenny and Gao so they can find love for each other and realize how the gospel can help them.

 

Kiki and Jerry, they are husband and wife. The elders gave Kiki to us and we taught her. She has such a pure heart. We invited her to baptism and she was willing but wanted her husband to join the discussion and accept baptism first so they can do it together. Please pray for Jerry.

 

Jean is one of our English class students, she is a great lady. Something had happened that made her want to learn the gospel. She has lost 3 older brothers and I am not sure what happened. Please pray that she would soften her heart and have the desire to learn and feel the spirit because I think her heart is a little bit hardened.

 

We met Sarah and Jerry yesterday at church. Sarah is a mom, Jerry is a son. They walked in the church and we taught them. They have such a huge desire to learn, they kept asking, "What's next? What's next?". I felt like at that moment teaching the lesson that I was possessed by the spirit. I was able to speak Chinese. Please pray for her so she can continue to meet with us. When I saw her I saw her as a member present in future lessons. I had a great feeling she will join the church eventually.

 

On Saturday, at the church I saw two ASL sister missionaries. I love those two sisters so I asked what they were doing in Flushing. They told me that they were doing look ups in Flushing for there is a lot of deaf people here in Flushing. They showed me a list and there was a lot. Those two sisters really wanted me in their ASL program. They have an interview with president this week and gonna beg him for me to join haha. The ASL missionaries cover the whole area of New York South and Manhattan. They have about 6 elders and 4 sisters in the ASL program. They are begging for more. Same with the Chinese program.
 

What I learned this past week:

I learned that I should be eating more like a princess by eating one rice at a time and cover my mouth with my hand when chewing and eat very slowly. I like it this way, I get full easier and am more beautiful.

 

I am learning how to write Chinese characters. My goal is to know 100 characters this year. Turns out that I am more comfortable writing  right handed than left when it comes to Chinese characters and it's more beautiful! Cool huh?
 

I have been sick everyday for the past 3 weeks with headache and dizziness. I am getting a little worried about it. I am trying to push myself through the day and take medicine. I also started to drink more water. So pray for me that I will feel better so I can work harder in the Lord's work.
 

This past week I learned a lot from the New Testament. I think I am in love with one of the disciples named Stephen. He has such a big heart and is full of faith. Through his faith his love for others increased tremendously. He was not ashamed of sharing the gospel. He knew he was going to die eventually by sharing the gospel. He last word was, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." (Acts 7) He loved the people and he loved the Lord. I love how the scripture said, "Stephen was a man full of faith" I wish others and the Lord could say, "Sister Moore was a woman full of faith." Throughout this whole week I learned so much about faith and tried to apply it to my life and I have noticed that my hearing improved and my speaking the language improved. I know this is the true gospel!

 

I love you mom and thanks for everything!!!

 

Love, 

Sister Moore