Dear Mom,
This past week was a really good week.
We went and visited Gloria Wu, a relief society president. I've been
trying to meet with her for months but it was hard. Sister Wu invited
us over to lunch. It was such a blessing to be there with her. We got
to know her and I am grateful for her example. She explained how she
got to know the church and how it took her 3 years to get baptized. She
taught about she met her husband and how he was a bishop for 7
years before I showed up. She is a funny woman with a sweet heart. We
definitely built her trust and we decided to work together to increase
the attendance of church. We were close with her. That was amazing!
We taught Crystal. We decided to treat her with lunch and a movie, "Joseph
Smith" I could tell Crystal were very involved. When I was with Sister
Johnson, Crystal told us that she didn't believe the church was true.
But she believes it's a good church. She didn't really have a
testimony of Joseph Smith. She met with us. I was watching her through
some parts of the movie and I could tell she was involved. After the
movie, she kept asking questions. "Joseph went through that?" We
answered, "Yes" she was amazed with Joseph's life and she didn't know
he died young. We testified about Joseph and he has never wavered in his
faith even when life gets tough. We testified how we wanted to be like
him. I could see Crystal's countance change into something better. She
talked to us about some of the things she was struggling with. She is
learning to open up and strive to do better as a person. I love
Crystal with all my heart.
We met with A LA It was such a powerful and interesting lesson.
Powerful because the spirit was there and interesting because she was
teaching us. She works at the MTC as an "Investigator" and she was
talking about how specific missionaries can or cannot grab attention.
Sister Lee was explaining how it was easy for me to grab attention of
others. The lady explained that I was disabled and Chinese people are
amazed that I could speak Chinese through my deafness. She uses the
analogy that I never thought I would have used and it was so cool to
see her perspective. She used the analogy of David and the Goliath.
Goliath is a very very very large man and David is a tiny little boy.
David's disability was being small but God made him look large and
overcome Goliath. Just like how God used my deafness to show blessing
to others. We all have disabilities in some ways and let God show forth
his power and blessings by using you and your disability. Thought that
was epic!
We met with Zhaoyi. She was super epic. We asked her if she has any
questions. She had alot of questions about the BOM. She was in Nephi
13 and we were amazed she got that far. She admitted that she skimmed
through but knows as she read she will receive answers to her
questions. She shared her experience with WOW. She said ever since we
taught the Word of Wisdom, she was touched. She said that even though
we taught her wow she could lie to us and has never drink or do in
secret but then she realized that God would know what's she doing. She
got rid of her alcohol and coffee and etc. She said she felt more
happy when that happened. We showed her the Joseph Smith short version
movie. She really like it and her testimony had increased a lot. She is
pregnant and is due next month and she said, "I can't wait till I get
baptized in June." We were shock because we never gave a baptism date.
She is super solid and ready to be truly converted.
Zhaoyi's uncle was talking with the elders. He pointed at me and said
something in Chinese. I was focusing on something else. Elder Ng
pulled me aside and said, "Zhaoyi's Uncle said you provide a great
example for her and that he wanted to thank you." I was like I didn't
do anything. The spirit was the one in the lessons. As Sister Lee has
always said, "If the people don't understand you that means they are
not listening to the spirit." The spirit worked through all of us.
We taught English Class. I remember when I said that I hate English
Class. Well... I love it! I was teaching english and they were
helping me improve on my Chinese. Sister Lee got up to talk with
Shreeve and Andersen. I was having fun! I love my students and we just
laugh and enjoy our time! I was glad I was helping them learn new
words and it was great to see their smile and help them accomplish
something. I felt God had answered my prayer for developing the gift
of teaching. I had passion for that today. We finished with English
Class and Sister pulled me aside and said, "You did so good! Sister
Shreeve and Andersen and I were talking about how amazed we were with
you! We are amazed that you're deaf and how you can speak and
understand Chinese." Sister Andersen came up to me and gave me a big
hug and said, "you're one of the most inspirational people I have ever
met." I know God has been helping me to become a better person and
develop better skills at teaching. That was a blessing to me!
After English Class, I saw that Liz was in a room with Elder Johnson
and Elder Chung. When she saw me she said, "Sister Moore!" And she
wanted a hug. I remember the day when she didn't smile or want to talk
to us. Now she just looooooves us! I love her! I hope one day she will
be able to recognize God's love for her.
We passed Miranda off to someone in Bayshore. I will miss Miranda a
lot. She is such a blessing in my life. She has gone through a lot in
her life, but her faith remains strong! So she will be going to English
branch near her home, she doesn't have to come 1.5 hours all the way
out here. We will try and go to her baptism! I am proud of her!
I really loved Gerald Causse's talk in General Conference. The spirit
was so strong when I heard him speak! He really emphasized a lot on
remembering and not forgetingt. We have seen so many miracles and
blessings in this mortal life but we are soon to forget them because
of our trials, struggles, hardship, and focusing on what the world
thinks of us. Few weeks ago I challenged myself to write the blessings
and miracles God have done for me or for others which I see through my
own eyes. I can't tell you how much joy and happiness I feel when
writing and reading the things in my gratitude journal. When I do that
my spiritual sense has increased and I have come to realize that
blessings have never ceased from us! The word "Cease" is an imagined
word that appeared in our minds. We just need to hear with our ears
open and see with our eyes open.
Iris changed her baptism date from May 9 to April 19. We feel that she is ready and her testimony is so strong and she has such a great testimony of the gospel. I am so happy for her. She and I have become such good friends.
Me, Sister Hironakaand Iris
Few months ago we have two men from the general authorities speak to us.
They said that as soon as we go home we need to get married and have a
family. General Conference emphasized a lot on family. Sister Lee and I
were like "what the heck?" So I am a little scared to go home haha!
Sister Lee was just amazing. She truly has the gift of love and
caring. She never ceases to amaze me and I am lucky that I have her as
my companion. She is a joy and happiness to this mission! I can't wait
for you to meet her mom! She is fantastic!
My Easter was very good! We watched General Conference at the church and ate the goodies that Sister Lee's mom sent us. A lot of our investigators showed up, so that was cool!
We ate Chinese food at a member's house. It was really good! We ate with a few of the members from the ward and we had a testimony meeting so that was cool!
Conference was indeed very cool! We did notice a lot of people were old. Sister Lee thinks Elder Bednar is very sick because he look thin and looks like he has cancer but not telling anyone. Wow! It's crazy. Yeah I was confused why Thomas S Monson wasn't talking much. It's crazy how people yelled when they opposed! The world is ending.
Glad to hear that your Easter was fantastic!!! Glad Justin and Emily are still doing great together!! Glad to hear Grandma is doing well! I am grateful grandma is helping me with the mission!
I still can't believe you are engaged and getting married to Danny in 19 days. Glad to hear he is doing good! I will be there for the wedding. I talked with president. He approved and felt that it was a good decision for both of us. I can't believe it. The top people I want to talk to you is you and Traci. Hopefully she can be there. Hopefully I can get a one on one with Danny so I can get to know him better ;)
Lately I've been having nightmares about strong people falling away or people who are recent converts plus returning members falling away. I wanted know how Ron and Traci are really doing. How's Kristi? How's Heather Layton? How's the youth? How's Mandy Jensen? How's Mandi? I have so many people in mind.
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