It gets colder, we get bolder

I didn't expect winter to hit so hard again! It snows here almost as much as it rains in Seattle ;) But it's not slowing us down! We finally have an investigator really preparing to be baptized! We are so excited for this gift and miracle that we get to be a part of. Yesterday in our adult church meeting, I testified of how our work is truly to help others receive the blessings of the gospel. It's not about how many lessons we can teach or how many people we lead to baptism. It IS all about the blessings that I get to experience, and help others receive because of my work here. Also, a lot of Chinese people are super busy right now because of the upcoming celebration of Chinese New Year this Saturday. Today while we were shopping for food, my companions and I were comparing how often our family would shop for groceries at home. My family goes costco shopping once a month. My mom loads up two shopping carts and we're set for at least 3 weeks! Elder Gerber-Kai said they'd go shopping at least once a week. Elder Wang says they shopped every single day! Maybe that's why these people are so busy! I'd never have time for anything if I had to shop every single day. Though it is always freezing outside, and most people are too busy to talk with us, the Chinese Elders are burning with faith and desire!

Surprise visitors and blessings

Before sacrament meeting started this week, this Sister walked in and it struck something in my memory. I couldn't figure it out for the longest time and we just stared at each other for a minute, then it clicked! She was one of my substitute teachers in the missionary training center from 18 months ago! She came to visit one of the members of the branch who was a member of her home ward in Hong Kong previously. Elder Wang also knew her parents from their service as senior missionaries in the Hong Kong Temple. It must have been so good to see someone from China! Later that day we checked on an investigator, and she wasn't home.. Not something rare.. And we were sitting in the car trying to figure out what we should do, when she pulled up! Miracle! But it doesn't end there. We jumped out of the car to go talk to her, and we ran into this elderly lady from Hong Kong, and so I started talking to her. She barely spoke mandarin, so I had to guess a lot of what she was saying, but she understood everything I said and expressed interest in meeting with us! By the time we got to catching the investigator again, she had walked away with a friend! It's so strange how things work that way sometime, but I always see the Lord's hand in it. We finally started an English class this week! We have a senior missionary named Sister Divine helping us in the effort, and she is such a great teacher and friend! We're looking forward to helping lots of people learn English!

One of my teachers from the MTC!

汪长老!!

God is calling in the heavy troops! The new fresh from Guang Dong China 18 year old Elder Wang is the greatest asset to the Washington DC North mission, and I get to be his companion! He joined the church 6 years ago when his mother's friend introduced him to the church. At first, he said that he thought church was really boring and irrelevant to his life. He attended church once, made the journey to Hong Kong and was baptized at the age of 12. He gradually began to develop a testimony of the gospel as he read the Book of Mormon and continued to go to church. He is now fully converted, and very capable of teaching Chinese people the principles of salvation. He connects with the people that we teach in a way that I just cannot, and he is so anxious to help many souls come unto Christ! I feel a renewed energy and enthusiasm to do the work and to be more diligent. This week we got a referral from mormon.org with a lady who was taught by us 6 months ago, but then we thought she moved to China for good. She's back! And she's been praying every single evening and studying from the Book of Mormon. We are so excited to teach her. We also met with an exchange student working at NIST that just believes in God without any religious background. It's going to be a great week, a great transfer, and a great year 2014!

2014, Year of the Horse!

And boy do I plan on working like one! I was so tired on New Years Eve that I fell asleep at 10:30 just like I was supposed to. We spent the evening at the Washington DC Temple Visitor's center as there was a special Chinese Dance event. So many Chinese people showed up for the outstanding performance. I didn't actually watch it.. Because I was talking to people about the gospel! It was so invigorating, and so exhausting! We met this super nice couple from Jinan that actually study religions. They have not yet had exposure to the Mormon church, and were really interested to know more about our history and beliefs. We got to meet with them as recently as yesterday and share with them our message of the restoration. I felt like it was more of an interview, because they had a lot of questions about the operations of the church. No matter how we testified and invited, it just didn't set in as something that could really help and change their life. I hope a majority of the rising generation in China has a real desire to come closer to God, and to discover the true purpose of their lives. I'll be training a new missionary born and raised in China starting this next week! I am excited to introduce him to the wondrous work going on here at the MCB!