SERVant

        Shout out to Charter Construction and Taylor Toutai for teaching me how to use a jackhammer! Surprisingly enough, it actually became a useful skill for my mission. In my personal studies I came across a line in the bible that really struck me. "Now after the death of Moses the servant..." (Joshua 1:1) When all was said and done, after the mighty works and wonders that were wrought at the hands of Moses, after he had played the role of leader and minister for 40 years of hundreds of thousands, his final title was that of servant. That really made me think hard about what I am striving to become.
        When we see others with prominence or recognition, how often do we desire to be recognized for our deeds, and granted a title of honor? But in reality, the greatest honor we can obtain is to be of service to another. Do we take time every day to play that role? In the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we are given great opportunities to sacrifice our time in the service of god and our fellow man. This past week we met a young man that has had such a rough past. He got so involved in substance abuse that when he tried to leave it because it was killing him, it left such a big hole that he is struggling to pick himself up from it. I was so glad to be able to testify of the transforming and healing power of the atonement through the gospel of Christ. I had to obtain that testimony through difficult experiences, but I was glad to be able to serve him by sharing that knowledge and hope with him. This week try finding a special opportunity to serve someone. I love serving The Lord, and I love personally serving the people around me. It brings me the greatest joy and fulfillment.

Welcome to Seneca!

I forgot what it's like to be able to teach in my native language English! The first morning I was so tired, I think I prayed in Chinese with my new companion Elder Jensen. It is really tiring to move around and get going in a new area. I feel like I've entered a whole new world! Our mission was visited this past week by Elder M. Russell Ballard, an apostle of The Lord. I'd like to share some of the principles that he taught us. First of all, he declared that not enough people are being baptized. We're not yet hitting our potential as a church. He simply stated that if we want to accomplish the will of The Lord and baptize more, we need to talk to more people. That's it, that's his solution. It seemed so appropriate for me and our generation of missionaries. I feel like because of advances in technology and general tendencies to be selfish, we've turned ourselves inwards and developed an entitlement sort of attitude. We need to learn how to turn our concerns outwards and become socially engaged individuals. Sometimes that can be hard but I don't have the excuse that my Chinese isn't so good anymore! I think all of us need to slow down and take time to talk to the new people that we come across every day. When I think of some of the friendships I've formed that way, feel like I can't afford not to open my mouth and talk to the cashier at the store, or the man next to me on the metro. I just had an awesome example! We were at a specialty store looking for some new shaving stuff, and the man at the counter kinda looked Chinese to me. I asked him where he was from, and he said China! I asked him what part in Chinese, and it threw him back for a second, and then he said Fujian! That's where my grandparents are from! I got to talk to him a little bit about the gospel and invite him to check out Mormon.org. There truly are opportunities all around us, let's catch them all this week.

New Bridges To Cross

        One of the neatest experiences of my mission was being able to Skype in to watch my good friend Jilun's baptism! Technology is just amazing! Even though we live so far from Arizona, we got to participate in the conversion process of a student that lives hundreds of miles away. My joy was so full when he got up to bear his testimony after is baptism and confirmation. We can reach and touch more people's lives and stay in contact with people who live so far away because of the blessing of technology. Make sure if you are using social media, you use it to be a positive influence on the world around you. We also got to go to the family history center with the Fengs and the senior Shens to do some family history work. It was very frustrating at first because they had done some research on the old family search system and they couldn't link up with their ancestors. After searching for a long time, I had the idea to put a dash in between the Chinese names of the individual we were looking for. He popped up!! That moment was so exciting! We could see the work done for him and we did not have to enter in the information again. Then Sister Shen couldn't find her father. We tried everything, and I kept asking her if she was sure we were spelling it right, and we were doing the standard Romanization for Chinese (pinyin) but then we thought to spell it in the old Taiwanese pinyin and they popped up! I had such a powerful feeling at that moment. I felt like we were bridging the past with the present.
        A few days ago I found out that I am being transferred! I definitely did not expect that. It's been 6 months since I have returned to the field, and I thought I would spend my whole mission in this branch! But The Lord has other plans. I had a really hard time accepting that reality at first. I love the people here so much, they're literally like family to me. We have done hard things together, and have enjoyed so much time together learning the gospel. I felt confused, and I felt like I must have done something wrong. I don't know if you have ever felt that way, but that is always my immediate reaction for some reason! That kinda disturbed me, and so I knelt to pray for understanding. I remembered the last Sunday that I spent at home, I sung the last few lines in the hymn "I'll go where you want me to go" at church. I remembered how much I trust The Lord to lead me where He wants me to be. It was so good to have that feeling reassured by my sweet mother on Mother's Day. She has always showered me with reassurance and encouragement, and my father has always inspired me to be excellent at whatever I do. The greatest comfort comes when even though we don't understand why we're crossing a bridge of great change, we trust in The Lord that if we are faithful, we will cross into greener pastures. Here's to a new beginning!

May the spirit be with you‏

      The highlight of my week was hearing from my mission president, President Peter S. Cooke at a conference held for the missionaries currently serving in the Washington DC area. Just think of it, the missionaries proselyting in the capital of your nation! There is so much influence that goes out from this area, how can we impact the people for good? There is an amazing young man just baptized into the young singles unit in DC, that is actually really good friends with Drake.. The Drake. He helps him write lyrics and things like that! Crazy right?? He said that Drake is Jewish, and that is what influenced the YOLO idea. He said that Drake believes existence ends with death, so you need to make the most of the time you have! Well this friend of Drakes wants to teach him about the real plan of salvation now. I'm always thinking about how I can better influence people for good. 

     My resolutions are always that I need to learn more, so that I can do more, and teach more. But the main message of President Cooke was that there is an unseen force that really makes the difference in people's lives. Kinda like Star Wars... We literally watched the clip of Hans telling Luke "may the force be with you," in the chapel.. The converting power of the spirit turns out to be the only force that can really make a lasting difference. I might be able to teach something really well, or use advanced Chinese, but that isn't going to help people come closer to Christ! What will actually comfort and empower faith comes from the spirit of The Lord. My mission, in essence, is to find the best method to help someone discover it for themselves. 
     We have been teaching a student in Arizona that my friend from home referred to me online. He had been taught by English speaking missionaries for 3 months, and said that he just could not accept baptism; because he was raised being taught that there absolutely is no God. Nothing we said or taught him could provide convincing evidence that God does exist, and actually cares about him. One day this past week, he had a big test to take. On his way to take the test, he felt so nervous! To the point where he wanted to turn around and go home. I've felt that before. But in that moment of fear, he said a prayer to Heavenly Father. During that prayer, he felt an overwhelming peace, and then an abiding confidence overcame him, and He knew it came from the spirit of God. Now he wants to be baptized! All it takes is a touch of the sweet spirit. 
     In all your efforts to help others, try and touch them not only with your love, but also with the spirit of God. I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that Christ lives. That the Book of Mormon is true, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet even in our day. This knowledge came to me in a way that I can't teach, but it can be learned, and it can be felt.