What think ye of the Christ?

     In the book of Matthew chapter 22 the political leaders of Jerusalem test Jesus with a few questions. The first being if they should give tribute to Caesar or to God, the next what happens with remarriages. The final questions asks what is the greatest of all the commandments. Then Jesus takes the opportunity to ask his own question, "What think ye of the Christ?" When President Cooke posed this question at our annual Christmas conference, I stopped to search my soul and find my own answer.
    Right now I live in one of the most politically active areas of the world. It seems like there are no bounds to the hypocrisy and deceit that engulfs the world around me. We try to avoid the news, but everyone is talking about the civil unrest and the terrible crimes that are committed. I remember when I was in northwest DC and I contacted a man on the district council and a woman that is an ambassador for the national government in the same day. This past week we didn't have very many opportunities to teach, but one person that I've been working with really took a turn south. In response to our challenge to investigate the Book of Mormon, they investigated websites that attack the church and the Book of Mormon. I can't say how much that hurt, it put my testimony to the test. Maybe that's why the word test is at the beginning of testimony because it is meant to be tested. You need only to turn to the scriptures to rebuild and remember the faith and testimony you once had. Elder Thornton pointed out something really profound.
     Last April Elder Packer shared his special testimony. He started by quoting Joseph Smith, "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!“For we saw him” (D&C 76:22–23). Their words are my words." I don't have a witness of the resurrected Lord that leads this church, but I know that Elder Packer does. I can trust that good man and the witness of the living prophets and apostles. That is what they are there for! They are here to teach us what we ought to think of the Christ, and what we should do in response to having that knowledge. We should think of Him as the only way that will lead us home back to our heavenly Father to live with our families eternally. We should be willing to submit to all the Lord's commands and ordinances to help us live that way. If Jesus Christ came in resurrected form to you this Christmas or New year and asked, what think ye of the Christ? What would you have to say to him?

Know what we have

     Yesterday we found out that one of our investigators spent the night in the emergency room because she had a few blood clots near her heart. We didn't have much time but we rushed over to give her a priesthood blessing. As we blessed her I felt the love our Heavenly Father has for her and for her family. I could feel how this illness could work to help her in her progression back to Him. It's been hard to set meetings with her, but she told us how she has been reading the Book of Mormon and she was much more anxious to try and meet with us this week.
     One of the recent converts of the Ward accepted our invitation to help host at the Temple Festival of Lights, and we accompanied him to go serve. As we turned the corner after exit 31 and he saw the temple rise up over the hill for the first time since being baptized. He expressed how taken aback he was by the beauty of the temple. He has lived near the temple since he was a child, and said that he actually used to make fun of the angel Moroni saying that he looked like he was wearing a diaper. This time was much different though. I realized how magnificent the temple truly is, and how over time I have forgotten how enchanting it is to see such an important place on the Earth. I felt a lot of loneliness as I saw so many families come to the festival, but I realized that because of the temple, I don't have to be on my own forever. Through the sealing power that is administered in the temple, we can have the greatest gift there is to have. I am grateful for eternal families, and will always try to remember that it is made possible by my Savior and by the temple.
     I got to go on my second exchange into Anacostia! I forgot what it's like to work in the city, it's a very different experience. I talked to as many people as I could and offered to share a special Christmas message with them. One young man was badly burned all over his hands and face, I felt so bad for him. But I thought in my mind, this man is my brother, and God has a special plan for him. I hope he accepts the gospel. The missionary I was on exchange with also did an awesome job at contacting. He came out at the same time as Elder Thorpe, so he is still pretty new at talking to people, he definitely didn't act that way. He taught this man the entire first lesson on the street! Then the man did an impersonation of Barack Obama... A few days later this Elder complimented my ability to talk with people. I am humbled because I never thought that was a strength of mine. That inspires me to to not give up on trying to do things that are hard for me. We need to recognize the talents that we do have, and the talents that we have potential to develop. There isn't a better time of year to serve the Lord, there isn't a better time to recognize what He has given us. I hope we can always remember Him, and always remember what we can become because of Him.

He is my Gift

      I think that during this time of year we envision the Christ captured forever in an infant state. It feels like His birth is a repeatedly occurring event as we celebrate it continually throughout our lives. This week it struck me that the truth is that Christ is currently a glorified and resurrected being, not a baby in a manger. How could this celebration of his birth help us to fill the commandment that He has given us to always remember him? Elder Russell M. Nelson put it well when he said, "Christmas is a time of reflection on what we can become because of God’s sacred gift." We can use this time to reflect upon the entry of Jesus into the world. He is the greatest gift that we have been given because only he can help us become the kind of people God created us to be. We can overcome death and all of our weaknesses because of this gift, Jesus Christ. I came on a mission after experiencing the help and healing power of the atonement that helped me become a better person.

     This past week we worked hard. I wasn't going to use transfers as an excuse to slow down! My new companion Elder Thornton is an amazing missionary, the strongest I know! We served in the same district a year ago for about 6 months. He has grown even more capable as a missionary having served in DC 3rd just like I did, and up in the Seneca Stake like I did as well. He is a powerful teacher and has a great understanding of the gospel. On top of the meetings we had to attend to this week, we scheduled as many teaching opportunities as possible. Last night we got to teach a man that Elder Peterson and I met at 8:29, our last door of the night. He let us right in and was interested to hear the message of the restoration. He agreed to be baptized if he finds out for himself that it's true.
      Our Ward Christmas party was so much fun! It is amazing that I knew every single person in attendance. I'm not sure that I was ever able to do that in my own home ward! After the party we had one of the best lessons of my mission. A young woman and her mother came to the discussion to help out. The investigator told us that she didn't understand why we were so persistent about doing missionary work. I asked the young woman why she would take time out of her Saturday to come to a gospel discussion. She got choked up when she proclaimed that she would otherwise be helping her dad with a project, but because of her testimony she has a desire to share the gospel, and wants others to feel the peace and joy that she has. I am so impressed with our youth! We tried to teach how temple ordinances make a difference in our lives, but it wasn't until the mother of the young woman taught that we don't just get married until death do we part but for time and all eternity that the principle made sense to her. I know that this investigator and her family can have so much joy and become even better people as they choose to follow the Savior and be baptized. I love this time of year, I love sharing the greatest message ever told. I hope you have the opportunity to help someone remember that He is the Gift.

The Hope of Israel!

It's been so wonderful to receive the words of my brother counterpart now serving as Elder AJ Lim. His powerful experiences and the changes that he is seeing in himself help me to recognize what a miracle my mission has been in my life. It helped me to also recognize how grateful I am for life, for my family, and for the gospel of Jesus Christ that make them full of joy. I know that the spirit AJ is experiencing is real and that the work that we are part of is the Lord's. I am impressed by his preparedness to be a missionary and to have a good attitude about the work he is doing now.
We had an amazing experience yesterday! We had an hour between appointments to do some finding, so we decided to test out a new Family History Survey contacting approach. The first door we knocked the lady was not interested in talking about her family history at all, but she said we could come back and share a message about Christ. I almost gave up on the family history thing right away. As we walked up to the third door I remember thinking to myself, I have seen so many miracles on my mission, I'm ready for another miracle now! A man in his mid 70s opens the door and invites us right in. I asked if we could sit for a few moments to conduct the survey and he agreed. We had a great conversation about him and his family, and he expressed interest in having us come back to help him use familysearch.org! At the end of the survey there are a few questions about beliefs about family and the next life and we discovered that he doesn't believe in God, and he doesn't believe that we have spirits. I believe that finding his ancestors will help him recognize that he does have a spirit, and that God does have a plan for him. Family history will be the gateway to the Holy Ghost for many people living on the Earth today.
The youth in our ward responded to our invitation to go help the missionary effort at the temple visitor center for the festival of lights. They paired up with missionaries, helped greet visitors and guests to the center, and did a lot of other jobs to supplement the work that the sisters usually do in the VC. Yesterday they got up in fast and testimony meeting to report their experience on Saturday evening. One young man told us with tears in his eyes that despite facing rejection by some, he got to talk to a man that was interested and give him a book of mormon. The young man proclaimed that he now has a great desire to serve a mission. Elder Peterson and I were so happy for him that we got teary. Many other youth stood up to share similar experiences and gratitude for missionary work. A parent of one of them stood to declare that these youth are more choice than any that have ever lived, and that we need to rise to the calling to be better parents to them to face the troubled world that stirs in turmoil. They are the hope of Isreal, Zion's army, and they are amazing.

Salvation Prevention

Trip to Arlington

    Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I had a great celebration for the third year in a row. This was my first non-Chinese celebration! In the morning we had a traditional Turkey Bowl with the ward members. There were so many people that showed up! They brought their boys just like my Dad used to bring my brothers and I out. Across the park in another field there was a bunch of strictly men playing an intense game. It impresses me how thoroughly our church believes in the importance of the family. We also don't just talk about it! We don't leave our children behind while we go have a good time. We include them in our activities and in our service to teach them and help them have a good life with us. My team also won the game! For some reason they had me playing on the line the entire time, and I'm like the smallest adult out there! We had an amazing meals with a really wonderful family the Verkerkes. We went over early to help them prepare the food and play some card games. I felt the spirit of love, gratitude, and family as we celebrated Thanksgiving together, I'll always cherish those memories.
     In the past year our mission has made an unusual push to try to utilize family history as a missionary tool. Just like the general body of the church is struggling to convert to family history, so are the missionaries. But I've been making special efforts to both learn how to use it effectively and discover how to help others to get into it. It is as important of a work as any that we could spend our spare time on. I've had the opportunity to help a nonmember and recent convert to the church start their family history in family search. Both attempts to link to their ancestors were unsuccessful and we weren't able to find any in the time of our visits. This past week we sent around a sign up sheet for anyone interested in some help with family history. One of the brothers in the Elders Quorum signed up for some assistance and we were excited! We went over and started from the beginning. I'm starting to get down the routine for starting an account and beginning searches. We put his father into the system, then his grandfather. We did an automatic search for records for his grandfather and it pulled up his family in the 1940 census. We attached the record to his grandfather, and then were pleased to find that the person who is his grandmother was already in the system and linked to the census! Once we attached her into the family tree we opened up at least 3 generations going back in his genealogy. We also discovered that there are 5th generation ancestors that have had temple work done. Meaning that this convert brother, who has no relatives that are members of the church, indeed has some distant relatives that are members! What an amazing discovery! My heart was filled as I saw all the names of the people ready to have their name taken to the temple to perform saving ordinances. Think of the implications of our discovery.
     Sometimes I feel like the adversary is working on me harder than ever. Even after times of great spiritual strength and faithfulness, he bombards me with negative and tempting thoughts. I wonder to myself why does it get so hard, especially when I'm doing all I can to do what is right. An answer came to my mind this week after our family history discovery. Perhaps Satan knows me and what God has called me to do better than I supposed. Maybe he knows the kind of impact my faithfulness can have on these generations of the human family, and he wants to prevent or delay that work. I cannot let his lies and deception throw me off or get me down! I feel stronger now that I recognize what he is doing, and why I need to resist it. I want to see the purposes of the Lord fulfilled in me and in the lives of everyone around me. One of the great gifts we could give to Christ this year is to find a family name to take to the temple.

Thanksgiving at the Verkerke's