Week 59, in which I eat a fish eyeball (not my first one either) and in which the identity of the mystery recorder man is only partially revealed

Companions

It's true. I ate a fish eyeball, and I did it of my own accord. It's average tasting. Really salty. I think it grossed out my companion a little, but it's whatever.




T-shirt of the week: It has a picture of two men with looooong beards, and their beards are entwined together. It reads, "Two beards are better than one." I agree.





We visited Sister D and Brother R and baby A several times this week, and wow do I love this family. They are the sweetest, most unified family I've ever met, and even though we're the ones teaching the lessons, I'm learning so much from their examples. I think that's the best kind of teaching situation, when everyone learns together. They've faced so many trials, and the more I get to know them, the more I admire and love them. Our trials in life can either soften our hearts or harden our hearts, depending on how we choose to think of them. As we humble ourselves and trust in the will of our Heavenly Father, we can endure our trials and still have inner peace and happiness. But if we turn inwards, focus on how we think things should be, then we'll never find satisfaction, and we'll constantly be thinking about the difference between how things are and how we want them to be. Sister D and Brother R accept God's will, full stop. All the time. And although their circumstances are challenging, and at times seemingly impossible to overcome, they don't give up, and they don't let fear ruin their marriage. I love them so much, and I'm so grateful that God has put them in my path, because my life has definitely changed because of them.





A few nights ago, I had twenty minutes or so before bedtime, so I went out onto the balcony and played my harmonica (yeah, we have a balcony, is that cool or what?). I played some hymns, whatever songs came into my head, and after I played 'Ye Elders of Israel' (classic! I love that hymn) I paused to ponder something deep and profound... when 'Ye Elders of Israel' echoed in the wind from somewhere above me. At first I thought I was mistaken, but then I heard it again! The mysterious recorder man was playing it back to me! Did I tell you about the mysterious recorder man before? We hear him every week or so, playing all sorts of little diddies from somewhere near our apartment. I looked around at all the nearby buildings, and at first I couldn't locate the source of the music. But then I saw him in the opposite building, several floors above us. Well, I saw his shadow as his head swayed to the music. He transitioned smoothly into Amazing Grace, and I jumped right in, and it was just the neatest moment ever! Like out of a movie or something! After several minutes of playing, he came out onto his balcony and waved at me, and I waved back at him! I couldn't see his face--he was just a black silhouette against the bright light of his apartment. He continued playing as we turned off our lights and went to bed. As we fell asleep to the sound of his recorder, I smiled. Only on the mission.





As we've taught D and R, and as I've thought of my own family this week, I've felt more and more gratitude toward our Heavenly Father for the plan that he has for each of us. After we taught them about this plan of salvation, Sister D told us, "I don't fear death anymore after this lesson. I always was worried that if I died, I might accidentally end up in hell, but now I realize that as long as we're doing our best here on earth, that it will all end up okay." I am so grateful that we could come down to this earth, because there's no other way to learn the things that I've learned. And the more I study the scriptures, the more sure I am that there's a purpose to this life, and that life doesn't end at death. This life is just a tiny point in eternity. We can return to live with our Heavenly Father again, our perfect and loving creator, and with Jesus Christ, our older brother and Savior. Jesus Christ suffered and died for us, so that we too could overcome our mistakes and death. And I love him so much. I look forward to the day when I can see him again and thank him personally for all that he has done for me and my family. I am so grateful that, through this plan of God, we can be with our families forever. I know with all my heart that is true, and so it's not hard for me to be away from them for this short 18 months. I love my Father in Heaven, my Savior, and my beautiful family!

Week 58, in which we had so many miracles!!!!!!!!!!! And in which I love Macau. And the people. And the food. Did I mention all the miracles? AND FAMILIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Teaching Sister C all about the Plan of Salvation

I am drinking Orange Juice...and I like it...MIRACLE!

Two Brits celebrating the 4th?!

Do you know what the best feeling in the world is? It's the feeling of wanting to be exactly where you are. I've never felt so content, so happy, and so exactly where I need to be. I love Sister C, and I love these people. We've been praying so hard to find families to teach, and since I arrived, we've only been teaching single women or women with families in the Philippines. But this week we found THREE families. THREE. It was absolutely incredible. We've been floating in the air for several days now.

One of the members, Sister M, met Sister D and Brother R and baby A on Wednesday, and on Thursday invited them to eat lunch with us. They came and we had a great time, shared a spiritual message, and it was a really special experience. They are the sweetest family. Brother R is shy, but Sister D is very friendly and loving. And Airees? ADORABLE. And SO fat. The first time we met, Sister D told us that we felt like old friends, and she was right. We all love each other so much already. We ate lunch with them again today and taught them about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and they really felt the Spirit. They offered us tea, and when we told her that we don't drink tea, coffee, or alcohol, she said, "Well, I guess that means this is the last time I'm drinking tea!" They are such a beautiful family, and I am so excited for the day when they can be sealed together as an eternal family.





I've learned over and over again on my mission that family is the most important thing. I knew it before, but I learn it again every time I read emails from home, every time I study the scriptures, every time I teach about the Plan of Happiness that God has for us. I've never felt more gratitude to Heavenly Father or to my parents here on earth. Family is the greatest source of joy, and when families are founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ, then sickness or death or unemployment can come, but the family will survive and be stronger because of that trial. I love my family so much! Mom, Dad, Bec, Rachel, Rowan, that means you! Oh, and grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles (yes, even uncles), you too!





T-shirt of the week: 'A Dear Hunter.' What does it mean? And here's another one for you. (Sarah, I think you can imagine the voice I used when I read this t-shirt. My companion didn't get it.) It had Hello Kitty wearing a Batman suit and paper bag over his head. It said, "I am Batman." Yes, the bag was covering his head, so that means that I am now able to recognize Hello Kitty just from his feet. China'll do that to you. Oh, also I just realized that Hello Kitty is probably a girl, not a boy. Oh well.





So I lost a member somewhere in Macau this week. Yeah, I felt pretty bad. We brought a new member named D over from Hong Kong (she has to wait here for her visa), and she came with us to the church. By the time we were done at the church, it was too late for us to help her find President M's house, where she was staying, so we showed her the bus, wrote down the bus stop name, and told the members at her boarding house to go wait at the bus stop for her. She didn't have a phone card that worked in Macau yet, but I thought the plan was fool-proof. (haha, I just wrote full-proof, that's ironic.) Boy, was I wrong. She missed the stop! So the members waited there for a while, and at about 10:30 they called us to say that they still hadn't found her. We said SO many prayers for Sister D--she was lost in a new country filled with people that she doesn't understand. I thought she'd be pretty terrified. But after we prayed, I felt really calm, and I figured that it'd turn out okay.





The next morning Sister D called us from the member's house and told us what had happened. Apparently she missed the stop and stayed on the bus as it went all the way around Macau and Taipa again. So more than an hour passed before she made it back around to that stop. She got off, but by that time the members had left. So she stood there for a while, not knowing what to do, when she saw a Filipina walk by. She asked her if she knew of a boarding house where she could just spend the night at. The Filipina said, "Yes! Come with me!" Turns out that the Filipina was Sister M, a member, and she took D straight to President M's house! What a miracle. Sister D said that even though she had no idea what to do, she felt so calm the entire time and knew that it would all be okay. Such a blessing. God really takes care of his children.





We had so many amazingly spiritual lessons this week, but one of the most amazing lessons was with Sister G. She loves the gospel and feels the Spirit so strongly. She has changed so much from her past self--drinking, smoking, doing drugs, in and out of jail. But she has turned around and wants to follow Jesus Christ and have an eternal family one day. When we teach, Sister C teaches in Tagalog while I teach in English. But during this lesson with Sister G, I understood everything that was being said. I didn't know the words that they were saying, but I knew what they were talking about and was able to teach in complete unity with Sister C. It was a miracle, how well everything flowed and made sense and fit perfectly with what Sister G needed to hear. Heavenly Father was guiding that lesson, there's no other explanation. I love teaching, and I especially love teaching the gospel.





Anyways, those are just a couple of the miracles that we've experienced this week. I am so grateful to be here. It just keeps getting better.

Week 57, in which I went an entire week without a peanut butter sandwich, and in which I learn some lessons about charity.

 Sister C with me outside the Church building

Parking outside the Church  

Macau at its finest

It's true. An entire week without a peanut butter sandwich. Why, you may ask, would I do that to myself? Well, because Park-N-Shop was out of bread. Yeah. Preposterous. That'd never happen in good ol' US of A. There are entire AISLES of bread (Haha, I almost typed 'isles,' which I'd really like actually, an isle of bread' yum!) in America. Here? One measly, poorly-stocked shelf right next to the only slightly less poorly stocked shelf of cereal. But no worries, there's an entire aisle of RICE. Ah, gotta love Asia.

T-shirt of the week: On this shirt was the CUTEST little kitten wearing clothes. It said, "Benign hereafter." I liked it. The other t-shirt said, "Run Around Naked." But that doesn't make sense. Why would one write that on a t-shirt? Wouldn't it make more sense to tattoo it on one's torso or something? Huh, whatever.





I love the sisters in my apartment. There are six of us right now, and we all share a bedroom and a study. That means we spend quite a bit of time together, and sometimes we get a little bit silly. We frequently share our dreams during our morning exercise time, and this week I actually remembered one of my dreams! It was pretty long, so I'll just give you the short version. I was back in Calc class with Mr. Olivo, and in my dream he had the most magnificent rat-tail I'd ever seen. He turned back our homework, which for some reason I wasn't able to complete, so I got a zero. Sister Wilcox (one of the sisters in our apartment), was walking around asking, "Did anybody else get 10 extra credit points? Turns out she'd gotten a perfect score PLUS 10 extra credit points. Why? Well, before she'd turned in her homework, she put a sticker that said 'PERFECT' on her paper. And while grading the homework, Mr. Olivo wrote next to the sticker, "Actually, yes, you're right." And I was just so annoyed with Sister Wilcox the whole time. Calling all aspiring Freuds, analyze that one for me!





But no worries, I actually really love Sister Wilcox. We've started to do this thing in the apartment whenever the other sisters come in the door. When we hear their keys jingling, we run over and turn off the lights and then we lie down on the floor pretending to be dead. It is so funny, and I've almost bumped my head on the table or a chair twice now because of it, but no matter. People probably expect me to come home all mature and everything, but I think they might be sorely disappointed.





I wrote to President Hawks last week about one of our investigators who is really struggling to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and he wrote back this week with some ideas. He signed his email with 'Gods speed.' I'd always seen it written as 'Godspeed' and seeing it written that way really made me think. 'Godspeed' means that we want God to help us go somewhere in a quick manner, right? But God's speed? I suppose that would mean that we want to get where we're going at the speed that God thinks we should go at. And that's the way it should be. I always think, "Well, I want this to happen this week, and that means that by next month it'll be time for this, and then I can do that and that and when I'm 105 I'll pass away in my bed from old age and it'll just be perfect." (No, I don't always think about the age I want to die at, that's weird. It was just an example.) But I really need to get better at accepting the Lord's timing.





You know what might be the most challenging trial in the mission? LACK OF SLEEP. No worries, I go to bed right on time every night, wake up on time every morning, but wow am I tired! Physically, mentally, spiritually, ecumenically... grammatically (actually, I really am, my English is suffering!). That means that one of the hardest things to make myself do every day is floss. DON'T WORRY Dad, I still floss daily. But it is so hard! It's the last thing I do before I go to bed, and it takes every ounce of mental will power to do it. But hey, my teeth are worth it.





The work has been going slower than I'd like it to go (then again, God's speed, right?). But this week I just had what was definitely the most spiritually powerful lesson I've ever experienced. The sister we taught has had drug and drinking problems since age 11, spent some time in prison and rehab. She was rejected by many of her family members because she's a lesbian, and her family has TONS of other issues. But she decided that she needed to change, get on the straight and narrow, and find God. She prayed for a sign, and shortly afterwards met missionaries. We shared Mosiah 5:7 with her, and explained how we can become born again through baptism. She had tears in her eyes, and I did too. I can't even explain how special that lesson was--the rest of the day I was just glowing inside. I love this sister so much, and I'm not even scared to teach her about the Law of Chastity or the Word of Wisdom or anything because I know that God knows her and has provided a way for her to come back despite any challenges she has. It's amazing, the moments of love that you feel on the mission. Before the mission, I thought that all day everyday would feel this way, I'd always be just so happy and it would be so easy to love everybody. But it's not like that. It's hard to love people sometimes. But with this sister, it was so easy. And I know it's not because I tried to love her. That kind of love didn't come from inside. The love just filled me, came in from an external source. I know it's charity, and it was a miracle. I want that feeling again and again. I love that sister, and I love Macau and I love struggling and having hard times because it helps me to change. I love this mission and I love the Lord!

Week 56, in which I become five times creepier than usual, and in which I get my first Filippina companion!

Hello everyone! Due to recent... circumstances, I've been doing some reminiscing back to the good old movie-making days we had as kids! Specifically 'That Totally Appropriate 70's Show (Totally!)'... Why, you may ask, do your thoughts turn to such a film of such mediocre quality? Firstly, how dare you ask that question?! That film was spectacular. Secondly, because my role in the film, the evil mastermind, Dr. Twitch, has become a reality. That's right, I've actually developed this weird twitch in the lower eyelid of my right eye, and it is CREEPY. I guess the mission just does weird things to you, but this is a completely new experience. I'll be teaching a lesson, maintaining normal eye contact, and then my eye will do this very visible twitching thing and then everyone involved will be creeped out haha. I guess it's just one of those things that'll probably go away... hopefully. Ah, yet another reason to dread getting home and doing all that dating stuff! Fortunately I still have a while...


T-shirt of the week: 'You only live ones.' Wise words.

Here's a sweet miracle that happened this week. So last week I might have mentioned that I was having a relatively rough week, and that kind of culminated this Tuesday, but after some prayer and pondering, I was feeling a little bit better. I've been trying to meet with a member who hasn't come to church for a long time, and I'd called her the week before to see if we could meet with her. She said she was busy, so we wrote a note to her and put a picture of Jesus in there with it, and we left to go drop it off at her apartment. But then it occurred to me that our map was completely Chinese, and we only had her address in Portuguese... Yeah, two languages that I don't really know that well to begin with, and a map of an entire island to search though. Plus, the street name was Travessa dos Virtudes, and 'travessa' means 'little tiny side street.' So yeah, practically impossible, right? I decided that we'd just take a note to one of our investigators first, and afterwards we'd somehow figure out what to do. So we're sitting on the bus, and it occurs to me that I should look out the window at every street sign I can see. I do this for about 15 minutes with no luck. But then as we're driving past a little street, I look backwards at the other side of the building that we were passing and there I saw it! Travessa dos Virtudes! We jumped off the bus, found her door, and dropped off the note! I called her a few days later and she said that we could come visit her next week! It's moments like that that show me that God really knows where each of his children are. He knew I was having a hard time, and he knew that member needed a note. So he took our two needs and used them to solve each other. That's called geniusly efficient. (The computer is telling me that 'geniusly' is not a word. Well, it should be. 'Genius' needs an adverb.)

Oh, this is pretty big news! Why didn't I mention this first? I have a new companion! Thanks to mid-move transfer craziness, I now have a Filipina companion! The Filipina sisters usually serve in the giant church building in Wanchai for their entire mission, but they had an odd number of sisters, so they sent Sister C over here with me! It has been interesting so far, because she always teaches in Tagalog, so I really have no idea what's going on. I feel like I'm a brand new missionary all over again, not understanding the lessons and randomly bearing testimony about what I think she's saying. We're figuring out how to work together, because it's kind of a challenge. The first few lessons, I barely got a word in, but she's really great and we're working together to find a balance.

We've had fewer lessons than normal this week, and during this time I've really figured out how much I love to teach. It's one of my passions, sharing what I know and love with people who really want to learn--the best feeling in the world. I want to be a teacher when I get home, and I don't know what I'll end up doing in the future, but I'm positive that it will involve teaching. I just love it, it's challenging and rewarding and fulfilling. And I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father pushed me onto this mission (because let's be real, I was WAY too chicken to do this on my own), because I've learned how to be a better and more effective teacher. Really, the most important thing is to love the people you teach. That's why Christ is the Master Teacher. He taught out of love, and I have so much that I can learn from him.

Week 55, in which every now and then I fall apart (turn around, bright side)

No, don't worry, I'm okay. I've just had Total Eclipse of the Heart stuck in my head for several days now, ever since I heard someone say, "Turn around" and I whispered "bright side" to myself because I knew no one else would get it. But to be honest, I almost fell apart several times this week! I think someone turned on my exasperation switch this week or something, because it seems like I had such a difficult time being the benign, sweet, dignified sister missionary that I want to be! But lots of prayers and sheer will power kept me together haha, and Heavenly Father really helped me pull through! The thing about life is that as we're here, we're learning how to become more like our Father in Heaven. His work and his glory is to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life. So his whole job depends on the agency of other people. No matter what, if we choose to be disobedient and unrepentant, then we won't be able to have that eternal life with Heavenly Father. And if I were Heavenly Father, I'd probably get exasperated with people sometimes! I mean good grief, he's trying to help us have the most happiness that we can ever get, and we're like, "Um, no thanks, I'd rather go and break this commandment, it seems like more fun than eternal happiness." It's kind of like when I go to Dairy Queen and I see people order a vanilla milkshake. Who does that? There's BLIZZARDS there. Sheesh. Don't settle for less. Ridiculous people.


But yes, that's why I'm not like Heavenly Father (well, one of the reasons). He's infinitely patient with us, always reminding us and calling us back, whereas I'm still impatient and exasperated. Missionary work (and really, most every aspect of life) is greatly influenced by the agency of others. We so desperately want to share this message with everyone, but if no one wants to hear, well then that's that. We can't make people listen or believe or love God. People cancel lessons, do silly things, and it affects others around them. But we can't make them change. That's not God's way! So as I deal with people being irrational or slow or silly, I just try to remember that I too have my irrational, slow, and silly moments. I probably exasperate people too! And I still would want other people to give me another chance to be better. So I'd better give that chance to everyone else. I think a part of true charity is expecting the best from people, believing that they can become more than they are. So that's what I've been working on this week.

Remember that silly moment that I wrote about a few weeks ago, where I saw the graffiti "QUEST" on the wall, and ran off the bus because I wanted a picture of it, but then it started raining, but then when we got on the next bus it was a good thing we did, because we met someone we needed to meet? Yeah, that moment. Well, I don't know WHAT'S going on here in Macau, but the word "QUEST" is spray-painted EVERYWHERE. It's like the new geocache, you go out and try to find the most QUESTS. It's so fun! Who knows, it might be some sort of gang something or other, but it's whatever. I think it's fun.

Small success this week: for the first time in my life, I successfully folded a map correctly on the first try! Gotta find joy in the little things, right?

We met N a month ago. She's the cutest 8-year-old girl ever, and so bright. Every time we see her on the way home from school, she waves at us and is so excited to see us. She asked for a pamphlet and apparently read it herself. And a few weeks ago we went out finding for about thirty minutes, and who is the first person we see? N! Second person? HER MOM! Yes, I was so excited! There's something special about N, I can just feel it. And her mom is a real sweetheart, full of faith, even though she has a lot of trials that she's dealing with right now. They both have interest in meeting with us, and her mom said, "Yeah, N has been telling me about her Mormon friends and how she wants to go to your church. We'll have to come sometime!" Later she mentioned that she'd been looking for the right church to pay her tithing in and to be baptized in. They have so much potential, and I'm so excited for them!

I love the members here in the branch! We had a party on Saturday night, and we brought two of the people we've been teaching. At one point, I was just standing in the corner, eating my spring rolls and observing, and it just warmed my heart to see how wonderful and welcoming our members are. My investigators were surrounded by people and everyone knew their names and had introduced themselves. I want to be more like that someday. I've learned so much from their examples. We don't go to church to just be served. We go to serve, to find the people who don't have a friend and to be their friend, to uplift and inspire and bless. I want to be more like that when I go home.

I just love it here! I'm learning, making mistakes, working harder, making more mistakes... oh yeah, and having MIRACLES! This is God's work, and he's in the details of it. So I'm not worried... well, let's be honest, I'm a worrier by nature, but I'm not THAT worried :) I love you all!

Week 54, in which every trial is both preceded and followed by miracles (I call it a trial sandwich, it's my favorite kind of sandwich. Closely followed by the Oreo sandwich cookie.)

Good news. I'M EATING CHOCOLATE AGAIN! I reached about the 6 month mark and realized that if I didn't quit now, my stubborn, I-need-to-prove-something-to-the-world side would make me keep going until a year mark. And that's just ridiculous. So I celebrated by eating chocolate ice cream at the MGM Casino Buffet, courtesy of the AMAZING T family. I love them so much. The best way a missionary's heart is to show love to the people they're teaching. (Haha, you thought I'd say "food" didn't you!) They have showed so much love to P, the sister who was baptized on Sunday, and wow did I almost cry when Brother T baptized her. But you know, the best part of Sunday wasn't the baptism or the confirmation or hearing her testimony or anything. The best part was when I was talking with P afterwards, and Brother T (a member of the bishopric) walked past. And P reached into her bag and pulled out her tithing for the month of July and handed it to him. THAT made me cry. She's dedicated to living the gospel, and she's in all the way. No half-hearted conversion will do for her. That's how the gospel is, that's how we really develop that love for Jesus Christ, and how we really feel his love for us. We turn our whole lives over to him, and he makes something new and good out of us. We can't just live with one foot or one toe in the water, we dive in!



MGM Casino





Sister P's Baptism

 The t-shirt of the week, so cute! It had pink unicorns on it and, in bright purple letters says, "Mystic by the way."

We were getting so excited for Brother R's baptism, which was scheduled for next Sunday. We fasted with him and his girlfriend so that he could get his job, and it worked! He has the job! But because of this job, he can't come to church or meet with us, and he barely even has time to sleep! He has crazy hours and no holiday for the entire month. I mean good grief, it's about as close to slavery as it gets these days, and it just makes me mad! I love this brother so much, he's such a good guy and he has a real desire to do good and serve the Lord. But I know that God gave him this job for a reason, and he has some amazing blessings waiting for him after he overcomes this trial. God's timing is different than ours, and it's always guaranteed to be better. So this month we fasted that somehow, R could work things out to be baptized. Yeah, kind of vague, but I know that this is something that R needs to do with God, and that by working together, they can figure it out for sure.

I was having a really rough day yesterday. All of our appointments fell through, and we had nothing on the schedule but finding in the rain. OH YAY. I really was so unhappy that I went into the bathroom before we left, knelt down, and just cried for a few minutes, praying so hard that I could just get through it and. And I didn't feel any better afterwards, but we went out anyways. One of the first people we talked to, a man from Nepal named A, was just the friendliest guy! (Everyone from Nepal is friendly.) As soon as we told him we were Christian missionaries, he said, "Oh good! I've been wanting to become a Christian, but I don't know how! How do I do it? Can you help me?" I said, "Oh, actually, you know, I don't think we'll have time for you, yeah, sorry." HA. No, I was SO excited! We're planning to meet him every Sunday and we'll have to teach slowly because his English isn't the best, but he's so nice! What a blessing. God really is aware of us and in our greatest trials, we just need to hold on, because a miracle is right around the corner.

A sister named L called us a few weeks ago to tell us that she wanted to come to church. Well, she showed up this week, and turns out she met with the missionaries last year here in Macau, and was almost baptized in the Philippines back in 2002. She has missed the church a lot, and just recently got a job that lets her come to church on Sundays! So she just showed up! And we taught her a lesson after church and set a baptismal date with her right there! Such a miracle! And it really gives me hope for all the people who I've met throughout my mission. Maybe the time wasn't right for them when I taught them, but that doesn't mean that it won't ever be right. Seeds are planted with every good act, and we might not be around to see them sprout. But they do. I just wish I could find those missionaries who taught her in 2002 and let them know that she's okay.

We had a great July 4th celebration the other night! After planning, all six of us sisters dressed up in red, white, and blue, sang the national anthem, and ate hotdogs. Oh, it was just like America. And all this week, we've been doing a George W. Bush pronunciation of 'Um-air-i-kuh.' Oh how I love those amber waves of grain! But you know, God 'sheds his grace' on us over here in Macau too :)

Fwd: Week 53, in which I probably appear in tons of random people's photo albums across the world, and in which I reminisce about that one time when I had lice

Mom, I don't know if I ever thanked you for combing my hair every night for weeks as we combated those evil little creatures of the devil. But yeah, thanks. We've been on guard for a while now, because one of the sisters in our apartment is being harassed by those evil menaces, poor thing. She's amazing though, doesn't complain or burst into tears or anything! But good grief, these people in Macau are not equipped with the heavy artillery that is needed here. They're just asking for a lice infestation!

But I did find some Cinnamon Toast cereal!

T-shirt of the week: This is a pretty good one, kind of reminds me of some episode of Dr Who or something. "Meanwhile, an automatic, unfeeling army marches unstoppably into the future." (Autocorrect is telling me to change 'unstoppably' to 'unflappably' but that just sounds WEIRD.)




Oh Babylon, Oh Babylon, I bid there farewell...

 We've been working with Sister P, a girl about our age from Vietnam, for a few months now, and she just had her baptismal interview this week and will be baptized on Sunday! I'm so excited for her! She is the sweetest thing, and she has such a love for the gospel and for Jesus Christ. As we talked about her baptismal service, she just thanked us over and over again for teaching her. Little does she know, but I'm actually eternally grateful to her for her huge desire to learn and her amazing example of charity. She's really special and I just love her so much! The love you feel for people you meet in the mission is different from any other kind. I can't really explain it, but it's so exciting to see her love for the Book of Mormon grow and grow every day. And I'm so grateful for the members in the branch, because they are so good at embracing every new person that comes in, helping them feel part of the family. That's one of the many things that the members here have taught me. The world will tell us that power comes from being above the rest; the most powerful one stands alone. But the gospel teaches us that power comes from being together, bringing others up to where you are and leaning on each other; the most powerful one is actually many, united by love. The members here show love and friendship like no one else, and I learn from their examples every day. They don't go to church to be served, but to serve. I want to be like that.




Book of Mormon/Keystone...Get it?

A week or two ago, we were discussing our different finding techniques and strategies. Believe me, after this much street contacting, you start coming up with some pretty crazy ideas... I suggested that we 'photo-bomb' contact people! Just go to a popular tourist attraction and stand in the back of everyone's pictures holding up a Book of Mormon or pointing at our nametags or something, then run away before they notice. One day, they'll be flipping through their scrapbook (actually, let's be real, there's probably like 3 people in the world who aren't members and do scrapbooking, so they'll probably be looking on Facebook) and they'll say, "Wait. What's that? Who are those strange, white people with black nametags? I want to meet them and be their friends" BOOM. Seed planted. (I'll be honest, this wasn't really my idea. I got it from the episode of Lizzie McGuire, you know, the one where she goes to all the different club photoshoots and jumps in the back of the picture so that she can have the most pictures in the school yearbook. Classic episode.)
I was reading a talk by President Monson about missionary work, and he said, "A mission is a family affair." And I've been thinking about that all day! He's right, of course. The actions and choices of each member of my family has contributed to my mission experience. Mom and Dad, I am so grateful for you and your choices; they've shaped my life and, because of that, have definitely influenced the lives of the people I've met here. Our little, daily choices really will have a huge effect on the rest of our lives, as well as the lives of many others. When we choose to sacrifice for the Lord, to give things up for him, that's when we start to feel his influence in our life. I love what Elder Neil A. Maxwell said: "Consecration is the only surrender that is also a victory." When we sacrifice something for the Savior (who, by the way, sacrificed everything for us), we find true joy. It's when we lose our lives that we really find them. I know that's true, no doubt in my mind.

Our will is the only thing that we really can give to God, the only thing that he didn't have first. And when we do that, we slowly come to find that God's will really is what's best for us anyways. I love this quote from Elder M. Russell Ballard: "That's the way it is when Jesus Christ becomes a reality in your life. It isn't that he somehow makes you do things that you wouldn't do otherwise. Rather, you find yourself wanting to do what He would do and respond as He would respond in an effort to bring your life into harmony with His. And an interesting things happens whenever you attempt to place your feet in Christ's footsteps. If you really concentrate on trying to walk the way He walked--loving, caring, serving, and obeying each step of the way--one day you'll look up and discover that His path has led you directly to the throne of God. For that is and ever has been His great purpose and mission: to lead us to our Heavenly Father so we can dwell with Him in His heavenly home." It's a slow process, and sometimes I get a little discouraged while I'm out here because I get impatient with people, I get prideful, I get frustrated when people don't understand me. But It's not about where we are, but what direction we're facing. So it's okay that I'm not where I want to be, because I'll get there eventually, I just don't have to stress about it.

I love this mission so much. These people, this place, these miracles! I love it. Wouldn't want to be anywhere else.

Week 52, in which I can't believe it's week 52, and in which we've seen surprisingly few cockroaches.

WOW I love being a missionary. I can't believe I've been out here for so long. I feel like I'm in the middle of the middle of life and I'll be here forever and ever. I like it. That's one thing that I've always admired about the Apostle Paul. He served a REALLY long mission, and one of my favorite scriptures of his is in Philippians (haha, I just wrote Philippines by accident, oh I love international) 4:11: "For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be contented." I think that's just the best way to be. We live in the present, learn from the past, and plan for the future. We had an amazing meeting with President Hawks this week. He talked about the idea of events versus processes. He said that if our mission just becomes a series of big events (miracles, baptisms, month/year marks) then we'll constantly be up and down, really happy and really gloomy. But if we appreciate the mission (and life!) for the process, for the simple, daily routine, then we can always be contented with our present state. And for the most part, I've reached that point. I love where I am. Sure, I have times where I want to be lazy and just sit on the couch in sweat pants watching Pride and Prejudice, but let's be real, how many miracles do you see from the couch? No, the miracles come when we go out and do things, even if we don't quite know what we're doing. The Lord guides us as we step, but we have to show the faith to take the first step. President Hawks said, "In any journey, the most important step is the next one." Every day, we get up and have to choose what we will become that day. And it's by consistently choosing to be a little bit better that we become who Heavenly Father wants us to become.



I just love Sister H!


Heavenly Father really does guide each of us though, if we let him, although sometimes he does it without us being aware of it. I'll just tell you one example, which might make me seem a little foolish, but it was a good experience haha. So we're on the bus going home, and as we got near the next bus stop, I saw some interesting graffiti across the roundabout, and all of a sudden I said, "Sister J, quick! Get off the bus!" So we just jumped off right there! She said, "Why, what's going on?" And I said, feeling a little silly, "I want to take a picture of that graffiti!" And then it started to POUR down rain, right there. Then I started to feel really foolish. Why did I even want to take a picture of that graffiti? It wasn't even that interesting, it just said "QUEST" in big, black letters. It seemed epic in the moment, but afterwards I just felt silly! So we got on the next bus and sat down next to this girl named L. We ended up talking to her the rest of the way home, and by the time we got to our destination, I felt okay about my silly little spur-of-the-moment disembarkation. She really needed a friend. She teared up as we were telling her about how much Heavenly Father loves her, and it was clear how lonely and sad she has been since she got here to Macau. He really does love her.

One more blessing: one of our investigators, R, is set to be baptized in July, and he has been looking really hard for a job. His visa was set to run out today, so last week he, his girlfriend, Sister J, and I, fasted and prayed that he'd be able to find a job. And then three days later, he was hired! It was such a miracle! I woke up, checked the phone, and freaked out! I ran back into the bedroom, but the other sisters were saying their morning prayers, so I was silently just freaking out, jumping up and down so excited, trying to not just shout it out right then, but I contained myself just barely long enough haha. The rest of the day I was just so thrilled. Some people might say it's a coincidence, but I know it's God. I know he exists, I know he is aware of us, and I know he takes care of us. And every day we can see miracles, we just have to open our eyes a little more. They're there!




SisterT's dogs




Father's Day dinner for our branch