3-2-15

This week was pretty darn good. Which is to say, Sunday was amazing. The rest of the week was a bit of a struggle, but, one event made it all worth it in the end. 

The past week was really weird in the way that we had so few lessons, and so little finding time. A big part of it is that Elder Ballard came to speak to us. It was amazing.

On Wednesday he spoke to the mission. We got to take a picture before that, which translated into standing on a bunch of chairs for an hour to take a thirty second picture, but it was well worth it in the end. But the picture wasn't what I went for, as you all probably know. 

President Hawks himself said, paraphrasing, "I've never been taught so much by word or by the spirit in my life." Imagine how the rest of us missionaries felt. The entire time that Elder Ballard, as well as Bishop Gary E. Stevens and Elder Ronald A. Rasband were speaking, the spirit was pounding us as we got taught about all the things we weren't doing in the mission. It was crazy.

There's no disobedience problem in this mission. We all work hard. We all strive to do our best and to bring others unto Christ. We're all worthy. But in the end, we're not perfect. The first thing that Elder Ballard said was, "We're a little bit too shy here." Then we got schooled on how to be bold and really use the full power and authority of our calling. I suppose we might say that we are past the Good and the Better stage and are striving for the Best, but we all felt so small for those two hours. But all of it was true, and all of it will improve this mission. I'm excited to see what happens as we, as a mission, apply this things and make some changes.

Then on Thursday we had much more of an uplifting meeting. It was super fun to hear from all of the speakers, especially because we got to hear it in two different languages as each speaker had a translator. I was able to understand most of it, (sweet,) and it was interesting to think of it in two different ways. 

Elder Ballard said what I've always wanted to say, though, which is, "God either exists, or He doesn't. Joseph Smith was either a true prophet, or he wasn't. And everything this church teaches is either correct, or it's not." 

He spoke directly to the investigators at that point, and I'm sure that it made many people think hard, including myself. In the end, there's only those two options, and we can only make one decision. I wish everyone would just slow down long enough and be humble enough to grasp that concept and really think about it, because, when you do, you realize how true it is and you realize that there's only one intelligent decision. I'm very grateful that we've all made that one decision.

Besides being humbled and taught that meeting was able to help our investigator, A-Cheung, really think about the decision he was making at the time. He's having some opposition from family and friends, and there are other factors at play which make it a difficult decision, but he's making it, and it's amazing to see how much resolve he has. Needless to say, he did get baptized on Sunday, which was a most amazing and gratifying experience. Simple, sweet, and very powerful. He's a champion among men. Only fifteen million other people in the world, .002% of the population, have made the decision he's made. Have taken the time and made the sacrifices to ask himself the hard questions, to develop the faith, and to ultimately decide to turn his life over to God. It's probably the scariest thing he's ever done in his life. But he's going to stick with it, and I'm very grateful that I get the chance to continue to help him.

The title of your last email caused me to reflect back on a memory from the MTC. Our first teacher, Sister Chan, was super funny and was the classic Chinese person. She was short, small, and made a lot of funny noises. She would get on us all the time and speak super yappy Chinese because we'd lose focus or we'd be making random noises or just being a bunch of teenagers in the same room. Sometimes we couldn't help but laugh. But she herself was the worst at focusing. 

There was one day, when we stood up to sing a hymn. Yat = 1. Yih = 2. Saam = 3. So, yat, yih, saam, is 1, 2, 3. We were all focused, ready to start class. She starts to lead, "Yat...Yih...." We take a deep breath. 

"Snow!"

In English.

It was probably one of the funniest moments in the MTC, and words cannot convey how hysterical her expression and her voice was. Needless to say, it took us awhile to simmer down and actually start class. I laughed when I thought of it.

You guys are all so amazing and thank you so much for supporting me. I'm having a whirl of a time, (whatever that means) and know that this is God's work, and that I could be doing no better job. Can't wait to see you all.

A-Cheung's Baptism!