Kayla

Hi! This has been a week of miracles. I have a ton of stuff to write! I don't know how to start so I'm just gonna say stuff!

 

-So there's this member Dung Hing Daai, he has a friend (crazy awesome guy with a pony tail and a goatee) who is moving into his Chyuhn (village) and it's his birthday, and he wants to throw a party! And he thought it would be good for missionaries to do something at this party, so that we can be a bigger part of the community, and people will start recognising the church's name more. So he asked us to sing! And he asked us to sing folk music! Wahh! so weird! I never thought my years of bluegrass would ocme in handy in china. I'm not really sure what songs we are doing, and if i'm playing guitar or not (because i don't really understand Chinese) but i do know this Saturday night i'm gonna sing for a party. It's gonna be pretty rad I think. They told us they don't want us to "preach" that we just want to have a good time, but I think that it's gonna be a good way to show off our Cantonese and talents, and then the next time we knock doors in that area, we'll probably get a lot more acceptance. yayyy, music is awesomeeee...

 

-Stella!! So we had the most awesome powerful lesson with her this week. We prayed about what we should teach her and we weren't really sure, we came up with the restoration, fasting, and baptism. Which seem like they don't really fit together...but we felt like we really needed to talk about all three. sooooo, we watched the restoration, in Chinese (so funny) and I made muffins, and then we just talked about baptism, and told her if she wasn't getting an answer she could fast. And so she is going to this Sunday! Waaaa! she also picked a baptism date for the 26th of feb!!! The spirit was so strong the whole time. I love her so much! It's kind of funny, every time i see her I run up and give her a hug, and she had to be like "sister cook, I love you, but chinese people just don't hug this much. It's awkward" hehe. I'm learning alot about culture, and a lot about chopsticks...and what not to do with them....yeah....embarrassing. Anyway we had dinner at her house and the food was good. I'm amazed at the poor living conditions in this part of the country, but it's so china. It's a lot like mainland here. People don't have bathrooms or showers, and sometimes newspaper and boards are the only thing between you and outside. I'm so grateful to be able to help these people find the gospel. I love them so much.

 

-Ok, our other  investigator, Rupa, the Nepalese woman, is seriously kinda crazy. We had a turnover lesson with her to the Victoria harbor english speaking elders, because we honestly think, that with her schizophrenia, the only way to get through to her would be with the help of the priesthood. But also, the vic 1 elders are over everyone that speaks English in hong kong, so they have other Nepalese people she can talk to in their branch. Super cool! we need to pray for a miracle on this one.

 

-So, my companion and I have been working on "Finding Joy" in every day. I'm pretty good at that, mostly because china is awesome, but she's been here longer, and she needs some help feeling happy about missionary work. Good thing I'm usually pretty happy. So we started a "keihJik ge Syuh!" (miracle tree) on one of the walls in our apartment. Every time we have a miracle (or something funny happens, like I speak in perfect cantonese in my sleep...not kidding, that's happened 5 times) we write it on the tree!!! And so we can always look at the blessings God has given us.

 

-One such blessing happened last week. Cantonese food is really cool, but if  you are forced to eat duck, or weird fish parts, at chang outs, it can do awful things to your digestive system, So all week I have been praying for American food at chang outs. GUESS WHO GOT SOME PIZZA HUT!? this girl did. So awesome. I sincerely believe prayer works, even earlier that day, i had mentioned "it's my moves goal to get some pizza hut or KFC" and that night...in the beautiful form of a delicious cheese pizza, God answered my prayer. So awesome.

 

-I got to use one of those squat toilets. yeah.

 

-Ok, so I thought new years was just one day, it's not, its like a week or something. And I would like to tell you all that America doesn't celebrate new years right at all. I would like to introduce the concept of lucky money to western culture. So, in new years, chinese people get these awesome red envelopes and put money in them, and give them to single people. You can only give them out if you're married, and you can only get them if you're single. It's supposed to wish good luck to those that don't have a family yet. but i think its just a form of saying "oh, you're not married yet, poor you, here's 20 bucks" haha. I love this. I think BYU idaho should adopt this. I would be loaded. I will send you all lucky money pouches in my next letter. Lucky money is my incentive to stay single forever. and get paid for it. Good idea, right?

 

-We saw a lion dance! It was pretty much the coolest thing i've ever seen.

 

- I had a lot of cool experiences talking to people on the train this week. I guess that's what makes me feel the most accomplished, when I don't have my companion there and I can practice my chinese and have a conversation with someone about the gospel. It takes a lot of effort to work up the courage to talk to people, especially in a language I don't know, But i've had some awesome missionary experiences. I placed a book of mormon this week to a lady who looked exactly like spok from star trek. So cool. We are hoping to meet with her soon. I also taught the full first lesson twice by myself! It's so neat. Most people's reaction is to talk back in english (they are as eager to learn my language as I am to learn there's) and say "OH you speaka da canTon-ese! You so smart!" haha. it's pretty fun.

 

-My testimony is growing that the success you have on your mission is 100% correlated with the amount of faith and desire that you have. You can't pretend it's all dependent on you, you have to trust in the lord. You have to do scary things, and you have to fail. But when I fail, I know that it's because I needed to learn something, and trust that that failure will prepare me for something in the future. I am working SO hard. I have faith that my efforts are reflected in the miracles that God gives us every day. It's truly a blessing to be able to love the people here. I want you to know that I am doing this mission half for the people here, and half for you at home. I hope that my experiences are blessing you, that my struggles are your struggles, and that my miracles are your miracles. I know that my life is influenced by your prayers, and I know that this mission is not really about me.

 

- Oh! I almost forgot! Ying Man Baan! I got called to help organize a standardized curriculum for the entire mission's english classes. The missionaries in almost every area besides macau and international teach a free english class once a week in the church, to help the community and intruduce people to the gospel. They called one companionship from every area, and we get to work with the mission president. He is really yingmanbaan enthusiastic because he is a convert to the church through english class. We think that through using the holy ghost, we are able to learn faster. I testify that is true because otherwise, how would i be learning cantonese? Anyway, English class is super awesome every wee. Our investigators love it. We do a fun activity before to help them use more english, and last week we made comic strips and practiced telling stories. Stella's older brother, Peter told a particularly funny story about finding a mouse in his cococola bottle.  Have you ever heard a chinese person say "Cococola?" it's the most hilarious thing ever. I love english class! Probably because it's one of the few times I understand what's going on. haha. We hope this standardized curriculum will help missionaries get more people to the church, and this will result in more baptisms! yay! our mission president so smart-la!!

 

Ok, well I have to go. I hope you enjoyed this scattered email. I'm gonna go get some fish eyeballs or something nutritious for lunch.Please pray for stella! I love you!

 

Ga Yauh!

Gou Ji Muih!