YES FINALLY!!! SAINT PATTIES 來了!! Can you say...PARTY!? No?....its pronounced Pai Dui (pie dwei) :)...little Chinese 101.
Alright well, as much as I LOVE Saint Patties, I gotta get on to the Saint of the Latter Day type stuff!#tryingtobewitty...
So i'll say it again...and I will probably say it the rest of my life...OBEDIENCE and FAITH bring MIRACLES!
The coolest thing though is that the obedience and the faith do not come for a KNOWLEDGE that I will get blessings, it is starting to really come for a desire to BECOME something in the Lord's hands. To let him and his work change me and change who I am at the core. Seeing the blessings is of course a GREAT perk, but really the base of my desire has all changed and so my desired outcomes are different as well! I love it, I LOVE this gospel. I bear witness that it is true. I gather all the possible influence I possibly can as a 21 year old young man and shout to the world that I know this is true! Jesus is the Christ, He lives, He loves us and only through him can we get back to live with our Heavenly Father.
Thank you everyone for your prayers! They have sure been felt down here in YongKang. The district has slowly gone from nothing to leading our whole Zone and being one of the top in the mission! It is truly incredible to see how pure powerful testimony can change people, the things we say and the things we do will allow for the Holy Ghost to testify of Christ. No matter who we are or where we have been the Holy Ghost has FOR SURE communicated with you at one point in your life. I want everyone this week to think back to when that moment may have last happened, think about how you felt then...then do what you know that you need to do in order to again obtain that feeling!There is a mid email invite!...Ohhhhhh yeah.
So some sweet miracles from this week! The best things are that we may be having a few baptisms this Saturday! At least one, if not more!!! Please keep Huang Yu Jie, Lai Hong Quan, Lian Guan Zhen, and Xu Sheng Xun in your prayers!! THEY ARE ALL MIRACLES AND NEED OUR HELP!! :) Thank you!
I preformed an interview for an amazing young woman this week named You Zi Xin. She was so prepared and so nervous. It was crazy how nervous she was...but I think it is because she really understood how important this step was! She did amazing and it was just a great experience.
We also prepared a Training for Zone Training Meeting. It was really amazing and fun...pretty much just talking about not wasting our time as missionaries! Every second is so precious and we need to be using all of our time!!
Obedience brings peace! Rumors sometimes start flying around the mission field...sometimes they are just ridiculous and can really frustrate us. But when we are truly obedient we don't have to worry about that kind of stuff because we know that no matter what rumors fly around that we are pure and good and that in God's eyes we are what he wants us to be. It really does bring such peace.
Tony Came down last week and proselyted with us for a bit! I hope that kid can go on a mission! He was an AWESOME help!
Last but for sure not least...the Atonement. What a miracle. The Lord Jesus Christ and his love for us was so great that he Atoned for everything we would ever face. I have felt that in my life as I have to sometimes go through the refining fire...The Lord and his sacrifice bring the cooling and satisfying feelings that can only come through him. I know it is all true. I hope all those I come in contact with can feel of that and come to know it as well. Sometimes we have to sacrifice and give up things that are hard....but it is so worth it...who reading this wouldn't be willing to give up a quarter to receive a mountain of Gold. That is exactly what it is like when we give up our sins or our bad habits. Worth it? You know it.
This week we went to go visit an Older Man who had ZERO respect for us. He was a man of great faith but just had a few doctrines confused and was not willing to listen to us and did nothing but yell and bash what we believed...I am so grateful for that man. He really helped me to realize how strongly I know that this gospel is true, it gave me a perspective of how firmly rooted I am in my belief and faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God and in Our Heavenly Father, as well as their messenger the Holy Ghost. The best part of the lesson was that despite my preparation to use his own bible to prove my point and to belittle him...I didn't use any of it. I simply listened and when the time was right...asked him if he had ever prayed to know that what he says is true and testified that that is the only way we can know spiritual truths...that is how I got my answer. He said no but would not accept the invite to do so and kept on rambling. I kept my cool and continued to invite and testify until finally we got kicked out of the house. It was a WONDERFUL experience! I know that this church is true! PLEASE, be humble enough to at least try. If nothing else take the invite of the Savior to become humble like a child and go try the word of God! I know that it will change your life as it has mine.
That is my week this week....quite wonderful eh? :)
Shout out to my Brothers GAGE AND CHASE! MISS YOU AND LOVE YOU BOYS! :) Keep working on those Super Saiyan powers!! KIA KAHA! (Is that right Chase? haha)
Love you all!
Shine Bright! Deal Justly, Judge Righteously, Do Good Continually!
P.S. Pics are of the place we ate last week! SO GOOD! Also...is it weird that I now have a LABEL in my email marked "Dear Johns"? haha....take the hint boys ;)
LOVE YOU!
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Ge Sheng Long ZhangLao
葛勝龍長老
