Thursday, January 29, 2015

HOPE

Sent 1/26/2015

S's baptismal date is coming up closer and closer (2 weeks!). Satan is working hard, but so is God. Good always prevails anyway, right? That, is, if we let it.

We've also been teaching many less-active families. Sometimes, when we teach less-active members, we have to gauge their level of interest and their progress (as in how much they really want to come back to church). This past Sunday, two of those less-active families came to church. It was so great seeing them! There was just a light about them that radiated from their faces because they were finally able to make it back to church.

The hardest part now is to continue to go to church, a.k.a. endure to the end.

"And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save. Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life" (2 Nephi 31:19-20, italics added).

Even if things don't go the way I expect, or appointments and investigators fall through, all I need is a hope in Christ and a perfect brightness of HOPE.

Stay the path! Endure to the end!

Love, Sister Wen

Friday, January 23, 2015

FAT

Sent 1/20/2015

Okay, not really. I'm not actually fat. I know some of you out there want to see what I look like fat, but it a'int happening. But there are just some nights where you eat so much that I might as well go up a pant-size, er- a skirt size.

We'd arrived at a member's home to eat dinner. I hadn't eaten anything for hours (I know, such a trial #firstworldproblems) so I was practically starving. As a result, I, naturally, stuffed myself to the core with the food they gave us. The next appointment we went to was with the couple I talked about last week. They had a mix-up and thought that they were feeding us dinner. The problem was, they had already gotten so far in preparing the food. Holy moly. I was so surprised with how much I could still hork down my stomach. I swear, my stomach must've gotten accustomed to all this food I'm eating.

S is progressing so well! Very, very slowly, but surely. Her baptismal date is becoming more and more real!

But so is Satan's power on her. He is working so hard on her, like the devil he is (#punny). A million more things came up in her life to the point where we might not have a way of contacting her. Vague, but that's the best way I can put it.

She always talked a LOT about the negative things that happened to her in her past. We expressed to her the need for the Spirit in our lessons and how we need to avoid speaking of such negative things of the past and, instead, focus on how she is progressing positively in the present and in the future. Since she's been meeting with us, she still comes to church, she still listens to the scriptures, and she still prays almost every hour of the day. She said herself that she's still listening to us because she feels His Spirit around her. She's already noticed how much closer she's gotten to God because of the changes she's made in her life to do so. She's SO close! And Satan knows it.

Nevertheless, God will prevail. He always does in the end, anyway. We do our part and He will always do His (D&C 82:10).

I love seeing this change in people's lives. Recently, we've been talking about why we came out on our missions but, more importantly, why we've stayed on our missions. This is why.

Sister Wen

Monday, January 12, 2015

The Power of the Spirit

Sent on 1/12/15

Last Friday, we had the wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime (practically) opportunity to have a mission-wide discussion with an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Elder David A. Bednar visited us here in the Colorado Denver North Mission. We all expected to hear him speak for 3 hours straight, but what he ended up doing was quite the turn of events. One of the very first things he said was to not write down anything he says. He said, instead, to listen to his words but write down only what we learn from the Spirit. He was only there to facilitate the discussion. He asked us questions and we asked him questions in return. We discussed gospel topics. We heard him speak but, ultimately, learned from the Holy Spirit. I left the meeting feeling edified and understanding more of how to learn by the Spirit and, in turn, how to teach by the Spirit.

What a privilege!

What happened later that night was another miracle. After we had dinner with a member family, we headed out to the families we planned to visit. But, as we walked out, a part-member couple that lived in the same neighborhood came to my mind. I suggested we visit this couple since they live in the same neighborhood. Sister Tu'i agreed. We drove up to their door really not thinking anything of it and walked up. We knocked. After a little while, a woman opened the door as if she didn't expect to see us. She said she just put the kids to sleep. Oh, that's alright, we can visit another time. Then I asked her how many kids she has. She said, "Oh, I don't have any kids."

Awkward.

She said, "I'm not a Mormon. I'm just not a Mormon." We were standing on her doorstep freezing so she invited us in. As the night went on, she eventually opened up about how she doesn't understand repentance. She doesn't understand how easy it is to be forgiven of your sins. We explained to her about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We shared our own personal experiences with forgiveness. The Spirit was so strong. Everyone, I mean everyone was crying. Even her less-active husband was crying. They both thanked us for coming and for bringing the Spirit into their home. I expressed to her how we didn't even plan to visit them that night. It was just a simple thought, oh, let's go visit this couple in the neighborhood, and it brought us there at the perfect time.

I love being guided by the Spirit. The discussion with Elder Bednar about always having the Spirit there to learn and to teach prepared us for that night. The Spirit is Heavenly Father's most personal way of helping us. I know it's real!

Sister Wen

The Call

Sent 1/6/15

Last Friday, I received a letter from a friend serving in Brasil. (Side note: they, along with the rest of the world, write their dates out day-month-year. Therefore, when the letter was dated 1-12-14, it actually means December 1, 2014 and not that the letter is a year late #trueAmurican). Well, my friend told me how dreadful it was training a new missionary and/or being the senior companion and noted how lucky I am to not have to do that. Well, just as I read that, the assistant to the president called our phone to extend the call to train a brand new missionary fresh from the MTC.

Welp. My stomach dropped, but I accepted the call. A call from God is not random. Each one is given to us to learn and grow; therefore, accepting a call from God is accepting the opportunity to learn and grow.

SO. I am training Sister Tui'tavake, a Tongan sister from Oregon. I guess I was just meant to be with all these Tongan sisters. Heh. But because she's Poly that means she's chill, outgoing, already prepared to share the gospel!

S came to church a third time this past Sunday! Wahooooo! We are still trying to teach her all the lessons in time for her baptismal date on February 7. She just talks a lot. We visited S just this morning and it was definitely overwhelming for Sister Tu'i to listen to all of that. What a great start!

It is 2015, a new year. Our mission has made a goal to give our all and be 100% committed to the work. And if it so be that Heavenly Father sees us acting on our faith in this way, He may grant us the blessings of reaching our goal of 1,001 baptisms this year. This is His work. He is directing it and we have the privilege of participating in it. We are all called to the work, full-time missionary or not. And every calling is an opportunity to learn and grow. How great is our calling!

I hope you all had a happy new year! Let's make 2015 a great one, shall we?

Love, Sister Wen

The Christmas Adventures of Sister Wen

Sent December 29, 2014

Wondering what it's like to have Christmas in the Colorado Denver North Mission? Well, you have come to the right place!

We had dinner with a couple in our ward last week. They wanted us over for breakfast, preferably sometime before Christmas. They ended showing us how they make their 5-minute, homemade egg McMuffins with their mini frying pans. The real test, though, was having us make our own. After we created our delicious creations, they had us sit down and close our eyes. They placed a strange object in our hands and, as I opened my eyes, I beheld...a mini frying pan!

We also taught the 95 year-old investigator who's blind and 90% deaf. This time, we taught her one of the commandments...the Law of Chastity. For those of you who are not familiar with this law, it is a commandment to help us remain sexually pure. Let's just say, it was a very interesting lesson. After we'd taught her about it, she said, "Very good." Oh, Mil.

Christmas Day! Woke up at 6:30...the usual missionary schedule. Opened presents and Skyped my fam. The last time I heard their voices was 7 months ago on Mother's Day. It was just so good to see them and hear them. We were also permitted to watch two movies on Christmas Day. We watched The Saratov Approach and Tangled! We both hadn't seen the former so we decided to watch it. It was a very, very well-done movie about two missionaries in Russia of 1998 who were kidnapped for ransom. It was so weird to watch such an intense action/adventure movie on my mission. It even brought me to tears. Maybe because I'm a missionary and fear that I'd get kidnapped on my mission. Hah.

We spent Christmas with the Ringos, who are the grandparents of the ward. They take in all the missionaries as if we're their own grandchildren. We enjoyed a delicious prime rib. Mmm, mmm, I sure do love my meat.

And, to top it all off, S came to church yesterday! Wahoo! The second time! And, just 30 minutes before church began, I was asked to give a 5 to 10-minute talk in sacrament meeting. Luckily, however, our services were switched so we had Relief Society and Sunday School first before sacrament meeting. Gotta love the mission life.

After thinking about #HeIsTheGift and Who the first and real gift of Christmas is, now it's time to think of what our gift to Christ is as we approach the new year of two thousand and fifteen years after the birth of Christ. What are you going to give back to Christ this year?

Who we are is God's gift to us;
Who we become is our gift to God.

#2015

Sister Wen

Who says the blind can't see?

Sent December 22, 2014

S came to church! WAHOOO!!! We've been trying to get her to church for the past few weeks since we've been meeting with her. We always had a ride for her, but she finally came yesterday! She loved it. She enjoyed the music and the Christmas program, even though she couldn't see it. She told me that everyone's just so happy at church! Talk about that Christmas spirit!

We also taught M this week. She didn't make it to church nor did she read the Book of Mormon, but she just has so many questions that her curiosity is pushing her to read and to come to church next Sunday. Once we mentioned the fact that we have programs for her little ones, she said, "Well, now I'm really excited to come to church on Sunday." The only thing holding her back is that it starts at 9. Then, in the new year, we move a whole whopping...30 minutes! and we'll start at 9:30. But, hey, anyone will take an extra 30 minutes of sleep. I would, if I could.

We'd brought a member from our ward to our lesson with M. The member's from Samoa. When M brought up a question about everyone having to be perfect, the member talked about how everyone is welcome in the church. EVERYONE! She talked about how "we welcome all colors, Black, White, Asian, and Polynesian." I looked around the room and realized that she pointed out all the colors sitting in M's living room that very moment. M, Sister Kreissl, me, and the member, respectively #muchdiversity

M opened up a lot more in our lesson with her. The first two times we met with her, we only talked with her on her doorstep. This time, she allowed us into her home! She told us about an experience made her blind in her right eye. I thought, I should've known. Seriously, 3 of the investigators we're teaching are blind! M, in one eye, then S and Mil are both completely blind. We had no idea we were directed to teach so many who were blind!

And, yet, they see so much. They see based on their faith in Jesus Christ and who He was and who He is. They feel God's presence through His Holy Spirit. That's their confirming witness that the church they're attending, the words they're reading from the Book of Mormon, and the things that we're teaching them are true. Through that witness, they can know that Jesus Christ is the Messiah prophesied of old and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His church restored to this Earth today. Jesus Christ was born so that we could live.

Let's celebrate! #HeIsTheGift

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Sister Wen