As for me and Yuen Long, things are pretty nice. Yuen Long is extremely different from my last area. Like, leaps and leagues different. We get to ride bikes! There are lots of dogs! There are farms (not tons, but some)! People are more relaxed. By the way, in Yuen Long, people either seem to be really rich or fairly not rich, which makes for an interesting dynamic. It is definitely a rural feel, here, though. And there is way more Chinese mysticism going around (have I ever told you about baai sahn? It is basically ancestor worship, and it the standby religion in these parts, kinda a branch off of Buddhism. Like, everyone in S. America would say they're Catholic? Everyone here says they're baai sahn.) Anyway, more people in Yuen Long are ACTUALLY baai sahn, as in leave offerings for their ancestors, etc., incense., etc. It kinda makes for an eery feeling, and it kinda makes me sad, but it's very interesting. I mean, it just feels like Satan has blinded these people's eyes a little bit. But, the work moves on. And it cannot fail!
Well, to explain what Things are like here, the wards are really strong here. The church is one of the only free-standing chapels in Hong Kong, which means that it's in the middle of nowhere (since they's actually space to build it that way). I think the members recognize that and help the missionaries even more. Members matter so much in this work. In fact, all of our solid investigators are referrals. All of them. Go thee and help likewise! It's really incredible because lots of times members want to help but don't know how to start, so don't. But these Yuen Long members just seem to go for it. It's cool. Also, I really think people are more relaxed out here. It's nice.
As for the people we've been teaching, I've come to love them already. Things are a lot slower than my first area, but we have a few very incredible investigators. One of them, Stellar (pronounced Stella), is this incredibly smart young lady (skipped a grade in middle school in Hong Kong. That means really smart) who is just waiting for permission from her very very baai sahn mother so she can be baptized. I came into the area the week that she was meant to be baptized. We all have great hope and faith that she will get permission soon since we have been making friends with her mother lately. They live in very humble living conditions (basically a shack amongst some other shacks by some fields), but they are amazingly stong and Christ-like people. Like, really really Christlike. Stella is always helping the people around her, including us missionaries. She's incredible.
We also have an investigator named Jennifer. She has a baptismal date for April 29th, but has to find a new job by then so that she can come to church more regularly. She has a lot of faith, but is a little overwhelmed by this. Us missionaries will be fasting with her again to help her. She's apparently really opened up a lot more since learning the gospel, and is really a pretty happy person. Her older sister, Winnie, is a recent convert and a big support to her.
Well, those are the basics for now. Things are going pretty well. Actually, it's been a week of miracles again! I think Sister Cook and I, with our newness and inexperience, have just had to rely on the Lord a lot more. Actually, our entire zone is new and young. They call it "whitewashing" an area when almost everyone is new. That is what our area is like.
We've had to rely on the Lord a whole lot. And you know what? You can always do that without fail. Everytime we don't know what we're doing, which is often, we just pray. Sister Cook have had a ridiculous number of experiences of getting immediate answers and direction (like the phone ringing right after we close the prayer). Yup. In fact, I'm including a picture of our Gratitude Boat Sister Cook and I drew on some plastic on our wall to write down all of these miracles. For example, having a feeling to pray for someone at a certain moment, then have them call us to tell us they called and helped out one of our investigators. Or not knowing what to do, praying, then having someone call us to see if we could visit them. Yup. Incredible things. It's been kinda hard to both be so new, but I definitely know that Heavenly Father is looking out for us. Sister Cook is also a real trooper and really really loves these people here. We have had to work hard to teach together more smoothly, but things are going so much better. It's also given me insight into how my trainer and step-trainer probably felt, working with me. It's cool.
Anyway, that's all for this week. But isn't it a lot? Yup. I'm always amazed at how much the Lord gives us and how much He clearly loves us. I know that He loves you too. I'm so grateful for all of the guidance He gives us. Especially General Conference (wasn't it amazing?).
Well, I love you.
Love,
Sister Nielsen
P.S. By the way, I am now living in the most beautiful apartment ever, with this incredible view. I had to send some pictures of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment