Hai!
Wow that does sound like a pretty churchy weekend. Although I guess my everyday is pretty churchy. It's like you guys are missionaries or something. Geez louise. That's cool you had a bunch of people at the temple on Saturday. It seems pretty true what dad always says or someone always says: some high percentage (99% or something...) of success is just showing up. [“85% of success in life is just showing up.”] Yeah you can tell I'm really familiar with the phrase. Whatever the case, you get the point.
Had a pretty decent week this week I suppose. The OuYang family is doing.. well.. ok. The good news is that Brother OuYang got baptized on Sunday and they came to church only an hour late! The bad news is that Sister OuYang decided at the last minute (last Tuesday) that she wasn't ready to be baptized since she's still a little too committed to her Buddhist traditions and feels that she needs more time before she can commit to getting baptism. Anyways, I'm still optimistic that she'll be ready by next month, but we'll keep working with her. The other bad news is that their son appears to be the naughtiest kid on the earth. He's absolutely ridiculous. Not that I can really blame him that much since he's only 4 years old but he has the most ridiculous temperament ever. He was like flipping out at church on Sunday for the first hour. Fortunately he quieted down a bit for sacrament meeting but he was still being rather ridiculous. Their daughter seemed to be doing pretty well during primary though. She brought her hamster which seemed to win her a lot of fast friends haha. Hopefully we can bring a couple people from the primary over to talk to the OuYangs during this week or next week along with some other 4 year-old kids so that Allen (their ridiculous 4 year-old) will be a little more comfortable going to primary. Also since we're only a branch, our primary program is combined with the English speaking ward primary since most of the little kids speak English. But the primary president only speaks English which is a bit of a bummer for this situation. Still though, good plan I think.
Unfortunately, this has all become my responsibility since Elder Luo is going to Hayward to be the Zone Leader there (the only Chinese speaking zone leader position in the mission) and I’m getting a new companion from Hong Kong named Elder Wu. Elder Wu has only been out for 2 transfers though so I'm being made senior companion which seems rather fast to be honest. I don't really want the responsibility, but I guess that's kind of when you get called to stuff like that since if I wanted to be senior companion I’m sure I'd stay junior the rest of my mission haha. Fortunately, I suppose the Lord figures I’m ready and I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that when the Lord calls he qualifies (Moses 6... ba) which I certainly hope proves to be the case. At least I'm pretty familiar with the geography of the downtown area and the public transportation has become pretty clear to me. Hopefully ,Elder Luo will leave his map with me. Or I should say his two halves of a map since it got all ripped up as a result of heavy use.
Whatever the case, I'm pretty excited that I get to stay in downtown since it really is one of the coolest areas in the mission. We really are having more and more success it seems. We have a couple other investigators with a lot of promise for baptism this next month which is really great. I just hope we don't end up having any more people tell us in the week before their baptism that they don't think they're ready all of a sudden.
Haven't gotten any mail from the Beijing pengyous but I can't really blame them since most of them probably don't know how to use the mail system. Qingwei and Dixon sent me an email but I told them I couldn't use email to contact them so would send them letters back. So I have their mailing addresses at least but I've basically just been too lazy to send them mail since p-days are rather busy...
That's awesome you're taking a class on American art at the art museum mom! Although I don't really understand what the word docent means, it sounds awfully sophisticated. Speaking of which, I found a world heritage sites book in our apartment today and was looking through it until I decided it was too apostate and stopped. Looked at the Angkor Wat page before I did though. Have to admit that place was pretty darn cool. Unfortunately I think my appreciation for the sites lessoned the more that we visited them haha. I guess that's always how it is though. Like how in art museums your eyes start to glaze over after the first two or three galleries.
Had a pretty good personal study session today in which I was reading in Joseph Smith history about his receiving revelation from James 1:5 (Preach My Gospel pg... 18?...) It just made me realize what a huge impact that one verse of scripture has had on our family and I guess the whole world. I don't think I would have any real faith in Jesus Christ without the Book of Mormon and First Vision as the foundation of my testimony. Not to say the Bible isn't really great but it really is true that a second/third witness makes the message so much more powerful.
Glad to hear Hu Jintao's visit went well dad. And that American diplomacy won the day by hammering the sleep-deprived Chinese negotiators into submission (although not literally I hope). Unfortunately I don't really know what a 4th communique thing is... I'm thinking you guys are giving my English language skills more credit than they warrant since you seem to keep using words I don't understand. In any case, there are quite a few Falun Gong practitioners here in San Francisco. They were having some random exercise session in this park in Chinatown on Saturday. It was pretty funny actually since there were like 40 Chinese ppl and then 1 white guy randomly in their midst haha. Interesting.
I guess I should go write my email to the president now. No need to worry about my being too cold though since it's probably around 60-70 degrees here every day lately. For some reason I wore my jacket today even though it's really nice outside... Basically one thing that is NOT wrong with San Francisco is it's weather.
K. Gotta go. Thanks for all your love/support/prayers. I love you guys! Have a great week!
-Ian
Monday, January 24, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh...
Jan. 16, 2011
Had a pretty good week here. And by good I mean we had a whole bunch of appointments cancelled and ended up spending a whole lot of time walking aimlessly around Chinatown getting ignored by the same 80-yr-old Cantonese speakers. Then again it could be worse... since... like...
We DID however find a super super golden contact yesterday in Chinatown which was really awesome. This guy is named Brother Kuang and he seems really really golden. He fortunately had a bunch of time right when we ran into him so we immediately went to our office downtown and taught him a lesson. He's really humble and we already got a baptismal date with him for next month which is really cool. He was like "yeah, I definitely will prepare myself to be baptized on that date" and we were like "YES!" Hahaha. Especially since we got owned earlier in the day by our investigators who pretty much all didn't come to church. The OuYang family's daughter keeps abusing her agency and not wanting to come to church causing their parents to come either A) Really late or B) Not at all (yesterday). They said she was "sick" but then we went later that night and she was fine. The only thing I find weird about that is the fact that she's 9 years old but still pretty much controls their ability to come to church which is really annoying. Elder Lee was telling me that if he did that his dad would just like drag him along haha which I'm thinking the OuYangs really need to step up and do. Of course it doesn't help that their fellowshipping family the Tans set pretty much the worst example ever in that respect since they haven't been to church in forever and seem to treat it as a "well if I really really really really really really have nothing else to do I'll go" kind of activity. Which is really really really really really really really really annoying. However, they still have reasonably strong testimonies which they aren't shy bearing to the Ouyangs which is good. If only they would practice what they preach...
Whatever the case, things are still looking good for their baptism next week. Our mission is a minimum of 3 times at church before they get baptized and the OuYangs have fortunately already been twice so next week will be their third time and then afterwards they'll be getting baptized!!! Hooray!
Thanks for the notes on sacrifice. My first day in the mission field we had zone conference from Elder Jensen (some 70) who talked a lot about that. He said that faith cannot come without sacrifice. Which is definitely true. Reminds me of Ether 12:6 where Moroni says that we receive no witness until after the trial of our faith. It's true, though I've realized which means people have to at least have a desire to believe before they can receive a witness that it is true. Which I can recognize is hard for some people since there are a lot of things that if you believe hard enough you really can convince yourself is true. Fortunately, we have the Spirit to help us with that process and with that desire. It really is true that practically no one would convert to the gospel without the help of the spirit and if our lessons don't have it then they're pretty much useless. The spirit was definitely really strong in our lesson with Brother Kuang yesterday and I could really see his desire and his humility.
Oh also another guy, Xu, Ayong, who promised us he would come to church, didn't end up coming. The funny thing is that he called us at like 10:30 and then the OuYangs called us at like 10:31 to cancel right as we were ending our conversation with AYong who was cancelling. Double Whammy.
Oh well. The Lord gives success and can take it away I guess. And comparably, our area is doing really great. Compared with earlier that is.
Have a new senior couple serving in our branch which is nice. They're really cool and have already taken Elder Luo and I out to lunch twice in the 3 days they've been here haha. Once for Elder Luo's brithday which was on Saturday and once today since we went over and set up their internet and wireless printer. They're from Oregon, near Portland. Elder Johnson went on his mission in England and I don't think Sister Johnson has ever been outside of suburban America haha since she keeps commenting about how astonished she is that no one here has yards haha.
Whatever the case, thanks for your emails guys. I don't have a whole lot of time to write back since I have to go write my email to the president now. Love you! Thanks for all your love and support. I hope you have a fantastictubularisticlysplendiferous week!
Love,
Ian
Had a pretty good week here. And by good I mean we had a whole bunch of appointments cancelled and ended up spending a whole lot of time walking aimlessly around Chinatown getting ignored by the same 80-yr-old Cantonese speakers. Then again it could be worse... since... like...
We DID however find a super super golden contact yesterday in Chinatown which was really awesome. This guy is named Brother Kuang and he seems really really golden. He fortunately had a bunch of time right when we ran into him so we immediately went to our office downtown and taught him a lesson. He's really humble and we already got a baptismal date with him for next month which is really cool. He was like "yeah, I definitely will prepare myself to be baptized on that date" and we were like "YES!" Hahaha. Especially since we got owned earlier in the day by our investigators who pretty much all didn't come to church. The OuYang family's daughter keeps abusing her agency and not wanting to come to church causing their parents to come either A) Really late or B) Not at all (yesterday). They said she was "sick" but then we went later that night and she was fine. The only thing I find weird about that is the fact that she's 9 years old but still pretty much controls their ability to come to church which is really annoying. Elder Lee was telling me that if he did that his dad would just like drag him along haha which I'm thinking the OuYangs really need to step up and do. Of course it doesn't help that their fellowshipping family the Tans set pretty much the worst example ever in that respect since they haven't been to church in forever and seem to treat it as a "well if I really really really really really really have nothing else to do I'll go" kind of activity. Which is really really really really really really really really annoying. However, they still have reasonably strong testimonies which they aren't shy bearing to the Ouyangs which is good. If only they would practice what they preach...
Whatever the case, things are still looking good for their baptism next week. Our mission is a minimum of 3 times at church before they get baptized and the OuYangs have fortunately already been twice so next week will be their third time and then afterwards they'll be getting baptized!!! Hooray!
Thanks for the notes on sacrifice. My first day in the mission field we had zone conference from Elder Jensen (some 70) who talked a lot about that. He said that faith cannot come without sacrifice. Which is definitely true. Reminds me of Ether 12:6 where Moroni says that we receive no witness until after the trial of our faith. It's true, though I've realized which means people have to at least have a desire to believe before they can receive a witness that it is true. Which I can recognize is hard for some people since there are a lot of things that if you believe hard enough you really can convince yourself is true. Fortunately, we have the Spirit to help us with that process and with that desire. It really is true that practically no one would convert to the gospel without the help of the spirit and if our lessons don't have it then they're pretty much useless. The spirit was definitely really strong in our lesson with Brother Kuang yesterday and I could really see his desire and his humility.
Oh also another guy, Xu, Ayong, who promised us he would come to church, didn't end up coming. The funny thing is that he called us at like 10:30 and then the OuYangs called us at like 10:31 to cancel right as we were ending our conversation with AYong who was cancelling. Double Whammy.
Oh well. The Lord gives success and can take it away I guess. And comparably, our area is doing really great. Compared with earlier that is.
Have a new senior couple serving in our branch which is nice. They're really cool and have already taken Elder Luo and I out to lunch twice in the 3 days they've been here haha. Once for Elder Luo's brithday which was on Saturday and once today since we went over and set up their internet and wireless printer. They're from Oregon, near Portland. Elder Johnson went on his mission in England and I don't think Sister Johnson has ever been outside of suburban America haha since she keeps commenting about how astonished she is that no one here has yards haha.
Whatever the case, thanks for your emails guys. I don't have a whole lot of time to write back since I have to go write my email to the president now. Love you! Thanks for all your love and support. I hope you have a fantastictubularisticlysplendiferous week!
Love,
Ian
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Word of Wisdom Resolutions
Herrow! Man I can't believe you had to get up to go to 9 am church! Man! How early did you wake up?!?! Like 8?!?! I can't even imagine getting up that earlier since I pretty much get up at noon most days here.... Except for when I get up at 6:30... which is everyday... wait...
Hai! Yes! OuYang family did come to church along with Liu Tony... despite the fact that Liu Tony probably won't be able to get baptized this month since he's having trouble quitting smoking and drinking tea. We've decided to take a more realistic stance that he can't just quit it all at once and work out a plan of step-by-step reduction and whatnot so that he'll at least be able to shoot for next month's baptismal service (since our branch decided they were having too many baptisms so we only hold one every 4th Sunday of the month... which is actually ok... but kind of funny of our branch...).
The OuYangs are doing really well though. We taught them the word of wisdom on Saturday night knowing Brother Ouyang had a problem with drinking tea since he'd always drink it when we went over. But it turns out he also likes to drink alcohol and smoke which we didn't know earlier. Whatever the case though, he agreed surprisingly readily to live the word of wisdom which was really cool. His wife was like "I don't believe you!" and he was like, "What? It's not like I'm robbing a bank. Why don't you believe me?!" Which I didn't really get but Elder Luo thought it was pretty funny. Still though, doing really well and it's looking good for their baptismal goal of the 23rd. We also went to the temple with them and the Tan family yesterday which was pretty cool and will definitely be super helpful for them. Unfortunately, we did everything in Cantonese so I didn't really get it... but it seemed like they were having a good time. Only foreseeable challenge now is the law of tithing... but judging from how they've been doing so far I don't think it'll be too bad. High hopes!
Had a pretty good week this week I suppose you could say. Went on exchanges with Elder Lee which was pretty fun. Although not as much fun as it could've been since it seems like we were out doing missionary things all the time... I mean since we probably would've had more fun sightseeing or just like hanging out. Whatever the case, it rained super super hard that day and we both got pretty wet. They have this super awesome park with a science museum inside next to their apartment there in the Sunset Area which we walked through at night in the rain. Then the power went out in our apartment which is always good fun haha.
Had a New Year’s party thing for the whole zone on Friday night which was pretty fun. We got to watch 2 whole movies! “The Last Airbender “ (clearly the pick of a pop-culture ignorant missionary population) and “How to Train Your Dragon.” Elder Luo and I ended up missing the “Last Airbender” though since we were out helping Brother Liu [homeless investigator] find a place to spend the night. We took him to a homeless shelter downtown to get him registered in the system and try to find out how to get in contact with people who might have access to a more permanent solution. I have to say there are a lot of interesting people down there. There was this 20-30 yr-old woman at the desk who was really really nice and helpful. I was really impressed with how incredibly Christlike she was. Really patient with everyone and you could definitely feel how much love she had for others. She arranged for Brother Liu to be able to have a bed there that night and gave us some numbers to call for him. Unfortunately, the organizations we got the numbers for were only open today so I called them this morning and got referred to some other organizations. Finally got a number for the County Veterans Office and had him head down there. It sounds like they might be able to get him some money which is really good but I'm not entirely sure of the result at the moment. I really hope they can help him.
Sounds like your guys' holidays went (are going) well. I don't really remember many of those people from Hong Kong. Or maybe any... haha. I did however, run into a lady at the branch here who works at HKIS teaching Chinese and has for like 20 years meaning she probably taught me at some point haha. Pretty funny. It's a small world... afterall... it's a small world... afterall... (Reminds me of a really good song or something...)
I need to wrap this up so I can still have time to go to the chapel and play the piano for about an hour. I love you guys! Thanks so much for all your love and support and for your righteous examples to me!
Love you!
-Ian
Hai! Yes! OuYang family did come to church along with Liu Tony... despite the fact that Liu Tony probably won't be able to get baptized this month since he's having trouble quitting smoking and drinking tea. We've decided to take a more realistic stance that he can't just quit it all at once and work out a plan of step-by-step reduction and whatnot so that he'll at least be able to shoot for next month's baptismal service (since our branch decided they were having too many baptisms so we only hold one every 4th Sunday of the month... which is actually ok... but kind of funny of our branch...).
The OuYangs are doing really well though. We taught them the word of wisdom on Saturday night knowing Brother Ouyang had a problem with drinking tea since he'd always drink it when we went over. But it turns out he also likes to drink alcohol and smoke which we didn't know earlier. Whatever the case though, he agreed surprisingly readily to live the word of wisdom which was really cool. His wife was like "I don't believe you!" and he was like, "What? It's not like I'm robbing a bank. Why don't you believe me?!" Which I didn't really get but Elder Luo thought it was pretty funny. Still though, doing really well and it's looking good for their baptismal goal of the 23rd. We also went to the temple with them and the Tan family yesterday which was pretty cool and will definitely be super helpful for them. Unfortunately, we did everything in Cantonese so I didn't really get it... but it seemed like they were having a good time. Only foreseeable challenge now is the law of tithing... but judging from how they've been doing so far I don't think it'll be too bad. High hopes!
Had a pretty good week this week I suppose you could say. Went on exchanges with Elder Lee which was pretty fun. Although not as much fun as it could've been since it seems like we were out doing missionary things all the time... I mean since we probably would've had more fun sightseeing or just like hanging out. Whatever the case, it rained super super hard that day and we both got pretty wet. They have this super awesome park with a science museum inside next to their apartment there in the Sunset Area which we walked through at night in the rain. Then the power went out in our apartment which is always good fun haha.
Had a New Year’s party thing for the whole zone on Friday night which was pretty fun. We got to watch 2 whole movies! “The Last Airbender “ (clearly the pick of a pop-culture ignorant missionary population) and “How to Train Your Dragon.” Elder Luo and I ended up missing the “Last Airbender” though since we were out helping Brother Liu [homeless investigator] find a place to spend the night. We took him to a homeless shelter downtown to get him registered in the system and try to find out how to get in contact with people who might have access to a more permanent solution. I have to say there are a lot of interesting people down there. There was this 20-30 yr-old woman at the desk who was really really nice and helpful. I was really impressed with how incredibly Christlike she was. Really patient with everyone and you could definitely feel how much love she had for others. She arranged for Brother Liu to be able to have a bed there that night and gave us some numbers to call for him. Unfortunately, the organizations we got the numbers for were only open today so I called them this morning and got referred to some other organizations. Finally got a number for the County Veterans Office and had him head down there. It sounds like they might be able to get him some money which is really good but I'm not entirely sure of the result at the moment. I really hope they can help him.
Sounds like your guys' holidays went (are going) well. I don't really remember many of those people from Hong Kong. Or maybe any... haha. I did however, run into a lady at the branch here who works at HKIS teaching Chinese and has for like 20 years meaning she probably taught me at some point haha. Pretty funny. It's a small world... afterall... it's a small world... afterall... (Reminds me of a really good song or something...)
I need to wrap this up so I can still have time to go to the chapel and play the piano for about an hour. I love you guys! Thanks so much for all your love and support and for your righteous examples to me!
Love you!
-Ian
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