Endurance

In the Gospel of Jesus Christ we teach that we must receive the Restored Gospel, Repent, be Baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and finally Endure to the End. Enduring is possibly the hardest part of being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; but it is very possible and very rewarding. While not many Chinese people are in our area right now, I have been focusing on my endurance, for I know that if I faithfully endure then I will be able to reap the rewards that are promised from the Lord when we "endure well" our afflictions.

Like I mentioned not many new people are here but thanks to the baptisms in the past three months, we are still busy teaching recent converts and helping them prepare to go to the temple. Above is one girl Sister Chen and I have been working with since my first transfer, and now all three of us are seeing the miracle of her fast building faith. Elizabeth (above) is from Taiwan where she was baptized and then immediately moved to Australia afterwards and got a little lost because of a bad divorce. Despite her circumstances, Elizabeth is the one of the most charitable people I have ever met. She feeds us every Friday night the best meals. She watches out for Arash, another recent convert, trying to help him find a job, and she is always asking us if there is more she can do. She loves the gospel and I love watching her faith grow as we teach her. She is reading the Book of Mormon and this upcoming Sunday she will be interviewed to get a temple recommend. Very exciting to see how quickly the Holy Ghost is reteaching her the things her missionaries in Taiwan introduced her to.

Not much exciting has happened since last week. Max came to a dinner with us and it was a really good experience. It was actually at the family Steven ate dinner with before he got baptized and now Max has done the same thing, following in his older brother's footsteps towards the Celestial Kingdom.  He is all set to be baptized this upcoming Saturday.

We did have a bit of a scare yesterday when Steven and Max didn't show up to church. Church is now at 8:30am instead of 1:30pm and it is proving to be quite a hard transition for members and investigators alike. We had confirmed the night before with Max and Steven, but it was getting closer and closer to 8:30 and they had yet to arrive. We called Steven and he picked up with a very tired, "Hui, hello?" We had woken him up! We told him to hurry up and get to church otherwise Max couldn't get baptized this Saturday. Thankfully they made it to church just a smidgen late and Max is still on track!

It is now almost the end of January and we are excited as can be for three reasons:

1) Max's Baptism
2) School starts back up which means our investigators and new people will be arriving
3) Chinese New Year!!!

I know the church is true and that if we work hard and endure to the end, whether it be the end of the month, the end of a trial, or the end of life; we will earn a great reward and be able to live with our loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again!

Thanks for all your love and support. I recently received heaps of mail from the ward and family from Christmas! Thanks for keeping me in your prayers. Even though I don't know many of the people from the Rosehill Ward I am grateful for the love they have for my family and for their added support while I am serving the Lord.