New area. New people.

Hi all,

 

This past week has been pretty good. I'm still trying to get used to this new area and my new companion. Having the experience of training last transfer, I felt like I have been doing a better job this time. At least I have been more patient. And I have been trying my best not to bring everything from my last area to here as they are different areas. I'm grateful that we have two awesome Sister Training Leaders to help us. Sister Prows is one of them. She has been my Sister Training Leader since I came on my mission. I'm so happy that we got transferred to the same zone. She knows me really well.

 

Every companion is different. And I know that Heavenly Father places them in my path for a reason. My new companion is a big worrier, and she admits it. I have been trying not to stress her out. I have learned to pray more often as I really had no idea about this new area. And I know that the Sister Training Leaders did receive inspiration from the Spirit that they called us about coming over to our apartment to help us with Weekly Planning. We were really struggling with planning the day before. But we are now doing better.

 

I had a hard time staying focus last Saturday. I was thinking that I wouldn't meet the people I used to the next day at Church. I have really been missing everyone in my last area. I felt really welcomed in the new ward though. A lot of members came to shake my hand and asked where I was from. And almost all of them had the same response when I told them that I was from Hong Kong. They said "Wooooooow! That's so cool". And some members shared with me their experiences of visiting Hong Kong. There is a member from Hong Kong also, so hopefully I will be able to speak my native language again by practicing it with her.

 

I'm still trying to focus on people in this area instead of thinking of people in my last area all the time. I'm willing to serve where the Lord wants me to, but making changes isn't easy at all. But I know that I can be a better missionary each day with the help of the Lord. We are going to have a baptism this Saturday. And I will write more about it next time. I hope you all have a good week.

 

Love,

Sister Leung

Another journey is about to begin

Hi all,

 

Today is transfer day. I got the call last night that I was being transferred out of the stake boundary... I already felt like I would leave so I gotta visited a couple of members yesterday. I was crying after the transfer call. There were sooooo many people that I wouldn't get to see again until after my mission. The Elders were both being transferred, which was kind of surprising. Only my last companion got to stay in the Somerset ward. I started packing yesterday morning because I felt like I would leave, and I was right. (It was the first time in my life that I hoped that I was WRONG) Still, I didn't finish packing until 1am.

 

This morning, I visited a less active old lady in our ward. I tried so hard not to cry, but I didn't make it. I really had lots of great memories at her house. She was always fun to talk with, and I just felt like she was a great-grandmother to me. She was already 93 years old. I truly hope that she will live so much longer that I can see her again after my mission. After that, we went to the Temple ground to take pictures with the Elders, which has been a tradition since I came in. It has been a pleasure to serve with Elder Atherley and Elder Larsen in the same ward.

 

We then drove to the mission office for transfer. I'm now in the Bothell zone. My new companion is Sister Matheney, and she has only been out for 6 weeks, which means I'm going to finish up her training. My first reaction was "Oh my goodness I don't want to train again", but then I realized that I wouldn't do well if I continued to have this kind of attitude, so I tried hard to be excited about it. Last transfer was really rough. It was sooooo rough that I don't even know how to describe it. I can't even remember how many times I cried or how often we fought....  but I have grown a lot with the last 6 weeks because of all those trials. And I know that the experiences I had last transfer can help me be a better missionary and trainer in this transfer. I really miss all the people in my last area, but I know that the Lord knows where I have to be. Also, I'm here to serve the Lord with all my heart, so I will always be willing to go where He wants me to go. Sister Matheney just told me that there were some Chinese people that I may be able to help with as I could speak Mandarin. And she told me that there were 2 members in the ward that spoke Cantonese, so I might be able to gain my native language back. Believe it or not, I lost it about 3 months ago... I can still read and listen, but I really can't speak any Cantonese right now, and I have been having a hard time writing it...

 

I know that it will take some time to get used to a new area, but I know that the Lord always qualifies those He calls. I know that He will help me be a better missionary if I put my trust in Him. I'm already one-fourth done with my mission. Time has been going by so fast. I seriously don't ever want to be released! Being a missionary has been one of the greatest blessings in my life. It is a privilege to serve the Lord as a full-time missionary. To those who are thinking about going on a mission, I would encourage you to pray about it to know if it is something that the Lord wants you to do. I know that He lives and always answers our prayers.

 

Love,

Sister Leung

Elder Atherley and Elder Larsen

Pictures before transfer

I saw my first companion at transfer:)

Hermana Pingree. We came out from the MTC together.

The night before transfer

Going on split is FUN

Hi all,

 

This last week... I really don't know how to describe it. It has been a super CRAZY week but with some good time. We finally went on split for the first time. I went with Rachel, who just got back from her mission. She studied Mandarin for a couple years so went to visit a few Chinese potentials, sadly they weren't really interested. The Relief Society President told me to visit a less active Taiwanese sister in our ward, but since she spoke broken English, I didn't want to go see her with my companion as I would the only one talking with the Taiwanese sister. Rachel and I went over to visit, and I was totally impressed my Rachel's Mandarin. We together were able to share a spiritual message in Mandarin, and Rachel give a prayer in Mandarin. It was such a great experience. After this visit, everything we planned to do fell through. Rachel tried to call some members to see if we could visit them, but none of them were available. I felt like I should call Sister Kim, so I did it. I asked her if we could go over to share a member missionary lesson with her, and she said "Sister Leung, guess what? I have an investigator at my house waiting for you. I just feel like I should call you, so just come". I was like "YES!". Sister Kim is just the BEST member missionary ever! She talked about the gospel with all her friends. This friend of hers was Korean, and she had already met with the Korean members. We shared with her about how the gospel has blessed our lives. We are going to do service for her this week by practicing English with her. It's going to be fun.

 

I talked with a few members in our ward last week, and they all told me that I had changed a lot since I came into this ward. They all remembered how quiet I used to be, and one of them said that she was quite worried about me at the beginning. They thought that I was homesick, but I was never. I'm glad that I went to BYU Hawaii before my mission. Even though I really didn't like it much, it really helped me prepare to serve a mission. There is no way I would have been on my mission if I hadn't studied in BYUH. Serving a mission has been a very humbling experience. I have been learning how to trust the Lord more, and I testify that He listens and answers our prayers. I had never been so grateful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ before my mission, but now I understand so much more about it, and I have a stronger desire to share the gospel because I know that all people need to know how they can be blessed by the Atonement. Because of the Atonement of Christ, our sins can be forgiven through sincere repentance. We have to remember that repentance is a gift but not punishment.

 

Love,

Sister Leung


 First Starbucks (CHOCOLATE!) since I went on my mission. Emily is the BEST!

Emily is leaving for the MTC in 2 days.
 

General Conference weekend!

Hi all,

 

The past week has been a bit rough that nobody would listen to our message. I don't even know how many doors we knocked on. But it was still a pretty good week with General Conference.

 

I got sooooooo sick last Wednesday. I just got a really bad sore throat that I woke up in the middle of the night. I could hardly speak. Sister Choi told me to call the doctor, and the only thing the doctor told me was to use salt water. I was like "Are you kidding me?". I was dying, so I asked Edler Larsen to give me a Priesthood blessing. I wasn't healed immediately but was given strength to continue to work. I tried all the medicine that I had, but they didn't help. Elder Larsen gave me essential oil, supplement, honey stick, and a bottle of honey. The honey stick was totally a magic! My sore throat was completely gone after eating it.

 

Last Saturday was my click day #4! It has been 4 months since I went into the MTC. And it was General Conference day also. All the talks were great. When President Eyring announced that the next speaker would be Elder David A. Bednar. I was like "YES!". His talk was awesome!!!! Between the morning session and the afternoon session, the Asian family that we have been teaching took us out for lunch. A family in our ward went also. They remembered me saying in Testimony Meeting that I missed Chinese food, so we had lunch in a Chinese restaurant! DIM SUM! I was sooooooooo happy. I felt like home. Most people working there spoke Cantonese, and I enjoyed listening their conversation. But believe it or not, I've lost my Cantonese. Anyway, the lunch was great! I really do love this family a lot. I had never prayed that often for any of my investigators before, but I have been praying a lot that I will be inspired to know what I have to do to help them come closer to Christ.

 

General Conference was great! I'm looking forward to the next General Conference already. Even though I was born and raised in the Church, I didn't pay attention to any General Conference until 2 years ago. My mom used to say that I was "cold-blooded" just because of the face that I wouldn't cry when I listened to any talk. It was simply because my heart wasn't softened yet. Now I cry even when I read the Ensign because I can feel the Spirit strongly. While watching the General Conference, I could feel that the Spirit filled the whole chapel. And I know that President Thomas S. Monson is chosen by God to guide us in these latter-days. I'm grateful for the Gospel in my life. I'm grateful that my grandpa joined the Church years ago so that I was born and raised in the Church. I'm grateful that I can serve the Lord as a full-time missionary. I love the gospel. I love my Savior and Redeemer. And I love you all! Have a good week.

 

Love,

Sister Leung

The girl on my left is Emily, who goes out tracting with us often. She is leaving for her mission in less than 10 days. I'm gonna miss her so much.

Yay exchanges

Hi all,

The BEST thing happened last week was EXCHANGES! Since my first exchanges with Sister Prows, I always wanted to have exchanges. Last Tuesday night, we were told that I was assigned to go to Cougar Mountain for exchanges with Sister Crockett. But since I hurt my back later that night, I got an appointment to fix my back the next day, so I ended up staying in my own area with Sister Prows, and my companion went to Cougar Mountain. I was quite happy with hurting my back as I got to have exchanges with Sister Prows again, which I have been waiting for more than 2 months. We went on exchanges after having interview with President Choi on Wednesday afternoon. Being with Sister Prows is the BEST ever! She totally understood what I had been struggling with. She told me that she could tell I became much stronger because of the 3 rough months. She still clearly remembered how nervous I was about knocking on doors when I first went on exchanges with her. And I will never forget how she helped me overcome that fear in less than 24 hours. We went tracting with Emily that evening, and it was indeed a good time. We got some really interesting responses from people also. When we knocked on a door, a man came out and shouted at us "Don't you guys have something better to do?". He then slammed the door. We were kind of laughing actually, and we came up with different response that we could have given that man, such as "well... if you let us come in, you can teach us how to use our time more wisely" and "Nothing is more important than your Salvation". Tracting with Sister Prows and Emily was indeed FUN! We got 4 lessons in an hour. I usually loved having Ward Correlation, but that night I seriously hoped that I could spend all night knocking on doors. Since I became a trainer, I had been struggling with daily planning, so I told Sister Prows that I would need some help with it. That night we prayed and planned together, and amazingly we were able to plan out for 3 weeks in 30 minutes, and we went to bed on time. She was just soooooooo amazing! And I learned a lot from her during companion study the next morning. I wish that exchanges could last for a month instead of 24 hours...

I don't remember if I had ever mentioned about an Asian family, who was our eternal investigator. They first met missionaries years ago and were taught everything, but they still haven't been baptized. We talked with them and found out that the mom hadn't received an answer if the Book of Mormon was true yet, but she said that she would be baptized if she knew that it was true. I first met this family back in June, and I did develop great love for them. This family was amazing, and I actually thought that they were members when I first visited them. Their son has finished 4 years of Seminary and is now studying in BYU. They were just like a Mormon family. Since they loved both the Elders and us, we have been taking turn to visit them. We reviewed the Restoration with them last Moday, and the Elders followed up with them and invited them to Church last Friday. And they were at Church yesterday! They used to go to Church about once a month before I came out, but they later stopped attending Church. But I'm glad that they have lots of member friends and love missionaries. We will try to go by this evening to share with them "In His own time, in His own way" from August 2013 Ensign talking about how to receive personal revelation. I really have been praying for them that they will know the truth for themselves.

Yesterday was Fast Sunday. And I did share my testimony:)

I know that the Church is true. I know that the fulness of the Gospel was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Hope you all have a good week!

Love,

Sister Leung

P.S. The weather here in Seattle is PERFECT! It's about 14 degrees Celsius:) And I'm still wearing short sleeves!