How are you?

Hi all,

 

It has been a pretty rough week. We didn't find any new investigators and most investigators that we had had just didn't want to meet with us anymore. I have no idea why. I still remember the day I got here, President Larkin asked us to put someone on date for baptism that night. But until now, we still haven't had the opportunity to teach a full lesson, not to mention putting someone on date. As we didn't have many investigator to teach, we decided to spend more time on finding. During finding, we were rejected by people for a thousand times. I've been trying to overcome the fear of knocking on doors, but still my companion knocked most of the doors and did the talking. But we found that there were lots of Chinese people here in Seattle. And when I saw Chinese people opening their doors, I would take over the talking. My Mandarin has been getting better. I have to admit that I seriously have more confidence in speaking English than Mandarin, but I know that speaking their native language can help them understand more, so I have tried my best to speak Mandarin even though I didn't even know what I was saying sometimes.

 

Yesterday was my first Sunday here. Oh forgot to mention that I'm now serving in the Somerset Ward of the Bellevue South Stake. Members here are so nice. And I met Brother Brown at Church, and he served in Hong Kong years ago. He could still speak fluent Cantonese, and he told me that he was the one to baptize President Chan, NT Stake President. I was so happy that I could speak some Cantonese even though it was only a short chat. After Church, we went to a member's house for lunch! The food was super delicious, and of course I ate a lot. And in the afternoon, we watched the Leadership Broadcast at the Stake Center which talked about missionary work. I know that members of the Church are important to missionary work. Missionaries are only here to help hasten the work and to teach the gospel. If members can give us referrals and introduce their friends to us, our work will become so much more effective.

 

I think I forgot to mention in my last email that my companion (also trainer) has just finished her 12 week training. She is still pretty new to the mission, and sometimes she just feels overwhelmed. I've been trying my best to be an awesome trainee. And I have tried so hard to be patient and not feel discouraged even though we didn't have much success yet. I know that missionary work sometimes can be frustrating, but I'm grateful for the experience I have had. "... my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good." (D&C 122:7) I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church in the world, no matter how many times I'll be rejected by people, they still can't change what I know. The hard times we had for the past week helped me realize that I did have a strong testimony in the Christ. And I had never prayed that hard and sincerely in my life before. I know that the Lord will always help us to carry out His work. I know that Heavenly Father can't work miracles if we don't have faith. I know that as we continue to work hard and be faithful, miracles will happen! Just like what D&C 122:7-8 teaches us, "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes."

 

Love,

Sister Leung

My first Sunday at the Somerset Ward with my companion Sister Boyd