Sister Reese Sy: S4:E19 The One Where Grace Gets Baptized

大家好！

First things first, biggest update is: new companion next transfer and TRAINING!! I have no idea who my baby is gonna be but I'm so scared I've been having a hard time sleeping at night just thinking about it. But it's gonna be so fun, I'm so excited to meet her and love her!

So for the weekly update woohoo!!

☆ Zone PDAY was a blast until I got these bug bites that annoyed me for days and I couldn't sleep haha. But I recently found a lifesaving medicine that helped it called Mopidick's #ILoveChina the weather in Hong Kong has been so hot and humid sometimes it makes me not want to do any proselytizing outside!! But September will come by so fast and it'll be winter again

☆ Grace got baptized!!!! The spirit was so strong during her baptism. It's been so fun getting to witness all the miracles happen and it has been so fun getting to be in the front row seat of this great work. I love seeing people make beautiful changes in their lives and I love seeing our friends receive the sweet blessings and joy of the gospel. Repentance is such a happy and beautiful process. One of the biggest changes I've seen with Grace is the light in her eyes. The first few moments we've been with her, you can just tell from her eyes that she needs so much love and light but after 2 lessons with her, there was suddenly a glow in her eyes and in her countenance. She was finally baptized after 2 months of teaching her and she had the sweetest testimony ever!! The happiest part of all of that is that we got to connect her husband to the missionaries in the Philippines and she wants to be sealed to her family. THE JOY OF MISSIONARY WORK!! FAMILIES!! 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

☆ Winnie invited us over for dinner at the Vietnamese place and we had a really lovely conversation about her and her children and how excited one of her sons are to receive his patriarchal blessing. She said her oldest son has been a really good example to everyone and how he always is so grateful for the priesthood. It's so happy to see that even if she's a single mother, she was blessed with 2 wonderful boys who respect the priesthood that they hold.

☆ Huang Jing Jing!! She has been coming to church for 2 consecutive weeks with Julia. We are all so glad that she got a new job and it seems like her new job is allowing her to not work on Sundays. I'm still so determined to bring back the less actives to church. We have lots of member records but only like 30 members come to church which is kind of sad but there's only so much we can do. She shared how sometimes she feels like she hasn't been a very good mother because she sometimes forgets to take care of her children. The relationships we have with our families are the most important thing ever!

☆ We got to meet our online friend Sherry. She lives a really tough life. She's only 14 years old but a few years ago her dad was diagnosed with some illness that's making his sight really blurry and so he is close to getting blind and so Sherry has to inject him with all the different kinds of medicines? And she has to do all the household chores. It's so sad cause she probably has other dreams and her circumstance is limiting her to do the things she wants to do but she's such a humble and polite kid. She loves her parents and wants to serve them. We got to celebrate her birthday with her in a simple but hopefully meaningful way.

☆ We did a fake visitor centre shift and then we were able to meet Seb. We had a goal this week of talking to people about families and asking them what some of their family traditions are. This whole week we weren't able to do that but our one conversation with Seb compensated for it haha. He started talking about how marriages used to be something sacred and divine but now it seems that there is no value in it anymore which really does show how the world's standards have been changing. We both shared insights to one another and he thought it was all so insightful and inspiring. We got to share how the principles and values the church has taught us has helped us live a more meaningful and happier life. It was one of the coolest conversations I've had in so long. We were just able to connect with him very well, and the whole conversation was just so soulful (if that even is a word). That conversation made me wish all conversations were like that. Then it started to rain and I was about to give up my favorite umbrella, but we continued the conversation and he wanted to come back for more and then the rain stopped and he got to go back home without it raining. Sometimes the rain can be a blessing!!

☆ On our way to a lesson with Cindy, we bumped into Ate Darla and Kuya Ryan and their family at the MTR station. So happy to reunite with my FSY counselors. I was so surprised to see them there haha! Such a small world

☆ We had another wonderful lesson with Cindy and we lowkey hinted her on getting baptized. She said she needed to think about it cause if she got baptized it would probably affect her opportunity to work with the government with mainland. It's just sad for me how they need to consider stuff like this, I wish it was easier for our mainland friends. She is so prepared though! She is our golden girl and she is such a sweet soul. We love her so much!

☆ We had another awesome break the fast woot woot!! Sister Clark always brings the spirit. She shared some stories of missionary life and miracles. The work that we do is the most important work on the earth. It is the most important cause. My mission has changed me a lot and I used to think when someone would tell me "you changed", I would always get so hurt and affected but now as I've reflected about it.. I'm grateful for change. I'm grateful that we can change everyday in a good and better way. One of the things I've been doing during my personal study is studying the character of Christ. I have felt closer to my personal Savior and little by little I'm getting to know Him better. I'm getting to know his traits better. One of the traits I have been reflecting upon is how Jesus Christ understood His divine identity and potential and it changed the way He lived. He knew He was going to be the Savior of the World and knowing that helped him overcome the pains and the anguish that He felt while suffering in the garden and in the cross. And why do we need to be different? I invite each and everyone of you to reflect and ponder about your divine identity, who you are and who you can become. Who you are and what you can overcome. You are all literal sons and daughters of a divine being. Remember who you are and remember what you can do.

PICTURES:

• second language zone!

• sandy zhao and her family weee

• much needed McDonald's camera selfie

• GRACIEEEEE

• yay winnie!!

• had to hide behind my closet for 15 minutes before Sister Brady could find me while we were playing hide and seek in our very tiny apartment

• byebye sister frear

• missionaries seeing missionaries doing missionary work

• huang jing jing invited us to her new restaurant

• yay winnie with sherry!!

• ate darla and kuya ryan weeee