S7:E10 The One Where We Meet Elder Renlund

 

你好你好！

☆ We had a mission conference with Elder Renlund. And we got to shake his hands! Here what was on my journal: 

- 6:44pm, I shook Elder Renlund's hand. He is an apostle of the Lord. So amazing! It's 11° but I feel very warm. I didn't know an apostle was equivalent to a heater. 

- This mission will be your only time to focus on Jesus Christ

- He also revealed that there will be a new hymnbook! They will add Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing and will be removing If You Could Hie To Kolob

- He shared 3 things that he wanted us to know that night: (1) "As a representative of Jesus Christ, I want to let you know that Jesus Christ is grateful for you", (2) "You have been called by prophecy, by God", (3) "God loves, cares, knows and trusts President and Sister Chan"

- Pre-plan what you think during the sacrament so you can have a more meaningful sacrament

☆ We had a visitors centre shift and at the same time the member devotional with Elder Renlund was happening. When we were inside the MTR, I prayed that he would pass by and join us. An hour in during our shift, all the seventy's and authorities like his body guard started going out. And so we knew he was about to arrive. Then he came down the stairs across the chapel and I was excited to see him and also made myself a little more reverent. As he crossed I said "have a good night!" and then he shook my hand. I got to shake his hand twice OH MY! Such a blessing!

Not a ton of things happened this week. The weather is so cold! We have been busy with meetings, reportings and Easter choirs! This week will be a little more filled with 请's because sister Wright will be leaving in 13 days  that's so scary! She's been on top of everything though, seeing her shine is amazing! I don't think I have anything else left to share haha. Same old missionary work!

PICTURES:

♡ sista wright

♡ us with ali

♡ sistaaa wright

♡ missionary correlation

♡ short exchange with sister xiong! we had a spontaneous decision to do kbbq

薛姐妹

XUE JIEMEI

SISTER SY

                                                 

S7:E9 The One Where Our Friend Has a Dream!

Another week has passed and just like that January is coming to an end. I'm excited for the Chinese New Year and Easter preparations!

This week we had some amazing miracles. Wow I've probably been saying that for the past few months in my emails.

This week's highlights:

♡ we had MLC and talked about the 75th year of missionary work in Hong Kong. I'm grateful I get to be a part of the pioneer work! It's amazing how we are still starting this mission and still building it, it makes me feel privileged to be a part of it and thankful for the very first pioneers of this mission who dedicated their time to learning the language and although there was a big language barrier, after years of planting, through the spirit they baptized the first family in Hong Kong just about 50 years ago. Back then they didn't have a Cantonese/Chinese Book of Mormon. That's crazy! And how blessed are we now that we have it translated into hundreds of languages.

♡ we had a lesson with our friend 孙姐妹 and we expounded the Book of Mormon more with her. I've had so much fun getting to share my thoughts and teach in Mandarin. She shared how scripture study has more meaning when you study with others and I love that! Everyone has their own understanding and perspective about the Book of Mormon but when you share it with other people, you get to learn from their perspective and ideas as well. 

♡ we also had a very special lesson with Averie where she shared how before our lesson she dreamt that 2 angels appeared to her and thanked her for joining the church. We invited her to be baptized and she said yes!

I'd like to share a few insights I got during my personal study that might help some of you if you take time to read it:

☆ Determine where you are and what you need to do to be the kind of person you want to be.

☆ Create inspiring, noble, and righteous goals that fire your imagination and create excitement in your heart. And then keep your eye on them.

☆ “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams,” wrote Henry David Thoreau, “and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”

☆ We all possess spiritual gifts. Some are blessed with the gift of faith, others the gift of healing. In the body of the Church, all of the spiritual gifts are present. In my case, perhaps one of the spiritual gifts for which I am most grateful is that I have been blessed with an obedient spirit.

☆ What does it profit us if we listen to wise counsel and do not heed the words? Of what use is experience if we do not learn from it? What good are the scriptures if we do not cherish the words and incorporate them into our lives?

PICTURES:

• mlc, could be my last who knows

• exchanges with sister wright, iranga, beltran

• whiteboard finding with sister wright

• exchanges with sister iranga + everyday branch

• our friend averie! cutie!

• with yuan jiemei + sister muge

薛姐妹

XUE JIEMEI

SISTER SY

                                                   

S7:E8 The One Where We Have a Three Course Meal

 

♡ We were finding people in West Kowloon Park  and then we started doing our studies over there and the view was just so beautiful. By the harbor and the weather was so 舒服. As we did our studies, we saw lots of people pass by and we would say hi to them but there was this one lady  we said Happy New Year to and then she stopped and recognized us! I love it when people recognize who we are. She was so sweet!

♡ We had a successful mainland baptism. I've been fasting and praying that my Mandarin would get better and oft times would wonder how come nobody was cheering me on for how much my Mandarin has improved. This week I received an overwhelming support from so many people, they probably didn't know how much it meant to me.  I got a few compliments that helped me feel so much better: "your Mandarin is so good, you need to be more confident when you speak, you sound like you have a Taiwanese accent as well. Where is she from? She sounds like my daughter, 她讲的很好，好像是中国人我们一样。薛姐妹，我记得你第一次来香港你只说两个句。你学得很快！对。她好像跟中国人一样，你没有口音" it feels nice to be appreciated and supported! I am happy that others are also able to see my growth. Sometimes you just need to hear it from someone.

♡ we had another 3 course meal with Lauren. Oh my golly! She asked if we could meet so I could translate the Filipino documents she had and I was praying so hard to understand what I was reading haha I couldn't understand anything at first but thankfully I understood most parts. She shared the realities of working with the rich. She shared how depressing it was to work in that industry and how evil people can become for money. I wish she had a happier job. But she taught us that sometimes life is just like that, you need to take opportunities because you need it even though you don't like it.

♡ Our friend Averie is doing amazing! She has been reading the Book of Mormon and saying her prayers. It amazes me how there are really just people whom God has already prepared. I just cannot understand how we talk to people in random places and then they start coming to church and develop these habits. People really are searching for something more!

♡ We had dimsum with our members and they were so sweet  I'm so grateful for all of the members and relationships I've built on my mission. Hong Kong has a special place in my heart! A place of learning, humbling, love and discipline. 

I've been studying a little bit more about fasting. Sister Wright and I set a goal to fast every week for our friends and our area.

“What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean,” she would say on another occasion. “But if we didn’t do it, the ocean would be one drop less [than it is].”

“Are we not all beggars?” Don’t we all cry out for help and hope and answers to prayers? Don’t we all beg for forgiveness for mistakes we have made and troubles we have caused? Don’t we all implore that grace will compensate for our weaknesses, that mercy will triumph over justice at least in our case?

PICTURES:

♡ Hong Kong harbor

♡ sunset

♡ scripture study by the sea

♡ appetizer

♡ main course

♡ dessert

♡ Reese sy, that's literally me

♡ dimsum with 李和赵姐妹

♡ zone pic!!

♡ dimsum

薛姐妹

XUE JIEMEI

SISTER SY

                                                  

S7:E7 The One Where We Have a Miracle Everyday

 

大家早上好！

☆ We went to Hung Hom this week and went to the promenade and did whiteboard finding! We asked people what their new year's resolutions were and we got some pretty awesome conversations through that find. First we met this lady from Mongolia whose currently studying in Canada. She showed us her box of cigarettes and said she wanted to break bad habits so we recommended that she join the addiction recovery program up in Canada. Then we met the sweetest lady, Cynthia, from Beijing and she was just traveling here for awhile with her mom, just 1 week and she looked like she was enjoying the harbor view so we went up to her and then she was surprised. She then shared that she wasn't having the best day because she and her mom got in a fight so she was a little upset about that but then we got talking and listened to what she had to share and we got to share something as simple as prayer. We are waiting for a continuing miracle that she'll call us sometime soon. I just will not stop talking about how much I love being a Mandarin missionary here in Hong Kong. It is such a huge privilege that only one who serves here will ever know. So so amazing! And both of us were able to recognize all these different miracles which is part of the miracle process. 

☆ I asked for a priesthood blessing this week to kick start my year and it was so special to me. He talked about how this year would be a year of many big decisions but that I would need to counsel with Heavenly Father about these decisions that I'm going to need to make. He also talked about how none of my efforts every go unnoticed and that God sees and notices every effort I've put. It also talks about taking the time to appreciate the beauty of the earth. So if you haven't asked for a priesthood blessing this year yet you should! Something I've learned with Sister Liu was to ask for more blessings. Priesthood blessings aren't just for people who need comfort or are sick but you have access the priesthood power even more. Ask more blessings to seek for more guidance. And ponder and write those blessings that are promised upon you. 

☆ During my interview with president he didn't really say anything but told me not to push too much on the numbers but to recognize the miracles more

☆ We had a VC miracle this week :) as we were giving away free calendars, out of nowhere we said "the last one who gets it is definitely going inside the chapel" and then a cute little girl came and then her parents came and we invited them in. They came to the art activity that night, they came back the next day for game night, and then came to church on Sunday! SUCH A BIG MIRACLE

☆ Today was my last day at Disney  but it was so much fun :))) I also got my medal for going 10 times hahaha we got to do everything we wanted to do and it was all so with it! Kind of sad there won't be any Disney the next few weeks anymore but I'm still so so happy!

PICTURES:

☆ if you need anyone to clean for you, we can!

☆ the VC miracle family

☆ my Disney medal aaaaa

☆ last Disney

☆ poski pose with pchan and schan

☆ me:)

薛姐妹

XUE JIEMEI

SISTER SY

                                                

S7:E6 The One Where I Celebrate My Last New Year as a Missionary

 

大家好！

Happy New Year everyone! 大家新年快乐！

This week we started with nothing in our plans haha but then it turned out to be so busy and full!

☆ We had an amazing lesson with Tina as we got to share more about Christ's life and atonement. She is just absolutely amazing! She wants to learn more about baptism as we shared it to her and we feel that she is ready for the question so please keep Tina in your prayers that she will continue to recognize the spirit and want to learn more!

☆ We had another mainland baptism, my first one in awhile. I'm happy our mainland friends are all going to BYU, I hope to see them again!

☆ For New Year's Eve we had a simple dinner and shared some of our resolutions. I also had champagne for the first time 

2024, this is going to be a very interesting year. My last 3 months in field as a missionary, 3 months home and 6 months hopefully as a student in BYU and busy bustling starting my own life.

I have been contemplating a lot about the importance of goal setting and planning. I'm excited with what my 2024 is going to look like. A year of service, family time, adjustment and taking responsibility for many things. 

God wants us to plan, He wants us to master planning. If we don't set goals and make plans, we will be bound to fail. It's all about preparation! An invitation I would like to extend is to create your New Year's Resolution based off your patriarchal blessing. What promises are in your blessing? How can you set plans in order to achieve those promises? 

PICTURES:

• dinner with sara

• sara's kids!

• nanaimo bars, canadian dessert

• apartment home evening + other sisters

• wisdom listens

• mainland baptism, mia!

• hit my 100 day streak on duolingo

• hkust

• christy and yang 姐妹

• drawings!! 

薛姐妹

XUE JIEMEI

SISTER SY