Thursday, December 22, 2016

The One Where Sister Mindy Talks About Her Thanksgiving In Hong Kong!

Thanksgiving in Hong Kong! She has less than 6 months left until she's home! wahoo!
pictures!!

Here is her November 27th email
hope you enjoy :)


"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!"


Hello Everyone!

Thanksgiving was awesome! I made a turkey, gravy and helped make pumpkin rolls for the first time in my life (shout out to all you moms who make Thanksgiving incredible every year, that's a lot of hard work!!!!). It was super fun and actually didn't turn out as awful as I thought it was going to! For Thanksgiving, we missionaries were given time to celebrate. We all participated in making the dinner and providing the games. It was really fun and we got to get to know our Zone better, so it was a definite plus!

The temperature dropped this week! It went from 26 degrees celsius to a really cold 13 degrees. I was not expecting it. All my winter gear was still mildewing in my suitcase. But i got smart and pulled it out and it's in the wash. LOL! It was a cold weekend though. The air is not the only thing preparing for Christmas, Hong Kong is lighting up with Christmas decorations and it is the most exciting thing ever! I walk around singing Christmas carols (sorry Sister Christensen) and i'm just so excited! How blessed are we? We have a Savior and an incredible opportunity to celebrate His birth every year. I'm feeling blessed. LOL! I'm so grateful i get to wear His name over my heart every day.

To update you on my investigators, they are all doing well! we're working on building their faith and belief in a living, loving God. I never realized how blessed I am to have been born with this knowledge until I had to teach others about this knowledge. It's not always something that comes easily to people. It takes a lot of trust and time. I'm proud of them though because at least their taking those first steps toward change and Heavenly Father.

I'm sorry that this post is sort of lame today! We're going to ride bikes today so i've got to rush. I love you all a bunch and i hope that you have a wonderful start to your December. LET CHRISTMAS BEGIN!!!!

My scripture of the day: "Therefore, I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain the Salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." 2Timothy 2:10. I'm willing to endure all things for the sake of those that are ready to come up to Christ! Are you?

Love you all!
Sister Adams



Mindy and her companion took a trip to the outside of Disneyland!

Sister Mindy and her companion, Sister Christensen

Sister Mindy's Thanksgiving feast

Sister Mindy Mint's first mexican food in Hong Kong since she got there!


The One Where Sister Mindy Mint Talks About Her Attitude Of Gratitude

Here Is mindy's November 20th email
no pictures, but still a great email!
hope you enjoy :)



"An Attitude of Gratitude"

Hello Everybody!

How are you all this week? HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

i love this holiday! Food, family, gratitude, football (oops, not for me!). It's all wonderful! Treasure it!

So, Thanksgiving in Hong Kong is interesting because almost everybody knows what it is, thinks it is an awesome idea, but does not celebrate it. I laugh every time i have a conversation with someone about it because they just love the idea of it but also consider it very American. We missionaries are blessed with the opportunity to celebrate every year though. I'll give you updates about that next week!

This week was an interesting one for sure. Our investigators are progressing pretty good! No baptismal dates yet, but God is good and miracles are happening every day. It's hard to see all the different trials that Satan throws at these people. Every single one of them has COMPLETELY different trials that are pretty rooted into them. but it's also awe-inspiring to watch the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Book of Mormon answer their concerns and open their eyes. It's been challenging to teach them, but i'm learning a lot. This gospel is true and the Atonement of Jesus Christ can change every life.

in honor of Thanksgiving this week, I've been studying A LOT about gratitude. There's a quote that I found by a German Author name Dietrich Bonhoeffer that I really like. He says, "It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich." I love this because it's true. Gratitude has this amazing ability of bringing LIFE back into our lives! I was reading a talk from April 2016 titled "A summer with Great Aunt Rose." In it is a story about a little girl whose great aunt Rose teaches her about love, faith, and hope. Aunt Rose taught ME a lot about gratitude. The story talks about how happy and joyous Aunt Rose is and how everybody loves to be around her and feel happy around her. She explains that it's easy to let life get you down. It's so easy to see everything that you are lacking, but that's not a happy way to live life. That path doesn't lead to a life that is so rich with color, laughter, and light. When we strive to maintain and "attitude of gratitude" we start to discover just how richly blessed we are. We start to realize that the love of God is greater than we ever realized. 

I am grateful to be a missionary in Hong Kong. I am grateful to be companions with Sister Christensen. I am grateful to serve in Tsim She Tsui. I am immensely grateful for my family. More than all of that is my gratitude for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I can't express it. I am so immeasurably grateful for a Heavenly Father and for His guidance and blessings in my life. You cannot find a more blessed person than me. :P I truly love this gospel and I KNOW that it is true. There is no doubt in my mind about it.

I hope you all take a moment to "count your blessings" this week and really notice the details that God has paid attention to and helped direct. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Adams



The One Where Mindy Talks About Her Crazy Week

Heyyyyyyy!
okay, gonna crank out these blog posts! I'm 5 behind. I KNOW! 5! AHHHH! i'm the worst at this... But it's all good, because my new year's resolution is to be on top of this until she's home sooo don't you worry, i won't have to do catch up for every. single. post. :)


Here is mindy's November 13th email



LOL! What?


Hello everybody!!

Was this a crazy week of what? I'm still trying to get everything resettled!

This week started out just like any other week, full of laughter, energy and ready for some finding (haha!) then on Wednesday morning we get a text from the housing Elders saying, "Good morning! Did you guys know that you guys are moving apartments tomorrow?" I quickly called them to see if they had made some sort of mistake and nope! they had not! LOL! We were getting moved to an apartment that can hold 6 sisters and the elders in my district were moving into our apartment. THE NEXT MORNING! So we spent whatever spare minute that we had the next day packing and cleaning like maniacs! Our new apartment is one that had not been opened for missionaries yet, in other words, the apartment owner left behind A TON of stuff and didn't have time to clean before he left, so we spent whatever spare minute we had deep cleaning the new apartment and unpacking our stuff. LOL! It's been a crazy week but it's still been full of laughter. I'm excited for everything to be settled down again though. 

One thing that I have learned from this experience as well as the last year of my mission is, the importance of a clean home. I cannot describe to you the HUGE difference in feeling between a clean home and a messy home. When your house/room/desk is organized and clean, you focus better, you feel the Spirit better and it's so much easier to get stuff done. Mom, i'm sorry I was so messy before. You were right to try to get me to clean up so often! I'm serious, though that small time that you spend cleaning everyday saves you time when you have to clean a little deeper later and also keeps your life in order! A clean house = a happy, spirit-filled life. 

Our investigators are doing great! i'm enjoying teaching them because they ask a lot of questions! It's been fun because with a couple of them, we're starting completely from scratch. They have no concept of a loving Heavenly Father and the development of faith is slow but every step in the right direction is a miracle. We still have not been able to get Christy a solid baptismal date. She's accepting the messages really well though! She now understands why she needs to be baptized again, she's just worried that she's not going to be prepared anytime soon. She's also worried because a lot of people tell her that we are a cult and that the Book of Mormon is a bad book. She enjoys coming to church and activities though. A new investigator that we picked up this week is a man name Alex Wong. We me him while street finding on the Hung Hom promenade. He's really nice and has a lot of questions about why there are so many church, why do people believe in Jesus and "why can't you drink coffee?!?!?!?!?!?!" It's hard to keep the lessons on track but we're learning and we're having fun with it!

I hope that you all have a fantastic week. I'm grateful for a knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father. I know that His hand is in every aspect of our lives. I know He loves you and wants to lead you. Let Him lead you.

Love You!
Sister Adams


Mindy found a CoCo's curry house in her area!! She's so excited!! 

"p.s. i <3 Sister Christensen"

Monday, November 21, 2016

The One Where Mindy Gives Us Some Updates On Her Mission In Hong Kong :)

Two emails in one on this blog post. she posted just a tiny one on October 31st. So i hope you enjoy both of them! plus, there's a picture of our cute missionary. she's amazing. I may be biased, but if you know her, than you agree!
enjoy!


October 31st email:


At least I sent a picture

Sometimes you only have time to send home a picture!!

I love you all. Enjoy this picture of my companion and me as we will be having another awesome transfer together is TST!!

P.S. Sister Ng is moving :( i've been with her for a year of my mission as almost companions and i'm sad to see her go but excited see her grow and experience other things!

Trust the Lord. He'll lead you where you didn't know you needed to be!







Her November 6th email:


Updates!


Hello everyone!

I'm so sorry that i've been so crappy recently. It's been busy and I have lots to think about but these are all excuses. Sorry!

This week went by so fast. We found out that Sister Ng was leaving and that Sister Cote (also went to the MTC with me but was in the other district) is moving in to Kowloon City with Sister Terry! I miss Sister Ng lots but it's been fun to get to know Sister Cote again. She'll be my Sister Training Leader companion now and i'm already excited to see where Kowloon East (the zone i'm in) will go.

Sister Christensen an dI finally got a new investigator this week! Her name is Christy, and she seems pretty solid. She started meeting with us because she's looking for a church. She recently decided to leave her other church and has been looking for a new one ever since. We met with her on Wednesday and taught the Restoration. She took it really well and seemed willing to find out if it is truth or not. She was baptized into her previous church so we're overcoming that issue (priesthood power is so hard to explain here...) but otherwise she seems to really enjoy church and the ward members are warming up to her. We're still trying to find a solid fellowshipper for her though. She wants to hear the testimonies from all the missionaries about why they chose to be missionaries and how they came to know that this was all true. Elder McGrath and Elder Thong (couple missionary) bore their testimonies this week and hopefully she'll keep coming and hearing more. I'm pretty excited!

Things seem to be starting to pick up for us here in Tsim Sha Tsui and i'm really excited to see that change. I'm happy that Heavenly Father is giving me the time to see success here in Tsim Sha Tsui. When Elder Wong of the Seventy was with us, he gave the mission the challenge of doubling the baptisms in the mission before the end of the year. You can imagine that we were all pretty shocked and doubtful of the challenge at first but i've already seen some incredible blessings and miracles in my Zone since then. There are people to be found in Hong Kong and we're going to find them. i've really noticed the blessings that have come from asking for referrals, doing more role plays to improve teaching, finding on the street more often, serving the members, and focusing on goals. It's a lot to balance all at once, but it's so worth it. I'm really happy to see what comes next. We have potentials coming out of the wood work and it's been fun to watch.

If you remember me talking about my friend, Alexandra, i'm happy to say that she is progressing really well! It's looking like we might have a reactivation in the next few months and i'm really happy about that. She's been one of my miracles in Tsim Sha Tsui because i've been able to watch her grow and learn. I've been able to watch the gospel light up her life as she does the simple things of reading the Book of Mormon every day, praying every day, and going to church every Sunday. She's able to overcome challenges by herself and relies on the Lord more. I've really enjoyed watching light fill her eyes again because this process has been lighting up my testimony too. This gospel is true and "it works!"

If there are any of you that are feeling like your life is not as light as it used to be, i challenge you to do those 3 simple things. Get on your knees and pray every day. God wants to hear from you. He WANTS to guide you and bring light to your life. Study the Book of Mormon every day. You will never find yourself closer to the Savior than you are when you are STUDYING the Book of Mormon every day. And go to church. Don't just go through the motions of going to church. Prepare you soul and your mind to be THERE when you are there. It does you no good to sit for three hours in a chapel if you aren't going to open you heart and mind to be taught. Do it with real intent and I can PROMISE you that you wills tart to see light and it will fill you. Jesus Christ tells us that He is the "light of and life of the world." Let Him be your light. 

I love you all. No time for pics today but I promise next week!

Love, Sister Adams


The One Where Sister Adams Celebrates Her One Year Mark!!!

Hello everyone! it's been a bit, and there are quite a few emails to catch up on. Here is Mindy's October 24th email. She's been out for over a year!! i can't believe it!!! :) :)
enjoy




"One Year Older and Wiser too!"


I'M SO SORRY I KNOW I DIDN'T EMAIL LAST WEEK!!!!! Please forgive me. I had this huge email written up with twelve scriptures that describe the last twelve months of my mission but i didn't have enough time to finish it...so... i'll just share that with you all another day. Also, i realize that the title line is a birthday song but I'VE OFFICIALLY BEEN A MISSIONARY FOR OVER A YEAR! One year since i was set apart as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A year full of laughter, confusion, faith, tears, obedience and great love. I cannot believe how fast the time flew. I feel like I just got to Hong Kong and now i have people counting down for me. (#stopit) Time keeps flying by and I cannot believe how much experience can be packed into one year of life.

Today was such an awesome day because we had the opportunity of having a mission tour with our area Seventy, Elder Wong. I'm a little mentally and spiritually fried because of how powerful that meeting was so, i'm really sorry if my email doesn't make sense today. A couple of things that really struck home for me today was actually a couple of things that Sister Wong said. She said, "the calling you have today prepares you for the calling that you have tomorrow." I loved this because as i've received callings in life and here in the mission, i've discovered that the callings that I had previously helped me learn skill sets that have helped me solve problems or plan for things in my next calling. God knows what He's doing and He knows how to prepare us to fulfill our full potential. We just have to trust Him. The other things that i liked was when she said, "if something is high enough up on your priority list, your mind and thoughts will be more sharpened to promptings about that thing." This is kind of a "duh" thing but for some reason it really clicked with me today. We are what we think and what we think about really influences who we are. If i spent all my time thinking about home, i would want to go home. If i spent all my time thinking about some of my less-actives and investigators, I would get a stomach ulcer. If i spend ALL my time think about Jesus, I would probably be translated or something (don't quote me on that, i don't know how those things work.) My point is, if we want something bad enough, bad enough to need the powers of heave to help us out, we should be thinking about it a lot more. God can only give us as much as we're ready to take.

On that note, i've narrowed down the last year of my life into one scripture, are you ready?!?!?! 3 Nephi 5:13 - "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare His word to His people, that they might have everlasting life." In my mission, I have truly strived to become a DISCIPLE of Christ. This is different than being a follower of Christ. When you are a disciple of Jesus Christ, you truly wear His name on your heart and His name is on your lips, ready to proclaim to anyone who crosses your path. As a disciple of Christ, we have power and authority to act in His name. This name tag is forever written on my heart. The last year of my life is so precious to me. In the last year of my life, i have TRULY felt the necessity of being a DISCIPLE of Christ and not just a convert or a follower of Christ. This church doesn't just teach people how to become better people. This church has the power of God behind it. Only this church has the authority to baptize people and help them walk the path back to Heavenly Father.

Be bold. We are incredibly blessed. YOU can all be disciples of Jesus Christ as well, rather than just a convert. It's all about becoming. It's all about action. It's all about being willing to fulfill your baptismal covenants and truly "take His name upon you."

I love you all so much. Thank you for the blessings you are in my life. You truly bring me joy and I feel your prayers lifting me and helping me along the way. Thank you also for all the sacrifices you have made from me to be on a mission for the past year. I'm forever grateful for this precious gift that you have given me.

Have a fantastic week!



Thursday, November 3, 2016

The One Where Sister Mindy Mint Talks About Her Favorite Season

Hey there!
When am I not behind on posting her emails? ha! here is the october 9th email
enjoy!



           #looseyourthumbs and IT'S FALL.


WELCOME TO MY FAVORITE SEASON IN THE WHOLE UNIVERSE!!!!

Hong Kong has officially hit it's fall season and i'm in love with the weather right now. It's perfect morning exercise weather and also perfect 'finding on the street' weather. All of Hong Kong feel happier but maybe that's just me!

General Conference was wonderful and if you skipped the Saturday sessions, I encourage you all to go back and watch them. They were powerful! My title today comes from Elder Oaks' talk. He talked about the need for missionary work and gave some suggestions for getting started. The "loose your thumbs" thin is in relation to the wonderful tool social media gives us for doing missionary work. I loved how much this year testified of the Savior, the Plan of Salvation, and the Restoration. We're getting back to the very basics of our doctrine of Jesus Christ. You will find it A LOT easier to withstand adversity when your knowledge and trust in these things is sure and steadfast. We missionaries focus a lot on these things and it's helped me answer questions, and find strength that I didn't know I had. 

President Lam gave us a challenge in our mission recently. He asked us to ask EVERYONE for referrals. Literally every. single. person. that we have a conversation with. It's actually been really fun and it's been motivating Sister Christensen and I to talk to people that we normally wouldn't talk to. People actually consider it! people who straight up ignore us will stop and think about whether or not they know anyone who would be interested. We've had some huge blessings and miracles happen ever since we started doing this. I'm really excited to see what other cool things will happen this week as we continue to do this. Preach My Gospel is true and so is the calling and setting apart of church leaders. 

We got an awesome text message from our less-active, Alexandra, last night. We've been talking to her a lot recently about goals, the future, missionary work, and faith. She's gone finding with us and had a great time. The test that she sent us last night said, "Sisters, what can I do to start preparing myself to be a missionary." I was so excited!!! She's grown so much this summer. We're meeting with her tonight and will be discussing it more. I'm excited to see her progress. There's a lot that she needs to overcome and deal with before she starts but i think that once she makes the goal to go and overcomes all her testimony stumbling blocks, she'll get into the field pretty quick. She's already incredibly good at recognizing God's hand in her life and answers to her prayers. I sometimes feel like helping her and other less-actives like her was one of the reasons that God sent me to Hong Kong. I just hope we can get the ward to better support her. We're trying to get her more comfortable with the ward as a whole and not just a couple people and the missionaries. 

On another note, we had a surprise from the mandarin sisters when we walked into general conference. They had found a sweet girl name Erica who is SUPER interested in knowing more. We got to meet her and she was REALLY excited to learn that there are missionaries that speak Cantonese. She has some really good potential and we should be meeting with her again this Saturday. The blessings for opening our mouths more and asking for referrals are starting to come through and it's exciting to see because it was a long summer. 

I love you all a lot. Please go back and continue to watch Conference over and over again. We are so blessed to be in a church that has divinely called priesthood leaders. Their words are God's words so take them seriously and strive to apply them into your lives. 

Have a fantastic week!

Sister Adams





Tuesday, October 25, 2016

The One Where Mindy Gets Real With Us

Hello Blogsphere!
here is Mindy's Oct 3rd email. Behind again, like usual. ha!
hope you enjoy her long email! she's amazing! :) also, PICTURES!



Living on the bright side of life.



Hello Everyone!

I hope that everyone had a wonderful week and enjoyed your conference weekend. I'M SO EXCITED TO WATCH IT!!! Sister Christensen and I are counting down the days and are so excited to have some questions answered.

Today, I'm going to get a little deeper than i have in the past couple emails because this is something that i've been feeling prompted to share about for a couple weeks now but haven't really wanted to.

So, i'm going to talk about what it's like to not have investigators for months of your mission. As i explain this, I want you all to know that i LOVE my mission and everything that i say is my own thoughts and feelings. This is not the feelings and thoughts of every missionary in the whole world. We call it a "dry spot" but honestly it's more like a "hurt spot." In Preach My Gospel, we read, "Nothing happens in missionary work until you find someone to teach." I can testify that this is true. When you don't have people to teach, you spend A LOT of time looking for people to teach. When you get rejected and ignored for weeks and weeks and weeks, it start to hurt. You start to feel like you're a terrible missionary, like there is something wrong with you. "Why don't these people love me?" You spend A LOT of time on your knees, a lot of fasting, asking so many people so many questions. Every week you show up to church and you can feel the ward members, the bishopric and the ward missionaries watching you and wondering why you STILL haven't brought an investigator to church. You're trying everything and sacrificing so much and yet, no one wants to listen to you. 

This isn't the hardest part though. The hardest thing to accept is that every time someone rejects YOU, they are actually rejecting their Savior. They're rejecting the chance to be free from sin and regret. They're rejecting the opportunity to have peace and LIGHT fill their lives and make it into something incredible. They're holding themselves back and it hurts because you LOVE these people. you WANT to see them happy and see their family make it to the temple. You want to be able to see them in the Celestial Kingdom again. It hurts but it's also been the sweetest part of my mission. 

I wish that I had the time to write down all that i've learned so far. I am so immeasurably grateful for my Savior. Now, more than ever before. In the MTC, they tell you that "you are sent to find the elect and BAPTIZE them." We're promised that they're out here. I know they are too. I can promise they are here in TST. They are. I have learned that having faith and HOPE closes the gaps between "you are sent to baptize" and "why will no one listen to me?!?!?!?!" I have learned that having a grateful heart and a happy heart is a CHOICE. You can choose to let trials in life break you down until you're nothing. You can choose to be bitter, to compare yourself to others, to let Satan stop your mouth. OR you can choose to learn what God wants you to learn. You can choose to be optimistic and strive to learn how to build yourself back up it's hard but it's worth the fight. 

I have also learned that "all sunshine makes a desert." Life needs the rain to make it beautiful. It needs trials to make it worthwhile. Life needs rain. 

In 2 Corinthians 6 verse 10 has become close to my heart. "As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making MANY rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing ALL things." I'm learning to rejoice in my sorrow. I'm learning that although I have nothing, I have a knowledge of my Savior and of His TRUE church and that is "ALL things" in my eyes. It's a "pearl of great price" for sure. I may be poor (in spirit as well as a missionary LOL!) but I truly truly hope that I am making many people here in Hong Kong feel rich. I'm learning to be grateful and figure out what's most important. 

The last thing that i've learned comes from John 16:33- "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." We WILL have tribulations. As humans and especially as followers of Jesus Christ. We WILL have trials. BUT we can always be of good cheer because He's walking this path with us. He's lifting us every step of the way and lifting us when necessary. Having no investigators is not the hardest trial in this life by far, but i know that Heavenly Father gave me these trials so that I can walk through harder paths later on and hopefully be able to lift those around me while we walk. I know that miracles are around the corner. I know that miracles and blessings are coming. This trial is worth it. The hurt is worth it. 

There are miracles in Hong Kong. Just because I have no investigators does not mean that my area is a dad area or that Hong Kong has no hope of being saved. Sister Christensen and I see miracles everyday. We change lives everyday. Hong Kong has some incredibly wonderful people. I love them so much. The missionaries that serve in Hong Kong are BLESSED to be here. 

I love my mission. I love Hong Kong but more than all that is the love that I have for my Savior and for Heavenly Father who knows me so perfectly that I get tailor made trials. ;)

I hope that you all are loving your missionaries back home. I also hope that you remember that it is NOT just the missionaries responsibility to find people to teach. It is EVERY SINGLE MEMBER'S duty to share the gospel. Do your part in this work of eternities. You won't regret it. 

i love you all. I AM happy, I promise. Thank you for your prayers and love.

Sister Adams

P.S. Thank you for not sending conference spoilers.



The view from Sister Mindy's roof where she exercises every morning.

A small part of Sister Mindy's zone. Kowloon East!! <3



Wednesday, September 28, 2016

The One Where Sister Mindy Mint Teaches Us To Set Goals!

GUESS WHAT?!?! I'M ALL CAUGHT UP!!! here is THIS WEEK'S email from our beloved sister missionary! :) (she didn't write last week and that is why slacker here is actually caught up).
enjoy!



GOOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLL(S)


Hello everybody!!

I am so sorry I didn't email last week! i'm struggling to manage my time well in emailing time but i promise i'll do better. (YEAH, MOM! Stop stealing all our missionaries time! we wanna hear from her too! ;) ) 

This week was a roller coaster of disappointments and surprises but Sister Christensen and I are trucking along. We had really solid referrals that we were certain were going to turn into investigators and some super solid street contacts that we were very excited to meet with again, but they all either cancelled meetings with us, told us they weren't interested, or didn't pick up their phone. We're struggling to figure out where we are going wrong and why things never seem to work out for us but I have faith and hope that incredible things are right around the corner. Miracles are coming and we're going to work hard for them. 

So, i'm going to share a little about what i've learned in the past few weeks. If you know me at all, you know that i am not good at setting goals. I set them but i'm not usually good at achieving them. But mostly I just do things spontaneously and I hope that everything works out. Usually by "sheer, dumb luck" things do work out for me but, missionary work is not like that. All of you that are preparing for missions (and life?), be smarter than Sister Adams. Learn how to set goals and work to achieve them. We've been talking a lot about SMART goals and being accountable when we don't achieve them and I can honestly tell you that setting goals is changing my mission. There's this quote in Preach My Gospel that says something like, "If you don't learn how to set goals and work to achieve them, then someday you're going to look back on your life and see that you only reach a small portion of the person that you could have become." I can testify that that is true. If I had been REALLY striving to set goals and achieve them, I think that there might have been some differences in my life. So i invite you all to analyze your life, find an area that needs improvement, set some SMART goals, and get it done!!

On a more spiritual note, I was reading in Helaman 5 the other day (i love this chapter) and there's a part of the story that I found really interesting. Nephi and Lehi (brothers not prophet and son) are preaching to the people. They get thrown into prison and the wicked people are wanting to kill them. While they and the wicked people are inside the prison a terrible darkness and fear overwhelms the wicked people and they become very terrified and upset. In the midst of the confusion and darkness, we can read that the Spirit is talking to the people, Nephi and Lehi are encircled by fire and angels are ministering to them. Pretty incredible. The part of the story that catches my attention is in verses 40 and 41. Once the wicked people realize that Nephi and Lehi are not surrounded by darkness like they are, they start to wonder how they too can be released. They ask, "What shall we do, that this cloud of darkness may be removed from overshadowing us?" The reply is simple: "You must repent, and cry unto the voice even until you shall have faith in Jesus Christ... when you shall do this, the cloud of darkness shall be removed from overshadowing you." As soon as they prayed and repented, the darkness dispersed and a pillar of light and fire encircled them. 

We all have darkness and fear that seem to overwhelm us at times. The first step is realizing that there can be a difference. The next step is praying and repenting until you have the faith necessary. I know that faith in Jesus Christ will bring light to your lives, just as I know that it can change lives in Hong Kong.

I love you all so much. Share some light this week.

Sister Adams



Sister Mindy eating her favorite street food in Hong Kong, egg waffles. 

The One Where IT WAS MINDY'S BIIIRRRRTTHHHHHHDAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!

This email is short and sweet, but it was Mindy's Birthday September 12th so even though this is a short entry, it gets its own entry and THERE ARE SUPER CUTE PICTURES!!! our missionary is super cute and awesome! LOVE HER! here is her September 12, 2016 email. enjoy!



THANK YOU!!!


Hello Everyone!

Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! It seriously made my day. I hope you all know that I love you all so much and i truly am SOOOOO grateful for all your support and prayers. I am truly one of the most spoiled missionaries in the world.

I am completely out of time today, so no long email but i saw a picture of me from before my mission and I cannot believe how much I have aged and changed in the past (almost) year of my mission! I noticed it in Sister Ng as well. We get older and wiser REAL fast here on the mission but we're becoming exactly who the Lord needs us to be so it's worth the eye bags and wrinkles.

Scripture of the week is in Romans 5 but i can't remember the exact words or exact reference. Just a general theme for my week. Tribulation gives experience, experience brings patience and patience brings hope. I'm sorry my email is so pathetic but i love you all so much!

I know that this gospel is true. It's worth the sacrifices. It's worth the early mornings and late nights saying prayers and reading scriptures. It's worth the fight to get yours kids out the door every Sunday in order to partake of the Sacrament. It's worth it. Keep being incredible. The Lord needs us to be His hands and be willing to defend what we know is right. 

Have a great week!

Sister Adams


Birthday Crown for the Birthday Girl! :)

cute cute missionaries!

The One Where Mindy Tells Us About How Her Mission Is Worth All The Hardship

i have accepted the fact that i will forever be behind on this blog posting thing. Seriously, why was i put in charge of this?
Here is Mindy's September 4th, 2016 email. hope you enjoy! :) she's the cutest! And i LOVE her testimony that she gives in this email.




Hello Everyone!!!



Just a quick email because i'm almost out of time. But i am actually not in a companionship with Sister Ng and Sister Terry anymore. (sorry, i unintentionally lied). I got the call to train a new missionary on Tuesday morning with a "please come pick her up tomorrow." It was a little bit of a shock because Sister Ng, Sister Terry and I had finally gotten adjusted to the fact that we would be in a crazy trio for the transfer when we got the call. (Sister Ng will tell you that she saw it coming and that she was "waiting for the phone to ring" but i don't believe her. I saw her study journal. She was making plans for how to care for both areas just like the rest of us ;P). My new companion is Sister Christensen. She's from Gilbert, Arizona. Her cantonese already rocks, she already loves being a missionary, and she is a SUPER sweet heart. I love her already and I can already tell that it's going to be a transfer of miracles.

So, Sister Christensen and I will be tearing it up in Tsim Sha Tsui. Hitting the streets looking for prepared souls, loving our less actives in to coming to church, and serving our members. All the while, having fun while we do it and striving to become more like the Savior. For those of you who are wondering about what being a missionary is like in Hong Kong, let me tell you. It is the hardest thing that you will ever do. IT's hard phsycially, emotionally, spiritually and especially mentally but it is also SOOOO worth it. It is one of the happiest things that you could ever do! Just give it your all, love the people, eat the food, and work hard. the best things in life are the things that you make sacrifices for. There's a quote by a pioneer that says something like, "I would make those same sacrifices over and over again because that journey taught me about my Savior." That's what being a missionary is like. Stay strong. Keep Going. It's worth it. 

Anyway, I went to Zone Conference this week and we talked a little bit about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. One scripture passage that was shared is D&C 19:16-19. It truly is one of my favorite scriptures about the Atonement of Jesus Christ but my favorite verse in the section is actually verse 15. Verse 15 reads, "Therefore I command you to repent -- repent, lest i smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore --(and here is my personal favorite part) how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not." I like this verse because if there is anyone that has the authority to call us to repentance it is most definitely the Savior of the World. He can call us to repent because He's the one who had to bear the burden of that sin. HE KNOWS what if feels like. He has every right to be righteously angry when we refuse the gift that He has given us because the gift was incredibly hard to give. It cost Him His life. We literally cannot comprehend, we cannot know the pains and harships the He went through for us. The only things that He asks in return is that we repent, we let Him take the burden He's already felt and we strive to be better. I, myself, truly hope that I did not cause too many drops of blood to be shed for my sake. I'm grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ and I am grateful that I have the scriptures so that I can learn of and remember Him. The scriptures always say things much better than I can, So i'm grateful for their words and for the witness and light that they bring to my life. 

I love my Savior, I love Tsim Sha Tsui, I love Sister Christensen, and i love being a missionary.

Have a great week everyone!

Love, Sister Adams



Sister Adams with her companion, Sister Christensen!

Sister Mindy at her super messy desk. 


Tuesday, September 13, 2016

The One Where Mindy Tells Us About How We Can Find Rest In Our Souls

Always behind...hope you're used to it :P
here is Mindy's Aug 28th email. she included pictures on this one! enjoy :)


"Never weary of good works"

Hello Everyone!

Not much for you this week, other than the fact that I had to send home my companion, Sister Villasin on Thursday. :( I miss her a lot already but i'm proud of her and i'm grateful for all the things that I was able to learn from her. My two new companions are Sister Ng and Sister Terry. We are now serving over two different areas! Kowloon City and Tsim Sha Tsui. It's been really hard to balance time in two different areas and balance speaking time between three different people in a lesson but we're figuring it out and laughing our way through all the mistakes made. We're having lots of fun even though we feel confused 98% of the time. HAHA

None of us are really sure how long this trio is going to last, because the Tsim Sha Tsui and Kowloon City Elders are in a trio too, so we're all feeling some big changes in the air but i'll keep you updated and let you know what happens. Unity is going to have to be a big emphasis in the next transfer (not that it wasn't already) and we'll have to go to a lot more meetings..lol! It's gonna be great though and i'm excited for the new challenges ahead. Hong Kong is ALWAYS an exciting place to be a missionary.

My title today is from the scripture in Alma 37:33-34. Alma is instructing his son, Helaman, and says, "Preach unto them repentance, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly of heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ. Teach them never to weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly of heart; for such shall find rest to their souls." I can testify that this is true. I find the most rest for my soul when I am serving other and not being weary of doing good works for others. I find rest for my soul when i'm being humble and meek to what the Lord, my mission leaders, my ward leaders, and my companions ask from me. I have peace in my soul when I am teaching others to resist temptations, overcome sin and humble themselves through faith in Jesus Christ. 

Hard times come. They always will, but instead of resisting them, be humble. Do "good works." Share with others, serve others and you WILL find rest in your souls. Doing these things will bring you closer to the Savior and help you grow your faith. They will help you overcome temptation and truly help you repent. Don't be weary of good works. Serve others and give them the opportunity to serve you. If you don't let people serve you, you deny them blessings that could be theirs. 

Christ lives. Christ loves. I truly know that we can find peace and rest in our souls if we will be humble and trust in the Plan that God has for us. I know that Christ truly died for us and Atoned for our pains, afflictions, sorrows, and sins. I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, we all have the opportunity to be made whole, to be made perfect, to have peace. 

I love you all. Have a fantastic week!

Sister Adams


Sister Mindy and Her old companion Sister Villasin

Mindy with her new companions and the companion she sent home


Thursday, September 1, 2016

The One Where Sister Mindy Tells Us About Teaching The Less-Actives

Slacker here, posting her email from last week! hope you enjoy :))




Hello Everyone!

We had another fantastic week of meeting with less-actives. Our less-actives have lost the feeling of the gospel or as President Uchtdorf has said once, they have stopped "hearing the music." It's not beautiful for them anymore and I feel that it's because they have stopped having a personal connection with Jesus Christ through applying the Atonement into their lives. It's interesting to think about the difference between a knowledge of Jesus Christ and having faith in Jesus Christ. A lot of my less-actives have great knowledge of Jesus Christ but they lack the faith to apply His teachings into their life and be TRUE, firm followers of Him. It's incredible to watch God bless them as they start to re-apply their faith to see them RECOGNIZE those blessings. That's my favorite part. When we sit down in a lesson with them and they say, "God answered my prayers this week." It's never how they expect God to answer them but ti's always in a way that they learn from and remember. I sometimes think that my less-actives are like Laman and Lemuel. I feel like Nephi saying, "YOU'VE SEEN SIGNS AND ANGELS!!!!! YOU'VE HAD SO MUCH EVIDENCE! WHY WON'T YOU JUST BE OBEDIENT AND BE BELIEVING!!" But then again, I find myself being a bit like Laman and Lemuel as well. God probably thinks all the time, "Sister Adams, have I ever led you astray?? Just trust me and stop resisting the things I want to teach you." We're all walking the same path back to Heavenly Father, some of us are just walking faster than others. 

On another note, Sister Villasin and I will FINALLY be starting the "Family Mission Plan" that I have been trying to get going in my ward the entire transfer. It wasn't until this week that the members have been free enough to schedule us (perks of having a companion return home). The family mission plan is basically just a piece of paper with a list of a bunch of different ways to do missionary work and a place for them to write down the goals that they set for themselves. It also comes with a spiritual message from the missionaries, with a pinch of "you can do better to follow the prophets counsel" sprinkled in. The purpose is basically to get the members to realize how easy being a missionary can be and that it truly is their responsibility as members to be bringing people into church. I understand why they're afraid. I really, truly understand because i was afraid at first too but doing missionary work will bless them and change their lives. I'm also hoping that by making them aware of what their responsibility is, they'll be able to lift each other, support each other and my ward will grow. A shocking amount of members have negative feeling towards missionary work (not necessarily about missionaries but about DOING missionary work) and an even more shocking amount don't even know that they are supposed to be doing missionary work. It was said by the prophet himself, "now is the time for members and missionaries to work together" to bring people into the church, the prophets words are God's words. Being obedient to the prophets word will ALWAYS bring blessings. Be obedient. Be courageous. "Doubt not, fear not."

I have to send my companion home this week but I jsut want to let you all know that God gives you companions because YOU need them. Not necessarily because they need you. Sister Villasin is wonderful and I'll miss her a lot. She's taught me a lot and although it's been a tough transfer, I truly learned that having "sunshine in your heart" makes all the difference. Having a happy heart, a happy way of looking at life is a choice and it's also a blessing. I encourage all of you to strive to find sunshine in your heart (it starts with gratitude). It'll change your life and your burdens will be lighter. Pray for light and you will get it. I can testify of that. I've been blessed with some of the best companions in the mission and I don't know why God loves me so much but I won't question it. I'm excited for the new things coming my way. 

Keep listening to the "music" of the gospel and keep being missionaries. I love you all so much! I am blessed to be a missionary in Hong Kong.

Love you!
Sister Adams

P.s. sorry no pictures this week. The computer i'm on doesn't have a USB port. SORRY MOM. I promise i'll send one next week.



Tuesday, August 30, 2016

The One Where Mindy Talks About The Sacrament

hello! here is not last week's email, but the week before. so August 14th email. no pictures this week, unfortunately! i love her message this week though, so please read!!! hope you enjoy!




Are you sharing your chair?

Hello Everyone!

Thank you for all the emails this week! i love hearing form you and i hope you know that your prayers are being heard. I feel of your love and Hong Kong has been blessed with a not TOO hot summer thus far. Thanks for keeping the weather cool ;)

Now, for the good stuff. We had a lesson yesterday in Relief Society about the Sacrament. The teacher gave an awesome object lesson and I think we could all learn from it. She picked four sisters to help her out then put a chair at the front of the room and had one sister sit in it. After sitting int he chair for a second, the teacher had the person sitting down scoot over to make room for another sister to sit down with her,  then asked the original sister, "are you comfortable?" She then repeated the process with the two remaining sisters, asking them the same question.  Each sister replied that she was comfortable, not too bothered by the other person sitting in the chair with them, it was bearable. Then she had the sister who ad been sharing the chair with the other three sisters to take a seat on her own chair and asked her, "what's more comfortable?" This sister of course replied, "sitting by myself is, of course, more comfortable." The teacher then related this to us sitting in Sacrament meeting but letting other thoughts occupy our minds and hearts while we are partaking of the Sacrament. 

Are you forcing the Savior to share a seat with your health problems, your family problems, your investigators...etc? You can still comfortably sit in Sacrament and think about the Savior and other things at the same time, but is that the best option? Is that what will bring you the most growth? I myself get too caught up in thoughts of "did my investigators make it? are they feel the spirit? i hope the lessons answer their questions later..." When i should be spending that time focusing on my Savior and how I can become more like Him. The Sacrament is a sacred time, don't share your chair. Cherish it for the saving ordinance that it is. 

On another note, what do you feel when your investigator drops you? Well, dear friends, I can tell you first hand (from lots of experience) that it feels A LOT like a break up. You're a little angry and confused. You ask yourself, "What did i do wrong? How could I have made them stay? Did i not love them enough?" You cry a little bit, or a lot. You pray a lot! You're kind of in denial and it takes a few days to recover properly. I love my investigators and I truly want to see them progress. In the end, it's their choice to accept our message or not and i'm learning to trust God's will and timing. 

I love you all. Keep sharing what you know and keep looking towards the light.

Have a great week!

Sister Adams



Tuesday, August 16, 2016

The One Where Mindy Talks About Alma and Amulek

Double posting because i want you all to read her emails! she's an amazing missionary and everyone should read about her time in Hong Kong! sooo this is last week's email. see, i'm pretty caught up now! enjoy :)


"When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren"


Hello Everyone!

How are you all doing?

We were very blessed this week in the form of less-actives. There are a few less-actives that have moved into the area recently. They previously were unwilling to meet with the missionaries, but because God has been softening their hearts, they let us schedule them this week. We had two very good lessons with them and were able to bring along some members to help. They loved the member and I can already see the friendships beginning to form. God loves His lost sheep and when the ward really truly starts to take care of them, that's when we see miracles. Tsim Sha Tsui ward sometimes has a mindset of  "figure it out yourself and I'll figure it out myself." Which leaves a lot of people feeling unloved and unwelcome. I've been studying and praying for days trying to figure out how i can help the ward have more unity and love. I think i finally found my answer. It's kind of a no-brainer. 
As i was ready the Book of Mormon this week, I read the story of Alma and Amulek and I noticed something int he chapter that i hadn't noticed before. in Alma Chapters 14 and 15 we learn some more missionary adventures of Alma and his member-present companion, Amulek. They finally see some success after some miracles, but then the people they converted get murdered and they get thrown into jail. After miracles happen at the jail, they escape to Sidom and there they find some of their convert refugees. I cannot imagine how stressed and tired they both were at this point. They tell the refugees what happened to their families and then begin establishing the church there is Sidom. As soon as Alma gets the church settled, priests ordained, people baptized, he realizes that his companion, Amulek, is looking pretty bad. Amulek has literally just lost EVERYTHING because his belief in God and Jesus Christ. He's seen murder, he's had to tell the families of the people that were murdered about their deaths, he has to help with establishing the church and along the way he's performing some healing miracles. He's having a pretty rough time. So, in verse 18 (the most important part of me telling this whole story) we read,  "..Alma, having seen all these things, therefore he took Amulek and came over into the land of Zarahemla, and took him to his own house, and did administer unto him in his tribulations and did strengthen him in the Lord." Alma, the set apart missionary, administers to his member present companion and strengthens him in the Lord so that Amulek has enough strength to keep doing the work that God needs him to do. 
So, my answer is that I need to spending more time lifting up my member and helping them through their trials os that the Lord can trust this ward enough to give us new investigators. I will also be spending time repenting for the neglect that i unintentionally showed them. I should have been more selfless like Alma. I need to be better. I am not a perfect missionary, nor will i ever be but i can always do better than i have been doing. God just needed to remind me that i need to strengthen the sheep that He's already given me before He can give me more sheep to love and nourish. 

I hope that you all have had a fantastic week and that you are looking for the people who are in need of your nourishment in your wards. The missionaries are just two sets of hands. If one member helped out one other member, there would be a lot more hands serving than just the missionaries and there would be a lot more people converted to this Gospel. Please pray about someone who needs your help and take care of the sheep that God has asked you to care for. 

I love you all so much. Be safe and trust God.

Sister Adams

#blessedtobeamissionaryinhongkong 


Sister Mindy Mint and her companion Sister Villasin
Sister Mindy and her "super cute district" at the temple



The One Where Mindy Talks About Her Hard Week

Playing catch up on Mindy's emails. sorry about being so behind. here is mindy's email from Aug 1, 2016! enjoy :)


"It's not the numbers that matter but the lives that are touched"

Hello everyone!

I'm sorry i that I was absent last week, time got the best of me and I didn't really have much to say so....

Anyway, just as an update from the last two weeks. Sister Villasin and I are having fun in the sun and we love TST! I will admit that I have never had so many freckles on my face in my whole life and no amount of sunscreen seems to make a difference so, i'm embracing the speckles. LOL! It doesn't matter what you look like, as long as your testimony is still intact and you're willing to open your month. But some advice for you missionaries going out this summer, bring sunscreen. Finding on the street in the sun is a real thing and the sun will burn you. Be smart and be safe!

Sister Viillasin is a ball of energy that never stops moving and she "whistles while [she] works." i'm having fun being her companion because we laugh a lot and we're both kind of awkward so it's led to some funny situations. She's been the pillar of positivity that I needed these last two weeks because these last two weeks have been some of the hardest that i've had in the mission. The numbers are the lowest that i have ever had in my mission. People won't answer the phones when we call and when they do answer, they won't schedule us, or they will cancel the lessons at the last minute. Sister Villasin is incredible at keeping a positive attitude and I will admit that i am not always as positive as I should be. Sometimes when i think of the numbers, i feel like i'm the worst senior companion in the mission. But i got a sweet reminder from my Heavenly Father the other day that has reminded me of why i am here. While i was looking at the numbers and thinking about all the "failures" that we had this week I got a thought in my head that said, "Sister Adams, It's not the number that count. It's the lives touched." Then i get to see all the sweet faces of the people that i did get to meet this week. I got to spend so much time with my members this week. Serving with them, playing with them, sharing with them and overall building a relationship with them. I got to spend time on the buss, on the street and in houses making sure that God's children knew that He loves them and striving to help make their day a little brighter. I also got to remember that although my numbers are the lowest they've ever been, my chinese is the best it's ever been. My relationship with my Heavenly Father is the closest it's ever been and my ability to overcome opposition is getting stronger every day.

I was reading the Book of Mormon today and miraculously I was in the book of Alma Chapter 8. This is the chapter when Alma the Younger is rejected in the city of Ammonihah. Ammonihah is described as a city where ".. Satan had gotten great hold upon the hearts of the people of the city Ammonihah, therefore, they would not hearken unto the words of Alma." When Alma gets rejected, he leaves the city and tries to move on with his mission but his heart and his thoughts are still troubled by the wickedness of the people of Ammonihah. While he's thinking about these people, an agel appears to him and tell him to "lift up your head" and reminds him that he is blessed. Hong Kong has felt a bit like Ammonihah this week and I will admit that my heart and my thoughts have been troubled because of it. But then i am reminded of the blessings. After that, Alma is told to reurn to the city and it there that he meets Amulek. Amulek is what I like to call a "member present." Lots of people think he is Alma's companion but the truth is that because Amulek was a native to the Ammonihah people, Alma and Amulek have TONS more success because people are willing to believe Amulek AND  Alma. Love your members. They're your Amuleks and will give you the success and the hope that you need when you feel like no one wants to listen to you. 

God loves us and is aware of our situations. He's trying to help us grow into the person He needs us to be. As my Aunt Lisa shared with me today in an email, "Heavenly Father is the best lemonade maker." and He truly is. "Count your blessings" and "expect miracles today." I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Sister Adams