The One Where Mindy Had An Adventurous Week

Short email this week :(
hope you enjoy anyway!! she promised me a long one next week, so don't worry!


#HALLELUJAH
I'll be honest with you, when I saw the hashtag for the Church Easter initiative this year, I laughed so hard I almost fell over. I haven't seen the video yet but I'm sure it's fantastic. Any opportunity that we have to share about Christ, we should take advantage of it. So, I encourage you all to take a look at those videos and find something that you get out of it. Find a reason why the Lord wanted the church to produce it and who you can share it with. 

This week was another week full of adventures here in Hong Kong. I got to go shopping in one of the biggest shopping centers in Hong Kong (I'm too cheap for any of the stores there though) but it was HUGE and so cool to see. I had a week full of teaching people, chasing down less-actives (not literally but it's almost as exhausting as that), and serving. These are the best kind of weeks. The ones where you're so busy that the week ends, your sitting in Church and you're wondering how another Sunday came so fast! 

Some of the adventures that happened this week, we got to make banana bread (my first time making it too!). One of our investigators fed us dinner this week and I ate fish WITH BONES. I don't even like fish, but God helps you do hard things ;). My cantonese is improving, little by little but I COULD UNDERSTAND ALMOST ALL OF SACRAMENT MEETING. There's more but I'm low on time. 

I hope that you have an incredible Easter and that you remember the incredible gift that Christ's Atonement and Resurrection has given us. I'm grateful for my Savior and for the gift of repentance. 

Love you all!

Sister Adams

The One Where Mindy Tells Us About Truth

Our beautiful missionary has written again this week! i hope you enjoy :)

Mountains to Climb and "Which church is true?"

Hello everybody!

The pictures I sent this week are from a famous hike here is Hong Kong called Lions Rock. It's called this because from certain angles on the ground, it looks like a Lion's head jutting out of the mountain. Kind of like an egytian sphinx. I'm blessed to be in an area where I get to see this cool sight every day, but I keep forgetting to take a picture of it so, that will have to come at a later date.

One question that has become one of my favorite questions to answer is "which church is true?". I love this questions because it ALWAYS opens up a way for me to bear my testimony of Jesus Christ and about God's love. I'm able to testify of a God that loves us so much that He gave us a living prophet and restored Christs' full, hope-filled gospel back to the earth. Yesterday on the way to church, we met a lady on the train who was also on her way to church (a different church). She started asking us the usual questions, "Where are you from?", "What are you doing here in Hong Kong?" ... etc. Then her questions started to change. She started asking us questions like why we felt it was necessary for us to come to Hong Kong when Hong Kong already has so many different churches that believe in the same stuff. We then felt prompted to ask her why she thought there were so many churches in Hong Kong, when we all seem to believe in the same stuff. She replied that she had never thought of it before and started asking more questions about our leadership and other things. We invited her to come to church with us (because she had told us that she had never been to another church other than her own) and to see what the difference was between the church. She denied the invitation but before we got off the train, we were able to leave her with a pamphlet and a testimony that despite there being so many churches in the world, there is only one God and He wants her to be able to find the truth for herself and to be able to become like Him. We told her that the pamphlet would be able to answer more of her questions and that if she ever wanted to learn more, we'd be happy to help her.

I am so grateful that I live in a time where I have the truth. I don't have to wonder which chruch is true. I don't have to "church shop" every time that I move to a new area because this chruch is the same worldwide. I am so blessed to have been raised by parents who loved their Savior and tried to teach their kids to follow and love Him too. I testify that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Jesus Christs' true church on earth today. I know that because of the Book of Mormon. I know that because I've prayed about it and God, through the Holy Ghost, has told me it is true. I know that because everyday, despite my weaknesses and sins, I get to see miracles happen, and I get to see evidence of a loving God in every living thing on this earth. I am blessed to be able to share this hopeful, incredible news with the people of Hong Kong who, just like Joseph Smith, wonder which chruch is true. I know that this gospel can change lives, can help people become better parents, siblings and children, because it's changed mine. I get to see the light and life that it brings to others who are lost everyday that I've been here in Hong Kong.

Don't ever take this gospel for granted. There are so many people out there that are lost and searching for the truth. If you have the truth, share it with others and remember how blessed you are because you have something that will give you happiness now and eternal life later, what could be better than that!? If you are doubting the truth, I invite you to read the Book of Mormon and pray with real intent and you'll wonder why you ever doubted it. You'll wonder why you ever slacked on gaining a further conversion of these truths. Don't get lazy once you have it, you have to keep gaining more or it goes away. There's no such thing as being stagnate in life, you're either going forward or you're moving backward. God asks us to do these tiny things; pray everyday, read everyday, go to church, and when we do them, we're blessed even more!

We all have mountains to climb, times when we are weak, challenges that seem like they're never going to end. I have these too. I'm so far from perfect it's almost terrifying to think about how much I still need to change, but that is the miracle of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We're taken from where we are now, and raised to something higher. I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can overcome our trials, our weaknesses, and our sins. Jesus Christ has felt EVERYTHING that we will ever feel, which is why the Atonement covers every aspect of our lives.

I don't have any more time to write more, but I challenge you all to look at where you are now is life and figure out how the Atonement of Jesus Christ can life you up higher. I know that there is always something more we cojuld be doing.

I love you all so much and I hope you have a great week.

Love,

Sister Adams

The One Where It's The Small Things That Make A Difference

Heyyyyy everyone! :)
Mindy is a goober and i love how she sounds just like she would if she were talking to you face to face in her emails! goodness we love this missionary!
hope you enjoy this weeks email!


Turning Flecks of Gold Into Nuggets of Gold

Hello!

Just another week in paradise and I wouldn't have in any other way.

To start out, I would just like to mention that wearing a missionary nametag does not make you less prone to accidents, more graceful or less awkward. I am still as ungraceful, awkward and clumsy as I ever have been, but now I do it in a skirt. Every single day that I've had here in Hong Kong, I can tell you something crazy or awkward that has happened to me. This week for example, in a lesson that I had with a member and a recent convert, I spilled water all over myself and my temporary companion, Sister Ng, while I was bearing my testimony. Another day as Sister Takahashi and I were travelling home, we were riding the escalator and we hear a bang and then the escalator suddenly stops and everybody on the esculator stumbled down a a little, some of us stumbled a little harder than others to say the least... Missionary work changes your heart and your soul but it does not give you grace.

This week we had zone training which has become one of my favorite parts of the week. Because my companion is a Sister Training Leader, she has to spend a lot of times in meetings and I get to spend time with Sister Ng. We always have the funniest adventures as we struggle to navigate without our senior companions and with little knowledge of the language but it's always a good time and we always find ways to plant seeds. This month in zone training, we talked a lot about how small things can someday be turned into huge blessings.

It is really the small things that you do that lead to big changes in your life and the lives of those around you. Right now, I'm reading in the war chapters in Alma in the Book of Mormon. It's fascinating to me to read about how Moroni prepared his people for war. He does small things everyday, every war and every strategy that helps him to be the fantastic leader that he is. The pride cycle in the Book of Mormon is interesting because when the people stop doing small things like praying everyday, going to church, reading scriptures everyday, repenting everyday. That's when wars start to happen, that's when their pride causes them to ruin their government or start conflicts with their neighbors. It all starts with the small things.

We as missionaries strive to focus on the small successes of everyday as well. Every little thing that you do makes a difference. The small acts of service, such as helping someone carry something, can lead to bigger things. The small seeds of light and happiness that you plant in someone through service and sincere love for them causes people to have a better day that day and maybe even start to ask questions. Our less actives may not be coming to church now, but they might come in the future, we just need to keep visiting them and serving them. Our investigators may investigator the church for 12 years before deciding to be baptized, but we don't stop visiting them, or loving them. Everything is on the Lord's timing and He has a specific plan for us.

My challenge for you this week is to find someone that you can plant a small seed with. Visit a less active member (PLEASE, THEY REALLY NEED THE WARDS LOVE, NOT JUST THE MISSIONARIES), give someone a Book of Mormon, help your neighbor clean. I don't know what it will be for you but plant small seeds because those small seeds, over time, become incredible. Small flecks of gold have just as much worth as a bar of gold if you build up enough of them.

I love you all and I'm grateful for you love and prayers. Keep striving to know our Savior better and help others to know Him better too.

Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Adams