The One Where Sister Adams Talks About One Of The People She Is Teaching

Hey everyone! here is this week's email from our beautiful missionary. it's short, but sweet! enjoy!



I thought of a clever title but I can't remember now


Hello Everyone!

I only have a little bit of time, which is probably a good thing because my brain is jumping all over the places. There's just so much to think about.

First off, I am doing great! Blessed as always and grateful that I have a Heavenly Father who knows me perfectly and knows the best ways to help me grow. I'm also grateful for the people that He has put in my life to lift me up, help me stretch, and get me through tough trials. He never leaves us alone, He usually works through others to bless us.

We had a meeting this week with one of our less-actives. Her name is Alexandria and she's changing!! It's been so awesome to watch. We've met with her maybe three times so far and this last time that we met with her, her countenance had changed, her perspective of life had changed and her faith has grown. I'm so proud of her. When we first met her, she had absolutely NO faith that God is real and she told us flat out that she thought Jesus Christ is a fairy tale. My heart just about broke for her. In the first meeting, we testified of Heavenly Father and His love for her. While we were talking with her, I felt prompted to tell her that the Book of Mormon would answer all of her questions and that if she read it with real intent and prayed EVERYDAY. She's been praying everyday and reading giant chunks at a time, more than we even assign her. When we meet with her, the changes in her are incredible and she even admits to recognizing God's hand in her life and seeing the miracles that He has given her. The Book of Mormon is answering her questions, just like we've promised it would and although she hasn't come back to church yet, her faith is growing. I'm so proud of her and excited to see her progress more and come to REALLY feel God's love in her life. This gospel changes people and the Book of Mormon can answer EVERY question we have. We just have to read with real intent and trust that God will answer us. 

God is changing the people in Hong Kong and opening doors and windows for us to come through. I'm truly grateful to be able to witness these miracles. Sister Mendoza and I are still loving Tsim Sha Tsui and are constantly amazed at Heavenly Father's miracles that He has poured on us in this area. They haven't come without opposition and work from us, but we've been repaid 1000% what we put in. 

Heavenly Father loves you. He hears your prayers. Keep your chins up and trust in His timing. I love you all too and I hope that you have an incredible week.

SHOUT OUT TO MY DAD!! Happy Father's Day! I am so blessed to have had such an amazing father in my life. You're a blessing to me and a pillar of strength to our family. I hope that your other kids spoil you this week. :) thank you. thank you. thank you. 

Talk to you later!

Sister Adams 

The One Where Mindy Talks About Progress

Here is last week's email from the wonderful Sister Adams. enjoy :)

There are no substitutions for Christ

Hello Everyone!

How are you doing? As for me, i am living the dreams! The work in Hong Kong is progressing and we're seeing miracles everyday. Yesterday, history was made in Hong Kong because the stakes in Hong Kong split from 4 stakes to 6! I am a proud member of the new Kowloon West Stake! I'm grateful that Heavenly Father gave the opportunity to be a part of the work in Hong Kong at this time. Although the work is at times slow and NEVER easy, these is progress and there is so much joy in it.

There are some things that I learned this week that I want to share with you. I don't know if i told you all but one of the investigators that i am teaching is 96 years old. She's adorable. One thing that has surprised me the most in this process of helping Yu Pohpo prepare for baptism is that Satan doesn't quit. Even if you're 96 years old, even when you are a missionary, Satan does not quit. He is ALWAYS trying to make us miserable, no matter what situation or age we are in. We have to be stronger than the adversary. It never stops, so we can't either. We need to be building faith NOW that will last us a lifetime. Temptations, weaknesses and doubts change, so our faith needs to constantly be changing and growing as well. 

I'm learning this lesson with my less-actives as well. They all have different ages, their situations vary, their conversion stories vary, their knowledge of the gospel varies but hey all have one thing in common. Their faith is insufficient. This is why we, as missionaries, focus a lot of "teaching people, not lessons". We live in a world where people are on a constant hunt to find happiness. They try to buy happiness, they try to eat their way to being happy, they try to exercise themselves happy, work themselves happy, sleep themselves happy...etc. Whatever it is, if it isn't finding happiness in Christ, it is temporary. It will never last. You cannot find a better stress reliever, a better anti-depression pill, a better bandaid than having faith in Christ. I, myself, have learned so much about happiness through trying to serve others. My challenge is that if you look at your life now and find that you are searching for happiness in places that are not in Christ, stop, and start studying Christlike attributes. Serve others, read about His miraculous life, pray hard and start focusing on Him. You'll see the difference. 

This life isn't easy but God walks with us every step of the way. There's a mormon message that i really love to share here on the mission. It's called "The Hope of God's Light." In this video, the man telling his story says something like, "It is our condition as mortals to feel that we are constantly walking in darkness...God has promised us that we will not walk alone and that He will illuminate the way before us." I love you all so much. I hope you realize that there is so much hope, light, progress and love in this world, you just need to look in the right places. 

I love you all so much. Have a great week!

Sister Adams

P.S. My funny of the week is Yu Pohpo. Just as an update, yes, she was baptized this week after the special stake meeting! Yu pohpo is almost totally deaf but thinks that she is not, so when she was thanking everyone for coming to the baptism, she kept blowing kisses and saluting everyone. Sister Mendoza later described her as looking like a presidential candidate. It was so darn cute. She also kept yelling,  "I can't hear you!!" at random points. It made for one of the more entertaining baptisms i've witnessed. But I do want you all to know that the love that the ward has for Grandma Yu and the love that the Savior has for Grandma Yu was very strong and i'm grateful to have been a part of that beautiful moment in Grandma Yu's life. 

The One Where Sister Mindy Teaches Us The Gospel Is Not 'One-Size-Fits-All'

Here is this week's email! it's short, but she still wrote us. enjoy :)

This Gospel is not a "one-size-fits-all" gospel

Hello Everyone!

We had a wet, humid and eventful week this week. The heat and humidity is starting to sweep it's way in and I can already tell that this summer is going to be a hot one. I'm excited for this very sweaty adventure I'm about to embark on. (while typing this i'm actually shivering because the air conditioning in the library is blasting)

Sister Mendoza and I are still loving TST ward and area. We see miracles everyday and it's been a joy working and growing with her for a month already! Can you believe that?!

I wish that I could say that my title was my own words but I'm not wise enough for that. This week we had Zone Conference, which means that we get trainings from the President and Sister Lam, the Assistants to the president and other leaders in the zone. This meeting was such a tender mercy because through these trainings, the Lord was able to give me answers to questions I didn't even know I had and to point out weaknesses that I have that are impeding the progression of myself and my investigators. I particulary loved the training given by Elder James (one of the senior missionaries). He talked about how missions have ALWAYS been hard. He went through and named many missionaries from the scriptures who have had hard mission, including Christs' mission. He then told us that despite mission being hard, we need to continue to try our best and not get discouraged. We need to be more worthy of the spirit and design the lessons to fit people's needs. Christ can heal every single person, but the Atonement is never applied in the same way. It's different for everyone. 

I hope that you all are applying this gospel and the Atonement of Jesus Christ to fit your needs. Don't change the doctrine but simplify it and find a way to make it work because it truly works. 

I love you all. Have a great week.

Sister Adams

The One Where Mindy Talks About Her Investigators

Hey people! sorry it has taken me so long to get this up! I have no idea why i was put in charge of all of this! haha
here is last week's email from our lovely missionary. i will be posting this week's email to her blog tomorrow.
i hope you enjoy! :)

Hello Everyone!!

This week definitely had its ups and downs. i feel like I've felt the highest of highs and the lowest of lows this week. We wen district English class finding this week and it was fascinating to watch as people rejected the first pair of missionaries, hesitated at the second pair, and then stop and listen to what the third pair of missionaries had to say. i think it's the same with hearing the gospel, it usually takes people a few contacts with the church before they really stop and listen. Planting seeds or sewing seeds, it's all a part of the harvest. 

We had an investigator drop us this week, we experienced on of our miracle finds get anti-ed overnight and our pohpo investigator is sick. But amidst all these trials, we were still able to meet or exceed almost all our goals and we had many tender mercies along the way. i was amazed as we were counting numbers last night to see the shower of blessings that the Lord had given us even though we were going through some trials. The song "Count Your Many Blessings" really does express how i felt last night while reflecting on my week.

Our investigator, Sister Liu, is the investigator that dropped us. She's had a lot of trouble with her husband recently and to be honest, her faith isn't strong enough. sister Mendoza and I have been praying hard for her recently and I think (although it hurts) that this is the answer to our prayers. God needs to humble her first before she can become a true disciple of Christ. I trust God completely and I really hope that she finds her way back to the missionaries someday. Our investigator, Grandma Yu, is the investigator that is sick. Her baptism is supposed to be this Sunday, but with her really bad cough, her daughter wants to cancel it or move it further back. Sister Mendoza and I really don't want this to happen because she's already very old and she also is ready to be baptized. She loves Jesus Christ and wants to follow Him. Her daughter will ask her to stay home from church sometimes if there are too many people going or if it is a little rainy, which is frustrating but i know it's only because she loves her mom. We're hoping that this trial, and keeping the date the same, will help Sister Yu exercise her faith and help both Sister Yu and Grandma Yu learn how to trust God's timing. Who knows though, maybe Sister Mendoza and I will be the ones learning to trust God's timing. We're praying hard for these two. 

We went to lunch with a less active this week and while we were at lunch, this less active talked a lot about Jesus. He has a loud voice and so he could be heard from around the restaurant. As we were leaving, a little boy ran up to Sister Mendoza and said, "I know Jesus too!" As we started talking to the boy and his mom, we found out that they are very strong Christians and we asked to meet up with the again the next day. They agreed and Sister Mendoza and I were super excited. We were late getting to the place that we were supposed to meet them at but as we were walking there, we ended up seeing them on the crosswalk going the opposite direction of the restaurant that we were going to meet them at. As we got talking to them we found out that they had been anti-ed hard by the boys father. The boy would ask us questions or say things like, "I don't want you guys to go to an evil church, i want you guys to follow Christ!" It was really sad. We ended up being able to sit down to lunch with them for a little bit but the mom was very closed off. We were able to testify a lot about how this church has blessed our lives, how we follow Christ, and even about the Book of Mormon. Although she would not take the Book of Mormon, I truly believe that we made her doubt some of the things that she had been told about our church. I truly believe that if she is truly a follower of Christ, a seeker of light and truth, she will find her way back to us. It was sad that our little miracle turned sour but i'm grateful for second chances and i'm grateful that i have the chance to fight against Satan every time I bear my testimony of truth and leave people questioning all the anti things that they come across here in Hong Kong. 

Despite all the opposition, the Church is growing strong here in Hong Kong and i'm grateful to serve here in Tsim Sha Tsui. The ward is incredible. They are very generous to us missionaries and try hard to fulfill their callings. I'm proud to serve here and i'm excited to be able to strengthen them in whatever way the Lord asks me to.

Funny this week: Our pohpo investigator, Yu Pohpo, doesn't understand the chinese gospel terms so we have to use as many regular chinese words as we can to describe the terms that the church uses. This week we taught about prophets and as we were explaining it she said, "OHHH! I get it! So, Jesus Christ hired Joseph Smith to be His high level (boss type thing) servant." I'll admit, I laughed a lot (because it's a funny statement in chinese) and then testified that yes, Christ called Joseph Smith to be His servant and that he truly had Christ's priesthood power and that we still have it on earth today because of him. It's been a joy trying to teach her as simply as possible and it's been funny to see how she remembers the things we teach her. The church is true and the gospel changes lives no matter what age they are. 

Thank you so much for all your love and support.

I love you all!

Sister Adams