The One Where Mindy Had Her First Baptism!

Hello fellow readers! Sorry this post is a little later in the week. She wrote a day later than usual! Don't worry, we were just as disappointed as i know you all are for not getting a blog post on time! :P
anyway, here is this week's email. sounds like she had a WONDERFUL time this week! We Love hearing from this cute missionary every week!
enjoy :)


Trains, baptisms and 3 degrees in Hong Kong
This week rocked! I seriously love Hong Kong with my whole heart and soul. 

This week I got to be a part of my investigators baptism! I've talked a little bit about her in emails passed and she has officially taken that first step on the path to her Heavenly Father. She was glowing, it was so beautiful to watch. The ward here was also REALLY supportive and loving toward her. She was almost speechless because of the love the ward showed her. I was so proud of them all. Never forget how much of a difference the members make in helping bring someone closer to Christ. The love that she felt that day and the support the ward gave her will be instrumental in helping her endure to the end and keep traveling closer toward our Savior and our Heavenly Father. 

This week has also been the coldest weather Hong Kong has had in over 50 years. The members have been so sweet with us. Every time we call them or talk to them their always asking if we're warm enough and lending us more coats. I'm very blessed to be so loved and taken care of. I had to break out the apartment heaters and the gloves though. When I'm at the apartment, we have the heater on full blast, we're wrapped up in blankets and we're drinking warm stuff. These Hong Kong apartments are not made for this weather, but we're blessed with lots of clothing! (Thanks for the extra blanket BTW India, it turned out to be a lifesaver to me these passed couple of weeks). 

Today I got to go to the temple for the first time since leaving the MTC. We have the opportunity of going to the temple once every transfer (I know, We're incredibly spoiled missionaries) and it was such a blessing to be able to go today. There's such a strong spirit that is felt in the temple and it's incredible how different and LIGHT you feel. We've been working with a couple of a less-actives and recent converts, trying to get them to make going to the temple their goal. I'm going to give you guys the same invitation that I give them. Start small, but make the temple your goal. God gave us temples and it's an incredible blessing to us, if we have one close to us we NEED to take advantage of that. I work really close to the mission office so almost everyday I get to see different people who have travelled from all over the world just to be able to come to the Hong Kong temple. Make the temple a priority and a goal. I cannot testify enough about the blessings and peace that comes from going to the temple. 

So, trains here are basically the best way to get around the city. Sister Takahashi and I spend a lot of time on the trains (because we don't live in the area that we proselyte in). Trains during "peak hour" are my least favorite trains to catch because you have to smushed up against other people but it's a great time to share the gospel with people because they literally can't move away from you. Sister Takahashi and I have had some really fun times talking to new people on the trains and sharing about why we're here in Hong Kong and what are purpose is. Usually we get really kind reception but sometimes we'll have people straight up turn around and wave us off, or change train cars. The rejection doesn't hurt that much (it's definitely not fun though) because we just remind ourselves that we are planting seeds and that their hearts are not prepared yet. Someday, their hearts will be prepared and they'll be ready for Christ to change their lives, and we'll be there waiting. 

Yesterday, I had a trainee meeting with the other people from the MTC group (SO fun to see them again) and during one the meetings Sister Fullmer shared a quote by Elder Holland that says; "If you want to make Heavenly Father laugh, tell Him your plans!" I feel like that is so true. The plans that we make for our day the night before are NEVER the same as the day that we evaluate later the next night. Letting Heavenly Father know what are goals and our plans are is incredibly important though. If we don't tell Him our plans, we can't receive revelation as to how to fulfill that plan the best or how we can might need to change that plan to help benefit us and others the best. Tell Him your plans, but be flexible and willing to make His plan your plan. Have the faith that He will never lead you into a negative situation. He will always lead you into something better and I can honestly and truly testify of that. 

I hope that you all have an incredible week and that you remember that "Yehsou Geiduk (Jesus Christ) is VERY cool'. (My 90 year old less active pohpo says the silliest things). But seriously, He can change your life and the happiness that comes from aligning your life is something that I will never be able to properly put into words. The work is hard but the benefits are incredible. 

LOVE YOU ALL! 

Sister Adams

This is Sister Mindy Mint's district in Kowloon, Hong Kong. the is in the front row towards the middle :) 

The One Where God Has A Plan For All Of Us

Hello fellow readers! Sister Mindy Mint has written us again! we absolutely LOVE that she is so good about writing. I think she knows that she would get SOOOOO much crap if she didn't write us every week! Hope you enjoy this week's email! i know we sure did :)

This week was definitely a good one, short but great. The Lord is moving His work along and I'm so incredibly blessed and grateful to be a part of it. This week I got a little sick and that makes things a little bit harder as a missionary but I'm blessed to be around some incredible people. Sister Takahashi has been great with making the food for us this week (mostly because she didn't want it to be contaminated by me) but it was a blessing to be able to have warm food, and to not have to worry about making it. She's awesome. I'm also blessed because I'm surrounded by worthy priesthood holders that were able to give me a blessing when I needed it. I'm doing much better now and I'm excited for another week of serving the Lord.

This week, our investigator passed her baptimal interview! I love seeing her progress and watching this gospel change her life. Lessons and prayers with her are always so incredible to watch because of the language barrier. It's hard to gauge how much she understands but when she gets it, you can feel it and you can see that it changed her. It's really incredible. My district leader is such a champ for doing the baptismal interview with her because I know that it couldn't have been easy for him.

This week I had numerous opportunities to teach about the Plan of Salvation. It's one of those lessons that I never get tired of studying and teaching. I love finding better ways to explain things and trying to help the people I teach to better understand it. I just marvel over how perfectly created and planned our whole existence is. I love the power that comes with knowing where you come from, who you are and where you're going. I think that one of the biggest reasons that people get so lost in this world is because they forget who they are and they forget where they are going. When we remember that we are children of God, we remember the divine potential that we have. It becomes easier to love ourselves and to love those around us. It's easier to remember what your purpose here is life is, when you remember who you are and where you're going. When we forget where we're going, we lose our eternal perspective. We forget that our actions have consequences and we forget that the worlds' opinion doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

It was a good week of striving to remind people of this incredible plan that God has for us and about our choice to be a part of that plan. One of the purposes in this life is to choose to follow Christ, just like we choose Him in the pre-earth life. Jeremiah 1:5 is one of the scriptures that we used in a lesson this week. This scripture talks about how God had a specific plan for us even before we were born. God knew us before we were born and He knows us now. He knows what we can handle and what our full potential is. He has a specific plan for each of us and when we let Him lead us through that plan, that's when we find the most happiness. I'm still striving to reach that potential and let Him lead me but I'm grateful that the Atonement of Jesus Christ makes up the difference that I lack everyday.

I think one thing that has changed the most for me on my mission (so far) is my understanding of the Atonement and the sacrament. The sacrament means so much more to me now than is ever has before. My challenge this week is for you all to study the sacrament. Figure out what is means and what it could mean to you when you repent everyday. Your love for Sunday and the Atonement will grow, I promise.

I also got to participate is language pass-offs again this week. I have to say, those are probably one of my least favorite things to do in the week but I am grateful for them. I don't enjoy how nerve-wrecking it is to sit there, knowing full well that these missionaries know how these lessons should be taught and how they have to listen to my awful my chinese is, but I enjoy the feedback on areas where I can improve and how I can do things better. The zone leaders and my companion are always very supportive and sweet. All these little things that we do every week (trainings, language pass offs, district meetings...) are really divinely done, because they really are geared toward helping us become the best missionaries that we can be.

I hope to be able to keep improving this week and to be able to find some new investigators that are prepared and ready to hear the gospel.

Have a great week,

Sister Adams

Also, if anyone could send me a definition of what the "meridian of time" means, that would be great. #lifewithoutgoogle

The One Where Mindy Doesn't Write Much This Week

Hello Everyone! This week's email is really short, our lovely missionary didn't have a lot of time to email this week! We sure are glad she took the little amount of time she had to email us anyway! enjoy :)


Short Emails because Mouh Sihgaan

Sorry it's going to be a short email today. I don't have very much time to write, too many adventures to go on and people to share the gospel with. ;)

Let's see... there is one thing that I particularly want to share about this week. It's about one of my investigators. She's from Fiji and her husband is from Hong Kong. I recently found out (as in yesterday recently) that she speaks over four languages and of those languages, the languages that we teach her in (english and cantonese) are the languages that are the hardest for her to understand and communicate in. BUT she is soo prepared and so fantastic. I'm humbled by the opportunity to help the spirit teach her. She's been a testimony builder to me of the fact that the Lord is preparing people LONG before we meet that and that the spirit is the one that does the teaching, not the missionaries. 

Sister Takahashi and I are just loving it here in Sham Shui Po. The only advice that I have for people coming to Hong Kong (to visit or to serve a mission) is to come during the winter. I've been blessed by fantastic weather. The other missionaries keep telling me how miserable the summers are here. So, their advice for people coming here in the summer is to bring thin DRESSES. Not shirts and tops. All the layers and the tucking isn't worth it. 

Anyway, have a great week everyone. Remember that the Lord is aware of you and knows what you need. Go to Him for everything. You'll be blessed. 

LOVE YOU. 

Sister Adams

The One Where We Can Help Out Missionaries Everywhere

Hello everyone! First post of the New Year! 2016 is going to be great for Sister Mindy, we just know it! here is this week's email from the best missionary out there. Enjoy! :)

Happy New Year!

 

Sorry for another week of no pictures! I'm still trying to get that figured out but something isn't compatible so... SORRY! Hong Kong is beautiful and busy but it's been humid this week because of the rain. I'm excited to see what my hair is going to look like in the summer if it's already the mess that it is now!

 

Sister Takahashi and I have still been working on getting in contact with less actives in our area. But I did finally go "finding" in a park the other day for the first time. Sister Ng (from my district in the MTC) and I go on splits every once in a while because our companions are Sister Training Leaders. One time we went to a park to go finding and we ended up teaching this family on a bench about the Restoration and we gave them a Book of Mormon. We forgot to reschedule them again, so that was a mess-up but it was still really fun to talk with them. The story of how we actually got them to sit down with us is a silly one. To put it in as little words as possible, I looked like a crazy person (I may or may not have literally ran after them yelling, "I think I need to give this to you" in Cantonese) and Sister Ng saved the day. Moral of the story, Satan doesn't want you to open your mouth and share the gospel. He wants us to be afraid of what people might think of us. he wants to try to bind our tongues. It's our job not to let him win, so we need to share the gospel often and boldly.

 

 That leads me to the real topic that I have been impressed to share this week. I don't usually think about what I'm going to say in these emails until I sit down to write them but this week I've been thinking about this topic for at least four days. So, GIVE YOUR LOCAL MISSIONARIES REFERRALS! There are entire sections in Preach My Gospel that talk specifially about how important members are in the work of missionaries. You guys are crucial for us! We can spend all day finding, tracting and contacting people on the bus or street but the people that actually end up getting baptized are usually the ones that are brought to us by members.

 

I was not very active in missionary work before I was a missionary. I really hate to say that but it's true. I did not have a clue how much the missionaries needed members help, or what a members duty is toward missionary work. A members duty is not actually to feed the missionaries (although that is also very apprieciated). Members have a duty to help fellowship the people the missionaries bring to activities and to church. Members have the responsibility to act in a Christ-like way so that the people we bring feel loved, welcome and like they aren't being judged. Members have a duty to share with others what they already know is blessing their lives. I didn't know, but now I do so I want to share it with you.

 

There's a scripture in the Doctorine and Covenants that talks about this DUTY that members have. It's D&C 88:81 "Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor."  We have this amazing knowlege of our Savior. We have this incredible message of strong families, forgiveness and eternal life. It's selfish of us not to share that with others. You may be thinking "But what if they don't take it well?", "What if they stop being my friend or think I'm weird?" That's Satan binding your tongue. If you are sharing this message of Christ out of love for your neighbor or family members than you are being Christs representative the way that you should be. Missionaries are trained on how to best help members share the gospel. We can help coach you on what to say. We can help you create a teaching enviroment/opportunity. Just ask and we will GLADLY supply our time to help you. We need you and your Heavenly Father needs you. Please don't be scared about what people might think of you. Fear is not from God and it never will be. Be courageous because you have something that is worth more than gold and every. single. person. on this earth needs to hear it.

 

I'm going to step off my soap box now but I want you to know that there are incredible blessings that come from sharing the gospel. Member referrals work better because they're given out of love and love can change lives. Those people you bring automatically have a support system through you and that's SO important with new investigators. There's a special spirit that comes into your life and your home when you are sharing the gospel. That spirit will help you and your family come closer together and will help you grow closer to Christ. So, I encourage you to find out what your duties are as a member toward missionary work and I challenge you to think of someone you know who would benefit from the gospel and give those names to the missionaries. Do this prayerfully and with faith. You'll see miracles happen, I can promise you that.

 

I love you all so much. Thank you for your prayers and your love toward all missionaries, not just me. We need your love and your strength.

I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Sister Adams

This is the view of Sister Adams' apartment building from the ground! 

This is our cute Missionary on Christmas with the T-shirt and stocking her mama gave her :) 

The One Where Everyone's Name Is Lam

So glad she's available to email us in Hong Kong! Never taking this for granted! hopefully it's like this the whole time! We got to see her cute face Christmas Eve in the States, Christmas Day here time! We skyped the whole family! Hong Kong, Japan, Washington, and Utah. Gotta love the holidays! here is the this week's email. hope you enjoy :)

The other Sister Lam

Hello!

Just another week in paradise! The weather warmed up for me before Christmas and then has been freezing since Christmas day. But, I'm seriously loving this city and the people. One of my favorite things so far is waking up every morning and running to the track. At the track all the "popo's" and the grandpas are there doing tai chi (am I spelling that right?), slapping their fat, scarf dancing, sword tai chi or "running". The tai chi and the fat slapping are a personal favorite of mine. I'll try to send a video of them sometime. 

I'm trying to remember what I talked about last week so I don't repeat anything. Today, my trainer, Sister Takahashi, and I bought groceries from the market. It's been fun to find the best deals and to try to practice my cantonese for stuff not gospel related. It still makes me a little sick to see the pig faces and to see live fish flopping around on the tables. They have these vegetables here called choi (?) and this ginormous grapefruit thing called pomello that I'm in love with and want to take home with me. My trainer is a really great cook so we get to eat lots of stir-fry and ramen type foods.

The chinese name, Lahm, that I was given in the MTC is REALLY common here. It make me laugh every time the members find out what my english name is because they can't figure out why my chinese name would be Lahm. I always laugh and say I don't know why either but at least I didn't get a sketchy last name (apparently there have been some that if pronounced wrong can mean something very different). But there's like three other Sister Lahm's here, including my mission president's wife. 

Christmas week was a challenging week for us as far as teaching went. We had A LOT of people drop appointments with us or just not show up without shooting us a phone call or a text. I got to go caroling twice and I had two Christmas parties that I went to. One with the missionaries and one with the ward. The ward one was so cute, it reminded me a lot of the ones back home except I only understood every fifteenth word. Caroling with my district was really fun because we brought the guitar along with us and were just belting out Christmas hymns and passing out cards. I'm not sure if we got anything out of it, but we did plant some seeds and definitely brought some smiles to peoples faces, so that's all that matters. 

One of the songs that we (the missionaries) sang for the ward Christmas party was called "Do you have room?" It talks about how important Christ is to the earth but that the night that He was born, no one had room for Him. It asks the questions, "Do you have room for the Savior? And do you seek Him anew?" So, my question to all of you is, do YOU have room for your Savior? Are you constantly striving, each day, to seek Him, to know Him and to show your love for Him? If not, make the time. Christ is as important to the world now as He was back then. He's worth giving up your time and efforts to serve Him. He's worth the show of your devotion for Him. 

I had the opportunity to share a message at my mission presidents' granddaughters' baptism (it was in english, which actually felt weird to teach in english), my companion and I shared some scriptures from Mosiah 5. I love verse 8, "And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ya can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh...". It had to be Christ. He is the ONLY way. I would like to add my testimony to this that Christ is the only way that we can have true joy. The kind of joy that makes the trials worth it. The joy that lights up your whole countenance. The joy that comes from knowing that the love you have for your family is an eternal love. Love that doesn't end when we die. Christ is the best example of that love and the best guide that we can look to for answers and guidance. 

I hope that you all had a Christ-filled Christmas and I wish you all a very happy New Year! I love you all so much and I'm so grateful for your prayers and your emails that you send my way! 

Love, Sister Adams (The other Lam)

The One Where Mindy Made It To HONG KONG! :)

Hello everyone!! Looks like she is finally in Hong Kong! They had a rough time getting over there because of a snow storm in Utah. But thankfully she was able to call her family those days and talk to us. It was SOO good to hear her voice! They had a lot of interesting miracles happen on their way to Hong Kong and it just reaffirmed to all the missionaries and their families that God is THERE and He is watching out for us! He will bless us when we are in need. Hope you enjoy this week's email :)


First Week in Hong Kong!

Wow, what a blur! I'm almost certain that in the MTC I learned more than ten words in Cantonese but so far, my Cantonese is limited to "Nice to meet you" and bearing my testimony (which I guess is all that really matters). My trainers name is Sister Takahashi. She's half Japanese and from Australia. She's been in Hong Kong for a little over a year and her cantonese is amazing. I'm VERY blessed to have her. She's been a really big help for my tones already and I've only been with her for less than a week. We have a lot of laughs together and we've already had some really amazing things happen. 

All I remember about the first day was that I fell asleep during my first lesson, my cantonese was AWFUL (because my brain was so fried that I couldn't translate what I wanted to say in my brain into cantonese.), and the clothing that I had on did not match in the slightest (my companion told me that she was concerned that was actually how my style was and that she was have to help me with that too). I honestly couldn't have told you what we taught that day or how i made it to the apartment that night. I also almost got hit by a bus within like three minutes of leaving the chapel with my trainer (crazy asian drivers ;) ). 

The rest of the week went by SO much better and I've been having so much fun. I already love these people and I'm super excited to learn about them and understand them better. The area I'm in is called Sham Shui Po. It's the area that includes the temple and the Kowloon Tong chapel (the one across the street from the chapel). I'll send some pictures of the temple and Hong Kong next week. (We're in the apple store emailing today and I actually haven't taken any pictures yet. Oops. Sorry Mom.) The ward is very welcoming, kind and supportive. I bore my testimony on Sunday and didn't throw up all over so that's a different plus. 

Sunday was honestly one of the hardest days I've had so far. The second I stepped foot in the chapel, it felt like the MTC all over again with someone chattering at you in Cantonese and you struggling to figure out what in the world they want from you. I'm pretty sure that I only understood like twenty words that were said in the whole five hours I was at the church (We had meetings before and a baptism after). But, the members were really patient and helpful to me. Every once in a while someone would lean over and whisper to me in English about what the joke was about or what the topic of the lesson is (which was very helpful because then I could at least try to pick out key words in that topic). I actually still have no idea what the topic for Sunday school is... 

My area has a LOT of less-actives. My trainer and I spend a lot of time visiting them and trying to serve them the best that we can. It makes my heart hurt thinking about the wonderful gift that they are throwing away when they reject the teachings that are true and right. It's hard for me, knowing the happiness that comes from living faithfully and the joy I feel every time I think about the life I'll get to have with my family and heavenly Father in the celestial kingdom. I can't help but think of the Richard G. Scott tribute that I think came with the November Ensign (?). Elder Scott lost a son, and instead of blaming God for taking his precious baby from him, he turned it around and said "Now, I have EVEN MORE of a reason to live faithfully because I have a son who is in the celestial kingdom and I need to get there to him." I just love that. I hope that in some small way I'm able to help these members come even just a little bit closer to Christ so that they can make the choice to follow Him again. 

My trainer and I try to talk to everybody we can while we are on our way to visit less-actives. We've had some really cool miracles happen where the Lord has definitely put people in our path. Yesterday we were on our way to visit a less-active that hadn't been heard from or contacted in months (we randomly picked a name off the this huge list), on our way we ran into this young mom and her son. As we started talking to them, we found out that they were looking for a church because the church they were going to was too far away from their new apartment. So, we (or course!) introduced ourselves and told her about the Christmas activity we are having at our church this week. We're praying she shows up! When we got to the less-actives' apartment it turned out that she had moved sometime before February and there was a different dude living there. He was really confused to see us standing outside of his door. We left him with a pass-along card, apologized and wished him a Merry Christmas. I don't know what will happen with that but a seed has been planted. 

Anyway, I really need to get off and get going on some others things but I hope that you are all doing well. I just want to encourage you all to remember what this Christmas season is about and to read 2 Nephi 22:2. "...I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song...". Never forget in whom your trust is ALWAYS safe and who will lead you to being the happiest you can be. There's nothing more satisfying than doing your best to become like Christ. 

I love you all, MERRY CHRISTMAS! 

Sister Adams

The One Where It's Mindy's LAST EMAIL FROM THE MTC!!!!!!

I think she had a little more time to email us this week. This week's email is a little longer than usual and it's her last one from Utah! Next one she'll be in Hong Kong, China!!! :) no pictures again this week....she's bad at sending us those! hope you enjoy this week's email from the Lovely Sister Mindy Mint!


"Adam and Eve fell so that we can go to church!" MTC Week 8

LAST WEEK EMAILING FROM THE MTC!!! 

The weeks are FLYING here in the MTC. But I'm loving every minute of it. Okay, because I always forget to talk about this, I'm gonna give a brief rundown of what a normal day is like for me in the MTC. After I wake up, I have breakfast and then gym so, my companion and I usually just get bag breakfast then do different things until gym starts at 7:35. After gym, we head to the classroom and we have personal study, companionship study and language study for three hours. Lunch is next and after lunch is more study time and a 3 hour block of classroom instruction with a teacher (all in Cantonese). We then dinner and another class instruction block with a different teacher. After that block of classes, we have another study hour and then we have daily planning before we head back to the residence at 9:30. We do have variations in schedule during the week with P-day, devotionals and service but overall, this is what the MTC is like! Another thing about the MTC is the food. It really doesn't do you any favors for about three weeks until your stomach gets used to it, after that, you're usually in the all clear (at least I was!) but they do have a lot of options you can choose from. 

The days can seem monotonous and long, but that all depends on your attitude (and your district...). It really does fly by fast, I look back on all the things I've learned and how much I've grown as a person and I can't believe that I've only been here two months. On the flip side, I only have 16 more months to share the gospel so I'm anxious to get out there! So, for those of you wondering what the MTC is like, my only advice is that it is what you make it. If you love it and you really focus on learning and improving, you will LOVE the MTC. But if you focus on the sitting, the long hours and the questionable food, you're experience here is going to seem like a lifetime.

Anyway, this week was a challenging, rewarding and sad week. We had a couple districts leave us this week so our zone shrunk to about half of what it used to be (this was the sad things because I really love my zone here), but we also gained some new Thai missionaries on Wednesday. Sister McNeely and I are still laughing about all the mistakes we make during the lessons. On Thursday, we had a particularly rough lesson where we literally could not say anything correctly. Sister Mcneely accidentally bore her testimony about how Adam and Eve fell so that we could go to church (Which is true, in a VERY roundabout way). And I told the investigator that we would have to SOS him later this week. We've gotten a lot of wide eyes and confused looks this week, which I imagine is what I'm going to be getting in Hong Kong so I should probably get used to it. I was also really sick this week too, so that made for a rough week. My teacher calls the MTC a petri dish and he is definitely right, it was long (like two hours) after I started feeling sick that more people in my zone started to feel sick, we're all still trying to recover and some are still getting sick everyday. We're all praying and hoping that we all get better before our flights next Monday or else it's going to be a rough trip to Asia. WASH YOUR HANDS AND GET YOUR SHOTS! FLU SEASON IS HERE! 

Everything will be winding this week with our investigators, teaching and lessons. I'm terrified by the fact that they are letting me loose in the streets of Hong Kong with how little I know but I'm so excited to get out there as well! I am constantly humbled by the faith and the trust that Heavenly Father puts in His missionaries. Trust and faith really is a two-way street. The more we trust Heavenly Father, the more He knows He can trust us and we are given bigger projects and bigger blessings. I studied obedience this week and I am in awe of the faith and obedience the Book of Mormon heroes like Nephi, Ammon, Alma and Moroni (and so many others) show. I truly believe that they were so incredibly obedient because of their love and trust in God. Never did they doubt that He would help them in any situation they were put into. Never did they question a prompting from the Spirit. Never did they doubt that they could overcome their hardships and trials. They knew their Heavenly Father loved them, and they loved and trusted Him right back. Heavenly Father blesses those that are obedient to Him. We are still reaping the rewards of the Book of Mormon heroes obedience. Every time we read the Book of Mormon, every time we talk about how grateful we are for this gospel and every time we think about the fact that we get to be with our families for eternity; we are receiving blessing for their legacy of faith and obedience. 

"If you love me, keep my commandments..." Obedience is the best show of love we can give our Heavenly Father. It shows that we trust Him and that we know He knows what's best for us. I get to see the blessings of obedience every time I teach a lesson and Cantonese falls out of my mouth. I get to see the blessings from my obedience when I hear about miracles that are happening in my family and when I see the changes in myself the have come from striving to do my best. I still fall short. Every single day, but Heavenly Father knows your heart and He knows your mind and He knows when you've been faithful. 

I hope you all have an incredible week and that you are able to see where the Lord has blessed your lives, because I know that He has blessed you lots. I love you all and I'm excited for next week when I get to email from HONG KONG!!

Love, Sister Adams