Last Pday

This past week and a half has been pretty crazy. as you can tell there have been lots of things going on probably. I packed and left macau and cried a bit, then came back here to be companions with sister S!! :) I am really happy- we've been comps in 3 different areas now! She's such a wonderful person. Anyways, after i came back we had 24;s exchanges with the hong kong island zone and I went with a new missionary. Last week when i was really wanting to stay in macau i felt like i wasnt going to get the extra 4 days anyways, so I guess there was a purpose for coming back. It was a really useful 24s for both of us and I am becoming more and more grateful for my mission. The thing is, missions dont just change the lives of the people you are helping recieve the joy of the gospel, they change you. I can't even tell you all how grateful I am for my mission. Anyone who is considering serving a mission, especially any sister- well just do it if you feel like maybe itd be good for you to do, because it is.

Last night we had the my conversion story fireside, and it was really cool to see everyone from the mission. my whole mtc district FINALLY had a picture together again. I really dont know what to say right now actually since i;'ll see you all so soon. I'm grateful for everyone who has supported me. I'm grateful that I've been able to see Heavenly Father's hand in my life and the lives of others more than any time in my life. I'm grateful for the blessings that have been poured out upon my family. I am grateful that I'll never be the same.

i dont want to go home as much as i love it back there. theres nothing better than the life of a missionary, and probably nothing harder. So work your hardest. There are a ton of people waiting for you (and a few more for me here too).

All in all, I've known that I'd end my emails like this, but i never knew how true it'd be. I knew that that single grain of rice thing is true. One person CAN make all the difference. I thought before it'd be ME that would make that difference to someone, when in reality, the only person who changed me or anyone else was the Savior. He's the reason we can have that hope. He's the reason we know how to change. And I'm grateful that He's changed me as I've helped others come unto him and helped them.

Love you all,

Sis black

6 October 2011

Okay so this week was probably one of the best weeks on my mission.

Saturday we had a ward activity because it was a public holiday. We went to the beach and played and bbqd all day with the members and our investigators. That night I had to exit for my visa, and so we left a little early. I had asked the Int'l sisters if they could pick me up at the ferry terminal, and they had agreed, but when we confirmed right before I left they said they were too busy and had too many lessons, so I told them it was ok and i'd just wait around at the terminal in HK i guess. But luckily my wonderful companion decided to call another companionship of sisters to come get me, which was a nice surprise when i got off the boat. That night, some big chinese holiday i guess, we went to the harbor in wanchai and watched FIREWORKS!! Thank you China for inventing the firework, and thank you for still being so good at them! Seriously it was AMAZING. If I was chinese last saturday, I would have been SO proud of it. The coolest ones i thought were these fireworks that did the Jung Gwok characters (=China). I'll put a rather pathetic picture I took of them up here. Seriously. can you imagine seeing fireworks on the 4th of july that say "A-M-E-R-I-C-A" ? it'd be so sweet right? So fireworks were amazing. I felt really blessed that was my day to exit.

Then since then sis Y and I have been doing a LOT of street contacting. Lots being, thats pretty much all we do now. During the days its really slow, but at night we've enlisted the help of the other sisters companionship to go on splits. In exchange we help them do their english class activity, since neither of their english is very good.

Today is probably my last pday in macau (unless the extra 4 days get approved) so we're going to lunch with the elders. Their babies all headed back to HK last night because they have to get their ID cards. I am sad that its ending, but I feel like Heavenly Father is easing me out of my mission, first leaving Tolo and going to Macau with international, then changing me to both branches, chinese and english, letting me have to exit all the time and travel around, and then having me go back to HK for just a few days before I leave. Its easier to let go when you're kept on your toes all the time.

We had a really cool experience last night on splits. As we were going home from an appointment, we stopped to talk to this lady with 2 dogs. as we were talking a 15 yr old kid walked by, someone she recognized but hadn't seen since he was 3 years old and lived next door to her. He was dropping off a friend and then walked back a few minutes later. We found out his father is blind and his mother is a cleaning lady to support the family. The lady left a couple minutes later and we told him about our free english class so we can help him in school. He was interested and we just kept talking a few minutes. We found out that his parents were in the mainland and they left him home, but there wasn't any more food at home and he hadn't eaten all day. I've never done this on my mission, but we took the kid to a restaurant and bought him some dinner. I don't quite know how to put this, but as a missionary our responsibility is to represent Christ. We are His hands on the earth. And as he left I felt such a confirming feeling that this is what heavenly father wanted us to do, thats how it feels to do what Christ would do. Then we kept walking, and met a young philippino man. We started talking. he works two jobs to support his brothers and uncle back home. Its windowwashing which is pretty dangerous, so in his only free time between jobs, he sleeps so he will be safer on the job. We talked to him about hope, about how the Book of Mormon teaches us more about Jesus Christ, and that with the BOM and Bible together, we can really gain this faith to face the future. As we walked away I felt again that "this is what it feels like to do what Christ would do" feeling. Its really a huge blessing to be a missionary. It is probably the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but its also one of the most natural, happiest times I've ever had. I'm sad its ending, but working hard to make every day as good as it can be, and to help as many people as possible. Heavenly Father has given us the way, its not one of confusion, its not one of fear, it is a path of faith and obedience that brings us and those around us happiness. I'm so grateful. Thats pretty much all I can say about my mission. I'm really REALLY grateful. I'm grateful God reached out in love to us and gave the world the Book of Mormon, Prophets again on the earth, and the guidance we need to find peace in this life. Jesus Christ is not just a happy-pill to make us feel good about ourselves no matter what we do, but if we believe in him, if we change our lives to follow him, we will have that happiness and hope. yeah. i'm so grateful.


Anyways, I hope everyone is doing well. Things I'm sure back home are kind of crazy with the funeral and everything but know I'm praying for you all! Thank you so much for all the support and love! I'll see you in 2 weeks!

Sis Black

typhoon 8 misery

So in our mission there is a rule that if it is typhoon 8 (highest level) we can't go outside of our apartments. No leaving. I remember reading about elliott's having to stay inside for a holiday or something and i thought, hey, that'd be nice, have a little vacation on the mission. NOT NICE. especially on Pday (hehe). So the reason the email is a day late is because yesterday there was a typhoon 8 warning. the winds started wed night just before we went to bed and i had the worst nights sleep ever. things banging around outside and the wind whistling really badly through our windows. In the middle of the night i woke up and was super stressed because i remembered that our kitchen window was open a little bit, and went to close it. knowing that there were probably a few cockroaches who got into our kitchen, i closed the kitchen door before entering and turning on the light, grabbed the broom for protection, and then entered. I only saw three of them but they were HUUUUGE. seriously me with my broom it was like going into battle- the wind howling and making the 5 steps to the window, shutting it, and leaving the room.. my adrenaline was pumping big time, and of course going back to sleep wasn't much of an option at that point. So the next morning the level 8 warning started, and we got to spend the entire day inside. and since we had no food (no GOOD food) because we hadnt bought that weeks groceries, our food choices were interesting.

Anyways its okay because we're all safe and stuff, and we were able to teach a recent convert over the phone so it wasnt completely useless. but seriously, i'm definitely okay with never having to stay inside all day again.

In other things, we are getting a new sister today (she was delayed because of the typhoon, otherwise she'd have been here yesterday) and i'll be only serving international here again. So once again starting from nearly ground zero. haha. But i'm excited about it because i'll still be in macau and i LOVE it here. and i'll be living with 3 natives. Basically its going to be awesome.

And the highlight of the week, is that it was t's baptism.

I don't really have much to say. We're working hard (unless there's a typhoon) and we're having so much fun. It'll be cool to serve with sister H because her best friend is my recent convert I.

Andd... hmm.. I just wanted to let everyone know because mormor passed away this week and you'll be getting together soon, that I know this gospel is true and that we'll be able to see her again, and I hope when we do that it will be a happy reunion and that everyone will have been true to the covenants they've made with God. I'm really grateful for mormor and the sacrifices she made to bring the light of the gospel into her own life, even though it wasn't easy and even though she wasn't perfect, she was doing the best she could. I'm really grateful for the plan of salvation. I know its true. My testimony of that plan is pretty strong, probably stronger than any other part of my testimony other than of the book of mormon and jesus christ. I'm so grateful for it. I'm grateful families can be together forever. I want to do everything I can to make sure we can have a family forever. I hope you all care enough about each other and about our savior and our heavenly father to do the same. They mean everything to me. :) Know my prayers are with you all!

I hope you're all doing well dealing with everything. I love you all!! Thanks so much for the support and love and prayers.

Love,

Sister Black