Week 17 in Hong Kong

P-day this week is on Friday, just this week for leadership training and other meeting schedules,

We got to go to the temple today. We are incredibly blessed to go every transfer. Everytime I go to the temple, I feel as if I have come home, I am able to leave all the burdens of the past 6 weeks and start over again spiritually rejuvenated.

Anyways, don't have much time to write because I sent more pictures this time but Christmas was wonderful and Mandy and Angel have a fast coming baptismal date for the January 15!! We got to meet Angel's father and his girl friend who previously was concerned because they heard many bad things about the church but upon meeting us they said all the questions they had were answered just by seeing the kind of people we missionaries were, and that what they heard didn't match up with what we were. It was an incredible humbling experience knowing that truly, no matter how bad our cantonese may be, the light of Christ we radiate is the most important and speaks the loudest.

Although there wasn't a baptism on Christmas for our companionship, many of our investigators are progressing and 3 of them will be prepared to be baptized in January, we are very excited, also, the Elders in Sheung Shui had a baptism on Christmas, and I know that their convert's family will also be influenced by his example. THis work truly is exciting and I know that it has only begun, my 3rd move into the mission hasn't even ended yet and I am already witnessing all these lives change and coming unto Christ. I am so thankful for the examplary Hong Kong Saints, I am so thankful for all the experiences the Lord gives me to help me become who I need to become, and the blessings and knowledge He gives me as I need them and am ready for them.

Yesterday I also met the legendary Sister Kim! The Korean sister missionary that served before I got to Hong Kong, her Cantonese is unbelievable and gives me great hope too haha. Anyways, I know I am sent here in Hong Kong for a specific purpose, and having only less than a year left now of my mission, I rededicate/recommit to give it my all.

I hope everyone also is letting Heavenly Father mold them into what they need to be becoming!

Happy New Year!! The year of 2012 Dun!Dun!Dun!! :D

Love, always,

Sister Burningham

Leih Ji Muih

 Zone Christmas dinner,

One of the game was sticking a mustache on Santa,

for some reason,,the Santa looks kind of like dad, I must have unconsciously drawn him :)

Mahn Jimuih brought her nonmember daughter to SheungShui Ward Christmas Party!

 TaiWo ward Young Women and our 2 new investigators Yami and Jasmine in middle, and Victoria from Taipo ward on right end with Wilma next to her, and Bing Bing on the left end with Amy and Nicole Ng next to her :)

 Hazel Law visited home for Christmas!!! (I serve in her ward-Sheung Shui, and her dad is the Ward mission leader, and we have had dinner at the Law family's house and the mom is amazing cook and relief society presidency!)

People have told me that I look kind of like Hazel, and now looking at this picture I can see it too

 Picture with Sister Farr my current companion and our lovely recent convert Vianna that Sister Bingham baptized

 we also posed together with the mustaches :) Our less-active member Mahn Jimuih also came :) Sister Mahn is on the far right :)

 We made snikerdoodles with our member friends Sister Chan and her daughter Sonia

(they are less-active but are really doing better now!)

and funny thing, Sister chan calls me her korean daughter and herself as our hongkong mother, she also called me a "good-pig" which was funny because my real mom calls me a pig too!! So for me they made a pig shaped snickerdoodle and so there you have pictures me and the 2 pig cookies! haha

                                         Sister Farr and I today after the temple!

6 MONTH MARK

Today December 22, 2011, I have officially been out on my mission for exactly 6 months, ALREADY

it flew by so fast. and in 3 days  it is Christmas, and I sometimes wonder if the past six months has been acceptable to the Lord. I feel like I am never good enough of a missionary, but then I realize that is because of our fallen nature; None of us are perfect, everyone has weaknesses for God gave them to us, but they are given to us to keep us humble not to beat ourselves up. I love the story in the talk from the last general conference about Teaching by the Power of the Holy Spirit, I think was called, where everytime the father and the daughter paused to take a breath while climbing the mountain, they didn't focus exclusively on how far they still had to go but they also took a moment to see how far they have come, and immediately started climbing again, one step at a time. I think that is a perfect example of our journey to become perfect even as our Savior and our Heavenly Father.

So I have some incredible storie to share, on thursday, last Pday we didn't have much time to go finding, so we decided to try to find someone on our way home from our meetings. On our way home we said hello to a man who greeted back and started to speak to us in English. While we were engaging in a conversation about his interest in the church and former involvement, a college age boy approached us to ask if we have seen his soccor ball and being fascinated how we foreign missionaries spoke Cantonese, lingered to join our conversation, his English was also amazing as he has been preparing to attend a university in Scottland. At the end of what was about 30min to an hour conversation they said they would think about attending our English class or the Christmas card making Activity after the class on Friday, and we went home. The next day on the train there were these really hyper teenage girls going home from school that I laughed at and told them they were cute, and we ended up talking to them and also invited them to the english class and the activity, they seemed excited but we also were aware that the school uniform they wore was a school that we have heard to be anti-ing their students. It's the same school we have lost 5 of our investigators so far who all of a sudden stopped answering our calls and didn't show up to their scheduled appointments and just disappeared (one of them even had a baptismal commitment). But that night, Wing (the college aged boy) and the two girls both came! and had great time with the members and felt the Spirit! The two girls, Yami and Jasmine Have been anti-ed by their teachers before, but apparently it motivated Yami who seems a bit rebellious in a sense to want to find out what it is about this church and the Book of Mormon that the teachers hate so much and be warning the students about and telling all these crazy stories about. So by the next night she had already read the Book of Mormon upto 2nd Nephi Chapter 4! and the young woman in TaiWo (Bing Bing) that befriended her that night and had conversation with her outside the church by themselves told us that the two girls are ready for the gospel and will be baptized! Wing also had a good experience and although he had doubts about the church before (he himself also having had attended that same school before, and heard many bad things about the church) gradually developed interest from getting to know members, the elders, and attending the Christmas devotional and TaiPo FHE Christmas Party, the Elders now have him scheduled to teach the lessons and we are very excited!!

Also our less-active member Sister Mahn, she has been coming to church everyweek for 4 weeks now and having been reading theBook of Mormon everyday and is just being healed by the gospel of Jesus Christ, and is hungering for more! Last time we committed her to prepare herself to be able to attend the temple, and we are very excited for her!

 

pictures real quick

for mission christmas activity/meal today we had a real whole cooked pig that was chopped in front of us,,,,,!!!didn't have time to take picture of it before it was chopped so,,,,sorry for a bit graphic photo,,,,

this is Sister/Mrs. Wong, she was our former investigator who we discontinued teaching because her age prevented her from remembering anything we taught, but we invited her to our christmas party and she came :)

 

Merry Christmas everyone, and remember as we heard in the Christmas Devotional, the true meaning of CHRISTmas!! and give Him your heart! Bring souls unto Him! :) :)

 

Lots of love, always,

Sister Burningham

in Hong Kong

Week 14 in Hong Kong

Wow, actually this time I don't have a lot of time to write this email,

but I just want to quickly say, God is with us, He knows each individual one of us, and according to our desire, our faith, our readiness, He will place people and blessings in our path to help us reach our potential. Everyone please daily study His words, He has prepared so many generations worth of countless prophets and revelations to cause Book of Mormon to come forth in our day. He prepared the record for us right now, please don't take it for granted because that only makes Satan "happy". Without the daily scripture study habit we cannot progress into our eternal potential, and if we are not progressing we are digressing. Let His words change you to become the person you were made to become. His words has changed me into who I was before my mission, prepared and worthy to serve the Lord, and it still continues to change me more into the person I need to become, the divine potential that we each have. We have yet so much to grow, so much faith to develope, we really are nothing without Him, nothing compared to Him, but we mean everything to Him as President Uchtdorf(hope that is the right spelling) said, that He has prepared and done and is still doing everything He can to help us reach our divine potential, if we would but accept His help.

That is my hope and plea for my beloved people I cannot see during my mission, if they don't already have that important habit.

I love you so so much, miss you and pray for you,

always,

Sister Burningham

3 Month Month Mark in Hong Kong, Start of Move 3

It is still hot outside and looks like it is June in Utah, yet we had Christmas music playing in the malls and places before ThanksGivings even came, it is quite interesting :)

But it's sad most people don't even know what Christmas Season is for, and it recommits me that I want to testify of my Savior Jesus Christ more so that in this season people may at least hear His name. Our district is thinking of going Caroling every week, not sure how that will work but I am pretty excited.

Last night we had the opportunity to visit the Lo couple. Brother Lo was the Bishop for TaiPo Ward before and he was the first Hong Kong Temple President. He is now in a wheel chair and his health isn't very good, but he never misses coming to church on Sunday and is always early to the meetings. He is an incredible example. Sister Lo is also very out going and physically active for her age and really takes good care of Brother Lo, she is always smiling and greets everyone, they are both temple workers and have about 2+ feet stack worth of family history records. They are incredible missionaries for the otherside of the veil and incredible influence and strength and testimony builder on this side. I will send a picture of them :)

Last Sunday Sister Mahn came to church!! After we left her house she said that she resolved her own concern and conflict through action of love that she could come, and had a great expirience at church! She hasn't been to church in about 10+ years and she has really been through many heartaches that are starting to heal through the gospel.

We are meeting many more new people lately and it's been very exciting. I have been thinking about how the Lord has rescued me from the world into HIs gospel and why is it that I am able to enjoy His mercies when all these people are still suffering in this world. But through serving my brothers and sisters under the guidance of the Spirit, I am just very grateful to be used as Lord's instrument to rescue His other children as well. I know that the Lord's plan is perfect and He knows what He is doing. I know I can always trust in Him and do my best in His watchful care.

Last week we had a talent show in the Stake where Sister Farr had the opportunity to bear her testimony through dance. It was very powerful and beautiful, the Spirit was very strong and it was very moving. I don't think I ever realized how much I actually enjoy watching dances, I think I would also enjoy animating them :) Many people came upto her afterwards and expressed that they were grateful to have seen the dance. It is such a blessing that we are able to use our talents to bless the lives of people on our missions!

Out of time and I must go, but as always I love you very very much!

Sister Burningham

Week 12 in Hong Kong, End of Move 2

Another move has come and gone, and sometimes as a sister missionary it makes me very nervous how time flows on our mission. I don't want to waste this the Lord's time, I don't want this mission to just pass by, I want to grab a hold of it and make the most of it, I want to act and not be acted upon.

But I realize that perhaps the reason time goes by so strangely on missions is because we are so focused on making the most out of the now. Each week we do weekly planning, where we set our goals for the week and plan all the things we will be doing to reach that goal for the week. Then during the week as days come by, since the week has already been planned we can just focus on the day. Also, each night we do daily planning for the next day, where we set goals for the day and plan out what we will do each hour to accomplish those goals, and I think, this has been one of the gratest lessons I have learned on my mission so far. Proper planning. Because I have plans, I don't have to worry about planning as time goes by, each hour of the day I can put forth all my attention and effort on the task that was scheduled and make the most out of the hour, and living each hour of the day like that I guess can distort our perception of time. I really cannot believe that, it is already another P-day, and that because today is the first of December (already!! I feel like I just got to Hong Kong a couple weeks ago and that was early September) in 21 days I would have been out on my mission for 6 months, Third way into my mission, and that is very nerve racking.

But I know that those prayerfully set goals are being fulfilled, and I know I am doing the work that the Lord had in mind.

It actually is very incredible how the Lord works in such mysterious ways, as I excercise my faith and do my best hour by hour His work is really moving forward almost on its own, people I haven't even been able to talk to for years are turning towards Christ, people of all sorts of backgrounds are being found everyday and are being invited to come unto Christ, and even within my investigator pool,

Elsa who has previously disappeared for some weeks has been coming to church, and came to our once a move My Conversion Story Fireside, and is now reading and praying daily to find her answer, and asking the Lord to help her be ready to be baptized by Christmas;

Mrs. Fung who has been coming to church for two Moves but would never schedule to see us missionaries has finally scheduled us and learned about why this church is different and how she can progress to baptism to really follow Christ;

When we went finding one day in Sheung Shui we happened to talk to a lady, Fung Siu Je, and her now-9-year-old son Peter, who has couple years ago have been taught by Elder Taylor Williams (I knew him in my BYU Stadium Terrace Single's Ward!!!) and sort of driffed off from progressing in the church ever since her missionaries left, it was a miracle that both of us unplanned happened to be there at that time to meet, and for us to remind her about the church and how now both her and her son could work towards baptism! She came to the Primary Thanks Giving Activity and is planning on coming to church on sunday.

Our former investigator Mrs. Tse (who was dropped by other missionaries about 3 times previously), who couldn't progress mainly because of her work on Sunday that prevented her from coming to church, last time we taught her, something special happened. Our fellowshipper Lai Mommy, Sister Farr, and I were all very unified in our teaching with the Spirit, and she herself unexpectedly asked us how she can recieve and know that she received her answer. She was very sincere and had a different look in her eyes, and we have great hopes that she now has a desire to act upon her belief and hopes.

Our less active member Sister Mahn, who Sister Bingham and I have visited my first week or so in Hong Kong, found time to see us again yesterday and told us her real concern why she does not want to attend church, and we comforted her with the Book of Mormon, words of the prophets, Joseph Smith's experience and our testimonies, and invited her again to come to church. She said she would and we're very excited!

So many hearts are turning to the Lord, I have not enough time to relate them all. At times, there's so much to be discouraged and saddened by, but in the world there's oppositions in everything. If there is bad, there's also good, and it is our challenge to look up and focus on the good. There will always be negative things to be unhappy about, this is definitely an imperfect world &imperfect people live in it, they are so easy to find with so little effort, but if we put our effort to find the good, they are also there too. In Christ we can have all the hopes we could ever hope for, and as one of my favorite quote says, "Everything is going to be alright in the end, if it isn't alright it isn't the end"

Add oil everyone, :)

Jesus Christ, He really really really loves you, learn of Him and all He has done for you because of His love for you :)

And to it I add my humble love,

Sister Burningham