Kwun Tong 3

Thank you everyone for your support and prayers, I definitely feel them and it helps me, who has many weaknesses, do wonders. It's truly wonderful being on a mission to humbly serve and do our utmost best, and to see the Lord stretch forth His hands to accomplish miracles and teach us all. I am constantly honored and privileged to be serving on this full time mission. Truly an opportunity that I would forever be grateful for.

I forgot, last Thursday was March 22, which means that I have been serving my mission for 9 months, my half mark point. It was a bit unsettling at first because it has really gone by so fast, I have already went through half of this special time, and the desire and hopes to use this sacred time to its fullest further sinks in my heart. And I feel the Lord trusting me with more opportunities and challenges to step up, learn, and to grow, and   these strengths I feel that isn't my own continues to grown and strengthen within me, I can really feel this mission purify me. I am overcome with this waterfall-like mercy pouring down from the Lord. I have felt myself let go little by little daily, the pride that I have yet let go of. And I can't help but to feel that the Lord is continuously preparing me for both the near future and the far future. The Lord is really making something out of me, and I can only trust in Him.

I don't think I have written about Pandora (or Tihng Tihng) yet, she is our recent convert Cindy's older sister and LOVES Korea and really wants to learn Korean. She has turned down Cindy's invitations to learn the gospel but then all of a sudden she wanted to schedule the missionaries to learn Korean when I moved here. We explained to her that we couldn't just teach her Korean only because that isn't why we volunteer to go on this mission for the Lord, so we came to an agreement of 15 min Gospel and 30 min Korean lessons. The first time she came though, Cindy really wanted to watch the Restoration movie with her sister, so we did, and it prompted Tihng Tihng with many quesetions, so we taught her the message of how Restoration came about and why it is important, and upon seeing the Book of Mormon she eagerly said she will read it and find out if this is really all true. In closing prayer, her first time praying, she expressed how she hoped to understand and learn more about this gospel of Jesus Christ, and no mention of Korean! And then we ran out of time so that meeting turned out to be 45 min gospel lesson and 5-10 min Korean. It was a miracle! And then she is continuing to investigate, and expresses she feels better after praying and she likes seeing the missionaries and as Cindy expressed, the two sisters' relationship has improved since Cindy's conversion to the gospel and Tihng Tihng seem to recognize that as well. I am very excited for her to feel more of the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We also started teaching Phoebe, a street contact from the Elders, I am amazed as I teach her because she has grown up in the Mainland and the influences she had as she grew up convinced her to believe that there is no God. yet, she keeps coming back to learn the gospel, and asks great questions. Last time we got to the point where she recognized that she need to really try this out because she doesn't have a definite testimony that there isn't a God, and because finding out if there really is a God will give her more hope in her life. She is very smart and really easily understands the word of the messege, we are working on trying to help her feel it by trying to help her to pray with real intent.

I went on a companion exchange as we went finding on the street for the other district, and it was one of the rougher finding where we couldn't find anyone interested. As I felt a bit down and entered the subway, I knew that I needed to just overcome it and continue to find. And so when I looked around, in front of me I saw a man who wore a cross around his neck, and saw that he was looking at us missionaries. I asked him if he has seen us before, he said no. I explained to him who we were and he said as he pointed to his necklace that he is also Christian. I asked Him why he believes in Christ, he said certain events in his life led him to Christ. I asked him which church he attends, if he attends it every sunday and why that particular church. He regularly attends a church below his apartment because it is most closest to him. So I gave him a Restoration pamphlet, our church addresses and a Book of Mormon with explanations and he graciously accepted them. And I was overcome with gratitude, the Lord has placed someone who would accept our invitation, and really, this one event/encounter outweighs all the previous disappointments. And I had to repent, because I had forgotten to ask for his contact information,,, but I know that the Lord will consecrate my efforts as I repent of my shortcomings and mistakes and will continue to lead those prepared souls to Him, and will help me as a missionary to learn and grow to do better next time. I am continually grateful for the Savior's Atonement that offers that opportunity for me to repent.

Time is up and I need to go,

but I love you all so much, thank you so much for everything

the Lord has really given me precious, wonderful, Christ-like friends within my family and even so many outside of my family

Loves Always,

 

Sister Burningham

Leih Jimuih

Kwun Tong 2

Where to start?

Continuation of last week's thoughts, I have been thinking about how perhaps, the reason that although God is almighty and He can do anything but would call us imperfect servants to "assist" Him in His work is not only to teach and train us and everything but to also help us meet these our brothers and sisters again that we loved so much to come to love them again by serving them, so that we would excercise our faith for them by praying and fasting and working for them to open the windows of heaven to bring to pass the miracles Heavenly Father is so waiting to pour down upon us. This work of the Lord, I am learning, really is played in big part by faith. Which without hope and charity is also vain. It is through it that the work of the Lord started, it is through it that we came to earth, it is through it that it moves forward and will continue to move forward. And most importantly what do we have faith in? It is only by having faith in our Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement that all these things are broght to pass. He really is center of everything in God's Plan.

Anyways, last week has also been full of God's mercy and teachings for me, as He sees me overcome and grow from one challenge, He sees that I am ready to start working on another weakness and lets me know it's time to start working on it, and I have accepted that Heavenly Father really wants to use all the opportunity of the Mission to fix me up for the future, for which I am grateful that He is. Ever since getting the conference issue of Ensign/Liahona, I have been back reading and being reminded again and again of Elder Henry B. Eyring's talk in the October 2011 Priesthood Session of the General Conference, "Preparation in the Priesthood: 'I Need Your Help'". I think I admit it is my favorite, :) It really helps me to keep moving forward with trust in the Lord, not knowing what exactly He is preparing me for, but knowing that if I let Him I will be able to accomplish all that He has sent me on earth to accomplish and grow the way I need to.

Yesterday was a 24 hour companion exchange and I had the opportunity to be companions with Sister Nelson and serve in her area of Tseung Kwan O, and had the most honorable privilege to teach Annessa. I have met her before when Sister Nelson and I went on splits street finding, she is an investigator and LOVES Korea, and she is a very admired popular person "so cool" as the ward YW leader would describe her, and she's also "crazy" and silly--in a good way :), it was incredible meeting her because it's so apparent she loves God more than anything. She confidently told us as I and YW president was getting to know her more, about a lot of things about herself including her "dream man" lol, which some parts were not inline with the standard of the church, and she was determined and confident that it would not change. However, we had prepared to teach the Word of Wisdom, and when we did, she right away, though disappointed, changed, and wrote down all the points of the Word of Wisdom and committed to live it and just ate the lesson up! She then saw a picture of Jesus and was so happy and put it right in the front cover of ther school daily planner. She really really loves the gospel, and really doesn't care about what other people may think, being only 16 years old she's very incredible example. And she will be getting baptized in 2 weeks and is reverently excited for it. So honored to have met her.

There's more I want to share but time is up, so will have to wait until next week,

Loves to you all as always,

Leih Ji muih :) :)

Kwun Tong 1

So I am in Kwun Tong now and this past week has already been lots of learning and growing experiences for me, I have already seen some miracles, and it hits me again that I will always never have enough time to write home about it all.

I am serving in this area where Sister Kiene last served, she's the one that went to Macau in my stead, and she's the one that I first met in MTC in our older district :) I am honored and a bit overwhelmed to be filling her shoes here, but I have really felt the Lord's strength the past week. I am also very blessed to be serving with Sister Wan, she is almost done with her mission and only has less than 1 and 1/2 moves(transfers) left, so I may be her last companion and she has lots of experience and learnings to teach me, and I have already learned a lot from her so far.

There is an investigator named A-Ling, who is a mother of a cute little 2ish year old daughter. She has been really progressing and is really a miracle. Even this past 2 times I have seen her she is still changing and drawing closer unto the Lord. She loves to read the Book of Mormon, she reads it in every spare time she can find in her busy schedule as a mother of a toddler. The truth is, she didn't used to, but she has gained her testimony of it recently. And then the first time I saw her we extended to her a baptismal goal/date, but she was hesitant and told us of needing her mother's approval first. But the second time we saw her (by then we had prayed to find another date together for her, but when we got the answer, we found that it was the exact date as the one Sister Wan had prayed with Sister Kiene and had received) we gave her the baptismal challenge again, and she opened up to us and told us that before she had actually been resisting baptism, she didn't want to be baptized for many reasons, but now she understands more and actually wants to be baptized and wants to prepare for it. it was so incredible!! made us SO happy! :D

We also visited a less-active member who is also called Sister Wan, she is from Thailand and she only herself is in Hong Kong working, rest of family is back in Thailand, and when she heard my story she said I was lucky and blessed. But we helped her see that the miracles I have had isn't because I was lucky or that I was any special from her, it was because my mother in America who had joined the church first has prayed and fasted and kept diligently going to church and to study the scriptures and keep the commandments for at least more than a whole year, and then has this great miracle come to pass that my brother and I had the opportunity to visit her and to have the chance to learn the gospel ourselves and then choose to stay miraculously.

And as I told her all this it really hit me, that I really owe it all to my mother's dilligence and persistant prayers. I owe it all to her that I had the opportunity to become who I am today and to have experienced and grown the way I did. The reason why out of all these people who are still suffering in this world I have had this tremendous blessing of having had the chance to receive and accept the gospel and be rescued by my Savior is because of my mother's unyielding faith. And Sister Wan shared Ether 12:12 and told the Less-Active Sister Wan that if she really desires such blessings as well, she must do her part to excercise her faith by praying daily, reading the scriptures daily, come to church weekly first, by enduring to the end would she receive these blessings like our family was so blessed to receive. All because of one mother's faith. So I really want to thank you mom, I don't know if I ever fully realized the infinite impact of your faith, I realize i can't and never will be able to thank you enough, I am eternally indebted to you of all my ignorance and ingratitude. I am so thankful, I can never fully express how grateful I am for you. Because of your faith, our family is being tremendously blessed daily and will eternally,, I'm so honored and privileged to be your daughter, to have chosen to come to this life through you. I am so grateful that our family is sealed for eternity, that I will always be your daughter. Thank you so much. I love you so much.

Out of time, and got to go, but really really thank you, so so much

 

loves always,

Leih Ji muih

 

P.S. I realized that my name tag basically has both of my parents' last names, Burningham and Lee :) And I am very proud to represent both, with the name of Savior whom I also represent, which is such a privilege and honor.

LAST WEEK in MACAU

So, last friday 3 of us 4 foreign missionaries only received 10 more days, (the other one got 20! he's the lucky one, no, God knows better ;) )
And so before that ten days were up President Chan decided to move us on our P-day, So today I Am Back in Hong Kong! And it has been a long day packing at last minute, traveling and everything, so I am emailing this late.
But anyways, past week we were able to contact some former investigators and they were willing to be taught, because before they hadn't had time because they were too busy, so hopefully they will realize this time that it is worth making time for.
I am most sad to leave Ga Yih but she has promised to see me again at least in Celestial Kingdom (If I can't make enough money to find ways to come back to macau myself to see her again in this life)! :D She is very excited for her baptism and wants to work hard and learn more, she always reads the chapters of  Book Of Mormon we give her even though she doesn't understand most of what she reads, she just knows it will help her some how, and last time she was so excited because she actually understood the chapter and excitedly told us what she learned. I am so grateful to the Lord for this opportunity to have met her, and though I will not be there for her baptism I am very happy for her.

A-Tihng is fully activated now and she tried not to show that she was sad I was leaving but the night before leaving she called and told me that she's actually very sad, and wanted to make sure there are ways to keep in touch after mission, which I assured her and she will also do her best to become better person through the Gospel of Jesus Christ because she doesn't want to let me down and let the Lord down, so happy to have heard that. She has really become humbled since I met her and have been gaining more testimony through actually doing what we invited her to do. I am incredibly grateful to the Lord for giving me this experience to strengthen my beloved sister.

Macau will always be a very special place and experience for me, in such a short time I have seen so many miracles and have grown a lot and learned so much and having to leave this beloved place has been very hard, not knowing if I would see these people again in this life, but I know I will if it is the will of the Lord, and I also know that I will definitely see these loved ones again at least after this life--one of the best gifts that come from this Gospel of Jesus Christ, God is so merciful.

Now I am moved to Kwun Tong with Sister Wan who is also a native. In our district there are 2 missionaries who are also from Tai Wo Ward: Wilma's older brother Elder Ho, and Sister Hsiene. So funny to be following these Tai Wo members around throughout my mission :) I have been told many times in Tai Wo that Wilma and I look alike & Elder Ho also thinkso so he's really nice and almost looks after me it seems haha. God has really placed loving and family-like people in my mission to take care of me, and it really humbles me because I thought I came out to serve the Lord but He is still continuing to serve me. I know I still have so much to learn and grow just as these people I am "serving" do.

loves always,

Sister Burningham
                                          A-Tihng

                                       
                                          Ga Yih