More Than I Deserve

I want to tell you more about what Elder Ballard taught us. It was easily one of the best learning experiences I have ever had. After the line of handshakes, he stands up, and the first words out of his mouth were, "We are a little too shy here." And then he goes on and shares 2 Nephi 25..."For we labor diligently..." through the end of the chapter. His call was for us to broaden our vision, and to ratchet up our spiritual power. He told us a story of Legrande Richards. I want to learn more about him, but the story took place at an airport, Elder Ballard (not then an apostle) and Elder Richards (an apostle) sat near a woman, and feeling that Elder Richards was waiting to see what Elder Ballard would do with this missionary opportunity, Elder Ballard started talking with her. He asked this woman about Peter, James, and John, and after confirming that she was familiar with who they were, he explained the incredible opportunity she had to be in the presence of a modern day apostle of Jesus Christ and turned the conversation over to him, Elder Richards. Elder Ballard thought that was quite smart of him haha. And Elder Richards happily took over the conversation saying, "Which Church do you belong to?" The woman answered and named a church. Elder Richards responded in this deep, low, drawn out voice (that Elder Ballard reenacted so great, "OOhh, that's too bad. Your church is not the true church!!!" ...Elder Ballard said he could feel himself just sinking into his seat. Elder Richard's voice was a booming voice, and he was certain everyone in that terminal could overhear that conversation ha. But they continued to have a nice conversation with the woman and sent her more material about the Church when they returned to Salt Lake. I'm not sure if a young missionary saying that in response would have the same effect as an apostle - ha. In Cantonese it would translate to..."Oh, chahm," and we would probably get hit haha.  But Elder Ballard's point I believe, in sharing this story, was that in order for us to fulfill our duty, we need to boldly, kindly, and following the spirit bear witness and testify of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and the restoration of His gospel. He later said that baptizing people isn't hard. It's not a hard thing. If we want to baptize more people in this mission, we need to talk to more people. So that's what we have been working on this week. And it kind of sounds silly when you consider what we do on an average day. We do studies until 11:30, eat lunch, and then head to our area which is a 30 minute mtr ride. We go finding and walk the streets, and maybe teach a lesson or two at the church, and come back on the mtr at 9. We are constantly walking around and talking to people, so when Elder Ballard committed every missionary to talk to 10 people a day outside of scheduled finding and teaching time, we didn't know how that was possible, since our day is essentially one big block of finding time. But we're trying, and it's amazing to see the amount of people we have met, as we add money onto our octopus cards or exercise in the morning. I'm learning that talking to people is an exhausting thing! but it's an incredible experience to get to know a little bit about so many different people. I think it's a rare opportunity these days. And more importantly, we have been made to be more personable with these people, and our conversations have been way more meaningful. It's amazing what people will open up to you with and talk to you about after a few short minutes, if they trust you. Anyway, I learned alot, and we're putting more into it.

We had a great conference with Elder Ballard, and Elder Raspband, and Bishop Stevenson, and we learned so much. But I was especially impressed with Elder Ballard's member fireside the following night. He essentially taught the restoration, the plan of salvation, and the gospel of Jesus Christ in the most attentive, personal, interesting way. And it was powerful. It was so clear that he had written so much of Preach My Gospel! But it was especially neat to see how he taught it according to the backgrounds of people in this area of the world. His first lines to the member fireside was, "Wow, you all have a lot of tall buildings. No wonder people here have such stiff necks, they're looking up at these tall buildings all the time!" He was so funny. Had so many good jokes. It was a fun night. But it has changed the way me and Sister Takahashi are teaching, especially the first lesson. 

We met a woman the other night in Shek Kip Mei. She was alone and overlooking the court areas a ways down the park. Her clothes were pretty worn, and you could tell she worked a lot, probably a pretty physically tiring job, but she held her dignity really well. We almost walked right passed her because it was about time for us to head to the mtr, but she caught our eye and we walked over to her. I almost felt guilty interrupting her...It was clear she was working some things over in her mind. I liked seeing someone being so thoughtful, but we said hello anyway. Her daughter was playing basketball with some friends. She lives in chyun just down the road, yes, beautiful night tonight. Please, have a seat. Work was hard, and she was feeling tired. Her body was starting to see more signs of aging, and she said her life wasn't what she thought it would be. She didn't have religion. Never really thought about God. So we told her who God was. And then we told her who she was. I wish I had time to type out everything we talked about because I think it's something everyone should hear. But as we taught prayer, and invited her to pray with us, she opened up in a way to Heavenly Father in the most personal and pleading way and broke down in tears. She would repeat the same 3 or 4 phrases and just plead with Heavenly Father to hear her, and to help her, and support her. she didn't really know what she was asking for, but was hoping for even some small reason to hope. She was one of 3 woman this week to just break down to us. And I never know exactly how to respond to them. Because my attempts of comforting them pales in comparison to anything the Savior could do, or His Gospel. I wish I could keep writing about this woman. She was the most genuine, and kind, and good woman I think I've met here. I am so lucky to be here in Hong Kong and meet and talk to such incredible people. And the ability to share this knowledge and plan and blessing that gives these people hope is more than I deserve. I need to go, but I love you guys! I hope you have a great week!

Hannah