First Area : Tai Po District
Notes from Mommy and Daddy Sy
This letter below comes from his Trainer and new companion in Tai Po Area in the New Territories in Hong Kong.
Sunday, March 1, 2015 8:29 PM
Subject: I'm Training! And a visit by an Apostle!
By far the excitement of this week is that I am now training a new missionary fresh from the Provo Missionary Training Center. My new companion is from the Philippines, and his parents are also from the Philippines, but! His grandparents are from Fujian Province in China. So he looks Chinese, but the only Chinese he knew was from living several years in Taiwan when he was very young. Actually, most of the Mandarin he speaks now was learned in the Missionary Training Center. He is an amazing missionary, bursting with energy to go and do what needs to be done to build up God's Kingdom on the Earth. He is just full of questions about how to talk to people on the street, what to say in different situations, when you should try to make it into a lesson on the street, or just try to swap phone numbers. He is a real joy to work with.
Our very first day together we had a couple of hours to do finding and we managed to teach a street lesson that night. Our third day had a full sit down lesson with an investigator and a member to help us out, as well. So earlier in the day we practiced how we would work together, who would be responsible for which parts of the lesson and then just practiced teaching it to each other. Then the lesson ended up going very well! It has been a lot of that, we have something to do each day, and then in our companionship study, we practice how to do that. It has really been a lot of fun. And I thing he has also felt the excitement and joy that comes from serving and helping other people.
Just the other day, he felt we should go talk to some people that were taking pictures. It turns out they were Filipinos too, but actually we ended up having a street lesson to a husband and wife. That is super rare in Hong Kong, because mostly they are just woman working as domestic helpers. So we were blessed to find them and talk to them, and then get the Filipino sister missionaries in contact with them. It looks like the husband will be going back to the Philippines, so they will arrange for him to be taught there and the wife to be taught here in Hong Kong.
Last night we had a special lesson with an investigator we have taught several times now. First we just reviewed the Plan of Salvation and Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After that we decided to read a chapter in the Book of Mormon with him. He had read the first 3 chapters already, so we choose to read 1 Nephi 4. But before reading, we talked about how we can use the Book of Mormon to find answers to our questions, but that if we don't have any question to use, we won't get as much out of studying it. After a minute or so, our investigator said, "I want to know whether I should stay in Hong Kong to work a couple years after graduating, or just go back to home to Mainland China right away." So then we read the chapter together. Afterward, we asked him about his question, and he said he didn't see anything in the chapter that related. Then our member started showing him some parallels. Nephi and his brothers were told to return to Jerusalem to get a record of the scriptures. Where do we need to go to follow the commandments of God? Zoram ended up following Nephi back out of Jerusalem. Should we put ourselves in the paths of righteous people to have their influence? Zoram was told that he would have his complete freedom if he would come with Nephi. What paths in our lives will lead us to have freedom in the pursuit of happiness and righteousness? And others examples as well. It became a very profound lesson to help our investigator realize the importance of the Book of Mormon to us.
Finally, I almost missed what otherwise would have been the biggest thing of this week hands down! Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve visited Hong Kong this past week. On Wednesday we had an all-mission conference with him, and on Thursday he held a devotional with all the members in Hong Kong and investigators or other people that could make it! There must of been at least a 1,000 people in attendance because they filled up the biggest chapel in Hong Kong we have as well as several overflow rooms on different floors too. It was an awesome experience. We had two investigators there, and he spoke about our identity as children of God and the real significance in that, and how when we wake up in the morning we should realize that and act accordingly. He also spoke to us missionaries and said we were all being to shy and needed to be more bold!
It was an awesome week!
Elder Haggenmiller
Hey how are you guys?
Hong Kong is really cool! It is my first p-day today and I am so glad to be able to send an e-mail. My first three days was really long. I needed time to adjust just like the MTC. I was kinda overwhelmed on my first full day. I felt like going home. I questioned why I am here. But Heavenly father is so great! I was quick to get back on track. I read the scriptures and prayed for help, and heavenly father did answer my questions. Although til now I still feel homesick every morning, I pray for the strength to overcome all the challenges in the mission field.
I was able to read in my manual about adjusting to missionary life and there was 4 steps in adjusting. Its funny cos it really was true ( i sent a picture about the step). I am so glad Heavenly Father helped me back on my feet.
Cool experience: We were planning with Elder Haggenmiller and suddenly someone called and ask for an English appointment ( yes we teach english) We taught a little kid. His name is Carson and he was really good in English. The cool experience is I showed him some magic. I remembered when I was a little kid a missionary tricked me with the necktie magic ( where you blow it and it shrinks) I did that trick to Carson and felt touched. I am now the missionary who is doing that to a little kid.
We spend a lot of time on the streets finding. It is so cool cos we get rejected a lot. Out of a Hundred people we try to talk to we only stop 4. But 4 is a really big number. Its all about hardwork and persistence in the field. I am loving it! I miss you all but I have some work to do :)
-Elder Sy
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| Outside view from my apartment |
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| This is my Trainer and Companion |
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