wooooo helllllooooo! :) :)
Well probably one of the most fulfilling days on the mission happened this week! We went on 24 hour exchanges! I got paired up with a sister who has been out almost 2 months, so she's younger than me. So being senior comp for 24 hours was SO FUN AND AWESOME. we worked HARD baby! Holy smokes I can't even write about all the miracles that happened here in Pok Fu Lam those 24 hours! but, the biggest miracle of all was the change in this sister. When we got together thursday night, we only had 40 minutes to go finding in our area. and in those 40 minutes, we taught 2 lessons on the street, ending with prayer. Seeing how this sister acts on the street, I could tell she struggled big time with having confidence in opening her mouth. But, with both lessons, I turned it over to her to teach prayer and she did great!
Well that night, we ended up talking for 50 minutes of our 'prep for bed' time. She told me that she has the hardest time having confidence in speaking cantonese her whole time being here. Just 2 days before, President Hawks challenged her to teach prayer 3 times before friday, and she, while being with me thursday night, had taught it not even for the first time--but twice! and it wasn't even friday yet! It was SO cool to see how much more confidence she got and how amazed she was with herself! I LOVED it!!! I'm so grateful for the troubles I've had with learning Cantonese, and for the many times I've had to rely on God to help me gain the confidence and rememberance to actually know what to say, when to say it, and the hardest part--to hear what's being said. Because of my trials, and from pushing through them, this sister and I related so well, and I was able to help her during our long talk that night. ahhh it was so awesome you guys! All you want to do as a missionary is help people. all you want to do is help someone especially rely on God. and finally, because of the experiences and growth i've had on the mission, God gave me an opportunity to help a struggling sister. I will forever be grateful for this!! the next day, we went out finding, and she taught prayer 3 more times :)
We also had 2 people come up to US, asking if we talk about Christ. Towards the end of the day, we ran into a woman who said, "oh! I recognize you!" and i said, "oh yes! I do too! how are you!" haha even though having NO idea who this woman was, but umm... i was definitely not going to admit that. (im sorry, but i still struggle with everyone looking the same here.) Turns out, this woman is Cindy Fok, a woman Sister Cheung and I met a few days prior. So this sister and I were talking to her and just chatting about how we can speak Cantonese and othe things. And whenever we'd mention God or Christ, she's just politely laugh and say "that's nice" and shake it off. Finally, I don't even know what happened, but the spirit spoke to her. and she started crying, and appologizing for being so emotional. we asked her why she's having these feelings and she said she has no idea. We then, of course, let her know what the Spirit was and what it's like to feel God's love, and to feel truth.
And all of a sudden, Cindy opened up and started talking about how her friend has cancer and wants her to meet with us. It was SO beautiful to see that change that happened in Cindy! Ah! I still can't get over it. We are seeing her tomorrow so..pray for her! But here's an exciting part for me: I could understand all these people the whole day! I didn't realize how much my language has improved until last thursday during exchanges. I'm so grateful--SO SO grateful, for this opportunity to struggle, and struggle, and rely on God. It's life changing :)
At the end of the day, the new sister missionary said, "this has been the best day of my mission." :) So this is why we go through trials. :)
That same night, on Friday, we had a great turn out in english class. 4 moms and their kids came! we shared a mormon message at the end that had to do with the words we learned that day, and afterwards, Miss Gok (the Mandarin/Cantonese we get to teach) said how much she loved it. But as we were doing introductions in the beginning, i had everyone say something that makes them happy. and one mom said, "together family." i. about. died.
Also awesome news... remember how we found Jason in Wah Kwai? HE GOT BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!! and he is a NEW man! So happy for him! i've never seen him smile so much. i love the change the gospel brings in people! He asked me and Sister Cheung, "why did you guys talk to me that day?" AH. it was awesome. definitely the spirit, especailly since we normally dont talk to boys on the street. so so happy!
oh, so our mission is pretty much the greatest because we get to go touring in all these cool places on P-day. and eat awesome food all the time! But last monday we went to TST saw the Bruce Lee statue and just took pics. and then bought a $72HKD salmon salad... aw man... but it was SO good!
PS Dad, I never knew how awesome you were (jk, i've always known how awesome you are!!!!) but holy smokes, you can totally read characters?!?!??!?! I never realized how cool that is! We even have investigators who can't read characters sometiems! I'm so impressed! woo!!
Also, Becky, I loved hearing about your awesome fireside! come tour to Hong Kong so we can invite everybody to come! ;) thanks for being such a dedicated member. love it.
OOOOH also, we got an AWESOME Thai food cheng out at a members house! (she's actually from Aberdeen ward, but it's a long story.) anyway, the food. was. so. good. curry, a whole plate of veggies (with brussel sprouts!) THAI WRAPS with a homemade THAI PEANUT SAUCE, with bean sprouts too!! oh man. i haven't eaten that much in awhile. and then the member gave us a huge bag of tropical fruits and a whole box of mixed green salad which is super expensive here! that's what i love about Hong Kong people: they give you fruit and salad for dessert! haha yeah baby!
love you all! love this gospel! I love how much this gospel truly changes lives. thank you for your prayers and support!
Love always, Sister Bosler
PS. sorry no pictures this week. we're at some asain cyber computer place where all these asian boys are playing computur games 24/7, and i can't read the characters on the screen to figure out how to send everything! sorry! next week though :)
Notes to Mom about food:
Mom wrote:
Karli-
OHMYGOSH Karli --Michael Christensen's mission!
Mayoniasse on EVERYTHING. Sick slabs of beef and grease. Green/brown water to drink ONLY!!!
Karli:
HAHAHA!! THAT STINKS!!! yeah, i always talk about how grateful i am
for the food here! really, i eat sooo well-- i just die without my
smoothies! and i've been eating small portions, too, just to save money,
but im loving it! haha aw man, so glad im not in his position! i get to
try weird sea foods and weird veggies and mushrooms! btw i do like
mushrooms now. hahaha
my mission is seriously customized for me! haha no joke! because everyone here eats veggies and tofu or at least rice, so i will too! and it's the chinese style to self serve yourself. love it. haha! plus, it still has americanized places like in Wanchai where we can go on pday to find expensive good foods :)
oh that's so fun!
btw, chinese food really is good when chinese ppl make it, not eating out all the time though! remember how SICK we got from the food? haha
*part of Michael Christensen's letter: "And Argentina isnt cheap for anything! It is pretty much the same if not more, only down here in the south though. Okay funny stuff I keep forgetting to mention: they eat EVERYTHING with mayo hahah everything. [Diana note: Michael refused to eat mayonnaise before he left!!] I love mayo now haha with meat, rice, pasta, hot dogs, burgers, doesnt matter! haha they dont have much variety, its either mayo or hot sauce, and occasionally there is ketchup but no one likes it haha.
The garbage system is primitive. They have metal baskets on poles outside every house like a mailbox and you just put bags in there and the garbage trucks just have like 5 guys in it running around picking out the bags.. They're supposed to do it daily because the metal baskets are not big.. but they don't haha so there's just a bunch of garbage blowing around the city. everywhere.
Oh yeah! Milonessa is awesome! Its like breaded beef. super good with mayo hahah.
The lifestyle here is super relaxed. No where opens until 10 am then closes at 2 for a siesta, then opens from like 4 to 6. And if you ask any investigators if the have time that we can come by, they always say they don't have time and that they literally work so much. On average, people sleep til 1pm. People complain about our 10 am church hahah what?? Its hilarious. Okay love you guys! Ps my sickess wasnt too bad. Just one day. I puked like four times. that was gross haha
And, the other big event that happened this week was: I finally got sick! Hahaha not sure why! Ive already been drinking the green water from the people that just give it to us.. you cant really say no haha they would get offended at this gringo telling them their water is dirty haha but anyways yeah! Wednesday I got to rest up a little bit.
Typhoon!!!
Hello!!! :)
I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you p-day was changed this week to Thursday! We got to go to the temple today so it was changed for schedule purposes. Next p-day will be Monday! :)
Well the other day we were caught in an 8-level typhoon, which means we couldn't go outside! Luckily we were just doing studies anyway, but the rain outside was horizontal! Pretty sweet huh! Haha then that day we went finding with a member and oh man, talk about a bad day to wear skirts. It was sooo windy! at one point, it stopped all 3 of us in our tracks for a good 15 seconds. Sister Cheung and I were just dying of laughter. hahaha She's so great.
Speaking of finding with members, what a difference it makes! This has been part of our goal of being more unified with Pok Fu Lam ward. For example, one day we decided to schedule one sister we don't have a relationship with. She was totally willing to schedule and find with us for TWO hours! And we actually learned so much from her, too. The next day at church, she became a different person! She sat by our investigator, during a baptism showed her pictures of baptism and explained the importance of it, and got her number. so awesome! Then, she even scheduled a time to take us out to dinner with an investigator or LA! And before we went finding with this woman in our ward, we had only just said hi at church and really had no relationship. Missionary work brings miracles! Another day we went finding with our bishops 16 year old daughter. It was her first time. haha We met in Chi Fu Fa Yeun, and it was POURING rain for the full 2 hours we were finding with her. and none of us brought umbrellas. so we quickly ran to her house, drenched, and her helper opens the door and starts yelling at her to change and stay inside but she said, "no. the work must continue!" She's AWESOME! I love these members! There aren't many in our ward, but that's no problem because it's just going to grow and grow, right? :)
Well, 2 Sunday's ago we met and incredible 20 year old in Wah Fu named Florence. At the time on the street, she ushered us into a dark corner to talk to her. She seemed really interested in our message. the next day she called us, after we rescheduled her, saying to never come to her parent's store, because they are very traditional chinese (which means they hate us and anti big time). So we've been calling her and sharing scriptures and then she came to church and even stayed for a baptism! Then she opened up to us and told her all about her life--and man, she just needs this gospel so bad! She told us that she was super depressed when we met her, but after we left, she felt hope and love. She doesn't believe in a God, but she has hope that He exists. We've been so so excited to teach her! After the baptism, we gave her a Book of Mormon, and promised her the incredible blessings and guidance from it and kept encouraging her to pray. that night she went out of town for 2 days, and when she came back, she called us and canceled our apt with her. She said her parents found the Book of Mormon and freaked out. She's not allowed to see us, go to church, anything. we are so SOOOO SAD. We can keep calling her though, but only in secret, and we're going to try to schedule her at members homes where no one will see her. Pray for Florence!
By the way, Helen went finding with us! MOST AWESOME THING EVER. haha She is so hilarious. Just love her so much!
By the way I ended training last Friday!
OH! and want to know the best thing ever? The Book of Mormon! haha seriously, Helen is continuing reading it, and Ashley, the 'lost sheep' we found, has been marking up her copy like crazy! we are so happy for her. The other YW have taken her in so welcoming in the ward. yay! :)
Dinner at a member's. these were actually so good! And they're still in the shell! so pretty huh! The fish her is so fresh. I love eating at members homes... they cook so healthy! Always have a ton of choi and tofu and fish. yup, the best!
Cool dragon thing at a huge Hong Kong member all stake activity!
At that Hong Kong activity. we did relay races! IT WAS SO FUUUUUNNN TO RUUUUNNN!!!! haha.
And check. out. this. flyer. A member of Aberdeen ward made it for us. We did not expect them to turn out this awesome! Hahah YESS!!! It's for Less Actives when we start our less active finding! Dad can you read any of it? If you can, I'm SO impressed!! I can't believe how much you can sik tai!
With Ashley and her mom (also lost sheep) and a family helping fellow ship.
Our deaf family! By the way, we get to teach a deaf less active now!! Chan Ying! YESS!!! We also saw Sister Yeung this week! ...She forgot everything again. She's so precious. haha bless Sister Yeung to remember who Jesus is besides "resurrection!" That's always what she signs when we ask her who He is. haha aw. Love her.
LOVED your letter so much. tyler is so cool and awesome! and you're in a quartet?! Who's in it? That is SO Fun! You guys are so fun.
Honestly, though, my fav part of the email was the end. You and jason Bosler TOGETHER are reading a book about Joseph Smith? That's the best thing I've ever heard. I am so grateful for the prophet Joseph Smith! The other day Sister Cheung and I gave a lesson at a member's home about how precious the Book of Mormon is and how much Moroni sacrificed (35 years alone), Joseph Smith sacrificed (his life) and every prophet has sacrificed so we could read from it today. So grateful for our prophets! How is Jason? I pray for you all all the time! Love you so much!
Aw wow, Ally came home? I'm almost on the verge of bawling for her. I never understood why people would go home, but now I do. I can absolutely relate with her on that one! I definitely won't come home, but it's crazy bc as a pre-missionary, you have all these dreams and visions of who you'll be, what you'll do... and of course, you're none of that. It's pretty hard, but it's all a part of learning! It's all apart of growing and relying on God. I've relied SO much on Him and I have been using Christ's Atonement every day. His grace is definitely what gets me through and gives me that divine power and strength that I'm NOT letting Him down, but that my best is just what He wants to see. Even if my best is only 10% of every other missionary. It's just so important to not compare on a mission! I'll be praying for her. wow, my heart feels so much for her! I admire her for doing what the Lord wants her to do. By the way, if it weren't for President Hawks, I probably would've been in the same boat haha. BUT I am loving it! I'm loving the ups after the downs! Im loving pushing myself, setting goals, and relying on God! it's so good for me. I love you! Thank you soooo much for the smoothie stuff... I'm almost out of the apple powder. seriously, I make 1-2 smoothies a day and it really has changed how I feel haha! love you so much! I'm so grateful for you! Is there any deep blue you can send? I use Lavendar and Pepermint every day! You're the best, Mom. :)
Love, Sister Bosler
I'm so sorry I forgot to tell you p-day was changed this week to Thursday! We got to go to the temple today so it was changed for schedule purposes. Next p-day will be Monday! :)
Well the other day we were caught in an 8-level typhoon, which means we couldn't go outside! Luckily we were just doing studies anyway, but the rain outside was horizontal! Pretty sweet huh! Haha then that day we went finding with a member and oh man, talk about a bad day to wear skirts. It was sooo windy! at one point, it stopped all 3 of us in our tracks for a good 15 seconds. Sister Cheung and I were just dying of laughter. hahaha She's so great.
Speaking of finding with members, what a difference it makes! This has been part of our goal of being more unified with Pok Fu Lam ward. For example, one day we decided to schedule one sister we don't have a relationship with. She was totally willing to schedule and find with us for TWO hours! And we actually learned so much from her, too. The next day at church, she became a different person! She sat by our investigator, during a baptism showed her pictures of baptism and explained the importance of it, and got her number. so awesome! Then, she even scheduled a time to take us out to dinner with an investigator or LA! And before we went finding with this woman in our ward, we had only just said hi at church and really had no relationship. Missionary work brings miracles! Another day we went finding with our bishops 16 year old daughter. It was her first time. haha We met in Chi Fu Fa Yeun, and it was POURING rain for the full 2 hours we were finding with her. and none of us brought umbrellas. so we quickly ran to her house, drenched, and her helper opens the door and starts yelling at her to change and stay inside but she said, "no. the work must continue!" She's AWESOME! I love these members! There aren't many in our ward, but that's no problem because it's just going to grow and grow, right? :)
Well, 2 Sunday's ago we met and incredible 20 year old in Wah Fu named Florence. At the time on the street, she ushered us into a dark corner to talk to her. She seemed really interested in our message. the next day she called us, after we rescheduled her, saying to never come to her parent's store, because they are very traditional chinese (which means they hate us and anti big time). So we've been calling her and sharing scriptures and then she came to church and even stayed for a baptism! Then she opened up to us and told her all about her life--and man, she just needs this gospel so bad! She told us that she was super depressed when we met her, but after we left, she felt hope and love. She doesn't believe in a God, but she has hope that He exists. We've been so so excited to teach her! After the baptism, we gave her a Book of Mormon, and promised her the incredible blessings and guidance from it and kept encouraging her to pray. that night she went out of town for 2 days, and when she came back, she called us and canceled our apt with her. She said her parents found the Book of Mormon and freaked out. She's not allowed to see us, go to church, anything. we are so SOOOO SAD. We can keep calling her though, but only in secret, and we're going to try to schedule her at members homes where no one will see her. Pray for Florence!
By the way, Helen went finding with us! MOST AWESOME THING EVER. haha She is so hilarious. Just love her so much!
By the way I ended training last Friday!
OH! and want to know the best thing ever? The Book of Mormon! haha seriously, Helen is continuing reading it, and Ashley, the 'lost sheep' we found, has been marking up her copy like crazy! we are so happy for her. The other YW have taken her in so welcoming in the ward. yay! :)
Temple today! roommates! These sisters are in West Point area, where we all live.
And here's Sister Cheung with a pohpo SMOKING behind her. aw man... haha this is Wah Fu. It's seriously so weird how many old people there are that smoke, drink, and gamble! Dinner at a member's. these were actually so good! And they're still in the shell! so pretty huh! The fish her is so fresh. I love eating at members homes... they cook so healthy! Always have a ton of choi and tofu and fish. yup, the best!
Cool dragon thing at a huge Hong Kong member all stake activity!
At that Hong Kong activity. we did relay races! IT WAS SO FUUUUUNNN TO RUUUUNNN!!!! haha.
And check. out. this. flyer. A member of Aberdeen ward made it for us. We did not expect them to turn out this awesome! Hahah YESS!!! It's for Less Actives when we start our less active finding! Dad can you read any of it? If you can, I'm SO impressed!! I can't believe how much you can sik tai!
With Ashley and her mom (also lost sheep) and a family helping fellow ship.
Our deaf family! By the way, we get to teach a deaf less active now!! Chan Ying! YESS!!! We also saw Sister Yeung this week! ...She forgot everything again. She's so precious. haha bless Sister Yeung to remember who Jesus is besides "resurrection!" That's always what she signs when we ask her who He is. haha aw. Love her.
LOVED your letter so much. tyler is so cool and awesome! and you're in a quartet?! Who's in it? That is SO Fun! You guys are so fun.
Honestly, though, my fav part of the email was the end. You and jason Bosler TOGETHER are reading a book about Joseph Smith? That's the best thing I've ever heard. I am so grateful for the prophet Joseph Smith! The other day Sister Cheung and I gave a lesson at a member's home about how precious the Book of Mormon is and how much Moroni sacrificed (35 years alone), Joseph Smith sacrificed (his life) and every prophet has sacrificed so we could read from it today. So grateful for our prophets! How is Jason? I pray for you all all the time! Love you so much!
Aw wow, Ally came home? I'm almost on the verge of bawling for her. I never understood why people would go home, but now I do. I can absolutely relate with her on that one! I definitely won't come home, but it's crazy bc as a pre-missionary, you have all these dreams and visions of who you'll be, what you'll do... and of course, you're none of that. It's pretty hard, but it's all a part of learning! It's all apart of growing and relying on God. I've relied SO much on Him and I have been using Christ's Atonement every day. His grace is definitely what gets me through and gives me that divine power and strength that I'm NOT letting Him down, but that my best is just what He wants to see. Even if my best is only 10% of every other missionary. It's just so important to not compare on a mission! I'll be praying for her. wow, my heart feels so much for her! I admire her for doing what the Lord wants her to do. By the way, if it weren't for President Hawks, I probably would've been in the same boat haha. BUT I am loving it! I'm loving the ups after the downs! Im loving pushing myself, setting goals, and relying on God! it's so good for me. I love you! Thank you soooo much for the smoothie stuff... I'm almost out of the apple powder. seriously, I make 1-2 smoothies a day and it really has changed how I feel haha! love you so much! I'm so grateful for you! Is there any deep blue you can send? I use Lavendar and Pepermint every day! You're the best, Mom. :)
Love, Sister Bosler
Pok Fu Lam Fam Bam!
Hello family!!!
aww man, I have barely any time to write this week!
But first, I love my Pok Fu Lam ward. The wards are incredible! I know I say this every week, but PLEASE do all you can to love the missionaries, because you have no idea how much they love you and how much they want to help you. And you have NO idea what a huge impact you make in missionary work.
I don't remember if I wrote about this before, but we found a lost sheep! Her name is Ashley! Her and her mom haven't been to church in 8 years since they moved, and so we're meeting with them tonight and they really want to come back to church, they just didn't know where it is. We just ran into Ashley on the street!
This week a member named Winkie spent a lot of time with us. Since then, we decided to try to involved a member to do missionary work with us every day of the week. we're super excited and the ward is so great!
But here's what is suuuuper cool: Elder Rasband came and spoke at our Stake Conference! He even gave us an entire mission meeting today- just about an hour ago. Ah. I love it. We had 5 members of the Quaram of the 70 there!
Elder Wong, Elder Gong, Elder Funk, Elder Rasband, and Elder Allen! wow, talk about power in the room. It's amazing because as a missionary--actually, as any normal person, it can be so easy to get so sad, overwhelmed, compare, etc... but i testify that when we focus on our Savior Jesus Christ, all those bad feelings, those insecurities and doubts, are washed away! And all those weaknesses are strengthened--because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Because of His Grace. He is changing me, strengthing me, and building me up every day. I've been focusing my studies on how to be a better teacher, because one thing i really struggle with is being able to understand the people. I definitely can talk better than hear. But if we can't hear, how can we help? This is when relying on the spirit comes in. And oh how important it is to rely on the spirit to teach me what to say and what to feel! and it's incredible how--becasue of the spirit--I can feel their needs. And I can testify of Jesus Christ. I love it so much!!!
Anyway, Elder Rasband talked a lot about our calling and purpose as missionaries. One of our purposes is not just to find those that are ready to be baptized, but to also build up the ward and help them endure to the end. We love members!! We're all a huge family! I'm so grateful for this family I have on earth!
Well, I'm also so grateful for Sister Cheung. I never thought a companionship would be like this, but I'm definitely so grateful for it! She's so wonderful! Keep praying for her because she's the best. Comp unity! :)
WE LOVE POK FU LAM!!! We took this picture and made print outs and are passing them out to members with a little note on the back :) haha we oh so love Pok Fu Lam!!
Here was English class.. this man is a deaf man, and after I tried tying a tie, he was telling me I did an awful job and was showing me how it's done. agh I love our deaf friends
OH MY GOSH quick story: we showed the video Because of Him to a new investigator. Then Winkie bore a strong testimony about seeing her dad again, because he just passed away a year ago, exactly. Then Phoebe (a LA we found) bore testimony about how the atonement of Christ has helped her family overcome smoking. and then, Chan Gam Si (deaf man who just got baptized) walked by and signed "Because of Him." boom. we started bawling. It just hit me how grateful I am for the Resurrection and that Because of Jesus Christ's sacfrice, we too will overcome death and have perfect bodies... which means those deaf people too will be able to hear and talk!! agh i love them! 3 nephi 17 :)
I love you all! thank you for everything! Mom- YAY!!! love the missionaries like your own too!!! I love them!!! ah thank you so much! you have NO IDEA how much us missionaries want to love members and help them! please know how much of a part of missionary work members are! thank you for serving them. OH. AND THANK YOU FOR SENDING ME SMOOTHIE STUFF!! ohhhh my gosh it's seriously making a huge difference in my life. no joke. I LOVE THE APPLE STUFF SO MUCH! every morning a drink a big bottle of the green powder with stevia, then make my smoothie with that apple greens and spiraling and protein powder and frozen fruit and frozen chinese choi. IN HEAVEN. so thank you, so much. and the peaches. ahhh. you have no idea how happy it makes me! i wake up excited for my smoothies! love you so much
Love, Sister Bosler :)
LOVE THE APPLE STUFF SO MUCH! every morning a drink a big bottle of the green powder with stevia, then make my smoothie with that apple greens and spiraling and protein powder and frozen fruit and frozen chinese choi. IN HEAVEN. so thank you, so much. and the peaches. ahhh. you have no idea how happy it makes me! i wake up excited for my smoothies! love you so much
the escalator ruined Sister Cheung's shoe!!!! dying!!!!!!!!!!!
look at the cool places we discovered!!!!
another cute little chinese man.
don't you just love this culture?
From Kim:
Just wanted to add that we had the missionaries over for Sister Reid's 21st b-day yesterday and it was so much fun. They are all so smart, kind and on-the-ball. LOVE THEM. Elder Haynie's family has 10 kids and his parents just adopted two foster kids, whom he will meet when he returns. Sister Barker is a triplet and from a large, loving family as well. We loved learning about each of their families and all the good they do in the world. Really I was blown away. We are blessed to have such exceptional missionaries here in Vacaville!!!
aww man, I have barely any time to write this week!
But first, I love my Pok Fu Lam ward. The wards are incredible! I know I say this every week, but PLEASE do all you can to love the missionaries, because you have no idea how much they love you and how much they want to help you. And you have NO idea what a huge impact you make in missionary work.
I don't remember if I wrote about this before, but we found a lost sheep! Her name is Ashley! Her and her mom haven't been to church in 8 years since they moved, and so we're meeting with them tonight and they really want to come back to church, they just didn't know where it is. We just ran into Ashley on the street!
This week a member named Winkie spent a lot of time with us. Since then, we decided to try to involved a member to do missionary work with us every day of the week. we're super excited and the ward is so great!
But here's what is suuuuper cool: Elder Rasband came and spoke at our Stake Conference! He even gave us an entire mission meeting today- just about an hour ago. Ah. I love it. We had 5 members of the Quaram of the 70 there!
Elder Wong, Elder Gong, Elder Funk, Elder Rasband, and Elder Allen! wow, talk about power in the room. It's amazing because as a missionary--actually, as any normal person, it can be so easy to get so sad, overwhelmed, compare, etc... but i testify that when we focus on our Savior Jesus Christ, all those bad feelings, those insecurities and doubts, are washed away! And all those weaknesses are strengthened--because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Because of His Grace. He is changing me, strengthing me, and building me up every day. I've been focusing my studies on how to be a better teacher, because one thing i really struggle with is being able to understand the people. I definitely can talk better than hear. But if we can't hear, how can we help? This is when relying on the spirit comes in. And oh how important it is to rely on the spirit to teach me what to say and what to feel! and it's incredible how--becasue of the spirit--I can feel their needs. And I can testify of Jesus Christ. I love it so much!!!
Anyway, Elder Rasband talked a lot about our calling and purpose as missionaries. One of our purposes is not just to find those that are ready to be baptized, but to also build up the ward and help them endure to the end. We love members!! We're all a huge family! I'm so grateful for this family I have on earth!
Well, I'm also so grateful for Sister Cheung. I never thought a companionship would be like this, but I'm definitely so grateful for it! She's so wonderful! Keep praying for her because she's the best. Comp unity! :)
WE LOVE POK FU LAM!!! We took this picture and made print outs and are passing them out to members with a little note on the back :) haha we oh so love Pok Fu Lam!!
Here was English class.. this man is a deaf man, and after I tried tying a tie, he was telling me I did an awful job and was showing me how it's done. agh I love our deaf friends
OH MY GOSH quick story: we showed the video Because of Him to a new investigator. Then Winkie bore a strong testimony about seeing her dad again, because he just passed away a year ago, exactly. Then Phoebe (a LA we found) bore testimony about how the atonement of Christ has helped her family overcome smoking. and then, Chan Gam Si (deaf man who just got baptized) walked by and signed "Because of Him." boom. we started bawling. It just hit me how grateful I am for the Resurrection and that Because of Jesus Christ's sacfrice, we too will overcome death and have perfect bodies... which means those deaf people too will be able to hear and talk!! agh i love them! 3 nephi 17 :)
I love you all! thank you for everything! Mom- YAY!!! love the missionaries like your own too!!! I love them!!! ah thank you so much! you have NO IDEA how much us missionaries want to love members and help them! please know how much of a part of missionary work members are! thank you for serving them. OH. AND THANK YOU FOR SENDING ME SMOOTHIE STUFF!! ohhhh my gosh it's seriously making a huge difference in my life. no joke. I LOVE THE APPLE STUFF SO MUCH! every morning a drink a big bottle of the green powder with stevia, then make my smoothie with that apple greens and spiraling and protein powder and frozen fruit and frozen chinese choi. IN HEAVEN. so thank you, so much. and the peaches. ahhh. you have no idea how happy it makes me! i wake up excited for my smoothies! love you so much
Love, Sister Bosler :)
LOVE THE APPLE STUFF SO MUCH! every morning a drink a big bottle of the green powder with stevia, then make my smoothie with that apple greens and spiraling and protein powder and frozen fruit and frozen chinese choi. IN HEAVEN. so thank you, so much. and the peaches. ahhh. you have no idea how happy it makes me! i wake up excited for my smoothies! love you so much
the escalator ruined Sister Cheung's shoe!!!! dying!!!!!!!!!!!
look at the cool places we discovered!!!!
another cute little chinese man.
don't you just love this culture?
From Kim:
Just wanted to add that we had the missionaries over for Sister Reid's 21st b-day yesterday and it was so much fun. They are all so smart, kind and on-the-ball. LOVE THEM. Elder Haynie's family has 10 kids and his parents just adopted two foster kids, whom he will meet when he returns. Sister Barker is a triplet and from a large, loving family as well. We loved learning about each of their families and all the good they do in the world. Really I was blown away. We are blessed to have such exceptional missionaries here in Vacaville!!!
HELEN GOT BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!!!!!
HELEN GOT BAPTIZED YESTERDAY!!!!!! ahhh I can't even handle how beautiful it was! First of all, her baptismal interview last 2 hours again! Haha man, she is so silly. But we were eating dinner, super nervous the whole time, and then we randomly heard her yell "I AM SO EXCITED!!!!" ..... 5 minutes later she came out and told us she passed! WE WERE SO HAPPY and all jumping up and down so so so happy!!! Wow.
And then Sunday came. Oh- did I mention Aberdeen ward also had a baptism (a member's helper who speaks Indonesian!), and then HELEN, and then the Elders in our ward had Chan Gam Yan, the cutest deaf man in the world! (haha he came to the Relief Society activity the other night and made chinese desserts with all of us women. hehehe. and sometimes he comes to the church and we're just doing our studies so he'll just sit next to us and read the Book of Mormon. he's so precious!)
Anyway, it was the most beautiful moment seeing all these wonderful people follow the example of Jesus Christ and get baptized. Wow. I can't even describe it! The Saturday before, we fitted Helen in her baptismal clothes and when she walked out, I felt like we had just found the perfect bridal dress. haha seriously, it was like my daughter was getting married! Dad, can we fly out when Helen gets married in the temple please? ;) anyway, it was so happy!
Helen even got dressed in her baptismal clothes 45 minutes before the service started. hehe. and it was PACKED with people! EVERYONE came. Then just 5 minutes before the baptism, we all had a meeting--us missionaries, the people members helping them get baptized dressed in white, and the beautiful, humble people ready to take a huge leap of faith in following Jesus Christ! man, we were all standing in a circle, and then we all knelt down in prayer and the spirit filled the room. ah, so grateful.
Then when Helen got baptized, Sister Cheung and I were just crying and grabbing each other's hands. We have worked so hard with this girl! I love her so much and I'm so grateful she finally has this opportunity to follow Jesus Christ! and to think--she used to believe in Gyun Yam! Wow. People can change.
When we watched her get baptized, I pictured the beautiful picture of Jesus Christ getting baptized by John the Baptist. The picture that we've shown tons of people on the streets, inviting them to follow the example of Jesus Christ and covenant with God. And this is EXACTLY what Helen just did! The Spirit was so strong I can't even describe it.
When Chan Gam Yan got baptized, our deaf member Brother Lee baptized him, but he signed it. it was so SO cool, I've never seen anything like that before! once again, the spirit flooded the room. This has made every moment of the mission worth it, and it has motivated me even more to help everyone I meet also follow the example of Jesus Christ through baptism.
All I want is for everyone to have this incredible chance to start their lives over and become a new person through Christ. I know there is a Christ. I know He suffered for all of our sins, afflictions, frustrations, imperfections, insecurities, and pains, so we today can use His Atonement and His grace and be changed! We can receive this divine strength and power and support that can only come through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know there is a Christ. I know this because I know we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, who hears our prayers, and who definitely answers them through the promptings of the Holy Ghost and through the many miracles we see each day. Because there is a God, I know He is just, loving and fair, and for that, He gave us His Only Son, Jesus Christ. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior. He suffered and died for us; He established His church on the earth and I know that we have His original true church today! And that through His gospel, we can repent, and we can be forgiven- we can change. I love this!
Thank you all for your prayers for Helen. I am so happy for her! She belongs in her ward, it is her family.
So just to feel in some details, Helen is actually in Aberdeen ward, not Pok Fu Lam. We just had special permission to teach her. So unfortunately, we have to turn her over now to the Aberdeen elders for ABLs. but it's okay :) she's the best!
This week we've also worked a lot with Less Actives. Bobo, a pregnant mom with 3 adorable kids and...a husband, FINALLY opened up to us! She can't come to church because her husband's dad is totally against us, and he's home all day Sunday's. but she gave us her schedule, and we'll be visiting her consecutively 3 times a week. Pray for Bobo! She is such humble, strong woman and needs so much help!
Huge miracles with Angel this week. She's been answering her phone! and (thank you Mindi for this advice!) we've been calling a group of LAs every day and just simply reading a scripture with them. So because of that, we got to teach Angel, she came to an awesome RS activity, AND to another activity! Wow! And she's coming to stake conference next week! We've been working with these LA's since day one I've been here and have been seeing more success now than ever before. It's so wonderful being able to help people!
I love you all! thank you for all you do and for all your prayers! keep praying for the gift of tongues please haha. haha phew I'm learning a lot, ;)
I love this work SO MUCH!
Love, Sister Bosler
Ahhhhhh my girl!!!!!!!! :) :) :) get ready for picture overload.
Right after Helen passed! I've never seen her so so happy!! :)
Helen got baptized!!
We also have geckos. thank you sister cheung. so brave. ;)
At the end of our lesson, Angel told us to try to pick her up. if you
knew Angel's personality, you would die at this picture! haha man i love
these people.
Us and Bobo's little boys. haha i love them so much! this was such a
powerful lesson with Bobo though. we love her! The best part was her
opening up, and then us committing her to pray tonight and her looking
at us like "duh. i'm nothing without prayer!" :)
Before and after pics of Bobo's kids!
Such a fun and successful activity!
We made those cool glutinous rice balls with either sesame, peanut, or red bean inside. Angel kept making them for us haha.
:) everyone at the activity! Usually when we have
activities, it's both Pok Fu Lam and Aberdeen wards. So here's both. Can
you spot Chan Gam Yan? hehe.
Helen and investigator Christy!
Braiding Helen's hair right before the baptism :)
a bunch of adorable youth (both wards) and Helen and us missionaries!
All 3 people that got baptized. I love how diverse our area is.
ah, can't get over it. i seriously wish I had Chan Gam Yan's baptism on
video since it was all signed. love it. the gospel truly is for every
person in the world, no matter who you are!
OH! So at the baptism, Sister Cheung and I matched. haha and ohhhh my gosh it was the funnest thing of our liiiives! All the members kept taking pictures with us because they thought it was so cute! haha man, I love our ward. they feel like family!
And then Sunday came. Oh- did I mention Aberdeen ward also had a baptism (a member's helper who speaks Indonesian!), and then HELEN, and then the Elders in our ward had Chan Gam Yan, the cutest deaf man in the world! (haha he came to the Relief Society activity the other night and made chinese desserts with all of us women. hehehe. and sometimes he comes to the church and we're just doing our studies so he'll just sit next to us and read the Book of Mormon. he's so precious!)
Anyway, it was the most beautiful moment seeing all these wonderful people follow the example of Jesus Christ and get baptized. Wow. I can't even describe it! The Saturday before, we fitted Helen in her baptismal clothes and when she walked out, I felt like we had just found the perfect bridal dress. haha seriously, it was like my daughter was getting married! Dad, can we fly out when Helen gets married in the temple please? ;) anyway, it was so happy!
Helen even got dressed in her baptismal clothes 45 minutes before the service started. hehe. and it was PACKED with people! EVERYONE came. Then just 5 minutes before the baptism, we all had a meeting--us missionaries, the people members helping them get baptized dressed in white, and the beautiful, humble people ready to take a huge leap of faith in following Jesus Christ! man, we were all standing in a circle, and then we all knelt down in prayer and the spirit filled the room. ah, so grateful.
Then when Helen got baptized, Sister Cheung and I were just crying and grabbing each other's hands. We have worked so hard with this girl! I love her so much and I'm so grateful she finally has this opportunity to follow Jesus Christ! and to think--she used to believe in Gyun Yam! Wow. People can change.
When we watched her get baptized, I pictured the beautiful picture of Jesus Christ getting baptized by John the Baptist. The picture that we've shown tons of people on the streets, inviting them to follow the example of Jesus Christ and covenant with God. And this is EXACTLY what Helen just did! The Spirit was so strong I can't even describe it.
When Chan Gam Yan got baptized, our deaf member Brother Lee baptized him, but he signed it. it was so SO cool, I've never seen anything like that before! once again, the spirit flooded the room. This has made every moment of the mission worth it, and it has motivated me even more to help everyone I meet also follow the example of Jesus Christ through baptism.
All I want is for everyone to have this incredible chance to start their lives over and become a new person through Christ. I know there is a Christ. I know He suffered for all of our sins, afflictions, frustrations, imperfections, insecurities, and pains, so we today can use His Atonement and His grace and be changed! We can receive this divine strength and power and support that can only come through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I know there is a Christ. I know this because I know we have a Heavenly Father who loves us, who hears our prayers, and who definitely answers them through the promptings of the Holy Ghost and through the many miracles we see each day. Because there is a God, I know He is just, loving and fair, and for that, He gave us His Only Son, Jesus Christ. I know Jesus Christ is my Savior. He suffered and died for us; He established His church on the earth and I know that we have His original true church today! And that through His gospel, we can repent, and we can be forgiven- we can change. I love this!
Thank you all for your prayers for Helen. I am so happy for her! She belongs in her ward, it is her family.
So just to feel in some details, Helen is actually in Aberdeen ward, not Pok Fu Lam. We just had special permission to teach her. So unfortunately, we have to turn her over now to the Aberdeen elders for ABLs. but it's okay :) she's the best!
This week we've also worked a lot with Less Actives. Bobo, a pregnant mom with 3 adorable kids and...a husband, FINALLY opened up to us! She can't come to church because her husband's dad is totally against us, and he's home all day Sunday's. but she gave us her schedule, and we'll be visiting her consecutively 3 times a week. Pray for Bobo! She is such humble, strong woman and needs so much help!
Huge miracles with Angel this week. She's been answering her phone! and (thank you Mindi for this advice!) we've been calling a group of LAs every day and just simply reading a scripture with them. So because of that, we got to teach Angel, she came to an awesome RS activity, AND to another activity! Wow! And she's coming to stake conference next week! We've been working with these LA's since day one I've been here and have been seeing more success now than ever before. It's so wonderful being able to help people!
I love you all! thank you for all you do and for all your prayers! keep praying for the gift of tongues please haha. haha phew I'm learning a lot, ;)
I love this work SO MUCH!
Love, Sister Bosler
Ahhhhhh my girl!!!!!!!! :) :) :) get ready for picture overload.
We also have geckos. thank you sister cheung. so brave. ;)
OH! So at the baptism, Sister Cheung and I matched. haha and ohhhh my gosh it was the funnest thing of our liiiives! All the members kept taking pictures with us because they thought it was so cute! haha man, I love our ward. they feel like family!
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