Training!! And Dad was here in Hong Kong!!

Note from mom: Well, Karli is now training other missionaries. That is humbling for her for sure and her positive attitude is contagious. Bruce was in Hong Kong yesterday, while on his humanitarian dental trip in Guilin, China. The mission rule is that parents don't visit during the 18-month mission, and so he just dropped off a package of health food to her at the mission home. He actually did get to meet her bishop and his wife - an absolutely darling couple!  (See pic at bottom). He also met many of Karli's friends and several deaf members that were so sweet to him.

We have so enjoyed Karli's letters and her love for her mission, the Lord and everyone she meets. Thank you for all of your love and support :)  Karli's blog is http://sisterkarlikimbosler.blogspot.com/


From Karli: Oct 17, 2014

Hey family!
Wow, this has been the most insane week of my life.

My new companion is Sister Richardson from Utah! Haha I honestly thought I would training an ABC or a native, but it turns out the Lord has different plans.

She is so cute! Haha we are probably exactly opposite, so the Lord definitely has a lot for me to learn.

It's crazy being the senior companion. I feel I am responsible for our investigators' salvation, and especially for my companion's sanity. I perfectly remember how hard it is in the beginning of the mission--knowing NOTHING--because I just finished training last move. My personal studies consist of how I can help these investigators, but also Sister Richardson. Pray for her!

But, we have seen SO many miracles. 1st, I have always relied on Sister Cheung to understand what investigators say during lessons. and now...it's all on me!!!! AHH WHAT!!! but, somehow, SOMEHOW, the Lord truly helps me understand! It's so cool because all of a sudden, within this past week, I have grown so much closer to the members, and I somehow am able to help our investigators. All I can say is... I know this is NOT missionary's work. This is the Lord's work. I can't even explain how much my testimony of Him has grown. He truly is so mindful of His missionaries. I honestly can't believe I can teach 45 minute lessons, find new investigators, hold activities, and help someone build their faith all in Cantonese. wow. I know this is the Lord's work!! IT'S SO COOL!!!

This past week has been exhausting though. I can't sleep very well at night again because I stay awake worrying about our investigators, what needs to get done for the next day, or for my companion. It's crazy having all this stress and responsibility! But I'm so grateful for this challenge because it has shown me how much I truly have progressed. wow can't believe it!

haha well this week, guess what I tried? CHICKEN FEET!!!!! hahah naaaaaaaasty! We were at an activity, and a member named Je Kwai Lihn made the chicken feet. I told her I will try it just for her, and so everyone crowded around us and took pictures. oh man, the members loved it so much. hahaha. i honestly felt like i was eating chicken rubber skin and toe nails and bone. nasty. I am so proud of my companion for also trying it! funny fact.... she hates veggies and anything chinese. haha. i didn't know that, and her first night here, i had scheduled us to eat at a members house (sister Cheung's and I LOVE IT, because the food is usually awesome! Always have so many veggies, soup, tofu, and rice!) haha well I didn't realize how chinese I've become until Sister Richardson looked at the food. oh man... ga yauh! (add oil! meaning: good luck!) also, all her favorite foods here are EXPENSIVE, because she likes pizza, burgers, fries, chocolate, oreos and cookie dough. i'm so grateful I'm in HK because all my favorite foods are so cheap! hehe so this will definitely be an adventure! this has been so cool to see though, because I never realized how much I've adjusted to the chinese style. I LOVE THE CHINESE SO MUCH!!!!!! I love everything about the culture!!!! I love the people!!!

I can't even tell you how much I love our ward! Our last night with Sister Cheung here,  Bishop invited us over with some members, Helen, Ashley, and the elders. wow. we all literally bore testimonies of how much we love Pok Fu Lam. haha i can't even explain how lucky I am! I can't wait for my companion to develop this love, too!

so now an update on Marlo... ahhh her faith is sooo strong! we had the best lesson with her on friday about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We took her to the 6th floor to the chapel and set up pictures of Christ, and she basically taught herself the whole gospel. it was incredible. we showed her the baptismal font and the sacrament. she loved it, and just cried. She is so ready. well then, Saturday night, she called us. Her husband found out from someone in the ward that she has been going to church and forbids her to keep coming. He says she must follow his beliefs. NOOOO!!! We saw her today in Causeway Bay (she took us out to the most beautiful buffet!) and we rescheduled her for friday, where we'll talk more with a member so i can get all the details better. keep praying for her husband... her faith is so strong! she even brought her Book of Mormon to the buffet! i love her.

The Lord has been blessing us with people to teach. Ruby is one of them. Her baptismal date is for Dec 28! She loves hearing about the gospel, and even said, "i really want to see Christ." but she still hasn't found her answer if baptism is for her or not. Ruby is so special to me! I love her!

It's the greatest thing in the world being able to see the change in people. The only way a person can truly change in through coming unto Christ. and the best way to come unto Christ is through the Book of Mormon. I love the Book of Mormon. I am so grateful for the guidance it gives us!

I love you all! I love this work SO MUCH. I love working hard. It's the best feeling in the world. And it's all to help others come to know their Savior! It's the best thing ever! love you!

Love, Sister Bosler


PS. DAD IS IN HONG KONG. God blessed me with the power to focus on the work and not him--i totally forgot until I was falling alseep last night! wow. so. weird. haha when we were teaching Marlo earlier today (LOVE TEACHING ON PDAYS) Sister Chan (deaf) texted me a thousand times saying he is at our church in Aberdeen! AHHHHHHH! haha oh man. My bishop is awesome though, he really wants to meet him! I sure hope they will!

 i love my Sister Cheung so much!!!! She is my best friend! I am excited to build another relationship with Sister Richardson and learn so much from her too!

 cutest little dessert! hehe! I think it's red bean inside.

 here's the chicken feet. it's a HK fav ;)

 Marlo and I ate whatever animal that is! baby lobster? that's what it means in chinese.

 Pictures from mom:

Karli's Bishop Jimmy Chan and his wife (I love her outfit!!)

 Deaf members that let Bruce into the chapel and were so kind.

 This is the hallway of just one of the many floors of the chapel.  You can see the TV monitors, the nice elevators, marble floors and even the nice crown molding in the ceiling.  The chapel meeting room is very elegant with soft, red velvety seats.

 This was our family exactly one year ago in Hong Kong. Now Karli is serving there. And, as a side note, Tyler is currently THREE INCHES TALLER than Karli!!!

PS The first thing Karli said as we stepped into crowded, noisy downtown HK was, "Wow, I hope I don't serve here!" LOL  And how that has changed too - she loves everything about that city now!

This is the seven story chapel that Karli attends! We took this picture at night last year as we left. (We were in this chapel just one year ago when Karli, Tyler and Bruce and I went to China to run the Great Wall marathon. Wow. Time has flown!)

The big news!!!

SOOOO MANY MIRACLES THIS WEEK!!! Wow, many times this week Sister Cheung and I just looked at each other and said, "we. love. this." haha we've had such an exciting week, i can't even share all the stories! But one thing I want to share is how much we LOVE POK FU LAM. Ah i'm seriously in the best ward ever, the best area ever. I love serving here! and Bishop Chan is the best! (by the way, my baptism picture is on the board now in the church! haha! Everyone knows it's me too because i'm the only white girl on there! hehe love it. i love how Jas is in it too! he's so handsome! :) )

Well it's almost time for move calls. they are tomorrow! so naturally, everyone gets a little nervous, or jokes about someone moving to Macao. Sister Cheung and I knew we were safe together in PFL though because she only has 6 weeks left on her mission, and each move is 9 weeks.

Well today we were walking back from getting groceries, when our cell phone said the office elders were calling. Sister Cheung answered and then stopped and said, "oh hi President Hawks! ...yes, Sister Bosler is here." what. we looked at each other, freaking out. I grabbed the phone and president Hawks said, "are you ready to be senior companion?" Whaaaaaaat??

Turns out... I'M TRAINING!!!!! haha holy smokes!!! I feel a little bad about my reaction, I was super shocked and super sad- because this means that Sister Cheung is moving! But... during my personal study, i got so excited and i surprisingly feel so calm.
I couldn't really focus during my study (especially since Sister Cheung was soooo sad--and I love her so much! will definitely miss her!) but then randomly turned to Alma 56. I found myself reading about the Stripling Warriors and applied their situation to my life. These boys were young. They didn't know what they were doing, they had never done this before. But they never doubted! They had absolutely faith the Lord would provide a way. And the same is for me. A huge wave of assurance, and confidence in the Lord and in myself came over me. Sure, I've only been in the field for 4 months. For some reason, I can still hardly understand Cantonese. However, I have learned one thing on the mission, and that is to have faith in the Lord. I have absolutely faith this call is inspired, and I know He definitely will provide a way for us to preach the gospel and help all we meet in Pok Fu Lam! I'm honestly not scared AT ALL! Just so excited and confident! I have total confidence in the Lord, I love it!

I've been praying extra hard lately to be able to understand Cantonese, because I'm still struggling pretty bad with hearing words I even know. Haha be careful for what you pray for, because I truly feel like this extra responsibilty to train is the way the Lord will make my language progress. And, I'm excited to experience all these crazy miracles me and this brand new missionary will experience. oh yeah!

But mainly, I'm extremely excited and really hope I am able to help this new missionary. I had an extremely tough time in the beginning, so let's hope my process of relying on the Lord will be able to help her! :) man, life is so exciting and awesome. I love it.

Here's some good news about the ward: Ashley gave a talk on sunday! She said she will never not go to church again. wow. music to my ears. gosh, I'm soooooo grateful for this opportunity God gave me to help her and her mom. so so happy.

Helen gave a talk at the fireside! A member told us that during sacrament meeting, she writes down notes, and she's always asking good questions. YAY! she's changed so much.... i love her!!

Jason: he also gave a talk at the fireside! haha he talked about how he met me and Sister Cheung on the street... oh man.. so embarrassing. that is why sisters do not teach 15 year old boys.

We randomly had many miracles at church, like Bishop Chan's dad came!!! haha he finally finished his surgery and he is just SOOO CUTE!!! he was wearing the most adorable suit with this little hat.... hehe i just love him so much. but another cool miracle, is Sister Chan Ching Har's LA son's girlfriend, Calyx! I loooooove Sister Chan, she just cracks me up, and randomly her son and gf came to church! and Calyx asked US missionaries for our number, and said she wants to learn more, and even came to the fireside! whaaaat! pray for them pray for them! it was incredible to see Sister Chan become an outstanding fellowshipper. gosh have i ever mentioned i love this ward? :)

But out of everything, I love the Lord. I love this gospel! I love the sisters I live with, and our adventures of spending 30 minutes of prep time trying to spray bug spray on the geckos in our apt (anyone know of a better way to kill geckos??), I love how much the Lord is changing me, I love all the veggies and smoothies and soy milk and fish here in Hong Kong, haha and I just love learning how to follow the spirit and teach people. changing lives. ah. I just want everyone to know about this INCREDIBLE MESSAGE!!!

I love you all! I hope you are continuing to read the Book of Mormon! It changes lives.

Love always, Sister Bosler

pray for my new companion!!! :) :)

 YUM!

Last week Pday... KWAI FONG MALL!!! This is the dirty mall. BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD. literally can get 4 dollar shirts US$. haha it's so fun. anyone going to HK sometime soon to tour? email me up, I know all the places to shop ;)

And me, Sister  Cheung, Helen, and Sister Hamblin at the fireside last night. by the way i sang! And some members of random wards SOMEHOW know I have a CD??! haha what the heck! it was fun though.

And is that a MONKEY HAND in the dried fruit mix???!

When I found out I was getting a juicer (haha i know I'm not, but this picture is CLASSIC of us! totally mine and Sister Cheung's relationship! LOVE IT!!)

The way i cook in HK ;) haha sometimes...

Note from mom - here is the baptism picture that Karli is referring to. Her bishop wanted each missionaries baptism picture to hang on the wall of the church building. This is Karli's brother, Jason, who baptized her. :)

Feast upon the Word and ____!!

Sorry, not much time to write this week!

but.... HOW WAS CONFERENCE??!?! ahh it's the greatest thing in the world!

I can't get over grateful I am to be able to serve a mission, especially after watching conference. it's crazy, because just these few months my eyes have opened up to so much of what life is all about... haha I had everything wrong I feel like! I'm so grateful for this opportunity, because I don't know how long it would've taken for me to learn the lessons I've already learned so fast while serving the Lord. It's incredible because every single action I make is so important since this time is the Lord's time. I love how much closer I've grown to Him and how much I use His Atonement every day.

This week was wonderful. I feel my language improving, but I'm still relying on the help of God sooooo much haha. But, guess who came to 2 sessions of conference on Sunday? MARLO!!! After President Monson's talk on Sunday morning, I leaned over to sister Cheung and said, "this was for Marlo." sure enough, after the session, we went up to the 6th floor to go talk to the members and Marlo. Marlo. was. bawling. Like, bawling so bad she had to sit by herself for a moment and didn't come to eat with the whole ward because she was so embarrassed. She kept apologizing and saying she has NO idea why she's like this and has never been like this before... but she knows this is true. ahhhhh. She knows this gospel is the right path for her! she kept asking Sister Cheung and I, "what are the commandments i need to keep?" practically begging us to share with her what many people shy away from.

She is SUCH an example of one who is humble and wants to follow Jesus Christ! She said her favorite talk was President Monsons and she felt like he was speaking right to her. He is so inspired. I'm so grateful we have a living prophet. Can you believe how fortunate we are?! Can you imagine having none of this truth in your life?! Marlo is so grateful for this! She has explained she has been so confused and now all of a sudden--starting with a picture of Jesus Christ--she understands life. She understands why she's here. Ahh i just can't believe we have this opportunity to teach her and change her life! Even better (and kind of selfish) but I can't believe I have this opportunity to change MY life! :) so happy. love is everywhere.

Keep praying for Marlo :) She's scared because her husband really doesn't like the church and doesn't know she is taking the lessons. so please...pray for her :) thank you!

By the way, between sessions our ward ate together and my bishop told me to try this thing next to some curry fish balls. I've gotten to the point where i just try everything, so i just grabbed it and ate it--pretty good! then some members started laughing and told me it's (pronounced like gwat (high tone) gau (high tone) yuhn (low falling tone). then someone translated that it's like "jyu (mid rising) peih (low falling)" which is pig skin. WHAT. but what's even worse, is that it's LIKE pig skin... i finally figured out it's pig COLLAGEN. almost died. haha the members loved it though, so...that's okay... haha :)

Helen's progress: she's all the way in Alma 30. family, PLEASE READ THE BOOK OF MORMON EVERY DAY! please make it a priority in your life! there's nothing more that will change a person's life than reading the Book of Mormon, because of all the truth it contains. it has changed my life! it gives me so much direction and peace. I just hope you are all reading it every day; alone, as well as with your spouse and children. I promise you it will solve every problem you have, give you answers to everything, and especially help you understand and apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ every day. I love it! I LOVE YOU!

PS. how did you like the talk about health? if you don't like the way your body is, then do something about it! haha man... i can't wait to reread that talk again. amen!! :)

Love, Sister Bosler

PS love you so much!!!!! no i don't need any music! oh I'm performing at a fireside next sunday that Helen is speaking at! cool huh!

The whole mission! Can you find me? :)

Check out what was right outside our apt! All these dead dried fish!  Hungry?

A salad i made :) Awesome, huh!

 LOVE MY COMPANION.

and thanks Brooke for the juices! ;)

This cool weird egg thing we found for 5 HKD

Note from Kim: Bruce is going to China on his humanitarian trip, stopping in HK for one day, (he won't see her) so we asked her if there was anything besides supergreens that she might like.  Here's her response: 

okay. so here's something that I've been thinking about all the time for almost a month, and i totally understand if you start laughing and straight up say no! but.... can i have a juicer? hahaha aw man... it's just carrots are so cheap, and other veggies, but they die so fast and we only shop once a week. and a juicer would be 10 times cheaper than traveling on pdays to expensive places for overpriced imported juices with our tiny missionary budget! i would love to take any old crap juicer that even doesn't juice it all the way! haha but if that's too crazy, then it's fine :) haha i even feel silly asking, but me and Sister Dunbar have already planned where we'd put it and everything lol.
i would just love more powders and stuff! and whatever you want to throw in health wise! no tampons needed. haven't had a period for 6 months. maybe some top liquid eyeliner? its SO EXPENSIVE HERE! you can get it for 6 bucks in America!

you're the best! anything you think i'd love like healthy foods/snacks are the best! the healthier the better! no peanut butter, i sacrificed that a month or 2 ago haha. but almond butter....? ;) it's 168 HK dollars here LOL! i haven't purchased it, that's like a week of groceries.

dates?!?!?! OOOHH!! cacao powder!!! Oooh!! that would be incredible!! especially with that chocolate green powder you gave me! haha you're seriously THE BEST. and of course pictures :) i love them! everyone in my apt looks at them! :)

I responded, "Ask and ye shall receive" and that we would try to find a used one. She wrote back:

what the heck!!! Im tearing up i don't even know what to think!!! ahhh i can't believe this!!! ahhhh Sister Dunbar just took pics of my reaction I LOVE YOU OH MANNN!!!! haha i don't care what brand eyeliner! cheap or whatever! mascara too maybe? 

Wheat Grass and On Firrrrrre!!

Mom- LOVE THE WHEAT GRASS POWDER!!! haha i got another package... YES!! wow, love love love. and what's makes it even better: we just found this tiny little place in West Point that has fresh juice, and their store has the cheapest veggies in the world... like green onion for 2 HKD! which is like 40 cents??! haha oh man, i love Hong Kong. so with all your powders, i pretty much drink a bananna and 1000 veggie smoothie every morning.

Tyler is ripped and a stud. haha i cant believe how cool he is!

HOW WAS CONFERENCE?!?! i cant wait to see it next week!
but....did you hear Elder Wong?? He was the GA that visited my MTC group! and when Elder Rasband was here, he told us he would be the first to speak in another language at GC: In cantonese!!! SO COOL.

Well, this week Sister Cheung and I have been on firrrrrre. seriously. and it's all because of the spirit. my testimony of the spirit has grown so much! ive struggled time and time again to follow the promptings of the spirit, to do what missionaries do and turn this way because the spirit told them to, or say that because the spirit prompted them to, or ask a certain question, or know this or that... you know, you hear the miracle stories. so this is definitely something ive been praying for over and over again, to be able to teach by the spirit.

And i've felt the spirit SO much! every day i write down ways the spirit has guided me, even if it's the tiniest thing. But our lessons now consist of basically just asking questions, and letting the person talk, and the spirit teach. it's been incredible seeing the change in people on the streets.

But here's our miracle... MARLO! ahhhh. Sister Dunbar and I met her in Wah Fu on Wednesday. we just fell in love with her! she came to english class, and then we taught her on sunday. we started out the lesson just asking questions about Jesus Christ, showing the picture of Him holding the lamb. Not even 3 minutes in the lesson, Marlo started crying. she pretty much cried throughout the whole thing! she expressed how she's been confused for the past few years, not knowing what path to take in life... and how this is her answer. everything is making sense. i've never seen someone have so much love, hope, and faith in Jesus Christ like Marlo developed. I think the best part though, was her prayer at the end. We invited her to pray about following Jesus Christ through baptism, about if this is His true restored church, and she got so nervous and excited. I can't even express how humble her prayer was...but this woman knew she was talking to God, her Father in Heaven, and she knew He was listening. She started bawling--we all started bawling, and the spirit testified that these things are true.

I haven't felt more joy on the mission yet, then seeing someone for the first time, talk to their Father in Heaven, and to receive her answer right then and there that these things are true. I am so grateful God guided us to meet her at the exact place at the exact right time in Wah Fu! wow. she's amazing. throughout the lesson, she would stop talking, choke up, and grab our hands and call us angels. aw man, i've never felt more love in my life!!! THIS IS MISSIONARY WORK AHHHHHH IT"S THE BEST IN THE WORRRRRRLLDDD!!!!!! oh and an even cooler thing, we had a lesson right before she came so she had to wait in a different room of the church with the fellowshipper, and also with all our deaf members! (they like to stay and chat after church.) well Marlo is perfect for Pok Fu Lam, because she grew to love those people, and wants to learn sign language so bad! haha man, miracles, miracles. she's going to add so much to our Pok Fu Lam ward :) keep praying for Pok Fu Lam please!

But overall, when you pray in the morning and when you pray at night, please pray for the guidance of the spirit if you arent' already doing so. Take just 5 minutes every day to write how the spirit has guided you. or, if necessary, ask, 'what do i need to change to let the spirit guide me?' it works. i promise you, if you do these things, you will feel the spirit more. you will be happier. you will have more energy. and you will know what to say and when to say it.  The spirit is more willing to help us than we let it. So let it!
 i love this gospel! i love the spirit! i love you!

Love, Sister Bosler

well... once again we arent at the apple store, but a library and i cant read chinese. so im sorry, no pictures! next time if we can go to Central! love you!

One picture:  Cute Pohpo at Wah Fu! love the way the chinese sit. trying to copy