Merry Christmas!! (Dec 21st, 2014)

I can't believe how much Hong Kong people really celebrate Christmas!! It's so exciting!

We had a big music activity in Wanchai  this saturday and our ward wanted us missionaries to sing with them. it was SO fun! And what's even cooler, is that some choirs even sang "Fum Fum Fum" and "Dance Then!" total Madrigal flash back- i was so happy! and then they even had a BELL TABLE OUT! and i started getting so excited and told my companion I used to play bells and....well, her reaction was the same as Tod's basically ;) haha she's brought it up plenty times already since Saturday haha!

I've never felt as much love or given as much love than this past week. Haha our ward is the greatest ever! Last night we went to Bishop's house and brought our investigator Ms Chou and she brought her 24 year old son! Super cool! She had us talk to her daughter on the phone, too, and now they'll be coming to our Christmas party! Anyway, Ms Chou asked if we had an extra Book of Mormon, and she, herself, gave it to her son and started explaining it! so awesome. (haha she started explaining it though because she loves the picture of Moroni in it.... she talks about his picture a lot.. she's the funniest investigator i've ever had. every time I'm with her she gets my dying laughing!)
At Bishop's house, we shared a message, played a game with sign language (seriously SO fun), and then Bishop asked me to sing the first 2 verses of Silent Night, following with everyone joining in after. ah the spirit was so strong! The biggest thing I've been learning on this mission is the love of Christ. I was reading in Ether 12 and found a verse that stuck out to me a lot. Moroni prayed the Gentiles would be able to have the grace of God so that they can feel his love. Love is centered around the Atonement of Jesus Christ! I'm so grateful, too, because I have the opportunity to serve as Sister Training Leader! It's been such an incredible experience already! I love serving missionaries.

ITS BEEN SOOOO FUN opening 12 days of Christmas!!!! My companion almost cried when she saw you gave HER a stocking too! you are SOOO Awesome!! I Love you!!

Us with Sister Wan at church last sunday :) she loved how Christmasy we were!

At Bishop Chan's :) I love these people.  I Love this work. I truly am happy.

Love, Sister Bosler

wow, those pictures are the greatest. haha family forever! I love you all! Cutest manger scene ever!



Game night! Levi won!

 The kids saw Grandma kissing Santa Claus!

The boys got legos but the Head Lamps were a huge hit!

The Season of Love (December 14th, 2014)

Hi fam!! :)

First thing: A member in our ward, Sister Yu, is coming to Vacaville!!! haha she has dad's number, so keep your phones on! She wants to say hi and has something for you I guess! We just visited them a couple weeks ago and they're AMAZING. Her daughter, Winkie, is leaving for a mission in the middle of this week, and we were pretty close because she would help us with missionary work a LOT. She would love to see you! and she speaks Mandarin, so have fun with that, dad! :) (And english and Cantonese). please give her something(NOT A CD OF ME. thanks ;) )--she's making an effort to see you, members here are so thoughtful. i can't wait for you to meet a member from the best ward ever!! :) She has dad's info :)

Well it's been another wonderful week! SO you know how almost every week I talk about the amazing Sister Chan Yiu Wa (deaf one)? well-- I love her even more. gaaaah she's amazing. she seriously threw a whole surprise birthday party for me after church yesterday! Sister Lee (deaf) made me a strawberry cheesecake, and Sister Chan had gotten everyone in the ward to sign a card. live lucky life! ;) so cute. i  love the way she texts english so much. anyway, yesterday i just started crying out of love because everyone just kept hugging me, sharing so much love, and just being so thoughtful.
honestly, the greatest thing i have been learning here is love. Because of the Atonement and grace of Jesus Christ, I've been learning a much deeper, powerful love than I have ever felt. one that's really hard to express because it's so personal--between me and mySavior. And then, with that love, and I find myself doing all I can--every second of the day, to help others feel that same love. And then, working together, with the members, that love grows even more because of their selflessness and their dedication to God. On this mission, I've been learning how to truly change myself and sacrifice the little but big things to learn how to love even more. I seriously can't even express how much I love the members of this ward. And the even better part is, every day I find myself thinking how much I love my companion Sister Richardson! I am so grateful for her.
If you are having troubles learning to love someone, turn to the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Change yourself. Ask God with all your might to help you know what to do and have the strength and power to do it--and He will provide the way--if you are willing to accept it. Of course it won't be an overnight, instant change--it will be a challenge! But that is the lesson we all must learn. He knows your frustrations and your desires. He wants to help, so let him :)

Speaking of love, my heart broke a couple times this week! Cinny finally built up the courage to tell her parents about baptism. They completely freaked out. She isn't allowed to meet with us anymore, and wants to respect her parents. She told us she will always read the Book of Mormon and pray... we are praying she won't give up. Luckily, she has a good relationship with quite a few members, and she keeps in contact with us. But it's been hard this week, because first Marlo, then Cinny, and now some of our less actives are becoming RE less active. It is SO hard to see people fall away from the gospel of Jesus Christ--or are forced to fall away because of other reasons. This past week has led me to think many times "why would the Lord let this happen?" But i'm always humbled when I remember: I am here to be an instrument in His hands. This is the Lord's time, not mine! I know He loves every one of us, so these people definitely will have a way to find the gospel again. I'm grateful for the opportunity to help them, and especially to serve the Lord.

Miracles did happen like always! We were less active finding, when we met a super awesome woman who invited us over! (NEVER HAPPENS HERE). she is taking the lessons and said how she's amazed because she has never seen us missionaries here in Wah Fu. She truly knows that this is God's hand! she explained how much she misses Jesus, and kept thanking us for helping her. it was the coolest thing to be thanked by someone. she understands our purpose, and she's learning hers. we are so excited! Ms Chau! pray for her! also had an opportunity to teach a father/minister at our church. never had that situation yet--it was SO COOL! love this!

*my birthday party :)
*in this pic, Sister Chan is next to me, and she is signing "happiness."
I LOVE YOU ALL! Merry Christmas! :)

I made this Chinese dish with Mia, the Mandarin girl last p day! It was SO Fun!

...but then that night i threw up a ton. haha we were finding and i was doing all i could to not throw up on people as we were coming up to them.

as we were taking the mini bus home, i ended up yelling to the bus driver to pull over bc I'm going to throw up! haha I'm glad i did….

(Note from Karli when we sent a picture of Tyler taller than his mom):  YOU ARE KIDDING ME HE IS NOT!!!!!! WHAT THE HECK??!?!?! Wow. I'm dying!!! looks so fun mom! 

We are getting our packages today!!!! SO EXCITED!!! THANK YOU!!! i am seriously so spoiled!! Thank you so much!!! i appreciate all the food you (and grandma) have given me every day. it;s the best. and the love! love you all so much!

Awww im so so happy!! :) yay!!! I'm glad you got your Christmas package from me SO fast! haha that's awesome!! :)im so glad you liked it :) i love you so much! i seriously can't wait to come with you to Hong Kong again-- i LOVE THIS PLACE! Also, a new sister in our apt has the messiah on her iPod, so we've been listening to it occasionaly :) love it!!


I'm a little bit nervous to call on Christmas day though! i don't want to get distracted! haha.i'm thinking later in the afternoonish, but that may be too late. we'll plan more next monday. love you! but man, it's true, the mission sure makes you love your family even more!!! 
i love you!


From mom:

Hi Karli!!

Merry Christmas!!!  I hope you are having the most joyous season!!!

I listened to the First Presidency's Christmas message - did you get to hear that by any chance? Oh, I DO hope you get to hear it. The whole thing made me cry! From start to finish.
We need to head to the Messiah soon so this will be short again, but today our ward wrote hand written notes to you as you were the featured missionary!!  Yay!!

I hope you are having fun opening your 12 days of Christmas packages. Know how much we love you each day til Christmas and then we get to talk to you!!! We will be at Grandma Thomas's house, so just call my cell and we will all be so excited and waiting to talk to you. Oh, Karli. We can't wait. I just loved your letter to me so much. I really cried and will save it forever. Always know that a love note is the best gift by far.

Wish me luck tonight. I was sick with a cold and couldn't sing for two weeks and last night suddenly I could!!!!!  It was amazing. Ive felt so happy today, knowing that Heavenly Father really wants me to sing tonight.

And what better song in the whole world is there than "I Know That My Redeemer Liveth?"  Wow.
I love you, and … "talk" to you soon!! 

Love,

Mom

From Brandon Woolf:
Karli is adorable.

From Stephanie Angst:
So great to hear how happy she is!  I can't wait and am excited for her to call you on Christmas, haha!  Seriously, you all must be so excited to hear from her!!
Thanks again for including me on these beautiful letters.
Steph

From Wael:

Karli looks so beautiful, happy, and she is being loved so much by everyone she comes in contact with. She feels like a part of a huge family away from home. I am so happy for her. I love her so much!

Birthday Gifts! :) - December 8th, 2014

THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE!!! Wow-- I had so many birthday wishes today! You are all the best! :) I wish I had time to email everyone back, but just know I am so grateful for all of you and your kindness! Thank you thank you!

Well, you know what's crazy? My trainer is home! Sister Cheung! I miss her. (I hope you're stalking my blog sister Cheung and reading this! ;) ) But honestly, her testimony, fire, and energy is still the best example to me. I'm so grateful for her happiness!

So on Sunday morning, Dec 7th, I woke up thinking the same thing I always think, "what am I grateful for today?" and I thought, "yay! Cindy is coming to church again! oh!! Grace is getting baptized! Yay!" and THEN I thought, "oh yeah- it's my birthday?!" That little moment in the morning was such a special moment for me. Sister Smith's bday was Dec 2, and she would say, "I really just want to become such a consecrated missionary that I forget my own birthday." I love this work. I'm grateful to lose myself in the service of God. It's life changing!

But, Sunday was awesome. it was fast sunday! WOO! that means extra miracles and more dedication and faith! it was great. we got a lot of time to go finding on the streets, but I truly feel like Heavenly Father blessed us in so many ways (the best birthday gifts!!). Sister Richardson and I found ourselves laughing SO hard many times on the street yesterday! Building our relationship, seeing miracles, and meeting just the funniest people. One girl we met is obsessed over the elders. she's never approached them, but wants to meet them so bad. Sister Richardson and I just kept trying as hard as we could to bear testimony and make our purpose of the restored gospel clear, but she kept interrupting asking, "are they dating anyone? do they date? how to foreigners find their boyfriends?" and oh man, my answer was so bad but honestly true, "through church!" ....she's coming to church.... haha Sister Richardson and i never laughed so hard after this contact.

When we got home, we made a dinner together, listened to Christmas music, and that night, I opened my package! From YOU and from grandma! ahhh i love everything-- thank you SOOOOO MUCH!!!!!! I can't believe how kind and thoughtful you are! I went to bed literally just SO happy-- so happy to work hard, spread the gospel, have fun, and feel so much love from my family. thank you all. :) Church was incredible, too. I feel like another birthday gift from God was how much I felt the spirit. Sister Chan (deaf one) bore her testimony with a translator. I was bawling. BAWLING. That woman has changed my life forever, and I am dead serious. Missionary work is the number one priority in her life. She does everything to help the Lord. Her planner is almost busier than ours ;) the deaf section in our ward has flourished--because of her. Grace Lee just got baptized this sunday, and she is also deaf. I love her to pieces. Member missionary work is true. Don't forget the responsibilty we all have as members! hate to break it to ya, but missionary work is so much more than feeding the elders once a month.

Well... I have some sad news. Wednesday, Marlo texted us. Her husband said if she continues coming to church, he will leave her. and that's that. The gospel is SO important, but our focus is eternal families. there is no way we would ever even dream of hurting their relationship. however, we will never stop praying and fasting for her. with a heavy heart, i keep wondering, "WHY did the Lord have us meet her? how can someone with THAT much faith not be allowed to follow Him?" at moments like this, I remember how small I am, and how great, all-knowing, all-powerful, and all merciful and loving Heavenly Father is. His plan is perfect. We are all His literal children, and He loves us each so much. I know everything will work out for Marlo :) God is too loving to have it go any other way. It's all just according to His time.

fun news!! Today we are going to a salad shop-- WOO!! and fro yo!! and then later in the afternoon, we'll be going to that Mandarin potential named Mia and spending a few hours with her. she is so cute and really just wants to be with us :) i love the relationships we get to build on missions!

oh, shout out to Sister Dunbar's mom! THANK YOU! we love our apartment! we have a mini christmas tree, decorations, and even the scent of pine cones. I smell sylvyville every time I go to bed. LOVE IT :)

Have a merry christmas everyone! It's the season where we can truly remember our Savior and His love for us! I am so grateful to spend this December serving Him and sharing about Him :)

LOVE YOU!

Love always,
 Sister Bosler

Pictures: Pillow case from Grandma, cute Santa in our home! and Grace Lee's baptism! all the woman in PFL and ABD. :) much love here in HK! :)

From Donna Suchoski: She just bursts with joy and love!

From MOM:
Karli.

So one night last week, actually it was your birthday, I was missing you so much and thinking of you and about to go get ready for bed after doing the dishes. All of a sudden at 9PM the doorbell rang. It had been pouring rain all day and was still so dark and wet and I thought, "Who could be coming over this late?" And though the side window, I could see that it was Bill, our postman. I opened the door, and he looked so tired. I said, "Oh, my gosh, Bill! What are you doing here so late?"

And he responded, "I hate my job." He told me that his hours were so long and he was so tired and on and on. I tried to help him see that he was appreciated and had a good retirement and he might as well enjoy his work because you never know what will happen in life. MIght as well enjoy the journey, right? Then he pulled your package out of his bag. "Well, this is for you - it looks like it came all the way from Hong Kong."

I was so excited I was screaming!  Bill left, knowing he had done a very good deed for the day!! I ripped open the box and saw all of your cute Christmas gifts for everyone and OH, it was just so sweet!!!! Then I saw your card and read it over about 10 times and that's the BEST gift you could EVER give me!!!! I love you so much. Your card was like a tender mercy and I just can't tell you what perfect timing that was. Karli. You are just the BEST. I hope you know how much I love you and that I will always try and be the best mom and friend I can ever be to you. Wow. I am so lucky. So blessed beyond measure!!!  Thank you with all of my heart.

I will write more tomorrow but tonight I am going to bed and saying my prayers in gratitude for such a beautiful daughter. 

Another miracle: I've been sick for two weeks (cold) and tomorrow night I am soloing in the Messiah in Oakland. ON Temple Hill. Even this morning I couldn't sing. So tonight I prayed and then decided to practice one more time and I don't sound sick AT ALL anymore!! I can't wait to sing tomorrow night!!!

I love you Karli. You are an angel in all of our lives. Especially mine.

Hugs, Mom

I like you, I love you! (November 30th, 2014)

Helllllloooo!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! haha first, last p day, i got a call from the mission president's WIFE saying she has a stuffing recipe for me from my mom! haha i about died. my parents are famous here in the mission, that's all I can say... haha oh man.

Anyway, we made an awesome stuffing! we made it with West Point elders, haha and they got the wrong spices, so it tasted like pizza stuffing ;) haha it was great though!

Thanksgiving was a blast-- we got to eat with missionaries for a couple hours, and then teach. it was wonderful. I feel so grateful every day!

We seriously had such a FUN week! The ward is becoming my family for sure. people are now coming up to me with worried expressions saying, "sister Bosler, you're not leaving right?" :) no way. never! but last saturday night, we invited an investigator to come to a wedding reception in our ward. She loved it so much. actually, that was downplayed. I LOVED IT SO MUCH! haha especially because the bride is Chinese, and her husband is AFRICAN! who speaks french! so they both speak their 2nd language together, english. oh man, it was the best thing of our lives. haha especially their vows.. so happy! During his vows, he would say in the cutest accent, "even if we have 1 million dollas, or if we homeless, i like you, i love you, i love you, i love you." hehe so cute and unique. and then he even gave a shout out to the missionaries! He's getting baptized on the 14th of December so they can be sealed in the temple for eternity! It was soooo cute and awesome! Now THAT'S missionary work. Our investigator, Cinny, is seriously incredible though. we taught her towards the end of the reception and as we talked about faith, she said, "i feel like this church is good, and true. because as i look at everyone, their smiles are so happy. it must be right." I'm so grateful Cinny has figured out for herself the purpose of this gospel: happiness! All good things are of Christ, and she's just realizing it. last week, she quit her job so she could come to church! she came this week and loved it. keep praying for Cinny!

One of my favorite things about the culture in Hong Kong is their love for food. they even have their own version of the word of wisdom--no joke. last week, a member was teaching and said, "eat more veggies, eat less meat, eat more rice..." haha of course the rice. whenever they say they're going to eat, no matter what the meals associate with "are you going to eat rice?" haha it makes me laugh. they also eat so messy and with their hands, and just throw the bones of whatever on the table. i didn't realize how much my manners have changed until my trainee keeps pointing out things that i do too now that the chinese do! so sorry family, my manners are terrible now!

about Marlo... ah! she is incredible! i say this every week, but when she prays, she is truly talking to our Father in Heaven. Every time her prayers bring me tears. Poor thing though, her husband is so extremely stubborn and will not let her get baptized. there's no way she can without his agreement, especially since families are so central in the gospel. it makes me so sad. her baptismal date is the end of this month, so pray for her husband to open his heart!

We had another super cool experience on the street. we met a guy from Napol! And he literally hasn't even heard of Adam and Eve, didn't even know about "a babe in bethlehem" and so our first lesson with him was SO cool. he is excited about learning more about the Christian religion. he said, "i feel like this is really good, because as I look at these pictures (of members and Christ on our walls) I see happiness, and good things." moral of this week: the gospel brings pure happiness. I'm so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and for His love for us. I'm so grateful He so perfectly completed God's will for us, so that we can receive strength from on high and return to live with God again in pure joy. I'm so grateful for the spirit, I'm so grateful for this opportunity to change and use the Atonement more. I love this! I Love you!

Happy December! :)

Love, Sister Bosler

and here's the lovely couple :D  so great huh! love it!!!!

My Hello Kitty Apron!

 lunch today with my favorite person in the world: Sister Smith. she's been my roommate since the beginning and she leaves for home this week :(
she's the most incredible example because even though she's dying on the mission, she still has more mission fire than anyone i know! i love her and am so grateful for her example!