August 2, 2012

Hello!! :) Wow. This week was very...humbling. :) Very good, but very humbling. I've come to realize that we experience miracles everyday of our life, but most of the time we are oblivious to their occurrences. Tuesday was full of miracles. We met a lot of people willing to hear the gospel. One person actually went straight up to me and asked me what I was doing-which is fairly uncommon. I got to know him pretty well, and will be playing soccer (yes, with my brace ;) ) with him. He's a pretty cool kid and seems willing to hear about our message. Today while I was on the train (the rail lines here go incredibly fast) I realized that I was moving at a ridiculous speed from Tin Shui Wai to Kowloon Tong in only about an hour's worth of time. If you tried walking that distance it would take you about a week if not more. Now being on that train is a miracle. It's a very commonly used vehicle, but that doesn't mean that it isn't a miracle. Going from one place to another in only an hour's worth of time is definitely a miracle. I'm really going to start taking things less for granted. We live in a life with miracles around us. We just need to open our eyes, soften our hearts, and allow life to put us in awe. :)  Anyway, haha :)  The members were VERY kind to me after my talk. They were definitely very supportive, kind, and understanding. I really love our wards. Apparently Yuen Long is well known to have amazing members.  Thank you so much mom for your advice in getting the members to help! Service really is the best way to show love. That's basically the only way Christ lived His life. We're going to try to visit every member in Yuen Long- both active and less-active- to help inspire them to serve their friends and family to help them hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm so excited for us to have two new siblings in our family!!!!! I already love them so much. I can't wait to meet them! My new mission president seems like the kind of person that wouldn't allow me to meet them while on my mission, but I can still ask. Asking never hurts. I used to be afraid to ask questions because I was always afraid of people saying "no" or not receiving the answer I was expecting, but why not ask questions? We give ourselves opportunities to learn through asking questions. In my opinion, it's the best and most efficient way to learn. It's better to receive an answer than to leave yourself wondering for the rest of your life. This week I've definitely asked more questions than usual. This week I came to a huge realization that I'm not the best teacher in the world. My pride was hurt but acting upon the feelings helped me want to become better and it really helped me rely on my Savior Jesus Christ even more.  After realizing how not so great of a teacher I was, we got a call from the assistants to the president a couple days later saying that we'll be getting two summer missionaries (16-? years old people want to see how missionary life is like). These people will be our new companions for two weeks and we have to show them how missionary life is. So I have a summer missionary as my companion now and have to train him to show him how missionary life is. Yikes. Yet another humbling experience. Don't get me wrong, I'm VERY excited to have this opportunity. Just nervous, but I know that as I trust in God and rely on my Savior, everything will be alright. I love you all. I have to go, but I hope you all have a good week!!!  Love ya! -Elder Tim :)