Xiawu Haoooooo,
I had a great but rather heart breaking week here in Macau! Great because the work here is really starting to progress so much!! And heartbreaking because I will be getting kicked out of here next wednesday :(
Earlier in the month I had tried to apply for an extension on my visa (Americans are only allowed 2 months ish) and this week I got rejected which was sad. Then this morning on my turn around I got pulled out and taken to an immigrations interview room, then had to travel to a different immigrations office in Tai Pa where I had to sign a document saying I would leave within 10 days or pay fines etc. So I will be going to a new area next week! Sad. But exciting! As Mandarin missionaries our areas are so big, if I go to a new area I will have already served 60% of the mission (geographically) which is pretty cool. But I am so heart broken to leave here, I have definitely put my whole heart into this area, our investigators and members and it hurts to have to leave so soon again. But I know that I will leave here better than how I found it, and will also leave here as a better person than when I entered. Amazing how that works.
This week was just full of the mercies of the Lord helping me be able to see some of the fruits of our labors here in Macau, for which I am so very grateful. We have been working on a less active named Calvin Parscia from the Philippines, and he has such great desire. He had some problems with feeling unworthy to come back, when I shared with him a quote from Pres. Nelson who said that God is never dissappointed with those who are earnestly trying there best, and striving to repent. I have probably said this before but that is such a great hopeful principle. One of Satan's greatest lies is that God is dissappointed or that we are too unworthy to even try and come back or repent. Of course that's not true! No matter who we are, where we've been, or what we do, God will always welcome us back with open arms! We had a powerful and emotional lesson with him, and he came to church the next week against all odds of his terrible work schedule! I was so proud, he is such a stud.
We have an investigator named Susanna from mainland who accepted a baptismal invitation! She really wants to be baptized but is facing lots of opposition from her strict buddhist family, so we'll see how she does. I know she has the faith to overcome the problem if she will be able to apply that faith into action, which is pretty key. We are praying for her! It was very spiritual when we invited her, and assured her using the words from DC 6 which goes something like fear not and look unto me (the Lord). If we look unto him in all things, truly we need not fear! That's a good lesson I have learned here, too. We also suddenly got like 4 really strong potential investigators/ new investigators into the mandarin work here, I can really feel the Lord hastening Mandarin work here, it's really catching fire! (not a reference to hunger games btw).
Another amazing change was in the life of a member named Brother Ben. We we're assigned to be his hometeacher, and when I first visited him a month ago (that was the time when his dog peed on my companion during the lesson) he was quite crusty and not really open to much. I don't think he even smiled or anything, but we could see him being touched by the Spirit. He has been to church a few times since then, and we got to go visit him this last sunday and the change I saw was unbelievable! We woke him up from an all night shift at like 9am and he looked so grumpy, but the moment we said good morning to brother Ben he lit up and was all smiles the whole lesson! He and his wife were so grateful and shared a powerful testimony to us about the Savior! He even got up in the meeting and bore his testimony! It was all in Tagalog so I didn't really get anything except for all of the thank you's to the missionaries, ward, and the Lord. It was so amazing I was so happy for him!
I got to do my first baptismal interview as the District Leader here and it was one of my favorite things I've gotten to do here with this role. It was so great to see how excited, and ready this sister was to receive baptism, and how she truly desired and understood the profundity of what she was about to accept. I appreciated the missionaries for preparing her so well, and my testimony was strengthened by hers as we talked about her conversion process together. The work is truly amazing!
I had the most amazing thing happen this sunday as well, two weeks ago a guy named Borromeo randomly came into the church asking to talk to us, saying he needed someone to talk to. He had been to a few other Christian churches who had all turned him away and he was seeking for anyone to listen. A lot of people (including some missionaries) looked quite hesitant to listen since he was quite loudly talking about passports, money, and looked a little dishevelled, but for some reason I felt compelled to sit and listen to him while my companion set up self reliance class. He told me of his niece who was homeless and stuck up in mainland, due to an employer who took her ID and working card, she was unable to leave or get any other job, and the police believed her employer who had told them that she had simply lost it and was trying to get money. I listened to his anguish as he told me how she would use the last of her coins to call him on the phone, telling him she was losing hope. I felt so terrible for them, and couldn't even begin to understand what it must be like. So I shared with him some scriptures, gave him a Book of Mormon, prayed with him, and invited him back to church later. He came to church and talked with president Alayon, our branch president. He later returned the next week and attended all the meetings. Then this next week I was floored by the testimony meeting. President Alayon got up and told of how he left the sickbed in the hospital at Hong Kong, and went up to mainland to contact a member there, and the two of them miraculously, and according to the guidance of the Spirit, found Borromeo's niece, went to the embassy and somehow resolved all the problems, and that they were all together that day in the congregation. He had them stand up, and as I looked over at them smiling together I couldn't help but cry. I felt so humbled that the Lord had been able to use me to help these people, and even more humbled by President Alayon's amazing example of selfless service, that he willingly left everything for a few days to go and help this random woman who might not have even been real, and he basically saved this family, and brought them back into the safe fold of the church. I have so much respect for that man and his familly, I have never seen a family more devoted to service in my life. It really brings to mind the scripture in Matthew 25- "35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36. Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."
What a powerful scripture. I thought of all the times when I passed up opportunities to help or serve others, and was dissappointed, but the Lord gives us so many opportunities to serve, and they can make all the difference to someone's life! Every time we serve others we are serving Christ, so why not serve at every chance we get, why not even seek more opportunities to serve rather than wait for them to suddenly be in our path! I have really grown to see what type of member I want to be as I continue on in the church. Talking to the two of them after the meeting was amazing, the sheer gratitude and humility of the two, they both will be getting taught by us soon!
I especially love this message of serving as Christ served since it is now the Christmas season, I hope everyone remembers the main message of Christmas which is of course the Savior! A Savior was born to us, and has given us all so much! I invite everyone to look at christmas.mormon.org and watch some of the videos the church has produced, and I still remember the theme from last year, which was 'He is the Gift.' He is the gift, and is the reason for such a wonderful time of year. I love Christmas, and I love Macau, I feel as if I have really learned a lot and grown a lot here. It's amazing to look back and see the impact this area has had on me, it's hard really for me to express how much I've learned here about myself, about the Restoration of the Gospel, about the work of God, and most importantly, about the Savior, the reality of his message, and the changing power of His Atonement. It is all so powerful, and so very real. I love it so much! I'm excited to see what my next area and companion have for me, and I trust it will be right for me!
Thank you all for everything, remember it's the most wonderful time of the year!
Love,
Elder Woolley
長老胡
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