Elder Ryan Woolley in Hong Kong!: Christmas time in Hong Kong

Hello!

Sorry it is so late, we had some things come up in the middle of our last emails and had to make a quick couple car drive trips over to the ferry terminal and it took longer than planned. So I will be brief!

We had a good week in Kowloon, there were a few struggles this week with scheduling and some cancels, but things have been going too smoothly for awhile so it was almost expected. It was a good reminder to not ever take anything for granted. But the most important things are still progressing, that being the testimony and faith of our investigators!

Unfortunately, one of our good baptismal dates is looking a little bit less solid now, but I'm trying to doubt my doubts before I doubt the dates! Our most solid date is still Chen Guo Wu, he is progressing quite well. He has such an amazing story, and looking back on all the many times I have met with him, he has taught me just about as much as I have taught him. I am amazed by his humility, and his complete trust in God. Though his gospel understanding is of course still very basic and fundamental, he is a lot like Nephi as the angle asks him, 'knowest thou the condescension of God' to which he responds, Í know that he loveth his children, nevertheless I do not know the meaning of all things.' Chen dx truly knows that God loves all His children, he has a very powerful testimony of that, and it drives him in all the things that he does. It's been amazing to see him commit to something, though he may not fully understand, because of his faith in a loving God and Savior. He should be able to make his December 18th goal! We are working hard and praying hard for our other investigators with dates, they are all so close! There are a lot of good potential baptismal dates as well for the future! A lot of our investigators are progressing towards getting baptismal dates which is exciting, the Spirit has been helping us teach them well!

We had a really great teaching experience this week, one of our investigators has absolutely no religious background and has trouble understanding most things. He is a humble man from Fujian who is a winder cleaner here in Hong Kong. Elder Sy and I were praying really hard throughout the lesson trying to figure out how to teach him according to his needs and ability to understand, and the Spirit was just filling our minds with tons of great analogies to use while teaching him based off of all the things he had shared with us while chatting. It was great! We related Christ to a window cleaner, us to the windows, he really liked that and was intrigued with how he could 'wipe' himself clean. We compared developing testimony to the developing of the province Fujian which he had talked about before. It was a really great experience, we basically used everything he had ever shared with us as an analogy as we taught him, just as the Savior did, and it worked so well! I had never seen him pick up things so fast and understand them. The Savior's way is always the best way, I felt I really got to appreciate a little more His great teachings and parables.

I love the Light the World movement. What a great Spirit and motivation to serve and find more opportunities to serve and really try to make the world a lighter place this Christmas season. This last week we had the opportunity to go with our branch president, President Zhou to go and visit a young women and her mother. The daughter is very young, 12 years old, and was diagnosed with leukimia recently. It has been very hard for her mother and her, she was just let out of the hospital briefly last week. We went over with the President to meet with her and give a blessing to her and her mother. When I went into the house, I found myself very quite. Uncharacteristically so. I didn't know what to say to her or to her mother. She was so little and just sitting there and struggling to eat, and the mother looked so faithful, yet so tired and worn. I didn't know what I could possibly say or do to help them feel some light. We did what little service we could around the house, chatted briefly, then gathered around her in a chair as brethren in the priesthood. We laid our hands upon her head and gave her a blessing. I felt the power in the room, and I felt the love of God for this little sick daughter of His. He really loves us. I wish everyone could feel that love. It is so real, so tangible, and so personal. After we closed this blessing we turned and gave the mother a blessing of comfort. Again the Spirit filled the room, I don't remember the words I heard, I doubt the child does either, but I will remember the feeling of the love that enveloped the room. I could feel him loving the girl and lifting her spirits and pains, and could feel him lifting and encouraging the mother to keep pressing forward. It is true what is said in the Doctrine and Covenants- "where two or three are gathered together in my name, … behold, there will I be in the midst of them—even so am I in the midst of you” (D&C 6:32). We were gathered in His name, doing His work, and I certainly felt Him in our midst. I don't think I said more than 10 words in her house, but I know that what we did in His name was the greater service than any words, the Spirit they felt more important than any gift we could have given. I am grateful to be in His service, and hope that we will be continually blessed with more opportunities the help bring light to the lives of those we work with and encounter every day. Christmas is such a wonderful time to serve, though we should really be always serving as though it is Christmas. I love sharing about Christ, his life and his birth, they mean so much to me and I couldn't share about it enough!

Love you all!

Elder Woolley

胡長老