Elder Ryan Woolley in Hong Kong!: Merry Christmas! 聖誕節快樂!

大家聖誕節快樂！

Merry Christmas everybody!! I had a great Christmas this year, the best one of the mission! Had a great time talking to the fam on skype too, so fun speaking Chinese with Mom!

The Christmas was really awesome, the branch members were so loving to us, they fed us a bunch of meals, gave us little gifts, I felt so loved! I love the Victoria 3rd branch so much, it's amazing to see how far it has come since I first served here a year ago. Really amazing. The branch has just opened up and we have had so many great people join the church and build the branch! We all went caroling in Tsim Sha Tsui as a district and it was awesome, there are tons of people from mainland in town this weekend for the big shopping sales, and they were all stopping to listen and take pictures and sing with us. It was so fun, the mainland people are so ready for the gospel! It was really fun, there were literally hundreds of people stopping and listening and taking pictures, it was great to spread the Christmas cheer!

Chen Guo Wu was confirmed on Sunday, and it went well. He is so happy to be a member of the church, he is always talking about how much he loves the commandments, he has been a good example of someone whose weakness has turned into his strength. He always wants to tell everyone about how great the commandments are because they have helped turn his life around. He really wants to take us on a tour in Xinjiang, where he is from. Everyone should google Xinjiang, it's a beautiful place!

I have loved seeing all the converts from this year grow and help build up the branch. It has been a blessing to be back in Vic 3 and see more and more of the fruits of our labor. I am so proud of all the converts, they are such great, passionate, and powerful members! The work continues to go well, though it's starting to reach the slower months of January/February where all the mainlanders are returning home for the new year and other holidays, but we continue to get great potentials every week, and I'm excited to keep working with them.

Elder Sy and I had another opportunity to serve this week, a recent convert asked for a priesthood blessing, she has been struggling a lot lately with some difficult circumstances from a divorce process, and it just made me feel so sad for her when we were talking with her. The Spirit really guided Elder Sy and I as we shared a few scriptures, and then gave her a blessing. Giving blessings is always a testimony strengthener for me, it is such a tangible feeling of God taking over and blessing His children through us.

This last week leading up to Christmas I was thinking a lot about Jesus and His disciples. It is so amazing to me that Christ walked by them, invited them to follow him, promised a blessing, and they immediately dropped everything, and followed him. They recognized the call of the Master, Jesus Christ. Though they didn't know him, and probably hadn't heard much of Him, or recognize him, these average fisherman heeded his invitation, dropped everything that was their life and followed him. And it is even more amazing to see those Apostles receive the promised blessing, "to become fishers of men" (Mark 1:17), where they had started as nothing but fisherman, and through following Christ, they became. They shaped history, founded Christ's church, performed miracles, and were powerful preachers of the gospel! It's been amazing to teach people of all backgrounds, from window cleaners and construction workers, to the owner of an investment banking company, and see them all heed to the Lord's invitation, and receive the blessing to become. To change into more than they could ever become on their own, to really become disciples of God. I am so grateful for the gift of the Savior, born two thousand years ago so that we could all overcome our sins, our weakness, and become more. I am grateful to be in Hong Kong and help everyone to get to know the Savior!

Merry Christmas, love you all!

Elder Woolley

胡長老