Living after the manner of happiness - week 50

HELLOOO EVERYBODY!!

Another week flew by, I can't believe how fast the weeks are. I don't know where to begin with this week.

We had a great P day this week, went on a beautiful hike in Dai Po, around my first area, it was fun to go back through there. We hiked with some mandarin branch members and mission friends, nice and relaxing. Hong Kong has beautiful nature once you get outside the city!

Our investigator pool seems to be at a little bit of a halt right now, a lot of our good potentials are out of town, and we are still working with a bunch of slow part member families. But it always feels good to meet with them in the family setting and share some gospel truths. I feel that for now, we are just nourishing there seeds, and I am ok with that! I know they'll turn around eventually. We have been loading up on potentials over the past few weeks though, some of them just seem to be out of nowhere! Children's English class has proven to be a gold mine, tons of families are attending every week now, and a good portion of them are attending church as well! I can see some of them really have some great potential, we just have to start meeting with them and keep the ball rolling! Our members have been doing a pretty good job at fellowshipping the English class moms at church, which is great. There is one particular women who invites tons of friends every time. I'm excited for our area, I feel that it is just about to get going! The members have been warming up to me more ever since the piano performance last week despite my mediocre cantonese, though I am still a little stressed about the fact that my companion Elder Hui goes home next week! But I feel prepared. 

Remember the women I wrote about last week who we met on the train? Elder Hui and I had the chance to teach her this week! She is only in Hong Kong for a limited time, and wants to be taught every day while she is hear. The other missionaries couldn't teach her one night so we got to teach her, and it was such a blessing! She is amazing! So prepared! She just asked great questions, and was just hungry for the gospel. It is amazing to see the Lord putting prepared people in our paths. I'm grateful we opened our mouths and talked to her. When we asked why she was so interested in the gospel, I felt the Spirit very strongly as she basically testified that she knows it is good, and has felt a peace from it that she has never felt before. She said she was missing peace the nights where she didn't meet with the missionaries, and she just wants more! She recognizes us as servants of the Lord.

This week in scripture study I thought a lot about what Nephi calls living after the manner of happiness. There are a variety of great talks written about that scripture, and the verses themselves give a great and clear outline of how we can live after the manner of happiness, how we can have significant, fulfilling, and happy lives. Nephi talks of how the people made the temple a priority in their lives and as a society. They were industrious, productive, and know how to work hard. They obeyed the commandments, and hearkened to the prophets counsel. They remembered God, all He had done for them, and remembered their Savior. And something that I really like is that is says "I did for them all things according to that which was in my power." It reminds me of the verse in DC 123:17-"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all that lie in our power, and then we may stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." It is such great advice. I love the term cheerfully as well, it is easy to get overwhelmed or stressed out about things we can't control but that we wish we could control. But in the end all we can control is the things we do, and the attitude with which we do them. I can't think of a better attitude to do the work than cheerful! If we truly trust in God and have faith, then we can do all the things in our power cheerfully, because we will know "all things work for good for those that love God", and will have utmost assurance in His salvation. I have really been trying to work on trusting God, knowing that He hears my prayers, and that He will consecrate my efforts and my performance for the welfare of my soul and for those that I serve. Attitude and faith are crucial!

Thankyou everyone for the prayers and support! 

Love,

Elder Woolley

New Territories

Learning to drive on the other side of the car and road!

Children's class 

More New Territories pics

P-day hike in Tai Po

Ice cream break to cool down from the heat!

New Territories - week 49

JOO SUUNNN,

Good morning everyone! We had an amazing week in Shum Shui Po ward!

Earlier in the week I had the opportunity to go on exchanges over to the New Territories Zone, my first time there and it was so different! Way more rural with lots of dogs everywhere, much more quiet and low key. I also got to do Mandarin missionary work again that day which was really refreshing, it was almost relaxing! But we got to work and had some great experiences! We met one of their investigators, and felt prompted to share the Restoration, it was one of the more guided lessons I've had in awhile, and the Spirit was very strong! Another tender mercy from the Lord, reconfirming my testimony of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon. What a privilege it is to testify of it every day. It was great working with the Zone Leaders and seeing the great response to some of the changes in the mission lately, and I was inspired by their proactivity and desire. Missionaries are powerful! 

We have been praying really hard for investigators and blessings in our area, and this week was again another witness to me of how Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers, as long as we are willing to act. Last Monday we went to get our haircuts, and we were sitting with a mother as her son got a haircut. We chatted with her briefly, and gave her a card for our children's english class.

English class

She came to the class and attended sacrament meeting the next day! She and her kids loved it and have great desire to learn more! The other day on the way to one of our lessons, we were in the elevator with a woman, and started talking to her, she was really outgoing (odd for a Hong Kong person) and talked about her kids, she'll be attending kids english class with friends this week too! We've been killing it with moms lately haha. And finally, one of the more spiritual moments of my mission, last night we ran into a big group of mandarin missionaries, members, investigators and potentials, and one of them came up to me and immediately started talking to me like we were good friends. It took me a second to realize who she was, but then I remembered, on the train 3 weeks ago we were with the newly arrived missionaries going to get their ID's, and we were all trying to get conversations going for them, one of the women we talked to didn't speak Cantonese, so I spoke to her in Mandarin briefly, before she got off we gave her a card with the Mandarin missionaries number on it. She said she would be going back to mainland for awhile. Right when she got back last week, she called the number we gave her, and attended the activity, and then we ran into them! She told me how her life recently has had a lot of problems and she really has felt that the Gospel will help her. I was touched by the Spirit, and grateful that the Lord had used us as his tools to bless her life. She is super prepared! Even though 2 of the 3 people from above are not in our area and won't be taught by us, I know that Heavenly Father has answered our prayers, and has used us to find the Lord's investigators. I know that as we seek out those prepared people genuinely, they can recognize us as servants of the Lord, and feel that we have something good. I am so blessed by Heavenly Father to have such wonderful moments and miracles.

This last Sunday Elder Hui and I also performed a piano Violin arrangement in church, and it was great! Elder Hui is a top notch violinist, he was amazing.The members really loved it, and afterwords, there were many people who wanted us to visit them, or meet a friend, or just wanted to talk to us. I was amazed! I am happy that we are blessed with this talent, and were able to share it with our ward, we are blessed when we use our talents to serve the Lord. We are really trying to serve the ward with all the tools we have been blessed with, and I know we are being blessed because of it.

 Elder Hui and I have worked out a few ways where we have been able to streamline and simplify our duties here, giving us more time to proselyte and do exchanges, which got me thinking a lot about simplifying. I read the "It works wonderfully!" By President Utchdorf this last week, and thought a lot about the two steps he talks about in our approach to discipleship, and in my approach to the mission.

Prayerful hug with Elder Hui

He says simplify, and start where you are. I feel like lately I have been making things too complicated in my mind with all the stuff going around, and we really can simplify everything, start at the basics, and re-apply them. The same thing is being done in our mission as a whole as well in our MLC. For our investigators we decided to do the same for a lot of the older more stubborn ones, teaching about Christ, who he is, focusing on the Savior and helping them feel the Spirit. Simplifying my approach to missionary work, using our talents, and again, always preaching of Christ wherever we are, simply talking to everyone, being natural, and serving humbly. As I consciously simplified my approach and looked at the big picture of our work as assistants, as well as our work in the ward, I felt a lot of clarity and revelations come on how we can continue moving forward, starting from where we are now. It was a wonderful week, and my heart is very full of gratitude. I can think of nothing better than being a missionary, and serving the Lord. 

Thank you everyone for the love and support! 

我愛你們！

胡長老

Guo Dx got baptized the Sunday that Elder Woolley left the KL Mandarin

Moving the Work Forward - week 48

HELLOOO!!

The weeks are just flying by it is crazy that it is already pday today! This week was full of miracles!

We had a great MLC, with some big changes that are really going to help the mission keep moving forward, I received lots of personal revelation as well on how I can be a better missionary as well. I'm excited to see how everyone applies the principles throughout the mission! It is amazing to see revelation received from above, then see it slowly be distributed throughout the mission until it ends up in every companionship, and being taught to every one of the Lord's investigators.

We started up a children's english class a few weeks ago and it has just been taking off recently, it is so fun teaching the little kids and the parents are loving it! Recently, a street contact of ours from a few months ago came, then brought her sister and kids, then her brother, then her friend and her kids, and then they all came to church on Sunday! It was amazing! They all have such great family relationships, they really are a da jia! I sat with them at church and kept some of the little kids entertained with drawings throughout the meeting, probably one of the most enjoyable Sundays of my mission. As we sat their listening/ coloring I just felt the Spirit so strongly, this is what the Gospel is about, helping these wonderful families to know their purpose, to know that they can be together forever. And it isn't just something nice that we say to help us feel better or to try and comfort ourselves when a loved one passes, but it is real. I know that families are an eternal unit. All of the kids that were there were little girls ages 4-9, I just couldn't help but feel like a big brother with them all around us haha reminded me of my wonderful family and sisters. I am so blessed to have the gospel in my own family, the blessings it has brought us are immeasurable, and undeniable. I am so happy the Lord blessed us to encounter these families, and so happy that they felt the warmth of the church da jia feeling. I can't wait to see where they go from here!

Our other investigators are doing ok, we are really focusing on part member families right now, but are struggling with a lot of stubborn chinese dads haha, it seems I have some lessons to learn about families and the plan of salvation in this area, because we are teaching a lot of them, which is great! There is no better environment to teach in then that! We are hoping to help the fathers see the blessings of the gospel, and hear it from their family members. They'll have changes of heart soon!

Lastly, as we were pondering some moves for our mission, I was struck with a thought about how or Heavenly Father views us. Often times there will be a missionary struggling in an area, with problems of one kind or another. President Lam is very aware of it, and prays for them. But rarely does he ever move them out immediately and get rid of the problem, often he trusts them to figure it out on their own, to grow, to learn of themselves. Often times we are much like that, but it's easy to think that Heavenly Father has forgotten or is not there. But of course, much like President Lam is very aware of the problems, our Father in Heaven is infinitely more aware, more so than even ourselves. But He would have us grow. It's amazing seeing the process of growth in people, investigators, less actives, members, missionaries, everyone. I know that so much growth in people, and in my own life is a direct result of the enabling power of the Atonement. With the Atonement, everything works, everything is possible.

I'm excited to see where these families go in the next few weeks, I love teaching families! 

Love you all!

Elder Woolley

Ran into on our investigators, Jeff - he's a taxi driver (gave Elders Woolley, Ng & Hui a ride)

Found an American BBQ restaurant for 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July - week 47

HELLOO

Sorry this one is going to be the shortest one of the mish!

First off happy 4th of July! I love and miss America, blessed to live in such a great country!

This week has been totally crazy! So much has happened it is hard to know where to begin. I have loved working with President Lam and Elder Hui this week, we have had great discussions this past week, I feel we are all on the same page, it's great to see revelation come and be confirmed. Working so far with President Lam has really given me testimony of how much the Lord runs this mission, and how all of it is done by revelation. It is His mission! I am blessed to be a part of it.

We had a lesson with someone who is grieving the passing away of a loved one. We taught a simple lesson on our relationship with Heavenly Father, her closing prayer was one of the more sincere prayers I have heard on a first lesson, it was so touching. I love being part of people's first times communicating with their Heavenly Father. Seeing their happiness and joy from it makes me only imagine the joy that God must experience when He finally hears from one of His beloved children. He is only a prayer away. I have been studying prayer a lot recently, I forget how much of a blessing it is that our Creator has given us this way to communicate and counsel with Him. I think I have said this a million times in these letters haha but prayer is truly a blessing. "In prayer we speak to the Lord, and he speaks to us. It is our privilege to have our voices heard in the courts above and hear the answering voice of the Lord conveyed by the power of the Spirit."

This work is a miraculous work, I know that our calls are tailored for us perfectly by our Heavenly Father, I am blessed to be here in Hong Kong! I love you and pray for you!

LOVE

Elder Woolley

Elder Woolley with the just released cousin Ng

Elder Hui and Elder Woolley with Scott,
an investigator from Ryan's old ward, getting ready to be baptized!

Language change!! - week 46

HELLOOOO!!

This week was a really crazy week, but one of the best weeks of my mission! 

First things, I got a surprise move in the middle of the week, switched over to Cantonese work in the Sham Shui Po ward! It was a big surprise, I'me excited to work with a strong ward, but the language switch will be a little challenging. 

I am really sad to leave Kowloon Mandarin, it was a huge period of growth for me as a missionary, and as a disciple of Christ. In this area I learned a lot about Christ-like service, and loved every minute of our wonderful crazy mandarin branch. It was somewhere where I truly saw the missionaries efforts really make a difference in the feel and happiness of the branch. It is truly a rewarding work. Our investigator, Guo dx got baptized on Sunday!! I was unable to be there :( but I am so happy with his desire and commitment, I will be sure to be keeping tabs on him throughout my mission and life. He is an amazing man! I feel like I left Kowloon at an amazing time for the area, we were just on fire! But I know the Lord has great plans for me in Sham Shui Po! 

My new companion is Elder Hui and temporarily Elder Ng, we are the Assistants to President Lam which is really exciting but really stressful at the same time.  On my first day in the field, Elder Hui and I went finding and teaching together, he is a great Elder and I respect him a lot. Very diligent, focused, and driven, we already have a great relationship!  It is a great service opportunity, very overwhelming and humbling, but I am happy to be a tool of the Lord in this mission.  Fun fact, Elder Ng is the grandson of the first temple president in Hong Kong, who is also a great family friend of ours, and is also probably my long lost relative because we have the same chinese xing and his family comes from the same small village of Tai Shan in Guang Dong!

Elder Ng, Elder Hui and Elder Woolley in the Mission Office

Earlier this week after my first day of training and I was pretty tired and stressed with it all, when we got a call from President Lam who asked us to attend a function in one of the wards. When we got there, we learned that it was a function for all of the members of the original Tsim Sha Tsui Branch, which my grandpa was the president of back in the day. It was so amazing to see all these powerful and wonderful saints, it was very moving to meet them. We talked to them, shared some testimonies, and they talked all about our family and little baby Ming Ju (my mom) haha it was a touching experience and a blessing to be a part of it. It helped me pull my head out of myself and see all my weaknesses and all the stresses of the recent changes, and helped me remember again that this work is about the Lord, and Heavenly Father's children. We all need that perspective change, to lift our outlook to the higher plane. I'm glad Heavenly Father sends me so many reminders and opportunities to forget about myself, and lose myself completely in the cause of others, and He has certainly given me a great cause and opportunity now to do so. I can't wait to see where we go in our new area and investigators, and to serve the Hong Kong Mission! The Lord has much for me to learn!

Thank you everyone for the prayers and support, I truly feel the prayers of faith helping out over here, sorry this email is short, next one will be better :-) 

Looove,

Elder Wooolllleyyy

Happy Father's Day! - week 45

HELLOO

This week was a miraculous week! Our transfer is winding down, only a week until moves calls, and we had really been praying for a few of our investigators to have some big improvements for this transfer and the next, and the Lord truly answered our prayers!

This last week we were able to get out 2 more baptismal dates and have 2 more getting set this week, it was just amazing seeing these people readily accept a goal, and look forward to setting this commitment with God. One of our new investigators is so golden, he is named Tan Yang Yang, when we first met he told me he believes that Christ can help him work through some of his current personal issues. We read the Book of Mormon with him this last week, and when I called him on the phone last night, he asked if we could meet all the time and just read the book together, he told me how it brought a feeling of peace that he had never felt before, and he wants more! It is really so amazing how, even though he didn't understand much of the scripture, he could feel the spirit bearing witness to him of it's truth, and telling him simply that it is something he wants more of in his life. He readily set a date for July, he is prepared!

The other miracle of this week is our investigator Guo Dx. His date was set for this next Sunday, but I had my doubts about the date going through due to his past of a hard time with the Book of Mormon and a few Word of Wisdom issues, I also wasn't able to see him at his last lesson because of exchanges. When we met with him I was shocked with his change, faith, and preparedness. Apparently he had dropped smoking on his own two weeks ago because it felt like the right thing to do, and had no problem committing to the other parts of it. Amazing! He also told us he believes the Book of Mormon is the word of God. He has been studying and praying over the book diligently since we met him, and the converting power of the Book of Mormon is real. The promise of the book is real. I know that because he read and prayed with real intent he felt the truth of it. We met with him again on Sunday and he is just cruising through the last of the lessons with no problems, the change is amazing. He will be able to make his date this Sunday! I am so excited for him, he is so very earnest and sincere. He is always asking how he can prepare better, and how he can increase faith. So humble. He will be an amazing member!

Happy Father's day to all! I think about my own father, and how much I learned from him, I sometimes feel like a father for my investigators haha especially the younger ones, and I think of my Heavenly Father. The basis of my own faith, and what must be the basis of everyone's faith, is our relationship with Heavenly Father. I love the hymn O My Father, here are the lyrics: 

• 1. O my Father, thou that dwellest
  In the high and glorious place,
  When shall I regain thy presence
  And again behold thy face?
  In thy holy habitation,
  Did my spirit once reside?
  In my first primeval childhood
  Was I nurtured near thy side?
• 2. For a wise and glorious purpose
  Thou hast placed me here on earth
  And withheld the recollection
  Of my former friends and birth;
  Yet ofttimes a secret something
  Whispered, "You're a stranger here,"
  And I felt that I had wandered
  From a more exalted sphere.
• 3. I had learned to call thee Father,
  Thru thy Spirit from on high,
  But, until the key of knowledge
  Was restored, I knew not why.
  In the heav'ns are parents single?
  No, the thought makes reason stare!
  Truth is reason; truth eternal
  Tells me I've a mother there.
• 4. When I leave this frail existence,
  When I lay this mortal by,
  Father, Mother, may I meet you
  In your royal courts on high?
  Then, at length, when I've completed
  All you sent me forth to do,
  With your mutual approbation
  Let me come and dwell with you.

The foundation of my own testimony came when I was thinking about these questions, is there a Father, did I dwell with him before, will I feel the Spirit tell me, am I a stranger here, does He love me? With all these questions in mind I read Mosiah 4:9 which is on my plaque, "believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom , and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. "

I felt deeply moved by the verse, and with a believing heart full of desire I knelt and prayed. I remember feeling an overwhelming feeling of the Spirit, unbelievably strong, and unmistakably real. I felt the feeling of a Father, talking to a son, saying, I am here, I am real, I do know who you are, and I do love you. I'm grateful for a Father in heaven. The knowledge is precious to me, and I want to share it with everybody possible, so that they can know they have a Father in heaven, we dwelt with Him before, our life has purpose and direction, and if we so choose we may qualify to be with him again. What a wonderful message of love and hope. "Of all the names given to  deity, He asks us to call Him Father." I know He is real, and that He loves us. I invite everyone to humbly ask Him in prayer to remind you of His love, I promise He will answer you through the Comforter. 

I love this mission! I love the change that comes over people as they realize their divine identity and potential, and as they feel God's love in their lives. It is a privilege.

Happy Fathers Day to all the Fathers especially my own!

Love,

Elder Woolley

View from their apartment - They live in the temple building!

Many Miracles - Week 44

DA JIA HAO!!

We had another killer week out here in Kowloon! The work has just been progressing so rapidly these past 2-3 weeks, it really is a testament to me of the importance in unity and spirit within the companionship. With Elder Shukis and I really teaching well together and working in the Spirit for the work, we have been blessed so much recently! I am very grateful for it. 

We had many miracles this week, we were briefly street finding for an hour in the afternoon, and we ran into this girl who will only be in Hong Kong for two weeks, and she was very interested. We were able to give her a tour of the chapel, teach her two lessons, and she came to an activity with her brother as well! It is amazing how we are guided to find prepared people. We were able to give her a good foundation, and I pray that in the future she can continue to be guided to continue to find the truths of the Gospel. 

Chen Guo Wu gave us his last pack of cigarettes just yesterday, he is so amazing! He told us before, when he would smell someone smoking and he would just pull out a cigarette and start smoking too, and now he thinks it smells terrible! At the end of the lesson we gave him ma blessing to help over come and stay away from the cigarettes, and it was a very powerful experience. I fully felt the love of the Lord for this man, and I was overcome with a desire for him to just be happy, and to fully understand the gospel, I can't wait for the next month when he is set to be baptized! 

Our other investigator Guo dx is progressing very well, I have never met an investigator who reads scripture so diligently. He loves reading different scripture and comparing it all. He has great faith! He should be good for his date later this month!

We have lots of new people to work with and I am super excited, they have amazing potential, recently it has just been a testament to me of how just loving and immersing ourselves in lives of members and investigators eventually pays off. A great example is Qin Jm, we helped give her friend a blessing a few weeks ago, then helped her move this week. As we left we asked her if she had any friends to ring to church and she said I think so ya. And then the next day she brought in 7 friends! so ging(powerful)! Our branch also hosted another activity, it was fantastic! We had a lot of investigator families come, and it was great for the kids. The missionary spirit really has picked up, and I was so touched to see the change in our branch since when I first arrived here in December. I was quite emotional, so touching to see the progress. 

There is just too much this week to talk about! Time is too fast.

I don't have time to type much of a spiritual thought at the end, but the Lord certainly has blessed us to see the fruits of our labors. It's simple, but everything we do has consequences, every good acts we do has corresponding blessings, and all the love and work we put in always pays off. Things always work together for good for those that love the Lord, and we truly love the Lord. I know it's his work and it's in his hands.

Thank you all!

Love,

Elder Woolley

PS- Happy Birthday Dad! I realize the longer I serve how much he has influenced my teaching, thoughts on doctrines, and the way that I work and approach a lot of aspects of missionary work. I am truly grateful for you! 

Wrapping Zhong Zi for Dragon Boat Festival!

Aberdeen