An Apostle came this week!

An apostle came this week!  Elder Cook of the quorum of the 12 apostles was kind enough to visit and speak to us.  We even got one of those famous "one-on-one interview handshakes" that only the apostles can do.  All I can say is WOW!!! they are truly inspired men.  His testimony is so powerful.

Unfortunately, he only spoke to us for about an hour and the time literally flew by, but I loved it!  Some things that he shared that were comforting to me was..

He said that missionaries called to the Asia area have special talents and gifts that will help them as the work here is a bit harder.  They have talents or gifts that will help them conquer the challenges placed before them.  So everyone pray that I am able to figure out what mine are so I can use them to help others :)

He also gave an apostolic blessing that my mission will bless everyone I love, if I continue to be faithful and serve with all my heart.  Specifically he added that there were some of us who are wondering, "if we would do more good at home."  But, the blessing will be when we realize how important, how monumental our missions are.  It truly is an irreplaceable time!

And the other exciting thing that happened this week was our ward had a BBQ at an island called Mui Wo.  So, we had to take a boat to get to this island.  It was a great activity and so much fun, although it is apparently a rule that missionaries can't even take their shoes off so my feet did not get to feel the sand :(  But it was a great opportunity that allowed our branch to be strengthened.  It reminded me that although our numbers are few (very few), it is allowing all the members to individually strengthen their testimonies as well as their relationships with others within the branch.  After all, they have the capability to be eternal relationships.

The mission is so amazing and I am so grateful for the experiences that I am having and the opportunity it provides me to really come to know my Savior.  I know this gospel is true and that we have living prophets and apostles that lead and direct this church!  They really do receive inspiration from God!

I love you all and am continually grateful for the prayers you send my way.
Sister Loo

Maxine...
The elders investigators daughter.. I think I fell in love with her!

Always so tired....
I can literally fall asleep anywhere,
and sister Colombel thinks it is so funny 

Exhaustion...It comes with the Job!!!

What to say about this week.. for some reason I am quite exhausted, but I guess that comes with the "job" (calling) haha.

Exercise brings blessings?  ...I was running around the field where we were working out and this man just comes and starts running right beside me, asking me if me and sister Colombel are sisters.  I figured that if he was willing to talk to me all sweaty and while working out, I might as well talk about the church with him.

So, we got his number and sent him the address of the church after working out. Unfortunately, he was not all that interested I guess he just wanted to run with me, but hey maybe later!

I feel as if the area is on the edge of a cliff and the area is about to explode.  The investigators we have will really start to have a desire to learn and the potentials we have will have the time and desire to meet with us.  So I am excited and just waiting for it to "tip".  If there is one thing the mission has taught me it is...PATIENCE...!!!

Thursday was quite a different day.  We had plans to teach two different investigators and both times we got fang'ed.  But, we were able to meet two walk ins!  This was quite an experience because I feel as if it was not a coincidence.  The lord wanted us to meet them and talk to them.

One was a very prideful man who believed the church was outdated and the leaders of the church didn't have leadership qualities.  What was interesting was that while he said this I really had to hold my tongue and not yell at him for his ignorance (he is lucky he met me when I am wearing this name tag haha!).  But, also the spirit testified to me that our leaders were truly inspired men and the church is not outdated.  The Lord never changes it is the world that changes, which is perhaps why he felt we were outdated in our beliefs.

The other lady was on her way to China, but her visa expired and had to quickly renew it in Hong Kong.  She came in because she had no where to stay, no money and wanted to know if we could help her.  Apparently this happens to the church a lot.

Refugees will often come with a sad story looking for money so we were not sure if she was "legit". We gave her a list of shelters and some canned food then taught her about the restoration.  I don't know if she was all that interested, but she took a Book of Mormon and said she would talk to her Mormon friend when she returned in South Africa.  Lesson learned, you just never know who the Lord will place in your path and for what reasons, but we must be ready to teach and testify!

Last, this week as we have been studying "Will you engage in the wrestle?" (Great talk that I suggest everyone read).  It has been brought up how questions about the gospel are not just great, but they are vital as long as they propel us to seek for truth.  We have talked a lot about those questions.

For most of us missionaries we grew up in the church so we have grown up believing Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God.  This brought us the question.. well do we know or do we just believe?  I would invite you all to think about this question as well and if you don't know.. do what is necessary to know so that you can continue to build your foundation!

Thank you all for your support and prayers!

I love you!
Sister Loo

California Pizza Kitchen with the Mandarin sisters!​​

Two different views of Hong Kong!​​​​

Me...A Loss of Words...A Miracle!!!

Today I am at a loss of words.. I actually don't know what to write about this week!

Skyping with the family was awesome :) The mission has truly made me grateful for the knowledge of eternal families! I love that I am able to have eternity with the people I love the most.. what a beautiful plan!

This week we had zone conference and it was great.  With President Lam we talked a lot about obedience.  Obedience to mission rules (we are actually one of the more obedient missions, but hey there is always room for improvement), obedience to the commandments, and obedience to follow promptings.  It was mentioned lots that promptings are spiritual commandments and like elder Rasband said in conference, we need to be first responders!

The other thing that was reemphasized was that trials are a blessing!  When I look back on my life the times that I learned the most is always when I was required to stretch, to learn... my "trials". In our trials we should be calling, actually relying on the Lords help, but that doesn't mean that when we do this the Lord will take away our trials.  He actually just gives us the strength to bear our burdens to persevere and conquer them.

We talked about the story with Abraham having to sacrifice his son Isaac.  Heavenly father knew what Abraham was capable of, but did Abraham know what he was capable of? Trials are a learning experience for us to find ourself and know that we can do hard things.  So I hope we all can learn to appreciate the trials that have been given to us :)

The other thing I learned this week was a result of visiting less-actives and that is... the importance of a strong foundation!  I don't know if anti-mormon material is as big as it is here, but we lose potentials, investigators, and members daily because of anti-mormon material.  If we are not continually strengthening our foundation we will have nothing to fall back on when our faith is tested and we are tried.

Also...by small and simple things are great changes brought to pass!  I made a commitment this week that I would say my morning and evening prayers kneeling on the ground and not on my bed.  One, so it would be harder to fall asleep; two it is more respectful; but also because it allows me to focus and pray with real intent.  You would not believe how much of a difference it has made in my mood, my outlook, my "tiredness" and so many other little things.  Heavenly Father is so merciful and is really looking to bless us!

Finally some funny quotes from the bun days!

We are talking about Peter walking on water and how he started to sink and sister chen goes, "It's okay if you're drunk because the Lord is there for you"  Not the word she was looking for, but hey it is still true!

Playing a game where an elder is trying to beat Elder Chou in how far he can jump
"Elder Belnap beat me up"

The gospel is true and has the answers to any problems you may be facing!

Sister Loo

...the pictures below are from Biking last week!

Its Time to Decide...

This week sister Colombel and I got settled in and set goals for what we want to do and how we want the area to progress and grow!  I am excited to get to work and I know the Lord will give us lots of miracles if we are willing to work!  Everybody keeps telling us that this is the time for the both of us to decide what kind of missionary we want to be and I think that is definitely true.  We have talked a lot about faith.

We are praying everyday for Marlo (Eternigators = eternal investigators) and Michelle that they will have enough faith in Jesus Christ to believe he will soften their husbands hearts so that they will be able to get baptized.  I am excited and feel like a miracle is going to take place.

I was reading a book this week and I thought it was super interesting because it talked about how expecting the Lord to bless you is an act of faith. For example, with the law of tithing if we are simply paying our tithing that is not enough we are not excreting enough faith.  We must have faith that because we are keeping His commandments and paying our tithing, He will bless us.  Sooo expect and pray for blessings and Heavenly Father will bless you!

Last, we had kind of a different experience this week. Every morning we go to a huge park with lots of fields to exercise.  On Wednesday while we were exercising I noticed a man taking pictures of us and asked him what he was doing.  He said the field and us exercising was beautiful (And here I am dripping sweat.. I don't know what is pretty about that haha).  We explained to him why we are here and asked for his number to maybe meet up and give him a tour of the chapel.  Well long story short, we gave him a tour and he loved it!  We are meeting with him again this week!  Miracles!

I hope everyone has a great week this week and spoils their moms!  I am so grateful for the wonderful example my mother is to me.  Mothers truly have a divine role and their influence is irreplaceable!

Sister Loo

J. Co. The most american donuts found in Hong Kong..
...and they still were not very good.  I miss my BYU donuts​​​​​​​​​!

My eyeball...cool picture huh!?!?!?

Our district before we all moved for transfers