The Calm Before the Storm

This is the last P-Day before transfers, and it's going to be a crazy transfer.  To start with, Sister Liu, my wonderful, wonderful trainer, is going home next week.  I am going to miss her so much.  She has helped me understand what the MTC couldn't about what it really means to be a missionary.  China doesn't know how lucky they are to have her.

But that is just the beginning.

Next week we get 39 new missionaries in our mission.  39!  That is a crazy number!  To give you an idea of how truly crazy it is, here's a fun fact: it is the largest transfer in North America EVER.  Our mission is starting a time of incredible growth, and as President Morgan told us last Friday, if we get this right, miracles will happen.  One of the 39 missionaries is a new sister for Chinatown.  We are so excited for her to come!  We still don't know who will be training her yet, so we (well, I) and sitting on the edge of our seats, waiting to find out. By next transfer we will have two additional sisters in Chinatown, so all of the Mandarin speakers in South Manhattan will be training.  I never thought I would train so early in my mission!  I guess the Lord has his own plan though, and I should get used to tagging along for the ride.

At our leadership training meeting last Friday, President Morgan (who is pretty much exactly the kind of leader I want to be) talked to us about "locking in truth and locking out the world."  He taught us that it is important to remember what is actually important in missionary work.  We need to be focused on what the Lord wants us to do, not on what we think is best.  I have seen that over and over again in my teaching since then.  We have talked to less actives and investigators about how to let the Lord guide us, rather than thinking we always know best.  Too often we fall into patterns of "I want this now, why isn't He giving me this blessing?" or "That wasn't the answer I wanted - I'm going to go do this instead."  We don't necessarily say those words to ourselves, but I know I have had situations where those thoughts have run through my head.  It all comes down to locking in eternal truths:  the Lord know's what's best, He loves us, and He has given us guidance through personal revelation and living prophets to help us become the best people we can be.  That conference is going to be one I remember for a long time.

Thank you all for the support you give me and other missionaries.  I can safely say we appreciate all of the prayers, love, and kindness you give us.  Thank you for all you do!

Love,

Sister Beer

Once upon a time, our investigator quit his job...

Yeah, you read that right.  One of our investigators told us yesterday that his boss told him he couldn't have Sundays off anymore to come to church, and he quit!  I was so surprised and happy for him - that is such incredible faith!  We are praying for him now that he will find a good job that will give him Sundays off so he can attend church.  By the way, he's getting baptized in two weeks.  He's awesome.

Speaking of baptisms... remember back in October when I wrote you all about the mother and daughter who came in right before General Conference looking for a new church?  Well, they both got baptized in the last month and we couldn't be happier for them!  They are such a wonderful addition to our ward, and I love them both so much.  I think what has made their conversion possible is the welcome they had into the ward from the other members and from the bishopric.  It has been awesome to see them make friends and become a part of the Church here.

In other news, three of our elders had birthdays this week. (There are twelve people in our district and two thirds of them have birthdays in January and February.  It's ridiculous.)  To celebrate, we had a little party for which I made dessert using the new cookbook that the other sister companionship bought last week: The Complete Magnolia Cookbook.  This cookbook is based on recipes from a famous bakery in NYC, Magnolia Bakery, and oh boy... they are good.  For the party I made pumpkin bars with cream cheese icing since all the birthday Elders love pumpkin.  They turned out so good!  And I thought I wouldn't have cooking adventures on my mission... ha!

This week has been a week of referrals from the mission office.  There are apparently some Mandarin speakers in Uptown Manhattan who want to know about the gospel, and we are happy to oblige.  The other night while we were trying to contact them, one of them gave us the number of another friend who was interested.  Shortly thereafter, that friend gave us ANOTHER number.  So that's right, we got a referral, from a referral, from a referral.  It was crazy.

I have been thinking a lot about the power of the Book of Mormon recently.  In the mission field we are told over and over that the Book of Mormon, along with the influence of the Spirit, is our most powerful conversion tool.  I firmly believe that through reading the Book of Mormon, we grow closer to God. If any of you are not currently reading the Book of Mormon, start now!  It is never too late.  If you have read it before, read it again!  President Gordon B. Hinckley told us that no matter how many times we have read the book, as we read we will find new wisdom and guidance.  I know that is true.

I love you all!

Sister Beer

P.S. I just want to give a quick shout-out to Sister Murray who I hear has been reading the blog.  Hello!  Your son is pretty awesome, and we are lucky to have him here in Chinatown! :)

P.P.S. [A note from Caitlin's dad] 

Here's a write-up from Meridian Magazine on Caitlin's Christmas dinner!  I saw it because they had the photo of her companion, Sister Liu (the last picture in the article), highlighted in the day's summary, and I recognized her.  
 
Caitlin confirmed this was "her" dinner, and said it would OK to put this link in her blog.
 
http://www.ldsmag.com/article/1/12046

The Area Book, and other short stories.

Yep, the Area Book.  That's what I'm writing about this week.  We have had some awesome experiences this past week directly related to our area book.  For those of you who don't know, every companionship on a mission has an area book that allows them to keep track of information about investigators, people we meet, mission information, and other things that help keep us informed as missionaries.  The area book is essential to keeping our areas organized, and keeping the work going.

I love the area book.

This may surprise people that knew me before my mission.  I was not a particularly organized individual in my pre-mission life, and records were not really my strong suit (unless you count vinyl...wait, those weren't either).  As I have been on my mission, though, I have learned that by keeping a record, we show our love not only for our former and current investigators, but also for missionaries that will eventually enter our area.  Sister Liu and I have set a goal to update our area book so that if a companionship were to whitewash our area (or come in without anyone who knows the area), they would feel comfortable working there.  It's been a good thing for us to see how we need to change our record keeping.

The other thing I have been thinking about a lot recently is the importance of having members involved in missionary work.  As I was reflecting on this thought, I remembered that the reason my dad's family started investigating the church is because of a family that started inviting him and my aunt to Primary activities with them.  This family was highly involved in their conversion process and helped them answer questions about our religion.  They were there when the missionaries were busy to support my dad's family.  I don't know the names of the missionaries that taught Dad's family, but I know the name of the family that brought them to the church.  Member missionary work is essential in our church in helping people stay active after baptism.  I invite you to look for people you don't know in our church meetings (or just in your everyday lives) and talk to them, become their friends.  You have no idea the influence for good that you can have on them.

We had our last day of service at Far Rockaway this week.  It was great to go down and help serve the people there.  There are still so many that have so little - it is great to be able to help out in any way we can.

I love all of you, and I hope that you are enjoying new semesters, work, and new years.

You are great!

Love,

Sister Beer

New Year, New Goals, New Perspective

I love the new year.  I love being able to start fresh with new ideas, new goals, all that stuff.  I know we can set goals any time of year, but there is something about the beginning of the year that gives it a little more weight. I have always been a little disappointed with the stereotype that New Year's resolutions only really hold sway for the first week of the new year, and that after that most people stop them.  This year I plan to use my goals to shape my missionary work and personal development.

One of my biggest goals this year has to do with developing Christlike Attributes.  The sixth chapter of Preach My Gospel is all about becoming more like Jesus Christ through improving on different qualities and becoming better people.  This year especially I want to focus on becoming a more patient, humble individual.  Preach My Gospel defines patience as "the capacity to endure delay, trouble, position, or suffering without becoming angry, frustrated, or anxious."  When we are patient we are willing to wait for the Lord to fulfill His promises, rather than expecting them to come right when we want them.  He knows what He is doing better than we do.  Humility is based in gratitude and recognizing that the Lord will support us in what we lack, and as humans, we lack a lot.  One of my favorite sentences in the section on humility, however, is that when you are humble, "you are confident that you can do whatever the Lord requires of you if you rely on Him."  Humility is not being ground into the dirt, or thinking you can't do anything, instead it is recognizing that with the Lord's help (and only with His help) we can do anything He requires us to do.  That's pretty cool.

For New Year's we had to be in our apartments by 6:00 pm, so we sisters decided to have a hotpot party! 

Pretty much what hotpot is is a soup base that you add whatever delicious food you want to and then eat over time with a bunch of people.  

It's great, and it was delicious.  It was a nice way to spend our holiday evening!

I hope that all of you have had a great holiday and have made great resolutions for the new year.  Good luck as work and school starts up again.  Know that I love you!

Love,

Sister Beer

P.S.  These are all things Sister Liu doesn't like to eat:  peanut butter, fake cheese, and the candy coating off of M&Ms. (In reference to the photograph.)