Did you get your hair cut in Paris?

Today's post title comes from a wonderful old man I met while eating lunch yesterday.  Sister Lee and I went up to the Family History Center at the Manhattan chapel and got lunch while we were in the area.  As we were sitting out in front of the temple, eating our soup (and thereby fulfilling a mutual New York City dream of ours)  this older gentleman with thick glasses walks up and asks "Excuse me, did you get your hair cut in Paris?"  I told him that I had not, and that it had actually been a very long time since I had it cut.  He responded "oh, well it looks very nice."  I thanked him, and it was a bright moment in my day.  I love nice people. :)

This week we have seen the beginnings of spring in New York City.  I have never been so excited for warm weather.  See, for sister missionaries, warm weather = no tights!  It also means that it's not awful to go contacting outside, and that people actually don't mind stopping to talk for a minute since it's not like death outside.  Hopefully we will see more good weather as April starts, and the snow stays away. (Note: there is actually supposed to be snow tomorrow, but the high is 50 degrees... anyone else confused?)

I continue to be amazed at the incredible faith of our recent converts.  They give up so much to come to church, and I am so grateful for their good example to the people that I am currently working with.  I don't think members realize how much it means to missionaries when they are willing to fellowship and contribute to the work!  We can't do this alone, and every little bit counts.  Sister Lee and I were watching a video from the District (a documentary about missionaries in the field) as a part of her 12 week training, and in it the mission president talked about combining the "member church" and the "missionary church."  We are one church, he said, and we need to remember that.  The efforts of the missionaries are not something separate from the efforts of the bishop, the relief society president, the elders quorum president, the home and visiting teachers, from any member.  They are the same thing.  We are all trying to help others grow closer to Jesus Christ through the medium of His restored gospel.  What a great opportunity that is!

With the advent of spring, that means that Easter is coming.  I was a little surprised to realize that it was this week, but that just shows how time flies in the mission!  This week Sister Lee and I headed up a Zone activity where we had an Easter egg hunt with the other missionaries.  In each egg there was a little candy and a note.  Some of them were silly ("Thanks for saving me from that plastic egg.  It was getting stuffy in there!"), and some of them were spiritual.  Sister Lee and I had a good time preparing them and looking up some good scriptures to share.  One of my favorites that we found was Matthew 28:6, which says "He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay."  How awesome is that?  He is risen!  We have a resurrected Lord and Savior who loves us and is waiting with open arms for us to come to him! (2 Nephi 26:23-25, 27)  He wants us to utilize the gift of the Atonement and become worthy to return and live with Him, our Heavenly Father, and our families for all of eternity.  I am blown away every time I stop to really think about it.  We truly are blessed, and I feel blessed for the opportunity to share this message with others.

Thank you for the support you give me and other missionaries.  Every little bit you do helps, and we appreciate it so much!  Happy Easter, everyone!

Love,

Sister Beer

Spring isn't quite in the air, but it's getting closer.

Happy first day of Spring!  As much as the calendar says it's spring, New York does not seem to agree.  The high today is in the low 40s, with a low of 30 degrees.  Hopefully things will warm up a little here in the next bit, although I can't say I am looking forward to the 90 degree days with humidity that summer will bring.  Oh well.  I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get there, right?  

My companion is thrilled that it is still cold.  She loves the cold, and frequently walks outside without a coat on saying "it's not that bad!"  I beg to differ.

Last Sunday we had an opportunity to help out with our ward's Relief Society Birthday Party.  During Relief Society we had a soup and bread meal (I made a chicken noodle soup that was pretty delicious, if I do say so myself) with fruit salad and cake for dessert.  It was a wonderful event where we were all able to gather as sisters (the Primary and youth leaders were there too, and the Young Women came to join us as well) and feel the Spirit together.  Because many of the American sisters in our ward serve in the auxiliaries, they do not get much opportunity to associate with the Relief Society.  It was wonderful to all be together and for them to be included in the wonderful group of women in our ward.

We had a great training yesterday specifically for trainers and trainees that focused on teaching the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and finding success in our work.  I loved what President Morgan shared on the subject.  Success is traditionally viewed as part goal-setting and part fulfilling those goals through work, but he said that recently he has heard of missionaries that, though they set good goals and work hard to achieve them, do not feel successful.  He told us that after pondering for a while, he came to the conclusion that we are still missing a part of the equation.  That part is gratitude.  Gratitude for the success and opportunities that the Lord has given us in lessons, in contacting, in service, and in all other areas of missionary work.  I thought about it, and I completely agree.  Gratitude is necessary as we look at our personal success in achieving our goals.  As we are grateful, we are able to better see the blessings that Heavenly Father has given us because we are actively looking for them.

Speaking of things to be grateful for, in earlier blog posts, I talked a lot about my fears as it pertained to learning the language.  Recently I have seen a pretty huge miracle concerning this.  I have noticed a dramatic increase in my language abilities.  I can communicate and teach pretty much anyone I meet, from young intellectuals to old Fujianese men who have really thick accents.  It's not always easy to understand what they are saying, but more and more I am able to speak, understand, and, perhaps most surprising to me, read in Chinese.  I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve Mandarin speaking.  I can tell already that it is going to bless my life and the lives of others as I continue to develop this skill.

Thank you as always for the love and support you give me and other missionaries.  We are grateful for the prayers and missionary efforts you give!

Love,

Sister Beer

My Korean Companion (but not really)

So, apparently my companion looks like a Korean.  More than one person has come to church and asked "Oh, do you speak Korean too, here? She's Korean, right?"  It's pretty funny, since Sister Lee's parents are both from Taiwan...oh well.  We will educate Chinatown on this matter, one person at a time.

Speaking of Sister Lee, let's talk about an amazing missionary!  We have had a wide range of experiences this week, ranging from teaching awesome lessons with progressing investigators to being lectured by a pastor from Flushing for 20 minutes in the rain, and she has taken it all in stride.  I am impressed with her diligence and her willingness to take on the world.  Good things are going to happen here, I can tell.

Being a trainer is amazing, too.  One of my MTC teachers told me that being a trainer is the closest thing to being a parent before actually being a parent, and I am beginning to understand why.  I care so  much for this new missionary and want her to succeed!  I can see also how the Lord has prepared me for this experience in my life.  I realized the other day all of the time and effort that has gone into preparing me to serve in Chinatown, from living in Taiwan, to great church leaders who helped me to build my testimony, to an amazing family who has supported my choices to serve a mission, and how it is affecting me now.  It's incredible to see the blessings Heavenly Father has given me to help me get ready for these experiences.

I should tell you, Sister Lee is not the only new sister in Chinatown.  Sister Mackay is Sister Khong's new companion, and she is possibly one of the funniest people I have ever met.  Oh man.  We have probably laughed a little too much in the past few days.  She has a great sense of humor, and while her Mandarin is not quite where she wants it to be yet, I am completely confident that she will do amazing things here in Chinatown.  She has such unique experiences that have prepared her to work here, and a solid testimony of what is right and true.  I love her, and I am so glad we share an apartment. :)

This morning I was studying the conversion stories of King Lamoni and his father and I was struck by one thing.  In order to accept the gospel, they had to make a conscious decision to believe in God and believe what the missionaries were telling them.  Somewhere along the line in the questions Ammon and Aaron asked, they felt a witness from the Holy Ghost telling them that these things were true, and that led them to make the choice to believe the words of the missionaries.  I have decided to focus my studies and think about how I can help my investigators make that choice.  If anyone has comments from their own conversion, or about what they observed as they saw others make that decision, I would love to hear what you have to say!  You can either leave a comment on this post and it will be forwarded along, or you can send me a letter at the address on the right.

As always, thank you for the support and love that you give those of us out on missions.  This is the Lord's work, and I am happy to be a part of it!

Love,

Sister Beer

The Wonderful, Fantastic Sister Lee (and other things)

I have a new companion!  And not only is she a new companion, but she is also a brand new, shiny, clean, fresh-out-of-the-MTC missionary!  Adding to that, she is super awesome and I love her already and I am SO EXCITED to work with her... and so forth.  She is and ABT (American Born Taiwanese) who has lived all over the USA and traveled to Taiwan and China.  She spoke Mandarin growing up, so no worries there, and talking to her is kind of like talking to a different, more Asian-on-the-outside version of myself.  Ah!  I am just so excited to work with her.

The one downside to getting a new companion is that my dear Sister Khong is no longer my companion.  She has moved on to her very own trainee, Sister Mackay from Payson, Utah.  She is also fantastic, and I am sure we will hear many great things from them in the future.

What an awesome opportunity it is to be in the mission field right now, with all the changes that are happening.  We had 40 (that's right, 40) new missionaries come in this transfer.  Our total missionary count in the New York, New York North mission is 209 missionaries.  That is incredible!  There is a huge amount of growth in the mission, and it's only getting bigger.  And I'm a part of it.  I couldn't ask for anything more.

One funny story from this week.  I met this old guy while contacting yesterday.  When I started speaking to him in Chinese, he looked at me and said (in Mandarin) "You speak Mandarin?" "Yes, I do." "That's good.  You should speak Mandarin.  There are a lot more Mandarin speakers than anyone else in the world."  I agreed and brought up the gospel again.  He squinted at me and said "How old are you?" "22." "I am a Christian, and I am 50 years older than you.  50 Years.  That's 72.  Do you think you can teach me?" "I think no matter how old we are, we can learn more how to come unto Christ.  Yes, I do." "Okay.  Good."  And then he gave me his number.  Super awesome.  I love old Chinese people.

A thought I had this week as I was studying:  In John 7:17, it says that, "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself."  I thought that was super interesting as we compare that scripture to D&C 130 20-22, which talks about how as we are obedient, the Lord blesses us.  One of the greatest blessings we can receive is the companionship of the Holy Ghost, which allows us to know, rather than just believe, the doctrine, and also know what the Father wants us to understand.  The Holy Ghost testifies of all truth, and helps us obtain the blessings Heavenly Father wants to give us.  What a fantastic promise.

With that, I have to get going.  I hope you all are having an absolutely wonderful week.  The gospel is true, God loves His children, and he shows that love through continuing revelation to a prophet who leads our Church.  I love you all and appreciate all your support!

Love,

Sister Beer

Rain, Rain, Go Away, Come Again Another Day

I saw that on a woman's umbrella earlier, and it seemed pretty fitting for the day.  It's rainy and gray today in New York City, the perfect day to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  I'm pretty excited - it's only one of the most famous art museums in the world, and I get to go with some of the coolest people I know: the Chinatown District.

We went to the armory for Elder Wang, and the music section for Elder Murray (we found out they have free concerts every once in a while) and to the European paintings for me. It was great.

(This helmet is 11 lbs.  Whoa.)

Speaking of our district, we had a new member join us this week!  Elder Ling was transferred from the English program to start a Cantonese program with Elder Mok after an elder came to the field early from the MTC.  So now we officially have 12 missionaries in our district.

Not for long.

Soon, we will have three to four more missionaries joining us.  Next week we are scheduled to get one to two sisters (there have been some VISA issues) and two elders, which means that every companionship in our district will be training except for Elder Mok and Elder Ling. (And the Blairs, of course.)  In case you were all wondering, that does mean that Sister Khong and I will probably both be training by this time next week.  I am SO EXCITED.  It's going to be an amazing period of growth for us and for our trainees, and I am looking forward to the guidance we will receive from the Lord.

Today I studied about the importance of church attendance and receiving revelation through church. It is so important that we go and worship the Lord each week, and do as D&C 59 says by receiving His holy sacrament.  I am so sad when my investigators or my recent converts do not attend Sacrament meeting, because they do not get to participate in this sacred, saving ordinance.  The sacrament allows us to renew our covenants, and recharge our spiritual batteries.  We could go to church every week, but it will not have the same effect if we do not partake of the sacrament.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week, and I invite you all to take a few minutes to think about the blessings the Lord has given you recently.  He loves you, and so do I.

Love,

Sister Beer

Bonus Pictures:

We found this in an English learning resource for kids produced by Disney.  Careful - don't squeeze the hippo too tight.

I made cinnamon rolls with white whole wheat flour and they were DELICIOUS.  Thank you, Mom, for including that recipe in my mission cookbook.  We gave some to Elder Williams for his birthday.

"The Importance of How to Begin Teaching" by Sister Beer

I am so excited to write you this letter.  This week Sister Khong and I experienced miracles.  By doing exactly what we had been told concerning How to Begin Teaching and working with new investigators, we were able to have a spiritual experience with a former investigator that will probably define the rest of the lessons we teach with him.

A little bit of background.  There is a section in Preach My Gospel in chapter 10 titled "How to Begin Teaching".  This section outlines what should happen at the beginning of every first appointment.  Before receiving our recent training, I thought it was a good way to start out a lesson.  Now, I know it is the way to start out a lesson.  We received training from the missionary department in Salt Lake City about how to better utilize How to Begin Teaching in our lessons.  In the training we were instructed that How to Begin Teaching is not just inspired, as is Preach My Gospel, but is actually revelation that was given to President Boyd K. Packer.  How it is in the manual is exactly how it was revealed to him.  I have read it a little differently since receiving this training, and as we have applied the principles of this section as they should be applied, wonderful things have happened.

For example, with the aforementioned investigator.  We used the principles of How to Begin Teaching to guide how we taught his lesson that day.  There was one point in the lesson where the Spirit was especially strong, and I felt impressed to stop the lesson and talk about what I personally was feeling.  I described the warmth I felt said it was the Spirit.  I asked him what he was feeling at that point, and he said he felt peace.  We then explained that that feeling was the Spirit telling him that our message was true.  At the end of the lesson, he told us that this time meeting with us felt different than when he met with the missionaries before, and that he understood what we said so clearly.  I fully believe this is because of us taking the counsel we have been given and using How to Begin Teaching in our lessons.  It was awesome.  

In other news, we have a new Elder in our district.  His name is Elder Wang and he is from Mainland China, although he lived in California for three years before coming on his mission.  He's awesome, and has the fantastic Elder Murray as his trainer!  I don't think Elder Wang realizes how lucky he is, having Elder Murray train him.  He's going to get a great foundation on how to talk to and work with investigators, members, and people in general as a result.

I love my district, I love my ward, I love my mission.  Also, I love all of you.  Have a great week!

Love,
Sister Beer

Happy Chinese New Year!

Welcome to the Year of the Snake!  Remember how Chinatown wasn't any different during Christmas?  Well, Chinese New Year is much more lively around here.  People have been buying food, spending time with family, and generally happier than usual.  It has been a great week.

For those who don't know, Chinese New Year celebrates the beginning of spring and is 15 days of celebration for the people.  The irony behind all of this is just before the celebration of spring we got a giant snowstorm that froze over New York.  It was crazy, and we had about four inches of snow.  That didn't dampen any spirits, though, and we had a happy holiday.  On New Year's Eve, we were invited to a reunion dinner at a former investigator's house.  She is a very kind older Taiwanese woman who loves the missionaries.  She doesn't have any family in New York, so we went to keep her company for the holidays.  She made us an awesome dinner with two kinds of fish, beef, dumplings, and a fried rice cake called nian gao, which is traditionally eaten at the new year.  We brought some noodles and veggies so she wouldn't have to cook everything, but she still insisted on making most of the food.  It was delicious and we had a wonderful time with her!

On Sunday, since it was the first day of the new year, we had only one hour of church meetings and then all ate food together as a ward.  We invited our investigators to come, and it was nice to see them integrating more with the ward.  In the evening we (the sisters) made a traditional dinner and ate with the other missionaries.  It was fun to be together and to share traditions.

On a side note, I had a wonderful birthday, and am grateful for all of the well-wishes sent my way.  Thank you!

The work this week has been interesting, ranging from entire days of contacting to entire days of teaching lessons.  After teaching all day yesterday, Sister Khong and I were exhausted!  We found an envelope full of former investigators on our bookshelf and started calling numbers at the end of last week, and we have been able to set appointments with several of the people we found.  It has been awesome to see how they have been prepared to receive the gospel.  What a huge miracle that we found them!

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Chinese people here.  I have had so many great experiences learning from the people here and helping them to learn about the gospel.  Yesterday as we taught all those lessons, all I could feel was the love Heavenly Father has for these people.  He wants what is best for them, just as He wants what is best for each of us.  I am just beginning to understand how much He loves His children, and I am grateful for that.

I love you all!  Happy New Year!

Love,

Sister Beer

And now it's time for pictures!!!

These are two of the recent converts in my ward. The one on the left is Amy. I taught her and her daughter, who just got baptized in December. (They are the mother and daughter who we met before General Conference.) On the right is Sister Hu, who is one of the best member missionaries I have ever seen. Super solid. They are both from Guangzhou, and are close friends. They met while they were both investigating the Church and have been a huge support to each other. Tammi (from the other picture) is Sister Hu's daughter.

One of the people we found in the folder was named Jackie.  Jackie Chen.  "Chen" is the Mainland Chinese romanization of what many people know as "Chan," which is the Hong Kong romanization.  So there was a former investigator in our files named Jackie Chan.  Awesome.

My family sent me these awesome brownies for my birthday!  Can't you just feel the magic?

The other sisters surprised me on my birthday by spraying me with water guns, making waffles for breakfast, and a couple of gifts.  The book is full of pictures of me and Sister Khong (along with some other people) that she has been compiling for a while.  Pretty cool, right?

I made dinner for my birthday - teriaki pork roast, mashed potatoes, broccoli, and rolls from Trader Joe's.  Mmmmm.....

The Sisters with the food!

Here are pictures from our ward Chinese New Year party:

First we have Sister Khong and me, Elder Blair, Hou Ya Qing, Elder Blonquist, and Bishop McConkie.

This is Tammi, me, Joy, Sister Woo, and Sister Khong in the background.

My favorite part of this picture is Elder Blonquist creeping in the background.  The little American girl is Bishop McConkie's oldest daughter.

This was the Chinese New Year feast that Sister Khong, Woo, Chen and I made.  Sister Khong and I hand-wrapped the wontons.  It was all delicious.

We steamed a fish!