Okay,
everyone, this week has been amazing.
Let me just start by
saying I LOVE General Conference. Every six months I look forward to
listening to the words of the Prophet and figuring out how I can apply them in
my life. This time was no different, only that I had the wonderful added bonus
of being a missionary on top of the usual spiritual feast. To start off,
we had five of our investigators attend at least (note, at LEAST) one session
of General Conference. They got to benefit from hearing the awesome talks
given and feel the Spirit that is at conference. Also, the content of
this particular conference was pretty much amazing. Let me explain:
1. The age at which
young men and women can go on missions has been lowered. I am so excited
for all of the 18 year old Elders and now 19 year old Sisters that have the
opportunity to go serve. I know that if that had been announced when I
was 19, I would have filled out my application papers that afternoon! I
am predicting an influx of missionaries over the next year, which is exciting to
everyone who participates in missionary work. (Which when you think about it,
should be every member of the Church.... "Every member a missionary,"
anyone?)
2. Two new temples
have been announced, bringing the total to 139 operating temples and 29 in
progress.
3. There were some
incredible talks given, including Dieter F. Uctdorf's talk about happiness
(where the title of my post comes from) and David A. Bednar's talk about true
conversion (which was a part of his Character of Christ talk that I have
referenced before). Here's the part where I learned a lesson, and my week
became amazing. The past week has been challenging. Learning
Mandarin and how to teach the Gospel to people in Mandarin is hard. And I
was complaining about it. Not necessarily to my companions, but inside I
was. I kept thinking how sad it was that I couldn't do anything, how I
was so frustrated with myself. Then Dieter F. Uctdorf spoke, and I felt like my
questions I had were answered. He talked about serving others and finding
joy in the service, and how as we obey promptings of the Holy Ghost, the Lord
will open pathways and talents we did not know we had. He reminded me
that we choose for ourselves to be happy, as is stated in 2 Nephi 2:27.
"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given
them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty
and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity
and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh
that all me might be miserable like unto himself." We are free to choose
between the two, and I would prefer the first one, myself. I am happy to
say that now things are looking bright. I am finding Mandarin is still
difficult, but my outlook on it has made things better and I am noticing more
the resources that Heavenly Father has given me to learn. (Including two
wonderful companions who know what they are talking about!)
Story time: On Sunday
one of our appointments didn't show up (in China they call that catching
a pigeon) and we were trying to figure out what to do next. As we
were sitting there, a woman walked in with her daughter. She said she had
come to check out our church and that her friend had told her about us.
That friend, it turned out, was a woman that Sister Chueh had
contacted months ago who stopped taking lessons. In any case, she was
excited to learn about our church and agreed to come to General Conference with
us. She and her daughter ended up staying for both Sunday sessions!
They are wonderful people and I am so excited to start teaching them!
Also, I had dim sum
for the first time this week. And it was delicious.
Okay, that's all for
now. I hope you all have a great week!
Love,
Sister Beer
P.S. One of my investigators
this week told me I look like Lady Gaga... I'm not sure how I feel about that.
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