It has been awesome.
Last Friday we had a Mission Leadership Council where President Morgan talked about ministering to the people we work with. Our mission has a goal right now of being consecrated to the Lord, and connected to that goal is another one, for every missionary companionship in the New York, New York North mission to bring someone into the Church through baptism in the month of September. We set this goal back in August, and September has now arrived. As a result, President has challenged us as leaders to take a more invested approach to working with all of our people. (In Sister Khong and my case, that is all of the sisters on the island of Manhattan.) For this week that meant meeting with each of them face to face and talking about the areas they are working in, along with seeing what we need to do to help them and their investigators progress.
As we have met with each companionship of sisters (nine in total) we have seen miracles that have been happening in each of their areas. People are popping out of nowhere who want to be taught and learn about Christ. And not just any people, really, really prepared people, who are ready to make a covenant with God by being baptized. I am amazed at how much Heavenly Father is blessing us for being consecrated and focused on this work!
Sister Khong and I do have someone we are helping prepare for baptism. She is a lovely old Hakkanese woman who doesn't really speak any Mandarin and communicates with Sister Khong in Cantonese. It's been fun teaching her. I have actually learned a little more Cantonese, which is great for freaking people out when contacting. :) That language is ridiculous. This woman's name is Sister Liu, and she was raised on a farm in China so she can't read. That makes reading the Book of Mormon rather difficult, and since there is no Cantonese recording of the book we got permission to record it with some members of our ward. It's been a crazy project, and we have about half of it done now, which is awesome. We taught Sister Liu to use a CD player this week, too, so now she can listen to it on her own.
Through all of this, the scripture Jacob 4:6-7 has been on my mind again and again. It talks about the faith that is given to us by learning about the Lord through the scriptures, but then reminds us that it is only through the grace of Christ that we are able to see and experience these miracles. The weakness that we experience by being people is normal and actually necessary to our eternal growth, because it helps us remember who it is we rely on for salvation. It is one of my favorite doctrines, now.
I invite anyone who reads this letter to remember our mission in your prayers. Your added faith will bring blessings to the people living in New York in ways you cannot even imagine!
With love,
Sister Beer
