I Am a Disciple of Jesus Christ

They came up to Sunland to see me! I love Sister Rounds and Sister Martin

Froyo – classic Sister Hobbs’ treat

We made “pavlova” for our investigator’s eighth birthday! It’s a New Zealand dessert

Last district meeting

We had zone activity! Soccer and kickball

Hello world!!

Well, here comes the last week of my mission! We are continuing to witness so many miracles and evidence of God’s perfect orchestrations. Just this past week, we set a family on date to be baptized on August 20! It’s a mom, dad and son. We also worked really hard and taught 38 lessons. Sunland is doing so well and I am so grateful to have been able to serve here for 6 months! I know that we are going to kill it this last week and finish this transfer strong.

Time flies and I am so grateful to have been able to serve a full-time mission. This really has been the best decision of my life and I know that I have been changed for the better. It’s been a rollercoaster and a soul-stretching and growing experience and I have learned to love every second of it. I don’t know if this will be the last time I get to email before I go home, so in case it is, I want to share 18 scriptures that I describe and impacted my past 18 months.

1.) Ether 12:27
“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”

2.) Doctrine and Covenants 31:3
“Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come; and your tongue shall be loosed, and you shall declare glad tidings of great joy unto this generation.”

3.) Doctrine and Covenants 12:8
“And no one can assist in this work except he shall be humble and full of love, having faith, hope, and charity, being temperate in all things, whatsoever shall be entrusted to his care.”

4.) Doctrine and Covenants 84:88
“And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up.”

5.) Alma 37:37
“Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these
things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day”

6.) Doctrine and Covenants 24:12
“And at all times, and in all places, he shall open his mouth and declare my gospel as with the voice of a trump, both day and night. And I will give unto him strength such as is not known among men.”

7.) Doctrine and Covenants 93:12-13
“And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace;

And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness;”

8.) Matthew 16: 24-25
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

9.) Moroni 7:31-32
“And the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfil and to do the work of the covenants of the Father, which he hath made unto the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of him.

And by so doing, the Lord God prepareth the way that the residue of men may have faith in Christ, that the Holy Ghost may have place in their hearts, according to the power thereof; and after this manner bringeth to pass the Father, the covenants which he hath made unto the children of men.”

10.) Alma 26:16
“Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering
towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel.”

11.) Helaman 10:4-5
“Blessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.

And now, because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is contrary to my will”

12.) Doctrine and Covenants 123:17
“Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.”

13.) Doctrine and Covenants 28:16
“And thou must open thy mouth at all times, declaring my gospel with the sound of rejoicing. Amen.”

14.) Alma 8:27
“And Alma tarried many days with Amulek before he began to preach unto the people.”

15.) Romans 5:19
“For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

16.) Alma 7:11-12
“And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”

17.) 3 Nephi 5:13
“Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.”

18.) Enos 1:26
“And I saw that I must soon go down to my grave, having been wrought upon by the power of God that I must preach and prophesy unto this people, and declare the word according to the truth which is in Christ. And I have declared it in all my days, and have rejoiced in it
above that of the world.”

I love the scriptures and there are so many more that have blessed, helped, comforted and motivated me. However, scriptures and words cannot even begin to describe my feelings for these past 18 months – the experiences that I cherish, the lessons I have learned, the many ways I have changed, the impact Jesus Christ and the Atonement has had, and the love I feel for my Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and all the people I have met on my mission. I love my mission so much!

I know that I am imperfect, weak and still very much a natural man. But I also know that I have given my all to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and to their work in these past 18 months. I have tried my best and I know the Lord has helped me in being an instrument in His hands. I know that He has accepted my sacrifice and my efforts. I love my Savior so much and I love this gospel. Everything that we teach as missionaries is a testimony of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ’s pure love for us. I know they know each of you perfectly and I know the redeeming and enabling power of the Atonement is real.

Thank you to each and every one of you for supporting, encouraging, loving and helping me! I have been so blessed. I love you all!

Love,
Sister Huang

Spiritual Flames

Hello world!!!

We got to experience somewhat of a California-experience. We had forest fires this past week up in the mountains that we are right next to. The sky was so ashy and the sun was red and it was just dirty. But luckily, we didn’t have to evacuate! And we were still able to work so blessings.

So besides forest fires, I feel like there was a lot of spiritual fire. So much happened this past week, but something that stuck out to me was that I felt the spirit in more abundance, especially when we taught lessons. Still working on being more in tune with the Spirit’s
promptings and having those spiritual experiences. And Heavenly Father is definitely aware of my desire. Last Tuesday, we had interviews with President Villanueva and I told him that that was one of the things I really want to focus on. Then after interviews, Sister Villanueva came out and worked with us from 4:00-9:00 (but I’m so sad because we forgot to take a picture afterwards.)! It was a really great experience to work with President’s wife in the area and to talk about our sisters with her and get her input and advice. She is the tiniest person, but she has so much power and spiritual fire. I remember the lessons that we taught with her, I felt the spirit really strongly with directing us what to say and when to pause and be silent and what questions to ask. I love that feeling when you feel the Spirit speak through you.

On Thursday, our district meeting was on the topic of improving our teaching skills and teaching to people’s needs. And of course, you need the Spirit to do so. It’s really neat the fact that when you seek for something – especially how to improve – Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will provide. During that district meeting, so many ideas and thoughts of how to improve were flowing into my head. We discussed it as a companionship and set goals for how we are going improve our teaching skills. We had some really cool experiences in teaching lessons as a result from that.

On Friday, we were meeting with our progressing family. They have a bit of a funky situation, but we got permission from President that they can be baptized in our Ward! We told them the news and it was good, but something’s still holding the dad back from fully committing to coming to our Ward. Through the spirit, we were able to ask many inspired questions and get more of the “iceberg” (their real concerns, instead of just the shallow or surface ones). The spirit was also working through them because the mom came up with the idea for the dad to talk with the Bishop from the other Ward one last time. We got a
text from the dad last night telling us that he has decided to commit to coming to our Ward! They just need to come this upcoming Sunday and then the family can get baptized!
It was also in that lesson where we invited him to help us with a reading part in the musical fireside that we are organizing. He’s not confident in his reading, so I felt prompted to share Ether 12:27 with him and promise blessings. I remember very distinctly the words just coming out of my mouth as I promised him that this specific reading
assignment will build his confidence and bless him for the rest of his life.

On Sunday, we went to swing by our favorite couple. They have been reading the Book of Mormon and praying sincerely. We felt prompted to reset expectations though, so that’s what we did and now they are really considering the idea and reality of getting baptized. There’s still many hurdles they need to get through, but it is something they said they will do! They also gave us confirmation that we teach by the spirit because the wife told us how she’s very impressed with the way we teach because she feels like we really know the gospel and the doctrine (hooray for studies every morning!) and the things we share as well as the answers we give are very appropriate and what they need to hear. I almost started tearing up because I knew that was Heavenly Father’s way of telling me that my teaching skills are okay and it is helping people. She told us we were very good representatives of our church. I’m so grateful to be an instrument in God’s hands. I am weak and simple and even after 17 months, I still can’t teach that well, but I’m grateful that He allows the spirit to work through me and help the people we meet.

We got to attend a Spanish baptism service on Saturday because they needed a pianist. Now I can say I’ve been to a Chinese, English and Spanish baptism on my mission! But no matter the language, I can testify that the spirit is the same. I couldn’t understand anything, except for maybe Jesus Christ and the sacrament prayer (it was used in talk), but it felt so happy and right. The person who got baptized is the dad of a part-member family. It was really exciting because in a year, that family can get sealed in the temple for all time and eternity! This gospel is perfect and it brings so much happiness!

I love love love being a missionary! I say this every week but it’s so true! We definitely have our battles and struggles, sometimes they become so overwhelming, but I have a firm testimony that Jesus Christ is with us all the time. He’s helped me so much this past week and throughout my mission and life. I know He lives. I also am so grateful for the power of prayer, that when we are truly sincere in our communication with our Heavenly Father, the heavens are opened and we feel love and peace.

Also, shout out to my brother, Elder Huang, for being in his final week in the MTC this week! You’re going to kill it in Taiwan and they are so excited for you!

Love,
Sister Huang

Hello world!!
> Wow this week was amazing. We picked up 11 new investigators and 3 families and our progressing investigator’s husband! Looking at the past week and the past 5 months I’ve been in Sunland, I’m starting to see the full picture. God has perfect timing and I am a witness of that.
>
> The first family we picked up is an Armenian family. I had met the dad and one of the daughters back in March on exchanges. She wanted to join our choir but her dad wouldn’t let her come until school was over. So we didn’t see her until three weeks ago when she contacted us again and told us she wanted to be in the choir. So the whole family came to choir practice and then came again to the Ward BBQ last week and we were finally able to sit down with all of them on Saturday to share the gospel with them. I was on exchanges with Sister Cook and it was so good. We had dinner with them (first time having real Armenian meal! It was so yummy!) and then shared our purpose and taught the Restoration. We invited them to be baptized and they said yes!!!! After exchanges, I told Sister Hobbs what happened and we both felt very grateful and touched and happy. After basically 2 months of not having much of a teaching pool and finding all day, we found a
> family who wants to get baptized!!!
>
> So again, I’ve been focusing on seeking for and following the Spirit’s promptings. Yesterday, we were coming back from an appointment and going to find a less active before we went to our dinner appointment. We had forgotten that she lived kind of out of the way from where we were heading. As we were driving, we considered going to visit someone else who lived closer, but then we felt that we should keep going and stick with our original plan. We got to her apartment and she wasn’t home. As we were waiting outside, her next door neighbor comes out and tells us no one lives there. That was sad, but then he invited us in to his home. We met him and his wife and their ADORABLE almost two-year old daughter and got to teach them about how the gospel blesses families! And now we are going to meet with them tonight!
>
> Earlier this week, we had a straight day of finding. During companionship study, we prayed and wrote down five streets that came up in our minds and decided which one to go to tract on. Sister Hobbs was Marnice Ave. and mine was Owens St. We went to Marnice first and got to teach several people. Then, we went to Owens St. and not only did we not teach anybody, we also got rejected and called some pretty bad names. After an unsuccessful tracting experience on the street I felt prompted to go on, I probably should’ve felt confused or discouraged. But I think Heavenly Father blessed me with continued optimism. I felt prompted to go there so I went through with the prompting and that was good enough success for me. I feel at times, we are prompted to do things or go to places that don’t lead up to much or any success. At those times, I believe it’s Heavenly Father testing us to see if we will follow His promptings, no matter the results because that shows whether or not He can trust us.
>
> The next day, we tracted another street that I felt prompted to go to and almost everyone was home and we ran into a really dear friend from the Ward that moved back in March! She’s been having a lot of issues and is in between a rock and a hard place. We didn’t have a lot of time, but it was so good to see her and hug her and remind her of the big picture. My heart was filled with joy to see her after 4 months, but it was also crushed because of her situation. But I am so grateful Heavenly Father prompted us to go tract that street.
>
> Like I said earlier before, I went on exchanges with Sister Cook. She’s going home in September and she’s been STL for I think 10 or 11 months and she’s awesome. I learned so much from her, especially about faith. Her faith is so strong – literally no doubt and pure faith. And you can see how she is able to work so many miracles because of her faith! Something else she taught me was that we need to learn to be vulnerable – it’s a sign of humility. Often times, I put a wall up and there are very very very few people that I can put my wall down. But she taught me that as we take our walls down, we are able to  more of expose ourselves to heaven’s help as well as to others’ help to improve and be better. It goes back to one of my favorite scriptures in Ether 12:27:
>
> “And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”
>
> In my personal prayers, I’ve been asking “what lack I yet?” for a while now and I felt like that was my answer. To be vulnerable because I need help to be more like Christ. I need A LOT of help and I need it from my companions, other missionaries, members, leaders, family, friends and Jesus Christ. In just one day of focusing on that, I’ve seen many blessings and have been able to feel the Spirit in more abundance.
>
> I know Heavenly Father is very aware of us. I know He tailors our circumstances to our needs so that we can improve and one day, be like He is. I know that He hears and answers our prayers and I know He loves each of you perfectly. I know my Savior lives and that He suffered so that He can succor, or run to us, in whatever circumstance we might be in. I love Him and I love all of you! Thank you for the continual support and encouragement and love! I feel extremely blessed :).
>
> Love,
> Sister Huang

“Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power”

A member took this on the Fourth of July. We got to celebrate it with Bishop!

Hello world!!!

We had a busy busy week in which we didn’t get to work in our area too much. But we still saw many miracles and I feel like we are on the uphill! We had Mission Leadership Council and Zone Meetings in which President put a huge emphasis on what a successful missionary is. We all know that numbers don’t measure our success as a missionary, but
sometimes it gets to you. Or at least it did for Sister Hobbs and me.

In President Villanueva’s training, he told us that no matter how “hard” your area is, your commitment stays the same. Happy missionaries are missionaries who know their purpose to find, teach and baptize, and are completely focused on it. One of the assistants
said something that I really liked. He said he had a companion that asked him how many people he had baptized and the assistant told him “thousands.” Of course, his companion was confused so explained that every person he talks to, he talks with the purpose of teaching and baptizing them, believing that one day, each person he talked to will meet missionaries again and be baptized. It was just a very powerful meeting. In my notes, I wrote:

“Today, I have felt peace and I have felt that in God’s eyes, I am a successful missionary. I am very grateful that President Villanueva was inspired to teach and instruct on this topic. This was an answer to my prayers.”

Now this doesn’t mean I’m a perfect missionary because I am soooo far
from that, but I felt confirmation that I have been doing my best and
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ accept my sacrifice and efforts. But
there’s always more to do and improve and I’m grateful for the
Spirit’s guidance in helping me know how to!

We have a progressing investigator who accepted our invitation to be baptized! We are giving her a date tonight and we are excited! The last lesson we had with her was really neat in which we introduced the Book of Mormon and there were inspired questions everywhere. She has a sincere desire to read and to learn and when we called to follow up,
she said that she’s been having her husband read it to her aloud at night! Hopefully we get to meet him soon. She’s also been having really bad foot pain so we had a member of the bishopric come with us to the lesson and then give her a priesthood blessing. After the
blessing, she said that as he was giving it, the pain was already starting to go away. I am so grateful for the priesthood.

We did a go and see exchange with the Pasadena sisters in which both Sister Hobbs and I went to their area for the day and worked with them. We wanted to help them set more people on date so as I was with Sister Newman, we tried to bring up baptism in every contact. We invited two people on the street to be baptized and they said YES! And then we met with one of their investigators and invited him to be baptized on August 20 and he said yes! It felt so natural to talk about baptism, even during street contacts! So that was really cool and we saw a lot of miracles from being bold and on purpose.

Saturday night was so great. We had a Ward BBQ and so many non-members showed up! I don’t think I’ve ever attended a ward function that was so well attended by non-members. We had an Armenian family, a less active and his girlfriend, a random couple that saw the BBQ and decided to come and join, and another family! It was so legit. Also, at the end of the night, I couldn’t find my purse with my iPad and everything. The members were so sweet and had their kids look all through the park and a member even went through the trash. But it was nice because I never panicked; it was definitely the Spirit reassuring me that it would turn up. And it did! A member accidentally put it in his trunk haha. All was well in Zion.

I love being a missionary! And being in the moment and soaking every second in has made it even better. I know that the gospel we share with everyone is true. I know that the Atonement covers and makes up for all of our short comings. I know that as long as we try our best, the Lord will accept our offering, no matter how small or insignificant it might be. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.

Love,
Sister Huang

I Glory in Plainness

Hello world!!!

Happy Fourth of July!! Today is Sister Hobbs’ first time celebrating Fourth of July! Considering neither of us are technically Americans, I say we are pretty patriotic for wearing red, white and blue haha. It’s also my 17 month mark which is like, whoa.

I was reading this morning in 2 Nephi 33 and I really liked verse 6, which says: “I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell.”

I love the gospel and its teachings because it really is so simple and plain and it is true. Right now, we still don’t have much of a teaching pool so we do a ton of finding everyday and I am learning to really love it because it gives us more opportunities to testify simply and plainly of the restored truths. I love bearing testimony of the Restoration. It is a message that makes so much sense! After Jesus Christ and His apostles all died, the authority to run the church was taken away for many centuries. There was no church on the earth that was Christ’s church that had that proper authority to teach and baptize. So of course, the world NEEDED His church to be restored back on the earth! And that’s why Joseph Smith is so important. It was through him that Jesus Christ was able to restore His church along with that proper authority – the priesthood – to teach and baptize.

However a chapter earlier in 2 Nephi 32, Nephi said: “I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.”

We teach and testify of the plain truths to so many people everyday and so often people tell us that they only need the Bible or that they already are saved or they simply just don’t believe without even experimenting on the word. I feel like I’ve been rejected more these
past 2 transfers than I have my entire mission. And it is sad because we know how much the restored gospel and the Book of Mormon can bless each individual and family. But I’ve learned and relearned time and time again that we are just responsible for teaching the gospel plainly and boldly and inviting people to accept it. Everything that happens after that, we cannot control and we just have to hand it over to God.

Last night, our district leader called for the weekly call-in and asked us a question that made me really reflect and think. He knew that we had been struggling to find any progressing investigators, despite the fact we teach 30+ lessons every week. He asked us if we would be okay and satisfied if we didn’t have any progressing investigators for the rest of our missions. Obviously, it was a question that makes you think if you really are giving your all into the work – a question that reminded us of what really makes a successful missionary. At first, I was like, no. But then after thinking on it more and talking with Sister Hobbs, both of us felt like we would be okay. We can honestly say we are talking with every single person and working hard everyday.

And we do have miracles! For example, an investigator accepted a baptism invite! He is the husband of a returning less active that we are working with and he was very devout in his other church for a long time. But he came to church for the first time yesterday with his wife and kid and after, told Bishop that he is willing to give the LDS church a second chance. We met with him later and taught him the Restoration and invited him to be baptized and he said yes!!!! However, he is a truck driver and is gone for four weeks at a time. He is hopefully switching companies, but that can’t happen until September so the baptism probably won’t be until then. But it was so happy and he is so sincere and open in learning. It was such a neat thing to see his wife and him share the blessings they’ve noticed since she started going to church. He recognizes the Lord guiding him.

I just want to also bear testimony of the necessity of weekly church attendance and partaking of the sacrament. I know that it was revelation to have go to all three hours of church. All three blocks have the sole purpose in helping us come closer to Christ and
strengthen our testimony of Him. I was really struggling with some personal issues towards the end of the week and I was so excited for church. During the sacrament, I felt completely at peace. I felt Heavenly Father letting me know that I was okay. I felt healed. Then in Sunday School and Relief Society, there were things that were said and taught that were exactly the things I needed to hear.

I know that the Atonement is real and that it heals all wounds and enables us to be better than we were the day before. I have felt of its power and I have seen it work miracles among many others. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and I know He knows me and each of you perfectly.

I love you all so dearly! Have a wonderful week.

Love,
Sister Huang

P.S.: I don’t think I’ll be able to send any pictures for the rest of my mission because I don’t have the camera cord…. Sorry!

Last Transfer

Hello world!!!!

I still can’t believe I’m down to one transfer. But I’m really happy with how it turned out! I will be finishing my mission here in Sunland with Sister Hobbs! Although part of me was really hoping that there could be an obscure possibility of me going back to Chinese work, I feel like I still have a lot to do here in Sunland so I’m grateful that I can have six more weeks here! And I feel like I still have so much to learn from Sister Hobbs so I’m grateful I can have six more weeks with her as well!

We had Zone Conference this past week and it was probably my favorite Zone Conference during my mission. Gotta save the best for last! It was the perfect balance of being called and chastened to repentance but then having that added amount of love afterwards. The assistants said something that I really liked:

“The best day of my life was the day I gave up something I loved for a God I love more.” No amount of sacrifice is too much when it comes down to showing our love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. During the whole Zone Conference, the Spirit told me many things I need to sacrifice. There’s always more we can do! There’s always more that we can give!

President Villanueva talked about opposition in all things. Some points I really liked was that our lives were not supposed to be consistently filled with blessings and happy days. There will be opposition in all things, in all areas (mission-speaking). But we can’t get discouraged because that is giving the ball to the other team. Satan is working just as hard to make us stop the hastening of the work. We just gotta keep relying on the Atonement because it applies to EVERY aspect of the work and keep on pushing through. This brought me a lot of comfort because this past transfer has definitely tested our faith and diligence. But like it says in Doctrine and Covenants 122:7, “all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for THY GOOD.”

So I’ve been trying to be a lot better with relying on the promptings of the Spirit to know what to do and say. This past week, we had a really experience where we got to see firsthand the guidance of the Liahona! On Wednesday, all of our lessons fell through so we went to go finding. We had plans, but we decided that we wanted to specifically know which people we should visit. So we started our praying excursion. We prayed and two people came into our heads so we went to visit them. No one home. We prayed again and the same name popped into our heads so we went to visit that lady. No one home. You could guess we were pretty discouraged. Why were we being prompted to visit people that weren’t home? Then a thought came into my head that God prompts us to go and find people, even if they’re not home so He can see if He can trust us. Eventually, he’ll lead us to someone who is home just in time for us to find them. We prayed to know who to visit and a name came into my head. We started walking there, I felt prompted to visit a former. Miracle #1: the apartment door was locked, but someone let us in! Miracle #2: the former was home! She told us she had just gotten home. PERFECT timing. If we went earlier and hadn’t gone to all the empty houses, we would’ve missed her. God knows what He’s doing. She was telling us how she’s open to learning and how she needs to make time for this. She said she looks at us missionaries and feels peace and she wanted that peace. We got to testify to her about the blessings of the gospel and how she can have that peace all the time. She’s super excited to meet with us again!

Speaking of peace, at Zone Conference, the Alhambra sisters told me that they went to go visit a less active who said that she remembered me! They told me her name and I couldn’t recall who she was until they started describing more about her. I had only visited her once and that was almost exactly a year ago, but she remembered who I was. She couldn’t remember my name, but the sisters said that what she could remember was that I was from Chicago and the peaceful feeling I gave her when we visited her. She gave them a framed picture of the Los Angeles temple to give to me. When I heard that, I felt so grateful. It was another reminder to me that we really do have the power to influence many around us, even if it doesn’t seem like it. And it was a reminder to me of the importance of always having the Spirit with you because people notice it. That was a tender mercy 🙂

We’ve been seeing more success with member-missionary work here! The Family Mission Plans are doing great and we are still having really good experiences with going on splits with members of each auxiliary every week. And here’s a cool story in regards with member-missionary work. Last week, we felt prompted to visit a former family that the Bishop’s wife referred to missionaries a while ago. We were able to meet them and do a Family Home Evening with them. We told Sister Pinkston (Bishop’s wife) about it and she was surprised that we even got in the house, let alone, have an FHE. Then, she told us that that success led to her having the prompting to give the mom a Book of Mormon and a For Strength of Youth Pamphlet. So for FHE tonight, the Pinkstons are highlighting some scriptures in the Book of Mormon and then they’re giving it to the family! We were super stoked to hear that! That’s some good teamwork right there.

I know that this gospel is true and I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ’s church on the earth. It has the proper priesthood authority and a prophet who receives revelation from God. Because of that, it is a church run by Jesus Christ, not by man. I am so grateful for having a living prophet today, President Thomas S. Monson. I am grateful for the restored gospel and the fullness of it. I know without a doubt that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. I did not see it firsthand, but the Holy Ghost has confirmed to me, especially as I study and recite the First Vision, that it did happen.

I love you all very very much!

Love,

Sister Huang

Gratitude is the Best Attitude

Sister Dunn and me after exchanges

Hahaha Sister Hobbs’ telling me to hurry up because it’s so hot

Woohooo!!!

HAHA this was when I was on exchanges in Glendale. We hurried out the door so I ended up wearing mismatched shoes the whole day. Classic.

Our really ugly heart

Our really epic jumping picture. First try too!

Hello world!!!

Happy Father’s Day! I am so grateful for my dad who is a great example to me of diligence, self-discipline, obedience and being yourself. I love you dad!

It is currently 115 degrees here in Sunland and the power is out so we are finding refuge somewhere else haha.

Guys, we had a great week this week! I feel the past couple of weeks, I have been a Debbie Downer so I decided to change my outlook and attitude for my last several weeks. We did studies with the Huntington sisters and Sister Plumb said something that was a great reminder to me. She said that every missionary has miracles – you can’t go through your mission without having miracles. She said that the miracles also depend on the person. We are all different and unique and our miracles are the same way. Some people might have more noticeable and measurable miracles and some people might have more subtle miracles, but they should all be appreciated the same. Gratitude really is the best attitude!

We had a really cool experience with following the Spirit and exercising obedience on Saturday. At the beginning of the week, I asked Heavenly Father what more could we do to find the elect. I was studying PMG chapter 9 and realized that one thing we could improve was to work around the neighborhood of the referrals we receive. Going back to Saturday, we had a fall through and we were feeling kind of down so we prayed for faith and for direction. We had a lot of people that we planned to visit and the Hogan family (a referral from Bishop’s wife from a while ago – they were dropped) stuck out to me. So we went and knocked and they weren’t home. But we remembered to work around the area! We knocked on two doors and no one was home and then we knocked on the door across and this lady opens the door. We introduced ourselves and she said that missionaries had met with her before and she also has a Book of Mormon. She was really tired but invited us in and gave us six grape fruits and told us she would LOVE for us to come back! After so many days and weeks of rejection, having someone invite us in right away and to come back again was AMAZING.

Then we walked out and this couple is walking and we talked with them and asked if we could come back next week and they said yes! And then we were standing by our car when a lady and her daughter walk by. I had an impression that the lady was Mrs. Hogan. And then we were being stalker like and watched which house she went to and it was the Hogan’s house! Okay you might think that being a missionary for 16 months, I would be more bold and not afraid to talk with people, but the fear of man definitely still gets me sometimes. For some reason, it took us a couple of minutes to muster up the courage to go knock the door. She opened and LET US IN. We were able to share a message and set up a return appointment next week! Saturday night was a night of miracles. It was also Sister Hobbs’ 10 month mark!

I did exchanges in Glendale last Tuesday and it was so great. Sister Dunn has grown so much in confidence and skill since I was companions with her for that one week in January. I really look up to her and she is a great example to me of a bold and loving missionary. She is also incredibly focused and is always striving to be better.

We have been doing the Family Mission Plan with a lot of the families here in this ward and it has been a really cool experience! We got to kneel down with five families this past week and to see them experience personal revelation as to who they should share the gospel with. We promised them with their own miracles in participating in the hastening of the work. And we were able to get some referrals!!!!!

We did a little hike in the Los Angeles National Forest this morning and did our studies up there! I don’t know why we decided to hike on the hottest day, but it was a really cool experience of endurance and appreciation and receiving personal revelation in the mountains. We also sung hymns all the way back and it was delightful.

I can’t believe it’s the last week of the transfer! This transfer went by so fast and even though it’s been really hard, I am really glad that I am companions with Sister Hobbs in the Sunland Ward. The work is progressing here, it really is!

I love you all! Thank you for the advice, love, encouragement and support! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord and to exercise my faith in Him everyday. I know that the enabling power and redeeming power of the Atonement is real. The Atonement is to help us feel forgiven of our sins and to also help us overcome the natural man and its tendencies.

Have a wonderful week and stay cool!

Love,

Sister Huang

Silver Linings

Hello world!!!

I have made it a goal this past week to write at least one miracle, or silver lining, a day. MAN, Sister Hobbs and I have never felt so rejected by the people than we have this week. Haha we did have a guy say to us in a really grumpy mood, “God bless you and go.” And then he shut the door. That was probably my favorite one of the week. I have to be honest, it was hard to keep a positive attitude throughout some of the days but reminding myself to look for the silver linings helped a lot.

Some of this week’s silver linings:

I went on exchanges with Sister Huang on Tuesday! Haha it was pretty awkward in contacts when we introduced ourselves. It reminded me of the days with my trainer, Sister Huang! Anyway, Sister Huang is on fire and she has such a powerful testimony. She is an only child and the only member of her family. From the moment she got baptized, she knew she wanted to serve a mission. And she is a dang good missionary. She’s also hilarious. We had a lesson with an investigator and invited a member and the lesson turned to be a semi-bible bash (not good). After the lesson, Sister Huang was turned to me and was like “That was AWESOME!! I learned so much!!!” Haha and yes because Chinese people don’t ever do that and we did learn a lot about the Bible. I love Sister Huang.

We found out that Paul Walker and his parents are in our Ward. Less active of course though.

Thursday was probably the hardest day. But we felt prompted the night before to go past a former whose wife is a less active. We went over and both were not home, but his mom was! We got to share a message of the Restoration of the gospel with her and found out that she had taken the missionary lessons fifteen years ago. She said the biggest hold up was she didn’t believe in the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. But maybe, fifteen years later, that will change! We are meeting her again tomorrow and we can’t wait!

Remember the returning less active couple who I said was preparing to go to the temple for the first time to do baptisms for the dead? Well, they made it on Saturday and had a wonderful experience! The bishop invited the wife to go up and share her experience and it was short, sweet and powerful. She said that after 33 years, she finally understood why it is so important and NECESSARY to go to the temple. At the end, she put it best: “if you haven’t gone, go, because you’re missing out.” I am so grateful for the temple and for the eternal blessings we receive there.

Even though we weren’t able to find any solid investigators who are willing to progress, God blessed us with at least one really good lesson everyday where we felt the Spirit. And it always happened to be at the end of the day. I know that God is watching over us and helping us. I may not understand His purpose or His timing perfectly yet, and I might be impatient about it sometimes, but I know He loves me and He loves all the people we talk to. I know He is still hastening His work and I know that the work I am doing everyday is the work of salvation. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that is really is the most powerful tool we have to teach with, combined with the Spirit. And it is so evident that that is true because the adversary is definitely trying really hard to prevent people from reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. I’ve never heard of a book that has been attacked and criticized more than the Book of Mormon. But I know it to be true and I cannot deny it! I love teaching from the Book of Mormon and I love studying it every day.

Our stake started doing Family Mission Plans! We had stake conference last week where they introduced it and this week, us missionaries are starting to go to the families in the Ward to help them fill out there family mission plan. I’ll attach a picture of what it looks like, but it’s really legit. The first family Sister Hobbs and I got to do it with was actually the Stake President and his wife, who is our Relief Society President. As we knelt in prayer and President Morgan prayed to have the Spirit to help them know who to put on their plan, the Spirit was really strong and names and faces popped into our minds. They created a really awesome family mission plan – some of their goals included giving a Book of Mormon, inviting someone to church, asking their friends if they are interested in meeting with the missionaries, etc.. – and said that they wanted to complete it all by July 1. So ambitious! We are so excited to continue doing this with more members of the Ward!

In efforts to stay positive about all the rejection and bashing and empty homes, Sister Hobbs and I decided to memorize and recite Matthew 5:44:

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;”

So basically, holding on and continuing to strive for charity!

I hope you all had a good week and that you have a better week this upcoming week! I invite you all to make Book of Mormon reading a daily routine – if you don’t have a copy, let me know and I’ll send you one! I know that giving God five minutes to read His word will bless you. And I know that the Book of Mormon will strengthen your relationship with God and your testimony of Jesus Christ.

I love you all!!

Love,

Sister Huang

The Book of Mormon is True!

Hello world!!!!!

This week was stressful but Sister Hobbs and I worked SUPER hard. We taught 33 lessons and hit the standard of excellence with members presence! But we have yet to still find a solid investigator… At the beginning of this transfer, both Sister Hobbs and I chose one Christlike attribute to focus on. Mine was faith and hers was diligence. So you know how when you pray for God to help you develop an attribute, He will give you a trial or challenge to make you stretch (like when you ask for faith, He gives you a trial that makes you exercise and ultimately strengthen that faith)? I am guessing that is what is happening. These past three weeks have definitely been testing, yet strengthening our faith and diligence. Just keep swimming.

We saw a ton of miracles this week though. For example, yesterday we went to go meet with our new investigator and she flaked on us. We then felt prompted to knock on the door upstairs so we headed up and knocked. A Hispanic lady answered and we had a really good gospel conversation with her. She told us she had met with the Elders before but wasn’t able to go to church because of her job. We testified of keeping the sabbath day holy and she said that the Elders could come back and visit! It was really sweet and we both felt the Spirit really powerfully as we testified of the Sabbath. Finding and teaching by the Spirit always lead to wonderful experiences.

The less active couple that got reactivated back in March is now going to the temple this weekend to do their first temple baptisms!!! We met with them last week and they were both just beaming as they speculated about their temple trip. They have gone such a long way and both know and understand that going to the temple is a privilege and you have to be of high standing to be able to enter. It was just so neat to see how they understood so well how sacred the temple is. We are so excited for them!!!

Oh we also had MLC and Zone Meetings this past week. Again, a lot of it was focused on the importance of obedience. I feel so incredibly blessed to serve in a mission where obedience to the commandments and mission rules and the principles of the gospel. Obedience is to help us come unto Christ – keeping the commandments all point to Christ and we are blessed when we do so. And it’s the best way to show our love for God and Christ and our friends and family!

I also finished the Boom of Mormon today! I know that it is true with all my heart! I had another confirmation today from the Spirit that it is. I know that if we read it and pray with sincerity to know if it’s true, the Holy Ghost will testify to us in a way we understand that it is true! I have learned so much and my faith and testimony has continually strengthened this round of reading the Book of Mormon. The principles in this book apply to every person in every situation. I love the Book of Mormon so much! Our mission has also been putting an emphasis on using our paper scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, during our teachings (haha because we have iPads…). And it’s been a blessing! There definitely is more power in using paper scriptures.

A lot more happened this week but my head is kind of sporadic right now haha. I love being a missionary and learning to be one with the Lord in doing His work. There is SO much I need to improve and work on, but it’s a lot more manageable and doable and less stressful with the Lord helping out 🙂

Have a wonderful week! Pray to know one person you can share the gospel with this week!

Love,

Sister Huang

The Plan of Salvation

Hello world!!!

I cannot believe my brother is headed to the MTC in two days! Time has flown and now it’s your time to shine, Shane (soon to be Elder Huang)! I am so proud of you and I know that you will be a phenomenal missionary. Join the ranks! I love you so much!

With my grandma passing away on Monday and then finding out one of our sister’s grandma passed away Friday night and then attending a funeral of one of the members of the ward on Saturday, I’ve been thinking a lot and relying a lot on my testimony and knowledge of the Plan of Salvation. This week was also another testament to me that Heavenly Father is in the details of our lives. We got to teach about the Plan of Salvation more than usual this week and the Spirit touched me each time that it is true.

We believe that before we came to earth, we lived, as spirits, with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and each other. The plan was presented, that we would come down to earth to gain experience as well as a physical body so that we can become like our Heavenly Father. His goal for us is to help us gain immortality and eternal life and become as He is. Adam and Eve were the first people on the earth and because they partook of the fruit, they were cast out of the garden and became susceptible to physical and spiritual death – two things that separate us from being able to return to live with Heavenly Father. But because they partook of the fruit, the rest of us were able to come down to earth and gain a physical body and experience for ourselves. We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but we knew that coming down to earth was the only way we could become like Heavenly Father.

Luckily, because Heavenly Father knew that life on earth would be difficult and we would need guidance, He gave us many resources such as family, prayer, scriptures, prophets and the gospel of Jesus Christ. From the scriptures and prophets, we learn that if we follow the gospel of Jesus Christ – faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism by the proper priesthood authority, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end – we can return back to live with our Heavenly Father.

Part of this plan is that we will all die. Death of a loved one can be one of the hardest things to face here on earth, but I am so grateful to have the concrete knowledge that death is not the end, it is just a phase of the eternal plan of salvation. All it is is the separation of the physical body and spirit. We believe that when we die, our spirits continue on to the spirit world, where we continue to learn and progress. Those who have heard and lived the gospel go to Spirit Paradise and those who did not have a chance to accept or hear the gospel have the chance to be taught by missionaries up in the spirit world. But because they don’t have a physical body anymore to do the saving ordinances, such as baptism, that is why we have temples – so we can do the work for them. They have the opportunity to accept it or reject it.

We wait until the resurrection and final judgment. Because of the Atonement, we believe everyone will be resurrected, no matter what kind of life they led. Immortality is a free gift to all. Then based on our faith AND works, we are placed into one of three kingdoms of glory. The Telestial Kingdom is for those who did not choose to accept the gospel and didn’t lead very good lives. The Terrestial Kingdom is for those who didn’t accept the gospel, but led good lives and were righteous. The Celestial Kingdom is the goal. People who accepted and lived the gospel and did all of the saving ordinances go to the Celestial Kingdom. This is where Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and where we can be with our families together forever. This is eternal life and eternal happiness!

Central to the whole Plan of Salvation is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It is only through the Atonement where we can overcome both spiritual and physical death. It is through the Atonement where all unfairness can truly be made right. It is through the Atonement where we can feel complete forgiveness and have our burdens and guilt lifted from us. It is through the Atonement where we can gain the strength we need to overcome trials. It is through the Atonement where our weaknesses can be made strengths. It is through the Atonement where justice and mercy are satisfied. I have gained an increased testimony of the power of the Atonement on my mission. I have seen it change the lives of others as well as mine. I am so grateful for my Redeemer and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I am grateful to know that I will see my grandma again. I am grateful to know that we have temples where we can do the work of salvation for those who have already passed on. I am grateful to know that my grandma has the opportunity to learn about the gospel in the spirit world. I am grateful to know that she will be resurrected with a perfected body and won’t need to suffer anymore. I am grateful to know that there are second chances. I am grateful to be able to teach and testify of God’s perfect plan for us. I know that it is true and that it is real.

I love you all and have a wonderful week. Sorry, neither me or Sister Hobbs have a camera cord and we don’t have an accessible computer so there probably won’t be pictures for awhile…

Love,

Sister Huang