Hey Guys :)
This week has been so powerful, I honestly have no Idea what to put into my
email cuz there has been so much stuff! Like seriously SOO MUCH BEAUTY!!
Haha OH! Happy Thanks Giving!! :) Our ward is so good! and they gave us all
100 dollars (15 american) to McDonalds! Haha It was too bad that Elder
Gilllis and I are on a McDonalds fast #HealthyIsBetter, but anyways, We had
our missionary Thanks giving activity haha so the other Chai wan Elders and
I got put in charge of making stuffing for it. So Elder Gillis, being the
genius that he is, said, "Hey! Lets use the Mcdonalds money (FREE) and buy
like 20 McChickens, cut them up, pour some broth on them, and then throw
them in the oven." So because we are all poor cuz of the 5 P-day month haha
we decided that it was "SO CRAZY IT JUST MIGHT WORK" so on the day of the
thanksgiving activity, we go to the mcdonalds, buy 20 McChicken
Sandwhiches, cut them up, and put broth all over them, and then went to the
church, and baked them.... Yeah. It smelled so much of mcDonalds, haha so
like the whole 4 floor of the Wan Chai Chapel smelled like McDonalds... But
it was like really good stuffing.... Like it was probably the first dish to
be finished of everything.... So Moral of the story is, Elder Gillis is
pretty much an evil Genius. Hahaha :)
Also, this week, I am continually amazed at this work. Everything about
this work is so cool! This week we met with brother Dang, His children
had already been baptized and we are just working with him. He is a
straight boss though, He doesn't want any pressure to be baptized cuz
he wants to make sure that when he is, that he will be able to stay in
the church, and he likes the change that it has done for his kids as
well. Just this past week, we were able to explain the Book of
Mormon, and the work that has gone into it, and he had not been
reading cuz it was hard, but after the lesson he pretty much said
"Wow, I can't believe how awesome this book is, I actually super want
to read it" haha so Elder Gillis and I were so stoked after haha but
it really is amazing! THE BOOK OF MORMON IS THE BEST BOOK ON THE
PLANET! But we will see how that goes, but Brother Tang is the
coolest human!
Then just yesterday, we were able to meet with a former family, the
Fongs, I had called them when I was on exchanges with Elder Tseng, and
they said to call in 2 weeks, so we called them just this last week
and they agreed to meet! Which was super suprising, and we were able
to meet! The record said that Mrs. Fong stopped meeting with the
missionaries, because She was having a baby, and thats how she became
a former. Now we met them, and the baby is 3 years old and the other
son is 10! The lesson went super well and we were able to reschedule,
but based on the record, I think there was a serious change, they were
so willing to hear our message, and I really think that that family
had been prepared for us! I really hope we can continue to meet them,
and if not, that future missionaries will be able to!
On another note, this week I have been thinking about kind of what we
teach, and what it means, I tried to study it on a little bit of a
deeper level. But one of the things that I studied about was the
Idea/Concept of becoming perfect, and here is what I wrote. "The
Purpose of this life is to return to our Father in Heaven, Because
that is what he wants for us. But because we are human, we have no
way of doing so, no way of being perfect. So that is why HEavenly
father gave us a savior, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins, He is
the Great Mediator between us and God, as we excersise faith in him,
and strive to do the right things, we will be motivated to repent and
be baptized/ take the Sacrament, and as we strive to become perfect
and endure to the end, Jesus will be our mediator and he will plead
with God for us to be in Heaven. Which makes me think, What does it
mean to be 'Perfect' In older times, the word 'perfect' meant to be
finished or completed, for example when joseph Smith worked in the
Fields, Emma would call out to him and ask if he was 'perfect'. So,
when we have to be 'Perfect' when we enter the sight of God, What does
that mean for us? I think that when we pass on from this life, the
Idea of being 100% Clean and sin free is doable, but unlikely,
Especially in the short time that we have on Earth, Now this is not
doctrine by any means, but I think that we pass on from this life, and
we have applied all of the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
We can know that we are 'Perfect' in the sense of being completed, and
being finished in this earth, that we have learned everything that we
need to learn, and that gives Jesus a reason to plead for us, because
if we do everything we can to grow towards perfection, we can say we
have done everything that we need to do to align our will with God's,
and His will, is that he wants us to return to his presence. In
conclusion, the idea of being perfect to me, is being able to go to
Heaven and say that I did my best on the earth, I might have not been
perfect by any means, but I did my best, and I pushed myself to live
my life the way you would want me to." I wrote this on a random
tangent, but writing it down was a really good way to put things
together in my head. But I just thought I would share this, because I
think that is what being perfect is, and I think it is amazing that we
have a Savior and A Redeemer, Jesus Christ, who even though we aren't
perfect, is asking us to give him our sins, it is incredible that at
some point, we all have the opportunity to become perfect!
Anyways. Sorry for that random thing... I hope everyone was thankful
for something In the spirit of thanksgiving!! Being a missionary is
literally the best, because you learn to be grateful for all the
little things :) I love it so much! Everything about this work is just
a miracle. Anyways! make everyday thanks giving :) cuz there are so
many things to be grateful for! Even though its a hard day, be
grateful, Something that I have realized when I have been out here is
that missionary work is hard, but the days that I looked at the work
with that attitude, have been the longest and hardest days of my
mission, but I have noticed that even on the hard and hot days, that
there is literally something to be grateful for everyday! I love this
work So much, and I love hearing about everyone and how everyone is
doing! I love Hong Kong and I love the People here! I love and miss
you all!
Love,
Elder Jonathan Chen
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