Mission Tour, a Baptism, and Requiring the Heart

Greetings one and all! It's been a very busy, productive 4 days since I last wrote! Allow me to fill you in...

Elder N. Andersen

Elder W. Clayton

Friday morning: we woke up at 6:15 and showered so that we would be out that door by 7:30. Then we moseyed our way on the MTR down to Hong Kong Island and got to the chapel there at 8 o'clock. Spent a few minutes saying hi to missionaries that were already in the chapel and then made our way to the cultural hall in a big mass of 116 missionaries. Got placed in rows according to our height (somehow I made the back row despite my 5'11") and then chatted and waited for about 45 minutes until the General Authorities showed up! In case all the hints weren't enough, this past Friday was Mission Tour!

Elder Neil L. Andersen and L. Whitney Clayton were the visiting general authorities, and we also had the 3 Asia Area Seventies in attendance as well. It was an incredible hour and a half as we all sat in the chapel and heard what Elder Andersen had to say to us. He's a very interesting guy and a great orator. We never felt bored for a minute and he spoke evenly until he testified of truths-- then he had "fire" and the confirming witness of the spirit. It was neat to sit and listen to him. He gave a lot of advice all revolving around our understanding and application of the Atonement. He said something that was interesting though. He said that if he were a missionary in Hong Kong he would focus all his efforts on ingraining this testimony of the Atonement into our lives and our investigators' lives. He said that is the message he would try and convey to everyone he talked to on the street; there is a Christ, he atoned for us, through his atonement we can have peace and enjoy forgiveness. I've thought a lot about this points over the last couple days.

Later that night we were back in our area, Kwai Fong, and having our weekly correlation meeting with our mission leader. The Stake President popped his head in the door and introduced us to a Sister C who is a member of our ward and who just finished her mission in Bangkok. She seemed nice enough but as she was leaving she asked the missionaries in passing if we knew an Elder Siebach. I was a little taken off-guard but said that I was him. She then said that the last district she had served in she had served with Elder Jesse Cosper from Alpine, Utah! I was floored! What are the chances of that??? She also previously served in a district with Elder Morgan Hunsaker (a friend of mine from when I lived in Japan). It was an awesome connection! I forgot to ask if she knew Elder Tim Matthews from Alpine, Utah.

The next day was Saturday and we spent an hour or so in the morning practicing the musical number that we were going to perform at L's baptism (we sang a rendition of Joseph Smith's First prayer). We did the normal missionary stuff all afternoon and then at 6pm we went to the chapel to get everything set up. L got there soon after. We had 4 investigators come to the service, L's mom came, and Leo brought and invited 12 friends and his Chinese teacher to come watch! Talk about Referrals! The service was amazing! Spirit was so strong! Tons of members were there too!

L bore his testimony after he got changed into his regular clothes and it was beyond powerful! He shared his favorite scripture which was 2 Nephi 31:17-20, all about following the example of Christ and then enduring to the end. All the members and friends were touched by the special spirit of the service. :)

Then on Sunday we had the best Sunday meetings I've had since my mission started. Everything just worked out so well! We had 7 investigators there and then the parents of one of our investigators, F, were there to check out the church. (His parents aren't willing to sign for him to get baptized because they think we are a cult and that he's too young--17 years old.) The topic in Sacrament Meeting was missionary work. An RM gave his talk, 3 recent sibling converts bore their testimonies, and the missionaries gave another musical number. Elder W was on the piano and played his rendition of Come Thou Fount and the Sister missionaries and I sang. For not being professionals we sounded pretty dang professional! Elder W and I also got to participate in the confirmation of L which was another great experience. F's parents were touched by the special spirit and messages that were shared, but are still not willing to sign. They are however, willing to meet with us and listen to our message. I just hope that in the not too soon future they will open and soften their hearts. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend for my mission. Elder Andersen, L's baptism, church meetings. It all just went so well!

As I was reading the scriptures this week I got to thinking about the law of Moses. Under the law of Moses, believers were to offer burnt sacrifices to the Lord. The Lord's new law requires a sacrifice of our desires; including a broken heart and a contrite spirit. I was thinking about which is harder and what the real difference was. I came to the conclusion that the end result was supposed to be the same. Through the sacrifices we showed God our dependence on him and our love. However, can you give an animal sacrifice and not really have your heart in it? I think so. God's new method requires us to give up of ourselves; not just of our substance. We have to change ourselves.
It's like that quote from President Packer; "True principles, understood, will change behavior faster then the study of behavior will change behavior." The principle is the same in both sacrifices but it becomes internal and meaningful when WE sacrifice OURSELVES. Anyway, that was kinda my "A-ha" moment for the week. We need to have the right attitude in everything that we do. I can do missionary work with no motivation, or I can do the same work with a good attitude and only then will it become meaningful and lasting for me. There are some missionaries who just GO on a mission; I want to BE in a mission. I'm still working on perfecting it.

Hope everyone is having a good week! Especially Grace and Mom who are sick... :( Keep up the good work! Spiritual CPR! (Church, Prayer and Reading Scriptures).

Sincerely,

Elder Siebach

P.S. I want to thank G+G Beus for the sweet Japanese name stamp they sent out to me for my birthday! It's awesome! :)

A Blessing, an Elevator, and Dan's Fettucini Alfredo!

Subject: One Year Down; Hopefully Forever to Go!

Dear Friends and Family,

It was quite the week (10 days) here in Kwai Chung. Elder W and I worked really hard, spent endless hours on the street, and turned up with no new investigators as of yet. Got a few street lessons, but the people were just not rescheduling or showing any desire to learn more. I don't really think there is any one thing to blame for this, maybe just mother nature and her unbearable heat and humidity make it so that the Chinese are understandably more rushed then usual and less inclined to stand out on the street and talk with us.

However, that has been of little concern to us as we work on getting our investigators ready for their baptismal dates. L is doing absolutely great! In fact, last Saturday he scheduled himself to go out finding with us for 3 or 4 hours. He was great! Had a lot of courage and was bold in his testimony and declaration of things that he himself has only known for a handful of weeks! Unfortunately after Saturday he had some spring allergy problems and started running a fever. It didn't keep him from church though! At church we reviewed the Gospel of Jesus Christ and made sure that he didn't have any questions. At his request we then gave him a priesthood blessing to get over his fever/flu symptoms. I was voice and it was a profound experience for me to really feel that the Spirit was directing the words and thoughts that the Lord wanted me to convey to him. My Cantonese also felt much more fluid for those few minutes. Definitely a gift of the Spirit! He called us later that night to report that soon thereafter the sickness left him and he's better! Then this past Monday was his baptismal interview! He passed it with flying colors and so this Saturday, May 25th, he will be baptized! WE'RE SO EXCITED! He's so prepared and willing to make these covenants with Heavenly Father.

A couple Sundays ago we scheduled 15 people to come to church and then 6 of them didn't show up; including A-J and her son A. We were a little concerned, especially because their home phone and her cell phone were turned off. We called all day Sunday and then Monday evening we called again. Finally on Tuesday we decided to do our best to remember where she lived. We were pretty sure that we knew which building she lived in, but we didn't remember the floor or apartment number. So Tuesday afternoon we went "finding" for A-J. Our impression was that she was on the 20 or 21st floors, so that's where we checked first. We knocked the two doors that we thought were hers, it wasn't her, and so then we thought we would try the apartment building next door. As we came down the elevator we were just praying in our hearts for a miracle and we got it!

Wait!

The apartment building we were finding in had 6 elevators, and as we were coming out of our elevator we looked across the way at the other elevator that was like 3/4ths closed and made eye contact with A-J! She stopped the elevator for us and we then went up to her apartment, found out she missed church because her youngest daughter was in the hospital sick, and that her cell phone had died and she hadn't had a chance to charge it yet. We were so relieved to have found her and see that she was doing fine. We ended up teaching her the Plan of Salvation during that visit. Truly though, a miracle from God! We would have left that apartment building and never seen her if we had been even half a second later!

While I'm talking about A-J, I'll just inform you that she did come to church this last week. We taught her the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom, and then this past Tuesday I was on exchanges with another Elder and we went to her home and taught her Tithing and Fasting. She's SO prepared and so good! She is worried she doesn't have the faith she needs, but she does have it. She's progressed so much since the first time I met her. She is still set for June 2nd to get baptized.

Black Rain Alert: Very heavy rain has fallen
or is expected to fall generally over Hong Kong,
exceeding 70 millimetres in an hour,
and is likely to continue.
Read about it here and here, or see it here

Exchanges were really good this past week! I went with Elder K, a recent convert of 1.5 years. His testimony is so strong and he is powerful! He is the only convert in his family and his father passed away 10+ years ago. He is setting such a great example for his home ward as well as his younger sister. During our exchange we taught some lessons, met with a returning less-active, and of course did a little finding in between the
weather alerts of "Black rain, stay inside". It was rather incredible that in the 2 or 3 hours that we were finding we contacted 4 less-actives (2 of which the ward isn't even aware of them). Pretty interesting to see how the Lord puts people in our path. It was a fun exchange.

Speaking of less-actives. Last week we were in a run-down part of our area knocking a few less-active doors, and one lady let us in, gave us drinks, apples, and turned on the A/C to help us cool down a bit. She said she was the older sister of the less-active we were looking for. Of course missionaries never miss an opportunity to teach, so we asked if we could share a bit of what this girl's younger sister believes. Part way through the lesson we cracked her shell a bit and it turns out that she was actually the less-active we were looking for. We spent a few more moments with her, committed her to start reading and praying again, and scheduled a time next week for us to meet with her and her husband and children! She said that she's less-active because she doesn't want to have conflicts with her husband and children who are Buddhist. It was truly another miracle from the Lord! She let us in, and was really quite friendly and open to hearing our message.

This past Sunday, with the permission of President Hawks, Elder W and I made our way down to Hong Kong Island after church and MTR'ed and bussed our way to the Bradford's home!

Photo taken during dinner
by our friend Eileen Bradford

That was a really awesome reunion to see them again and to get to talk about missionary work and all the mutual family friends that we share. The food was great (Italian Fettucine Alfredo and salad with homemade bread)! It was just like going home again! In fact, I saw Sister Bradford again today at the temple when I went with my district to our quarterly temple trip!

Anyway, my heart is full! The temple was awesome; just the refresher that I needed. And looking back over the last few days I can really feel the hand of the Lord guiding me in my work and in the area. In a recent interview that I had with President Hawks, he reminded me of the 3 keys to missionary work:
1. Obedience 2. Hard Work 3. Humility. I know that as we diligently do these things we will stay close to Heavenly Father and have his blessings.

Keep reading and praying!  "The church is True, the Book is Blue!" --quote from Elder R--

Love,

Elder Siebach

Happy Mother's Day

Editor's Note:) -- We were able to speak to Spencer on the phone on Mother's Day! He sounds GREAT!  It was wonderful to visit with him and know--to really hear it in his voice--that he is happy and well and prospering! Thank you all for your ongoing love and support as he rounds the bend at the half-way mark! Much Love, Spencer's Mom:)

Dear Mom, Family, and Friends,

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers or future mothers who may read this letter! It was so great to talk to my family! I hope everyone had a good week! Also, I want to thank so many of you for all the birthday wishes! It was a wonderful day!

It was a good week here in Kwai Chung! Elder W and I worked hard and sweated even more. It's been HOT! The worst part is it was 85 and will only get hotter. The sunny humid days can make it hard to breathe, but it can't get our spirits down! We worked hard and spent most of our days on the street finding. For whatever reason it was a kinda hard week to get scheduled lessons. We had some good finding though! One day I stopped an 18 year old named F and we had a really good, fast, first lesson. After the lesson I gave him a Book Of Mormon and set up a 2nd time to see him. 2 days later we saw him and turns out that he had read through 2nd Nephi 26! That was super amazing! Our jaws dropped because he expressed that he understood everything that was going on and that he thought it was the word of God.

Another time this week we taught our investigator A-G. He's struggling right now because his parents won't give their permission for him to get baptized. To add to that, he decided to go around and check out some other churches too. This had led him to have little doubts about the Book Of Mormon. We met him later that night and had an hour and a half lesson with him and it was so good! The Spirit was the strongest that I've felt on my mission during a lesson! It was spiritually draining actually. Still awesome though and I think it helped him a lot.

I'm not sure if I mentioned this last week, but actually right next to my apartment is a huge outdoor complex of basketball courts, a running track and soccer fields. Well, about two weeks ago it all closed down and some construction started up and come to find out, the Asia World Hand Ball Championships are going on! Every day we can here shouts and screams and a big loudspeaker announcing all the fun and excitement. It brings a lot of people to our area though so the finding can sometimes be pretty good if not also a little distracting.

Anyway, I got to get going!

Keep reading and praying!

Love,

Elder Siebach

Birthdays, "Cheng-Outs" and Striking Gold!

Dear friends and family,

I had kinda hoped that I would never reach this week of my mission... The week when it's my birthday, Mother's Day, and almost my 1-year mark... I had always hoped that I would just keep serving and never hit my half-way mark. Alas, it is here. But I'm super happy to be able to call home this coming week! :) That will be a great gift for all of us!

But tell you what, it has been a week! No rain which was a welcome relief, but we did do a lot of finding. Speaking of which, have I mentioned that finding in Hong Kong is only on the streets? And who would have thought that people could get mad at you on a public street? Anyway, this week my companion tried to contact a lady and she just whipped out her phone and called security for the Estate that we were finding next to. 5 minutes later there were like 7 apartment security guards telling us that we were in a "private" area and couldn't find. Thankfully we had a scheduled appointment there and so we called up the investigator who we were meeting with and she confirmed to the guards that we were going to be there. Sheesh. Once we finally had registered at the bottom of the apartment building some of the over-concerned mom's started questioning us and telling us that we couldn't knock on apartment doors. Gosh, that was annoying! Years and years and years ago missionaries used to be able to knock on apartment doors. But no one had done that for over 10 years and everyone is still so paranoid. We got pretty frustrated with a mom when she accused us of tricking a 12 year old boy (the investigator's son) to let us into the building and his apartment. Oh well, it's all done now.

However, I do want to talk about that family! I mentioned last week that we found a family or two on the street! This week we met with one of the families on Tuesday, having brought a fellowshipper and really worked hard at building the relationship (trust), and then read 1 Nephi 1 and had a great discussion about the role of 'goodly parents'. That family then showed up later that night to our English class (no small feat when she is a single mother with a 12 year old son and a 6 year old daughter and it's a 20 minute walk). Great to see them there and then almost on the spot she scheduled us on Friday to come to her house, teach another lesson, as well as feed us! By the way, we call feeding the missionaries "cheng-outs". The food was excellent! She was so concerned that we had enough that we almost exploded! We had chicken wings, steamed crab, rice, steamed vegetables, bbq beef, soup and tofu. I felt so bad because she just kept bringing it and never hardly had a minute to sit down and eat with us! 

Sound familiar? (go ahead, click on it! :)

She also insisted that we get started and not wait. (That seems to be very typical in Chinese culture). After that meal we sat down with them, watched "Finding Faith in Christ" and then together read the doctrine of Christ as contained in 3 Nephi 11. It was a really wonderful lesson, everyone was involved, the Spirit was so strong and the mother, A-J, and the son, A, both commited to baptism on June 2nd! They've been reading and praying together which makes everything even better! Finally yesterday they were at church again with us for the second week in a row! Even though some of the testimonies were kinda 'dry' for some of the members, they loved it and love to be at church! THEY ARE SO GOLDEN!

We also have an 18 year old investigator named L. He's the equivalent of a Junior in high school, and just knows the church is true. We met him on a few different occasions this week, and were working on teaching him the commandments. On Thursday night we brought him to a member's house for a cheng-out and then lesson. He felt right at home and the family were super good fellowshippers for him. We taught him the Law Of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. I should say we just reminded him. Because of his own accord he started looking up the doctrine of the church last week and he himself quit tea and coffee on the spot. He doesn't have any problems with smoking or chastity. Super good lesson and he's so prepared. He's even secured baptismal permission from his parents and wants to go to BYU-Hawaii and then a mission! What's awesome is he brought those things up out of the blue! His testimony is so strong already and he can't wait to be baptized on May 26th!

This past week we had Zone Training. So the 24 missionaries in the zone got together and got better instructed on how to do our missionary work. They really hit hard on Less actives and so I feel really strongly that the Lord has some blessings stored in the less actives. Just gotta get out and find them now. At that meeting we also got 2 sets of new name tags. The first set is complete Chinese and are now mandatory to wear, and the second set are all English in case any of us ever get sent in to the Filipina wards to serve. It's kinda cool though because by the end of my mission I will have 4 different sets of missionary tags (that is if I can ever find my MTC tags).

Then at church yesterday we got 6 investigators to KwaiChung's ward services, but then unexpectedly 3 others couldn't make it to those services. It made me so grateful for the blessing of sharing that ward building with 4 different wards. We stayed around after our own services and brought investigators to the Filipina (English) service, and then 1 to the 3:30 Tsing Yi Ward service. It was a real spiritual lift to me to be able to hear 3 different sacrament meetings.

Anyways, that's all for now folks. Keep reading and praying! Do you remember Spiritual CPR? -- Church attendance, prayer, and reading. It really works!

Thanks for the birthday wishes too!

Love, Elder Siebach