Final Witness

The Flags of Hong Kong and Macau

Dear friends and family,

I'm pleased to report that the Lord does continue to perform miracles! But only after we show forth our faith. Last Monday I went into the Immigration office and spent about 2 hours applying for and meeting with officials to get the oh so coveted extension of the visa. It was a nail-biter for me as officials met with me and explained the procedure. It wasn't too incredibly hard actually, but they needed a few days to process the application and get back to me. They told me to come back Wednesday afternoon between 2:30 and 3:30. Upon my return I was pleased to find that I didn't have to wait very long at all. Just a few moments and then they called me up to the counter. The lady told me that I was permitted to stay the additional 3 days that I had requested! That was a big sigh of relief because quite frankly I want to work here in Taipa right up until the end and I wasn't very keen on sitting in the mission home for 3 days waiting on my flight.

This past week has been another whirlwind. Tuesday we had our district meeting and I was happy to finally learn about and apply good door-knocking techniques--haha! One of the Sisters in our district, Sister Li, showed us all the ropes and taught us how to be personable and get into people's homes. Obviously the Spirit is the most important single factor; however, there was some good advice too about being enthusiastic, speaking slowly, smiling etc... Though we learned these things it was hard to really apply them when we were knocking. I can't help but feel that an endearing native HK Sister Missionary probably is a little more welcoming than the towering broad-shouldered English and American Elders. I could be wrong though. Regardless we will keep trying and pray for the Lord to soften the hearts of those we interact with each day.

Monday evening after P-Day ended we had about 1.5 hours to find. So we went down to the harbor and easy-as-pie taught 3 lessons. They were GOOD lessons too! Each one of the men we contacted really listened and was involved in the conversation. One of them, Mr. Wong, is actually a former investigator from a few months back! We had no idea. He's going through a bit of a work/family crisis right now and so it was just a great experience to remind him of eternal truths that he had temporarily forgotten. Namely; 1 God is our loving Heavenly Father, 2 He listens to and answers prayers, and 3 The Atonement is the remedy to all that is unfair in life. We scheduled him for Friday where we were able to then meet once more and share about Joseph Smith and the Restoration.

This past week we were also blessed with many lessons which is something we struggled with last week. Many of the college students are on summer break right now and are therefore more available. One of our best investigators, Rex, we were able to meet with twice this past week and help him learn more in depth about the Gospel of Jesus Christ as well as Sabbath Day. He is struggling with church attendance but has committed to talk to his boss and see if he can re-arrange his schedule so that he can attend Sunday Meetings with us. He is reading and praying daily and the best part is that he knows that it is helping him and he is developing his relationship with Heavenly Father!

We picked up another college student this past week to investigate. His name is Jones. He's 20 and really interested to meet and learn about this message. His biggest struggle is coming to church as well! We also met with him twice this past week and spent one lesson teaching the Restoration and the 2nd lesson reading from and explaining the importance of the Book of Mormon. He's making good progress.

Remember that miracle-Book-of-Mormon guy I told you about? Yeah, well he's been too busy this past week to meet with us... Pretty sad but he answers our calls and seems like we could have an opportunity to see him this next week.

Wednesday evening Elder M and I spent some time looking for and knocking on doors of less active members. During our study earlier that morning we had been impressed to select 3 members from the roster and search them out. One of them hadn't been contacted in about 10 years and her address had changed. We weren't sure if her phone was still correct so we decided to go searching first. We ended up knocking on 4 different doors trying to get any information that we could on her. It was all to no avail. When we got home later that night we called. She picked up and was really quite interested in scheduling something! We were just kinda floored! We saw her about 2 days later, shared a message, gave her a Book of Mormon and GOT HER NEW ADDRESS! That was the biggest miracle. Hong Kong has a lot of people who are 'lost sheep'. These are basically members that people have lost trace of because they have moved, passed away, or changed numbers and are therefore harder to contact. We don't like to have lost sheep. So any speck of information we can get is really a blessing from the Lord. I'm confident that the Lord saw our labors that evening and blessed us by toughing her heart so that we could meet with her and start the process of bringing her back into the fold!

Just yesterday we had another similar experience. Elder M and I finished our studies and went out to a gov't housing estate to go finding. We met and talked to everyone we could for a couple hours with some success. As we were turning a corner to go down a street, we greeted a couple that was walking along. As we spoke to them we found out that he was a member (hasn't been active for awhile) and his wife is not. We bore our testimonies to them of the importance of family and I talked about my family and how I was going home to them soon. I expressed that I wanted to take a picture with them. They were touched by this gesture and actually brought us into their home where we then met their 8 year old daughter and their 6 year old son. The little boy has Down's Syndrome, and as we sat there I was so touched by the way the parents were so loving and patient with their children, and I became full of love for this family and just wanted them to come back to the fold and feel the love and unity that comes from the gospel. I hope that in the coming weeks and months we can help them come back.

My time in Hong Kong and in Macau has truly been a wonderful experience. I have spent many sleepless nights thinking about the people we've taught and how we can help them come unto Christ, and I have rejoiced with the few souls that have "heard and come unto Christ." I'm so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and for His Son Jesus Christ. This is their mission and I am simply one of their Cantonese mouthpieces. I forget which Prophet or Apostle said this, but he said something along the lines of, "God really loves his Asian sons and daughters; just look how many He created." They are a remarkable, strong, and spiritually sensitive people. When I started my mission there were many things that I BELIEVED were true. As I end my mission there are many more things that I now KNOW are true. This is His church. These are His children. He allows us to participate in His work of Salvation and for this I am eternally grateful.

I pray that we will not 'sleep through the Restoration' as Elder Uchtdorf so cleverly stated. In everything we do and say, in every way, we should reflect the image of Christ. I testify that Christ lives. He watches over each of us. The most powerful experiences of my mission have been pulling people from the waters of baptism and seeing the light of Christ in their eyes. I have seen Christ's reflection in my investigators and recent converts. I have felt His love for his sons and daughters as I have been privileged to confirm new members and ordain men to the priesthood.

I want you all to know that I know the Book of Mormon is true. I've read its 531 pages 7 times in my mission and each page 'denote[s] that there is a God'. I am proud to say that I have read all 4 standard works in my mission as well as the missionary library and they too are true books. I leave my testimony as did Joseph Smith that I know the Book of Mormon is the most correct of any book and that a man or woman will get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts than by any other book.

I say these things humbly as a Representative of Him whose name I've worn on my chest 757 days, even the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Feeling "Infinitely More" Blessed

Dear Friends and Family,

Things have really been pushing along here in Taipa. This past week was about as hard a week as our first week when we had no investigators. Partly due to the fact that one of our best investigators got baptized, and some of the others whom we regularly meet with are busy with college finals and Secondary School projects/finals. We really didn't have any scheduled lessons so that made for a lot of finding. The finding turned our to be pretty good and we were able to find some really great people. Also had a few heart-breakers, with some really good people who just didn't go through and choose to continue investigating:(

I may or may not have mentioned that last week when we were in Zone Conference there was a real emphasis on being effective and productive at all times. Especially in finding since that seems to be a struggle for some missionaries. I think that I've been blessed in that even though in the beginning of my mission I disliked finding, I have grown to really enjoy the challenge of it all; the street, the elements, the potential and possibilities, all the new people I get to meet, etc.... It helps that now I feel comfortable in the language too.

One of the things that Elder M and I decided to try was something called a 'morning find'. Basically we cut out our studies in the morning and right after we were showered and ready for the day we went out and tried to do some contacting. The contacting was just that; contacting. Lots of international people and a lot of domestic workers all going to work. No real time to listen.

We got in from our morning find at about 12pm a little discouraged that it felt like such a flop. Then the miracle came. We pulled the phone out of our proselyting case to find that we had 2 missed calls. We called the number back and it turned out that it was a man whom we had contacted about two hours previously. He was busy when we contacted him but he took a flier. I specifically remember in that contact that we also mentioned that we teach people about The Book of Mormon and that we had a website that he could go to if he wanted to learn more.

Well, come to find out, he felt something as we mentioned the Book of Mormon and for the next hour or so the thought pestered him. He finally looked up the website, read all about the Restoration and Joseph Smith and then called! He scheduled with us for that afternoon to get a Book of Mormon. We met him in the park at the hottest part of the day and with sweat running down our faces (literally we had to stop and pull out our handkerchiefs for a moment) we taught him about the Book Of Mormon. I wish I could say that the lesson was the easiest thing in the world but it wasn't. He has a lot of pre-conceived ideas about apostasy and prophets and wasn't accepting much of what we said. He did, however, believe that the Book of Mormon was true and wanted to read it. We gave him a copy of his own and that's where we are. Now I have to have faith that if he reads and really asks God he will know the truth of the message and we will see him again. Truly a miracle contact! Morning time, flier, Book of Mormon. What more could you need? Besides maybe a member to be his friend:)

Another highlight from this week was this past Friday. We had Zone Training in the morning and the ZLs and Sister Training Leaders (STL) gave us all the new updates in the mission and some things to continue to work towards. Afterwards we all ate together and had a bit of a celebration with the Filipina Sisters providing their signature "Mango Float" dessert. It's wonderful. Right after that I went on an Exchange with Elder Ketring who is a Mandarin Elder and we took the ferry into Hong Kong to renew our visas. We turned back around soon after and once we got to Macau we were ushered into the Immigration Office where we sat for about 45 minutes as they processed our information only to tell us that they need us to come back in 3 days and we can then apply for extended stays in Macau. So 3 days later (today) we were in the Immigration Office from 8:30 to 11 taking care of all that. I've applied and in 2 days they will come back with a decision. I feel pretty confident that I will get it since I'm only trying to extend my stay for 3 more days. I also had a letter of Recommendation from the Branch President and my Boarding Pass as proof. It's in the Lord's hands now though.

John was confirmed a member of the church this past Sunday. That was a really sweet experience! The 2nd Counselor in the Branch Presidency gave the blessing and the Ward Mission Leader and I both participated. John was in a suit and really looked good. He's so much happier and he lifts the spirits of those in the ward around him. During Elders Quorum he had his first experience fellowshipping an investigator instead of being fellowshipped! Next week we're looking forward to him receiving the Priesthood!

Speaking of new members, I've been in contact with Leo for the last couple weeks trying to organize some sort of a final meeting. He's an absolute stud. He wanted to come out here so bad but the ticket is just too expensive. I'm really hopeful that on my last day in Hong Kong we will be able to have a reunion of sorts. He's going to be a Summer Missionary for 2 weeks this August and is preparing to serve as a full-time missionary too! :)

I think one realization I've come to on my mission is that no matter how much you may think you are teaching and blessing those around you, they are blessing you infinitely more. Every member, investigator, less active, etc... These relationships and experiences will last an eternity. I'm so blessed to serve as a missionary and to be here at this time. 

I'm grateful for each of you and especially grateful for scriptures. I know that anyone who will read with even the smallest ounce of faith can get an answer. God doesn't need a lot of faith to make miracles happen, He just needs some. As the prophet so eloquently quoted, we can all "lift up the hands that hang down." I know that Heavenly Father wants all of us to be missionaries no matter what our capacities or strengths may be. Keep going! GA YAUH!

Love, 

Siebach JeungLouh.

The Lord's Hand

My heart is full as I write you on this absolutely roasting hot Monday afternoon. It's been great to see the photos of Sterling going off to the plane and all the goodbyes. I'm super proud and happy for him! For most of the street contacts that I make I like to show them a photo of my family. If they ask whether or not my family supports my decision to be on a mission I like to launch into how my father served in Germany when he was a young man, my mother served in Portugal when she was a young woman, and my kid brother is serving in Japan with me. Because I don't know for sure whether or not Grace will go, I just mention that she is thinking about going when she is graduated. It really is a blessing to have so many missionary examples in my immediate family!

This week was wonderful. We worked hard. The sun beat down, we got tan, and an uncountable number of people now know that we are missionaries who share the Gospel of Jesus Christ! Most of them have a flier with which they can re-contact us if they have interest. 

We didn't get nearly the numbers that we had last week, but we had some great success teaching less-active member lessons. We were able to schedule 3 different people and share a message of sorts. One of the most impressive to me is a man that we make regular visits to. He is a bus driver and so when we went to visit him on Saturday and saw his arm all bandaged up, he related to us the story of how when he was putting water into the radiator, the lid exploded and gave him 3rd degree burns all up and down his forearm. It looked really painful. We asked if there was anything that we could do to help and he asked if we wouldn't mind coming back the next day since he was entertaining company the time we arrived. We happily agreed, so yesterday we were able to go down with the Elders Quorum President and give this good brother a blessing. Elder M anointed and Brother Wong was voice. Great spirit in that home!

Earlier that day (Sunday) Elder M and I were anxiously preparing for a lesson as well as for John's baptism. After John had his baptismal interview this past Thursday, he asked if I wouldn't mind baptizing him! I was very honored by the invitation. Especially since when we were assigned here to Taipa I had 2nd thoughts as to whether or not I would get to see another baptism. 

John showed up about 10 minutes before Sacrament Meeting in a tailored shirt and pants that he had purchased and been preparing just for this event. I also got a little "snazzied up" and wore a suit that I've only worn one other time on my mission (my birthday). 

During Sacrament Meeting John was listening and really enjoying himself as he listened to the testimonies that were borne and then he pleasantly surprised us as he got up and bore a testimony as well. He talked about his reading in the Book of Mormon and shared with us 1 Ne 3:7 and talked about how this year has been very hard on his family. Economic crises, health problems and general discord. He said that at the lowest point he was called by Elder M and I and felt like he should try listening to the message again (he was a former investigator from about 13 years ago). It struck me how we could be an answer to his prayers and how that same day, April 17th, was the very day that Elder M and I actually arrived Taipa, and that 3 hours previously I had told Elder M and more than anything else in the world, I wanted to baptize with him. We met John on April 18th (with a member-present lesson too!) and extended a baptismal invitation. All within our first 24 hours in our area! So to see how this all turned out and having had the foreknowledge that I did, the whole experience has been particularly meaningful. 

I baptized John and thankfully I succeeded in doing it in one dunk (one of the greatest fears of my mission is having to re-do a baptismal prayer).  After I brought him up out of the water we embraced and then went back to change our clothes. He was asked at the close of the baptismal service to share any thoughts or feelings that he had. He mentioned that the first time Elder M and I met with him, we had invited him to pray about the truthfulness of our message. He did, to which he said he got an immediate response that said it was not true. Slightly puzzled by this he decided to pray again but this time to clear his mind of all other thoughts and to be earnest about it. The feelings and impressions that came to his mind the second time are what ultimately strengthened him and built his testimony during those times when Elder M and I weren't around to teach and support. Great testimonies were borne. 

It really was an incredible week! 

This past Wednesday the Macau Zone went into Hong Kong where we were able to participate in a Zone Conference with the Hong Kong Island Zone. We talked about goals and obedience and one quote from the Mission President really stood out to me: "What we get from pursuing our goals is not nearly as important as what we become from pursuing our goals."

Right after the Zone Conference we were privileged to be able to go through and do a temple session. In the temple I saw temple workers from each of the wards that I have served in, and for a fleeting moment I felt like that was what heaven was going to be like. I won't just have these friendships and relationships during my mission. They can be eternal.

 

Great week. Spiritual week. I finished the Book of Mormon too! Love that book! 

I love you all. Keep up the good work! Be a missionary no matter where you are! 

Love, 

Elder Siebach 

Two Elder Siebachs!!

Dear Family and Friends,

First off, I want to say congrats to my kid brother Sterling who goes into the MTC this week! He's headed to Tokyo-- our old stomping grounds!! Sayonara man!

Elder Sterling Siebach greeted at the MTC by his cousin Elder Luke Hartung!!

What an incredible week we had this past week! Things could not have gone better! Well, actually they could have. We could have had more people at church... But, all complaints aside, it was an inspiring week:)

A few weeks back we were riding a bus from the South side of our island to the north. As we went I was lost in thought looking out the window when we came to an intersection that had a plaza with a fountain right in the middle of it. Forgetting for a moment that we were in Taipa, I quickly thought in my mind, "Oh, if we served the Macau side that would be a good place for finding." 3 minutes later, and now completely out of sight of the plaza, I remembered where we were. For the next several days Elder M and I would go finding and try to relocate that perfect spot, but to no avail. Finally, this past Monday evening, we were out in the drizzling rain at the close of another P-Day when we found it!  The reason it was so hard to find was that all the shops, buildings, and roads around it are raised higher than the plaza so unless you are higher up (i.e. a bus) you wouldn't know where to go!  By the grace of God we found it and spent the rest of the evening there. It wasn't a lot of time, but it was really effective!  We taught three lessons and found two new Nepalese investigators. So that's how our awesome week started off!

The next day, Tuesday, we were in Macau for district meeting, language pass-offs with the Zone Leaders (mostly for Elder M, but I like to do it as well), Correlation meeting, and a special training meeting designed to teach ward members how to effectively meet with, share with, and commit less active members to retake the lessons. Each missionary companionship had a part so we were all in attendance, however, the members weren't... Ugh! We had 2 members there and then our Correlator and a less active member-- of all people! It proved to be a great day for us though since we were also able to meet with John in the middle of the afternoon and had Brother Kwan, the 2nd Counselor in the Branch Presidency help out. We shared about tithing and fasting and it was great. Brother Kwan is a professional MMA fighter and a hulking figure if I ever saw one. But, his testimony is as strong as he is and deep down I think he's probably a big teddy bear. He really helped John a lot.

The next day, Wednesday, we were able to meet with Rex, and spend some time reading scriptures with him. We had one of our ward missionaries, Eddie, help us out. Rex is 21 and it really feels like he and I are best friends. Awesome guy, really relaxed and has good interest. We just needed to clarify that we don't invite him to the church just to get out of the stifling heat and have A/C--haha!. We had a great lesson with him and rescheduled to meet him this coming Sunday for church. He committed to read daily even though he is super busy with exams this next week. We then ran back to Taipa and had only about 45 minutes to find before we had to turn back around to meet some other potential investigators we had scheduled at the church. In those 45 minutes we tried a new approach where we went to the University and on a clip-board had a flier for mormon.org with places for people to leave their contact information. It was like giving candy to a baby it was so easy! In 45 minutes we had 16 emails, and 15 cell-phone numbers. Everyone we approached gave us their info pretty much. We ended up getting canceled on for our lesson which was a bummer, but it gave us time to get dinner which we wouldn't have had otherwise. At 7:15 we went on a split with the Mandarin Elders and I went with Elder Ketring back to Taipa to turn over Tyler, one of our awesome investigators--with a baptismal date too. Right after those lessons we got back with our companions and Elder M and went back to visit a Filipino family we had taught the week before. The husband and wife weren't home unfortunately, but we met the grandmother and some of the children and were able to teach them a lesson. Hopefully we can get the whole family this next time.

Thursday was weekly planning. We got about half-way into weekly planning and I just turned to Elder M and said, "How about we worry about this a bit later and go finding instead?" Like the good sport he is, he said, "Sure, where?" So we blazed on down to the southern tip of our island and knocked the 2 doors that had some promise from the week before when we were down there. One was with 87 year old Mr. Ho. He is a good guy. Lots of patience and a little bit lonely. He was happy to see us again. We talked about the life of Christ and he decided to become a new investigator. Then 2nd door we knocked was for a Vietnamese worker whom we contacted the week before. We gave her some of the pamphlets in Vietnamese, explained prayer, and scheduled to come back next week. We're looking to try and get a Vietnamese recent convert named Anna to go down there with us and help us teach. That evening we had rescheduled our two Nepalese friends from this past Monday and we gave them a Hindi Book of Mormon and testified of how it has blessed our families and our lives. Both of them are fathers of 2 and 3 children respectively. They are curious about Christianity but were very clear in explaining that due to family circumstances they won't be able to convert or anything. That didn't stop us though! We're giving them a call tonight to see if we can meet again. The last thing we did that night was go up to the church to start a 24-hour companion exchange with the Macau South Elders. I went to Macau South with Elder Peacock. He came the same time as Elder M to the mission and is from Bangor, Ireland. Great guy.

Heading off on an exchange

When I got to the Macau Elder's apartment that evening I talked with the Zone Leaders for a few minutes and they told me about a miracle that they had had that day. They said that 1-2 months ago they were visiting an LA and seeking referrals. She didn't have any to give so then they asked if she knew of an LA friends of hers that they could meet with. She did. She mentioned two names. Jeff and Cherry. They ZLs spent the next few weeks trying to find anyone in the ward who knew them or even where they lived. Their records weren't in the ward list either. No leads. Then one night as they were finding the contacted a woman and she mentioned that her cousin was an LA named Jeff. That was their first lead. They were about to get Jeff's info during their 2nd meeting but this investigator was anti-ed really badly and wouldn't meet them again. Then Thursday night the Macau Sister companionship were in the chapel when three people walked in. Like all missionaries they went over to meet them and greet them and found out that 1 of them was from out of town and had scheduled the other two, Jeff and Cherry, to pick her up at the church. The Sisters were able to get Jeff's number and address! (So that is the first part of the miracle find.The 2nd part is that in my companionship when we were calling through some really old potential investigator records, we found a lady named Cherry and the only info we had was that she was a referral from a member named Brother Chow). So I turned to the Zone Leaders after the had told me all this and simple asked, Is Jeff's last name Chow? To which they said, "Yes!". I then explained that we had been in touch with Cherry a few weeks previously and had been trying to schedule her. I had also written her name and number down in my daily planner for further follow-up. So there you have it. 3 different companionships, 2 months of effort, and we've found a formerly untraceable family! They also have 3 children who haven't been baptized yet and the parents would consider coming back to church. (I guess the reason they stopped coming in the first place was because after they graduated from BYU and moved to Macau they didn't feel welcome in the Branch the first week and subsequently decided to stop coming). So the lesson is, be welcoming to all visitors! 

Anyway, back to the week...We had a great exchange finding, teaching 2 scheduled lessons, as well as a less active member lesson. Lots of good things happening in their companionship as well. We ended our exchange that evening and made our way back to Taipa. Our phone had stopped working the day before because the mission forgot to pay the phone bill... Miraculously our District Leader was able to pay it for us and so we were able to make some phone calls that night.

Saturday we finished our weekly planning and then had spurts of finding in between dinner and a less active member visit which, by the way, was full of surprises. We went with our Correlator to visit another Brother who is his friend. Turns out this guy absolutely loves animals. He has 3 dogs, a turtle, and 20+ fish. When he came to the door he was in a tank-top and short shorts. He looked like a mess too. All we could hear was whimpering in the background. He ushered us in and showed us that one of his dogs had given birth to a litter of 10 puppies just an hour before we got there. He had been playing "vet" all afternoon before we came. Had a great lesson! Lots of noise and really fun!

So there you have it. Our week was awesome--the best yet here in Taipa--we were really blessed! We were able to invite Rex to set a baptismal date yesterday! We had lots of member-present lessons, a bunch of other lessons (13 of which were right on the street!), and we found 8 new investigators! The Lord really blessed us this week and we're looking forward to another great week to come! John is preparing to be baptized this coming Sunday if all goes well! We're meeting him tonight to introduce him to the Branch EQ President (men's group leader). We're doing great! 

Keep your heads up! Look for opportunities to share testimony whether it is through your words or actions!

Love,

Elder Siebach