Another Week Down!

Dear Friends and Family,

Another good week here on the island. I told you that we moved apartments last P-Day. That was quite the effort... For whatever reason it took a couple trips to get everything over, but we finally finished it late that night. The apartment is tiny, but very clean too--something that my old apartment definitely was not. I'm doing my best to keep it clean, but we'll see how it all turns out considering there are 4 of us in there. The bedroom is my favorite part of the whole place. Obviously because sleep is among my priorities, but also because they have 2 bunkbeds in there with no more than an inch in between them. It kind of feels like a jungle gym as you try to swing from bed to bed just to get to yours. If it weren't for the fact that one of the bunks is 6 inches lower than its neighbor bed it would look like a queen size bed for two. Its a good apartment though!

What's even better is that the location is in our area now, and that because we are out of the major downtown area food is a little cheaper and there is even a fresh food market a few blocks away.

So the new car is Deuce? That works. I've been surprised to find myself wandering in my thoughts this week and often thinking about and having flashbacks to driving in Flash. May she rest in peace.

I got the package! On Monday some missionaries were up in Kowloon and coming down to Wanchai so they graciously brought it to me. What a surprise when I saw how big it was! The brownies were delicious and there are many missionaries here that thank you for them! I finally managed to unpack all of it last night just to find out what was inside, now I just have to find a place to put it all. But thank you very much for all your thoughts and efforts to get everything to put in there!

To answer dad's question about weight, I wish I could give you exact measurements, but we don't have a scale or anything. It sufficeth me to say though that I am losing weight:) My waist line is decreasing, my dress shirts are fitting a little looser, as are my dress pants. Dare I say that my church suit is looking a little baggy maybe. When I left the MTC I probably hovered around 190-195 and I think I'm back down to about 175-180. I'm not complaining though. If anything I hope I can keep the downward trajectory, who knows, maybe I'll be able to fit in Grace's pants when I get back. Ha!

This week has been a good week for lessons. On Sunday we visited a recently returned Sister missionary's father. None of her family are members, but her dad has been to church a few times and thinks that religion is really important. He also agrees that this church has helped his daughter. The lesson was really good and we essentially talked about the first lesson and applied it to families. I felt prompted to talk a little about priesthood and the role of fathers in the home too. We hope to meet with him again very soon.

On Monday it was looking pretty overcast all day and the heavens finally opened at about 3. It was considered a 'yellow rain' which isn't hard enough to cancel missionary work, but heavy nonetheless. That evening it seemed like the  skies had cleared a bit so we walked from our apartment to a park the next town over and tried our luck at finding. It went well for the first hour or so and we managed to talk to a few people, and then as we were about to leave to grab something to eat we stopped a mom and started talking to her. The skies opened again while we were talking so we made our way over to a pavilion to wait it out. Talked with her and then another mother for about an hour about their families as well as us as missionaries. By this time it was almost 8 and they were getting antsy to get their kids home. The rain wasn't stopping though. Just getting harder. It moved from yellow rain to "red rain". Finally we made a mad dash for a restaurant where one of the mothers actually treated us to dinner! It was awesome! We rescheduled to teach her son English, in her home the next day! So that was a good day because we got two families!

Also this past Sunday we had 6 investigators at church and all of them stayed for a Young Single Adults activity afterwards and then a CES fireside! Pretty exciting to have all of them there! What was even better was that President and Sister Hawks unexpectedly showed up just to be in our Sacrament services. Great Sunday! Wish me luck because this Sunday I have been asked to take 5 minutes and share my testimony and whatever other thoughts I have...kinda nervous.

The next day we had a lesson with K at lunch time, and talked about overcoming problems and addictions. Really good lesson, just trying to help him read the Book of Mormon as well. But he's an awesome guy and genuine too. That Tuesday evening we went to this lady's house to teach English. She ended up feeding us yet again for dinner, and this time we managed to teach her and her father the first lesson. Her father will come to church this week with us, but she is going to mainland with her son so she won't be in church until the week after. Doesn't look like she's married so there's no father in the picture :( The lesson went really well though and both she and her father are very interested.

That's it for scheduled lessons this week. We've gone finding a few other times and talked to people but all of them are just potential investigators right now. Oh, and last Saturday we went finding for a few hours near a subway station--lots of trees in the area and it had just stopped raining so we were getting rain drops falling on us pretty regularly. Didn't think much of the drops until an hour later when my companion turns to me and tells me that I have bird poop on my back! Pretty gross but not anything that a little bleach and wash can't take out.

As many of you know, Hong Kong is one of the, if not the only, place in the world where they have church every day of the week. It's specifically for the domestic workers, most of whom are from the Philippines or Indonesia. Their 'holiday' or day off each week is determined by their employers and isn't necessarily on Sunday so to accomodate them, church is each day. Because I'm also in the church a lot I have ample opportunity to talk to them. They are very nice and always want to give some of their food to us! Very nice of them, this week they gave us vegetables and tuna fish sandwiches. However, why I bring this up is because they can never pronounce Siebach correctly. Always messing it up, but this week I found out that in Tagalog, if you pronouce Siebach as it is supposed to be pronounced, it means "to cut wood with an axe" I thought that was pretty cool, and now by some miracle when I tell them that, they can all pronounce it perfectly!

Here in Hong Kong they are all about the ancient Chinese medicines and methods. Often you can find shops that sell something called "Yah Seh Meh" which means "24 Flavors". Its a blend of a bunch of roots and leaves that have been boiled together. Supposed to be really healthy. After the coaxing of my companion, some less actives we were about to teach, and a set of sister missionaries, I tried it. Pretty nasty tasting stuff. Really bitter and it burns the back of your throat for a long time after that. But I choked it down, much the the pleasure of everyone and the restaurant owners who were right there watching as well. It's worth doing once. Gotta be like a local right?

Hope everyone is safe and well! Have a great week.

Sincerely,

Elder Siebach

One Move Down!

Dear Friends and family,

It feels like just yesterday I was writing. The time flew! I can't believe I'm here in this computer lab yet again. Still the same computer lab so I can't send any pictures. Not that I've taken a ton recently either. I need to be better about taking pictures. I saw Elder Rostrom today in Kowloon Tong today so I did manage to get a picture with him on his camera and my I-touch. Glad to hear that things are going well for the most part back home. Hope Scout continues to do well, I can just see her now sitting there dying to go out and play with a tennis ball :) The plaque looks good!--for the most part...the star isn't even on Hong Kong haha. No worries, most people won't notice I'm sure. And Flash is worse for wear. It's funny because this week I actually saw a late 90's model Acura TL. It made me reflect on Flash back home and how much I look forward to driving her, when I drive again that is. A little sad to hear that she couldn't weather through this one...Oh well.

The protests over the island in the China Sea were here in Hong Kong as well. I don't know if people attacked the Japanese Embassy but there has been a lot of talk and protesting. The the US Ambassador in Libya also die this week? Someone told me that. We also got a text this week from our mission president to just generally be careful because we are white and possible Muslim violence to look out for??? All I know is that I hope my two Arab/Muslim security guards of my apartment are cool with us haha.

So today, believe it or not, we actually moved! Our new apartment is a lot nicer than the one we have been in and very small. No room for some of the amenities that other apartments have. Like a couch or chairs. The A/C does work though so that is a bonus! It's also super convenient because it is in the middle of our area and a stone's throw from a bus stop and a subway station. We've moved a lot of our stuff over and just have to go back and get the last parts tonight. One thing that I admire about the people here is how much they can fit in so little. We have hardly any room but the Chinese people are master builders both in cities like Hong Kong and in their apartments. Sometimes their apartments feel like mini Hong Kongs with stacks shooting up here and there. My old apartment as well as my new apartment are roughly the size of my mom and dad's bedroom, not including the bathroom. It has a very 'homey' feel since it's all so small.

At church this week we had a few investigators show up--a few had work unfortunately, and one was sick. So not great numbers but for the ones that did make it to church, it was awesome. The other Chaiwan elders also had a baptism so it was a great experience to show our investigators what a baptismal service was like. Also got two less active members at church so hopefully we will be able to meet with them tomorrow.

Did a little bit of street contacting and have a lot of potentials so hopefully we can schedule a few lessons and perhaps get some of them to church. I think maybe the Jehovah's Witnesses saw some of our success because today they were in one of our most successful finding areas with their billboards and magazines. To avoid conflict we didn't try to contact there.

This week the new wave of missionaries also came in! Nice to see them again, and one of them, Elder Arrington, is moving into the apartment that I just moved out of. He will be serving in the area right next to me called Causeway Bay. Another new Elder, Elder Morton, is up in the New Territories somewhere, and Sister Cutler is in Kwun Tong. Just in case you guys back home are interested.

I was reading a lot this week in the last chapters of Alma and pondering on the Sons of Helaman and their righteous leaders like Moroni, Teancum, Antipus, and Helaman. These are truly men of God. They look to God in all things. And they definitely had good examples in their lives. The sons of Helaman specifically mention their mothers, and I definitely think that my mother is a great example in my life. I wouldn't for one second discount my father or leaders at church, teachers, and friends, though. I don't think the Sons of Helaman discount these either. We all have people in our lives that are great examples that we can follow. In my current circumstances I can rely on past experiences I've had with my family and leaders, but currently I can look for examples to emulate from members in my ward here, my mission president, Zone leaders, District leader, and especially my companion. There is good that we can learn from everyone we associate with.

I really also respect Pahoran in these chapters because he is chastened by Moroni, but he doesn't fault him, but praises him for his firmness. Just a great way to respond, and I way I need to work on. My dad can attest that I don't take criticism, even if it's constructive, very well. If you notice in the Moroni's letter, he says, "my beloved brethren, for ye ought to be beloved" and then Pahoran in his response ends his letter by calling Moroni his beloved brother. I believe Pahoran was doing all he could with the things that he had, and should not have been faulted, but even still, he found it in him to love Moroni still and to show an 'increase in love' as D&C 121 talks about. Worth thinking about in our daily exchanges with others.

This week in district meeting I gave a sharing (basically a 15 minute mini-lesson on a topic assigned by the District leader.) I was assigned to talk on revelation through the Book of Mormon as well as how the Book of Mormon can help our investigators. The lesson went well, but what I learned for myself was that I don't use the Book of Mormon nearly as much as I should. It's our most powerful resource as PMG says, and it can teach better than I will ever be able to. There is a reason that it is scripture and not my words. I think I don't use it nearly as much as I want to because often it's hard to use it in the middle of a street contact, but also because often I've been asked by people why we also teach from that and not the Bible more and so because I don't use the Bible much, I try to make it 'fair' and not use either. A mistake on my part that I am going to work on in the week ahead, but truly I need to be bolder and say that the reason I teach from it is because all Christian churches teach from the Bible, and the Book of Mormon is a new, second witness of truths. Anyway, my message, is use the Book of Mormon! Read it daily, ponder on it, share it, love it, cherish it etc...

Not a ton else has happened this week. I wish I had more new news to give y'all. Anyway, I also bought paper and letters so I will try and find a few moments to write in between moving and everything else I do. Have a good week.

Love,

Elder Siebach

Almost 1 Transfer Down!

Dear Friends and Family,

Things are going pretty well here on my end! Glad to hear that Grace had a good birthday and that she got the gifts! The Wooden hanging one says "Ping On" which translates to peace. And the book mark was just cool and I'm not sure what it says but I'm deciding that it says, "Gah Yow" which literally translates to "add Oil" meaning continue on or good luck. And clovers are lucky. Duh! 

Hope that Sterling's ACT went well. I was writing in my journal on my Saturday evening and it occurred to me that he was taking it at that moment! I'm sure he did well. 

Thanks for the emails and the letters I received. This week I received letters that where sent to me in the MTC but I wasn't there to pick them up. Sorry for the delay. No pictures today--in the same computer lab with the locked up hardware. Oh, and I'm just not going to tell you guys what could happen anymore. I mentioned 2 typhoons that never amounted to anything, and then moving--didn't happen. They have the apartment and everything so my thoughts are that they didn't find it necessary for us to all move over there when there are missionaries that will leave next week and go to new areas. Not moving this week saves them double packing and moving.

This week has been interesting because we've actually had a few opportunities to teach lessons in the middle of the day so we have not gone street contacting yet this week. We've taught English, played Basketball with potential investigators, and played a Chinese card game with other investigators. The mission just sounds like a party doesn't it??? It's been a wonderful week though because one of the days we met with our Mission Corellator's inactive son and now that we've built that relationship he is coming to church this week! That same day K spent just about the whole day with us. We had lunch with him at 12. A lesson at 1. The card game that afternoon, and then he stuck around to help out Fellowshipping!!!! He has a testimony and was interested in sitting in on another lesson! That evening we got a light snack and then had music night from 6-8. I left with my companion at that time to go visit a member and when we got back 1.5 hours later he was still there! Finally we had dinner at 9:30 and he came with us to that! Super good day!

Yesterday (Wednesday) is Sports night from7-9 so we invite investigators and play around and try to build relationships and teach them afterwards. We had 2 boys come early (right after school) and they stayed all the way until 9 playing basketball and eating dinner with us. Yesterday we also contacted a former investigator named A. Neither of us had met him, but he showed up, played basketball and in the lesson afterwards he expressed interest in baptism! He has been taught all the lessons before, recognized the spirit when he was once given a priesthood blessing, and the only reason he was not baptized previously was because he had tutoring on Sundays. He now doesn't have tutoring! We told him that in 3 weeks he can be baptized and he is preparing! The amazing part of all this, really the miracle, is that on August 1 when we set our companionship goals for this month we put down 1 baptism. We've been working hard the last 13 days and time was really running out for potential this month. However we kept feeling very strongly that it was going to happen, we just didn't know how! And then last night we figured it all out! He still has agency though, and I don't want to jynx myself by relaying this story, but I'm stoked! And humbled of course because of this answer, this miracle.

On Monday we went to a remote town called Shek O. It's on the Southeast side of the island and you have to take a mini bus through the mountains to get to it. It was beautiful scenary and I wish that I had taken my camera. Nonetheless, we will make a return trip at some point and I will then. This town is a hodge-podge of the rich and the poor. It's basically the people who can't afford to live in the city, as well as the ones that can afford not to live in it. We went there to try and contact a less active. We had their address but not a phone number. Turns out that after a couple hours of searching there is no address either... Oh, well. We tried. I bring up Shek O though because we did a little bit of contacting while we were there and actually ran into a British man. He, in a very jolly manner, forced us to come with him and to meet with his friends. He was very nice and said we could drink water though. haha. We wound up at an outdoor restaurant/bar and there sat with him and 8 other Brits that are living in tiny Shek O. They were very positive and not trying to disprove Mormonism. They just had questions. For some reason they thought we couldn't use elevators. And they asked about our 'magic underwear'. The night just got better as they got drunk. We left an hour later and felt really good about a positive discussion and may have planted the starts of seeds in some of these men before the alcohol affected them.

Last Thursday I said that we were going to go get Pizza Hut. And that we did! Super good. And even enjoyed the squid meat that was on it! At church we had 4 investigators there so that was awesome! Probably will have more this week too! This past Saturday we taught a 28 year old woman named S. She's a really nice woman and actually a referral from one of our current investigators. We taught her the first lesson and she said the closing prayer. She's golden. She's been praying for years to find the true church and recognizes the Spirit in her life in answer to her prayers! Really excited and hopeful about her progress.

Tangent: I talked to Elder R on the phone about three weeks ago. And then a few days later the Mandarin Elders were on exchanges and he was down here on the island. Saw him in the church and talked with him for a while. Looks really good and seems to be doing well! His area is up in the New Territories.

Another tangent: Switching thoughts to the package: I very rarely go to the mission office. I've been 2 times in the six weeks that I have been here. If need be I could try to make it up there but it's unlikely. Once in a while missionaries will come down from Kowloon Tong and will bring mail and packages with them that are then dropped off in our church building. I couldn't make promises on that either. So yeah... and I don't know what I want in it. Whatever you guys think I would appreciate and like.

This week I have been thinking a lot about the different meanings of faithful as they relate to faith. I can't say that I have come to any concrete conclusions, but it's been interesting for me to make circle diagrams and try to figure out the root of faithful as it relates to faith.

I'm sorry to say that today I also left my planner that has all my notes and scripture references but I also thought a lot about Sterling's question about the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. I can't remember the scripture but it's in Alma 30-40 and says that the Lord would not suffer that the people of Ammon should die. I fully believe that the Lord is capable of all things and could have saved them himself. However, I think this whole thing boils down to roles. The people of Ammon would not have been in the wrong morally if they had taken up arms. However, we also learn that the Lamanites, when they are converted to the Lord are more converted than the Nephites and show forth more faith than the Nephites. I think that the Nephites needed a trial of their faith. Would they trust in God? Would they call upon him when they went to battle? They did both. But maybe it would have been different had they had the extra strength of the people of Ammon. The Nephites role was to be protectors. The people of Ammon were refugees and also providers. They gave of the substance to the Nephites to support them. You may say that going to war and that providing are very different but actually both are very much needed. Just like the roles of fathers and mothers are needed but different. I will make one concession and say that the Nephites had it harder since their lives were on the line. But actually think about it from God's perspective. The atonement makes up for all of this. All the unfairness of life. How some people seem to get it 'easy' while others don't. The atonement compensates. The Nephites will be free partakers of Salvation and Eternal Life just as the People of Ammon--and everyone else for that matter. All will be exalted and so these problems of protector and provider all seem petty when you look at it through the lens of God. Anyway, I consider this to be my personal revelation for the week.

Today for P-day we stayed in our area. Ate breakfast with a member who got his mission call yesterday! He's coming the the Hong Kong mission! Woot Woot! Then we did a little church pants shopping, played basketball, that Chinese card game, currently are writing and I'm about to get my first haircut in China! It's badly needed so I'm looking forward to that.

Hope school, work, and everything else is going well for everyone! And thanks for your prayers in my behalf.

Sincerely,

Elder Siebach

Hello from the Jungles of South China

Dear Friends and family,

Once again, I am emailing from the same lab that I was in last week, so, no pictures... Perhaps next week? Been a really good week here in Heung Gong (pronounced Hurn Gong, meaning "fragrant Harbour, or HK).

I forgot to share that two weeks ago from tomorrow I had mission tour. A sweet, once-a-year experience where Zones meet and spend half a day hearing from the Mission President and other church high-ups. Really good experience and heard a lot that I could apply into my life. One thing that really stuck out to me and I have been pondering the last couple weeks was a quote from President Hawks. He related a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that he had of flying with the Blue Angels. Talked about how the G forces were much worse than he expected, but the reward was so much better with such a unique opportunity. He related our missions to this. I get to set aside two years of my life and not think about expenses beyond that of food and travel. No family to take care of, no rent to pay, no school sucking my funds. Just me and the Lord. So that is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. But then he talked about how our lives are once-in-an-eternity experiences. Kind of mind-blowing to think about. But these 2 years will make some of the greatest difference in my eternal progression if I let them. They can change my forever, my eternity, into something greater than if I had not gone. When I think about this it gives me further resolve to work harder, be happier, walk further, and just all-round be better. So my mission: "A once-in-a-lifetime experience, in a once-in-an-eternity experience." I encourage anyone who is on the fence about a mission and the sacrifices required therein to think about this and how there are only potential rewards to a mission. Absolutely nothing bad can happen unless you let it.

Anyway, that was all two weeks ago. Let's talk about this week.

Last Friday we had a Zone Find. Meaning the 24 missionaries or so met up and went on 3 hour splits with some other missionary. I went with an elder who is a Hong Kong native, and next transfer will leave the mission. He is also one of the Zone Leaders. Super humble, quiet, but extremely powerful missionary. Had a great spirit about him as we went finding in Sai Wan Ho and taught a lesson to two 16 year old boys. That night after the find, I met back up with my comp. We have been asked by a member to teach Chinese to her non-member, American husband. Don't ask me why the native Cantonese wife can't do it, but nonetheless, she trusted us to help him for an hour or so. I have a new respect for language teachers because it really wasn't easy. This will probably be something we do weekly, so hopefully my abilities will grow as well as that we will get some materials to give him to help him study. This past week we also met with one of our investigators, K, and taught him the 3rd lesson, where he had some questions about the Word of Wisdom. Everything that the Word of Wisdom asks us not to do, he himself has a problem with. Nonetheless he wants to conquer these things and we extended a baptismal date that he accepted! The last week in October! Super pumped for that, and just hope that we can be good supports to him and help him overcome. If you remember the family I helped move last week. Turns out that I wasn't moving them. I was moving their sister-in-law or something. So good news is that we still have their 9 year old son as an investigator. And he wants to get baptized. So we have him set for October too, but now we just have to work some magic with his parents who are worried that church will cut into his school studies.

This past Monday was Zone 24's. Meaning splits with another missionary in the zone for 24 hours. Something I wasn't really looking forward to because I found out that I would be staying in the ChaiWan area, meaning that my companion was leaving and I would become the Senior companion for that day. I thought for sure they would give me an experienced missionary to go with, but to my surprise they put me with an Elder from my older district in the MTC. Neither his Cantonese or my Cantonese are phenomenal obviously, but strangely I was just at peace as he and I went to go finding that afternoon. We made a number of contacts and handed out a pamphlet and lots of pass-along cards. It really made me stretch because I was the Senior Companion and we had to work really hard with our language, but I know that the Lord really supported me because I did better than just about any other time before, or since, at explaining concepts. That evening we went to a "gaai sih" or street market, which can be an unsanitary experience, but we were careful about what we ate, and it helped me become more like the locals as dad has encouraged.

On Tuesday and Wednesday we had pretty good days and had one scheduled lesson each day. Tuesday after our lesson we went finding in remote Siu Sai Wan. Super rainy day so we thought it would be hard to contact people but turns out everyone we contacted stopped and listened! Even got a lesson with 3 boys.

This week the Asia Area Mission Presidents are in Hong Kong having training in our chapel so yesterday we ran into them as they were leaving. I saw President and Sister Moon from Alpine, UT. They are the Cambodian Mission Presidents, and I met President and Sister Senior from the Thailand Bangkok mission. Turns out they have lived in Alpine, and are most recently from Flowermound, Texas! Small world! Also saw President Hawks in that encounter and he told us that next week we will be moving to a new apartment in Shau Kei Wan. Pumped for that and for the prospect of a working A/C unit! Woot woot. I would assume that we would move on P-day so I may not get off an email next week, just a heads up.

Today 7 or so companionships went to Cheung Chau (pronounced Churn Zow) for the day. This is an island off Hong Kong and it was really cool! Spent the day exploring and walked pretty much the whole island. Everyone says this island is haunted because there is a huge cemetary and crematorium near the peak. Also a pirate cave that we went and checked out (Too small and too accessible to be a secret pirate cave in my mind, but still cool). Super hot and super humid day and looked a lot like a jungle (hence my subject line). Cheung Chau also makes a really famous bread roll that you can't get anywhere else. I got it. Pretty good and had red bean paste inside.

This evening we are getting 'Changed Out' by some members in the ward and are headed to Pizza Hut! Pizza Huts here are super nice and sit-down restaurants so it should be pretty good!

Totally off topic but I was thinking this week that I want to study faith. I recalled Brother Morgan giving us a report that he had created on his research of faith when I was a priest. I was wondering if there was anyway that I could get my hands on a copy of that.

Reading in Alma this week and came across Alma 30:34 which is the Chapter about Korihor. Super good and Alma talks about how because all positions in the church, including missionary work, are volunteer, it must be the true church because our 'reward' if you will is the salvation and joy of others. Really applied to me this time as I read that. I will start reading in Matthew with you guys so that we can discuss about seminary chapters.

And I haven't forgotten that Grace's birthday is in a few days! Thats scary to think that she will have a permit... Don't hurt Flash! I sent a package last Friday so hopefully it gets there in time! But Grace, happy birthday! Hope it is a wonderful day for you! I will be thinking about you!

Hope everyone has a good week!

Love,

Elder Siebach