A Christmas Miracle!

Dear Friends and Family,

Big day for A-F!

What an awesome week to be a missionary! I got to talk to my family on their Christmas Eve which was so great! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. I know I did! A lot of hard work and prayer really paid off this week! Two baptisms! Talk about a Christmas miracle! I've been talking for a few months now about 2 of the most prepared people I've run across in my mission; A-F and An-. Well, they are now some of the newest members to the church in Hong Kong! :) Well on Sunday they got baptized! I was honored to be able to help baptize An-, while A-F invited the YM's 2nd Counselor to help baptize him. 

It was so rewarding! It was also the most stressed I think I've ever been on my mission. We only had 2 investigators at church this Sunday and An- was not one of them! She got sick with a fever/flu symptoms on Friday and wasn't sure if she would be able to make it to the 9:30 sacrament meeting.... Then she wasn't in Gospel Principles class and I didn't see her during Priesthood/ Relief Society. I was sweating bullets. Her phone was off too. Well, the bishop got up and shared a few comments in the end of the combined 3rd hour we had and mentioned how THAT DAY he had met with a 'new sister' and he started sharing parts of An-'s conversion experience. I was so confused. I ran up to him after the meeting ended and asked, "You've seen An- today???" He said, "Yes, she's out in the foyer." Well lo and behold, she had come! We just had somehow never seen her. She also came to church with a member from the West Point ward and explained to us that this friend, Sh-, had invited her to church 13 years ago! It was super cool! 13 years ago Sh- probably thought nothing would come of An- since she didn't come to church again. However, she was an integral part in planting the seed that I was blessed to have harvested 13 years later! NEVER UNDERESTIMATE YOUR OWN EFFORTS!

A-F thankfully was at church the whole time and so we were much more confident about him. The whole baptismal service took about 40 minutes and the speakers did a wonderful job. You could feel the love of the ward for these two and could sense the brotherhood and sisterhood. I heard one of the Relief Society sisters as she was hugging An- say, "You're one of us now." :) The YM weren't nearly so affectionate with A-F (probably a good thing) but they came out and were a good support. I hope that the ward will see from these baptisms that they have missionaries that are willing to work and bring in their own investigators; now we just need the members to introduce their friends too! Most assuredly Elder P and I will be spending more time out of the streets in the coming weeks trying to find those that will hear and those that 'are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.' It's an exciting time to be a missionary!

Street display near the light rail

This past Wednesday, Christmas Day, was a great day for missionary work! We had a stake activity and the missionaries played a big part in running a carnival game (a bean bag toss), street contacting, advertising near the over-ground railways, giving church tours, and running a workshop on missionary work. Thankfully all 24 missionaries were present and willing to help. We had a shift rotation and so I started at the game and had a good time getting the 400+ participants excited, then I moved out to go street contacting down the back alleyways near the church. We got a few good conversations but not too much else. Then we were walking near a canal and ran into an 

Christmas curry with my new friend!

Indonesian woman (she'd been living here 20+ years and knows fluent Cantonese). She invited us to her home and so we walked to this shantytown area where she lives with about 25 Indian neighbors. The majority of the Indians are actually Christian and so they were excited to hear that we were missionaries sharting about Christ. They tried to offer us some drinks (strong drinks really) but we avoided that and instead they gave us a nice plate of fresh baked naan bread and some awesome chicken curry! Got to use my fingers for the whole thing too! That was super exciting! Thankfully we had an English Restoration pamphlet that we left behind for them. We didn't get off a lesson since they were in the midst of preparing for their own Christmas party that evening that they also graciously invited us to.

Tuen Mun Zone Christmas Dinner

After that exchange we went out to the banners we had set up near the overground railway and advertised for an hour or so before coming in for dinner and then the last thing of the night was a musical performance with members from all over Hong Kong coming together to make a Christmas choir. That was a great way to end the evening! The whole week was great! Great from the start to the end! We're looking forward to finding new investigators, a new year, a new start!

I'm cutting this letter short to upload pictures. Have a great week everyone!

Love,

Elder Siebach

Merry Christmas!

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow! Can't believe that Christmas is 2 days away! It's been quite the week here in Hong Kong!

Tin Shui Wai (apartment buildings in the
distance)--separated from Mainland China
by this Wetland Park

Last Tuesday we attended the TinShuiWai district meeting and right afterwards went on exchanges with their district leader. I worked with his companion in the TinShuiWai area. It was freezing! Super cold and rainy! No one really wanted to talk to us on the street so we did a little LA finding that evening and then met with a less-active member at the church where we had eally good lesson! We had a great time together and learned a lot. TinShuiWai is actually the ward of my second companion, Elder W. It was funny to see his picture in their area book. TinShuiWai is also the most populated area in all of Hong Kong. And with the exception of the temple square mission, it is the smallest proselyting area in the world! Just some fun facts :) We could look right into mainland from a lot of the apartment buildings we were in. :) That Tuesday was also my companion's birthday so we had a small celebration.

Wednesday morning I was doing my companion study when we got a text from the Assistants. That's always a kinda scary thing! However, it was great news! Really a Christmas present actually! We found out that English/Chinese tags are approved again for our mission! President Hawks has been working with Salt Lake for months now and so each missionary will soon be issued new tags! (That brings my count up to 11 tags). We're the only mission that currently has this approval! GO HONG KONG! We were super stoked about it.

Last P-Day I forgot to mention that my apartment went down to MongKok. 2 of the Elders went and got fitted for new suits that they are buying for Christmas, and I made a nice new purchase; a camera! It's actually a trade-in and it's working well so far! I've already been a lot better at taking pictures. Hopefully I can remember my camera cord one of these days and send some pics home!

This past week we had a great week for lessons! We struggled to get member presents from Monday to Thursday, however, we were able to get 6 from Friday to Sunday. We got some good LA finding in with one of our members, and we met with just about all of our investigators. That was a real blessing because some of them, specifically An--, A-F, and Al-- have commitment dates coming up really fast.

An-- has been out of town for the last two weeks, but she called us as she was boarding her plane (to come back home from Singapore) to tell us that she would be at church the following day! Wow!! We were very relieved because we've been unable to contact her and she hasn't been on Facebook for a long time. Finally, on Sunday we were able to sit 

                                                                                         down with her, share a lesson on

Tai Pei Temple: same design as the Dallas Temple!

tithing and fasting and really get to hear more about her trip. She told us that while she was in Singapore she went to church and introduced her sister's family to the missionaries there! Sounds like she had a great time! She then went to TaiWan for a  while and though she was unable to get to church that Sunday, she was able to take a taxi to the TaiPei temple! She said it was stunning. It had been raining all week there, but on that day the skies cleared and the temple had a glow around it. She got in a traffic accident on her way to the temple too (the taxi she was riding in got T-boned)--but that still didn't deter her! After her walk around the temple she went straight to the airport and flew home! Haha :) Great things going on there!

A-F is doing super well too! We met with him on Saturday and Sunday to help review and explain new commandments to him. He really wants to be baptized and is working for it! I wish I had more time to tell you about him!

At church this past week we had 5 investigators in sacrament meeting and 3 others were able to come to Young Mens where we shared a lesson on missionary purpose (they were unavailable earlier in the morning). So 8 people at church total. That quadrupled the size of the Young Mens when everyone was in there!

I'm loving the work! This next week we're already going to be crazy busy at a Stake Christmas activity all day Wednesday. Today we will be getting together with some people in the zone to watch the mission slideshow and such. Investigators are scheduled to come, now we just gotta call some members too! We'll keep up the work on this end! If we have time we might try and string some Christmas lights or decorations around our apartment since nothing too crazy is going on anywhere else in Tuen Mun. Keep the faith! Remember the reason for the season!

Merry Christmas everyone!

Love,

Elder Siebach

P.S. I'm planning to call you my Christmas morning at about 9:30. That would be about 7:30 PM Christmas Eve for y'all. Is that ok?

Hands Down the Best Time to Be a Missionary

Dear Friends and Family,

Hong Kong is wonderful! Totally cooled down a few days ago and it's been raining for about 3 days--50 degrees now!

This past week zoomed right by again. It's been a blessing to be able to spend time with investigators, church services, and taking care of some things in the New Territories Zone. In fact, just this past Saturday we had a Priesthood Leadership Meeting. President Hawks was there and he asked that the Zone Leaders and 2 Sister Training Leaders be in attendance. We were instructed by the Stake President, President Chan, as well as the Area Seventy, President Wong. President Hawks shared a few words too. It was amazing to be in that body of the priesthood and hear the things that were being said. There was a fairly good turn-out and I feel like each person walked away with a bit more resolve to work together with the missionaries. I was impressed with the call to be faithful members. Another topic that was discussed was tithing. In the Stake right now we have 6 wards and next year they have a goal to have two more units. They will split one ward and pull from two other wards to make a third unit. It's a lofty goal, considering how many people are active; especially the number of active, full-tithe paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders. It's very achievable though.

I was impressed also by an exercise we did to help us learn to work together as ward leaders and missionaries. There was a bit of an obstacle course and time limit and so it really forced leaders and missionaries to cooperate. The most impressive part of that meeting was the Spirit that could be felt as the speakers spoke. You could feel that they knew what they were saying was true and that they too were applying these same principles. One of the last things that President Wong mentioned was that we need to spend more time in the scriptures and in the conference talks. He specifically quoted President Packer who mentioned the safety and security found in the scriptures.

Last thing that stood out: President Wong referred to how the "Come Follow Me" Curriculum came out and was to
help YM and YW learn how to teach the Savior's way. This then had direct cause and effect to the lowering of the mission age and the time that missionaries spend in the MTC. He told us that we too should be teaching in the same format as "Come Follow Me" explains. "This is inspired. This is the Lord's Way;" it is what he said. Love it. Great meeting.

We were able to work really hard this week and stay busy each day with lessons. A few weeks ago President Hawks asked missionaries to consider the effectiveness of meals with members. He wants us to try to invite an investigator or less active to the meal. So, in line with this new standard, when we were invited to a meal this past week we asked the Sister if we could invite our friend J. She was fine with that and so we did. It was a wonderful meal! Good humor, a good message at the end, and to close out the night we sang a hymn. The Spirit was so strong and I think it had a strong impression on J.

The following day we actually met again with J and shared about tithing. It's not an easy commandment to take when you live in such an expensive place as Hong Kong, but he was willing to read the pamphlet and pray to know whether or not he should keep it. We can't ask anything more than that! :) Just have to rely on the Spirit now.

This past week was transfers. No changes in my companionship, however, we have a new Sister, Sister Choi serving with us in Tuen Mun. The other sister is Sister Morgan who I actually knew in Lone Peak back in my Utah days. It will be fun to work with them. We also said goodbye to a handful for Elders and Sisters; including the 3 sisters who were in the MTC with me. It's kinda weird that they are home now!

Really solid things going on here in Hong Kong! We still have 4 baptismal dates and should be extending at least two more this week. Fingers crossed. Christmas is right around the corner and so hopefully more people will be able to schedule! Christmas time is hands down the best time to be a missionary! Miracles are happening! :)

I'm almost out of time! However, two scriptures:

Mark 2:5

President Wong shared this scripture with me after our priesthood leadership meeting and told me to pay attention to why the man sick of palsy was healed; it wasn't just his faith.

Later, as I was pondering Helaman 1 I started considering what kinds of things come into our lands. Similar to how Coriantumr sends the Lamanites right into Zarahemla and takes the Nephites by surprise. It ends up being the Lamanites downfall too, however, I started thinking about how Satan is coming into our "lands" today, openly attacking things like family and morality/chastity and I could see some parallels there.

Hope all of you are safe and having a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Siebach

P.S. I don't remember if I said this last week or not, but thank you for the package! I just opened my  3rd day of Christmast gift! Great socks :)

"I Only Read True Books"

Wow, where does the time go? Another great week under out belts here in Tuen Mun! Last Monday we had a little district activity for P-Day and went hiking around on this mountain.

Castle Peak leading up to Tsing Shan Monastery

Main Entrance gate to monastery

Incense coils

View toward Tuen Mun

We explored half a dozen temples and then made a long haul hike up to the most remote of temples. I don't even remember the name but it was kinda in shambles. Lots of ruins around it and then also some better maintained parts. Come to find out, it's one of the oldest temples in Hong Kong (like maybe 500 AD or so...?) and it's also where Bruce Lee filmed his movie "Enter The Dragon" back in the 70's. It was tight! 

View toward the bay!

This past week is the busiest week for Zone Leaders because of Mission Leadership Council. All the Zone Leaders, Sister Trainer Leaders, and APs meet in Kowloon Tong and we have training on the first Wednesday of every month. Training lasts from about 10 AM to 3:30 PM and then we make our way back home for an hour by train. Heavily laden with supplies and packages for the Zone we then teach any lessons we might have on Wednesday night. Thursday it just a day of planning since we do our weekly planning and had to plan for the Zone Training Meeting we have on Friday. It's fun work though. We get to be counseled right from President Hawks in a setting that few other missionaries get to have; plus Sister Hawks makes delicious food! This week we had Enchiladas (a first for my entire mission experience). You can bet I loaded that thing with salsa! I love that meeting because I know every missionary at it! Most all of them are ones that I've worked with or lived with at some time in the mission. Just like a big reunion for 40 people. We got a lot of good counsel and new instructions for missionaries.

I also got two great packages this week from my family and from the Tietjens! Thank you all so much! I love all the knick knacks and only-in-America-can-you-find-this food! It will be a Christmas of plenty in my apartment. The Apartment mates also thank y'all.

So whenever Elder P and I weren't planning and prepping for lessons we were teaching and did a little bit of finding this week. On Wednesday we met with Al-. It was the first time we've been able to see him in almost a month and so it was a joyous reunion! He's doing really well and we're trying to reset his baptismal date for January hopefully. He was at church this week which we were extremely happy for! Hope to see him tomorrow too.

We've also been able to see P- a few times this week. His date it coming up really quick and so we're trying to make sure he is completely prepared. He has a great understanding of the gospel, now we're trying to help him see why applying it will help him. Right now we're working on keeping the Sabbath Day holy. We're happy for him. Sick with a fever yesterday so he wasn't at church.

An- is somewhere in Singapore right now; we're keeping up with her through Facebook about once a week. Hopefully she introduced her sister and nephew to the church yesterday! She said she would continue to be at church! :)

J- is doing great. Saw him on Friday and had an indepth lesson on how baptism is the gate to help him overcome his weaknesses. He's very concerned about his morality and how he can strengthen himself and be virtuous. It's a super good desire, he's just a little hesitant to set a baptismal date. He knows he should be baptized and I feel like this past lesson really helped him. Preparing for his lesson really helped me to realize that we are all imperfect people and that baptism is for the imperfect. The gift of the Holy Ghost is what God gives his imperfect sons and daughters who want and follow Him. J- is really musically gifted and so he is going to be playing a song at the Stake Christmas party about Christ. He's super involved and open to new things which is awesome!

A-F is awesome! I almost feel like he is more awesome than I give him credit for because he is so shy! We were supposed to meet with him on Saturday; however, the electricity and water in his apartment blew up Saturday morning and he didn't want to hike down from the 30th floor, meet with us, and hike back up afterwards. Understandable for sure. So we prayed that Sunday everything would be better. It was, so he was at church all 3 hours, stayed with us for a baptismal service, we taught a lesson afterwards and then at 5 we met up with him again and took the MTR down to Kowloon Tong for last night's "My Conversion Story" fireside. Super good! He's making great progress and his understanding of the Book of Mormon is phenomenal! We were floored yesterday as he explained perfectly Lehi's dream in 1 Nephi.

These are our investigators that are progessing the most right now, however, we went back to the same bridge we were at last week, and met with JC again. He didn't have a lot of time so we kept our remarks short and then went and knocked on Mr. L's door again. He wasn't super available right then either, but we were able to get his number and schedule him for this past Saturday for a tour of the church. He's really good! Semi-retired man who told us he loves reading only 'true' books. Boy do we have the book for him! We had a great tour, shared the Restoration lesson with him, and rescheduled to meet him tomorrow. Afterwards he stayed at the church to attend the ward Kareoke Activity. He met about half the Elders Quorum there too! As missionaries we weren't able to stay for a music activity (obviously), and so we would just poke our head in once in a while to check on them. Hopefully it was a good experience for them all.

Super good week this week all in all. I can't believe I've already been here 2 months! Transfers end this Tuesday. Elder B (a Mandarin Elder who entered the MTC with me) is the new AP, and all things are looking like I'll be staying here in Tuen Mun :)

Hope everyone is doing well back on the homefront and staying warm! I still sleep with a sheet and a window open. The air is a lot fresher from the 31st floor :)

Love,

Elder Siebach

Two Miracles Under a Bridge

Dear Friends and Family, 

Thanksgiving was a blast! On Thursday we were granted a 3 hour grace period where we could have a dinner and celebrate together, so the 27 missionaries in the New Territories Zone had a Thanksgiving Pot-luck. My apartment which consists of the Butterfly and Tuen Mun Elders were in charge of mashed potatoes for the Zone. We carefully planned out and bought 50 potatoes thinking that each person would probably want 2 cups worth or so. Boy were we wrong... We only got through like half of those mashed potatoes... It was super awesome though! We had jello, turkey, stuffing, yams, veggies, mashed potatoes and gravy! We also had a surprise visit by President and Sister Hawks who graciously brought up a package to me from the Southlake Young Women! Thanks so much! My apartment is still working our way through all the goodies! I realized as I looked at the picture of all the Southlake YW that a) they've all grown up and look completely different, or b) there have been a TON of YW that have moved in! Probably a little of both:)

Southlake Ward Young Women (and this
is only about 2/3 of them!)

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving. After the initial meal we organized groups and had some friendly Minute-To-Win-It competitions. Super fun! We had ping pong tosses, activities to check your chopstick skills, cross words, music, 1-legged races etc... Everyone had a great time! Unfortunately my camera didn't want to turn on that day so I have all my pictures on my I-Pod. I guess you'll just have to see them after the mission or see if another missionary posts them home in an email sometime. Sorry!

Besides that we had some good fun this week teaching and going on exchanges. On Tuesday evening we had our Zone Exchange and I stayed in Tuen Mun while Elder P went out to Yuen Long. My companion was Elder B who was in the MTC with me but serves as a Mandarin Elder. We had a great 24 hour exchange and got some good lessons in both Mandarin and Cantonese. I can't say a lick of Mandarin but it's fun to try and it's even easier to understand. Don't ask me why I can hear it but can't say it... I think maybe it's because I haven't practiced wrapping my mouth around the strange sounds. For dinner that night we went to resort-type area known as "the Cancun" of Hong Kong and got Subway Sandwiches. They have a 2 for 1 deal on Tuesday evenings! Booyah! 

This past Saturday we were a little surprised when all the lessons that we had originally scheduled for that day fell through or got canceled. We ended up with 4 or 5 hours worth of finding to do and had a blast as we explored parts of our area that were previously unexplored because of time restraints. While we were there we saw two miracles! As we were walking on this bridge we  looked across the way and saw a man waving to us and shouting, "Hallelujah!". We were a little skeptical and thought he might be mocking us, However, we decided to go down and talk to him and he promptly told us he was a Christian, loved Americans, and gave us Cokes and Saltine crackers to snack on in his home! He introduced us to his family, but because he was on shift working in his garage as a mechanic we couldn't stay too long. We shared a message and got a prayer in with him. He was a really upbeat guy and as we were leaving he gave us some 1960 Hong Kong coins!! I thought that was such a

kind gesture! He mentioned that these coins aren't in circulation anymore and are pretty valuable! It was a miracle to run across him. His name is J C. Afterwards we kept walking along the bridge and by the squatter homes that were nearby we ran into a Mr. L. We talked with him for about 10 minutes and were able to testify of Heavenly Father and how we can come to know him. He mentioned that he actually went to the HungShuiKiu Stake Center Open House last Christmas but that it was too far away so he hasn't been again. He was very sincere and I hope that we can visit with these two great men again! 

We still have 5 investigators with baptismal dates and we had 6 investigators and 3 less actives at church yesterday! It was a miracle because one of those investigators hasn't been answering our calls or texts for the last 2 weeks. Imagine our surprise when we looked around and saw him sitting between two members in the back of the chapel!
A is doing really well too! She goes to Singapore this week but she wants to go to the church while she is there and introduce her sister's family to the gospel! We taught her the Law Of Chastity and she was very accepting and grateful to know that there is a Heavenly Father who wants us to love, but to protect ourselves and save ourselves. Sidenote: Last week I gave her a "Baptismal Plan" and then at church yesterday she brought it out and it was framed.... She is so golden! 

This morning I was reading in 3 Nephi 3 which is all about Lachoneus and Gidianhi. I'm always so impressed by Lachoneus and the men and things that he chooses to surround himself with. He doesn't want the power-seeking Gidianhi to come into his land, and so takes a defensive, protective approach. The converted Lamanites and Nephites then are united in their cause of defense and gather in Zarahemla. Gidgiddoni, as their spiritual leader and captain, wisely counsels the people that they must not seek to destroy their enemies but must wait it out. I think the Lord wants us to be tolerant. He doesn't want us to 'attack' others, but tolerance doesn't mean that we let ourselves get stepped on either. We continue to work and push forward. There are so many parallels in our own lives and in missionary work. It's great to be a missionary. 

It's great to be in Hong Kong. Things are going so well here! I wouldn't want to be any other place right now. I'm happy to be working with Elder P in Tuen Mun, and glad that we can serve this Zone. But more importantly, that we can serve the Lord. We have a great week ahead of us! 

Keep the faith! Be happy!
Love,
Elder Siebach

Amazing Grace: Can We Meet After Church and Learn More?

Dear friends and family,

Another week down. These weeks just go by at an ever increasing pace... It's a little alarming. Speaking of weeks, since when is Thanksgiving the last week of the month? I could have sworn my entire life that Thanksgiving was the 3rd Thursday in November! Oh well. I'm really stoked for Thanksgiving! We will be having a Zone Thanksgiving Dinner. 28 people all preparing different portions of the dishes. We've got a little under 200 dollars US to do it all in. My apartment of 4 is in charge of mashed potatoes for everyone. I'm sure it will be a Thanksgiving to remember though. We will be combining some of the best of America and the best of China in a smorgasbord (that's probably spelled wrong) of goodness. That will be this coming Thursday. 

This past week it was a little harder to get members at some of our lessons so we didn't have nearly as many as in weeks previous. It was a bit of a blessing however, since we wanted to be able to speak openly and understand our investigators. Sometimes, if investigators don't have a constant fellow-shipper, they are a little less willing to open up their thoughts and feelings. A few weeks back we had a Multi-Zone Conference and the APs asked the ZLs to prepare a 10 minute training on something they call the "5 Whys", essentially saying that when an investigator brings up a concern our first thought should be "why". If missionaries can continue to ask inspired question the thought is that within 5 questions you can reach the heart of any concern. Definitely something new to me and something that I will continue to hone and work harder on.

Tuen Mun at night

Since Elder L left the work has been moving forward and it's a lot of fun to be with Elder P in Tuen Mun. We have about 1/2 of our area that is still unexplored by both of us. We're working slowly but surely to chip away at it and find prepared people.

I think I've mentioned in previous letters that we have a handful of baptismal dates right now. It's a real blessing to be able to work with these people and it's so interesting how each one has completely different circumstances and interests. Still, the gospel is something that works for them. It strengthens my testimony to realize that all these people from vastly different backgrounds can feel the guidance of the Spirit and want to change their lives. God really has given us a perfect gospel message. It's also fascinating how each person can have different insights to the same scriptures. Sometimes as a missionary I feel like we're just a bunch of LDS clones, but working with so many good investigators shows me that EVERYONE is different.

This week I feel like I learned from one of our investigators what it means to "hunger and thirst after righteousness". We are teaching a woman named A. She works really long hours for Foster Children. We have almost no contact with her throughout the week but she shows up at church right on time each week. She is happy and full of energy. After services are over she is always surrounded by some of the Relief Society women who are OOOHing and AAAAAHing about the strength of her resolve and testimony. She has honestly had some really hard trials in her life but this message has lifted her burdens. Every week during our lesson she pulls out her notebook, jots notes on the scriptures that we share, and then promises us that she will read and do all she can to learn what God would have her know. She and I are Facebook friends on my missionary account and so each week as I put up a spiritual message, she then has it written down and dissected each Sunday that we meet. She literally walks into church and asks me, "Can we meet after church and learn more?"

Amazing Grace

This past Sunday we had really wanted to share with her about the Law Of Chastity but we only had about 10 minutes before we had to go to the stake center for a meeting with the stake president. So we shared about how God 'delights in the chastity of women.' True to her habit, she wrote it down, read it 3 more times, shared some inspired thought and told us she would read more about it this coming week. As we were getting ready to close she then shared something very interesting. As a single mid-thirty year old woman, with both parents already gone, and both siblings living in Singapore and England, she is understandably lonely during the holidays. In September she found herself suffering from a bout of depression and self-worth and so she went to a library where she found a CD that had a beautiful picture of a white New England style church in autumn. She checked it out and listened to it to get over her feelings. She didn't think much about it after that. A few weeks later she was contacted by missionaries--us. She has been meeting with us since, and just pieced together that the CD she checked out from a library in Causeway Bay was Amazing Grace by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I was floored by this story. I can't honestly express what I was feeling. It was just an overwhelming sense of gratitude for a heavenly Father who watches out for each of His children. I wonder if we, if I, spend enough time thinking about and giving gratitude to God.

Sometimes I wonder why I'm in Tuen Mun and why I'm in the blessed circumstances that I'm in. Yet, I know and feel that this is where the Lord wants me to be and that I'm here to be a learner just as much as I am here to be a teacher.

Preach My Gospel says a similar thing. I will paraphrase, but it essentially says that the best teachers ask more questions than they do expound, and they listen more than they talk.This really is the Lord's work. He will sustain us and help us as we acknowledge the gifts He has given and seek to improve in all the facets of our lives.
Meet A

Please have a gratitude-filled Thanksgiving.

Love,

Elder Siebach

Members are the Bomb!

Dear Friends and Family, 

It's been another whirlwind week. I swear, I feel like I sit at this computer every day typing out an email back home. It's crazy that a week ends this fast! I swear they used to drag on FOREVER in college and high school. There never seems to be enough time to do all that we want to do. It's awesome though. Being busily engaged in the Lord's work is the goal. 

Last night was actually the first time Elder P and I really had the chance to introduce our families to each other and talk a little bit about pre-mission stuff. Haha, now he feels like a real companion:)

At the start of the week we had just a few scheduled lessons, so it was a little frightening when Elder P turned to me and asked, "Well, who can fellowship?" and my only response was, "Let's see" as we opened up our member book and started calling people. It all worked out though, and every scheduled lesson we had this week we also had a member in attendance (no small thing with how busy everyone is and scheduling conflicts). 

Members at our lessons proved to be pivotal in almost every case too! In one lesson we were teaching 70-year-old P about the plan of salvation. He wasn't taking it. Our fellowshipper, a seasoned member, asked me for my pen and a notepad. He drew out almost word for word what we had just taught and it suddenly clicked. There was a visible change in his countenance and the Spirit seemed to pour out in greater measure as our fellowshipper, Brother W, bore his own testimony. The two of them immediately struck up a friendship and turned to us after the lesson and together took us to dinner at a noodle shop. Members! 

In another lesson this week we met with 17-year-old A-F. He referred himself through Mormon.org and committed to be baptized last week. This week we decided to teach the Plan of Salvation to him as well. He was super involved, but as with every new companionship, trading off and teaching can be a learning experience in the beginning. Elder P and I were teaching well together but we were teaching even better with our fellow-shipper, G. G is 28 and a convert of 4 years.  He worked so perfectly with A-F! His testimony and explanation invited the spirit and we set a date with him for December 29th! 

Yesterday at church we met with A. Words can't even describe how golden she is. She is also set for baptism on the 29th. We used our High Priest Group Leader's wife, Sister L, to fellowship and although she has A by like 30 years, she had some great insights into the Word of Wisdom and really was able to just come in and love our investigator. I'm so grateful for members! These are just a few examples of some of the lessons that happened this past week. 

This week we were able to contact a guy named A. He is in his mid-forties and recently quit his job so that he could take care of his ailing parents. He previously was a construction manager and spent a lot of time in Kowloon Tong where he was very impressed by the temple and stake center there. He decided to investigate a little more into the church! We met him this past week, gave him a tour of the church, and shared the first lesson! 

On Friday the whole zone was able to go down to the Mission Home and we had Multi-Zone Conference with the East Kowloon Zone. It was a great opportunity to learn and we heard some great messages on humility, gratitude, and developing our teaching skills as found in PMG Chapter 10. Everyone left just a little more invigorated and committed to being a cheerful, enthusiastic missionary. One quote that I will do my best to paraphrase was, "Those who seek happiness are bound to fail." We then discussed how happiness is a by-product of doing one's duty and living a life founded on gospel principles.

Saturday was another great day this past week. In the morning there was a barbecue YM/YW activity and we had 2 investigators attend so we also got to go along and roast some marshmallows and hot dogs! Great stuff and we really got to know our YM/YW even better. It's so interesting to be serving with Elder P. This past week was his 1st week in church and only my 3rd. We're so green to this area but we're working hard and seeing miracles! 

After the YM/YW activity, we taught a lesson and then finished our weekly planning. A later appointment we had fell through, and so we used that time to collect a few supplies for Saturday night's Missionary Talent Show. The stake really wants the members to get to know the missionaries on a more personal level so they organized an event where the 27 missionaries would perform, trying to have investigators and members assist in anyway possible. Lots of different talents were shown off. Lots of piano, singing, juggling, and whatever else you could think of. I was involved in 3 talents. One was a quartet where we sang, "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" (I sang tenor), the other was a district skit where we acted out a few Book Of Mormon stories (I was Ammon), and the third was a companion skit with Elder P where we had a competition to see how many grapes we could catch in our mouths, and then I placed as many grapes under my lips that I humanly could--I think I got 12 or so between my lips and teeth! We had 2 investigators in attendance with us and then 2 of the young men from KwaiChung, my last area, showed up. Really fun night!

Tuen Mun area is the bomb right now! In fact we've got like 12 investigators or so and 5 baptismal dates set! We're working hard but the Lord is blessing us more! We're looking forward to another great week ahead of us! 

Keep up the good work! Make time for missionary work, and read your scriptures daily! They really are for our day! I've been impressed as I've read in the last half of Alma this past week at the wars that occurred. Amalackiah and Ammoron are frauds. They did everything to cover their sins and placed equally hardened men in leadership positions so that they could influence the Lamanites. The Lamanites quickly hardened. On the Nephite side you have Moroni, Teancum, and Lehi. These are men who worked openly and used the Lord as they planned and never denied His guidance in their lives. Helaman constantly praised God for the successes of the 2000 stripling warriors! It's so black and white! Give thanks in everything. "In all thy ways acknowledge Him and he shall direct thy paths." 

Love,
Elder Siebach

Goodbyes and Greetings

Dear Friends and Family,

Things are going really well! Elder L and I were killing it here in Tuen Mun this past week. We had a TON of lessons which is really a miracle because between all the meetings, lessons, and necessities of planning/ Elder L packing, we did a grand total of 1 hour of finding. We taught two lessons out of it though, so it was effective.

Joseph Smith's story

As with all companions, the last couple days are a little rough because you know everything is about to change and there is an element of nervousness. The end of Elder L's mission was no different. He gave a lot of good advice to me. In fact there is one I want to share. He told me that in his two years as a missionary, he finally figured out towards the end of his mission that when we teach lessons on the street, the person we're teaching will often pose some sort of question. He then connected that this question is almost never their ACTUAL problem. It's like a trap: if you answer the question too fast they won't be interested or impressed. He said that no matter what the question is, it can somehow be related to the Joseph Smith story, and that is what we should share. Pretty spot on. That's in line with what Preach My Gospel says, as well as is the quickest way for someone to feel the Spirit and really understand why the heck missionaries are even here.

Since Elder L served here for so long, he has forged some really strong bonds with members, for which I am extremely grateful. I hope I can continue to work well with them and build off of what he did.

We arrived home from church at about 5:30 last night and Elder L immediately set to packing. By 7:30 he was picked up by the AP's and rushed off to the mission home for his last evening as a missionary.

About the same time the APs were picking up Elder L, I was able to get my new companion! His name is Elder P and he is from Layton, Utah (just like Elder B). He is super cool, older than I am by 5 months in the mission, and just finished serving in Causeway Bay as Zone Leader with my MTC companion Elder Parker. I'm really excited to work with him! We're both relatively new to Tuen Mun (I've been here just 5 weeks and haven't been able to visit about 1/2 of our area yet). It's fine though! We will have fun exploring and working together!

This past Friday was also the zone training meeting. It was a super great, spiritual experience for all 28 of us that were in attendance. Elder L and I had to do some of the trainings and did most of the talking, but we had a lot of involvement and I hope/think it sparked some ideas for some of the missionaries.

Sunday we had 6 investigators at church, taught 2 lessons after church, held a stake Christmas Planning meeting where we gave a presentation to the stake presidency/auxiliaries, did my personal study and pretty much used the rest of the time to suck every bit of information I could possibly get from Elder L. Recently it seems like we don't have enough time to eat :). It's great to be able to be so busy though.

Zone Conference is coming up this week so I'm stoked for that!

Well, that's about it from this end! Keep up the good work! Have a great Veterans Day! Pray for the missionaries and their investigators!

Love,

Elder Siebach

Home Away From Home

Dear Friends and Family, 

Things have been absolutely crazy this past week. So much going on and it never feels like we have enough time. It's all good though. It's missionary work and it's a process, not a destination. 

Sorry about the late letter again. We had temple day today and I forgot to inform y'all. The temple was great as ever and I ran into members from my previous two wards, Sister Bradford (from our ward in Japan) was in the temple, and Brother Lewis (served a mission with Siebach grandparents) conducted the Endowment session. It's so interesting to see people from just about everywhere imaginable. Speaking of other people in the mission. I haven't had an opportunity to shake Elder Sheffield's hand yet (young man from our Tokyo ward). I think I saw him yesterday from across an intersection, but I'm pretty sure he didn't see me and I had to go the other direction. Sister Parker (daughter of Ben's college roommate), well she is in my Zone and District now! I feel like I run into her at least 3 times a week. The mission is like a weird collage of home away from home:) 

Last week I had the opportunity to go on exchanges again. This time I left Tuen Mun and I went into Yuen Long and spent the day with Elder M (he was in the group right behind me in the MTC). Nice to see him again. We did a lot of knocking, found a potential family, and then taught a lesson to a guy who unfortunately lives on the Mainland. Still a good lesson though! He lives way out in the boonies. The apartment is super big and super nice, but it just doesn't feel like Hong Kong way out there! Refreshing to have clean air! 

Speaking of air, last week my companion, Elder L, and I came back from a night of finding and were eating a late dinner. I'm one of those guys who always looks out the window at the city around and I got fixated on a certain spot on the mountain where I hadn't noticed lights before. Through the evening haze and smog we determined that they weren't lights at all, but that there was a mountain fire! (I don't know if "mountain fire" makes sense in English, but that's how they say it here. Maybe I should have added a preposition or something...) Anyway, that was fun to watch. They had it under control about the time we were going to bed. The smog of the city hasn't cleared enough for me to get a good view of the burn zone yet. 

Here is a missionary story for you. One day we had about an hour to go finding before we had to go home and take care of some other matters. We decided to go to a mountain village near the church. We were in our suits hiking up this mountain and just getting turned down right and left (they tend to be a lot more traditional Chinese in these villages). Dogs were barking, it was kinda late, and so I was thinking, "Let's just come back when it's light; we'll find somewhere else to knock tonight. We stuck with it though and with about 20 minutes to go we hit the highest point of this village. Knocked, 4 dogs are practically plowing the fence over as we shout out, "Anyone home?". A shirtless 12 year old boy calls off all the dogs and then his 20-something year old sister comes out as well. We say who we are and why we are there and they, in almost a completely natural matter-of-fact manner say, "ok, well come in then." So there you have it. We taught a lesson and gave a Book of Mormon. They're kinda busy with school and part-time work, but when it's convenient we'll definitely see them again! Sometimes we missionaries may have to sweat through our suits, hike mountains, and fight off vicious dogs and any manner of living things. It reminded me of how we need to have FAITH and WORK to get blessings. 

This past week we've been really busy with Zone Leader assignments and lessons! We've been blessed with some new investigators too. The HungShuiKiu Sisters have been working with a guy named J. He's 21 and a college student studying Philosophy and he's really interested in the church! A few weeks ago the sisters had already scheduled him with a baptism date for December. We had a turn over lesson with him early this week and taught him the Plan of Salvation. We're excited to keep working with him! 

Another guy, also named J (but we will call him A-Fung) was a self-referral. He was contacted by Elders a long time ago, had a tour of the Stake Center last Christmas, but was too busy to take lessons. He found the church again through Mormon.org and requested to meet with missionaries! He's looking for a place to worship and was impressed by the church last year. We are definitely willing to help him find a place to worship...and the fullness of the gospel while we're at it! 

This past week in church was super good! We had 7 investigators in attendance, I bore my testimony and shared Alma 29:9, and then in Elders Quorum Elder L and I were also called on to give a 10 minute thought on Home Teaching. It went well. I think the ward is at 2% on Home Teaching right now.. 

The work is super exciting! Yesterday Elder L and I were in Kowloon Tong for Mission Leadership Council where we got new instruction from the APs, President Hawks, and the Online Elders. Lots of good goals and things going on in Hong Kong right now! We are not growing right now however. For the next 5 months the number of missionaries will only decrease, so all the more reason to work even harder! Tomorrow is Zone Training and we get to present this next month's goals to the Zone and get everybody pumped up! 

I'll be sad to see Elder L go home next transfer. The good thing is, he lives about 25 minutes away, and I'm sure I can reach him in case something just goes haywire:) 

Last thought. Read Jacob 6:5 and D&C 88:40.

Jacob 6:5

Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts.

D&C 88:40

For intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence; wisdom receiveth wisdom; truth embraceth truth; virtue loveth virtue; light cleaveth unto light; mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own; justice continueth its course and claimeth its own; judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things.

These two scriptures talk about cleaving to different things. D&C is talking about how like things attract each other i.e. light, knowledge, wisdom etc... and then Jacob is talking about how God cleaves to us, and we should cleave back. It made me think: God is perfect; He is what we want to be. The only reason we wouldn't want to embrace Him is because of our own selfish interests. However, when we put off the natural man we become as He is, and there is therefore an attractive force in place because we become 'like' beings. So... I hope you followed my thought. It's hard to write out, but the answer is Consecration of OURSELVES. 

I hope everyone is healthy and well! Keep working hard! I hope you guys are praying for and looking for missionary opportunities every day! 

Love, 

Elder Siebach. 

  

P.S. Pictures will hopefully be coming soon.