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