Third Time's a Charm

Dear Friends and Family,

Wow, things are going __________ (you fill in the blank) here in Tuen Mun! I'm not sure whether they are super good or not. haha Having baptized E's baptism last week, we lost one of our main investigators. So this week we had a big goose egg on member present lessons. That was kinda stressful since we really wanted to reach our zone's monthly goal of 150. We ended with 131. Pretty close honestly. We had ample time to go finding and had a number of street lessons.

We also went on exchanges this week with the HungShuiKiu Elders. I went there and with their district leader who turns out to be my trainee Elder Beal! That was a fun reunion and interesting to have completely switched roles. He was the big senior companion and led me around all day. We went out to a small fishing village and did some good contacting out there. We had to stop for a few moments and take some pictures. It was an overcast day and the sun was breaking through as it began to set and we were looking across the bay into Shenzhen. The mainland is so close but still closed to missionary work... It's almost maddening to think about all the people constantly coming and going to and from Mainland and not be able to be among them. 

Lau Fau Shan fishing village--looking into the mainland

The next day we were wrapping up our exchange but had a scheduled lesson with a guy named Alex. He is super cool and was willing to meet us even with all the rain we are having. We met in his apartment complex and read 1 Nephi 1 together. It was a great meeting that was only pre-maturely ended by the bolt of lightning that hit the building next to us! It was deafening! A few minutes later firemen and trucks came. We're not entirely sure what happened, but we ended our lesson and hopefully those elders will see him in a few more days. Lots of lightning the last couple days.

We had about 30 minutes until we were to meet with our companions and so we went out and braved the rain and did a little contacting. We went to this small park and found a man reading some newspaper under a makeshift shelter. We talked to him for a few moments and it turns out he lives in the Tuen Mun area. I scheduled him for church the next day and he really did come! He also brought his wife. Pretty miraculous.

But the even crazier thing is that I contacted his wife about 3 months back and when I called her she didn't have any interest. Then on Tuesday she called me and said that she was thinking about coming to church this coming week. I honestly forgot to call her on Saturday night and remind her. So imagine my surprise when I see her (Mrs. Maahn) come into the church with Mr. Lee whom I'd met the previous day! We're really hoping that we can teach them together. They seem to have English interest too. I'll let you know how it goes next week.

I'm super excited by all the great missionary work that is going on in Southlake ward! It sounds like things will be entirely different next time I'm there!

Yesterday after church meetings we met with a recent convert from last year named Brother Sin. (He has the same name I do). We were going over the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him and had a great time discussing and hearing his insights and his growth in the last 6 months since he was baptized. As we talked about the gift of the Holy Ghost I had a bit of an epiphany. I don't know if any of this is doctinally sound, but what I said was that the Spirit works in two main ways; as a warning voice, and as testifying voice. It seems to me that there are very few instances when the Spirit powerfully tells people not to do things (like don't proceed through the intersection and then 2 seconds later an 18 wheeler blows through the intersection). His warnings are logical most of the time (like I know I shouldn't watch this movie. Or listening to this song). It's almost like we remind ourselves. Not too much of an outside influence was exerted for these warnings. These moments are examples of the Spirit as acting on us and warning us. Then there are the instances when people don't know what to do. They have a problem. So they read their scriptures, pray, fast, attend the temple, partake of the sacrament etc... This is how the Spirit testifies to us, and it only happens when we exercise our own faith and show our desire to receive answers from our Heavenly Father. For these reasons it's really easy for the atheist to deny the influence of the Spirit. They don't recognize warnings since they rationalize it as their own thought and intellect. Then they also don't try and invite the Spirit to inspire them and give them answers. They go their entire lives without learning how to really ask and receive Spiritual confirmations. Anyway, I know that's not too earth-shattering. However, I relate it to my own conversion story and D&C 112:10, I had to humble myself, read a scripture, get on my knees, have a desire to know, pray, and then I got my witness; and not before then.

Things are well. We are looking for new investigators and opportunities to teach people all the time and I know that the Lord will bless us for our efforts.

Keep the faith, keep praying and SEEKING for opportunities to share your testimonies with those around you!

Love,

Elder Siebach