Sunday, February 26, 2017

Up and Down and All Around

Leihdieh Hou!

     This past week was definitely a rollercoaster ride. We had a lot of cancelled lessons and unexpected problems come up, but the Lord still continued to bless Cheung Sha Wan beyond measure and I am so thankful! Sister Yost and I could not do this on our own! We will

     Some investigators are progressing really well and some are the same and some are starting to go downhill. Lucy woke up late yesterday but still watned to come to church, so she came a little late. She stayed the whole time though and attended our ward's linger longer lunch. Icy and her daughter Yuki came to Englsih class and a primary activity which was really exciting! I have only seen Yuki a couple times, but she is super sweet. We aren't sure how big their desire is to be baptized but we will keep working with them! Heui Ji Muih came to church again this week and even stayed for the linger longer too. I think she is looking for some peace and comfort in her life and she is starting to realize Jesus Christ and this gosepl can help her. Ruby worries me because she is supposed to be baptized next Friday on the 10th but she hasn't been coming to church regularly. She has super bad anxiety which gets in her way a lot. So pray for Ruby! I love her so much and I have never seen someone with such a strong testimony and desire to be baptized. I know she will make it! :)

     I LOVE MY INVESTIGATORS! I really do! They are the reason I get up everyday and do this work. I want to help them. I want to build their testimonies. I want to do what's best for them. I know the Lord will guide us. I know He will let us know the path all these people need to take to return back to Him. I know the Lord will help us and He will help them too. I'm so grateful I can serve in Cheung Sha Wan! The miracles will keep coming. I know they will!

     I hope all of you ahve a great week! Remember that whenever life gets you down, you just need to look up. It is always better to look up. I know the Lord loves all of you and if you ask Him, He will tell you what path you need to take. SMILE! It's a wonderful day! :)
Scirpture of the Week: Alma 36:20 No matter how much sorrow or sadness you feel, you can be filled with just as much, if not more, joy.
Quote of the Week: Joy is powerful and focusing on joy brings God's power into our lives (Russell M. Nelson)

Sister Maggie Shiffert
施姊妹

We went on exchanges with the Tai Wai sisters last week :)

Sister Thomson is so cute!




Print Friendly and PDF

Sunday, February 19, 2017

The Miracle Worker

Leihdeih Hou!

     Cheung Sha Wan is doing AMAZING right now! We are the busiest we have ever been on our missions and it is a good feeling :) Missionaries like staying busy! Sister Yost is SO amazing and I am so grateful we can serve together her last transfer! I know she is a fighter and she is one of the reasons we are having so many miracles in CSW right now. Sister Yost and I have never had this much success before on our missions and even though we have been on our missions for over a year, we still don't know what to do with ourselves in this kind of situation haha!

     We have been really focusing on calling former investigators to see if they have interest in meeting again. We have also been making it a goal to extend baptismal dates to everyone. It honestly used to scare me to extend the invitations, but the more you do it, the more second nature it becomes. And the answer is always going to be no unless you ask and give them the fair chance of considering it. Ruby has a date for March 10th and it looks pretty solid. Candice, Icy, and Yuki have a date for March 26th, Lucy has a date for March 24th, and Heui Ji Muih has a date for April 23rd. I ablsouletly LOVE all of our investigators! They are all so sweet and special in their own ways. I am so blessed to have the opportunity to work with them and help them understand the true joy that comes from living this gospel. I have faith that all of them can be baptized within the next couple months! They are the Lord's elect . No doubt about it.
     We had so many miracle people come to church yesterday and it was crazy. Candice came for about an hour but then she had to go for tutoring lessons. But she still came! :) And then I got a call from Icy right before sacrament meeting saying that she was on her way right now. It was seriously a miracle because she came to church just in time to take the sacrament. Her daugther Yuki who actually has the most potential to be baptized didn't want to get up early, but I'm glad Icy is setting the example for Yuki. And then in the middle of Sunday School, an investigator named Heui Ji Muih came walking in with a less active. I have only seen her briefly once before so I was completely shocked to see her at church. It was her first time coming to church and the ward was welcoming, but she said it was a little boring (she slept through most of sacrament lol). Cheung Sha Wan area is progressing! It honestly makes me so happy! :)
     I honestly don't know what is causing the area to grow/progress so much right now. I just know the Lord is blessing us 1000 fold with miracles upon miracles. Sister Yost and I have not be doing anything different in Cheung Sha Wan from what we have done in our other areas. We have always worked super hard and hardly seen the results of our hard work, but I think the Lord is blessing us now because of the diligence we had before. Alma 32:41-43 keeps coming to mind for me. After your faith, diligence, patience, and long suffering, you reap the rewards. I am learning that lesson more and more on my mission. If you ever feel like nothing is going right or things are not working out, I promise you the Lord has a plan and there are blessing in store for you. I never thought these blessings would come into my life and I know you ahve know idea what blessings are in store for you. Keep going! Your diligence, long suffering, patience, and faith will pay off. I promise :)

     I am honestly SO grateful for all the Lord has done for us! I never would have imagined He would bless us with so many miracles in Cheung Sha Wan. And we are going to keep working hard to keep the miracles and blessings coming. I know none of these miracles are because of us or because Sister Yost and I think we are awesome missionaries. Because we're not. God is. And He is watching over this work and helping us bring these people unto Christ.

     I hope all of you have a great week! Love and miss you all!
Scirputre of the Week: Alma 26:12 We are nothing without God's help and all miracles come from Him when we humble ourselves.
Quote of the Week: Our Heavenly Father did not put us on earth to fail but to succeed gloriously (Richard G. Scott)

Sister Maggie Shiffert
施姊妹









Print Friendly and PDF

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Reaping the Harvest of This Work

Leihdeih Hou!

     Things are going really good in Cheung Sha Wan! People are progressing and it's super exciting to see! My new companion is Sister Yost and she is awesome and such a hard worker! I was wondering what the Lord was doing putting the two crippled people together, but I know He has His reason. I have a lot ot learn from her :) I hope that Sister Yost and I will be able to help these people progress even more and help them become converted to this gospel.We are working really hard to build up the testimonies of everyone we work with (members, investigators, less actives) Cheung Sha Wan is really speical and I'm so excited to be working in it with Sister Yost!
     Ruby came to church for the second week in a row and said she would for sure be coming back next week! I was afraid that Sister Vance leaving would really affect Ruby and she would be too upset to meet with us, but she has used that sadness to turn to some church members which is great in my opinion. It makes me feel good to know that she is learning to trust the ward members and the ward will take care of her after I leave.
     We taught Candace this past week and she is still amazing as usual! We taught her about prayer because she had a problem and didn't know how to resolve it and shared Alma 37:36-37 with her. While she was reading it, she asked why she felt like crying. We explained that it was the Spirit and that it was testifying to her that everything we were saying was true. We commited her to reread the scripture at home and she said that when she did, she cried and said God answered her prayer. Candace is so cute because she thinks that there is something weird about her crying so much. We explained that is how she feels the Holy Ghost and everyone is different. She seriously does feel the Spirit SO easily. I have never seen someone in Hong Kong so touched before. I know she is one of the prepared people and I am excited to see her grow in this gospel! :)
     I think one lesson I am realizing I have really learned on my mission is that good things come to those who wait, but you have to be diligently serving while you wait. And they may not come in the ways we expect or when we expect them. Serving a mission is one of the most challenging times, but I seriously cannot think of anything more rewarding! :) We may think our efforts are for nothing or go without notice, but the Lord notices them. And He will bless you in one way or another. Most of my mission has been spent planting seeds, but now I think I am starting to see the fruits of the harvest. I haven't seen the fruits of my personal labors, but I've seen the fruits of the labors of others. And in the end, we are all doing the same work and helping each other. So I will gladly go plant more seeds so that other missionaries can help harvest them.
     I love all of you! I hope you have a very happy Valentine's Day! Spread the love of Christ with those around you. I know all of us can emulate that charity, that pure love of Christ. It is a part of our human nature, so all we need to do is exercise it and make it grow stronger!
Scripture of the Week: John 13:34 Love one another as I have loved you
Quote of the Week: God's love is infinite and will endure forever but what it means for each of us depends on how we respond to His love (D. Todd Christofferson)

Sister Maggie Shiffert
施姊妹


Say hi to Sister Yost! :)​




The first baptismal font in Hong Kong is on display in a museum


PDay fun in Central with other sisters

Welcome to the Lion Rock zone!

I love Sister Vance!



Print Friendly and PDF

Sunday, February 5, 2017

February? Already?

Leihdeih Hou!

     Things are going good in Cheung Sha Wan! Chinese New Year is still affecting us a little but hopefully this next week people will be able to meet with us since all the New Year's madness is mostly over. I can't believe it is February already! Time just goes by faster and faster the loner you are out on a mission. People told me that but I didn't truly understand/appreciate that statement until now haha! My days are numbered but I am thankful for every minute that I have to serve this mission and the Lord. Time is precious. Never waste a minute of it! :)

     We had moves calls and I am still in Cheung Sha Wan, but I am SO sad to see Sister Vance leave! She has been an amazing companion and an even more amazing missionary! Sister Vance has been in Cheung Sha Wan for a year so I knew that she would most likely be leaving me, but it still came as a little bit of a shock to me. It was like me leaving Yuen Long, You know it will happen but it really hits when it actually does. I am honestly a little nervous about Sister Vance leaving me so soon. I feel like I just got into this area and now she's leaving me! :( I think the investigators/less actives will continue to meet with us (at least that is what I hope) and I know the ward members will love my new companion Sister Yost (we were in the same MTC group )so that's not a problem :) Things will be good! Cheung Sha Wan will be good! I know Sister Yost works super hard and is an amazing missionary! We are going to be some miracles workers in Cheung Sha Wan! :)

     We had the amazing miracle of our investigator Ruby coming to church this past Sunday! She came for all 3 hours and even stayed for a baptismal service the elders were having after church. We were asked to share a message/testimony while everyone was getting dressed and asked Ruby if she wanted to share her testimony at the baptism. She was too scared but she ended up bearing her testimony to us and explaining how she hopes Christ and this church can help her and her family. It was a very powerful testimony! I really think if we can keep her on this path, she will definitely be baptized in March. I have complete faith in Ruby and really hope I can help her realize all the blessings this gospel has in store for her. I think she is starting to make her little steps of progression and it is exciting to see. 

     We also met with our new investigator Candace again. She is still super solid and amazing! She is able to put things together very easily and it is honestly shocking how fast she learns and accepts this gospel. We taught her about the plan of salvation and she asked some good questions like "Are God and Jesus the same person?", "Why did Christ atone for our sins?", "Who is our Heavenly Mother?", etc. and once we simply explained them to her, she was accepting of it. We also invited her to be baptized on April 22nd and she said that it was a too fast and a huge commitment and she wanted to make sure she wouldn't have any regrets if she got baptized. We told her to pray about it and hopefully we can re-invite her again soon. She probably won't be baptized until June at the latest because she can't come to church until May when school is over, but that's okay. I have no doubts that she will be baptized! She is definitely one of God's prepared children and I am excited to keep working with her! 

     I hope all of you have a great week! Remember that if you ever need anything, get on your knees and say a sincere prayer with real intent, real intent meaning you will act on whatever answer you receive, whether it is your will or not. I know the Lord knows what is best for us and He is there every step of the way, leading us on the road back to Him. I love and miss all of you! Sorry I don't have any pictures this week, but I will next week! :)
Scripture of the Week: John 10:27 His sheep hear His voice and follow Him
Quote of the Week: If you choose to follow Christ, you choose to change (David A. Bednar)

Sister Maggie Shiffert
施姊妹
Print Friendly and PDF