Baptism postponed

Dear family and friends,

This week we had a little bit of a let down. The baptism has been postponed and we didn't achieve Standards. Nevertheless, we are still working hard and trying our best to serve the Lord the best we can.

I am just recovering from a cold and I am excited to go work the hardest I can this coming week. This past week I have been under physical and mental stress. I am glad that it is coming to an end. I know that enduring to the end will bring us extra blessings and God will reward us more than what He has allowed life to take away during our trials. 

Cantonese work is fun and I love the ward here. I know that out of anywhere in the world this is where I should be and God sent me here. 

I pray that you all will grow spiritually and enjoy learning from life. 

Love,

Elder Lee

New companion!

Dear family and friends, 

Some changes were made this week. Me and Elder Cheng has been separated and now Elder Moore(莫長老) and I are companions. Elder Moore is from Washington state and he worked really hard to improve his Cantonese. He is a fun person to work with and he works hard. Hopefully we can see more improvements as we know how to work well with each other. 

We are going to have a baptism this coming Sunday. Mandy is going to be baptized if no other problems emerge. We are so proud of her for willing to make a change in her life and be baptized. I'm especially excited because we are finally reaping after sowing for a long time. I know that Heavenly Father does prepare people to accept the gospel and let us meet them.

What about you? How are you all doing?

Love,

Elder Lee

Standards of Excellence for the third week in a row

Dear family and friends,

This week was pretty good. We are achieving Standards of Excellence for the third week in a row. 

Elder Cheng is sick so we have been at home. This week will be kind of a slower week because of that. 

I'll bring you more news next week. 

Elder Lee

Happy Chinese New Year!

Dear family and friends, 

恭喜發財！

We have been teaching some what less than usual this week. We understand that everyone needs the gospel, but it is also a fact that some are more prepared than the others. So we've decided to try to find the elect. We've achieved the Standards of Excellence again this week and it feels good to do that. We are finally seeing some results. 

Chinese new year was not too crazy. We got some Chinese snack from a sister that owns a restaurant and that is about it. We are so focused on the work that we almost didn't notice that it has came and gone.

Our investigators are doing well. Mandy has been coming to church for 4 weeks now and she loves it. She should be baptized mid-February without much problem. Jessica is a high school student that has a deep desire to follow Christ. She came to church for the first time yesterday and she liked it. She will probably be baptized in early-March. I am so happy see the progress that they have made and how they will be embraced by God more as they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

I know that this is the work of the Lord.

I love you all and wish you all a lucky year of the horse,

Elder Lee

Studying...

Morning "exercise" by E Cheng

End of 4-th Transfer‏

Dear family and friends,

This past week was good! Another transfer is done! We finally achieved the Standards of Excellence in Cantonese work and it is great to see our investigators progress towards baptism. Training with Elder Cheng is a little behind so we are going to work even harder this transfer to catch up. 

There aren't much more exciting news, we should have at least one baptism in February  and I can't wait to bring you the good news in a couple weeks.

Elder Lee

I gave a talk on Sunday!

Dear family and friends,

The mission is great. We have been working hard and trying to improve our area. Time certainly flies, I have spent more than 20% of my time in Canada now. I can't believe it! I feel like I have worked really hard and I have been polishing my skills. I am also determined to be more sensitive to the Holy Ghost so that I can know how I should spend the time that is ahead wisely.

Mandy is progressing and has been coming to church. I think she really likes the ward and she is going to be baptized soon. It feels great to be able to see her progress since the very first day we saw her. We also have a couple student investigators that are decently interested.

Missionary work is hard but it is so worth it.

I gave a talk on Sunday! I chose to talk about member missionary work and I think I did well. I found out that I have no fear in public speaking anymore. It just went away as we talk with so many people every day.

Any good news with all of you? Tell me about them!

Love, 

Elder Lee

A Rewarding Week of Labor‏

Dear friends and family,

How are you all doing? Are you enjoying the new year much?

This week has been a crazy week in all aspects of missionary work. First of all, on Tuesday, the weather was so bad, with wind chill the temperature dropped to -39 C (please realize that -40 C=-40 F). That was kind of a challenge for us to talk to people on the streets but we endured through it and huge blessings came. On Saturday though the temperature went all the way up to 9 C which made me go out in just a short sleeve shirt and a jacket. According to the Toronto-nians here, I believe it won't get any colder than that this year.

In terms of missionary work, it has been an excellent week. We found a new investigator named Mandy and she came to church this week and is currently progressing. It comforts me to see how the members are so welcoming to her at church. There was also a baptismal service yesterday and I think Mandy enjoyed watching it.

We also had a couple surprises, we met with two people that are baptized but lost contact with the church since they moved to Toronto. Herman was baptized in Elder Cheng's ward (元朗) back home about ten years ago and we found him through contacting. Another one, Sarah, was baptized three years ago in Alabama and wants to go to church again. It is awesome to see how God helps us in the work because we just met them "randomly" on the streets. I know that Heavenly Father loves these children of His and desires them to live the Gospel again. That is why He arranged us to meet them.

Another good news was that we had finally taught 20+ lessons in a week, which was the first time I have ever helped achieve since the beginning of my mission. It is something that the first presidency expects from the missionaries. In fact, we taught 24 this week, I feel Heavenly Father's love and trust for us to help the area progress so quickly. We almost hit the "Standards of Excellence" this week. I am confident that we can achieve that this coming week, which will be very special to see because it will mean that Cantonese missionary work will finally be back up to where it should be.

So those are some of the exciting news for this week. I love the work and I testify that there is true joy in spreading the Gospel.

Love,
Elder Lee