Quit Worrying About It!

Hi Everyone,

Monday:

This week started with a cute older lady in our ward.  We call her Lam PaPa, and she fed us dinner.   The dinner was fine until dessert came.  The Elders, especially, had to gag it down. haha (: that was entertaining)

Tuesday:

We met again with a referral. He is an amazing man, and the Elders got him to Church. The love and warmth our ward had for him was inspiring. He has been friends with families in the ward for YEARS. He has known some of the people since they were babies. If this man gets baptized, it will be 100% because of the ward and the Spirit!

Wednesday:

Crossroads and SAM! Crossroads was fun.  We cleaned out fridges that were shipped to Africa this week. Then we came home and met Sam at the church for a meeting. This man has had such a crazy life. He is from Nepal and he is full of love for nature and photography. It's been interesting to see his slow progress as we teach him. It’s fun to see the potential in people, but then sad when they can't see it in themselves. I was also quite homesick this specific day and was just reminded over and over all day, to STOP worrying about it. I was worried about me as a companion, my future, our investigators, everything, and the rest the week God just kept reminding me, STOP worrying about it (:

Thursday:

We met up with our investigator Echo, and ended up not having enough time to teach her everything after dinner, so we scheduled her for the next day at 3... She wanted to eat outside, so we set up a little table for her (see pic below)

Friday:

3 o'clock came around and Echo didn't show up, but she called. We got talking and I have never felt the Spirit so strong over the phone. I have so much love for this woman. God has prepared her in so many ways to meet us. She described herself as a caterpillar in a cocoon.  She said she is trying and trying to escape but something is holding her in, and she feels trapped. So far nobody had taken the time to get in that cocoon with her and help her escape. Then she met us, and she expressed her gratitude to us.  She told us we have jumped into that cocoon with her, and that we are taking the time to teach her how to tear herself out. What a perfect way to describe someone who is ready to hear the gospel. This also reminded me again to stop worrying. God will take care of everything if we are doing our job.

Saturday:

We dropped an investigator because he really truly believes we are a cult!  Surprisingly, a lot of people think this.  They will say, " oooo, Mormon.." then we will say "Haih la, leih yauh mouh teng gwo?" (you've hear of us?)  They'll nod their head proudly and say, " cheh gaau", which means cult.  Then we said, " haih la, hou cheh"! (yup, so evil) NOT REALLY, BUT WE WANT TO SAY THAT SO BAD EVERYTIMEJ  We usually will just laugh and explain that we are not a cult and that we teach about Christ and the love that our Father in Heaven has for His children. We tried this over and over with this investigator, but he wouldn't believe us. What do you do? DONT worry about it! (:

Sunday:

Good day as always. We had a movie night with our investigators and some ward members. Our mission leader bought treats for us. (: YUM! We watched Legacy. . . such a good movie and it was interesting to see some investigators have compassion, empathy and appreciation for the early Saints who were thrown out of their homes for being Mormon. I love the pioneers!

Overall it’s been a good week. So much happens every week which makes time just fly! I learned a bold lesson this week. I learned that often the Holy Ghost is more anxious to help us then we are to receive help. Think about that for a minute. I know  for myself -  sometimes I cry and cry for the Holy Ghost to help me, and if I'm anxious enough to get on my knees and plead, then I can't imagine how anxious He must be! So just know He's always there!  If you don't feel Him, do all you can to invite Him and then once you know you’re doing your best, stop worrying about it, and He'll take care of you.   I’ve learned I can’t do anything without Him or Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ. SO don't forget them!

I also learned that my release date is June 29^th!  I can’t believe I only have about 9 months left!

Love you all!!

Sister Webb

An outdoor dinner with Echo:)

Breakfast on P-Day with a less active member and the other sister missionaries

I Learned A LOT This Week!

What a week. I literally have no idea where to start...

We met with some members and two referrals for dinner Monday night. Chinese food is so good! I have gotten really good at chopsticks and I know how lick a bone clean of its meat!  That was a challenge at first because we don’t deal with bones very much in America, but bones are in everything here!  It’s been fun to learn how to eat the food here all while having people critique my etiquette and style of eating. I really have enjoyed that haha (:  The two referrals are super nice and we have dinner again with them tomorrow night.  They are excited to see what we have to teach them (; They have no idea what they are getting themselves into! (eternity.. that’s what ;)

Then we had zone conference and it was the most spiritual zone conference I have ever been in. The Spirit was so strong and led the entire first two hours  We know this because nothing the leadership planned to teach was taught. . . It was 100% sihng lihng ge daai lihng!! (lead by the Spirit) I loved hearing from President Lam.  He talked about Christ’s Atonement and how it wasn't easy for Him either.  He even asked God if there was any way this could be easier. So every time you ask God, 'Why can't this be easier?', just remember that you are not the first one to ask that question.

Then on Friday night we had a really draining lesson with an investigator and it threw me into a funk. I have no idea what came over me, but I was scared out of my mind and didn't know what to do. So I closed out everyone, including my companion and prayed and prayed and wasn't feeling the spirit or hope or anything. I felt dark, lost, and ENTIRELY ALONE.  It lasted the rest of the night and into the next day. Then the next day around 3pm we had a lesson with a less active member. We planned to go in and teach him about Nephi’s challenge to get the brass plates and how it was hard, even though the Lord provided a way for him to do it. We ended up not even mentioning Nephi’s name, and this man told us his whole story.  When he finished I started crying. . . cuz I do that. . .  and I told him the parable of the lost sheep.  He sat there, watching me cry.  Then he said, “I haven't had a conversation like this in a really long time. I've forgotten what this feels like.”  I asked him, “Do you miss it?”.  The Spirit filled the room. This man then expressed a desire for his wife to meet with us and a desire to try again, 20 years later, to come back. PEOPLE! This is PROOF that God is real and that this church is true! This man left the church for money and family and a job, then he felt the Spirit in one small moment and it changed his life. We are meeting with him again this week and fasted with him yesterday that his wife would open her heart as well and listen to the message of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. DO NOT give up on this Church! It’s not worth it. Don't take a break. Don't complain! A wise woman reminded me of a quote from Mother Teresa:  “Be faithful in the small things, because it is in them that your strength lies." Mother Teresa nailed it!  Do the little things and great blessing will follow! 

I was told before my mission to learn to teach the way that Christ teaches, so the past 8 months I have studied ‘Jesus the Christ’ and Christ’s life in the Bible. I’ve been trying and trying to figure out the best way to teach.  This week I finally realized how simple it is!  It’s not just through parables and example that He taught people, but it is through the Spirit!  You can ONLY teach in the Lord’s way through the power of the Spirit (from PMG . . . it’s that simple!)  You can receive the Spirit through prayer and faith!  I can't believe it took me till this last Saturday to realize that the way the Savior taught was through the Spirit. I knew that before, but never connected the dots till this last Saturday.

Overall, I have learned A LOT this week haha (:

I love you all, have a good week!!

Love Sister Webb

An amazing zone conference!  

The Gunyam Statue . . . she is the Buddha of  Compassion. Beautiful!

We never tire of the amazing food here!

More cheng outs!

Moon cake!!

A Little Taste of Heaven & Inception!

It’s so crazy to put things into an eternal perspective! So think about this... Before we came to Earth we lived with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and our heavenly family. Then we came to earth to fulfill our missions on earth, to get a body, and to be tested. Then for some reason, I decide to go on another mission within my mission on earth, BUT this is where its gets crazy. On a  mission you are closer to God than ever before! You learn more about who He is and about how to become like Him than any other time in life!  (this is the case for me to this point). My companion reminded me that this was our purpose from the beginning!  To learn of Christ on earth and to become like Him and eventually return to Him.  So how come in normal life, outside of a full-time mission, we can't have the same experiences as we do on a mission?  We decided a mission is just a little taste of heaven. We are so close to God on our missions and we learn so much about our Heavenly Parents and our eternal purpose!  I just feel so grateful to be a missionary and have the opportunity to be 100% focused on bringing others unto Christ and trying to find out who He is myself. It’s a very special privilege that I have taken for granted. I think once a missionary realizes this, they then realize how special a mission really is, and they start to fall in love with their life as a missionary.

So anyway, this week was amazing! We had an incredible opportunity to go to a concert called “Let Your Light Shine”, with a few investigators. It was the most beautiful performance I have ever seen!  The music made me cry and brought so much love and peace. We brought our new investigators, Echo and her daughter Sophia. They are the sweetest people in the world. Echo has such a strong testimony of God and she is really excited to learn of the differences in our church compared to the one she is in right now.   We're excited to teach her!

The cleanup efforts from the typhoons were quickly addressed by the government here.   Luckily our area didn’t sustain a lot of damage, so we are back to work!  It is hotter than anything I’ve ever experienced (Singapore included because we had a lot of A/C there), but we just work away, sweating through all of our clothes, and loving every minute of it!!

Hope you all have a great week!   

Love Sister Webb

Sister Groberg gave me a haircut and did a good job!!

Me and my comp, Sister Peck

So much of our missionary work involves food!  One of our investigators invited us over to learn how to cook a whole bunch of chinese dishes!  It was so fun!

We found some BIG cockroaches living in our cupboards, so we had to disinfect everything!  SO GROSS!  Such a normal part of these hot, humid climates danget!

A Mile

In our mission we rise at 7am and go to bed at 11pm. But in our apartment we rise at 6:30 every morning except Pday and Sundays.  When I first came on my mission I would rise at 6:45 or 6:50 to exercise, but as time went on we started setting alarms for 6:25 to pray and 6:30 to rise because we didn’t have enough exercise time. So we get up and in about 10 minutes are out the door and running to the track to exercise for the next 45 to 50 minutes. We usually will run a mile and then do some other stuff after. But today I want to focus on my mile. In reality a mile is not that far and doesn’t take that long to run. But when you start that mile, finish the first lap and think to yourself, “oh. my. gosh. I still have THREE more of those to do!”, that’s when the mile starts to feel like forever and like you think maybe you can’t do it.  Then you tell yourself, “okay after the 2nd lap I'll take a break”.  Then you get to the end of the second lap and something keeps you going. This reminds me of my mission. I have about 9 months left of the mission, and just like my mile at the half way point, something happens to you!  You realize you have just enough energy to do it all one more time. Then my favorite lap. . . the third lap. This lap you kind of feel the same way you did when you started the second lap, but it’s different. You know you have made it this far so you have to keep going. I can only imagine that when I reach that point in my mission, that is exactly how I'll feel.  You've made it this far Amanda!  Now this is where you push, you run, you prepare yourself for that last lap, for that last sprint!”  And just like Elder Holland says with tears in his eyes, "Don’t you give up, you keep walking (in my case running), you keep trying, there is help and happiness ahead, a lot of it!" Then you get to the last sprint of the last lap and you can feel the energy in every step. There is nothing holding you back now, you want to finish strong, you want to put in your all, you made it this far, why would you hold back!?

Anyway, so that’s been on my mind a lot this week. A mission is a lot like a mile. Sometime even life can be like a mile. You have school, work, and even just some weeks or days you want to end. But don’t forget Elder Holland’s last words, " . . . There is help and happiness ahead, a lot of it!" I believe this with all my heart! I feel so blessed to be on a mission right now for a lot of reasons. (One being I don’t have to be in school J) I love my mission.  Every day brings its own new struggles and its own new battle, but if you approach it with an eager mindset to fight and win, then nothing can hold you back!

Love you all!

Love Sister Webb

Some friends from English Class took us out for a fun lunch!

This is the King Family in our ward.  They invite us over every Fast Sunday!  We love them!!