Ask For Help To Carry Your Cross

So this week was pretty good. We had a zone Thanksgiving party.  It was super fun. It was nice to just be with all these missionaries that I know really well.  I feel like my zone has become like family.  We have all been here so long together!  It’s switching up though this week. We got transfer calls yesterday.  My companion is moving to the area next door to me, so we’ll still be in the same apartment.  I will be staying in the Butterfly area, but I was also asked to be a trainer to a new missionary!  I’m excited to get this new missionary and so is our ward!  I will still be an STL as well and I hope I’m going to be able to do what’s required of me . . . prayers are appreciated!

We visited a member this week and she had a picture story on her wall with this poem:

(and here is the link to the pictures: https://phcwandsworth.wordpress.com/2014/05/22/take-up-your-cross-and-follow-jesus-matthew-1624-26/)

Whatever your cross,

whatever your pain,

there will always be sunshine,

after the rain....

Perhaps you may stumble,

perhaps even fall,

But God's always ready,

To answer your call...

He knows every heartache,

sees every tear,

A word from His lips,

can calm every fear...

Your sorrows may linger,

throughout the night,

But suddenly vanish,

dawn's early light.

The Savior is waiting,

somewhere above,

To give you His grace,

and send you His love..

Whatever your cross,

whatever your pain,

"God always sends rainbows ....

after the rain ...”   

I hadn’t seen it before.  As I looked at this boy picking up his cross by all of his friends, I was intrigued.  They all start walking and the boy puts his down and says, "God this cross is a little too heavy, can you cut it down a little for me?" so God allows him to cut the end off.  This continues until the boy's cross is cut back quite a bit, but then he reaches a divide and needs to  get across.  His friends lay their crosses down across the divide, but his is now too short, so he can’t make it over.

The poem above touched me and I thought how we all bare different crosses.  Marvin J. Ashton talks about all sorts of different crosses people bare.   He says that some may include “lack of trust, or lack of self confidence, pride, or the tendency to make caustic comments—to ridicule, putting others or oneself down, to cause contention, or to engage in slander or gossip, or even adulation."  Whatever cross you carry, just know that God is aware of you and will help you to "take up your cross” and follow Jesus Christ.  Each person is given their individual cross and we can each learn from these.  I’ve decided instead of asking Heavenly Father to take it away or cut it down, instead to help me carry mine. 

This week I had a little break down, which has happened quite frequently on my mission.   I wasn’t sure what to do . . .I’m still having a hard time speaking the language and understanding what is going on, even at church.  When we got to church none of our investigators or less actives showed up, and that was hard.   I just felt I was lacking something, so when we got home from church I started personal study and prayer, but it was kind of pathetic. I just knelt there and cried. 

I decided to end my prayer, I sat up at my desk and pulled out the general conference Liahona. I decided to open up to the Priesthood session because I haven’t read that yet. I opened up to "Bearers of Heavenly Light" by Elder Uchtdorf and he described how I was feeling perfectly:  " ...Sometimes spiritual breakdowns come so gradually that we can scarcely tell what is happening. Like layers of sedimentary rock, spiritual pain and grief can build over time, weighing upon our spirits until it is almost too heavy to bear. For example, this can happen when our responsibilities at [missionary] work, home, and church become so overwhelming that we lose sight of the joy of the gospel. We might even feel as though we have no more to give..."  Then he reminds us, "Every time you turn your hearts to God in humble prayer, you experience His light. Every time you seek His word and will in the scriptures, the light grows in brightness. Every time you notice someone in need and sacrifice your own comfort to reach out in love, the light expands and swells. Every time you reject temptation and choose purity, every time you seek or extend forgiveness, every time you courageously testify of truth, the light chases away darkness and attracts others who are also seeking light and truth." 

This just confirmed to me once again, that I am doing all these things!  I have the light of Christ. I need to remember that and not let the "sedimentary rock" build up over time. There is light in us!  All of us!  And the more we shine, the more people around us will shine. So bare the cross that you have been given, do it with courage and a smile, and know that if you bare it well, you will have everlasting joy.

Love you all!  Hope you had a good Thanksgiving!

Sister Webb

We got to go to HONG KONG DISNEYLAND for our P-DAY!!!

We had a Thanksgiving Feast with our Zone and I was in charge of games!  Thanks to Susie Smith for introducing all the young women in our stake to ORANGE LIGHTNING!  It was a huge success!

My 2nd game was SIGNS.  It was hilarious!

Our Zone

A real turkey!!

And a pizza night to celebrate the holiday weekend!

An Eternal Perspective

THANK YOU so much for all of the Birthday wishes!  I had a great birthday and felt loved and remembered!

Wow was I enlightened this week. I have started to dive into the New Testament and I once again realize I have so much to learn and I am really excited about this!  I’m grateful I still have 8 months to study an hour a day without interruption.  I’m definitely taking advantage of this!  As I’ve been reading this week, I’ve realized how important it is to have an eternal perspective. I went on exchanges with a Sister this week, who (in my opinion) gets it. She understands, obviously not perfectly, but she understands God’s plan and is constantly asking herself, "Where do I want to be in the eternities?  Where do I want to be in 50 years, 10 years, today?  What can I do today to help get there?" She is a great example to me of what it looks like to have an eternal perspective. I had so much fun learning from her this week.

I also had an "AHA" moment as I read Helaman 12:7-8 this week.  He tells us that when men disobey God they are lower than the dust of the earth, because the dust of the earth obeys God’s command.  I felt a desire to be more humble and was reminded how important it is to be obedient.

A few weeks ago a member called us up and they said they had a friend who was interested in learning about the church.   We started meeting with her and she started coming to church.  This week we extended a baptismal invitation to her for December 23rd. She was the cutest thing ever. We extended it and asked her to prepare herself to be baptized on that date and she kind of nods her head, and then says, “Let me check my calendar real quick!"  She checks her calendar, says she's free, and then she was quiet for a moment and said, "This stuff is so true!" It was a really good lesson haha (: I haven't had one of those in a long time. But I am BEYOND grateful to have a part in her conversion. She has been prepared for the past 3 years by this member, who has been patient and so loving with her. This is that incomprehensible joy they talk about in the Book of Mormon.  Keep trying to find people out there members! This is your JOB!

Love you!!

Love, Sister Webb

Thanks Jessica for sending me Mac n' Cheese for my birthday!  It was the BEST

It turns out one of my missionary friends knows Melissa Bradford, a YW leader I had and LOVED in Singapore! I just had to do a Shout-Out to you Sister Bradford!  We love you!

Sister Groberg cutting all of our hair!!

Christmas has arriveed in HK!

This was an interesting combination . . . Christmas, Moulin Rouge, and a glass grand piano???

Why I'm Not An English Speaking Missionary

I have got this personality trait in me that I didn’t know I had before. I kind of like to take control of things when nothing is getting done. As you all know from last week, as of right now, we don’t have many investigators, in fact we barely have one. We have been finding and finding all week, but you can’t knock doors in Hong Kong and you can’t proselyte in a lot of places, so our finding places are limited. We have been meeting with members and asking for referrals.

I had the thought this week that it’s probably a good thing I’m not an English speaking missionary.  If the people here could understand English, we all might be in trouble!  I am finding that I want to be BOLD and DIRECT when someone doesn’t want to receive our message.  It really pains my spirit to see one of my brothers or sisters reject the message we have.  I picture the soul of that person dropping their head in sorrow.  I almost feel their soul talking to my soul, perhaps a tear or two rolling down their cheek, and in a disappointing tone telling me their mortal self just isn’t ready yet.  It’s so sad and my overbearing missionary self wants to say in a BOLD voice, “Look what you’re doing to your spirit! You are missing out on giving yourself the opportunity to have eternal life! You are rejecting a plan you already agreed with and your Spirit is suffering because of your pride and unwillingness to let God into your life!"

THEN I just have to remind myself what God would say: "You've helped nourish or plant a seed. Now let Me be the gardener and nourish that seed the way that I’ve had planned from the beginning!" It is a good thing we have such a wise gardener nourishing the seeds we plant!  I have to ask for help and faith  to  trust in His timing A LOT!

Otherwise this week we had a really good time meeting with members. We presented a ward mission plan to them and it was fun to see some of them get really excited to accomplish all the things on the mission plan. They all shared stories of times they have shared the gospel with someone in their life and how it has touched the person.  Some shared stories where they shared the gospel and were rudely rejected. Most of all I love hearing the member’s testimonies. The member’s love for missionary work in Hong Kong is unreal. They are all trying so hard, even the kids. God has a plan for the people of Hong Kong and I am grateful to be a part of it.  I feel the majority of growth is coming from these phenomenal members though!  It’s just astounding! So keep up the good work fellowshipping and helping the Lord’s missionaries back home. Remember that they are called of God to serve in your area for a reason.  Do all you can to help them find out why they were called to your area.  This is only 18 months to 2 years of their lives!  Help make it memorable and meaningful to them.  Let them know that they are doing a great work and that you’re proud of them, even if they don’t have a big teaching pool or many baptisms.  I’ve come to feel that the members here are my family.  Think of your missionaries as your family and help them feel loved and appreciated!

I went on exchanges this week, and I brought one of the Sisters here to Butterfly. She goes home at the end of this transfer, so she’s quite a seasoned missionary. She taught me so much. I learned the importance of remembering that your schedule (full or not) that you write out in your planner is all still the Lord’s work.  Every minute you spend that day (whether useful or not) is on the Lords time and His errand.  It was a good reminder for me.  She shared some of her own experiences and it gave me hope that 1) the language will continue to come 2) God will eventually provide 3) talk to EVERYONE 4) no time is wasted.

I want to challenge you all this week to find someone, less active or non member, and invite them to do something with you. Maybe you could make cookies, invite them to go to church or go to an activity. Maybe you could just invite them over at a time your family is doing family prayer and scripture study.  As we love those around it, I believe they'll get it one day!  Just don’t give up!

Love you all,

Love Sister Webb

A great hike up to Lions Rock

Beautiful Views!

My roomates!!!

This is Wong Ji Muih, a member in the ward that  prepared a birthday celebration along with Sara and Nico!

The Birthday Feast!

Me and Nico

Sweet Sara, our most recent convert.  She loves the missionaries!

Isn't this the cutest thing ever?

Check out the necklace I'm wearing (not the medallion)

This was Sara's gift to me.  She went a bit overboard.  It is a pure gold band with crosses on it and from my calculations, she paid about $100USD for it:O.  She is a wonderful woman and I felt her love as she presented me this gift!!

Do You Truly BELIEVE?

This week has just been so busy!

We had an 8 hour devotional with Elder Evans this past Wednesday.  It was everything I needed and more. He talked about so many things, but the underlying point was "ASK FOR REFERRALS 100%" and that is our action plan for the rest of the year. It’s going to be INSANE! He has promised us so many things if we just ask EVERYONE for referrals.

So we did our weekly planning and made a plan to ask everyone we were meeting with for referrals . . . we weren’t expecting what happened next . . . we lost all of our investigators. We don’t even have one! NADA! I like to think of it as a clean slate . . . or plate.  Imagine you just did all this work to make food for someone, filled their plate, and then they throw it in the trash and say try again! Ouch. That hurts, but that’s where we are. So in an effort to be optimistic, we have a fresh start, a clean slate. I shed a few tears, mostly for these people I care about and wanted to badly to share the message of the Gospel with, but then I told myself to keep moving forward with faith and hope.  I don’t believe God sent me to Hong Kong to mourn over those people who aren’t ready yet.   So I stopped crying and went to a Relief Society activity. And they fed me cinnamon rolls!  It was amazing.  Yes I have the best ward ever.

So Elder Evans is an amazing man for those of you who don’t know him. He is in the Quorum of the Seventy and a member of the Asia Area Presidency.  As he talked I became very aware of ways I can improve.  He also motivated all of us and we felt so much love.  Boy is that man full of love for us, and for the Lord. This devotional will probably change me for the rest of my mission.  The enthusiasm I feel towards the next 8 months is indescribable. He has set a straight and narrow path for us on how we need to start changing and what we need to do to accomplish the goals we are setting. He also has promised if we do the one main thing he has asked us to do, our generation of missionaries will 'change the face of the China Hong Kong mission'.   If a general authority tells you that, you're going to want to listen right?  YA!

So he started off the second half of the devotional by saying, “I can feel some really discouraged hearts towards the HK missionary work in this room." Then he proceeded to the next half of his devotional and asked, "Do you BELIEVE?" Do we believe that we can find, teach and baptize converts in Hong Kong? Do we believe that there are people that God has prepared for us? . . . and so on. Overall I learned that I believe all this, but there is a BUT. You can’t fully trust God with a BUT after your testimony.   It just will NOT work! So I have a few things I need to change if I want to start seeing more miracles. I know God has people prepared. I just need to believe that!

I’m rambling a bit, so I’ll wrap it up.  I would challenge all of you by asking if you truly “BELIEVE” that God can do miracles??  Some examples of where that doubt enters are:

• ·        " I know going to Church is a commandment and will strengthen my testimony and relationship with God, but..." or
• ·        " I know the Book of Mormon is true and if I read it every day I will be more prepared to accomplish the Lord’s will and withstand the adversary, but..." or
• ·        “I love my parents and I know that when we obey them and love and respect them, God will be in the center of our home and we will have much more love and peace surrounding us, but..."

I think if we can eliminate the doubt or the “BUT” in our faith, we will see greater miracles. 

Love you all!

Love, Sister Webb

A birthday celebration for my comp, Sister Peck . . . 

Combined with a humble attempt to acknowledge Halloween:)

Yes, we made a cake for each of us!!