Expect Miracles

Ok. HUGE miracle. So there was this man I met my first transfer here in Liverpool and we ended up teaching him about the restoration right on the spot. After the lesson he told us that he felt we were a sign from God. He accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and gave us his contact info before he had to leave. I have called him on multiple occasions hoping he would pick up and he never did. One of the last times I called, maybe around two months ago, I left a message on his voicemail. Last week he finally called back! He is willing to meet with us and learn more! Never give up on investigators! I have learned this week that miracles happen when we have the faith to expect them.

This week was full of pre-Christmas celebrations:

On Friday, we had Christmas training at the mission home with part of our zone. We had a big feast prepared by wonderful Sister Preston, performed skits, watched Ephraim rescue, and had a white elephant gift exchange. So much fun! We also got our Christmas packages afterwards. I had quite the stack of packages.. Thank you family! Thank you Sister Wutzke too :)

Saturday we went to watch the play A Christmas Carol that the members in the Liverpool stake have put together. It was fantastic. President Preston came and we were able to get permission to stay for the whole thing. We didn't get home until after 11pm. I was surprised that I was so awake Sunday.

Sunday we watched the Christmas Devotional at the church.

So excited for Christmas!

While traveling on the train to get to our Christmas training, I met this young man that was a student at the Liverpool Uni and was leaving to go home to the Ukraine for Christmas. I asked him about his journey home and he told me that he had a 2 hour flight to Germany and had a 9 hour layover before his next flight. I asked him what he planned on doing while he waited and he told me he was going to drink and read a book. Perfect segway into the Restoration and the Word of Wisdom. I explained that we stay away from alcohol because we can't feel the promptings, comfort, and guidance from the Spirit if we partake of certain substances. He said it made sense and if he understood it a bit more he would probably live it. (Woah!) I got his info and sent it to the mission office for it to be passed on to the Ukraine mission. He will be baptized on day. I know it. His mom too because she is ''very religious''.

A girl in the ward got set apart for her mission to Temple Square this weekend. She had 20 plus members/ family at her setting apart and all 4 of the Sister missionaries in the ward stood in as well. It was weird thinking that only 7 months ago I was in her very position. Nervous, excited, sad to be saying goodbye. I know Sister Andre will do great.

Sacrifice brings blessings

An Elder trio in our district only had one tea appointment this whole week. The Sisters are fed pretty often and Sister Loh and I had already two and one more scheduled for Sunday. Sister Loh and I gave up our Sunday tea appointment so that they could have another one this week. Then after church on Sunday we were talking to a member and he asked ''do you have a tea appointment today?.'' We told him we didn't and he invited us over to have tea with his family. Sacrifice truly does bring blessings :) Heavenly Father takes care of His missionaries.

C Minor still doesn't feel prepared enough for baptism. We have tried our best to encourage him and express our confidence in him but we have reached a point where we just can't push him any farther. We respect his agency and we hope he will feel ready to be baptized in the future. He wants to be baptized, and that is huge progress since 4 months ago he wanted nothing to do with religion and considered himself and atheist. The time just isn't right for him right now.

A lot of our Chinese investigators are leaving or have already left the country for holiday. One of the only downsides to teaching Uni students.

Last week we set up a appointment with this Uni student I met on an exchange. He arrived at the building we planned to meet up at and he had invited two friends to join us-- Great! But they are all Muslim-- Not so great.. We weren't expecting to teach three of them and when ever you met with people from a Muslim background it takes a lot of mental preparation. They asked us a lot of questions such as the typical ''how do you know Jesus is the Son of God?'' We tried our best to answer but they were too skeptical about our responses. The least I could do was bear testimony that I know Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he is our Savior. One of them mentioned how he didn't think it was fair that someone would have to die for us. That comment sparked an inspired thought in my head that I have futher pondered the rest of the week:

 If our Heavenly Father could have, He would have gave His life for us. Since He is God with a perfected and resurrected body, He cannot die anymore. He, however, has a plan for all of us to be able to return back to live with Him again. That plan required a Savior that could die for us and who could stand in our place and pay the price for our sins. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, willingly came to this world to die for us so that we could return to live with our Father in Heaven. He inherited from his mortal mother Mary the ability to die and from his Heavenly Father he inherited the ability to take up his life again. Because of the Atonement, we will all overcome physical death and through the Atonement we can also over come spiritual death. God's plan is perfect.

 I hope we will all gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of the Atonement. I am grateful that my Savior, Jesus Christ, died for me. He did it beacause he loves me. He loves us all:

''Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends'' (John 15:13).

Love you all!    

Sister Jordan

                                            MIssion Home at Christmas

                                               Shloer It Up:)

                                                    Christmas Training Feast

Are You A Nun?

Ok.. I bet you are all wondering why this week's email has such a weird title. Well, let me tell ya! I was on exchange with another sister who is in my district and we had just called by a potential investigators house when a group of children outside became curious about what we were doing. One of them asked us ''are you a nun?'' to whence I replied, ''Close.. I'm a missionary!'' Sister Hansen laughed at my response but hey, you would be surprised how often we get asked if we are nuns. Nope. Just Sister missionaries. We are allowed (encouraged actually) to get married when we return home from our missions. Nevertheless, we do share about Christ like nuns do? I actually don't know that much about nuns haha.

I'll start off with some somewhat bad news. This week we had to drop  Xing :( We weren't expecting to but in last lesson we had with him it went that direction. We were so close to teaching him all of the lessons and this last lesson we read D&C 20:37 with him which talks about the qualifications for baptism. When he saw that the verse talked about ''desire'' he told us he didn't have the desire to be baptized. I was shocked. I guess some things got lost in translation as we have been meeting with him because I was sure he wanted to be baptized. He hasn't been praying as we have invited him to. Consequently, he still feels like he doesn't have a relationship with God nor does he really understand right now why he should. We bore testimony to him that he has a Father in Heaven who loves him and wants to talk to him. He just won't progress anymore if he hasn't developed an understanding of/relationship with his Heavenly Father in prayer. It was sad but I know that he will be baptized one day. In the mean time, we told him he can still come to church, attend institute, and that he should still try to pray everyday but we won't meet with him anymore. We told him that when he likes the feeling he gets from come to church meetings and events to contact the missionaries.

Now some good news- This past Saturday was another consecrated 4 hour finding here in the EMM. Sister Loh and I decided that we would ask everyone what their Christmas wish is and have them write it down on a piece of paper and add it to our lovely ''Christmas wishes'' box. It was a great way to stop people. We didn't really gain that many new investigators despite our efforts finding most of Saturday. On the bus on our way to our tea appointment guess who I saw again? Thomas!--The man I met my first transfer here who was not at all interested in religion when I first met him but his heart has been softening as I have seen him each consecutive time. I feel that each time I see him again is a miracle because I feel like he has such great potential. I asked him if he wanted to write his Christmas wish and add it to our box of Christmas wishes. He asked what we were going to do with them and I was like ''we will pray that they will come true!'' He said he wanted to be richer (-_-). I told him that perhaps he will be richer in Spirit this Christmas. Before we had to get off the bus I asked him if we could come and share a Christmas message with him soon. He said yes! I finally have his contact information! The Lord has been so gracious to me for letting me to slowly work with this man whom I have come to feel the Saviors love for.

I thought it would be creative to sing Christmas hymns as we went tracting this past week. Not effective at all. The people answer the doors, run back in, and come back with money to give us. Turns out they donate money to Christmas Carolers here in England. I don't want your money! I just want to save your soul!

C Minor update:
We followed up with C Minor on the priesthood blessing he received and he told us he has gained so much for self control from it. He has continued to be able to keep the Word of Wisdom! He still hasn't been dated for baptism but he is so close! I had a really great lesson with him while we were on exchange. I asked him how he feels about being baptized and in his response he mentioned that he hasn't received an answer on whether or not he should be baptized this month. He also feels like he should work on more of his weaknesses before he is baptized. I shared Moroni 10:32-33 with him and told him that it is only through Christ and following his example (being baptized) that we will become perfected. We cannot reach perfection on our own, neither will we reach perfection in this life. I think this scripture helped him a lot. I was bold with him and invited him to pray again if the 21st was the day he should be baptized. The following appointment we had with him he told us he hadn't prayed about a date yet.. Weishenme! (why!). Patience, Sister Jordan. Patience. He did receive answers to his other questions he did happen to pray about so that's great. Now pray about the date please :)

The power of prayer:
For a couple of weeks now, we have been helping these two Chinese students, Louise and Carol, with their English and they in return, help us with our Chinese. We have been hoping and praying that this service opportunity would turn into a teaching opportunity. While I was on exchange, we prayed that we would be able to teach them and that they would become new investigators. As I was helping Carol with her English she asked ''what does your church believe about death? I have been thinking of death and I am scared.'' Oh. My. Goodness.!!! It was the perfect teaching moment. I was able to share a little about the Plan of Salvation and I also taught her how to pray. The other Sister that was practicing English with the Louise also taught about the Plan of Salvation. Louise had a similar question to Carol's. They are both new investigators now!

There are two Chinese families in our ward that have been members for only a couple of years, one of the moms will be baptized a year in February. Sister Loh and I have talked for ages how we need to talk with them all about going to the temple to be sealed as Eternal families. We were finally able to yesterday. We committed them to go to the temple next February and take our their endowments and be sealed to their children. I would love to see these two families sealed in the temple. I am so grateful that the Priesthood has been restored here on earth and that we can be sealed to our families for time and all eternity. What a special opportunity I had to be sealed to my family in the Nauvoo Temple :)

Love you all!
Sister Jordan
                                          Recent P-Day Adventures

                     
                                         Multi-Zone Conference

                                             The Infamous Fell Street

Setting Records

It is transfer time again and I am... Staying in Liverpool! Yep. That's right. I will be in Liverpool for 4 transfers in a row. And my new companion is... Well, it is not a new companion at all-- Sister Loh and I are still together haha. I don't think this has ever happened in our mission: Same companionship in the same area for 4 transfers in a row. Setting records indeed. It is weird to think that I am a third through my mission and I have been with only one companion in the mission field. Perhaps we still have a work to do and we can only do it if we are still together. It will be great though because both Sister Loh and I will be able to spend Christmas in Liverpool which I have heard is the greatest thing ever. We already have members in the ward offering to feed us Christmas breakfast and meals-- they like to book in advance.

Funny moment:

We were running late for an appointment we had made while tracting and we had two members with us that we have become really good friends with. I was walking a little ahead of everyone because I don't like running late for things. Eventually, one of the members started jogging to catch up and a couple seconds later fell to the pavement. I tried so hard not to laugh and I think I did pretty well at just giggling to myself  (It sounds awful but I ensure you he was alright). The next day, Sister Loh and I were in the same neighborhood and a street near where the member the day before fell was called ''Fell'' street. The situation just got 10 times funnier. 

Our mission had multi-zone conference last week with Elder Teixeira and his wife as the visiting area authority. Elder Teixeira encouraged us all to raise our visions and to remember that baptism is the center of our purpose. Sister Teixeira basically called us all to repent because we haven't been the best at exercising in the morning. Guilty! We all tend to pass out on the floor in the morning but I have committed myself to be better at exercising in the morning. 

There was a double baptism in our district this past weekend and before the baptism the Elders put on the movie The Other Side of Heaven. Love that movie so much. My favorite line: ''learn the language; build the kingdom.'' Definitely a new motto for my mission.

One of our new investigators took us to a really good Chinese buffet for lunch. They had a sushi bar so you know I had to go check it out. The man working behind the sushi bar must have looked at our tags and asked ''Are you Mormons '' Yes! Yes we are. He then went on to explain that he is from the Philippines his mom is a member of the church currently living in Sweden. He asked us if he could meet with us because he had some questions about our doctrine. Whaaaat?! Of course we can! We will be seeing him next week. Never would have thought to meet a potential investigator at a buffet. 

Even though I am away from home for this Christmas I still got to wrap some presents. Sister Loh and I helped a lady in the ward wrap some presents. I am impressed that she has all of her Christmas shopping done for her 3 daughters  She will be keeping the presents in a hidden location and bring them down just before Christmas. While we were at her house I thought ''hmm.. I wonder where my mom hides Christmas presents.'' I don't think I have ever looked around for them although curious. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise of Christmas. 

I have had some of the best early morning studies ever recently. Although I have gained numerous witnesses from the Holy Ghost that this church is true, that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and that Christ is our Savior, I decided I would do as I invite my investigators to do and pray to know that the Book of Mormon is true. As I was studying for one of our investigators I flipped to 2 Nephi 33 ( I have been reading a lot from there lately. Such a good book in the Book of Mormon). I love the humility of Nephi and how he feels in writing he is weak but when he speaks he has power because he is able to speak with the power of the Holy Ghost. Although Nephi feels he is not able to write as well as he speaks, his words are so powerful. I got to verse 6 which reads: '' I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell.'' As soon as I read that verse the Spirit hit me. It bore testimony to me that the Book of Mormon is true and that Jesus Christ lives and that he is our Savior. It is hard for me to believe that the author of that powerful verse felt weak in writing because he wrote one of the most powerful verses of scripture. What we feel like is our weakness can truly become strong when we turn to the Lord. 

I love that fact that we can all know that this church is true whether we are a member or nonmember, old or young, with a testimony or without one yet. Because I continue to receive confirmation from the Spirit that Christ is our Savior I am able to withstand the challenges of being a missionary and I am excited everyday to testify that he lives. 

I love you all!

Sister Jordan 

Teach Ye All Nations

Hello friends and family!

I would like to first start out with a funny Liverpool moment:
I was on the bus and the lady I had been talking to got off. There was this older man ( I think he was a little drunk) that was across the aisle. I smiled and said hello and he was like ''WOW!!! You're teeth are white!!!!''  I replied ''Yes. I go to the dentist.'' Got to love the people of Liverpool.

C Minor is doing great. We taught him the Word of Wisdom the other day and found out that he will have to give up some things if he is to be ready for baptism. It makes sense now that he didn't feel ready for baptism if he was praying to know if he was ready. Hopefully he will be able to overcome this road block.

This week during personal study I was studying about enduring to the end. I decided to read 2 Nephi 31:16-21 as suggested in Preach My Gospel. Verse 16 reads: ''And now, my beloved brethren, I know by this that unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.'' After reading this verse it stood out to me that a part of enduring to the end is developing Christlike attributes. I then thought of how great it would be if the following verses included all of the Christlike attributes. They do! I encourage you all to read this passage of scripture and find faith, hope, charity, humility, obedience, diligence, patience, knowledge, and virtue. I promise you they are all there. There is so many hidden treasures we can find in the scriptures when we take the time to really ''feast upon the words of Christ.'' :)

Sister Loh and I were street contacting on our way to an appointment one day and we saw this Chinese man so we stopped to talk to him. I understood the conversation and then about a minute later I had no clue what they were saying. They had switched to Cantonese! Yeah.. Ting bu dong (I don't understand). It was not beneficial to just stand there not knowing what was going on so I went to talk to this African man that was a couple feet away. I don't know if I had said this before, but I LOVE talking to black people here in England. I always think ''my people!'' haha. Anyway, I start talking to this man, he tells me he is from Nigeria and I tell him I am from America here on a mission. I gave him a Book of Mormon which he was hesitant to receive because he believes the Bible is all he needs. I bore testimony that I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and I also told him that I was a representative of Jesus Christ here to spread his restored gospel. It is amazing how much power you can feel when you bear witness that you are a representative of Jesus Christ. I think the Holy Ghost witnessed to him the truth of what I was saying because he finally accepted the copy of the Book of Mormon and said he would read it and if it says the same thing as the Bible, he would accept its teachings. I told him that there are plenty of chapters in the Book of Mormon that quote Isiah . I left him with a prayer and rejoined my companion who was still talking in Cantonese with the Chinese man. After I walked away I saw the man I had talked to reading the Book of Mormon!

A thought I had this week is how much I love being a Chinese speaking missionary. The language is hard, yes, but it is so worth being a Chinese Missionary because the Chinese work here is incredible. I know that the Chinese here in England are very special sons and daughters of God. Many of them are just so golden and have a sincere desire to learn about Jesus Christ.

I have a really great miracle to share! Last week, Sister Loh and I were on our way to an appointment and we had some extra time to street contact on our way there. We were walking past this house when all of the sudden I felt the need to stop. I was like ''how about we knock on this door?'' It was a crazy idea but we went with it. As we got to the door step we were trying to figure out what to say if someone came to the door. Another crazy thought I had was to sing a Christmas hymn to who ever answered the door. We ring the bell, a man comes out. We tell him we were missionaries and that we wanted to sing him a Christmas song. The first thing he said to us was ''I am Christian!'' We sang Silent Night for him, and during the song, a woman came to the door as well. Turns out to be the man's sister who is also Christian. They are from Iran and speak Persian but we were able to set up a time to see them in the following days. The day we went over as planned, no one answered the door. Bummer. We waited 10 to 15 minutes and finally started walking away. Just as we reached the bottom of the drive-way, a lady that I hadn't seen before came out. We stopped her and asked for the people we had met a couple of days before. She eventually invited us in, disappeared down stairs, and brought back the woman we had talked to. She was home! Long story short, we taught her the restoration in very broken English. We had cups that we use as a visual and it helped her understand. At the end of the lesson I asked her ''when you feel gospel good, will you be baptized?'' She nodded and said yes! The fellow shipper we were with may have been surprised and asked her ''you understand?'' and she nodded her head again and said ''yes.'' We will see her again this week. I love England because I get to teach people from so many nations.

Transfers are coming up soon! In fact, today President Preston and his Assistants will be doing transfer planning. I may or may not be training this next transfer.. oh boy.

The Liverpool stake had stake conference this past weekend. The sessions had an emphasis on hastening the work of salvation. It is amazing to see the increased enthusiasm to share the gospel after this past General Conference.

Remember that Christ invites ALL men to come unto him. Of course not just ''men'' but women and children as well. Something I thought of as I pondered this week was that sometimes we may hold back sharing the gospel with certain people because we feel that they would reject it or that they would not want to change their life to live the gospel. Remember that Christ denies no one. I can hear the Savior's invitation '' Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me'' (3 Nephi 9:14).

Love you all!
Sister Jordan

Invitations

This week I went on exchange with our Sister Training Leader in South Ribble. Our last stop of the day was to call by a former investigator couple. They let us in and offered us hot chocolate. Sometimes I am surprised by how friendly perfect strangers can be. They had a lovely home and I felt that I was at home. Anyways, we ended up talking about the Plan of Salvation and how the knowledge that we are sons and daughters of God effects the way we view the world and ourselves. I felt the prompting that we needed to invite them to do something. I thought about inviting them to be baptized but in the end I invited them to read the Book of Mormon instead. They didn't really accept my invitation but I know that the seed has been planted. I can't see the end result of our visit now but I do know that it is so important to invite people to come unto Christ through leaving commitments. After all, this is part of our purpose as missionaries.

One day I sat next to this girl, Louise, on the bus. When we started talking about religion, she told me that he dad was religious but it was hard for her to know what is true because she has never had an experience to help her know. i told her that we all have the opportunity to have spiritual experiences for ourselves. I gave her a Book of Mormon and promised her that she would come closer to God and would have that experience she is seeking for.  She was very grateful for the Book of Mormon and the promise I shared with her and gave me a hug before she got off at her stop.

Another miracle I had while bus contacting this week was when I talked to this young man named David. When I sat next to him he was listening to music and I was thinking ''oh boy.. when am I going to be able to talk to him?'' I said a little prayer in my heart that I would be able to have a conversation with him. Not too long after that, he took his head phones out-- YES! I was able to talk to him and found out that he comes from a religious Christian family. During the bus ride I was able to share the message of the restoration and even got to share with him Joseph Smith's first vision. David was impressed by Joseph Smith's story. I related it to him and how he can go to God and know truth too. I gave him a Book of Mormon and then had to hop off before I could get his info or give him ours. He has great potential though and I am sure the Lord will take care of him.

Ok.. now for the news I am sure you are all waiting for, Kirk's baptism! I mentioned in my last email that I knew that the road to his baptism would not be easy and I was right. He was hit pretty hard with opposition but we were able to help him through it. The actual day of the baptism was interesting because we realized we didn't have keys to the church but we needed to start up the boiler so that the water would be warm and then fill up the font. Every thing did work out, thank goodness. We had a really great turn out to his baptism. There are a lot of members who have come to know and love Kirk and they came to support him. President and Sister Preston also came. Surprise!  Wasn't expecting them to come at all. It was great having them there though. President has talked to Kirk before and knew him well enough to come to his baptism I guess. Kirk was dunked a few times but was finally able to be full immersed after a couple of tries haha. Kirk bore his testimony at his baptism and did wonderful. His little son, Owen, wanted to give a speech but was in the gym when it was time for him to talk. We ended with prayer and saw that he was upset that he wasn't able to say anything. A member of the bishopric told him that he could maybe speak on Sunday and he did. It was so cute! He told the congregation how proud he was of his dad for being baptized and also said that his dad has always been his example, in good times and bad times, and that he wants to be just like him. Yes, those were the words out of the mouth of a seven and a half year old. He wants to be baptized when he is 8. Don't know where I will be in April when that happens but I am definitely coming back for his baptism.

We actually missed our bus by a minute this past Sunday.. Oops! We decided to walk to church since the next bus didn't come until 10 minutes before church would start. Of course we would miss our bus the week Kirk was being confirmed. So we walked, then we jogged, then we ran, and we finally made it to the church. Fortunately we were only 5 to 7 minutes late and arrived during the opening hymn.

We invited C Minor to be baptized next month but he does not think he is ready. We told him how prepared he was and that if he prayed about the specific date that we gave him, it would be easier for him to feel like he has received and answer. Sometimes in our prayers we need to ask the right questions and be more specific and then the Lord will more readily give us an answer. Needless to say, he is still on the fence but the last time we meet with him we invited him to pray to be more sensitive to the Spirit. Until then, Sister Loh will definitely be learning patience.

Just like I invite investigators, I invite you too to come unto Christ. He is the way through this life and he is the way back to our Father in Heaven. Keep praying. Keep reading the scriptures. Keep being great. Love you all!

Sister Jordan

The Time is Far Spent

This week we taught a student named Sophie. She is an office referral. She became a new investigator this past week and Sister Loh and I were very excited to finally have another female investigator to teach, which are only a few at the moment. We invited her to be baptized the first time we met her and she asked us what she would have to do once she was baptized and we explained that weekly church attendance was a major part of being a member of the church. I think this might overwhelmed her a little off a little school work and doesn't want her to be distracted by meeting with us. (Noooooooo!) Her mom has convinced her that it would be better to meet with missionaries after she is done with school so in like in a year or so. So sad! Oh well. The seed has been planted and she has a Book of Mormon now so she will at least be able to read from it.

Chirs and Karis are our other investigators. They are a couple and they are both students here at Liverpool University. We taught them the restoration and invited them to pray to know if this church is true. Karis was worried about praying because she knows that if she gets an answer it will majorly change her beliefs.

I have really great news! Do you remember the man I met my first transfer, Thomas? I saw him three times in the first week I met him and then never saw him again. I have been praying to be able to run into him again and give him a pamphlet on the Plan of Salvation. Well this week I saw him again! He was on a very packed bus we got on and I hadn't even noticed he was on the bus. He got up to leave for his stop and he stopped to talk to us as he passed our seats. Luckily, we had been hoping to call by his nephew's house for awhile to give the pamphlet so had it on me and I was able to give it to him before he got off the bus. I have no idea where this will go but I know the Lord is watching out for him and preparing his heart to receive more.

Funny story time. Sister Loh and I were waiting at the bus stop and we were saying hi to those that passed by us in the hopes that they would stop and let us talk to them. Nobody was really interested. This one young man who was probably in his mid 20s was walking towards us and so I smiled and said hi to him just like I had been to everyone else who had passed by. It looked like he was going to take the same bus we were because he had stopped a couple feet away from us. Just as I was about to go talk to him, he came back towards us and said to me ''This is random but can I have your number?'' I stared at him probably looking really confused why he had asked for my number and he continued by explaining that he wanted to take me on a date. What? I've just met you and have only said hi. hahah. The funny thing was both Sister Loh and I were writing our names and number on pass along cards but there was no way I was going to give him one of those. I told him that I was a missionary and that I don't go on dates. He told me I could have his number instead. Ok. Before taking his number I explained to him that I would call him only if he was interested in learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ. He said he ''was'' but who knows. Yep. Every day in Liverpool is an adventure.

One day I was bus contacting and two people in a row that I had sat and talked to told me that they were suffering from depression. It is sad how many people here suffer from that. One of them was named David and he has actually met with Sisters but it has probably been years since. He had lost his Book of Mormon so I gave him the copy I had on me. He really appreciated it. He asked if I had any suggestions on where to read and at first I told him to just start from the beginning. I searched by mind for a scripture to read with him and I concluded that Helaman 5:12 would be good for him. I read it for him and explained that if we put Christ as our foundation in life, nothing can overpower us, even our illnesses. He really liked the scripture and agreed with it.

I was starting to feel down trodden not too long ago and I have been praying that I would find a way out of the slump I was in. One day during personal study I was reading a talk by Jeffery R. Holland about the restoration. In that talk he wrote about David O McKay's father's experience while he was on a mission in Scotland. David O McKay's father felt really depressed at one point during his mission and because so many people were not interested in hearing the gospel he decided he would just teach and not testify. One day he decided to go to a quiet place and plead for guidance on how to over come the depression he was feeling. He got the impression that he had neglected to testify about Joseph Smith and the restoration. David O. McKay remembers the powerful testimony his father had shared with him about Joseph Smith. After reading that talk I took comfort that I had found an answer to my prayers-- simply bear testimony and you will be happier. I applied it to my bus and street contacting and immediately noticed a difference. I am so happy to be able to speared the glad message of the restoration and bear testimony that I know it is true.

I noticed something very interesting this week. I have noticed that when we are filled with charity, the pure love of Christ, anything is possible. One day I was just so filled with the joy that comes from sharing the gospel and I felt like I really had that Christ-like love for everyone I had met that day. We were on our way to our appointment to see our recent convert and met Jack, a Chinese Uni student. We ended up talking to him for over 15 minutes. Later that night I reflected on how easy it was to understand him and just the whole conversation although I may not have literally understood/ recognized every word that was said. I was studying charity in the Christ like attributes chapter in Preach My Gospel and realized that it was that Christ like love I had that day that helped me understand Jack. When we have the gift of Charity, all other gifts, even the gift of interpretation of tongues, seem to fall in place. It is my belief that charity is the anchor to all the other Christ like attributes. If we have charity, it is easier to have hope. If we have charity, it is easier to be obedient, etc.

On Saturday, we ate dinner with Sascha and Igor (members), and our investigators Karis, Chris, Kirk and his son Owen. Owen said the cutest thing during dinner. Chris or Karis asked Owen what religion he was and Owen told them that he was Mormon. Mind you he is only 7 and a half. When asked why he was Mormon and Owen simply stated ''because I feel it's right.'' So adorable! It is amazing how children can notice the witness of the Spirit that what they learn is true.

It was time for us to set back our clocks an hour on Saturday. Yes! Gained an hour of sleep. It was wonderful.

I have finally heard from Sister Goldrup. She was in Indiana for awhile but she has finally made it to Australia! Yay! So happy for her.

We start our companionship study off everyday as a flat by singing a hymn. One day we sang ''The Time is Far Spent'' (Hymn 266). The words really resonated with me so I thought I would share them with you all:

The time is far spent; there is little remaining
To publish glad tidings by sea and by land.
Then hasten, ye heralds; go forward proclaiming:
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven's at hand,
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven's at hand.

Shrink not from your duty, however unpleasant,
But follow the Savior, your pattern and friend.
Our little afflictions, tho painful at present,
Ere long, with the righteous, in glory will end,
Ere long, with the righteous, in glory will end.

What, tho, if the favor of Ahman possessing,
This world's bitter hate you are called to endure?
The angels are waiting to crown you with blessings!
Go forward, be faithful, the promise is sure.
Go forward, be faithful, the promise is sure.

Be fixed in your purpose, for Satan will try you;
The weight of your calling he perfectly knows.
Your path may be thorny, but Jesus is nigh you;
His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.
His arm is sufficient, tho demons oppose.

The adversary is aware that the work is hastening. Though there is opposition, the work will go on. I know that this gospel is true. May we all try our best to share it with a voice of hope. ''Go forward, be faithful, the promise is sure.''

Sister Jordan

21 September 2013

Not much to update on since last week.

Sister Loh and I found out that we will be the only Chinese speaking missionaries in our district this transfer which is not at all common. We inherited around 12 new Chinese recent converts from the Chinese Elders that left and possibly an investigator that can be dated for baptism. We are going to be pretty busy over these next six weeks! Since we will be the one Chinese missionaries here we are devoted more of our efforts in contacting and teaching more Chinese. I am hoping that this will produce more opportunities for me to use my Chinese and improve. Learning a new language in an English country has been an interesting process. It has required a lot of patience on my behalf as I wait for the Lord to bless me with the gift to both communicate with and understand Chinese.

We had four hours of finding this past Saturday. I saw this Chinese boy on the steps near the train station and I felt like we needed to talk to him. We crossed the street to do so. Turns out he had meet the Sister missionaries just a year ago and he thought they were really friendly. He told us that he was kind of depressed and had recently dropped out of school. We bore our testimonies that God will hear and answer our prayers and left him with one before we had to leave. Another example of how the Lord will help us find people in the very moment they need us.

Kirk is fitting in quite nicely with the ward. He sang with the ward's men's choir this past Sunday and he looks like he is already a member. He told us last night about his experience over the weekend when he was at a beach of how he helped this young girl get dry clothes when she was all muddy from getting stuck in sand. He wants us to ''convert'' his family and has just given us the contact info of his sister.

This gospel brings me so much happiness. I know that our Savior lives and that we can turn to him as our source of light and hope. Never forget that through Christ all things are possible.

Sister Jordan

Staying in Liverpool

 It's transfer time again! And guess what? Sister Loh and I will be staying together for a third transfer here in Liverpool! So far I see the trend of staying in areas for quite awhile. I will be Sister Loh's longest companion- she has never been with anyone for more than two transfers. The other Sisters we shared a flat with, Sister Hubbard and Sister Vosloo, are both being transferred to different areas :( Our district will be getting 5 different missionaries this next transfer (there are 4 sets of missionaries total here). Crazy changes!

We had a zone meeting last week about rededicating ourselves and our missions to the Lord. During the meeting, the Zone Leaders gave us a funny demonstration on how we often times past people that could really use the gospel in their lives as we are walking to our various destinations. I made it my determination to talk to more people on the street for the rest of my mission. As we were leaving the church gates, I saw this man that was about to walk past and I thought ''this is it! I am going to start now and talk to this man.'' I stopped to talk to him and I told him how we were missionaries and had just come from the church and he was like ''I want to change.'' Whaat?! No way! We explained to him that this is a gospel of change and that through Christ we can make those changes. We exchanged information and told him we would contact him soon. The Lord really is preparing those around us and putting them in our paths.

Sister Loh and I were in charge of a baptism over the weekend. Black, a Chinese student, was taught by the Elders before us. He was supposed to be baptized before he left for China this summer but he had to wait until he got back for certain reasons. He had his interview during General Conference weekend and it was kind of a scramble trying to get everything together because we weren't able to announce his baptism on Sunday at church since there was no formal church service. We had to jump over a few hurdles but everything worked out in the end. It was quite a successful baptism and we had a very good turn out given the circumstances.

Kirk is doing a lot better since the last time I wrote. He had some personal matters that had been weighing down on him ever since we met him. In fact, it was one of the first things that he told us when we first met him which surprised me because we were strangers to him. He has been telling us that these personal matters were not going to be resolved until this week and he has brought it up almost every time we saw him. He sent us a text message this past Monday telling us that everything had worked out- miracle! His countenance has changed so much since then. He is so much happier and he is really looking forward to his baptism next month. Kirk came to the baptism we had over the weekend. I had a chance to talk to him while we were having refreshments and he told me that the Spirit was really strong for him when Black was being baptized. I am so grateful that he is able to recognize the Holy Ghost. Kirk wasn't the only investigator that we had that was able to feel the Spirit at the baptism. Our investigator, Xing, told us that he felt peace during the baptism. We asked if that was because of the Holy Ghost and we were like ''YES!''

We got a call from our Zone Leaders Friday night asking us to pray for a 3 month old baby boy, Alex, that had a really bad case of meningitis. Alex is a child of a mother who's parents are inactive but grandparents are active members in the church. The Zone Leaders had gone to the hospital to give this baby a blessing and they asked that we would pray on his behalf, asking that his life would be spared because he was that sick. We got on our knees that night and prayed that he would be able to overcome this sickness and live. Our prayers were answered! We went to the hospital Sunday afternoon with the Elders and if I hadn't been told beforehand that he was on the verge of dying just 3 days before, I wouldn't have believed it. Alex is looking very healthy and he is on the road to recovery. I think this miracle has definitely softened the hearts of the family.

 As I said earlier, I will be staying in Liverpool for at least one more transfer. I am grateful that I will be able to be here for the baptism of an investigator my companion and I started teaching. The adventures here continue!

Sister Jordan

General Conference Week

Let me just start off by saying-- I LOVE GENERAL CONFERENCE! We watched the broadcast at our chapel here in Liverpool which is different since I have only watched Conference at home or at the actual conference center. I can't wait to read the talks in the Ensign next month. We have yet to hear the Sunday afternoon session since they don't show that until 9pm here which is our curfew so we had to be in.

Quick update on Kirk:
His lessons have been going great. We invited him to watch General Conference with us and he had agreed to come to all of the sessions, even the Priesthood session! After the first session we watched on Saturday that was from 5-7pm England time, we went out to eat in town with Kirk, and our member friend Rebbecca and her Fiance. Over dinner, we discussed our favorite parts about conference. Before conference, we gave Kirk the commitment to bring his questions to conference and we told him that they would be answered. So over dinner he told us that he felt that a lot of his questioned were answered which is great. He enjoyed his first day of conference. So Sunday comes around and Kirk went to the Priesthood session at the church by himself but we asked some members to look after him since we would not be there. We had a little scare with him because when we got to the church later that afternoon, Kirk was not there. We asked around and discovered that he had come but had walked out after the priesthood session was over. We texted him if he was coming to join us and he didn't reply until around 6:30 pm. When we looked at our phone after the last session his text read that he felt like he had finally got his answers and that he didn't feel at home at church and that he didn't want to do it anymore :( My heart sank. I was very confused why he felt he didn't feel like this church was right for him because the night before he had just told us how much he loved conference and one of his favorite talks was Elder Uchtdorf's which was the one talking about how everyone was welcome. Clearly, there was something he wasn't telling us. Sister Loh and I knew he needed an emergency visit so we asked a member if we could get a lift to his house and we took two of our fellowshippers that have become good friends with Kirk. We got to his door and I had no idea what to expect. He answered the door and he welcomed us in. We asked him what the matter was and he started off by saying that he was walking to church Sunday morning to go to the priesthood session and ''members'' passed by him waving but didn't stop. He was later picked up by another member who saw him and ended up turning around to give him a lift. Although a member ended up giving him a lift he was still bothered that the first car didn't. Curious of who these members that ignored him I asked ''so who was it that passed by the first time?'' Turns out it was the Elders. We explained that missionaries cannot give nonmembers rides. One concern- resolved. He then told us how he felt out of place after the session was over and that everyone else was talking amongst themselves but not really to him. Ooops. Probably shouldn't have sent him on his own. We apologized that there was no one really there to stay by his side and we assured him that the members he does know already love him. We also told him that it always takes awhile to feel comfortable and adjust to a new environment. We related our stories of how the first day of school can be and how it was for Sister Loh and I to come to a new ward full of faces we didn't know here in Liverpool . We all need time to get to know people. Long story short, Kirk is ok. It was quite the scare though. We know that from here on out he will be facing a lot of opposition since he has agreed to be baptized. Keep him in your prayers!

Funny story of the week:
My goal this week is to ring one Chinese investigator a day so that I could conquer my fear of talking to them over the phone. (Yes, I am terrified to talk to them on the phone! I still fear that I won't be able to understand them and it is even worse when I can't see their face). One day while Sister Loh was preparing lunch, I decided to give a few people a ring. I went through our area book and got to this investigator, Alan, that had been taught by the Elders but we have only talked to him over the phone and never seen him in person. I called him up and asked if we could meet with him but he said he was too busy. I asked him that if he ever had time to give us a ring. The next day, Sister Loh and I were down at the Uni and we were heading towards our bus. There was this young man that was Chinese that was walking in the same direction as us and he started looking at our tags. He was concentrating so hard on reading our tags that he almost ran into a pole! We started talking to him and he told us that his name was Alan, the same Alan I had talked to on the phone the day before. He said to my companion that he had just talked to her on the phone the other day and Sister Loh didn't know what he was talking about. I didn't hear him mentioning the phone call so later in our conversation I told him that I had just called him the other day. Shocked, he told me that he thought I was Sister Loh. I guess I sound like a native Chinese speaker over the phone? haha. Such great news! I guess my speaking ability is better than I give myself credit for.

I loved the letter/ drawings from the Naper 2nd primary. So cute! I will have to hang them up in our flat. They definitely made my day. Thank you!

Love,
Sister Jordan

Caught By Surprise

I don't have much time to email today so I will try to keep this email short and sweet. I don't know if it is possible because so many great things have happened this week but here we go!

So last week I did not write about Yan's husband, C Minor (they get to chose their names when they come to England. He loves music if you can't tell..). Yan is a recent covert who was baptized back in August. Sister Loh and I got to teach her before she was baptized. I remember the very first time I had met Yan, C Minor was home too. We invited him to sit in on the lesson but he said he wasn't interested and just went to his room next door. Over the weeks, he started coming in to talk to us but still didn't want to sit in for the lesson. When I first arrived here in Liverpool, C Minor has always come to church with his wife. He is so supportive of her. Right after Yan  was baptized, we taught her about temple marriage. Ironically, this was the very first lesson we ever got C Minor to sit in on. We told them there was no pressure for him to become a member but we did explain that marriages can be eternal if they are done within the temple. We expressed our gratitude towards C Minor for being so supportive of his wife. We later told Yan  when he wasn't around that we know that one day her husband will accept the gospel. The next lesson C Minor was there for was five or so weeks later.  We had a lesson at Yan's house with a Cantonese investigator and C Minor sat in as well, but the focus of the lesson was toward the Cantonese investigator. We taught about the Godhead. We asked C Minor how he has felt as he has been coming to church.  He said that he felt that his heart has been changing and ever since he started coming to church he has less of a temper. Woah! What?! Fast forward to two Sunday's ago, the 22nd. Sister Loh and I felt impressed that it was time to teach C Minor the restoration and invite him to be baptized. We brought Yan and C Minor to our tea appointment with a ward member that was two weeks ago and we were up front with C Minor that we were going to teach him as well since he is already coming to church. The Spirit was so strong in the lesson. We invited him to be baptized at the end and with a smirk on his face he told us maybe. We then told him that we were thinking about November 2nd as the date and once again he said maybe. We went over that following Tuesday to their home to help him on his thesis and before we left we shared a message. We asked him how he felt during the lesson on Sunday and he told us it wasn't a peaceful feeling and it was hard to describe. The best word he could use to describe it was ''marvelous''! He is in London this week but when he gets back we plan on teaching him. The gospel changes hearts!

Now for an update on Kirk. We love him so much! The Lord has prepared him for this moment in his life for us to run into him. We taught him and his 7 year old son, Owen, with two members on Wednesday at his home. It was funny because he brought us tea and coffee and we were all like ''uhh... we don't drink that.'' He told us he doesn't even drink tea or coffee and that he just had brought it for us. He had some questions about why and we told him we would explain that the next time. We taught the restoration but didn't get that far before it was time to go. The lesson actually took a turn away from the restoration so we had to bring it back at the end. I explained to Kirk that the peace he has felt at times in his life was because of the Holy Ghost and that to have that more fully he needed to be baptized. We invited him to be baptized on November 2nd as well. While he was thinking about it, I held my breath because I was uncertain about what his response would be. After what felt like ages, he said he was willing to be baptized! Since then, he has already attended a baptism and come to church. He is progressing well in the gospel for someone we just met only 2 weeks ago. We taught him last night and finished the restoration after explaining the Word of Wisdom. He has no problem letting go of what the Lord has asked us to stay away from. We stated the first vision and afterwards asked him how he felt. He said he felt peace. We explained that this was the Holy Ghost bearing witness to him that what we had said was true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and restored His church in these latter-days.

These two children of God have been so prepared to hear and accept the glad message of the gospel. All of it has caught me by surprise. What they feel in their hearts continues to amaze me. The Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to see many miracles on my mission. I feel so blessed.

Love you all!
Sister Jordan

A Child's Prayer

Quick update on the wind.. They were so strong one day last week that I could lean on the breeze for a couple of seconds. It was pretty fun!

This week I gained multiple witnesses that Heavenly Father hears our prayers and that He answers them.

Let me tell you about some people Sister Loh and I met this week:
The first young man we met one day while we had a few minutes to street contact the Chinese students at the Uni. I told Sister Loh that I would stop someone as long as they were alone. This is a rare thing, however, because Chinese students tend to travel in pairs or packs.. Pair and pack contacting= ineffective. If one shows disinterest the rest tend to follow. Anyways, we spotted a young man who seemed to be standing alone so we ran to catch up to him before he crossed the street. We casually said hello to him and started talking to him. He told us his name was Loh  and we asked him how to write his name. He ended up showing us the characters for his name on his phone and his number was conveniently there too on the screen. We didn't even have to ask for his number, he just gave it to us! He was like ''oh, you can have my number.'' So great! We invited him to the Chinese Activity we were having on Saturday and he said he would come! The next day we went to call and confirm that he was still going to the activity and we realized we were missing the last two or three digits in his phone number.. Whoops! Sister Loh and I prayed fervently that we would be able to get in contact with him and that he would come to the activity.

The next person we meet this week is an English man named Kirk. Sister Loh and I meet him at the bus station. He was staring at our name tags and both of us felt that we needed to talk to him. We introduced who we were and he ended up telling us how he has been trying to be a good person. What happened next I can only explain by saying that the Spirit was able to talk through me. Out of what seems like no where, I ended up talking about how the gospel of Jesus Christ can help us become better and that we can learn from our mistakes and be forgiven. Again, I have no idea where the thought to say that came from but I guess that is what he needed to hear. We were all going to the same place and we got on the same bus. I ended up being able to sit next to him on the bus and share the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants about forgiveness, introduced the Book of Mormon, gave him the Book of Mormon and then asked if I could say a prayer. He told me that he didn't feel comfortable praying on the bus so I asked if we could get off the bus at his stop (only a stop before ours) and say a prayer with him. He agreed. Before we got off the bus I was able to find out a little bit more about Kirk. He told me that he was a 7 year old son who is half Chinese. I thought to myself, if his son is half Chinese that means he must have a Chinese wife. That then started to explain why he was staring at our name tags. I then asked how long he had been together with his wife and he told me that they were no longer together and he has his son every other week. When it was time to get off the bus, I told Sister Loh that we were getting off. She looked at me with a confused expression so I was like ''we are going to pray with Kirk.'' It was a little awkward because I am pretty sure the whole bus heard haha. When we got off the bus, the flood gates of information opened-- Kirk told us that he used to have a gambling addiction but he gave it up this past April. He told us he wasn't expecting to quit but some how he did. He also told us how he has stopped drinking alcohol too. I just stood there thinking ''Wow! He has been so prepared!'' We invited him to the Chinese activity as well because he expressed how much love he has for the Chinese culture and the Chinese. We prayed that he would be able to make it to the Chinese activity.

Saturday, the Chinese activity came around and the weather was so perfect! The activity took place here in Liverpool at our church building. We have all been praying that the weather would cooperate with us since the activity would mostly take place outside. The day of the activity had some of the best weather I have witnessed so far while being here in England. It was like a beautiful summer's day. All of the Chinese missionaries in the mission and their investigators, the Mission President and his wife, most of the senior couples, and the ward members from here in Liverpool and elsewhere came to the Chinese activity. Right when the activity started, Loh  showed up! Prayer answered! We were so happy to see him! We were also able to get his correct phone number. Not too long after greeting Loh , we got a text from Kirk that he was in front of the church and wanted us to come meet him. What?! Such a miracle. He had been worried that he would feel uncomfortable but we were able to introduce him to the people we knew and a member from a different ward ended up taking him under her wing and kept him great company. Sister Loh and I were not able to stay with him the whole activity so this was a blessing. Some time during the activity I looked over and saw him talking to President Preston, who was also in attendance. It looked like they were having a good conversation and I didn't dare interrupt haha. The Chinese activity was very successful and we had almost 20 investigators come.

As you all know, missionary work is not easy and it can sometimes be discouraging when you are not able to see the fruits of your labor. In other words, sometimes the results of the work are not immediate. I understand that everything happens on the Lord's time but I have been discouraged and started to wonder if I was even making a difference so far on my mission. I went to my Heavenly Father and prayer and let him know how I was feeling. A couple days later, the other Sisters in our flat told me how they had met multiple people I had talked to on the bus. Each one of them reported how friendly I was to them and at least one of them remembered my name. None of them may have been interested in learning more about the gospel but it let me know that my Heavenly Father wanted me to know that I was making a difference in the lives of those I meet every day. He let me know that He loves me and does not want me to feel discouraged. Remember the words to the song a Child's prayer:

Heavenly Father, are you really there?
And do you hear and answer every child's prayer?
Some say that heaven is far away,
but I feel it close around me as I pray.
Heavenly Father, I remember now
something that Jesus told disciples long ago:
''Suffer the children to come to me.''
Father, in prayer I'm coming now to Thee.

Pray, He is there.
Speak, He is listening.
You are His child;
His love now surrounds you.
He hears your prayer;
He loves the children.
Of such is the kingdom, the kingdom of heav'n.

Heavenly Father is there. He does hear your prayers. I know this because He hears and answers mine.

-Sister Jordan

16 September ,2013

Sister Loh and I have a new profession here. It is editing our Chinese investigators/ members papers for school. I guess this is why I took a writing class my last semester at BYU? Who knows. Unfortunately, my missionary brain has pretty much eliminated all of my pre-mission knowledge so I wouldn't say I am all that good at helping them edit just yet.

We taught a new investigator last week. He is a professor at the Uni. One of the Chinese recent converts was his student and we already knew that he knew she was a member. Turns out that he shares an office with another one of our investigators and they talk about the church. This man is meant to have the gospel. The last time we met him he asked if he could add us on facebook and I was like ''sure! but I won't be able to accept your friend request until after my mission.'' He is very friendly and told us that we could call him any time we were down by the Uni.

Thursday was another day of exchanges! I got to stay in our area while Sister Smith (she trained Sister Merrill) came in Sister Loh's place. This was only my second time leading my area and things went pretty well. We went to call by an investigator (call by= visiting someones house with out an appointment). As we were walking to our various destinations, Sister Smith and I met a couple people on the street that said they would be interested in learning more about the gospel. Some of my favorite memories from this exchange was when we went to Liverpool One to street contact, chased down an Asian man who turned out to be Japanese (oops), and then we met a young man from Malaysia who spoke Mandarin Chinese. He was in UK on holiday with his mom and sister and he was waiting for them to come out of Primark. We explained to him how to pray and before I offered a prayer, Sister Smith told him that at the end of the prayer, if we agree with what was said, we all say Amen. He didn't exactly understand what that meant so as I am saying the prayer he said 'amen' multiple times. It went something like this: ''Please bless Yan that he and his family will be blessed with health (amen) and happiness (amen). Help them enjoy the rest of their trip (amen). We are thankful for our families (amen).'' The first time he said amen I was confused and opened by eyes to see that he still had his head down and arms folded so I continued praying. By the second one, I realized what was going on and I started laughing to myself.  Needless to say, it was hard to keep a straight face during the prayer. I felt like a preacher at church that had a great sermon. We meet a really interesting man before we returned home for the night, not that that is unusual here in Liverpool. He started talking to us about how we could shampoo and wash our hair outside when it starts raining really hard.. never thought of trying that before haha.

This weekend we were able to visit a less active that we have been trying to get a hold of since last transfer. Sister Loh and I have only been able to text her and not ever able to see her in person until this last week. She has told us via text message that she has been in a lot of pain so we told her we would bring someone with us to give her a priesthood blessing. We brought a couple of members with us and I was so grateful that they were willing to come see her with us because she was in great need of a loving embrace. Before we arrived at her flat she texted us that she was afraid that we wouldn't like her but I told her that we did love her and so did God. It is amazing how much compassion and love you can have for a person you have never met.

Sister Loh and I will be going out of our assigned proselyting area to St. Helens to teach a Chinese investigator that has a baptismal date. The Chinese Sister missionaries that were teaching her were transferred out and there were not any Chinese missionaries in their area to teach her so we have the great opprounity to pick up where they left off in teaching her. She is 17 years old and despite her mom not realy wanting her to be taught at her house some days, her mom has given her permission to be baptized. Sister Loh was actually able to teach her once last transfer while she was on exchange. Since she understands English pretty well the English speaking Sisters have met with her a couple of times to teach her but we think she is more comfortable asking questions and able to undertand more when her lessons are in Chinese. We taught her the library and after our lesson her siblings came over. Our investigator  needed help on math so we were going to help her with that but her little sister also asked us for help on her sceince homework. Chem 105 was waaay too long ago. Her twelve year old sister can't read and understand English and doesn't understand it when it is spoken to her. Oh boy!  On top of not being able to remember Chemistry I also didn't know how to explain everything in Chinese.  Good thing I had my langugage study edition of my Book of Mormon and I was able to look up how to say some words since my companion didn't know how to say it either. I think I helped her understand what she had to do for the assignment. I think.. haha. The  sister kept asking us if we would come back the next day to help her again but we kept telling her we couldn't. It feels so good to be able to serve in any capacity and you can't help but love those you serve. Our investigators siblings aren't being taught right now but I want them to be baptized so badly! After meeting them once I love them all. Maybe one day they will all be baptized. We ran for our train to get back to Liverpool but we missed it by 30 seconds. Ahh!! Everything happens for a reason though and Sister Loh was able to give a lady a Book of Mormon and I met a young lady named Carla. What is with this trend of meeting people with the same names as by parents? Same spellings and everything.

When we finally made it back to our area, we went to the church building to help prepare food and set up for the ward activity. It was so much fun! It was great to see all of the ward members come together and build unity.

The crazy winds that have been known for breaking umbrellas are back.. We were on our way to an appointment yesterday with our recent convert Yan and she left with an umbrella because it was sprinkling. We weren't even half way down the street before we almost got blown away by the strong winds. The winds were so strong they flipped her umbrella inside out. We were able to flip it back everytime it was flipped inside out but there are only so many times an umbrella can take that sort of torment. Let it be publically known: umbrellas are just not able to survive out here. I guess I will continue to brave the rain with out one.

My lightbulb moment this week would have to be the moment the scripture ''if ye love me, keep my commandments'' made so much more sense: If we truly love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, we will want to return back to live in their presence. If we want to return back to them, then we need to follow the guidance they give us through the conditions they have established. The overall condition is that if we keep the commandments, we will be able to return to live with them. Maybe you have already realized this connection but it finally was clear to me. Although we may not understand all of the reasons why we are given certain commandments, we should still obey them because by obedeince we can return to live with them again. The gospel is simple. If we do not already love our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ then we should seek to develop that love because once we love them we will willingly keep their commandments.

Love you all!
Sister Jordan

Recognizing The Spirit

Hello Friends and Family!

This week I have seen the pattern of how the Lord will always give us promptings from the Spirit that we can understand.

This past Saturday was ''consecrated finding'' where every companionship of missionaries sets aside 4 hours devoted to finding people that are interested in learning more about the gospel. We do it the Saturday after every transfer. So Sister Loh and I brought out our recent convert, Yan , to go street contacting down at the university. Yan  was on fire! She is just so exicted to share the gospel with everyone and she needed little advice on how to street contact. We had no idea where we should start and so we stopped and prayed. I had the thought to head towards a park but I wasn't sure where any parks were. We started walking anyway towards the one park in sight and we started seeing Chinese students every where and I took that as a confirmation that we were on the right path.  A lot of them we were able to stop, we invited to the Chinese activity that is this month on the 21st and a lot of them seemed interested.

The greatest miracle that I would count towards consecrated finding would have to be towards the end of the day when Sister Loh and I could not decide whether we should go to our teaching appointment, which was a risk because we would have returned home really late, or go home to do some well needed study. To buy us some time to think (no pun intended), we decided we were going to have dinner out since we were already in town. We stop at the first restaurant in our sight called Nandos, look at the menu, and neither of us were all that interested in the food or the prices. We spotted a restaurant that served Mexican tapas and the thought of Mexican food sounded good so we went to check out that menu. Still not too persuaded to decide on this restaurant, we stood there for awhile trying to decide what to eat. Sister Loh looked around and spot this little sundae/ice cream hut and she was like ''want some ice cream'' and I was like ''yep!'' . It was strange to want ice cream  because we had been bearing the cold all day but we went anyway to check it out. After looking at the menu and trying to decide which sundae we wanted to split, we started talking to the young man named Jack who was working at the stand. He told us that his usual job is being a bartender at the Marriott hotel next door but this day he filled in at the ice cream hut and had to read the ingredients to how to make each sundae. He noticed our badges and we explained how we were missionaries. He ended up telling us that he comes from a very religious Christian family and that he was still on the quest to find the truth for himself. He also said that he desires to have evidence of the truth just how science has evidence to its theories. With smiles on our faces, Sister Loh and I were probably both thinking how prepared he was to hear the gospel. I told him that there was evidence of the truth and we introduced Alma 32 to him. He was impressed by this scripture. We told him he could have his own copy of the Book of Mormon and he told us that he would give it a read. We also gave him the address to the church, which is not too far from where he lives. He told us that he probably could not make it to church this past Sunday, which he didn't, but next week he would be free. Keep Jack in your prayers! Looking back to how we met Jack, I realized how we were prompted by our hunger to go from one restaurant to the other until we finally got to the stand where he worked. The Lord works in mysterious ways? haha.

One last experience I had with receiving promptings in a line of thought that I can understand happened this morning actually. I just received the banana bread recipe in the mail so I decided to make some this morning. I popped it onto the top shelf in the oven and timed it to be done after we all finished personal study. Twenty minutes into personal study, I realized the flat started smelling like pizza which is unusual because when ever I make banana bread it usually creates an aroma of nutmeg and cinnamon. Then I realized that I hadn't even put cinnamon or nutmeg in (awkward) so I ran into the kitchen to see if I could add it in last minute. I open the oven and notice that the bread had risen and hit the top of the oven and was beginning to burn. I pulled of the burnt part and thought it would be ok if I put it on a lower shelf. I sat back down to study for maybe 10 more minutes and still felt that it seemed smokey so I got up again to discover that this time it was even more burnt! Oops! I pulled the bread out and scraped off the entire top layer because it was as black and late. I managed to save the insides of the bread and rolled it into banana bread balls that could be dipped in Nutella. All was not lost! I think next time I know to not turn the oven on at the temperature it calls for in the recipe or leave things unattended  during study time.

The work has picked up so much this week. We surpassed our goal of having 15 total lessons by having 17! The last transfer we hadn't been in a double digit total lessons since the first week so we were pretty excited to see more success and the fruit of our labors.

I read the September Ensign this morning and I loved every article I was able to read so far. There is one by Elder Uchtdorf called ''Saints in every Season'' and then I also really liked the one by Elder Holland called ''The Justice and Mercy of God.'' I encourage you all to read these articles. They are so good. I learned from Elder Uchtdorf's article that we must have stormy seasons if we are to return to live with our Heavenly Father. These experiences may be hard to go through but they are necessary and with the Lord's help they are possible to bear. From Elder Holland's article I realized how wrong the cliche saying of ''ignorance is bliss'' is. We can't be saved in our ignorance but we must diligently seek the truth so that we can unlock ourselves from the bondage we are under   when we make errors. It finally clicked in my head today that the truth does set you free! God must follow justice but he is also just as merciful. May we all be able to have the humility and faith it takes to be truly penitent and start anew with the cleansing power of Christ's Atonement. I am grateful for the agency we are given and for the ability we have to overcome our mistakes and return to live with our Father in Heaven again because of the Atonement.

I think I wrote about Amy's family last time, the one family with 6 children. One of the last times we saw them, Kelly, Emily and Daniel told us how excited they were to be baptized. Only thing is, they currently aren't able to attend the full 3 hours of church because of the classes they have on Sunday which means they cannot be baptized yet since full church attendence is a requirement in order to be baptized. Their mom, Amy, has told us that she really wants them to have Chinese class because she feels like they will be missing out on their culture if they do not learn the language of their roots. Understandable, but it is nonetheless a road block that they need to over come in order to be baptized. It is sad that they aren't able to be baptized at the moment but we know that one day they will be able to be baptized.

I love you all!
Sister Jordan

Blessings of September

Hello!  

It's transfer time here in our mission. I get to stay here in Liverpool!  Sister Merrill is finally leaving Liverpool though after being here for 6 months :( She will be heading to Manchester to open a new area and to train. I know she is going to be such a blessing to her new area. We just dropped her off not too long ago at the coach that took the rest of the missionaries that are also leaving. To keep up with the tradition from when we leave Provo, Sister Loh and I ran after the coach.

I had 1st five weeks training last week where all of the missionaries who had came in come together with their trainers and we practiced contacting and we had other little training activities. It was great because I didn't get to know the other missionaries that came in this past transfer since I came a week after the official transfer.

I also had my second exchange last week, and this time I stayed in my area while my companion left. I was kind of nervous because I still feel like I have no idea what I am doing and I had to lead the whole exchange. Luckily, Sister Embley, the Sister I went on exchange with, had served in Liverpool before so she remembers how to get around. Sister Embley is another Chinese speaking Sister. She gave me a lot of advice about how to best learn the language. We ended up doing some street contacting down at the Uni with the sole purpose of finding Chinese students to hopefully teach one day. So I came up with a good way to stop them-- I would go up to them and in Chinese say 'hello! can you help me practice my Chinese?'' And it wasn't a lie either because I sincerely did want the practice. This technique worked pretty well! As we were going to cross the street that same night, I made eye contact with this man who wasn't Chinese. We started talking and then he looked at Sister Embley and I and then to me and said ''do you have something you want to ask me?'' and I was caught off guard so I just said ''uhh.. want to come to church?'' haha. Thank goodness for Sister Embley because she saved it by asking if we could share more about our church. He agreed and we ended up having a lesson on the spot, teaching him just about all of the first lesson on the restoration. We got to know him a little more when we sat down to teach. He told us he was Nigerian and that he was a PhD student here in Liverpool. He has met missionaries before and already had a Book of Mormon but didn't know where it was. When we ended the lesson he told us how he felt that God was sending him a message. He was impressed by how young people as ourselves could be so passionate about what they believe in. We gave him another copy of the Book of Mormon and he said he would read it and pray about it! Miracles that come from exchanges!

Sister Embley and I had a lesson that night with the one family with 6 children. Sister Loh and I had discussed before she left on exchange our desire to help them prepare for baptism. They have been meeting with missionaries forever and the children know so much and one of them have already expressed a desire to be baptized. So this lesson I felt like it was time to suggest a date for baptism-- October 19th. Why the 19th you ask? Well the two oldest girls are 10 and 9 and the next oldest is 7 and his birthday is next month. The 19th is perfect because they could all be baptized on the same day! I know they have a long way to go, one of them being that they need to be coming to church every Sunday, but I am putting my faith in them. Their mother can even be baptized soon as well. She speaks more Cantonese than Mandarin so Sister Loh taught her one day and I was told she asked very good questions and that she said she would start reading. I am not sure how much she understands when we teach her kids in English, but she seems like she has been listening in.

This past Saturday, Sister Loh, Merrill, Hubbard, and I went sing finding down in town. We got to where we decided we were going to go singing and we pulled out our hymn books and we were like ''wait.. are we really doing this?'' haha. We all felt kind of silly standing there singing with so many people around. A lot of people stood by to listen though, some more obvious than others. Sister Merrill went over to hand pass along cards to some ladies who had got up to leave but had been sitting and listening  and they told her that we had lovely voices and asked her if we would be doing this every week. We might have to make a tradition out of this.

The work has picked up so much this past week! I knew September was going to bring blessings. We already have two new investigators and the week isn't even half way done yet. Woot! Which reminds me, Sister Loh and I have been going through the potential investigator list that was left by the Elders before us and we have called just about everyone on that list. A lot of them don't pick up and we really want to be done calling people by the end of this transfer. Like I said though, September has brought miracles. I called this one man on the list and in the description box it had said he was very busy and that he is a professor at the Uni. I called and he answered! Miracle number one. I asked if we could meet with him to talk about how the gospel can bless his family (he has a four month old daughter) and that we only needed 20 minutes. He agreed to meet with us earlier this week, miracle number two. We have our appointment with him and we explained the Godhead to him, which is something we commonly do with Chinese investigators. I told him how the Holy Ghost is how God communicates with us and at first he was very skeptical and said that he never thought God could communicate with us like that. Then later, after we described how the Holy Ghost feels, he was like ''yeah, I think I have felt something like that.'' Woah. Miracle number three. We closed our lesson and asked if he would like to offer the closing prayer. He was nervous about it but he said such a sincere prayer. In his prayer he said that he hoped he could meet with us again and that we could share more with him. Miracle number four. We invited him to church and he said he will come. I am still amazed by how prepared by the Lord he is. The Chinese work here in Liverpool is a work of miracles.

I have been surprised how the days we are the busiest and the days that require the most work and energy are always the most rewarding. Before we leave the flat for the day with a busy schedule I always feel overwhelmed and dread having to leave at 11am or 12pm  when we won't get back until 9pm. It is because we accomplish so much and we reflect on how many people we were able to bring closer to Christ even if it was just a little one step closer. It is true, missionary work is exactly what it's called-- Work. but it is also fun and it brings me so much happiness when I am able to work hard every day.

Love you all! Cheerio :)

Sister Jordan