Happy Chinese New Year Everyone!

新年快乐！Happy Chinese New Year everyone! 

(^^Sister Merrill taught me how to type in Chinese. hehe)

Well, I need to start off with a little bit of bad news: the new building's opening week has been postponed... again.. The builders still have a few minor things to fix and there is no telling when it will be opened. The Bishop told us he won't be giving another opening date until he has the keys to the building in his hand. The date has been pushed back way too many times now and they don't want people to lose trust that it will open. Too bad we already told half the Uni population here that it was opening next week.. We are all being tested for our patience. Whenever the building opens, which I hope will be soon, I know it will open the doors for so many to learn about the gospel and it will be a great blessing to the work in this area. I will be praying a little harder that it will open.

A blessing of being here in Manchester as the building is being prepared to open is that all of the missionaries in the area are being trained on how to help others with their family history. They are planning on having family history activities the week of open house and the family history center will continue to help those seeking to do family history. There has been a growing emphasis on family history in the YSA ward as well. If the work is hastening on the earth, it also needs to hasten on the other side of the veil as well. I have always wanted to do family history but I have gotten frustrated with not knowing how to do it or where to start. The Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to learn how. I can definitely feel my ''heart turning to my fathers''. (Dear family, please help me out! I would love to take family names to the temple while I am on my mission) :)

Yi is doing great and progressing well. We will be seeing him everyday this next week to prepare him to be baptized on the February 20th. One of the things we love about Yi is that he always asks the best questions during our lessons. He is just so eager to learn!

Speaking of eager to learn, we have an investigator,Stephanie, that was a referral from another set of Sisters. Her grandmother is a member and she has met with missionaries for awhile now. This time with us is a little bit different because now she really wants to learn and know everything about the gospel. She has the sincere desire to become more like her Savior too. I can't wait to see how she will progress. 

Last P-day, Sister Merrill, Sister Pew, and I went shopping with the Elders'(dated for baptism) investigator to help her choose a more modest wardrobe and boy, is she a shopper! I've never seen someone zoom across a store so quickly. And I thought I was a shopper.. I told myself before accompanying her to the stores that I wasn't going to buy any clothes. My will power worked! haha.

I got to talk to Sister Loh this past week over the phone and she told me one of the hugest miracles in the workings-- Remember Luo Xing? Our investigator in Liverpool that we had to drop because after meeting with him for a month or so and reading D&C 20:37 about the qualifications on baptism he told us he didn't have the desire to be baptized? Well turns out he has had a change of heart and has the desire to be baptized now. Yeah.. I just about cried tears of joy when I heard this news. Sister Loh and her new companion are teaching him everything all over again to prepare him to be baptized. I hope he is really ready though. There are more qualifications than just having a desire.. 

While bus contacting this week I met his man from Italy and as I listened to him, he ended up telling me his whole life story and told me about a spiritual experience he had 4 or 5 years ago. He told me about sequential experiences after that that he felt were divine intervention. He saw me talking to him as another one. Definitely someone prepared! We were on our way to meet an investigator for an appointment but I was determined to get his information before I got off the bus so we ended up taking the bus way further than we planned. The good news is we caught a bus back in the right direction and still met our investigator in time.

Speaking of bus contacting, a young man I shared quite a bit about the restoration with on the bus my first week here came to church, was passed to the Zone Leaders, and is now dated for baptism for this month. Woah. Bus contacting has become a strength of mine. I, course, owe this strength to the Lord. I was nervous coming here the Manchester and to bus contact because of the many instances I was told where the people weren't the friendliest here on buses. As I have continued to talk with people on the bus I have meet some pretty incredible people. 

I am grateful that I get to represent my Savior, Jesus Christ, here in England. The gospel is true. The Lord has a plan for all of us. Remember that faith is incomplete if we choose not to act. The gospel is full of blessings that can be ours if we accept and apply the teachings of Christ in our lives. I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I feel their presence through the Spirit.

我爱你们!

Sister Jordan( 高姐妹)