Homecoming Talk

A little over 3 weeks ago I returned from serving in the UK as a full time volunteer missionary and today I have the privilege of speaking in front of all of you about my service. I was called to serve in Britain, the beautiful lands of rolling hills and lots and lots of rain, and what is called the England Manchester Mission. For those of you that may be unfamiliar with the geography of the UK, my mission covered the northwest region of the two countries England and Wales.

Within the boundaries of the mission I served contains a very important history in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

1)   In the year 1837, the prophet Joseph Smith called Heber C. Kimball to lead his brethren in a foreign mission in England.  The first baptisms outside of the U.S took place in Preston. The growth of the church there went on to be what sustained the newly restored church in its early years when many of these saints left their native land to come here to America.

     2) Many leaders in the church served their missions in this land including Gordon B. Hinckley who later was called by God to be a prophet in the late 90s until he passed away in 2008

I had a unique mission because I was assigned to preach the gospel in the Mandarin Chinese language. This was a surprise to many. Who thought such a mission could exist? Indeed, being able to speak Mandarin Chinese opened up more doors to whom I could share the gospel with. Rather than being confined to a particular nation, because of where I served I taught people from all over the world. I was blessed to teach people from China, Nigeria, Portugal, India, and Bangladesh, to name a few. I taught mostly students and a few families from these different parts of the world.

I can say with a sincere heart I loved the people I taught, the people in the wards, and my companions.

With prayerful consideration, I decided to talk about some of the things I have gained on my mission, and fortunately for me, it was not weight! What I have to say today will not do it justice because I have learned things that will last a lifetime and 15-20 minutes is not an adequate amount of time to expound upon those things..

Toward the end of your mission and when you get home, the most popular question others will ask or you will ask yourself is ‘’how have you changed?’’ This has been a difficult question for me to answer. I can feel that I have become a better person but it can be hard to explain in what way. Now that I have been home for a while and have not had dress, a certain way and keep mission rules I have noticed the major changes. The one that has stood out to me is how I have been able to ‘”turn outward.”  To turn outward means that you are more concerned about others than yourself and your own circumstances. It means to be aware of others around you.

One of the most basic truths we learn in the gospel is that God is our Heavenly Father and we are all sons and daughters of God. We were all one big family before we came to earth, we are here on earth, and if we accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, our family relationships can continue beyond the grave. This is the basis of missionary work. When we put this truth into practice, it becomes natural to turn outward.

Before my mission, I had tunnel vision. When I was out and about, I was so focused on getting from point A to point B that I ignored the people I was passing.

As an Apostle has said, ‘’nothing happens in missionary work until you find someone to teach.’’ I would not have been able to find people to teach if I remained with a tunnel perspective. I had to transform into being someone who had to look around and be aware of who I was around at all times and then take a step outside of my comfort zone and talk to them. I had to ask these people what means the most to them in their life, if they believed in God and share what I hold so near and dear to my heart, the message of the gospel.

I noticed the impact having tunnel vision has on me when I went from stopping people everyday to blocking them out again on P-days. P-day, or preparation day, is usually a Monday and is the day we as missionaries have to get groceries, email friends and family, go shopping until 6pm. It’s typically on that day that we take a step back from missionary work and stopping people like on a regular day. Mondays became the hardest day of the week and I often felt empty. For the longest time I did not understand why until we started as a mission to set goals as companionships on how we would still proselyte, or share the gospel, during our P-day. Once I began to focus on others again, I felt much happier on my P-days.

As I turned outward and stepped outside of my comfort zone, I began to grow. I began to see people for what they really were. The man sitting on the bench or the crazy lady that shouted at us was no longer a random person we spoke to but a brother or a sister, a son or daughter of God. With this truth at the forefront of my mind, it became easier to love each person I talked to and share the gospel from my heart.

As you turn outward, you will start look upon the hearts of others rather than judging them by their appearance. This is the very thing Heavenly Father does:

“For the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.”(1 Samuel 16: 7)

We tend to jump to conclusions when we judge people by their appearance or how they behave but we really do not know someone until you know what is in their heart. Once you get to know someone’s story, you will see the big picture that our Heavenly Father sees. Some one I taught on my mission shared with us his story. Upon meeting this man at a bus stop and within 30 minutes of talking to him he had told us how he used to be addicted to gambling but was able to turn his life around, his mom passed away from being an alcoholic, and he was going through a tough time in his life because of charges from ex-girlfriend. I was surprised someone would tell so much to a stranger he just met! That man grew and changed so much as he learned about the gospel.

There was also a time my companion and I were at a member’s home doing service and right before we were about to leave, she told us about how she had been suffering from depression. She broke down in tears and my companion and I were there to listen and comfort her. I feel so honored that that member trusted us as missionaries and shared her story with us.

I am so grateful for these two experiences because it shows how people trusted us as representatives of the Lord. People have so much going on in their lives and you will never know that by judging them from what they look like.  Everyone has an incredible story!

My mission has allowed me to develop a greater interest in everyone’s life story. As a result of my experiences of getting to know so many people on a personal level I want to continue to get to know people that same way..

My first mission president said ‘’you can change someone’s life by the way you walk past them. ‘By having an outward perspective I can notice people around me and it has given me opportunities to smile or wave at someone.

Recently I have been able to put more effort into doing kind gestures to people I have seen around town that I used to know. For instance, while in Best Buy the other day I noticed someone from my cheerleading days. I have not talked to this particular person and ages and sometimes I can be awkward about that but this time I smiled and waved.

Life becomes brighter when we choose to turn outward and welcome more people into our lives.

On the pathway to becoming an outward person, at some point we will need to build a more personal and loving relationship with God, our Heavenly Father. 

Before leaving on my mission, I remember feeling that there was a giant gap between God and myself. I would pray, but they were often rushed and lacking thought. Some days I did not even say a personal prayer at all. How I approached God through prayer slowly evolved into something much grander on my mission simply because I started to pray more frequently and more fervently.

During this process of closing the gap that had formed because of my neglect to draw closer to God in prayer I once had an investigator ask my companion and I a question that really made me think.

When I was serving in the Manchester Young Single Adult ward, we were teaching this student from Singapore. We invited her to give the closing prayer to our lesson but she struggled to understand the purpose of prayer and said “If God knows everything, why do we pray?’’ It’s a great question. Why bother with praying if God already sees everything and knows what we are going through? After much thought I came to realize that

 the answer to her question is quite simple: We are all sons and daughters of a Heavenly Father who know us individually and personally. We each have a unique and special relationship with Him. He knows us but we do not know Him since we have forgotten our life before we came to this earth. It will remain that way until we speak to Him in prayer. Through prayer, we can grow and develop the relationship we already had with our Heavenly Father before we came to this world.

We are taught in Alma 34: 18-27 how to make our prayers more meaningful:

‘’Yea, cry unto him for mercy; for he is mighty to save..

Yea, humble yourselves, and continue in prayer unto him. Cry unto him when ye are in your fields, yea, over all your flocks.

Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening.

Yea, cry unto him against the power of your enemies.

Yea, cry unto him against the devil, who is an enemy to all righteousness.

Cry unto him over the crops of your fields, that ye may prosper in them.

Cry over the flocks of your fields, that they may increase.

But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness.

Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.’’

We can pour our souls out to our Heavenly Father in prayer. We can tell Him anything! We can tell him how we feel that day, express our gratitude, what our hopes are, our desires, our fears, ask Him for blessings and answers to our questions, etc.

Since discovering this power of prayer, I have felt closer to my Heavenly Father than I ever have. I do not just believe I am a daughter of God because that what I was taught but I KNOW I am a daughter of God and that God loves me.

I have brought home from my mission the habit of daily morning and evening prayer and I continue to feel a strong presence of God in my life.

A closer relationship with my Heavenly Father has brought about a conversion, a change of nature.

I am so thankful for my mission. It has been an MTC (missionary training center) for the rest of my life.

Testimony (English and Mandarin)

I know that this gospel is true. I know Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Joseph Smith is not the founder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; he was an instrument in the hands of the Lord to restore it. I know the Book of Mormon is true and it has the power to change lives. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Banner ,Balloons, and Return Missionary....Check!!!

A Pebble Tossed Into The River

Because of this week I understand now more than ever how Heavenly Father helps us over come opposistion; When we ask for His help to work around obstacles, He will not instantly remove the problem for us. Rather He will give us the inspiration to know what to do and then we need to move forward with faith and ACT.  It would have been really easy for me to just give into the opposition and just stay in with Sister Lee this whole week but something compelled me to try and keep trying to find a way to still go out and work. There was no way I could go home with the thought that I had done nothing the last week of my mission.  It was not easy but it was possible. Now that I look back, I can see clearly the tender mercies of the Lord and how He supported both me and my companion in one of our hardest weeks.  Here is just a glimpse of what those tender mercies were:

Sunday night and Monday we made calls to people in the ward asking if could watch after Sister Lee or come out teaching with me on splits. Our plans for me to go teach an investigator with a member Monday evening fell through and we weren't able to do any proselyting after P-day had ended. Monday night things looked a bit bleak. We had planned our next day with out any certainty that any of it would happen. While Sister Lee had members willing to look after her in their home, I still had no one to be my companion. To be honest, I was so frustrated and angry that things were they way they were. I knew the only place I could turn for peace would be to Heavenly Father through prayer. That night I poured out my soul to my Father in Heaven pleading for His help and that someone in the ward would be able to come out teaching with me. I went to bed with an overwhelming feeling of peace. Something told me to take it one day at a time and that everything would work out. Tuesday morning that prayer was answered. One of the YSA we had texted the night before, Athalia, texted back saying she could come out with me! Athalia is in her first year at Uni and was free after 12pm until 5pm both days I needed someone which worked out perfectly. Suzanna, another YSA in the ward who is preparing for a mission, was also able to come teaching with me one evening. I will be forever grateful for their help as I chose to sprint to the end, obstacles and all. 

We went to the GP Tuesday morning for Sister Lee. The Doctor prescribed her antispasmodics for her stomach pains. They worked slowly, but surely. 

Tuesday was the first time Athalia had ever gone street contacting with the missionaries and she was so pro. Tuesday was a really great day and we found 2 new investigators and found a bunch of potiential investigators. The next day wasn't as easy but that is how missionary work is. Even after the change in responses from the people while we street contacted the next day she came out with me, Athalia still loved it. She told me that this experience has really changed the way she looks at missionary work and now she is thinking about going on a mission!

Thursday, Sister Lee still felt unable to go out and work and we had no one lined up to go out with me. We kept our commitment to help out at a funeral in the ward that day and then for the rest of the day we were in the flat for a while and to do weekly planning. Miraculously, we still had opportunities to share the gospel that day. At the funeral, we talked to the neighbor of the lady that passed away and shared a little bit about our beliefs. Not too long after we got in the flat, the Electrician came to install new heaters and we were able to have a really great gospel conversation with him. Before he left we handed him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and invited him to learn more. He said he was interested just really busy. No worries! The seed has been planted.

Friday Sister Lee at last looked well and was ready to go out and see how she felt being out and working. It felt so good to be back with my companion and to work hard until the end of the day. 

Jun now has a date for baptism. Oh how my joy is full! It has been a journey and a half helping her through her trial of doubt and uncertainty. We weren't sure we were going to be able to teach her this week since Sister Lee wasn't feeling so well and the only time we could see Jun were the late evenings when no one was available to go on splits with me. We came home one night around 7:30pm and called Jun and taught her a lesson over the phone. It was that night we invited her to get a Priesthood blessing to help her.  On Friday, the day Sister Lee finally well enough to go out, Jun got a Priesthood blessing from Brother Evans. The Spirit in the room after the blessing was soo strong. Jun was like ''wow..I fell so much peace!'' We had a short lesson and at the end we invited Jun to be baptized on the 20th of December. She is willing to work towards that date. I may not be able to be there physically but I will definitely be there in Spirit (or Skype if possible). 

We taught Diana again a few times this week. She is such a sweetheart! While I was on splits with Athalia, Diana told us she had read the restoration pamphlet and so we asked her if there were any questions she had and boy, did she have some deep ones! One of the questions she asked was how she could come closer to Heavenly Father like Jesus Christ. I felt prompted to teach her about following the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized.  we invited Diana to be baptized to which she replied ''she has already been baptized.'' We of course explained the importance of the Priesthood and I felt that in the next lesson we needed to teach her about the Gift of the Holy Ghost which comes after baptism making it complete. She really opened up to us in next lesson with us and told us how after she had meet us she received a message from God that told her she needed to  accept the things we would share.  When we followed up on her thoughts about being baptized she told us she was open to the idea of being baptized again. Hallelujah! She is so prepared! Since she lives in Preston and is there on the weekends we are going to pass her on to the Preston Sisters. 

A tender mercy of Sister Lee being ill last Monday was that I started deep cleaning the flat and doing the cleaning that needs to be done each transfer. Now that we are whitewashing and have a long list of to-dos before everything is ready for the new Sister it is nice that most of the cleaning is already done.  

This really has been the longest marathon of my life! During a long run, sometimes you get so tired you feel like you just want to die and for the race to be over already but when you finish you feel like you are on top of the world. That is the best way I can describe it. My soul feels satisfied with my work and I know I have tried my best and worked the hardest I could. I know that Heavenly Father is pleased with my mission. There is nothing I want more than to please Him and do His will. This is now the quest for the rest of my life. I want to return to His presence and be able to dwell there with my family and those I have meet and taught on my mission. There is nothing I want more.

I have built friendships here on my mission that I know will last forever.

I know that the work I have done here will have no end. The seeds I have planted will continue to grow forever. I, like a small pebble thrown into the river, have caused ripples and waves in the oceans of eternity. 

I love my mission, challenges and all. I love my Savior. I love my Heavenly Father. I will always be grateful for this sacred opportunity to wear a badge with my Savior's name on it. 

I'll see you all on the other side!

Love,

Sister Jordan

p.s- I love balloons and banners (hint,hint) ;)

Rise to the Occassion

A trip the walk in clinic, 2 to the GP, and 2 trips to the hospital later, my poor companion, Sister Lee has severe stomach pains that just don't seem to go away :( She is going to need to be flat bound until they figure out what is going on. Not so much good news for me.. Yesterday we went on splits with the members if we are going to be able to keep that up. I might have to go back and forth between my area and Kendall, where the nearest Sisters are to continue to be out working. 

It has been a crazy week and the week approaching will probably be a crazy week too. I never would have thought my mission is ending the way it is with my companion in and out of the GP and hospital. I feel stuck in between two places; I want to take care of my companion and I want to go out and work. The hardest part is I want to go out and work WITH my companion. As they say though, ''you can't have your cake and eat it too.'' 

Despite the craziness we were still able see our investigators this week:

We are finally getting some where with Jun's concern about Joseph Smith! She has been confused for a very long time about Joseph Smith and we have been explaining over and over again how he translated the Book of Mormon and did not write it. I am not sure what exactly we said that made her have an Aha moment but she finally understands why Joesph Smith is so important. We are looking forward to committing her to be baptized on a specific date. We know she has had a past witness from the Spirit that these things are true and now she is finally starting to resolve her own concerns. 

Demi and Sharon, our Nigerian investigators, are doing great! They both have kept their commitment to read the Book of Mormon. We met with Demi on her own this weekend because Sharon was sick. It worked out perfectly and it is definitely much easier to teach one person rather than two at the same time since their needs and concerns seem to be so different. We finished teaching Demi the restoration and she believes it is possible for God to appear to Joseph Smith. We invited her to pray to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet and invited her to be baptized. She responded to the latter that she has already been baptized. It is always a bit awkward explaining to people that they need to be baptized by the proper authority. We assured her that our message is true and she will need to pray to know for herself and with an answer will better be able to accept or reject the invitation to be baptized.

A new investigator from this week is Suraj. He is also Nigerian and is from a Muslim family. I taught him while on splits at the Perry's this weekend and watched the DVD To This End Was I Born. It was perfect for him. The Spirit in the room was practically tangible after the film ended. I asked him what he thought and he said this movie made him change the way he viewed Christianity. We explained that he change of heart he was feeling was the Spirit of God helping him to learn about Jesus Christ. He gave such a sincere prayer. 

So this week I went on exchange with Sister Fromgren from Norway in Carlise, the closest you can get to the Scottish border. It was a short 24 hour exchange and yep, my very last one! We found one new investigator on exchange named Mark. He is so prepared! He has made a lot of changes in his life that he knows is because of prayer and God's help. My exchange goal was to invite someone to be baptized and so I invited him on the spot to be baptized. He said he would once he comes to know these things are true.

Looking back on this week, we only really did maybe 2 hours total of finding (not including travel contacting) and yet we were still able to find new investigators. Not just any new investigators but GOLDEN investigators. Diana is one of them. We street contacted her at the Uni and she is a miracle find. Diana is from Latvia and she told us God is a big part of her life. We taught her on the spot very briefly about the restoration. She told us she had been pondering a spiritual question in her heart that morning and looked up to the heavens and said ''thank you!'' She is so humble and adorable. She actually lives in Preston and commutes to school. She told us she would message us her schedule and usually this means ''I'm not actually interested'' but the next day she actually messaged us and asked if we could meet her the next day! Miracles are real. Sister Lee taught her over exchange. Turns out she doesn't really understand who God is and didn't know He had a body. Yeah... thank goodness they taught to her needs about the Godhead. I called her last night and followed up with her prayers. She said she has been praying and the way she is now praying makes her feel like she has been set free. Wow. She just keeps getting more and more incredible. 

The thing I learned this week is how as we grow stronger and stronger our challenges must too become more difficult to allow us to continue to grow; I feel like I am at my best and have been working my hardest and yet the trials and challenges just do not seem to be getting any easier. Looking back on this week I stand all amazed at all the work Sister Lee and I have been able to do despite her severe stomach pains. There is no other explanation I can find except to say it was the enabling power of the Atonement carrying us through the week. Like an Apostle has once said ''we must not ask to have tasks equal to our power put the power equal to meet our tasks.'' We must rise to the occasion and always seek to learn and grow.

I am grateful that Sister Lee has been able to fight through the pain as long as she could. Now it is time for her to rest and hopefully re cooperate while we wait to hear from the medical professionals what is wrong.

I am not sure what will happen this week but I am going to choose to put my faith and trust in my Heavenly Father that He will take care of me and my companion and our investigators. Things are out of my hands and in His.

Please keep Sister Lee in your prayers!

Love,
Sister Jordan 

We All Need Somebody to Lean On

Friends and family,

I must tell you all again how much I LOVE CHINESE WORK! Seriously.. I have been away from this work of miracles for too long. I am so grateful 

to be teaching these sons and daughters of God. I know they are precious in His sight. Every time I walk away from speaking or teaching in Chinese I just have to marvel that I have been able to obtain this gift of the Spirit. Disclaimer: I am still no where near being fluent. I don't know everything but I know enough. 

We are starting to teach this Chinese girl named Ya Nan. We had followed up with her last week and set up a return appointment. She never really confirmed the day before that we could still meet but the day of she said it was still ok. She is so golden because she met with us even though she was sick! We taught her a really great lesson on the Godhead this past week. We related her relationship to her best friend to the relationship she has with Christ. We taught her how Christ died for us and was resurrected (fu huo) three days later. She never knew this before. She made the connection her self that Easter (Fu huo jie) was about the resurrection of Christ. 

This week we were truly guided by the Spirit in deed and conversation:

-Our appointment and back up plan fell through one day and Sister Lee and I said a prayer that we would be guided to find the prepared. This doesn't happen too often but during the prayer two images flashed into my mind. One was this passage way and the other was the millennial bridge not too far from town. We followed that route and met some incredible people! The greatest miracle would have to be that everyone was too busy to stop and talk to us until we got to the bridge and stopped this man named Martin. He is so prepared! He has a great understanding of the importance of the Spirit. He accepted the invitation to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. We will follow up with him soon. 

-After having a really great lesson on the spot at the Uni one evening, we stepped aside to say a prayer of gratitude (we are doing our best as a mission to double the quality and quantity of our prayers) and asked the Lord to help us find new investigators that night. The next person we stopped was a Chinese girl named Iris that we found a taught my first weekend here in Lancaster. She agreed to a return appointment and became a new investigator!

-We felt impressed one day to call by Anna, an English recent convert that the Zone Leaders passed to us. She has been really hard to get a hold of and she hasn't been to church in ages. Guess what? She was home! Wow, it is such a blessing to be guided by the Spirit in this week and help Heavenly Father bring back His wandering sheep. We had a great chat with her. She has been busy working on her Masters dissertation. We have an appointment to see her this Wednesday. This taught me to never give up on trying to get in contact with someone. Everyone was starting to lose hope we would be able to.  

This week was full of funny and crazy moments:

-We went to visit one of the elderly members, Jenny, in a nursing home. In the middle of the spiritual thought this old lady in the corner started singing opera style. Jenny quickly shot her glance at this lady and with irritation in her voice said ''shut up Joyce!'' 

-We were warned by a member in the ward that the day before Guy Fawkes (November 5th) was ''mischief night'' and we were on high alert. We were taking the bus to a tea appointment when all of the sudden I saw sparks and heard a POP! POP! Living near Chicago and reacting to it like it was gun shots, my first instinct was to drive for the floor and I thought ''get down!'' On my way to the floor I saw no one else had moved or even flinched. I quickly realized that they weren't gun shots but just some chaves lighting off fireworks. Awkward. I tried to play it off like nothing happened. 

-I was almost attacked by a swan. Ok maybe I wasn't in real danger but it was getting too close for comfort.

- I taught an Italian man the restoration in Chinese! It was so weird. He teaches Chinese at the uni. 

-We may or may not have watched the Lancaster Fireworks Spectacular show that was twenty minutes in the hopes that this golden family we had talked to 5 minutes before it started would become potential investigators.. They are the cutest little family! Sadly they were rushing off back to their home after the fireworks ended but at least they took a mormon.org card. 

In all honesty, this week was probably one of the hardest ones on my mission. I am walking away from it with more experience for the future and a lesson on how the Lord can help my weakness become strengths. 

Our investigator Jun that was working towards baptism went onto the Internet to research the church to ''make sure she was making the right decision'' and ran into some stuff about polygamy. We did our best to help her understand the history of the church but this has really shaken her. She is a feminist and has a hard time accepting this. All of the good feeling she had that gave her the faith that what she had been taught was true is currently being overshadowed with a big dark black cloud of doubt. It was only a matter of time before opposition was to creep into her life. The full and complete story is too long to type but let it suffice to say that we were so close to losing her as an investigator. It is a mighty miracle that in the course of 4 days she has softened her heart and is willing to be taught by us still. We know we need to help her build her faith back up by helping her be more sincere in reading and praying about the Book of Mormon and recognizing her answer. 

I have always been very independent and never really allowed my true emotions to show but one of the lessons I have really had to learn on my mission is how important it is to not hide my emotions and to seek and accept the support of others.  I would not have been able to get through this week without the comfort and guidance of my mission president, district and zone leaders, and my companion of course. Please don't worry though. You know it doesn't take me too long to bounce back from set backs.

I have also come to learn a lot more about the Savior and what He went through. Never had I full understood what it would feel like to truly give your time and energy in the service of others only to suffer the pain of heartache when others don't necessarily appreciate what you are trying to do for them. 

The most important person we can ever lean on is our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. He understands our heartaches and disappointments. He will give us strength to overcome. 

Keep pressing forward! 

Sister Jordan

PICTURES may only have time to upload one now..

1) Sister Lee in front of John Taylor's home

A Conscious Choice

First of all, we just had a HUGE miracle right here in the library. We were just about to sit down and email when we caught the attention of this man named Ian across from us. Looking at his computer monitor I could tell he was working on a research paper and so I asked if he was a student at the Lancaster Uni. He said he was. He could tell by my accent that I was not from here and I asked if we were here as students. I of course responded in the negative. Before I even said we were missionaries he said ''I assume you have something important to tell me'' and said we could talk after he was done on the computer. As soon as he finished on the computer we had a more in-depth conversation. Ian told us that he was a student and a single parent of 2 children. He ran into the Elders at the library too and told us to keep up the good work. Before he could leave, I invited him to church. Sister Lee and I were able to share our experiences at church and testify that this church is true and we also invited him to Jun's baptism on Saturday. He was touched by the things we said and he is seriously considering coming to the church if not the baptism. He will try to bring his children as well. 

Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways. I would not be surprised if this man ends up being the answer to my prayers and fasting to find the prepared to be baptized at the end of this month. 

Jun is still on track for baptism on November 8th. We still had a lot to teach her when I first got here and I was worried she would not be ready for the 8th, but wow, let me tell you- she is so prepared! She has a deep and abiding love and faith in the gospel. 

Greatest Chinese Street Contact Ever:

We were at the Uni about to head to a lesson and we stopped this Chinese boy named Bodin. We always start off in English and when we confirm that the person is actually Chinese and not Korean or something we transition into Chinese. We asked him where he was from and he told us he was from Beijing. He turned to Sister Lee and asked where she was from. They exchanged some words in Chinese. Assuming I had no clue what was going on he then turned to me and asked me in English where I was from. I looked him in the eye and said ''wo shi mei guo ren'' ( I am American). His reaction was priceless. He did the biggest gasp I have ever seen. He had to rush to class but gave us his number. 

For the first time in his life, he came to church yesterday. He is so great. 

I am loving the daily study our mission has on the Atonement. This week I read about how Mosiah 3:19 talks about both the redeeming and enabling power of the Atonement:

''For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.''

 Quoting one of the prophets ''the gospel is to help bad people become good and good people to become better.'' 

The Atonement is not only to help us overcome sin (putting off the natural man) but to be strengthened and grow beyond our own capacity (becoming a saint). 

So how can we better apply the Atonement in our lives? Well, we are agents to act not to be acted upon. We must make a conscious choice to be changed. Once we make the choice, the Savior and His Atonement will do the rest. From personal experience, the times I have grown and changed the most were when I recognized I needed to change and made the decision that I was going to be better. We cannot walk the gospel path expecting it to change us if we do not put any effort in on our part. Asking for a change of circumstances is not the way but to ask for the strength to face our challenges is the source of power. We have the ability within us to change our circumstances if we first make the change within ourselves. 

The Spirit testifies to me every morning that this gospel is true. What a privilege it is to help others have that same witness from the Spirit. 

Love,

Sister Jordan 

p.s- sorry, still no pictures yet!

Limitless

Dear friends and family, 

I would love to describe to you the beautiful land of Preston. Oh wait.. I'm not in Preston, I'm in LANCASTER. 

Yep.. President Ulrich was inspired to change transfer plans. He had this nagging impression 3 hours before transfer meeting that I needed to go to Lancaster to serve with Sister Lee. I am so blessed to have a mission President that is so close to the Spirit. So here I am in Lancaster. By the end of my mission I will have a total of 5 companions and 4 areas. This has gotta be a record..

Remember Sister Lee? We served in Wrexham together. I love Sister Lee so much and I am so grateful to serve with her again. She blows me away with the spiritual power that always accompany her words. I am so grateful that she gets to stay in Lancaster and I hope she will be able to stay for awhile; She has served in a new area almost every transfer. She is helping me a lot with my Chinese. It got a bit rusty since we weren't teaching in Chinese much in Wrexham. We have so much fun together. 

I could not be happier to be here. It is so beautiful and this place is crawling with Chinese people which is quite the contrast from Wrexham at the moment. The members here are so supportive and excited about missionary work.

Right before we got on the transfer bus to leave the chapel I spotted President Preston. Once your mission president, always your mission president. It was so great getting to see him again but also a bit weird to see him with out a name badge. The Prestons will always have a special place in my heart. 

I got to give my introduction testimony yesterday during sacrament meeting. I was prompted to share a bit of my testimony in Chinese. I scanned the crowd to see the faces of our Chinese investigator and recent convert and they both had big smiles on their faces. I love being able to gain their trust as they see how hard I have worked to learn their language. 

Jun is our dated investigator here. She is doing really good. She came to church yesterday and seems very able to be independent. The members are warm and welcome to her. She will be interviewed for her baptism this week. 

Our area needs a lot of work. I have reviewed the area book and we are in desperate need to start finding more investigators and potentially drop investigators that are not progressing. I am excited to find new investigators that are PREPARED. The time to find, teach, and baptize is now. There is also a great need to strengthen the recent converts. There are at least 5 in our stewardship and I can feel the weight of our responsibility to nourish these members. We are very fortunate to be serving in a ward that cares about their recent converts and has done everything they can to look after them.

How am I? Well I could not be better! I have this great boost of energy and I have no idea where it came from or how it is possible to be so full of energy at this point of my mission. Oh wait, yes I do know where it has come from. This has come from a loving Heavenly Father that knows and loves me so much. I am ready to ''sprint to the end'' and give this last area my all. It has been a blessing to have long areas my whole mission because now I am in the mindset that I will be in Lancaster for a long time and it is helping me remain focused and settle in. It usually takes me awhile to be myself when I first go to a new area or serve with a new companion but since I already know and love Sister Lee I already am able to be myself. I cannot express enough how much the Lord has blessed me this transfer. There has been problems with missionaries bus contacting in Lancaster in the past (i.e, Elders being thrown off buses) so for a long time missionaries who serve here typically do not bus contact. Well you know me. I don't want to spend a second not talking to somebody. So I have been sitting next to people on the bus and gently weaving the gospel into the conversation. So far so good. I know the Lord will bless us for our extra efforts. Perhaps this will be the time we can break out of that mode of no bus contacting if we do it right. 

I wish I could describe in words how grateful I am and how much love I have for the Lord right now. This week I have learned that when we are willing to do the will of the Lord we are LIMITLESS. So often we limit our happiness and our ability to achieve our potential when we stubbornly want to do what we want to do. The moment we give our will to the Lord, He will be able to guide us to where we need to be and that path will always have great happiness in store than the path we want to take because we are short sighted. He sees the end from the beginning. We cannot see our lives the way He sees it. He will not do things against our will and that is why He patiently waits for us to cheerfully submit. Like Nephi, we may not know the meaning of all things ( 1 Nephi 11:17) yet we can be confident that He knows and loves us. I would have never imagined that it would be in Lancaster that I would fulfill my greatest potential. I wanted to badly to stay in Wrexaham but now that I am here I see that I am happier here than I would have been had the Lord granted me the chance to stay where I was. I am grateful to have learned this important lesson of humility.

I invite you all to ask Heavenly Father in prayer what His will is. Once that will is made manifest to you have the humility to DO IT. Trust that everything will always work out for your good. 

Love,

Sister Jordan.

p.s- Since I only arrived in Lancaster on Saturday I have no pictures yet. Stay tuned though!