~July 26, 2012~

Hello Everyone!

How are you all doing? Hope this has been a great week for you! Temple Square has been so crazy! I am convinced that all of China visited Temple Square this last week! Well, I am trying to think of which miracle to share with you. I feel blessed that we have had so many! But, I think that I really want to share with you about Joy. I met Joy yesterday and she called saying that her niece had passed away a few years ago and as she was going through her things a pass-a-long card from the church fell out. She feels that it is a sign from her niece.

I told her that it absolutely was! So, I told her about the Book of Mormon and what it is all about. She said that she would like one. Unfortunately right now she cannot meet with missionaries because she is basically on bed rest since her accident that she had.

So, Sister Lee and I will be teaching her over the phone until she gets well enough to have the missionaries over to her house. I shared with her that everything we have to teach her well with change her life for the better. Then she said something I will never forget she said, " I believe you. I feel that I have been missing something in my life and I have tried to fill that hole in my heart for years in many different ways. But, there is something telling me that you are telling me the truth." How amazing is that?!

She is so prepared for the Gospel and I just feel so blessed that Heavenly Father has entrusted me to take care of her and to help her find the truth. Well, I hope that you are all having a great week and that you will keep on smiling! I know that everything happens for a reason and that things as they are not will not forever be. Love you all!

Love Always,

Sister Armstrong

Oh PS Viviana got baptized!! And she asked Sister Lee and I to speak at her baptism-We were so very honored!

Sis. Armstrong also wrote us (on the realities of the mission):

"Okay well,  this week has been the longest week of the mission! We have taken so many tours and taught so many people. Mostly in Mandarin. So, yes I am learning Mandarin and it is so fun to speak it and then all the Chinese people freak out! It is hysterical! A lot of them understand or speak English and so I get to talk to a lot of them. The greatest thing about the Chinese people is that they only want to know about the gospel. They have just recently been able to come and travel in the United States and they are actually taught in school that God is not real. The teachers actually tell them that! So, every time we take a tour with them all they want to know about is everything we have to teach. They could care less about the history. Of course we always share pioneer stories with them because they love those. But, I have this great love for the Chinese people! We give away so many Chinese Books of Mormon it is not even funny.

We just learned that the only place in Salt Lake City that even has Chinese Books of Mormon is Temple Square! They are like gold right now! This is our only way of doing missionary work in China since there are no missionaries in Mainland China! It breaks my heart when they ask if they can have missionaries come or they ask where the church is and we have to tell them that we don't know. Even though we know that the church is in Hong Kong we can't even say that. But, we always tell them to look it up online and there are apparently so many little branches that can only be known by word of mouth. Once China opens up for missionaries it will be exploding with baptisms! These people are just waiting for someone to tell them that God is there. Last night we took around a bus load of about 30 people and at the end I bore my testimony of God and Jesus Christ and at the end one man told me that he believes me and that he would like a Book of Mormon. It is just so amazing that God has placed these great people in a place where they can receive a piece of the restored gospel.

Also, this week was Pioneer day! So, our Mission President let us go to the parade! This parade was like something that I have never seen before! It was two hours long! It was so fun and when we got there and were looking for seats, there was this sweet lady and her husband who had stayed over night on the grass and then left the tarp there for others. As they saw the sisters coming they kept telling us to sit there! They were just the sweetest! So, I have taken many pictures of the parade but of course I forgot my camera so I will have to send the pictures of the parade next week! Pioneer day here is not a joke! It is very serious and almost everything was closed! It was very interesting.

What else I think that is about it we are just working super hard. I felt bad because we have been taking so many tours and after a Mandarin bus tour, that didn't go so well, my sweet little Chinese companion broke down in tears and I just held her. This mission is not a joke! So many people say that it is just a beauty pageant. We teach more people and are on our feet more then any other mission. I just feel bad that I worked her so hard. I mean I think I have always been a hard worker but I am working even harder here. I mean it is salvation that is on the line. But, after all the tears she got up and we took another tour- all by her saying lets do it. If there is one thing that I want to teach her it is that we are on the Lord's time and we must work as hard as we can to bring as many souls unto Christ as we possibly can."