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."
