9/26/2016 P-Day #101

9/26/2016

大家好!

This week was all right! Nothing too crazy happened over here!

Thanks Maddy for the letter and the Leathermans for the package!

Brother Yang is unfortunately no longer getting baptized next week. His daughter called us and said that he's too old and learning about all this church stuff is too stressful. She also told us that he's too busy to meet with us and come to church. He needs to learn English and help take care of his grandson. So we will no longer be going by to visit with him. :(

We went to visit Q last Monday and had a really good lesson with him! He really opened up and actually talked with us! Haha it was a miracle! We committed him to read from the Book of Mormon for 10 minutes every day after school to help him build a testimony of Jesus Christ. We're going back tonight to follow up and also invite him to start praying every day! We'll see how it goes. We're just teaching him very very slowly so we don't overwhelm him or make him feel like we are trying to be controlling!

We went on splits Saturday night! Elder Yang went to go visit Brother Li, the one who is going back to China soon! He taught him the Word of Wisdom and said it went really well! He committed to live it, so I hope that he will find the strength to do so! I went with the other Brother Li, the recent convert one, to go visit a former investigator, Joanna. I taught her with Elder Dyer and then she just disappeared one day! We called her and she told us that she moved to Chino Hills. We went by and had a pretty good lesson with her. Unfortunately there are other Chinese elders that cover that area, so we will have to let them go by and keep teaching her.

On Sunday, one of the Chinese members came up to me and asked if I would give a 10 minute talk on October 23 at our Chinese sacrament meeting! In Chinese! I'm a little nervous, but we'll see how it goes! He didn't give me much of a topic, just to talk about what I've learned as a missionary.

Also on Sunday, Yoyo came up with me before Church to ask her if I would go up and translate her testimony into English! It was so adorable! She bore her testimony on fasting and talked about how Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights! She was super nervous, but she did very well!

Hopefully this week picks up a little bit! Usually when we have a slow week, the next one goes by much faster!

I'm excited for General Conference this weekend! I love hearing our prophet and apostles teach us about our Savior! It's always a spiritually uplifting experience!

I love and miss you all so much! 

Love,

Elder Warren

吴长老

 I think this might be Elder Warren teaching the English Class.

 I am assuming this is from the English Class.

This milk expires the same day that Elder Warren's mission expires

9/19/2016 P-Day #100

大家好!

Hope you all had an excellent week! I know that we did!

It's been pretty cold over here in the mornings! When we run to the gym at 6:24, it's a freezing 60 degrees! Brrr! But yesterday got back up into the 100's, so that was nice! Haha

This week has been another crazy busy one for us! Lots of meetings! Wednesday was our Zone Meeting, which was fun! I mean, they didn't have Chick-fil-a cater, but it was still a spiritually filling experience! Haha 

Thursday I had District Leader Training at the mission office. It was a lot of fun! It was a lot of review, but it was good! When we review some of the trainings from previous Multi-Zone Conferences, Sister Mullen talked about going out "in the strength of the Lord". As I've been reading through the Book of Mormon recently, I've noticed this phrase a lot. When people trusted in the Lord, humbled themselves, and prayed for His strength, they overcame the trials they were faced with. When they didn't trust in the Lord, the trials overcame them! It's been a constant reminder for me to be aware of how much I need His help. There's absolutely no way I could make it through this life without Him. I've been finding myself constantly praying for His help, for His strength. And I've felt it come!

Friday was a really weird day! In the morning I had to do some online training called "My Plan". Basically every Friday morning, I'll get on a computer and set goals for what I want to do when I am no longer a missionary. Then Friday afternoon I had my "outgoing interview" with President Mullen. Same as My Plan, he talked about goals I had for when I got home! The first thing he said when I walked into his office was, "Elder Warren, I'd like to thank you for your service." In my head I was thinking: "I still have five more weeks to serve!!! Don't say that!!!" Haha but it was a good experience. 

Saturday and Sunday were awesome days!! Saturday we took Brother and Sister Chen with us to go visit Brother Yang and it went really well! We talked about the Book of Mormon with him and he committed to read at least 10 minutes every day! After we left, the Chens stayed and talked with him for a while! On Sunday, they pulled us aside before church and said that they gave him a specific chapter to read from the Book of Mormon and he read it all that night and told them that he feels like he's ready to be baptized! Sunday after church, we went to the Chen's home to have a lesson with Brother Yang! We talked about the Plan of Salvation and review a little bit about the Restoration! (He also asked why we don't drink tea, so we talked about the Word of Wisdom as well!) He's planning on being baptized on October 2nd! The Spirit has definitely worked a lot to change his heart! 

Today I wanted to share the Chinese word for salvation: 救恩

The first word, 救, means to save, help, or rescue. The second word, 恩, means a gift, favor, or kindness. So salvation is a gift from a loving Heavenly Father that will save, or rescue, us from this mortal state. If we are faithful in this life, and live the Gospel of Christ, we have His promise that when we return back to His presence, we will be worthy to stay in His presence! That's why I'm here in Riverside serving a mission. I love my Heavenly Father and His plan. I have been called to help open the doors of the heaven for Heavenly Father's children. As we exercise faith in Jesus Christ, repent, are baptized, and endure to the end, we will become clean. The stains from our sins and mistakes will be washed away and we will stand spotless before our Heavenly Father.

I love all of you and miss you! Go out and serve God with all of your heart, might, mind, and strength!

Love,

Elder Warren

吴长老

9/12/2016 P-Day #99

9/12/2016

大家好!

This week has been another crazy one for us! I can't believe the first  transfer with Elder Yang went by that fast! 

Last Monday we went to lunch with the Miaos and the Lis at a really yummy salad/soup buffet in Rancho Cucamonga. It was Alice Li's seventh birthday this week, so the Lis invited all of us to go out to lunch with them! It's funny to see them argue over who is going to pay the bill. In the Chinese culture you can't just split the bill between everyone's families, that would be incredibly rude. One person has to pay for the whole thing! So they've argue back and forth until someone finally gives in and lets the other person pay! Monday night, we went on splits. I went with Daniel, who's getting ready to go on his mission, to visit our investigator Tang Chen. We met him at English class and went to teach about the restoration. It went really well! He's very humble and really wants to find the truth! Unfortunately, he has to go back to China for about two weeks, but he's working towards being baptized on October 22nd!

On Wednesday we went on exchanges with the zone leaders and Elder Yang had the opportunity to take over the area for the first time. I think it was a good experience for him. He was a little worried, but he did pretty well! 

Thursday we went and met with Lucy, a referral we received last week. She actually lives in the Lasselle ward boundaries, so it was exciting to go back to Moreno Valley! Haha! She is super busy! She works at a restaurant and only has Thursdays off! She said she wants to talk to her boss, though, to find out if she can get Sundays off as well! Our lesson got cut short because her son, who lives with family in Beverly Hills, showed up to spend some time with her and go shopping. We're going back tomorrow to give her a tour of the church!

Thursday night, we went and visited Li Feng and his son, Jerry. They're the father and son that we met last week when we knocked on a former investigator's door. We had a really spiritual lesson with them. We originally were planning on teaching the Restoration, but as we were walking up to the door, we felt that we needed to teach about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It went really well! We're trying to help him feel ready to be baptized on the 24th of this month, because he leaves to go back to China on the 30th... His concern is that he's worried there won't be any members or church meetings in the city where he lives. We went back on Sunday night and taught about the Restoration. He's still a little worried about the church/China situation, but we can see that he's made a lot of progress just within this past week.

Saturday we went on splits again! I went with Daniel to go visit some former investigators and referrals, but nobody was home. We met some really nice people in the parks that said they wanted to come to English class! On our way home, we made a quick stop at Sonic for some milkshakes because we worked hard and needed some kind of reward haha!

Sunday was another good day! A less active member showed up to church with her mom who isn't a member! The daughter wants to start coming back to church, and her mom will be staying here for about six months! We're going by on Wednesday to see them!

Today was pretty crazy! We had to swap apartments with the sisters who live in the same complex as us! They will have another set of sisters coming to live with them, so they needed our apartment which had two bedrooms and two bathrooms. I was a little upset, but after seeing how roomy their apartment is, I won't complain! Haha 

Well we've got to get going, but I hope you all have an awesome week! Remember that God loves you and is aware of your circumstances!

Much love,

Elder Wu

9/5/2016 P-Day #98

9/5/2016

大家好!

Thanks Omie and Papa for the package this week!

This week felt slower for some reason. The time still flew by, but it seemed like the work went by slower. We were working really hard and doing everything we could! But we received some really solid referrals last week that we're going to go and visit this week! I'm super excited!

We were trying to find new people to teach this past week, so we went knocking on some doors where we knew investigators used to live at. We knocked on one door and found this one dad and his son who were super excited to see us and let us in! They've been in America for a few months but go back to China at the end of September. The son has been going to a Catholic school while they've been here and they've attended a Christian church a few times! The son loves learning about the Bible stories and really believes in Jesus Christ. The Dad isn't opposed, but not necessarily interested in believing it! He does, however, firmly believe that if everybody believed in Christianity, the world would be a much better place! Haha they came to church on Sunday and it seemed like they enjoyed it! They only stayed for sacrament meeting, but said that next week they would come to all of the meetings. I'm excited to work with them, even if it's only for a few weeks! 

Umm.. what else happened this week... Honestly, this week was pretty boring haha we're really trying to move on and find people that are really prepared. Everyone we are working with right now are just not quite prepared. They aren't ready yet. 

We got a referral for a lady named Lucy this past week. She contacted missionaries in Arcadia and asked if she could meet with them and learn more about church. She went to church out there once and then she moved over here to Riverside. We got in contact with her and the only problem is that she is crazy busy! She works from 9:00-9:00 every day except Thursday! I'm not sure about the weekends.. When she called us she was talking really fast and the connection wasn't super good, so I handed Elder Yang the phone halfway through the conversation to see if he could understand what she was saying!哈哈! We're going to see her this Thursday and I'm excited!

We also have a new investigator named Chen Tang! He showed up to our English class and is a great guy! The first day at English class, we taught about prayer and how to pray. He didn't seem super into it, but the next English class, he was talking to one of the sister missionaries and telling them how he needs to pray to Jesus for help! Maybe he's the one that's ready? We'll see! He was supposed to come to church yesterday, but he didn't. We're going to stop by his house tonight!

Today I wanted to share the word for covenant in Chinese, which is 圣约 (sheng yue). 

圣 means sacred or holy

约 means an agreement

So a covenant is a sacred agreement between us and God. Both of us agree to do something. For example, the baptism covenant. We agree to take upon us the name of Christ, serve others around us, comfort them, keep the commandments, and stand as a witness of God. God promises us that He will forgive our sins as we repent, and bless us with His Spirit. I've been really trying to remember the covenants that I've made as I go throughout my day! They're so sacred and it's an opportunity for us to express our love to our Heavenly Father. It's a chance for us to receive blessings and exercise our faith as we remember and keep the promises we have made. 

I love you all and miss you tons!

Love,

Elder Warren

吴长老

This is a wedding gift Cole made for his cousin. It says Families are Eternal.