My challenge to you all: READ!

December 08, 2022

My challenge to you all: READ!

Hello hello everybody! I hope you all had an amazing end to your November and even better start to your December! What an amazing season to focus on Family and the Savior! And I am also a firm believer that there's always a little room for presents;) Alright, let's jump into some highlights!

We had a super fun District activity where we all went bowling! The worker really liked us and let us play an extra game for free, which was sweet!
We did two booths this week! One was a light the world booth with some hot chocolate and the other one was a Chinese booth outside an Asian market! It was super fun!
We made some tacos for our friend, Nelson! He had never eaten tacos or salsa before! He loved the idea of dipping a chip into the salsa haha! He loved it and that was awesome! He also signed up to light the world, which was sweet! He was excited, but didn't want a picture haha!
We had an exchange with our fellow Chinese-speaking elders and that was a blast!
A member gave us a turkey so we had a late Thanksgiving feast with each other!
I now have a signature dessert I call the Polo Rolo! Why you may ask? Because it has Rolo in it and I didn't think too long about what rhymes with Rolo haha! But we took some Polo Rolos to some people and that was sweet!
We had dinner with our Branch President and his wife! It was at our favorite Chinese restaurant! Sadly, the restaurant is closing down in two weeks:( But it was great to talk to the Branch President and discuss ideas about how to grow the Branch!
We met this nice lady Marielza! She went back to Brazil yesterday! But we had a good little chat with her about the Book of Mormon!

So, yeah... this week was a good one! We are hoping that this month we will have an increase in our finding efforts! Since I have come to the mission we have sadly only lost friends:( This has been quite difficult for me! I thought I would come out to the mission and we'd be teaching all the time; we'd be baptizing, helping people start on the covenant path, finding wouldn't be crazy hard, etc.! But those things, sadly, aren't the case at all! In fact, it's quite the opposite! So I ask the question to all of you (and the question I have had to ask myself)... why in the world am I doing this?!?! There have been times where I have felt like I am just doing absolutely nothing! And I don't want to brag or anything, but my life back home rocks! I have the best family ever, not to mention I have the cutest niece in the world I haven't met yet! I have the coolest friends in the world (including my very best friend who I miss very much)! College is a blast and I love just about every aspect of it! And those are just a few things that come to the top of my mind! So, I ask again, why am I doing this?

Let me tell you a story! This week, Elder Hofhiens had a meeting that was 3 hours long! During this time, Elder Thorley and I set off to do some studies. I decided to grab a new copy of the Book of Mormon. I then used the Topical Guide in my quad and went to the section of Jesus Christ. I wanted to go through and highlight every reference to Jesus Christ I could find, directed by the topical guide and the scriptures it gave me in the Book of Mormon. So, what do you think?! How many references to Christ do you think I was able to find in 3 hours? Well, I'll give you a hint. After 1 hour, I had found 231 references to the Savior! In the end, after 3 hours, I found 773 references to Jesus Christ! Isn't that crazy?! There's a verse in Ether that references the Savior 15 times! The Book of Mormon is full of Jesus Christ, His gospel, example, and love for all of God's children! That right there is what keeps me going when the days seem long and the going gets tough! I want everyone to know about this amazing book because there's no doubt in my mind that if they do read it, they will grow closer to the Savior! So I will share that with as many people as I possibly can!

The Book of Mormon is not an ordinary book. In fact, it is probably the book that had the highest stakes riding on it! If it's true, then everything else in a sense doesn't matter a whole ton! If it's true, then our testimony is reconfirmed of our Savior and Heavenly Father! It gives all the details regarding the plan of happiness and salvation! If it's true, then Joseph Smith is a true prophet and the church he set up through the power of God us true! Period! For anyone reading this, I would strongly encourage you to strengthen your testimony in this book! It is the ultimate key to our Savior! We can't base our testimony off of imperfect people in the church. Because you can't fall back on that!

As I have been on my mission, there are lots of people that like to bash on our church! Lots of them used to be a part of the church but have since left! They will go on and on about imperfect prophets and people, starting with Joseph Smith down to a bishop they had that said the wrong thing. As I hear people start to disrespect the religion I care so much about, I often wonder if they have or had a testimony of the Book of Mormon? The answer would have to be no. Some of the things I have been told don't sit great with me. I wonder why that might have happened. I wonder why someone would make a choice that would hurt others. But as I pray, I get the thought, "You just need to trust, I'll tell you later." And I'm just fine with that answer for now with those subjects! There isn't a doubt that can't be solved by the Book of Mormon! It is a true book. Those people I talk with who have left the church would have to have crawled around the Book of Mormon to leave. Or they must have never gained a testimony of it to begin with! So this is my challenge to you all: READ! Say a prayer about what you're struggling with. Talk about concerns in life you have and then open the Book of Mormon, expecting to find answers, and they will come!

I'm so grateful for the love the Lord has shown us by giving us further knowledge to help us grow! I know this Book is true! It keeps me going in my hardest moments! I communicate with the Savior through this book! I know Joseph Smith is a true prophet. My testimony of that perfectly falls into place because I know the Book of Mormon is true! I know that people are flawed; I know church leaders aren't perfect; lastly, I know I am still learning and growing each day! I try my best, I rely on the Savior, and I continue to believe in the things that matter and cast everything else aside that is useless and would make me doubt or think otherwise! I love this Gospel and am honored to share it with the people in this North Virginia area!

I hope you all have an amazing week! Now, go read the Book of Mormon;)

再见，

司长老