Payday in China

Well here's to another great week!! I can't believe it's already May!! That's crazy talk!!  Well I'm going to keep it short and sweet.

I'll start off with Jimmy and Chloe. This week, it really clicked for Jimmy… what this is all about, the spiritual aspect of it. I asked them if they have seen changes in their life since they have been investigating the church. Jimmy spoke right up which is unusual for him.  He kind of likes to take everything in and listen. He didn't hesitate to share with us that he has felt an overwhelming peace in his life. He's going through a lot in school right now and with working, it’s been very crazy and stressful. But he's been able to find peace through it all.  He also shared that he feels such great love for those around him.  It was interesting. Chloe agreed with him. They are finally getting everything!! They believe in God and in Jesus Christ.  They have a strong belief in them now. Jimmy said that fact that They understand what we are going through has made a world of a difference. Chloe was cracking me up because she didn't understand why this wasn't taught in school in China. She said how she wishes she would have known this her whole life, but more important she wishes that her family and friends knew about it. They have been praying every day and searching out the Gospel for themselves finding answers to questions.  They've been praying for those in their family and praying for the truth. Now it's time to lay the good stuff down. We're going to be going over the commitments this week, should be interesting. We’re going to put their faith to the test, ready or not here we come!! I'm excited to see how they react to their willingness to follow the Savior's and His commandments. 

As I mentioned last week we were able to do a huge temple tour for the Kalamazoo Stake in Michigan. They came down to the temple. I've never seen the temple so packed it was wonderful. There were probably around 170 members there and we were able to give a tour to 40 of them. We gave a tour to all walks of life, including two pastors, two investigators, three less actives and there were just members that were able to enter into the temple and do a session. Some of the youth even came to do work!   It was a wonderful day to be at the temple!! Super neat experience, I honestly can't get enough of the temple and the spirit that's there! What a great day!! 

We are teaching this little girl named Salma. She's probably one of my favorite people here.  She's so knowledgeable about the gospel. She blows me away with what she knows!!  It super fun because I can have deep lessons with her and she eats it up!! We finished up the plan of salvation and the question she had, man oh man. It was fun seeing her trying to work them out in her mind. She said at the end, this makes so much sense!  Why doesn't everyone join this church!! Now we just need to hope and pray that her dad will let her be baptized, but if not we will keep on keeping on and she'll be ready for the day that she can be:) 

President Bingham’s son got married this week so we spent some time helping Sister Bingham set up the lunch in and decorating the church and then the next day we helped prepare the food for them. It ended up being a great day for them. I cannot imagine trying to plan a wedding and serve a mission at the same time, but it all worked out!!

Last night we were waiting to get in touch with Sunny.  We have been messaging her over what they call WiChat and last night was one of those payday moments. She's been reading the Book of Mormon and praying with her family and every day she has some questions about all the pamphlets. We were going over them with her and we had to call in the translator. I took a quick video so you guys could someone being tough in Chinese. Super awesome! The problem is in China, she can't be taught there by someone so we are just working until we can figure out how to get her to Hong Kong to be baptized.  She can attend the branch but she can't be taught by any of the members.  She can ask a question and they can answer it but that's about it. We're getting around their stupid rules.  She's going to learn the gospel one way or another. Something that was really cool she told our translator was that she's been studying about Joseph Smith and when she heard his story and read his testimony she felt an undeniable feeling and she knew it was true and she knows that he was a prophet of God.  She said she can't stop praying, she loves the feeling and the strength and happiness that it brings to her day! I was eating it up!!  What a great end to the week!!

Well I love you all!   Hope you enjoy your week! 

Keep smiling! 

Sister Kendrick