Fresh from the MTC

Hola everybody, this week has a ride- it started off with a huge meeting with all the missionaries.

Our Christmas conference was a blast. Every missionary in the whole mission came. Some are 6 hours away and made the long trip to all be together. We had a big meeting at the chapel and it was really powerful to be with all the missionaries and feel their dedication. I also got to see all my old companions which was super great. Our mission president's wife, Sister Runia, helped us all see a miracle that strengthened my testimony. In her preparation for the conference, she was studying and asking the Lord what He wanted her to speak about. She said that she felt inadequate and wasn't sure that she was the right person to address us. She doubted herself and asked the Lord for help. Then she heard the words to a song come to mind.

"Yet what I can, I give Him. Give Him my heart". The words to the song uplifted her and helped her know that she was doing her best and that was enough. The miracle was, she later found out that the song she had been prompted to speak about was also the same song which our zone had prepared and would perform 5 minutes later for a special musical number. I had the opportunity to sing the solo and it was really powerful when Sister Runia heard the words that she had just read out loud. She didn't know beforehand that we would perform this song. The Spirit powerfully assured me that God is mindful of all His children and will show us in personal and tender ways that He loves us. 

Later that day, we had a big Samoan style feast complete with roast pig heads and everyone wore leis and flowers. There was a lot of love and I got to know a lot of the other missionaries. I especially gravitate toward those from other cultures. I am so inspired by the conversion stories that I hear. Some of these people sacrificed EVERYTHING to come and serve the Lord, and were even disowned by their families because of their choice to serve a mission. They show me what it's like to really have faith in God. I'm grateful to meet them and learn from them.

The night we got home from Christmas conference, Elder Song and I were chilling and talking about the day for tomorrow. We were getting ready for bed and then the AP's called and said "hey by the way we're dropping off a new missionary tomorrow morning". So that's how we ended up in a trio training a new missionary from China. Who just so happens to be the cousin of my last companion Elder Wang. Crazy stuff. 

Elder Chang is 18 and his English is actually really good for only having learned it in the MTC. The first day we took him out to go do finding. I kept reassuring him and encouraging him because I could see that he wanted to spread the gospel but was really nervous about talking to people. We were on this really crowded street and he turns to me basically hyperventilating and and says "I've never seen so many foreigners before" and I realized that to him Aussies look like foreigners. I'm sure he'll get the hang of it. After I gave him a pep talk and showed him what to do, he did a great job and talked to some people. I was so proud of him. He's going to be a good missionary. 

That first experience went to show me that I've truly been changed by my mission. I remember when I first went finding and was supposed to talk to people, I was pretty nervous and felt uncomfortable doing it. But when I was showing Elder Chang what to do it just felt like second nature. I know the added confidence is a gift from God to help me do missionary work.

Elder Chang told me that when he went to the MTC, the people asked him in English 'do you want translation' and since he didn't understand what they said he just shook his head and then they assumed he didn't need translation. Haha I think that's pretty funny

We got together with our district and did the 'Book of Mormon experiment' where basically we had a stand and people could come up and read just a random page from the Book of Mormon and highlight anything they thought bore witness of God or Jesus Christ or truth in general. It was really cool to see how all these people from different faiths were able to see that the Book of Mormon contained truth. There were some people that said it was true but then when they realized it's the Book of Mormon they went back on what they said just because they don't like the name or our church. In the end, truth is truth. I'm glad to be a missionary and be spreading truth that helps other people.

At English class we had some new people come this week. I always try to get the gospel in there somewhere. So I gave the students a new exercise. I had Elder Chang get up and use Chinese to tell everyone why he wanted to serve a mission. Then I asked the students to translate. We had all these old people looking up how to say 'faith' 'conversion' and 'testimony'. They learned a lot of new English words and were especially interested to see that we all really are out here to invite others to come unto Christ. We also just straight up told them that the only reason we've been able to learn these languages so fast is because God is helping us. This led to a discussion about prayer and our relationship with God which I really enjoyed. I love sharing the simple truths that many people have never heard before. A few accepted invitations to come to church and learn more which was really awesome. 

A miracle: Elder Chang came in with another missionary who is from Vietnam. She's the first missionary from Vietnam to come to this mission and it's perfect because we have 3 Vietnamese investigators right now that she will be able to connect with.

One of my favorite parts of missionary work is getting to know the members in our area. Some of these families are just so humble and kind and they've really made my time in Australia so much better. We went to the Ho family's house for dinner and right when I walked in I could feel the difference. They live in the city and it's in the middle of this bustling and noisy street and then you walk into this quiet little apartment and just feel the Spirit there. I could see the love between the parents and especially their love for their kids. The parents told us about their son who passed away recently but did so with such big smiles that it didn't seem like they were sad he was gone. They told us about how God had truly blessed them to know that they will see him again and so they don't need to be sad. I was really touched by this family, I wish that everybody could go there and spend time with them and feel how the gospel can change someone's life. It was healing to be in their home and feel that pure love of Christ.

On Sunday, I gave a talk about Christmas. From giving the talk I learned a few things:

-Hearing the translator makes it hard. Some English speaking people showed up on Sunday so they had one of the members sitting in the front row and translating my talk. I kept hearing the same sentence I had just said except in English and always while I was saying the next sentence. So I kept hearing the English and thinking 'Hmm how close does that match what I'm trying to say'. 

Trying to formulate thoughts in a different language is pretty tough when you're hearing someone translate what you just said.

-Most of the Chinese people in the ward are just blown away by my Mandarin. They come up afterward and compliment me and say stuff like 'how did you learn THIS much THIS fast' and it's a great confidence builder. It's nice to have them be supportive of me.

-I learned that when you're REALLY close with Chinese people, they aren't all sunshine and rainbows. One of the members that I have a real strong connection with is named Ting. She's a mother of 3 and me telling her about how I used to be a bad kid but now I've been changed by the gospel gives her hope for her 3 boys. She's awesome and super helpful with our missionary work. Anyway, the strength of our relationship was proven to me when she came up after my talk. I was expecting her to say the same thing as everyone else like 'thanks for your talk your Chinese is great' but instead she hadn't even finished shaking my hand before she jumped into each word I had mispronounced and how I needed to fix each one. At first I was a little surprised but I realized that in Chinese culture, this is a big expression of love and trust. She was showing me that she really cares about me and wants me to improve. I love to learn how different people express these things. And I really did learn a lot from her. I am grateful for these times when the Chinese people start to treat me as one of their own. I'm being accepted into this whole new culture and it's so awesome. 

A member asked us to come to the hospital where her dad was in ICU so we could give him a blessing. I was touched when she told us we are 'the closest to Heavenly Father' so she really trusted us with her dad. We showed up and her dad who is from Taiwan was just this happy and independent little man who didn't want any of the doctors to help him sit up. Then when we gave the blessing he was so innocent and humble, he kept talking over the blessing to say 'thank you' or 'okay' or 'that sounds good' when he heard what we were saying to him. Like:

 'you will recover quickly' -'that sounds great' and 

 'you are blessed with strength' -'thank you'. He could feel that Heavenly Father was talking to him and he was talking right back. It was a really sweet experience.

I have a testimony that miracles come when we need them most. And also that numbers don't matter, it's just about doing your best. And the Spirit does the rest. This week between training a brand new missionary and trying to focus on the investigators we have who are facing different obstacles, I was feeling tired and mentally exhausted. I felt like I had done my best to find people to teach, but we just hadn't been faced with many opportunities to share the gospel with somebody who was really ready for it. I was also a little discouraged because we had gone in to give our weekly report on our progress to the bishop and didn't have as much to report as I would have liked. Our bishop was a missionary before and has a very high expectation for us. I wanted to show the bishop how committed I was and how I was willing to give myself fully to the Lord's work. I just hoped that he could feel it since our numbers didn't reflect it very well. After church, we went to go visit some people who we had talked with previously. Before we got there, we got a call from the bishop, who explained that he had a friend for us who really wanted to learn about the gospel. It was his friend from work and she was so prepared to receive the gospel. She told us on the phone that she wanted Jesus Christ to help her change her life. I was so happy to hear that we had an opportunity to begin teaching somebody else who is truly ready to accept this truth and apply it in her life. Even better, it was a testimony to me that the bishop trusted us and could feel through the Spirit that we were searching for people to share the gospel with. Then, after hanging up, we went to find more people to teach. We quickly found another family that wanted to learn about the gospel and invited us to come to share another lesson.  I knew that God was showing me that He notices and appreciates my hard work. It motivated me to keep giving it my all.

I really am losing myself in the work. I barely have time to think about myself or what I want because I am truly trying to give my all to the Lord. It's a good feeling to get home at night and tell Him in prayer that I did my best and know He is pleased with my efforts. I'm out here to do His work and serve Him with everything I've got. 

我新来的同伴会变得很棒

Elder Halverson