Street lesson

Hey everyone!

This week I made apple bread in my crockpot. It was pretty good but I think that my cinnamon is a little old so the taste wasn't as strong as I wanted it to be and the apples that I used also were pretty low on flavor. It was still pretty okay though. Not bad for a crackpot....uh.....crockpot. Haha.

 

This week's completely lacking on the verbatim because I forgot to write it down. I feel like there was some good stuff but I can't remember.

 

We did go and celebrate my old companion Elder Reynold's b-day in style this last week. We went and rode to his apartment early in the morning, and got in while he was still sleeping. There were 9 elders in total. We all went in and brought him cake stuff and then flipped on the lights, jumped on the bed and stuff and started singing to him. He was freaking out hardcore and the first words he said when we had finished was, "What the FREAK!?!" it was hilarious. It was way fun too. I hope that someone does that on my b-day. Haha.

 

Well I am going to be staying in XinDian for another 7 weeks so that will make it six months here. Yeah! I am so stoked. I love being in areas for a long time.

 

This week I we had some pretty good miracles. I think one of the bigger ones was a Sister Lin2 that I ran into on the street. I was coming back from english class which we had left early because there weren't really any students. We were going along and I saw her and felt like I should talk to her. I had just talked with Elder Visser minutes before about how I don't really do that many street lessons anymore and he affirmed that he still does. I was thinking about that alot and then I contacted this sister Lin. She's actually already christian but she was very pleasant and willing to talk to me for a few minutes. The prompting came to say a prayer with her so I asked if that would be okay if we prayed together. She said that would be fine. We sat down and I asked what I could pray for her for. She mentioned that her body gets tired easily after an operation that she had a while back and that she would hope that it would be better. I prayed for her fervently and felt the spirit come over the both of us. I shared with her about the atonement from the BOM and about how Christ had really suffered every pain and affliction that would come on her. It was amazing the feeling of the spirit that came over us and I asked her to pray about the BOM and she asked if that was "necessary" and if "God [would] really answer". I showed her Moroni 10: 4-5 and promised that He would and she gave one of the sweetest prayers that I have heard offered about the BOM because it was so meek and so humble. She really wanted to know. She accepted my invitation to learn more and keep meeting with us. It was a great miracle because as she prayed and felt the spirit, she was able to be touched to the point where she could make the right choice rather than being merely a little curious like she was at the start. 

I know that God will work mighty miracles among His children and He loves us all.

Love,
Elder Siebert

Wet and Wild

Hey everyone,

This week brought many new things:

Food: Crockpot banana bread: I made up a recipe for banana bread and threw it in the crockpot and about an hour and a half later, I got the bread out and it was great! It wasn't quite as moist as I am used to, but I think that if I make the loaf smaller, it will make a big difference. The banana could have been heavier and could have added a little more but that's okay. I give it 3.75 bushleague bananas out of 5

 

Shell on shrimp: my companion just chomps the whole shrimp down--head and all, not peeling it at all. I decided that I would try it out and put some down. They were amazingly good. I can't say they were bad at all, just a little more chewing but so much more convenient! 5 crunchy crustaciens out of 5.

 

Spam-shakka (actually called a musubi): this is a slice of spam sandwiched between two slabs of rice with a sesame and seaweed seasoning blend on top all wrapped in seaweed. It's super good. We put a sweet soy sauce based sauce on it and I felt Hawaiian. 4.5 Hecka-good Hawaiians out of 5.

 

Verbatim:

Elder do you wanna eat some of this? It's fuzzy on top!--Elder Kaluhiokalani on his first experience eating fuzzy meat, he wasn't too inclined to do it again.

 

(while I was translating zone conference during the health and nutrition presentation)

Native sister: I have heard that some people have problems drinking milk

Me: (translated that it was lactose intolerance, TAKE THAT MARK!)

Elder Shu who was also with me doing translation (whispering to me): I have that problem

Me (over translation): Elder Shu has this problem

(all the native elders and sisters burst into laughter. The foreign ones look confused.)

 

Also in translation: Elder Kaluhiokalani: I have a problem with eating a lot after I fast, is that bad?

(Over translation) Me: Oh man, yeah, he eats A LOT. (everyone busts up again)

 

If they start laughing, just laugh first and I then wait for my translation.--me to all the native people listening to my translation at zone conference. They all laughed.

 

Elder Sabey: How's you're english?

Me: His english is super good.

Chen Hao: (Shakes head) Super sucks. (while eating dinner with him)

 

Elder Kaluhiokalani: Man, I don't think that I like the various types of tea here. I wouldn't drink it. No problem. Like that flower tea the other day....

Me: I thought that tea was great!

Him: YOU EAT BEANS!

 

It's the horcrux clock--Elder Kaluhiokalani on his clock. That thing makes devil noises when it goes off. I hate it. Scares the crap out of me everyday.

 

When we listen to conference, do we have a similar experience and fall on the ground? I know I do. (acts like he is dozing off)--high counselor.

 

This week we had massive flooding and rode hardcore through a flooded tunnel. So cool. I loved it. We have a little special situation this week because we have three elders and two areas right now.

 

This week we also had a lot of success with getting people to church. I haven't had this many people to church in ages. I think nearly a year. One of the coolest experiences was while we were teaching a Brother Zhang who is a younger guy going to college. We were in Starbucks late at night and shared about the Plan of Salvation. As we were sharing, I could tell that the message wasn't connecting on an inner level. It was a little bit like it was sliding off the top. I was praying so hard for a long time that we would be able to connect with him. I had an impression to tell the member that came to share about his testimony of the atonement--just what we had asked him to share. The testimony was so good and sensitive that I knew Brother Zhang had felt it. I prayed to know what to ask him and the question came, I asked him what that would mean to him, to be clean, to come to know God's love. He responded that he really wants to repent and change. The spirit came so strongly when I asked the question and then I asked him to come to church with us and he accepted. He prayed and said in the prayer how grateful he was that God was going to let him go to church. It was an awesome, awesome experience.

Love,

Elder Siebert

Mommy, I think he made a poop-key!

Hey everyone!

Verbatim:

I'm going to kill it! Oh, it's so dead!--me, this morning at four o'clock when I felt something running around on my bed.

 

Me: Whoa, Elder, earthquake!

Him: I thought you were shaking my bed at first.-- our dialogue on a rather frightening earthquake

 

Me: Elder, did you shave this morning?

Him: (feels face) OH MY GOSH! There's fuzz on my face!

 

Elder Herrin wants to be a businessman, so he loves to lie to people.--my zone leader Elder Chen

 

Me: You make me SICK!

Elder Kaluhiokalani: Well you make me healthy

 

You know why President's chinese still isn't good after all these years of study? He sold his hair to the devil.--Elder Chen , the ZL

 

AHHHHHHHHHHHH! *Whimper whimper*--Elder Kaluhiokalani on dropping his keys into the sewer. I have since called them the POOP-KEYs, hence the email title.

 

Well this week was a great week! I am happy to report that Chen2Hao4 and his mother are doing well and they are progressing superbly in the gospel. The ward loves them and we are working hard to get them ready for baptism as soon as possible because I know that they are going to be a strong addition to the ward. We are really trying to get the work moving hard and I think that it's begun to pay off. I am really super excited because it's been a while since I have seen the work going this well in one of my areas. I finally got to stick around long enough after building from ground zero. The Lord has really been answering my prayers and letting me see miracles.

 

This week I had a really cool miracle. We got stood up by someone at the church and we actually had his address so we talked about it for a sec, decided that we felt like we should go to his house and find him and then prayed for a confirmation. The confirmation was so strong right in the middle of the prayer, we knew that we needed to go find him even though his house is very far away. We began on the way over and when we got there, he wasn't home. I was a little surprised but then thought, okay, so what is it that we are here to do? We knocked a couple doors then saw a young man walking up the road. We both had a feeling to talk to him and when we did he turned out to be amazing. We caught him right before he went into a restaurant and started sharing. He wanted to learn and we sat down and had a lesson. He set up another time. It was a great thing to see that the Lord would lead us so far, through such a strange method to save His children. He loves each and every one of us and will always set up things to bring us unto Him IF WE WILL LET HIM. He will never force us, but He will never stop giving us chances. I know that that's true.

I love you all,

Elder Siebert

Power of Referrals

Hey everyone,

Well this week was pretty good, not too much crazy new stuff happened. I have been busy and doing the work and that's about it. Not too much in the way of food and verbatim, especially since I forgot to write anything down for verbatim this week so I am just a little lacking on that account. Sorry all.

 

However, this week we have been working a lot with some investigators who are just amazing. We have an investigator, Chen2Hao4 and his mom who are really golden. They are willing to meet with us a lot and really accepting of everything and are coming to church now. I think that we are going to be seeing them get baptized soon. They are actually a referral from a member who lives in the states and we just so happened to knock the door that she was at and asked for referrals. It's a huge miracle and they are doing so well.

 

This week I was really blessed by the promptings of the spirit. We were teaching a lesson to one of our investigators and she's been really struggling lately. We were trying to get her to pray more earnestly and then get an answer to her prayer. I got one of our members to share about his first experience getting an answer from prayer and he shared a great testimony about it and how it felt. As he began to talk I had this feeling that I needed to ask him what he had prayed about but when he got done there were some concerns brought up and my companion shared after that and I thought, maybe I didn't need to ask anymore and yet, the feeling remained. I invited her to pray about the BOM so that she could get an answer to prayer for sure and she finally committed to that. The feeling would not leave, so I turned and asked our member and he thought for a sec and then replied, "oh, yeah, I prayed about the BOM that day." The spirit came so strong right then and I was really touched because I realized what a blessing it was that listened to the spirit and didn't pass it up. It was one of those amazing experiences where you wonder why you need to do it and immediately see why after. So cool.

 

Well I think that's about all from me this week, sorry!

Love,
Elder Siebert