Tuesday 30 June 2015

June 1st, 2015. North York Zone: Toronto Zoo Trip!!! (2)

 INDO-MALAYA PAVILLION!!!!!
 butterflies~

so cute~ =)

the green snake~~~~ 

Our District leader, Elder Cheng and Elder Holt~  ^^


Sister Yeap

June 1st, 2015. North York Zone: Toronto Zoo Trip!!! (1)

Welcome to Toronto Zoo!!!

 With my beloved companion, Sister Kuo!!!

 Hahaha!

Feel the power of the earth... By Elder Smith.. (eewwww~~~)



Sister Yeap

Monday 29 June 2015

My photos of the last 2 weeks~

 Farsi missionaries... Elder Atkinson and Elder.. something.. something.. His name is too long~ ^^

 With the Cantonese elders!! =)

 Lilian Yang!!!! She is the sweetest girl I have ever met!! >.<!

 Black.. and white...

 companionfie~~^^

Sister Yeap

No. 18: S.O.E three times in a row, and my first Chinese baptism! =)

This week was crazy! It was a long one because many things had happened. We went to University of Toronto almost everyday! One time, we were there to teach our potential investigator, and we had a discussion about The Restoration at Starbucks. He doesn't accept what we said. Whenever we share something, he bashed us many times. When we told him about Joseph Smith, he asked us "How do you know it is true?" Well... we told him to be patient because we will get there. When we taught him about prayer, he doesn't want to pray. He is not prepared to listen to the gospel yet, but I hope someday he will!

We were trying to get to an appointment in U of T again, and this time with our investigator E. We didn't know that there is no subway service from Lawrence to Bloor-Yonge, so we had to take the bus and it took forever to get to Bloor-Yonge! My companion taught The Restoration and The Plan of Salvation to someone in the bus! LOL! I was talking to this Chinese girl and got to be friends with her, although she has no interest in learning more. Then we had to take the subway to St George. We felt bad for our member that waited for us (standing outside the station) for more than 40 minutes! He is too nice! I wanna cry, I felt so bad!!! Then getting out of the station, we called our investigator and he DROPPED us! He said he doesn't have the time to meet with us and no time to get involved in the church, he is very busy with his school. Ouch! I'm so sorry!!! >.<!!!! Luckily our member that waited for us for more than 40++ minutes is a cool guy, so we taught him lessons and made our trip worthwhile.. 

Then we had exchanges with Sister Training Leaders, I got to stay in Bayview with my trainee, and Sister Kuo had to go to Downtown Toronto. Sister Leung came in for the day and it was weird not to have Sister Kuo with us. It was a weird but great exchanges at the same time. Many things had happened, and I learned a lot. But during that exchanges, I learned to appreciate my companions more. I LOVE THEM! SO MUCH! I will cry if we get separated! I also learned how to be humble and patient. I realized that I have pride, because I always feel embarrassed whenever I can't speak mandarin very well. And the people that I'm talking to are mostly from China, so their Mandarin are awesome! But I learned that I need to be patient, the language will some as long as I do my best =)

There is one investigator that we taught for the first time, he is/was an atheist. He doesn't believe in God, but now he is considering it. So when we taught The Restoration, and when we got into The First Vision, he said he believe it. He knows that it is something possible. I was amazed! Super amazed! We invited him to read the BOM, and he said he will and he will ask his girlfriend if she wants to learn the missionary discussions. 

Last Sunday, I was so worried. We had no investigators at church, and I was praying so hard to see miracles happen and we can get at least 2 investigators at church. After the sacrament was passed, the doors were opened, and 2 of our investigators came in. Few minutes later, I saw another investigator at the back, sitting beside my District Leader. I was so happy and grateful because Heavenly Father answered my prayers! Not only my prayer, but my companions' payers too! I have such a strong testimony about being consecrated and obedient missionary. We realized that Heavenly Father gave us so much blessings because we did the right thing. 

Then we were able to see Lilian Yang's baptism! She is such a sweetheart! Very happy for Lilian to make the choice to follow the example of her Savior, Jesus Christ. Being in Mandarin work is interesting. They have no belief in God, but sometimes in their life they can feel the presence of God and they wonder if He does exists. For Lilian, she met missionaries from other churches when she was still in China. She said there are differences between Mormon missionaries and them. She said that the missionaries there forced her to believe in things that they taught, but we INVITE her to pray, read the BOM and go to church to know for herself. She have strong testimony that God is her loving Heavenly father, Jesus Christ is her Savior, and Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. She knows the BOM is true! I love her so much, and she is the sweetest girl ever! 

So many things to share, but I can't share them all! Plus I forgot my camera, so no pictures for this week =P 

THE BOOK IS BLUE,
THE CHURCH IS TRUE!=)

Sunday 14 June 2015

No.17: Standards of Excellence, 2 times in a row!

I love Mandarin work! Although it is overwhelming, but having faith that everything will be alright really helped me to go through this big transition that I have. Last Sunday, I was able to give a talk in Mandarin. Although I can't remember much about what I shared, but I remember I felt confident, felt that my talk was great! After sacrament meeting, members came up to me telling me how much they love my talk and they felt touched by it. In the evening, my trainee told me that she thinks I'm not going to be Mandarin speaking till the end of my mission. Then she stopped and looked at me, and said: "Oh my gosh!!! You must felt so overwhelmed!! My heart just moved! I can feel it!!" She hugged me and she can't believe how well I hide it all this time. 

We were able to hit Standards of Excellence again, two times in a row! And all 3 sets of missionaries from Bayview ward hit standards! It is amazing! Bayview is great! We had Victoria Day on Monday, so we had to move our Preparation Day to Tuesday. On Monday, we had the chance to do service for a member from Hong Kong! We cleaned her basement because her friends from Hong Kong are staying in their house for a month! And she wants to bring us Niagara falls with them at the end of June! Yayyy!!! 

There are few things I learned these past couple of weeks.. My companions on my mission are not perfect, but I love them anyway! No one is perfect, and even me myself is farrrrrrrrrr from perfect! So, why would I expect my companions to be perfect? They are great missionaries, and we are together for a reason (at least a reason~ =P), so might as well enjoy it and work to the limit! =P I learned that being a full-time missionary... It is not MY work, but it is the Lord's work and OUR (companionship) work. Without my companions, who am I? I learned that when I talk to everyone, work my hardest, follow the promptings, although we didn't get what we wish for, it is still worth it in the end. I also learned that the gift of tongue is real! When I gave my talk in Mandarin for the first time, I was able to speak very well, and words keep on flowing through my mind and I was able to speak it! It happened a lot throughout my mission, it happened when I was trying to speak in English and teach in English. I can't deny it! The gift of tongue is real!!! =D
 
 Missionaries from malaysia! Elder Ngerantap and Elder Lee!
 My companions! Sister Penrod from california and Sister Kuo from Taiwan!
Tried to catch a picture of dandelions in the air, but I guess my camera is too bad for that~ =P
Toronto city and foggy CN Tower from afar! It is nice to have a view from 39th floor condo!




Sister Yeap

No. 16: Transfer 6, Mandarin Speaking and follow-up training~!

Wonderful Kingston! I am so happy to be able to serve there! Wonderful members, and I love each and everyone of them. On Sunday night, I received a transfer call and I am now called to serve as a Mandarin speaking missionary, and transferred to Bayview North! Now I get the chance to serve in the big Toronto city! My companion, Sister Leeson are transferred to Brockville.It was a stressful Preparation-Day for us. Since the mission closed our area (because of the dramatic decrease of the number of missionary), we had to clean the apartment and organized a lot of things. After zone sports, we had dinner together as a zone, and we all went to Brampton to stay for the night.  But Sister Leeson broke her finger and we had to get her finger checked-up in Belleville. So we didn't manage to go to Brampton, and we had to stay with the Napanee sisters. It was a hectic+ stressful day for us, but luckily we had a nice stay with Sister Jensen and Sister Westerlind. 
Then the next day, I got to meet my new companions, Sister Kuo and Penrod (follow-up training Sister Penrod). While I was talking with missionaries, I found out that my bag that I put on the ground went missing! I looked all around and it was not there! Luckily the phone was in the car and the keys was with Sister Leeson so I got to give them to the missionaries that were in charge of keys and phones. Then, when we were on our way to mission office, we had to go through a a terrible road because of construction. I'm telling you, it traumatized me to go to the mission office again. 
Arriving to my new area, we were busy moving because the 3 of us are whitewashing! We were super busy and after that, we had a lesson with an investigator. We set him up with a baptismal date and invited him to bring his family to church. The lesson we had with her was wonderful! I felt the spirit so strongly and I can feel God's love for him and his family. When he sincerely accepted a baptismal date, tears covered my eyes. The spirit was so strong and I got the confirmation that God truly loves him. 
The experiences that I had throughout the weeks was amazing! Miracles upon miracles! We don't even have time to eat, which was bad because we shouldn't starve ourselves. But we were into the work that we forgot ourselves completely. We were working so hard to find new investigators, and Heavenly Fathers blesses us with some. I am so grateful to Heavenly Father for everything he gave to me. We were able to see 4 investigators and one potential at church yesterday, and one of them are family. It was wonderful.
I was able to Skype home for Mothers Day, and it made me so happy. Missionary work is amazing and I love it! =)


Sister Yeap

Friday 12 June 2015

No. 15: Last week of the transfer in Kingston!!!





 Dear family and friends,

I learned so much in my first transfer in Kingston area. I started with 0, now we have tons of people to teach, and we have seen so many miracles that happened!!!! This is probably the best week I have ever had in my mission! 

We did services, we talk to everyone, work with members, and blessings just keep pouring down from heaven! Kingston is wonderful! I am still in the stage of adapting myself to the area, but I love it! I might get my driving license soon, so hopefully I can drive in 2 weeks!!! =D

Anyway, I had a nature walk this morning with the Whiteheads! I love them! I just found out that Bro. Whitehead served his mission in Hong Kong in 1960s! I am so glad to be able to speak a few words in Cantonese with him, and he taught me how to say "I am a missionary of The church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints"!
 Feeding birds!!! And I have a big fear for them! But I know that fear can't stop me! Same as missionary work! =P
Feeding birds!!! And I have a big fear for them! But I know that fear can't stop me! Same as missionary work! =P
 Hey!! Duck!!!
The Young Single Adults in Kingston are decreasing in amount because most of them are going home for the summer!! Will miss them tons!!!! And a recent convert from China, Jin Yifan, has gone home to Shanghai!! Luckily he visited Salt Lake City before he head home, and he brought us gifts!! Awww!!!!! So sweet!!!
Picture in our regular meeting place, Pizza Pizza!!!! Bye Yifan!!!
Anyway, just showing off this Turtle crossing sign, a pretty cool sign, eh?

Have fun everyone!!!! The world is beautiful when we look at it in a positive way!!!! Just have hope that everything will be alright!!! There will be waves of problems facing us from time to time, but as we follow the commandments of God and endure to the end, we are able to receive the happy consequences from the trials of our faith! =) 
3Nephi31:20  
Wherefore, ye must press forward with steadfastness in Christ,having 
perfect brightness of hopeand love of God and of all men. Wherefore,  
if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the endbehold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.



Sister Yeap









No. 14: 5th transfer, New area called Kingston, and General Conference!

Hello everyone! Been lazy updating my missionary life! Sorry! =]

I love General Conference! This April 2015 General Conference, a lot of talks are about families since it is the 20th anniversary of "The Family : A Proclamation to The World". Family is truly important! As a missionary, it is such a privilege to be able to share the message of the restored gospel, and be able to share how families can be together forever. 
I love Kingston! it is a nice area! When I just got here, I felt homesick (Oakville) but then as I slowly develop charity and love, remembering my purpose as a missionary, I was able to work in Kingston and focusing on the people here. The gospel is true! It really is! I remember few weeks ago, after Young Single Adult Institute, a less-active + recent convert came up to me and my companion, and told us that she wants to stop reading The Book of Mormon and stop going to church. It broke my heart. I saw it coming, but it still is heart-breaking. At the same time, I felt angry because of her stubbornness. I was having a hard time. I thought I was not charitable enough. I thought I was not loving enough. I listened to her while prayerfully pleading for Heavenly Father's help. Then, I told her how much I love her. Although I don't know her much, but I really love her. I told her how excited I was when she was deciding to join the upcoming YSA dance. I told her my wish to help her prepare herself for the dance. Then I shared her my testimony on how I know that the Book of Mormon id true and shared her a scripture. While reading it, a feeling in my heart told me that I truly love her. Tear came out of my eyes and I expressed my love to this girl that is truly loved by her Father in Heaven. She felt it and she was touched by it. A week later, she text us asking if the offer of lending her dresses to wear for the YSA dance is still available. With much joy, I said YES! I picked out almost all of my best cloths, and brought it over to her home. The YSA dance is on Saturday night of Kingston District Conference. The next day, surprisingly, she came to church for the Sunday session! I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's help in softening her heart! I truly know that she is a wonderful daughter of God! =)
Yesterday, we had a little lesson with the YSA in Kingston. We were talking about Joseph Smith when bad people put him into jail. He was suffering in the Liberty Jail, and Joseph Smith prayed to Heavenly Father. Despite his own suffering, he was still thinking about the church members that were being persecuted by bad and wicked people. Many people died. In Joseph Smith's prayer, he said: "O God, Where art thou? --- How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries? Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them?"    Then Heaven Father answered him,"MY SON, PEACE BE UNTO THY SOUL; THINE ADVERSITY AND THINE AFFLICTIONS SHALL BE BUT A SMALL MOMENT. And the, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes." [D&C 1-3, 7-8]
The part where it says, "If thou endure it well"... Which is also related to enduring to the end. In the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we have 5 principles:

1) FAITH
2) REPENTANCE
3) BAPTISM
4) RECEIVING THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST
5) ENDURE TO THE END

By enduring to the end, it means NOTHING in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is a check list. It is not a check list. We should ALWAYS strengthen our faith and testimony by reading and praying. We should ALWAYS partake of the sacrament to renew our baptismal covenant, so that we can have the companion of the Holy Ghost with us. Life is eternal, so does our effort and our work in living the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our life. 

We were having a hard time in our area. When I just got here, we don't have any investigator that we were working with. So we have been working real hard to find new. So I want to share some great miracles that I experienced. Last week, we had a wonderful miracle when we decided to drop-by a less-active by walking to his house. But unfortunately, I read the map the wrong way and we walked to the opposite direction of the road. After realizing it, we decided to knock on a door and a guy name David answered the door. We were having a quality conversation by not only getting to know him, but we taught him the message of The Restoration. He is a diver and dived for more than 30 years. Yesterday, we had another lesson with him and we brought 2 members with us, Caitlin and Taylor! He asked a lot of great questions that can be answered from the message that we share as missionaries! I know that everything happens for a reason, including walking to the wrong direction of a road! He said he will read the Book of Mormon and go to church! =D

We also had a wonderful miracle when we parked on the road of a less-active that we were about to do service for. Luckily we arrived there 30 minutes early and we walked up to this lady that was working with her yard. We offered for help. While working with her yard, we had a quality conversation by getting to know her and at the same time we took this opportunity to share a message of The Restoration with her. She asked us a lot of great questions and she asked us if we could come over next time. When we were about to leave, we wanted to offer a prayer even though she didn't give us a return appointment. So we asked sincerely what she wanted us to pray for. Tears went down her cheeks as she told us her dying brother-in-law really need our prayer. I can see how Heavenly Father uses us, ME, YOU, HIM, HER, EVERYONE~ He uses us to help our brothers and sisters and help him to show his love to them.

I am so grateful for this wonderful privilege to be able to share Heavenly Father's love be being a missionary and teach the His plan for His children on earth. Where we came from? Why am I here? Where am I going after this life? The answer? Ask the missionaries! =)

Anyway, I was having an exchanges and we went to this place beside Highway 401.. It is Big Apple Pie Factory and they have these cool signs! Too cool not to take picture with!
 This is a part called Gethsemane.. With a statue of Jesus Christ of his suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane
With these pictures of the Garden of Gethsemane, I want to share a great talk from General Conference Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet - Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (Apostle) .
I love Kingston! Hi from me and Sister Leeson! Pardon me... I opened my mouth too wide.. Hehehe~ =]



Sister Yeap
13th April 2015
 

Niagara Falls 11





Niagara Falls 10





Niagara Falls 9