Chinese New Year!

Last night was the Chinese 7th Branch Chinese New Year celebration. There was lots of good food and a bit of strange looking food which I avoided. Tom had been sick this week and we both were being cautious. Much to our delight, quite a few investigators attended.  We were particularly pleased that Bill, one of our best students in English class attended with his five year old daughter, Eva. At first, Eva was very shy, but by the end of the evening she was leaving her father's side to play with the other little children.

Bill appreciates English conversation. He works very hard to communicate and finds it particularly rewarding to  converse with native English speakers. For only being in the US for three months, he's doing marvelously well.

Renee has been meeting with the missionaries for about two months. The young elders need Tom to be with them as they teach her so I've been attending too. It's true that the Chinese people respect the elderly. Renee will look to Tom to teach her something that she dismisses with the young elders.For example, Thursday night she wanted to know what the difference was between the Prophet and Elder Johnson. That made us all chuckle.

Our mission president likes the missionaries to sing hymns to their investigators. It invites the Spirit.Our Chinese speaking missionaries sing beautifully together. You'll notice by the photo that each pair of Mandarin speaking missionaries has a native Chinese speaker and a native English speaker. There is no doubt the gift of tongues has blessed our American born missionaries.

This week, Tom and I have had some real missionary experiences. We've been teaching a less-active Filipino family with the elders. The marriage had become very strained and the husband and wife would barely talk to each other. Last week the pair were attentive to the lesson and agreed to pray together asking for the Lord to help them overcome their difficulties. What a change had come over them when we arrived to teach them this week. The husband and wife were actually joking with each other and they invited their two adult daughters to come in for the lesson. The elders want us to handle the lessons for this family in the future.

Also, Kristine Peterson, who we met in Target the second day we were here, finally has let us come to her house and visit. We have invited her for two different meals, but she has called at the last moment to cancel. On Friday she phoned and said there was something we could do for her. She requested a Priesthood blessing. The whole thing resulted in a meaningful visit.

When we posted the photos of the apartment we missed the eating area.  And that's where our family picture is hung!!! I look at it as I eat and as I study. It warms my heart.