Charity and Coconuts

8:12:00 PM

How was everyone's Christmas???

The best part of Christmas Day was being able to Skype home and talk to my mom haha. It's just so much more comfortable speaking Chin-glish than worrying about correct Chinese at the VC haha. So glad for technology! We had 3 meal appointments on Christmas Day; 1 lunch and 2 dinners. I made sure to not stuff myself and it turned out pretty well. We joined the Ah You family for their big gathering and I'm constantly amazed at their example of service and love. There was a Canadian family that was visiting this area and they couldn't find any restaurants that were open on Christmas Day so Bishop Ah You just invited them to eat with the family. They had so much fun and we sang the 12 Days of Christmas Hawaiian style! :) We were able to bear our testimonies of Jesus Christ before we left and the spirit was so strong! Some members gave us small Christmas presents, and I really do feel spoiled here.

You would think Christmas is a relaxing day for us because we get to celebrate with other people, but it felt like the looongest day and when we got home, I was exhausted. I wore my glasses the day after, that's how tired my eyes were (I usually wear contacts). I feel so grateful for the people in the community here who really treat us as family. We also caroled for a little bit and that was fun too.

We're teaching an 11 year old boy named Hua Yi more about the gospel and I love it so much because we teach him in Mandarin. His parents are American and just recently adopted him from China a month ago. And he's been in a wheelchair most of his life, but now moving his legs more and more. Although Sister Yeung and I really just translate gospel principles his parents want to share with him, I love seeing the reactions on his face. The concept of God and Jesus Christ and their love for us and our families is hard to understand when he's never been in a family until now. But we looove teaching him, despite how simple it is, or how sometimes it seems like just a story to him. His parents love him so much and he's so quick at learning new things. He laughs at our Mandarin skills because sometimes Sister Yeung pronounces something wrong, or I say something wrong....this is why language study is important. So that's one new resolution I have haha. We are so lucky to share our testimonies and help him understand how important this gospel truly is.

Last week we were also able to help Sister Mataeli rake her front yard (it's soo hard to serve people here because even if they need help, they won't let us help). I was on companion exchange with Sister Walker and were just passing by. Brother Mataeli was so kind and gave us two fresh coconuts which he sawed open the top. My first fresh coconut here! Coconut water is so refreshing haha.

This morning we went on a hike nearby, and while hiking in general is fun, I did not enjoy the muddiness of the trail. But it's a blessing to hike in beautiful Hawaii. We went as a whole district so the district leaders came as well. I love being companions with Sister Castaneda and Sister Yeung because we work hard together but we also have a lot of fun together too. :)

Now that the new year is coming, we should start making new year's resolutions and actually try our best to achieve our goals. So write it down, be realistic, put it somewhere where you can be reminded often and act on it! How can we improve ourselves so we're better prepared to be with our Heavenly Father again? I know that when we do our best, He will help with the rest. :)

Scripture of the week: Moroni 7:45
"And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."

The Court family :) That's Hua Yi

Sister Jensen's Christmas gift to us all! They're wooden magnetic name tags specially made (we can't wear them regularly but they're such cool keepsakes of our mission).

On the temple grounds :)

Christmas dinner with the other VC sisters! :)

Christmas lunch with the Ah You family.

Sister Lee and I!

Drinking coconut water with Sister Walker!

Hiking with the district, I just want to say I hate squishy mud :( (it rained a lot recently..)

Sister Castaneda and I ...Elder Hardy photobombing!

One of the views from the hike :)

A double rainbow we saw near where we live! :) 


Have a happy new year's!
Love,
Sister Wu


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