This week has been awesome!! From zone conference to summer missionary! We've been seeing some huge miracles!!   We have been blessed especially in finding new investigators this week! On Sunday we met a guy named A ho. He has Buddhist background and said he is looking for answers. After talking with him for a short time he was very willing to meet with us again. One thing I feel is a good strength of our companionship is our finding. We both have been very focused on finding and working hard in order to find investigators, even with the loss of time due to Zone preparation. 

It was amazing to have Elder Gong of the 70 come for mission tour! The Wednesday devotional was a powerful reminder of the sacredness of the Sabbath and all that that includes.  Saturday, even better!  Not only was it awesome returning to an area I had previously served, but the messages were definitely inspired! I really like the focus of most of these types of conferences on the message of the Restoration. That is one thing that seems to get emphasized again and again. I also had the great opportunity of sitting next to President Gong at lunch! I was maybe a little intimidated at first, but it was fun and inspiring talking with him about his calling and other aspects of the work!

When we first got the call we were going to have summer missionaries, we thought there would be two. To be honest I was a little sad, because that meant I wouldn't get to be with Elder Gillis my last couple weeks. However, then things switched for the best!! We now will only have one summer missionary, so that way we get the best of both worlds. On top of that, our summer missionary, brother Yihp, is a recent convert in Tuen Mun  so I already know him really well!! Such a huge blessing! I honestly couldn't think of a better way to help finish strong!! I love the gospel!! 

‘Til next week,

 Elder Zach Cederlof

Mission Leadership Counsel was awesome! I really like how we discussed different things and ideas that were going down in different zones. It helped us prepare for our Zone training even further. Speaking of Zone training. We actually had some really cool experiences with that. The week of zone training we decided to scrap one part of the training. Even though we already had that part all the planned out, it just didn't feel right. So we decided we needed to start from scratch on that part. Through prayer and discussion, we put together a new plan. It was perfect! Zone training started off really well, and then some very sarcastic remarks were being made. When we got up again after the spiritual thought, we addressed the issue. We also had some other zone members share as well. It turned out awesome. A little "fire" in the beginning, but it led all of us to rethink and evaluate ourselves. After that we moved on into talking about ways to improve our teaching and then ourselves. Zone training went by very well. Through reports, we have found out that all of the zone members would agree as well! The weirdest part for me was when at the end we had time for "words of wisdom." Words of wisdom is where all the missionaries that are leaving at the end of that transfer get a couple minutes to share some things they have learned on their mission. Some back story, back in Tuen Mun, me and Sister Shoemaker (now Sister training leader) were in the same district. One district meeting I was assigned to give a spiritual thought and had originally picked the topic of gratitude. However, after thinking more about it, I felt that I should change it to a theme of attitude and perspective. So I changed it and shared about that topic off of the talk "Free Forever to Act for Themselves." However, at the end of my sharing I didn't really see a big need as to why I was supposed to change the subject to that one. 8 or so months later in Zone training meeting (just last week) Sister Shoemaker said in her "words of wisdom" that that spiritual thought had really helped her change her perspective about missionary work!  I've learned through this experience, that 1. Just trust in the Spirit and 2. We don't know how many people we help.  It was a cool thing I learned that I never would have expected to learn at Zone Training.  A fun thing we had to help the members of the zone remember what we all need to do this month is called a "mahfaahn cup" we put a little flag with a picture from the liahona on top of a cup. On the cup we have a list of the specific things we all need to do. Everyone puts the cup on their desks and it is there as a reminder to help us remember to do the things we need to do. 

It is interesting how much perspective has changed over the mission. As each week passes on, I am reminded of God's love for me, and the people of Hong Kong. It really is a special place!  

 Love Elder Zach Cederlof

   

The weeks are just going faster and faster!  We were able to see some more cool miracles this week!  This past week we haven't had as much finding time, due to preparing for zone training. We were a little bit worried about not finding new investigators. However, we believed that if we used our faith, the Lord would compensate for the loss of time. On Sunday we had some finding and the Lord led us to 2 new investigators in a short amount of time!! Super awesome!! It is just another sign to me that the Lord really is in control of all things. This is His work, not mine. As long as I strive to do it how way, I cannot fail!

Nick and Eric are still progressing really well! It has been good. The main thing for both of them is finding time to meet. Nick has been going up to mainland a bunch for work and Eric has been busy with work and family things. However they were both able to come to church on Sunday! They even showed up 20 minutes early! Nick was helping us welcome members and the Stake President came and wasn't sure if he was a member or not because he acted so much like a member!! It was super awesome!! 

Love Elder Zach Cederlof

The weeks just go by faster and faster!! I'm super excited for temple day today!! an awesome opportunity to be taught in the House of the Lord!! Super grateful that we in Hong Kong have that special opportunity to go once a move!!  As for the past week, some more cool stories and miracles! Starting off with Eric, he is continuing to progress really well!! He has a lot of desire and really enjoys listening and reading the modern day Prophet talks. It is really cool to be able to see someone with little to no religious background develop faith!  

This past week we also had the opportunity to go on exchanges. Mandarin Elder Sy came with me, over in Sheung Shui! It was super cool to be with him! Even though he spoke mandarin, I spoke Cantonese it just made for a great combination! no matter who we ran into, we could share with them!! Elder Sy is a great elder! He is fairly new, I think he has been out for approximately 5 months in the field. His desire to serve and push himself is inspiring! He is really good at going out of his comfort zone! That night we taught Nick, Eric's younger brother. The previous lesson we had shared with him we invited him to read Alma 32. That actually wasn't the original invitation we had planned, but something that we felt we needed to invite him to do. This last lesson proved that it was in fact from the Spirit. He was very touched by that chapter, he had it twice in just 3 or 4 days! Before that lesson, Nick's resolve wasn't as strong. He was placing other things as priority over God. However, after reading chapter 32, he said that it was a good reminder of what he needed to do. the follow up led to other questions which we directed back to reading  in chapter 32 which continued to answer most of his questions. By the end the lesson, he asked us how he could keep that "seed" of faith growing, not dormant.  We left him with another couple chapters to read. Ether 12 and 2nd Nephi 31! Nick is doing awesome right now! It has been such a blessing to be working with him!!

Meeting with A-hou we wanted to help keep the lesson more focused, so we brought another member to the lesson, our ward mission leader! it turned out awesome! Our ward mission leader is actually a recent convert of just about a year! he will be going to the temple this next month and he has had some amazing experiences that made it so that he could connect really well with A-hou. Such an awesome blessing!! The work is going forward! I'm so grateful for the time I have here in Tolo Harbour!

Til next week,

Love, Elder Cederlof

This past week, like every week before, has been awesome! We saw a lot of cool miracles while we were out on the Lord's Errand.  Unfortunately, the weeks just keep going by faster and faster. To be honest, it's kinda scary how fast the weeks are going by.  Here are a few of the cool things I saw this week.

The first one I will share about is that on Tuesday we went to Sha Tin district's meeting. (District Leader-Elder Klein) It was super awesome to be there and see how his style is. He is a good District Leader. Whenever he has questions he doesn't hesitate to call. Later that night, we had a lesson with a currently less active member. His name is Brother Chan. His main concern has to do with the Word of Wisdom. We shared a lesson and our new ward mission leader, Brother Ng, helped out a ton! Brother Ng, is a convert himself of 1 year and he has such a strong testimony. His background also provides him with the perfect set-up for fellow-shipping.

The next one has to do with a recent convert's friend named A-hou. He is 23, longish, pink hair, married, and has 2 daughters with another on the way. At first glance you might say he was a punk. But I believe deep down his heart is looking for the gospel. We have been able to meet with him a couple times now and help him understand more about the gospel. I'm excited to see the change the gospel brings into his life. 

 The last one I wanted to share is about someone we met just yesterday. Her name is Tracy. She is half black, half Chinese! We were walking through the park and saw her sitting down, with her skateboard. When we walked by we said hi and started talking with her. She originally was Christian but for awhile hasn't been to church. We talked with her about Christ and she does have the desire to come closer unto Him; she said she feels as though she has drifted away. We invited her to a church tour and she said she'll even bring some more friends to come, as well as attend church next week! Such a huge blessing! It really is true, sometimes, just looking at people you can't tell who is prepared and who isn't, but God knows. That is why it is so important that we are in tune with the spirits "channel."
 
The zone right now is doing well! We are excited and grateful to be here to help Tolo Harbour reach its full potential. Some of the challenges throughout the zone are finding. We are going to keep emphasizing 'faithen your finding' activity to help people maintain a positive attitude with a lot of energy! One thing I've noticed that I am very grateful for is I feel that the zone really trusts us. I feel that we, as a zone are becoming more united.

 Every phase of the mission is awesome! I’ve been blessed so much! Love you all!
 ‘Til next week,
 Love, Elder Cederlof

This past week was super awesome!! We were able to see a bunch of miracles! Some of our investigators came back from mainland so we were able to meet! Super awesome! One of them was Eric.  We have actually been teaching him for a little bit before he went to mainland. Now he has a baptismal date and committed to go and talk to his wife about getting baptized as well! We are super excited to be able to work with him! We have also been able to, through a recent convert; meet a couple of new investigators that also came to church! Apart from them, we also had another family come to church which we taught afterwards! Miracle after miracle!! After coming back from MLC on Wednesday we talked with a lady from England on the MTR. She was actually going back to England not much later but we were able to give her a pamphlet! Super cool! Along with her we also met a Philipino lady that said her dad was a bishop but she herself wasn't a member. As we put in our best effort, the Lord will definitely bless us, in His own timing!

 

 Love, Elder Cederlof