Temple last week was awesome! I'm so grateful that we have the opportunity to once every 9 weeks go to the temple and feel the sacredness there.

We have really been working with a lot of less-active members and recent converts since being in Castle Peak Bay.  Among one of them is Au Hd. He is awesome! The Butterfly elders were working with him up until the time that the ward split and we had a turn over lesson two lessons ago.  Like I shared last week, we invited him to use the "Gospel Library" app on his phone and read the Book of Mormon. This past week when we went to visit him he had an extra amount of excitement. Everything about him just seemed happier. He wasn't a sad person by any means before, but he just had that extra 'bounce' in his step. We asked him how the past week had been and he said that it was busy as usual however, because of the convenience of the app on his phone, he had been able to start reading the Book of Mormon. He is awesome! He is working to develop the habit of sincerely reading everyday, as well as continuing to pray.

A-yung, an investigator the sisters turned over to us just over a week ago, is on the way to progression! A little background, she had a baptismal date a couple months ago, but because she couldn't get work off that day she couldn't be baptized. Shortly thereafter she got busy and was unable to meet with the missionaries for about a month. As we talked with her she said that the closer she got to baptism, the stronger she could feel the spirit, however, the closer she got to baptism, she said the more she felt "another spirit's" presence. Obviously that other presence was Satan. She said the other feeling made her feel like she wasn't ready or she couldn't do it. She said that that week before her baptism she felt like her brain was being pulled by two different forces. But after missing the baptismal date, she has felt both the Holy Ghost and the other presence less and less. She said that right now she feels that the Savior is far from her. We shared what that 'other force' was and asked if she wanted to feel the Holy Ghost again. Her desire to be baptized is still very much there. She already has faith in the principles she has already learned. We took it back to the basics and invited her to sincerely pray everyday and to read the scriptures with real intent. The desire she has to come closer to the Savior is remarkable. She is still facing challenges but with the Lord's help, she'll be ready. I know that the Lord will help her prepare to be baptized! I'm very grateful to be able to be a witness to her overcoming her challenges. It builds my testimony in all aspects of missionary work!
  

If only everyone could understand the importance of weekly Family Home Evening! We went with the Relief Society President to visit a recent convert (Chan Jm) this past week and shared about F.H.E.! Chan Jm's husband isn't a member and her two little kids are not yet 8. After thinking about what we could teach to help their family the most, family night was clearly the way to go. We shared with Chan Jm why we have family night and then we held one there! We haven't met the father yet because he has been busy the last 2 weeks, but the sisters told us that his interest is in families. Through their family holding family home evening, it will not only strengthen their family, but it will help them build their foundation on a sure rock! Family Home Evening is a simple thing but definitely critical!

 

Love, Elder Zach Cederlof

"Coolest house up on the mountain I've ever seen!"
 

 

Dear Mom, Definitely send traditional. Hong Kong people don't read simplified. Yes China is "over" Hong Kong but the Hong Kong people are still basically their own place. If you ever get stuff with characters for here always get traditional.         The new bishop is super sweet! He was the last ward mission leader and so we're super excited to be working with him and our ward mission leader is also super awesome! It's super cool to be seeing a ward start from the ground up! We’re just working right now to get everything in a good pattern, and to establish an attitude of missionary work in the ward from the get go!! Super exciting times!!     Prioritizing our things is definitely critical. One thing that could help is write down the main goals in life then how you decide what order to prioritize things is by looking at your list and seeing how many things it will help. We do that same thing with key indicators!   Love you mom! Love, Elder Zach Cederlof

 

Last Sunday at the church meeting with tuen mun and butterfly wards was when the split occurred  so we haven't gone to a meeting with just our ward but we got the books organized the week before so that we could start getting the names memorized.  We got to talk with and introduce ourselves to a lot of new members Sunday! Tam SS isn't in our ward.. but he wore a suit to church haha so that was awesome! We already turned him over to the Tuen Mun elders but we'll still be able to go to his baptism!  Melissa and Landon are soo different! Melissa's email about the hike was it was a cool hike type of an email. Landon's was, I was tired and cold. haha but that is good he is doing good in school.. outside of typing.. haha I remember when you were trying to get him to just type those little sentece strips last year haha.  Those big ward clean up projects are awesome!! I think those things really help a ward work hard together. I wish we could find some sort of opportunity to do that out here but the set up just isn't the same.  I'm actually gonna bring that up with the new bishop. I haven't thought about that before.. ward service projects. And ya it's starting to get colder and colder. The winters here are absolutely freezing!! Which is funny because all the rms from hk are like oh don't even worry about bring a coat.  It gets soo cold. I think because of the humidity cause the actual temperature is fine but it feels freezing! haha  I love you mom! The Lord's work really is moving forward! We gotta do all we can to help with it!

 Love, Elder Zach Cederlof

 

We have definitely been seeing a lot of good things happening in the area. One of the major miracles of the week was the lesson we had with Tam SS. He has continued to learn and grow in faith up to this point but he hadn't come to church yet. We decided to teach him about the Sabbath day and the importance of that commandment. Because he drives a car for his work, people will usually call and book him for Sundays, that's why he can't come to church. As we shared about this commandment and 1 Nephi 3:7 he definitely felt something. Before sharing about that, he had the reason of : I'm a special case, I need to work. After that scripture and a little bit of discussion he said something to the effect of: I believe in Christ, I need to follow his commandments, I will come to church. He showed up bright and early to church! It was definitely good to see him and the smile he had on his face as he came to church was priceless!!

The room under our apartment is under construction and it can get loud at times. This past Thursday, they started working and so we decided to go to the church to do weekly planning. Definitely a miracle!! While we were at the church planning, a lady rang the doorbell and asked for help. She said she really needs Jesus Christ's help. She is a single mom, with no job. At the time she only had 15 minutes to talk with us because she was in a rush to go pick up her child from school, so we just shared some scriptures and promised that through the healing power of the Atonement, our burdens can be lifted. Since I've been here, we've felt twice that we needed to go to the church for weekly planning. Both times, someone rang the doorbell while we were there!

The Tuen Mun and Butterfly ward is splitting this upcoming week! Elder Black and I will be going to the new ward! I'm so grateful that Elder Black and I get the opportunity to work in this area at this time! It is an exciting thing to be here when the new ward is being created. New Leaders, new callings, I'm excited to be able to meet with all of the new leaders. We don't who they are yet, so this week we will be preparing the records and be sorting out the investigators and less-actives. I'm so grateful to be here right now! The work is definitely moving forward!! Good things are happening, some many miracles. I know that when we purify ourselves and dig deep, God will amplify our efforts!

Til Next Week,
Love, Elder Cederlof

We have definitely continued to see a lot of miracles. We were able to meet with Tam SS twice this week along with him attending a ward party. He is doing well, but hasn't come to church yet. He drives a van for a living and so people will call him and hire him and I guess a group of people have been calling him most Sundays so that is why he hasn't been able to come to church. We were planning to teach him about the Sabbath Day this past Friday after English, but we felt we needed to change the lesson plan last minute! From the beginning we have been talking with Tam SS about bringing his family as well. This past week he did it! He brought his wife to English Class and then to the lesson with us! We didn't know he brought her until they walked in at English Class. We decided that it would be much better if we shared about families. His wife, Lisa, at this point doesn't really believe in God but she said that she is willing to learn more about the Church. Families are so important in this work and I'm praying that the Lord will soften her heart so that she will be receptive to the message of the Restoration!

Sam is doing great! We met last week with him. We are actually teaching several Sams but this is the one that came to church last week and also went to the baptism. He is 30 years old and has a belief in God, but isn't quite sure how that should direct his life. We met with him last week and shared about the Restoration. The Spirit definitely played a critical role in that, prompting us to ask certain questions that lead him to a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. After we explained how the Holy Ghost worked, then asked about church and the baptismal service. He said he had a really good experience and could feel a special feeling there. We asked him what he thought it was and he said that at first he thought it was just the good feelings of the people but that now he thought it was the Holy Ghost. He was right! We then asked if he believed that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, he did. We then asked if he believed the Book of Mormon was the word of God, again, he did. It was an awesome lesson and he came to church again yesterday as well as attending Jason's baptism! At church he also learned a little bit about commandments and I think that as he continues to learn about how we act on our faith, he will continue to progress at a very rapid pace. I love to see the differences in people's background and learn how the Lord has individually prepared them.

As we were walking towards the ward party we passed some Europeans sitting down at a table. As we passed, we heard one of them mutter "mormons." When we passed again they were both staring at us so we decided we would see what they knew about us and share about our church. When they saw us walking towards them, they pulled out two seats for us. One is from Ireland, the other is from England. They are both over here teaching English for a year. We talked about some of our basic beliefs and how our church is organized, but couldn't stay too long as we were on our way to the ward party. Before we left, we asked if we could meet them again and they both agreed. We grabbed two english copies of the Book of Mormon while in Kowloon Tong today to give to them this week.

I feel like we have really been seeing the Lord's hand in the field. We have been seeing countless blessings, including running into some less-active members on the street and being able to reshedule them, meeting very prepared people, and being able to share our testimonies to all that are willing to hear! I know this is cliche to say, but Hong Kong really is the best mission!!

Til Next Week,
 Love, Elder Cederlof

I'd say this week we've had a lot of miracles. We are able to get two more baptismal dates this week. One of them was from a person we met 2 weeks ago and rescheduled for this past week, taught and invited to be baptized then a baptismal date. The second one was from someone we met on the street this past week, rescheduled, and then met again. The first person's name is A-Sam. It was a very powerful lesson. We shared about the Restoration. Elder Black was losing his voice so he couldn't talk too much but we very much personalized the Restoration. I think that has been one of the most powerful times during the Message of the Restoration on my mission. The Spirit was so strong and led the entire thing, especially the Apostasy and the Restoration. I feel like that lesson strengthened my own testimony of the need of the Apostasy. Near the end of the lesson, I wasn't sure if she was ready for a baptismal invite, but of course, the Lord knows better and I had the feeling to invite her. At first I was a little bit hesitant but knew that I had to do it, so I invited her. After she accepted I was pretty happy and about to wrap up the lesson when another prompting came to invite her to a specific date. Recognizing that feeling even better the second time I invited her to a specific date. She accepted as well. I can promise that the Lord's ways are higher than our ways, and like 2 Nephi 9 teaches that if we hearken unto the counsels of God everything will be okay. I know that that promise is true.  Definitely a special experience.
Tam SS is still doing really good but due to work things coming up he couldn't come to church. He really likes our church and everything we teach but I'm a little worried he believes it just because it all makes sense and he saw a lot of people at the General Conference. I know he definitely believes in Jesus Christ but as far as getting his answer from the Spirit in order to know if the Book of Mormon is true, I'm not 100% sure. Fortunately he does have that willing heart and believes it with his mind, so next time we will help him know his answer comes from the Holy Ghost.

It's very sad to me to see all of the people in the world that believe that not being virtuous is ok. If only everyone understood their true identity they would never do those things. EVERYONE needs the knowledge of their true identity. People are not just an object to be acted on, but someone to act, and not only that, but a Child of God.  Along with that I have been praying a lot for charity. Charity to help truly see who these people can become. I need to strengthen my vision of them before I can help them. The Hong Kong people definitely are special, and I'm so grateful I have the opportunity to offer up my all in their behalf. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is also the only way I can be able to feel the love He feels for His children. It definitely is an amazing type of love. I'm thankful for the ability to repent and strive to come better everyday. Somedays I get down on myself and think I'm not good enough because of my weaknesses and mistakes, but then I remember that God has invited me, to come unto Him first, and THEN be perfected. If I'm doing all I can, He will make up for the rest. That's our message to the world!! I love this Gospel and the opportunity to serve our Lord and Master.
Til Next Week,
Love, Elder Cederlof