MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Leihdeih hou! This week has been good! Filled with Christmas fun and goodness, which has helped it to feel a little more Christmasy around here (because it's definitely super warm still. Definitely no white Christmas for us!). Some highlights from the week: We had our zone Christmas party. Sister Risenmay and I were in charge of mashed potatoes (again), and I'd like to say that I think I made Idaho proud. They were definitely a crowd favorite. ;) It was so fun to be able to celebrate the season with the other missionaries who are all in the same situation as us. So so so blessed. :) The missionaries were also invited to go caroling with the Young Men and Young Women. The cute old ladies we visited were so so happy to see us (for some old ladies, this included dancing around the room. So fun, hahaha) and it was so fun to spread some holiday cheer! It was also so fun to get to hang out for a little bit with the youth in our ward. They're so sweet and it was all in all one of my favorite parts of this week. On Saturday we had a ward mission barbecue! This was for the ward mission leader, the missionaries in the ward, and our investigators and less actives that we're working with. Unfortunately, all 5 people that had committed to come stood us up, but we had already bought all the food, so the missionaries ended up going barbecuing with some of the other members instead. It was pretty disappointing to not have any investigators there, but it was still a really fun time and a good opportunity to build relations with the ward. Let me tell you, Chinese barbecues are so different! You just skewer raw steaks and chicken wings and such and roast them over the open flames. Really delicious, and it's also kind of fun to not be sure if your meat is totally cooked or not and then wonder if you just gave yourself food poisoning and/or salmonella. We also had some wild boars running around (although no monkeys, which we were expecting) to keep things exciting. We're all safe though, and left full of good food. :) Yesterday we had a special Christmas sacrament meeting with the Tai Wai and Sha Tin wards combined, and the missionaries got to sing in it. Good thing Sister Risenmay has the voice of an angel--she saved us. It all went really well though, and we left loaded up with more treats than ever! #snacksunday Today we got to Skype our families! It was definitely the highlight of my whole Christmas. I've been so so so blessed with such love and support (from them and all of you), and spending a Christmas away from home in order to share Christ's love is worth it, no question. Today in personal study I read a little bit about the Christmas story, and this time through, the shepherds really stuck out to me. As soon as they gained their testimonies of Christ, they went out and shared the good news of Christ's birth, and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to do the same, two thousand years later, here in Hong Kong. So many blessings! Thank you all so much for your love and support! Christ is so real, and He is the reason behind the season. Don't forget that! Gayauh! Sister Wasden 郭姊妹 Pics: Not really any pictures this week since my camera broke (sorry about that), but here's an artsy pic of me in our study room that Sister Risenmay got a few days ago. :)

The Weekly!

Leihdeih hou! I apologize in advance, but this weekly email is probably going to be the worst ever. So sorry. Next week I will be better. Sorry. This week we went to Cheung Chau again for p-day! Seriously the cutest little island. Love it! We also had zone conference! Now that I'm in a leadership position, I had to be part of the trainings, but it went well. The other trainings were also so good and I felt the Savior's love so much! Saturday was also the ward Christmas party! Legitimately the craziest, most chaotic, happiest time of my life. I love these people! Merry Christmas next week! Don't forget the reason for the season! Christ lives and loves each of you so much and I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I have to spend this Christmas sharing that love. Love you all!! Gayauh! Sister Wasden Pics: 1. Cheung Chau beach with the whole crew 2. Sis Risenmay and I 3. Cheung Chau pirate cave (featuring a slight case of the crazy eyes) 4. Cheung Chau gorgeousness (photo creds to the comp)

Singing and Singing and a Little More Singing

Leihdeih hou! I hope you're all doing well! It's been a good week over here in Hong Kong! Our investigator pool is running a little low so we've been trying to come up with some good Christmas finding ideas to spread some holiday cheer over here at it's been really fun! There really is such a special spirit around Christmas time when we all get to celebrate the Savior, and it's cool to see that even in Hong Kong (where the majority of people are definitely not Christian) it makes a difference. The highlight of the week this week was singing! The missionaries from our zone got asked to sing a bunch of Christmas songs in one of the big malls here, and it was so much fun! Tons of people stopped to listen and hopefully we got to brighten their days. :) We also sang at a baptismal service that day, and this coming week we'll be singing in our ward Christmas party, and then the week after at our ward Christmas sacrament meeting. I haven't sung so much in all my life! Spiritual thought for this week (straight out of my study journal and only slightly paraphrased, not going to lie, haha): So Sister Risenmay and I were going through our study journals the other day and were sharing cool things that we've learned over our missions, and she shared this quote from Mitch Davis (from an MTC devo) with me and it really stuck out to me: "No one wants to go on a mission and lose who and what they are, but maybe, in a way, they should. Lose yourself and you can find your true self. You are putting yourself in the Lord's hands and letting Him make you better than you've ever been. Are you afraid God is going to mess you up? Make you something you don't want to be? Don't you trust Him?" When I was in MLC (mission leadership council) the past week, we talked a lot about obedience and that quote that Sister Risenmay and I had just discussed the day before kept coming to mind. This is so true not only for mission life, but also for life in general. Sometimes if there's a commandment/rule/standard that's really hard for us to adhere to, it's because there's a gap between where we are currently and where that rule says we should be. Sometimes it's natural for us to resist that rule and try to stubbornly remain where we are and how we are. However, God gave us that rule for a reason--to help us become something more. Maybe to follow that particular rule we'll have to let go of a little bit of the person that we were before. Maybe we'll have to change, and maybe we'll have to change a lot. That can be scary, but we KNOW that God isn't going to meses us up and any change we have to make for Him will be a change for the better. That change isn't something to fear; it's something to embrace with eyes, mind, and heart wide open. After all, as someone said in MLC, "Obedience isn't about what Heavenly Father wants you to DO, it's about what he wants you to BE." That was kind of a big paradigm shift for me and it's a big motivator for me to be more perfectly obedient (always something I'm trying to do) so that I can become the person that Heavenly Father needs me to be. Thank you all for all the love and support. I'm so blessed to know each of you! Love you all! Gayauh! Sister Wasden 郭姊妹 Pictures: 1. Three generations (my mom (my trainer, Sister Christensen), me, and my daughter (my trainee, Sister Risenmay)) 2. Ten Thousand Buddhas last week :)

The Weekly!

Lehideih hou! It's been a really good week! I don't have a lot of time today, so here's a quick summary! We had SO MANY meals with members this week since Sister Christensen was leaving! Our members are seriously the sweetest and are so so so supportive of missionary work. They're the best! My new companion is Sister Risenmay from Washington! She just barely got to Hong Kong, but she's already doing SO GREAT. We're both pretty new missionaries, so it's been really cool to see how the Gift of Tongues has kicked in for us. Tai Wai is not falling apart! That's pretty much all I have time for this week, so sorry! I promise I'll be better next week! This church is so true and don't any of you forget that! If we continually put our trust in God, He will support us and help us accomplish the impossible. :) I love you all! Gayauh! Sister Wasden 郭姊妹 Pics: Sis Risenmay and I (this picture was definitely taken outside the library this morning because we realized that we didn't have any other pictures, haha) Throwback from Thanksgiving last week :)