9/26 There is your treasure

Sister Y made a birthday cake for Daniel and me.  It was SO GOOD!

It has been a good week. As far as the area, things are a little slow, we have a ton of people just right on the edge of progressing at church, just need to get them there, and honestly, meet them a little more. We have quite a few referrals that haven't started taking it seriously, which could very well be our fault. We are repenting of our scheduling skills most recently.

It was super fun yesterday to have Sis. Y (the ones that visited our family) have a cake for D and I after church. Real thick cake. Oh man it was good. Fun day at church. 

Had interviews with President L this week.  It was an amazing 20 minutes with him. It always comforts me to know that a man who holds keys runs this place. I didn't even really have to say my questions for him to answer me. I walked away feeling so much better, humbled, and with a list of things I want to do better. I have a long way to go and a short time to get there. Life is short.

I just want to say again how much I love this work. "Where our treasure is, there will our heart be also." (Matthew?) I love my mission and this gospel. I loved hearing about others missions, and such, back home, as well. If we as individuals treasure this gospel as much as we say we do, there will our heart be also. Preaching the love of God. I am grateful to have heard that testimony from my mother and my father and those who surrounded me, I know where their treasure is. There are a lot of people around us who need to hear our testimonies. RM's, potential missionaries surround you. We hear about how much missions changed us, but don't often hear the how. "A candle that is lit on a hill cannot be hid." It is my invitation to share that treasure with others. It is of the fountain that floweth freely that all men shall partake. I love this Gospel. Christ lives and he IS my Redeemer. I love Him with all my heart. I am so grateful for this experience.

Love you all! Thanks so many for the birthday wishes!


-- 

Love,

   Elder Sargent

9/17 Happy Mid-Autumn Festival

 Ate more Mooncakes than I can count this week. If you don't know what that is google it. This week and this holiday is pretty much Christmas in China, it is a big holiday rich with tradition and cool things. Unfortunate part is mooncakes are super unhealthy. Oh well. :) 

We witnessed so many miracles this week! The Lord was testing us. This week we were able to see V at church again! He is an Atheist who told me he has been feeling God's love as he has been reading the scriptures and praying! We got him all by himself after church to see how he was doing. Now that his hob has slowed down with elections being over, he can come to church more and hopefully we can get a little more serious. As well Brother L from mainland also showed up, and he said the same thing Victor said! A testament that God lives and the Book of Mormon is true? That was also very encouraging. Two people making their progression. Them and the Lord. God is real and He is looking out for every one of His children. We also met with several new investigators and potentials this week, we have a lot of younger YSA, YM potentials and new investigators right now, and hopefully we can keep working with them and get them to their respective areas. So it was a slower week, but we are looking up to this coming week with a lot scheduled already. High hopes!! Seeking for referrals (Bro C brought his girlfriend to church!) and to assist the ward leadership in carrying out the work. 

Miracle and awesome General Conference level story: Brother T hasn't had a steady job since he has come to Hong Kong, but two weeks ago he had a long time school mate give him a job just over the border in Mainland. Well it includes a place to stay, and a month of free time before he really starts. Awesome, right? Gets better. During the Mid Autumn festival this week, his friend invites him to a big celebration with all these business people, and there is a lot of tea and alcohol, traditional to Mainland Chinese culture. Well he denies the tea and alcohol at the beginning when they are just chatting, to which he said his boss friend wasn't too pleased, but then came the real challenge. After dinner they pass around a cup (or bottle?) of wine and everyone drinks. This is after he has caught some flack for being a "Mormon." Bottle comes to him and he denies it! And they tell him to drink and he said he passed it on again!!! He is such a good example to me of humility and faith. He is amazing and I love him so much. A gave a great talk yesterday at sacrament and K got the priesthood, as well. Things are doing well, even C is finishing his papers here soon. I love this ward! 

Oh and a note, the missionary book was a hit at Ward Council, they loved it and we have it all done now. Excited to start visiting families and help them with home teaching and sharing the gospel. 

I love this work with all my heart! I love this area and the amazing faithful members and lifelong friends I have made here. I under appreciate them some times, just a I did many of you probably. The Church is true, it is the boat, the organization in which God has given us to return to Him one day. He is in charge. I love the truth and am glad for the parents I have the the family I have to raise me in it.  

Shout out to the best mother in the world! Last year I think I said she is turning 25, but I had a math error and she is actually turning 25 this year! So tell her congrats on the 21st! She makes 25 look young! I love my mom and am so grateful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ I learned at her feet. The things she taught me through not only word, but also action. Her deeds and her example lead me through so much. I love  you mom!!

have a great week!

Love, Elder Sargent

9/12 Faith unto Repentance

Good week, not much time to write sorry! This week we missed out on just about everyone because they were all out of town for some reason. So lots more time for Elder R and I to find more investigators, who all happened to live outside our area... haha but hey its good to support the work! It's all the same work right? My thought from MLC the kind of revelation I got was relative to Alma 34, faith unto repentance, and 2 Nephi 4. We read from Alma, that as we have faith we will repent, therefore, the more faith the more repentance, however at first this doesn't make sense to me. The most faithful should have the least to repent about. Kind of contradicting right? Then reading in Nephi, this man of so much faith, proceeds to write a whole chapter that outlines the real meaning of Alma's words. Seeking to be better, righting wrongs and constantly looking for the higher road. I took this as a good check for myself, when I feel like my faith is well, how is my repentance? Does it sow the same thing? Pretty cool thought and teaching from the prophets of old. Love you all! Sorry for the short thought!!

-- 

Love,

   Elder Sargent

9/5 A family!

zone conference

B's Birthday

The work is Cheung Sha Wan has been good. This week was busy, with Zone Conference, Transfers and all that went on this week was a blur. We have noticed in the area, we feel like what we have is moving very well, and that we have some great potential for the upcoming months, but also want to keep moving some more through. Several investigators that weren't really progressing these past two weeks, due to how busy we have been, have kind of just dropped off, which might be ok, let them use their agency. So meanwhile, we are working to find some more new faces and find the elect. And we did that this week!! Picked up a new family, which is difficult in Hong Kong. They are formers from several years ago. The husband actually passed his interview, but things came up and he wasn't baptized. They say they feel a lot more prepared this time, their son is much older and they said they are here to stay. They live in Sham Shui Po, drive, and even mentioned they would like to move to Utah when D, the son, goes to High School. They still have several connections in the church and many of the members still remembered them. Answer to prayers? Yes. I love teaching families more that just about anything in the world. So we are excited for F, D, and P! We also were able to see a member referral again this week, Felix, one of the YM's friend. We are working well with the YM and have been seeing good progress there. Growing well. Should have 4 more missionaries go out from our ward in the next 6 months. That's pretty good for a ward of 80. I am so happy that while it might be a little slow sometimes, everyone is progressing. Doing so well.

We had Zone Conference, and I did get quite a bit of revelation pertaining to how I need to do better in my teaching, and tapping into the Spirit. Sometimes I feel like I try to tell the Spirit what to testify of to the investigator, when I should be doing a better job of testifying of what the Spirit wants me to testify of. I came away edified. Felt like it was good, I feel like we as missionaries need to be better at always bearing testimony of Christ though. We can testify at any time. Never forget.

I am pretty excited to see what this new turn up in the areas and leadership can do. I know all of them actually pretty well, so that will be a great experience. I am excited to keep serving as Zone Leader. Hope to continue to set a higher standard. Raise the Bar. That's what I would like to do: Sacrifice, utilize the atonement to power us, push harder and do more. I love this work. I am grateful for the priesthood and the keys on earth. I know the Savior lives. He loves me, He knows my struggles and my weakness's. He is the Light and the Life of the World. I am one of the most blessed people to be able to do this work. 

-- 

Love,

   Elder Sargent

P.S.  My personal miracle, I was 100% sure I had a decent sized cavity in my tooth for the past two months, and I have been pretty nervous about it. I hate the dentist office like nothing else. Just saying, nothing personal to dentists, but I fear them. So I have been praying for a miracle. We finally go to the dentist, and.... I don't have anything! (and Elder R did!) The hole I had felt was gone when we left. Wow.

Pictures are of B's birthday and Pday fun.  Also, Zone Conference training.