WEEK 55 RICHMOND: Pizza Pizza 😋

(Said in the lil sneezers voice)

Well fam, I did in fact remember the 21st of September

If anyone was wondering, this was what I was doing last September 21st...

Now that we got that out of the way, we can get back to baadeeyaaing

This week was quite wonderful, especially Wednesday! We Had DC in the morning which is always a great time. Then feeling super appreciated, we went to Lil Caesars for some $5 hot'n'ready pizzas. Which is basically free at that point. So we did indulge, and ended up eating pizza 3 meals a day, for the next few days :) Shoulda got more though... Met with Li, as always, he's locked in. Just keep praying that he can get baptized asap. Went to a Chinese market for some contacts, then 于先生 pulled up, apparently Elder Wengert has met him before, and he took us to his lil shop, videoed us and bought us mango slushies. Ain't finna complain. Unfortunately not interested in gospel :(

Started the Isaiah chapters in my language study. Not fun... iykyk

Thursday was goated. Met with Frank first thing, and finished teaching him all the principles, so he's locked in. Taught English class, and Linda is back!! If ya'll read my emails like 5 months ago, you might remember her. Me and Elder Barnes found her beginning of May. But she went to China, but she's back!! Went finding and met this guy named Chris, and bro set up for a church tour the next day, lowkey the first time that's happened to me out here. Kinda dope. We also briefly ran into a member who hasn't been to church in a few months, but she had to go. Then literally like 40 minutes later, we were trying to figure out where to go for language study, so we decided to go to a park. And she walked up like 5 minutes after we got there. It was a cool little miracle. She's been going through a pretty rough time, so it was good to talk. 

Also another cool miracle, my entire mission I've gotten 3 legit referrals. It doesn't happen really in Chinese work. But we got 5 legit referrals this week, which is just so dope!

Friday morning we met with Lisa, and she is so cool, but she leaves to China next week, so she just doesn't want to be baptized. But it's chill, she'll be back one day  Ran some splits with the WR Elders, it was fun. Met with Adair, who is progressing super well, bro took us out to a super nice cafe, which was so blessed. He was telling us his whole conversion story to God, and just how prepared he's been to meet with us. Pray that bro will have a desire to get baptized soon! He's so cool! It was such an amazing lesson! Met with Chris for his church tour. First thing bro says, "So y'all are Mormons " But it was chill, it was actually super good, and bro really wants to read the BoM. And we're gonna meet with him weekly. But bro did his research alright  maybe a lil too much...

Saturday was a lot of fun. We did some service, and helped with the Vancouver wide food drive. It was fun!  Then met with William, he's a 17-year-old kid who was referred by Frank. And he's super cool! Taught him restoration, and bros pretty locked. We played some basketball with him after the lesson which was baller! We met with Li afterward, and we've been kind of running out of things to teach him. So we're just having him teach us all the principles and lessons, and bro is just straight locked . I love him so much! 

Then HFQ came!!! My king is back! Huaung Qing Fa invited us to dinner at the same Japanese restaurant he took us to Christmas Eve last year! Elder Barnes was in town, so him and all of the fam were there, and it was so much fun. Truly, truly blessed!

Sunday was good, because Elder Barnes was there, we got a lot of friends to church, who haven't been in awhile. So it was a lot of fun! Grinded finding. And finished the night off with a burger party at the church. It was epic!

Monday was also good. Met with Frank and went over the interview questions with him, and he's set. His interview is on Thursday, then his baptism is on Saturday. So pretty hyped!! Grinded weekly planning, and did math with Annie and Caroline again. 

Crazy I've been here a whole summer haha.

Todays been chill, pretty much just played pickleball forever. Always a good time .

So ya, good week! It's turning fall here and it's just beautiful! It's lowkey so trippy, I swear we just got done with spring. But hey, what can ya do? 

Just keep serving the Lord, I guess :)

Peace out ya'll, love ya .

Cool little thought, as I've been doing some research with my scriptures and my niffty friend Meta.

I was thinking about the sacrament, and asked myself what does the word sacrament mean? 

The sacrament is a visible sign of an invisible grace.

The sacrament isn't just a symbol, but it actually does something. 

It is an invisible grace that changes us. 

Grace is a gift freely given because the Giver is generous, not because we earned it. 

And that's what the sacrament is, not only does it symbolize the atonement of Jesus Christ, but it does something. As we partake of the sacrament we receive the gift. The gift of forgiveness, and the gift of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. We are given these gifts not because we earned it, but because Jesus loved us enough to sacrifice His own life for each one of us. So we can receive these gifts and slowly become more like Him.

So accept that gift. Partaking of the sacrament is the most important thing any of us can do in a given week. It is the greatest weekly gift we could ever ask for. 

To be honest, the first year out here, I never really let the sacrament be personal. I was always thinking about our friends and church, and whether or not they are enjoying it, or trying to explain to them the ordinance. But I've come to realize it's a gift I need every week too. The whole week I can dedicate to serving and loving others. But that 10 minutes is mine. It's my invisible grace. As I've tried to make the sacrament personal to me, and forgetting about all other troubles, it's been such a great blessing.

So I'd invite ya'll to do the same, forget all you're worries, and accept His grace. It actually does something .

So much pizza 

So blessed!