Elder Stanley Cheng Jan. 26

Hey everybody!

every week i feel im getting less and lesss time to email. but, this week has been totally awesome. my companion and i were tlaking about it yesterday and it is amazing how we see so many miracles here in kwun tong! it is a huge area, and known for it's crazies (crazy people). for instance, there are two peopel we always see and talk about. they are 1. the dancing man (who dances when he sees us msisionaries) and 2. the grabber (who grabs caucasian missionaries for some reason because he's drunk) luckily i was never touched by his dirty hands. he always seems to pick my companion, which i'm ok with just as long as he doesnt grab me. haha.

but anyway, kwun tong is amazing. just last week, we picked up a few new investigators. they arent progressing yet because we've only seen them all and taught them once. but everybody has different concerns so everybody is unique. i just love being a missionary. its so good to do what we're doing.

just yesterday i was thinking about how if people realize what we do from day to day, basically going out and finding, peopel would think we have an easy job. but it isnt at all! if i was still at school and i heard that msisionaries just walked outside, i would think the same too. but one thing i realized since ive been a msisionary is: everyday, we are filled with the spirit and we need to keep that spirit flowing thorughout everybody we meet and this is the most challenging part! even being filled with the spirit is draining and tiring, just liek going to the temple. so in a sense, this is one of the toughest things i've done because every night, we come home and we are definitely drained from every such thing that i said previously. but, this is the missinoary life and it is enjoyable.

i rememebr telling y'all that time was moving by slowly, but now, it is flying by fast! it really is. i realized that i'm almost into 6 months of the mission. 1/4 done with the mission! oh man. now that i think of that, i want to work harder because tiem is really short!

so, because time is short, i'll end with a message about jesus christ's atonement. i was reading the liahona from january of this month and read about the power of the savior's atonemtn in one short story. that made me think about it a little more. i was given this same topic to share about in zone conference and this topic really is important. jesus christ's atonement does so much for us! the two biggetst things is helping us overcome the to obstacles preventing us from returning to God (physical and spiritual death). but the atonement can also help so much more. having knowledge of the atonement means constantly striving to be better people and not let more drops of blood spill from our savior. i encourage you all to think about theatonement more, especially during sacrament meeting when you partake the sacrament. since ive been a mssinoary, my testimony of the chruch has grown so much. ive come to understand the atonement more and i strive to keep continuiing to build up this knowledge and testimony. i say these things in the name of jesus christ, amen.

sorry for all the typos, i was typing fast to get it all out.

until next week!
Elder Stanley Cheng


Elder Stanley Cheng
China Hong Kong Mission
July 2008 - July 2010

Elder Bradford Jan. 22

Hello everybody!
Well, I'm on Day 16 at the MTC. Only 46 more to go, not that I'm counting. But seriously, the MTC is great. A lot of people are having trouble with getting used to it, but I've adapted pretty well. My companion's name is Elder Bolo, from Redding, CA. He just came to the U.S. two years ago from the Philippines, but he is very good at English for being here only two years. Now he'll be trilingual. He's also going to the Colorado Denver North mission, Spanish speaking, along with one other person from our district, Elder Shaw, from Charlotte, North Carolina. We used to have another in our district going to Denver (Elder Robinson), but he was too good at Spanish so he moved up to an intermediate district. There are 10 in all in our district, from such far corners of the earth as Payson Utah, Spanish Fork Utah, Orem Utah, and...get this, Rexburg Idaho! Out of the 10, two are from California, two are from North Carolina (go figure!) and the rest are from Utah and Idaho. Another weird fact about our district, I'm actually the tallest one. I'm not short, but I'm still not above 6 feet, so it feels good to be tall. We had another district come into our zone yesterday and they have some very tall guys. Anyway, I love our district and our zone, we get a long well.
The Spanish is coming along. A lot of people are getting frustrated with it, but people forget that we've only been here for 2 weeks. We're all doing very well considering it's only been 2 weeks. I already know how to pray and testify and get to know someone in Spanish pretty well. Spiritually, it's been great as well. High points include singing "How Firm a Foundation" as a whole congregation, watching the new Joseph Smith movie, and hearing Elder Jeffrey R. Holland address us at last Tuesday's devotional. I'm learning the lessons out of Preach My Gospel pretty well, and Elder Bolo and I are greatly improving at our ability to teach them.
The food is good most of the time and basketball is good all of the time. I've enjoyed the mail I've received. I don't feel too cooped up yet, but I can tell that in 7 weeks, I'll definitely be ready to get out of here and go to work.
I'm thinking of you and I'll keep you updated periodically.
Love,Elder David Bradford

Elder Stanley Cheng

sorry i dont have much tiem today

ill just leave with a good message

everyday im seeing my testimony grow and grow! i totally want to help these people in hong kong hear about the gospel. i need to keep trying harder and harder. luckily, i still have over a year to keep doing this compared to my companions who have less than 10 months left. if anybody has anymore ideas about different contacting ideas, that would be great! the new year is coming up and it will definitely be exciting in hong kong when everybody will be super spirited beyond comprehension! i have baptism pictures but i cant upload them because itll take too long. maybe ill upload them next week.

until next week!

elder cheng
Elder Stanley Cheng
China Hong Kong Mission
July 2008 - July 2010

Change of pace...but only Stanley seems to send the group emails

David Bradford
to me

show details 12:05 PM (17 hours ago)


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connie!

saw LB today. looking fresh, almost as fresh as me! haha. anyway, tell your sister congratulations, aunt connie. sounds awesome. a letter will be mailed to you soon, but first, where should I send it? agh! i hope you'll see this today and I'll be able to check later on in the day. i assume probably san francisco? but i don't know.

talk to you later!
tu amigo mejor,
david

David Bradford to me

show details 3:21 PM (13 hours ago)

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agh i got 20 seconds left. they monitor! don't email me! dear elder. i con only check once a week bye!!1

- Show quoted text -

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Forward

David Bradford to me

show details 3:25 PM (13 hours ago)

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haha if you log off, they round up how many minutes you have left. so everytime i log off before a minute is up, i get another minute. but anyway, after my indecipherable email back, don't email me because i can only check on p-day. continue dear elder! peace!
david

Jan 8, 09 Elder Cheng

Hello friends and family!

So this week has been the start of the year 2009!!! I actually don't feel anymore different than before. I wish I did. There was nothing big from the turning point of 08 to 09. And we aren't even writing the dates that often to remind me that we're in a new year. I guess I'm looking forward to Chinese New Years which is actually going to be HUGE here in Hong Kong. From what I've heard, people from all over the place come to Hong Kong and tour the streets. I'm looking forward to seeing the dancing lion act! (Hopefully they have it here and not only in America). If you're a native Hong Kong serving a mission in Hong Kong, yo are allowed to go home and eat dinner for this holiday. I still need to ask the mission President if i could do that because i do have family in hong kong, just not immediate family. But we'll see.

So the baptisms this past Sunday were great. Two were baptized and both had amazing experiences at that testimony meeting. One in particular is going through some big trials. He lost his job a couple of days ago, but then just this morning, he called and told us that they hired him back! We saw him a few days ago and we kept on encouraging him to do his best. Amazingly, he had already told himself to be happy regardless of the worldly things around him. My companion and I were super surprised that even after losing his job, he still told himself he would be happy. We then shared Elder Holland's talk with him about angels being around us, and then he took the angels thing very literally and started thinking that everybody in his life is an angel, which made him even more happier. It was actually kind of funny though. But he is a great guy and he has yet to be confirmed and receive the Holy Ghost.

This past Sunday was fast Sunday and the spirit was so strong that i was actually compelled to go up and bear my testimony. Never in my life had I ever volunteered to go up and bear my testimony on fast Sundays. This was an awesome experience. As a missionary, I feel so much more in tune with the spirit and can feel the love that i have for all the people on this world, especially the Hong Kong people.

So this week's message is about setting goals for 2009! One thing that I have learned on this mission is that goal setting is important. We set so many goals as missionaries. We set big goals and small goals to reach those big goals. That can work for your lives as well! set a big goal, say to go on a vacation for summer of 2009, and you set some small goals, say save $X each month to have enough to go, plus how you're going to save money each month. But always remember that when you set goals, you need to continue to remind yourself about the goals. So write them down in a planner and review them often! Goal setting has changed my life, and if i can keep this up after my mission, i have a clear focus as to what i want to do with my life. so set goals, and make a plan to achieve them!

Happy New Year!
Elder Stanley Cheng

January 2, 2009: Elder Cheng

Hey everyone!

These holidays have been excellent. I'm so excited for our first baptisms for the year of 2009! there will be two baptisms on January 4, 2009. im excited to be seeing the fruits of our labor. it's so amazing.

so these past couple of days i've also been seeing a lot of changes and miracles. we've been meeting a lot of people and getting new investigators. our list is always full of investigators, but nobody has wanted to progress lately. we're still working hard on them though!

the weather here is starting to get pretty cold. everywhere i go now iwear a giant coat, just because i dont have a suit coat that matched my separately-bought slacks.

my time isrunning short so this will also be short. this christmas season has helped me think of Jesus Christ more and what he's done for us. When we're contacting onthe street, i went straight to teaching jesus christ and it's been cool seeing mircales. my testimony has grown so much since i've been here in hong kong and it will only get stronger. we just need to constantly remember that jesus christ is or savior and we renew the covenants we made at baptism by taking the sacrament every sunday! keep on building your testimonies and remember to share that with people! Fast sunday is this upcoming sunday so i encourage you all to go bear your testimony on the stand! i leave these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.