So I heard about Ebony, that must have been stressful taking her to the emergency room on vacation. I hope everything went alright. I will pray for her.  As for me I am doing well. So the work is going forth and it is all because of Heavenly Father. He truly inspired my companion and I to prepare this special time to help one soul come unto Christ through baptism. It was quite interesting, I don't know if Lawrence and Tim know, but they emailed me about having stronger relationships with members, and using them to do the work more frequently. President Hawks also talked about how we need to be better to our members, and sacrifice more. I also sought revelation with my companion about receiving revelation, and both my companion and I worked toward helping members more fully. We truly have seen the rewards and the blessings because of it. on August 26 we have a baptism. It was working through the members that this was even made possible. It is interseting how the Lord inspires men to do the work, and... the work goes forth. So you can tell Tim and Law that they were made instruments in God's hand in helping Causeway Bay catch fire the vision of missionary work. The faith and hope of the members here have seen to be refeshed. The spark of the spirit has been lit and the work goes forth. Unfortunately, Causeway Bay has not had a baptism for over a year, and the last 3 baptisms are now less active, this has probably hindered the motivation of the work.

I know God has blessed my companion and I, our area has been on of the lowest baptizing missions, and the ones that have been needing new member support. Now our area is one of the highest in the mission, I know it is because of attitude as well as accountibility. I know numbers don't mean anything, in fact I hope I do not sound prideful. When I first came into Causeway Bay, there was an attitude of hopelessness and an discouraged area. I did not know that, nor did it affect me when I did hear from other missionaries regarding it. I don't know when we change our attitudes to fit the attitude God wants us to have we will have success. The members of Causeway Bay are spiritual giants. They are the heros of Hong Kong. Faith changes with attitude. When we are responsible and accountable for our actions, not making any excuses on why we could have been better or start comparing ourselves and our success with others, there comes a spirit of success. We learn from our mistakes, we look to the past only to be learned from, we utilize the atonement frequently, and have a positive attitude. When Satan blows us down, we are quick to rise and face the new challenge with responsibility and a positive attitude. I hope we can all face our challenges with a positive attitude, never waivering in faith or finding excuses on why this or why that. When we are accountable to the Lord with a sincere desire to change, it will happen and the work goes forth. I challenge all of us to be positive in all aspects of life, seeking for the good in which God has given us,

Mosiah 4: 11 And again I say unto you as I have said before, that as ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have recieved a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your soulds, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your won nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even un the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.4:12 And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowlegde of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowlegde of that which is just and true."

God promises that we shall "always rejoice" when we look in the goodness of God, that includes not envying, not coveting, being selfish, and making up excuses. So let us forget ourselves, and the work goes forth.

 

Love,

 Elder Liu

Sorry it has been so long since I last wrote you all. I have been extremely busy with the work in Causeway Bay. Two weeks ago there was a typhoon in Hong Kong, I remember staying indoors because eventually the storm turned into a typhoon Level 10. The following day I went out to do missionary work, and down one whole block there were planted trees spaced out on the concrete. Of all the ten trees, two of them were standing; the rest were uprooted and toppled. This had a large impact on me because the trees looked pretty strong, but, the roots were only about two feet deep into the soil. Unfortunately this reminded me of the people of Hong Kong and Jacob chapter 5. How in the Lord's vineyard some seeds were planted in rich ground and others in stony ground. It didn't really matter where the seeds were planted, even the ones planted in the richest part of the soil had corruption, but it is when the branches takes strength in themselves and not the roots that the tree whithers. If we do not exercise our faith, if we do not humble ourselves, as James said in Chapter 2 verse 26, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." We need the spirit for all things good, we are nothing without it. With the spirit we are also nothing, unless we have works with our faith. We cannot expect to survive the storms nonetheless the Level 10 Typhoons of Satan if we do not enrich our roots in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and "humble ourselves to the dust." Sometimes it is hard, but we must always look for ways to grow in the gospel. We cannot be those eight trees out of the ten to fall. We must endure, we must remember "whence our blessings come from." I know this is the only way to be happy, nothing else.

Love,
Elder Liu August 2, 2012