First Transfer

My first transfer is already over! I am staying in Pok Fu Lam, which I am
so happy about! President Lam usually keeps people in an area for a while,
so I do not plan on leaving for at least a few more transfers. My ward is
amazing and I love being on the island!!
This week we had flu shots, exchanges, and more exchanges. Since my trainer
is also a sister training leader, she goes to meetings to plan Zone
Training and MLC. So I got to go on splits with a sister from my MTC group!
It was so fun! We went finding one day and did Welcome Center the other
day. The Welcome Center is in Wan Chai and has the church's largest/nicest
chapel in HK. It's the international chapel, so they have meetings in
English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Tagalog, and Indonesian as well. We stand
outside the doors and pass out fliers, Books of Mormon, and try to get
people to take a tour. Most people are too busy/on their way to work/etc.,
but I love being able to see so many people pass by and offer them
something I know can change their lives. It is humbling as well, because it
is so hard to see people not take the opportunity or know how magnificent
and personal the gospel really is. I am grateful our role as missionaries
is to simply invite and offer the opportunity to come unto the Savior. Then
the Spirit and Christ's Atonement do everything else. I love that in our
church, we invite and exhort people to ask God. Real conversion happens
through prayer. It comes when we address our Heavenly Father in prayer,
have faith in His Son, and feel the Holy Ghost testify of Their reality and
love."For it came to pass after I had *desired* to know the things that my father
had seen, and *believing* that the Lord was able to make them known unto me,
as I sat *pondering* in mine heart I was caught away in the *Spirit
*of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon
which I never had before set my foot."
Last night we shared this scripture, 1 Nephi 11:1 with a member's mother
who is not a member. We talked about how we can really study the scriptures
to obtain personal revelation. We must have a desire, believe, ponder, then
pray for the Spirit to confirm, enlighten, comfort, or testify. I taught
the Plan of Salvation again to our recent convert, Jeung Ji Muih this week.
She had so many detailed, complicated questions regarding heaven, pre-earth
life, and other aspects of the Plan of Salvation. I tried to answer as well
as I could with my simple Cantonese, and my exchange companion answered
beautifully. We explained and testified of doctrines. We do not have all
the answers. But in every single complicated or specific question, an
eternal truth can support and encompass that question and still give our
hearts peace. I think sometimes we expect the answer to an equation. Exact,
precise, and before our eyes: like a math equation on a white board. But
Heavenly Father wants to give us peace, the privilege of relying on Him,
and the opportunity to develop trust and faith and patience.

Alma 24:14: "And the great God has had mercy on us, and made these things known unto us
that we might not perish; yea, and he has made these things known unto us
beforehand, because he loveth our souls as well as he loveth our children;
therefore, in his mercy he doth visit us by his angels, that the plan of
salvation might be made known unto us as well as unto future generations."
1 Nephi 11:17 17 And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless,
I do not know the meaning of all things.
 
I, like Nephi, do not know the meaning of all things. But I do know that
the gospel gives everything meaning. Everything God asks me to do has a
purpose. My life has meaning. And because I have a Father in Heaven, and a
Savior, I can understand the portion of the gospel that I need. 
Sometimes I can't see the entire pathway before me, but I know it is
there, and it is strait and narrow. And it leads to my eternal home. I am
thankful that we can return to our Heavenly Father and Savior, and that the
way is clearly marked before us. Just like I hope to have a clear,
fool-proof, dependable flight plan to go home to my family in 14 months, I
want to have a path back to Heavenly Father as well. And I do. We all do.
Christ has laid that path. He will walk with us, light the way, carry us,
and bless us along that path.

--
*Sister Dopp*

Of Great Worth

With each passing week I find that expressing myself becomes harder and harder, and nearly impossible. Heavenly Father is just so aware of us and I am so thankful.

Jeung Ji Muih received the Holy Ghost yesterday and then attended a ward FHE. I feel that we are more like friends now and I honestly look forward to staying in contact with her for the rest of my life! We found a woman street contacting the other day and scheduled her right away, and then she brought her daughter to the lesson! It was such a perfect situation! We taught the Restoration, and she told us her life story. Literally, this woman loves to talk. She said the closing prayer, and I kid you not, it was 20 minutes. I couldn't believe it! hahaha at the end, Sister Gomez said "well she had a long conversation with Tinfuh (Heavenly Father)" hahahahah I am so excited to meet with them again and explain our Father's plan of happiness!!!! 

We also taught three 14-year-olds, who the Elders found and then had us teach. It was a little chaotic, many selfies were taken, and I think they have more interest in the Elders than the gospel, but step by step!!! I thought about Araceli the whole lesson and how I would teach her and her friends. 

My favorite part of the week was in the siu basi (little buses we take to our chapel in Aberdeen) and I started talking to an older man. I showed him the picture of my family, and he held it for about 3 minutes and kept saying " leihdeih hou hoisam!" over and over again. Which means "you are all so happy!"  And it just made my heart soar! I couldn't agree with him more. I just felt like 'You have no idea.' I was so grateful I could bear a simple testimony about how this church blesses families. 

My other favorite moment was, once again in the siu basi, I was pondering life and missionary work, and I just had the district impression, 'There is something within you that is precious to the creator of this universe.' It was a bit random, but came with such force. I started to reflect on how much Heavenly Father cares about our souls and welfare. He created the stars, the seas, the mountains, the elements, gravity, everything. But WE are His masterpiece. His work and glory is our happiness. 

I hope that you all have a great week and remember that the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. Your soul is of great worth to the creator of this universe.

--

Sister Dopp

Diamonds

Our investigator was baptized yesterday!!!! It was the most amazing day
ever. She was baptized after church (we have RS, Sunday School, then
Sacrament Mtg here) and so many members attended and even gave her little
gifts. I am so thankful for how welcoming the ward has been. We even had
another investigator attend church and her baptism! I am so proud of her
testimony and faith. Before she met the missionaries, she heard voices and
didn't like being around people. Now she doesn't hear voices, and she
understands charity so well. Her gospel knowledge and faith is truly
admirable. She is such a strong spirit. I am eternally grateful Heavenly
Father let me meet her and teach and learn from here. My trainer met her
with a sister who is now in a different area, so I am so grateful they
found her in that Hong Kong park a few months ago. It is humbling and
amazing to think about how a simple encounter has changed her life. She is
a different person. The Atonement is real. Baptism is the first step and is
a way we can follow our Savior. I cried when she got baptized and fought
tears as we sang "Nearer My God to Thee, I Need Thee Every Hour, Come
Follow Me and Testimony." And as I said the closing prayer.
One of the most spiritual moments of this week was on Tuesday when we were
walking the familiar path to the bus stop that goes to our church. It
passes this big retaining wall/stone hill with water and greenery flowing
down it. The stone steps had little shards of glass and the sunlight
streamed through the leafs of the trees on the side opposite the wall. All
the sudden the quote from Dieter F. Uchtdorf from this past conference
entered my mind, "We tread a path covered with diamonds, but we can
scarcely distinguish them from ordinary pebbles." That quote was just so
incredibly perfect for the moment, and I'm so thankful the Spirit brought
to my memory that beautiful line from an apostle's message to the world. I
looked at the glittering path, and the glowing sunlight and felt so much
hope, joy, and gratitude. It was one of those moments that you feel like
your happiness is like a bubble of joy that can hardly fit in your heart. I
knew that our mortal journey really is a path covered in diamonds,
especially when we have the knowledge of our Heavenly Father's plan of
happiness. I knew that my mission still had a long path before me and that
I had diamonds yet to discover. How lucky are all of us to be children of
such a loving Heavenly Father!?
An older man who works as kind of an assistant to President Lam shared his
testimony with us this past week at Trainer/Trainee meeting this past week.
He has severe tremors that cause even his jaw to tremble, but he is the
most humble, grateful, happy man I have ever met. I loved everything he
said. He served in Hong Kong years ago, before the MTC, before the many
resources missionaries now have. Whenever he speaks of challenges and
trials, he does so reminding us that they are signs of love from Heavenly
Father, and are for our good. I am grateful to see how real that is in his
life-he is an amazing example. Something I really liked that I wrote down
was that he referred to them as "remarkable challenges." Our challenges are
remarkable! They are to mold us into something better. Something more like
our Savior. And in the midst of them, we turn to our Savior with more
purpose and humility and dependence. We need Jesus Christ every hour,
especially in moments of remarkable challenges, surrounded on all sides
with diamonds perhaps now masked as ordinary pebbles. See the diamonds this
week.

--
*Sister Dopp*

It Is About The One

What a week! I have been in Hong Kong for almost 6 weeks and I've finished 3 months of my mission!!! Time is flying!

On Thursday we did Tai Chi with the old women in the park by our apartment. They are so cute and nice! I forgot the keys to the apartment, so five minutes later we ran back. They were all continuing with the dancing and when they saw me they literally all starting pointing and waving and ran to the keys which they had brought up to the front. They were so concerned we forgot them and so kind! One handed me them and patted me on the head. hahahahaha I love these people!

General Conference was definitely the high light of the week! 2 investigators came, and the messages were so inspiring, perfect, and beautiful. I absolutely loved hearing the words of God's apostles, disciples, and Prophet. My testimony of their divine callings has increased so much on my mission. The prophets did so much to prepare for the birth of Jesus Christ. In the scriptures it says so often that He "fulfilled the words of the prophets" and "in Him is the law fulfilled." How amazing that Christ allowed mortals to prepare the way for His atoning life and that today we have a living Prophet that allows us to belong to HIS church. It is truly led by Him.

Jeung Ji Muih is being baptized next week and I could not be more excited!! She came to Conference, bright and early, dressed in a nice dress and blazer, smiling. My heart soared!! She has come SO far! We also had another investigator attend and the members were so welcoming of her!

Some of my favorite talks were Dieter F. Uchtdorf's in Women's Conference. He shared about how missionaries that taught his wife found her on the very last door of the fourth floor. He shared the scripture "Knock and it shall be opened unto you." And how sometimes the doors that are opened are not the direct answers to prayers, or that the last door, fourth floor may have our answers. We need to have faith and keep knocking. He also quoted Little Prince!! "One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to physical eyes."

Bonnie L. Oscarson said "Sometimes we just need a greater view of what's possible." I love that! It also reminded me of Kazuhiko Yamashita's talk about "being ambitious for Christ." We really are capable of so much! Because we are children of God, we have the Savior of the world on our side. We can do all things through Christ, who WILL strengthen us.

I also liked Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk in the Sat morning about not taking gospel truths/plan of salvation for granted. "We tract a path covered in diamonds, but sometimes we cannot distinguish them from regular pebbles." That is so true! Pray to Heavenlt Father to notice the diamonds-the things of eternal weight, the tender mercies, the opportunities to serve, the reality of the Atonement. "We are of the royal house of Elohim, the most High God." This statement gave me chills!

And lastly this quote by K. Brett Nattress that made me cry...

The gospel truly is about the one. It is about one lost sheep (see Luke 15:3–7); it is about one Samaritan woman at a well (see John 4:5–30); it is about one prodigal son (see Luke 15:11–32).

And it is about one little boy who might claim he is not listening.

It is about each one of us—as imperfect as we may be—becoming one with the Savior as He is one with His Father (see John 17:21).

I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. For trials and hardships. For my family and friends. Hong Kong is where I am supposed to be.

-Sister Dopp

 Yesterday at General Conference I was overwhelmed with love. I had my
journal out and writing all my notes, and the picture of the family that I
keep inside it. I thought of my investigators, especially Jeung Ji Muih who
loves me and is getting baptized next week, and the missionaries
surrounding me, united in sharing the most important message of the
eternities with others, and of you guys, my eternal family who mean
literally everything to me. It was overwhelming. Like I literally didn't
feel like I could hold so much love in my being. I now understand Nephi
when he said "hath filled me with His love, even unto the consuming of my
flesh." A little graphic if you read it at first, haha but there is no
other way to describe how completely Heavenly Father's love envelops us! I
also understand how Heavenly Father needs to teach us "line upon line",
because there are things we simply couldn't process, understand,
appreciate, or have the capacity to experience.
I love HK and I am starting to love trials.

I Love Living in Hong Kong!

I love living in Hong Kong! This week was amazing!!! We taught our

progressing investigator Jeung Ji Muih, and she is committed to the new

baptismal date for October 16th. She is in Mainland right now, which we are

praying will not slow her progression. Mainland has a reputation for making

investigators lose contact or stop meeting with missionaries. However, my

MTC friend is teaching someone from Mainland this week so they can receive

baptism! They've been taught in Mainland, but will receive all the lessons

on the day of their baptism. What a neat experience and so amazing that the

gospel truly is being preached to EVERY ONE of Heavenly Father's children.

We had a meeting with the bishop this week and he is amazing. He wants to

have a new building house in ten years. This is quite ambitious as property

is expensive here, but he is really confident in the growth in the ward.

The ward is amazing and so faithful. Currently, we meet in an "ABBA

Commercial Building" with lots of random companies and even a Baptist

church on the other floors. It is a huge blessing and fine for now, but I

agree that the ward deserves a larger space with more exposure for the

church and convenience for our deaf members and older members. The bishop

is so kind and motivating. He said "I know you are here for only a short

time, but imagine bringing your children to the new church building, and

saying 'I helped them get here. I was a pioneer in this ward's progress'".

That really made me reflect on what kind of influence I want to have in my

area. Missions are forever, and just thinking about telling my future

children about my service here is exciting, as well as a little

intimidating. We have a big responsibility. I am thankful I have this call,

because God will qualify me for it. Everything I can accomplish is because

of Him, and I know that we have the opportunity to bless the lives of the

people here in Pok Fu Lam!

Our ward is in Aberdeen, and I encourage everyone to look it up! It has a

really cool history and is such an amazing place! I truly love the ward

here. I am looking forward to helping families join the church and

strengthen the ward, and to help the YW here. There are only 3 Young Women

and a couple Young Men. I am so grateful to have had the Crestwood Ward

Young Women, which was blessed with so many wonderful girls and leaders.

But I am also so grateful for the YW here who have so much faith and who

are so willing to go on missions and stand up for their beliefs. I can't

imagine not having the strong support group of LDS friends.

Si Mahng, our newest investigator is so kind and humble. I love sharing my

testimony with her and explaining for the first time to her, who Jesus

Christ is, what Heavenly Father's plan is, and how we can make it back to

His presence. I KNOW our message is true.

We had dinner with President Lam and Sister Lam. We were passing out fliers

at the Welcome Center (We serve there 2 hours a week) and they came and

took all the sisters there to dinner. I got this BBQ pork (called cha siu

faahn) that is very popular here, and it was amazing!!! So yummy! I also

tried "Fairwood" for the first time this week and my life will never be the

same. It is so yummy! Like Panda, but way better. It also has really good

cha siu.

Today we did personal study and bought groceries. Then we're going to

Mongkok to shop. I will try to restrain myself from buying every Oriental

good that catches my eye. hahaha

This week I my testimony of the Plan of Salvation was strengthened. I know

it is true. His plan is perfect. It is a plan of happiness. I shared my

testimony that even though right now I am separated from my earthly father,

who is in Utah, I still know he loves me, and we can communicate through

email. Our Heavenly Father is the same. We were with Him at one time, and

even though we can't see Him, He is there and He loves us. But we can

communicate with Him anytime, through prayer.

Just try to imagine never having heard "Plan of Salvation" or "The gospel

of Jesus Christ" and hearing these lessons for the first time. It is

miraculous! It makes sense. It is amazing. I feel like I am hearing the

gospel for the first time, though the eyes of my investigators.

I know this mortal journey was necessary for our progression. I have never

loved my family more than I do now, because the teachings they taught me

are in practice, I realize how much I desire to make it back to their

presence, and their love is not manifest in seeing them, but just in that

we are an eternal family and we are centered on Christ-on charity.

Christ is the Savior.

I met a stranger in the night, whose lamp had ceased to shine;

I paused and let him light his lamp from mine.

A tempest sprang up later on, and shook the world about,

And when the wind was gone, my lamp was out.

But back came to me the stranger—his lamp was glowing fine;

He held the precious flame and lighted mine."

- Quoted from President Monson

"Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only" James 1:22

Be a missionary, an example, a friend, a listener, a disciple this week!

 I think this is the food Golda described last week.

 Lunch with President and Sister Lam

Lam Lam