Never give up

Hello Family what's up.

This week was transfers.  I did not get transferred but we got a third companion.  Her name is Sister Adams and seriously she is the nicest, warmest person you could ever meet.  I love love having her with us.  She seems to lighten the load and make everything easier.  I dont know how long we will have her but I hope its a while.  Kowloon hasnt had any baptisms or success for so long they were considering closing my area, but last minute decided to add another area to ours and see if making it bigger could help some.  I hope so.  It can get discouraging to look and look and never have anything work out.  The people here just have no need for religion.  I wish Kowloon could see how awesome being a Mormon is.  I would be very sad if this area were closed from lack of work able to be done.   I've been getting pretty frustrated with these cute Hong Kong people. They just don't care about or have any desire to talk about God. Okay, that's a generalization but a lot of people we talk to have just never even thought about Him before and just don't want to. It's been driving me crazy. I don't get why they don't get it. So anyways, as we've been finding and talking to people this past week I've just been thinking why doesn't God show them? Why won't He show them the way to Him and help them to be happy. Then on Tuesday when we had district meeting an elder in my district said something that really touched my heart. He said that President Lam was helping them teach a lesson where this man was so against religion and God in general. He just kept insisting that nothing was true and was getting aggressive. This elder said that President Lam was getting obviously frustrated and trying his hardest to answer every question the man had and he was completely kind with every act of aggression.  But then eventually he just sat quiet for a minute and thought. After wards he got very calm and just said " We can't force you to be converted. If you don't want it there's nothing we would ever do to force you." The elder in my district said that at this point he was so mad. He couldn't believe that President Lam gave up. They brought this man to him thinking that they could finally get through to him and then he gave up. He was so disappointed. Then later he was talking to President Lam and President shared a thought about the experience. He said that sometimes we look at other churches like they're evil and we look at people with no God and think they are wicked. But that's not true. God does not favor certain children. He loves us all equally, The ones who have the fullness of the gospel and the ones talking to an American missionary girl on the bus telling her that it's not possible that God helped her learn Cantonese because he doesn't exist. Because of this love our Heavenly Father wants each of his children to have peace. Except for some of them won't take the peace he has to offer. For some of them keeping the commandments and the rules and praying and doing the things they need to do is just too hard. They refuse to do it and they refuse to open themselves to it. So He'll give them whatever peace he can. If the peace they need is to go to another Christian church and believe that no matter what they are saved, then He'll let them have that peace. Or if the peace they need is to reject God entirely He will still allow them to have a piece of happiness in their decision (at least until they are ready to accept more). 

I have been thinking a lot about this thought. God's love for us is so deep and I still don't understand it. I'm grateful that He is willing to give peace and love to His children in the capacity that they are willing to accept it. My thought on the frustration of peoples resistance in Kowloon (not one missionary has taught for almost a year here) is that God meets us where we are at, and loves us in that moment, and line upon line builds our understanding and knowledge.  I have faith that if someone is ready to hear the gospel, we will find them. 

Keep praying for Hong Kong and keep being so wonderful because you are.

Love love love you. <3

-Sister Terry