Becoming One With the Qi

Missionary Mom Des here...no new pictures for this week as of today.  Hopefully Elder Ogden will have time later this week to upload some.  But, for now, enjoy this oldie but goodie. :)

大家好！-dà jiā hǎo/Hello everyone!

This week was pretty hectic.  We are getting excited for our friend 辛伯伯- xin beibei (or Uncle "Sheen" as it's pronounced) to get baptized in the next couple of weeks! He's a super sweet old guy that has been investigating for a thousand years and only recently has realized that baptism is really something he needs. He has a lot of wisdom that he's been imparting to us, including occasionally teaching us 太極拳-taijiquan or Taichi, for our morning workout. It literally feels like a Kung Fu movie sometimes because he's super old (like fled mainland China with chang kai she as a kid old), wears traditional Kung Fu clothes, and talks about having our 氣- qi flow from the ground to the heavens through us (and pretty much any other concept you would think of in a stereotypical Kung Fu movie.)

Last P-day was pretty solid.  We went to an all-you-can-eat Pizza Hut. I can't decide if I regret that or not. After that, we played some Avalon, which was super fun.

This week we had Zone conference, and it was super good! We combined with Xinzhu zone.  I was able to see Elder Hong and catch up with him, so that was super fun. President Peterson has felt inspired for us to start using family history more in our proselyting and working with members, especially with how much respect people in Asia have for their ancestors. We have new tracts, or small flyers to pass out, with a Chinese idiom meaning "to bring honor to one's family and ancestors", ("光宗耀祖“-guang zong yao zu.) The tract has some scriptures and information about the Family Search website, including the fact that the church has bought and provides free access to more Chinese family history books and scrolls than even the Shanghai library! We've seen a lot of miracles as we share about family history and why it's so important.  We invite members to do the same, because a huge problem we see is that a lot of people, when they convert to other christian churches from the traditional Daoist ancestor worship that is prevalent here, many of them in the eyes of their family members completely abandon their family and ancestors. So when people hear we actually admire the love they have for their ancestors and have ways for them to help and learn about them even more, they're pleasantly surprised and it opens them up a lot more. 

I just want to reiterate how grateful I am for my family. They are my greatest support and I wouldn't have almost any good thing in my life if it weren't for the example and hard work of my parents. I have really seen that the greatest happiness in this life comes from having a strong family, and I think deep down everyone knows that to some extent or another. It makes me sad to know not everyone has been as privileged as I have been in my family, and I know Heavenly Father is sad about that too. That's why He gave us His son. I know following Him, really striving to follow Him, will bring success and harmony to my family, and it will for you all too. 

Love you all, have a fantastic week!

Elder Joshua Ogden
Missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
武忠樂長老
耶穌基督後期聖徒教會的傳教