Week 28: January 20, 2020

Hey all!

I basically just spent this past week getting used to Kendal! And the insane amount of food the members give us haha

Ive been finding some ways to practice my Chinese even here in Kendal! This past tuesday we went on splits with my zone leaders in Lancaster and I got to speak some Chinese! (Finally). Basically if theres a university theres gonna be a bunch of chinese people. So I'll get some opportunities to speak when im on exchanges. We also went to Windemere the other day which is this really touristy town in our area. It has a really pretty lake and backdrop (pics included at the bottom). But basically theres a couple of Chinese tourists (not a lot since it isnt the summer yet) so it was fun to talk to some of them

So last week I mentioned that we have this friend John, who was on date. He would've been the first person in more than 2 years to get baptized in the branch so I was pretty excited. But he sent us a text last Thursday basically saying he never wanted to meet with us again. So that was actually super depressing. Luckily we ran into him on the street the next day and spent a long time just talking to him on the street. Eventually he said he'll keep meeting with us. But as of right now he doesnt want to be baptized. So hopefully things will work out!

The one Chinese person（月亮） I found on my first day that wanted me to teach her English isnt as good as I expected. So she knew right off the bat that we're missionaries. But she still wanted to meet with me to learn English. So one time after teaching her a little english, I tried to share a short video about Jesus with her. Cause that's we normally did when we taught english back in Manchester. And she basically refused to watch it. She apparently just hates Christian churches and idk why. So I'll have to deal with that as well.

At zone conference, President McReynolds put a huge emphasis on focusing on things within your sphere of influence. And not to worry about things we cant control. And that's been something I've definitely had to apply this week. With John and 月亮 basically just rejecting the Gospel. Not to mention the hundreds of people we talk to everyday that dont want to learn the gospel. It's just been so frustrating and also been testing my patience so much. But I know God has a purpose for everything. And I just have to put my trust in him. 

-Elder Ensign

Classic missionary on bike picture

One of the many churches in kendal 

Windemere pt.1

Pt. 2 windemere

Also fun fact, elder smith and I are 4th cousins!

More kendal scenery

Week 27: January 13, 2020

你们好!

First off, I hit my 6 months mark! So way to go for that! Already 1/4th done, it's going by WAYYY fast!

Second, I'm in a new area now, Kendal! Kendal is one of the most northern areas in the mission and to put it simply, it's a really hard area. Theres a branch here of about 15 members, and there hasn't been a baptism in over 2 years. Street contacting and tracting is what we end up doing every day pretty much all day too since we dont  ever really have people to teach. Everyone in this town knows who the missionaries are and they're all not interested... so that's a little hard. And I really dont have any opportunities to speak Chinese since theres probably only 5 chinese people in all of kendal, and I have an English speaking companion. But that's ok! I'll just have to find those 5 Chinese people haha

But I LOVE it here! It literally couldnt be more different from the Manchester ysa ward but I think I really needed this change. Me and my new companion Elder Smith get along really well. We both have a lot in common and we're both working really hard. Also, the air is sooooo fresh here, and the scenery is AMAZING. The church building is also literally right next to the river which runs through town. For street contacting every day, we basically walk alongside the river for like a mile and then we turn around and go through town. All the buildings here are super old, so it literally feels like an old england town. Oh and branch rules are different than wards, so we get fed 5 days a week. The same 5 families feed us everywhere week haha. It's literally so nice. Usually you can only get fed by one family twice per transfer, but that rule doesnt exist here so we get fed by the same 5 families every week. I love it so much. I'm gonna get soo fat. I had the most greasy fish & chips the other day which was soooo good. Its definitely wayyyy different from YSA where I only got fed like twice haha

I feel like a real missionary now haha. This past week it's been pouring rain like every day. And I've officially been tracting everyday! Usually its  just been on exchanges haha. So knocking on doors while its pouring rain is basically my life now. And we have bikes too haha. We pretty much only bike to buy groceries, but still. This is kinda my vision for what missionary work was gonna be like haha. Biking, tracting in the rain

Also, we have one person on date for baptism! His name is John. He got put on baptism a couple weeks before I got here. But right now we're planning on 8 Feb. But we'll see how that goes because from what I can see from him, he has some pride issues. So that'll interesting. ALSO, I found the one Chinese person in Kendal! Literally everyone here is white. But I found her on my first official day in kendal! I teach her english sometimes and she's gonna teach me Chinese haha. So I'll see how she goes haha. Also theres some Chinese restaurants here with Chinese people that work in them so I plan on talking to them sometimes to practice my Chinese. 

I was a little sad to be transferred here at first, but I'm really excited to be here now! I'm hoping we can change the area!

-高长老

Just an overload of pics, wait for pt. 2 haha

Kendal scenery

First time eating fish & chips in England whoaaaaa

Some old English houses

The river right outside the chapel

Old YSA district

Church building ft elder smith

Me and Elder Smith 

Kendal scenery

Really posh hot chocolate our friend gave us

Kendal scenery

Week 26: January 7, 2020

大家好!!

Transfers!!! Wow this past transfer went by fast, and this next transfer is gonna be CRAZY! It's literally nothing what I was expecting. AT ALL. So basically I'm moving out of YSA. I'm going to Kendal, the most northern area in my mission. It borders with Scotland (shout out to Elder Beam)! And I'm gonna be with an English speaking companion, elder smith, so it's going to be pretty hard to learn Chinese. Elder chen also got transferred out of YSA as well. So to put things simply, they split the Manchester zone in half, and now theres gonna be new zone leaders whitewashing into our area. I'm sooo sad! I'm gonna have to say goodbye to all the people I'm working with, to the Chinese group and all the chinese missionaries. And unfortunately theres only gonna be 3 Chinese missonaries serving in the YSA now, two of which are still in training. Last transfer there was 7! I'm kinda disappointed the way things are turning out, that neither me or Elder Chen will be able to keep working with all our friends, but I know that theres a purpose for this. I hope I'll be able to go back to YSA sometime soon! 

But it was a good week! All the uni students are starting to come back which is soooo nice. We ended up finding a lot this past week. We didnt have a ton of success, but we were still able to find 4 new people to teach, which is the highest we've found in a while! And they're all really good! Too bad we won't be able to work with them haha

This past friday was so nice! We went to the temple with Michael! We're so happy for him, he really enjoyed it! We took a train to preston which is where the temple is, which ended up taking pretty much all day. But it was so fun! Michael also used a water fountain for the first time ever so go michael haha. Water fountains basically dont exist in England which is so weird! And kinda frustrating haha. Anyways, after we got back from the temple, we got unexpectedly fed by an older Chinese woman, WangWang. I got some truly authentic chinese food, complete with chicken feet. Not as bad as I thought it was gonna be haha. Elder Chen was chowing down, he said he really missed Chinese food haha. He ate so much food he was still full the next day haha

But really not much else has happened this past week. Just a little stressed with transfers coming and knowing that my language study plan had better be good cause that 1 hour a day is the only chance I'm gonna get to learn Chinese. But I'm a little excited i guess for it! Change will be nice. I'm gonna be serving in a small branch, teaching only english people probably, and in a small town. So itll be interesting to say the least. A lot different from Manchester haha

That's basically it for this week. I'll let y'all know how the new area is next week! 

我爱你们!

—高长老

More England scenery (by the temple)

Hot pot with my district :)

Temple pictures

Temple pictures

Chicken feet soup mmmmmm

Week 25: January 1, 2020

新年快乐！

Next week is transfers so I guess I'll see if I'm staying in Manchester again or not! I have a feeling I'm gonna leave though but I guess we'll see. But elder chen has been here like the past 7 transfers so he might leave for his last transfer haha

Not much really went on this past week, we just ended up finding a lot this week since like all our friends are either home or at vacation. We didnt really have much success either which was really hard. But nonetheless I'm excited for all our friends to come back, and for university to get started up again! Itll be nice to have all the students back haha

We have a companionship goal for this next January to get 3 people on date! We have a couple people in mind: Vivianne (an older Chinese lady) who's soooo good. She just really has such a desire to learn more. Frankie, who we've only met with once, but he really wants to learn more about Jesus Christ. And then BoTing or YuBin, who we've been teaching for a while. So I'm excited to see where that goes!

I had some pretty interesting conversations this past week. We got bashed again by a muslim, who basically just did the same thing as last time, just give a ten minute long memorized speech. And at the end he just added “so do you wanna be a muslim now?” Great time haha. I also met the “crazy manchester lady”, which is what some people call some creepy lady who's on the streets a lot. Nobodys been able to talk to her before but for whatever reason she decided to talk to me. It was a decent conversation but I couldnt understand a single thing she was saying haha. And we talked to this chinese girl the other day who asked if “哈利波特” was a belief (Harry Potter). Relatable haha. So yeah, some all over the place conversations this past week

A sister from my home ward shared this quote with me a couple days ago, and I want to share it cause I really like it! It's from President Ezra Taft Benson: “Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can.  He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life.” This really relates to my mission plaque scripture Mark 8:35 “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.” Pretty simple, but always so important to remember that God always comes first! I know that as we put God first, we'll be so blessed! Happy new year everyone!

-高长老

Sorry, not really any pictures this week, but heres some pics of Oxford road, the street we go finding on everyday (has 3 universities all basically right next to the church). Usually theres like a hundred double decker busses and thousands of people running around the streets, but not when I took this picture since it was Christmas!

The big curvy building with the picture of the swimmers on it is the aquatic center, our church is right behind it on the same side of the street 

I'll attach a pic of the church as well :)