Week 40: Cheung Hings, Elder Gong, Zone Conference, Ricky is almost there!

Lieh Hou Muiyatgoyahn!!!

Wow time really does fly by when you are doing the work of the Lord! This week went by so quick and I looked at the Calendar and it is almost June! Wow what happened with the time? It just shot right on by and it was so quick and full of so much spirit and fun! I love being out here every day and even though the times can be hard, they can also be soft and full of so much fun and love! I am so excited to tell you all the things for this week! So lets crack on shall we!

Cheung Hings: So this was what week we went to a cool suit place down in the Center of Hong Kong island and it was a little weird spot in a building and it was like walking into the wand shop in harry potter cause there was this table that was full of books and fabrics that you could have a suit made out of and custom fit to your body for only 1200 hong kong dollars! I didn't get one but elder Riley was in need of one and it was fun to see all the colors and styles! I will probably get one later on maybe around next year during suit season or before I leave home, but that isn't for a while so I have no need to worry now! I really like all the colors and every thing that is in that store!

Elder Gong: We had another blessing of the lord this week! We woke up at 5 in the morning to head down to Wan Chai to go and see and hear Elder Gong speak to us at 9 in the morning! We sang called to serve and Elder Gong walked in and it was the strongest thing every! He walked by a sister and shook her hand and then said "We would love to shake all your hands!" So he walked out and no one was following him. He came back in and said" We would like to shake all of your hands if that's ok?!" we felt so embarrassed and went out and shook his hand. I got to him and he was so funny and friendly to all of us! His wife gave a great talk on serving with all our heart might mind and strength and what each of those mean. I could tell you all the answers to the questions but where would the learning factor come into play! He asked President and Sister lam to come up with him and asked us if we loved them to put our hand up, then both hands, and then our feet! He is so funny and is so strong!  I had a cool experience the night before. I asked Heavenly father to help me feel the power that comes from an Apostle. He walked by me and The whole world seemed to go into slow mo and I was overwhelmed with the spirit letting me know that this is indeed a man called of god and that he can command the Elements if he so desired! I am so grateful for that answer to my prayer and to have that blessing!

Zone Conference: We had a really long zone conference this week as well with phone training and it really opened my eyes to what we will be able to do really soon in order to help our investigators and people we meet on the street. I am so excited to get all the cool things that come with phones and to help every one! We should be getting the little cards to call people soon in July and for now we just use the little nokias. Man the phones are so cool and watching all the videos are so good. I recommend you all to go and check out Gospel Media! It is the coolest thing every!

Ricky!!!: Ricky was able to come to church this week thanks to our ward members who live close by his house to give him a ride! He came to church in a Tie and he was so ready to learn! We had sacrament last because Tai Po ward was doing something so we had Priesthood first and the lesson involved Ricky to write stuff on the board and all the brethren love him! He loves telling people he is getting baptized and he is so excited for it! I love this man with all my heart and he is the nicest person in the world! He got me a little Fan to keep me cool cause it was about 35C in our apartment and also around 36 in the chapel! Echt so hot! We are having a movie night this week to watch a disney movie, probably Moana, and to get his wife and kids to come to meet the ward and to let them know we are nice people! Love this man and his choice to follow the savior!

Well that pretty much about does it for this week and I love you all! Stay strong and Keep smiling 

just as Papa Duersch always says!

Yours in Fellowship and Love,🐲🐼✌🍜

鄧 長 老

Elder Duersch

Dahng Jeunglouh

Stan Theman

Week 39: Phones, Ricky, another Apostle....

你好！

Yaaaay! My phone can draw characters! I am so happy now! Well I am so glad to hear that you all are doing well and that the week was good. The weather back home sounds like a great treat cause here IM MELTING!  The weather is getting hotter and I am sweating so much hahaha. The people here carry around towels to wipe all it off and it isn't even as hot as it is gonna get here in July and August blegh! 

Well......Shall we begin! this one may be a bit smaller of an email cause I am trying.to use this phone and not much this week happened, but good stuff did come!

On this week's Episode of Elder Stan Theman(Elder Duersch) Hong Kong Adventures!

Smart Phones: As I have mentioned earlier, we have now acquired smart phones! They are Samsung because of an app the church uses to make sure the phone is being used properly. I personally do not mind the Samsung and I also had to buy my own cause I will be here for a while but those missionaries who leave in August get a loaner phone and then they give it back when they "Die" which means they just leave the mission cause there service is now done! lots of funny missionary words out here you  meant and how they have been kept through a long time of missionaries. We are very blessed to have this to help hasten to work of the Lord here in Hong Kong. Also I made a little picture on the phone of our beloved prophet. 

Ricky: Ricky is doing really well and we just finished teaching the commandments to him and he is keeping all of them! His love for this church and the Savior is contagious and I love him to bits cause he is just such a great man! He loves the church and the ward members here! 

Another Apostle: We have just learned that Elder Gong is coming to Hong.Kong this week and we are super excited!! I have seen so many church leaders out here and it is such a blessing to have them come and talk to us!

Also another thing that happened this week was that our ward mission leader brother Hoh got released and we are sad to see him go but now we have the bishops brother in law as the new one! He is 25 and his name is mike! Really look forward to working with him.

Spiritual insight for the week was yesterday I prayed to receive revelation just like President Nelson has instructed us to do. I prayed to know am I currently a good missionary? The prompting came to go to Preach my Gospel in a successful missionary. I wrote down the prompting and then acted on it. I went on a search and the first scriptures I found was Helaman 10:1-5 and verse 4 had answered my prayer!

Prayer is so great out here and I love praying to heavenly father!

Thank you all for all you do and.all your prayers and love!

have a great week!

Yours in Fellowship and Love,🐲🐼✌🍜

鄧 長 老

Elder Duersch

Dahng Jeunglouh

Stan Theman

Week 38: Unique food!, Mini Mtc,Ricky, Skype, Full house at Church! Transfer Calls!

Lieh Hou Muigoyahn!

Hope you all had a great week cause I did and it was so much fun! Get some popcorn and a drink cause the show is about to start! Maybe some rice as well cause rice and fish are good!

On this weeks Episode of Elder Stan Theman, China Hong Kong Adventure!:

Unique food: So we went to a Korean BBQ and it was so good! So much meat and food and fruit! I also saw some interesting food! And i was just like, "Well I only get this chance once in a life so go fore it!" I ate Baby octopus, Squid Tentacle, Ox Tongue (MY favorite thing I have eaten here!), and Turkey Gizzard!!! Can't get that stuff in the states now can ya!

Mini MTC: So there was also a little Mini MTC in Kowloon for the youth who were gonna serve missions and we went down to help them out. I was to take a priest from the Tai Po ward who I know really well and we went out street finding for 2 hours and it was really fun! He liked it and asked a lot of questions about people on the street and how to approach them and talk to them. He was a native so talking with them was pretty easy for him! What a great guy! He will make a sweet missionary!

Ricky!: Wow Ricky is doing so well and I am so happy for him! We met with him on Thursday and taught the commandments of Prayer, Reading, 10 commandments, Sabbath day, and law of Chastity. He is a very smart man and was excited to keep all these commandments and follow our Savior. He is so great and is really wanting to make a change in his life and he feels that baptism the first step in his life to make a better change. He is really excited for when he gets baptized to have his family hopefully come and support him. He wants them to feel the same peace and joy that he has when he meets with us and wants to go to church. He is just the best guy in the world and is always happy to meet and to learn all he can. We will be meeting with him tomorrow at a members house for dinner and we will see what happens. Very excited for that!

Skype: I can't believe how fast time fly's. It feels like only a month ago I was Skyping home for Christmas and now it was mothers day! Time is so weird here on a mission let me tell ya. There are good days for time that just goes and goes and goes for hours. And then a couple months are gone and you are just like "What did I do again!?" So much fun! So good to see the family and to know that they are doing well and all is being taken care of on that front of the field.

Church: We knew that Ricky was going to church this week and we waited for him to come. As we waited for him our ward mission leader Ho Hing daaih told us that Chihng Hing daaih was down stairs. He is a less active I meet every Wednesday and he has yet to come to church in a long time because of his job as a taxi driver in the mornings. We ran downstairs and there he was tying his tie and with a smile on his face! He loves coming to church, but it is just hard with all the work schedule and things here in Kong Kong for him. We went upstairs into the chapel and he stopped and looked at me near the door and he just smiled and said, "We Will do this Together!" and so we walked in and had a great Mothers day sacrament meeting! He left after sacrament but what a true blessing to have him come! Ricky was also in the back with some members through the meeting and I didn't see him come in and he was just doing what he does, smiling and talking to everyone! When third hour rolled around we saw another less active we work with named A-Wing. He helps us out with our language and we really have been trying to get him to come to church with us. Finally he came and the Elders Quorum loved him there and he started to make friends. We also had a party for the moms up stairs in the Gym for mothers day and it was so fun! So much Chinese food and I aint talking Panda Express. Kinda funny I have been missing Mexican food and fake Chinese food lately hahahaha!

Transfer Calls!!!:  Guess what!!! I am still in Tai Wo. Wow another transfer in the bag and another one to add to it. I wonder how long I will be in this area for my mission? What if it is like a year! Wow that would be something. That has happened to some other elders in the past! Elder Riley will still be here as well with me.

I have a cool story real quick about Prayer. I was getting ready in the morning for the day and we started our day with daily planning. I know right who would think we did that first ha. We had planned to share a message about faith with a  ward family we were meeting that night. I started my personal study with a very heart felt prayer and I asked for help to find a scripture about faith. I opened my scriptures and turned right to Alma 32 which is about the people who were kicked out of their synagogues and couldn't pray and worship. Alma is glad for there humility and teaches them about faith! How faith is not to have a perfect knowledge of things. And also having faith is hoping for that which is also not seen! I love that scripture a lot! So true how faith works by not seeing anything and having hope for the truth. My testimony has really grown out here on my mission and I am so grateful for all the great blessings I have received and also some trials along the way. For with out some trials how could we become great!

Well hope this was enough for you all and that you have a great and uplifting week! I will always be praying for you all and I will always have a smile on my face!

Have a good week!

Yours in Fellowship and Love,󾓭🐲🐼✌🍜

鄧 長 老

Elder Duersch

Dahng Jeunglouh

Stan Theman

Week 37: Fish Bag, Ricky and his Prayer, Church Ping Pong!

Lieh Hou Muiyatgoyahn!

WOW this week just flew by and I can't believe how great things are doing back home. I will not waste to much of your time today, but here is what was up here in Hong Kong This Week!!!

On This week Episode of Elder Stan Theman: Hong Kong Adventure!

Fish in the Bag!: 

OK, this was one of the most funniest and unique Cheng outs we have had with members ever! They live in the middle of nowhere in the eastern side of our area. Our area is the 4th biggest in Hong Kong because it is very long! We went to a family called the Leih's. They are a sweet little family in the jungle in Tai Mei Tuk, and it was like Jurassic Park for real out there! They could film the next one in Hong Kong and I think that would work great. Anyway, we made it to their house and they had some fish fillets on the table covered by a paper towel. There were some flies in the house and I was just a wee bit scared for what would be under the cloth...hahaha. They pulled out of a big bag of some smaller paper bags that had the bottom totally dripping in grease! They got some bowls and ripped open the bags. The inside was just some noodles and some meat that was supper tasty! Then they offered us more of the Fish Fillets. I was able to eat two of them, and the were actually super good! Elder Riley ate four, and the sisters were there as well! Sister Burtenshaw and Sister Johnson. The members pushed the plate over to Elder Riley and he pushed it over to sister Burtenshaw and she was like, ok. I looked away for a split second, and before she had already eaten 3 and when I looked away for 3 seconds and looked back it was gone. I knew she didn't eat it so I looked on the floor to see if it was chillin there! When I leaned over to look, I saw it wrapped in paper towel and in her bag! I was laughing so hard! And everyone started laughing and they didn't quite realize why!  We shared a message and then went on our way to the bus station. The bus came and there are 16 seats on the bus, and if the people in front of us got on and the sisters, elder Riley could get on but I couldn't. SO, we let them go and we waited for the next bus to come. An Hour and a Half Later!!!!! Holy Moly - that was the longest wait ever! There were also Cows! Haven't seen those guys in a while. Got back to the church and the sisters showed up right when we did so we told them what happened and they were so sorry. Turns out the fish in sister Burtenshaws bag leaked and it destroyed one of her new note books she had just bought the day before! I felt so bad but it was kinda funny! She loved the fish but she was just full so that is why she couldn't eat it hahah! SO much Fun!

Ricky and his Prayer:

 We had a broadcast for Taiwan and for Hong Kong from some of the leaders of the church and it was really cool. They talked a lot about ministering and how it is the new Higher and Holier way to help everyone and be like Christ! 

Ricky was able to come to it and he loved it so much. We met with him this week and finished teaching The Gospel of Jesus Christ and he loved it! He told us that he thought so much about baptism this week and that his older sister talked to him and she was there to support him in his choice because she believes in God and that we all need him in our life! She isn't a Member but wow how cool! During our lesson we invited him to pray about a date to be baptized and he said he would do so. When the broadcast was over I was prompted to ask him how his prayer went and before I could open my mouth he leaned over and said this, "I talked to God in Prayer this week like you told me to.....and I got an answer to my prayer, I want to be baptized on June 10!" I stood there for like 5 seconds while he was smiling at me because I was so shocked fromm what he said. We both started laughing and talking and I told him how proud I was for him and he is super excited for this change in his life. He wants to be baptized so bad and he went around the whole ward telling every one and it was the cutest thing ever because he was so happy about it all! He asked Bishop Wohng to be the one to baptize him and he is super excited for it! I was so filled with joy and with love that day and it is for sure a day I will never forget in my life! I am so happy for him and all he is doing!

Also Mr Tsang was able to come to the meeting as well and we talked to him, and he really liked it but had to go so we couldn't catch up. We are meeting with him this week on Thursday to have dinner and to teach him The Restoration. So excited. Also we taught Matthew and turns out when we went in to teach the Commandments we talked about how it was cool he was reading and praying every day! He looked a bit confused and he said I don't have a book! I was shocked and so we dropped our original lesson plan and gave him a BoM and read 1 Nephi 1. Just comes to show to Teach People and not Lessons! We had to push his baptism back a bit because of that, and also he personally doesn't feel like he has enough faith, yet. But he is still ready for baptism and we have a new plan for some time later in June! Really excited for him!

Church Ping Pong!:

Alright I know what you all are thinking...He is in China he has to have played Ping Pong and is super good because, well...China. Sorry to disappoint you all, but this was the first time this week we played Ping Pong, and it was the funnest thing ever! We didn't have a net so we used Hymn books as nets. It was Elder Riley with Sister Anderson V.S. Me and Brother Ho - our mission leader! There wasn't enough paddles, so me being myself, went for a hymn book and swung away. Turns out those books really help you out in life cause I was doing great with it. Probably not good using a Hymn book for a paddle but I had the word of God on my side hahahaha! It was so much fun and I really hope to get good at Ping Pong out here on my mission.

But that isn't the point of me being here! I am here to help others come unto Christ and to teach Repentance and baptize converts. I love being out here and there are indeed hard times! I thought I was never going to get any thing going on my mission because nothing was happening the first part of my mission! But just like Ether 12:6 we do not receive a witness until after the trial of our faith! I love being a missionary and getting stronger every day! I love you all and am so grateful for all your love and support in helping me out here on my mission. Please look after each other and do as Christ would do and Minister to those who need it the most!

Have a good week!

Yours in Fellowship and Love,󾓭🐲🐼✌🍜

鄧 長 老

Elder Duersch

Dahng Jeunglouh

Stan Theman