Week 9 and 10: Elder fDuersch is in Hong Kong....

Lieh Hou! Everyone!!

Wow...what a crazy busy couple of weeks. Well, I am officially in Hong Kong! When we got on the plane to Hong Kong, Elder Francome and I had the opportunity to talk to a woman who sat next to us the entire flight. DUHH. She was 72 years old and was Catholic. Her name was Ning and we got to talk  with her about Jesus. She said she loves talking about Jesus. I did some studies and some reading on the flight and slept for like 8 hours. SO GOOD. When we left the plane, we I helped her out with her luggage and we gave her a book mark of Christ and also told her about a book that Testifies of him and his teachings. SHE ACCEPTED A BOM!!! My first real contact and I gave out a BoM. SO COOL!!! 

My new Companion/Trainer is Elder Beeson (Yih Jeunglouh). He is from Mesa Arizona and he knows where Yuma Arizona is. Shout out to Brandy! We are living in Tai Po and serve in Tai Wo. Our apartment is about the size of my room upstairs. I took a video and some pictures of it and it is really NUTZ!!! We have 2 other elders in our flat named Paulsen and Egen. Elder Egen is from Germany - he is really cool. They all are!

I learned about our investigator. Our ONLY ONE! His name is.........Connor!! How cool is that?  He has been taught for over 6 months and is so excited to get baptized. He is 16 and loves video games and Does parkour thanks to his favorite game Assassins Creed. He named himself after one of the characters. The Wrekers are going to get a kick out of that! but there is one problem, his family is against him being baptized!!! He was so close a while ago and his brother told him no! So there are 2 options we can do for him. We can wait until he is 18 and then he can legally get baptized or we have to convince his whole family about our church and beliefs. I feel a strong connection to him already and I cant wait to meet him.

The main work we are doing in Hong Kong is mostly Less Active Work. Our ward has 50 active members and about let say......250-300 LESS ACTIVE!!! The retention rate here is really bad - 80% BAD. So We are thinking of ways we can fix that and get the wards to be more of a family. We go to the chuI learned about our Investigator. Our ONLY ONE! His name is.........Connor!! How cool. He has been taught for over 6 months and is so excited to get baptized. He is 16 and loves video games and Does parcour thanks to his favorite game Assassins Creed. He named himself after one of the characters. The Wrekers are going to get a kick out of that! but there is one problem, his family is against him being baptized!!! He was so close a while ago and his brother told him no! So there are 2 options we can do for him. We can wait until he is 18 and then he can legally get baptized or we have to convince his whole family about our church and beliefs. I feel a strong connection to him already and I cant wait to meet him.

This Sunday was The Primary Program and I have to say...ASAIN babies are the CUTEST THINGS EVER!!! The rest of the day was basically church and I tried to understand as much as I could and got really tired haha. We then had a meeting with Bishop Wohng who is incredibly young! He has major concerns for the ward and is looking for fun and happy people to fix that..........hmmmmmm, We are really excited to help. Elder Beeson has been in this area for 7 months and will be in it for about 10-11 since he is training me.

One really cool Highlight from Sunday was we got to take the sacrament to an elderly couple named the Mh Gahting. They are so CUTE and really old. The husband had a really bad stroke and cant go to the church anymore so he and his wife stay home. I want to go and teach them this week and get a picture with them to show you how adorable they are!

Thank you all so much for your love and support! It is helping me so much out here 12,000 miles away from home. I am grateful to be out here and to serve the lord the best I can. Hope you all are doing grate please let me know what I can do for you while I am finally out in the field!

Remember that when we all are feeling at our lowest point the only way left is to go up! Jesus Christ will always be there to lift us up in our most dire times and for that I am truly grateful! I know he knows all of you personally, and cares for you more than you could ever comprehend on this planet! I bear my witness of him that he is our savior and he is the living son of the living God who paid the Infinite Price for us to return to him and our father in heaven with open arms waiting for us to be back in his presence.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Yours In Fellowship and Love,󾓭🐲🐼🍜

Dahng Jeunglouh

Elder Duersch

Stan Theman

P.S. Here is a peace sign!✌ If you do it here with your palm facing you it means you are flipping people off! SO DONT DO THAT HAHA if you can see your palm your wrong! 

Elder Connor Duersch - Week #7 MTC

Lieh Hou Noghge Pangyauh!

How are we all doing this fine week after conference!?

So much Good Stuff happened to me this week and there is a lot that I want you all to Hear.

Thursday: was really an interesting day for me. I woke up that mornin and the thought came to me, "What am I Doing Here!!!" I was really troubled by this thought and the whole morning I couldn't feel the Spirit at all and felt like I needed to go home because I felt like I have been doing nothing here. Then Along Came Taahm!(Elder Adams). That sounds like a book Title hahaha. He knew something was troubling me and wanted to know what was on my mind. I told him and I have never had a more spiritual Therapist here with my district than Taahm. He told me if you were in a seat and a therapist was in front of you and he asked what would you rate your worth and confidence right now? You could give yourself a different number every day! Then he said what if your parents are in your spot in that chair, what would they say? They would say your worth is beyond 100% even if you messed up and did somethings bad. And what if Christ and Heavenly Father were in that chair? We could never comprehend how much we mean to our beloved Father in Heaven and our Savior. For they will love us no matter what we do or how much we sin. He then told me how much I have blessed his life just by being there and smiling. He told me that if I was gone our district would be less of what it is right now, and it would be missing something. He is one of my best friends here and I am truly grateful for him. 

Later in the day, I decided to teach using only a flash card with our lesson outline on it and some vocab I needed to remember with Rebecca on the Sabbath Day. It was a real struggle, but it felt good at the same time to see just how capable I actually am with the language and my knowledge. We got our Full Names as well and what there Meanings are. Dahng Ho Laaih. Our teacher Brother Anderson said he prayed about these names and the inspiration he received for us. My Name Means  To Rely or Depend On. I love how that is my name - it further helps me realize how much people care about me and how much they need me. Just like conference this weekend There are no such things as Coincidences!

The real Highlight of the Day and probably the week besides Conference was a lesson we had from another teacher. His name is Doh Hingdaih. He gave us the most AMAZING lesson on The Good Samaritan. He wrote on the board a bunch of points that happened in that story and then how we can relate it to everything. I took some pictures of my notes I took and I would INVITE YOU ALL to go over LUKE 10: 25-37 and look over the different points of it and Apply it in your life right now! It has forever changed my view on how Simple Christ teaches to us and why he did it in Parables.

Saturday/Sunday: Conference Weekend was really good this year... am I right!! It really makes a true difference when you are truly listening to the words of Christ's Apostles and Leaders. There was not one thing I didn't take away from all of it. I took a pic of each page of notes from every session and I would like you to read over them if you can and compare your notes to mine to see if the spirit is telling you a message you might have missed. I have grown a stronger knowledge of how important it is to really listen and to study as hard as you can. When you really do that you will learn more than you thought you ever could and hear things you would have never heard. My personal favorite form Conference was probably Uchtdorf on the Light and Faith in Christ. That one hit me the most. I would like to say that the over all theme of Conference this month was Service and Faith. The MTC really needed to hear that. There are so many here that are struggling and it is so sad to see that. Every one here has their own problems. Just turn to the One who knows all and will always be on your right hand and on your left, to bear you up when the world is to much on your shoulders!

We also had John Munoa come and speak to us at our Sunday Devotional. He is the Producer of the Bible Videos!!!! It was so cool to learn how all the sets were made and how the whole thing was put together! He said he had the chance to be in the scene with Christ on the Cross and he was the one to give him the Sponge of Vinegar. He said his faith grew so much that day seeing The Actor on the cross. 

I have heard that on your mission you learn Kinda what you want to do in your future. I still want to go into Animation, but the thought hit me that if I really got good at it I could make animated shorts for each story in the Scriptures. That gave me so much thought on my life and how to give talents that we know and learn back to the Lord.

Hope You all had a good Conference Weekend! Please heed the words that are spoken from our beloved leaders. For they are the words of God. And we may never know what there last words may be. 

I love you all so very much and if there is anything I can do for you please let me Know!!!

Remember that Christ will always be there when the world isn't. He is our rock and wants to help us in everything that we do!

Yours In Fellowship and Love󾓭🐲🐼🍜

Dahng Jeunglouh

Elder Duersch
Stan Theman

Week #6 Lieh Hou Moyatgo Yahn! (Hellow Everyone)

This week was super cool! We had a  guest speaker.........Elder Quentin L. Cook!! Super cool to see him and hear his words. I took a pic of my notes on what he said so you all can hear what he has to say. Really good stuff!

There was a couple spiritual moments with some of my companions and roommates this week as well. We are being taught so much here, and when you start get into the swing of things its not like drinking from a fire hose anymore....just a really powerful fountain!

The choir is really cool here with all the things we learn from each Hymn and their true meaning. Our Investigators are doing really well with the lessons we are teaching them. One of them has a problem with The word of Wisdom and how it is a huge family tradition in China to do tea for dinner. That, I think is going to be a real challenge when I get there.

The Weeks are really starting to fly by here and it feels so good that when you really get into the work you start losing yourself in it. And, also the fact that you need to be obedient to the rules...they may seem weird at first, but they are there to protect you and to GIVE you blessings when you need them. Just like how the commandments are. The spirit is so strong here and I love it!!

The language is coming along very well. I am learning and memorizing more words and phrases every day. There are some road bumps, and I need to strengthen my testimony enough to bless others while I am there. The spirit will teach them, not me! The language will come I know that but I still need to put in work to get it down.

Sorry this Email is so short not much is really  happening here besides classes and Devotionals. When I get out into the field there will be more stories to tell and things to talk about.

So, I had the chance this week to really strengthen my testimony on how obedience will strengthen you when you follow the rules. I learn more and more things on that. I encourage and invite you all to follow the commandments and rules that have been placed before us from our loving Heavenly Father and Savior. Also follow, and keep your covenants you have made!!

Umm what else happened this week? I got my shirt from the MTC. I love it a lot. I got an XL. It was a freaking tent on me so I traded with another person in our district from New Zealand. I now have a L and am washing it right now. Lets hope it doesn't shrink to much. But I heard that the elders lose so much weight in Hong Kong. So it will fit me eventually. Also, the people in Hong Kong don't really like China, so wearing that around in public is a big NO! I don't know why the MTC doesn't have a Hong Kong flag shirt.

My companionship is doing so well, but get this - we are being split apart. It is now me and elder Madsen, and Elder Arnold is going to be with another companionship. The presidency told us that the reason behind this was so we could get a better grip on the language and experience a 2 person companionship. I do not know how to feel about this...but it was for a reason that it happened so I now that it was from Heavenly Father to strengthen every one.

That is pretty much it for this weeks episode of Elder Duersch!

If you have any questions or want to just talk please send me emails and I would love to help you all out!

Stay Weird and Awesome!!!!

Yours in Fellowship and Love,󾓭🐲🐼🍜

Dahng Jeunglouh

Elder Duersch

Stan Theman.