This week was a wonderful one. Firstly, on Friday, we were able to teach a seventy-two year old man and witness his son, a church leader from Zhuhai, baptize him. It was amazing to hear his simple but powerful testimony of God's blessings in his life and the miracles which have occurred because of his faith. Not only this, this elderly man's wife had waited over 18 years for him to join her, and during the baptism she bore one of the purest testimonies of joy.
Earlier in the week we were also able to return to Hong Kong to attend a temple session. Normally missionaries are assigned either to a Tuesday or Friday session because that is the only available time for English, but we ended up going on Wednesday because our Zone Conference fell on the following Thursday. In that same session, out of all of the sessions of that month I realized that we had coincided with the Wong Tai Sin ward, whom I had just served in prior to Macau. It was a render mercy to be able to see them and share a little bit of what I was up to. In addition to this, I learned that immediately following our session was 阿展s endowment, the first convert I had met when initially serving in Tai Po. It is hard to express my gratitude to be able to attend such a moment for this member who had been such an example and friend to me when I first began my mission a year ago.
When I came back to Macau I received the notice that I would not be able to stay for another transfer because of the limitation on the number of days I could stay here. I had expected this but I had grown to love the members and friends that we have met over the past couple of weeks. In particular, one of our friends, Larry, had been fully taught this week but his baptism was scheduled for two weeks into September. He and passed his interview just this past Sunday and invited me to baptize him next week.
During the English Branch that Sunday we had a brethren named Brother Ren give a talk. He shared about his life experiences as a father of three in the Phillipines, the upbringing of which was torn with sickness and health complications. With the blood diseases and unknown medication issues he shared, it was hard to see how such a person could be as cheerful and kind as he is, especially now working alone in Macau with no determined rest days. After I talked with him after, it was not even until Friday that he could confirm if he could attend church and give the talk. As a conclusion to this talk, he shared this scripture from Ecclesiastes 3:1.
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:"
He backed this scripture with this quote from Emily Belle Freeman's "Best Days and Worst Days," "You might have a bad day, a bad week, or a bad year. [Just remember,] joy is not the absence of sorrow in your life; [it is] the presence of [Jesus] Christ in your life.”
In the most simplest terms our joy comes from faith in God and His plan. Brother Ren's joy stemmed in this hope of the better season, understanding that "This is mortality. A proving ground. A place designed for growth... God allows mortality to do its work in us—and that includes both best days and worst days."
//
I am grateful to find joy in both the best, and most challenging days, through Jesus Christ. Missionary work hasn't been easy, but seeing these blessings has made all the difference. Even as Job did in the Bible, as we put our confidence in the Lord, "we shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).
https://photos.app.goo.gl/qkaoEe965etiYQuj7
See you next week!
Elder Zhao
So each weekly email that Elder Zhao send, Da would forward it to the Branch members. The members love reading his weekly email. This email was especially touching that our Branch Relief Society President, Ella Chong, was so moved she shared her feels with RS sisters' wechat.
"这是刚刚收到的来自香港的传教 士赵长老的一封邮件,太令我感 动了,必须马上分享!"
本周早些时候，我们得以返回香港参加圣殿聚会。通常，传教士会被安排在周二或周五参加聚会，因为只有这两个时间段才有英语课程，但由于我们的区域大会安排在下周四，所以我们最终改在了周三。在那次聚会中，我发现我们竟然和黄大仙支会的聚会时间重合了，而我之前在澳门之前也曾在这个支会服务过。能够见到他们，并和他们分享一些我的近况，真是莫大的恩典。此外，我还得知，紧接着我们聚会的就是阿展的恩道门仪式，他是我在大埔初次传教时遇到的第一位归信者。一年前我刚开始传教时，阿展一直是我的榜样和朋友，能够参加他如此重要的时刻，我感激不尽。
回到澳门后，我收到通知，由于停留天数限制，我无法再次调任。虽然早有预料，但过去几周里，我结识了许多教友和朋友，并深深地爱上了他们。尤其是一位名叫拉里的朋友，他本周接受了完整的教导，但他的洗礼安排在九月初。就在上周日，他通过了面试，并邀请我下周为他施洗。
那个星期天，在英语分会的聚会上，一位名叫任弟兄的弟兄做了分享。他分享了自己在菲律宾作为三个孩子的父亲的经历，孩子们从小就饱受疾病和健康问题的困扰。他提到自己患有血液疾病，而且用药情况不明，很难想象他还能如此乐观和蔼，尤其现在他独自在澳门工作，没有固定的休息日。聚会结束后，我和他聊了一会儿，直到周五他才确认是否可以来教会并做分享。分享结束后，他引用了传道书3章1节的经文。
“凡事都有定期，天下万务都有定时。”
他引用艾米莉·贝尔·弗里曼的《最好的日子和最坏的日子》中的一段话来佐证这段经文：“你可能会经历糟糕的一天、糟糕的一周，甚至糟糕的一年。[但请记住，]喜乐不是生活中没有悲伤；[而是]耶稣基督与你同在。”
简而言之，我们的喜乐源于对上帝及其计划的信心。任弟兄的喜乐源于对美好未来的盼望，他明白“这就是尘世，是考验之地，是成长的舞台……上帝允许尘世在我们身上动工——这包括最好的日子和最坏的日子。”
//
我感恩能在最美好的日子和最艰难的日子里，都因着耶稣基督而找到喜乐。传教工作并不轻松，但这些祝福让我的一切都变得不同。正如圣经中的约伯一样，当我们信靠主时，“我们必如精金”（约伯记 23:10）。
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Earlier in the week we were also able to return to Hong Kong to attend a temple session. Normally missionaries are assigned either to a Tuesday or Friday session because that is the only available time for English, but we ended up going on Wednesday because our Zone Conference fell on the following Thursday. In that same session, out of all of the sessions of that month I realized that we had coincided with the Wong Tai Sin ward, whom I had just served in prior to Macau. It was a render mercy to be able to see them and share a little bit of what I was up to. In addition to this, I learned that immediately following our session was 阿展s endowment, the first convert I had met when initially serving in Tai Po. It is hard to express my gratitude to be able to attend such a moment for this member who had been such an example and friend to me when I first began my mission a year ago.
When I came back to Macau I received the notice that I would not be able to stay for another transfer because of the limitation on the number of days I could stay here. I had expected this but I had grown to love the members and friends that we have met over the past couple of weeks. In particular, one of our friends, Larry, had been fully taught this week but his baptism was scheduled for two weeks into September. He and passed his interview just this past Sunday and invited me to baptize him next week.
During the English Branch that Sunday we had a brethren named Brother Ren give a talk. He shared about his life experiences as a father of three in the Phillipines, the upbringing of which was torn with sickness and health complications. With the blood diseases and unknown medication issues he shared, it was hard to see how such a person could be as cheerful and kind as he is, especially now working alone in Macau with no determined rest days. After I talked with him after, it was not even until Friday that he could confirm if he could attend church and give the talk. As a conclusion to this talk, he shared this scripture from Ecclesiastes 3:1.
"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:"
He backed this scripture with this quote from Emily Belle Freeman's "Best Days and Worst Days," "You might have a bad day, a bad week, or a bad year. [Just remember,] joy is not the absence of sorrow in your life; [it is] the presence of [Jesus] Christ in your life.”
In the most simplest terms our joy comes from faith in God and His plan. Brother Ren's joy stemmed in this hope of the better season, understanding that "This is mortality. A proving ground. A place designed for growth... God allows mortality to do its work in us—and that includes both best days and worst days."
//
I am grateful to find joy in both the best, and most challenging days, through Jesus Christ. Missionary work hasn't been easy, but seeing these blessings has made all the difference. Even as Job did in the Bible, as we put our confidence in the Lord, "we shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10).
https://photos.app.goo.gl/qkaoEe965etiYQuj7
See you next week!
Elder Zhao
本周早些时候，我们得以返回香港参加圣殿聚会。通常，传教士会被安排在周二或周五参加聚会，因为只有这两个时间段才有英语课程，但由于我们的区域大会安排在下周四，所以我们最终改在了周三。在那次聚会中，我发现我们竟然和黄大仙支会的聚会时间重合了，而我之前在澳门之前也曾在这个支会服务过。能够见到他们，并和他们分享一些我的近况，真是莫大的恩典。此外，我还得知，紧接着我们聚会的就是阿展的恩道门仪式，他是我在大埔初次传教时遇到的第一位归信者。一年前我刚开始传教时，阿展一直是我的榜样和朋友，能够参加他如此重要的时刻，我感激不尽。
回到澳门后，我收到通知，由于停留天数限制，我无法再次调任。虽然早有预料，但过去几周里，我结识了许多教友和朋友，并深深地爱上了他们。尤其是一位名叫拉里的朋友，他本周接受了完整的教导，但他的洗礼安排在九月初。就在上周日，他通过了面试，并邀请我下周为他施洗。
那个星期天，在英语分会的聚会上，一位名叫任弟兄的弟兄做了分享。他分享了自己在菲律宾作为三个孩子的父亲的经历，孩子们从小就饱受疾病和健康问题的困扰。他提到自己患有血液疾病，而且用药情况不明，很难想象他还能如此乐观和蔼，尤其现在他独自在澳门工作，没有固定的休息日。聚会结束后，我和他聊了一会儿，直到周五他才确认是否可以来教会并做分享。分享结束后，他引用了传道书3章1节的经文。
“凡事都有定期，天下万务都有定时。”
他引用艾米莉·贝尔·弗里曼的《最好的日子和最坏的日子》中的一段话来佐证这段经文：“你可能会经历糟糕的一天、糟糕的一周，甚至糟糕的一年。[但请记住，]喜乐不是生活中没有悲伤；[而是]耶稣基督与你同在。”
简而言之，我们的喜乐源于对上帝及其计划的信心。任弟兄的喜乐源于对美好未来的盼望，他明白“这就是尘世，是考验之地，是成长的舞台……上帝允许尘世在我们身上动工——这包括最好的日子和最坏的日子。”
//
我感恩能在最美好的日子和最艰难的日子里，都因着耶稣基督而找到喜乐。传教工作并不轻松，但这些祝福让我的一切都变得不同。正如圣经中的约伯一样，当我们信靠主时，“我们必如精金”（约伯记 23:10）。
