Hello from Macau!This place is amazing! Sister Harding and I run around like crazy every minute of our time trying to find those people who are not Chinese. Since we are international sisters, we need to teach the people who are not Chinese. The first day, it was really hard for me to get used to because I kept wanting to contact the Chinese. It's like playing Where's Waldo except we're looking for dark skin and big eyes! There are so many other nationalities here in Macau like the Philippinas, Nepalese, Indonesians, Macanese (native people from here who are a mix of Portuguese and Chinese), British, and some random Americans who are also missionaries for their own churches. It's super confusing to not to contact Chinese people anymore, contact men on purpose, and speak in English all the time! We also teach the men like I said last time. Good thing God protects us because who knows what these people are thinking when they're approached by two smiley girls.
Our contacting approach is so different, too. We have to BRT (build a relationship of trust) it up the wazoo to get a word in. I always want to teach about prophets and the Restoration right away, but these people just don't understand the concept of a prophet and that we have a LIVING prophet TODAY. In a way, International is harder than Chinese-speaking because at least the Chinese understand the importance. So in our approach, we talk more about Jesus Christ first and how He blesses our lives. Many of these people are super humble because they are looking for jobs and miss their families very much since they've left them behind in another country to find work. This makes it hard for us because we can only teach those who have jobs. We have to pray specifically for English-speaking, with-job, and willing-to-listen people.
Last Sunday was my first time in the Macau 2nd Ward (international). Most of the members are Philippina, and there are a couple of Indonesians. We now have two men from Nepal and one from the Philippines who have accepted baptismal dates in this past week! Yaya! We will start the Nepalese section in the congregation soon! I played the piano for about 6 1/2 hours straight for so many meetings . . . choir practice twice, sacrament meeting (I played the piano solo "I Stand All Amazed" too), RS, and for a baptismal service. Phew! My fingers were all piano-ed out by the end, but I'm so grateful I could play since I am the only one who can in the ward! So thanks Mom and Dad for those piano lessons hehehe.
Miracles happen everyday. Sister Harding always works so hard to contact people by phone and set appointments so we always have enough appointments for two days in advance. We double and triple book our time because we know that someone won't show. Then, when no one comes, we go contacting outside, and God always provides referrals and pull-backs for us! He always rearranges our schedule so that we meet the people who are ready for the gospel. I've never done pull backs before but it's when you contact someone on the street and have them come back with you into the church for a lesson or tour or something. They are incredible here because we do so many!
We can nearly always get members to go finding with us. It's SO good because I can't distinguish any of the nationalities to save my life! They help us to figure out who to contact and where most of these international people are. I laughed yesterday when I realized that I was asking Sister Harding who was Chinese on the street and who wasn't. And I'm the Chinese one! It gets really tricky, though, cause so many are mixes.
I love teaching in English! I always feel the Spirit more, and I love testifying in English! We have to take care to speak more slowly because for all of these people we teach, English is their second language. They are incredibly humble and need the gospel. I showed a picture of Jesus to a lady named Jackie from the Philippines, and she burst into tears because He reminded her of her cousin, who had just died the day before. And then, we got a pull-back from the Chinese sisters named Caty from the Philippines who has so much sadness in her life because her husband has a mistress, and she is here in Macau to find a job to feed her three children in the Philippines. We are teaching Peter from the Philippines, who only gets four hours of sleep a day because of work and yet still finds the time to come to Church to learn the gospel. There's Ram from Nepal, who has perfect faith, and even though he can't speak English very well, he always fells the Spirit and knows this Church is true! And there's Dev also from Nepal, whose family history is like a black cloud over his head because his grandpa had seven wives and no one else cares about the family's future except for him, being the only grandson. He has always felt his whole life like there was something his grandpa wanted him to do. When we explained about temple work and baptisms for the dead, he felt so at peace and felt that "it is the way." Because of the work we do here, we can give these people answers that they've been seeking their whole lives!
I am so grateful that God has sent me here to serve because I have worked harder than I ever have in my life and studied harder than I ever have before. The Lord has blessed me to have enough energy and not be so sick anymore. And I am so happy! Because I can't speak Canto as much anymore, I study it in any free time that I have. So work, study, teach! Our goal is to have seven baptisms in the next six weeks.
Have faith and the Lord will provide!
Love,
Sister Chu :)
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