Happiest of January Birthdays--Cousin Jon, Elizabeth, Jay, Spencer, Grandma B and Me!

Saang Yaht Faai Lohk!

Oh and Cousin Derick!!! Happy Birthday younger cousin by 10 days! Oh and good gravy, I checked my birthday calendar and found two more cousins with birthdays in January, Connor and Hayden! Happy Birthday!!! Oh and TWO MORE Cousins, Jaxon and Steven Mitchell! COUSINS BY THE BOATLOAD! Family, I love Family.

And by the way, the family Christmas photo? 60 people? WOW no kidding, talk about exactly the same--I had to look at the EVERYBODY picture like 3 times to make sure you didn't just send me the one from last year with me and Ian and stuff. HA!

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Well, 14 emails in my inbox and feasting on the words of family has left me with only 4 minutes to email. Oops.

Well, if there's one thing to report from this week, it's that God really does love us. This week we wanted to find FIVE new investigators because we lost a couple of our best finds and friends---C (moved to TSW so will get baptized there on January 15th), KM (returned to mainland--WITH A BOOK OF MORMON yeeeees) and W (whose parents are REALLY anti).

So Monday we went prayed and went finding and failed MARVELOUSLY. I mean, really. I don't think anyone talked to me for longer than 15 seconds--and I'm BLONDE. Monday night was one of those soggy pillow snotty head wake up with a headache (Nephi puts it so much more poetically in 2 Nephi 4, no?) nights.

BUT Tuesday and Wednesday--after deciding to buck up and get some faith, sisters!--every time we stepped out the door it felt like we were passing out fliers and writing down numbers and even preaching truth and challenging to read the BOM like CRAZY. It was really amazing--God really is walking with us and suffering at our tears and waiting to bless us. I felt pretty silly, actually, like God was saying, "Hey, didn't you trust me?" like Peter walking on water, right...?

[I remember Bishop Anderson making a goal to pass out lots of Books of Mormon and how the first day he met with such terrible resistance that he wanted to quit. Instead he persevered and from day two onward was able to place a whole case in a month. Satan is a force to be challenged and we must press pass that.]

So trust Him--the Lord--this week! And use just a little more faith to be a little kinder and more patient and hard working, to smile more and endure more and breathe more and let it go.

Pray for C who's in the hospital so we're going to go visit today (back to Shatin, weird). She'll be OK but things are super hard right now.

Did I tell you I.I. CALLED US!!! Such a small thing, but a HUGE miracle to me. I know, you don't remember I.I. Just accept it, it's a huge miracle.

Thanks for the Vegas photos. WOW looks so fun! DANIKA WENT BLONDE wow. And Jon looks a lot like Aidan to me. Everyone here in china would scream LENG JAI when they saw this picture of him--like my companion just did... You people going tourist with fake mustaches are so awesome! I'm so thankful my family is so funny....

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Excerpt from Elder Darcey's letter:

Hey Elder Darcey, I thought the world wasn't supposed to

end until the end of 2012?

Here in HK we celebrated New Year's by counting down as a zone (on the phone) to 10:55 PM January 31st 2011. Then we all obediently went to sleep ha.

I should tell you about one of our slow investigators who was actually making some neat progress that we didn't know about until she called us to say she's going back to mainland but wants to take a Book of Mormon back because she's been praying every night at exactly 8 pm I have no idea why she thinks she has to pray at eight.... Elder Darcey, I should tell you, but I just told you. Her name is C K M--actually, kai ma means "godmother" basically, and I have serious fears that if I don't visit her in mainland she will slay my spirit when we all end up in the spirit world together. Seriously, she wants us to visit her so bad, it's hilarious. She wants me to get married quickly and bring all my babies for her to bless.

HILARIOUS po po... anyway.

YAY FOR RE-ACTIVATION!!! Seriously so amazing. We're been working with one for about 13 weeks who might come back to church THIS WEEK and then her two little boys would get baptized Missionaries 3 Satan 0 yes.

Love you, handsome face. Don't let those Alaskan girls look at you too long. I'd watch out for any female grizzly bears, too.
Love always,
Sis SISTER Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarcey

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Back to Oklahoma letter:

Anyway, I'm doing great. The holidays were good, except for the disappointments of no baptisms and no one at church--but I'm working on faith. The basic, no-fanciness, foundational "you-keep-working-when-you-can't-see-the-results-yet" kind of faith.

And this week the results have been AMAZING.

Mom, next package--I feel so guilty giving you a list, but I figured you would rather have one than no idea what to send--GF oatmeal, Jello-pudding (not because I want to eat it--we need it for an activity and it's impossible to find here) and those hangy sticker things you use to hang pictures or bags in college dorms. They're red and yellow packaging.

Love y'all.

Sister Dia D