Gluten Free Oatmeal Joyous

Dear People,

I could hardly wait to wake up this morning, come back in from running, get out of the shower and MAKE GLUTEN FREE OATMEAL AAHHHHHHHH!!!!

I sat in the kitchen and did dishes/cleaned until it was done because I couldn't get enough of the I-can-eat-gf-oatmeal smell SO HAPPY! And then I put in a bananana, and grapes {that} one of our bishop's wife

(haaaa, unfortunate English grammar problem--one of our BISHOPs changed us out, not one of his many WIVES haaaa--There are no apostrophe problems in Chinese.)

Whatever: She gave me grapes last night since I couldn't eat cookies--OK anyway, and in my oatmeal I put peanut butter and soy milk and mom I REALLY was planning on taking a picture before I ate it but then... it was already eaten. SOrry!!! SO DELICIOUS!

[So, Mom found the most con-demented oatmeal photo online and posted it.](you'd better)

So you've probably figured out that MY BIRTHDAY PACKAGE GOT TO ME! I was reading mom's HANDWRITING only 8 days after she wrote it! It was so crazy! THANK YOU BROTHER FIELD for hand delivering!!! It must've gotten here Wednesday last; the zone leaders went down for some kind of meeting to the mission home and brought back my three plastic bags of joy for me! Yaaaay. I'm so excited to try cake in a mug... and cookies?!?!?! I don't even know how to explain my joy. Thanks y'all!


It came on a great day for it, too--yesterday. Tuesday and Monday were both pretty rough, which is sad because it's the just the beginning of a new move and one aways begins a new move with such positive anticipation.

All our lessons fell through for the weirdest reasons, really horrible things are happening in C's family right now. It's so hard, but her faith is so amazing and these things might help her cousin hear the gospel, so pray for them, and S's baptism got moved back to the 18th because of stake conference AND she's super busy this week and iffy again on the whole idea of baptism; I'm not super worried but it's a little rough.

Our goal yesterday was to talk to EVERY SINGLE PERSON OUTSIDE (within reason...) and we DID! And found new investigators for everyone else's district: Tin Shui Wai, Tuen Mun and Kowloon :P but not for Yuen Long. No problem, we're standing strong and sharing with whomever will listen... and sometimes the rocks and trees (= fire hydrants and lightpoles) apostle-style.

I'm on the mission committee for the new English program and it is really taking off!! The kickoff fireside I spoke at on Sunday was actually really awesome. I was super, super nervous--not really nervous, more worried that I couldn't possibly express how my faith in Christ has helped me learn Chinese and how I could really help people understand that faith, repentance and baptism can change their lives--just the normal missionary woes.

On Saturday after I ended my fast with prayer, I just stayed on my knees in our study and wept(I'm sure low blood sugar didn't help...). [Mom picture my eighth grade teacher having to talk me out of the bathroom right before my performance of the Mikado.]

Sunday, right before the fireside, we were sitting waiting and a man I had met previously, (this is so hard to explain in Engrish...) when Sis Cook and I sang at that town party for New Years stopped to talk to me. This was the man who was the town president who invited us to sing for the province because he knows a member who lives in the town...

gam, ji hauh keuih dou yauh hing cheuih hohk fuk yam!

OKOKOK I'll try to write in English: ...so he came to the fireside because he thought it was straight up MIRACULOUS that we could learn Chinese that fast. He had a lot of questions, and comments like: "But I want my freedom! Religion would just cramp my style..." He started asking me before the fireside started.

God blessed me with the opportunity and somehow the peace of mind to peacefully teach and explain really clearly and spiritually about God's relationship with his children, about God's awareness of our growth and potential and how, like a child, we are often too incapable of understanding why he "constrains" us with his commandments the same way mothers "constrain" our lives with her "no cookies before dinner" and "don't touch a hot stove" and even her "trust me, I've been there" speeches.

This man was really, really touched and softened--and it was just the distraction and spiritual uplift that I needed right at that moment, to be reminded of God's power and goodness, of the Spirit's importance of what I was about to present to this huge crowd of HK people. And I got through it with no panic!

My talk was that faith in Christ means we don't have to fear failing because He fills in. When that burden is lifted, we can freely attempt many things --particularly we can LEARN anything when we rely on Him. Not fearing mistakes means we can feel free to try, and that's where the beauty, success and freedom of life opens up. Why does it have to be faith in Christ, though; couldn't a faith in your own value or maybe in your family or something else do the same thing?

Christ gave proof of our potential worth through suffering everything for us and providing us a way to link ourselves to his sacrifice through baptism. He lived a perfect life and lives now with hands outstretched for US--imperfect as we are. I'll send more later-- but it says it all in the scripture I read: Moroni 10:32-33.

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

Seriously considering memorizing Hebrews 13, so amazing.

My third psychiatrist appointment on Friday was my last one, YES! Whatever test there is that I had to pass, apparently I passed it, because I didn't even have to recite the pre-written "breakup script" that Sister Cook and I wrote and practiced. It went something like, "It's not you, it's me... We've grown apart... I'll call you if I need anything... I just have a lot more to do right now... I feel like we've gotten all we can from our time together..." bwahaha).

Last P-day's ALL DAY excursion renting bicycles got us just too excited, so on Friday we mentioned to a member driving us to his home for dinner that we thought we were ready to buy bikes secondhand, and did he know where we could do that? And he got on the phone RIGHT THEN and contacted two other members and 34 hours later we were holding the coolest, oldest awesomest bikes EVER. We're so excited to ride them, but we have to find locks first.

I learned "You are My Sunshine" on the guitar (THREE chords! whew!) Basically I'm learning so much thanks to this awesome Sister Cook, my companion person. WOOT. I love that girl. She taught guitar classes again this week and so many people came that we had to pick and choose who we were going to teach.

I love you all and I'm praying for you! Say sorry to Brian; I totally lost his letter last week :( so it didn't get into the mail.

Love love love,

Sister Darcey