Week 58: 我是在南美洲的吗?

Would just like to throw it back to a year ago today when I taught my older bro in a TRC at the MTC... funny that now my chinese is better than his! Just kidding ahaha. Pic below.

The coolest part this week and probably my whole mission is about a guy named Ryan. He is best friends with a member of our church, who leaves today to go to New York Chinese speaking on his mission. About 2 weeks ago Ryan's friend, Carston, called us saying Ryan wants to learn more, and then we met Thursday morning, friday morning, and then Sunday morning. After every lesson we asked if there was another time we could meet, and he would say "does tomorrow work?" Haha love it. We would've met Saturday too except he was out of town. We asked him if baptism is something that he would be interested in and he said he definitely wants to be baptized when he gains a testimony. Definitely a really cool experience and hes a stud.

Besides that, our other friend Alfie ghosted us for 3 weeks but finally texted us back so that was a bonus! We will be trying to meet with him next week, if school starting back up doesnt get in the way. 

Have a good week ya'll (I can say ya'll now cuz I'm in the south)

高长老 (Elder Ensign)

2 Nephi 22:2

No pics except me with michael a year ago 

Week 57: I SURVIVED A MASSIVE HURRICANE AND AN EARTHQUAKE!! (NOT CLICKBAIT! GONE WRONG 😱)

 I mean to start things off we had to stay inside all day on monday 🥰 and part of tuesday. I love hurricanes when I'm 2 hours in from the coast. It was a little cloudy the whole day monday, and then an average downpour from like 5 to 6 (big in terms of Utah rain, but average here). It was clear as day tuesday morning but we had to stay inside half the day anyways lol. Also along with natural catastrophes I woke up in the middle of the night to my bed shaking a little bit saturday night/ sunday morning and I thought elder su was rolling around but I looked up and he was fast asleep lol. Turns out it was my first earthquake! It was only 5.1 and was 2 hours away so not much of a problem for me. It was like the 2nd biggest earthquake in North Carolina though! My title was kind of clickbait sorry but it had to be done.

Highlight this week was probably our english class. The people that join are some of the quirkiest people ever hahaha, but they are all so humble and nice. I'm not gonna lie I hated teaching english especially in Australia but it is actually very fun now. More and more people have been coming and we had 8 people this last wednesday! Not bad.

Oh also! Sorry this is long but... For all who know I worked at taco time, someone just got here who was a fellow employee there! It was way fun to catch up hahaha. He went to Sydney on his mission, elder Jesse Hullinger. He venmoed me 10$ to cover a shift once so we are already tight . That's all this week though. 

Elder Ensign

2 Nephi 22:2

Pictures

•Thought I would introduce milo to the comps... iykyk

•I dont have much else, but heres an ss of the convo i had with Jesse lol

•And heres some more legendary food pics from Chef Ensign... one was a culinary masterpiece, and the other was chinese eggs and tomatoes on rice with 老干妈

•the hurricane aftermath Tuesday morning in my area... but fr pray for those who were affected more seriously, it was a big storm!

•elder hullinger (peep the taco time shirt)

Week 56 Sorta: August 1, 2020

Yeah I know, it's not monday! But our mission president moved our pday to today because on monday a huge tropical storm is supposed to hit North Carolina and we aren't allowed to go outside all day. 

 this week started off great by some members inviting us over for some socially distanced sand volleyball on monday haha. Good stuff. Then this morning I gotta play tennis with the same family, because the wife is like part of a huge tennis community with a bunch of older people who are all decent at tennis, not amazing or anything. It was still fun though and finally someone gave me a little competition because playing with Elder Phelon and Elder Su feels like I'm hitting with Eric Ellis or Decker Robison everyday, it's just so easy that it's not fun. 

I felt prompted to invite Celine to be baptized, the only chinese person we are teaching who's progressing, and I got wrecked haha. She is so elect and loves the gospel more than some of the members lowkey haha but just doesnt feel prepared. She lit me up on the word of wisdom (chinese people love their tea), plus shes busy preparing for a test to become a bus driver, and also her concerns about the virus. I was so shook and was flipping out not knowing what to say but the member we invited went on overdrive and talked for the next 20 minutes while we just sat there watching  it was so funny. The resolves weren't all solved, but we definitely got our relationship saved. Gotta love member missionary work!

.

Elder Ensign

2 Nephi 22:2

Not much pics but I tried something new-

Go give my podcast a listen, it's only a minute and it wont be a waste of time I promise 

And the pic is from last pday when we all got together for our last pday together... rip Chapel Hill district may 21- July 7th

Week 55: 男人不坏，女人不爱 July 27, 2020

This title is basically saying if a guy isn't bad, then girls wont love him. It rhymes in chinese and cracked me up when I came across it but I guess I gotta tie this into the gospel or something. In life the more appealing things like money, drugs, and technology are often chosen over Jesus Christ and his teachings, simply because they are more popular to the world, exactly how bad boys are more often chosen over the nice guys (hence the song "nice guys finish last" by Nigahiga (shoutout to the boys)). However, there are flaws in this because it doesnt often pay off. Bad boys seem appealing but in the long run it's the nice guys that are gonna love and care for you, and in the same boat as that, Jesus Christs teachings are going to have much more use in the long run. We live in a world of instant stimulation, where people want their needs satisfied immediately, and they often find that immediate satisfaction in worldly things (drugs, money, social media). However, I have found for myself that to find lasting happiness in life, following Jesus Christ is the way to go. It may not be the most immediate joy, but it is the most lasting and rewarding joy that you will ever find. I invite you all to live in a way that will help bring that into your life, whether it be through prayer, reading the scriptures, etc.

Elder Ensign

2 Nephi 22:2

Pictures (kinda weird this week)

They say money doesnt buy happiness, but i dont think they really took watermelon shakes into the equation (the Book of Mormon doesn't count because its free)

Idk about you but I'd take Jesus on my team over Satan anyday

More food dubs with 姜帅哥

korean ground beef on rice with a sunny side egg and some veggies, yall be sleeping on chef matt

Teaching Elder Su politics (exposed)

My new screensaver 

Week 54: July 20, 2020

Not a crazy week or anything so I'll try to keep it brief. I had a chinese lesson last week a couple days after my year mark, and it was super cool looking back how just a year ago I couldn't piece together a sentence, it's cool to see how much I've improved and I have definitely got a long way to go still.

Something super cool was when we were playing tennis in the morning, this little 5 year old prodigy walked on the court with his dad and started ripping balls, I was shook. He is definitely going pro, ima get his autograph if I have the chance.

One amazing experience was with someone we are teaching named Alfie. He always has super deep questions he asks us when we teach him, so it makes for interesting lessons. Walking into the lesson we were going to teach about the tree of life (what he read in the BOM prior to our lesson) and tie that into the gospel of Jesus Christ. I remember us saying a prayer at the beginning of the lesson and right then knowing that was not what we should teach, and that the plan of salvation would benefit him more. I was thinking about it as Elder Phelon opened up into the lesson and I turned to 1 Peter 4:6 as just a stab in the dark. Later in the lesson he asked a question along the lines of why do people die on earth without getting a chance to hear the gospel? And I was able to transition that scripture in very smoothly and to also lead into what I felt prompted we should teach. He opened up to us about how a friend of his had passed away recently and I know that he really needed to hear that. Really grateful for experiences like these and for the opportunity to have the guidance I need to help people out. It really is a message of true happiness.

Elder Ensign

2 Nephi 22:2

Pictures:

 Food dubs with the morrisville elders

I call this the "video call blanket lavalava" s/o to elder seve for introducing me 

Farewell to elder Weech (this pic is old)

More food dubs with 李弟兄

Week 53: July 13, 2020

Well as my dad would say, I hit the mission hump last friday! Man it's been a crazy year. In fact, it feels like just a couple months ago when I was at home waiting to go out .

Oh also big news I got transferred... again. The longest I've ever stayed in an area was 2 and a half transfers, every other area was only one transfer...Im still with elder Su, and my new comp is Elder Phelon who just started being a mandarin missionary when I got to the field. I'm now in a place called green level which is where the 2 Taiwan elders were before they returned back to taiwan, and I now cover basically the full mission haha. Catch me going to the outer banks on pday, if you know you know . Despite being in quarantine the whole time and only being in the YSA for 7 weeks, I had so much fun and the Duke and UNC campuses are amazing. I hope I can go back someday. However I went from straight up living in the hood, to going to an apartment complex where it is only Indian people lol. Every night all the kids and families walk around the streets in the complex, they are so loud and wild. I lowkey miss living in the hood in Durham because it was more quiet, not even exaggerating. I would hear occasional gun shots and people stay blasting their rap music in my last apartment complex, but these Indian families make that stuff sound peaceful.

Anyways not much else has happened. I'm very excited for this next year, to see what will happen; If I get to stay here, if I get to return back to Australia, if I ever get to do normal missionary work again, it will be interesting to say the least. I've already had 6 areas and 9 comps (7 areas and 11 comps if you count at home lol) so I'm hoping I can settle down someplace at least for a little hahaha. 

Matthew Ensign 

2 Nephi 22:2

Pics

Me with the boys before getting transferred

The tradition of the shirt burning (decided to do it on my wooden patio, almost ended very badly hahaha)

The new comps!

My new comp elder Phelon likes playing tennis... let's goooo! Hes not amazing but tennis is tennis

Week 52: July 6, 2020

Have you ever struggled to be sincere during prayers, and felt like you are just going through the same motions everytime? Have you ever felt like your prayers aren't getting the results they could be? Well then this email is the one for you! If not then the pictures are down below for you to see, cuz nothing else interesting happened in my tiny 1 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment located in the hood that would be worth it to waste time typing out. As they say, pictures are worth a thousand words! 

Here are my insights that changed my life from my studies yesterday. In 2 Nephi 2:14 it says there are 2 types of things- things to act, and things to be acted upon. For example, we act upon bikes when we ride on them. We as people are agents of action, meaning we act on things.  Anyway, I wanted to tie this into prayer. We often get so caught up in prayer praying that we are an OBJECT i.e. something that is being acted upon, which isn't correct because we are agents of action. For example, have you ever said a prayer that goes something like "please help me to feel comfort in my life"? This isn't necessarily bad but it isn't the most correct way to say a prayer, because all that is saying is that you want heavenly father to give you comfort (being acted upon), and all you're doing is asking, see D&C 9:7. As agents of action, we need to exercise our agency and set a plan with Heavenly Father through prayer. For example, "Heavenly Father, I've been struggling lately. Please help me that as I continue to read the scriptures I will be able to feel comfort in my life." I know as we continue to pray this way, and set plans for ourselves in order to accomplish what we need to accomplish, our prayers will be much more meaningful and useful. After all, prayer is just like we are talking with our normal father! And wouldn't our normal fathers want us to put in some work before we receive an actual reward? That IS how we gain experience and learn the best! Sorry I made the beginning sound like an infomercial but let me tell you I would never watch a 30 second video that's obvious clickbait if they didn't have an intro like that... and plus this email isn't even clickbait so go try it out today for free.

Elder Ensign

2 Nephi 22:2

Yup sushi place again- i ate 23 plates this time lol but we did table vs table and tied at 75 per table

The sacrifices we make for facebook ads smh

Me enjoying my cookout watermelon shake the  "missy dickson" way... yeah that's right watermelon. Best shake of my life

The Durham and Chapel Hill Boys at Zone Conference

The boys at our 4th of july cookout.... we were all supposed to dress up like dads but not everyone did... smh. Where the white New Balances at? 

Elder Su catching a FAT nap

Week 51: 不要半途而废 June 29, 2020

I understand many of you are on your missions/ about to go on your missions now. If you're getting my weekly emails and I'm not getting yours, put me on your list, I want to hear from yall! Also to all you going out into quarantine... its gonna kinda suck, I'm not gonna sugar coat anything. But remember a quote by Elder Holland- "I didn't come this far to only come this far." Make the best with what you've got and keep working hard, yall got this!!

 I guess I'll just bullet point everything else to prevent myself from monologuing 

 •President and Sister Holland left this past monday... it was a pretty heartfelt goodbye even though I had only known them for a little over a month. It's ok cuz I'll probably see President Holland at general conference eventually ahaha. (Hes leaving a year early to be a member of the 70)- also fun fact we get a temporary mission president for just july while our actual new mission president from BRISBANE AUSTRALIA waits until august (Visa problems) to come... I met his brother in australia, I served in his ward. Lots of small connections lol. Itll be sweet as to hear some aussie accents soon

•we can once again play basketball with other elders... straight salvation

•I've been running a 5k 3x a week with my zone leaders (one from logan) and even though rule number 1 is never run for fun (@博长老) I've actually enjoyed it a lot because we do some pretty sick trail runs

•I've only been searching for about a full YEAR but I got my hands on the full MTC copy of the Character of Christ by Elder Bednar... not the BYU Idaho one. best talk I've heard in my life hit me up for it. 

•as you all know I was somewhat of a piano prodigy until 9th grade when I quit because I hated it lol but anyway I started practicing again everytime we go to the chapel if that gives you an idea of how bored I am mom... 

Elder Ensign

2 Nephi 22:2

Yeah I was lazy with pics this week. My man elder Gibson got a super crappy haircut from an elder so we were trying to hype him up even though it looked terrible... also this pic is from when we were waiting for people to join our scripture study class yesterday because we were all lowkey cold cuz it rained like 5 inches yesterday