Elder Lau is doing great following up training with me; his Cantonese makes me feel right at home, and with just the language, I've made great realizations. For some reason though, the Mandarin has dropped a bit, my listening has dropped a ton! I made goals and will set plans to learn Chinese even faster and try to include the Lord with my honest effort and faith in the process. I have learned a lot from having a full schedule; I've never been so busy and to work so hard. I'm working so hard that I'm not talking from concentrating so much! Not entirely good, but I'm satisfied with the determination.
I'm finishing my 12 week training (and looking at some prized notes from before), and all the training and ideas that I wrote down four or five months ago are exactly what I am learning right now. It's frustrating to know that I skipped right over those lessons, but I am so glad to have finally learned them. Because I've been focusing on patience, I've learned these lessons and other lessons specifically.
So many times I've avoided cleaning the full house, and now I have great desires to be a pure vessel of the Holy Ghost because I want the love and stirring motions that I get when i have the strength of the Holy Ghost. I love how real it is, and the work that He does is always a pleasant surprise! Who knew studying the Gospel of Jesus Christ for a lifetime can always be surprising; always learning something new, and applying it is just a whole different part!
I've learned a few things about charity from my new companion Elder Lau. I feel like charity is something that can remind us of what our time here on earth is. You cannot copy the peace that comes from the pure love of Christ, and nothing in the world can bring the Spirit more fully than a life lived like His. I am not experienced with how to love or care for another fully enough to explain it, but I know every bit matters. You may not realize it now, but you might not love the person right next to you. Why not? Each and everyone of us has righteous desires to care and teach one another to be better; I know of no man that doesn't. So let these desires grow, that you may live a life like Christ's with faith and hope. If you feel no desire of charity, ask for it in prayers, and our Father in Heaven who acts in every thought will bless you, will plant that desire within you. (Moroni 7:43-48) Living is the best kind of learning. And learning is the best kind of teaching. (Ask In Faith, Elder Bednar)
What I also learned from Elder Lau is that I realize so much more effort and love can be put in towards these people. I know that I want to love them, and I want to improve myself for them, and I even want the way to their baptisms to be right, but i just gotta ask the one who knows. Studying the talks from Elder Bednar, I learned many things about revelations and prayers. God gives the most exact answers through his scriptures, and I found a great answer in the example of Lehi. Influenced by talks on the fruits of the Spirit, I looked towards the things that Lehi did for his people, and in 1 Nephi 1:5, the fact that he had a "meaningful prayer" (Ask In Faith, Elder Bednar) struck a chord with me. Looking up the footnotes of this scripture, I found many scriptures that teach about sincere asking and absolute answers, but in in 1 Nephi 10:17, Nephi sees the example of his father, and knows he has the Holy Ghost, and feels the testimony of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Seeking to feel it for himself, he asks God, who giveth to all men willingly, and upbraideth not, with faith, nothing wavering. I know my Father spoke to me in that instant, that I submitted myself to the Father, and He in turn embraced me. I wish to have the Spirit constant, and to do the will of the Father. I hope to be a light of the life of Christ, and that is the only thing that will make a difference in this world.