你好

This week has been really good! To start it off on Monday night we were invited over to a members home to eat dinner and to celebrate the Mid-Autumn festival which is a very big holiday here. Everyone just celebrates by making moon cakes and eating the crap out of them. But moon cakes aren't even that good. They are cake with a hard boiled egg in the middle. So I normally eat the fake moon cakes which just are chocolate haha. 

Then on Tuesday we had service project to help clean a members home who got flooded from the typhoon. so everything was crazy dirty and super unorganized. haha But it was good service! 

Then on Tuesday night we had another Mid-Autumn music (singing) activity at our church. We would just go and eat and listen to people get up and sing. We invited our investigators Vanessa and Lam and they both came! Lam actually preformed "see you again" but it was all in Chinese and she even rapped in Chinese. It was pretty cool to see. And Vanessa is really good at singing but she was super scared to sing until the ward member that we have fellow shipping her convinced her to sing. And she sang Ed Sheeran's Perfect in English and it just blew everyone away! She has her own band too and when she preformed all the members were super impressed and just loved it! It was super cool to hear! Ill try to send a video of it. 

This week we met with Sam (not at his house) and shared the Family Proclamation to the World. He really liked what it said about families. Especially the part about the responsibilities of parents. We then invited him to share it with his family. We also asked if it would be ok if we could visit him in his home and teach English. He said his parents might not like that but he would ask them anyways. So we are just waiting to see if we can go visit him in his house. He didn't come to church this week because his mom wouldn't let him come.

Here is another one of my spiritual experiences with Lam. She has been taught all the lessons and is now just waiting for her baptismal date to arrive. So we have just decided to meet with her once a week and review. So we met with her and asked her to teach us about Joseph Smith. It was basically a role play. I was pretending to not know anything about Joseph Smith and she taught us. She even had a the scripture memorized from the Pearl of Great Price about how the peoples' mouths are close to God but their hearts are far from him. And when she shared this I was super impressed and could feel she was ready. I then asked her "God hasn't appeared to you like Joseph Smith, so how do you know he is real?" and she answered by saying something like this: "Because I have prayed and I have felt the influence of God." After that I was just super impressed. Lam is super solid! I could really feel the spirit while she was teaching us.

We met with Vanessa. Vanessa is super solid! We have taught her the Restoration through the Gospel of Christ and then we met with her this week to teach more about baptism because she recently attended a baptismal ceremony and we taught her and I asked her if she ever thought about being baptized and she said she wants to but doesn't feel ready yet. So we shared D&C 20:37 and we told her that from our perspective she has the desire and is ready for baptism but she wants to think about it first and answer us later this month. I am excited to see what happens with Vanessa!   

Other than that we had a good week! I am liking training even though it can be a little stressful because my companion doesn't understand Chinese very well but I love it! it is super good! 

Love you all! 

Elder Gubler 

Here is our area! And then the second picture is a picture with two girls. They are Jehovah witnesses. They came knocking on our door (which is illegal) and tried sharing a message about Jesus so we had to take a picture with them because they pretty much do the same thing we do. They were even speaking super quietly so no one would know they were there haha so they wouldn't get caught.

 This is what we did last pday. And I might need to get glasses so I tried on the classic Chinese glasses which are more circular than rectangular.

 This was our service project.

Training

Hello!

This week I have gotten a new companion and have had to say goodbye to Elder Delabahan.I miss Elder Delabahan But I know he will do great in his new area. He is such a solid Elder and has the greatest desire to do missionary work. I know that we will be friends forever.

My trainee's name is Elder Vinluan and he is also from the Philippines.He is a convert to the church and the only member in his family. It is pretty cool to train him because it reminds me of how I was when I first got here on my mission. I didn't know how to speak to anyone. It is really cool to see and to be able to help him. In lessons he doesn't say too much because of the language barrier. But that is how I was too. It will be cool to help him progress.

This week Lam said she could get baptized on November 18. That is when her mom will let her be baptized. So we are super happy for her. 

Sam is doing well. His mom just won't let him come to church because she is afraid that we are lying to him and distracting him from his studies. But our bishop called his mom and introduced himself but his mom still doesn't really want Sam to come to church. But Sam himself wants to be baptized. He just wants to respect his mom's decision. 

Vanessa on of our investigators told us she wants to be baptized but she doesn't feel ready yet. She we told her we could help her prepare. She is super solid! 

We met Oliver he is an new investigator. 

This week too we had a lot of members have us over for dinner because Elder Delabahan was moving areas. So it was super cool to visit with them and Share a message with them. And it was super tender as well.

My spiritual experience for this week is when Elder Delabahan said his last prayer in Ngau Tau Kok. He started crying and I could tell how much he loved the area, the people, and the ward. It was super touching and showed me how people are supposed to see the children of God. I know that if we love everyone as god loved people we will become better people and a change will come about in our lives that we may not recognize. But I have seen this in my life. my mission has made me love the people so much more. I love the Lord so much more as well. 

This is all. I love you all! 

Elder Gu 

 Elder Delabahan and me.

 My new companion, Elder Vinluan

 Mission tour with a member from my ward who does translations for the church.

 English class.

 A baptism for Mr. Wong!! He is adorable.

 Views from our area.

Typhoon 山竹

你好大家

This week has been a crazy one with a typhoon that has been the biggest that Hong Kong has ever seen. They made us stay inside for two days and the winds blowing like crazy! The wind uprooted trees and knocked over cranes that were on top of buildings. It shattered windows and just smashed some small shacks and houses. It was crazy. So, these last few days we did service and just cleaned the streets. It was super cool to see all the damage that it did and it was even more cool to see how everyone was helping to clean it up. The people of Hong Kong are amazing!

This week we met with a few people but most people were busy preparing for the Typhoon. But we got a new investigator named Marcus and he is Buddhist but has been wandering why there are so many Christian churches. So, we taught him the restoration. It was super cool he is 28 years old and is super cool he has a lot of potential. 

This week we also got our transfer calls. And Elder Delabahan is going to Macau which I am super sad about. But I will be training. So that is pretty sweet! Elder Delabahan has been a super good companion. He is a strong willed missionary and I am excited to see what he does in the future!

Other than that nothing too exciting happened this week. So I would just like to share my testimony. I love the church so much. I have really felt God's love for us. And I have been able to see it these last few days as people come together to help people they don't even know recover from the typhoon. I love my mission. I have been able to see so many blessings and miracles. I love all the Lord has done for me. 

下次見,我愛你地

古長老

 Us sitting in a park.

And a cool view we found.

 Some damage done from our apartment view. A

 Elder Delabahan.

More damage from the typhoon.

TYPHOON MANGKHUT

September 14, 2018 

Dear Parents and Priesthood Leaders,

As you may have seen in recent weather reports pertaining to Hong Kong and Macau, Typhoon Mangkhut is on a projected path toward our mission. Please be assured that we are taking all necessary precautions to provide for the safety and well-being of our wonderful missionaries.  We are also in close communication with the Area Presidency of the Church, Area Seventies, and local Church leaders and members to ensure that proper procedures and safeguards are in place.

 We will closely monitor these serious weather conditions and communicate with you as necessary. Brother and sisters, I have a firm and tender testimony of the Lord's awareness of and love for those who serve Him in the great missionary effort of the Church. He has heard our prayers and has answered our concerns. We are grateful for your prayers and we are grateful for the absolutely wonderful missionaries we have been blessed to associate with and work beside. We love them!  Please contact me with any concerns you may have regarding this or other matters pertaining to the mission. Thank you for your support. Sincerely,

President and Sister Phillips

September 15, 2018

Dear Parents and Priesthood Leaders,

We wanted to update you on our situation. The storm level has now been raised to 8 and is forecast to continue for several hours. We have been in contact with all missionaries late on Saturday evening. They are all safely home and prepared for the storm. They will be staying in all day as church services in the mission have been cancelled.

We appreciate your prayers on behalf of the members and missionaries and join you in that effort. We will update you as the situation changes.

Sincerely,

President and Sister Phillips

September 15, 2018 

Dear Parents and Priesthood Leaders,

It is now 9PM Sunday evening.  The storm has passed and the level was lowered from 10 to 8 one and a half hours ago. While there was significant damage in Hong Kong and Macau, all missionaries are accounted for and fine. We have asked all missionaries to remain at home on Monday, their preparation day, as schools and many businesses will be closed. We will give the local leaders a chance to determine what we can do to help in the clean-up but want the missionaries to remain safely in apartments at least for tomorrow. I have asked them to contact you with a short email message. They will have a chance later in the week to write a more substantial communication.

Thank you for your prayers and thoughts on our behalf.

President and Sister Phillips

From CNN:

 As Mangkhut marched toward the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong was also buffeted by fierce winds that tore off roofs, downed trees and caused cranes perched atop half-built skyscrapers to swing ominously.  Hong Kong's weather observatory issued its highest storm warning alert -- a signal T10 -- and the normally bustling city was all but shut down as transport was suspended and torrential rain flooded roads and buildings.Winds of 173 kilometers per hour (107 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 223 kph (138 mph) were reported, stronger than Hurricane Florence that hit North Carolina over the weekend. There were no reported deaths in Hong Kong, a city well prepared for tropical cyclones.

Airports in Shenzhen, a technology hub across the border from Hong Kong, and on the resort island of Hainan also canceled all flights, according to Chinese state media.  Mangkhut is now expected to move inland of western Guangdong. While the storm has weakened, a T8 warning was still in place into Sunday evening -- meaning that winds with speeds of about 63 kph were expected.

This week nothing too interesting happened. I don't have too much time this week for emails either so this one will be brief.

We met with Lam and her mom. Her mom is fine with letting Lam get baptized in a few months now. She still doesn't want her to rush into it. But, Lam's mom herself doesn't seem like she has too much interest. 

We met with Sam and just asked him if he actually wanted to be baptized and he said "50 50" and we asked him why and he said that his parents don't want him to pay tithing or fast offerings. But other than that he said he wanted to be baptized. So as of now it is just a parent problem that is stopping him from being baptized. But Sam is 18 so he can chose for himself. We just don't want to force him to go against his parents advice. 

We also met with Vanessa a new investigator who is super solid. We taught her the plan of salvation and she accepted it super well. She is the only member of her family that is Christian. She brought her friend with her to church this week for church as well. 

I would just like to bare my testimony that the message of the Gospel and the Restoration is what brings families closer together. This is something that we have been teaching a lot this week because a lot of our investigators just have parents who don't want them to get baptized. Mostly because they don't know what our church is about. But This gospel changes lives of families. It helps them show their love for each other which is really important. And if we endure well we will live with our families forever. I have seen the change the gospel has brought in my own family. It is true. 

Elder Gu

 This is Vanessa when we taught her in the chapel. I also have a pretty whack hair cut because the Brit elder that I live with said he cuts his own hair all the time so I let him cut my hair and then right when he started cutting he told me that cutting my hair is the first time he has ever cut hair haha so he messed up a little bit but at least I got a free hair cut haha

Hello!

This week has been super good. To start this off I will list the good things! So this week Lam said that her parents are willing to let her get baptized but after a month or so. So we set a baptismal date for October 14. She is basically a member of the church already. This was such a miracle having her mom allow her to be baptized! 

Sam is doing well as well! One of our members bought a white shirt and tie for him to wear to church and Sam was super happy about it! We are just waiting for our bishop to call Sam's parents to introduce himself and this church! I am super excited for this too because I know if this will happen then Sam's parents will let him get baptized. 

We got a new investigator this week named Vanessa. She is super solid. She has a huge testimony on prayer because it helped her on some tests that she had to do for college and so we taught her the restoration this week and she went home and read the Book of Mormon and texted us and said she understands why we have the Book of Mormon and why our church is so important! I am super excited to teach her this week! 

This week our church members have been really happy and the relationship with the missionaries is super good! They have been such a huge help and every time we bring someone new to church they just do such a good job of helping the new person get assimilated to the social life of the church which is super important! 

We went to a super famous place while we were finding this week. This place is in our area and it is just a giant rainbow building that looks super cool! We went finding there and most of the people there were people from mainland china and spoke mandarin so it was super hard communicating with them because my mandarin is no where as good as my Cantonese but the good thing is that a lot of these people could speak a tiny bit of english. Mainlanders are a lot nicer than people of Hong Kong for some reason they are more relaxed and more willing to talk. They are all super nice. Hong Kong people are all super nice too but they are all super busy so they never have time to talk. 

Other than that my week was good! 

Elder Gu 

 The view is our bishop's view from his rich house.

A picture of a grandma is just some random old lady that wouldn't leave us alone on the streets haha

 The picture with the Chinese characters is a super good restaurant we ate at.

  This is the famous rainbow place I was talking about. A lot of people there were filming music videos and taking graduation photos and there were a few white people there as well.

 Paul our investigator that we just dropped actually because he wasn't progressing but in this picture he was teaching us how to box haha.

A picture of a huge rat that was killed.