Transfer to MingJian

With a Friend in Dakeng

I can't even believe it.  These last 5 months have literally flown by.  I am sitting in an internet cafe right now in YuanLin with my new companion Elder Roberts.  I am super excited.  We are actually only staying here for another little bit and then we are going to our area.  We will be white-washing in MingJian!  It is like the most out in the middle of no where place in the mission.  Huge, beautiful mountain range haha.  It has so few people and the area is huge.  I am super excited. My new companion is awesome. I just met him but he is awesome!  I am really excited to learn from his example.  He is from Utah as well.  

I am so grateful that I was able to serve in Dakeng with such amazing people.  I have really come to feel how much Heavenly Father loves all of his children.  

A Scooter Buddy

This week was really special as well because we had a new stake organized in TaiZhong.  It was amazing.  We all went to this chapel and got to hear from Elder Gong.  It was so special to see everyone there from all of TaiZhong.  It was powerful and amazing to be apart of.  P and V came.  I told V before I left to never forget the feelings she felt at church and to know where they came from.  She got really emotional and started to cry.  It was really hard to tell them goodbye.  

I also got to go to Dan Jones this week and help out with the new missionaries.  I got to take Elder Williams around the night market and contact people.  It was so fun.  It reminded me of when I got to do that.  That seems like just yesterday.  

Elder Redding with D, E, and L and Elder Ju

Today D, E, and L came and took me to the train station (friends baptized in Dakeng).  I am really going to miss them. They were so nice to me.  I really feel as if the people that I met out here I somehow knew before. I really love them and plan to see them again.   I am so excited to get to serve in MingJian and help those wonderful people come to know their Heavenly Father and their Savior. I can't wait.  

I don't have a ton of time today because we have got to get going.  I will update you more next week on everything.  I am so grateful for this gospel and the peace and comfort it brings.  I know that it is true and I will shout it to the world.  This is going to be another great adventure and I can't wait to see how everything unfolds. 

Love you all!! 

Love, 

Elder Redding

Humility - A Christ Like Attribute

你們好！

Hello my wonderful family and friends!!!! I just received news that this will be my last week in 大坑！ (DaKeng)  I will be transferred next week.  I don't know where I am going yet, but I know that I will love it.  I have loved my time here in DaKeng so much.  I have spent  5 months here, and I don't want to leave.  I love the people and I love the ward.  It will really be hard to leave some of these amazing people. I feel such a love for this place.  I hope that I can develop this kind of love for the other areas in which I am called to serve.  

This week is going to be a crazy one.  My companion Elder Ju has 12 weeks left on island and he has been asked to train for those last 12 weeks.  He will die in DaKeng.  Great place to die!!!  This week we also have about 30 new missionaries coming... it is going to be crazy.  I will probably get to help with the DanJones activity.  That will be really exciting.

I read in PMG this week in chapter 6 about Christ like attributes.  I read about humility and realized as I was reading how humility and confidence are connected.  More times than not when I think of being humble I have found that I seem to lose confidence and beat myself up more times that not.  I realize that this is wrong.  The purpose of becoming humble is not so that we are in constant misery and feeling like we don't measure up, the purpose is to bring us happiness.  When I imagine the Savior... it is hard for me to picture him without a smile.  I believe he was the happiest man that ever lived.  I picture him and I don't picture him as a weak person.  I picture him and picture him confident... confident in his mission.  I know that as we focus on the Savior and try to become like him and rely on Him, we truly become happy like he is.  We can be confident.  We can always know that we are sons and daughters of our loving Heavenly Father.  We can be confident in the Savior's mission for each and every one of us.  WE ARE CONFIDENT IN THEIR LOVE!  There is a difference between pride and confidence in eternal truths.  I believe that as we come to understand this principle of humility, we can change any weakness with happiness and confidence.  We can feel peace with doing our best.  You all are such wonderful examples to me of selfless service to others, and humility in all you do.  I see you all and I see confidence in His love for you.  

I love you all so much!!! 

Love, 

Elder Redding 

Loved Conference!

Dear Family and Friends, 

This week was awesome!!  We had an awesome DTM and President came and joined us.  I loved it.  It was super cool. We did a contacting activity at the end with the other zone who meets in the same

District Training Meeting

building for their own DTM.  After DTM, I went on an exchange with Elder Hamula!!  He came to DaKeng with me! We saw some awesome miracles.  That night we had all these lessons lined up and none went according to plan... but it went exactly like the Lord planned it.  It was so amazing.  We then saw one of our investigators who is having some family struggles right now... and she was at the church and was the happiest I have ever seen her.  Her husband came later as well.  It was so awesome.

Then I went on another exchange with our Zone Leader, he came to Dakeng as well!  Elder Anderson is his name and he knows Luke!!! He loved Luke!!  (he went to Davis High)  We also saw crazy awesome miracles.  Once again we had a plan... but the Lord had one as well.  It made me realize how imperfect we are, but the Lord knows when we try our very best and he really does help us.  

Conference was amazing.  I loved it so much.  We watched it in the mission office with the Assistants and the Office Elders (in English – Chinese broadcast was in the chapel).  It was so great!  I just am so grateful for a living prophet that guides and directs this church today.  

Dinner at Mission Home After General Conference

I love you all so much and want to reflect on Elder Hollands talk for a moment.  I loved the story he shared about free climbing and the brothers.  There are times in our lives when we feel that we have to do everything alone and kind of almost tell the Savior to "go and find a branch" however I know that he is always by.  He is always there to catch us.  We don't have to go through this mortal experience alone.  We have him always by our side.  So let us make a greater effort to always keep him near so that he can catch us.  I love you all so much and am so grateful for families.  They are super important!!! (just in case you missed conference) haha  I know that the family truly is ordained of God, and is a social unit set up to foster a culture of righteousness that we as His children get learn and grow in.  Love you all so much!!! 

Love, 

Elder Redding

Because He Lives!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week we didn't get to watch conference!!  We watch it next week!! So that you for being mindful of me and not spoiling it!!haha  This week has flown by... like always!!! haha Last Monday after we emailed we went to dakeng and saw the monkeys!!! It was awesome!!  We came back and ate this awesome chidaobao!!  This week we really tried to focus our efforts on sharing the message of Easter.  No one here knows what Easter is.. and if they do they only know about the bunny and the eggs!!  haha,  there is an amazing video... I am sure that you have seen it.  It is called BecauseHeLives.  We went around sharing this with everyone this week!!  We had them pulling it up right then and there on their phones and watching it.  We also had a free car wash where people could come park at the church go inside and watch the video while we washed their skooters and cars.  It was amazing to see them come out.  They all came out of that church a little different than when they walked it.  It was awesome!!  

Monday we met with P and V and their son.  They are honestly just the most amazing family ever.  We taught them and gave them baptismal goals!!  Church will be the main thing for them.  They are always very busy.  They feel the power of prayer and it has affected their lives.    

Saturday we had an awesome experience!!  There is a thing called saomu "sweeping tombs"  It is

Grave Sweeping

where families go and clean and sweep their loved ones tombs.  We got to go and participate in that this week.  It was really neat, and neat to know that these people are being taught right now in the spirit world.  Such a cool experience!!!

We were able to meet with an active member in the ward this week who has been super busy with work.  As I was reading in personal study, I just couldn't seem to find anything that really jumped out to me.  Finally as I read in Mosiah 24 it read about the lord making their burdens seem light.  It really hit me.  So that night as we met with him, I know I needed to share that with him.  He expressed that he has been struggling recently and that this was exactly what he needed to hear.  It was really neat.  It was like in that moment I knew exactly what he needed and we both knew that it was true.  So amazing.  

I love you all so much and want you all to know that Because He Lives all of us have the opportunity to find peace and happiness regardless of the situations we face!  We are not only on this earth to grow and learn, I am fully convinced we are also here to be happy.  Let us all commit to doing something this week to bring us closer to our Savior and experience the true happiness that his perfect life has given us.

I love you all so much and pray for you.  Keep the faith!! 

Love, 

Elder Redding