Ward Pot Luck...much more than a meal :)

Dear Friends and Family,

For Thanksgiving in Hong Kong I got to celebrate by eating a meal with our entire zone of missionaries.   Our responsibility was to make mashed potatoes for 26 people.  We made a lot more than was needed, but better safe than sorry.  They turned out really well.

We had a ward Pot Luck this week.  Two of our investigators came and we taught them each after.  It was a great event!!

I'm excited for Christmas!  A lot of people celebrate it here.  We ate at the Au family's house again and they have a Christmas tree and everything.  The members here are already starting to give us Christmas presents.  They know how much Christmas means to us, so it's a really nice thing to see them caring so much and offering us presents (usually food! no complaints).

I thought about not sharing this story, but I decided I will.  We met a white guy on the street the other day.  He is about 50 and all tatted up; he informed us he hates all religion.  He spoke to us in English, because after 15 years of living in Hong Kong, he still does not know a lick of Chinese.  He told us how arrogant we are for thinking our ideas are better than Chinese philosophy. He told us how delusional we were.  He told us how we knew nothing about our own religion, particularly Joseph Smith.  He cussed at us, yelled, told us our religion would be illegal in 20 years (because he doesn't believe in freedom of belief either) and slandered us with his thoughts on our religion. 

Our response consisted of this:  If you want to study a religion or belief objectively, you cannot learn about it from the source who is trying to convince you with all their might and wit that the belief is false, evil, and wrong.  He had obviously done so, as all of his ideas are ones I've heard before from South Park, the Internet, or other people who are against this church. 

Hard as we tried to tell him the source of our convictions...it was no use...everything we said was lost on this man.  Although we remained calm, I walked away fuming in my heart.  

Later I encountered a scripture that helped me a lot.  It is in the Bible, John 15.  It reads:

18. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

19. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

20. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

21. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

22. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.

I lost my anger.  Contention is of the devil.  And I will give place no more for the enemy of my soul.

Love you all,

Elder Phillips