李竑姊妹 Sister Li Hong
2004年的夏天，結束了長達五年的分居两地，
先生醒來後却對我說：「今天是星期天，我帶你去教會吧。」在國內就知道先生已經加入了教會，他說過，在街上遇到傳教士時，
到了伊麗莎白街41號，當電梯門在4樓打開時，我看到4位年輕、
第一次參加聚會，聽大家唱聖詩，看著先生跪在地上念祈禱文，
之後，傳教士開始給我上課，一步一步教我怎麽做祈禱，
剛到紐約的生活是困難的，在傳教士跟我上課期間，我得到了第一份
隨著不斷的學習，我漸漸瞭解到今生與全永恒的關係，明白什麽是謙
於是，在跟傳教士上課半年多後，我决定受洗。
借著受洗教儀，我更明白了洗禮的意義，
In the summer of
2004, after 5 years of being separated, my son and I finally came to New
York to be reunited with my husband. We arrived on a Saturday evening,
and as I sat in the car, I eagerly looked out the window to see what
New York was actually like. However, it was dark outside and besides
the seeing the smaller buildings, I couldn’t see anything else. Was
this really New York? Where were all the tall buildings? What about
the flashing lights of the city that never sleeps? Because of
jet lag, my son and I woke up early on Sunday morning. Full of
curiosity, I anxiously waited for my husband to wake up sooner so he could
take us out to walk around and see the New York I had been dreaming
about for 5 years.
When my husband woke up, he told me, “Today is Sunday. I’ll bring you with me to church today.” When we were still in China, we knew that my husband had joined the church. When my husband met the missionaries on the street, they told him, “Families can be together forever.” This generated interest in learning more about the gospel. Putting aside the excitement of New York, and having that same curiosity, my son and I followed my husband to church.
When the elevator doors opened on the 4th floor of 41 Elizabeth Street, I saw 4 tall, young, Americans standing on two sides. They enthusiastically shook my hand and said, “Welcome!” I was very surprised. How did these Americans know how to speak Chinese? Entering the chapel, many people shook my hands saying, “Wonderful, your wife and son are finally here.” I was once again surprised. How did these people know about our family? The first time coming to church and listening to everyone sing hymns, seeing my husband kneel on the floor to pray, watching everyone eat bread, and drink water; all this was a brand new experience. After church was over, the missionaries gave me a “Book of Mormon”. I was really curious so when I went home and took a look at it. It was just like reading a story book.
After that, the missionaries started teaching me the lessons. They taught me step-by-step how to pray, and how to read scriptures. They opened the doors that allowed me to enter into the gospel. After a few weeks, Elder Pan discussed with me about setting a date to be baptized. I was amazed: I had just started to learn the gospel. I hadn’t learned everything yet. How could I be baptized? So I refused. I told them, “Wait until I understand everything. Then I’ll decide whether or not to be baptized.”
Having just arrived in New York, life was really difficult. During the time that I met with the missionaries, I got my first job, but lost it two months after. During the coldest part of winter, my son became seriously ill twice. Each time he had a high fever that would last an entire week. During those times, I learned how to pray. And even though those were hard times, I found that I was still able to find peace. I had never experienced that before.
I slowly started developing a testimony of the gospel. I know that I have a Heavenly Father on whom I can rely on. He will give what is best for me as long as I do my part the best I can. Also during these hard times, I felt the love of the brothers and sisters at church. The Relief Society sisters would come visit me at my house, and not only would they share the gospel with me, but they also brought my son crayons and gifts.
Continually learning the gospel, I learned about the relationship between our life on earth and eternity. I learned what is humility, obedience, faith, and repentance. I finally understood that no one in their lifetime can fully understand the gospel and that we can’t wait until we have fully understood the gospel before we decide to be converted. If we just have a desire to follow Jesus Christ, have faith, a desire to repent and to be a better person, then we should act. The first step to act is baptism.
After meeting with the missionaries for over half a year, I decided to be baptized. The day of my baptism, it was a cold day. When I arrived at the 65th street chapel in Manhattan, I was informed that there wasn’t any hot water. I didn’t want to change the date that I had set with God so I entered the cold water. The feelings I had then are hard to forget. When I came out of the font and received the gift of the Holy Ghost, my whole body was filled inside out with a warm feeling that I will never forget.
I understood the Lord was in a special way telling me and reminding me that I was reborn! Just like the apostle Paul said: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4)
Through participating in the actual ordinance of baptism, I understood more the meaning of baptism. I also understood even more the great blessing of baptism—a new start for our goal of eternal life.
When my husband woke up, he told me, “Today is Sunday. I’ll bring you with me to church today.” When we were still in China, we knew that my husband had joined the church. When my husband met the missionaries on the street, they told him, “Families can be together forever.” This generated interest in learning more about the gospel. Putting aside the excitement of New York, and having that same curiosity, my son and I followed my husband to church.
When the elevator doors opened on the 4th floor of 41 Elizabeth Street, I saw 4 tall, young, Americans standing on two sides. They enthusiastically shook my hand and said, “Welcome!” I was very surprised. How did these Americans know how to speak Chinese? Entering the chapel, many people shook my hands saying, “Wonderful, your wife and son are finally here.” I was once again surprised. How did these people know about our family? The first time coming to church and listening to everyone sing hymns, seeing my husband kneel on the floor to pray, watching everyone eat bread, and drink water; all this was a brand new experience. After church was over, the missionaries gave me a “Book of Mormon”. I was really curious so when I went home and took a look at it. It was just like reading a story book.
After that, the missionaries started teaching me the lessons. They taught me step-by-step how to pray, and how to read scriptures. They opened the doors that allowed me to enter into the gospel. After a few weeks, Elder Pan discussed with me about setting a date to be baptized. I was amazed: I had just started to learn the gospel. I hadn’t learned everything yet. How could I be baptized? So I refused. I told them, “Wait until I understand everything. Then I’ll decide whether or not to be baptized.”
Having just arrived in New York, life was really difficult. During the time that I met with the missionaries, I got my first job, but lost it two months after. During the coldest part of winter, my son became seriously ill twice. Each time he had a high fever that would last an entire week. During those times, I learned how to pray. And even though those were hard times, I found that I was still able to find peace. I had never experienced that before.
I slowly started developing a testimony of the gospel. I know that I have a Heavenly Father on whom I can rely on. He will give what is best for me as long as I do my part the best I can. Also during these hard times, I felt the love of the brothers and sisters at church. The Relief Society sisters would come visit me at my house, and not only would they share the gospel with me, but they also brought my son crayons and gifts.
Continually learning the gospel, I learned about the relationship between our life on earth and eternity. I learned what is humility, obedience, faith, and repentance. I finally understood that no one in their lifetime can fully understand the gospel and that we can’t wait until we have fully understood the gospel before we decide to be converted. If we just have a desire to follow Jesus Christ, have faith, a desire to repent and to be a better person, then we should act. The first step to act is baptism.
After meeting with the missionaries for over half a year, I decided to be baptized. The day of my baptism, it was a cold day. When I arrived at the 65th street chapel in Manhattan, I was informed that there wasn’t any hot water. I didn’t want to change the date that I had set with God so I entered the cold water. The feelings I had then are hard to forget. When I came out of the font and received the gift of the Holy Ghost, my whole body was filled inside out with a warm feeling that I will never forget.
I understood the Lord was in a special way telling me and reminding me that I was reborn! Just like the apostle Paul said: “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4)
Through participating in the actual ordinance of baptism, I understood more the meaning of baptism. I also understood even more the great blessing of baptism—a new start for our goal of eternal life.
