Wednesday, May 7, 2014

李竑姊妹 Sister Li Hong


李竑姊妹  Sister Li Hong


2004年的夏天,結束了長達五年的分居两地,我帶著孩子終于來到紐約與先生團聚。記得到達的那天是一個周六的晚上,坐上汽車後,我望著窗外,急切想看看紐約到底是什麽樣子的,但夜幕中外面黑漆漆的,除了隱隱約約低矮的樓房,什麽也看不清,這是紐約嗎?高樓大厦哪去了?霓虹燈閃爍的不夜城哪去了?周日上午,因時差關係,我和孩子早早就醒來了。我懷著好奇和急切的心情盼著先生快點醒來,帶我們出去走走,我要親眼看看五年來讓我魂牽夢繞的紐約到底是什麽樣子的。


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,傳教士對他說家人能永遠在一起”讓他對瞭解福音産生了興趣。暫時放下繁華的紐約,帶著同樣的好奇,我跟著先生、帶著孩子一起去教會。

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、高大的美國人分站在兩旁,他們熱情地伸出手,對我們說:歡迎你們!」我非常吃驚:這幾個美國人怎麽會說中國話?!進入會堂,有好幾個人跟我先生說:「太好了,你太太和孩子終于來了。」我再次驚訝:我們家的事他們怎麽會知道?

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,看著大家吃麵包、喝水……所有一切我都感到很新鮮。聚會結束後,傳教士給了我一本《摩爾門經》,我很好奇,回家後翻看起來,就像看故事書一樣。

之後,傳教士開始給我上課,一步一步教我怎麽做祈禱,怎麽讀經文……他們給我打開了一扇很特別的門,帶我走進福音的世界。過了幾周,傳教士潘長老讓我設立目標,跟我商量能否預設一個受洗的時間,我感到很不可思議:我才剛剛接觸福音,還沒完全瞭解呢,怎麽能受洗呢?因此,我很乾脆地拒絕了。我對他們說:「等我完全瞭解了,再决定受不受洗。」

剛到紐約的生活是困難的,在傳教士跟我上課期間,我得到了第一份工作,兩個月後又失去了那份工作,之後,孩子在最寒冷的冬季連續生了兩場病,每次都持續發高燒一個星期。 在那些日子裏,我學會了祈禱,雖然日子過得很艱難,但我發現自己的內心却很平安,這是以前從未有過的體驗。我對福音慢慢開始有了自己的見證,我知道我有天父可以依靠,祂會給我最適合我的安排,而我只要做好自己的部分。在艱難的日子裏,我也體會到教會裏兄弟姐妹的愛。慈助會的姐妹到我家探訪,不僅和我分享福音,還給孩子帶來蠟筆等禮物。

隨著不斷的學習,我漸漸瞭解到今生與全永恒的關係,明白什麽是謙卑、服從、信心和悔改。我終于知道人屬世這一輩子誰都不可能對福音有完全的瞭解,因此,我們無需也不可能等待自己完全瞭解了福音知識再决定是否歸信。只要有跟隨耶穌基督的渴望,有信心,想悔改,想讓自己變得更好,就要采取行動,而行動的第一步就是受洗。

於是,在跟傳教士上課半年多後,我决定受洗。那是一個寒冷的日子,當我來到曼哈頓65街教堂洗禮室時,我被告知當天因系統故障,沒有熱水供應,我不願意更改和主訂立的時間表,于是,走進了冰冷刺骨的水中,那一刻的感覺讓我難忘。可當我從洗禮池出來後,在接受聖靈恩賜時,全身從裏到外暖烘烘的感覺更讓我終生難忘。我明白主以一種非常特別的方式在告訴我,也在提醒我:我獲得了重生!就像使徒保羅說的那樣:「我們借著洗禮……和祂一同埋葬,原是叫我們一舉一動有新生的模式。」(羅馬書6:4)。

借著受洗教儀,我更明白了洗禮的意義,也更明白了洗禮的偉大祝福之一就是——讓我們在邁向永恒的目標上有新的開始。





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.


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