A Marvelous Work and A Wonder

    As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we've been admonished to study the scriptures.  We followed the Church curriculum which covered the Old Testament last year.  Church members world-wide, attended Sunday School and centered their studies from Genesis to Malachi.  When we left St. George we were studying about the 3 friends of Daniel as recorded in Daniel Chapter 3:

"Nebuchadnezzar had a golden image made and commanded all men to worship it— Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego refused and were cast into the fiery furnace—They are preserved and come out unharmed."

    Then, the next week, in Hong Kong, Victoria 3rd Branch of the Mandarin Speaking Sunday School class, we talked about how Daniel interpreted the King's dream as recorded in Daniel, chapter 4:

   "Daniel interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great tree, describing the king’s fall and madness—The king learned that the Most High rules and sets the basest of men over earthly kingdoms."

    It was an amazing experience.  This year we go on to studying the New Testament.  I used to think I love the New Testament best, but after studying the Old Testament, I have to say I have a change of heart, I love the Old Testament.  Still, as Latter-day Saints, we have been asked to study the Book of Mormon, along with the other scriptures.

   We were reading the Book of Mormon as a family, (just Elwin and me), again, and finished the book shortly after we arrived in Hong Kong.  When we were working on our New Year's resolution, for scripture reading, I suggested to Elwin that for the Book of Mormon, I would read 5 verses in Chinese and he would read the next 5 in English.  We take turns reading for about 3 chapters or 6-8 pages each time.  Some verses in the BOM starts out with "And it came to pass...", and is translated as "事情是这样的。。。".  We have so much fun reading that and the recorded events.  I wonder if, when we finish the Book of Mormon, that will become my "favorite".

   To start the year, we stopped by the Church Distribution Center and bought a copy of the Book of Mormon in Chinese.  It was a toss-up between buying simplified and traditional Chinese.  I grew up with traditional Chinese and especially love the beauty of the written language.  To see the simplified version makes me feel very sad...still, I thought I should at least learn how to read it.  So, I purchased the simplified version.  I'm struggling with the simplified words, and may stop at the Distribution Center to buy another one in traditional Chinese.  :-)

   President Benson called the Book of Mormon a "Marvelous Work and a Wonder" as recorded in his speech at the April 1980 General Conference.  He said:  (I'm quoting only the first paragraph of his talk, but please take time to read this link for the full article. http://lds.org/general-conference/1980/04/a-marvelous-work-and-a-wonder?lang=eng)

"Seven centuries before the birth of Christ, Isaiah foresaw and foretold the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in these latter days. He declared it would be a “marvelous work and a wonder” to all mankind (Isa. 29:14). When Jesus appeared to the Nephites in America, He confirmed the prophecy of Isaiah in these words: “For my sake shall the Father work a work, which shall be a great and a marvelous work” among the people of the land of America in the last days (3 Ne. 21:9)...."

    As you can see, we are enjoying our mission in Hong Kong.  It's a challenging and growing experience.