Monday January 6, 2014

Hello wo qin ai de jiating!

Transfers!! Wednesday night we got the call that I would be staying in Danshui and Sister George would be moving. I was SO sad to see Sister George go, but very happy to be staying in Danshui. I can feel that my work is not yet finished here. My new companion's name is Alaina RuJean Nelson, from Dayton, Idaho, and transfers are always on Friday, so we became companions on January 3rd, 2014. 2014!! That is still so crazy to me. 

A while ago Sister George and I contacted these two girls on a bus. The contact seemed kind of hai hao, but they gave us their numbers. A bit later we called them and set an appointment for Saturday. The Friday night before, we were busy and we didn’t have time to call them to confirm our appointment or to call a peike. Saturday they got really lost trying to find the church. When they finally made it, it turned out they had brought a friend with them too! As soon as we walked into the chapel  we ran into Guo Coco, a member who is also a great peike.  She could help us peike for a few minutes. As we started the lesson I was a bit nervous, because first lessons can be really hard as you are never entirely certain of their expectations, their needs, or their knowledge of gospel things. On top of that, this was Sister Nelson and mine first time teaching investigators together. AND there were THREE of them! One was a Christian, two were not. Altogether, this lesson could very easily have turned into a disaster, but, it didn't. And that was the miracle. It was a really smooth lesson and we taught basic truths, bore testimony, and invited them to begin their journey. All three of them set a baptismal date, agreed to read and pray about the Book of Mormon, and agreed to come to church the next day. It was miraculous.

Temple Tours were great! We met a man named Lenny. He was SO prepared. As we did a quick book-tour and had a lesson with him, we could feel how sincere he was.  We walked into the chapel for a moment, he was drawn to the picture of Jesus's second coming and explained the wonderful feelings he had looking at it. In the closing prayer he told God that although his heart was not prepared, he hoped God would give him the chance to get to know Him. That statement itself told me that despite his assertion of unpreparedness, he was indeed VERY prepared to hear the gospel.

Amy is simply amazing! In one of her closing prayers this week, she asked Heavenly Father to help her quickly get baptized. Whoa!!  During Sunday school our lesson was about Heavenly Father, His attributes, and how we can get to know Him. When asked about her personal experience, and how she has come to know God/believe in Him/something like that, Amy answered "scriptures," and went on to explain her experience with reading scriptures and feeling them speak to her. It was so neat to see her relationship with Heavenly Father. However, she talked to her parents for the first time this week about baptism, and her dad said she couldn't be baptized. Her father's word is law in her house, so this will be an obstacle. But I believe that Heavenly Father is a God of miracles, and I am working to have enough faith that one can actually happen. Her original baptismal date is next week, and she is so prepared! 

I have so many goals, and I don't know which ones to focus on.  I want to pick back up on actively trying to learn Chinese as I speak with people in everyday situations. I need to be more humble. I need to LOVE more. I need to have more faith. I need to be more positive. I need to figure out how to recognize the Spirit. I need to talk to everyone. I need to . . . . oh the list goes on and on. I feel like there is something missing that Heavenly Father wants me to pick up on, but I still can't figure out what it is. I think it might be humility or faith . . . but I'm not sure.

Sister Edwards/Du Jiemei