Dear family and friends,
This week has been a lot of fun. We had a great district training
meeting on Tuesday on working with members and getting to know the ward
more. It'll help a lot since my ward is a bit more reserved than in my
last area. It'll be great to work with them even more. After district
training meeting, Elder Smith was helping one of the sisters pass off
one of her phase 1 lessons, so I got to make a ton of phone calls to
referrals and found that a lot of people didn't have interest and didn't
want to meet. Bummer... But that night was great because we got to meet
with our Bishop and talk about the ward. He gave us a list of people he
wanted us to get in contact with that haven't been to church in a
while.
Wednesday was Taiwan's birthday/independence day...? I'm not
entirely sure. I heard birthday a lot until English that night when one
of my students went in full detail of them breaking off from China. I'm
still a little confused, but it was a special day for Taiwan! All the
government businesses were closed and no one came to English class. It
was pretty depressing. We were able to visit a less active that we've
been working with though. It's been really hard to figure out what
exactly he needs, until he mentioned a list of friends at church that
were his good friends. Suddenly a huge opportunity clicked because we
now had significant people that could visit him that might have a better
influence on him than us two Americans! So we've been working with them
and finding out time that they can come with us to visit him.
Thursday we got to bike down to Qieding to visit the Ke family. It
was really awesome as we shared the Plan of Salvation. They enjoyed it a
lot. And using the scriptures helps so much! We got a little nervous,
because we also wanted to talk about the law of tithing. They own a
business and that usually is the stopping point for most people that
have their own business. So we talked about the blessings God has given
their family, especially since starting to learn about the gospel. Then
we came in with the law of tithing and asked him if he'd be willing to
pay tithing after baptism. With the most sure sounding voice, he said
yes! Such a miracle! This family has been well prepared by God.
Friday after weekly planning, we had Zone Leader exchanges. I got
to go with Elder Crandall to his area. It was a lot of fun. We saw Elder
Smith and Elder Westbrook a lot since we go to the same church building
to teach lessons, but it was sweet getting to go around their area and
meet some of their investigators. I also got to watch the second half of
"The Testaments" with their investigator getting baptized this week! I
love that movie! And the kid is so great. We ate dinner with him
afterwards as well.
Saturday was conference! I loved it so much. We got to the church
to find out that they couldn't get the 1st session in English for some
reason, so we watched it in Chinese. A little weird. I was pretty happy
to know I could understand most of it though! Us 6 missionaries went in
on 2 Costco pizzas for lunch. I love having one of those in our area.
And then we got to watch the 2nd and 3rd session in English. I loved it
so much. Conference is such a blessing. It's like a spiritual buffet.
All the talks were amazing! And that night we got to sit with a less
active that we were told to go find. He was really happy to see us
because he hadn't seen missionaries in a few years. His little 3 year
old girl kept saying she wants to go watch conference. So they said they
would come.
Sunday was really great with conference again! I LOVE conference!
Everyone was chilling at the church eating lunch between sessions
because we only have an hour between sessions. So it was a lot of fun
eating with the two wards. Once the final session ended, we had a few
meetings. One of them was a huge breakthrough because some of the ward
members found a way to get in contact and find one of our recent
converts that has completely disappeared. I haven't even met him yet
because we haven't been able to get in contact with him. But with the
help of the ward and family connections, we found a way. We went to his
house that night and talked with his family. He wasn't there again...
But at least we found out what his schedule is roughly like. So our
chances of finding him has increased! We also had two pretty great
lessons last night. One was a first time sit with a referral we got from
one of our investigators. And the other one contacted us while we were
going to get the pizzas the day before. He's a former of a few years it
seems. So we're excited to meet with him more as well!
Well that was pretty much my week! There were some really
frustrating times, but it always got better as I just kept pushing
forward. That's always what you gotta do! There was a quote from
conference, I think one of the Saturday sessions, that I really liked. I
can't entirely remember it at the moment, but it's talking about faith.
This is what I got from it: "With faith comes a trial of faith, and
then an increase of faith." I see that almost everyday out here. Never
let a trial overcome you and pull you down. It's through the endurance
that the lessons and the blessings are received.
I love you all so much. Thank you so much for the love and support.
Thank you for all the letters and updates on your lives. Have a
wonderful week!
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