OH MY GOODNESS. What a week!

August 13, 2012

 

OH MY GOODNESS. What a week. I know I say that every week, but this week really... what a week! We had our first baptism!!! One of our investigators named Tracy was scheduled to have her baptism at the end of this month. However, when she had her interview, our District Leader Elder Reynolds asked her why she was waiting so long, and asked if she wanted to switch it to this Saturday (which was 2 days ago) and she said YES!!! We got everything ready and she was baptized! It was such a wonderful day! We went out to eat with her and another member named Jojo afterwards and asked her how the day was. "Today I so happy!" the best broken english I have ever heard. Our Zone leaders Elder Haag and Elder Mitchel had 3 wonderful people also get baptized. It was such a great xili hui (baptismal service) And my first! You will find attached pictures of this happy occasion. Wow, what a great feeling.

 

Whew! Okay so the rest of my week was pretty great too. Last Monday on preparation day we went to San Min Lu street market with 2 sisters from our zone and 2 members from our ward. We all had so much fun together and afterwards went to a tempanyaki or whatever its called where they cook in front of you. It's funny because in America, you'd go to one of those places as a fancy restaurant and to feel kinda asian. Here it's normal. It was a really cheap meal and soooo good. That night we went to the stake president's house to have dinner with his family and one of our investigators. They also invited a few other members, one of them named Xiao mamma, a much much older woman. We were standing around talking when all the sudden she grabs me and starts holding my hands behind my back in weird positions. She then starts to hit me with her elbow and eventually throws me into a chair. I couldn't resist at all because I was still in utter shock as to what in the world was happening. She was so old... yet so strong. I was so confused. She then started kneeing my back as hard as she could. Finally I realized I was being abused and looked back at my companion who was just standing there, laughing so hard. She said, "Don't worry, she's just giving you a massage." WHAT??? That is a massage? Not to mention the fact that this woman is spouting/yelling out Taiyu. I tried to calm myself down so I could enjoy this lovely "massage" but to no avail. Eventually she grabbed my companion and then it was my turn to watch and laugh. Oh, Taiwan. Hahaha well that was Monday.

 

Tuesday we went to visit a cute girl who can't come to church very much because of her dance team, and afterwards went to the Shi family's house. 2 of the brothers were baptized last Saturday with Tracy, and then the sisters are new investigators. They were celebrating Fathers day a day early (In Chinese, Baba is Dad. Ba is August and Ba is 8, so August 8th they have father's day! so cool) and gave us some mango cake. It was SO good. We shared Enos 1:1 with them about how Enos is grateful his father taught him the ways of the Lord. Every parent loves their children, so we like to ask what kind of hopes and desires they have for their children as they grow up. They tell us, and then we tell them how the gospel of Jesus Christ can help them achieve all those things. It was a great visit, and I hope they will all be baptized soon. They are such a great family!!!

 

Wednesday we had a special English meeting. Because it was father's day, we decided to have that be the theme for our English class. We played different games, had them write letters to their fathers, and afterwards talked about how we all have a Heavenly Father who loves us so much. A lot of people came and it ended up being a great success! Thursday we were able to meet with 2 new girls who are really interested in joining our church. At the end of the lesson, they told as that they were girlfriends. It kind of took me by suprise, and we didn't really know what to say. I feel bad that we didn't talk with them more about it, but we will see them again tomorrow. It's hard to know what to say, because marriage needs to be between a man and a woman, but the Lord still loves those two girls SO much. As His representatives, we need to prayerfully consider how to help them see both of those things. The next morning we had a hilarious lesson with Yang Jiemei. It was our first time meeting her and we went to her little street stand where she sells this white bean cake type thing. She doesn't let 3 minutes go by without either telling us how beautiful we are or asking a random stranger walking by "Aren't these 2 americans just so beautiful? They are like dolls, no?" It was really awkward haha, but the lesson went great. She loves the fact that anyone can pray. She believes in God and has felt His spirit in her life, but didn't know she could communicate with Him. She also is excited to start reading the Book of Mormon. When we were about to end, she said, "wait! Don't leave! What if I go grab more people for you to teach?" Then she ran up to a few random people and asked them if they wanted to hear "some gospel stuff" from Americans. Nobody was willing, but it was still so hilarious watching her go up to them. We are excited to go visit her again haha.

 

Saturday was our baptism! Oh what a great day. Sunday we had several investigators attend church so it was also really great! Geez louise, I just feel so blessed to be here with these people, eating their food, speaking their language, learning about their culture, and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them. I am so lucky! It's 100 degrees outside, it's hard biking miles and miles up and down hills each day, and I sweat more than humanly possible, but oh how I love it! It is all so worth it to see a young girl be baptized, so see a family come closer together, to see lives change and hope renewed. I love it here in Zhonghua!

 

I love all of you! I'm glad Ciera and Savannah could come visit! Let me know how that goes. Hang in there Crystal!!! I'm excited to hear about Ryan hopefully this week :) I will write more next week

 

Love, Sister Smart