October 1, 2012
I am probably going to spend this whole letter telling you about last Wednesday September 26. It was just that great of a day haha. Every other day was great too, but wednesday for some reason was just so wonderful! We started the day off with some good old running and studying like normal. Oh ps, my new companion Sister Sumko likes to go running everyday and also have extra study time, so we get up 45 minutes earlier than the rule states and instead of 3 times a week, go running 6 times a week. It's a party. So after studies, we went to visit our recent convert Liang Mama so my companion could meet her. Liang mama doesn't really feel like it's super necessary to go to church now that she is baptized. She ting bu dongs most of what is being said and someone has to come pick her up every week, so she feels too bad about it. We keep trying to stress over and over again about how important it is to take the sacrament but it still hasn't quite sunk in. However, this lesson went really great and Guo Jiemei (my companion) shared a really great experience on why coming to church is so important. Twas a smashing success and I hope she will continue to come to church!
We then went over to visit Ivy and Wendy. They are from the Philipines and only speak tagolog and a bit of english. We gave them a tagolog Book of Mormon and pamphlets, and then do our best to help them understand in english.They are both on 3 year contracts here in Taiwan to take care of old amas. They don't get a single day off (as in hasn't gotten a single day off in the last 2 years) and aren't allowed to leave for more than a few minutes every once in a while to buy food. We can only meet with them when their amas are sleeping, but they are still SO wonderful. We spent the lesson focused on the Book of Mormon and how it is the word of God. If this book is true, then the rest of what we share with them is true, because it is all found in that Book. We asked the pivotal question, and yes, they believe the Book of Mormon is true! The only thing holding them back from baptism is the fact that they are under contract not to go to church. However, God is a God of miracles and we are working on finding ways to help them continue to come unto Christ
Then we headed on up the big mountain to the Xiang sisters house. They have been investigators for months and months, believing all we say, reading the Book of Mormon, coming to church, praying, keeping the commandments and all that great stuff, but with no desire to be baptized... It is really strange and we have been at a loss for how to help them. Sister Sumko wanted to talk to them about commandments and we decided we would share Mosiah 2:41 which talks about how happy people who keep the commandments are, and then we would play the commandments game. It's like spoons, but the commandments are written on the cards instead, and the last person without a spoon explains what the commandment means. First, my companion got to know them a little bit and then asked how her Book of Mormon reading has been going. She was in Mosiah and said that she really liked this one scripture about commandments..... She showed us which one and guess what... it was also Mosiah 2:41! Oh the Lord and His cool little miracles. We discussed how great commandments are and how they bless our lives, and then started the game. After a few rounds, we decided to play one more time before we left. The very last time, the sister who has no desire to be baptized lost, and the commandment she needed to explain happened (not so randomly in my opinion) to be Baptism. We were able to talk about how it is a loving commandment that will only bless us beyond our comprehension. We helped her set some small steps to be able to hit a new baptismal goal (27th of this month) and we are excited to see what happens
We then booked it down the mountain and biked furiously fast to the chapel for a lesson with our lovely Liu Jiemei (she is the one who was supposed to be baptized a few weeks ago but who's husband fandui'd) We also stressed how important the Book of Mormon is and focused on its immense power. We read a few great quotes from apostles, and then just sat and read it with her for a half hour. I love how something so simple can bring the spirit so strongly. We promised her that if she was willing to read and pray every single day, Heavenly Father would prepare a way she could be baptized in October. We also talked to her about how wonderful general conference is and invited her to start praying to receive an answer to her prayers from conference. It was so greattttt
Then we went to English class where I get to teach, so that's always fun. Afterwards we sat down with one of our former investigators and helped her have a desire to come back to church and also set a baptismal goal this month! It was a day of miracles and I love my new companion. We get along great and teach really well together. I am out of time, but shall write more next week... of course :)
Love you all! Sister Smart
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