February 19, 2013
Let us rejoice this day, for unto Sister Xiao and I, a baby is born! Sound super weird? It's actually really cool and exciting, but more on that later. Now that you're all super curious, I'll let you get excited and read about the rest of my week first.
Monday was POWER CLEAN day, so instead of the normal p-day we cleaned EVERY nook and cranny and made the place ultra ultra shinily clean. You guys would be so proud of how much cleaner I am these days. Organization is now something I thoroughly enjoy, along with a clean desk. You'd be proud. That night we went over to a members house for dinner and were able to meet all their family that was visiting. One of their brothers kept asking us lots of questions and we were able to share with him about the gospel and the Book of Mormon. He started reading it before we even left, and said the elders could meet with him. We were so excited and so was the member we visited. The dad was super funny and tried to speak english to communicate "secret messages" with us on how to best help his brother. For example...
Let us rejoice this day, for unto Sister Xiao and I, a baby is born! Sound super weird? It's actually really cool and exciting, but more on that later. Now that you're all super curious, I'll let you get excited and read about the rest of my week first.
Monday was POWER CLEAN day, so instead of the normal p-day we cleaned EVERY nook and cranny and made the place ultra ultra shinily clean. You guys would be so proud of how much cleaner I am these days. Organization is now something I thoroughly enjoy, along with a clean desk. You'd be proud. That night we went over to a members house for dinner and were able to meet all their family that was visiting. One of their brothers kept asking us lots of questions and we were able to share with him about the gospel and the Book of Mormon. He started reading it before we even left, and said the elders could meet with him. We were so excited and so was the member we visited. The dad was super funny and tried to speak english to communicate "secret messages" with us on how to best help his brother. For example...
(us:missionaries, Tian DX:member who's house we went to, Brother: Tian DX's brother who we were sharing with)
us "So Brother, have you ever seen missionaries before?" chinese
us "So Brother, have you ever seen missionaries before?" chinese
Tian DX :"Teach brother gospel. get address. get address teach" english (he knows his brother doesnt understand english)
Brother: "Yeah, but its normally foreigner boys. Are you guys all the same?" chinese
us: "Yeah we are also missionaries....blah blah explain explain. So do you have any specific religious beliefs?" chinese
Brother: Not really, just traditional buddhist and blah blah explain" chinese
Tian DX: "Teach gospel. Get the address.Teach gospel! He likes buddha. He has son" english
us: "Wow, so is your whole family pretty traditional then? etc etc.
I hope what I'm trying to say is coming out... It was so funny because Tian DX kept muttering english to try and give us "hints" on how to help his brother. While it was funny at the time, as I thought about it more and more it became really sweet to me. He loves his brother so much that he tried to speak all the english he knew to help us know how to help his brother. We love our families and friends SO much that we try to share the gospel in any way we can. Sometimes we don't go about it the best or most eloquent ways, because we are imperfect, but that desire is a good one. We just want our families to live together forever and be happy. How to make that happen is found through the gospel, and that is the message we bring to everyone. Because we are ALL God's children, we share that message with everyone. I love being able to share that sweet message with my dear Taiwanese brothers and sisters, and was grateful to be able to go to Tian DX's house and share with his family.
Tuesday we had some really cool lessons with Penny and Cindy, Huang JM, and Yang JM. Penny and Cindy are sisters that joined the church while they lived in California a few years ago. They are wanting to receive their patriarchal blessings and were curious how to get that going. We talked a lot about the Lord's will and how we can get to know His plan for us through personal prayer and scripture study. Huang JM's husband likes us more and more each time we go visit! He doesn't yell at us to leave anymore and even jokes and laughs with us. We are SO excited about the progress their family is making. Yang JM is a new friend that has a huge desire to be baptized, but we want to make sure its for the right reasons and in the right time. She is only 16 years old and her boyfriend is a member, but meeting with her is great and we hope she can continue to progress.
Wednesday we saw a lot of miracles. One of them was with another Huang JM. It was our first time meeting. When she walked in, you could tell the weight of the world was on her shoulders. As we got to know her, she opened up and shared with us some of the trials that have made her lose all hope in anything good. Family and health problems have taken their toll on her heart, but we were able to share with her some of our personal experiences with prayer and how we can find hope in even the darkest of times. After she said her first prayer, there were tears coming down her cheeks as she testified that she knew Someone was listening. She still doubts a lot, but she knew that prayer was real. We testified that as she continues to pray daily, she will be able to feel her divine nature and come to know that she is a daughter of God and can once again find hope through the gospel of Jesus Christ. As I found myself walking back to my bike after that lesson, I couldn't help but think about God's love for each and every one of us. Even if my whole mission was a waste and nobody wanted to listen, but I was able to meet with Huang JM that day and help her start to pray, it would still be worth it. Thankfully there are many people who want to listen and are ready for the hope the gospel brings, but if not, the worth of ONE soul is still worth it.
Thursday Friday and Saturday we were able to meet a lot of new friends. I'm especially excited about the Chen family!!! Mom, dad and three adorable little girls. They are all willing to listen and are hoping the gospel can help them sort out some family troubles. The daughters are 1, 6, and 10 and cute as can be. The two older ones were excited to show us one of the dances they have recently learned. The parents are kind and loving and work really hard to make sure their children are raised in a loving environment. We are so excited to continue to meet with them and help them! Sunday we had a HUGE miracle when another Huang JM (sorry, so many people with the last name huang) came to church!!! She hasn't been for over 2 years due to some ill feelings towards some church members, but we've been meeting with her for the last few months and came yesterday!!!! We were THRILLED!!!!!! We love her SO much and hope she will continue to come.
Now for the big news... Yesterday we went to Taizhong for a meeting with ALL the missionaries in our mission. We had 2 special guests, Elder Watson and Elder Evans. They were able to share with us some ways we can more effectively use preach my gospel as we prepare for all the new missionaries that will soon flood the mission haha. Due to the age change (girls 19, boys 18) of when people can serve missions, many have heeded the Prophet's invitation and missionary work is rolling forth like never before. We are sooo excited! They also talked a little bit about how we need to grow up really quick, no matter how long we've been in the field or how old we are. It was a really great meeting that I learned a lot from and got a lot of new ideas to try in Sanmin. After the meeting, Sister Xiao and I got a little suprise! aka a new companion!!! Meet Wang JM, our new baby. The first area you serve is where you are "born" as a baby. Your trainer is your mom (in this case we are mom and dad I guess... I'm taller so they pinned me as the dad...) Wang Jiemei is fresh from Taibei and is our new missionary! She is waiting for her visa before she goes to Canada to serve a mission, while she waits here for a month or two, she will be trained with us here in Sanmin. Training is normally 1 on 1, but we get to try it 2 on 1. It will be new and weird and we'll have so much fun doing it! She is already so great! We're looking forward to our time together and know we'll see a lot of miracles.
Well folks, that's all I've got for today. Pday will be on monday next week, so fear not. Sorry for the one day delay, but I love you all!
Love, Sister Smart
I hope what I'm trying to say is coming out... It was so funny because Tian DX kept muttering english to try and give us "hints" on how to help his brother. While it was funny at the time, as I thought about it more and more it became really sweet to me. He loves his brother so much that he tried to speak all the english he knew to help us know how to help his brother. We love our families and friends SO much that we try to share the gospel in any way we can. Sometimes we don't go about it the best or most eloquent ways, because we are imperfect, but that desire is a good one. We just want our families to live together forever and be happy. How to make that happen is found through the gospel, and that is the message we bring to everyone. Because we are ALL God's children, we share that message with everyone. I love being able to share that sweet message with my dear Taiwanese brothers and sisters, and was grateful to be able to go to Tian DX's house and share with his family.
Tuesday we had some really cool lessons with Penny and Cindy, Huang JM, and Yang JM. Penny and Cindy are sisters that joined the church while they lived in California a few years ago. They are wanting to receive their patriarchal blessings and were curious how to get that going. We talked a lot about the Lord's will and how we can get to know His plan for us through personal prayer and scripture study. Huang JM's husband likes us more and more each time we go visit! He doesn't yell at us to leave anymore and even jokes and laughs with us. We are SO excited about the progress their family is making. Yang JM is a new friend that has a huge desire to be baptized, but we want to make sure its for the right reasons and in the right time. She is only 16 years old and her boyfriend is a member, but meeting with her is great and we hope she can continue to progress.
Wednesday we saw a lot of miracles. One of them was with another Huang JM. It was our first time meeting. When she walked in, you could tell the weight of the world was on her shoulders. As we got to know her, she opened up and shared with us some of the trials that have made her lose all hope in anything good. Family and health problems have taken their toll on her heart, but we were able to share with her some of our personal experiences with prayer and how we can find hope in even the darkest of times. After she said her first prayer, there were tears coming down her cheeks as she testified that she knew Someone was listening. She still doubts a lot, but she knew that prayer was real. We testified that as she continues to pray daily, she will be able to feel her divine nature and come to know that she is a daughter of God and can once again find hope through the gospel of Jesus Christ. As I found myself walking back to my bike after that lesson, I couldn't help but think about God's love for each and every one of us. Even if my whole mission was a waste and nobody wanted to listen, but I was able to meet with Huang JM that day and help her start to pray, it would still be worth it. Thankfully there are many people who want to listen and are ready for the hope the gospel brings, but if not, the worth of ONE soul is still worth it.
Thursday Friday and Saturday we were able to meet a lot of new friends. I'm especially excited about the Chen family!!! Mom, dad and three adorable little girls. They are all willing to listen and are hoping the gospel can help them sort out some family troubles. The daughters are 1, 6, and 10 and cute as can be. The two older ones were excited to show us one of the dances they have recently learned. The parents are kind and loving and work really hard to make sure their children are raised in a loving environment. We are so excited to continue to meet with them and help them! Sunday we had a HUGE miracle when another Huang JM (sorry, so many people with the last name huang) came to church!!! She hasn't been for over 2 years due to some ill feelings towards some church members, but we've been meeting with her for the last few months and came yesterday!!!! We were THRILLED!!!!!! We love her SO much and hope she will continue to come.
Now for the big news... Yesterday we went to Taizhong for a meeting with ALL the missionaries in our mission. We had 2 special guests, Elder Watson and Elder Evans. They were able to share with us some ways we can more effectively use preach my gospel as we prepare for all the new missionaries that will soon flood the mission haha. Due to the age change (girls 19, boys 18) of when people can serve missions, many have heeded the Prophet's invitation and missionary work is rolling forth like never before. We are sooo excited! They also talked a little bit about how we need to grow up really quick, no matter how long we've been in the field or how old we are. It was a really great meeting that I learned a lot from and got a lot of new ideas to try in Sanmin. After the meeting, Sister Xiao and I got a little suprise! aka a new companion!!! Meet Wang JM, our new baby. The first area you serve is where you are "born" as a baby. Your trainer is your mom (in this case we are mom and dad I guess... I'm taller so they pinned me as the dad...) Wang Jiemei is fresh from Taibei and is our new missionary! She is waiting for her visa before she goes to Canada to serve a mission, while she waits here for a month or two, she will be trained with us here in Sanmin. Training is normally 1 on 1, but we get to try it 2 on 1. It will be new and weird and we'll have so much fun doing it! She is already so great! We're looking forward to our time together and know we'll see a lot of miracles.
Well folks, that's all I've got for today. Pday will be on monday next week, so fear not. Sorry for the one day delay, but I love you all!
Love, Sister Smart
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