June
17, 2013
Welp, dearest family. I miss you all a lot! This last week was great and had a lot of ups and downs. More than ever I know that the Lord is mindful of us and know He loves us all.
Monday night we met with our lovely Zoey who's baptism was scheduled for the 15th. She passed her interview last week and her Dad traveled the 2 hours (1 hour by foot, one hour by bus) back from Heping to come and sign her form. He is really supportive of her decision which we are so grateful for. So many parents here object to their children getting baptized because they are worried that they won't have any children to bai bai them (burn incense and worship them once after they die) Her dad is aware of the changes that she's made and is really supportive. Her mom lives in China (divorced at a young age) and doesn't have much to do with their lives. We talked about Jesus Christ and prepared her for what would happen at her baptism. She was so excited and we were too! We also met with Monica that night and shared about the Restoration and Joseph Smith. She said she is willing to pray and read to find out for herself if it is true. She is so great and has such a strong desire to know what is right and what the Lord wants her to do. Our own desire is the most important part when it comes to finding out.
Random bit: We also went to COSTCO for the first time on my mission!!! Taiwan has costco, did you know that? I've never been close to it before but a member wanted to take us. We've been thriving on some american goods this last week and it has been luxurious!
Tuesday we rode up to Dongshi and visited some friends. Well, tried to anyways. The addresses we have are all wrong because the addresses have changed in the last few years. It started pouring rain which is always a nice break from the wetness from sweat haha. It's always cooler when it rains. Wednesday rained even more, almost typhoon like! It was so much fun to ride in. The streets were flooded and we were more than soaked. During the day, we were standing by a door about to get on our bikes when a lady holding a baby raccoon came out and yelled at me to go home, then hit me (literally hit me), and then asked if I wanted to hold her racoon. Of course I did! It was cute. and then we got on our bikes and left as she was yelling at us to go home. It was funny. That night, english class was especially fun. We learned body parts and played a fun game. I wrote body parts on pieces of paper and then put them in a bag. I then gave each student a piece of paper with a head on it. As they drew out the body parts, they picked a number 1-6 and then drew how ever many of them that they drew. Does that make sense? Like if I picked 4, then drew eyes, I had to draw 4 eyes on my alien. We called them our funny aliens and the kids loved it. Then we practiced for this weeks performance (big english party coming up) again. They are excited, and the uke class is too! I'll be sure to take pictures and let you know how it goes.
Thursday we had a training meeting for the new missionaries and their trainers. We just talked about how things are going and how we can all improve. It was one of my favorite meetings ever. We talked about what it means to be a Nazarite. Those are the people in the bible that wouldn't cut their hair, or do certain things for a certain period of time. Similar to missionaries, we don't do certain things for a period of 18 months-2 years. During this time, we can focus on what is truly important and help others, while also receiving a special strength from the Lord.(we wont let dumb girls come cut our hair either during that time.. haha) My companion and I set tons of goals to work on and how we can become better teachers and representatives of Jesus Christ. It was so great!
We also started a fast for Zoey and her baptism on Saturday. After we finished our fast on Friday, we got a call a few hours later from Zoey. She called, almost in tears, saying that her mom called from China saying that she changed her mind and that she cannot be baptized in a Christian church. She said she was too young and didn't understand what she was doing. Her dad said she could, but not wanting to go against her mother, we had to cancel the baptism. It was a really shattering moment. I'm ashamed to say that my first thoughts were questioning whether fasting really works. I know that God has His timing and His plan for us all, so I didn't doubt in faith, but I was just disappointed. However, the Lord knows what we need and in the next few hours we saw that fasting and prayer truly work, just maybe not always in the manner we expect it in. The moment we finished dinner, we had incredible lessons and met wonderful people that had interest in the gospel. It was a wonderful night that we all needed. I love my mission more than words can say!
Well I would write more but my time is short, but I can testify that the Lord is aware of us. He knows what we need and that we can overcome it with His help. I'll fast with you all this week for Spencer. I love you all so much!!!
Love, Ally
Welp, dearest family. I miss you all a lot! This last week was great and had a lot of ups and downs. More than ever I know that the Lord is mindful of us and know He loves us all.
Monday night we met with our lovely Zoey who's baptism was scheduled for the 15th. She passed her interview last week and her Dad traveled the 2 hours (1 hour by foot, one hour by bus) back from Heping to come and sign her form. He is really supportive of her decision which we are so grateful for. So many parents here object to their children getting baptized because they are worried that they won't have any children to bai bai them (burn incense and worship them once after they die) Her dad is aware of the changes that she's made and is really supportive. Her mom lives in China (divorced at a young age) and doesn't have much to do with their lives. We talked about Jesus Christ and prepared her for what would happen at her baptism. She was so excited and we were too! We also met with Monica that night and shared about the Restoration and Joseph Smith. She said she is willing to pray and read to find out for herself if it is true. She is so great and has such a strong desire to know what is right and what the Lord wants her to do. Our own desire is the most important part when it comes to finding out.
Random bit: We also went to COSTCO for the first time on my mission!!! Taiwan has costco, did you know that? I've never been close to it before but a member wanted to take us. We've been thriving on some american goods this last week and it has been luxurious!
Tuesday we rode up to Dongshi and visited some friends. Well, tried to anyways. The addresses we have are all wrong because the addresses have changed in the last few years. It started pouring rain which is always a nice break from the wetness from sweat haha. It's always cooler when it rains. Wednesday rained even more, almost typhoon like! It was so much fun to ride in. The streets were flooded and we were more than soaked. During the day, we were standing by a door about to get on our bikes when a lady holding a baby raccoon came out and yelled at me to go home, then hit me (literally hit me), and then asked if I wanted to hold her racoon. Of course I did! It was cute. and then we got on our bikes and left as she was yelling at us to go home. It was funny. That night, english class was especially fun. We learned body parts and played a fun game. I wrote body parts on pieces of paper and then put them in a bag. I then gave each student a piece of paper with a head on it. As they drew out the body parts, they picked a number 1-6 and then drew how ever many of them that they drew. Does that make sense? Like if I picked 4, then drew eyes, I had to draw 4 eyes on my alien. We called them our funny aliens and the kids loved it. Then we practiced for this weeks performance (big english party coming up) again. They are excited, and the uke class is too! I'll be sure to take pictures and let you know how it goes.
Thursday we had a training meeting for the new missionaries and their trainers. We just talked about how things are going and how we can all improve. It was one of my favorite meetings ever. We talked about what it means to be a Nazarite. Those are the people in the bible that wouldn't cut their hair, or do certain things for a certain period of time. Similar to missionaries, we don't do certain things for a period of 18 months-2 years. During this time, we can focus on what is truly important and help others, while also receiving a special strength from the Lord.(we wont let dumb girls come cut our hair either during that time.. haha) My companion and I set tons of goals to work on and how we can become better teachers and representatives of Jesus Christ. It was so great!
We also started a fast for Zoey and her baptism on Saturday. After we finished our fast on Friday, we got a call a few hours later from Zoey. She called, almost in tears, saying that her mom called from China saying that she changed her mind and that she cannot be baptized in a Christian church. She said she was too young and didn't understand what she was doing. Her dad said she could, but not wanting to go against her mother, we had to cancel the baptism. It was a really shattering moment. I'm ashamed to say that my first thoughts were questioning whether fasting really works. I know that God has His timing and His plan for us all, so I didn't doubt in faith, but I was just disappointed. However, the Lord knows what we need and in the next few hours we saw that fasting and prayer truly work, just maybe not always in the manner we expect it in. The moment we finished dinner, we had incredible lessons and met wonderful people that had interest in the gospel. It was a wonderful night that we all needed. I love my mission more than words can say!
Well I would write more but my time is short, but I can testify that the Lord is aware of us. He knows what we need and that we can overcome it with His help. I'll fast with you all this week for Spencer. I love you all so much!!!
Love, Ally
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