the songs burn baby burn by ash (dad i think you'd like this song) and burning
down the house by talking heads have been in my head all week. naturally (not so
much at first but now that i'm well into the mission), as songs from home pop
into my head i try to replace them with a hymn or primary song. this week i've
had "the spirit of god" on repeat in my mind. as can be inferred, burning is on
my mind. this is what i'm thinking... a. it's summer in pingdong and it is hot.
i'm surprised, though, that it hasn't been worse. i think i'm used to the hot
weather now. maybe there will be a future for me in a sweltering place like
vegas afterall. b. i have gotten three horrible burns this week. the worst is on
my leg. i burnt it on a scooter. the second. on my left index finger. i burnt it while
eating hot pot. it's swollen and peeling but getting better. the third and
fourth are also on my left hand. this week i made jello for a barbeque. our
measuring cups are kind of shady and somehow i spilled boiling water down my
left hand and wrist. the worst of it is on the last two finger. there are purple
little marks where you can see the water's path. kind of cool. at first they
hurt really bad, but now they're fine. c. when things burn, there is really no
way to resalvage them, right? that's kind of how my time here in taiwan is.
after a day passes there is no way to reclaim it. so i have to make the most of
each day!
this week has been a week of miracles. it has been marvelous.
miracle #1: on friday during companion study we got a call from a woman. she
said she was at the church but the way she said it was unclear. she spoke more
about the hospital next to the chapel than she did the chapel itself. my
companion told her she called the wrong number and hung up. i started thinking
and realized her meaning (holy ghost!) so we called her back. she wanted to meet
with us right then but there was no way so we set up for tuesday morning. she
was a woman we contacted on the road the first week of this move. at the time
that we contacted her she seemed to have little interest. apparently we were
wrong... we went to her house yesterday. she was very welcoming and expressed
her gratitude for us riding so far. she told us she wanted to invite a friend
but that friend was unable to come. we shared about heavenly father and prayer
and she seemed to like it a lot. she told us about the missionaries that knocked
on her door almost 20 years ago and about how she has thought about them since
them. at that time she didn't let them in. i think heavenly father has been
preparing her since that point.
miracle 2: on friday night we made phone calls between appointments. sister
jiang called vicky, an investigator we had met with twice that was atheist at
our first meeting. she said she has been praying and feels heavenly father's
love! she has read to the end of first nephi already. she's so great!
miracle 3: remember ke jiemei that i made the deal about chocolate with. i
called her on friday night. i asked her if anything special had happened that
day and she said her prayers are going really well. i asked if she had used
alcohol that week. NO! she sounded so happy! i was so happy! i invited her to
the barbeque the next day because it was in her neighborhood at li jiemei's.
usually she won't go places where there are other people, especially if she
doesn't know them but she said she would come! and then she did! she seemed
happier than i have ever seen her. i know that it is because she's keeping
commandments. hooray!
miracle 4: our "golden" investigator, is still golden! she came with us to the
barbeque and fit in just like a member. [so i don't forget... at the barbeque i
got to use a water pump for the first time in my life. i washed vegetables as
jiang jiemei pumped water, then we switched. way cool!] she said she's been
praying and reading. she came to church on sunday and the young women invited
her to go on their overnight camping trip this weekend. she said yes and is
really excited to go. after church she stayed and practiced with the choir.
amazing!
miracle 5: we have been working with a less-active family. a single mom and
three kids. they haven't been to church in years. the mom has a testimony, i'm
not sure why she doesn't come. the oldest son is 17 and he has a lot of
questions. his history teacher tells him things like noah's experience with the
ark is proof that god is selfish because he killed innocent people for not
listening to him and that sins don't matter that much because everyone goes to
heaven whether you're kind of good or really good. i don't mind teaching him
even though he doubts because his concerns are honest, he doesn't argue just to
argue. this week we talked about the plan of salvation. the spirit was strong, i
think because we were putting effort into teaching and he was putting effort
into learning. my companion felt inspired to promise him that if he'll pray and
read and come to chruch and keep the commandments within a month he'll receive
an answer. he accepted it! recently i got a letter mentioning the truth that the
missionary work here in taiwan will someday impact the work in mainland china.
as we rode home i couldn't help but think of zhao jiemei's son being a temple
president in china, or raising children who serve missions there. he has such a
good heart. i know he will receive an answer.
i'm grateful to be able to recount all of these happy highlights. i'm starting
to realize why people say that missions are hard. i think my first two moves
were abnormally easy. last move was a bit harder. i felt a lot of pressure but
sister blackham and i got along well and things were okay. this move my
companion and i seem to be unable to communicate. i'm working on figuring out
what to do. i worry that our lack of unity is keeping us from being successful
in certain phases of the work. on top of that, there seems to be a lot of
investigators that we should be able to help, but things aren't getting
anywhere. a song by belle and sebastian (some of the uk's finest) keeps coming
into my head. it's called sleep the clock around and is a wonderful showcase of
keyboard sounds. one line says, "though you wanted to help, you're a bit of a
waste." i think that's how it feels here in taiwan sometimes. we want to help,
we desperately want to help, but some people just won't let us in. jiang jiemei
says that she's never been in an area where street contacting is so
unsuccessful. i keep thinking of the scripture that talks about those persecuted
for christ being blessed, and about the chapters in alma where hundreds are
killed for being christian and not fighting back. i remind myself that we're
fighting the good fight and that our side is always the winning side. i just
wish the scoreboard showed it more often than it seems to.
we had an appointment with aki last week but she stood us up. then we ran into
her on the street and she wasn't very nice. i called her last night and she
sounded different. something has changed and i don't know exactly how to help
her. she still hasn't come to church. it breaks my heart to see people that i
know had/have testimonies keeping themselves from fully obtaining the blessings
and comforts of the gospel. pray for aki.
i think that's mostly all. i'm sorry that the tone changed from one of wonder to
one of solemnity. on a more upbeat note: christ lives! i know he does. and i
know he has atoned for the sins of the world. yesterday we taught an
investigator who's interest is more in english than in the gospel. i don't think
she really heard the words we said, and every doubting comment she voiced made
me feel an unexplainable kind of gross. but through the entire lesson i knew the
things we taught were true. my testimony of the savior was strengthened. his is
the son of god and our older brother. i love him.
i also love you all. thank you for everything!! muah!
love,
sista jade.
i almost signed it sister wad then stopped myself. ha. no one has called me wad
in months. weird. <3
No comments:
Post a Comment